La maledizione di Mirtilo -- e "mare myrtoum"

Speranza In Greek mythology, Mirtilo was a divine hero, a son of Hermes on Theobule (or Myrto, an Amazon, or Phaethusa, daughter of Danaus, or Clymene, or Clytie, or Cleobule). He was the charioteer of Oenomaus, re di Pisa, in Elis, on the northwest coast of the Peloponnesus. On the eve of the fateful horse race that would decide the marriage between Pelope and Ippodamia, Mirtilo was approached by Pelope (or in some accounts, by Ippodamia) who wanted him to hinder the efforts of his master, Oenamaus, to win the race. Mirtilo was offered as bribe the privilege of the first night with Ippodamia. Mirtilo, who loved Ippodamia himself but was too afraid to ask her hand of her father, agreed and sabotaged the king's chariot by replacing the bronze linchpins with fake ones made of bees' wax. In the ensuing accident Oenomaus lost his life, cursing Mirtilo as he died. Shortly thereafter Mirtilo tried to seduce Ippodamia, who ran crying to Pelope, although Mirtilo said this was the bargain. Enraged, Pelope murdered Mirtilo by casting him into the sea off the east coast of the Peloponnesus: the Myrtoan Sea -- mare myrtoum in Horace. Mirtilo's body was later recovered and brought in the temple of Hermes where it was honored with annual sacrifices. Mirtilo was transformed into the constellation of Auriga. As Mirtilo died, he cursed Pelope. This curse would haunt future generation of Pelope's family, notably Crisippo. But also Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Menelaus, and Orestes. The burial place of Myrtilus was a taraxippus in Olympia.