|
Messenia is the region in southwestern
Peloponnesus, separated from Laconia on the east by
Mount Taygetus, and bounded on the north by
Elis and
Arcadia.
|
|
First ruler conquers the country
|
The first to have ruled Messenia was Polycaon 1,
son of Lelex 2 and the naiad Cleocharia. Lelex 2,
said to be an Egyptian immigrant, was king of
Laconia.
Polycaon 1 married the ambitious woman Messene,
daughter of King Triopas 1 of
Argos, and after her the
whole territory was named. At the death of Lelex 2,
his son Myles inherited the throne in Lacedaemon.
But Messene, not wishing to be the wife of an
anonymous man, collected an armed force from both
Argos and Lacedaemon, and
the newly married couple invaded with an army the
territory of Messenia, and named it after the
daughter of the Argive king.
Having thus established the new kingdom, they
founded a city Andania where they built their
palace. It is during the reign of Polycaon 1 that
Caucon 2 brought the rites of the Great Goddesses
from Eleusis to
Messenia. Caucon 2 was son of Celaenus 1, son of
Phlyus, who, according to the Athenians and others,
was a son of Gaia. The
house of Polycaon 1 died out, but lasted, according
to some, for about five generations, his
descendants being unknown up to this day.
|
|
The coming of the Aeolids
|
At some moment, Aeolus
1's son Perieres 1 invaded the country. This
man is sometimes called son of Cynortes (son of
Amyclas 1, son of Lacedaemon, son of
Zeus and the Pleiad
Taygete).
Perieres 1 ruled the country, and having married
Gorgophone 2, daughter of
Perseus 1 and
Andromeda, had by her
many sons, among which Aphareus 1, who succeeded
him on the throne. During the rule of Perieres 1, a
well known archer Melaneus 5 came to him in
Messenia, and received from the king the part of
the country which was called Oechalia after
Melaneus 5's wife.
|
|
Aphareus 1
|
Aphareus 1 inherited the throne of Messenia
together with his brother Leucippus 2, but as they
say, the former had the pre-eminence. Aphareus 1
married Arene, daughter of Oebalus 1 and Gorgophone
2 (the first woman to marry a second time), and
after Arene a city was named.
|
|
Aphareus 1 receives
Neleus
|
Aphareus 1 received in his house the exiled
Neleus, who had been
expelled from Iolcus by his twin brother King
Pelias 1, the same man
who sent Jason and the
ARGONAUTS to Colchis.
Neleus settled in the
coastal part of the territory, taking up his
residence in Pylos, which
some say was founded by him.
|
|
Religious teachings introduced
|
During this time, also Lycus 7 came to Arene in
Messenia when he was driven from
Athens by his brother
King Aegeus 1, and
taught the rites of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus
1 and Arene.
Aphareus 1 and Arene had two sons: Idas 2 and
Lynceus 1.
|
|
Lynceus 1
|
Lynceus 1, who is counted among the
ARGONAUTS, and among
the CALYDONIAN
HUNTERS, is said to have excelled in sharpness
of sight, for he could see things under ground or
look through the trunk of an oak. Lynceus 1 was
still childless when he was killed by one of the
DIOSCURI.
|
|
Idas 2
|
His brother Idas 2 married Marpessa 1, whom
Apollo loved. The girl
chose Idas 2 before
Apollo because she feared
that Apollo might desert
her in her Old Age, and
Idas 2 carried her off in a winged chariot which
Poseidon gave him.
Marpessa 1's father Evenus 2, not being able to
catch Idas 2 when the latter abducted his daughter,
threw himself into the river Lycormas which was
called Evenus after him. Cleopatra 4, daughter of
Idas 2 and Marpessa 1, married
Meleager, and gave
birth to a daughter Polydora 3, who in turn married
Protesilaus, the first of the Achaeans to fall dead
in the Trojan War.
It has been pointed out that all these
women—Marpessa 1, Cleopatra 4 and Polydora
3—committed suicide on the death of their
husbands.
|
|
Killed by the
DIOSCURI
|
Idas 2 and his brother Lynceus 1 were in
constant war with the
DIOSCURI, and
eventually all of them died. One of the reasons of
their conflict was the abduction by the
DIOSCURI of their
cousins Hilaira and Phoebe 2 (both priestesses of
Artemis and
Athena respectively),
daughters of Leucippus 2, brother of Aphareus 1
[see also DIOSCURI].
|
|
Neleids take over
|
With the death of these two brothers, the house
of Aphareus 1 died out and the throne passed to the
house that had its residence at
Pylos, that is, to
Neleus and his sons.
