Nilus

Nilus (Greek Neilos) was the god of the river Nile in Egypt, one of the rivers born to the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. He appears in Greek myth mostly through his daughters, who married the early kings of Egypt, and through Io, who recovered her human form and bore her son beside his stream.

Parentage and Home

Hesiod lists Nilus first among the eddying rivers that Tethys bore to Oceanus, together with Alpheus, Eridanus, Strymon, Meander, Ister, Phasis, Achelous and others (Hesiod, Theogony 337–345). Homer does not name the river Nile; he calls it Aegyptus, the river fed by Zeus (Homer, Odyssey 4.477). Herodotus writes that Egypt is land deposited by the river, “the river’s gift” (Herodotus 2.5).

Family of Nilus

Parents: Oceanus, Tethys
Children: Anchinoe, Memphis, Anippe (versions differ)

See the full family tree

Children of Nilus

In the Library of Apollodorus, two daughters of the Nile marry into the royal family of Egypt:

Memphis, who married Epaphus, the son of Zeus and Io. Epaphus founded the city of Memphis and named it after her, and their daughter was Libya, after whom the region was called (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.3–4).
Anchinoe, who married Belus, the son of Libya and Poseidon. Their twin sons were Aegyptus and Danaus (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.4).

A third daughter, Anippe, is named in a different tradition as the mother of Busiris by Poseidon; this Busiris, who murdered strangers under the cover of hospitality, was killed by Heracles (Plutarch’s Parallel Stories 38, citing Agatho). Apollodorus gives another mother for Busiris, Lysianassa, a daughter of Epaphus (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.11).

Nilus and Io

Io, changed into a cow after Zeus loved her and driven by Hera’s gadfly across the known world, came at last to Egypt. There she recovered her original form and gave birth to a son, Epaphus, beside the river Nile (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.3). Epaphus became king of the Egyptians and married Memphis, the daughter of the Nile (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.4).

Nilus Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 337–345; Homer, Odyssey 4.477; Herodotus 2.5; Apollodorus, Library 2.1.3–4, 2.5.11; Plutarch (attributed), Parallel Stories 38.

See Also: Oceanus, Tethys, Io, Epaphus, Danaus, Poseidon, Heracles

Nilus Q&A

Who was Nilus?

Nilus (Greek Neilos) was the god of the river Nile in Egypt, one of the rivers born to the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. He appears in Greek myth mostly through his daughters, who married the early kings of Egypt, and through Io, who recovered her human form and bore her son beside his stream.