Hermes fathered Myrtilus, the charioteer of King Oenomaus. When Pelops murdered Myrtilus, the dying curse carried the weight of Hermes's divine lineage.
Myrtilus betrayed his master Oenomaus by sabotaging the royal chariot for Pelops's promised reward. The charioteer's treachery turned Oenomaus's own vehicle into his instrument of death.
Pelops threw Myrtilus from a cliff into the sea after the charioteer tried to claim his promised reward of a night with Hippodamia. Myrtilus cursed Pelops and all his descendants as he fell.
Oenomaus died when his chariot collapsed during the race against Pelops. Myrtilus, Oenomaus's own charioteer, had replaced the bronze linchpins with wax at Pelops's behest. Tangled in the reins, the king was dragged to death by his own horses.
Myrtilus's dying curse on Pelops and his descendants fell most heavily on the brothers Atreus and Thyestes, whose mutual betrayals, cannibalism, and bloodshed fulfilled the charioteer's vengeance across generations.
Myrtilus sabotaged his master Oenomaus's chariot on Pelops's behalf, replacing bronze linchpins with wax. Pelops had promised him half the kingdom and Hippodamia's favors in exchange.
After Pelops murdered Myrtilus, Hermes honored his dead son by placing him among the stars as the constellation Auriga, the charioteer. Hermes's anger at his son's murder reinforced the curse on Pelops's house.
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.
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