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{{short description|King of Sparta}}
{{Infobox noble|type
| name              = Tyndareus 
| title             = King of [[Sparta]]
| image             = Dioskouroi Painter - RVAp 4-186 - Dioskouroi with Tyndareus and Leda - draped youths - London BM 1856-1226-19 - 07.jpg

| caption           = Vase depicting the Dioskuri (either side) with Tyndareus (white beard) and [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]]
| alt               = 
| succession        = [[List of kings of Sparta|Legendary King of Sparta]]
| predecessor = [[Hippocoon]]
| successor = [[Menelaus]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Greece]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = [[Greece]]
| burial_date = 
| burial_place = [[Therapne]], [[Sparta]]
| CoA               = 
| more              = 
| spouse            = [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]]
| spouse-type       = Wife
| issue             = [[Castor (mythology)|Castor]] <br/> [[Clytemnestra]]<br/>[[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]]<br/> Phoebe<br/>[[Philonoe]] <br> [[Helen of Troy]]<ref>[[Virgil]], ''Aeneid''. Book [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D1 VI]. For an English translation see the [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D1 Perseus Project].</ref> (stepdaughter) <br> [[Pollux (mythology)|Pollux]] (stepson)
| father            = [[Oebalus]] or [[Perieres]]
| mother            = [[Gorgophone (daughter of Perseus)|Gorgophone]]
}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Tyndareus''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ɪ|n|ˈ|d|ɛ|r|i|ə|s}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Τυνδάρεος, ''Tundáreos''; [[Attic Greek|Attic]]: Τυνδάρεως, ''Tundáreōs''; {{IPA|grc|tyndáreɔːs|}}) was a [[Sparta]]n king.

== Family ==
Tyndareus was the son of [[Oebalus]] (or [[Perieres (king of Messenia)|Perieres]]<ref>John Tzetzes on [[Lycophron]], 511</ref>) and [[Gorgophone]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', 2.21.7</ref> (or [[Batea (mythology)|Bateia]]). He married the Aetolian princess, [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]], by whom he became the father of [[Castor (mythology)|Castor]], [[Clytemnestra]], [[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]],<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' fr. 23(a)7–9; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 3.10.6.</ref> [[Phoebe (mythological characters)|Phoebe]] and [[Philonoe]], and the stepfather of [[Helen of Troy]] and [[Pollux (mythology)|Pollux]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D6 Apollodorus, 3.10.6.]</ref>

==Mythology==

=== Early years ===
Tyndareus had a brother named [[Hippocoon]], who seized power and exiled Tyndareus. He was reinstated by [[Heracles]], who killed Hippocoon and his sons. Tyndareus's other brother was [[Icarius of Sparta|Icarius]], the father of [[Penelope]].

Tyndareus's wife [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] was seduced by [[Zeus]], who disguised himself as a swan. She laid two eggs, each producing two children; [[Castor and Pollux]], and [[Helen of Troy]] and [[Clytemnestra]].

When [[Thyestes]] seized control in [[Mycenae]], two exiled princes, [[Agamemnon]] and [[Menelaus]] came to [[Sparta]], where they were received as guests and lived for a number of years.  The princes eventually married Tyndareus's daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen respectively.

=== Curse of the goddess ===
According to [[Stesichorus]], while sacrificing to the gods Tyndareus forgot to honor [[Aphrodite]] and thus the goddess was angered and made his daughters twice and thrice wed and deserters of their husbands.<ref>''Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 249;'' [http://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=7 Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women Fragment 67'']. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914.</ref> As [[Hesiod]] also says:
{|
|
: And laughter-loving Aphrodite felt jealous when she looked on them and cast them into evil report. Then Timandra deserted [[Echemus]] and went and came to [[Phyleus]], dear to the deathless gods; and even so Clytaemnestra deserted god-like Agamemnon and lay with [[Aegisthus]] and chose a worse mate; and even so Helen dishonoured the couch of golden-haired Menelaus.
|}

===Helen and the Trojan War===
[[File:Antonio Canova-Helen of Troy-Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tyndareus's stepdaughter [[Helen of Troy]]]]
Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world, and when it was time for her to marry, [[Archon|many Greek kings and princes]] came to seek her hand or sent emissaries to do so on their behalf. Among the contenders were [[Odysseus]], [[Ajax the Great]], [[Diomedes]], [[Idomeneus]], and both [[Menelaus]] and [[Agamemnon]]. All but Odysseus brought many and rich gifts with them. Helen's favourite was Menelaus who, according to some sources, did not come in person but was represented by his brother Agamemnon, who chose to support his brother's case, and himself married Helen's half-sister Clytemnestra instead.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''Catalogs of Women and Eoiae''. For an English translation see the [http://mcllibrary.org/Hesiod/catalogs.html Medieval and Classical Literature Library].</ref>

[[File:Odysseus advises king Tyndareus concerning Helen's suitors.jpg|thumb|Illustration of  Odysseus advising Tyndareus]]
Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the [[Suitors of Helen|suitors]] away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of [[Penelope]], the daughter of [[Icarius (Spartan)|Icarius]].<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' 3.10.9.</ref> Tyndareus readily agreed and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with the chosen one. This stratagem succeeded and Helen and Menelaus were married. Eventually, Tyndareus resigned in favour of his son-in-law and Menelaus became king.

Some years later, [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]], a Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, whom he had been promised by [[Aphrodite]]. Helen left with him – either willingly because she had fallen in love with him, or because he kidnapped her, depending on the source – leaving behind Menelaus and [[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]], their nine-year-old daughter. Menelaus attempted to retrieve Helen by calling on all her former suitors to fulfil their oaths, leading to the [[Trojan War]].<ref>[[Herodotus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+1.1.0 ''Histories''], [[A. D. Godley]] (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; {{ISBN|0-674-99133-8}}. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.</ref>

===Afterwards===
According to [[Euripides|Euripides's]] ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', Tyndareus was still alive at the time of Menelaus's return,<ref>''Vienna Papyrus G2315'', from [[Hermopolis]]</ref> and was trying to secure the death penalty for his grandson [[Orestes]] due to the latter's murder of his own mother who was also Tyndareus's daughter, Clytemnestra, but according to other accounts he had died prior to the Trojan War.<ref>Euripides, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Eur.+Hel.+1 ''Helen''], in ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. ''Helen'', translated by E. P. Coleridge. New York. Random House. 1938.</ref> In some versions of the myth, Tyndareus was one of the dead men resurrected by [[Asclepius]] to live again.<ref>[[John Tzetzes]]. ''[http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades10.html#49 Chiliades, 10.49 line 720]''</ref><ref>''This account might explain the inconsistency between the death of Tyndareus according to various versions of the story.''</ref>

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of kings of Sparta|King of Sparta]]<br>(first reign)
| before = [[Oebalus|Oibalos]]
| after = [[Hippocoon]]
| years = 
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of kings of Sparta|King of Sparta]]<br>(second reign)
| before = [[Hippocoon]]
| after = [[Menelaus]]
| years = 
}}
{{s-end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|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. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Euripides]], ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 2. Helen, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0100 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Euripides, ''Euripidis Fabulae.'' ''vol. 3''. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0099 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. {{ISBN|0-674-99133-8}}. [https://topostext.org/work/22 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125 Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library].
* [[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. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|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}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro]], ''[[Aeneid]].'' Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book IX-X translated by Jonathan Alexander from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades9.html Online version at theio.com]


{{Kings of Sparta}}
[[Category:Mythological kings of Sparta]]
[[Category:Mythological Laconians]]
[[Category:Mythology of Heracles]]
[[Category:Leda (mythology)]]