Deiphontes

A son of Antimachus, and husband of Hyrnetho, the daughter of Temenus the Heracleide, by whom he became the father of Antimenes, Xanthippus, Argeius, and Orsobia. When Temenus, in the division of the Peloponnese, had obtained Argos as his share, he bestowed all his affections upon Hyrnetho and her husband, for which he was murdered by his sons, who thought themselves neglected. But after the death of Temenus, the army declared Deiphontes and Hyrnetho his rightful successors.1

According to Pausanias,2 the sons of Temenus formed indeed a conspiracy against their father and Deiphontes; but after Temenus' death it was not Deiphontes that succeded him, but Ceisus. Deiphontes, on the other hand, is said to have lived at Epidaurus, whither he went with the army which was attached to him, and from whence he expelled the Ionian king, Pityreus.3 His brothers-in-law, however, who grudged him the possession of their sister Hyrnetho, went to Epidaurus, and tried to persuade her to leave her husband; and when this attempt failed, they carried her off by force. Deiphontes pursued them, and after having killed one of them, Cerynes, he wrestled with the other, who held his sister in his arms. In this struggle, Hyrnetho was killed by her own brother, who then escaped. Deiphontes carried her body back to Epidaurus, and there erected a sanctuary to her.4

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References

Notes

  1. Pseudo-Apollodorus. The Library ii, 8.5.
  2. Description of Greece ii, 19.1.
  3. ibid. ii, 26.2.
  4. ibid. ii, 28.3.

Source

  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.