Argos

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Argos

Argos (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ?????, Árgos, ) is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and Regions of Greece in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth....
near Nafplion

Nafplion

Nafplion or Nauplion is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf....
, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius

Nauplius (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Nauplius was the name of two characters, one descended from the other. The name may originally have been applied to one character, the founder of the city of Nauplia in Argolis....
.

region of Argos is called the Argolis
Argolis

Argolis is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. It is located in the eastern part of the Peloponnesos. Most arable land lies in the central part....
or Argolid. The inhabitants of Argos were called or Argivi in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, rendered Argives in English.

The name might be of pre-Greek ("Pelasgian") derivation; the name of its acropolis

Acropolis

Acropolis literally means city on the edge . For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides....
, Larissa

Larissa (Argolis)

Larissa is the ancient and medieval acropolis of Argos, located in a high rocky hill, within the town's boundaries. It is named after the nymph Larissa ....
certainly is.

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Encyclopedia

Argos (Greek

Greek language

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and Regions of Greece in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth....
near Nafplion

Nafplion

Nauplius (mythology)

Name

The region of Argos is called the Argolis
Argolis

Argolis is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. It is located in the eastern part of the Peloponnesos. Most arable land lies in the central part....
or Argolid. The inhabitants of Argos were called or Argivi in Latin

Latin

Acropolis

Acropolis literally means city on the edge . For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides....
, Larissa

Larissa (Argolis)

Larissa is the ancient and medieval acropolis of Argos, located in a high rocky hill, within the town's boundaries. It is named after the nymph Larissa ....
certainly is. Aitiology derives it from a mythological founder, Argos

ARGUS

ARGUS, all capitalized, may refer to:* ARGUS , a particle physics experiment that ran at DESY* ARGUS distribution, a function used in particle physics named after the above experiment...
son of Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
and Niobe

Niobe

Niobe was the daughter of the semi-legendary ruler Tantalus, called the "Phrygian" and sometimes even as "King of Phrygia" . Although Tantalus ruled in Sipylus, a city located in the western extremity of Anatolia where Lydia was to emerge as a state as of the 8th century BC, and not in the traditional heartland of Phrygia, situated more in...
(see also Danaus

Danaus

Danaus, or Danaos , was a Greek mythology, twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus , a mythical king of Ancient Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean Greece cities of the Peloponnesus....
).

History

Ancient Argos

A Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
settlement was located near the central sanctuary of Argolis, removed 45 stadia from Argos, closer to Mycenae

Mycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeology in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north....
. The temple was dedicated to "Argivian Hera

Hera

In the Twelve Olympians of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage....
". The main festival of that temple was the Hekatombaia, one of the major festivals of Argos itself. Walter Burkert

Walter Burkert

Walter Burkert , a scholar of Greek mythology and Cult , is an emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States....
(Homo necans
Homo necans

Homo Necans: the Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth is a book on ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology by Walter Burkert, which won the Weaver Award for Scholarly Literature, awarded by the Ingersoll Foundation, in 1992....
, p. 185) connected the festival to the myth of the slaying of Argus Panoptes

Argus Panoptes

In Greek mythology, Argus Panoptes or Argos, guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor, was a primordial giant whose epithet "Panoptes", "all-seeing", led to his being described with multiple, often a hundred, eyes....
by Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
. There have been speculations that Hermes' epitheton Argeiphontes, which was understood as "Argus-slayer" very early, is in fact related to the adjective argós "shimmering" or "quick", from a root arg- (PIE

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, linguistic reconstruction common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans....
, hence also argyros, silver), with a meaning "shining brightly" or similar, and only secondarily connected with the toponym or mythological Argus.

Argos was a major stronghold of Mycenaean

Mycenaean Greece

Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece....
times, and along with the neighboring acropoleis of Mycenae

Mycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeology in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north....
and Tiryns

Tiryns

Tiryns is a Mycenaean civilization archaeological site in the Greece Prefectures of Greece of Argolis in the Peloponnese peninsula, some kilometres north of Nauplion....
became very early settlements because of their commanding positions in the midst of the fertile plain of Argolis.

In Homer

Homer

Homer is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek language epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns....
ic times it belonged to a follower of Agamemnon

Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
and gave its name to the surrounding district; the Argolid which the Romans knew as Argeia. The importance of Argos was eclipsed by nearby Sparta

Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
after the 6th century BC.

