An
Ancient tradition in Greek mythology and epic is funeral games in honor of the
deceased. The first (literally) and
foremost of such games is in honor of the hero Patroclus in Book XXIII of The Iliad. His best friend and king, Achilles announces
a chariot race in honor of the deceased, lays out the prizes, sets the course
and makes his retainer Phoenix judge of the event.
“First among them all stood up Eumelos,
king of men, son of Admetos, a man excellent in charioteering.” Nowhere else in
Greek literature or art is there mention of
Eumelos being an excellent charioteer.
But Admetos was famous for driving a chariot. In order to win his bride
his future father-in-law Pelias required him to yoke a boar and a lion to his chariot. (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke 1.9.15; Hyginus, Fabulae,
50) Admetus lived
his own private golden-age existence. He “dwelt in ease and peace upon their lands
with many good things, rich in flocks and loved by the blessed gods.”
(Hesiod Works and Days 120) He was
immune to death (Aeschylus, Eumenides, 728) and dined with
the god daily. So it was Apollo who
yoked a lion and boar to Admetos bridal chariot and sent him to Pelias to fetch
his future wife Alcestis.
“Next to him rose mighty Diomedes son of
Tydeus” A
seer told Tydeus’ future father in law to yoke
a lion and a boar to his kingdom. One
night in his entryway he found Tydeus whose shield bore a boar fighting with Polyneices
of Thebes whose shield bore a lion. Adrastus married his daughters to the two
exiled princes. “(Diomedes) yoked the Trojan horses which he had taken from
Aeneas,” The Trojans were famous for their horses descended from a small
herd given them by Zeus. Diomedes
attained some of these horses when he defeated in a duel their master Aeneas,
son of Anchises.
Third
arose fair-haired Menelaus, beloved younger brother of the penultimate bronze
aged king Agamemnon and yoked his fleet
horses; his own horse Podargos and Agamemnon’s mare Aithe, given to Agamemnon by
Echepolos son of (another) Anchises. So,
Aithe’s yokemate is Menelaus’ horse Podargos. Admittedly there are a limited
number of horse names allowed in Greek mythology, but these two horses share
names with Prince Hector’s lead horses Aithon and Podargos.
“ Fourth in order Antilokhos, son to
noble Nestor son of high-hearted Neleus, made ready his horses. These were bred
in Pylos, and his father came up to him
to give him good advice” At which point
follows the most famous advise on how to win a horse race, center on how to
turn the post at the far end of the race.
Of course, Nestor’s advice had nothing to do with horseracing but came
in handy in when god-like Antilochus debated over the prizes after the
race. After the famous and lengthy
discourse…
“fifth in order Meriones got ready his
horses” Meriones, son of Molos, is a Cretan and squire to Idomeneus. We are told nothing of his horses here.
In short two of the charioteers have fathers who
were part of a boar/lion/charioteer trio.
Two of the charioteers drove horses that once belonged to Anchises. One charioteer drove horses that shared a
name with his enemy Hector’s horses. One
charioteer received the best chariot driving advice ever and we know nothing
about one charioteer’s horses.
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