Icarius (Spartan )

In Greek mythology, Icarius (/ɪˈkɛəriəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἰκάριος Ikários) was a Spartan prince.

Family

Penelope leaves her father Icarius to marry Ulysses, James Parker after John Flaxman

Icarius was the son of either Perieres and Gorgophone[1][2] or of Oebalus and Bateia[3] and thus brother of Hippocoon and Tyndareus. By Periboea, he became the father of Penelope, Perileos, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusimus, Aletes and Iphthime.[4] According to other traditions, the mother of Penelope, Alyzeus and Leucadius was Polycaste, daughter of Lygaeus.[5]

His other possible wives were Dorodoche (daughter of Ortilochus) and Asterodia (daughter of Eurypylus);[6] the latter was said to have born him five sons - Amasichus, Phalereus, Thoon, Pheremmelias, Perilaos - and a daughter Laodice[7] or Laodamia.[8] In some accounts, by Erymede, daughter of a son Damasiclus, he became the father of Elatus, father of Taenarus.[9]

Comparative table of Icarius family

Relation	Name	Sources
		Homer			Apollonius	Strabo	Apollodorus		Stephanus	Tzetzes
		Ody.	Sch.		Sch. Argo.					Lyco.
Parentage	Perieres and Gorgophone						✓			✓
	Oebalus and Bateia							✓
Siblings	Tyndareus						✓	✓		✓
	Aphareus						✓			✓
	Leucippus						✓			✓
	Hippocoon							✓
Spouse	Asterodia		✓
	Dorodoche			✓
	Periboea						✓
	Polycaste					✓
	Erymede
Offspring	Penelope	✓				✓	✓
	Iphthime	✓					✓
	Laodamia or		✓
	Laodice		✓
	Perilaus or		✓				✓
	Perileos
	Amasichus		✓
	Phalereus		✓
	Thoon		✓
	Pheremmelias		✓
	Elatus				✓
	Alyzeus					✓
	Leucadius					✓
	Aletes						✓
	Damasippus						✓
	Imeusimus						✓
	Thoas						✓
	Taenarus								✓

Mythology

Icarius was a Spartan king[citation needed] and a champion runner who would not allow anyone to marry his daughter unless he beat him in a race. Odysseus succeeded and married Penelope.[10] After they got married, Icarius tried to persuade Odysseus to remain in Sparta. He did leave with Penelope, but Icarius followed them, imploring his daughter to stay. Odysseus told her she must choose whether to be with her father or with her husband. Penelope did not answer, but modestly covered her face with a veil. Icarius correctly understood that this was a sign of her will to leave with Odysseus, let them go and erected a statue of Aidos (Modesty) on the spot.[11] Icarius was apparently still alive at the time of the events of the Odyssey.
Notes

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.5 & 3.10.3
Tzetzes on Lycophron, Alexandra 511
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.10.4
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.10.3-6
Strabo, Geographica 10.2.24
Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 15. 16
Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 1. 275 & 277
Scholia on Homer, Odyssey 4. 797
Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.120
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 3.12.2

Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 3.20.10-11

References

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.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. . Greek text .
Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

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