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 ...

, Sthenelus (

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 ...

: Σθένελος, ''Sthenelos,'' "strong one, forcer"; derived from , "strength, might, force") was a king of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, and the son of

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

who founded the latter city.

Family

Sthenelus mother was Andromeda, an

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

princess as daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. He was the brother of Perses, Alcaeus,

Heleus In Greek mythology, Heleus or Heleius (Ancient Greek: Ἕλειος), also Helius (Ἕλιος), was a Mycenaean prince. Family Heleus was one of the sons of Perseus and Andromeda. He was the brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Electryon, ...

Mestor In Greek mythology, Mestor (; Ancient Greek: Μήστωρ means "adviser" or "counsellor") was the name of four men. * Mestor, a Mycenaean prince. He was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus, brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Sthenelus ...

Electryon In Greek mythology, Electryon (;Ancient Greek: Ἠλεκτρύων) was a king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis. Family Electryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus ...

Cynurus In Greek mythology, Cynurus (Ancient Greek: Κύνουρος, ''Kúnouros'') was a Mycenaean prince as the son of King Perseus and Andromeda, daughter of the Ethiopian rulers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. He was the brother of Perses, Al ...

Gorgophone In Greek mythology, Gorgophone ( grc, Γοργοφόνη "Gorgon-Slayer") was the name of two different women. * Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus. * Gorgophone, a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaïdes. She married and murdered Proteus, son of ...

and Autochthoe. By

Nicippe Nicippe, also Nikippe ( Ancient Greek: Νικίππη) is a name attributed to several women in Greek mythology. * Nicippe, a priestess of Demeter in Dotion, Thessaly. Demeter assumes her shape to try to stop Erysichthon from cutting down the sa ...

, sister of Atreus and

Thyestes In Greek mythology, Thyestes (pronounced , gr, Θυέστης, ) was a king of Olympia. Thyestes and his brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olym ...

, Sthenelus became the father of

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; grc-gre, Εὐρυσθεύς, , broad strength, ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos. Fami ...

, Alcyone and

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

(

Astymedusa In Greek mythology, Astymedusa ( grc, Ἀστυμέδουσα, ''Astymédousa'') or simply Medusa, was a Mycenaean princess as daughter of King Sthenelus and Nicippe, daughter of Pelops. She was occasionally named as a later wife of Oedipus. Aft ...

Mythology

Sthenelus exiled his nephew

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ei ...

, born to his brother Alcaeus, from Mycenae for having murdered

, Sthenelus' other brother. (Amphitryon was also the husband of his niece,

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene () or Alcmena (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμήνη or Doric Greek: Ἀλκμάνα, Latin: Alcumena means "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known ...

, and she joined him in his exile.) As heir, Sthenelus was the successor to the throne of Mycenae. He was in turn succeeded by his son Eurystheus, born to him and his wife Nicippe, and eventually killed by

Hyllus In Greek mythology, Hyllus (; Ancient Greek: Ὕλλος) or Hyllas (Ὕλᾱς) was son of Heracles and Deianira, husband of Iole, nursed by Abia. Mythology Heracles, whom Zeus had originally intended to be ruler of Argos, Lacedaemon and Mes ...

, son of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

and

Deianira Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira (; Ancient Greek: Δηϊάνειρα, ''Dēiáneira'', or , ''Dēáneira'', ), also known as Dejanira, is a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her hu ...

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'
244
/ref>

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.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

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.
Perseid dynasty Kings of Mycenae Kings of Tiryns {{Greek-myth-stub Kings in Greek mythology Mythology of Argolis