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In Greek mythology, Phorbas^{[pronunciation?]} (Ancient Greek: Φόρβας, gen. Φόρβαντος) or Phorbaceus^{[pronunciation?]} was the sixth king of Argos.^[1]

Family

Phorbas was given two different parentage and progeny by various sources. According to scholia on Euripides, his parents were Criasus and Melantho (Melantomice^[2]), brother of Ereuthalion and Cleoboea and father of Arestor and Triopas by Euboea.^[3] While Pausanias stated that Phorbas was the son of Argus, brother of Peirasus and possibly Tiryns and Epidaurus as they were sons of Argus.^[4] His mother in the latter case maybe Evadne, daughter of river god Strymon. In which case, both authors agree that he had a son Triopas who also became a king after him. Another son, Pellen (Pelles) was credited to be the founder of the city of Pellene in Achaea.^[5]

Comparative table of Phorbas' family
Relation	Names	Sources
		Euripides	Pausanias
		Sch. on PW	Pausanias
Parents	Criasus and Melantho	✓
Parents	Argus		✓
Sibling	Ereuthalion	✓
	Cleoboea	✓
	Peirasus		✓
	Tiryns		✓
	Epidaurus		✓
Wife	Euboea	✓
Children	Arestor	✓
	Triopas	✓	✓
	Pellen		✓

Reign

According to Tatiānus, he may have been a king of Argos himself, succeeding either Argus or Criasus.^[6] Eusebius included him in the list of kings of Argos, in which he reigned for thirty five years and was succeeded by Triopas. He was a contemporary of Actaeus, the first king of Attica who named the country after himself, Actaea.^[7] During Phorbas' reign, Cecrops Diphyes became the first king of the Athenians.^[8]

Regnal titles
Preceded by Criasus	King of Argos	Succeeded by Triopas

PHORBAS' CHRONOLOGY OF REIGN ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SOURCES
Kings of Argos	Regnal Years		Castor	Regnal Years		Syncellus	Regnal Years	Tatian	Regnal Years	Pausanias
Precessor	1569.5	54 winters & summers	Criasus	1567	54 winters & summers	Criasus	1575	Criasus	1600	Argus
Phorbas	1542.5	35 winters & summers	Phorbas	1539.5	25 winters & summers	Phorbas	1550	Phorbas	1575	Phorbas
Successor	1525	46 winters & summers	Triopas	1527	36 winters & summers	Triopas	1525	Triopas	1550	Triopas

Notes

^ Augustine, City of God 18.8; Eusebius, Chronography 66; Tatian, Address to the Greeks 39
^ Augustine, City of God 18.8
^ Scholia ad Euripides, Phoenician Women 1116; ad Orestes 932
^ Pausanias, 2.16.1
^ Apollonius Rhodius, 1.176; Pausanias, 7.26.12
^ Tatian, Address to the Greeks 39
^ Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 10.11.2
^ Eusebius, Chronography 66

References

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology s.v. Phorbas