Inachus
Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
, Inachus was a king of Argos
after whom a river was called Inachus River, the modern Panitsa that drains the western margin of the Argive plain
. Though John Lemprière
euhemeristically
asserted in 1812 that he was king of Argos
, with a confident date of circa 1856 BCLemprière
"> and Robert Graves
that he was a descendant of Iapetus
, most modern mythologists understand Inachus as one of the river god
s, all sons of Oceanus
and Tethys
and thus to the Greeks part of the pre-Olympian
or "Pelasgian" mythic landscape; in Greek iconography, Walter Burkert
notes, the rivers are represented in the form of a bull with a human head or face. In the Danaan founding myth
, Poseidon had dried up the springs of the Argolid out of anger at Inachus for testifying that the land belonged to the ancient goddess, Hera
; to counter this drought, Danaus sent his daughters to draw water. One of them, Amymone, in her search lay with Poseidon, and he revealed to her the springs at Lerna
.
As rivers are generally fertile, Inachus had many children, the chief of whom were his two sons, Phoroneus
and Aegialeus
or Phegeus
, and his two daughters and Philodice
, wife of Leucippus
. The mother of these children was variously described in the sources, either the primeval ash-tree nymph Melia, called the mother of Phoroneus and Aegialeus, or Argia
(his sister), called the mother of Phoroneus
and Io
. Io is sometimes confused as the daughter of Inachus and Melia but she is the daughter of Inachus alone. Io was born from Inachus' mouth technically making her Inachus and Melia's daughter because she was born while Inachus was married to Melia.
Aside from the Inachians of whom he was simply the back-formed eponym
, his other children include Mycene, the spirit of Mycenae
, the spring nymph Amymone
, Messeis, Hyperia, and possibly Teledice.
In one founding myth
of Argos
, Inachos founded the city after rendering the province of Argolis
inhabitable again, following the deluge of Deucalion
.
Sophocles
wrote an Inachos, probably a satyr play
, which survives only in some papyrus
fragments found at Oxyrhyncus and Tebtunis
, Egypt
; in it Inachos is reduced from magnificence to misery through the unrequited love of Zeus for his daughter Io
; Hermes wears the cap of darkness, rendering him invisible, but plays the aulos
, to the mystification of the satyr
s; Argos
and Iris
, as a messenger of Hera
both appear, a "stranger" turns Io into a heifer at the touch of a hand, and at the end, apparently, the satyrs are freed from their bondage, to become shepherds of Inachos. An additional papyrus fragment of Sophocles' Inachos was published in 1960.
In Virgil's Aeneid
, Inachus is represented on Turnus
's shield. Compare the Inachos or Brimo
s of the Eleusinian Mysteries
.
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...
, Inachus was a king of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
after whom a river was called Inachus River, the modern Panitsa that drains the western margin of the Argive plain
Argolis
Argolis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.-Geography:...
. Though John Lemprière
John Lemprière
John Lemprière , English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster...
euhemeristically
Euhemerus
Euhemerus was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily as the most probable location, while others champion Chios, or Tegea.-Life:...
asserted in 1812 that he was king of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, with a confident date of circa 1856 BCLemprière
Lemprière
Lemprière may refer to:* Cyril Lemprière, rugby league footballer of the 1890s and 1900s who at club level played for Hull* John Lemprière , English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster...
"> and Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
that he was a descendant of Iapetus
Iapetus
Iapetus may mean:*Iapetus , a Titan in Greek mythology*Iapetus , one of the planet Saturn's moons*Iapetus Ocean, an ancient ocean between Laurentia and Baltica...
, most modern mythologists understand Inachus as one of the river god
River God
River God is a novel by author Wilbur Smith. It tells the story of the talented eunuch slave Taita, his life in Egypt, the flight of Taita along with the Egyptian populace from the Hyksos invasion, and their eventual return. The novel can be grouped together with Wilbur Smith's other books on...
s, all sons of Oceanus
Oceanus
Oceanus ; , Ōkeanós) was a pseudo-geographical feature in classical antiquity, believed by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the world-ocean, an enormous river encircling the world....
and Tethys
Tethys (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Tethys , daughter of Uranus and Gaia was an archaic Titaness and aquatic sea goddess, invoked in classical Greek poetry but not venerated in cult. Tethys was both sister and wife of Oceanus...
and thus to the Greeks part of the pre-Olympian
Twelve Olympians
The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus...
or "Pelasgian" mythic landscape; in Greek iconography, Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert is a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.An emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States...
notes, the rivers are represented in the form of a bull with a human head or face. In the Danaan founding myth
Founding myth
A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as an important national symbol and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic...
, Poseidon had dried up the springs of the Argolid out of anger at Inachus for testifying that the land belonged to the ancient goddess, Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
; to counter this drought, Danaus sent his daughters to draw water. One of them, Amymone, in her search lay with Poseidon, and he revealed to her the springs at Lerna
Lerna
In classical Greece, Lerna was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Its site near the village Mili at the Argolic Gulf is most famous as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra, the chthonic many-headed water snake, a creature of great antiquity...
.
As rivers are generally fertile, Inachus had many children, the chief of whom were his two sons, Phoroneus
Phoroneus
In Greek mythology, Phoroneus was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer, primordial king of Argos and son of the river god Inachus and either Melia, the primordial ash-tree nymph or Argia, the embodiment of the Argolid itself: "Inachus, son of Oceanus, begat Phoroneus by his sister Argia,"...
and Aegialeus
Aegialeus
In Greek mythology, Aegialeus is a name attributed several individuals.* Aegialeus was the elder son of Adrastus, a king of Argos, and either Amphithea or Demonassa. Aegialeus was identified as one of the Epigoni, who avenged their fathers' disastrous attack on the city of Thebes by retaking the...
or Phegeus
Phegeus
Phegeus was a Greek mythological king who offered succor and his daughter, Arsinoe , to Alcmaeon, who was fleeing from the Erinyes. Alcmaeon left his mother's, Eriphyle's, jewelry and clothing with him and then returned for it later in order to please the river god Achelous and have his daughter,...
, and his two daughters and Philodice
Philodice
Philodice may refer to:* Philodice, daughter of the river-god Inachus, wife of Leucippus, and sister to Io in Greek mythology* Philodice a genus of flowering plants in the family Eriocaulaceae...
, wife of Leucippus
Leucippus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Leucippus, son of Gorgophone and Perieres, was the father of Phoebe and Hilaeira, and also of Arsinoe, mother of Asclepius, by his wife Philodice, daughter of Inachus....
. The mother of these children was variously described in the sources, either the primeval ash-tree nymph Melia, called the mother of Phoroneus and Aegialeus, or Argia
Argia (mythology)
Argia or Argeia is a name borne by four minor characters in Greek mythology. These are:* Argia, one of the Oceanids. She was the mother of Phoroneus by her brother Inachus. She may also have been the mother of Io....
(his sister), called the mother of Phoroneus
Phoroneus
In Greek mythology, Phoroneus was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer, primordial king of Argos and son of the river god Inachus and either Melia, the primordial ash-tree nymph or Argia, the embodiment of the Argolid itself: "Inachus, son of Oceanus, begat Phoroneus by his sister Argia,"...
and Io
Io (mythology)
Io was, in Greek mythology, a priestess of Hera in Argos, a nymph who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. His wife Hera set ever-watchful Argus Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him...
. Io is sometimes confused as the daughter of Inachus and Melia but she is the daughter of Inachus alone. Io was born from Inachus' mouth technically making her Inachus and Melia's daughter because she was born while Inachus was married to Melia.
Aside from the Inachians of whom he was simply the back-formed eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
, his other children include Mycene, the spirit of Mycenae
Mycenae
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...
, the spring nymph Amymone
Amymone
In Greek mythology, Amymone was a daughter of Danaus. As the "blameless" Danaid, her name identifies her as, perhaps, identical to Hypermnestra , also the one Danaid who did not assassinate her Egyptian husband on their wedding night, as her 49 sisters did...
, Messeis, Hyperia, and possibly Teledice.
In one founding myth
Founding myth
A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as an important national symbol and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic...
of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, Inachos founded the city after rendering the province of Argolis
Argolis
Argolis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.-Geography:...
inhabitable again, following the deluge of Deucalion
Deucalion
In Greek mythology Deucalion was a son of Prometheus and Pronoia. The anger of Zeus was ignited by the hubris of the Pelasgians, and he decided to put an end to the Bronze Age. Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, had sacrificed a boy to Zeus, who was appalled by this savage offering...
.
Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
wrote an Inachos, probably a satyr play
Satyr play
Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of tragicomedy, similar in spirit to burlesque. They featured choruses of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology, and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen sexuality , pranks, sight gags, and general merriment.Satyric drama was one of the three varieties of...
, which survives only in some papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
fragments found at Oxyrhyncus and Tebtunis
Tebtunis
Tebtunis is an Ancient Egyptian city. Its modern site is the village of Tell Umm el-Baragat in the Al Fayyum Governorate. It was also known as Theodosiopolis during the Greco-Roman period.-History:...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
; in it Inachos is reduced from magnificence to misery through the unrequited love of Zeus for his daughter Io
Io (mythology)
Io was, in Greek mythology, a priestess of Hera in Argos, a nymph who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. His wife Hera set ever-watchful Argus Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him...
; Hermes wears the cap of darkness, rendering him invisible, but plays the aulos
Aulos
An aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
, to the mystification of the satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
s; Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
and Iris
Iris (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity...
, as a messenger of Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
both appear, a "stranger" turns Io into a heifer at the touch of a hand, and at the end, apparently, the satyrs are freed from their bondage, to become shepherds of Inachos. An additional papyrus fragment of Sophocles' Inachos was published in 1960.
In Virgil's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, Inachus is represented on Turnus
Turnus
In Virgil's Aeneid, Turnus was the King of the Rutuli, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas.-Biography:Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to...
's shield. Compare the Inachos or Brimo
Brimo
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the epithet Brimo— "angry" or "terrifying"— may be applied to any of several goddesses with an inexorable, dreaded and vengeful aspect that is linked to the land of the Dead: to Hecate or Persephone, to Demeter Erinyes— the angry, bereft Demeter— or, perhaps, to...
s of the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries
The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance...
.