Chrysippus was the
bastard son of
Pelops, king of
Pisa in the Peloponnesus, and the nymph
Axioche[2][3] or Danais.[4] According to
Pseudo-Plutarch, of all his children Pelops loved Chrysippus best.
Mythology
Chrysippus was kidnapped by the Theban prince
Laius, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games, where the boy planned to compete. Instead, Laius carried him off to Thebes and
raped him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods.[5][6] Others named as Chrysippus' kidnappers
Zeus[7] and even
Theseus.[8] In one version Chrysippus' father Pelops, following his son's abduction, curses Laius to be killed by one of his own children.[9]
Chrysippus's death was related in various ways. One author who cites
Peisandros as his source claims that he killed himself with his sword out of shame.[10][11]Hellanicus of Lesbos and
Thucydides writes that he was killed out of jealousy by
Atreus and
Thyestes, his half-brothers, who cast him into a well. This is usually on their mother
Hippodamia's suggestion; after Pelops blamed her for Chrysippus' demise, she killed herself[12] or withdrew to
Midea in the
Argolid.[13]
The death of Chrysippus is sometimes seen as springing from the curse that
Myrtilus placed on Pelops for his betrayal, as Pelops threw him from a cliff after he helped Pelops win a race.[14][15]
Euripides wrote a play called Chrysippus, whose plot covered Chrysippus' death. The play is now lost. The play was given in the same trilogy that included The Phoenician Women.
Sophocles, The Electra of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894. Cambridge: University Press Warehouse, Ave Maria Lane. Glasgow: 363, Argyle Street.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Plutarch, Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 4.
Online version at topos text.