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 l&ssicd^l 
 Dictionary 
 
 Contadnin^ brief zwnd 2v,ccur&.te 
 accounts of the proper names men- 
 tioned in classical literature 
 
 Edited with Introduction by 
 
 Edwzwrd S. Elliy-. A. M, 
 
 Author of " Plutarch's Lives," etc. 
 
 9^ 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The Penn Publbhin^ C^ompany 
 
 1902
 
 Copyright 1895 by the Woolfall Company 
 
 Copyright 1900 by the Penn Tuulishing Compani
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The word classic or classical is defined as 
 pure, refined ; conformed to the best and most 
 perfect standard; also pertaining to the 
 ancient Greek and Latin authors, or rendered 
 famous b}' association with ancient writers, as 
 " classic ground." 
 
 The ancient Romans were divided into six 
 classes. Those of the highest class were 
 called classici, and from this the term came 
 to signify the highest and purest class of 
 writers in any language, though at first ap- 
 plied only to the most esteemed Greek and 
 Latin authors. 
 
 Whether an ancient writer should be ranked 
 as a classic is not determined (as it would 
 seem ought to be the case) by what he wrote, 
 but by the period in which he wrote. The 
 classical age of Greek literature begins with 
 
 2231852
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Homer, the earliest Greek writer whose 
 works are extant, and extends probably to 
 the time of the Roman emperor Antonine, 
 although signs of decadence began to appear 
 about 300 B.C. 
 
 The Latin classical period is not so ex- 
 tended, its earliest writer being Plautus, and 
 it came to an end about 200 a.d. There are 
 some, however, who include Claudian, born 
 near 365 a.d., among the classics. 
 
 Humanism is that theory of education 
 which aims to give a symmetrical develop- 
 ment to the intellectual and moral powers b}^ 
 means of the study of the classical literature 
 and arts, or more largely the study of the 
 classics, or the culture of belles-lettres in 
 general. 
 
 The history of Humanism divides itself 
 into four distinct periods. 
 
 I. The formative period, extending from 
 the fifth century before to the fifth century 
 after Christ. H. The period of the Middle 
 Ages. HI. The Renaissance or revival of 
 learning, extending from the beginning of 
 the fourteenth to the end of the eighteenth
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 century. IV. The period of philological 
 science, embracing a portion of the eigh- 
 teenth and the nineteenth centuries. 
 
 I. The Formative Period. — The systematic 
 use of literary studies in education appears to 
 have begun among the ancients about the 
 fifth century B.C. The ridiculed sophists 
 and rhetoricians gave a new direction to 
 education by their attempt to make it more 
 practical, thus greatly helping all the arts 
 connected with literature, — as grammar, 
 rhetoric, logic, lexicography, etc. Studies 
 were expanded after the founding of Alex- 
 andria. The scholarly investigation and ex- 
 planation of the literary monuments of the 
 past began and were pressed by the profes- 
 sors and librarians of Alexandria. 
 
 Toward the close of the second century 
 B.C., the Romans began to investigate Greek 
 education, and during the following century 
 the Roman methods were remodeled along 
 the Greek lines. The third and fourth cen- 
 turies A.D. may be considered the golden age 
 of professors. By the close of the fourth cen- 
 tury a regular system had been formulated,
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which was accepted everywhere by gentile 
 and Christian, and handed down from gener- 
 ation to generation. 
 
 II. The Mediceval Period. — In the fifth cen- 
 tury A.D., the successive barbarian invasions 
 of the ancient world began, and the old order 
 of things was overturned. The Germans 
 destroyed the gentile world, with its philoso- 
 phers and teachers. Only Christianity and 
 education survived. Education was in the 
 hands of Christians, but it suffered prodigious 
 losses. Schools and libraries were destroyed ; 
 scholars decreased, and the civilized world 
 steadily shrank. The rich and cultivated 
 provinces of Africa fell into the hands of the 
 Moslems who overran Spain. The whole 
 Eastern empire was cut off from the West. 
 In the fifth and sixth centuries only a few 
 vestiges of civilization remained in Gaul. 
 At the close of the sixth and the beginning 
 of the seventh century, the remote province 
 of Ireland was the only point where studies 
 and scholarship had a foothold, and from 
 that point went out the first impulses for a 
 revival of the decaying study of literature.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 England was the first to respond to the im- 
 pulse, and her people helped the Irish to carry 
 it to the Continent. A revival of encyclo- 
 paedic learning took place in the twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries, and led to an investiga- 
 tion and study of what may be called the 
 great sources of knowledge. 
 
 III. The Renaissance. — France held the in- 
 tellectual leadership of Europe during the 
 Middle Ages. In the fourteenth century, it 
 passed to Italy, and was accompanied by so 
 remarkable an intellectual revolution that it 
 is called a " new birth" — renaissance. This 
 revival was marked by an extraordinary 
 enthusiasm for the classics. The first man 
 of the Renaissance, and at the same time the 
 first modern humanist, was Petrarch, born in 
 the year 1304, whose pioneer work in clearing 
 the ground of the " new way" approached the 
 marvellous. 
 
 The appointment of Manuel Chrysoloras, a 
 Byzantine scholar, as professor of Greek in 
 Florence, in 1396, brought about as a result a 
 true revival of Greek studies. From him and 
 from his pupils descended the increasing
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 generations of Greek scholars, who during 
 the fifteenth century made known to western 
 Europe the great originals and models of all 
 classical literary art. Every portion of Ital- 
 ian culture was profoundly modified. The 
 great discovery of printing about this time 
 gave a permanence to the Renaissance. The 
 first printed Latin book to be sent abroad 
 was Cicero's De Officiis, published in 1465. 
 The first Greek authors to be printed were 
 Theocritus and ^sop, which appeared to- 
 gether about 1480. 
 
 Humanism gradually triumphed in France, 
 and thence conquered Spain early in the 
 fifteenth century. It made slower progress 
 among the German nations. Although 
 Germany was brought into frequent political 
 contact with Italy during the whole period 
 of Italian humanism, she hardly felt its in- 
 fluence until the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, but to-day Germany is the chief seat of 
 classical learning. 
 
 IV. PJiilological Science Period. — This peri- 
 od may be considered as embracing the pres- 
 ent and an indefinite portion of the future.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 The spread of philological science and classi- 
 cal learning in general, it may be claimed, is 
 universal among all nations making any pre- 
 tence to civilization, 
 
 E. S. E. 
 MAY, i8(^^
 
 A 
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY. 
 
 Aby'dos. A city of Asia opposite Sestos in Eu- 
 rope. Its fame rests upon the loves of Hero 
 and Leander, and here also Xerxes built his 
 bridge of boats across the Hellespont. Hero 
 was a maiden of wondrous beauty, who was 
 dedicated by her parents to Venus' service. 
 As soon as she was old enough, she spent all 
 her time in the temple, ministering to the 
 goddess, or in a lonely tower by the sea, 
 where she lived alone with her aged nurse. 
 Leander, deeply smitten with the charms of 
 Hero, was in the habit of swimming across 
 the Hellespont, she displaying a signal for 
 him. One stormy night, while attempting 
 the feat, he was drowned. Hero saw the 
 body the next morning tossing up and down 
 in the waves at the foot of the tower. In her 
 grief she threw herself into the sea and per- 
 ished by his side. Lord Byron, in " The Bride
 
 12 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 of Abydos, " thus alludes to the touching in- 
 cident : 
 
 •' The winds are high on Helle's wave, 
 As on that night of stormy water, 
 When Love, who sent, forgot to save 
 The young, the beautiful, the brave, 
 The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter." 
 
 Aby dos. A town of Egypt, where stood the 
 famous temple of Osiris. 
 
 Acade'mi'a. A place surrounded with trees near 
 Athens, belonging to Academus, from whom 
 the name is derived. Here Plato opened his 
 school of philosophy, and from this every 
 place sacred to learning has ever since been 
 called Academia. 
 
 Acha'tes. -.^neas and Achates were friends. 
 The devotion of Achates was so unselfish and 
 exemplary that Fidus Achates became a 
 proverb. 
 
 Achelo us. The son of Oceanus and Terra, or 
 Tethys, god of the river of the same name in 
 Epirus. As one of the numerous suitors of 
 Dejanira, he entered the lists against Her- 
 cules, and being inferior, changed himself 
 into a serpent, and afterwards into an ox. 
 Hercules broke off one of his horns and de- 
 feated him, after which, according to some, 
 he was changed into a river. 
 
 Acheron. To separate that portion of Hades re- 
 served for the punishment of the wicked, 
 Pluto surrounded it with Phlegethon, a river 
 of fire, while the Acheron, a deep and black
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 13 
 
 stream, had to be passed by all souls before 
 they reached Pluto's throne and heard his de- 
 cree. The word Acheron is also used to sig- 
 nify Hades or hell itself. 
 
 Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis, was the 
 bravest of all the Greeks in the Trojan war. 
 During his infancy. Thetis plunged him in 
 the Styx, thus making every part of his body 
 invulnerable except the heel by which she 
 held him. To prevent him from going to the 
 Trojan war, Thetis sent him privately to the 
 court of Lycomedes, where he was disguised 
 in a .female dress. As Troy could not be 
 taken without his aid, Ulysses went to the 
 court of Lycomedes in the habit of a mer- 
 chant, and exposed jewels and arms for sale. 
 Achilles, choosing the arms, discovered his 
 sex, and went to the war. Vulcan made him 
 a strong suit of armor, which was proof 
 against all weapons. He was deprived by 
 Agamemnon of his favorite Briseis, and for 
 this affront he would not appear on the field 
 till the death of Patroclus impelled him to 
 vengeance. He slew Hector, who had killed 
 Patroclus, and tying his corpse to his war-car, 
 dragged it three times round Troy. He is 
 said to have been killed by Paris, who inflicted 
 a mortal wound in his vulnerable heel with 
 an arrow. 
 
 Actae'on. A famous huntsman, son of Aristseus 
 and Autonoe, daughter of Cadmus. He saw 
 Diana and her attendants bathing, for which
 
 14 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 he was changed into a stag and devoured by 
 his own dogs. 
 
 Ac'tium. A town and promontory of Epirus, 
 famous for the naval victory which Augustus 
 obtained over Antony and Cleopatra, b.c. 31. 
 
 A'des or Hades, The god of hell among the 
 Greeks ; the same as the Pluto of the Latins. 
 The word is often used for hell itself by the 
 ancient poets and in modern writings. 
 
 Adher'bal. Son of Micipsa, and grandson of 
 Masinissa, was besieged at Cirta, and put to 
 death by Jugurtha, after vainly imploring the 
 aid of Rome, b.c. 112. 
 
 Adme'tus. Son of Pheres and Clymene, king of 
 Pherse in Thessaly. Apollo, when banished 
 from heaven, is said to have tended his flocks 
 for nine years. 
 
 Ado'nis, son of Cinyras and Myrrha was the fa- 
 vorite of Venus. He was fond of hunting, 
 and was often cautioned not to hunt wild 
 beasts. This advice he slighted, and at last 
 was mortally wounded by a wild boar. Venus 
 changed him into the flower anemone. Pros- 
 erpine is said to have restored him to life, on 
 condition that he should spend six months of 
 the year with her, and the rest of the year 
 with Venus. This implies the alternate re- 
 turn of summer and winter. Shakspeare, in 
 his poem "Venus and Adonis," thus alludes 
 to the changing of Adonis into a flower : — 
 
 ** By this the boy that by her side lay kill'd 
 Was melted like a vapor from her sight,
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 15 
 
 And in his blood, that on the ground lay spill'd, 
 
 A purple flower sprung up, chequer'd with white, 
 Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood 
 Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood," 
 
 Adras'tus, son of Talaus and Lysimache, was 
 king of Argos. Polynices, being banished 
 from Thebes by his brother Eteocles, fled to 
 Argos, where he married Argia, daughter of 
 Adrastus. The king assisted his son-in-law, 
 and marched against Thebes with an army. 
 He was defeated with great slaughter, and 
 fled to Athens, where Theseus gave him as- 
 sistance, and was victorious. Adrastus died 
 from grief, occasioned by the death of his son 
 ^gialeus. 
 
 Adria'nus. A famous emperor of Rome. He is 
 represented as an active, learned, warlike, 
 and austere general. He went to Britain, 
 where he built a wall between the modern 
 towns of Carlisle and Newcastle-on-Tyne, to 
 protect the Britons from the incursions of the 
 Caledonians. 
 
 .^di'les. Roman magistrates, who had the 
 charge of all buildings, baths, and aqueducts, 
 and examined weights and measures. The 
 office of an -^dile was honorable, and the 
 primary step to a more distinguished position 
 in the State. 
 
 .^'geus. Kingof Athens, son of Pandion. Being 
 desirous of having children, he went to con- 
 sult the oracle, and on his return stopped at 
 the court of Pittheus, king of Troezene, who
 
 t6 classical dictionary 
 
 gave him his daughter ^thra in marriage. 
 He directed her, if she had a son, to send him 
 to Athens as soon as he could lift a stone under 
 which he had concealed his sword, ^thra 
 became mother of Theseus, whom she sent 
 to Athens with his father's sword, ^geus 
 being at that time living with Medea, the di- 
 vorced wife of Jason. When Theseus came to 
 Athens. Medea attempted to poison him, but 
 he escaped ; and upon showing JEgeus the 
 sword, discovered himself to be his son. 
 When Theseus returned from Crete, after the 
 death of the Minotaur, he omitted to hoist up 
 white sails as a signal of success, and at sight 
 of black sails, ^geus. concluding that hjs son 
 was dead, threw himself into the sea, which, 
 as some suppose, has since been called the 
 ^gean Sea. ^geus died b.c. 1235. 
 
 .^'gis. The shield of Jupiter. He gave it to 
 Pallas, who placed Medusa's head on it, which 
 turned into stones all those who gazed at it. 
 
 /Egy'ptuSj son of Belus, and brother to Danaus, 
 gave his fifty sons in marriage to the fifty 
 daughters of his brother. Danaus. who had 
 established himself at Argos and was jealous 
 of his brother, obliged all his daughters to 
 murder their husbands on the first night of 
 their nuptials. This was done, Hypermnestra 
 alone sparing her husband Lynceus. ^gy- 
 ptus himself was killed by his niece Polyxena. 
 
 ^lia'nus Claudius. A Roman sophist of Prse- 
 neste in the reign of Adrian. He taught
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 17 
 
 rhetoric at Rome. He wrote treatises on 
 animals in seventeen books, and on various 
 other subjects in fourteen books, ^lian died 
 at the age of sixt5^ a.d. 140. 
 
 iEne'as. A Trojan prince, son of Anchises and 
 Venus. He married Creusa, the daughter of 
 Priam, and they had a son named Ascanius. 
 During the Trojan war ^neas behaved with 
 great valor in defence of Troy. When the 
 city was in flames he is said to have carried 
 away his father Anchises on his shoulders, 
 leading his son Ascanius by the hand, his 
 wife following them. Subsequently he built 
 a fleet of twenty ships, with which he set sail 
 in quest of a settlement. He was driven on 
 the coasts of Africa, and was kindly received 
 by Dido, Queen of Carthage, who became 
 enamored with him ; but he left Carthage by 
 the order of the gods. He has been praised 
 for his piety and his submission to the will of 
 the gods; the term "Pius" is generally ap- 
 pended to his name. 
 
 .^ne'is. The ^neid, a grand poem by Virgil, 
 the great merit of which is well known. The 
 author has imitated the style of Homer, and 
 is by some thought to equal him. 
 
 ./E'olus, the ruler of storms and winds, was the 
 son of Hippotas. He reigned over ^olia. 
 He was the inventor of sails, and a great as- 
 tronomer, from which the poets have called 
 him the god of wind. 
 
 .£s'chines. An Athenian orator who lived about 
 2
 
 l8 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 342 B.C., and distinguished himself by his 
 rivalship with Demosthenes. 
 
 iEs'chylus, a soldier and poet of Athens, son of 
 Euphorion. He was in the Athenian army at 
 the battles of Marathon, Salamis. and Plataea ; 
 but his most solid fame rests on his writings. 
 He wrote ninety tragedies, forty of which 
 were rewarded with a public prize. He was 
 killed by the fall of a tortoise, dropped from 
 the beak of an eagle on his head, k.c. 456. 
 
 iEscula'pius, son of Apollo and Coronis, or as 
 some say of Apollo and Larissa, daughter of 
 Phlegias, was the god of medicine. He mar- 
 ried Epione, and they had two sons, famous 
 for their skill in medicine. Machaon and Po- 
 dalirus ; of their four daughters, Hygeia, god- 
 dess of health, is the most celebrated. 
 
 iE'son, son of Cretheus, was l)orn at the same 
 birth as Pelias. He succeeded his father in 
 the kingdom of lolchos, but was soon exiled 
 by his brother. He married Alcimeda, by 
 whom he had Jason, whose education he en- 
 trusted to Chiron. ^Vhen Jason reached man- 
 hood he demanded his father's kingdom from 
 his uncle, who gave him evasive answers, and 
 persuaded him to go in quest of the Golden 
 Fleece. On his return Jason found his father 
 very infirm, and at his request Medea drew 
 the blood from ^son's veins and refilled them 
 with the juice of certain herbs, which restored 
 the old man to the vigor of youth, 
 
 TEsopus. A Phrygian philosopher who, origin-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY tg 
 
 ally a slave, procured his liberty by his ge- 
 nius. He dedicated his fables to his patron 
 Croesus. The fables which we have now 
 under his name doubtless are a collection of 
 fables and apologues of wits before and after 
 the age of ^sop, conjointly with his own. 
 
 Agamemnon, king of Mycensc and Argos, was 
 brother to Menelaus, and son of Plisthenes, 
 the son of Atreus. He married Clytemnestra, 
 and Menelaus Helen, both daughters of Tyn- 
 darus, king of Sparta. When Helen eloped 
 with Paris, Agamemnon was elected com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Grecian forces invad- 
 ing Troy. 
 
