The family tree shown above, listed the royal family of the Lapiths in Thessaly. The Lapiths ruled around the valley of the Peneius River in Thessaly. The family was the descendant of the river god Peneius and his wife Creusa, a daughter of Ge (Gaea).
Peneius had a son (Hypseus) and a daughter (Stilbe), who would established the royal house of the Lapiths. At first Hypseus ruled, but he was succeeded by his nephew, Lapithus, the son of Apollo and his sister Stilbe. Lapithus is the eponym of the Lapiths. His two sons, Phorbas and Periphas had succeeded their father, but Phorbas later migrated to Elis. Periphas married his aunt, Astyagyïa, daughter of Hypseus.
Two Lapith kings became famous. One was Ixion, the son of Antion. He had tried to rape the goddess Hera and was punished in Tartarus for this attempt.
His son, Peirithoüs, was the other famous king, mainly because Peirithoüs was the companion of Theseus. Peirithoüs may possibly be the son of Zeus, instead of Ixion, where Zeus had seduced the Lapith's wife. His wedding was famous, because of the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Peirithoüs was a reckless king, and would later sit forever in the Seat of Forgetfulness, because he had tried to abduct Persephone, the consort of the god Hades.
Polypoetes, Peirithoüs' son, had fought beside Leonteus, son of Coronus, during the Trojan War.
As to the family tree below, show a different Lapith family, but this family was just as famous as the royal family, because many Lapith heroes had come from this line.
The Lapith chieftain Elatus was the father of several heroes, such as girl turned into a man, Caeneus. Caeneus was born a girl, as Caenis, but after the god Poseidon had raped her, the sea god granted her any wish. Her wish was granted, and Poseidon transformed her into a man, where she changed her name to Caeneus.
Caeneus was formidable warrior, because she was invulnerable to weapons, and one of the heroes who fought against the Centaurs, at Peirithoüs' wedding. Caeneus killed many Centaurs, before he was killed. When the Lapiths went to recover his body, he was transformed back to a girl. Caeneus had a son, named Coronus, who became an Argonaut. And Leonteus, Caeneus' grandson, was one of the Lapith leaders, who had fought at Troy, beside Polypoetes.
Caeneus' brother, Polyphemus, had also fought against the Centaurs. Polyphemus had also sailed with Jason, as an Argonaut.
Another son of Elatus, was Ischys, the lover of Coronis. Though, there is a little confusion, because this Elatus and Ischys may well be from the House of Arcadia, instead of Thessaly. The Arcadian Elatus was the son of Arcas, as well as the king of Arcadia.
This page belongs to Timeless Myths.
See Copyright Notices for permitted use.
For feedback, questions, or just to say "hello",
contact can made through the Contact page.
No mailing list or spamming, please.
Home | Classical Mythology | Pantheon | Heroic Age | Royal Houses | Geographia | Back
What's New? | About | Bibliography | Fact & Figures | Genealogy | FAQs | Links | Copyright | Donation | Contact | Back
Copyright: Timeless Myths (Classical Mythology) © 1999, Jimmy Joe. All Rights Reserved.
First Created (Genealogy – Lapith House of Thessaly): 28/07/1999.
Last Modified: 24/06/06.