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In , Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the region (Πελοπόννησος, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of and the father of .

He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the of the Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the people of Peloponnesus, but for all . At the sanctuary at Olympia, night-time libations were offered each time to "dark-faced" Pelops in his sacrificial pit ( ) before they were offered in the following daylight to the sky-god Zeus (Burkert 1983:96).

Family
Pelops was a son of , fr. 12.7; fr. 16.4; Simonides, fr. 11.36; , Olympian Odes 1.36; Hyginus, Fabulae 124, 245 & 273 and either Dione,Hyginus, Fabulae 82- 83 , ad , Orestes 4 & 11 ,Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 11 or .Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 11 from Pherecydes, fr. 93 In some accounts, he was called a bastard son of Tantalus while others named his parents as Atlas and the Linos. Others would make Pelops the son of and CalyceScholion on , 2.104b while another says that he was an Achaean from Olenus.Scholia on Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.37a & 9.51.a (FGrHist 298 F1) with the historian Autesion as the authorityRobert Fowler, Early Greek Mythography: Commentary 14.1 (2013): "These two genealogies were probably meant to cancel Pelops' foreign origins; the first is transparently derived from the passage upon which the scholiast is commenting."

Of Hecataeus, fr. 119; Hellanicus, fr. 76; , fr. 158, 162; , 7.8.1 & 7.11.4; , 8.31; Ai. 1292; , Antigone 824–5; Euripides, fr. 223.101-2 (Antiope); cf. Scholia ad Pindar, 01.9.15a; ad Lycophron, 150 or Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.1.24 & 9.9 birth, he departed his homeland for Greece, and won the crown of Pisa or Olympia from King in a chariot race, then married Oenomaus's daughter, Hippodamia.

Pelops and Hippodamia had numerous children. Their sons include Euripides, Heracleidae 207; Euripides, Medea 683 ; Apollodorus, 3.15.7 & E.2.10; Pausanias, 2.30.8; , Theseus 3.1 & 7.1; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4; ad Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.144c-e (or his mother was DiaScholia ad Pindar, Olympian Ode 1.144), Troezen,Pausanias, 2.30.8; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4 Alcathous,Apollodorus, 3.12.7; Pausanias, 1.41.3; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4; ad Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.144c–e ,Parthenius, 31 from ,Homer, Iliad 2.104; Apollodorus, 2.4.6 & E.2.10; Hyginus, Fabulae 84, 88, 124 & 224; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4 ,Homer, Iliad 2.104; Apollodorus, 2.4.6 & E.2.10; Hyginus, Fabulae 84, 86, 87, 124 & 246; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4 Copreus,Apollodorus, 2.5.1 Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (,Hyginus, Fabulae 84 HippalcmusScholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4; ad Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.144c–e), ,Apollodorus, E.1.2 Sicyon,Pausanias, 2.6.5 with as the authority Epidaurus,Pausanias, 2.26.2 as what claims Pausanias, 2.15.1; Scholia on Euripides, Orestes 4 (Cleonymus),Acusilus, fr. 3; Pherecydes, fr. 20 ,Pausanias, 6.22.8 ,Tryphon, fr. 87 Velsen ap. Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Dyspontion (Δυσπόντιον) Pelops the younger,Scholia ad Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.144c–e Argeius,Scholia ad Homer, 4.10 & 22; ad Euripides, Orestes 4; Pherecydes, fr. 132 Dias, , , Cynosurus and Hippasus.Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4

Four of their daughters married into the House of : (who married Alcaeus),Apollodorus, 2.4.5 (who married ),Apollodorus, 2.4.5; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4 Lysidice (who married ),Apollodorus, 2.4.5; Plutarch, Theseus 7.1; Pausanias, 8.14.2; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4 and Eurydice (who married )., 4.9.1 Another daughter of Pelops, Mytilene was called the mother of Myton by .Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Mytilēnē (Μυτιλήνη)

By the nymph (Ἀξιόχη)Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 4; ad Pindar, Olympian Ode 1.144 or Danais, Parallela minora 33 Pelops was father of Chrysippus. The latter was also called the son of Hippodamia and brother of who was sometimes called the son of Pelops by another woman.

