Alcathous

Several figures in Greek mythology are called Alcathous. The most important is the son of Pelops who became king of Megara after killing the lion of Cithaeron. Others are a Trojan warrior killed by Idomeneus in the Iliad, and a son of Porthaon, who was killed either by Tydeus or by Oenomaus.

Alcathous, Son of Pelops

The Megarians told Pausanias that King Megareus had promised his daughter and his kingdom to the man who killed the lion of Cithaeron, which had killed many people, including Megareus’ son Euippus. Alcathous, son of Pelops, attacked the beast and killed it; when he came to the throne he built a temple to Artemis Agrotera and Apollo Agraeus, the “Huntress” and the “Hunter” (Pausanias 1.41.3). Pausanias adds that Alcathous came from Elis at the time when King Nisus had died and Megara had been taken, that he rebuilt the city wall from its foundations (Pausanias 1.41.6), and that he became king as the son-in-law of Megareus (1.41.5). Pausanias accepts that Alcathous killed a lion on Cithaeron, but doubts parts of the story the Megarians told about it (1.41.4).

The Megarian citadel was named Alcathoe after him. On its slope the Megarians showed a stone on which Apollo laid down his lyre while helping Alcathous with the building; struck with a pebble it still gave out a note like a lyre (Pausanias 1.42.1–2). Ovid also speaks of the walls built by Alcathous when Minos besieged Megara (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.6–8).

His Family

Alcathous’ wife was Euaechme, daughter of Megareus; before her he had been married to Pyrgo (Pausanias 1.43.4). His daughter Periboea (or Eriboea) married Telamon of Salamis and was the mother of Ajax (Pausanias 1.42.4; Apollodorus, Library 3.12.7). Another daughter was Iphinoe. His elder son Ischepolis went to help Meleager against the Calydonian boar and died there. When Callipolis, the younger son, ran to tell his father, Alcathous was preparing a sacrifice to Apollo; Callipolis flung the logs from the altar, and Alcathous, not yet knowing the news, took it for impiety and killed his son with one of the logs (Pausanias 1.42.6). Polyidus came to Megara to purify him (Pausanias 1.43.5).

Alcathous, Husband of Hippodameia

In the Iliad Alcathous is a Trojan warrior, the son of Aesyetes and the son-in-law of Anchises. He had married Anchises’ eldest daughter, Hippodameia, whom her father and mother loved above her sisters for her beauty, her skill in handiwork and her good sense (Homer, Iliad 13.427–433). This Hippodameia is not the wife of Pelops. He fought in the second company led by Paris, Alcathous and Agenor (Iliad 12.93). In the fighting at the ships Poseidon cast a spell on his eyes and bound his limbs, so that he could neither flee nor avoid the spear, and Idomeneus struck him in the chest and killed him (Iliad 13.434–444). Idomeneus boasted over the body, and Deiphobus called on Aeneas to help, since Alcathous had married Aeneas’ sister and had raised him in his house when he was a child (Iliad 13.463–467).

Alcathous, Son of Porthaon

Porthaon and Euryte, daughter of Hippodamas, had sons Oeneus, Agrius, Alcathous, Melas and Leucopeus, and a daughter Sterope (Apollodorus, Library 1.7.10). Tydeus, the son of Oeneus, was banished for killing, as some say, Alcathous, the brother of Oeneus (Library 1.8.5). Another tradition makes this Alcathous a suitor of Hippodamia, the daughter of Oenomaus. According to the epic Great Eoiai, as Pausanias reports, Oenomaus killed this Alcathous (Pausanias spells the name Alcathus) after Marmax and before Euryalus, Eurymachus and Crotalus (Pausanias 6.21.10).

Alcathous Sources

Homer, Iliad 12.93 and 13.427–467; Pausanias 1.41.3–6, 1.42.1–6, 1.43.4–5 and 6.21.10; Apollodorus, Library 1.7.10, 1.8.5 and 3.12.7; Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.6–8.

See Also: Pelops, Hippodamia, Trojan War, Idomeneus, Poseidon, Tydeus, Oenomaus, Megara, Ajax, Telamon