Because of its refusal to fight or send supplies in the Greco-Persian Wars

Greco-Persian Wars

For other Persian wars, see Roman-Persian Wars, Islamic conquest of Persia, Iraq war , and Military history of Iran.The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between several ancient Greece city-states and the Achaemenid Empire that started in 499 BC and lasted until 448 BC....
, Argos was shunned by most other city-states. Argos remained neutral or the ineffective ally of Athens

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
during the 5th century BC struggles between Sparta and Athens.

Mythological king

Mythological king

A mythological king is an archetype in mythology. A king is considered a "mythological king" if they are included and described in the culture's mythology....
s of Argos include : Inachus

Inachus

In Greek mythology, Inachus personified the Inachus River, the modern Panitsa that drains the western margin of the Argolis. He was king of Argos ....
, Phoroneus

Phoroneus

In Greek mythology, Phoroneus was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer, primordial king and son of the river god Inachus and either Melia, the primordial Ash or Argia, the embodiment of the Argolid itself: "Inachus, son of Oceanus, begat Phoroneus by his sister Argia," wrote Gaius Julius Hyginus, in Fabulae 143....
, Argos, Agenor

Agenor

Agenor was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician monarch of Tyre . His wife was Telephassa. Herodotus estimates that Agenor lived sometime before the year 2000 B.C....
, Triopas

Triopas

In Greek mythology, Triopas or Triops was the name of several characters, whose relations are unclear.* Triopas was one of the Heliadae, sons of Helios and Rhodus....
, Iasus

Iasus

In Greek mythology, Iasus was the name of several individuals:*Iasus was the father of Atalanta by Clymene; he was the son of King Lycurgus of Arcadia....
, Crotopus

Crotopus

In Greek mythology, King Crotopus of Argos was the father of Psamathe....
, Sthenelas, Pelasgus

Pelasgus

In Greek mythology, Pelasgus referred to several different people.#One was the first king of Arcadia, the ancestor of the Pelasgians, whom Herodotus claimed were the oldest inhabitants of Greece....
(aka Gelanor

Gelanor

In Greek mythology, King Gelanor of Argos welcomed Danaus and his daughters. When an oracle told him to give Danaus his kingdom, he did so. He wanted to sell the Danaides into slavery following their murder of their husbands, but Danaus and the gods dissuaded him....
), Danaus

Danaus

Lynceus

In Greek mythology, Lynceus in some myths is named as a descendant of Belus through Aegyptus, twin brother of Danaus. This myth when followed results in an impossible reconciliation loop....
, Abas

Abas

The name Abas may refer to:*Abas , an ancient Greek sophist and rhetorician.*Abas, the ancient writer of a work entitled Troiea from which Maurus Servius Honoratus has preserved a fragment....
, Acrisius

Acrisius

Acrisius was a Greek mythology king of Argos, and a son of Abas, son of Lynceus and Aglaea , grandson of Lynceus, great-grandson of Danaus. His twin brother was Proetus, with whom he is said to have quarreled even in the womb of his mother....
, Proteus

Proteus

In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea", whose name suggests the "first", as protogonos is the "primordial" or the "firstborn"....
, Megapénthês

Megapenthes

In Greek mythology, Megap?nth?s was a son of Proetus. He exchanged kingdoms with his cousin Perseus , whom he killed much later. He was the father of Argeus and possibly Anaxagoras ....
, Perseus

Perseus

Perseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Mycenae there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians....
, Argeus

Argeus

Argeus is the name of several individuals.Greek MythologyIn Greek mythology,References...
, and Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Anaxagoras was a king of Argos and son of either Megapenthes or his son Argeus. The prince, Anaxagoras' son, suffered from a strange malady and the king offered a reward for anybody that could heal him....
. An alternative version (supplied by Tatianus) of the 17 consecutive kings of Argos, has (between Phoroneus and Triopas) Apis, Argios, Kriasos, Phorbas, and (after Perseus) Eurustheus, Atreus, Thuestes, Agamemnon; skipping Gelanor and Megapenthes. The correct form of /Proteus

Proteus

Proetus

Proetus was a Greek mythology king of Tiryns. His father Abas , son of the last surviving Danaides, had ruled over Argos as well and married Ocalea....
/.

