In Greek mythology, Psamathe was the daughter of King Crotopus of Argos and the lover of Apollo. She bore a son (Linus in Conon's account), exposed the child in fear of her father, and became the focus of Apollo's vengeance when the infant was torn apart by dogs and plague struck Argos. She is distinct from Psamathe the Nereid.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Psamathe (daughter of Crotopus)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Mythology
According to Conon's Narrations, Psamathe became pregnant by Apollo and abandoned the newborn boy Linus for fear of her father. A shepherd reared the foundling, but the child was one day torn apart by the shepherd's dogs. In the interim Crotopus ordered Psamathe killed. Apollo avenged her murder by sending a plague to Argos; when consulted, he demanded that Psamathe and Linus be propitiated with due honors. The Argives complied, yet the plague persisted until the king was forced by oracle to leave and found Tripodiscium near Megara.
In Pausanias' version, Psamathe exposed the unnamed child, which was torn apart by the king's sheepdogs. Apollo then sent Poine (Punishment) upon the city; the monster stole children from their mothers until the Argive Coroebus killed her, after which Apollo struck the city with plague. Statius tells the tale without naming Psamathe, recording her only as Crotopus' daughter.
II.Aftermath
Coroebus went to Delphi asking that punishment fall on him alone. The Pythia told him never to return home but to carry a tripod until it slipped; where it fell, in the Geraneian Mountains, he founded Tripodiskoi. His tomb was shown at Megara. The hero Coroebus does not appear in Conon's version.