 Agesila'us. Of the family of the Proclidse, son 
 of Archidamus, king of Sparta, whom he suc- 
 ceeded. He made war against Artaxerxes, 
 king of Persia, with success, but in the midst 
 of his conquests he was called home to oppose 
 the Athenians and Boeotians. He passed 
 over in thirty days that tract of country which 
 had taken up a whole year of Xerxes' expedi- 
 tion. He defeated his enemies at Coronea, 
 but sickness interfered with his conquests, 
 and the Spartans were beaten in every en- 
 gagement till he again appeared at their head. 
 He died 362 years b.c. 
 
 Agrip pa, M. Vipsanius. A celebrated Roman 
 who obtained a victory over S. Pompey, and 
 favored the cause of Augustus at the battles 
 of Actium and Philippi, where he behaved 
 with great valor. In his expeditions in Gaul
 
 20 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and Germany he obtained several victories, 
 but refused the honor of a triumph, and 
 turned his attention to the embellishment of 
 Rome and the raising of magnificent build- 
 ings, among them the Pantheon. Augustus 
 gave him his daughter Julia in marriage. He 
 died universally lamented, at Rome, aged 
 fifty-one, B.C. 12. 
 
 Agrip'pa. A son of Aristobulus, grandson of the 
 great Herod. He was popular with the Jews, 
 and it is said that while they were flattering 
 him with the appellation of god he was struck 
 with death, a.d. 43. His son of the same 
 name was with Titus at the siege of Jerusa- 
 lem, and died a.d. 94. It was before him 
 that St. Paul pleaded. There were a number 
 of others of the same name, but of less celeb- 
 rity. 
 
 A jax, son of Telamon and Periboea, or Eriboea, 
 was one of the bravest of the Greeks in the 
 Trojan war. After the death of Achilles, 
 Ajax and Ulysses both claimed the arms of 
 the dead hero, which were given to Ulysses, 
 Some say that he was killed in battle by 
 Paris, but others record that he was murdered 
 by Ulysses. 
 
 Alari'cus. A famous king of the Goths who plun- 
 dered Rome in the reign of Honorius. He 
 was greatly respected for his valor, and dur- 
 ing his reign he kept the Roman empire in 
 continual alarm. He died after a reign of 
 twelve years, a.d. 410. He was buried in the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 21 
 
 bed of a river which had been turned from its 
 course for the reception of his corpse, in order 
 that it might be said that no one should tread 
 on the earth where he reposed. The circum- 
 stance is thus alluded to by one of our own 
 poets : — 
 
 " But ye the mountain stream shall turn, 
 And lay its secret channel bare, 
 And hollow, for your sovereign's urn, 
 A resting-place for ever there; 
 
 " Then bid its everlasting springs 
 Flow back upon the king of kings; 
 And never be the secret said 
 Until the deep give up its dead." 
 
 Albion, son of Neptune and Amphitrite, came 
 into Britain, where he established a kingdom, 
 and introduced astrology and the art of build- 
 ing ships. Great Britain is called "Albion" 
 after him. 
 
 Alcae'us. A celebrated lyric poet of Mitylene in 
 Lesbos, about 600 years before the Christian 
 era. He fled from a battle, and the armor 
 in which he left the field was hung up in the 
 temple of Minerva as a monument of his dis- 
 grace. He was enamoured of Sappho. Of 
 his works only a few fragments remain. 
 
 Alces'te or Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, married 
 Admetus. She, with her sisters, put her 
 father to death that he might be restored to 
 youth and vigour by Medea, who had prom- 
 ised to ettect this by her enchantments. She,
 
 92 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 however, refused to fulfil her promise, on 
 which the sisters fled to Admetus, who mar- 
 ried Alceste. 
 
 Alcibi'ades. An Athenian general, famous for 
 his enterprise, versatile genius, and natural 
 foibles. He was a disciple of Socrates, whose 
 lessons and example checked for a while his 
 vicious propensities. In the Peloponnesian 
 war he encouraged the Athenians to under- 
 take an expedition against Syracuse. He 
 died in his forty-sixth year. B.C. 404. 
 
 Alcme'na. Daughter of Electrion, king of Argos. 
 Her father promised her and his crown to 
 Amphitryon if he would revenge the death of 
 his sons who had been killed by the Tele- 
 boans. In the absence of Amphitryon, Jupi- 
 ter assumed his form and visited Alcmena, 
 who, believing the god to be her lover, re- 
 ceived him with joy. Amphitryon on his re- 
 turn ascertained from the prophet Tiresias 
 the deception which had been practiced. 
 After the death of Amphitryon, Alcmena mar- 
 ried Rhadamanthus. Hercules was the son 
 of Jupiter and Alcmena. 
 
 Alcy'one or Halcy'one, daughter of ^olus, mar- 
 ried Ceyx, who was drowned as he was going 
 to consult the oracle. The gods apprised 
 Alcyone in a dream of her husband's fate, 
 and when she found his body washed ashore 
 she threw herself into the sea. and she and 
 her husband were changed into birds. 
 
 Alec to. One of the Furies. She is represented
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 23 
 
 with her head covered with serpents, and 
 breathing vengeance, war, and pestilence. 
 
 Alexander, surnamed the Great, was son of 
 Philip and Olympias. He was born b.c. 355, 
 on the night on which the famous temple of 
 Diana at Ephesus was burnt. This event, 
 according to the magicians, was a prognostic 
 of his future greatness, as well as the taming 
 of Bucephalus, a horse which none of the 
 king's attendants could manage. Philip, it 
 is recorded, said, with tears in his eyes, that 
 his son must seek another kingdom, as that 
 of Macedonia would not be large enough for 
 him. He built a town, which he called Alex- 
 andria, on the Nile. His conquests were ex- 
 tended to India, where he fought with Porus. 
 a powerful king of the country, and after he 
 had invaded Scythia. he retired to Babylon 
 laden with spoils. His entry into the city 
 was predicted by the magicians as to prove 
 fatal to him. He died at Babylon in his 
 thirty-second year, after a reign of twelve 
 years and eight months of continual success, 
 B.C. 323. There were a number of others of 
 the same name, but of less celebrity. 
 
 Althae'a, daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, 
 married CEneus, king of Calydon, by whom 
 she had many children, among them being 
 Meleager. When he was born the Parca; put 
 a log of wood on the fire, saying, as long as 
 it was preserved the life of the child would be 
 prolonged. The mother took the wood froiij
 
 24 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 the flames and preserved it, but when Melea- 
 ger killed his two uncles, Althaea, to revenge 
 them, threw the log in the fire, and when it 
 was burnt Meleager expired. Althaea then 
 killed herself. 
 
 Amaryl'lis. The name of a countrywoman in 
 Virgil's Eclogues. Some commentators have 
 supposed that the poet spoke of Rome under 
 this fictitious name. 
 
 Amaz'ones or Amazonides. A nation of famous 
 women who lived near the river Thermodon 
 in Cappadocia. All their lives were employed 
 in wars and manly exercises. They founded 
 an extensive empire in Asia Minor along the 
 shores of the Euxine. 
 
 Ambra'cia. A city of Epirus, the residence of 
 King Pyrrhus. Augustus, after the battle of 
 Actium, called it Nicopolis. Lord Byron thus 
 alludes to it in the second canto of "Childe 
 Harold:"— 
 
 " Ambracia's gulf behold, where once was lost 
 A world for woman, lovely, harmless thing ! 
 In yonder rippling bay, their naval host 
 Did many a Roman chief and Asian king 
 To doubtful conflict, certain slaughter bring." 
 
 Amphiara'us, son of Oicleus and Hypermnestra, 
 was at the chase of the Calydonian boar, and 
 accompanied the Argonauts in their expedi- 
 tion. He was famous for his knowledge of 
 futurity. 
 
 Amphic tyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha,
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 25 
 
 reigned at Athens after Cranaus. Some say 
 the deluge happened in his age. 
 
 Amphic'tyon, the son of Helenus, who first es- 
 tablished the celebrated Council of the Am- 
 phictyons, composed of the wisest and most 
 virtuous men of some cities of Greece. 
 
 Amphi'on, son of Jupiter and Antiope. He cul- 
 tivated poetry, and made such progress in 
 music that he is said to have been the inven- 
 tor of it, and to have built the walls of Thebes 
 by the sound of his lyre. 
 
 Amphitrite. A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, 
 who married Neptune. She is sometimes 
 called Salatia. She was mother of Triton, a 
 sea deity. 
 
 Amphitryon. A Theban prince, son of Alcaeus 
 and Hipponome. His sister Anaxo married 
 Electryon, king of Mycenae, whose sons were 
 killed in battle by the Teleboans. Electryon 
 gave his daughter Alcmena to Amphitryon 
 for avenging the death of his sons. 
 
