Eurysthenes (Sparta)

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Eurysthenes ( Greek Εὐρυσθένης Eurysthénēs ), the son of Aristodemus and Argeia , daughter of Autesion , was a mythical king of Sparta . Together with his twin brother Prokles, he was considered the founder of the Spartan state and the first king of the Agiads .

When the Heraclids were preparing to conquer the Peloponnese , Aristodemus was struck by lightning. Since Eurysthenes and Prokles were still too young, Theras , the brother of their mother Argeia, was appointed their guardian. After the conquest, the land was divided by lot. So fell to the twin brothers Laconia . Temenos received Argos and Kresphontes Messenia .

Now the older of the two was to be crowned king. Since they were very similar, even Argeia could not solve the problem. That is why Delphi asked for advice. The Pythia advised both to be appointed king, but the elder should be the more powerful.

In order to ultimately decide who was the elder, the Messenian Panites suggested that one should secretly observe the mother to see whether she would prefer one of the children to wash and feed. So it was determined that Eurysthenes is the elder. Power was shared between both, but Eurysthenes and his descendants, the so-called agiads, were considered to be the more powerful. After that, the two brothers were forever enemies.

When they were old enough, they took over rule from their guardian. Theras went to Santorini and founded his own empire there with the help of Eurysthenes and Prokles. After Eurysthenes' death his son Agis became king of Sparta.

Jerome calls him Eurystheus and lets him reign for 42 years.

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literature

  • Paul Poralla: Prosopography of the Lacedaemonians up to the time of Alexander the great. Dissertation Breslau 1913, p. 59 ( full text ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hieronymus, chronicum Eusebii from Hieronymo retractatum ad annum Abrahae 2395 109.
predecessor Office successor
Tisamenos King of Sparta Agis I.