Archagathus was a son of Agathocles of Syracuse and had a brother named Heracleides.
[1] His father was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse who later became King of Sicily.
[2][3] His mother was the widow of his father's late patron, Damas.
Archagathus narrowly escaped being put to death in a tumult of soldiers, an event precipitated by him having murdered a man named Lyciscus, who reproached him in committing incest with his step-mother Alcia,[4] the mother of his paternal half-sister, Lanassa.
[5] His father returned to assist him but the mutiny of the Syracusan soldiers forced Agathocles to leave Carthage.