In Greek mythology, Apis (/ˈpɪs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄπις derived from apios "far-off" or "of the pear-tree"[1][2]) was the fourth king of Sicyon who reigned for 25 years.[3]

Family

Apis was the son and heir of King Telchis, descendant of the city's founder Aegialeus. He was the father of Thelxion who succeeded him in the throne. Apis belonged to a legacy of primeval kings of Sicyon which is as follows: Aegialeus – Europs – Telchis – Apis – Thelxion – AgyreusThurimachusLeucippus.[4]

Mythology

Apis reached such a height of power before Pelops came to Olympia that all the territory south of the Isthmus was called after him Apia. This was also attributed to his Argive namesake who have had Peloponnesus named Apia after him.[5]

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. Robert Graves (1960). The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth, London, England: Penguin Books. pp. s.v. Endymion. ISBN 978-0143106715.
  3. Eusebius, Chronographia 63
  4. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 2.5.6–7
  5. Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 2.5.7; Eusebius, Chronographia 63

References


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