Pindar, Nemean Ode # 10 (to Theaeus of Argos, Wrestling),
Pythian Ode # 10 (to Hippocleas of Thessaly, Boys' Foot Race),
Pythian Ode # 12 (to Midas of Acragas, Flute Playing -- 5th c. BCE
Ovid, Metamorphoses -- 1st c. CE
The 50 daughters of Danaus, of Argos, were forced to marry the fifty sons of Aegyptus. Forty-nine of the daughters killed their husbands, for which deed they became one of the great sinners in the Underworld, forced to carry water from place to place in buckets full of holes. The hold-out, Hypermnestra, spared her husband Lynceus, and the two later became the progenitors of the royal line of Argos.
In true folklore fashion, the princess, Danaë, is imprisoned by her father, Acrisius, to keep her from having a son who will overthrow him. Happens in all sorts of folktales, doesn't it? Just think of Rapunzel in the tower. Of course, such precautions don't stop gods. But what does it mean that Zeus comes to Danaë as a shower of gold? Abandoned in an old trunk set afloat on the sea (Acrisius does this to avoid direct guilt in her expected death -- "she was alive the last time I saw her"), she and her child wash up on the shores of Seriphos in Asia Minor. There are connections between Asia Minor and Argos in Argive legends.
While in Seriphos, Perseus finds himself on a quest to kill Medusa and bring the Gorgon's head to the king, Polydectes. Perseus has two helpers, Hermes (who is often connected with Argos) and Athena (perhaps because she carries the aegis [the leather breastplate w/ the Gorgon head centerpiece]). His getting assistance from two gods is somewhat unusual. On this trip, he also encounters the Graeae, three aged sisters who share 1 tooth and 1 eye.
Perseus also has to save a damsel in distress (again, the folktale element). The princess Andromeda is chained to a rock as a human sacrificial victim for a sea monster, because her mother foolishly boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids (the foolish boast is also a folk element). Using a scimitar and winged sandals from Hermes, and the cap of invisibility the gods gave him, Perseus stops the monster and frees the princess. He uses Medusa's head to turn those opposing his marriage to Andromeda to stone (Freud, by the way, had a field day with the symbolism of Medusa and her stony look).
There is an interesting film version of this story from Ray Harryhausen, called Clash of the Titans. Though it plays fast and loose with the traditional account (there's even a mechanical owl named Bubo (bubo is the Greek word for "owl," and Burgess Meredith revises his role as Rocky's manager), it's portrayal of the gods is rather interesting, they come across as petty and cruel. Also interesting is the conception of the mortals as characters in a play, with the gods moving them here and there on the earthly stage. By today's standards, the special effects are anything but special. And Harry Hamlin as a Greek hero -- all I can say is fire that casting director!
One final word about Argos as a mythological site -- the # 2 Greek warrior at Troy was probably Diomedes, who was King of Argos, and his father, Tydeus, had been a great hero who took part in the Argonauts' expedition, and fought in the great siege of Thebes, as one of the fabled seven.
Go to M & L's site for further information by clicking here and clicking on the link to chapter 21.