Proetus- Greek FigureMortal"King of Tiryns"

The Warring Twins

Proetus and Acrisius, twin sons of Abas of Argos, fought from the womb. When Abas died the brothers went to war for the throne. Acrisius won and drove Proetus into exile. He fled to Lycia, married Stheneboea — daughter of King Iobates, called Anteia in Homer — and returned with a Lycian army. The brothers could not destroy each other, so they split the Argolid: Acrisius kept Argos, Proetus took Tiryns. To fortify his new seat he enlisted the Cyclopes, who raised walls from enormous limestone blocks fitted without mortar — so massive that later Greeks refused to believe mortals had laid them.

Bellerophon and the Sealed Tablets

Bellerophon came to Tiryns seeking purification for an accidental killing, and Proetus cleansed him. But Stheneboea desired the young hero, and when he refused her she told Proetus he had tried to force himself on her. Proetus could not kill a guest he had purified — the laws of hospitality forbade it. He folded a tablet, scratched deadly signs upon it, and sent Bellerophon to Iobates with instructions to destroy the bearer. Iobates obliged in his own fashion, setting Bellerophon against the Chimaera, the Solymoi, and the Amazons, but the hero survived every trial. The sealed tablet meant to end his life made his name instead.

The Madness of the Proetides

Proetus's three daughters — Lysippe, Iphinoe, and Iphianassa — were struck with divine madness. Some sources blame Dionysus, furious that the girls rejected his rites; others name Hera, offended by their boast that their father's palace surpassed her temple. The girls believed themselves cows and roamed the Argive countryside lowing. Their frenzy spread to other women of the region.

Proetus begged the seer Melampus for help. Melampus named his price: a third of the kingdom. Proetus refused. The madness worsened, and Melampus doubled his demand — a third for himself, a third for his brother Bias. With no choice left, Proetus agreed. Melampus led a band of young men in a ritual chase through the mountains, driving the maddened women until they were caught and purified. Iphinoe died in the pursuit. Lysippe and Iphianassa were cured and married Melampus and Bias, and two-thirds of the Argolid passed out of Proetus's hands.