 Anachar'sis, a Scythian philosopher 592 years b. c. , 
 who, on account of his wisdom, temperance, 
 and knowledge, has been called one of the 
 seven wise men. He has rendered himself 
 famous among the Ancients by his writings, 
 his poems on war, the laws of the Scythians, 
 etc. 
 
 Anac'reon. A famous lyric poet of Teos, in 
 Ionia, favored by Polycrates and Hippar- 
 chus, son of Philostratus He was of intem- 
 perate habits and fond of pleasure. Some of
 
 a6 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 his odes are extant, and the elegance of his 
 poetry has been the admiration of ever}' age 
 and country. He lived to the age of eighty- 
 five, and after a life of pleasure was choked 
 with a grape-stone. He flourished b.c. 532. 
 The Odes have been translated into English 
 by Moore, Cowley, and others. 
 
 Anadyom'ene. A famous painting by Apelles of 
 Venus rising from the sea. 
 
 Anaxag oras. A Clazomenian philosopher, who 
 disregarded wealth and honors to indulge 
 his fondness for meditation and philosophy. 
 He applied himself to astronomy, and ob- 
 tained a knowledge of eclipses. He used to 
 say he preferred a grain of wisdom to heaps 
 of gold. He ^yas accused of impiety and 
 condemned to die, but he ridiculed the sen- 
 tence, which he said had already been pro- 
 nounced on him by nature. He died at the 
 age of seventy-two. li.c. 42S. 
 
 Anaxar'ete. A girl of Salamis, who so arro- 
 gantly rejected the addresses of Iphis. a youth 
 of ignoble birth, that he hanged himself at 
 her door. .She saw the spectacle without 
 emotion, and was changed into stone. Mr. 
 Wiffen makes allusion to the circumstance in 
 his translation of Garcilasso de la Vega: 
 
 •' Klse tremble at the fate forlorn 
 Of Anaxarete, who spurn'd 
 
 The weeping Iphis from her gate; 
 
 Who, scoffing long, relenting late, 
 Was to a statue turn'd."
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 27 
 
 Anchi'ses. A son of Capys and Themis. He 
 was so beautiful that Venus came down from 
 heaven on Mount Ida to enjoy his company, 
 ^neas was the son of Anchises and Venus, 
 and was entrusted to the care of Chiron the 
 Centaur. When Troy was taken, Anchises 
 had become so infirm that ^neas had to carry 
 him through the flames upon his shoulders, 
 and thus saved his life. 
 
 Andromache. Daughter of Eetion, king of 
 Thebes. She married Hector, son of Priam, 
 and was the mother of Astyanax. Her part- 
 ing with Hector, who was going to battle, is 
 described in the Iliad, and has been deemed 
 one of the most beautiful passages in that 
 great work. Pope's translation of the Iliad 
 (book 6) describes with great pathos and 
 beauty the parting of Hector from his wife 
 and child. The passage is too long for quo- 
 tation, but this quatrain from it shows the 
 style : — 
 
 " Thus having spoke, th' illustrious chief of Troy 
 Stretch'd his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy; 
 The babe clung crying to his nurse's breast, 
 Scared at the dazzling helm and nodding crest."' 
 
 Andromeda. A daughter of Cepheus, king of 
 Ethiopia, and Cassiope. She was promised 
 in marriage to Phineus when Neptune drowned 
 the kingdom and sent a sea monster to ravage 
 the country, because Cassiope had boasted 
 
 . . that she was fairer than Juno and the Nerei- 
 des. The oracle of Jupiter Ammon was con-
 
 a8 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 suited, but nothing could stop the resentment 
 of Neptune except the exposure of Andromeda 
 to the sea monster. She was accordingly tied 
 to a rock, but at the moment that the monster 
 was about to devour her, Perseus, returning 
 • from the conquest of the Gorgons, saw her, 
 and was captivated with her beauty. He 
 changed the monster into a rock by showing 
 Medusa's head, and released Andromeda and 
 married her. 
 Anthropophagi. A people of Scythia who fed 
 on human flesh. They lived near the country 
 of the Messagetie. Shakspeare makes Othello, 
 in his speech to the Senate, allude to the 
 Anthropophagi thus :— 
 
 " The cannibals that each other eat, 
 The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads 
 Do grow beneath their shoulders." 
 
 Antigone. A daughter of CEdipus, king of 
 Thebes. She buried, by night, her brother 
 Polynices, against the orders of Creon, who 
 ordered her to be buried alive. She, how- 
 ever, killed herself on hearing of the sentence. 
 The death of Antigone is the subject of one 
 of the finest tragedies of Sophocles. 
 
 Antig'onus. One of Alexander's generals, who, 
 on the division of the provinces after the 
 king's death, received Pamphylia, Lycia, and 
 Phrygia. Eventually his power became so 
 great that Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and 
 Lysimachus combined to destroy him. He
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY -29 
 
 gained many victories over them, but at last 
 was killed in battle at the age of eighty, b.c. 
 301. There were others of the same name, 
 but much less conspicuous. 
 
 Antin'ous. A youth of Bithynia of whom the 
 emperor Adrian was so extremely fond that, 
 at his death, he erected a temple to him, and 
 wished it to be believed that he had been 
 changed into a constellation. 
 
 Anti'ochus, surnamed Soter, was son of Seleucus 
 and king of Syria. He made a treaty of alli- 
 ance with Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of 
 Egypt. He wedded his stepmother Stratonice. 
 He was succeeded by his son Antiochus II. , 
 who put an end to the war which had begun 
 with Ptolemy, and married his daughter Ber- 
 enice, but being already married to Laodice, 
 she, in revenge, poisoned him. Antiochus, 
 the third of that name, surnamed the Great, 
 was king of Syria, and reigned thirty-six 
 years. He was defeated by Ptolemy Philo- 
 pater at Raphia. He conquered the greater 
 part of Greece, and Hannibal incited him to 
 enter on a crusade against Rome, He was 
 killed 187 years before the Christian era. An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, the fourth of the name, 
 was king of Syria after his brother Seleucus. 
 He behaved with cruelty to the Jews. He 
 reigned eleven years, and died unregretted. 
 There were many others of the same name of 
 less note. 
 
 Anti'ope, daughter of Nycteus, king of Thebes,
 
 3^ CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and" Polyxo, was beloved by Jupiter.' "Am* 
 phion and Tethus were her offspring. 
 
 Antip'ater, son of lolaus, was a soldier under 
 King Philip, and raised to the rank of a 
 general under Alexander the Great. When 
 Alexander went to invade Asia, he left Antip- 
 ater supreme governor of Macedonia. He 
 has been suspected of giving poison to Alex- 
 ander to advance himself in power. 
 
 Antoninus, surnamed Pius, was adopted by the 
 Emperor Adrian, whom he succeeded. He 
 was remarkable for all the virtues forming a 
 perfect statesman, philosopher, and king. He 
 treated his subjects with affability and hu- 
 manity, and listened with patience to every 
 complaint brought before him. He died in 
 his seventy-fifth year, after a reign of twenty- 
 three years, A. D. i6o. 
 
 Anto'nius, Marcus. Mark Antony, the triumvir, 
 distinguished himself by his ambitious views. 
 When Julius Cassar was killed in the senate 
 house, Antony delivered an oration over his 
 body, the eloquence of which is recorded in 
 Shakspeare's tragedy of Julius Caesar. An- 
 tony had married Fulvia, whom he repudi- 
 ated to marry Octavia, the sister of Augustus. 
 He fought by the side of Augustus at the bat- 
 tle of Philippi, against the murderers of Julius 
 Caesar. Subsequently he became enamored 
 with Cleopatra, the renowned queen of Egypt, 
 and repudiated Octavia to marry her. He 
 was utterly defeated at the battle of Actiura,
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY ^J 
 
 f : • and stabbed himself. He died m -the fifty - 
 sixth year of his age, r.. < . 30. Shakspeare, 
 in his noble tragedy— Antony and Cleopatra, 
 —makes Antony appeal to his attendant, 
 Eros, to slay him, who refuses, when Antony 
 falls on his own sword. The reader is re- 
 ferred to the fourth act of the play, where 
 Antony, defeated and heart-broken, addresses 
 his attendant : 
 
 " Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done, 
 And we must sleep." 
 
 Anto nius, Ju lius,son of the famous triumvir An- 
 tony, by Fulvia, was consul with Paulus 
 Fabius Maximus. He was surnamed Afri- 
 canus, and put to death by order of Augustus, 
 but some say he killed himself. 
 
 Anto'nius, M. Gni pho. A poet of Gaul who 
 taught rhetoric at Rome. Cicero and other 
 illustrious men frequented his school. There 
 were a number of others of the same name, 
 but of less repute. 
 
 Apelles. A celebrated painter of Cos, or, as 
 others say, of Ephesus ; son of Pithius. He 
 lived in the age of Alexander the Great, who 
 forbade any one but Apelles to paint his por- 
 trait. He was so absorbed in his profession 
 that he never allowed a day to pass without 
 employing himself at his art ; hence the 
 proverb of Nulla dies sine lined. His most 
 perfect picture was Venus Anadyomene, 
 which was not quite finished when he died.
 
