1 Introduction

Castor, a chronicler from the 2nd century BC, reports that the Sicyon kingship lasted for 959 years from Aegialeus. [1]

Eusebius, a historian from the 4th century AD, based on information from Castor, states that Sicyon was founded about 533 years before Athens and 235 years before Argos. [2]

However, when taken together with information from other historical sources, Sicyon was founded at the same time as Argos.

Castor only records the names and reigns of 26 successive Sicyon kings.

Sicyon appears to have had an uninterrupted and peaceful dynasty from the first king, Aegialeus, but the Bronze Age Sicyon had a turbulent history.

2 The Rule of Descendants of Inachus and Telchine

2.1 Founding of Aegialeia

In 1750 BC, Aegialeus (or Aezeius), son of Inachus, migrated from the upper reaches of the Cephisus River near Mount Parnassus to the northern coast of the Peloponnesus Peninsula and founded Aegialeia (later Sicyon). [3]

Aegialeus' brother Phoroneus went further south and founded Phoroneus (later Argos). [4]

2.2 Aegialeus's genealogy

Pausanias gives the genealogy of Apis, son of Telchis, son of Europs, son of Aegialeus. [5]

Pausanias refers to a list of the kings of Sicyon prepared by Castor, which does not include any mention of the parentage.

Europs and Apis were sons of Aegialeus' brother Phoroneus. [6]

2.3 Succession struggle

Early Sicyon is assumed to have had the following succession struggle.

Some traditions say that Aegialeus had no children. [7]

However, some traditions say that Aegialeus had a son, Lycaon. [8]

In fact, Aegialeus had a son, Lycaon, but it is believed that Lycaon died before his father.

Aegialeus died in 1708 BC, with no one to succeed him.

Aegialeus' brother Phoroneus made his son Aegialeus' successor, and Europs became the second king of Sicyon. [9]

In 1702 BC, Telchin (or Telchis), a powerful man in Sicyon, usurped the throne from Europs and became the third king of Sicyon. [10]

Phoroneus attacked Sicyon and fought the Telchines, led by Telchin, but was defeated. [11]

2.4 Battle with Apis

In 1700 BC, Phoroneus died, and his son Apis became the third king of Argos. [12]

In 1690 BC, Apis attacked Sicyon, defeated the Telchines, and captured the town. [13]

Apis became the fourth king of Sicyon, expelling the third king, Telchine. [14]

Apis became the ruler of Peloponnesus, which came to be called Apia after Apis. [15]

2.5 Migration to Crete

Part of the Telchines, who were defeated in the battle with Apis, migrated to Crete, led by Telchine's son Cres. [16]

Cres became king of the Eteocretans of Crete. [17]

Then, part of the Telchines went to Ophiussa, and the island was called Telchinis (later Rhodes). [18]

2.6 Rule by Argos

Apis married Pelasgus, son of his sister Niobe, to Deianira, daughter of Lycaon, son of Aegialeus, and gave Pelasgus the rulership of Sicyon. [19]

With Pelasgus, many Pelasgians migrated from Argos to Sicyon.

In 1665 BC, Telchin and his son Thelxion killed Apis, and Sicyon became independent from Argos. [20]

2.7 Migration to Italy

Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus and Deianira, married Cyllene and had two sons, Oenotrus and Peucetius. [21]

In 1635 BC, Oenotrus and Peucetius led the descendants of people who had migrated from Argos to Sicyon with their grandfather Pelasgus in search of a new land.

Oenotrus and Peucetius left Sicyon and settled on the Italian peninsula. [22]

2.8 Migration from Crete

When Sicyon became independent from Argos and the Telchines took control of the town, trade with the Telchines who had migrated to Crete flourished.

It is believed that the Telchines also settled in Mycenae, which was a key transportation point connecting the Gulf of Argolis and Sicyon.

2.9 Civil war in Argos

In 1601 BC, a conflict arose among the descendants of Argus, son of Niobe, who lived in Argos.

Phorbas, son of Criasus, son of Argus, usurped the throne from Triops, son of Peirasus, son of Argus. Argus, son of Agenor, son of Ecbasus, son of Argus, sided with Triops and emigrated to Mycenae, where the town came to be called Argion. [23]

Argus was called many-eyed or All-seeing, and was a man of great foresight. [24]

2.10 Marriage relations with Mycenae

In 1601 BC, Argus married Ismene, daughter of Thurimachus, the seventh king of Sicyon. [25]

In 1576 BC, Argus' son Messapus married Calchinia, daughter of Leucippus, the eighth king of Sicyon. [26]

When Leucippus died, Messapus, who lived in Mycenae, became the ninth king of Sicyon and placed Sicyon under Mycenae's control. [27]

3 Rule by Mycenaean

3.1 Battle with Argos

In 1560 BC, Messapus, son of Argus, attacked Argos, and Telchines, who lived in Sicyon, joined the attack. The Pelasgians who lived in Argos migrated to various places. [28]

After this battle, Mycenae came to control most of the people living on the Peloponnesus Peninsula, except for the Pelasgians who lived in Arcadia.

