In Greek mythology, Peneus (Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers born to Oceanus and Tethys. He is best known as the father of the nymph Daphne, whom he transformed into the laurel when she fled Apollo's pursuit, and in many accounts as father or grandfather of Cyrene.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Peneus" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
As a River, Peneus is a child of Oceanus and Tethys among the three thousand stream-gods. By the nymph Creusa he is father of Hypseus, king of the Lapiths, and of daughters including Menippe, Daphne, and Stilbe. Some sources make him the father of Cyrene; others make Cyrene his granddaughter through Hypseus. An Arcadian version of Daphne's myth makes her daughter of the river Ladon instead.
Other children attributed to him include Atrax (by Bura), Andreus, Tricce (eponym of Tricca), Chrysogenia, Astabe, and — according to Hellanicus — Iphis, mother of Salmoneus by Aeolus son of Hellen.
II.Apollo and Daphne
When Eros, angered that Apollo had mocked his archery, shot the god with a golden arrow of desire and Daphne with a leaden arrow of aversion, Apollo pursued the nymph. Daphne prayed to the river god Peneus for help; he changed her into a laurel tree, which thereafter became sacred to Apollo. The episode is a favourite of Roman art and of Ovid's Metamorphoses; painters often show Peneus averting his gaze as the metamorphosis takes place.
This article concerns the Thessalian river god, not the historical river alone or other local stream-personifications.