Aphareus
Family: Greek · Role: son of Perieres · First appears: Book 3 · Chapter 1
In Book 3, Chapter 1, one Messenian account names Aphareus as the son of Perieres and the uterine brother of Tyndareus. Book 4, Chapter 2, says Perieres had Aphareus and Leucippus by Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus; Aphareus and Leucippus succeeded their father as kings of the Messenians.
During his reign, Aphareus built the city of Arene, named for his wife and uterine sister Arene, daughter of Œbalus. He received his cousin Neleus into his house when Neleus fled Pelias at Iolcus, and gave him maritime lands including Pylos. Lycus taught the mysteries of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus, his sons, and Arene; Aphareus’s children were Idas and Lynceus. In Book 4, Chapter 3, Aphareus’s house is described as “entirely deprived of male offspring,” and the kingdom of the Messenians passes to Nestor, son of Neleus.
Relationship record
Life events
- Perieres had Aphareus and Leucippus by Gorgophone.(Book 4 · Chapter 2)
- With: Perieres Gorgophone Leucippus
- “Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus Aphareus and Leucippus”
- Aphareus built the city of Arene.(Book 4 · Chapter 2 · 📍 Arene)
- “During his reign he built the city Arene”
- Aphareus received Neleus and granted him maritime lands, including Pylos.(Book 4 · Chapter 2 · 📍 Arene)
- With: Neleus
- “received into his house his cousin Neleus, the son of Cretheus, the son of Æolus (who was surnamed Poseidon), when he fled from Pelias at Iolcus, and gave him the maritime parts of the land”
- The house of Aphareus loses its male line, and Nestor inherits the kingdom of the Messenians.(Book 4 · Chapter 3 · 📍 Messenia)
Book 3 · Chapter 1
- parent: Perieres “But the account of the Messenians is that Tyndareus fled to Aphareus in Messenia, and that Aphareus was the son of Perieres and the uterine brother of Tyndareus:”
- siblings with Tyndareus “But the account of the Messenians is that Tyndareus fled to Aphareus in Messenia, and that Aphareus was the son of Perieres and the uterine brother of Tyndareus:”
Book 3 · Chapter 11
- parent: Perieres “memorials of Epimenides the Cretan, and of Aphareus the son of Perieres”
Book 4 · Chapter 2
- parent: Perieres “And Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus Aphareus and Leucippus who, on his death, succeeded their father as kings of the Messenians”
- parent: Gorgophone “And Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus Aphareus and Leucippus”
- siblings with Leucippus “And Perieres had by Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus Aphareus and Leucippus who, on his death, succeeded their father as kings of the Messenians”
- married with Arene “During his reign he built the city Arene which got its name from the daughter of Œbalus, his wife and uterine sister.”
- siblings with Arene “During his reign he built the city Arene which got its name from the daughter of Œbalus, his wife and uterine sister.”
- cousins with Neleus “Aphareus then built the city Arene in Messenia, and received into his house his cousin Neleus, the son of Cretheus”
- mentor: Lycus “And he taught the mysteries of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his sons and his wife Arene.”
- child: Idas “And the elder and more manly of Aphareus’ children was Idas, and the younger was Lynceus”
- child: Lynceus “And the elder and more manly of Aphareus’ children was Idas, and the younger was Lynceus”
Book 4 · Chapter 3
- child: Lynceus “the sons of Aphareus and Castor and Pollux (their uncles) a quarrel arose about cattle, and Lynceus was slain by Pollux”
- child: Idas “the sons of Aphareus and Castor and Pollux (their uncles) a quarrel arose about cattle, and Lynceus was slain by Pollux, while Idas died smitten with lightning”
Book 4 · Chapter 31
- siblings with Leucippus “There are paintings also of Leucippus the brother of Aphareus, and of Hilaira, Phœbe, and Arsinoe.”
⭐ Constellation map → · 📖 Read the original → · 🗂 Character index → · 🕰 Chronicle → · 📍 Places →
Extracted from the original text of Pausanias' Description of Greece. Made with Rho MD.