Apis (;

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

: Ἄπις derived from ''apios'' "far-off" or "of the pear-tree") was a king of Argos in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

Family

Apis was a son of

Phoroneus In Greek mythology, Phoroneus (; Ancient Greek: Φορωνεύς means 'bringer of a price') was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer, law giver, and primordial king of Argos. Family Phoroneus was the son of the river god Inachus and eit ...

by the

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

Teledice, or Cinna, or Cerdo, or Perimede and brother of

Niobe Niobe (; : Nióbē) was in Greek mythology a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa. She was the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Niobe is mentioned by Achilles in Homer's ''Iliad ...

. According to a

scholia Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...

st on

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

's ''

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

'', he was the son of Phoroneus by his first wife

Peitho In Greek mythology, Peitho ( or 'winning eloquence') is the personification of persuasion. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite. Her opposite is Bia (mythology), Bia, the personification of force. As a personificatio ...

("Persuasion") and brother to Niobe, Aegialeus, and Europs.

Reign

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( 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: :''Note: A ...

reports that during his reign, Apis established a tyrannical government and called the

Peloponnesus The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the ...

Apia, after his own name, and that he was eventually killed in a conspiracy headed by Thelxion, king of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, and Telchis.

, ''Bibliotheca'
2.1.1
In another passage

states that Apis, the son of Phoroneus, was killed by Aetolus; Pausanias, however, gives the latter story in relation to Apis, son of

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

, who was killed by Aetolus during the funeral games celebrated in honor of Azanes. Argus Panoptes, a descendant of his sister

, avenged his murder by putting Thelxion and Telchis to death.

Serapis

Apis, the son of Phoroneus, is said, after his death, to have been worshiped as a god under the name of Serapis (Σάραπις). This confusion is still more manifest in the tradition, that Apis gave his kingdom of Argos to his brother, and went to Egypt, where he reigned for several years afterwards. Apis is spoken of as one of the earliest lawgivers among the Greeks.Theodoret. ''Graec. Affect. Cur.'' vol. iv. p. 927, ed. Schulz. Both these stories show that Egyptian myths were mixed up with the story of Apis, see Apis (Egyptian mythology).

Notes

References

* Pausanias, ''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
*

, ''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
* {{Subject bar , portal=Ancient Greece, portal2=Myths Princes in Greek mythology Kings of Argos Inachids Mythology of Argolis