Acrisius and Proëtus

Lynceus' son, Abas, succeeded Lynceus. It was written that Abas was a mighty warrior, but there is no mythology of his own to tell us what heroic deeds Abas had done. His wife Aglaea, daughter of Mantineus, bore him twins, Acrisius (Acrisios or Ἀκρίσιοσ) and Proëtus (Proetus, Proitos or Προιτος), who even fought one another in her womb.

The rivalry between the two brothers was so great that when Acrisius became king, his brother Proëtus wanted the throne too. The brothers with their followers fought a battle for the Argive throne. Acrisius won and drove his brother out of Argolis.

Proëtus went to Lycia, where he was entertained by the Lycian king, Iobates. According to Homer, Proëtus married Iobates' daughter, Anteia, but other writers say that her name was Stheneboia. In any case, Iobates provided Proëtus with an army.

Later they decided to settle this by single combat, but they fought to a draw. They decided to divide Argolis into two, with Acrisius ruling Argos while Proëtus ruled Tiryns, a kingdom east of Argos. It was said that during Proëtus' reign in Tiryns, a Cyclops came and built the fortified walls for him.

Acrisius learned from the oracle that any son of his daughter Danaë (Δανάη) was destined to kill him. To prevent this destiny from coming to pass, he tried to confine his daughter in a bronze chamber so that no man could seduce his daughter. This precaution couldn't stop a determined god. Zeus appeared in the form of a shower of gold, landing on her lap. (In one version, Zeus was not the seducer of Danaë; Proëtus was the real father of Danaë's child.) When the King discovered that Danaë have given birth to a son, he could not bring himself to murder his daughter and grandson, so he put Danae and her son in a chest and threw them into the sea. Zeus sent Poseidon to bring the child to safety, and the son of Danaë grew up on the island of Seriphus.

Acrisius' grandson, the hero Perseus, won fame because he had slain the monster Gorgon. When Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather at the funeral games, the hero succeeded Acrisius, but he swapped kingdoms with his great uncle Proëtus or with Proëtus' son, Megapenthes, so that Perseus and his descendants ruled Tiryns, while his great-uncle (or uncle) ruled in Argos. Perseus became the ancestor of Greece's greatest hero, Heracles. See the Perseïds about the descendants of Acrisius and Perseus.

At first, Proëtus ruled in Tiryns. His court had famous guests, such as the hero Bellerophon and the seer Melampus. When he gave Tiryns to Perseus, while he received his late brother's kingdom, his descendants would become involved in the greatest war before the Trojan War, which was known as the Seven Against Thebes. See Proëtus and his Descendants.