Hippodamia (wife of Pirithous)

For other uses, see Hippodamia (mythology).

Hippodamia (/ˌhɪpɒdəˈmaɪ.ə/;^[1] Ancient Greek: Ἱπποδάμεια means 'she who masters horses' derived from ἵππος hippos "horse" and δαμάζειν damazein "to tame") was the daughter of Atrax^[2] or Butes^[3] or Adrastus^[4] and the bride of King Pirithous of the Lapiths in Greek mythology.

Benna Smuglewicz Rape of Hippodamia

She was also known as Deidamia (/ˌdaɪdəˈmaɪ.ə/; Ancient Greek: Δηιδάμεια),^[5] Laodamia /ˌleɪ.ədəˈmaɪ.ə/,^[6] Hippoboteia /ˌhɪpəbəˈtaɪ.ə/,^[7] Dia /ˈdaɪ.ə/^[8] or Ischomache /ɪˈskɒməkiː/^[9]).

Mythology

At their wedding, Hippodamia, the other female guests, and the young boys were almost abducted by the Centaurs. Pirithous and his friend Theseus led the Lapiths to victory over the Centaurs in a battle known as the Centauromachy.^{[3][10][11][12]} She gave birth to Pirithous's son Polypoetes,^[13] but died shortly afterwards.^[14]

The abduction of Hippodamia was not an uncommon subject of Western art in the classical tradition, including the sculpture The Abduction of Hippodameia by French artist Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and a painting by Rubens.

Hippodamia greeted by a seemingly genteel Centaur in a wall painting from Pompeii