Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Dorycleus (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Δορυκλεὺς) was a

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of

Oebalus In Greek mythology, Oebalus, also spelled Oibalus or Oibalius, (; Ancient Greek: Οἴβαλος, '' Oíbalos'') was a king of Sparta. Family Oibalus was the son of either Cynortas or Argalus. He was the second husband of Princess Gorgophone ...

and the

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...

Bateia.

Family

Dorycleus was the brother to

Scaeus In Greek mythology, Scaeus (Ancient Greek: Σκαῖος means 'on the left hand') was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of Oebalus and the naiad Bateia. Family Scaeus was the brother to Dorycl ...

, Enarophorus,

Euteiches In Greek mythology, Euteiches or Eutiches (Ancient Greek: Εὐτείχης means 'with well-built walls') was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoön, son of Oebalus and the naiad Bateia. Family Eutiches ...

Bucolus In Greek mythology, Bucolus (; Ancient Greek: Βουκόλος means "cow boy" or "herdsman" from βους ''vous'' "ox" and κελεύω ''kelevein'' "command") is the name of four men: * Bucolus, son of Hippocoon, king of Sparta. * Bucolus, the ...

Lycaethus Lycaethus (Ancient Greek: Λύκαιθος) is a name that refers to the following figures in Greek mythology: *Lycaethus, father of Creon, king of Corinth, father of Glauce and Hippotes. *Lycaethus, a son of King Hippocoon of Sparta, usurper of ...

, Tebrus,

Eurytus Eurytus, Eurytos (; Ancient Greek: Εὔρυτος) or Erytus (Ἔρυτος) is the name of several characters in Greek mythology, and of at least one historical figure. Mythological *Eurytus, one of the Giants, sons of Gaia, killed by Dionys ...

Hippothous In Greek mythology, Hippothous (, meaning "swift-riding") is the name of seven men: * Hippothous, an Egyptian prince as one of the sons of King Aegyptus.Apollodorus, 2.1.5. He suffered the same fate as his other brothers, save Lynceus, when they ...

Hippocorystes In Greek mythology, Hippocorystes (Ancient Greek: Ἱπποκορυστὴς means 'marshaller, arranger of chariots') was a Spartan prince as one of the 20 Hippocoontids, Hippocoöntids, children of King Hippocoon (king of Sparta), Hippocoön, son ...

Alcinous In Greek mythology, Alcinous (also Alcinoüs; ; ''Alkínoos'' ) was a son of Nausithous and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bore him Nausicaa, Halius, Clytoneus and Laodamas. In ...

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

, 3.10.5

Alcimus Alcimus (from ''Alkimos'', "valiant" or Hebrew אליקום ''Elyaqum'', "God will rise"), also called Jakeimos, Jacimus, or Joachim (), was High Priest of Israel for three years from 162–159 BCE. He was a moderate Hellenizer who favored the ru ...

, Dorceus, Sebrus,

Eumedes Eumedes (Ancient Greek: Εὐμήδης) was a name attributed to seven individuals in Greek mythology. *Eumedes, father of Acallaris who married Tros, king of Dardania.Dionysius of Halicarnassus''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.62.2/ref> *Eumedes, a Cal ...

, Enaesimus,

Alcon Alcon Inc. () is a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company specializing in eye care products. It has a paper headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland but its operational headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, where it ...

and

Leucippus Leucippus (; , ''Leúkippos''; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He is traditionally credited as the founder of atomism, which he developed with his student Democritus. Leucippus divided the world into two entities: atoms, indivisible ...

Mythology

Dorycleus, together with his brothers, helped their father usurped the throne of Lacedaemonia and expelled the former king,

Tyndareus In Greek mythology, Tyndareus (; Ancient Greek: Τυνδάρεος, ''Tundáreos''; Attic Greek, Attic: Τυνδάρεως, ''Tundáreōs''; ) was a Spartan king. Family Tyndareus was the son of Oebalus (or Perieres (king of Messenia), Perieres ...

, the son of

Gorgophone In Greek mythology, Gorgophone ( "Gorgon-Slayer") was the name of two different women. * Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus. * Gorgophone, a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaïdes. She married and murdered Proteus, son of King Aegyptus of Egypt ...

and Hipocoon's (half-)brother. Ultimately, the Hippocoöntids and their father were slain by

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

who also restored Tyndareus as the rightful ruler of the Lacedeamonians. The bad blood between these two parties can be attributed to the following reasons: (1) the refusal of Hippocoon and his family to cleanse the hero after the death of Iphitus when he came to Sparta, (2) Dorycleus and his brothers joined King

Neleus Neleus (; ) was a mythological king of Pylos. In some accounts, he was also counted as an Argonaut instead of his son, Nestor. Family Neleus was the son of Poseidon and Tyro, and brother of Pelias. According to Pausanias, Neleus was the son o ...

Pylos Pylos (, ; ), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of ...

in his war with the Heracles, and (3) for the manslaughter of

Oeonus In Greek mythology, Oeonus (; Ancient Greek: Οἰωνὸν) was a son of Licymnius who accompanied Heracles. He was killed in Sparta in Heracles's company. Heracles had promised Licymnius that he would bring back his son, and so, when Oeonus di ...

, son of

Licymnius In Greek mythology, Licymnius (; ) was a good friend of Heracles and an illegitimate son of Electryon, King of Tiryns and Mycenae in the Argolid (which makes him half-brother of Alcmene, mother of Heracles). His mother is given as Mideia, a Phrygi ...

and the hero's cousin, who was beaten to death by the Hippocoöntids with their clubs for stoning in self-defense their

Molossian The Molossians () were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On th ...

dog. For the latter incident, Heracles straightway give them battle as he was very angry but was wounded in the hip-joint and he stealthily retreated. Afterwards, the son of

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene ...

made an expedition against Sparta enlisting the aid of King

Cepheus Cepheus (Ancient Greek: Κηφεύς ''Kepheús'') may refer to: In Greek mythology * Cepheus (father of Andromeda), and King of Aethiopia * Cepheus (son of Aleus), a king of Tegea, Arcadia In astronomy * Cepheus (constellation), one of the 88 m ...

of Arcadia and his sons, and succeeded in avenging himself on Hippocoon, and also on Dorycleus and his brothers, for their murder of Oeonus.Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'' 4.33.5; Apollodorus, 2.7.3; Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 2.18.7, 3.15.3–6 & 3.15.9

Notes

References

, ''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
*

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

, ''The Library of History'' translated by

Charles Henry Oldfather Charles Henry Oldfather (13 June 1887 – 20 August 1954) was an American professor of Greek and Ancient History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was born in Tabriz, Qajar dynasty, Persia. Parentage Oldfather's parents, Jeremiah and Feli ...

. Twelve volumes.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8
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
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Augustus, and reputed author of the '' Fabulae'' and the '' De astronomia'', although this is disputed. Life and works ...

, ''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.
* 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. {{ISBN, 0-674-99328-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
Princes in Greek mythology