Return of the Heracleidae

[okamido]

The "Dorian Invasion", was thought by many scholars to have taken place, if at all, between the years 1300bce-1100bce. I say, "If at all", because the historicity of this invasion/ migration has never truly been substantiated. What is know is that during the aforementioned time period, Mycenaean culture, writing, and language disappeared from the historical records. It was surmised by Ancient Greek historians, that a cataclysmic event had taken place to remove these people. In order to come to terms with this they devised a history of the collapse, and that was the Return of the Heracleidae. The Heracleidae, legendary Kings of the Dorians, were the descendants of Heracles, and their connection to the Dorians through the King Aegimius, became the groundwork for this legend.

 

ORIGIN

In the Age of Heroes, Aegimius, King of the Dorians, was in conflict with a people from the region of Thessaly, known as the Lapithae. In this conflict, Aegimius and his people were doing quite poorly. As the Age of Heroes might imply however, there were still men of great renown walking the Earth, one of which was Heracles, spreader of joy or woe, depending on the prevailing wind of his ego. As a hero and demigod, for Heracles was the son of Zeus, leader of Greece's Pantheon of religious icons, Heracles had the ability to sway this conflict one way of the other. Making the decision to assist Aegimius, Heracles, according to legend, would set forth a chain of events that would change the landscape of not only Southern Greece, but of the entire Aegean as well, for with his aid, the Dorians were victorious, and King Aegimius was now in the debt of the mighty Achaean. To repay this debt, Aegimius gave one-third of all his land to Heracles, as well as promising to adopt Hyllus, Heracles son, as one of his heirs.

 

Several years later upon the death of Heracles, Eurystheus, King of Tiryns and a Persiad(descendant of Perseus), sought to do away with any rivals to his ambitions in the Argolid, as well as the rest of Southern Greece. With Hyllus and his siblings being the great-great grandchildren of Perseus, just such a rivalry existed. Pursuing them feverishly out of Southern Greece, Eurystheus tracked the to Athens, where they had taken refuge. Staking all on a battle with the Athenians, Eurytheus' army was utterly defeated, and their King killed. It was at this point that Hyllus decided to make north, for the lands and men promised to him by the King of the Dorians, Aegimius. It is also of interest to note, that according to legend, Athens's defense of Hyllus and his siblings, as well as their belief that Heracles was buried at Athens, played a contributing factor in Athens not being conquered as the Dorians migrated south.

 

When Hyllus arrive back with the Dorians, he was pleased to find that Aegimius's sons submitted to him completely, making him the King of the Dorians, a feat accomplished with no bloodshed, and on the complete strength of his father, Heracles', character and aid. In no time however, Hyllus was preparing to march on Southern Greece, now much of which was coming under the sway of the Pelopidae, or sons of Pelops. For three years Hyllus waited, as the Oracle at Delphi stated, "Wait for the third fruit", before taking the lands he believed were his by right. Upon reaching the Isthmus of Corinth, Hyllus found himself challenged to single combat by Echemus, King of Tegea. Quickly accepting, Hyllus quickly lost, dying at the Isthmus, his lands unclaimed. Having promised three generations of peace as a price for the single combat, Hyllus's Dorians returned to their lands to bide their time.

 

Enter The Heracleidae

At the culmination of the three promised generations of peace, the descendants of Heracles and Hyllus, Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristodemus sought counsel with the Oracle in order to understand why the prophecy had gone unfulfilled. The Oracle informed them that the "third fruit" did not spaek to the number of years, but to the number of generations. Hearing this, the descendants of Heracles made preparation to retake Southern Greece, now known to us as the Peloponnese due to the rampant spread of the sons of Pelops over the region. As the Dorian forces moved out, one of the three, Aristodemus was killed at Naupactus by a lightning strike, or as was said at the time, struck by Apollo. This left his two sons, Procles and Eurythenes to take his place, and claim his lands. After some time, the "invasion" took place and all was staked on a single battle against the grandson of Agamemnon, Tisamenus. Sixty years after the sons of Atreus destroyed the great city of Troy, they too were wiped clean from the Heracleidae. The conquest had begun.

 

Claim on Argos

As members of the Persiad as well as the Heracleidae, for Heracles' mother was the granddaughter of Perseus, a legitimate hereditary claim could be made on this city and its' surrounding territories. It would fall on Temenus to govern the lands that were his by bloodline.

 

Claim on Lacedaemon

When Tyndareus, King of Sparta was overthrown by his brother Hipocoon, Heracles intervened, Killing the usurper and his sons. In doing this, Heracles had won the Kingship of Sparta by force of arms. Not being the type to settle in one place, Heracles placed Tyndareus back upon the throne in order that he may govern the territory for him. This gave a claim to the Heracleidae that the lands have always been theirs, only held in stewardship by the Pelopidae. To Procles and Eurysthenes would fall the dual leadership of this city and its' surrounding lands. Thus the dual Kingship of Sparta was born with the Houses of the Eurypontid and Agiad. Of the Dorian conquerors of the Peloponnese, this line would last the longest till 221bce and the Battle of Sallesia, where one King, Euclidias, would meet his fate, and another, Cleomenes III, would flee to Egypt, betrayal, and ultimately suicide. From this point on, the Kingship was abolished, Sparta became a quasi-republic, and the last known member of either of the royal line, a Eurypontid named ironically, Pelops, died in 206bce.

 

Claim to Messenia

Much like Lacedaemon, the question of stewardship arises in the lands of Messenia, and the city of Pylos. One story states that Heracles stormed Pylos, killing its' King Neleus and his sons due to their aid in the defense of Hipocoon, the Spartan usurper. Another states that after Heracles had murdered a man named Iphitus, he had asked both Hypocoon and Neleus to purify him of this blood debt, to which they refused making Heracles a mortal enemy. With Hipoccon now dead at his hands, Heracles sought out the other, Neleus, and upon killing him and all of his sons save Nestor, left, leaving Nestor as the sole candidate for a Kingship that, once again was won and abandoned by Heracles. The control of these lands, through the most spurious of the claims, would fall to Crestophanes. Of the three, this Kingship would fall first and Messenia would become the territory of the descendants of Procles and Eurysthenes, the Spartans.

 

 

Malkin, I.(1994).Myth and Territory in the Spartan Mediterranean