Pelops inherited all the wealth of his father, but he got expelled from his land by the king Ilos. Then he left with all his properties to Greece and established in a peninsula that got named after him: the Peloponnesus.

One day he fall in love with Hippodameia, the daughter of the king Oinomaos of Pisa. But, the king did not want them to marry. Again here there are different versions about the reason for this: some versions say that had been foretold that he would be killed by his son-in-law, others that he was himself in love with his daughter. Whatever, he started to plan a way that would make it impossible for Pelops to get Hippodameia. Finally, he organized a horse race to give every admirer of the princess the possibility to ride for half an hour against him. The rider who would win him, would get his daughter and his whole reign of Pisa. But those who would loose, would get their heads cut off and pined on the wall of the city. What nobody knew was that he was riding thes horses of Ares, the God of war, so it was impossible to win him.

So it was now Pelops who started to think of a plan. On the end, after promising him the half of the empire, he convinced Myrtilos, the rider of the king, to exchange the axels of the cart of the king with another one which was covered by wax. So Pelops did not have to hurry up so much. He drove to the next corner and let destiny do its part.

When the horses of Ares started to run, the axels started to bend in the curves, until they broke and the king fell out of the cart and died. Therefore, Pelops won the race and with it Hippodameia and all the empire of Pisa.

Of course, Myrtilos wanted his part of the price, but then Pelops imprisoned him underhand in the coast and abandoned him in the depths. Since then, the sea that washes that coast is named after him. However, during his captivity Myrtilos uttered a curse on Pelops and all his generation. After that, none of the countless ways Pelops tried to reconcile with the spirits and the Gods worked, and so all his generation suffered many misfortunes.

Pelops had many children, among them Chrysippos, the lover of Laios, father of Oedipus. The rider Myrtilos became later a constellation. Hippodameia gave birth also to Atreus, Thyestes, Peisthenes, Pittheus (the grandfather of Theseus) and Nikepte.