According to a Greek
myth, Caranus was the son of
Temenus, king of
Argos, who in turn was a
Heraclid, a descendant of
Heracles.
Plutarch agrees on the Heraclid lineage of Caranus and argues that
Alexander the Great is a descendant of Heracles through Caranus. Temenus, along with
Cresphontes and
Aristodemus were the three
Doric leaders who invaded the
Mycenean Peloponnese region. Then they proceeded to divide the conquered territories between them. Cresphontes was given
Messenia and
Sparta; Aristodemus took
Laconia; and finally Temenus was given Argos. Following the death of Temenus, the princes argued about who should be king. One of them,
Pheidon, defeated his brothers in battle and took over the kingship. Caranus then decided to find another kingdom of his own, where he could be king. First, however he went to the
Oracle of Delphi to ask
Pythia's advice. "You should find your kingdom there, where you will find plenty of game and domestic animals, she advised." Thus Caranus and his entourage moved to the North, in search of suitable land to establish his new kingdom. Finally, he discovered a green valley, with a lot of game and goats, whereupon he thought that the
prophecy of Pythia had been fulfilled. Thus he built a city there, which he named
Aigai (), present day
Vergina, a site of substantial archaeological activity, as numerous important findings have been unearthed. == View of historians ==