Hippocoon (King of Sparta)
Hippocoon ( Greek Ἱπποκόων , the horse connoisseur ) was in Greek mythology the eldest son of Oibalos , king of Sparta , and the nymph Bateia .
Accession to the throne
After Oibalo's death, Hippocoon's half-brother Tyndareus first ascended the throne of Sparta. He justified this with the fact that his mother Gorgophone (daughter of Perseus) was the actual wife of Oibalos and Bateia was only a concubine. A short time later, however, Hippokoon drove Tyndareos and his brother Ikarios from their homeland and, as the eldest son, legally took over, as he said, the government. According to the library of Apollodorus , all three sons of Bateia and Tyndareus were the eldest, i.e. the rightful heir to the throne.
family
Hippokoon fathered twenty sons, the so-called Hippokoontiden, whose names, however, are not all passed down: Dorykleus , Skaios , Enarophoros , Euteiches , Bukolos , Lykaithos , Tebros , Hippothoos , Eurytos , Hippokorystes , Alkinous , Alkon , Dorkeus, Earaiphoros., Earaiphoros., and Enarsphoros.
Battle with Heracles
When Oionus , the son of Likymnios and friend of Heracles , came to Sparta and stood in front of the palace of the Hippocoon, a Molottian sheepdog rushed towards him . Oionos threw a stone at the animal, killing it. For this he was slain by the sons of the Hippocoon. The angry Heracles called them to fight, but was wounded and withdrew. His half-brother Iphicles died in this fight.
After Heracles had madly killed Iphitus, he came to Hippocoon, but was not purified from this act by this. Also Neleus refused to cleaning, so Heracles marched against Neleus to war. The sons of the Hippocoon rushed to Neleus' aid, but could not prevent his defeat.
The killing of Oionus, the refused purification, the support of Neleus and the killing of his half-brother were reason enough for Heracles to go to war against Hippocoon. He conquered Sparta and killed Hippocoon and his sons and returned the government to Tyndareus.
swell
- Library of Apollodorus , 2, 143; 2, 145; 3, 123-125.
- Clement of Alexandria , admonition to the Greeks , 2.
- Diodor , Bibliotheca historica , 4, 33, 5 - 6.
- Herodotus , Histories , 5, 60.
- Pausanias , travels in Greece , 2, 18, 7; 3, 1, 4; 3, 10, 6; 3, 14, 6; 3, 15, 1-5; 3, 21, 2; 8, 53, 9.
- Plutarch , Theseus .
- Strabon , Geographica , 461.
literature
- Johannes Zwicker : Hippokoon 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VIII, 2, Stuttgart 1913, Sp. 1774-1776 ( digitized version ).
- Theodor Heinze: Hippokoon 1. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Sp. 586.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Tyndareos |
King of Sparta 13th century BC Chr. (Fictional chronology) |
Tyndareos |