Hubbry Logo
SalmoneusSalmoneusMain
Open search
Salmoneus
Community hub
Salmoneus
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Salmoneus
Salmoneus
Salmoneus
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

In Greek mythology, Salmoneus (/səlˈmoʊniəs/; Ancient Greek: Σαλμωνεύς) was 'the wicked'[1] eponymous king and founder of Salmone in Pisatis.[2]

Red-figure vase, dating c.460 BCE, depicting the mythical King Salmoneus imitating Zeus.

Family

[edit]

Salmoneus was formerly a Thessalian prince as son of King Aeolus of Aeolia. His mother was identified as (1) Enarete, daughter of Deimachus, or (2) Iphis, daughter of Peneus,[3] or (3) Laodice,[4] daughter of Aloeus. Salmoneus was the brother of Athamas, Sisyphus, Cretheus, Perieres, Deioneus, Magnes, Calyce, Canace, Alcyone, Pisidice and Perimede.[1][5]

Salmoneus's first wife was Alcidice by whom he became the father of Tyro, while his second wife was Sidero.[6]

Mythology

[edit]

Emigrating from Aeolis with a number of Aeolians, Salmoneus founded a city in Eleia (Elis) on the banks of the river Alpheius and called it Salmonia after his own name. He then married Alcidice, the daughter of Aleus but when she died, the king took for a second wife Sidero who treated his beautiful daughter Tyro unkindly.[7]

Salmoneus and his brother Sisyphus hated each other. Sisyphus found out from an oracle that if he married Tyro, she would bear him children who would kill Salmoneus. At first, Tyro submitted to Sisyphus, married him, and bore him a son. When Tyro found out what the child would do to Salmoneus, she killed the boy. It was soon after this that Tyro lay with Poseidon and bore him Pelias and Neleus.

Salmoneus, being an overbearing man and impious, came to be hated by his subjects for he ordered them to worship him under the name of Zeus.[8] He built a bridge of brass, over which he drove at full speed in his chariot to imitate thunder, the effect being heightened by dried skins and cauldrons trailing behind while torches were thrown into the air to represent lightning. For this sin of hubris, Zeus eventually struck him down with his thunderbolt and destroyed the town.[9][10]

And he [i.e. Salmoneus] acted profanely, by casting torches (in the air) as if they were lightnings,
And dragging dried hides with kettles at his chariot,
Pretending to make thunder, so he was thunderstruck by Zeus.[8]

Virgil's Aeneid has Salmoneus placed in Tartarus after Zeus smites him where he is subjected to eternal torment.[11]

Inspiration

[edit]

According to Frazer, the early Greek kings, who were expected to produce rain for the benefit of the crops, were in the habit of imitating thunder and lightning in the character of Zeus.[12][13] At Crannon in Thessaly, there was a bronze chariot which in time of drought was shaken and prayers offered for rain.[14] S. Reinach[15] suggests that the story that Salmoneus was struck by lightning was due to the misinterpretation of a picture, in which a Thessalian magician appeared bringing down lightning and rain from heaven. Hence arose the idea that he was the victim of the anger or jealousy of Zeus and that the picture represented his punishment.[10]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Salmoneus

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
In , Salmoneus (Ancient Greek: Σαλμωνεύς) was a legendary king of , renowned for his extreme in impersonating , the king of the gods, which led to his dramatic punishment by divine thunderbolt. As the son of , the ruler of the winds, and his wife Enarete, Salmoneus was a brother to figures such as and , placing him within the Aeolian lineage of Thessalian nobility. He initially resided in before migrating southward to the , where he founded the city of Salmonia near the Alpheius River in the region of Pisatis, establishing a new colony and kingdom in . Salmoneus's most infamous acts stemmed from his arrogance and ; he demanded worship as , drove his chariot while dragging bronze vessels to mimic , and hurled torches to simulate , even ordering sacrifices in his own honor rather than the gods'. This blasphemous imitation provoked , who responded by striking Salmoneus with a real , incinerating him and utterly destroying his city along with its inhabitants. In the , Salmoneus was condemned to eternal torment for his mockery of the divine, as depicted in Virgil's . Despite his downfall, Salmoneus left a significant legacy through his family. He married Alcidice, daughter of Aleus, and fathered Tyro, who became the mother of the heroes Pelias and Neleus by Poseidon; these grandsons went on to rule in Thessaly and the Peloponnese, with their descendants including Jason of the Argonauts and Nestor, the wise king of Pylos during the Trojan War. Later traditions mention a second marriage to Sidero. Salmoneus's story serves as a cautionary tale in ancient literature about the perils of hubris (hybris), emphasizing the boundaries between mortal ambition and divine authority, and it appears in key texts such as Apollodorus's Bibliotheca, Hesiod's Catalogue of Women, and Homer's Odyssey.

