Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of

Achiroe __NOTOC__ Achiroë(Ancient Greek: Ἀχιρόη) , Anchirrhoë (Ἀγχιρρόη), or Anchinoë (Ἀγχινόη), which is perhaps a mistake for Anchiroë, was in Greek mythology a naiad, a daughter of the river-god Nilus. She was also the ...

, his mother and as a great, great grandfather on his father's side.

Family

Aegyptos was the son of King Belus of Egypt and

, a naiad daughter of Nile, or of Sida, eponym of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

. He was the twin brother of Danaus, king of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

while

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

adds two others, Cepheus, king of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; Ancient Greek: Φινεύς, ) or Phineas, was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhod ...

, betrothed of Andromeda. He may be the same or different from another Aegyptus who was called the son of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

and Thebe.

Tzetzes John Tzetzes ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Τζέτζης, Iōánnēs Tzétzēs; c. 1110, Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who is known to have lived at Constantinople in the 12th century. He was able to pr ...

on Lycophron, ''Alexandra'' 1206 Aegyptus fathered fifty sons by different women: six of whom by a woman of royal blood called Argyphia; ten by an Arabian woman; seven by a

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n woman; three by Tyria; twelve by the naiad Caliadne; six by Gorgo and lastly another six by Hephaestine. According to Hippostratus, Aegyptus had these progeny by a single woman called

Eurryroe In Greek mythology, Eurryroe (Ancient Greek: Εùρυῥῤόης) was the daughter of the Egyptian river-god Nilus, thus she can be considered as a naiad. According to Hippostratus, Eurryroe was said to be the mother alone of the 50 sons of Kin ...

, daughter of Nilus. In some accounts, Aegyptus consorted with Isaie while Danaus married Melia, these two women were daughters of their uncle Agenor, king of Tyre, and of their possible sister, Damno who was described as the daughter of Belus.

Mythology

Aegyptus ruled Arabia and conquered nearby country ruled by people called Melampodes and called it by his name, Egypt. Aegyptus fathered fifty sons, who were all but one murdered by forty nine of the fifty daughters of Aegyptus' twin brother, Danaus, eponym of the Danaïdes. A

scholium Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

on a line in

, ''

Hecuba Hecuba (; also Hecabe; grc, Ἑκάβη, Hekábē, ) was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War. Description Hecuba was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "da ...

'' 886, reverses these origins, placing the twin brothers at first in

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the ...

, whence Aegyptus was expelled and fled to the land that was named after him. In the more common version, Aegyptus commanded that his fifty sons marry the fifty Danaïdes, and Danaus with his daughters fled to

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, ruled by

Pelasgus In Greek mythology, Pelasgus ( grc, Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'' means "ancient") was the eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgians, the mythical inhabitants of Greece who established the worship of the Dodonaean Zeus, Hephaestus, the Cabeiri, and o ...

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

for

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ...

peoples, here represented as pre-Hellenic. or by

Gelanor In Greek mythology, King Gelanor ( grc, Γελάνωρ) of Argos, was the son and successor of Sthenelus. His real name was possibly Pelasgus, as Robert Graves has proposed that the name "Gelanor" is a literary device meaning 'laughter': he was s ...

, whom Danaus replaced. When Aegyptus and his sons arrived to take the Danaïdes, Danaus relinquished them, to spare the Argives the pain of a battle; however, he instructed his daughters to kill their husbands on their wedding night. Forty-nine followed through, but one,

Hypermnestra Hypermnestra ( grc, Ὑπερμνήστρα, ''Hypermnēstra''), in Greek mythology, was a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaids the daughter of King Danaus, son of King Belus of Egypt. Her mother was Elephantis and full sister to Gorgophone ...

("greatly wooed"), refused, because her husband,

Lynceus In Greek mythology, Lynceus (; grc, Λυγκεύς, Lynkeús, lynx-eyed) was a king of Argos, succeeding Danaus on the throne. Family Lynceus was named as a descendant of Belus through his father Aegyptus, who was the twin brother of Danaus, ...

the "lynx-man", honored her wish to remain a virgin. Danaus was angry with his disobedient daughter and threw her to the Argive courts.

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

intervened and saved her. Lynceus and Hypermnestra founded the lineage of Argive kings, a Danaid Dynasty. In some versions, Lynceus later slew Danaus as revenge for the death of his brothers, and the Danaïdes were punished in the underworld by being forced to carry water with a jug with holes, or a sieve, so that the water always leaked out. The story of Danaus and his daughters, and the reason for their flight from marriage, provided the theme of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

' '' The Suppliants''.

Genealogy of Aegyptus

Notes

References

* Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Fowler, Robert. L. (2000), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. . * Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). *Stewart, M. ''People, Places & Things: Aegyptus (1)'', Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant

*Vertemont, Jean , ''Dictionnaire des mythologies indo-europeenes'', 1997. {{authority control Kings of Egypt in Greek mythology Kings in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Egyptian characters in Greek mythology

Family

Mythology

Genealogy of Aegyptus

See also

Notes

References