In Greek mythology, Salmoneus (; Ancient Greek: Σαλμωνεύς) was 'the wicked'[Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 4 as cited in Plutarch, Moralia p. 747; Scholia ad Pindar, Pythian Ode 4.263] eponymous king and founder of Salmone in Pisatis.[Strabo, 8.3.32]
Family
Salmoneus was formerly a
Ancient Thessaly prince as son of King Aeolus of
Ancient Thessaly. His mother was identified as (1)
Enarete, daughter of Deimachus, or (2) Iphis, daughter of
Peneus,
[Hellanicus in scholia on Plato, Symposium 208 (p. 376)] or (3) Laodice,
[Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 11.235] daughter of
Aloeus. Salmoneus was the brother of
Athamas,
Sisyphus,
Cretheus, Perieres,
Deioneus, Magnes, Calyce,
Canace, Alcyone,
Pisidice and Perimede.
[Apollodorus, 1.7.3]
Salmoneus's first wife was Alcidice by whom he became the father of Tyro, while his second wife was Sidero.[Apollodorus, 1.9.8]
Mythology
Emigrating from Aeolis with a number of Aeolians, Salmoneus founded a city in Eleia (
Elis) on the banks of the river
Alfeios and called it Salmonia after his own name. He then married Alcidice, the daughter of Aleus but when she died, the king took for a second wife Sidero who treated his beautiful daughter Tyro unkindly.
[Diodorus Siculus, 4.68.1– 2]
Salmoneus and his brother Sisyphus hated each other. Sisyphus found out from an oracle that if he married Tyro, she would bear him children who would kill Salmoneus. At first, Tyro submitted to Sisyphus, married him, and bore him a son. When Tyro found out what the child would do to Salmoneus, she killed the boy. It was soon after this that Tyro lay with Poseidon and bore him Pelias and Neleus.
Salmoneus, being an overbearing man and impious, came to be hated by his subjects for he ordered them to worship him under the name of Zeus.[John Tzetzes, Chiliades 7.9] He built a bridge of brass, over which he drove at full speed in his chariot to imitate thunder, the effect being heightened by dried skins and cauldrons trailing behind while torches were thrown into the air to represent lightning. For this sin of hubris, Zeus eventually struck him down with his thunderbolt and destroyed the town.[Apollodorus, 1.9.7; Virgil, Aeneid 6.585 with Heyne's excursus; Strabo, 8, p. 356; Hyginus, Fabulae 60– 61; Marcus Manilius, Astronom. 5, 91]
And he i.e. acted profanely, by casting torches (in the air) as if they were lightnings,
And dragging dried hides with kettles at his chariot,
Pretending to make thunder, so he was thunderstruck by Zeus.
Virgil's
Aeneid has Salmoneus placed in
Tartarus after Zeus smites him where he is subjected to eternal torment.
[Virgil, Aeneid 6.585–594]
Inspiration
According to Frazer, the early Greek kings, who were expected to produce rain for the benefit of the crops, were in the habit of imitating thunder and lightning in the character of Zeus.
[Frazer, Early History of the Kingship 1905][see also Golden Bough, i., 1900, p. 82] At
Crannon in
Ancient Thessaly, there was a bronze chariot which in time of drought was shaken and prayers offered for rain.
[Antigonus of Carystus, Historiae mirabiles 15] S. Reinach
[S. Reinach Revue archéologique, 1903, i. 154] suggests that the story that Salmoneus was struck by lightning was due to the misinterpretation of a picture, in which a Thessalian magician appeared bringing down lightning and rain from heaven. Hence arose the idea that he was the victim of the anger or jealousy of Zeus and that the picture represented his punishment.
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See also
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List of Hercules (1998 TV series) episodes, season 1, episode 2
Notes
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Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
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Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
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Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
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Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Virgil, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Virgil, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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John Tzetzes, Book of Histories, Book VII-VIII translated by Vasiliki Dogani from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com
