Greek Myths echoing The Bible

John R Salverda argued for Pelops being based on Ahab.  I had considered that possibly being valid in the past, but by splitting up his parallels for Naboth and Elijah.  But even though in the context of one particular cycle I think certain grandsons of Pelops are memories of some Davidic Kings, I’ve come to view Pelops as mainly a Hellenic memory of Jehu.

Pelops killing Oenomaus in a chariot race could be based on Jehu killing Jehoram son of Ahab in a battle where both rode in Chariots.  Hippodamia could be another example of a Princess in a myth sort of representing the nation.  But given the statement that Jehu did more than what II Kings records it’s not impossible he did marry a princess of the House of Omri, it was the direct male lines of descent from Ahad that were prophesied to be wiped out.

Myrtilus’ curse on the House of Pelops could be a memory of Hosea’s Prophecy that Yahuah will “Avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the House of Jehu” in chapter 1 verse 4.

Stymphalus in this theory represents the Prophets/Priests of Baal at Samaria, who Jehu initially promised peace to but then slaughtered them when he had control of the city in II Kings 10:19-25. 

That equates Samaria with Arcadia. I’ve often identified the Arcadians with the Arkite tribe of Canaan, we don’t have other information on that tribe like we do the first 5 or so Canaanite tribes, they’re mentioned only in Genesis 10 and 1 Chronicles 1.  So Samaria could be where the Arkites originally lived and this Baal cult included some of their genealogical remnant.  [Update: I now know the Arkites referred to people in north western Lebanon north of modern Tripoli.  It could be these particular Priests of Baal Jezebel relied on came from up there.]

It seems possible that the story about Aeacus praying to end a drought after a murder may not have originally been specifically linked to Stymphalus and Pelops, Aeacus’s own Wikipedia page doesn’t mention Stymphalus or Pelops by name here, and he’s generally affiliated with more northern parts of Greece not the Peloponnese.  So my past observation that he maybe resembles Obadiah in 1 Kings 18 who’s piety helped end the drought associated with Elijah remains possible.

Salverda makes a point out of how Aeacus role as a judge of the dead in Plato’s Republic resembles some Jewish traditions about Elijah as a judge of the dead.  But those Jewish tradition are very late, well after men like Philo and Aristobulus of Alexandria had started bringing Platonic ideas into the Judeo-Christian tradition.  So in that case it was the Jews putting Elijah in Aeacus position.

What’s more interesting though is that Aeacus is said to have the keys of Hades.  In Revelation 1 Jesus says He has the Keys of Hades and Death.  In Revelation 3:7 he introduces himself to Philadelphia as he who has the Key of David from Isaiah 22:22.  The equivalent introductions in the other Seven Churches messages all repeat titles from Revelation 1.  Sheol came up in some Davidic Psalms, including one quoted by Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2.  David is also tied to the Resurrection because of how he’s named in Ezekiel 37.  So those keys could be synonymous. 

Pindar Isthmian Odes VIII referred to Aeacus as the dearest of all men to Zeus.  It sounds like Aeacus could be a memory of David more then any Prophet.  Salverda leaves out how royalty did descend from his three sons Peleus, Telamon and Phocus.  Through Achilles son of Peleus the Kings of Epirus claimed descent from Aeacus, and thus through his mother so did Alexander The Great.  What a lot of people don’t know about the Patroclus and Achilles relationship was that Patroclus was actually older than Achilles and a mentor figure to him, not the younger pretty boy you usually see in modern films.  So comparing that relationship to David and Jonathan fits even better than I originally thought.

Aeacus kingdom was also ravaged by a plague once.  He is also said to have built a “Temple” of some type on Mount Panhellenus, but then after he died his people built an even grander Temple.  Pindar also associated him with Psalms.  So Panhellenus could be Zion where the Tabernacle of David was, while the later Temple is a memory of Solomon’s.

