Remembered first king

The first king in Arcadia is said to have been Pelasgus ₁, after whom the inhabitants of the Peloponnesus were called Pelasgians. But otherwise, he is remembered as the king of Argos who received and protected Danaus ₁ and his daughters, the DANAIDS. Pelasgus ₁ was the son of Zeus and Niobe ₁, the first mortal woman to have consorted with the god. Otherwise Pelasgus ₁ is said to have been an autochthon (i.e. a son of the soil, see AUTOCHTHONOUS), or as it is also asserted, son of Palaechthon. Niobe ₁ was daughter of Phoroneus, who is at the origin of the royal house of Argos, and is said to be the first man. Pelasgus ₁'s brother Argus ₅ became in fact king of Argos after Phoroneus. Some say that Pelasgus ₁ married Deianira ₄, daughter of Lycaon ₆, son of Aezeius. This Aezeius is one of the first kings of the Peloponnesus. Others affirm that Pelasgus ₁ married Meliboea ₁, one of the OCEANIDS, and still others say that his wife was Cyllene ₁, a Naiad after whom Mount Cyllene in Arcadia is named (but it is also said that it was after Cyllen, daughter of Elatus ₂, that Mount Cyllene, the highest in Arcadia, was named). One of these women gave birth to impious Lycaon ₂, who sat on the throne after Pelasgus ₁.

Impious king

Lycaon ₂ was a powerful king who thought he could defy the gods, and his sons were notorious for their insolence, pride and impiety. Because of his crimes (Lycaon ₂ sacrificed a human baby), Zeus transformed him into a wolf or blasted him and his sons with a thunderbolt. (For the numerous cities founded by the sons of Lycaon ₂ see this one.)

King during the time of the Flood

The one son who survived the god's wrath, Nyctimus, who some say was the youngest and others the eldest of the sons, succeeded his father on the throne. So it cannot be, as some say, that Nyctimus was the human baby that Lycaon ₂ served to Zeus as a meal. In any case, it is told that it is about this time that Zeus, tired of the crimes of this peculiar family, sent the Flood that destroyed mankind in the age of Deucalion ₁.

Parrhasius

Phylonome, daughter of Nyctimus and Arcadia ₂, consorted with Ares and had twins. One of them, Parrhasius, has been called king of Arcadia. This Phylonome used to hunt with Artemis. However, Ares got her with child in the guise of a shepherd. Fearing her father, Phylonome cast her twin children into the river Erymanthus, but they found haven in the trunk of a tree. A wolf suckled the children, and the shepherd Gyliphus reared them as his own.

After Nyctimus, the kingdom was ruled by Arcas ₁, son of Zeus and Callisto, daughter of Lycaon ₂. Some tell that Maia, the eldest of the PLEIADES and mother of Hermes, brought up Arcas ₁ in the land that was called Arcadia after him (instead of Pelasgia). Arcas ₁, who some say was the human baby whom Lycaon ₂ served to Zeus at a banquet, was put among the constellations (Bear-Watcher), and made immortal. He is called Arctophylax since he guards Arctos (Great Bear) which is his mother Callisto, placed among the stars by Zeus. Arcas ₁ is said to have introduced the cultivation of crops, which he learned from Triptolemus. During his time, men learned to make bread and to weave clothes, which has proved useful until now. In the meanwhile, other grandsons of impious Lycaon ₂, such as Archedius, Gortys ₂ and Cydon ₁, migrated to Crete, and after them were named the cities Cydonia, Gortyna and Catreus. These are sons of Tegeates and Maera ₃, daughter of Atlas. Some say that Atlas himself was once king of Arcadia, and that he was succeeded in the throne by Deimas, son of Dardanus ₁ and Chryse ₃ (see also Troy).

Several kingdoms

After Arcas ₁, his sons became kings in different Arcadian districts. Azan ruled in Azania, and Aphidas ₁, a weak king, ruled in Tegea. Elatus ₂, who at first ruled in Mount Cyllene, migrated to Phocis, helped the Phocians against the Phlegyans, and founded the city of Elateia. At Azan's death, his son Clitor ₂ came to the throne and became the most powerful of the kings in Arcadia. But having died childless, he was succeeded by Aepytus ₃ and Stymphalus ₁, sons of Elatus ₂.

False friend

Pelops ₁, an Asian immigrant after whom the Peloponnesus was named, made war on Stymphalus ₁'s Arcadian kingdom, but not being able to defeat him, he slew Stymphalus under a pretence of friendship, and scattered his limbs. For this reason the whole of Hellas suffered of infertility, a calamity that only was averted when pious Aeacus (the same who now keeps the keys of the Underworld) offered prayers.

