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...

, Peneus (Πηνειός) was a Thessalian

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

 river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi

Potamoi

Potamoi are the gods of rivers in Greek mythology. They are the fathers of Naiads, and the brothers of the Oceanids, and as such, the sons of Oceanus and Tethys...

), a child 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...

. The nymph Creusa

Creusa

In Greek mythology, four people had the name Creusa ; the name simply means "princess".-Naiad:According to Pindar's 9th Pythian Ode, Creusa was a naiad and daughter of Gaia who bore Hypseus, King of the Lapiths to the river god Peneus. Hypseus had one daughter, Cyrene. When a lion attacked her...

 bore him one son, Hypseus

Hypseus

In Greek mythology, the name Hypseus may refer to:*Hypseus, King of the Lapiths, son of the river god Peneus by the naiad Creusa, daughter of Gaia. By Chlidanope he had four daughters: Cyrene, Themisto, Alcaea and Astyagyia .*Hypseus, who fought on Phineus' side against Perseus...

, who was King of the Lapiths, and three daughters, Menippe

Menippe

Menippe can refer to:* Menippe in Greek mythology:** Menippe, daughter of Orion, see Menippe and Metioche** Menippe, one of the Nereids** Menippe, one of the Amazons** Menippe, daughter of Peneus* 188 Menippe, an asteroid...

 (mother of Phrastor by Pelasgus

Pelasgus

In Greek mythology, Pelasgus was the eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgians, the mythical inhabitants of Greece who established the worship of the Dodonaean Zeus, Hephaestus, the Cabeiri, and other divinities. In the different parts of the country once occupied by Pelasgians, there existed...

), Daphne

Daphne

Daphne was a female minor nature deity. Pursued by Apollo, she fled and was chased. Daphne begged the gods for help, who then transformed her into Laurel.-Overview:...

, and Stilbe

Stilbe

Stilbe in Greek mythology was a nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus and the Naiad Creusa. She bore Apollo twin sons, Centaurus, ancestor of the Centaurs, and Lapithus, ancestor of the Lapiths. In another version of the myth, Centaurus was instead the son of Ixion and Nephele. Aineus, father of...

. He also had a son Atrax

Atrax (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Atrax was the son of the river god Peneus and Bura. He was believed to have been the founder and eponym of Atrax or Atracia, a city in Thessaly...

 with Bura

Bura (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Bura was a daughter of Ion, son of Xuthus, and Helice. She was the eponym of the city Boura in Achaea.She is possibly the same as Bura, mother of Atrax by Peneus....

, and Andreus

Andreus

Andreus was the son of the river-god Peneus in Thessaly, from whom the district about Orchomenos in Boeotia was called Andreis. In another passage Pausanias speaks of Andreus as the person who first colonized the island of Andros...

 with an unknown consort. Some sources state that he was the father of Cyrene

Cyrene (mythology)

In Greek mythology, as recorded in Pindar's 9th Pythian ode, Cyrene was the daughter of Hypseus, King of the Lapiths. When a lion attacked her father's sheep, Cyrene wrestled with the lion. Apollo, who was present, immediately fell in love with her and kidnapped her. He took her to North...

, alternately known as his granddaughter through Hypseus. Daphne, in an Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

n version of the myth, was, instead, the daughter of the river god Ladon

Ladon

Ladon may refer to:*Ladon , one of the dragons in Greek mythology*Ladon in Arcadia, Greece*Ladon, Loiret, a commune in the Loiret département of France*Ladon, the dragon god in the video game Breath of Fire III...

.

Eros shot Apollo with one of his arrows, causing him to fall in love with Daphne. It was Eros's plan that Daphne would scorn Apollo because Eros was angry that Apollo had made fun of his archery skills. Eros also claimed to be irritated by Apollo's singing. Daphne prayed to the river god Peneus to help her. He changed her into a laurel tree

Lauraceae

The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...

, which later became sacred to Apollo - see Apollo and Daphne

Apollo and Daphne

Apollo and Daphne is a story from ancient Greek mythology, retold by Hellenistic and Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette;The curse of Apollo, the god of the sun and music, was brought onto him when he insulted the young Eros Apollo and Daphne is a story from ancient Greek mythology,...

.