Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Phocus (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Φῶκος means "seal") was a

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

ian prince who later became the eponymous ruler of

Phocis Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) 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 Vardo ...

Family

Phocus was the son of King

Ornytion In Greek mythology, Ornytion (Ancient Greek: Ὀρνύτιων means 'moon-bird') or Ornytus (Ὄρνυτος)Scholia on Homer, ''Iliad'' 2.517 may refer to two different characters: * Ornytion, also known as Porphyrion, a Corinthian prince who lat ...

(or

Ornytus In Greek mythology, the name Ornytus (Ancient Greek: Ὄρνυτόν) may refer to: *Ornytus or Ornytion, son of Sisyphus. *Ornytus or Ornytion, grandson of the above, father of Naubolus. *Ornytus, possible leader of the army that came from Teuthi ...

) and grandson of

Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ancient Corinth, Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense bo ...

; some called him son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

. Thus, he might be the same as the son of Poseidon and

Pronoe Pronoe (; Ancient Greek: Προνόη ''Pronóē'' means 'forethought') refers to six characters in Greek mythology. * Pronoe, one of the 50 Nereids, marine-nymph daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. Her name means "t ...

who was referrred in the

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

on ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

''.

Mythology

Leaving the kingdom of Corinth to his brother Thoas, Phocus led a colony to the region of

Tithorea Tithorea ( el, Τιθορέα), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 630 in 2011, and is situated 156 km from Athens. ...

and

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

; the land came to be named

after him. Phocus was said to have cured the wandering Antiope of her madness, which she had been struck with by

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

who was outraged by

Dirce Dirce (; , , modern Greek , meaning "double" or "cleft") was a queen of Thebes as the wife of Lycus in Greek mythology. Family Dirce was a daughter of the river-gods Achelous or Ismenus, or of Helios. Mythology After Zeus impregnated Dir ...

's death, and to have married her; they were buried in one and the same grave.Pausanias
9.17.6–7
/ref>

Notes

References

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Greek-myth-stub Princes in Greek mythology Kings of Phocis Kings in Greek mythology Children of Poseidon Demigods in classical mythology Corinthian characters in Greek mythology Corinthian mythology Mythology of Phocis