Idomeneus (son of Deucalion)

In Greek mythology, Idomeneus (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Cite book
Robert Palfrey Utter, 1918, Every-day pronunciation, p 127</ref> Template:Langx) was a Cretan king and commander who led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War, in eighty black ships.<ref>Homer, Iliad 2.645</ref> He was also one of the suitors of Helen, as well as a comrade of the Telamonian Ajax. Meriones was his charioteer and brother-in-arms.

Description

Idomeneus was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the Chronography as "above average height, dark-skinned, good eyes, well set, strong, good nose, thick beard, good head, curly hair, a berserker when fighting".<ref>Malalas, Chronography 5.104</ref>

Family

Idomeneus was the son of Deucalion and Cleopatra,<ref>Tzetzes, Homeric Allegories Prologue 587</ref><ref>Tzetzes on Lycophron, 431</ref> grandson of King Minos and king of Crete and Queen Pasiphaë, thus tracing his line from Helios the sun god.<ref>Pausanias, 5.25.9</ref> He was husband of Meda by whom she became the mother of Orsilochus,<ref>Homer, Odyssey 13.260 ff.</ref> Cleisithyra, Iphiclus and Lycus.<ref>Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1222</ref>

Mythology

In Homer's Iliad, Idomeneus is found among the first rank of the Greek generals, leading his troops and engaging the enemy head-on, and escaping serious injury. Idomeneus was one of Agamemnon's trusted advisors. He was one of the primary defenders when most of the other Achaean heroes were injured, and even fought Hector briefly and repulsed his attack.<ref>Iliad, repeated appearances</ref> Like most of the other leaders of the Greeks, he is alive and well as the story comes to a close. He was one of the Achaeans to enter the Trojan Horse. Idomeneus killed twenty men and at least three Amazon women, including Bremusa,<ref>Quintus Smyrnaeus, Book 1</ref> at Troy.<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae 114</ref>

File:Idomeneo frontespizi.JPG

Italian and German title pages of the original libretto of Mozart's opera, Idomeneo

A later tradition, preserved by Servius the Grammarian in a commentary on Virgil's Aeneid,<ref>Thus the Encyclopædia Britannica s. v. "Idomeneus"; cf., however, Apollodorus, The Library, ed. and trans. Sir James George Frazer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921), Vol. 2, 394-5 (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858052742800&view=1up&seq=406&q1=Idomeneus).</ref> continues the story as follows: after the war, Idomeneus's ship hit a terrible storm. He promised Poseidon that he would sacrifice the first living thing he saw when he returned home if Poseidon would save his ship and crew. The first living thing was his son, whom Idomeneus duly sacrificed. The gods were angry at Idomeneus's murder of his own son and sent a plague to Crete. The Cretans sent him into exile in Calabria (ancient name of the Salento in Apulia), Italy<ref>Virgil, Aeneid 3.400</ref> and then Colophon in Asia Minor where he died.<ref>Scholiast on Homer's Odyssey 5.259</ref> According to Marcus Terrentius Varro, the gens Salentini descended from Idomeneus, who had sailed from Crete to Illyria, and then together with Illyrians and Locrians from Illyria to Salento, see Grecìa Salentina.<ref>Operum quae exstant, p. 174, Marcus Terentius Varro, printed by Christophorus Raphelengius, 1601.</ref>

Alternatively, in a tradition preserved by Apollodorus, Idomeneus was driven out of Crete by Leucus, his foster son, who had seduced and then killed Idomeneus' wife Meda and usurped the throne of Crete.<ref>Apollodorus, Epitome 6.10</ref>

The tale is also covered by the French 17th century writer François Fénelon.

Idomeneo, a 1781 opera seria by Mozart, is based on the story of Idomeneus's return to Crete. In this version, Poseidon (Neptune in the opera) spares Idomeneo's son Idamante, on condition that Idomeneo relinquish his throne to the new generation.

Gallery

• File:The sacrifice of Idomeneus to Jupiter. Engraving by W. Skelt Wellcome V0036000.jpg
  The sacrifice of Idomeneus to Jupiter, engraving by W. Skelt Wellcome
• File:Mentor biedt Idomeneus een olijftak aan Avonturen van Telemachus (serietitel), RP-P-OB-52.060.jpg
  Mentor offers Idomeneus an olive branch to Adventures of Telemachus by Jacob Folkema
• File:Telemachus weigert de kroon en scepter der Kretenzers Avonturen van Telemachus (serietitel), RP-P-OB-52.073.jpg
  Telemachus refuses the crown and sceptre of the Cretan by Jacob Folkema
• File:Idomeneus krijgt oorlog en vrede aangeboden, RP-P-1905-959.jpg
  Idomeneus is offered war and peace by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
• File:Philokles wordt vriendschappelijk ontvangen door Idomeneus, RP-P-1905-971.jpg
  Philocles is received amicably by Idomeneus, by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
• File:Telemachus en Mentor door Idomeneus ontvangen op Salento, RP-P-1905-956.jpg
  Telemachus and Mentor received by Idomeneus, by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
• File:Timocrates overtuigt Idomeneus van het verraad van Philokles, RP-P-1905-967.jpg
  Timocrates convinces Idomeneus of Philocles ' betrayal by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
• File:Hegesippus ontbiedt Philokles terug te komen op verzoek van Idomeneus, RP-P-1905-970.jpg
  Hegesippus summons Philocles to return at the request of Idomeneus by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard
• File:Mentor toont Idomeneus regelgeving voor de kunsten en de politie te Salento, RP-P-1905-965.jpg
  Mentor shows Idomeneus regulations for the arts and police by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard

References

• Achterberg, Winfried; Best, Jan; Enzler, Kees; Rietveld, Lia; Woudhuizen, Fred, The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian Letter to Nestor, Publications of the Henry Frankfort Foundation vol XIII, Dutch Archeological and Historical Society, Amsterdam 2004.
• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Template:ISBN. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Template:ISBN. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at theio.com
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

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