|
Phoroneus is the first man.
A priest finds Solon amusing
The Athenian statesman and poet Solon (ca.
640-ca. 560 BC) amused some Egyptian priest when
he, visiting the country of the river Nile, said
that Phoroneus was the first man. For, on hearing
that, the Egyptian replied:
"O Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children:
there is not such a thing as an old Greek." (Egyptian priest to Solon. Plato, Timaeus 23b).
Entangled genealogies
In fact not even the Greek genealogies seem to
make of Phoroneus the first man. But then again
genealogies are entangled and a matter of endless
dispute:
"The legends
of Greece generally have different forms, and this
is particularly true of genealogy." (Pausanias, Description
of Greece 8.53.5).
Aegialeus 2, first in Sicyon
Now, if generations were counted backwards, it is Aegialeus 2, who appears to be the first man of the heroic era, and not Phoroneus. But Fame plays its own part, and no one ever called Aegialeus 2 the first man, and that is probably why he will never be regarded as such even if he were the first man. Instead Aegialeus 2 bears the title of being the first inhabitant of Sicyon,
which is the city on the Peloponnesian coast of the
Gulf of Corinth.
Brother of Phoroneus
On the other hand Aegialeus 2, who some said died childless, was Phoroneus' brother. But then again this circumstance tells less than it could be assumed. For their parents being deities (their father Inachus was a river god, and their mother was one of the OCEANIDS), nothing can
be taken for granted concerning their ages, since
Time is not the same for mortals and immortals.
Also Io, being a daughter
of Inachus, may be called sister of Phoroneus, but
her parentage is uncertain.
Longer sentence
The title 'the first man' itself appears
sometimes to be part of a longer sentence meaning
"the first man ... who did this or that". So for
example, some have said that Phoroneus was the
first of mortals ... to rule.
Hermes reveals
important secret to mortals
At the time of Phoroneus, who lived several
generations before the great Flood in the age of Deucalion 1, men had
lived for centuries without cities and without
laws. During this period they spoke the same tongue
until Hermes, who is the
guide of speech, explained to them the secret of
languages.
And with this knowledge Discord arose among
mortals, and they divided into nations.
Phoroneus, first ruler
From this division came the need for government,
and so Zeus gave over the
first rule to Phoroneus, because he had being the
first to make offerings to Hera, building a temple for
her, or because he first made arms for her. And
either because he was a pious man, or because he
understood that order cannot be achieved without
arms as long as division prevails among mortals, he
obtained from Zeus the
authority to rule.
Phoroneus invents the city
Having become a ruler, Phoroneus gathered
together inhabitants that until then were scattered
living as isolated families, and founded a city
which was first called City of Phoroneus, and later Argos after Argus 5, the grandson of Phoroneus. He then reigned over the whole country which afterwards was named Peloponnesus after Pelops 1.
Phoroneus discovers fire
In Argos, Phoroneus was
still remembered in historical times, and the
Argives brought offerings to his grave as to a
hero, keeping also a statue of him, next to which
there was an ever burning fire, for according to
the Argives, it was Phoroneus who discovered fire,
and not Prometheus 1 as others think.
Founder of the royal house of Argos
At the death of Phoroneus, he was succeeded on the throne by his grandson Argus 5, son of Zeus and Niobe 1, the first mortal woman to consort with the god.
|