Astydameia (wife of Akastus)

Astydameia ( Greek  Ἀστυδάμεια ) is a figure in Greek mythology .

Astydameia is the wife of King Akastus of Iolkos . According to Pindar , who calls her Hippolyte , she is a daughter of Cretheus . She falls in love with Peleus , who is a guest at her husband's court, so that he can be cleansed of his unintentional killing of Eurytion . She sends him an invitation which Peleus does not accept. Astydameia then sends a letter to Antigone , Peleus 'wife, in which she claims that Peleus intends to marry Sterope , Akastos' daughter. Peleus' wife therefore commits suicide. Astydameia also slanderously explains to her husband Akastos that Peleus tried to seduce her. Akastos then becomes angry with his guest and takes him to hunt Mount Pelion . When Peleus fell asleep, he hides the sword and leaves him alone and defenseless in the wilderness. Peleus is attacked by Centaurs , but is saved by Cheiron .

Later Peleus avenges himself by returning to Iolkos together with Jason and the Dioscuri , killing Akastus and Astydameia and having Astydameia's corpse dismembered. Then he leads his army over the limbs of her corpse into the city.

swell

• Libraries of Apollodorus 3, 13 2-3. 7th
• Pindar , Nemeen 4, 57; 5, 26.

literature

• Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Astydameia 2) . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 661 ( digitized version ).
• Ulrich Hoefer : Astydameia 2 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, Sp. 1868.