TEMENUS (son of Aristomachus, in Greek mythology)

After a calamity struck his army, Temenus consulted the oracle and was instructed to take the Three-Eyed One as his guide.⁹ He recognized Oxylus as this figure and appointed him to guide the journey to the Peloponnesus, where they acquired territory together.^9,10 Temenus prepared the army for the return and engaged the enemy, defeating them on both land and sea.^11,9 He built ships in Locris at the place later named Naupactus and banished Hippotes for ten years in obedience to a divine command.^11,9 Temenus criticized the god for their previous misfortunes after obeying the oracle.¹¹

Upon arrival, the Dorians assigned the region of Argos to Temenus, and he received the kingship of Argos alongside his sibling Cresphontes receiving Messene.^12,13 When the Heraclids cast lots for the cities, Temenus’s lot was drawn first, and he was allotted Argos as his share during the return.^14,13 He claimed the throne of Argos based on his descent from Perseus and asserted that Heracles had given the land to Tyndareus in trust.⁴ Temenus established a colony in Argos and settled in the Peloponnesus following the return of the Heracleidae.¹⁵

Temenus chose his daughter Hyrnetho and her husband Deiphontes over his own sons, using Delphontes as his military commander and advisor.^16,8 His sons suspected he planned to transfer the throne to Delphontes and Hyrnetho, leading them to plot against him.⁸ The sons plotted to separate Deiphontes from Hyrnetho to cause him grief, and Cerynes and Phalces traveled to Epidaurus to execute their plan.² The youngest son Agraeus disapproved of the plan to separate Deiphontes and Hyrnetho.² Temenus was murdered by hired men sent by his sons, and he died while his people were dwelling in Athens.^16,17 The young men were accused of being murderers of Temenus rather than his sons.¹⁸ After Temenus died, the army declared the kingdom belonged to Hyrnetho and Deiphontes.¹⁶

Temenus was bribed by Cresphontes to rig the lot by making his token fire-baked so it would survive the water, allowing Cresphontes to win the right to choose Messenia first.^19,20 He placed the lots of Aristodemus’s and Cresphontes’s children into a water-filled jar, ensuring the lot for Aristodemus’s sons was only sun-dried so it would dissolve.²⁰ Temenus cast a stone into a pitcher of water to determine his city assignment.¹⁴ Temenus is buried in the location known as Temenium, and the Dorians in Argos worship his tomb.^3,21 A small city in upper Lydia is named after him, and his descendant Pheidon the Argive recovered the entire inheritance of Temenus.^22,10 Hegeleos taught the Dorians, alongside Temenus, how to play the trumpet.²³