Oxylus
Family: Ætolia · Role: leader · First appears: Book 5 · Chapter 3
Oxylus, son of Hæmon, fled Ætolia after accidentally killing his brother Thermius with a thrown quoit; some accounts name Alcidocus instead. In Book 5, Chapter 3, the Dorians invited him to lead their return and agreed to give him the kingdom of Elis for his services.
When Oxylus hastened to take the kingdom, Dius challenged him to settle the dispute by single combat between soldiers. Pyræchmes won, and Oxylus gained the kingdom. Following an oracle, Oxylus invited Agorius from Helice in Achaia to join him as a colonist, along with a few Achæans. He was married to Pieria and had sons Ætolus (son of Oxylus) and Laias; Laias succeeded him as king. Iphitus was of Oxylus’s family, and after Iphitus the stewardship of the Olympic umpire passed to Oxylus’s descendants. In Book 6, Oxylus’s spies entered Elis and returned to Ætolia with intelligence; the street they passed through was named for their silence.
Relationship record
Life events
- The Dorians invited Oxylus to lead their return.(Book 5 · Chapter 3)
- “the Dorians invited him to be their leader.”
- The Dorians agreed to give Oxylus the kingdom of Elis.(Book 5 · Chapter 3 · 📍 Elis)
- “they in return for his services agreed to give him at his request the kingdom of Elis.”
- Oxylus fled Ætolia after accidentally killing Thermius, or according to some, Alcidocus.(Book 5 · Chapter 3 · 📍 Ætolia)
- Pyræchmes won the combat, and Oxylus gained the kingdom of Elis.(Book 5 · Chapter 4 · 📍 Elis)
- With: Pyræchmes
- “And as Pyræchmes was victorious Oxylus got the kingdom”
- Oxylus invited Agorius to join him as a colonist.(Book 5 · Chapter 4 · 📍 Helice in Achaia)
- With: Agorius
- “And an oracle came to him from Delphi to associate with him as colonist a descendant of Pelops, and he made diligent search, and discovered Agorius the son of Damasius, the son of Penthilus, the son of Orestes, and invited him from Helice in Achaia and with him a few Achæans.”
- Laias succeeded Oxylus in the kingdom.(Book 5 · Chapter 4)
- With: Laias
- “Oxylus was succeeded in the kingdom by his son Laias.”
- Umpire stewardship passed from Iphitus to the posterity of Oxylus.(Book 5 · Chapter 9 · 📍 Elis)
- With: Iphitus
- “Iphitus was the only umpire, and after Iphitus the posterity of Oxylus”
- Oxylus's spies infiltrated Elis, causing the street to be named Silence.(Book 6 · Chapter 23 · 📍 Elis)
- “Some men in the army of Oxylus being sent forward to reconnoitre Elis, and having cheered one another on the road, when they got near the walls, passed round the word for silence, and to listen if they could hear any sound within the town, and so stole into the town without being observed by this street, and returned again to Ætolia after having got the wished for intelligence. And the street received its name from the silence of these spies.”
Book 5 · Chapter 3
- parent: Hæmon (Parent-to-child.) “the man’s name was Oxylus, he was the son of Hæmon”
- siblings with Thermius (Thermius is explicitly called Oxylus's brother.) “he missed his aim and unintentionally killed his brother Thermius”
- siblings with Alcidocus (According to an alternate account, Alcidocus was the brother whom Oxylus killed.) “or according to some accounts Alcidocus the son of Scopius”
- with Cresphontes (Cresphontes conjectured that the oracle referred to Oxylus, and the Dorians invited Oxylus to lead them.) “the Dorians invited him to be their leader”
Book 5 · Chapter 4
- rivals with Dius “And when Oxylus hastened to take the kingdom of Elis without contention Dius would not permit him, but challenged him not to a contention with all their forces, but to a single combat between two soldiers one from each side.”
- with Dius (Oxylus bestowed honours on Dius.) “And to Dius he gave various honours, and observed the rights of all the heroes according to old precedents”
- with Agorius (Oxylus invited Agorius to join him as a colonist.) “And an oracle came to him from Delphi to associate with him as colonist a descendant of Pelops, and he made diligent search, and discovered Agorius the son of Damasius, the son of Penthilus, the son of Orestes, and invited him from Helice in Achaia and with him a few Achæans.”
- married with Pieria “And they say Oxylus had a wife called Pieria, but they record nothing further about her.”
- child: Ætolus (son of Oxylus) “And the sons of Oxylus were they say Ætolus and Laias.”
- child: Laias “And the sons of Oxylus were they say Ætolus and Laias.”
- with Iphitus (They belonged to the same family.) “Iphitus, who was of the same family as Oxylus, and a contemporary of Lycurgus the Lacedæmonian legislator”
Book 5 · Chapter 9
- with Iphitus (Iphitus was followed in the umpire succession by the posterity of Oxylus.) “for Iphitus was the only umpire, and after Iphitus the posterity of Oxylus”
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Extracted from the original text of Pausanias' Description of Greece. Made with Rho MD.