Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Pronax (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Πρῶναξ) was one of the sons of

Talaus In Greek mythology, Talaus ( grc, Ταλαός) was the king of Argos and one of the Argonauts. He was the son of Bias (or Perialces) and Pero. His wife was Lysimache, daughter of Abas (also known as Eurynome, Lysippe or Lysianassa, daughter ...

and

Lysimache Lysimache (; Ancient Greek: Λυσιμάχη ''Lusimákhē'') is the name of two characters in Greek mythology: *Lysimache, daughter of Abas, son of Melampus. She married king Talaus of Argos and bore him these children: Adrastus, Mecisteus, H ...

, a brother of

Adrastus In Greek mythology, Adrastus or Adrestus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος), (perhaps meaning "the inescapable"), was a king of Argos, and leader of the Seven against Thebes. He was the son of the Argive king Talaus, but was ...

and

Eriphyle Eriphyle (Ancient Greek: Ἐριφύλη ''Eriphȳla'') was a figure in Greek mythology who, in exchange for the necklace of Harmonia (also called the necklace of Eriphyle) given to her by Polynices, persuaded her husband Amphiaraus to join the ...

, and the father of Lycurgus and

Amphithea Amphithea ( grc, Ἀμφιθέα) is the name of several women in Greek mythology: * Amphithea, who was, according to some, the wife of Lycurgus, king of Nemea, and mother of Opheltes (later called Archemorus). * Amphithea, daughter of Pronax, son ...

. According to some accounts, he died before the war of the

Seven against Thebes The Seven against Thebes were seven champions in Greek mythology who made war on Thebes. They were chosen by Adrastus, the king of Argos, to be the captains of an Argive army whose purpose was to restore Oedipus' son Polynices to the Theban th ...

, and the

Nemean Games The Nemean Games ( grc-gre, Νέμεα or Νέμεια) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years (or every third). With the Isthmian Games, the Nemean Games were held both the year before a ...

were instituted in his honor.

Mythology

Lycurgus

Pronax's son was perhaps the same Lycurgus that was said to have been raised from the dead by

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...

. His son was also possibly the same as the Nemean

Lycurgus Lycurgus or Lykourgos () may refer to: People * Lycurgus (king of Sparta) (third century BC) * Lycurgus (lawgiver) (eighth century BC), creator of constitution of Sparta * Lycurgus of Athens (fourth century BC), one of the 'ten notable orators' ...

who was the father of

Opheltes In Greek mythology, Opheltes (Ancient Greek: Ὀφέλτης), also called Archemorus (Αρχέμορος, Beginning of Doom), was a son of Lycurgus (of Nemea), Lycurgus of Nemea. His mother is variously given as Eurydice (Greek myth), Eurydice, ...

. Although the mythographer

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

distinguishes these two, saying that the Lycurgus, who was the father of Opheltes, was the son of

Pheres In Greek mythology, Pheres ( grc, Φέρης, ''Phéres'', modern pronunciation ''Féris''; la, Pheres) was the founder of Pherae in Thessaly. Family Pheres was the son of Cretheus, King of Iolcus and Tyro. He was the brother of Aeson and Amy ...

, there is some evidence to suggest that, in some accounts, these two Lycurgoi were in fact the same. The geographer

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

reports seeing an image of Pronax's son Lycurgus on the

Amyclae Amyclae or Amyklai ( grc, Ἀμύκλαι) was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one o ...

throne of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

. According to Pausanias,

and

Tydeus Tydeus (; Ancient Greek: Τυδεύς ''Tūdeus'') was an Aetolian hero in Greek mythology, belonging to the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven against Thebes, and the father of Diomedes, who is frequently known by the patr ...

, two of the

, are shown stopping a fight between Lycurgus and

Amphiaraus In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιάραος, Ἀμφιάρεως, "very sacred") was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Adra ...

, another of the Seven. If this image depicted an event during the Seven's stop at Nemea, then this would presumably mean that, in some version of the story, Pronax's son was the father of Opheltes.

Amphithea

According to

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

, the extravident clothing worn by those who came to court Pronax's daughter Amphithea, was mentioned by the 5th-century Greek tragedian

Agathon Agathon (; grc, Ἀγάθων; ) was an Athenian tragic poet whose works have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's ''Symposium,'' which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy a ...

. Pronax gave his daughter, Amphithea in marriage to his brother

, who was the king of

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

and leader of the

. She and Adrastus had three daughters, Argia, Deipyle, and Aegialia, and two sons, Aegialeus and Cyanippus.

1.9.13

Notes

References

* Aelian, ''Historical Miscellany'', translated by Nigel G. Wilson,

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and L ...

No. 486, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, 1997
Online version at Harvard University Press
. *

, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts,

; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Athenaeus, ''The Learned Banqueters, Volume VI: Books 12-13.594b'', edited and translated by S. Douglas Olson,

No. 327, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2007
Online version at Harvard University Press
. * Bravo, Jorge J., III, ''Excavations at Nemea IV: The Shrine of Opheltes'', Univ of California Press, 2018. . * Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. . * Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
* Parada, Carlos, ''Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology'', Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. .*

, ''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, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Smith, William, ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', London (1873)
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). . {{Greek-myth-stub Princes in Greek mythology Argive characters in Greek mythology