Piras (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Piras (Ancient Greek: Πείραντα) was a king of Argos,[1] otherwise also known as Piren, Peiren (Πειρῆνος), Peiras (Πειράς), Peirasus (Πείρασος) and Piranthus.

Family

Piras was the son of Argus and Evadne, daughter of river god Strymon while his brothers were, Ecbasus, Tiryns, Epidaurus, Criasus and according to some, Phorbas also. Piras's wife was Callirrhoe who mothered his sons, Argus,[2] Arestorides and Triopas.[3] According to Hesiod and Acusilaus, Peiren was Io's father[4][5] while Eusebius mentioned Callithyia as the daughter of Peiranthus.[6] Io may be therefore identical to Callithyia as suggested by Hesychius of Alexandria.[7]

Comparative table of Piras' names and family
Relation Name Sources
Apollodorus Hyginus Pausanias Eusebius
Name Piras ✓
Piren or Peiren ✓
Peranthus or Piranthus ✓
Peiras or Peirasus ✓
Peiras ✓
Parents Argus and Evadne ✓ ✓
Argus ✓
Siblings Ecbasus ✓ ✓
Epidaurus ✓ ✓
Criasus ✓ ✓
Phorbas ✓
Tiryns ✓
Wife Callirhoe ✓
Children Io ✓
Argus ✓
Arestorides ✓
Triopas ✓
Callithyia ✓

Reign

Peiras was credited with the founding of the first temple of Hera in Argolis and appointed his own daughter Callithyia as the priestess. Of the statues of Hera, which Pausanias saw in the Heraeum near Mycenae, the most ancient was one made of the wild pear-tree from the wood about Tiryns, which Peirasus was said to have dedicated for the sanctuary. The Argives, when they took that city, transferred the carved image of the goddess to the Heraeum.[8] The account of Pausanias and the mythographers, however, does not represent Peirasus as the artist of this image, as some modern writers suppose, but as the king who dedicated it.[9]

Peiras succeeded his father Argus while his son Triopas in turn followed him on the throne.

PIRAS' CHRONOLOGY OF REIGN ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SOURCES
Kings of Argos Regnal Years Hyginus Pausanias
Precessor 1600 Argus -do-
Piras 1575 Peranthus Peirasus
Successor 1550 Triopas -do-
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References
  1. Hyginus. Fabulae, 124
  2. This Argus possibly be Argus Panoptes who was called the son of Arestor whom others also said to be his brother. Compare Apollodorus. Bibliotheca Book 2.1.3 and Hyginus. Fabulae 145
  3. Apollodorus. Bibliotheca, Book 2.1.2, Pausanias. Description of Greece Book, Book 2.16.1, Hyginus. Fabulae, 145 Scholia. ad Euripedes. Oresteia, 920
  4. Apollodorus. Bibliotheca Book 2.1.3
  5. M.L. West, The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins (Oxford, 1985) 77
  6. Plutarch in Eusebius. Preparation for the Gospel, 3.8
  7. Hesychius of Alexandria s. v. Ὶὼ Καλλιθύεσσα
  8. Pausanias. Description of Greece, Book 2.17.5,
  9. Compare Pausanias. Description of Greece, Book 2.16.1; Scholia. ad Euripedes. Oresteia, 920; Apollodorus. Bibliotheca, Book 2.1.2 Eusebius. Praeparatio evangelica, 3.8; Friedrich Thiersch. Epochen der bild, 20

Sources
  • William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. s.v. Peiranthus, Peirasus and Peiren. London (1873).
  • Apollodorus. Bibliotheca. English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
  • Hyginus. Fabulae. Translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies, no. 34. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
  • Pausanias. Description of Greece. Translated by Jones, W. H. S. and Omerod, H. A. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
  • Eusebius. Preparation of the Gospels. Translated by the Rev. Edwin Hamilton Gifford (1820-1905), edition of 1903.
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