In Greek mythology, Tyro (Ancient Greek: Τυρώ) was an Elean princess who later became Queen of Iolcus.
Tyro was the daughter of King Salmoneus of Elis and Alcidice. She married her uncle, King Cretheus of Iolcus, and had three sons with him, and also bore twin sons with Poseidon. Aeson, one of Tyro's son with Cretheus, was the father of Jason, a central figure in the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece. Tyro later married her paternal uncle, Sisyphus, and had two more children. Fearing a prophecy that her children would kill her father, Tyro killed them.
Mythology[]
Tyro's father Salmoneus was the brother of Athamas and Sisyphus. She was married to her uncle Cretheus, King of Iolcus but Tyro loved the river god Enipeus who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus and from their union were born Pelias and Neleus, twin boys. Tyro exposed her sons on a mountain to die, but they were found by a herdsman who raised them as his own. When the twins reached adulthood, they found Tyro and killed her stepmother, Sidero, for having mistreated their mother (Salmoneus married Sidero when Alcidice died). Sidero hid at the temple of Hera but Pelias killed her anyway, causing Hera's undying hatred of Pelias – and her glorious patronage of Jason and the Argonauts in their long quest for the Golden Fleece. Pelias' half brother Aeson, the son of Tyro and Cretheus, was the father of Jason. Soon after, Tyro married Sisyphus, her paternal uncle and had two children. It was said that their children would kill Salmoneus, so Tyro killed them in order to save her father.
In Pausanias' Description of Greece, he described Polygnotus' painting called the Nekyia where Tyro was depicted sitting on a rock next to Eriphyle in which Pausanias described Tyro as the "daughter of Salmoneus".[1]
Family[]
Tyro was the daughter of King Salmoneus of Elis and Alcidice, daughter of King Aleus of Arcadia. She married her uncle King Cretheus of Iolcus but loved the river-god Enipeus. Tyro gave birth to Pelias and Neleus, the twin sons of Poseidon. With Cretheus, she had three sons, Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon. In some accounts, Tyro had a daughter named Phalanna who gave her name to city of Phalanna in Thessaly.
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