Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; ) was a legendary king of

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of

Achiroe Achiroë (; ), Anchirrhoë (), or Anchinoë (), Apollodorus2.1.4/ref> which is perhaps a mistake for Anchiroë, was in Greek mythology an Egyptian naiad, as daughter of the river-god Nilus. She was the wife of King Belus of Egypt, by whom s ...

, 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 In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied ...

daughter of

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, or of Sida, eponym of

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

. He was the twin brother of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', " Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and " Argives" comm ...

, king of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

while

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...

adds two others,

Cepheus Cepheus (Ancient Greek: Κηφεύς ''Kepheús'') may refer to: In Greek mythology * Cepheus (father of Andromeda), and King of Aethiopia * Cepheus (son of Aleus), a king of Tegea, Arcadia In astronomy * Cepheus (constellation), one of the 88 m ...

, king of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; ), 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 Rhodes, 2.178, 237; Scholia ''ad eund'' 2.1 ...

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

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and Thebe.

Tzetzes John Tzetzes (; , Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who lived at Constantinople in the 12th century. He is known for making significant contributions in preserving much valuable information from ancien ...

Lycophron Lycophron ( ; ; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and miscellaneous works He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, a ...

1206
/ref> Aegyptus fathered fifty sons by different women: six of whom by a woman of royal blood called Argyphia; ten by an

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

woman; seven by a

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

n woman; three by Tyria; twelve by the

Caliadne Caliadne (; ) or Caliadna, in Greek mythology, was a naiad of the river Nile, presumably one of the daughters of the river-god Nilus. She was one of the wives of King Aegyptus of Egypt, bearing him twelve sons: Eurylochus, Phantes, Peristhenes ...

; six by Gorgo and lastly another six by

Hephaestine In Greek mythology, Hephaestine (Ancient Greek: Ἡφαιστίνης) was one of the various spouses of Aegyptus, king of Egypt. By the latter, she became the mother of the youngest princes: Idas, Daiphron, Pandion, Arbelus, Hyperbius and Hip ...

. 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. Mythology According to Hippostratus, Eurryroe was said to be the mother alone of the ...

, daughter of Nilus. In some accounts, Aegyptus consorted with Isaie while Danaus married Melia, these two women were daughters of their uncle

Agenor Agenor (; ) was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician monarch, king of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre or Sidon. The Greeks, Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in the city of Halicarnassus under the Achaemenid Empire, estimated that Agen ...

, 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/Melampods 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,

, eponym of the

Danaïdes In Greek mythology, the Danaïdes (; ), also Danaides or Danaids, were the fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Ancient Libya, Libya. Danaus and the Danaids feared that Danaus's twin brother, Aegyptus, was plotting to overthrow and kill them. So, t ...

. A

scholium Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammar, grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of a ...

on a line in

, ''

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

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

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

, 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

, and Danaus with his daughters fled to

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece * Argus (Greek myth), several characters in Greek mythology * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer in the United Kingdom Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, ruled by

Pelasgus In Greek mythology, Pelasgus (, ''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 other divinities. In the ...

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

for

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Nature * Autochthon (geology), a sediment or rock that can be found at its site of formation or deposition * Autochthon (nature), or landrace, an indigenous animal or plant * Autochthonou ...

peoples, here represented as pre-Hellenic. or by

Gelanor In Greek mythology, Pelasgus (, ''Pelasgós'') also known as Gelanor, was an Inachid king of Argos. Family Pelasgus was the son of Sthenelas, son of Crotopus, son of Agenor, son of Triopas. In some accounts, his father was the autochthon ...

, 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 In Greek mythology, Hypermnestra (, ''Hypermnēstra'') was by birth a Libyan princess and by marriage a queen of Argos. She is a daughter of King Danaus, and one of the 50 Danaids. Hypermnestra is most notable for being the only Danaid that be ...

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

Lynceus In Greek mythology, Lynceus (; Ancient Greek: Λυγκεύς "lynx-eyed") may refer to the following personages. * Lynceus, one of the 50 Sons of Aegyptus. * Lynceus, king in Thrace and husband of Lathusa, friend of Procne. Tereus gave Philomel ...

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 (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

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 (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

' '' The Suppliants''.

Genealogy

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

, ''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 Egyptian characters in Greek mythology

Family

Mythology

Genealogy

See also

Notes

References