Phocus was the son of Aeacus

Aeacus

Aeacus was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.He was son of Zeus and Aegina, a daughter of the river-god Asopus. He was born on the island of Oenone or Oenopia, to which Aegina had been carried by Zeus to secure her from the anger of her parents, and whence this...

 and Psamathe

Psamathe

Psamathe was a Nereid in Greek mythology, i.e., one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. The goddess of sand beaches, Psamathe was the wife of Proteus and the mother of Phocus by Aeacus....

 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...

. His mother, the Nereid goddess of sand beaches, transformed herself into a seal when she was ambushed by Aeacus, and was raped as a seal; conceived in the rape, Phocus' name means "seal". He had two sons, Crisus

Crisus

In Greek mythology, Crisus or Crissus was a son of Phocus and brother of Panopaeus. With Antiphateia, daughter of Naubolus, he became father of Strophius; thus he was the grandfather of Pylades. He is also said to have founded the town of Crissa, which received its name from him.-External links:*...

 and Panopaeus.

Aeacus favored Phocus over Peleus

Peleus

In Greek mythology, Pēleus was a hero whose myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BCE. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly; he was the father of Achilles...

 and Telamon

Telamon

In Greek mythology, Telamon , son of the king Aeacus, of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one of his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In the Iliad he was the father of Greek heroes Ajax the Great and Teucer the Archer by different...

, his two sons with Endeïs

Endeis

In Greek mythology, Endeïs was the wife of Aeacus and mother of Telamon and Peleus. The name is a dialect variant of Engaios ....

. Apollodorus

Apollodorus

Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...

 portrays Phocus as a strong athlete, whose athletic ability causes his half-brothers to grow jealous. Their jealousy drives them to murder him during sport practice; Telamon, the stronger half-brother, throws a discus

Discus

Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...

 at Phocus' head, killing him. The brothers hide the corpse in a thicket, but Aeacus discovers the body and punishes Peleus and Telamon by exiling them from Aegina. Telamon is sent to Salamis

Salamis Island

Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina , lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf...

, where he becomes king after Cychreus, the reigning king, dies without an heir, while Peleus

Peleus

In Greek mythology, Pēleus was a hero whose myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BCE. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly; he was the father of Achilles...

 goes to Phthia

Phthia

Phthia , Phthíē ) in ancient Greece was the southernmost region of ancient Thessaly, on both sides of Othrys Mountain. It was the homeland of the Myrmidones tribe, who took part in the Trojan War under Achilles....

, where he is purified by the Phthian King Eurythion.

However, the tradition varies with regards to the nature of Phocus' death. Other myths use the following as a means to describe Phocus' death:

1. Telamon threw a quoit
   Quoits
   Quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike . The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.-The history of quoits:The history of quoits is disputed...
   
    at his head.
2. Telamon killed him with a spear while hunting.
3. Peleus killed him to please Endeis.
4. Other sources say that whichever brother was responsible, it was an accident.

Other characters

A son of Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

, this Phocus founded the city of Phocis

Phocis

Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth...

, which was named after him.

Phocus is also the name of the son of Phocion

Phocion

Phocion was an Athenian statesman and strategos, and the subject of one of Plutarch's Parallel Lives....

.