Astydameia

Astydameia is a woman’s name borne by several figures in Greek myth. The best known is the wife of Acastus, king of Iolcus, who falsely accused the hero Peleus of attacking her and was later killed by him. Two others appear in the family stories of Heracles and his relatives: a daughter of Amyntor who bore a son to Heracles, and a daughter of Pelops who was the mother of Amphitryon.

Astydameia, Wife of Acastus

Peleus at Iolcus

After Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion on a hunt, he fled to Iolcus, where Acastus, son of Pelias, purified him of the killing (Apollodorus, Library 3.13.2). Astydameia, Acastus’ wife, fell in love with him and sent him a proposal to meet (Library 3.13.3).

The False Accusation

When Peleus refused, Apollodorus says that Astydameia sent word to his wife Antigone that Peleus was about to marry Sterope, the daughter of Acastus; hearing this, Antigone hanged herself. Astydameia then told her husband that Peleus had tried to seduce her. Acastus would not kill a man he had purified, so he took Peleus hunting on Mount Pelion. There, while Peleus slept, Acastus hid his sword in cow dung and left him. The centaurs caught Peleus and would have killed him, but Chiron saved him and gave back his sword (Library 3.13.3).

Pindar knows the same story but calls the wife Hippolyta, daughter of Cretheus. In his account she tried to trap Peleus by cunning and, failing to persuade him, told her husband a false tale that Peleus had tried to seduce her; Acastus then plotted Peleus’ death with the sword of Daedalus, and Chiron saved him; Peleus afterwards took Iolcus and handed it over to the Haemones (Pindar, Nemean 4.54–60; Nemean 5.25–37). So “Hippolyta” is Pindar’s name for the same woman, and Apollodorus’ name for her is Astydameia.

Her Death

Astydameia does not die by her own hand in these sources. After his rescue, Peleus returned with Jason and the Dioscuri, laid waste Iolcus, and killed Astydameia. He cut her limb from limb and led the army through the pieces into the city (Apollodorus, Library 3.13.7). It is Peleus’ wife, Antigone, who died by suicide.

Astydameia, Mother of Ctesippus

When Heracles came to Ormenium, King Amyntor armed himself to stop his passage, and Heracles killed him (Apollodorus, Library 2.7.7). Apollodorus lists Ctesippus among the sons of Heracles, by Astydameia, daughter of Amyntor (Library 2.7.8). Diodorus tells the story in more detail and names the king Ormenius: Heracles asked for the hand of his daughter Astydameia, and the king refused because Heracles already had Deianira as his lawful wife. Heracles then took the city, killed the king, and took Astydameia captive; she bore him a son, Ctesippus (Diodorus Siculus 4.37.4).

Pindar says that the sons of Heracles descend through their mother from Amyntor, by way of Astydameia, and so makes her the mother of Tlepolemus (Pindar, Olympian 7.20–24). Homer instead names Astyocheia, brought from Ephyre by the river Selleis, as Tlepolemus’ mother (Iliad 2.657–660). In Ovid, Deianira alludes, without naming her, to the child Heracles had by the “nymph, daughter of Ormenus” (Heroides 9.50).

Astydameia, Daughter of Pelops

Apollodorus says that Alcaeus, son of Perseus, had a son Amphitryon and a daughter Anaxo by Astydameia, daughter of Pelops. He adds that some name Laonome, daughter of Guneus, and others Hipponome, daughter of Menoeceus, as their mother (Library 2.4.5). Amphitryon was the husband of Alcmena.

Astydameia Sources

Apollodorus, Library 3.13.2–3, 3.13.7, 2.7.7–8, 2.4.5; Pindar, Nemean 4.54–60, Nemean 5.25–37, Olympian 7.20–24; Diodorus Siculus 4.37.4; Homer, Iliad 2.657–660; Ovid, Heroides 9.50.

See Also: Acastus, Peleus, Chiron, Heracles, Pelops, Iolcus