Salmoneus

For the shrimp genus of this name, go to Salmoneus.

In Greek mythology, Salmoneus (in Greek, Σαλμωνεύς) was the son of Aeolus and Enarete, the brother of Athamas, Sisyphus and the father of Tyro.

Salmoneus became the king of Elis and founded the city of Salmaneo.^[1] He committed the sin of hubris by forcing his subjects to worship him as Zeus, and was eventually struck down by a thunderbolt sent by Zeus himself. He was then imprisoned in Tartarus.

In popular culture

• Robert Trebor played a character named Salmoneus in the television shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, who had little relation to the Salmoneus of myth. In that version Salmoneus was a wheeler-dealer, always on the lookout to make a quick dinar (however, he could always be relied upon in a crisis, where he showed himself to be a caring and kind-hearted man).

• Salmoneus was featured in the Hercules episode "Hercules and the King of Thessaly" voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. He is depicted as a greedy, overweight ruler of Thessaly who hasn't made Thessaly a good City-State. When his advisor Stephanopolis tells Salmoneus that his approval ratings are low, Salmoneus schemes to have his people worship him and throw a Zeus-A-Palooza with Salmoneus dressed as/posing as Zeus. When it came to the day of the Zeus-A-Palooza, one of its attendants was Hercules who saw through his disguise and demanded "Zeus" to smite him. This attracted Zeus who had Hermes expose Salmoneus and set him up for the smiting. After Salmoneus was hit by a lightningbolt, Hercules' status as the son of Zeus became known to the Thessaly citizens who make Hercules their king. As for Salmoneus, he was casted into the Grove of Despair.

References

External links

• Salmoneus Gallery
• Online Encyclopedia - Salmoneus

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