- Phineas
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The name 'Phineas' or 'Phineus' may be associated with the ancient city of
Phinea (or Phineopolis) on the Thracian Bosphorus.Some ancient writers recognize two Thracian kings by the name of Phineas/Phineus. The first was a son of
Agenor who, like his brothers Phoenix,Cadmus ,Thasus andCilix , departed his Phoenician homeland in search of his sister Europa, who had been abducted by the godZeus . Phineas gave up his search in Thrace, and settled on the western shores of theBlack Sea , in eastern Thrace. This Phineas was the father ofThynus ,Bithynus ,Mariandynus andPaphlagonus , although the first two were his sons by adoption. These four men founded four kingdoms along the shores of the Black Sea -Thynia ,Bithynia ,Mariandyne , andPaphlagonia - but are otherwise unheard of.The second (and much more famous) Phineas lived several generations later, although his genealogical connection to the first Phineas is unclear. This second Phineas features in the story of
Jason and theArgonauts , and was married to Cleopatra, daughter ofBoreas . Phineas and Cleopatra had two sons, namedPlexippus andPandion , who were mistreated by their stepmother,Idaea , who Phineas married after the death ofCleopatra . His residence was the city ofSalmydessus on the Black Sea. This Phineas was said to be a son ofPoseidon , or of Phoenix, and had the gift of prophecy.Zeus , angry that Phineas revealed too much of the plans of the gods, punished him by setting him on an island with a buffet of food. However, he could eat none of it because the harpies, vicious, winged women, stole the food out of his hands right before he could eat. This continued until the arrival ofJason and theArgonauts . They sent the winged heroes, theBoreads , after the harpies. They succeeded in driving the monsters away but did not kill them, as a request from the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who promised that Phineas would not be bothered by the harpies again. It is said that the Boreads were turned back by Iris at theStrophades . [http://www.fjkluth.com/harpies.html] As thanks, Phineas told the Argonauts how to pass theSymplegades .References
*
Apollodorus .Bibliotheke III, xiv, 8;
*Ovid . Metamorphoses VI, 424-674.
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