Epaphus

Epaphus was the son of ZeusHesiod, Ehoiai 40a as cited in Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1358 fr. 2 and IoEuripides, Phoenissae 678; Oedipus 1.638–689; Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 48; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.1.3 2.1.3]; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.747–748; Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#155 155]; Nonnus, 3.284–285 and thus, Ceroessa's brother.Nonnus, 32.70 With his wife, MemphisApollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.1.4 2.1.4] (or according to others, CassiopeiaHyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#149 149]), he had one daughter, LibyaPausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.44.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Epphus 1.44.3]; Nonnus, 3.287; Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#157 157]; Solinus, Polyhistor [https://topostext.org/work/747#24.1 24.1]; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#649 649]; Scholia ad Euripides, Phoenissae [https://archive.org/details/scholiaineuripi00schwgoog/page/n286/mode/1up?view=theater 5]{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} while some accounts added another one who bore the name Lysianassa.Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.5.11&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%20:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Epaphus 2.5.11] These daughters later became mothers of Poseidon's sons, Belus, Agenor and possibly, Lelex with the former while Busiris was born to the latter. Through these daughters, Epaphus was the ancestor of the "dark Libyans, and high-souled Aethiopians, and the Underground-folk and feeble Pygmies".

In one account, Epaphus had a son, Dorus, who fathered Pygmaeus, ancestor of the Pygmies.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Pygmaioi (Πυγμαῖοι) Otherwise, this tribe of diminutive men was instead born from Epaphus and Gaea (Earth).Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 40A

The name/word Epaphus means "Touch". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand.Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 315; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 850–852 He was born in Euboea, in the cave Boösaule according to StraboStrabo, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D3 10.1.3] or according to others, in Egypt, on the river Nile,Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#145 145] after the long wanderings of his mother. He was then concealed by the Curetes, by the request of Hera, but Io sought and afterward found him in Syria where he was nursed by the wife of the king of Byblus.Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.1.3 2.1.3]

Epaphus was also a contemporary and the rival of Phaethon, son of Helios and Clymene. He criticized his heraldry saying, "Poor, demented fellow, what will you not credit if your mother speaks, you are so puffed up with the fond conceit of your imagined sire, the Lord of Day."Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.749–743 This prompted Phaethon to undertake his fateful journey in his father's chariot of the sun.

Epaphus is regarded in the myths as the founder of Memphis, Egypt.Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#149 149] & [https://topostext.org/work/206#275 275] Hera being envious that her husband's bastard ruled such a great kingdom,Statius, Thebaid 7.186 saw to it that Epaphus should be killed while hunting.Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#150 150]

David Rohl identifies Epaphus with the Hyksos pharaoh Apophis.David Rohl: The Lords of Avaris. London, Arrow Books 2007

{{Argive genealogy in Greek mythology}}

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• Aeschylus, translated in two volumes. 1. Prometheus Bound by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0010 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0009 Greek text available from the same website].
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{{SmithDGRBM|author=Leonhard Schmitz|title= Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology}}

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