Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus (/ˈɛpəfəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἔπᾰφος), also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io. His stepfather was Telegonus, king of Egypt. He was also a king of Egypt.

The name/word Epaphus means "Touch". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand. He was born in Euboea, is the cave Boösaule (Herodotus, Strabo), or, according to others, in Egypt, on the river Nile, 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.

Epaphus is regarded in the myths as the founder of Memphis, Egypt. With his wife, Memphis (or according to others, Cassiopeia); he had one daughter, Libya. Another of his daughters bore the name of Lysianassa.^[1]

Epaphus also criticized Phaëton's heraldry, which prompted him to undertake his fateful journey in his father Phoebus' chariot of the sun. Belus, another mythological king of Egypt, is a grandson of Epaphus.

David Rohl identifies Epaphus with the Hyksos pharaoh Apophis.^[2]

Footnotes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Leonhard Schmitz (1870). "^{article name needed}". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.