 33 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 He painted a picture in which a horse was a 
 prominent feature, and so correctly was it 
 delineated that a horse passing by it neighed, 
 supposing it to be alive. He was ordered by 
 Alexander to paint a portrait of one of 
 his favorites — Campaspe. Apelles became 
 enamored with her and married her. He 
 only put his name to three of his pictures — a 
 sleeping Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an 
 Alexander. The proverb, Ne siitor ultra 
 crepidaifi, has been used in reference to him 
 by some writers. 
 
 Aphrodite. The Grecian name for Venus, from 
 the Greek word a<^poQ, froth, because Venus is 
 said to have been born from the froth of the 
 ocean. 
 
 Apic'ius. A famous gourmand in Rome. There 
 were three of this name, all noted for their 
 voracious appetites. 
 
 A'pis. One of the ancient kings of Peloponnesus, 
 son of Phoroneus and Laodice. Some say that 
 Apollo was his father, and that he was king 
 of Argos. whilst others called him king of 
 Sicyon, and fix the time of his reign above 
 200 years earlier. Varro and others have sup- 
 posed that Apis went to Egypt with a colon}'- 
 of Greeks, and that he civilized the inhabitants 
 and polished their manners, for which they 
 made him a god after death, and paid divine 
 honors to him under the name of Serapis. 
 
 Apis. A god of the Egyptians, worshiped 
 under the form of an ox. Some say that Isis
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 33 
 
 and Osiris are the deities worshiped under 
 this name, because they taught the Egyptians 
 agriculture. 
 
 Apollo. Son of Jupiter and Latona; called also 
 Phcebus. He was the god of the fine arts 
 and the reputed originator of music, poetry, 
 and eloquence. He had received from Jupiter 
 the power of knowing futurity, and his oracles 
 were in repute everywhere. As soon as he 
 was born he destroyed with his arrows the 
 serpent Python, which Juno had sent to per- 
 secute Latona ; hence he was called Pythius. 
 He was not the inventor of the lyre, as some 
 have supposed, but it was given to him by 
 Mercury, who received in return the famous 
 , Caduceus. He received the surnames of 
 Phoebus, Delius. Cynthius, Paean, Delphicus, 
 etc. He is in sculpture generally represented 
 as a handsome young man with a bow in his 
 hand, from which an arrow has just been dis- 
 charged. 
 
 Appianus. An historian of Alexandria, who 
 flourished ad. 123, His Universal History, 
 which consisted of twenty-four books, was a 
 history of all the nations conquered by the 
 Romans, 
 
 Ap'pius Clau'dius. A decemvir who obtained his 
 power by force and oppression. He grossly 
 insulted Virginia, whom her father killed to 
 save her from the power of the tyrant. 
 
 Arcadia. A district of Peloponnesus, which has 
 been much extolled by the poets. It was 
 3
 
 34 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 famous for its mountains. The inhabitants 
 were for the most part shepherds, who lived 
 upon acorns. They were skillful warriors and 
 able musicians. Pan lived chiefly among 
 them. 
 
 Archilochus. A poet of Paros, who wr-ote ele- 
 gies, satires, odes, and epigrams. He lived 
 B.C. 68 5. 
 
 Archimedes. A famous geometrician of Syra- 
 cuse who invented a machine of glass that 
 represented the motion of the heavenly bodies. 
 When Marcellus, the Roman consul, besieged 
 Syracuse, Archimedes constructed machines 
 which suddenly raised into the air the ships 
 of the enemy, which then fell into the sea and 
 were sunk. He also set fire to the ships with 
 burning-glasses. When the enemy were in 
 possession of the town, a soldier, not know- 
 ing who he was, killed him. B.C. 212. 
 
 Arethu'sa, a nymph of Elis, daughter of Oceanus, 
 and one of Diana's attendants. As she re- 
 turned one day from hunting she bathed in 
 the Alpheus stream. The god of the river 
 was enamored of her, and pursued her over 
 the mountains, till Arethusa, ready to sink 
 from fatigue, implored Diana to change her 
 into a fountain, which the goddess did. 
 
 Ar'go. The name of the famous ship which car- 
 ried Jason and his companions to Colchis, 
 when they went to recover the Golden Fleece. 
 
 Argonau'tae. The Argonauts, those ancient he- 
 roes who went with Jason in the Argo to
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 35 
 
 Colchis to recover the Golden Fleece, about 
 seventy-nine years before the capture of Troy, 
 The number of the Argonauts is not exactly 
 known. 
 
 Ar'gus. A son of Arestor, whence he is some- 
 times called Arestorides. He had a hundred 
 eyes, of which only two were asleep at one 
 time. Juno set him to watch lo. whom 
 Jupiter had changed into a heifer, but Mer- 
 cury, by order of Jupiter, slew him. by lulling 
 all his eyes to sleep with the notes of the lyre. 
 Juno put the eyes of Argus in the tail of the 
 peacock, a bird sacred to her. 
 
 Ariad ne, daughter of Minos, second king of 
 Crete, and Pasiphse. fell in love with Theseus, 
 who was shut up in the labyrinth to be de- 
 voured by the Minotaur. She gave Theseus 
 a clue of thread by which he extricated him- 
 self from the windings of the labyrinth. After 
 he had conquered the Minotaur he married 
 her, but after a time forsook her. On this, 
 according to some authorities, she hanged 
 herself. According to other waiters, after 
 being abandoned by Theseus. Bacchus loved 
 her, and gave her a crown of seven stars, 
 which were made a constellation. 
 
 Ari'on. A famous lyric poet and musician, son 
 of Cyclos of Methymna in Lesbos. He went 
 into Italy with Periander. tyrant of Corinth, 
 where he gained much wealth by his profes- 
 sion. Afterward he wished to revisit the 
 place of his nativity, and he embarked in a
 
 36 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 ship, the sailors of which resolved to kill him 
 for the riches he had with him. Arion en- 
 treated them to listen to his music, and as 
 soon as he had finished playing he threw him- 
 self into the sea. A number of dolphins had 
 been attracted by the sweetness of his music, 
 and it is said that one of them carried him 
 safely on its back to T^narus. whence he went 
 to the court of Periander, who ordered all the 
 sailors to be crucified. 
 
 Aristae'us. Son of Apollo and Cyrene, famous 
 for his fondness for hunting. He married 
 Autonoe, the daughter of Cadmus, Actaeon 
 being their son. He was after death wor- 
 shiped as a demigod. 
 
 Aristar chus. A celebrated grammarian of 
 Samos, disciple of Aristophanes. He lived 
 the greatest part of his life at Alexandria. 
 .He wrote about 800 commentaries on different 
 authors. He died in his seventy-second year, 
 B.C. 157- 
 
 Aristi'des. A celebrated Athenian, son of Lysi- 
 machus, in the age of Themistocles, whose 
 great temperance and virtue procured for him 
 the name of the "Just." He was rival to 
 Themistocles, by whose influence he was ban- 
 ished for ten years, i?.c. 484. He was at the 
 battle of Salamis, and was appointed to be 
 chief commander with Pausanias against 
 Mardonius, whom they defeated at Plataia. 
 
 Aristip'pus, the elder, a philosopher of Cyrene, a 
 disciple of Socrates, and founder of the Cy- 
 renaic sect.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 37 
 
 Aristogi'ton and Harmo'dius. Two celebrated 
 friends of Athens, who, by their joint efforts, 
 delivered their country from the tyranny of 
 the Pisistratidse, B.C. 510. 
 
 Aristophanes. A celebrated comic poet of 
 Athens, son of Philip of Rhodes. He wrote 
 fifty-four comedies, of which eleven have 
 come down to us. He lived b.c. 434. and 
 lashed the vices of the age with a masterly 
 hand. 
 
 Aristof eles. A famous philosopher, son of Ni- 
 comachus. born at Stagira. He went to 
 Athens to hear Plato's lectures, where he 
 soon signalized himself by his genius. He 
 has been called by Plato the philosopher of 
 truth, and Cicero complimented him for his 
 eloquence, fecundity of thought, and univer- 
 sal knowledge. He died in his sixty-third 
 year. b.c. 322. As he expired he is said to 
 have exclaimed : Causa caiisarian miserere 
 mei, which sentence has since become famous, 
 and is by some attributed to Cicero. The 
 term Stagirite has been applied to Aristotle 
 from the name of his birthplace. Pope, in 
 his "Essay on Criticism," thus alludes to him 
 under this name : — 
 
 '* And rules as strict his labor'd work confine, 
 As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line." 
 
 Artaxerx'es the First succeeded to the kingdom 
 of Persia after Xerxes. He made war against 
 the Bactrians, and reconquered Egypt, which
 
 38 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 had revolted. He was remarkable for his 
 equity and moderation. 
 
 Artaxerx'es the Second. King of Persia, sur- 
 named Mnemon. His brother Cyrus endeav- 
 ored to make himself king in his place, and 
 marched against his brother at the head of 
 100,000 Barbarians and 13,000 Greeks. He 
 was opposed by Artaxerxes with a large army, 
 and a bloody battle was fought at Cunaxa, 
 in which Cyrus was killed and his forces 
 routed. 
 