Aleus

When Stymphalus ₁ was murdered by the false friend Pelops ₁, and Aepytus ₃ was killed by a serpent while hunting, Aphidas ₁'s son Aleus became king. Aleus married Neaera ₃, daughter of Pereus, son of Elatus ₂, and had children by her, among which Auge ₂ and Lycurgus ₂. Aleus built a sanctuary of Athena in Tegea, and made this city the capital of his kingdom.

Aleus' daughter

Lycurgus ₂ kills mace-man and outlives his own children

Lycurgus ₂ succeeded his father Aleus as king of the Arcadians, and lived a long life. His son Ancaeus ₁ is counted among the ARGONAUTS and among the CALYDONIAN HUNTERS. He was killed by the Calydonian Boar during the hunt. As his other son, Epochus, died of an illness, Lycurgus ₂ had no heirs when he left this world. Some say that Iasus ₁, sometimes called father of Atalanta, was also his son. Lycurgus ₂ is known for having killed King Areithous ₁, who was called the mace-man, because he only used as a weapon an iron mace. Lycurgus ₂ came upon Areithous ₁ in a narrow way, where the mace was useless, and killed him with his spear despoiling him of the armour that Ares had given him. Later, when Lycurgus ₂ grew old, he gave the armour to Ereuthalion ₁, his squire, who in turn was killed by Nestor in a war between the Arcadians and the Pylians (for the Pylians see Pylos).

Echemus

As no child of Lycurgus ₂ was alive when he died, Echemus, son of Aeropus ₂, son of Cepheus ₂, son of Aleus, became king (for Cepheus ₂ see Sparta). During his time, the HERACLIDES made an attempt to return to the Peloponnesus under the leadership of Hyllus ₁, but were defeated in a battle at the Isthmus of Corinth. In this battle Echemus killed Hyllus ₁, son of Heracles ₁, in single combat. Echemus married Timandra ₁, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, and had by her a son Laodocus, after whom the suburb Ladoceia near Megalopolis was named.

Time to sail to Troy

Echemus was succeeded on the throne by Agapenor, son of Ancaeus ₁, son of Lycurgus ₂. Agapenor was later one of he SUITORS OF HELEN. Consequently, he became one of the ACHAEAN LEADERS, and he is counted among those who hid inside the WOODEN HORSE. After the Trojan War, Agapenor did not return to Arcadia. Instead he sailed to Cyprus and founded Paphos, where he ruled.

Capital moves to Trapezus

As Agapenor did not return from Troy, the kingdom of Arcadia devolved upon Hippothous ₆, son of Cercyon ₂, son of Agamedes ₂, son of Stymphalus ₁. Hippothous ₆ established his capital in Trapezus, and was succeeded by his son Aepytus ₄, who was struck blind after entering a forbidden sanctuary of Poseidon, dying shortly after.

Mycenaean power

During the reign of Aepytus ₄, King Orestes ₂ of Mycenae, son of Agamemnon, moved his home from Mycenae to Arcadia, as his realm had extended considerably. Orestes ₂ was killed by the bite of a snake at Oresteum in Arcadia. This town was previously called Oresthasium, and had been founded by Orestheus ₂, son of Lycaon ₂.

Arcadia spared by the HERACLIDES

Cypselus ₁ succeeded his father Aepytus ₄ as king of the Arcadians, and was founder of a place called Basilis. It is during his reign that the HERACLIDES effected their return, invading the Peloponnesus, not as it was attempted before, that is, across the Corinthian Isthmus, but by sea. Cypselus ₁ made an agreement with the invaders, marrying his daughter Merope ₂ to the Heraclid Cresphontes, and in this way he had nothing to fear.

From father to son

Cresphontes received the kingdom of Messenia by casting lots with Procles ₂ and Eurysthenes ₁, who received Lacedaemon and Sparta, while Cypselus ₁'s son Holaeas succeeded his father on the throne. The rule passed thereafter from father to son: Holaeas to Bucolion ₃ to Phialus (who changed the name of the city Phigalia to Phialia) to Simus to Pompus to Aeginetes ₂ to Polymestor ₂ (under whose reign the Lacedaemonians for the first time invaded Tegea, led by Charillus. On this occasion the Lacedaemonians were defeated in battle by the Tegeans, who used men and women alike in defending the city; the whole Lacedaemonian army, including Charillus, were taken prisoners). Polymestor ₂ was succeeded by Aechmis, son of Briacas, brother of Polymestor ₂.