+Comparative table of Pelops' family ! rowspan="3"Relation ! rowspan="3"Names ! colspan="25"Sources
Tyrt.HomerCyp.(Sch. on) Pher.Sim.Acus.PindarEuripidesDio.Part.Apd.Plu.Hyg.Pau.Steph.Tzet.
-Sch.-Sch.-Sch.
ParentsTantalus✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Hermes and Calyce ✓
Tantalus and Clytia ✓
Tantalus and Eurythemiste ✓
Tantalus and Euryanassa ✓ ✓
Tantalus and Dione ✓
WifeHippodamia ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Dia ✓
Axioche ✓ ✓
Danais ✓
SonsAtreus ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Thyestes ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Argeius ✓ ✓ ✓
Cleonymus or ✓ ✓
Cleones ✓ ✓
Pittheus ✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Alcathous ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Troezen ✓ ✓
Hippalcmus or ✓ ✓
Pelops the Younger ✓
Dias ✓ ✓
(A)Eleius ✓
Corinthus ✓
Cynosurus ✓
Hippasus ✓
Dimoetes ?✓
Copreus ✓
Sciron ✓
Hippalcus or ✓
Hippalcimus ✓
Sicyon ✓
Epidaurus ✓
Letreus ✓
Dyspontos ✓
Chrysippus ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pleisthenes ✓
DaughtersEurydice ✓
Lysidice ✓✓ ✓
Astydamia ✓
Nicippe ✓
Mytilene ✓

Mythology
Tantalus' savage banquet
Pelops' father was , king at in . Wanting to make an offering to the Olympians, Tantalus cut Pelops into pieces and made his flesh into a stew, then served it to the gods. , deep in grief after the abduction of her daughter by , absentmindedly accepted the offering and ate the left shoulder. The other gods sensed the plot, however, and held off from eating of the boy's body. While Tantalus was banished to , Pelops was ritually reassembled and brought back to life, his shoulder replaced with one of made for him by . Pindar mentioned this tradition in his First Olympian Ode, only to reject it as a malicious invention. Instead, Pindar relates that he was taken by Poseidon as a lover and the story of his death was a rumour spread after his disappearance by neighbours envious of Tantalus's prosperity.

After Pelops's resurrection, took him to , and made him the youth , teaching him also to drive the divine chariot. Later, Zeus found out about the gods' stolen food and their now revealed secrets, and threw Pelops out of Olympus, angry at his father, Tantalus.

Courting Hippodamia
Having grown to manhood, Pelops wanted to marry Hippodamia. Her father, King , fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed eighteen suitors of Hippodamia after defeating them in a and affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace. Pausanias was shown what was supposedly the last standing column in the late second century CE; he wrote that Pelops erected a monument in honor of all the suitors who had preceded him:Pausanias, 6.21.9–11 with a reference to fr. 259(a)

  1. Marmax
  2. Alcathous, son of
  3. Euryalus
  4. Eurymachus
  5. Crotalus
  6. Acrias of , founder of Acriae
  7. Capetus
  8. Lycurgus
  9. Lasius
  11. Tricolonus (descendant of another Tricolonus, who was a son of Lycaon)
  12. Aristomachus
  13. Prias
  14. Pelagon
  15. Aeolius
  16. Cronius
  17. Erythras, son of
  18. , son of Magnes

Pelops came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover.Pindar, First Olympian Ode 71 Reminding Poseidon of their love ("'s sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by untamed winged horses to appear., Tusculanae Disputationes 2.27.67 (noted in Kerenyi 1959:64).

Two episodes involving charioteers were added into the plain account of the heroic chariot race. In the first related by , having received the horses, Pelops hastens to Pisa to defeat Oenomaus. On the way, his charioteer Cillus (also named Sphaerus) dies and stands in a dream over Pelops, who was highly distressed about him, to make requests for a funeral. Pelops complies by burying his ashes magnificently; he raises a mound to erect a temple dedicated to , which he names Apollo Cillaeus, and also founds a city besides the mound and the temple which he also names Cilla, after his charioteer and friend. Both the temple and the city are mentioned in the first book of 's and suggestions regarding their exact location have been made. Furthermore, Cillus, even after his death, appears to have helped Pelops' cause in order for him to win the race.

(1991). 9780773508378, McGill-Queen's University Press.

The second, found in several versions, has Pelops, still unsure of himself, the winged horses and chariot of divine providence he had secured. Oenomaus' charioteer, , a son of , is persuaded to help Pelops win by promising Myrtilus half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the first night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting together Oenomaus' chariot, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race started, and went on for a long time, but just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Myrtilus survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses. Here lies the main differences in the versions, while all then see Pelops kill Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea) after the latter attempted to rape Hippodamia, some have Pelops give the promise to Myrtilus of Hippodamia's virginity and then either renege the agreement or Myrtilus being impatient and trying to take her beforehand, others have Hippodamia, noticing Pelops' insecurity, giving the promise behind the back of Pelops, who then falsely believed it was an attempted rape.

