In Greek mythology, Icarius was a Spartan king and a champion runner. A member of the old Lacedaemonian royal house, he was brother to Tyndareus and Hippocoon and, most famously, the father of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. He is distinct from Icarus, who fell from the sky, and from the Athenian Icarius who received Dionysus.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Icarius (Spartan)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Overview
In Greek mythology, Icarius was a Spartan king and a champion runner. His name appears in the Ancient Greek form Ἰκάριος (Ikários).
He belonged to the old Lacedaemonian royal line and is best known as the father of Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus. He should not be confused with Icarus, who fell from the sky on melting wings, nor with the Athenian Icarius who first received the gift of wine from Dionysus.
II.Family
Icarius had two possible sets of parents. He was either the son of Perieres and Gorgophone, or the son of Oebalus and Bateia. Either way, he was brother to Hippocoon and Tyndareus.
By the naiad Periboea, Icarius fathered Penelope, Perileos, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusimus, Aletes, and Iphthime. Alternate traditions, however, identify different mothers for some of his children. According to some sources, Polycaste, daughter of Lygaeus, was the mother of Penelope, Alyzeus, and Leucadius.
His other possible wives included Dorodoche, daughter of Ortilochus, and Asterodia, daughter of Eurypylus. With Asterodia he is said to have had either Polymelos, Damasiclus, Penelope, and Laodice, or, in another account, Amasichus, Phalereus, Thoon, Pheremmelias, Perilaos, Penelope, and Laodamia (the last also called Mede or Hypsipyle).
Some accounts make Icarius the father of Elatus, who in turn fathered Taenarus by Erymede; other versions simply call Taenarus a son of Icarius without naming the mother.
III.Mythology
Hippocoon, the natural son of Oebalus, expelled his brothers Tyndareus and Icarius from Lacedaemon, forcing them to flee to Thestius at Pleuron, beyond the river Achelous. After Heracles killed Hippocoon and his sons, Tyndareus returned to Sparta, but Icarius remained in Acarnania. Apollodorus claims that Icarius too returned to Sparta, while another tradition holds that Icarius had instead sided with Hippocoon against Tyndareus. It was during his time in Acarnania that Icarius is said to have fathered his children.
As a champion runner, Icarius refused to let any suitor marry his daughter Penelope unless he first defeated him in a race. Odysseus succeeded and so won Penelope's hand, though some sources say that Tyndareus interceded on Odysseus's behalf, in return for advice Odysseus had earlier given him.
After the marriage, Icarius urged Odysseus to remain in Sparta. When Odysseus set out with Penelope, Icarius followed them, begging his daughter to stay. Odysseus told Penelope to choose between her father and her husband. Rather than answer, she modestly covered her face with a veil. Icarius understood the gesture as her decision to leave with Odysseus, and let them go; on that spot he erected a statue of Aidos (Modesty). Icarius was apparently still alive during the events of the Odyssey.