Apis (Greek mythology)

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Apis (

Peloponnesus
that had a territory named after himself and that Apis was often, but not always, ascribed an Egyptian origin. For the sake of convenience, the variant myths are presented here as if they dealt with separate characters.

  • Thelxion, king of Sparta, and Telchis.[3]
  • Apis, king of Sicyon and son of Telchis.[4]
  • Apis, according to
    Earth, defiled by the pollution of bloody deeds of old, had caused to spring up" and plague the country. Apis "worked the cure by sorcery and spells to the content of the Argive land." To commemorate his deed, the relieved territory was henceforth referred to as "the Apian land" (Apia khōra) after his name. Note that "the Apian land" appears to comprise not just Argos: Pelasgus describes his kingdom as stretching so far as the northernmost boundaries of Greece, and comprising the territories of Paeonia and Dodona
    .
  • Apis, son of
    Aetolus, who ran him over with the chariot. For the murder, Aetolus was sent into exile by the children of Apis.[6] Apollodorus relates the same of Apis, son of Phoroneus, apparently confounding the two mythological namesakes.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ "Apis is the noun formed from apios, a Homeric adjective usually meaning ‘far off’ but, when applied to the Peloponnese (Aeschylus: Suppliants), ‘of the pear-tree’" as cited in Robert Graves' The Greek Myths
  2. .
  3. ^ Apollodorus, 2.1.1
  4. ^ Pausanias, 2.5.6–7
  5. ^ Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 249-70
  6. ^ Pausanias, 5.1.8
  7. ^ Apollodorus, 1.7.6

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1870). "Apis". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.