Idomeneus (son of Deucalion)

Did You Know?

• Idomeneus was described by the chronicler Malalas as 'above average height, dark-skinned, good eyes, well set, strong, good nose, thick beard, good head, curly hair, a berserker when fighting'.
• He traced his lineage from Helios the sun god through his grandparents King Minos and Queen Pasiphaë.
• His wife Meda was mother to Orsilochus, Cleisithyra, Iphiclus, and Lycus.

Mythology

In Homer's Iliad, Idomeneus ranks among the foremost Greek generals, leading his troops and engaging the enemy directly while escaping serious injury. He served as one of Agamemnon's trusted advisors and became a primary defender when many other Achaean heroes were wounded, even briefly fighting Hector and repulsing his attack. Like most Greek leaders, he survived the war and was among those who entered the Trojan Horse. Idomeneus killed twenty men and at least three Amazon women, including Bremusa, at Troy. According to a tradition preserved by Apollodorus, he was driven out of Crete by his foster son Leucus, who had seduced and killed Idomeneus' wife Meda and usurped the throne. Porphyry, however, reports that upon returning from Troy, Idomeneus sacked Lyctus and other cities taken by Leucus. The story also appears in the works of the French writer François Fénelon. Mozart's 1781 opera Idomeneo adapts the return, with Poseidon sparing Idomeneo's son Idamante on condition that Idomeneo abdicate his throne.