Phocus of Corinth Phocus of Corinth In Greek mythology, Phocus (; Ancient Greek: Φῶκος means "seal") the Corinthian, was a son of Ornytion (or Ornytus) and grandson of Sisyphus; some called him son of Poseidon. Thus he might be the same as the son of Poseidon and Pronoe referenced in the scholia on "Iliad", see above. Leaving the kingdom of Corinth to his brother Thoas, he led a colony to the region of Tithorea and Mount Parnassus; the land came to be named Phocis after him. Phocus is said to have cured the wandering Antiope of her madness, which she had been struck
Ancient Corinth was ruled by the faithful governor Craterus; but, in 253/2 BC, his son Alexander of Corinth, moved by Ptolemaic subsidies, resolved to challenge the Macedonian supremacy and seek independence as a tyrant. He was probably poisoned in 247 BC; after his death, the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas retook the city in the winter of 245/44 BC. The Macedonian rule was short-lived. In 243 BC, Aratus of Sicyon, using a surprise attack, captured the fortress of Acrocorinth and convinced the citizenship to join the Achaean League. Thanks to an alliance agreement with Aratus, the Macedonians recovered Corinth once again in