General Notes

[FAMILY.FTW]

ACHIROE, Anchinoe, or Anchiroe was a daughter of Nilus, the Nile River. Her history is somewhat confusing because of the differnet spellings of her name by ancient writers and tentative assignment to her of offspring in quite separate geographical locations. Achiroe, called Anchinoe by Apollodorus (2.14), was the wife of Belus, son of Poseidon and Libya, who ruled at Chemnis. By him she became the mother of Aegyptus and Danaus, thereby becoming grandmother to the 50 sons of the first and 50 daughters of the second. According to some, Cepheus and Phineus were also sons of Achiroe and Belus. According to one writer, Ares begot by her a son, Sithon, who became a king in Thrace and had two daughters, Rhoeteia and Pallene. At this point, things become a little muddled, since Egypt and Thrace are quite far apart. Not only that, but at least one writer called Rhoeteia and Pallene sisters of Sithon, not daughters. According to still another writer, Pallene was his daughter by Achiroe(!). It is quite reasonable to assume ther might have been two Achiroes--one Egyptian and the other Macedonian--and that the Macedonian one was the mother, not the lover, of Sithon. [Tzetzes on Lycophron 583,1161.]