Heracles and the Girdle of Hippolyte

THE ruler of Troy at this time was Laomedon, father of Priam and a man infamous for not paying his bills.*

Poseidon went undercover as a master stonemason, undertaking to build impregnable walls for the city while Apollo watched the king’s herds. Sure enough, when the work was done Laomedon withheld their wages. So Apollo sent a pestilence, and Poseidon sent a sea-monster.

An oracle assured Laomedon that if he chained his daughter Hesione to rocks on the seashore to satisfy Poseidon’s monster,* Apollo’s plague would be averted too, and Laomedon complied. True to form, however, he first engaged Heracles to rescue Hesione in exchange for a string of fine mares (a gift to his grandfather from Zeus), and then as soon as Hesione was safely home, cancelled delivery.

Grudgingly, Heracles postponed vengeance until Hippolyte’s girdle was in Admete’s hands, breaking his homeward voyage only at Thasos, which he conquered for a friend,* and Toroni,* where he killed two men in a wrestling match.

Based on ‘Library’ II.5.9 by Pseudo-Apollodorus (ca. 1st or 2nd century AD) and ‘Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome’, by E.M. Berens.

See Google Maps; Priam was the King at the time of the Siege of Troy: see our posts tagged The Siege of Troy.

Compare the story of Perseus and Andromeda.

Thasos lies in the north Aegean. See Google Maps. The friend was Androgeus, a son of Minos and Pasiphaë, who was later assassinated in Athens. When Minos heard the news, he was leading sacrifice to the Graces on Paros. Grief-stricken, he completed the solemnities without music, and without music the rites were performed ever after on Paros.

Toroni lies on the western side of the Sithonia peninsula in Chalkidiki. See Google Maps.

Précis
Heracles came home from the land of the Amazons on the Black Sea via Troy, where he became involved in a battle of wills between Poseidon and King Laomedon over unpaid wages. Laomedon tricked Heracles into helping him evade Poseidon’s penalties without reward, but Heracles could do nothing about it, as he was duty-bound to return home with Hippolyte’s belt.
Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why did Laomedon agree to sacrifice his daughter Hesione to a sea-monster?

Suggestion

He was simply following an oracle’s advice.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Poseidon and Apollo went incognito to Troy. They helped to build Troy’s walls. King Laomedon did not pay their wages.

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