In Greek mythology, Arene was a Messenian princess, the daughter of Oebalus and Gorgophone. She married the Messenian king Aphareus, who was also her half-brother (both being children of Gorgophone), and bore him the heroes Idas and Lynceus, as well as Peisus. When Aphareus inherited the kingdom of Messenia, he founded a city which he named Arene after his wife.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Aphareus (son of Perieres)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Arene was the daughter of Oebalus and Gorgophone. She married Aphareus, a son of Perieres and Gorgophone; because they shared Gorgophone as a parent, Arene was at the same time Aphareus's wife and his half-sister. Her name is also given in the forms Arena or Arenae.
By Aphareus, Arene was the mother of Lynceus, Idas, and Peisus, although some sources claim that Idas was in fact fathered by Poseidon, and others identify Peisus as a son of Perieres. In place of Arene, a few accounts name Aphareus's wife as Polydora or Laocoosa. The patronymic 'Apharetidae,' referring collectively to Idas and Lynceus, is taken from the name of their father Aphareus.
II.Mythology
Aphareus and his brother Leucippus inherited the kingdom of their father Perieres, with Aphareus holding the greater share of authority. Upon his accession he founded the city of Arene in Messenia, which he named after his wife.
Aphareus's court received several exiles. Tyndareus fled to Aphareus in Messenia after Hippocoon usurped the throne of Sparta, settling at Thalamae, where children were born to him. Aphareus also took in his cousin Neleus, who had been driven out of Iolcus by Pelias, and Lycus, son of Pandion, who taught the rites of Demeter to Aphareus's household.
After Arene's sons Idas and Lynceus died in their conflict with the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces, the Messenian kingdom passed to Nestor, the son of Neleus.
III.Namesake
The chief memorial of Arene is the Messenian city that bears her name. Founded by Aphareus and called Arene in her honor, the town is among the places associated with her family's rule over Messenia, and it preserved the queen's name in the historical geography of the western Peloponnese.