Everything about Belus Egyptian totally explained
Belus (
Greek Βήλος) the
Egyptian is in
Greek Mythology a son of Poseidon by
Libya. He was a King of Egypt and father of
Aegyptus and
Danaus and (usually) brother to
Agenor.
More genealogical information
Apollodorus claims that Aegyptus and Danaus were twins and that their mother was
Achiroe, daughter of the river-god
Nilus. He says that it was
Euripides who added
Cepheus and
Phineus as additional sons of Belus. Belus ruled in
Egypt, and
Agenor ruled over
Sidon and
Tyre in
Phoenicia. Aegyptus ruled over
Egypt and
Arabia, and Danaus ruled over
Libya. Apollodorus also claims that Agenor was Belus' twin brother.
According to
Pherycides (3F21) Belus also had daughter named Damno who married her uncle (Belus' brother) Agenor and bore to him
Phoenix and two daughters named Isaie, and Melia, these becoming wives respectively to their cousins Aegyptus and Danaus sons of Belus.
In the
Eoiae (see
Hesiod) Belus was also the father of a daughter named
Thronia on whom Hermaon, that's
Hermes, fathered
Arabus, presumably the eponym of
Arabia.
Some sources make Belus father of the
Lamia.
A unique alternate tradition
Nonnus (
Dionysiaca 3.287f) makes Belus the father of "as many as five", namely Phineus, Phoenix, Agenor (identified as the father of
Cadmus), Aegyptus, and Danaus, though Nonnus elsewhere (2.686) makes Phineus to be Cadmus' brother. Nonnus has Cadmus identify Belus as "the Libyan Zeus" and refer to the "new voice of Zeus Asbystes", meaning the oracle of Zeus
Ammon at
Asbystes. (Is the god Ba‘al Hammon of
Carthage part of this mix?)
Belus and Bel Marduk
Diodorus Siculus (1.27.28) claims that Belus founded a colony on the river
Euphrates and appointed the priests whom the Bablyonians call
Chaldeans who like the priests of Eygypt are exempt from taxation and other service to the state and who practice astrology.
Pausanias (4.23.10) in speaking of
Heracles Manticulus being so called because a certain Manticlus founded a temple of Heracles for the
Messenians, cites as similar cases that Zeus Ammon in
Libya and Zeus Belus in
Babylon are named respectively from a shepherd-founder named Ammon and from Belus son of Libya. This supposed connection between Belus of Egypt and Zeus Belus (the god
Marduk) is likely to be more learned speculation than genuine tradition. Pausanias seems to know nothing of supposed connection between Belus son of Libya and Zeus Ammon that Nonnus will later put forth as presented just above.
Belus and Ba‘al
Modern writers speculate on a possible connection between Belus and one or another god who bore the common northwest
Semitic title
Ba‘al.
Further Information
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