In Greek mythology, Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus, and a great-great-grandson of Heracles. He helped lead the fifth and final attack of the Heracleidae on the Peloponnese, and after their victory received Argos by lot and became its king. He was the father of Hyrnetho, whom together with her husband Deiphontes he favoured over his sons; for this neglect his jealous sons had him murdered. His son Karanos was reckoned the first king of Macedonia and founder of the Temenid (Argead) dynasty.
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I.Family
Temenus was a son of Aristomachus and a brother of Cresphontes and Aristodemus. He was a great-great-grandson of Heracles, his line running from Heracles through Hyllus, Cleodaeus, and Aristomachus.
His children included Ceisus, Karanos, Phalces (who was said to be the founder of Sicyon), Agraeus, and Hyrnetho. Of these, Karanos was held to be the first king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia and the founder of the royal Macedonian dynasty, called the Temenid or Argead line after Temenus.
II.Conquest of the Peloponnese
Temenus and his brothers consulted an oracle about the repeated failed attacks of the Heracleidae on Mycenae. They received the answer that by the 'third fruit' the 'third generation' was meant — that is, that the Return would succeed only in the third generation.
They constructed a fleet at Naupactus, but before they set sail Aristodemus was struck by lightning (or, in another account, shot by Apollo) and the fleet was destroyed. The oracle then instructed them to make sacrifices and to find a man with three eyes to act as their guide.
Temenus encountered Oxylus, an Aetolian who had lost one eye, riding on a horse (or mule), so that man and mount together made up the three eyes. Taking him as guide, they sailed to the Peloponnese and there defeated Tisamenus, son of Orestes, the chief ruler in the peninsula, who was defeated and slain.
The conquered territory was then distributed by lot. Argos fell to Temenus, Lacedaemon to Procles and Eurysthenes, the twin sons of Aristodemus, and Messene to Cresphontes, while Elis was given to Oxylus. This episode, the 'Return of the Heracleidae,' is represented as a joint invasion of the Peloponnese by Aetolians and Dorians.
III.Reign
Having obtained Argos, Temenus bestowed all his affections upon his daughter Hyrnetho and her husband Deiphontes, for which he was murdered by his sons, who thought themselves neglected.
The ancient sources differ over the succession that followed. According to one account, Deiphontes and Hyrnetho became his rightful successors; according to another, his son Ceisus took the kingdom instead, while Deiphontes established himself at Epidaurus.
A confrontation between Hyrnetho's brothers and Deiphontes over her loyalty led to her death, a tragic sequel to the murder of Temenus.