Historiae Romanorum

Proetus

The king of Tiryns and a grandson of Danaus.  His wife was Stheneboia, the daughter of Iobates.  She bore Proetus three daughters: Lysippe, Iphinoe, and Iphianassa.

He and his brother Acrisius constantly quarreled, even from the time they were still in the womb.  When they were grown, the two battle for control of the Argive kingdom.  Acrisius gained the upper hand, and drove Proetus from the land.  Proetus went to his father-in-law Iobates, and he returned with a new army and forced Acrisius to halve the kingdom.  Acrisius ruled from Argos, and Proetus from Tiryns.

Once in control of Tiryns, Proetus somehow convinced the Cyclopes to fortify his city, which led to the huge walls of Tiryns.  (The later Greeks thought the massive structures of the Mycenaean Greeks could not have been built by man).

When Proetus wanted to kill the hero Bellepheron, he sent Bellepheron to Iobates' court, with a sealed note instructing Iobates to kill him.  Iobates could not find a task difficult enough, and eventually adopted the hero as his heir.

While Proetus was king, his three daughters went mad.  He brought in the famed seer Melampus to cure them.   Melampus asked for one-third of the kingdom as his fee, and Proetus refused.  Soon, the madness began to spread to the rest of the Argive women, and Proetus relented.  Melampus, however, now asked that his brother Bias also be given one-third of the kingdom.  With no choice, Proetus agreed.  During the strange curing process, the oldest daughter Iphinoe died.

Proetus now retained only one-third of his former kingdom.  He then married his two remaining daughters to the new kings.

When Proetus died, he handed over his kingdom to his son Megapenthes.  Megapenthes later traded kingdoms with Perseus, who then became the new king of Tiryns.

Source(s):

1. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.