Family and Origins

Parentage and Siblings

Salmoneus was the son of , the mythical ruler of the regions around and eponymous ancestor of the Aeolian Greeks, who named his subjects after himself. His mother was Enarete, daughter of , as attested in the primary tradition. and Enarete had seven sons—Cretheus, , , Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes, and Perieres—and five daughters: Canace, Alcyone, Pisidice, Calyce, and Perimede. Among the brothers, is notable as the founder of in , establishing a key center of Aeolian influence in the region. , another brother, founded Ephyra, later known as , extending the family's legacy beyond . The , descending from as grandson of , played a pivotal role in by linking heroic genealogies across and other areas, with siblings like and Magnes contributing to narratives in and Magnesia. This lineage underscored Salmoneus's position within a network of rulers whose migrations and foundations shaped early Greek regional identities.

Marriages and Offspring

Salmoneus first married Alcidice, the daughter of Aleus, king of Arcadia, and she bore him a daughter named Tyro, renowned for her beauty. After Alcidice's death without further issue, Salmoneus wed Sidero as his second wife, who treated the young Tyro harshly as a stepmother would. Tyro, raised by her uncle Cretheus—Salmoneus's brother and king of Iolcus—eventually married him and bore three sons: Aeson, Pheres, and Amythaon. However, Tyro secretly conceived a passion for the river god Enipeus; Poseidon, disguising himself as the river, lay with her and fathered the twins Pelias and Neleus, whom she exposed at birth but who were later discovered and raised by herdsmen. Upon recognizing their heritage, Pelias and Neleus avenged Tyro by slaying Sidero in the temple of Hera, an act of cruelty that provoked divine retribution and influenced subsequent interventions in their lineage. The offspring of played pivotal roles in : became king of , where he usurped the throne from and later dispatched on the quest for the in the cycle, while ruled and fathered Nestor, a key ally of the in the . These connections tied Salmoneus's descendants to major heroic narratives, underscoring the enduring impact of familial strife on broader mythic events.

Mythological Narrative

Founding of Salmonia

Salmoneus, a son of from , led a group of Aeolian colonists southward to the , settling in the region of Pisatis within . There, he founded a city that he named Salmonia after himself, establishing it as the center of his new domain. This migration marked a key expansion of Aeolian influence beyond their Thessalian homeland. The settlement of Salmonia was located on the banks of the Alpheius River, in southern near the border with , serving as the fortified capital from which Salmoneus governed his territory. Ancient geographer records that Salmoneus reigned over Pisatis, a divided into eight cities, one of which bore the name Salmonê, underscoring the city's eponymous origins and strategic position in the fertile valley. further describes the foundation as a deliberate act of , with Salmoneus bringing settlers from to build and populate the site. In his early rule, Salmoneus focused on consolidating power in through governance that echoed divine authority, laying the foundations for territorial control in the region. This contrasted with his brother , who remained in and founded the city of as his own seat of power, thereby establishing parallel Aeolian dynasties in distinct areas—one in the north and the other in the southwest .

Conflicts with Kin

Salmoneus maintained a deep-seated rivalry with his brother , stemming from mutual hatred that influenced their claims to influence within the Aeolian territories. , driven by enmity, consulted the god Apollo on how to eliminate Salmoneus, receiving that he would father children through his niece who would accomplish the deed. In pursuit of this, seduced , resulting in the birth of two sons, but upon discovering the oracle's intent, drowned the infants to protect her father. This cunning maneuver by , though thwarted, underscored the fraternal discord that disrupted familial succession and alliances among Aeolus's descendants. Tensions within Salmoneus's household escalated due to the mistreatment of his daughter by her Sidero, Salmoneus's second wife after the death of Alcidice. Sidero treated harshly, as a typical would, fostering resentment that prompted to seek refuge with her uncle in . This abuse contributed to 's decision to expose her twin sons and , born of , fearing her father's wrath or further household strife; the infants were rescued and raised by herdsmen far from Salmoneus's court in . Broader conflicts with his brother further strained kin relations, as not only raised but also married her, relocating her to and integrating her children into his domain, which shifted power dynamics away from Salmoneus's influence in . Upon learning their heritage, and returned to avenge their mother's mistreatment by slaying Sidero, even as she sought in Hera's temple, an act that solidified their separation from Salmoneus's lineage and established rival centers of power in and . These familial disputes ultimately fragmented Aeolian alliances, with and ruling independently and excluding Salmoneus's direct oversight.

