Editing Heracleidae

{{Short description|Descendants of Heracles (ancient Greece)}}
{{about|the descendants of Heracles|the play by Euripides|Heracleidae (play)||Heraclides (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Heraclid|the ruler of Moldavia|Iacob Heraclid}}
[[File:Hercules_Nessus_MAN_Napoli_Inv9001.jpg|thumb|[[Heracles]] holding [[Hyllus]] with [[Deianira]] nearby, as the centaur [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]] pleads for his life ([[Pompeii]] fresco)]]
[[Image:Herakles and Telephos Louvre MR219.jpg|right|thumb|Heracles with his son [[Telephus]], one of the Heracleidae]]

The '''Heracleidae''' ({{IPAc-en|h|ɛr|ə|ˈ|k|l|aɪ|d|iː}}; {{langx|grc|Ἡρακλεῖδαι}}) or '''Heraclids''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛr|ə|k|l|ɪ|d|z}} were the numerous descendants of [[Heracles]], especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of [[Hyllus]], the eldest of his four sons by [[Deianira]] (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son by [[Melite (naiad)|Melite]]). Other Heracleidae included [[Macaria (daughter of Heracles)|Macaria]], Lamos, [[Manto (mythology)|Manto]], [[Bienor (mythology)|Bianor]], [[Tlepolemus]], and [[Telephus]]. These Heraclids were a group of [[Dorians|Dorian]] kings who conquered the [[Peloponnesus|Peloponnesian]] kingdoms of [[Mycenae]], [[Sparta]] and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]; according to the literary tradition in [[Greek mythology]], they claimed a right to rule through their ancestor.  Since [[Karl Otfried Müller]]'s ''Die Dorier'' (1830, English translation 1839), I. ch. 3, their rise to dominance has been associated with a "[[Dorian invasion]]". Though details of genealogy differ from one ancient author to another, the cultural significance of the mythic theme, that the descendants of Heracles, exiled after his death, returned some generations later to reclaim land that their ancestors had held in [[Mycenaean Greece]], was to assert the primal legitimacy of a traditional ruling clan that traced its origin, thus its legitimacy, to Heracles.

In the historical period, several dynasties claimed descent from Heracles, such as the [[Agiad dynasty|Agiads]] and [[Eurypontid dynasty|Eurypontids]] of Sparta, or the [[Argead dynasty|Temenids]] of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]. In modern times, the same lineage has been claimed by the [[House of Burgundy]] and the [[List of Castilian monarchs|kings of Castile]].

==Origin==
Heracles, whom [[Zeus]] had originally intended to be ruler of [[Argos, Peloponnese|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 the death of [[Heracles]], his children, after many wanderings, found refuge from Eurystheus at [[Athens, Greece|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 the [[Lapiths|Lapithae]], adopted Hyllus and made over to him a third part of his territory.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=308}}

After the death of [[Aegimius]], his two sons, [[Pamphylus (mythology)|Pamphylus]] and [[Dymas]], voluntarily submitted to Hyllus (who was, according to the Dorian tradition in [[Herodotus]] V. 72, really an [[Achaea]]n), 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 the [[Delphi|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, Greece|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 a fourth under [[Aristomachus (Heracleidae)|Aristomachus]], both unsuccessful.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=308–309}}

==Dorian invasion==
{{Main|Dorian invasion}}
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 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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=309}}

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 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 (mythology)|Orestes]], the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=309}}  This conquest was traditionally dated eighty years after the [[Trojan War]].<ref>''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.+1.12 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.12]''</ref>

The Heracleidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot. [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] fell to [[Temenus]], [[Lacedaemon]] to [[Procles]] and [[Eurysthenes]], the twin sons of [[Aristodemus]]; and [[Messenia (ancient region)|Messenia]] to [[Cresphontes]] (tradition maintains that Cresphontes cheated in order to obtain Messenia, which had the best land of all.<ref>''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D4 Apollodorus, Library  2.8.4]''</ref>) The fertile district of [[Ancient Elis|Elis]] had been reserved by agreement for [[Oxylus]]. The Heracleidae ruled in [[Lacedaemon]] until 221 BCE, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=309}}

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 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 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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=309}}

==List of Heracleidae==

===At Lydia===
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 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 the tradition heard by Herodotus.

