Argos
Hera's Beloved City — Cradle of Heroes
⚡ Quick Facts
The Oldest City in Greece
Argos claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Greece — and possibly in all of Europe. In mythology, it was the favored city of Hera, who loved it even more than Mycenae or Sparta. The great Heraion, her most important temple outside of Olympia, stood on the slopes above the Argive plain.
The city was named after Argus, its legendary founder — not to be confused with Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed giant whom Hera employed as a watchman. The connection to Hera ran deep: when Poseidon and Hera quarreled over patronage of the city, the river gods judged in Hera's favor, and Poseidon flooded the Argive plain in anger.
Birthplace of Perseus
Argos was where King Acrisius, warned by prophecy that his grandson would kill him, locked his daughter Danaë in a bronze tower. Zeus entered as a shower of golden rain, and Perseus was conceived. Cast out to sea in a chest, Perseus eventually returned to Argos, where he accidentally killed Acrisius with a discus throw at a funeral games — fulfilling the prophecy exactly.
Diomedes and the Trojan War
By the time of the Trojan War, Argos was ruled by Diomedes, one of the greatest Greek warriors. He was one of the few mortals bold enough to wound gods in battle — he stabbed both Aphrodite and Ares on the battlefield at Troy, with Athena's encouragement.