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Legendary Ancient Greek King of Argos
In
Greek mythology , Abas (;
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
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 (;
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
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
Notes
^
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
Bell, Robert E., Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary .
ABC-Clio . 1991.
ISBN
9780874365818 ,
0874365813 .
Edith Hamilton .
Mythology . New York: Mentor, 1942.
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Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Online version at the Perseus Digital Library .
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Greek text available from the same website .
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Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library .
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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.
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Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library .
Robert Graves .
The Greek Myths . London: Penguin, 1955; Baltimore: Penguin, 1955.
ISBN
0-14-001026-2
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Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.