Pronax

For a genus of sea sponges, see Cliona.

In Greek mythology, Pronax (/ˈproʊˌnæks/; Ancient Greek: Πρῶναξ) was one of the sons of Talaus and Lysimache, a brother of Adrastus and Eriphyle, and the father of Lycurgus and Amphithea.^[1] According to some accounts, he died before the war of the Seven against Thebes, and the Nemean Games were instituted in his honor.^[2]

Mythology

Lycurgus

Pronax's son was perhaps the same Lycurgus that was said to have been raised from the dead by Asclepius.^[3] His son was also possibly the same as the Nemean Lycurgus who was the father of Opheltes. Although the mythographer Apollodorus distinguishes these two, saying that the Lycurgus, who was the father of Opheltes, was the son of Pheres,^[4] there is some evidence to suggest that, in some accounts, these two Lycurgoi were in fact the same. The geographer Pausanias reports seeing an image of Pronax's son Lycurgus on the Amyclae throne of Apollo.^[5] According to Pausanias, Adrastus and Tydeus, two of the Seven against Thebes, are shown stopping a fight between Lycurgus and Amphiaraus, 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.^[6]

Amphithea

According to Athenaeus, the extravident clothing worn by those who came to court Pronax's daughter Amphithea, was mentioned by the 5th-century Greek tragedian Agathon.^[7] Pronax gave his daughter, Amphithea in marriage to his brother Adrastus, who was the king of Argos and leader of the Seven against Thebes. She and Adrastus had three daughters, Argia, Deipyle, and Aegialia, and two sons, Aegialeus and Cyanippus.^[8]

Notes

1. Gantz, p. 512; Grimal, s.v. Pronax; Tripp, s.v. Pronax; Parada, s.v. Pronax; Smith, s.v. Pronax; Apollodorus, 1.9.13.
2. Bravo, p. 117; Hard, p. 333; Smith, s.v. Pronax; Grimal, s.v. Pronax; Aelian, Historical Miscellany, 4.5.
3. Hard, pp. 150–1; Apollodorus, 3.10.3, with Frazer's note 12.
4. Apollodorus, 1.9.13 (Lycurgus son of Pronax), 1.9.14 (Lycurgus son of Pheres, father of Opheltes).
5. Gantz, p. 511; Pausanias, 3.18.12.
6. Gantz, pp. 511–512, who however concludes that it is "more likely" that the scene depicted on the throne is an event from the Seven's departure from Argos; Grimal, s.vv. Lycurgus 3, Pronax; Parada, s.vv. Lycurgus 3, Lycurgus 4 (treating the two as distinct).
7. Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters 12.528d [= Agathon TrGF 39 F 3], with Olsen's note 93.
8. Apollodorus, 1.9.13.

References

• Aelian, Historical Miscellany, translated by Nigel G. Wilson, Loeb Classical Library No. 486, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1997. Online version at Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99535-2.
• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; 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, Loeb Classical Library No. 327, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2007. Online version at Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99620-5.
• Bravo, Jorge J., III, Excavations at Nemea IV: The Shrine of Opheltes, Univ of California Press, 2018. ISBN 9780520967878.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415186360. Google Books.
• Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. ISBN 978-91-7081-062-6.* Pausanias, 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, 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). ISBN 069022608X.