Imitation of Zeus and Downfall

Salmoneus, driven by , sought to equate himself with by demanding that his subjects offer sacrifices to him as if he were the supreme god. He further impersonated the deity's power during public processions, harnessing four horses to a and driving it swiftly while dragging bronze vessels behind to replicate the rumble of thunder, and hurling blazing torches skyward to mimic bolts. Enraged by this , responded decisively by hurling a at Salmoneus, incinerating the king and utterly destroying the city of Salmonia along with its inhabitants. This emphasized the perils of mortal presumption against the gods, as Salmoneus's attempts at imitation paled against 's authentic might. In the aftermath, Salmoneus's family dispersed amid the ruins, though his daughter Tyro's lineage endured; she bore sons and to , who later established kingdoms in and , respectively. The Roman poet later depicted Salmoneus suffering eternal torment in , where he is perpetually scourged and driven by a whirlwind as punishment for his audacious mimicry of Jupiter's storms.

Literary and Historical Context

Depictions in Ancient Sources

Salmoneus appears in Homer's Odyssey (11.235–259), where the shade of Tyro recounts her parentage, identifying herself as the daughter of Salmoneus and wife of Cretheus, thus establishing his role in the early genealogical traditions of the Aeolian line. Salmoneus first appears in Hesiod's Catalogue of Women, an archaic genealogical poem, where he is briefly noted as one of the sons of Aeolus, alongside Cretheus, Athamas, Sisyphus, and Perieres, and described as "wicked" (kakos), hinting at his impious character. In the same work, he is identified as the father of Tyro, who bore sons Neleus and Pelias to Poseidon before marrying Cretheus, thus linking Salmoneus to the lineage of later heroes like Jason. The most detailed early account survives in Apollodorus's Library (1.9.7), a Hellenistic of myths, which describes Salmoneus migrating from to , where he founded a city and married Alcidice, daughter of Sciron, fathering (though some variants attribute Tyro to a second wife, Sidero). There, his manifests as he claims to be , diverts sacrifices to himself, and mimics thunder by dragging bronze vessels behind his while hurling torches to imitate , prompting to strike him and his city with a real , annihilating all inhabitants. Diodorus Siculus, in his Library of History (4.68), expands on the founding narrative, portraying as a son of who led Aeolian colonists from to establish Salmonia near the Alpheius River in , marrying first Alcidicê (daughter of Aleus) to father , and later Sidero, who abused Tyro. He reiterates the —demanding divine honors and imitating thunder—culminating in Zeus's thunderbolt slaying him, while Tyro's sons and go on to rule and , respectively. In Roman literature, Virgil's (6.585–594) places Salmoneus in among the eternally punished sinners, emphasizing his futile imitation of Jove: riding through with a torch and four horses, he brandished bronze cymbals and hoofbeats to feign thunder and lightning, only for the father of gods to hurl a true bolt from the clouds, driving him headlong in a whirlwind. This depiction underscores his role as a cautionary figure of , confined to unending torment. Geographical references appear in Strabo's Geography (8.3.12 and 8.5.6), where he connects the name of the town Salmone (or Salmonia) in Pisatis, Elis, to its mythical founder Salmoneus, situating it near the sources of the Enipeus River and noting its role in local topography and etiology. Byzantine scholiast John Tzetzes, in his commentary on Lycophron's Alexandra (§175), preserves variants on Salmoneus's family, affirming him as Tyro's father with Alcidice and noting her upbringing by his brother Cretheus, while tracing the lineage to Pelias and Neleus without altering the core impiety motif. The myth evolves from Hesiod's fragmentary genealogical role—focusing on descent and a terse "wickedness"—to fuller narratives in and Diodorus as a of and , culminating in Virgil's moral exemplum of eternal suffering, reflecting a shift toward didactic emphasis in later Greco-Roman traditions.

Possible Historical Inspirations

Scholars have proposed that the of Salmoneus reflects real prehistoric practices among early kings in the drought-prone of , where rulers imitated thunder and to induce essential for . These kings reportedly clanged vessels and hurled flaming torches to mimic Zeus's power, a ritualistic effort to ensure crop fertility that parallels similar customs in other ancient cultures. detailed this theory in his analysis of kingship rituals, linking Salmoneus's story to a broader pattern of divine impersonation by monarchs responsible for weather control. Archaeological surveys in Pisatis yield no for the existence of Salmonia as a distinct city tied to Salmoneus, though the region features settlements that may contextualize the myth's geographical and cultural setting. In , the motif of Salmoneus as a thunder-god impostor echoes Near Eastern tales of mortals or rivals challenging deities like or , suggesting shared archetypes of divine usurpation across ancient traditions that may have influenced Greek storytelling.
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.