King Oinomaos of Pisa ruled over the lands surrounding Olympia and had a daughter of extraordinary beauty named Hippodamia. An oracle had warned Oinomaos that he would be killed by his son-in-law, so the king devised a lethal contest: any man who wished to marry Hippodamia had to defeat Oinomaos in a chariot race from Pisa to the Isthmus of Corinth. If the suitor lost, he paid with his life. Oinomaos's horses were divine gifts from Ares, the god of war — no mortal team could outrun them. Thirteen suitors had already tried and failed, and their severed heads decorated the palace gates.
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Ghosts & Curses·3/5·1′
The place
Olympia - Sanctuary of Zeus & Birthplace of the Olympics
Pelops and the Chariot Race of Death
The treacherous race that founded the Olympic Games
Mythological EraOlympia - Sanctuary of Zeus & Birthplace of the Olympics
Moral of the Story
“Glory won through treachery carries a curse. The origins of the greatest games were steeped in blood, reminding us that civilization is built on darker foundations.”
Characters
P
PelopsH
HippodamiaO
OinomaosM
MyrtilusP
PoseidonSource
Pindar's Olympian Ode 1, Apollodorus's Bibliotheca, Pausanias's Description of Greece (Book 5), Sophocles's Electra