Oxylus (/ˈɒksɪləs/; Ancient Greek: Ὄξυλος Oxulos), was a mythical king of Elis, who came from Aetolia and was son of Haemon (himself son of Thoas) or of Andraemon.
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👉 Oxylus (son of Haemon) in the context of Return of the Heracleidae
The Return of the Heracleidae is an ancient Greek myth concerning the return of the descendants of the hero Heracles to the Peloponnese, Heracles's homeland, and their conquest of various realms in the region. In the myth, Heracles was assisted by the Dorians: the story served as an aetiological myth for the Dorian communities of the Peloponnese, particularly Sparta.
According to the myth, Heracles's children (the Heracleidae) were forced from the Peloponnese by Eurystheus, and settled in the northern Greek region of Thessaly, where Hyllus, Heracles's eldest son, formed an allegiance with the Dorians. The Heracleidae killed Eurystheus, with Athenian support and protection, but Hyllus's attempt to retake the Peloponnese ended in failure and his own death in battle. Following the advice of the Oracle of Delphi, Hyllus's great-grandson, Temenos, led his relatives in a successful invasion, fifty years later, with the help of the Dorians and Oxylus. Temenos then divided the kingdoms of the Peloponnese between himself (receiving Argos), his brother Cresphontes (who received Messenia), and Eurysthenes and Procles, the sons of his brother Aristodemus, who had been killed before the Heracleidae reached the Peloponnese. Eurysthenes and Procles jointly received the kingdom of Sparta, founding the city's dual royal lineage.
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Oxylus (son of Haemon) in the context of Elis (city)
Elis (Ancient Greek: Ἦλις, Doric Greek: Ἆλις, in the local dialect: Ϝᾶλις, Modern Greek: Ήλιδα, romanized: Elida) was the capital city of the ancient polis (city-state) of Elis, in ancient Greece. It was situated in the northwest of the Peloponnese, to the west of Arcadia. Just before the Peneius emerges from the hills into the plain, the valley of the river is contracted on the south by a projecting hill of a peaked form, and nearly 500 feet (150 m) in height. This hill was the acropolis of Elis, and commanded as well the narrow valley of the Peneius as the open plain beyond. The ancient city lay at the foot of the hill, and extended across the river, as Strabo says that the Peneius flowed through the city; but since no remains are now found on the right or northern bank, it is probable that all the public buildings were on the left bank of the river, more especially as Pausanias does not make any allusion to the river in his description of the city.
Elis is mentioned as a town of the Epeii by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad; but in the earliest times the two chief towns in the country appear to have been Ephyra the residence of Augeias, in the interior, and Buprasium on the coast. Some writers suppose that Ephyra was the more ancient name of Elis, but it appears to have been a different place, situated upon the Ladon. Elis first became a place of importance upon the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians. Oxylus and his Aetolian followers appear to have settled on the height which later formed Elis's acropolis as the spot best adapted for ruling the country. From this time it was the residence of the kings, and of the aristocratic families who governed the country after the abolition of royalty. Elis was the only fortified town in the country; the rest of the inhabitants dwelt in unwalled villages, paying obedience to the ruling class at Elis.
Oxylus (son of Haemon) in the context of Oxylus
In Greek mythology, Oxylus (/ˈɒksɪləs/; Ancient Greek: Ὄξυλος, romanized: Óxulos) may refer to:
- Oxylus, daimon of the mountain beech forests, son of Orius (mountain-god of Othrys or the Pindus), who is noted in the Deipnosophistae for fathering the Hamadryads with his own sister Hamadryas.
- Oxylus, son for Ares and Protogeneia, daughter of Calydon.
- Oxylus, king of Elis; from Aetolia, son of Haemon (himself son of Thoas) or of Andraemon.