In Greek mythology, Chrysippus (Greek: Χρύσιππος) was a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus, a young boy, the bastard son of Pelops king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus and the nymph Axioche. He was kidnapped by the Theban Laius, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games, where the boy planned to compete. Instead, Laius ran away with him to Thebes and raped him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods. Chryssipus's death was related in various ways. One author who cites Peisandros as his source claims that he killed himself with his sword out of shame.[1]
Hellanikos and Thucydides write that he was killed out of jealousy by Atreus and Thyestes, his half-brothers, who cast him into a well. They had been sent by their mother, Hippodamia, who feared Chrysippus would inherit Pelops's throne instead of her sons. Atreus and Thyestes, together with their mother, were banished by Pelops and took refuge in Mycenae. There Hippodamia hanged herself. Another version has Hippodamia committing the deed herself, on behalf of her sons Atreus and Thyestes. She waited until Laius and Chrysippus were asleep together, and then used the knife of Laius to slay Chrysippus. Chrysippus, however, did not die at once, and was able to tell Pelops that the real murderer was his stepmother.
The death of Chryssippus is sometimes seen as springing from the curse that Myrtilus placed on Pelops for his betrayal.
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See also
Spoken-word myths (audio files)
| The Chrysippus myth as told by story tellers |
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| 1. Laius and Chrysippus, read by Timothy Carter |
| Bibliography of reconstruction: Pindar, Olympian Ode, I (476 BCE); Apollodorus Library and Epitome 3.5.5 (140 BCE); Hyginus, Fables, 85. Chrysippus; 243. Women who Committed Suicide (1st c. CE); Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.5.5-10, 6.20.7 (c. 160 - 176 CE); Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, Book XIII, 602 (c. 200 CE); Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ii, 34, 3 - 5 (150 - 215 CE) |
References
- ^ Gantz, p. 489.
Modern sources
- Gantz, Timothy (1993). Early Greek Myth. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Kerenyi, Karl (1959). The Heroes of the Greeks. New York/London: Thames and Hudson.
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