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Epaphus

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In Greek mythology, Epaphus (/ˈɛpəfəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἔπᾰφος), also called Apis[1] or Munantius[2], was a son of the Greek God Zeus and king of Egypt.

Family

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Epaphus was the son of Zeus[3] and Io[4] and thus, Ceroessa's brother.[5] With his wife, Memphis[6] (or according to others, Cassiopeia[7]), he had one daughter, Libya[8] while some accounts added another one who bore the name Lysianassa.[9] These daughters later became mothers of Poseidon's sons, Belus, Agenor and possibly, Lelex with the former while Busiris was born to the latter. Through these daughters, Epaphus was the ancestor of the "dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and the Underground-folk and feeble Pygmies".[3]

In one account, Epaphus had a son, Dorus, who fathered Pygmaeus, ancestor of the Pygmies.[10] Otherwise, this tribe of diminutive men was instead born from Epaphus and Gaea (Earth).[11]

Mythology

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Birth

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The name/word Epaphus means "Touch". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand.[12] He was born in Euboea, in the cave Boösaule[13] or according to others, in Egypt, on the river Nile,[14] after the long wanderings of his mother. He was then concealed by the Curetes, by the request of Hera, but Io sought and afterward found him in Syria where he was nursed by the wife of the king of Byblus.[15] According Strabo, Epaphus was born in a cave in Euboea.[16]

Phaethon

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Epaphus was also a contemporary and the rival of Phaethon, son of Helios and Clymene. He criticized his heraldry saying, "Poor, demented fellow, what will you not credit if your mother speaks, you are so puffed up with the fond conceit of your imagined sire, the Lord of Day."[17] This prompted Phaethon to undertake his fateful journey in his father's chariot of the sun.

Reign and death

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Epaphus is regarded in the myths as the founder of Memphis, Egypt.[18] Hera being envious that her husband's bastard ruled such a great kingdom,[19] saw to it that Epaphus should be killed while hunting.[20]

David Rohl identifies Epaphus with the Hyksos pharaoh Apophis.[21]

Argive genealogy

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Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
InachusMelia
ZeusIoPhoroneus
EpaphusMemphis
LibyaPoseidon
BelusAchiroëAgenorTelephassa
DanausElephantisAegyptusCadmusCilixEuropaPhoenix
MantineusHypermnestraLynceusHarmoniaZeus
Polydorus
SpartaLacedaemonOcaleaAbasAgaveSarpedonRhadamanthus
Autonoë
EurydiceAcrisiusInoMinos
ZeusDanaëSemeleZeus
PerseusDionysus
Colour key:

  Male
  Female
  Deity

Notes

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  1. ^ Herodotus, 3.27
  2. ^ Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions 10.21-23
  3. ^ a b Hesiod, Ehoiai 40a as cited in Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 2
  4. ^ Euripides, Phoenissae 678; Oedipus 1.638–689; Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 48; Apollodorus, 2.1.3; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.747–748; Hyginus, Fabulae 155; Nonnus, 3.284–285
  5. ^ Nonnus, 32.70
  6. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.4
  7. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 149
  8. ^ Pausanias, 1.44.3; Nonnus, 3.287; Hyginus, Fabulae 157; Solinus, Polyhistor 24.1; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 649; Scholia ad Euripides, Phoenissae 5
  9. ^ Apollodorus, 2.5.11
  10. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Pygmaioi (Πυγμαῖοι)
  11. ^ Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 40A
  12. ^ Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 315; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 850–852
  13. ^ Strabo, 10.1.3
  14. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 145
  15. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.3
  16. ^ Strabo, 10.1.3
  17. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.749–743
  18. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 149 & 275
  19. ^ Statius, Thebaid 7.186
  20. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 150
  21. ^ David Rohl: The Lords of Avaris. London, Arrow Books 2007

References

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 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainLeonhard Schmitz (1870). Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)