In
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 ...
, Salmoneus (;
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 ...
: Σαλμωνεύς) was 'the wicked'
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, '' Ehoiai'' fr. 4 as cited in Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
, ''Moralia'' p. 747; Scholia on Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...
, ''Pythian Ode'' 4.263 eponymous king and founder of
Salmone in
Pisatis Pisa ( grc, Πῖσα) is a modern village situated to the east of Olympia, Greece. Currently it is not politically independent but is a neighborhood of the village of Archea Olympia, the capital of the Municipality of Ancient Olympia, of which it ...
.
Family
Salmoneus was formerly a
Thessalian
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessa ...
prince as son of King
Aeolus
In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...
of
Aeolia. His mother was identified as (1)
Enarete
In Greek mythology, Enarete (, Ancient Greek: "virtuous" literally "in virtue", from ''en'' "in" and ''arete'' "virtue") or Aenarete ( ''Ainarete''), was a queen of Aeolia (i.e. Thessaly) and ancestor of the Aeolians.
Biography
Enarete was t ...
, daughter of
Deimachus
Deimachus or Daimachus (; grc, Δηΐμαχος or Δαΐμαχος) was a Greek from Plataeae, who lived during the third-century BCE. He became an ambassador to the court of the Mauryan ruler Bindusara "Amitragatha" (son of Chandragupta Mau ...
, or (2)
Iphis
In Greek and Roman mythology, Iphis or Iphys ( , ; grc, Ἶφις ''Îphis'' , gen. Ἴφιδος ''Ī́phidos'') was a child of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete, born female and raised male, who was later transformed by the goddess Isis into a man ...
, daughter of
Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapit ...
, or (3)
Laodice, daughter of
Aloeus
Aloeus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλωεύς probably derived from ἀλοάω ''aloaō'' "to thresh, to tread" as well as "to crush, to smash") can indicate one of the two characters in Greek mythology:
*Aloeus or Haloeus, a Thessalian prince as the ...
. Salmoneus was the brother of
Athamas
In Greek mythology, Athamas (; grc, Ἀθάμας, Athámas) was a Boeotian king.Apollodorus1.9.1/ref>
Family
Athamas was formerly a Thessalian prince and the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. He was the bro ...
,
Sisyphus
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill ...
,
Cretheus In Greek mythology, Cretheus (; Ancient Greek: Κρηθεύς ''Krētheus'') may refer to the following characters:
* Cretheus, king and founder of Iolcus, the son of King Aeolus of Aeolia (son of Hellen) by either Enarete or Laodice. He was the ...
,
Perieres In Greek mythology, Perieres ( grc, Περιήρης) may refer to these two distinct individuals.
* Perieres, king of Messenia and son of Aeolus.
* Perieres, Theban charioteer of Menoeceus (father of Creon). He was the one who wounded Clymenus, ...
,
Deioneus
In Greek mythology, Deioneus (; Ancient Greek: Δηιονεύς means "ravager") or Deion (; Ancient Greek: ) is a name attributed to the following individuals:
*Deioneus, king of Phocis and son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of ...
,
Magnes,
Calyce,
Canace
In Greek mythology, Canace (; Ancient Greek: Κανάκη means "‘barking") was a Thessalian princess as daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. She was sometimes referrred as Aeolis.
Family
Canace was the siste ...
,
Alcyone,
Pisidice In Greek mythology, Pisidice (, grc, Πεισιδίκη, ''Peisidíkē'') or Peisidice, was one of the following individuals:
* Pisidice, a Thessalian princess as the daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. She was ...
and
Perimede.
Salmoneus's first wife was
Alcidice Alcidice (Ancient Greek: Ἀλκιδίκη) was, in Greek mythology, an Arcadian princess as the daughter of King Aleus. She married Salmoneus, king of Elis, and bore a daughter, Tyro. After her death Salmoneus married Sidero
In Greek mythology, ...
by whom he became the father of
Tyro
In Greek mythology, Tyro ( grc, Τυρώ) was an Elean princess who later became Queen of Iolcus.
Family
Tyro was the daughter of King Salmoneus of Elis and Alcidice, daughter of King Aleus of Arcadia. She married her uncle King Cretheus ...