After this there were three kings ruling Argos at any time, one descended from each of Bias

Bias (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Bias was a brother of Melampus who received one third of Argos . Bias married his cousin Pero and had one child, Talaus, with her....
, Melampus

Melampus

In Greek mythology, Melampus, or Melampous , was a legendary soothsayer and healer, originally of Pylos, who ruled at Argos. He was the introducer of the worship of Dionysus, according to Herodotus, who asserted that his powers as a seer were derived from the Ancient Egypt and that he could understand the language of animals....
, and Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras (mythology)

Mantius

In Greek mythology, Mantius was the son of Melampus and Lysippe and the father of Clitus and Oicles....
, then Oicles

Oicles

In Greek mythology, Oicles was an Argos, Greece king, father of Amphiaraus, son of Mantius and grandson of Melampus. He helped Heracles fight Laomedon and/or the sea monster attacking Troy and died in the battle....
, and Amphiaraus

Amphiaraus

In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oicles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus? the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle? and Iphis ....
, and his house of Melampus lasted down to the brothers Alcmaeon

Alcmaeon

In Greek mythology, Alcmaeon, or Alkm?on, was the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. As one of the Epigoni, he was a leader of the Argives who attacked Thebes , taking the city in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who died while attempting the same thing....
and Amphilochus

Amphilochus

Amphilochus or Amph?lokhos may refer to:* In Greek mythology:** Amphilochus ** Amphilochus ** Husband of Alcinoe* Amphilochus, a genus in family Gammaridae...
, who fought in the Trojan War.

Bias

Bias (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Bias was a brother of Melampus who received one third of Argos . Bias married his cousin Pero and had one child, Talaus, with her....
was succeeded by his son Talaus

Talaus

In Greek mythology, Talaus was the king of Argos and one of the Argonauts. He was the son of Bias and Pero. His wife was Lysimache, daughter of Abas....
, and then by his son Adrastus

Adrastus

Adrastus or Adrestus , traditionally translated as "nonparticipant" or "uncooperative", was a legendary king of Argos during the war of the Seven Against Thebes....
who, with Amphiaraus, lead the disastrous Seven Against Thebes

Seven Against Thebes

The Seven against Thebes is a mythic narrative whose classic statement is found in the play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between the Seven led by Polynices, traditional Theban enemies, and the army of Thebes, Greece headed by Eteocles and his supporters....
.

Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras (mythology)

Alector

Alector refers to more than one person in classical myth and history:*Alector, the father of Leitus, one of the Argonauts. Homer calls him "Alectryon"....
, and then Iphis

Iphis (disambiguation)

Iphis is the name of seven characters in Greek mythology:1. Iphis, daughter of Ligdus and Telethusa.2. Iphis, a humble man, who killed himself for love of Anaxarete....
. Iphis left his kingdom to his nephew Sthenelus

Sthenelus

In Greek mythology, Sthenelus was a name attributed to four different individuals.*Sthenelus of Perseus and Andromeda .*Son of Capaneus and Evadne....
, the son of his brother Capaneus

Capaneus

In Greek mythology, Capaneus was a son of Hipponous and Astynome, and husband of Evadne, with whom he fathered Sthenelus.According to the legend, Capaneus had immense strength and body size and was an outstanding warrior....
. This house lasted longer than those of Bias

Bias (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Bias was a brother of Melampus who received one third of Argos . Bias married his cousin Pero and had one child, Talaus, with her....
and Melampus

Melampus

Medieval Argos

In the 12th century, a castle was built on Larissa Hill - the site of the ancient Acropolis - called Kastro Larissa. Argos fell to the Crusaders then the Venetians

Republic of Venice

The Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice . It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797....
, and was taken by the Ottomans

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
in 1463. Francesco Morosini

Francesco Morosini

Francesco Morosini was the Doge of Republic of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War. He was a member of famous noble Republic of Venice family by the same name which produced several Doges and generals....
captured

Morean War

The Morean War is the better known name for the Seventh Ottoman?Venetian War. The war was fought between 1684-1699, as part of the wider conflict known as the "Great Turkish War", between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire....
it for Venice in 1686 but it was retaken

Turkish–Venetian War (1714–1718)

The Eighth Ottoman?Venetian War was fought between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire between 1714 and 1718. It was the last conflict between the two powers, and ended with an Ottoman victory and the loss of Venice's major possession in the Greek peninsula, the Peloponnese ....
by the Ottomans in 1715.