 Artemis. The Greek name of Diana. Her festi- 
 vals, called Artemesia, were celebrated in 
 several parts of Greece, particularly at Delphi. 
 
 Asca'nius, son of ^neas and Creusa, was saved 
 from the flames of Troy by his father, whom 
 he accompanied in his voyage to Italy. He 
 was afterward called lulus. 
 
 Aspa'sia. Daughter of Axiochus, born at Meli- 
 tus. She came to Athens, where she taught 
 eloquence. Socrates was one of her scholars. 
 She so captivated Pericles by her accomplish- 
 ments that he made her his wife. The con- 
 duct of Pericles and Aspasia greatly corrupted 
 the morals of the Athenians, and caused 
 much dissipation in the State. 
 
 Aspa'sia. A daughter of Hermotimus of Phocaea, 
 famous for her personal beauty. She was 
 priestess of the sun, and became mistress to 
 Cyrus. 
 
 Astar'te. A powerful divinity of Syria, the same 
 as the Venus of the Greeks. She had a
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 39 
 
 famous temple at Hierapolis in Syria, which 
 was attended by 300 priests, 
 
 Astrae'a. A daughter ©f Astrseus, king of Arca- 
 dia, or, according to others, daughter of Titan 
 and Aurora. Some make her daughter of 
 Jupiter and Themis. She was called Jus-tice, 
 of which virtue she was the goddess. 
 
 Asty'anax. A son of Hector and Andromache. 
 He was very j^oung when the Greeks besieged 
 Troy, and when the city was taken his mother 
 saved him in her arms from the flames. Ac- 
 cording to Euripides he was killed by Men- 
 elaus. 
 
 Atalan'ta. Daughter of Schoeneus, king of 
 Scyros. According to some she was the 
 daughter of Jasus, or Jasius, and Clymene, 
 but others say that Menalion was her father. 
 She determined to live in c-elibacy, but her 
 beauty gained her many admirers, and to free 
 herself from their importunities she proposed 
 to run a race with them. As she was almost in- 
 vincible in running, her suitors, who entered 
 the lists against her, were defeated, till Hip- 
 pomenes, the son of Macareus, proposed him- 
 self as an admirer. Venus gave him three 
 golden apples from the garden of the Hesper- 
 ides, and with these cDucealed about him he 
 entered the lists to race against Atalanta. As 
 the race proceeded he dropped the apples, 
 which she stopped to pick up, thus ena ng 
 Hippomenes to arrive first at the goal, and 
 obtain her in marriage.
 
 40 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 A'te. Daughter of Jupiter, and goddess of all 
 evil. She raised such discord amongst the 
 gods that Jupiter banished her from heaven, 
 and sent her to dwell on earth, where she 
 incited mankind to evil thoughts and actions. 
 
 Athana'sius. A bishop of Alexandria, celebrated 
 for his determined opposition to Arius and his 
 doctrines. He died a.d. 373, after filling the 
 archiepiscopal chair for forty-seven years. 
 The famous creed which is named after him 
 is no longer supposed to have been written by 
 him, and its authorship remains in doubt. 
 
 Atlas. One of the Titans, son of lapetus and 
 Clymene. He married Pleione, daughter of 
 Oceanus (or of Hesperis according to some 
 writers). He had seven daughters, who were 
 called the Atlantides. 
 
 A'treus. A son of Pelops and Hippodamia, was 
 king of Mycenae. His brother Chrysippus 
 was of disgraceful birth, and Hippodamia 
 wished to get rid of him, and urged Atreus 
 and another of her sons, Thyestes, to murder 
 him, which, on their refusal, she did herself. 
 Atreus retired to the court of Eurystheus, 
 king of Argos, and succeeded to his throne. 
 
 At ticus, T. Pomponius. A celebrated Roman 
 knight, to whom Cicero wrote a number of 
 letters, containing the general history of the 
 age. He retired to Athens, where he endeared 
 himself to the citizens, who erected statues to 
 him in commemoration of his virtues. He 
 died at the age of seventy-seven, B.C. 32.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 4I 
 
 At'tila. A celebrated king of the Huns, who in- 
 vaded the Roman empire in the reign of Va- 
 lentinian, with an army of half a million of 
 men. He laid waste the provinces, and 
 marched on Rome, but retreated on being 
 paid a large sum of money. He called him- 
 self the "Scourge of God," and died a.d, 453, 
 of an effusion of blood, on the night of his 
 marriage. 
 
 Augustus, Octavia'nus Caesar, emperor of 
 Rome, was son of Octavius, a senator, and 
 Accia, sister to Julius Csesar. He was asso- 
 ciated in the triumvirate with Antony and 
 Lepidus, and defeated the armies of Brutus 
 and Cassius at Philippi. Octavia, the sister 
 of Augustus, married Antony after the death 
 of his wife Fulvia. Octavia, however, was 
 slighted for the charms of Cleopatra, which 
 incensed Augustus, who took up arms to 
 avenge the wrongs of his sister, and at the 
 great battle of Actium (b.c. 31), the forces of 
 Antony and Cleopatra suffered a disastrous 
 defeat. 
 
 Aurelia'nus, emperor of Rome, was austere and 
 cruel in the execution of the laws and in his 
 treatment of his soldiers. He was famous for 
 his military character, and his expedition 
 against Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, gained 
 him great honors. It is said that in his vari- 
 ous battles he killed 800 men with his own 
 hand. He was assassinated near Byzantium, 
 A.D. 275.
 
 42 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Aurel'lius, M. Antoninus, surnamed "the philos- 
 opher," possessed all the virtues which should 
 adorn the character of a prince. He raised to 
 the imperial dignity his brother L. Verus, 
 whose dissipation and voluptuousness were as 
 conspicuous as the moderation of the philos- 
 opher. During their reign the Quadi, Par- 
 thians, and Marcomanni were defeated. 
 Verus died of apoplexy, and Antoninus sur- 
 vived him eight years, dying in his sixty -first 
 year, after a reign of nineteen years and ten 
 days. 
 
 Auro'ra. A goddess, daughter of Hyperion and 
 Thia or Thea. She is generally represented 
 by the poets as sitting in a chariot and open- 
 ing with her fingers the gates of the east, 
 pouring dew on the earth, and making the 
 flowers grow. The Greeks call her Eos. 
 
 Bacchus was son of Jupiter and Semele, the 
 daughter of Cadmus. He was the god of 
 wine, and is generally represented crowned 
 with vine leaves. He is said to have married 
 Ariadne after she had been forsaken by The- 
 seus. 
 
 Belisa'rius. A celebrated general who, in the 
 reign of Justinian, emperor of Constantinople, 
 renewed the victories which had rendered the 
 first Romans so distinguished. He died, 
 after a life of glory, suffering from royal 
 ingratitude, 565 years before the Christian 
 era.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 43 
 
 Beller'ophon, son of Glaucus, king of Ephyre, 
 and Eurymede, was at first called Hipponous. 
 He was sent by lobates, king of Lycia, to 
 conquer the monster Chimsera. Minerva as- 
 sisted him in the expedition, and by the aid 
 of the winged horse Pegasus he conquered 
 the monster and returned victorious. After 
 sending him on other dangerous adventures, 
 lobates gave him his daughter in marriage 
 and made him successor to his throne. 
 
 Bello'na, goddess of war, was daughter of Phorcys 
 and Ceto ; called by the Greeks Enyo, and is 
 often confounded with Minerva. She pre- 
 pared the chariot of Mars when he was going 
 to war, and appeared in battles armed with a 
 whip to animate the combatants, and holding 
 a torch. 
 
 Be'lus, one of the most ancient kings of Babylon, 
 about 1800 years before the age of Semiramis, 
 was made a god after death, and was wor- 
 shiped by the Assyrians and Babylonians. 
 He was supposed to be the son of the Osiris 
 of the Egyptians. The temple of Belus was 
 the most ancient and magnificent in the 
 world, and was said to have been originally 
 the tower of Babel. 
 
 Berenice. A daughter of Philadelphus, who 
 married Antiochus, king of Syria, after he 
 had divorced his former wife Laodice. 
 
 Bereni'ce. The mother of Agrippa, whose name 
 occurs in the history of the Jews as daughter- 
 in-law of Herod the Great. A number of
 
 44 
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 others of minor celebrity were known by the 
 same name, 
 Bi'on. A philosopher of Scythia who rendered 
 himself famous for his knowledge of poetry, 
 music, and philosophy. Another of the same 
 name was a Greek poet of Smyrna who wrote 
 pastorals. He was a friend of Moschus, who 
 says that he died by poison about 300 years 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Boadice'a. A famous British queen who rebelled 
 against the Romans and was defeated, on 
 which she poisoned herself. Her cruel treat- 
 ment by the Romans is the subject of an ode 
 by Cowper. 
 
 Bo'reas. The name of the north wind blowing 
 from the Hyperborean mountains. According 
 to the poets, he was son of Astrseus and 
 Aurora. He was passionately fond of Hya- 
 cinthus. 
 
 Bren'nus, A general of the Galli Senones, who 
 entered Italy, defeated the Romans, and 
 marched into the city. The Romans fled into 
 the Capitol, and left the city in possession of 
 the enemy. The Gauls climbed the Tarpeian 
 rock in the night, and would have taken the 
 Capitol had not the Romans been awakened 
 by the cackling of some geese, on which they 
 roused themselves and repelled the enemy. 
 
 Bri'a'reus. A famous giant, son of Ccelus and 
 Terra. He had a hundred hands and fifty 
 heads, and was called by men by the name of 
 ^geon.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 45 
 
 Brutus, L. Junius. Son of M. Junius and Tar- 
 quinia. When Lucretia killed herself, b c. 
 509, in consequence of the brutality of Tar- 
 quin, Brutus snatched the dagger from the 
 wound and swore upon the reeking blade im- 
 mortal hatred to the royal family, and made 
 the people swear they would submit no longer 
 to the kingly authority. His sons conspired 
 to restore the Tarquins, and were tried and 
 condemned before their father, who himself 
 attended their execution. Mr. John Howard 
 Payne, the American dramatist, has written 
 a tragedy, of which Brutus is the hero. 
 
 Bru'tus, Mar cus Ju nius, father of Caesar's mur- 
 derer, followed the part)' of Marius, and was 
 conquered by Pompey, by whose orders he 
 was put to death. 
 
 Bru'tus, Mar cus Ju nius, the destroyer of Caesar, 
 conspired, with many of the most illustrious. 
 citizens of Rome, against Caesar, and stabbed 
 him in Pompey 's Basilica. The tumult fol- 
 lowing the murder was great, but the con- 
 spirators fled to the Capitol, and by proclaim- 
 ing freedom and liberty to the populace, for 
 the time established tranquillity. Antony, 
 however, soon obtained the popular ear, and 
 the murderers were obliged to leave Rome, 
 Brutus retired into Greece, where he gained 
 many friends. He was soon pursued by An- 
 tony, who was accompanied by the young 
 Octavius. The famous battle of Philippi fol- 
 lowed, in which Brutus and his friend Cassius.
 
 46 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 who commanded the left wing of the army, 
 were totally defeated. Brutus fell on his own 
 sword, B.C. 42, and was honored with a mag- 
 nificent funeral by Antony. Plutarch relates 
 that Caesar's ghost appeared to Brutus in his 
 tent before the battle of Philippi warning him 
 of his approaching fall. Shakspeare, in his 
 tragedy of Julius Caesar, makes Antony speak 
 of Brutus as " the noblest Roman of them all, " 
 adding, in reference to his character: — 
 
 " His life was gentle; and the elements 
 So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up, 
 And say to all the world, 'This was a man.' " 
 
 Bucephalus. A horse of Alexander's, so fre- 
 quently named by writers that the term has 
 become proverbial. Alexander was the only 
 person that could mount him, and he always 
 knelt down for his master to bestride him. 
 
 Ca'cus, a famous robber, son of Vulcan and 
 Medusa, represented as a three-headed mon- 
 ster vomiting flames. He resided in Italy, 
 and the avenues of his cave were covered 
 with human bones. When Hercules returned 
 from the conquest of Geryon, Cacus stole 
 some of his cows, which Hercules discovering, 
 he strangled Cacus. 
 
 Cadmus; son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and 
 Telephassa, or Agriope, was ordered by his 
 father to go in quest of his sister Europa, 
 whom Jupiter had carried away. His search 
 proving fruitless, he consulted the oracle of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 47 
 
 Apollo, and was told to build a city where he 
 saw a heifer stop in the grass, and call the 
 country around Bceotia. He found the heifer, 
 as indicated by the oracle. Requiring water, 
 he sent his companions to fetch some from a 
 neighboring grove. The water was guarded 
 by a dragon, who devoured those who were 
 sent for it, and Cadmus, tired of waiting, 
 went himself to the place. He attacked the 
 dragon and killed it, sowing its teeth in the 
 ground, on which a number of armed men 
 rose out of the earth. Cadmus threw a stone 
 among them, and they at once began fight- 
 ing, and all were killed except five, who as- 
 sisted him in building the city. Cadmus in- 
 troduced the use of letters in Greece— the 
 alphabet, as introduced by him, consisting of 
 sixteen letters. 
 Cadu'ceus. A rod entwined at one end with two 
 serpents. It was the attribute of Mercury, 
 and was given to him by Apollo in exchange 
 for the lyre. 
 Cae'sar. A surname given to the Julian family 
 in Rome. This name, after it had been dig- 
 nified in the person of Julius Caesar and his 
 successors, was given to the apparent heir of 
 the empire in the age of the Roman emperors. 
 The first twelve emperors were distinguished 
 by the name of Caesar. They reigned in this 
 order — Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, 
 Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitel- 
 lius, Vespasian. Titus, and Domitian. Sue-
 
 48 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 tonius has written an exhaustive history of 
 the Caesars. C. Julius Csesar, the first em- 
 peror of Rome, was son of L. Caesar and Au- 
 relia, the daughter of Cotta. He was de- 
 scended, according to some accounts, from 
 lulus, the son of ^neas. His eloquence pro- 
 cured him friends at Rome, and the generous 
 manner in which he lived equally served to 
 promote his interest. He was appointed for 
 five years over the Gauls. Here he enlarged 
 the boundaries of the Roman empire by con- 
 quest, and invaded Britain, which till then 
 was unknown to the Romans. The corrupt 
 state of the Roman senate, and the ambition 
 of Caesar and Pompe}', caused a civil war. 
 Neither of these celebrated Romans would 
 endure a superior, and the smallest matters 
 were grounds enough for unsheathing the 
 sword. By the influence of Pompey a decree 
 was passed to strip Caesar of his power. An- 
 tony, as tribune, opposed this, and went to 
 Caesar's camp with the news. On this Caesar 
 crossed the Rubicon, which was the boundary 
 of his province. The passage of the Rubicon 
 was a declaration of war, and Caesar entered 
 Italy with his army. Upon this Pompey left 
 Rome and retired to Dyrrachium, and Caesar 
 shortly afterwards entered Rome. He then 
 went to Spain, where he conquered the parti- 
 sans of Pompey, and on his return to Rome 
 was declared dictator, and soon afterward 
 consul. The two hostile generals met in the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 49 
 
 plains of Pharsalia, and a great battle ensued, 
 B.C. 48. Pompey was defeated and fled to 
 Egypt, where he was slain. At length Caesar's 
 glory came to an end. Enemies had sprung 
 up around him, and a conspiracy, consisting 
 of many influential Romans, was formed 
 against him. Conspicuous among the con- 
 spirators was Brutus, his most intimate friend, 
 who, with others, assassinated him in the 
 senate house in the ides of March, b.c. 44, in 
 the fifty-sixth year of his age. He wrote his 
 Commentaries on the Gallic wars when the 
 battles were fought. This work is admired 
 for its elegance and purity of style. It was 
 after his conquest over Pharnaces, king of 
 Pontus, that he made use of the words, which 
 have since become proverbial, vent, vidz, vici, 
 illustrative of the activity of his operations. 
 Shakspeare's tragedy of Julius Caesar, in the 
 third act of which he is assassinated, uttering 
 as his last words, "£"/ iu Brute f Then fall 
 Caesar" — is devoted to the conspiracy and its 
 results, ending with defeat and death of 
 Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. 
 Caligula, a Roman emperor, was son of Ger- 
 manicus by Agrippina. He was proud, wan- 
 ton, and cruel. He was pleased when disas- 
 ters befel his subjects, and often expressed a 
 wish that the Romans had but one head that 
 he might have the pleasure of striking it off. 
 He had a favorite horse made consul and 
 adorned it with the most valuable trappings 
 4
 
 50 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and ornaments. The tyrant was murdered. 
 A.D. 41, in his twenty-ninth year, after a reign 
 of three years and ten months. 
 
 Calli'ope. One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter 
 and Mnemosyne, who presided over eloquence 
 and heroic poetry. 
 
 Cal'ydon. A city of ^tolia. where (Eneus, the 
 father of Meleager, reigned. During the 
 reign of CEneus Diana sent a wild boar to 
 ravage the country on account of the neglect 
 which had been shown of her divinity by the 
 king. All the princes of the age assembled 
 to hunt the Calydonian boar. Meleager killed 
 the animal, and gave the head to Atalanta, of 
 whom he was enamored. 
 
 Calypso. One of the Oceanides, or one of the 
 daughters of Atlas according to some writers. 
 When Ulysses was shipwrecked on her coasts 
 she received him with hospitality, and offered 
 him immortality if he would remain with her 
 as a husband, which he refused to do, and 
 after seven years' delay he was permitted to 
 depart from the island where Calypso reigned. 
 
 Camby'ses, king of Persia, was the son of Cyrus 
 the Great. He conquered Egypt, and was so 
 disgusted at the superstition of the Egyptians 
 that he killed their god Apis and plundered 
 their temples. 
 
