Abas (Argos)

Abas ( Greek  Ἄβας ) is a figure in Greek mythology . According to tradition, he was the 14th king of Argos , son of Lynkeus and Hypermestra , and grandson of Danaos . He is thus the son of the only Danaide who did not kill her husband on their wedding night.

Abas was married to Aglaia and the father of the twins Akrisios and Proitus , Kanethos , the Eidomene and the Chalcodon . He was also the grandfather of Danaë and great-grandfather of Perseus .

After Abas succeeded his father on the throne, he distinguished himself as a great conqueror. In Phocis he founded the city of Abai and in Thessaly the Pelasgian Argos . He is said to have been the progenitor and namesake of the ancient Greek tribe of the Abanten and with them subjugated the island of Evia . The origin of the name of the Abanten is traced back in the sources to a mythical Abas with a different family tree, for example to a son of Poseidon and Arethusa (compare Abas (son of Poseidon) ), a son of Melampus ( cf.Abas (son des Melampus) ) or a son of the Attic hero Alkon .

The shield of Abas, which he received from his father Lynkeus when he informed him of the death of his grandfather Danaos, was particularly famous. Danaos once wore this shield in his youth and later consecrated it in the Heraion of Argos. On the occasion of the donation of the shield to his son, Lynkeus donated a festival at which a shield was displayed as a prize instead of a wreath. Abas was such a feared warrior that after his death, rebellious peoples whom he had subjugated are said to have given up immediately if only they were shown his shield. During the Trojan War , Abas' shield came into the hands of Aeneas , who hung it as a votive gift at the entrance of the Temple of Apollo at Actium .

swell

• Library of Apollodorus , 2, 24; 2, 27.
• Hesiod , Ehoien , 129, 3; 135, b; 135, 2.
• Pausanias , travels in Greece , 2, 12, 2; 2, 16, 2; 2, 25, 5; 3, 13, 8; 10, 35, 1.
• Strabon , Geographica , 431.
• Virgil , Aeneid , 3, 286.
• Merton manuscript, page 40r

literature

• Johannes Toepffer : Abas 3) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 18 f.
• Roscher: Abas 1) . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, column 1 ( digitized version ).

Remarks

1. ↑ Libraries of Apollodorus 2, 2, 1; Pausanias 2, 16, 2; 10, 35, 1; Scholion of Pindar , Pythias 8, 73.
2. ↑ Libraries of Apollodorus 2, 2, 1; Scholion to Euripides , Orestes 965.
3. ↑ Scholion to Euripides, Hecabe 125.
4. ↑ Pausanias 10:35 , 1; Stephanos of Byzantium , s. Abai .
5. ^ Strabon , Geographika 9, 431.
6. ↑ Stephanos of Byzantium, s. Abantis ; Scholion to Homer , Iliad 2, 536; Scholion of Pindar, Pythias 8, 73.
7. ↑ Hyginus Mythographus , Fabulae 157; Stephanos of Byzantium, s. Abantis .
8. ↑ Libraries of Apollodor 1, 9, 13; Scholion to Apollonios of Rhodes 1, 143.
9. ↑ Eustathios of Thessalonike , Commentary on Homer's Iliad, p. 232; According to the Scholion at Homer, Iliad 2, 536 Abas was the son of the descendant of Kekrops Chalcon.
10. ^ Hyginus Mythographus, Fabulae 170 and 273; Ovid , Metamorphoses 15, 164.
11. ^ Maurus Servius Honoratius , Commentary on Virgil , Aeneis 3, 286.
12. ↑ Virgil, Aeneis 3, 286ff.

predecessor	Office	successor
Lynkeus	King of Argos 14th century BC Chr. (Fictional chronology)	Proitus