Phoroneus

The river-god, Inachus (Ἴναχος), was the son of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Inachus was the first inhabitant of Argolis. The Inachus River flows through the valley of Argolis to the Gulf of Argolis. Inachus married a nymph named Melia, and became the father of two sons, Phoroneus (Φορωνεύς) and Aegialeus (Αἰγιάλεος), and of possibly two daughters, Io and Mycene.

Poseidon and Hera sought to be the patron deity of Argos or Argolis. They asked the Inachus and two other river-gods to act as judges. They awarded the land or city to Hera. Enraged over losing to his sister, Poseidon caused the rivers to dry up. Sometimes Poseidon would flood the valley of Argolis.

Some said that Io was Inachus' daughter, but there are couple of other possibilities. Io was said to be the daughter of Iasus, or of Peiras (Hesiod called him Peiren).

His daughter Io, who was seduced by Zeus and persecuted by the god's jealous wife, Hera, fled Argolis in the form of a cow. Io suffered many hardships until she finally reached Egypt. Zeus changed her back to her true form. There she bore a son named Epaphus (Ἔπαφος) to Zeus.

Io then married the king of Egypt, Telegonus. Her descendants would later return to Greece and found two powerful kingdoms in Thebes and in Argos (two other kingdoms would be found in Argolis, Tiryns and Mycenae). See Danaans.

For the full story of the hardship of Io, go to Heroines.

For now, we'll turn our attention to Inachus' descendants from Phoroneus' line.

Inachus, as I had said before, was the first inhabitant of Argolis. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and he was the river-god of the Inachus River. Most authors said that Inachus was the father of Io, though she was also known to be the daughter of Iasus or that of Peiras by other authors. Because of her involvement with Zeus, she later lived in Egypt until her descendants returned back to Greece. See the genealogy on the Early Houses of Argos.

Either Argos was founded by Inachus or by his son, Phoroneus, and the city was first named Phoronea.

Phoroneus married a nymph who was named Teledice or Cinna, and became the father of Apis and Niobe (Νιόβη). Phoroneus also married Cerdo, and he was the father of Car. Car migrated to Megara where he founded the citadel, Caria.

Inachus also had a son named Aegialeus, but he died childless. The whole region of Argolis, including Sicyonia, Achaea and the Isthmus was named Aegialeia. He had also founded the city of Aegialeia, which was later changed to Sicyon.

Phoroneus' son Apis, who named the whole Peloponnesian peninsula Apia, died childless. His death was the result of the plot of Telchis and Thelxion, because his rule was brutal. Apis was so cruel and brutal that people referred to him as a tyrant.