PROETUS (mythical Greek king at Tiryns)

His reign was marked by a destructive feud with his brother Acrisius over the throne.^1,3,8 Their battle on the road from Argos to Epidauria ended in a draw, during which they used and invented shields.^8,3 Acrisius eventually defeated Proetus and expelled him from Argos, forcing him to flee to Lycia.³ His father-in-law, the king of Lycia, restored him to his land with an army.^3,9

In Tiryns, Proetus married Stheneboea, daughter of Aphidas, and later Antea, daughter of the Lycian king Iobates.^3,10,5 Stheneboea bore him three daughters, including Lysippe, and he also fathered the son Megapenthes.^3,10,4,6,11 Some accounts claim he seduced Danae, causing a dispute, while others record that he received Bellerophon to perform a ritual purification after a killing.^12,13 Angered by Bellerophon, who was stronger than himself, Proetus refused to kill him directly but drove him out of the Argive land.⁵ Believing Stheneboea's false accusation that Bellerophon made an improper advance, he sent a secret letter to Iobates ordering the hero's death.^13,5

Tragedy struck when Hera drove his daughters out of his halls with madness.¹ Desperate, Proetus attempted to kill himself with a sword, but his spearmen physically restrained him.¹ He washed himself in the stream of Lusus, praying to Artemis to cure his daughters' madness.¹ Promising to sacrifice twenty red oxen to Artemis, he sought a cure, and Melampus used secret sacrifices and purifications to bring the daughters down from the cave and transported them to Lusi.^1,14,15

In gratitude, Proetus established a shrine to Artemis of Maidenhood and another to Artemis the Gentle in Lusa.¹⁶ He and his daughters established an altar, and Artemis took the spirit of wildness from the women.^1,16 He is said to have originally built the temple of Apollo in the market-place because his daughters recovered from madness at that location.¹⁷ He gave his daughters in marriage to Melampus and Bias, settling the terms of the cure.¹⁰ Proetus was buried in a common tomb with his fallen fellow citizens and kinsmen, seen mourning with downcast eyes among the Argive ghosts.^8,18