After the return of the Argonauts, Acastus's sisters were manipulated byMedea to cut their father Pelias in pieces and boil them. Acastus, when he heard this, buried his father, and drove Jason and Medea from Iolcus (and, according toPausanias, his sisters also),[5] and instituted funeral games in honor of his father.[6][7] He thereafter became king of Iolcus.
Acastus purifiedPeleus of the murder ofKing Eurytion ofPhthia.[8] Acastus's wife (variously named in mythology; often Astydamia, but sometimes Hippolyte, daughter ofCretheus)[2] fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her. Bitter, she sent a messenger toAntigone, Peleus's wife and daughter of Eurytion, to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus's daughter,Sterope.
Astydamia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her.[9] Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip and hid his sword while he slept, then abandoned him onMt. Pelion to be killed bycentaurs. The wise centaurChiron (or the godHermes)[7] returned Peleus' sword and Peleus managed to escape. WithJason and theDioscuri, Peleus sacked Iolcus, dismembered Astydamia (and, in some accounts, Acastus himself), and marched his army between the pieces. Their kingdom later fell to Jason's sonThessalus.
Pindar,The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Acastus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.