Temple of Artemis image carried through the streets and surrounded by maidens. In the Roman Imperial era, the emperor Commodus lent his name to the festival games, and might have sponsored them. From the Greek point of view, the Ephesian Artemis is a distinctive form of their goddess Artemis. In Greek cult and myth, Artemis is the twin of Apollo, a virgin huntress who supplanted the Titan Selene as goddess of the Moon. At Ephesus, a goddess whom the Greeks associated with Artemis was venerated in an archaic, pre-Hellenic cult image that was carved of wood (a "xoanon") and kept decorated with jewelry.
Abas (son of Lynceus) Abas (son of Lynceus) In Greek mythology, Abas (; Ancient Greek: Ἄβας) was the twelfth king of Argos. His name probably derives from a Semitic word for "father". Abas was the son of Lynceus of the royal family of Argos, and Hypermnestra, the last of the Danaides. With his wife Ocalea (or Aglaea, depending on the source), he had twin sons Acrisius (grandfather of Perseus) and Proetus, and one daughter, Idomene. Abas had also an illegitimate son named Lyrcus who gave his name to the city of Lyrcea. The name Abantiades () generally signified a descendant of this Abas, but