After the death of Tantalus, his son Pelops, so miraculously saved by the gods, began to rule in the city of Sipylus. He did not rule for long in his native Sipylus. King Il of Troy went to war against Pelops. This war was unfortunate for Pelops. The mighty king of Troy defeated him. Pelops had to leave his homeland. He loaded all his treasures onto fast ships and set off with his faithful companions on a long journey across the sea, to the shores of Greece. Pelops reached the peninsula in the very south of Greece and settled on it. Since then, this peninsula began to be called Peloponnese after Pelops.
One day Pelops saw in his new homeland the beautiful Hippodamia, the daughter of the king of the city of Pisa, Oenomaus. The hero was captivated by Oenomaus's daughter with her beauty, and he decided to get her as his wife.
It was difficult to obtain the hand of Hippodamia. Oenomaus was predicted by the oracle that he would die at the hands of his daughter’s husband. To prevent such a fate, Oenomaus decided not to marry off his daughter. But what should he do? How to refuse all the suitors who asked for Hippodamia’s hand in marriage? Many heroes came to Oenomaus and wooed his daughter. He would insult them by refusing them all for no reason. Finally Oenomai found a way out. He announced that he would give Hippodamia as a wife only to the hero who would defeat him in a chariot race, but if he himself turned out to be the winner, then the loser must pay with his life. Oenomaus decided to do this because there was no equal in all of Greece in the art of driving a chariot, and his horses were faster than the stormy north wind Boreas. The king of Pisa could be sure that not a single hero would defeat him. However, the fear of losing their lives by dying at the hands of the cruel Oenomaus did not stop many heroes of Greece. One after another they came to his palace, ready to compete with him, just to get Hippodamia as his wife - she was so beautiful. An evil fate befell all of them, Oenomaus killed them all, and nailed their heads to the doors of his palace, so that every hero who came again, seeing how many glorious heroes had fallen at the hands of Oenomaus, would know in advance what fate awaited him. This did not stop the hero Pelops either. He decided to get Hippodamia at any cost and went to the hard-hearted king Oenomaus.
Oenomaus received Pelops sternly and said to him:
- Do you want to marry my daughter Hippodamia? Have you not seen how many glorious heroes laid down their lives for her in a dangerous competition? Look, you won’t escape their fate either!
“I am not afraid of the fate of the dead heroes,” Pelops answered the king. “I believe the gods of Olympus will help me!” With their help I will get Hippodamia as my wife.
A cruel smile snaked across Oenomaus’s lips; He had heard similar speeches many times.
“Listen, Pelops,” he said, “here are the conditions of the competition: the path runs from the city of Pisa through the entire Peloponnese to Isthmus itself, it ends at the altar of the ruler of the seas, Poseidon; this altar is located near Corinth. If you reach the altar first, then you have won, but woe to you if I overtake you on the way! Then my spear will pierce you, as it has already pierced many heroes, and you will ingloriously descend into the dark kingdom of Hades. I will give you only one indulgence, I gave it to everyone else: you will set off on the journey before me, but I will first make a sacrifice to the great Thunderer and only then will I mount my chariot. Hurry to travel as far as possible while I make the sacrifice.
Pelops left Oenomaus. He saw that only by cunning would he be able to defeat the cruel king. Pelops managed to find an assistant. He secretly went to Oenomaus' charioteer Myrtil, the son of Hermes, and asked him, promising rich gifts, not to insert a check into the axles, so that the wheels would come off Oenomaus's chariot and this would delay the king on his way. Myrtil hesitated for a long time, but finally Pelops seduced him with rich gifts, and Myrtil promised him to do what he asked.
It's morning. The rising rose-fingered Eos gilded the firmament. The radiant Helios appeared in the sky on his golden chariot. The competition will now begin. Pelops prayed to the great earth shaker Poseidon, asking him for help, and jumped onto his chariot. King Oenomaus approached the altar of Zeus and gave a sign to Pelops that he could set off. Pelops drove the horses at full speed. The wheels of his chariot rattle over the stones. Horses fly like birds. Pelops quickly disappears into a cloud of dust. He is driven by his love for Hippodamia and fear for his life. Far behind him the roar of Oenomaus's chariot was heard. The rumble is getting clearer. The king of Pisa overtakes the son of Tantalus. The king's horses rush like a storm, and the dust from the chariot wheels spins like a whirlwind. Pelops hit the horses with his whip; They rushed even faster. The air whistles in the ears of Pelops from the mad running of the horses, but how can he get away from the horses of Oenomaus, because the king’s horses are faster than the north wind! Oenomai is getting closer and closer. Pelops already feels the hot breath of Oenomaus’s horses behind him, and, looking back a little, he already sees how the king swung his spear with a triumphant laugh. Pelops prayed to Poseidon, and the ruler of the boundless sea heard him. The wheels came off the axles of Oenomaus's chariots, the chariot overturned, and the hard-hearted king of Pisa fell to the ground. Oenomai fell to his death, and the darkness of death covered his eyes.
Pelops returned triumphantly to Pisa, took Hippodamia as his wife and took possession of the entire kingdom of Oenomaus. When Myrtilos, the charioteer of Oenomaus, came to Pelops and began to demand half the kingdom as a reward, Pelops felt sorry to part with half the kingdom. The treacherous son of Tantalus lured Myrtil to the seashore by cunning and pushed him from a high cliff into the stormy waves. Falling from a cliff, Myrtil cursed Pelops and all his offspring. No matter how hard the son of Tantalus tried to soften the angry soul of Myrtil, no matter how hard he tried to soften the anger of his father, Hermes, it was all in vain. Myrtil's curse was fulfilled. Since then, the descendants of Pelops have been haunted by innumerable misfortunes, and with their atrocities they brought upon themselves the punishment of the gods.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru