In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Chrysippus was a divine hero of Elis

Elis

Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...

 in the Peloponnesus, the bastard son of Pelops

Pelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops , was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus. He was the founder of the House of Atreus through his son of that name....

 king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus and the nymph Axioche

Axioche

Axioche was a nymph in Greek mythology. She was the mother of Chrysippus by Pelops. Elsewhere she is referred to as "Danais"....

. He was kidnapped by the Theban

Thebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...

 Laius

Laius

In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth. Son of Labdacus, he was raised by the regent Lycus after the death of his father.-Abduction of Chrysippus:...

, his tutor, who was escorting him to the Nemean Games

Nemean Games

The Nemean Games were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years ....

, where the boy planned to compete. Instead, Laius ran away with him to Thebes and rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

d him, a crime for which he, his city, and his family were later punished by the gods

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

. Chrysippus's death was related in various ways. One author who cites Peisandros as his source claims that he killed himself with his sword out of shame.

Hellanikos and Thucydides

Thucydides

Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...

 write that he was killed out of jealousy by Atreus

Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was a king of Mycenae, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....

 and Thyestes

Thyestes

In Greek mythology, Thyestes was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, King of Olympia, and father of Pelopia and Aegisthus. Thyestes and his twin brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olympia...

, his half-brothers, who cast him into a well. They had been sent by their mother, Hippodamia

Hippodamia

Hippodamia was a daughter of King Oenomaus and wife of Pelops with whom her offspring were Thyestes, Atreus, Pittheus, Alcathous, Troezen, Hippalcimus, Copreus, Astydameia, Nicippe, Eurydice and others....

, who feared Chrysippus would inherit Pelops's throne instead of her sons. Atreus and Thyestes, together with their mother, were banished by Pelops and took refuge in Mycenae

Mycenae

Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...

. There Hippodamia hung herself. Another version has Hippodamia committing the deed herself, on behalf of her sons Atreus and Thyestes. She waited until Laius and Chrysippus were asleep together, and then used the knife of Laius to slay Chrysippus. Chrysippus, however, did not die at once, and was able to tell Pelops that the real murderer was his stepmother.

The death of Chrysippus is sometimes seen as springing from the curse that Myrtilus

Myrtilus

In Greek mythology, Myrtilus was a divine hero, a son of Hermes on Theobule , and charioteer of King Oenomaus of Pisa in Elis, on the northwest coast of the Peloponnesus....

 placed on Pelops for his betrayal, as Pelops threw him from a cliff after he helped Pelops win a race.

Euripides

Euripides

Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...

 wrote a play called Chrysippus whose plot covered Chrysippus' death. The play is now lost. The play was given in the same trilogy that included The Phoenician Women.