Galaxy/The codex of Aphareus

A Messenian king, son of Perieres and Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus; by Arene, daughter of Oebalus, he fathered Idas and Lynceus.1

I

In the genealogist's catalogue Aphareus is counted among the sons that Perieres had of Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus — brother to Leucippus, and reckoned alongside Tyndareus and Icarius in the same house.2

II

Following Stesichorus, Apollodorus traces him from Cynortas: Cynortas had a son Perieres, who married Gorgophone and begot Tyndareus, Icarius, Aphareus, and Leucippus. By Arene, daughter of Oebalus, Aphareus had the sons Lynceus, Idas, and Pisus — though many say that Idas was in truth begotten by Poseidon. Of the brothers, Lynceus excelled in sharpness of sight, so keen that he could even see things underground.3

III

Pausanias gives the Messenian telling: Perieres son of Aeolus had by Gorgophone the sons Aphareus and Leucippus, and on his death they inherited the kingdom, Aphareus holding the greater authority. On his accession he founded a city Arene, named after the daughter of Oebalus who was both his wife and his sister by the same mother — for Gorgophone, having been married to Perieres, was afterward married to Oebalus. Near the Leprean country a spring too was called Arene, said to take its name from the wife of Aphareus.4

IV

Into Arene came Lycus, son of Pandion, driven from Athens by his brother Aegeus, and he revealed the rites of the Great Goddesses to Aphareus and his children and his wife Arene; yet the rites themselves he carried on to Andania, where Caucon had initiated Messene. Originally Perieres and the earlier kings had dwelt at Andania, but when Aphareus founded Arene he and his sons settled there.5

V

From Arene his sons went out into the great undertakings of the age: Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus, came from Arene to join the voyage of the Argo, both exulting in their great strength, and Lynceus keenest of sight among them.6

the spine ignites as you read · hover a bond on the card — every mention of them lights in the story

BEYOND THE POETS

How the centuries since have seen Aphareus — art, artifacts and echoes.

Idas and Marpessa Separated from Apollo by Zeus (Attic red-figure psykter)
The Judgment of Jupiter
Idas and Marpessa (illustration for A Book of Myths)
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