3.2 Emergence of Danaus

In 1430 BC, during the time of Orthopolis, son of Plemnaeus, Danaus migrated from Egypt to Argos. [29]

Danaus was a descendant of Io, daughter of Iasus, who was driven out of Argos in 1560 BC.

Gelanor, son of Sthenelas, who ruled Argos, was pursued by Danaus and fled to Sicyon. [30]

At that time, Mycenae was ruled by Gelanor's brother Eurystheus. [31]

Mycenae was also destroyed by Danaus, and the inhabitants of Mycenae fled to Sicyon.

3.3 Occupation of Argos

In 1408 BC, Gelanor's son Lamedon occupied Argos with the help of Orthopolis in Sicyon. [32]

This was the fifth year after the death of Lynceus, who succeeded Danaus, and his son Abas (or Triopas) succeeded him. [33]

Abas migrated from Argos to Phocis and founded Abae. [34]

3.4 War with the Achaeans

In 1407 BC, Archander and Architeles, the two sons of Achaeus, drove out Lamedon, who had occupied Argos. [35]

Orthopolis of Sicyon fought against Archander on the side of Lamedon.

Archander's allies included Marathonius, son of Deucalion of Locris, and Sisyphus, son of Aeolus. [36]

3.5 Results of the Battle

Deucalion's son Marathonius married Chrysorthe, daughter of Orthopolis, and became the 13th king of Sicyon. [37]

However, the Marathonius in Castor's genealogy of the kings of Sicyon was a formal one.

The one who actually ruled Sicyon was Sisyphus, son of Aeolus.

The ruler of Sicyon passed from Telchine to Aeolis.

4 Rule by Aeolis

Sisyphus founded Ephyra (later Corinth) to the east of Sicyon, and ruled over both cities. [38]

4.1 Sicyon after Sisyphus

After the death of Sisyphus, Sicyon was succeeded by his son Aloeus, and Corinth was succeeded by his son Aeetes. [39]

Aloeus was succeeded by his son Epopeus. [40]

Epopeus lived in Sicyon and also ruled over Corinth. [41]

4.2 Metope, wife of Epopeus

4.2.1 Metope's genealogy

The river Ismenus, which flows from south to north just east of Thebes, was named after Ismenus, son of Melia. Before that, the river was called Ladon. [42]

The river god Asopus of Phlius married Ladon's daughter Metope, and had a son, Ismenus, who became the name of the river in Boeotia. [43]

Ladon's daughter Metope (or Melia) had another son, Tenerus (or Pelasgus, Pelagon). [44]

Tenerus was a prophet and established an oracle on Mount Ptous, east of Lake Copais. [45]

Teiresias, son of Everes, a prophet of Thebes at the time of the siege of Thebes, was a descendant of Udaeus, one of the Sparti in the time of Cadmus. [46]

Historis, the daughter of Teiresias, who was present at the birth of Amphitryon's wife Alcmena in Thebes, was also a prophet. Her father Teiresias is thought to have been the son of Tenerus, the son of Metope, rather than the son of Everes. [47]

From the above, it is assumed that Ladon, the father of Metope, was the ancestor of Teiresias, the son of Everes, and that Ladon's father was Udaeus, one of the Sparti who settled in Cadmeia with Cadmus. [48]

4.2.2 Metope's husband

Metope's husband, i.e., the river god Asopus of Phlius, is presumed to be Epopeus, the son of Aloeus, for the following reasons:

1) Metope's son Ismenus migrated from Phlius, where Epopeus lived, to Boeotia and settled near the river Ismenus. [49]

The river Ismenus was called the river Ladon. [50]

Probably, the river was named after Metope's father Ladon. [51]

2) Asopus' daughter Harpina (or Harpine) married into Heraea in western Arcadia, where the river near the city was called Ladon. [52]

At the time of Harpina's marriage, the ruler of Sicyon, where the river Asopus flows from Phlius, was Epopeus, and it is presumed that Harpina's father, the river god Asopus, was Epopeus.

Metope's husband was Epopeus, and it is assumed that their daughter Harpina named the river Ladon near Heraea after the river in her mother's hometown.

4.3 Epopeus and Antiope

4.3.1 Appearance in historical sources

In Homer's work, Antiope appears as the mother of Amphion and Zethus, but Epopeus does not. [53]

In Herodotus's work, neither Antiope nor Epopeus appears.

