Deiphontes

Deiphontes is presented in the sources as a son of Antimachus and a member of the Heraclid genealogical network (tracing descent through Ctesippus, son of Heracles by Deianira in some accounts). He becomes the husband of Hyrnetho, daughter of Temenus, and through that marriage is drawn into the succession politics that follow Temenus's rule. In Apollodorus-derived summaries the army, abhorring the parricides, declares Deiphontes and Hyrnetho rightful successors to Temenus at Argos; in Pausanias's contrasting local tradition Deiphontes does not take Argos but instead establishes himself at Epidaurus, where he expels an Ionian king (Pityreus) and ultimately erects a sanctuary to his dead wife. These accounts place him within the mytho-historical generation of the Heraclidae and the Dorian settlement narratives that explain early dynastic arrangements in the Peloponnese.

Primary sources do not provide a physical or iconographic description of Deiphontes: no height, dress, or distinguishing marks are recorded. He is identified in narrative and genealogical terms — son of Antimachus, husband of Hyrnetho, father of children in some lists — and by social roles (general, adviser, leader). Pausanias and the compendia cite him by these relational and civic markers rather than by bodily depiction, and modern summaries note the absence of a physical description in the surviving texts.

The sources attribute to Deiphontes human capacities of military command, leadership, and single combat rather than supernatural powers. He is said to have been openly employed by Temenus as a general and adviser in war and on other occasions. In the narrative preserved by Pausanias he pursues Hyrnetho's abductors, kills one brother (Cerynes), wrestles another (Phalces) who holds Hyrnetho, and in the struggle Hyrnetho is accidentally killed; Deiphontes recovers her body and transports it to Epidaurus, where he erects a sanctuary. He is also credited with expelling an Ionian ruler, Pityreus, from Epidaurus in that local tradition. These are presented as mortal deeds consistent with a heroic leader's political and martial agency.