Neleus' daughter Pero 2
was married to an Argive king, either Bias 1 or his
brother Melampus 1.
|
|
Invasion of Heracles
1
|
During this time,
Heracles 1, having
attacked Elis, invaded
Messenia before his expedition against Lacedaemon
and Sparta. Most
descendants of Neleus
perished in this war except young
Nestor, who was either
being brought up in Gerenia, or taken refuge there.
Periclymenus 1, son of
Neleus and one of the
ARGONAUTS, had been
granted by Poseidon the
power of changing his shape, and fighting with
Heracles 1, he turned
himself into a lion, a snake and a bee, but
nevertheless got killed.
It is also told that
Heracles 1 occupied
Pylos, and that he
entrusted the kingdom to
Nestor; this is the
reason why the
HERACLIDES later
claimed the land for themselves.
|
|
War with Elis
|
After this, Messenia was attacked by the Epeans
(from Elis), but were
utterly defeated by
Nestor. At this time
Neleus still lived; some
say he died at Corinth
of a disease whereas others affirm that he was
killed by Heracles 1,
along with his ten or twelve sons (except
Nestor).
|
|
Trojan War
|
At the time of the
Trojan War,
Nestor sailed from
Messenia together with his son Thrasymedes 1, with
Thrasymedes 2 (son of
Neleus in spite of all
said before about the massacre of the sons of
Neleus ), and Antilochus,
who is said to have been suckled by a bitch when he
was a child.
Antilochus, son of
Nestor, died at
Troy, killed either by
Memnon (the eastern
Ethiopian son of Eos), or by
Hector 1 (son of King
Priam 1 of
Troy). Thrasymedes 1 is
among those who hid inside the
WOODEN HORSE.
|
|
Nestor's last days
|
Nestor's death has not
been reported, but he was still alive many years
later, when
Telemachus came to
Pylos looking for his
father Odysseus.
Pisistratus 1, son of
Nestor, was the first to
receive Telemachus on
the sandy beach of Pylos.
He also went with him to
Menelaus' court, where
Telemachus also
inquired about his father.
|
|
Several kingdoms
|
Before the return of the
HERACLIDES, there
were several kings of Messenia, all of which were
deposed during the invasion of the descendants of
Heracles 1.
Melanthus 1 (son of Andropompus 1, son of Borus
3, son of Penthilus 2, son of Periclymenus 1, son
of Neleus), having been
deposed, went to Athens,
and took the kingdom from Thymoetes 2, becoming
king himself.
Pisistratus 2, son of Pisistratus 1, son of
Nestor was also deposed,
and so was Alcmaeon 2, son of Sillus, son of
Thrasymedes 1, son of
Nestor.
|
|
The HERACLIDES
|
The Heraclid Cresphontes received the kingdom of
Messenia through casting lots with Procles 2 and
Eurysthenes 1, who received
Sparta and Lacedaemon. As
Cresphontes' government favoured he people, the
rich made a revolt, killing him and all his sons
except Aepytus 2.
Polyphontes 3 seized power in Messenia after
Cresphontes, and married the wife of the murdered
ruler, Merope 2, against her will. Merope 2 was
related to the Arcadian kings; she was daughter of
Cypselus 1, son of Aepytus 4, son of Hippothous 6,
son of Cercyon 2, son of Agamedes 2, son of
Stymphalus 1, son of Elatus 2, son of Arcas 1, son
of Zeus and
Callisto.
|
|
End of legend
|
But Aepytus 2, the son of Cresphontes and the
only survivor of his house, in time returned,
killed Polyphontes 3, and became king of Messenia.
After him the throne went from father to son.
King Dotadas is said to have been the
constructor of the harbour at Mothone in Messenia.
Sybotas belongs rather to historical times. During
the rule of Phintas, the Messenians came into
conflict with the Lacedaemonians, and killed their
king Teleclus.
|
|
|
|
|