In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Abas was the son of Lynceus

Lynceus

In Greek mythology, Lynceus was a king of Argos, succeeding Danaus. He is named as a descendant of Belus through his father Aegyptus, who was the twin brother of Danaus. Danaus had fifty daughters, the Danaides, while Aegyptus had fifty sons including Lynceus, whose name when translated means "wolf"...

 of the royal family of Argos

Argos

Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...

, and Hypermnestra

Hypermnestra

Hypermnestra , in Greek mythology, is a name that refers to several characters.-The Danaid:Hypermnestra was the daughter of Danaus. Danaus was the twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Belus. He had fifty daughters, the Danaides, and Aegyptus had fifty sons. Aegyptus commanded that his sons marry the...

, the last of the Danaides

Danaus

In Greek mythology Danaus, or Danaos , was the twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus...

. Abas himself was the twelfth king of Argos. His name derives from a Semitic

Semitic

In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...

 word for "father".

Abas was a successful conqueror, and was the founder of the city of Abae

Abae

Abae , is an ancient town in the northeastern corner of Phocis, in Greece. It was famous in antiquity for its oracle of Apollo Abaeus, one of those consulted by Croesus, king of Lydia, and Mardonius, among others....

, Phocis

Phocis

Phocis is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardousia on the west, upon the Gulf of Corinth...

, home to the legendary oracular temple to Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

 Abaeus

Abaeus

Apollo Abaeus was a toponymic epithet of the Greek god Apollo, derived from the town of Abae in Phocis, where the god had a rich temple renowned for its oracles, which were said to have been consulted by Croesus and Mardonius, among others....

, and also of the Pelasgic Argos in Thessaly

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

. When Abas informed his father of the death of Danaus, he was rewarded with the shield of his grandfather, which was sacred to Hera

Hera

Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

. 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.

With his wife Ocalea

Ocalea

Ocalea may refer to:*Ocalea *Ocalea , a genus of insect of the order Coleoptera.*Ocalea...

 (or Aglaea

Aglaea

Aglaea or Aglaïa is the name of several figures in Greek mythology.-Charis:The youngest of the Charites, Aglaea or Aglaia was one of three daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid Eurynome. Her other two sisters were Euphrosyne, and Thalia. Together they were known as the Three Graces, or the Charites...

, depending on the source), he had three sons: the twins Acrisius

Acrisius

Acrisius was a mythical king of Argos, and a son of Abas and Aglaea , grandson of Lynceus, great-grandson of Danaus. His twin brother was Proetus, with whom he is said to have quarreled even in the womb of his mother...

 (grandfather of Perseus

Perseus

Perseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...

) and Proetus

Proetus

Proetus was a mythical king of Argos and Tiryns. His father Abas, son of the last surviving and died Danaid Hypermnestra, had ruled over Argos and married Ocalea. However, Proetus quarreled continually with his twin brother Acrisius, inventing shields or bucklers in the process...

, and Lyrcos, and one daughter, Idomene. 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. It was from this Abas that the kings of Argos were called by the patronymic Abantiads

Abantiades (mythology)

The name Abantiades generally signified a descendant of Abas, son of Lynceus, but was used especially to designate Perseus, the great-grandson of Abas, and Acrisius, a son of Abas. A female descendant of Abas, as Danaë and Atalante, was called Abantias....

.

Sources

• Robert Graves
  Robert Graves
  Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
  
  . The Greek Myths
  The Greek Myths
  The Greek Myths is a mythography, a compendium of Greek mythology, by the poet and writer Robert Graves, normally published in two volumes....
  
  . London: Penguin, 1955; Baltimore: Penguin, 1955. ISBN 0-14-001026-2
• Edith Hamilton
  Edith Hamilton
  Edith Hamilton was an American educator and author who was "recognized as the greatest woman Classicist". She was sixty-two years old when The Greek Way, her first book, was published in 1930...
  
  . Mythology
  Mythology (book)
  Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is a book written by Edith Hamilton, published in 1942 by the Penguin Group. [ISBN-0452009855, 9780452009851]. It retells stories of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology drawn from several classical sources...
  
  . New York: Mentor, 1942.