In Greek mythology, Minyas was the founder of Orchomenus or son of king Orchomenus, depending on the story. As the ancestor of the Minyans, a number of Boeotian genealogies (see Minyans) lead back to him, according to the classicist H.J. Rose.
His children include Clymene, mother of Phaethon, and three daughters known as the Minyades.
Minyas was also the title of an early Greek epic poem, probably dating to the 6th century B.C.E., which is now lost and whose author is unknown. The very few fragments that survive (available in Greek in Davies' and Bernabé's editions, and in Greek and English translation edited by M.L. West) seem to have nothing to do with Minyas or Orchomenus, however: they all concern the story of Theseus' and Peirithous' descent into the Underworld.
