Abas (son of Lynceus)
In Greek mythology, Abas (/ˈeɪbəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄβας) was the twelfth king of Argos. He was the great-grandfather of Perseus, and the founder of the towns Abae and Argos Pelasgikon. Hera favoured Abas and blessed his shield making it resistant to any sword.
Family[edit]
Abas was the son of Lynceus[1] of the royal family of Argos, and Hypermnestra, the last of the Danaides.[2] With his wife Ocalea (or Aglaea, depending on the source), he had twin sons Acrisius (grandfather of Perseus) and Proetus,[3] and one daughter, Idomene.[4] According to Pausanias, Abas had also an illegitimate son named Lyrcus, who gave his name to the city of Lyrcea.[5]
The name Abantiades (/ˌæbænˈtaɪədiːz/; Ancient Greek: Ἀβαντιάδης) generally signified a descendant of this Abas, but was used especially to designate Perseus, the great-grandson of Abas,[6] and Acrisius, a son of Abas.[7] A female descendant of Abas, as Danaë and Atalante, was called Abantias.[8]
Mythology[edit]
Abas was a successful conqueror, and was the founder of the city of Abae in northeastern Phocis,[9] home to the legendary oracular temple to Apollo Abaeus, and also of the Pelasgic Argos in Thessaly.[10] When Abas informed his father of the death of Danaus, he was rewarded with the shield of his grandfather, which was sacred to Hera.[11][12] Abas was said to be so fearsome a warrior that even after his death, enemies of his royal household could be put to flight simply by the sight of this shield.[13] He bequeathed his kingdom to Acrisius and Proetus, bidding them to rule alternately, but they quarrelled even while they still shared their mother's womb.
Argive genealogy[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Pausanias, 2.16.2
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 244
- ^ Apollodorus, 2.2.1; Pausanias, 2.16.2; Hyginus, Fabulae 170, De Astronomie 2.18.1
- ^ Apollodorus, 2.2.2
- ^ Pausanias, 2.25.5
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.673; 5.138 & 5.236
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.607
- ^ Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-CLIO. p. 1. ISBN 9780874365818.
- ^ Pausanias, 10.35.1
- ^ Strabo, 9.5.5 p. 431
- ^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), "Abas (2)", in Smith, William (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, pp. 1–2, archived from the original on 2008-07-14, retrieved 2007-08-19
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 273
- ^ Virgil, Aeneid 3.286; Statius, Thebaid 2.220 & 4.589; Servius, Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid, 3.286
References[edit]
- Bell, Robert E., Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. 1991. ISBN 9780874365818, 0874365813.
- Edith Hamilton. Mythology. New York: Mentor, 1942.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Papinius Statius, The Thebaid translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Publius Papinius Statius, The Thebaid. Vol I-II. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Robert Graves. The Greek Myths. London: Penguin, 1955; Baltimore: Penguin, 1955. ISBN 0-14-001026-2
- Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Abas". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