In Apollonius of Rhodes' work, Antiope, the mother of Amphion and Zethus, appears, but Epopeus does not. [54]

In the chroniclers Castor and Jerome's works, Epopeus, King of Sicyon, appears, but Antiope does not. [55]

In Diodorus's work, Epopeus, King of Sicyon, appears, but Antiope does not. [56]

In Hyginus's work, Epaphus, who married Antiope and was killed by Lycus, appears, instead of Epopeus. [57]

Apollodoros writes that Antiope fled to Epopeus of Sicyon and married him, and that Lycus of Thebes attacked Sicyon and killed Epopeus. [58]

Isaac Newton agrees with Pausanias. [59]

4.3.2 Description by Pausanias

Pausanias writes about Epopeus of Sicyon and his son Marathon:

After the death of Bunus, king of Corinth, Epopeus, king of Sicyon, also ruled Corinth. [60]

Epopeus kidnapped Antiope, so the Thebans invaded Sicyon. Nycteus was wounded, but Epopeus was wounded, but he won.

Nycteus was wounded and on his deathbed he asked his brother Lycus to take revenge.

While Antiope was being taken to Thebes by the Thebans, she gave birth to Amphion and Zethus. [61]

Marathon, son of Epopeus, son of Aloeus, son of Helius, emigrated to the coast of Attica to escape his father's lawlessness and tyranny. After Epopeus died, Marathon divided the kingdom among his sons and returned to Attica. [62] The tradition of Epopeus and Antiope seems to intentionally link Amphion and Zethus, who founded Thebes, to Sicyon.

4.3.3 Epopeus and Thessaly

Pausanias reports that "Epopeus came from Thessaly and took possession of the kingdom." [63]

A genealogy shows that at the same time, Boeotus, the son of Aeolus' daughter Melanippe, returned from Italy to Arne in Thessaly and succeeded Aeolus. [64]

Epopeus was the son of Aeolus' daughter Canace, and like Boeotus, was the grandson of Aeolus of Arne. [65]

Epopeus was probably adopted by Aeolus of Arne, and returned from Thessaly to Sicyon when Boeotus returned.

4.4 Migration from Attica

When Epopeus died in 1321 BC, his son Marathon returned from Attica to Sicyon and inherited Sicyon and Corinth. [66]

The two sons of Marathon, Sicyon and Corinthus, were given Asopia and Ephyraea, and the towns were called Sicyon and Corinth, respectively. [67]

Marathon's wife was the daughter of Erechtheus, the sixth king of Athens. [68]

So Sicyon, who succeeded Marathon as king of Sicyon, was Erechtheus' grandson.

4.5 Migration from Tenea

In 1276 BC, Sicyon, son of Marathon, was succeeded by Polybus, son of his daughter Chthonophyle. [69]

Polybus lived in Tenea in Corinth, but left the town to his adopted son Oedipus and emigrated to Sicyon. [70]

4.6 Marriage to Argos

In 1263 BC, Lysianassa, daughter of Polybus, was married to Talaus, son of Bias of Argos, and had a son Adrastus. [71]

Lysianassa and Talaus had a common ancestor, Aeolus, son of Hippotes, son of Mimas.

Talaus was the son of Bias, son of Amythaon, son of Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus, son of Aeolus.

Lysianassa was the daughter of Polybus, son of Chthonophyle, daughter of Sicyon, son of Epopeus, son of Canace, daughter of Aeolus.

4.7 Adrastus, son of Talaus

In 1247 BC, Adrastus, son of Talaus of Argos, fought with Amphiaraus, a descendant of Melampus, and fled to Polybus in Sicyon. [72]

Polybus was the father of Adrastus' mother Lysianassa.

In 1238 BC, Adrastus made peace with Amphiaraus and returned to Argos. [73]

In 1236 BC, Polybus died, and his grandson Adrastus was invited by the people of Sicyon to govern the town. [74]

In 1232 BC, Adrastus returned to Argos after living in Sicyon for four years. [75]

5 Sicyon after Adrastus

There are two versions of the lineage of the kings of Sicyon after Adrastus.

5.1 Castor's account

Polypheides, Pelasgus, and Zeuxippus succeeded Adrastus as kings, and then the priests of Apollo Carneius ruled Sicyon. [76]

Castor gives the total reign of the three kings as 82 years, and says that the rule of Dorinas began in 1150 BC.

5.2 Pausanias' account

After Adrastus, Ianiscus, Phaestus, Zeuxippus, Hippolytus, and Lacestades became kings. During the reign of Lacestades, Dorinas, led by Phalces, son of Temenus, attacked the town, but Lacestades, being a member of the Heracleidae, lived with them. [77]

Pausanias writes that Phaestus was the son of Heracles. However, if this was true, he would have been banished by Eurystheus, king of Mycenae. Phaestus' mother's name is unknown, and he is not believed to have been the son of Heracles.[78]

5.3 Abolition of the monarchy

Since 1109 BC, Sicyon was ruled by Dorinas.

After Dorinas came under his rule, Sicyon was ruled by priests, not kings. [79]

Castor's annals give the period of the reign of the kings of Sicyon as 959 years, Jerome's annals as 962 years, and the Suda dictionary as 981 years. [80]

However, the actual period was 641 years, from 1750 BC to 1109 BC.

End