Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Oenomaus.
The gallery
East pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (central group)
Unknown (Olympia Temple of Zeus workshop), c. 470–456 BC
In the centre of Zeus's east pediment at Olympia, Oenomaus stands opposite Pelops with Zeus between them — Pausanias' quiet oath before the chariot race for Hippodamia. Carved where the games were held, the king of Pisa is the stone antagonist of the Olympic foundation myth.
Terracotta plaque with King Oinomaos and his charioteer
Unknown (Roman), 27 BC–AD 68
This Metropolitan Museum terracotta plaque shows King Oenomaus with Myrtilus — the household that races every suitor to death until Pelops arrives. Roman Campana relief keeps the Pisa tyrant's chariot as a portable myth.
Oenomaus and Myrtilus
Unknown (ancient relief), Roman Imperial
Relief photography preserves Oenomaus with his driver Myrtilus — the pair whose sabotage (or betrayal) lets Pelops win Hippodamia and whose aftermath names the Peloponnese. The king who killed suitors becomes the fallen father of the Olympic contest.
Pelops mosaic (Noheda)
Unknown (Late Roman mosaic), 4th century AD
The Noheda villa mosaic in Spain retells the Pelops cycle — Oenomaus' race still vivid in Late Antique floor art far from Pisa. Iberian reception keeps the king of Olympia's chariot contest as a Mediterranean myth.
In play
Temple of Zeus, Olympia
The east pediment stages Oenomaus against Pelops — the race for Hippodamia carved at the sanctuary whose games the myth founds.
Oenomaus
King of Pisa who challenged Hippodamia's suitors to a deadly chariot race — father of the bride, antagonist of Pelops, and stone presence on Zeus's temple.