In
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Hippomedon {{IPAc-en, h, ɪ, ˈ, p, ɒ, m, ᵻ, d, ə, n (Ἰππομέδων, ''gen''.: Ἰππομέδοντος) was one of the
Seven against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban ...
.
Pseudo-Apollodorus
The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: grc, Βιβλιοθήκη, lit=Library, translit=Bibliothēkē, label=none), also known as the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, arranged in three book ...
, '' Bibliotheca'', 3.6.3 He lived near the lake
Lerna
In classical Greece, Lerna ( el, Λέρνη) was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Ancient Argos, Argos. Even though much of the area is marshy, Lerna is located on a geographically narrow poi ...
in
Peloponessus; the foundations of his house on Mount Pontinus at Lerna were shown in
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 t ...
' times. In
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
' ''
The Suppliants'', he is characterized as a person uninterested in comfort and entertainments, eager to face hardships, and dedicating a lot of time to training for combat.
Family
Hippomedon's father was either
Talaus
In Greek mythology, Talaus ( grc, Ταλαός) was the king of Argos and one of the Argonauts. He was the son of Bias (or Perialces) and Pero. His wife was Lysimache, daughter of Abas (also known as Eurynome, Lysippe or Lysianassa, daughter ...
, the father of
Adrastus, or
Aristomachus (a son of Talaus),
or
Mnesimachus.
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 Grammati ...
, ''Fabulae
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 Grammati ...
'', 70, ''Seven Kings who set out for Thebes'' If he is the son of Mnesimachus, then his mother is
Metidice, daughter of
Talaus
In Greek mythology, Talaus ( grc, Ταλαός) was the king of Argos and one of the Argonauts. He was the son of Bias (or Perialces) and Pero. His wife was Lysimache, daughter of Abas (also known as Eurynome, Lysippe or Lysianassa, daughter ...
,
which makes him
Adrastus's sister's son.
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 t ...
, ''Description of Greece
Pausanias ( /pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre, Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece ...
'', 10.10.3 By
Euanippe, daughter of
Elatus, Hippomedon was father of
Polydorus
In Greek mythology, Polydorus (; grc, Πολύδωρος, i.e. "many-gift d) or Polydoros referred to several different people.
*Polydorus, son of Phineus and Cleopatra, and brother of Polydector (Polydectus). These two sons by his first wife were ...
, one of the
Epigoni
In Greek mythology, the Epigoni or Epigonoi (; from grc-gre, Ἐπίγονοι, meaning "offspring") are the sons of the Argive heroes, the Seven against Thebes, who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the '' Theb ...
.
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 Grammati ...
, ''Fabulae
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 Grammati ...
'', 71, ''Seven Epigoni, that is, Sons''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 t ...
, ''Description of Greece
Pausanias ( /pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre, Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece ...
'', 2.20.5 Elsewhere though, his wife is named
Nealce, and the son Demophon.
Mythology
In
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
' tragedy ''
Seven Against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban ...
'', Hippomedon is one of the seven champions who attack the seven gates of
Thebes. Aeschylus describes him as very large and powerful. He bears the image of a fire-breathing
typhon
Typhon (; grc, Τυφῶν, Typhôn, ), also Typhoeus (; grc, Τυφωεύς, Typhōeús, label=none), Typhaon ( grc, Τυφάων, Typháōn, label=none) or Typhos ( grc, Τυφώς, Typhṓs, label=none), was a monstrous serpentine giant an ...
on his shield and attacks the gate of
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...
Onca, and is confronted by
Hyperbius In Greek mythology, the name Hyperbius (Ancient Greek: Ὑπέρβιος ''Ὑpérvios'' means "of overwhelming strength") may refer to:
*Hyperbius, son of Ares, reputedly the first to have killed an animal.
*Hyperbius, son of Aegyptus, who married ...
, son of Oenops. In Euripides' ''Phoenician Women'', he has the image of
Argus Panoptes on his shield and assails the Ogygian Gates. According to the ''Bibliotheca'', he was killed in the battle by Ismarus, a son of
Astacus
''Astacus'' (from the Greek , ', meaning "lobster" or "crayfish") is a genus of crayfish found in Europe and western Asia, comprising three extant (living) species and three extinct fossil species.
Due to the crayfish plague, crayfish of thi ...
.
Hippomedon makes a prolonged appearance in
Statius
Publius Papinius Statius ( Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...
' ''
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...
''. In Book 9 he engages in the fight over the body of
Tydeus
Tydeus (; Ancient Greek: Τυδεύς ''Tūdeus'') was an Aetolian hero in Greek mythology, belonging to the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven against Thebes, and the father of Diomedes, who is frequently known by the pa ...
, and when the attempt to seize it back from the Thebans fails, he goes on slaying one opponent after another and in the course of the battle, descends into the waters of River Ismenus. One of his victims is the young Crenaeus, son of
Pan and the nymph
Ismenis
In Greek mythology, Ismenis was a Naiad nymph, one of the daughters of the Boeotian river god Ismenus: ''Ismenis'' is a patronymic rather than a given name. In Statius' ''Thebaid'', Ismenis was the mother, by Pan, of Crenaeus, a defender of T ...
. The latter, upon discovering her son's dead body, implores her father, the river god
Ismenus
In Greek mythology, the name Ismenus (Ancient Greek: Ἰσμηνός) or Ismenius may refer to:
*Ismenus or Ismenius, son of Oceanus and Tethys, god of the river of the same name. He was mentioned as the father of several spring nymphs, including ...
, to avenge the youth's death. Ismenus raises the waters of his river and nearly drowns Hippomedon, but he prays that he may not die a death like that, and
Hera persuades
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
to make Ismenus spare him. However, Hippomedon gets out of the water unarmored and is met with a storm of the enemy's missiles, which kill him.
Hypseus
In Greek mythology, the name Hypseus (; grc, Ὑψεύς "one on high", derived from ''hypsos'' "height") may refer to:
*Hypseus, King of the Lapiths, son of the river god Peneus by the naiad Creusa, daughter of Gaia, or by Philyra, a daughter o ...
then takes his helmet as trophy and announces his death to the allies, shortly before getting killed by
Capaneus.
[Statius, ''Thebaid'', 9. 90 - 569]
References
Characters in Seven against Thebes