At the beginning of the Greek War of Independence

Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829, with later assistance from several Europe powers, against the Ottoman Empire, who were assisted by their vassal state, the Egypt under Muhammad Ali and his successors....
, when many petty local republics that were formed in different parts of the country, the "Consulate of Argos" was proclaimed on 26 May, 1821, under the Senate of the Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and Regions of Greece in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth....
. It had a single head of state, styled Consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
, 28 March 1821 - 26 May 1821: Stamatellos Antonopoulos.

Later, Argos accepted the authority of the unified Provisional Government at the First National Assembly at Epidaurus

First National Assembly at Epidaurus

The First National Assembly of Epidaurus was the first meeting of the Greek National Assembly, a national representative political gathering of the Greek revolutionaries....
, and eventually became part of the Kingdom of Greece

Kingdom of Greece

The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the London Conference of 1832 by the Great Powers . It was internationally recognized in the Treaty of Constantinople , where it also secured full independence from the Ottoman Empire....
.

Modern Argos

The city of Argos is the seat of the province of the same name, one of the three subdivisions of the Argolis

Argolis

Argolis is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. It is located in the eastern part of the Peloponnesos. Most arable land lies in the central part....
prefecture. According to the 2001 Greek census, the city has a population of 27,550. It is the largest city in the prefecture, one of the few prefectures in Greece where the largest city in population is larger than the prefectural capital.

Considerable remains of the city survive and are a popular tourist attraction. Agriculture, however, is the primary economic activity in the area, with citrus fruits the predominant crop. Olives are also popular here.

Argos has a railway station (Kalamata - Tripoli - Corinth

Organismós Sidirodrómon Elládos

Organism?s Sidirodr?mon Ell?dos is the greece national railway company, operating both freight and passenger trains on a network which includes lines in the Peloponnese, mainland Greece, parts of Macedonia and Thrace, as well as new lines connecting Thessaloniki to Istanbul and Sofia....
), and a junior soccer team. The Argos Archaeological Museum

Argos Archaeological Museum

Argos Archaeological Museum is a museum in Andros, Greece.External links...
houses ancient artifacts recovered not only from the principal archaeological sites of the city, including the theater and agora

Agora

The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Ancient Greece city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council....
but also from Lerna

Lerna

In classical Greece, Lerna was a region of springs and a former lake near the east coast of the Peloponnesus, south of Argos. Its site near the village Myloi, Argolis at the Argolic Gulf is most famous as the lair of the Lernaean Hydra, the chthonic many-headed water snake, a creature of great antiquity when Heracles killed it, as Heracles#Se...
.

Greek mythology on film

In the film Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans

For the metal concert tour by the same name, see Clash of the Titans Clash of the Titans is a 1981 in film fantasy and mythology film based on the myth of Perseus....
, Zeus

Zeus

Acrisius

Danaë

File:Danae gold shower Louvre CA925.jpgIn Greek mythology, Dana? was a daughter of King Acrisius of Argos and Eurydice of Argos . She was the mother of Perseus by Zeus....
and her son Perseus

Perseus

Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
releases a sea monster

Sea monster

Sea monsters are sea-dwelling legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size.Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or multi-armed beasts; they can be slimy or scaly, often spouting jets of water....
known as the Kraken

Kraken

Kraken are legendary sea monsters of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works ....
(singular instead of plural in the film), which causes a tidal wave to devastate the city and kill Acrisius. Danae and Perseus survive and end up on Seriphos.

Notable people

Ageladas
Ageladas

Ageladas or Hagelaidas, was a celebrated Argos sculptor, who flourished in the latter part of the 6th century BC and the early part of the 5th century BC....
(6th-5th century BC)
Polykleitos
Polykleitos

Polykleitos ; called the Elder, was a Ancient Greece Sculpture in bronze of the fifth and the early fourth century BC. Next to Phidias, Myron and Kresilas, he is considered the most important sculptor of Classical antiquity: the fourth-century catalogue attributed to Xenocrates , which was Pliny's guide in matters of art, ranked him between...
(5th-4th century BC) sculptor
Polykleitos the Younger
Polykleitos the Younger

Polykleitos the Younger was an Ancient Greece sculpture of sportsperson. His greatest achievements, however, were as an architect. A renowned sculptor, Polykleitos the Younger was architect of the Tholos at Epidaurus....
(4th century BC) sculptor

Argos

Name

History

Ancient Argos

Medieval Argos

Modern Argos

Greek mythology on film

Notable people

See also

External links