Proetus
A king of Tiryns who quarrelled with his twin brother Acrisius over the throne of Argos, an enmity that began in the womb and persisted throughout their lives
The Legend of Proetus
Proetus was the son of Abas, king of Argos, and the twin brother of Acrisius. The two brothers fought each other even in the womb, and their rivalry continued throughout their lives in one of mythology's longest family feuds. When Abas died, the twins could not agree on who should rule. After a war between them, they divided the kingdom: Acrisius took Argos while Proetus received Tiryns, where he established his court behind the massive Cyclopean walls that the ancient Greeks believed had been built by the Cyclopes. Proetus married Stheneboea, who fell in love with the hero Bellerophon when he came to Tiryns seeking purification. When Bellerophon rejected her advances, Stheneboea falsely accused him, and Proetus sent the hero to his father-in-law Iobates in Lycia with a sealed letter requesting his death — a motif that parallels the biblical story of Uriah. Proetus's daughters were driven mad by either Hera or Dionysus and wandered the Peloponnese in frenzy until the seer Melampus cured them in exchange for a third of the kingdom.
Parents
Abas
Children
Megapenthes and the Proetides
Symbols
Fun Fact
The sealed letter Proetus sent to have Bellerophon killed is one of the earliest references to writing in Greek mythology
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