Apis of Argos

Apis (/ˈpɪs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄπις derived from apios "far-off" or "of the pear-tree"[1][2]) was a king of Argos in Greek mythology.

Family

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Apis was a son of Phoroneus by the nymph Teledice[3] (Laodice[citation needed]) or Cinna[4] or Cerdo,[5] and brother of Niobe. In some accounts, he was the son of Phoroneus by his first wife Peitho ("Persuasion") and thus brother to Aegialeus.[6] Yet, Apis' possible mother was also Perimede, daughter of Aeolus.[7]

Reign

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During Apis' reign he established a tyrannical government and called the Peloponnesus after his own name Apia, but was eventually killed in a conspiracy headed by Thelxion, king of Sparta, and Telchis.[3] In the former of these passages Apollodorus of Athens states that Apis, the son of Phoroneus, was killed by Aetolus; but this is a mistake arising from the confusion of this Apis with another Apis who was the son of Jason, who was killed by Aetolus during the funeral games celebrated in honor of Azanes.[8] Argus Panoptes, a descendant of his sister Niobe, avenged his murder by putting Thelxion and Telchis to death.[9]

APIS' CHRONOLOGY OF REIGN ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SOURCES
Kings of Argos Regnal Years Castor Regnal Years Syncellus Regnal Years Apollodorus Hyginus Tatian Pausanias
Precessor 1652 60 winters & summers Phoroneus 1649.5 60 winters & summers Phoroneus 1650 Phoroneus -do- -do- -do-
Apis 1622 35 winters & summers Apis 1619.5 35 winters & summers Apis 1625 Apis -do- -do- -do-
Successor 1604.5 70 winters & summers Argus 1602 70 winters & summers Argus 1600 Argus -do- Argeius or Criasus Argus

Serapis

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Apis, the son of Phoroneus, is said, after his death, to have been worshiped as a god under the name of Serapis (Σάραπις). This confusion is still more manifest in the tradition, that Apis gave his kingdom of Argos to his brother, and went to Egypt, where he reigned for several years afterwards.[10][11] Apis is spoken of as one of the earliest lawgivers among the Greeks.[12] Both these stories show that Egyptian myths were mixed up with the story of Apis, see Apis (Egyptian mythology).

Notes

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  1. ^ "Apis is the noun formed from apios, a Homeric adjective usually meaning ‘far off’ but, when applied to the Peloponnese (Aeschylus: Suppliants), ‘of the pear-tree’" as cited in Robert Graves' The Greek Myths
  2. ^ Robert Graves (1960). The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth, London, England: Penguin Books. pp. s.v. Endymion. ISBN 978-0143106715.
  3. ^ a b Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.1.1
  4. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 145
  5. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2. 21. 1
  6. ^ Scholiast on Euripides, Orestes 920
  7. ^ Scholia on Pindar, Olympian Ode 3. 28
  8. ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 5.50.6
  9. ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.1.2
  10. ^ Eusebius, Chronicle, n. 271
  11. ^ Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 18. 5
  12. ^ Theodoret. Graec. Affect. Cur. vol. iv. p. 927, ed. Schulz.

References

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Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Argos
1622 BC or 1625 BC – 1600 BC
Succeeded by