Pirithous.
Son of Ixion (or, according to some accounts, Zeus), Pirithous was king of the Lapiths. He became a great friend of the Athenian hero Theseus, and the two of them shared a number of adventures, including the Calydonian boar hunt and the war against the Amazons. The origins of their friendship are unclear. Some mythographers suggest that Pirithous learned of Theseus’s renown and was determined to meet him. This he accomplished by stealing a herd of the hero’s cattle at Marathon. When Theseus pursued the thief, Pirithous turned to confront him and extended his hand in friendship. Instead of fighting, the two became fast friends.
      Pirithous married Hippodamia, the daughter of Butes. At their wedding feast, attended by Theseus, the invited centaurs became inebriated and abused the hospitality of their hosts. A great brawl ensued (i.e. the Lapithocentauromachy), but eventually peace was restored.
      After the death of his wife, Pirithous made a pact with Theseus to find women suitable to their status as kings of their respective communities (or as sons of gods). Theseus chose the twelve-year-old Helen, daughter of Zeus, whom he and Pirithous abducted and brought to Attica. Pirithous selected Persephone, also a daughter of Zeus, and he and Theseus descended to the Underworld to bring her back. There they met Hades, who feigned delight in seeing them and invited them to sit in two chairs. These “chairs of forgetfulness” caused them to lose their memory and bound them to the Underworld. Heracles eventually rescued Theseus when he went to the Underworld to capture Cerberus. Pirithous, however, remained there forever.
      
       Classical Sources. Homer, Iliad i.262ff., 2.740-44,14.317!; Odyssey 11.631. Euripides, The Madness of Heracles 619. Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica i.ioiff., 3.62. Diodorus Siculus, Biblioteca 4.63-90. Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.210-535. Apollodorus, Biblioteca 1.8.2, 2.5.12, 3.10.8, E1.1624 passim. Plutarch, Parallel Lives, ‘Theseus.” Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.21, 1.17.4, 1.18.4, 1.30.4, i-+i-5, 2.22.6. Hyginus, Fabulae 33, 79.
      
      Listings are arranged under the following headings:
      General List
       Wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia See also Meleager, Boar Hunt; Theseus, General List, and the Amazons, and Helen.