Hippodamia (/ˌhɪpoʊdəˈmaɪ.ə/,[1]/hɪˌpɒdə-/;[2] alsoHippodamea andHippodameia;Ancient Greek: Ἱπποδάμεια "she who masters horses" derived fromἵπποςhippos "horse" andδαμάζεινdamazein "to tame") was aGreek mythological figure, the daughter ofOenomaus. She was the queen ofPisa and the wife ofPelops, appearing with Pelops at a potential cult site in Ancient Olympia.
Although Hippodamia does not speak within her mythologies, she is spoken about by both Oenomaus and Pelops. It is stated that Hippodamia is Oenomaus' only joy, and is a virtuous child. Oenomaus considered many men inferior to his daughter.
Hippodamia was the daughter of KingOenomaus of Pisa either bySterope, daughter ofAtlas andPleione,Evarete, daughter ofAcrisius andEurydice, orEurythoe,[3] daughter ofDanaus. She was probably the sister ofLeucippus andAlcippe, wife ofEvenus and mother ofMarpessa.
Hippodamia marriedPelops, son of KingTantalus ofLydia, and their children are as follows: Astydameia,Atreus,Corpreus, Dias, Eurydice, Hippalcimus, Hippasus, Lysidice, Mytilene, Nicippe,Pittheus,Thyestes, and Troezen.[4]
Hippodamia's father, KingOenomaus of Pisa, was fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law. So when suitors arrived, he told them they could marry his daughter only if they defeated him in achariot race, and if they lost, they would be executed. Eighteen suitors of Hippodamia had perished in this way, and Oenamaus had affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace.Pausanias was shown what was purported to be the last standing column in the late second century CE; the same author mentions that Pelops erected a monument in honor of all the suitors before himself, and enlists their names, which are as follows:[5]
Pelops,[7] son of King Tantalus of Lydia, came to ask for Hippodamia's hand in marriage and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover.[8] Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear.[9]
In an episode that was added to the simple heroic chariot race, Pelops, still unsure of his fate, convinced Oenomaus's charioteer,Myrtilus, a son ofHermes, to help him win. Myrtilus agreed to Pelops' wishes as Pelops promised him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the first night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting Oenomaus's chariot together, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to thechariot axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race began, 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.
When Myrtilus tried to claim his reward and lay with Hippodamia, Pelops killed Myrtilus by throwing him off a cliff into the sea. As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops and Hippodamia. Although this curse didn't affect Pelops and Hippodamia's prosperity, as they came to have fourteen children, the curse was enacted and haunted Hippodamia and Pelops' childrenAtreus andThyestes as well as their descendantsAgamemnon,Aegisthus,Menelaus andOrestes.[10]
The first cult site of Hippodamia and Pelops appeared in Olympia, called the Hippodameion. The true location of the Hippodameion remains unknown, yet the time period is thought to be during theLate Helladic period. It was thought that the Hippodameion was located near the sacred groves within Olympia, known as theAltis, yet some historians dispute this. The Hippodameion likely contained items similar to other cults that showed up around the time period, including statues of Pelops and Hippodamia along with terracotta pots depicting their stories.[11]
Walter Burkert notes that though the story of the contest for Hippodamia's hand figures in the HesiodicMegalai Ehoiai and on the chest ofCypselus (ca. 570 BCE) that was conserved at Olympia, and though preparations for the chariot-race figured in the east pediment of the greattemple of Zeus at Olympia, the myth of the chariot race only became important at Olympia with the introduction ofchariot racing in the twenty-fifth Olympiad (680 BCE).[13]Georges Devereux connected the "courtship" of Hippodamia with animal husbandry taboos of Elis,[14] and the influence of Elis at Olympia that grew in the seventh century.
