APHAREUS

a son of the Messenian king Perieres and Gorgophone, the daughter of Perseus. (Apollodorus i) His wife is called by Apollodorus (Apollodorus iii) Arene, and by others Polydora or Laocoossa. (Argonautica)

Aphareus had three sons, Lynceus, Idas, and Peisus. He was believed to have founded the town of Arene in Messenia, which he called after his wife. He received Neleus and Lycus, the son of Pandion, who had fled from their countries into his dominions. To the former he assigned a tract of land in Messenia, and from the latter he and his family learned the orgies of the great gods.

Pausanias in this passage mentions only the two sons of Aphareus, Idas and Lynceus, who are celebrated in ancient story for their fight with the Dioscuri, which is described by Pindar.

Two other mythical personages of this name occur in Horn. II. xiii. 541; and Metamorphoses by Ovid XII.