Heracleidae
The
Heracleidae or
Heraclids were the numerous descendants of
Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of
Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by
Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as a son of
Melite with Heracles). These Heraclids were a group of
Dorian kings who conquered the
Peloponnesian kingdoms of
Mycenae,
Sparta and
Argos, claiming, according to legend, a right to rule it through their ancestor. Their rise to dominance is frequently called the "
Dorian invasion".
Heracles, whom
Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of
Argos,
Lacedaemon and Messenian
Pylos, had been supplanted by the cunning of
Hera, and his intended possessions had fallen into the hands of
Eurystheus, king of
Mycenae. After the death of
Heracles, his children, after many wanderings, found refuge from
Eurystheus at
Athens. Eurystheus, on his demand for their surrender being refused, attacked Athens, but was defeated and slain. Hyllus and his brothers then invaded Peloponnesus, but after a year's stay were forced by a pestilence to quit. They withdrew to
Thessaly, where
Aegimius, the mythical ancestor of the
Dorians, whom Heracles had assisted in war against the
Lapithae, adopted Hyllus and made over to him a third part of his territory.
After the death of
Aegimius, his two sons,
Pamphilus and
Dymas, voluntarily submitted to Hyllus (who was, according to the Dorian tradition in
Herodotus V. 72, really an
Achaean), who thus became ruler of the Dorians, the three branches of that race being named after these three heroes. Desiring to reconquer his paternal inheritance, Hyllus consulted the
Delphic oracle, which told him to wait for "the third fruit," (or "the third crop") and then enter Peloponnesus by "a narrow passage by sea." Accordingly, after three years,
Hyllus marched across the
isthmus of
Corinth to attack
Atreus, the successor of
Eurystheus, but was slain in single combat by
Echemus, king of
Tegea. This second attempt was followed by a third under
Cleodaeus and a fourth under
Aristomachus, both of which were equally unsuccessful.
At last,
Temenus,
Cresphontes and
Aristodemus, the sons of Aristomachus, complained to the oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them. They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits of
Rhium. They accordingly built a fleet at
Naupactus, but before they set sail,
Aristodemus was struck by lightning (or shot by
Apollo) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heracleidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer.
The oracle, being again consulted by
Temenus, bade him offer an expiatory sacrifice and banish the murderer for ten years, and look out for a man with three eyes to act as guide. On his way back to
Naupactus,
Temenus fell in with
Oxylus, an Aetolian, who had lost one eye, riding on a horse (thus making up the three eyes) and immediately pressed him into his service. According to another account, a mule on which Oxylus rode had lost an eye. The Heracleidae repaired their ships, sailed from
Naupactus to
Antirrhium, and thence to
Rhium in
Peloponnesus. A decisive battle was fought with
Tisamenus, son of
Orestes, the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain. This conquest was traditionally dated sixty years after the
Trojan War.
The Heracleidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot.
Argos fell to
Temenus,
Lacedaemon to
Procles and
Eurysthenes, the twin sons of
Aristodemus; and
Messene to
Cresphontes. The fertile district of
Elis had been reserved by agreement for
Oxylus. The Heracleidae ruled in
Lacedaemon till
221 BC, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries.
This conquest of
Peloponnesus by the Dorians, commonly called the "Return of the Heraclidae," is represented as the recovery by the descendants of Heracles of the rightful inheritance of their hero ancestor and his sons. The Dorians followed the custom of other Greek tribes in claiming as ancestor for their ruling families one of the legendary heroes, but the traditions must not on that account be regarded as entirely mythical. They represent a joint invasion of Peloponnesus by Aetolians and Dorians, the latter having been driven southward from their original northern home under pressure from the Thessalians. It is noticeable that there is no mention of these Heraclidae or their invasion in
Homer or
Hesiod.
Herodotus (vi. 52) speaks of poets who had celebrated their deeds, but these were limited to events immediately succeeding the death of
Heracles. The story was first amplified by the Greek tragedians, who probably drew their inspiration from local legends, which glorified the services rendered by Athens to the rulers of Peloponnesus.
The Heracleidae also included
Macaria,
Lamos,
Manto,
Bianor,
Tlepolemus, and
Telephus.
Euripides wrote a play called
Heracleidae. In it, Macaria and her brothers and sisters hid from
Eursytheus in
Athens, ruled by King
Demophon. As Eurystheus prepared to attack, an
oracle told Demophon that he would win if and only if a noble woman was sacrificed to
Persephone. Macaria volunteered for the sacrifice and a spring was named the
Macarian spring in her honor.
*
Apollodorus ii. 8
*
Diodorus Siculus iv. 57, 58
*
Pausanias i. 32, 41, ii. 13, 18, iii. I, iv. 3, v. 3
*
Euripides,
Heracleidae*
Pindar,
Pythia, ix. 137
*
Herodotus ix. 27
*
Müller's
Dorians, I. ch. 3
*
Thirlwail,
History of Greece, ch. vii
*
Grote,
History of Greece, pt. i. ch. xviii
*
Busolt,
Griechische Geschichte, i. ch. ii. sec. 7, where a list of modern authorities is given
*
Article by George Hinge*
Timeless Mythology*
Article at Pantheon*
Article about Dorian Invasion
