Welcome to our walk through on Greek mythology. Read the chapters and learn more about this island and it's beginnings.

Pelops

Pelops was the son of Tantalus and the grandson of Zeus. As a boy his father cut him into pieces, stewed his flesh in a cauldron, and served him to the gods. The gods detecting the trick restored Pelops to life. A piece of his shoulder had been eaten by Demeter, and this they replaced with ivory. After his restoration, Pelops was an even more handsome young man than before; Poseidon fell in love with him and gave him a winged chariot.

Later, Pelops wooed Hippodameia, the daughter of King Oenomaus of Pisa. Oenomaus had decreed that any suitor might carry Hippodameia off, but that he would pursue them and would kill anyone he was able to overtake. He had already killed twelve or thirteen suitors this way. However Pelops persuaded Oenomaus' charioteer, Myrtilus, to remove the linchpins from the king's chariot and replace them with ones made of wax. Oenomaus who was thrown from the vehicle, became entangled in the reins, and was then dragged to his death. Pelops then killed Myrtilus by throwing him into the sea, either because Pelops resented sharing the credit for success in the chariot race. Myrtilus, as he was dying, cursed the house of Pelops, and this curse blighted the lives of Pelops' sons (Atreus and Thyestes), and his grandsons (Agamemnon and Aegisthus).

Pelops subdued the area of Greece which became known as the Peloponnesus, and then returned to rule the Oenomaus' kingdom in Pisa. During the time of the Trojan War, the Greeks brought his bones to Troy because of a prophecy that only by doing so could they conquer the city.

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