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 ...

, Piras (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Πείραντα) was a king of Argos. Otherwise, he was also known as

Piren In Greek mythology, Piren (Ancient Greek: Πειρῆνα means 'fasten by the ends') or Peiren (Πειρῆνος) may refer to the following personages: * Piren, a king of Argos and father of Io. * Piren, a Boeotian prince as the son of King ...

, Peiren, Peiras (Πειράς), Peirasus (Πείρασος) and Piranthus.

Family

Piras was the son of Argus and

Evadne In Greek mythology, Evadne (; Ancient Greek: Εὐάδνη) was a name attributed to the following individuals: *Evadne, a daughter of Strymon and Neaera, wife of Argus (king of Argos), mother of Ecbasus, Peiras, Epidaurus and Criasus. *Eva ...

, daughter of river god Strymon while his brothers were, Ecbasus,

Tiryns Tiryns ( or ; Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles was said to have performed his Twelve Labours. It ...

Epidaurus Epidaurus () was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epi ...

Criasus In Greek mythology, Criasus (; Ancient Greek: Κρίασος ''Kriasos'') was a king of Argos. Family Criasus was the son of Argus and Evadne (daughter of Strymon) or the Oceanid Peitho. He had five brothers who were named Ecbasus, Jasus, ...

and according to some,

Phorbas In Greek mythology, Phorbas (; Ancient Greek: Φόρβας ''Phórbās'', gen. Φόρβαντος ''Phórbantos'' means 'giving pasture'), or Phorbaceus , may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Phorbas, son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Peripha ...

also. Piras's wife was Callirrhoe who mothered his sons, Argus,

Arestor In Greek mythology, Arestor (Ancient Greek: Ἀρέστωρ, ''gen''.: Ἀρέστορος) may refer to two distinct characters: * Arestor, an Argos, Peloponnese, Argive prince as the son of Phorbas (king of Argos), Phorbas (possibly by Euboea (m ...

ides and

Triopas In Greek mythology, Triopas () or Triops (; , gen.: Τρίοπος) was the name of several characters whose relations are unclear. * Triopas, king of Argos and son of Phorbas. His daughter was Messene. * Triopas, king of Thessaly, and son of Po ...

. According to

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

and

Acusilaus Acusilaus, Acusilas, Acousileos, or Akousilaos () of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greece, Greek logographer (history), logographer and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work surv ...

, Peiren was Io's father while

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

mentioned Callithyia as the daughter of Peiranthus. Io may be therefore identical to Callithyia as suggested by

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria () was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived, probably by absorbing the works of earlier lexicographers. The ...

Reign

Peiras was credited with the founding of the first temple of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

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 ...

and appointed his own daughter Callithyia as the priestess. Of the statues of Hera, which Pausanias saw in the Heraeum near

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...

, the most ancient was one made of the wild pear-tree from the wood about

, which Peirasus was said to have dedicated for the sanctuary. The Argives, when they took that city, transferred the carved image of the goddess to the Heraeum. The account of Pausanias and the mythographers, however, does not represent Peirasus as the artist of this image, as some modern writers suppose, but as the king who dedicated it.Compare Pausanias
2.16.1
';'' Scholia ad Euripides, ''Oresteia'' 920; Apollodorus
2.1.2
Eusebius, ''Praeparatio evangelica'' 3.8;

Friedrich Thiersch Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (17 June 178425 February 1860), was a German classical scholar and educator. Biography He was born at Kirchscheidungen (now a part of Laucha an der Unstrut, Saxony-Anhalt). In 1809 he became professor at the gymna ...

, ''Epochen der bild'' 20 Peiras succeeded his father Argus while his son Triopas in turn followed him on the throne.

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
* Eusebius. ''Preparation of the Gospels.'' Translated by the Rev. Edwin Hamilton Gifford (1820-1905), edition of 1903. *

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Augustus, and reputed author of the '' Fabulae'' and the '' De astronomia'', although this is disputed. Life and works ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

. '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. s.v
PeiranthusPeirasus
' and
Peiren
'' London (1873). Princes in Greek mythology Kings of Argos Kings in Greek mythology Inachids Mythology of Argos, Peloponnese {{greek-myth-royal-stub