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28-516: In the historical period, several dynasties claimed descent from Heracles, such as the Agiads and Eurypontids of Sparta, or the Temenids of Macedonia . Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos , Lacedaemon and Messenian Pylos , had been supplanted by the cunning of Hera , and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of Eurystheus , king of Mycenae . After

56-556: A fleet at Naupactus , but before they set sail, Aristodemus was struck by lightning (or shot by Apollo ) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heracleidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer. The oracle, being again consulted by Temenus , bade him offer an expiatory sacrifice and banish the murderer for ten years, and look out for a man with three eyes to act as guide. On his way back to Naupactus , Temenus fell in with Oxylus , an Aetolian, who had lost one eye, riding on

84-424: A fourth under Aristomachus , both unsuccessful. At last, Temenus , Cresphontes and Aristodemus , the sons of Aristomachus, complained to the oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them. They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits of Rhium . They accordingly built

112-482: A horse (thus making up the three eyes) and immediately pressed him into his service. According to another account, a mule on which Oxylus rode had lost an eye. The Heracleidae repaired their ships, sailed from Naupactus to Antirrhium , and thence to Rhium in Peloponnesus . A decisive battle was fought with Tisamenus , son of Orestes , the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain. This conquest

140-468: A publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911). " Heraclidae ". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 308–309. Agiad dynasty The Agiad dynasty ( Ancient Greek : Ἀγιάδαι , Agiádai ) was one of the two royal families of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta . They ruled jointly along with

168-467: Is far too long and a consequence of the descent from Herakles myth. Paul Cartledge suggest an average length of 30 years per generation, thus giving a regnal date of c. 930–900 for Agis I, founder of the Agiads. These dates relate well with the archaeological evidence. Spartan kings are shown in bold , all dates BC. Aristodemus In Greek mythology , Aristodemus ( Ancient Greek : Ἀριστόδημος)

196-513: Is no mention of these Heraclidae or their invasion in Homer or Hesiod . Herodotus (vi. 52) speaks of poets who had celebrated their deeds, but these were limited to events immediately succeeding the death of Heracles. Herodotus says the Heraclids ruled Lydia for 505 years through 22 generations with son succeeding father all down the line from Agron to Candaules. While Candaules was the last of

224-489: Is probable that the two dynasties came to rule jointly under the kings Archelaus (Agiad) and Charilaus (Eurypontid) in the 8th century, as a result of the synoecism that created the polis of Sparta. The city was composed of five villages ( Pitana , Mesoa , Limnai , Kynosoura , Amyklai ), the latter of which merged with the other four after the initial synoecism. The Agiads had their burial ground located in Pitana, while

252-463: The Delphic oracle , which told him to wait for "the third fruit", (or "the third crop") and then enter Peloponnesus by "a narrow passage by sea". Accordingly, after three years, Hyllus marched across the isthmus of Corinth to attack Atreus , the successor of Eurystheus , but was slain in single combat by Echemus , king of Tegea . This second attempt was followed by a third under Cleodaeus and

280-539: The Eurypontid dynasty , possibly from the 8th century BC onwards, being the senior of the two houses. The hypothetical founder of the dynasty was Agis I , possibly the first king of Sparta at the end of the 10th century BC, who subsequently gave his name to the dynasty. The two lines, who maintained an enduring rivalry, were, according to tradition, respectively descended from the twins Eurysthenes and Procles , both descendants of Heracles . The most famous member of

308-666: The Lapithae , adopted Hyllus and made over to him a third part of his territory. After the death of Aegimius , his two sons, Pamphylus and Dymas , voluntarily submitted to Hyllus (who was, according to the Dorian tradition in Herodotus V. 72, really an Achaean ), who thus became ruler of the Dorians, the three branches of that race being named after these three heroes. Desiring to reconquer his paternal inheritance, Hyllus consulted

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336-705: The Agiad dynasty was Leonidas I , known for his heroic death at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The last Agiad king was Agesipolis III , deposed by the Eurypontid Lycurgus in 215 BC. In order to explain the peculiarity of the Spartan two kings, the Spartans elaborated a legend saying that Aristodemos —the first king of Sparta—had twins, Eurysthenes and Prokles . Since the Spartans did not know who

364-476: The Agiads. As a result, in order to balance the two royal lines, several names were inserted in the list of Eurypontid kings, such as Soos (meaning "stability"), Prytanis and Eunomos (said to have ruled at the same time as Lycurgus ). Thus, while the Agiads might have ruled from the end of the 10th century, the Eurypontids only received the kingship in the beginning of the 8th century at the earliest. It

392-479: The Eurypontids were in Limnai, which suggest that the dual monarchy was created when the four villages merged. Archelaus and Charilaus are the first kings of Sparta that are considered together in ancient sources: following the oracle of Delphi , they destroyed and conquered Aigys , in the northwest of Sparta. The connection of the Spartan kings with Heracles likely dates of the same period, which also witnessed

