Tharyps

Tharyps ( Greek  Θάρυψ , also: Tharypas Θαρύπας or Tharybas ; † 385 BC ) is the first in historical sources documented king of the Molossians , who lived in the Epirus region . Tharyps was the founder of the Aiakid family .

Tharyps became nominal around 430 BC. King in childhood. However, shortly afterwards he had to flee from an oligarchical conspiracy from Epirus. The conspirators made a pact with Sparta and led the Molossians on his side in the Peloponnesian War . The young Tharyps was accepted in Athens . There he received education and became familiar with classical Greek culture. The Athenians granted Tharyps civil rights and when he came to rule over the Molossians, he remained connected to the city of his youth.

Some of what Tharyps had learned in exile he introduced into his kingdom. He was active as a city founder by amalgamating unfortified villages into larger, walled settlements ( synoicism ). He introduced the written form in the administration and minted his own coins. Tharyps is also credited with drawing up a formal constitution for his country.

The Molossians occupied the oracle site Dodona in the time of Tharyps . The important sanctuary in Epirus had previously belonged to the territory of the Thesproter .

swell

• Thucydides II, 80-81
• Plutarch , Pyrrhus 1, 3
• Justin 17: 3, 9-13

literature

• Susanne Funke: Aiakid myth and epiphany royalty. The way of a Hellenic monarchy . Stuttgart 2000, pp. 127-129. ISBN 3-515-07611-5
• Nicholas GL Hammond: Epirus. The geography, the ancient remains, the history and topography of Epirus and adjacent areas . Oxford 1967, p. 505 ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Admetos	King of the Molossians 430–385 BC Chr.	Alketas I.