Hippodamia’s Family Tree

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Family

• Pelops(spouse),Atreus(child),Pittheus(child),Thyestes(child)— Marriage

  Pelops won Hippodamia by defeating her father Oenomaus in a chariot race. Their sons Atreus, Thyestes, and Pittheus founded rival dynasties whose feuds cursed the house for generations.

• Oenomaus(parent)

  Hippodamia was the daughter of Oenomaus, king of Pisa in Elis and son of Ares. Oenomaus challenged all her suitors to a deadly chariot race to prevent her marriage.

Slew

• Chrysippus

  Hippodamia killed or instigated the killing of her stepson Chrysippus, fearing Pelops would favor the illegitimate boy as heir over her own sons Atreus and Thyestes.

Associated with

• Chrysippus

  Hippodamia's jealousy of her stepson Chrysippus, Pelops's favored illegitimate son, drove her to orchestrate his death. Her crime added to the bloodshed cursing the House of Pelops.

• Myrtilus

  In some traditions, Hippodamia secretly conspired with Myrtilus to sabotage her father Oenomaus's chariot, promising herself as his reward. When Myrtilus later tried to claim her, Pelops threw him from a cliff into the sea.

• Oenomaus

  Oenomaus devised a deadly chariot race to prevent any suitor from marrying his daughter Hippodamia. He killed a dozen or more princes before Pelops defeated him through the sabotage of his chariot, which dragged Oenomaus to his death.

• Pelopia

  Hippodamia's role in the murder of Chrysippus led to the exile of Thyestes' line, setting in motion the events that left Pelopia vulnerable at Sicyon.