In Greek mythology, Hyrnetho was a daughter of Temenus of Argos and the wife of Deiphontes, by whom she became mother of Antimenes, Xanthippus, Argeius, and Orsobia. Temenus favored her and her husband over his own sons and meant to make Deiphontes his heir, which provoked his sons to murder him. In the struggle over the succession she was carried off by her brothers and died when one of them dragged her violently from her rescuers. She was buried at a place named Hyrnethium, where a tomb and a hero-shrine with a sacred grove were shown.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Hyrnetho" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Hyrnetho (Ancient Greek: Ὑρνηθώ, romanized: Hurnēthṓ) was a daughter of Temenus, the Heraclid king of Argos, and the wife of Deiphontes.
By Deiphontes she became the mother of three sons, Antimenes, Xanthippus, and Argeius, and a daughter, Orsobia.
II.The succession at Argos
Temenus favored his daughter Hyrnetho and her husband Deiphontes more than his own sons, Hyrnetho's brothers, and planned on making Deiphontes his heir. His sons plotted against him and killed him.
Nevertheless, the kingdom of Argos passed to Deiphontes and Hyrnetho, since the army supported them rather than Temenus' sons. According to an alternative version, the kingdom was instead seized by Ceisus, the eldest son of Temenus.
III.Abduction and death
The brothers knew they would hurt their rival Deiphontes the most if they separated him from Hyrnetho. So Cerynes and Phalces, ignoring the objections of their youngest brother Agraeus, came to Epidaurus, where Hyrnetho and Deiphontes resided. At first they tried to persuade Hyrnetho to leave her husband and go with them, promising to marry her to a better man and making heavy accusations against Deiphontes. She believed none of the accusations and defended her husband passionately, so the brothers simply carried her off by force.
Upon hearing of it, Deiphontes rushed to her rescue. He shot Cerynes with an arrow, but was afraid to shoot at Phalces, who was holding Hyrnetho; he caught up with the chariot and attempted to get Hyrnetho away. But Phalces dragged her back with such violence that it killed her — she was pregnant at the time.
IV.Burial and cult
Hyrnetho was buried by her husband and children at a place which later received the name of Hyrnethium.
Her tomb and a heroum (hero-shrine), together with a sacred grove, were shown at Epidaurus and Argos as memorials to her. These accounts are drawn chiefly from Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca and Pausanias' Description of Greece.