House of Atreus
Pelops
The Restored One
Death and Rebirth
Pelops was murdered by his own father Tantalus and served as a meal to the gods. The Olympians restored him to life — more beautiful than before — with an ivory shoulder replacing the piece consumed by Demeter.
Poseidon himself took a special interest in the youth, granting him a golden chariot and winged horses. But divine favor, as the House of Atreus would learn again and again, comes at a terrible price.
The Chariot Race
To win the hand of Hippodamia, Pelops had to defeat her father Oenomaus in a chariot race — a race no suitor had survived. Pelops bribed Oenomaus's charioteer Myrtilus to sabotage the king's chariot, causing his death.
After the victory, Pelops hurled Myrtilus into the sea to silence him. As Myrtilus drowned, he cursed Pelops and all his descendants. This second curse, layered upon Tantalus's original sin, deepened the doom that would haunt the bloodline.
“The treachery of Pelops was subtle where his father's was brazen, but no less destructive.”— Apollodorus, Epitome