Wives and children of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat King of Judah were taken as hostages by the Philistines.  Joel 3 records how Philistia and Tyre sold Judeans and Jerusalemites as slaves to the Ionians.  Another grandson of Aeacus was said to have founded Salamis on Cyprus (an Island also anciently settled by children of Javan and colonized by Phoenicians) that city could have been named after Salem or David's ancestor Salmon/Salmah/Salma.

Because Greek mythology is very much a composite mythology, Aeacus may not be the only memory of David.  I’ve contemplated Endymion as David before, being both a Shepherd and a King in Elis.  Of the wives of David, Avitail is the first I’d look at as a possible basis for Selene, since her name means ‘Father of the Dew” which is a fitting poetic name for the Moon.  The wives married at Hebron were probably mainly David making important marriage alliances within the Tribe of Judah. 

If one of his wives was of the Jerahmeel clan then it's interesting how that name looks like it begins with the Hebrew word for Moon.  1 Chronicles 2’s genealogy of the Jerahmeel clan includes a Eleasah son of Helez, Eleasah actually makes more sense to me etymologically as an origin for Elis, the Eleans and Elysium then Elishah, though perhaps so could David's son born in Jerusalem named Elishua.

But also Numbers 26:20 tells us there was a clan of Shelanites descended from Judah’s third son Shelah.  The Hebrew word for Shelanite is Shelani (Strong number 8024) which could be an etymological origin for Selene.  1 Chronicles 4:21 also names some sons of Shelah.

Ezekiel 23 gives Aholah as a poetic name for Samaria, probably in the sense of Samaria representing the entire Northern Kingdom,but if you wanted to make it more tribally specific Samaria was properly in Western Manasseh.  Aeolians could have in origin meant people of Aholah but then the Hellenic mythology invented Aeolus to be an ancestral figure for them. 

The original main four sons of Aeolus were Athamas, Salmoneus, Sisyphus and Cretheus.  Some stories about Athamas and his sons clearly seem to be based on Abraham and Isaac.  Meanwhile Salmoneus is clearly a memory of Solomon, while Sisyphus I view as Jeroboam and Cretheus as Abinadab of 1 Kings 4:11 with Taphah as Tyro, the islands of Taphos may also have been named after her.  

Cretheus ruled Thessaly in Greek Mythology, the Dorians were also said to have come from Thessaly according to Herodotus.  In The Bible Dor was a region allotted to Asher but was also inhabited by Manasseites (Joshua 17:11, Judges 1:27 and 1 Chronicles 7:29).  So I think the Aeolians were the Mansseites of Dor while the Dorians were the Asherites.  The name Hellen could come from Hellem who fathered an Asherite clan in 1 Chronicles 7:35.

Of course I should consider that maybe the Dorians who invaded Greece were actually the Canaanites of Dor.  And that the tribe of Asher isn’t lost since all of them seem to have accepted Hezekiah’s Passover Invitation and Anna the Prophetess was of Asher.

Other sons of Aeolus include Makedon and Magnes (who are sometimes given as sons of Aeolus but sometimes as his cousins, sons of a sister of Hellen), and Aethlius the first king of the Eleans. 

This makes the ancestry of Alexander The Great pretty firmly Aeolian though with some Doric and possibly Davidic influence.  Joel 3 foretells that from those Israelites sold into slavery to Greece would come the means by which God would judge Tyre and Philista.  Alexander’s two most notable sieges were of Tyre and Gaza, with Gaza being one of the few cities he completely destroyed.

I already have a post on Jehosheba and Electra which goes on to talk about the Acheans and Danaans being Dan.

On Second thought the Aeolians were probably the Asherites since Thebes was also Aeolian and it was said to be founded by Cadmus coming from Tyre and Tyre was in Asher's allotment and not listed among those Asher couldn't chase the Canaanites out of.  Meanwhile Berea home of the Bereans of Acts 17 was probably originally Aeolian being in northern Thessaly before Macedon captured it.  And I think it's name could come from the Beriites of Numbers 26:44-45 the clan of Asher's son Beriah of Genesis 46:17, I also suspect Larissa could be a reference to Ishuah.