Marpissa was the daughter of the river god Evinus and the granddaughter of the god of war Ares. When he once visited Aetolia, Idas, a Messenian hero who was considered the strongest and most daring of men, happened to be at a festival, on Mount Chalkis (Varasova), dedicated to the goddess Artemis. There, in the crowd that had gathered, he saw a beautiful girl dancing enchantingly. It was Marpissa and she was the daughter of the King of Aetolia, Evinus. Idas was so enchanted by Marpissa's beauty and her magnificent dance, that he decided to steal her, take her to his homeland and marry her. So he approached Marpissa, stretched out his strong arms, grabbed her and then fled in his chariot to Messenia. Evinus, after quickly learning about the abduction of his daughter, also climbed into his chariot to catch up with Idas and chased him to the Lykormas River.
But Idas had already gained ground, his horses which were a gift from the god Poseidon were faster and could even fly. Thus, Idas managed to escape from Evinus, flew over the river and disappeared into the horizon, holding the beautiful Marpissa tightly in his arms. Desperate, King Evinus, after losing all hope of saving his beloved daughter, first slaughtered the horses of his chariot, threw them into the river and then himself fell into its rapid waters and drowned. From then on, the river Lycormas was named Evinus.
Idas and Marpissa went to Ida's homeland of Messenia, and the Aetolian princess was forced to remain there, now the wife of the bold hero.
However, the god Apollo was also interested in marrying the beautiful Marpissa since he had also been fascinated by her, on another occasion when he had seen her in the past. So he was angry that Idas had snatched her and climbed into his chariot with his winged horses and arrived in Messenia. Apollo stopped his chariot next to Ida and asked him to give him Marpissa so he could marry her. Idas refused, however, and soon the two men grabbed their spears and shields and a terrible duel broke out between them. Apollo was a god, but Idas was also very strong and could repel all of Apollo's blows.
The battle was uneven, no one retreated while the opponents provoked and mocked each other during it.
Zeus from Olympus heard the terrible sound of weapons and
quickly flew to Messenia to intervene. Initially, he urged that the strongest take Marpissa, but since their duel had not produced a winner, he decided that Marpissa herself would choose her husband. Apollo felt sure that Marpissa would choose him as her husband, since he was a powerful and handsome god, in contrast to the Messenian giant who was coarse and mortal.
Marpissa looked at the two men again. She thought that Apollo might be a god and more beautiful, but at some point when she grew old, he would chase her away and marry another woman. On the contrary, Idas might be mortal and ugly, but he would stay by her side until old age, protecting and caring for her. So Marpissa chose Idas as her husband.
Apollo, surprised and at the same time dissatisfied with the humiliation he received, climbed into his chariot with the winged horses, and left in a flash, full of rage. So, Idas won the beautiful Marpissa, married her and lived happily with her in Messenia, having a daughter together, Cleopatra, who later became the wife of the mythical hero Meleager.
A different version from the above is that of Simonides, the famous lyric poet of antiquity. According to this commentator on Homer, Marpissa was sought after for her beauty and many suitors claimed her. However, her father, Evinus, challenged all interested parties to compete with him in a chariot race. In case someone won, he cut off their heads and decorated the walls of his palace with them. In fact, he had built an entire temple from the skulls of Marpissa's illegitimate sons-in-law. When Idas appeared as a potential husband, he did not have to wait to duel with Evinus in the chariot race and abducted her, ignoring the rules that Evinus had set.
Pausanias writes that in the Larnaca of Kypselos the reconquest of Marpissa by Idas at the expense of Apollo was depicted, while the representation was accompanied by hexameter verses. In his work Iliaca he even mentions: "IDAS MARPISSAN CALLISPHYRON, AN OI APOLLON / ARAPESE, TAN EVANOU AGI PALIN UK AKEUSAN" [Idas Marpissa with the beautiful hammers that Apollo had snatched from him, the daughter of Evinou, takes her back, not against her will] Pausanias, Iliaca, 18,3.
In two Attic vase paintings, Zeus is depicted settling the dispute between Ida and Apollo regarding Marpissa. In an Etruscan mirror, Marpissa is depicted between Apollo and Ida.
The entire myth (english subs) visualized by clicking here
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