Echemus

In Greek mythology, Echemus (Ancient Greek: Ἔχεμος, Ekhemos) was the king of Arcadia who succeeded Lycurgus.

Family

Echemus was the son of Aeropus, son of King Cepheus.[1] He was married to Timandra, daughter of Leda and Tyndareus of Sparta.[2] Timandra bore him a son, Ladocus[3], before deserting Echemus for Phyleus, the king of Dulichium.

Mythology

After the death of Eurystheus, Hyllus led the Heracleidae to attack Mycenae. Echemus offered himself as the champion of the defending Arcadian forces and killed Hyllus in single combat, thus forcing the Heracleidae to withdraw.[1] This story is mentioned by the Tegeans as an example of their people's bravery in book 9 of The History by Herodotus.

Echemus was the victor in wrestling during the first Olympic games established by Heracles.[4]

Pausanias 8.5.1

On his death (Lycurgus), Echemus, son of Aeropus, son of Cepheus, son of Aleus, became king of the Arcadians. In his time the Dorians, in their attempt to return to the Peloponnesus under the leadership of Hyllus, the son of Heracles, were defeated by the Achaeans at the Isthmus of Corinth, and Echemus killed Hyllus, who had challenged him to single combat. I have come to the conclusion that this is a more probable story than the one I gave before, that on this occasion Orestes was king of the Achaeans, and that it was during his reign that Hyllus attempted to return to the Peloponnesus. If the second account be accepted, it would appear that Timandra, the daughter of Tyndareus, married Echemus, who killed Hyllus.

Notes

Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 8.5.1
Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 23(a)31–35
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 8.44.1

Pindar,Olympian Odes 10.65 ff.

References

Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pindar,Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pindar,The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Further reading

March, J., Cassell's Dictionary of Classical Mythology, London, 1999. ISBN 0-304-35161-X

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