Iasus (king of Argos)

In Greek mythology, Iasus or Iasius was a king of Argos.

Family

According to Hellanicus of Lesbos, Phoroneus had at least three sons: Agenor, Jasus and Pelasgus.
According to the mythographer Apollodorus, Iasus was the son of Argus and Ismene and thus brother of Argus Panoptes. In a Scholia on Euripides' Orestes, Triopas and Sosis are called his parents and Pelasgus is his brother. Pausanias described Iasus as the son of Triopas and brother of Agenor. Generally most scholars agree that Iasus was the father of Io by Leucane. Possibly by the latter, he also fathered Arestor, father of Pelasgus who migrated to Arcadia.

After the death of Phoroneus or Triopas, the two elder brothers, Pelasgus and Iasus, divided his dominions between themselves in such a manner that Pelasgus received the country about the river Erasmus, and built Larissa, and Iasus the country about Elis. After the death of these two, Agenor, the youngest, invaded their dominions, and thus became king of Argos. According to Pausanias, he was the successor of his father Triopas on the throne of Argos while his brother Agenor succeeded him as the king afterwards.