420-621: The Great , under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece , defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India . The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus . The Greek tragedians amplified the story, probably drawing inspiration from local legends which glorified the services rendered by Athens to the rulers of Peloponnesus. The Heracleidae feature as

448-556: The Heraclids to reign at Sardis , Herodotus says Agron was the first and thereby implies that Sardis was already the capital of Lydia in Maeonian times. Candaules died c.687 BC and so the 505-year span stated by Herodotus suggests c.1192 BC for Agron's accession. That is about the time the Hurri-Hittite empire collapsed and thus the land of seha river could become independent from its Hittite overlords and gives more credibility to

476-592: The best land of all.) The fertile district of Elis had been reserved by agreement for Oxylus . The Heracleidae ruled in Lacedaemon until 221 BCE, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries. This conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, commonly called the "Dorian invasion" or the "Return of the Heraclidae", is represented as the recovery by the descendants of Heracles of the rightful inheritance of their hero ancestor and his sons. The Dorians followed

504-656: The construction of the Menelaion , a heroon to Menelaus . The genealogies given by the Greek writers Herodotus and Pausanias remain highly suspect before the 5th century, as it is not conceivably believable to have 16 direct successions (from father to son) from Eurystenes and Prokles. A lot of successions must have been collateral, especially when considering that of the 26 successions that took place after 491, only 14 were from father to son. Moreover, ancient chronologies produce an average length of 40 years per reign, which

532-462: The custom of other Greek tribes in claiming as ancestor for their ruling families one of the legendary heroes, but the traditions must not on that account be regarded as entirely mythical. They represent a joint invasion of Peloponnesus by Aetolians and Dorians, the latter having been driven southward from their original northern home under pressure from the Thessalians. It is noticeable that there

560-504: The death of Heracles , his children, after many wanderings, found refuge from Eurystheus at Athens . Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain. Hyllus and his brothers then invaded Peloponnesus, but after a year's stay were forced by a pestilence to quit. They withdrew to Thessaly , where Aegimius , the mythical ancestor of the Dorians , whom Heracles had assisted in war against

588-551: The first scene makes clear, they expect that the blood relationship of the kings with Heracles and their father's past indebtedness to Theseus will finally provide them sanctuary. As Eurystheus prepares to attack, an oracle tells Demophon that only the sacrifice of a noble woman to Persephone can guarantee an Athenian victory. Macaria volunteers for the sacrifice and a spring is named the Macarian spring in her honor. [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from

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616-584: The main subjects of Euripides ' play, Heracleidae . J. A. Spranger found the political subtext of Heracleidae , never far to seek, so particularly apt in Athens towards the end of the peace of Nicias, in 419 BCE, that he suggested the date as that of the play's first performance. In the tragedy, Iolaus , Heracles' old comrade and nephew, and Heracles' children, Macaria and her brothers and sisters have hidden from Eurystheus in Athens , ruled by King Demophon ; as

644-528: The third fruit was ripe. They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth , but the straits of Rhium . They accordingly built a fleet at Naupactus , but before they set sail, Aristodemus was struck by lightning (or shot by Apollo ) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heraclidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer. His brothers were later able to conquer

672-539: The tradition heard by Herodotus. The known Heraclid kings are: At Sparta , the Heraclids formed two dynasties ruling jointly: the Agiads and the Eurypontids . Other Spartiates also claimed Heraclid descent, such as Lysander . At Corinth the Heraclids ruled as the Bacchiadae dynasty before the aristocratic revolution, which brought a Bacchiad aristocracy into power. A descendant of Heracles, Temenus ,

700-510: Was born first, they opted for a diarchy , a college of two kings with the same power; Eurysthenes being the first Agiad, Prokles the first Eurypontid. Modern scholars consider instead Agis I and Eurypon to be the founders of each dynasty, as they give their name to their descendants, not the mythical twins. The two dynasties were however not related until the Hellenistic era and the Eurypontids reached royal status much later than

728-537: Was one of the Heracleidae , son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus . He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnese . Aristodemus and his brothers complained to the oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them; the oracle had told Hyllas to attack through the narrow passage when

756-615: Was the first king of Argos , who later counted the famous tyrant Pheidon . At Macedonia , the Heraclids formed the Argead Dynasty , whose name comes from Argos, as one of the Heraclids from this city, Perdiccas I , settled in Macedonia, where he founded his kingdom. By the time of Philip II the family had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all Upper Macedonian states. Their most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander

784-530: Was traditionally dated eighty years after the Trojan War . The Heracleidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot. Argos fell to Temenus , Lacedaemon to Procles and Eurysthenes , the twin sons of Aristodemus ; and Messenia to Cresphontes (tradition maintains that Cresphontes cheated in order to obtain Messenia, which had

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