Oionos
Oionos ( ancient Greek Οἰωνός , "bird of prey") is a son of Likymnios and Perimede , the sister of Amphitryon , in Greek mythology . His brothers are Argeios and Melas .
Oionos was the first Olympian in the stadium run , originally the only discipline of the competitions, during the Olympic Games organized by Heracles and came to Olympia at the head of an armed squad from Midea .
Oionos was Herakles' friend and companion, at the same time through his father's half-sister, Alkmene , a cousin of the hero. While he was in Sparta with him and was roaming the city, a dog suddenly attacked him. He successfully fought back with a stone, but now the dog's owners, the sons of Hippocoon , King of Sparta, ran out of the house and beat him with clubs. Heracles, extremely upset by what had happened, immediately unleashed a fight, but was wounded by the hippocoonids and had to withdraw. He later returned, avenged the Oionus and killed Hippocoon and his twenty sons.
The grave of Oionos in Sparta next to the sanctuary of Heracles was shown to Pausanias .
literature
- Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Oionos . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.1, Leipzig 1902, Col. 802 f. ( Digitized version ).