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 ...

, Piras (

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 ...

: Πείραντα) was a king of

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

. Otherwise, he was also known as Piren, Peiren, Peiras (Πειράς), Peirasus (Πείρασος) and Piranthus.

Family

Piras was the son of Argus and

Evadne In Greek mythology, Evadne (; Ancient Greek: Εὐάδνη) was a name attributed to the following individuals: *Evadne, a daughter of Strymon and Neaera, wife of Argus (king of Argos), mother of Ecbasus, Peiras, Epidaurus and Criasus. *Evadne, ...

, daughter of river god Strymon while his brothers were,

Ecbasus In Greek mythology, Ecbasus (Ancient Greek: Έκβασος) was an Argive prince as the son of King Argus, son of Zeus and Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus. Ecbasus mother was either Evadne, daughter of the river-god Strymon or the Oceanid Peitho ...

Tiryns Tiryns or (Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles performed his Twelve Labours. It lies south of Myce ...

Epidaurus Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the ...

Criasus In Greek mythology, Criasus (; Ancient Greek: Κρίασος ''Kriasos'') was a king of Argos. Family Criasus was the son of Argus and Evadne (daughter of Strymon) or the Oceanid Peitho. He had five brothers who were named Ecbasus, Jasus, ...

and according to some,

Phorbas In Greek mythology, Phorbas (; Ancient Greek: Φόρβας ''Phórbās'', gen. Φόρβαντος ''Phórbantos'' means "giving pasture"), or Phorbaceus , may refer to: * Phorbas of Elis, son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Periphas. ...

also. Piras's wife was

Callirrhoe Callirrhoe (, grc, Καλλιρρόη; also Callirhoe) may refer to: * Callirhoe (mythology), several figures in Greek mythology, including: ** Callirrhoe (Oceanid), daughter of Oceanus and Tethys ** Callirrhoe (daughter of Achelous) * Callirrhoe ...

who mothered his sons, Argus, Arestorides and

Triopas In Greek mythology, Triopas () or Triops (; grc, Τρίωψ, gen.: Τρίοπος) was the name of several characters whose relations are unclear. * Triopas, king of Argos and son of Phorbas. His daughter was Messene. * Triopas, king of Thessa ...

. According to

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

and

Acusilaus Acusilaus, Acusilas, or Akousilaos ( grc-gre, Ἀκουσίλαος) of Argos, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greek logographer and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work survives only in fragments and s ...

, Peiren was Io's father while

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

mentioned

Callithyia In Greek mythology and legendary history, Callithyia (; Ancient Greek: Καλλίθυια; also Callithoe (; Καλλιθόη), Callithea (; Καλλιθέα),Scholia on Aratus, ''Phenomena'' 161 or Io (; Ἰώ ), "the best among women as well as a ...

as the daughter of Peiranthus. Io may be therefore identical to

as suggested by

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria ( grc, Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit=Hesychios the Alexandrian) was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD,E. Dickey, Ancient Greek Scholarship (2007 ...

Reign

Peiras was credited with the founding of the first temple of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the tri ...

and appointed his own daughter Callithyia as the priestess. Of the statues of Hera, which

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 t ...

saw in the Heraeum near

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. Th ...

, the most ancient was one made of the wild pear-tree from the wood about

, which Peirasus was said to have dedicated for the sanctuary. The Argives, when they took that city, transferred the carved image of the goddess to the Heraeum. The account of Pausanias and the mythographers, however, does not represent Peirasus as the artist of this image, as some modern writers suppose, but as the king who dedicated it.Compare Pausanias
2.16.1
';'' Scholia ad Euripides, ''Oresteia'' 920; Apollodorus
2.1.2
Eusebius, ''Praeparatio evangelica'' 3.8;

Friedrich Thiersch Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (17 June 178425 February 1860), was a German classical scholar and educationist. Biography He was born at Kirchscheidungen (now a part of Laucha an der Unstrut, Saxony-Anhalt). In 1809 he became professor at the ...

, ''Epochen der bild'' 20 Peiras succeeded his father Argus while his son Triopas in turn followed him on the throne.

Notes

References

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* Eusebius. ''Preparation of the Gospels.'' Translated by the Rev. Edwin Hamilton Gifford (1820-1905), edition of 1903. *

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammatic ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

, ''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
* William Smith. '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. s.v
PeiranthusPeirasus
' and
Peiren
'' London (1873). {{Greek-myth-stub Princes in Greek mythology Kings of Argos Kings in Greek mythology Inachids Mythology of Argos