The known Heraclid kings are:

* [[Agron of Lydia|Agron]] (fl. c.1192 BC; legendary great-great-grandson of Heracles and a Lydian slave-girl via Alcaeus, Belus and Ninus)
* 19 legendary kings, names unknown, all succeeding father to son
* [[Meles of Lydia|Meles]], ''aka'' Myrsus (8th century BC; semi-legendary father of Candaules)
* [[Candaules]], ''aka'' Myrsilus (died c.687 BC; probably historical; son of Meles; murdered by Gyges)

===At Sparta===
{{main|List of kings of Sparta}}
At [[Sparta]], the Heraclids formed two dynasties ruling jointly: the [[Agiads]] and the [[Eurypontids]]. Other [[Spartiate]]s also claimed Heraclid descent, such as [[Lysander]].

===At Corinth===
At Corinth the Heraclids ruled as the [[Bacchiadae]] dynasty<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 7.9</ref> before the aristocratic revolution, which brought a Bacchiad aristocracy into power.

=== At Argos ===
[[File:House of Argos.svg|thumb|right|280px|Genealogy of the Argead Dynasty]]
A descendant of Heracles, [[Temenus]], was the first king of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], who later counted the famous tyrant [[Pheidon]].

===At Macedonia===
At [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]], the Heraclids formed the [[Argead Dynasty]], whose name comes from Argos, as one of the Heraclids from this city, [[Perdiccas I of Macedon|Perdiccas I]], settled in Macedonia, where he founded his kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book|last=M. C. Howatson|url=http://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00howa|title=The Oxford companion to classical literature.|date=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-19-866121-4|pages=339|quote=In historical times the royal house traced its descent from the mythical Temenus, king of Argos, who was one of the Heracleidae, and more immediately from Perdiccas I, who left Argos for Illyria, probably in the mid-seventh century BC, and from there captured the Macedonian plain and occupied the fortress of Aegae (Vergina), setting himself up as king of the Macedonians.}}</ref> By the time of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] the family had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all [[Upper Macedonia]]n states. Their most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son [[Alexander the Great]], under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], defeated the [[Achaemenid Empire]] and expanded as far as [[Egypt]] and [[India]]. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is [[Caranus of Macedon|King Caranus]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pausanias, Description of Greece, Boeotia, chapter 40|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.40&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160|access-date=2021-08-21|website=|pages=8–9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Green|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYo6c1iEL_4C|title=Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C.: A Historical Biography|date=2013-01-08|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95469-4|pages=103|language=en}}</ref>

=== In modern times ===
In modern times, Heraclid lineage has been claimed by the [[House of Burgundy]] and the [[List of Castilian monarchs|kings of Castile]]. The seventeenth-century Spanish king [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]], a descendant of both houses, commissioned the artist [[Francisco de Zurbarán]] to paint a series of ten works depicting Hercules, as part of the decoration of his [[Buen Retiro Palace]]; these artworks were considered an allegory for the legitimacy of his rule.{{Refn|{{cite book| last1=Brown| first1=Jonathan| last2=Elliott| first2=John Huxtable| date=2003| orig-date=1980| title=A Palace for a King: The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV| publisher=Yale University Press| place=New Haven| isbn=0-300-10185-6| p=161}}}}

==In Euripides' tragedy==
{{Main|Heracleidae (play)}}
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 the main subjects of [[Euripides]]' play, ''Heracleidae''.<ref>It is the first of two surviving plays by Euripides where the family of Heracles are suppliants (the second being ''[[Heracles (Euripides)|Heracles Mad]]'').</ref> 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.<ref>
J. A. Spranger, "The Political Element in the Heracleidae of Euripides" ''The Classical Quarterly'' '''19'''.3/4 (July 1925), pp. 117-128.
</ref>

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 of Athens|Demophon]]; as 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.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' ii. 8
* [[Diodorus Siculus]] iv. 57, 58
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] i. 32, 41, ii. 13, 18, iii. I, iv. 3, v. 3
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Heracleidae (play)|Heracleidae]]''
* [[Pindar]], ''[[Pythia]],'' ix. 137
* [[Herodotus]] ix. 27
* [[Connop Thirlwall]], ''History of Greece,'' ch. vii
* [[George Grote]], ''History of Greece,'' pt. i. ch. xviii
* [[Georg Busolt]], ''Griechische Geschichte,'' i. ch. ii. sec. 7, where a list of modern authorities is given

==External links==
* [http://herodot.georgehinge.com/analog.html Article by George Hinge]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071010100028/http://www.greekmythologylinks.com/ Greek Mythology Links]
* [http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/heraclids.html Timeless Mythology]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607000249/http://mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/thucydides_lecture/sixty_d.htm Article about Dorian Invasion]

{{EB1911|wstitle=Heraclidae|volume=13|pages=308–309}}

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