Belus in Greek tradition
Belus was born when Poseidon united with Libya, alongside his twin brother Agenor. He became king in Egypt and fathered Danaus and Aegyptus with Anchinoe, daughter of the river god Nile, giving his sons Libya and Arabia. After the brothers’ inheritance dispute began, Belus died, while later accounts describe their quarrel and the fate of Aegyptus’s sons.
The quick answers
Who is Belus?
Belus is a Greek being.Source
Source
- Classical Mythology a to Z
What family links are recorded for Belus?
Father: Poseidon, Mother: Erimede, Spouse: Aeria, 8 children, 2 siblings.
Belus’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Belus answers to
Belos
Greek form of the name
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Βῆλος
Greek-script form of Belos
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Belus son of Poseidon
Genealogical identifier distinguishing the mythic king
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
The myths of Belus
2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
The Birth of Belus
Poseidon united with Libya, daughter of Epaphus and Memphis. The land of Libya took its name from her. She bore twin sons, Belus and Agenor. Belus was also called Belos.
Belus remained in Egypt and became king there. Agenor left Egypt for Phoenicia, where he became king and founded a great line. In another telling, Agenor settled in the land of Canaan. He married Telephassa, also called Argiope. Their children included Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix, Thasus, Phineus, and Europa. In one telling, Europa was the daughter of Phoenix instead.
Belus married Anchinoe, daughter of the Nile. She bore him the twin sons Aegyptus and Danaus. In one telling, Cepheus was a third son. In another, Cepheus and Phineus were also born to Belus and Anchinoe. Belus gave Danaus rule over Libya and Aegyptus rule over Arabia. Aegyptus conquered the land of the Melampodes and named it Egypt after himself. He later had fifty sons by different women. Danaus had fifty daughters, called the Danaids. After Belus died, the twins quarrelled over their inheritance. Aegyptus proposed marriages between his fifty sons and the fifty Danaids. Danaus suspected a plot and refused.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Greek MythsT1
- 2The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 3Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Poseidon and Libya had twin sons, Belus and Agenor, and Belus became king of Egypt before fathering Danaus and Aegyptus with Anchinoe, daughter of the Nile.”
Apollodorus, The Library
Belus and Anchinoe
Belus ruled at Chemmis in the Thebaid. Libya and Poseidon were his parents, and Agenor was his twin brother. Belus married Anchinoe, daughter of Nile, the river god. Anchinoe bore him twin sons, Danaus and Aegyptus.
Belus established Danaus in Libya and Aegyptus in Arabia. Aegyptus conquered the land of the Melampodes and named it Egypt after himself. He fathered fifty sons by various mothers. Danaus fathered fifty daughters by various mothers, and the daughters were called the Danaids.
After Belus died, Danaus and Aegyptus quarrelled over their inheritance. Aegyptus proposed marriages between his fifty sons and the fifty daughters of Danaus. Danaus distrusted the proposal. An oracle confirmed his fear that Aegyptus intended to kill the Danaids, so Danaus prepared to flee from Libya.
The sons of Aegyptus later came to Argos and asked to marry the daughters of Danaus. Danaus agreed and assigned the marriages by lot, although he still distrusted them. The sons met their fate, and Aegyptus learned what had happened to them. He fled to Aroe, where he died. He was buried at Patrae in a sanctuary of Serapis.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Greek MythsT1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Belus and Anchinoe, daughter of the Nile, had twin sons, Danaus and Aegyptus.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Belus features, each on that figure’s page.
- Aegyptus Conquers and Names Egypt · on Aegyptus
- The Birth of Agenor · on Agenor
- Galatea, the Living Statue · on Galatea
1 work catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Belus: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 1 of 1 works.
Film1
- BELUSRework
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
3 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Belus. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/belus
"Belus." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/belus.
"Belus." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/belus.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Belus embeds here once it publishes.