Chrysippus
A son of Pelops whose abduction by Laius of Thebes brought a curse upon the house of Laius and introduced the theme of transgression that haunted the Oedipus cycle
The Legend of Chrysippus
Chrysippus was the illegitimate but favoured son of Pelops, the legendary king of Pisa in the Peloponnese. His beauty attracted the attention of Laius, the young prince of Thebes, who had been exiled to the court of Pelops. Laius abducted the boy during the Nemean Games, committing an act that Greeks considered a profound violation of the guest-host relationship. Some traditions hold that Chrysippus killed himself from shame. Others say he was murdered by his half-brothers Atreus and Thyestes, urged on by their mother Hippodamia, who feared Chrysippus would inherit the throne over her own sons. In either case, Pelops cursed Laius for his crime, and this curse was linked directly to the fate of the house of Thebes: the oracle later warned Laius that he must not father a son, for that son — Oedipus — would kill him and marry his own mother. The abduction of Chrysippus thus served as the original sin that set the entire Oedipus cycle in motion.
Parents
Pelops
Symbols
Explore Further
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Thyestes
🗡 herocurse
Brother of Atreus who seduced his sister-in-law and was tricked into eating his own children at the feast of Atreus.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Leucippus of Messene
🗡 heroFatherhood, Daughters, Spartan Rivalry
Messenian king whose daughters Hilaeira and Phoebe were carried off by Castor and Polydeuces.
Aletes
🗡 heroWandering, Vengeance, Kingship
Son of Aegisthus who briefly seized the Mycenaean throne before being killed by Electra.
Pentheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes torn apart by his own mother for opposing the worship of Dionysus
Aleus
🗡 heroKingship, Arcadia
King of Tegea in Arcadia and founder of the great temple of Athena Alea
Jocasta
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Thebes who unknowingly married her own son Oedipus after his return
Myrtilus
🗡 herocurse
Charioteer of King Oenomaus bribed by Pelops to sabotage his master's chariot, then murdered by Pelops and the origin of the Pelopid curse.
Amyntor
🗡 heroKingship, paternal conflict
King of Eleon or Ormenion whose curse upon his son Phoenix led to one of the Iliad's most poignant speeches
Althaemenes
🗡 heroFate, exile
Cretan prince who fled to Rhodes to avoid a prophecy that he would kill his father, only to fulfil it