In Greek mythology , Aegyptus or Ægyptus ( / ɪ ˈ dʒ ɪ p t ə s / ; Ancient Greek : 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 , his mother and as a great, great-grandfather on his father's side.
16-446: Aegyptos was the son of King Belus of Egypt and Achiroe , a naiad daughter of Nile , or of Sida , eponym of Sidon . He was the twin brother of Danaus , king of Libya while Euripides adds two others, Cepheus , king of Ethiopia and Phineus , betrothed of Andromeda . He may be the same or different from another Aegyptus who was called the son of Zeus and Thebe . Aegyptus fathered fifty sons by different women: six of whom by
32-590: A Greek deity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Belus (Egyptian) In Greek mythology , Belus ( Ancient Greek : Βῆλος , romanized : Bêlos ) was a king of Egypt and father of Aegyptus and Danaus and (usually) brother to Agenor . The wife of Belus has been named as Achiroe or Side (eponym of the Phoenician city of Sidon). Belus was the son of Poseidon and Libya . He may also be Busiris , son of Libya, ruler of Egypt, killed by Heracles , although Heracles
48-517: A possible connection between Belus and one or another god who bore the common northwest Semitic title Ba'al . According to some sources, Belus was the son of Poseidon by Libya. Bel is associated with Babylon and Assyria, but Aegean Greeks had a distant relations with that area, in contrast they had trading relationships with north Canaanites of Syria, Ugarit and Levantine Sidon and Tyros, cities that are mentioned in Greek myths about Belos, and his name
64-513: A woman of royal blood called Argyphia ; ten by an Arabian woman; seven by a Phoenician 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 , 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
80-525: 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 she became the mother of Aegyptus and Danaus , and, according to some accounts, Cepheus , and Phineus . Otherwise, the possible mother of these children and spouse of Belus was called Side , eponym of Sidon in Phoenicia . Anchinoe
96-535: The "new voice of Zeus Asbystes", meaning the oracle of Zeus Ammon at Asbystes. Diodorus Siculus claims that Belus founded a colony on the river Euphrates , and appointed the priests- astrologers whom the Babylonians call Chaldeans who like the priests of Egypt are exempt from taxation and other service to the state. According to Pausanias , Belus founded a temple of Heracles in Babylon . Meanwhile, it
112-544: 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 ("greatly wooed"), refused, because her husband, Lynceus 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 intervened and saved her. Lynceus and Hypermnestra founded
128-549: The daughter of Belus who married Agenor was named Antiope . Some sources make Belus the father of Lamia while Antoninus mentions him as the father of Thias (father of Smyrna ) by the nymph Orithyia . Nonnus makes Belus the father of five sons, namely Phineus, Phoenix, Agenor (identified as the father of Cadmus ), Aegyptus, and Danaus, though Nonnus elsewhere makes Phineus to be Cadmus' brother. Nonnus has Cadmus identify Belus as "the Libyan Zeus" and refer to
144-720: 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 ' The Suppliants . Male Female Deity Achiroe Achiroë ( / ə ˈ k ɪ r oʊ i / ; Ancient Greek : Ἀχιρόη [akʰiróɛː] ), Anchirrhoë ( Ἀγχιρρόη ), or Anchinoë ( Ἀγχινόη ), which
160-444: The son of Libya, Ammon from the shepherd-founder. Thus the exiled Messenians reached the end of their wanderings." This supposed connection between Belus of Egypt and Zeus Belus (the god Marduk ) is likely to be more learned speculation than genuine tradition. Pausanias seems to know nothing of supposed connection between Belus son of Libya and Zeus Ammon that Nonnus will later put forth as presented just above. Modern writers suppose
176-464: The twin brothers at first in Argolis , 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 , ruled by Pelasgus or by Gelanor , whom Danaus replaced. When Aegyptus and his sons arrived to take the Danaïdes, Danaus relinquished them, to spare
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#1732772668741192-650: Was Euripides who added Cepheus and Phineus as additional sons of Belus. In the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women , Belus was also the father of a daughter named Thronia on whom Hermaon, i.e. Hermes , fathered Arabus , presumably the eponym of Arabia . According to Pherecydes of Athens , Belus also had a daughter named Damno who married Agenor (Belus' brother, her uncle) and bore to him Phoenix and two daughters named Isaie , and Melia , these becoming wives respectively to sons of Belus (their cousins) Aegyptus and Danaus. Yet another source says that
208-402: Was a minor figure in Greek accounts and only mentioned by Apollodorus in his Bibliotheca : Male Female Deity [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William , ed. (1870). "Achiroe". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . This article relating to
224-555: Was born many generations after Belus since he was a great-grandchild of Perseus ; see Argive genealogy below. The Bibliotheca also claims that Agenor was Belus' twin brother. Belus ruled in Egypt , and Agenor ruled over Sidon and Tyre in Phoenicia . The wife of Belus has been named as Achiroe , daughter of the river-god Nilus . Her sons Aegyptus and Danaus were twins. Later Aegyptus ruled over Egypt and Arabia , and Danaus ruled over Libya . Pseudo- Apollodorus says that it
240-530: Was described as the daughter of Belus. 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, Danaus , eponym of the Danaïdes . A scholium on a line in Euripides , Hecuba 886, reverses these origins, placing
256-541: Was said that Egyptians initially fought with clubs but later on Belus invented the use of sword in fighting. The word bellum, "war," is named from this. Pausanias wrote: "<Ruler> Manticlus founded the temple of Heracles for the Messenians ; the temple of the god is outside the walls and he is called Heracles Manticlus, just as Ammon in Libya and Belus in Babylon are named, the latter from an Egyptian, Belus
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