In
Homer's
Iliad, Idomeneus is found among the first rank of the Greek generals, leading his troops and engaging the enemy head-on, and escaping serious injury. Idomeneus was one of
Agamemnon's trusted advisors. He was one of the primary defenders when most of the other
Achaean heroes were injured, and even fought
Hector briefly and repulsed his attack. Like most of the other leaders of the Greeks, he is alive and well as the story comes to a close. He was one of the Achaeans to enter the
Trojan Horse. Idomeneus killed twenty men and at least three Amazon women, including
Bremusa, at Troy. A later tradition, preserved by
Servius the Grammarian in a commentary on
Virgil's Aeneid, continues the story as follows: after the war, Idomeneus's ship hit a terrible storm. He promised
Poseidon that he would sacrifice the first living thing he saw when he returned home if Poseidon would save his ship and crew. The first living thing was his son, whom Idomeneus duly sacrificed. The gods were angry at Idomeneus's murder of his own son and sent a plague to Crete. The Cretans sent him into exile in Calabria (ancient name of the
Salento in
Apulia),
Italy and then
Colophon in
Asia Minor where he died. According to
Marcus Terrentius Varro, the gens Salentini descended from Idomeneus, who had sailed from Crete to
Illyria, and then together with Illyrians and
Locrians from Illyria to
Salento, see
Grecìa Salentina. Alternatively, in a tradition preserved by
Apollodorus, Idomeneus was driven out of Crete by
Leucus, his foster son, who had seduced and then killed Idomeneus' wife Meda and usurped the throne of Crete. The tale is also covered by the French 17th century writer
François Fénelon.
Idomeneo, a 1781
opera seria by
Mozart, is based on the story of Idomeneus's return to Crete. In this version, Poseidon (Neptune in the opera) spares Idomeneo's son Idamante, on condition that Idomeneo relinquish his throne to the new generation. == Gallery ==