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In Greek mythology, Aristodemus was a son of Aristomaches and brother of Cresphontes and Temenus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles and helped lead the fifth and final attack on Mycenae in the Peloponnesus.

Aristodemus and his brothers complained to the Oracle that its instructions had proved fatal to those who had followed them (the Oracle had told Hyllas to attack through the narrow passage when the third fruit was ripe). They received the answer that by the "third fruit" the "third generation" was meant, and that the "narrow passage" was not the isthmus of Corinth, but the straits of Rhium . They accordingly built a fleet at Naupactus, but before they set sail, Aristodemus was struck by lightning (or shot by Apollo) and the fleet destroyed, because one of the Heraclidae had slain an Acarnanian soothsayer. The Oracle, being again consulted by Temenus, bade him offer an expiatory sacrifice and banish the murderer for ten years, and look out for a man with three eyes to act as guide. On his way back to Naupactus, Temenus fell in with Oxylus, an Aetolian, who had lost one eye, riding on a horse (or mule) (thus making up the three eyes) and immediately pressed him into his service. The Heraclidae repaired their ships, sailed from Naupactus to Antirrhium , and thence to Rhium in Peloponnesus. A decisive, battle was fought with TisamenusTisamenus in Greek mythology, was a son of Orestes and Hermione. He succeeded his father in the thrones of Argos, Mycenae and Sparta and was later killed in the final battle with the Heracleidae. The later were led by Aristodemus, Cresphontes, Oxylus, Tem, son of OrestesOrestes in Greek legend, was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. According to the Homeric story Orestes was absent from Mycenae when his father returned from the Trojan War and was murdered by his wife's lover Aegisthus. Eight years later Orestes retur, the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain. The Heraclidae, who thus became practically masters of Peloponnesus, proceeded to distribute its territory among themselves by lot. ArgosArgos ( Greek: , rgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnesus near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor, named for Nauplius. The region of Argos was called the Argolid. It was a major stronghold of Mycenaean times, but the pre-Greek name of its acropoli fell to Temenus, LacedaemonLacedaemon or Lakedaimon in historical times, was an alternative name of Laconia . Homer uses only the former, and in some passages seems to denote by it the Achaean citadel, the Therapnae of later times, in contrast to the lower town Sparta. Lacedaemon i to ProclesIn Greek mythology, Procles was one of the Heracleidae, a great-great-great-grandson of Heracles, and a son of Aristodemus. His twin was Eurysthenes, and together they received the land of Lacedaemon after Cresphontes. Temenus and Oxylus captured the Pelo and EurysthenesIn Greek mythology, Eurysthenes ( greek ) was one of the Heracleidae, a great-great-great-grandson of Heracles, and a son of Aristodemus. His twin was Procles, and together they received the land of Lacedaemon after Cresphontes, Temenus and Oxylus capture, the twin sons of Aristodemus; and MesseneMessene (Greek Messin or Messen ) was an ancient Greek city, the capital of Messenia (until the modern prefecture was formed), founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC, after the battle of Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese. The town was bui to Cresphontes. The fertile district of Elis had been reserved by agreement for Oxylus. The Heraclidae ruled in Lacedaemon till 221 BC, but disappeared much earlier in the other countries. This conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, commonly called the "Return of the Heraclidae," is represented as the recovery by the descendants of Heracles of the rightful inheritance of their hero ancestor and his sons. The Dorians followed the custom of other Greek tribes in claiming as ancestor for their ruling families one of the legendary heroes, but the traditions must not on that account be regarded as entirely mythical. They represent a joint invasion of Peloponnesus by Aetolians and Dorians, the latter having been driven southward from their original northern home under pressure from the Thessalians. It is noticeable that there is no mention of these Heraclidae or their invasion in Homer or Hesiod. Herodotus (vi. 52) speaks of poets who had celebrated their deeds, but these were limited to events immediately succeeding the death of Heracles. The story was first amplified by the Greek tragedians, who probably drew their inspiration from local legends, which glorified the services rendered by Athens to the rulers of Peloponnesus.

Apollodorus ii. 8; Diod. Sic. iv. 57, 58; Pausanias i. 32, 41, ii. 13, 18, iii. I, iv. 3, v. 3; Euripides, Heracleidae; - Pindar, Pythia, ix. 137; Herodotus ix. 27. See Müller's Dorians, I. ch. 3; Thirlwail, History of Greece, ch. vii.; Grote, Hist. of Greece, pt. i. ch. xviii.; Busolt, Griechische Geschichte, i. ch. ii. sec. 7, where a list of modern authorities is given. Greek mythological people

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