In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Cercaphus was one of the Heliadae

Heliadae

In Greek mythology, the Heliadae were the seven sons of Helios and Rhode, brothers to Electryone. They were Ochimus, Cercaphus, Macareus or Macar, Actis, Tenages, Triopas, and Candalus...

, sons of Helios

Helios

Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...

 and Rhodus. He and his brother Ochimus

Ochimus

In Greek mythology, Ochimus was the eldest of the Heliadae, sons of Helios and Rhodos. One of his brothers, Tenages, was murdered by four others: Actis, Macareus, Candalus and Triopas, and they had to leave their native island of Rhodes...

 were the only to stay at the island of Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

, after their brother Tenages

Tenages

In Greek mythology, Tenages was one of the Heliadae, a son of Rhodos and Helios. He was murdered by his brothers, Actis, Triopas, Macar and Candalus, who were jealous of Tenages's skill at science....

 was killed by the other four and the murderers had to escape.

Ochimus, the eldest of the seven, became the king of Rhodes. Cercaphus married his brother's daughter Cydippe

Cydippe

The name Cydippe is attributed to four individuals in Greek mythology.*Cydippe was the mother of Cleobis and Biton. Cydippe, a priestess of Hera, was on her way to a festival in the goddess' honor. The oxen which were to pull her cart were overdue and her sons, Biton and Cleobis pulled the cart...

 (or Cyrbia), daughter of Ochimus and Hegetoria

Hegetoria

In Greek mythology, Hegetoria was a local nymph at Rhodes who married Ochimus. They had a daughter, Cydippe or Cyrbia, who married Ochimus's brother, Cercaphus, successor to his brother's power. According to an alternate version, Ochimus engaged Cydippe to Ocridion but Cercaphus loved her and...

, and subsequently inherited the island. According to an alternate version, Ochimus engaged Cydippe to Ocridion

Ocridion

In Greek mythology, Ocridion was a mortal who was engaged to Cydippe, daughter of Ochimus. She was kidnapped by her uncle, Cercaphus....

 but Cercaphus loved her and kidnapped her. He did not return until Ochimus was old.

Cercaphus and Cydippe had three sons, Lindus, Ialysus and Camirus. After their father's death and a devastating deluge, they divided the island among themselves, and each founded a city and named it after himself (modern Lindus, Ialysos

Ialysos

Ialysos , is a town and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the second-largest town on the island of Rhodes...

 and Kameiros

Kameiros

Kameiros is an ancient city and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is a municipal unit. It lies on the northwest coast of the island. It was the heart of an agricultural...

).