Editing Pirithous

{{Short description|In Greek mythology, the King of the Lapiths}}
{{redirect|Perithous|the genus of insects|Perithous (wasp)}}
[[File:Wall painting - Peirithoos receiving the centaurs at his wedding - Pompeii (VII 2 16) - Napoli MAN 9044.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pirithous and [[Hippodamia (wife of Pirithous)|Hippodamia]] receiving the centaurs at his wedding. Antique fresco from Pompeii.]]
[[File:Richard brenndamour joseph echteler pirtithous kampf um helena-1.jpg|thumb|"Pirithous' Kampf um Helena" by [[Joseph Echteler]] and [[Richard Brend'amour]]]]

'''Pirithous''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|aɪ|ˈ|r|ɪ|θ|oʊ|.|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Πειρίθοος}} or {{Langx|grc|Πειρίθους|label=none}}, derived from {{Langx|grc|περιθεῖν|translit=perithein|label=none|lit=to run around}}{{Citation needed|reason=This looks like a folk etymology|date=December 2020}}; also [[transliteration|transliterated]] as '''Perithous'''), in [[Greek mythology]], was the King of the [[Lapiths]] of [[Larissa]] in [[Thessaly]], as well as best friend to [[Theseus]].

== Biography ==
Pirithous was a son of "heavenly" [[Dia (mythology)|Dia]], fathered either by [[Ixion]]<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 2.741, 14.17; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Bibliotheca'' 1.8.2; [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] ad Homer, p. 101.1</ref> or by [[Zeus]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 14.317; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#155 155]; Grimal, s.v. Pirithous, p. 374.</ref> He married [[Hippodamia (wife of Pirithous)|Hippodamia]], daughter of [[Atrax (mythology)|Atrax]] or [[Butes]], at whose wedding the famous [[Centauromachy|Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs]] occurred. By his wife, he became the father of [[Polypoetes]],<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 2.740 & 12.129</ref> one of the Greek leaders during the [[Trojan War]]. Pirithous was also the close friend of the hero [[Theseus]].

=== Early years ===
According to Homer, [[Dia (mythology)|Dia]] had sex with [[Zeus]], who was disguised as a stallion, and gave birth to Pirithous; a [[folk etymology]] derived Pirithous' name from ''peritheein'' ({{Langx|grc|περιθεῖν|label=none|lit=to run around}}), because that was what Zeus did to seduce Dia.

His best friend was [[Theseus]]. In the ''[[Iliad]]'' I, Nestor numbers Pirithous and Theseus "of heroic fame" among an earlier generation of heroes of his youth, "the strongest men that Earth has bred, the strongest men against the strongest enemies, a savage mountain-dwelling tribe whom they utterly destroyed." No trace of such an oral tradition, which Homer's listeners would have recognized in Nestor's allusion, survived in literary epic.

In disjointed episodes that have survived, Pirithous had heard rumors about Theseus' courage and strength in battle but he wanted proof. He rustled Theseus' herd of cattle from [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]], and Theseus set out to pursue him. Pirithous took up arms and the pair met, then became so impressed with each other's gracefulness, beauty and courage they took an oath of friendship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/theseus.html|title=PLUTARCH, THESEUS|website=classics.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2022-09-11}}</ref> They were among the company of heroes that hunted the [[Calydonian Boar]], another mythic theme that was already well known to Homer's listeners.

== Centauromachy ==
[[File:Zeus' temple in Olimpia, frontone west, Apollo.jpg|thumb|left|Pirithous next to Apollo from the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], 460s BC.]]

Later, Pirithous was set to marry [[Hippodamia, wife of Pirithous|Hippodamia]], their offspring being [[Polypoetes]]. The [[centaurs]] were guests at the party, but they got drunk and tried to abduct the women, including Hippodamia who was carried off by the intoxicated centaur [[Eurytion]] or [[Eurytus]]. The Lapiths won the ensuing battle, the [[Centauromachy]], a favorite motif of Greek art.<ref>Homer,'' [[Odyssey]]'' 11.630 & 21.296-304</ref><ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 1.263</ref><ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 12.218 ff</ref>

[[File:Perithoos Hippodameia BM VaseF272.jpg|thumb|right|Pirithous, Hippodamia (here labeled under the name ''Laodameia''), a Centaur, and Theseus, on an [[Apulian vase painting|Apulian red-figure]] [[Krater#Calyx krater|calyx-krater]], 350-340 BC.]]

