Laodamas
Laodamas /leɪˈɒdəməs/ (Λᾱοδάμᾱς,[1] Lāodámās, literally "tamer of the people") refers to five different people in Greek mythology.
Laodamas, son of Eteocles[edit]
Laodamas, son of Eteocles, inherited Thebes from his father.[2] In one version of the myth (different from the one recounted in Sophocles' Antigone), he was responsible for the deaths of his aunts Antigone and Ismene, whom he prosecuted for having buried Polynices. They sought refuge in the temple of Hera, but Laodamas set fire to it and thus killed them.[3] During the battle of the Epigoni, he was killed by Alcmaeon after he killed Aegialeus.[4] Other sources state that he survived and fled to the Encheleans in Illyria,[2][5] and subsequently led an expedition to Thessaly.[6]
Laodamas, son of Alcinous[edit]
In the Odyssey, Laodamas is a son of King Alcinous and Arete of the Phaecians. Alcinous gives Odysseus Laodamas's chair, "whence he bade his son give place, valiant Laodamas, who sat next him and was his dearest".[7] He is the most handsome of the Phaeacians, and the best boxer in the games held in Odysseus's honor. He and his brothers Halius and Clytoneus are also the winners of the foot-racing contest.[8] Laodamas asks Odysseus to join in the games. After Odysseus is rebuked by Euryalus, he challenges any of the Phaeacians save Laodamas.[9] Laodamas and Halius are the best dancers among the Phaeacians.[10][11]
Trojans[edit]
The name Laodamas also refers to three minor characters associated with the Trojan War:
- Son of Antenor and Theano, killed by Ajax.[12]
- A Lycian, killed by Neoptolemus.[13]
- Son of Hector and Andromache, brother of Astyanax.[14][15] Unlike Astyanax, he was spared by the Greeks and stayed by his mother's side.[16]
Notes[edit]
- ^ gen. Λᾱοδάμαντος
- ^ a b Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9. 5. 13
- ^ Ion of Chios in Sallustius' argumentum of Sophocles' Antigone
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 7. 3
- ^ Herodotus, Histories, 5. 61. 1
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9. 8. 6
- ^ Od. 7. 170
- ^ Od. 8. 119 - 120
- ^ Od. 8. 130 - 210
- ^ Od. 8. 370
- ^ Butcher, SH and Lang, A: The Odyssey of Homer, Project Gutenberg
- ^ Homer, Iliad, 15. 516 - 517
- ^ Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy, 11. 20
- ^ Dictys Cretensis, 3. 20
- ^ Tzetzes, Homerica, 319
- ^ Dictys Cretensis, 6. 12
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Creon |
Mythical King of Thebes | Succeeded by Thersander |
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