in Greek mythology, king of Assyria and the eponymous founder of the city of Nineveh, which itself is sometimes called Ninus. He was said to have been the son of Belos, or Bel, and to have conquered in 17 years all of western Asia with the help of Ariaeus, king of Arabia. During the siege of Bactra he met Semiramis, the wife of one of his officers, Onnes; he then took her from Onnes and married her. The fruit of the marriage was Ninyas—i.e., the Ninevite.