In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Nauplius was the name of two characters, one descended from the other. The name may originally have been applied to one character, the founder of the city of Nauplia (modern Nafplion

Nafplion

Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the peripheral unit of...

) in Argolis

Argolis

Argolis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula.-Geography:...

. Ancient mythographers realized that the birth of Nauplius I as a grandson of Danaus

Danaus

In Greek mythology Danaus, or Danaos , was the twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus...

 was incompatible with the stories connected to Nauplius as it relates to Palamedes

Palamedes

Palamedes could refer to:*Palamedes , the son of Nauplius in Greek mythology*Palamedes , a Saracen Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend...

 and the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

, which occurred many generations after Danaus ruled in Argolis. So a genealogy was created to link the two characters named Nauplius: Nauplius I - Proetus - Lernus - Naubolus - Clytoneus - Nauplius II. (Note that Proetus here is apparently not the same as Proetus

Proetus

Proetus was a mythical king of Argos and Tiryns. His father Abas, son of the last surviving and died Danaid Hypermnestra, had ruled over Argos and married Ocalea. However, Proetus quarreled continually with his twin brother Acrisius, inventing shields or bucklers in the process...

, son of Abas).

Nauplius (son of Poseidon)

This Nauplius was the son of the god Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

 by Amymone

Amymone

In Greek mythology, Amymone was a daughter of Danaus. As the "blameless" Danaid, her name identifies her as, perhaps, identical to Hypermnestra , also the one Danaid who did not assassinate her Egyptian husband on their wedding night, as her 49 sisters did...

, daughter of Danaus. This Nauplius founded Nauplia and was married to Philyra

Philyra

- Oceanid :In Greek mythology, Philyra was an Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Chiron was her son by Cronus. When she gave birth to her son, she was so disgusted by how he looked that she abandoned him at birth. She was the goddess of perfume, writing, healing, beauty and paper...

, who bore him a son named Lernus.

Nauplius (son of Clytoneus)

This is the more famous Nauplius, and was great-great-grandson of his namesake, the founder of Nauplia. Like Nauplius I, Nauplius II also ruled over Nauplia (although other accounts say he ruled in Euboea

Euboea

Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...

). The Cretan king Catreus

Catreus

In Greek mythology, Catreus was a king of Crete and a son of Minos and Pasiphaë. He had one son, Althaemenes, and three daughters, Apemosyne, Aerope and Clymene. An oracle told Catreus that one of his children would murder him. Terrified he would do so, Althaemenes took Apemosyne and left Crete...

 suspected his daughter Clymene

Clymene

Clymene or Klymenê may refer to*104 Klymene, an asteroid*Clymene dolphin , a dolphin endemic to the Atlantic Ocean*Clymene Moth*In Greek mythology:...

 of plotting against him, so he handed her over to Nauplius to sell. Instead, Nauplius married her; Clymene later bore to Nauplius two sons, named Palamedes

Palamedes (Greek mythology)

In Greek mythology, Palamedes was the son of Nauplius and either Clymene or Philyra or Hesione.He is said to have invented counting, currency, weights and measures, jokes, dice and a forerunner of chess called pessoi, as well as military ranks...

 and Oeax.

According to Apollodorus Palamedes fought in the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

, but he died as a result of Odysseus' intrigues. Nauplius went to Troy to demand justice for the death of his son, however no one listened to him and everyone supported Agamemnon who helped Odysseus kill Palamedes. Consequently, Nauplius swore revenge against King Agamemnon

Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...

 and the other Greek leaders. According to Apollodorus, when the Greeks were sailing home from Troy after the close of the war, Nauplius lit beacon fires along the perilous coastline of Euboea, and many ships were shipwrecked as a result. Before this point, he also convinced many of the lonely wives of the Greek commanders to be unfaithful to their husbands, and to conspire against them - including Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra or Clytaemnestra , in ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess...

, (Agamemnon's wife) who joined with Aigisthos

Aegisthus

In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of Thyestes' daughter, Pelopia....

, and Meda, (wife of Idomeneus

Idomeneus

In Greek mythology, Idomeneus , "strength of Ida") was a Cretan warrior, father of Orsilochus and Chalkiope, son of Deucalion, grandson of Minos and king of Crete. He led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War and was also one of Helen's suitors. Meriones was his charioteer and brother-in-arms...

) who was unfaithful with Leucos. Leucos killed Meda and her daughter Cleisithyra and drove out Idomeneus out when he had returned from Troy.

This Nauplius was counted among the Argonauts

Argonauts

The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...

.