, while his second wife was
Sidero
In Greek mythology, Sidero (Ancient Greek: Σιδηρώ means "the Iron One") was the second wife of King Salmoneus of Elis and stepmother of Tyro, whom she mistreated. Pelias and Neleus, Tyro's twin sons, sought revenge when they reached adult ...
.
Mythology
Emigrating from Aeolis with a number of Aeolians, Salmoneus founded a city in Eleia (Elis) on the banks of the river
Alpheius and called it Salmonia after his own name. He then married Alcidice, the daughter of Aleus but when she died, the king took for a second wife Sidero who treated his beautiful daughter Tyro unkindly.
Salmoneus and his brother Sisyphus hated each other. Sisyphus found out from an
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
that if he married Tyro, she would bear him children who would kill Salmoneus. At first, Tyro submitted to Sisyphus, married him, and bore him a son. When Tyro found out what the child would do to Salmoneus, she killed the boy. It was soon after this that Tyro lay with
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
and bore him
Pelias
Pelias ( ; Ancient Greek: Πελίας) was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. He was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece.
Family
Pelias was the son of Tyro and Poseidon. His wife is recorded as either Anaxibia, daughte ...
and
Neleus.
Salmoneus, being an overbearing man and impious, came to be hated by his subjects for he ordered them to worship him under the name of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
.
Tzetzes
John Tzetzes ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Τζέτζης, Iōánnēs Tzétzēs; c. 1110, Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who is known to have lived at Constantinople in the 12th century.
He was able to pr ...
, ''Chiliades'
7.9
/ref> He built a bridge of brass, over which he drove at full speed in his chariot to imitate thunder, the effect being heightened by dried skins and cauldrons trailing behind while torches were thrown into the air to represent lightning. For this sin of hubris, Zeus eventually struck him down with his thunderbolt and destroyed the town.And he .e. Salmoneusacted profanely, by casting torches (in the air) as if they were lightnings,
And dragging dried hides with kettles at his chariot,
Pretending to make thunder, so he was thunderstruck by Zeus.
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
's ''Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...
'' has Salmoneus placed in Tartarus
In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; grc, , }) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ''Gorgias'' (), souls are judg ...
after Zeus smites him where he is subjected to eternal torment.
Inspiration
According to Frazer, the early Greek kings, who were expected to produce rain for the benefit of the crops, were in the habit of imitating thunder and lightning in the character of Zeus. At Crannon
Cranon ( grc, Κρανών) or Crannon (Κραννών) was a town and polis (city-state) of Pelasgiotis, in ancient Thessaly, situated southwest of Larissa, and at the distance of 100 stadia from Gyrton, according to Strabo. Spelling differ ...
in Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
, there was a bronze chariot which in time of drought was shaken and prayers offered for rain. S. Reinach[S. Reinach ''Revue archéologique'', 1903, i. 154] suggests that the story that Salmoneus was struck by lightning was due to the misinterpretation of a picture, in which a Thessalian magician appeared bringing down lightning and rain from heaven. Hence arose the idea that he was the victim of the anger or jealousy of Zeus and that the picture represented his punishment.[
]
See also
*List of Hercules (1998 TV series) episodes
The following is a list of episodes from the TV series ''Hercules''.
All major voice actors from the 1997 film reprise their roles, except for Zeus and Philoctetes who are voiced in the series by Corey Burton and Robert Costanzo, respectively. T ...
, season 1, episode 2
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
*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 ...
, ''The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. 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
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 ...
, ''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
* Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, ''Catalogue of Women
The ''Catalogue of Women'' ( grc, Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gunaikôn Katálogos)—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' ( grc, Ἠοῖαι, Ēoîai, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Title ...
'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914
Online version at theio.com
* 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 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.
* Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Publius Vergilius Maro
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
, ''Aeneid.'' Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Publius Vergilius Maro
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
, ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900
Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Tzetzes, John, ''Book of Histories,'' Book VII-VIII translated by Vasiliki Dogani from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826
Online version at theio.com
{{Greek-myth-stub
Aeolides
Princes in Greek mythology
Kings of Elis
Kings in Greek mythology
Condemned souls in Tartarus
Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid
Thessalian characters in Greek mythology
Characters in Greek mythology
Elean mythology
Thessalian mythology
Deeds of Zeus
Classical mythology in popular culture