Olympic Games
After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the ancient Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and gave his name to the Peloponnese. Walter Burkert notesBurkert, Homo Necans 1983, p 95f. that though the story of Hippodamia's abduction figures in the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women and on the chest of (c. 570 BCE) that was conserved at Olympia, and though preparations for the chariot-race figured in the east pediment of the great temple of Zeus at Olympia, the myth of the chariot race only became important at Olympia with the introduction of in the twenty-fifth Olympiad (680 BCE). G. Devereux connected the abduction of Hippodamia with animal husbandry taboos of ,G. Devereux, "The abduction of Hippodameia as '' of a Greek animal husbandry rite" '' SMSR 36 (1965), pp 3-25. Burkert, in following Devereux's thesis, attests Herodotus iv.30, Plutarch's Greek Questions 303b and Pausanias 5.5.2. and the influence of Elis at Olympia that grew in the seventh century.

Curse of the Pelopidai
As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops for his ultimate betrayal. This was one of the sources of the curse that destroyed his family: two of his sons, and , killed their half brother, Chrysippus, who was his favorite son and was meant to inherit the kingdom; Atreus and Thyestes were banished by him together with Hippodamia, their mother, who then hanged herself; each successive generation of descendants suffered greatly by atrocious crimes and compounded the curse by committing more crimes, as the curse weighed upon Pelops' children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren including Atreus, Thyestes, , , , and finally Orestes, who was acquitted by a court of law convened by the gods and . Although commonly referred to as "the curse of the ", the circle of atrocious events began two generations before Atreus and continued for two generations after him, before being formally absolved by the in court. Many decades after Pelops's death, his grandson Menelaus, having survived the long-lasting and stranded in Egypt, would recount his numerous plights and wish Pelops had perished for good at Tantalus' dinner, so that Atreus, and therefore Agamemnon and Menelaus himself, would never have been born.Euripides, Helen 386-405

Cult
Origin
Pelops is believed to have origins. He may have been originally worshipped in or or both., 14.21 Other ancient mythographers connect him with ., 4.74.1; Istros (FGrHist 334, F 74) He may have come from the Paphlagonian town of Enete. Pelops at theoi.com Thucydides says simply that Pelops was "from Asia"., 1.9.2

Others represent him as a native of Greece, who came from in Achaia, or perhaps from Arcadia.

Also, according to , Pelops' cult may have come to the originally from , and was first based in : "... the Achaeans of Phthiotis came down with Pelops into the Peloponnesus, took up their abode in Laconia ..." The Geography of Strabo, Vol 4 uchicago.edu

Shrines
The shrine of Pelops at Olympia, the , "drenched in glorious blood",Pindar, First Olympian Ode described by PausaniasPausanias, 5.13.1–3 stood apart from the temple of Zeus, next to Pelops' gravesite by the ford in the river. It was enclosed with a circle of stones. Pelops was propitiated as a deity, at night with the offering of a black ram. His remains were contained in a chest near the sanctuary of Artemis Kordax (Pausanias 6.22.1), though in earlier times a gigantic shoulder blade was shown; during the , said, Pelops' shoulder-blade was brought to by the Greeks because the Trojan prophet claimed the Pelopids would be able to win by doing so.Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times (Princeton University Press, 2000) discusses the uses made of giant fossil bones in Greek cult and myth. Pausanias was told the full story: the shoulder-blade of Pelops was brought to Troy from Pisa, the rival of Elis; on the return, the bone was lost in a shipwreck, but afterwards recovered by a fisherman, miraculously caught in his net.Pausanias, 5.13.4

Giant-sized bones were and are often found in Greece, the remains of gigantic prehistoric animals. In ancient times there was obviously no knowledge of dinosaurs or mammoths, and such findings were believed to be actual remains of legendary heroes or demigods, and to reflect the supposedly supernatural stature of humans of the long-bygone Heroic Age. The bones' provenance was then determined according to local legends about ancient burials, with political expedience also playing a major role, helped along by convenient dreams, visions or priestly auguries.

Gallery
Throne of Pelops Mount Sipylus Manisa Turkey.jpg|"Throne of Pelops" at Yarıkkaya locality in Pelops and Hippodamia; Base relief, Metropolitan Museum, New York City.jpg|Pelops and Hippodamia; bas-relief, Metropolitan Museum of Art

See also

Notes
Ancient sources
  • , Metamorphoses VI, 403–11
  • Bibliotheca, II, 3–9; V, 10
  • , Olympian Ode I
  • , Electra 504 and Fr. 433
  • , Orestes 1024–1062
  • , Histories 4.73
  • Hyginus, Fables: 84 –
  • Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.1.3-7, 5.13.1, 6.21.9, 8.14.10-11
  • Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 1.30 – Pelops
  • Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 9 – Pelops

Modern sources
  • (2025). 9780367766986, Routledge.
  • Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Pelops"

External links

: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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