== Punishment in the Underworld ==
Hippodamia died shortly after Polypoetes' birth, after which Pirithous went to visit Theseus at Athens only to discover that Theseus' own wife, [[Phaedra (mythology)|Phaedra]], who, according to [[Ovid]], felt left out by her husband's love for Pirithous,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidHeroides1.html#4|title=OVID, HEROIDES IV - Theoi Classical Texts Library|website=www.theoi.com|language=en|access-date=2022-09-11}}</ref><ref>[[Ovid]]'s ''[[Heroides]]'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0085%3Apoem%3D4 4]</ref> was dead.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html ''Book 4'', Ch. 63])</ref> Thus, Pirithous and Theseus pledged to marry daughters of [[Zeus]]; Theseus chose [[Helen of Troy|Helen of Sparta]] and together they kidnapped her when she was 10 years of age and decided to hold on to her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose a more dangerous prize: [[Persephone]] herself. Theseus objected, and tried to talk him out of it, as this act would be too blasphemous; but Pirithous insisted, and Theseus was bound by his oaths, so he agreed.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica|Historic Library]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#p17 4.63.4]</ref> They left Helen with Theseus' mother, [[Aethra (mother of Theseus)|Aethra]], at [[Afidnes|Aphidnae]], and traveled to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]]. When they stopped to rest, they found themselves unable to stand up from the rock as they saw the [[Erinyes|Furies]] appear before them.

=== Rescue ===
[[Heracles]] freed Theseus from the stone, but the earth shook when he attempted to free Pirithous.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' (Book 2, Ch. 5, sec. 12)</ref> He had committed too great a crime for wanting the wife of one of the great gods as his own bride.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' (''Book 6'', ln. 393)</ref> According to a [[scholia|scholium]] on [[Aristophanes]], in a lost play by [[Euripides]], Hades had Pirithous fed to [[Cerberus]] for his impiety.<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] on [[Aristophanes]]' ''[[Frogs]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL506.637.xml 142a]</ref> By the time Theseus returned to Athens, the [[Dioscuri]] (Helen's twin brothers [[Castor and Pollux]]) had taken Helen back to [[Sparta]]; they had taken captive Aethra as well as Pirithous' sister, Physadeia, and they became handmaidens of Helen and later followed her to Troy.<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 79 & 92</ref>

The rescue of Theseus and Pirithous acquired a humorous tone in the realm of Attic comedy, in which Heracles attempted to free them from the rock to which they had been bound together in the [[Greek Underworld|Underworld]] (for having tried to carry off [[Persephone]]). He succeeded in freeing only Theseus and left behind his buttocks attached to the rocks. Due to this Theseus came to be called hypolispos, meaning "with hinder parts rubbed smooth."<ref>Licht, Hans. ''Sexual life in ancient Greece''. 1994, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282802/page/n263 p. 232].</ref><ref>[[Horace]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0025%3Abook%3D4%3Apoem%3D7 ''Odes'' (Book 4, ln. 7)]</ref> This may have been a later invention.

Pirithous was worshiped at Athens, along with Theseus, as a hero.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio'' (Book 1, Ch. 30, sect. 4; Book 10, Ch. 29, sect. 2)</ref><ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' (''Book 8'', ln. 566)</ref><ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'' 36.4</ref><ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' (Book 1, Ch. 8, sect. 2)</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Meyers b5 s0785 b1.png|Erinnye, den Peirithoos in der Unterwelt bindend (Vasenbild) (circa 1885)
File:Theseus and Pirithous abducting Elena, Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860).jpg| Theseus and Pirithous abducting Elena by Pelagio Palagi (1814)
File:Fetching Kerberos Met 08.258.21.jpg| Herakles, Theseus and Pirithoos in Hades, with Hermes. (Attic red-figure calyx-krater between circa 450 and circa 440 BC)
File:Mongez Theseus and Pirithoüs.jpg|Theseus and Pirithoüs Clearing the Earth of Brigands, Deliver Two Women from the Hands of their Abductors by Angelique Mongez (1806)
File:NAMA Thésée enlève Hélène.jpg|Theseus leading Helen to a chariot arranged by Peirithoos. Helen's sister, Phoibe (on the right), watches on. Attic red-figure stamnos by Polygnotos, ca. 430-420 BC.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Homer]], [[Iliad|''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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pliny the Elder]], ''The Natural History.'' John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia.'' Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0138 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro]], ''Aeneid.'' Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]]. ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology]]. s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D12%3Aentry%3Dpeirithous-bio-1 Peirithous].'' London (1848). {{PD-notice}}

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[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Argonauts]]
[[Category:Kings of the Lapiths]]
[[Category:Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid]]
[[Category:Lapiths]]
[[Category:Katabasis in classical mythology]]
[[Category:Mythology of Heracles]]
[[Category:Theseus]]