{{short description|Greek mythological figure}} {{redirect|Argea|other uses of the name "Argea" or "Argeia"|Argia (disambiguation)|the doll-like figures used in ancient Roman ceremonies|Argei}} [[File:Argia BnF Français 599 fol. 24v.jpg|thumb|"Argia" in the Bibliothèque nationale de France]]

In Greek mythology, '''Argia''' {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|ə}} or '''Argea''' {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|dʒ|iː|ə}} (Ancient Greek: Ἀργεία ''Argeia'') was a daughter of King Adrastus of Argos, and of Amphithea, daughter of Pronax. She was married to Polynices, the exiled king of Thebes, and bore him three sons: Thersander, Adrastus, and Timeas.<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#69 69] - [https://topostext.org/work/206#70 70]</ref><ref>Pausanias, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2B.html ''Description of Greece'', 2.20.5]</ref><ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022#note12 1.9.13] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.6.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022#note12 3.6.1]</ref><ref>Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html fr. 99a]</ref>

== Mythology == left|thumb|''Woodcut illustration of Argia and Polynices'' (1473) When Oedipus had died at Thebes, Argia came with others to the funeral of Oedipus, her father-in-law.<ref>''Scholiast on Homer, Il. xxiii. 679;'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Hesiod''. Catalogue of Women Fragment 24''.]</ref>

== Middle Age tradition == She is remembered in ''De Mulieribus Claris'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361{{endash}}63. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.<ref name="Brown_xi">{{cite book |last=Boccaccio |first=Giovanni |authorlink=Giovanni Boccaccio |year=2003 |translator=Virginia Brown |title=Famous Women |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |series=I Tatti Renaissance Library |volume=1 |isbn=0-674-01130-9 |page=xi}}</ref>

In Dante's ''Inferno'', she is found in Limbo.

==See also== {{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|}} *Phoenician Women *Hyginus, who in his ''Fabulae'' (Latin) calls her Argia. *Robert Graves in his popular ''The Greek Myths'' (106c) prefers the spelling Aegeia. *Euripides in ''The Phoenician Women'' and ''Suppliants'', who mentions the wedding without giving her name.

== Notes == <references />

== References == *Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website]. *Gaius Julius Hyginus, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] *Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women'' from ''Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica'' translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theio.com] *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, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library] *Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. *Publius Papinius Statius'', The Thebaid'' translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [https://topostext.org/work/149 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] *Publius Papinius Statius, ''The Thebaid. Vol I-II''. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0498 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.] *Statius, ''Thebais IV.187–213''

Category:Princesses in Greek mythology Category:Mythological Argives Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy

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