Argos

The city of Argos was situated in the valley of Argolis on the Gulf of Argolis. It situated beside the river Inachus. The citadel in Argos was called Larisa.

The city was originally called Phoronea by its founder, Phoroneus, son of the river god Inachus. It was changed to Argos by Argus, grandson of Phoroneus.

Descendants of Io, daughter of Incachus, later ruled Argos, when Danaüs fled from Egypt and established a powerful dynasty in the region. The twin brothers Acrisius and Proëtus divided Argolis between them, Acrisius taking Argos while Proëtus received Tiryns.

When Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather Acrisius, he exchanged the kingdom with his great-uncle, Proëtus, exchanging Argos for Tiryns. Proëtus was king of Argos when Bellerophon, and later Melampus and Bias, came to his kingdom. Since Melampus cured the madness from two of his three daughters, Proëtus had no choice but to share his kingdom with his two new son-in-laws.

The Greeks who fought in Troy in Homer's Iliad were sometimes known collectively as Argives (Ἀργεῖοι), but it was more common to refer to the Greeks as Danaans (Δαναοι) or Achaeans (ῖχαιοί).

The descendants of Proëtus, Melampus and Bias, fought in the ill-fated war against Thebes, called the Seven Against Thebes, and later the more successful war of the Epigoni. During the Trojan War, the hero Diomedes was leader of the Argive forces, bringing with him eighty ships to Troy.

During the reign of Orestes in Mycenae, Orestes seized Argos from Cylarbes. Orestes was the son of Agamemnon and a descendant of Pelops.

Read the Houses of Argolis about the families who ruled Argos.

For genealogy, see Early House of Argos and House of Argos.