[Περὶ Πέλοπος καὶ τῶν ἵππων.]

Φασὶν ὅτι Πέλοψ ἦλθεν ἔχων ἵππους ὑποπτέρους εἰς Πῖσαν μνηστευσόμενος Ἱπποδάμειαν τὴν Οἰνομάου θυγατέρα. ἐγὼ δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ λέγω ἅπερ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πηγάσου. ἐπεὶ Οἰνόμαος, εἰ ᾔδει ὑποπτέρους ὄντας τοὺς ἵππους τοῦ Πέλοπος, οὐκ ἂν δὴ τὴν θυγατέρα αὑτοῦ ἔδωκεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἅρμα αὐτοῦ ἀναβιβάσαι. ῥητέον οὖν ὅτι Πέλοψ ἦλθεν ἔχων πλοῖον, ἐπεγέγραπτο δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς Ἵπποι ὑπόπτεροι, ἁρπάσας δὲ τὴν κόρην ᾤχετο φεύγων. ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ὡς ἁρπάσας τὴν Οἰνομάου θυγατέρα ἐπὶ τῶν Ἵππων ὑποπτέρων ᾤχετο φεύγων. καὶ ὁ μῦθος προσανεπλάσθη.

The Horses of Pelops

They say that Pelops came to Pisa with winged horses to court Hippodameia, the daughter of Oinomaos. I repeat what I said about Pegasos. If Oinomaos had noticed that Pelops' horses had wings, he would never have let his daughter step foot in his chariot.

What can be said instead is that Pelops came with a ship upon whose cabin were depicted winged horses. He seized the girl and fled. And so people would say that Pelops seized the daughter of Oinomaos and fled on ‘winged horses’. And so the myth was fabricated.

Palaiphatos De Incredibilibus 29

ed. Nicola Festa

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

[Περὶ Πέλοπος καὶ τῶν ἵππων.]

Current edition First1KGreek

The Horses of Pelops

Stable identifiers