Agis I

For other uses of this name, see Agis (disambiguation).
Agis I
Basileus (king) of Sparta

Heracles, founder of the Heraclids
Reign ca. 930–900 BC[1] or
ca. 1032–1031/1001 BC[2]
Successor Echestratus
Royal House Heraclids
Father Eurysthenes

Agis I (Greek: Ἄγις) was a legendary king of Sparta and eponym of the Agiad dynasty. He was the son of Eurysthenes, first monarch of this dynasty,[3] which ruled the city along with the Eurypontids. His genealogy was traced through Aristodemus, Aristomachus, Cleodaeus and Hyllus all the way to Heracles,[4] and he belongs to mythology rather than to history. Tradition ascribed to him the capture of the maritime town of Helos, which resisted his attempt to curtail its guaranteed rights (which had originally been granted by Eurysthenes). The inhabitants of the town attempted to shake off the yoke, but they were subdued, and gave rise and name to the Spartan class of serfs called helots.[2] To his reign was referred the colony which went to Crete under Pollis and Delphus.[5]

According to Eusebius he reigned only one year;[6] according to Apollodorus, as it appears, about 31 years.[2]

He was succeeded by his son Echestratus.

References

  1. ^ source: Apollodorus
  2. ^ a b c Mason, Charles Peter (1867), "Agis (1)", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 71–72, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0080.html 
  3. ^ Pausanias, iii, 2.1
  4. ^ Herodotus 7, 204
  5. ^ Conon Narrations 36
  6. ^ Eusebius of Caesarea, Chronicon i. p. 166
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Eurysthenes		 Agiad King of Sparta
c. 930 BC-c. 900 BC
 Succeeded by
Echestratus