View source for Oenomaus

== Mythology ==

=== Courtship of Hippodamia ===

King Oenomaus, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed eighteen suitors of his daughter Hippodamia after defeating them in a [[Chariot racing|chariot race]]. He affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace.<ref>The story of Pelops' chariot race is told by Nestor to Menelaus, in [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]]'s continuation of the ''[[Iliad]]'' (IV.527-34).</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] was shown what was purportedly the last standing column in the late 2nd century AD; he mentions that [[Pelops]] erected a monument in honor of all the suitors who preceded him, and lists their names:<ref>Pausanias, 6.21.9–11, with a reference to ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'' fr. 259(a)</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
# [[Marmax]]
# [[Alcathous]], son of [[Porthaon]]
# [[Euryalus]]
# [[Eurymachus]]
# [[Crotalus (mythology)|Crotalus]]
# [[Acrias (mythology)|Acrias]] of [[Lacedaemon]], founder of Acriae
# [[Capetus (mythology)|Capetus]]
# [[Lycurgus (mythology)|Lycurgus]]
# [[Lasius (mythology)|Lasius]]
# [[Chalcodon]]
# [[Tricolonus]]
# [[Aristomachus (mythology)|Aristomachus]]
# [[Prias]]
# [[Pelagon]]
# [[Aeolius (suitor of Hippodamia)|Aeolius]]
# [[Cronius (mythology)|Cronius]]
# [[Erythras]], son of [[Leucon]]
# [[Eioneus]], son of [[Magnes (mythology)|Magnes]]
{{div col end}}

Alternatively, the reason Oenomaus wouldn't allow his daughter to marry was because he himself was in love with her.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+Epit.+E.2.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 E.2.4]</ref><ref>Hyginus, [[Fabulae]] [https://topostext.org/work/206#253 253]</ref>

=== Death ===
[[Pelops]] son of King [[Tantalus]] of Lydia, came to ask for her hand and prepared to race Oenomaus. Worried about losing, Pelops went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover.<ref>Pindar, ''First Olympian Ode'' 71</ref> Reminding Poseidon of their love ("Aphrodite's sweet gifts"), he asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''Tusculanae Disputationes'' 2.27.67 (noted in Karl Kerenyi, ''The Heroes of the Greeks'', 1959:64).</ref> Pelops and Hippodamia, very much in love, devised a plan to replace the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the [[chariot]] axle with fake ones made of beeswax. The race began, and went on for a long time. But just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Oenomaus' charioteer, [[Myrtilus]], survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses.

Pelops then killed Myrtilus (by throwing him off a cliff into the sea as he cursed him) after the latter attempted to claim Hippodamia. As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelops. This was the source of the curse that haunted descendants of Pelops', including [[Atreus]], [[Thyestes]], [[Agamemnon]], [[Aegisthus]], [[Menelaus]] and [[Orestes]]. Also, the burial place of Myrtilus was a ''[[taraxippus]]'' in Olympia, a "horse-frightening place" during races.

In memory of Oenomaus, the Olympic Games were created (or alternatively the Olympic Games were in celebration of Pelops' victory). Oenomaus' chariot race was one legendary origin of the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]; one of its turning-posts was preserved, and round it grew an [[Ancient Elis|Elean]] legend of a burnt "house of Oenomaus", reported by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] in the 2nd century AD.<ref>Eric L. Brulotte, "The "Pillar of Oinomaos" and the Location of Stadium I at Olympia", ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''98'''.1 (January 1994), pp. 53-64,</ref>