Aegialeus (King of Sicyon)


Aegialeus also Aegealeus, Aigialeus, Egialeus, in classical Greek semi-mythical historiography was considered the original settler of the Peloponnese and the founder and first ruler of the city-state of Aegialea, later known to history as Sicyon.

Reign

The primary source for the early history of Sicyon was the writing of Castor of Rhodes, known from excerpts cited or utilized in later authors, such as Pausanias, Africanus, Eusebius, Jerome, and George Syncellus. Castor stated that Aegialeus' reign as first king of Sicyon lasted for 52 years, a few generations before Inachus founded Argos; that the Peloponessus was called Aegialea after him; and that he was succeeded by Europs. Eusebius further asserts that Aegialeus' reign was said to begin in the 15th year of Belus' reign in Assyria, although his colleague Jerome calculated it slightly later.
The work Bibliotheke, also known as "Pseudo-Apollodorus", also cites Castor, however it presents a distorted account giving the primacy to Argos rather than Sicyon, with an altogether different genealogy making Aegialeus a son of Inachus. According to this variant, Aegialeus died childless, his mother was an Oceanid named Melia, and his brother was Phoroneus. In some accounts, he was the offspring of Phoroneus by his first wife Peitho and brother to Apia.

Mythology

Pausanias' account

In his Description of Greece, one of the earliest sources to make use of Castor, Pausanias wrote:

Apollodorus' account

In the work Bibliotheke, whose traditional attribution to Apollodorus of Athens is disputed, we read: