About Hippodamia     Daughter of Oenomaus, king of Elis.  She had many suitors, but only he who could defeat her father in a chariot race might win her, while the penalty for failure was death.  Pelops falling in love with Hippodamia, won this race by cheating (see  About Pelops ).  To Pelops she gave many children, of whom the most famous were Atreus and Thyestes.  But of his many sons Pelops loved the bastard Chrysippus the most, which made Hippodamia fear that her own children would lose the throne.  When Chrysippus was murdered by Hippodamia two of her sons were implicated, so Atreus and Thyestes fled to Mycenae. Back to Family Tree Back to Literature Index