Tyndareus | |
|---|---|
| King ofSparta | |
 Vase depicting the Dioskuri (either side) with Tyndareus (white beard) andLeda | |
| Legendary King of Sparta | |
| Predecessor | Hippocoon |
| Successor | Menelaus |
| Born | type Greece |
| Died | Greece |
| Buried | Therapne,Sparta |
| Wife | Leda |
| Issue | Castor Clytemnestra Timandra Phoebe Philonoe Helen of Troy[1] (stepdaughter) Pollux (stepson) |
| Father | Oebalus orPerieres |
| Mother | Gorgophone |
InGreek mythology,Tyndareus (/tɪnˈdɛriəs/;Ancient Greek: Τυνδάρεος,Tundáreos;Attic: Τυνδάρεως,Tundáreōs;[tyndáreɔːs]) was aSpartan king.
Tyndareus was the son ofOebalus (orPerieres[2]) andGorgophone[3] (orBateia). He married the Aetolian princess,Leda, by whom he became the father ofCastor,Clytemnestra,Timandra,[4]Phoebe andPhilonoe, and the stepfather ofHelen of Troy andPollux.[5]
Tyndareus had a brother namedHippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus. He was reinstated byHeracles, who killed Hippocoon and his sons. Tyndareus's other brother wasIcarius, the father ofPenelope.
Tyndareus's wifeLeda was seduced byZeus, who disguised himself as a swan. She laid two eggs, each producing two children;Castor and Pollux, andHelen of Troy andClytemnestra.
WhenThyestes seized control inMycenae, two exiled princes,Agamemnon andMenelaus came toSparta, where they were received as guests and lived for a number of years. The princes eventually married Tyndareus's daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen respectively.
According toStesichorus, while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot to honorAphrodite and thus the goddess was angered and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and deserters of their husbands.[6] AsHesiod also says:
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Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, and when it was time for her to marry,many Greek kings and princes came to seek her hand or sent emissaries to do so on their behalf. Among the contenders wereOdysseus,Ajax the Great,Diomedes,Idomeneus, and bothMenelaus andAgamemnon. All but Odysseus brought many and rich gifts with them. Helen's favourite was Menelaus who, according to some sources, did not come in person but was represented by his brother Agamemnon, who chose to support his brother's case, and himself married Helen's half-sister Clytemnestra instead.[7]
Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of thesuitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting ofPenelope, the daughter ofIcarius.[8] Tyndareus readily agreed and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with the chosen one. This stratagem succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were married. Eventually, Tyndareus resigned in favour of his son-in-law and Menelaus became king.
Some years later,Paris, a Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, whom he had been promised byAphrodite. Helen left with him – either willingly because she had fallen in love with him, or because he kidnapped her, depending on the source – leaving behind Menelaus andHermione, their nine-year-old daughter. Menelaus attempted to retrieve Helen by calling on all her former suitors to fulfil their oaths, leading to theTrojan War.[9]
According toEuripides'sOrestes, Tyndareus was still alive at the time of Menelaus's return,[10] and was trying to secure the death penalty for his grandsonOrestes due to the latter's murder of his own mother who was also Tyndareus's daughter, Clytemnestra, but according to other accounts he had died prior to the Trojan War.[11] In some versions of the myth, Tyndareus was one of the dead men resurrected byAsclepius to live again.[12][13]
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Sparta (first reign) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | King of Sparta (second reign) | Succeeded by |
