Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Hippocoön (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Ἱπποκόων) was a Spartan king.

Family

Hippocoon was the son of the

Spartan Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

King

Oebalus In Greek mythology, Oebalus, also spelled Oibalus or Oibalius, (; Ancient Greek: Οἴβαλος, '' Oíbalos'') was a king of Sparta. Family Oibalus was the son of either Cynortas or Argalus. He was the second husband of Princess Gorgophone a ...

and Bateia. His brothers (or half-brothers) were

Tyndareus In Greek mythology, Tyndareus (; Ancient Greek: Τυνδάρεος, ''Tundáreos''; Attic Greek, Attic: Τυνδάρεως, ''Tundáreōs''; ) was a Spartan king. Family Tyndareus was the son of Oebalus (or Perieres (king of Messenia), Perieres ...

and

Icarius In Greek mythology, there were two people named Icarius (; grc, Ἰκάριος ''Ikários''). *Icarius, a Spartan prince, son of Perieres. *Icarius, an Athenian who received Dionysus.Apollodorus, 3.14.7 See also *Icarus, whose wings failed in fli ...

. Names of Hippocoön's sons include

Dorycleus In Greek mythology, Dorycleus (Ancient Greek: Δορυκλεὺς) was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of Oebalus and the naiad Bateia. Family Dorycleus was the brother to Scaeus, Enarophorus ...

Scaeus In Greek mythology, Scaeus (Ancient Greek: Σκαῖος means 'on the left hand') was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of Oebalus and the naiad Bateia. Family Scaeus was the brother to Dorycl ...

, Enarophorus,

Euteiches In Greek mythology, Euteiches or Eutiches (Ancient Greek: Εὐτείχης means 'with well-built walls') was a Sparta, Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoontids, Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoon (king of Sparta), Hippocoön, son of O ...

Bucolus In Greek mythology, Bucolus (; Ancient Greek: Βουκόλος means "cow boy" or "herdsman" from βους ''vous'' "ox" and κελεύω ''kelevein'' "command") is the name of four men: * Bucolus, son of Hippocoon, king of Sparta. * Bucolus, the T ...

Lycaethus Lycaethus (Ancient Greek: Λύκαιθος) is a name that refers to the following figures in Greek mythology: *Lycaethus, father of Creon (king of Corinth), Creon, king of Corinth, father of Creusa of Corinth, Glauce and Hippotes. *Lycaethus, a so ...

, Tebrus,

Eurytus Eurytus, Eurytos (; Ancient Greek: Εὔρυτος) or Erytus (Ἔρυτος) is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, and of at least one historical figure. Mythological *Eurytus, one of the Giants, sons of Gaia, killed by Dionysus ...

Hippothous In Greek mythology, Hippothous ( grc, Ἱππόθοος, meaning "swift-riding") is the name of seven men: * Hippothous, an Egyptian prince as one of the sons of King Aegyptus.Apollodorus, 2.1.5 He suffered the same fate as his other brothers, sav ...

Hippocorystes In Greek mythology, Hippocorystes (Ancient Greek: Ἱπποκορυστὴς means 'marshaller, arranger of chariots') was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of Oebalus and the naiad Bateia. Famil ...

Alcinous In Greek mythology, Alcinous (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκίνους or Ἀλκίνοος ''Alkínoös'' means "mighty mind") was a son of Nausithous and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bore ...

,Apollodorus, 3.10.5

Alcimus Alcimus (from grc-gre, Ἄλκιμος ''Alkimos'', "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום ''Elyaqum'', "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hel ...

Dorceus ''Dorceus'' is a genus of velvet spiders that was first described by C. L. Koch in 1846. Species it contains five species: *'' Dorceus albolunulatus'' (Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and ...

Sebrus ''Sebrus'' is a genus of moths of the family Crambidae. Species *''Sebrus absconditus'' Bassi, 1995 *''Sebrus amandus'' Bleszynski, 1970 *''Sebrus argus'' Bassi, 1995 *''Sebrus perdentellus'' (Hampson, 1919) *''Sebrus pseudosparsellus ''Sebru ...

Eumedes Eumedes (Ancient Greek: Εὐμήδης) was a name attributed to seven individuals in Greek mythology. *Eumedes, father of Acallaris who married Tros, king of Dardania.Dionysius of Halicarnassus''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.62.2/ref> *Eumedes, a Ca ...

, Enaesimus,

Alcon Alcon is an American Swiss medical company specializing in eye care products with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and incorporated in Fribourg, Switzerland. Alcon began as a US company and its US subsidiary’s headquarters remain in Fort ...

and

Leucippus Leucippus (; el, Λεύκιππος, ''Leúkippos''; fl. 5th century BCE) is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who has been credited as the first philosopher to develop a theory of atomism. Leucippus' reputation, even in antiquity, was obscured ...

(the last three were among the Calydonian hunters). Diodorus Siculus states that there were twenty of them, but gives no individual names.

Mythology

When their father died,

became king. Hippocoön, with the help of his sons, overthrew him, took the throne and expelled his brothers from the kingdom . Later, Hippocoön refused to cleanse

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

after the death of Iphitus. Because of that, Heracles became hostile to Hippocoön, killed him and reinstated Tyndareus. All of Hippocoön's sons were also slain by Heracles, as a revenge for the death of the young

Oeonus In Greek mythology, Oeonus (; Ancient Greek: Οἰωνὸν) was a son of Licymnius who accompanied Heracles. He was killed in Sparta in Heracles's company. Heracles had promised Licymnius that he would bring back his son, and so, when Oeonus di ...

, son of

Licymnius In Greek mythology, Licymnius (; grc-gre, Λικύμνιος) was a good friend of Heracles' and an illegitimate son of Electryon, King of Tiryns and Mycenae in the Argolid (which makes him half-brother of Alcmene, mother of Heracles). His mother ...

, whom they had killed because he had stoned their dog in self-defense.Apollodorus, 2.7.3; Pausanias, 3.15.4 Heracles's allies in the war against Hippocoön were Cepheus of

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

and his twenty sons, who all, as well as Heracles's brother

Iphicles In Greek mythology, Iphicles ( or ; grc, Ἰφικλῆς ''Iphikles''), also called Iphiclus, was the maternal half-brother of Heracles and one of the Calydonian boar hunters. Family Iphicles was the son of Alcmene and her human husband Amp ...

, died in the battle (according to

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, 4.33.5 three of Cepheus' sons did survive).

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

, ''The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of history of the ancient world, specifically at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Fe ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1–2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Greek-myth-stub Mythological kings of Sparta Kings in Greek mythology Laconian characters in Greek mythology