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

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 to the former and Busiris to the latter. In other versions of the myth, Epaphus was also called father of Thebe,[10] who was mother of Aegyptus[11] and Heracles[12] by Zeus. Through these daughters, Epaphus was the ancestor of the "dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and the Underground-folk and feeble Pygmies".[3]

Mythology

Birth

The name/word Epaphus means "Touch". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand.[13][14] He was born in Euboea, in the cave Boösaule[15] or according to others, in Egypt, on the river Nile,[16] 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.[17] According Strabo, Epaphus was born in a cave in Euboea.[18]

Phaethon

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."[19] This prompted Phaethon to undertake his fateful journey in his father's chariot of the sun.

Reign and death

Epaphus is regarded in the myths as the founder of Memphis, Egypt.[20] Hera being envious that her husband's bastard ruled such a great kingdom,[21] saw to it that Epaphus should be killed while hunting.[22]

David Rohl identifies Epaphus with the Hyksos pharaoh Apophis.[23]

Argive genealogy

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

  Male
  Female
  Deity

Notes

  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, Dionysiaca 3.284–285
  5. ^ Nonnus, Dionysiaca 32.70
  6. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.4.
  7. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 149
  8. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 157; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 3.287
  9. ^ Apollodorus, 2.5.11
  10. ^ Scholia on Homer, Iliad 9.383
  11. ^ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1206
  12. ^ John Lydus, De mensibus 4.67
  13. ^ Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 315
  14. ^ Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 850–852
  15. ^ Strabo, 10.1.3
  16. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 145
  17. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.3
  18. ^ Strabo, 10.1.3
  19. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.749–743
  20. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 149 & 275
  21. ^ Statius, Thebaid 7.186
  22. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 150
  23. ^ David Rohl: The Lords of Avaris. London, Arrow Books 2007

References

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

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