 Camil'lus, L. Fu rius. A celebrated Roman, 
 called a second Romulus from the services he 
 rendered his country. He was banished for 
 distributing the spoils he had obtained at
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 51 
 
 Veii. During his exile Rome was besieged 
 by the Gauls under Brennus. The besieged 
 Romans then elected him dictator, and he 
 went to the relief of his country, which he de- 
 livered after it had been some time occupied 
 by the enemy. He died B.C. 365. 
 
 Campus Mar tius. A large plain without the 
 walls of Rome, where the Roman youth 
 were instructed in athletic exercises and learnt 
 to throw the discus, hurl the javelin, etc. 
 
 Can'nae. A village of Apuleia, where Hannibal 
 defeated the Roman consuls ^mylius and 
 Varro. ];.c. 216. 
 
 Capitoli num. A celebrated temple and citadel 
 at Rome on the Tarpeian rock. 
 
 Caracalla, son of the emperor Septimius Severus, 
 was notorious for his cruelties. He killed his 
 brother Geta in his mother's arms, and at- 
 tempted to destroy the writings of Aristotle. 
 After a life made odious by his vices he was 
 assassinated, a.d. 217, in the forty -third year 
 of his age. 
 
 Carac tacus. A king of the Britons, who was con- 
 quered by the Romans and taken prisoner to 
 Rome. 
 
 Carthago. Carthage, a celebrated city of Africa, 
 the rival of Rome, and for a long period the 
 capital of the country, and mistress of Spain, 
 Sicily, and Sardinia. The time of its founda- 
 tion is unknown, but it seems to be agreed 
 that it was built by Dido about 86g years be- 
 fore the Christian era, or, according to some
 
 52 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 writers, 72 or 73 years before the foundation 
 of Rome. It had reached its highest glory in 
 the days of Hamilcar and Hannibal. 
 
 Cassan'der, son of Antipater, made himself mas- 
 ter of Macedonia after his father's death, 
 where he reigned for eighteen years. 
 
 Cassan dra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, was 
 passionately loved by Apollo, who promised 
 to grant her whatever she might require, and 
 she obtained from him the power of seeing 
 into futurity. Some say she received the gift 
 of prophecy, with her brother Helenus, by 
 being placed when young one night in the 
 temple of Apollo, where serpents were found 
 wreathed round their bodies and licking their 
 ears, which gave them a knowledge of futur- 
 ity. She was allotted to Agamemnon in the 
 division of the spoils of Troy, and was slain 
 by Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife. 
 
 Cas'sius, C. A celebrated Roman who became 
 famous by being first quaestor to Crassus in 
 his expedition against Parthia. He married 
 Junia, the sister of Brutus, and joined Brutus 
 in the conspiracy formed to assassinate Csesar, 
 after which he returned to Philippi with 
 Brutus, and commanded one wing of the 
 army in the famous battle fought there. On 
 the defeat of his forces he ordered one of his 
 freedmen to kill him, and he perished by the 
 sword which had inflicted a wound on Cajsar. 
 He was called by Brutus "the last of all the 
 Romans."
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 53 
 
 Castalius Fons, or Casta lia. A fountain of 
 Parnassus sacred to the Muses. 
 
 Castor and Pollux were twin brothers, sons of 
 Jupiter and Leda. Mercury carried them to 
 Pallena, where they were educated. As soon 
 as they arrived at manhood they embarked 
 with Jason in quest of the Golden Fleece. In 
 this expedition they evinced great courage. 
 Pollux defeated and slew Amycus in the com- 
 bat of the Cestus, and was afterward consid- 
 ered to be the god and patron of boxing and 
 wrestling. Castor distinguished himself in 
 the management of horses. 
 
 Catili na, L. Ser gius, a celebrated Roman, de 
 scended from a noble family. When he had 
 squandered his fortune he secretly meditated 
 the ruin of his country, and conspired with 
 many Romans as dissolute as himself to extir- 
 pate the senate, plunder the treasures, and 
 set Rome on fire. This plot, known as the 
 Catiline conspiracy, was unsuccessful. The 
 history of it is written by Sallust. Catiline 
 was killed in battle u.c. 63. 
 
 Ca'to, Marcus, was great-grandson of the censor 
 Cato. The early virtues that appeared in his 
 childhood seemed to promise that he would 
 become a great man. He was austere in his 
 morals and a strict follower of the tenets of 
 the Stoics. His fondness for candor was so 
 great that his veracity became proverbial. In 
 the Catilinian conspiracy he supported Cicero. 
 and was the chief cause of the capital punish-
 
 54 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 ment which was inflicted on some of the con- 
 spirators. He stabbed himself after reading 
 Plato's treatise on the immortality of the 
 soul, B.C. 46, in the fifty-ninth year of his 
 age. Addison has familiarized us with a por- 
 tion of the history of the great Roman in his 
 noble tragedy of "Cato," in which occurs — in 
 the fifth act — the well-known soliloquy on the 
 immortality of the soul. Pope wrote the pro- 
 logue to the play, which he commences with 
 the familiar couplet : — 
 
 " To wake the soul by tender strokes of art, 
 To raise the genius, and to mend the heart." 
 
 Catullus, C, or Q. Vale rius. A poet of Verona 
 whose compositions are the offspring of a 
 luxuriant imagination. He was acquainted 
 with the most distinguished people of his age. 
 He directed his satire against Csesar, whose 
 only revenge was to invite him to a sumptu- 
 ous banquet. 
 
 Cel'sus, a physician in the age of Tiberius, who 
 wrote eight books on medicine, besides trea- 
 tises on agriculture, rhetoric, and military 
 affairs. 
 
 Centau'ri. A people of Thessaly, half men and 
 half horses. They were the offspring of Cen- 
 taurus and Stilbia. 
 
 Centumviri. The members of a court of justice 
 at Rome. Though originally 105 in number, 
 they were known as Centumvirs, and this 
 name they retained when they were increased 
 to 180.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 55 
 
 Cer'berus. A dog of Pluto. According to Hesiod 
 he had fifty heads, but according toother my- 
 thologists he had three only. He was placed 
 at the entrance to the infernal regions to pre- 
 vent the living from entering, and the inhab- 
 itants of the place from escaping. 
 
 Ce'res, the goddess of corn and harvests, was 
 daughter of Saturn and Vesta. She was the 
 mother of Proserpine, who was carried away 
 by Pluto while she was gathering flowers. 
 
 Chaerone'a, a city of Boeotia celebrated for a great 
 battle fought there in which the Athenians 
 were defeated by the Boeotians, b.c. 447, and 
 for the victory which Philip of Macedonia ob- 
 tained there over the confederate armies of 
 the Thebans and Athenians, b.c. 338. It was 
 the birthplace of Plutarch. Milton in one of 
 his sonnets alludes to the place : — 
 
 " That dishonest victory, 
 At Chaeronea fatal to liberty, 
 Killed with report that old man eloquent." 
 
 Isocrates is the "old man eloquent" thus al- 
 luded to. 
 
 Cha'ron. A god of the infernal regions, son of 
 Nox and Erebus, who conducted the souls of 
 the dead in a boat over the rivers Styx and 
 Acheron. 
 
 Cheops. A king of Egypt, after Rhampsinitus, 
 famous for building pyramids. 
 
 Chimse'ra. A celebrated monster which continu- 
 ally vomited flames. It was destroyed by 
 Bellerophon.
 
 56 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Chi'ron. A centaur, half a man and half a horse, 
 son of Philyra and Saturn. He was famous 
 for his knowledge of music, medicine, and 
 shooting, and taught mankind the use of 
 plants and medicinal herbs. 
 
 Chrysos'tom. A bishop of Constantinople who 
 died A.D. 407. He was a great disciplinarian, 
 and by severely lashing the vices of his age 
 he made many enemies. 
 
 Cic'ero, M. T., born at Arpinum, was son of a 
 Roman knight and lineally descended from 
 the ancient kings of the Sabines. In youth 
 he displayed many abilities, and was taught 
 philosophy by Philo, and law by Mutius Scse- 
 vola. He applied himself with great dili- 
 gence to the study of oratory and was distin- 
 guished above all the speakers of his time in 
 the Roman Forum. He signalized himself in 
 opposing Catiline, whom he publicly accused 
 of treason against the State, and whom he 
 drove from the city. After a number of vicis- 
 situdes of fortune he was assassinated, B.C. 
 43, at the age of sixty-three. 
 
 Cincinna'tus, L. Q. A celebrated Roman, who 
 was informed as he plowed in the fields that 
 the senate had chosen him to be dictator. On 
 this he left the plow and repaired to the field 
 of battle, where his countrymen were opposed 
 by the Volsci and Alqui. He conquered the 
 enemy, and entered Rome in triumph. 
 
 Cir'ce. A daughter of Sol and Perseis, celebrated 
 for her knowledge of magic and venomous
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 57 
 
 herbs. She was carried by her father to an 
 island called ^aea. Ulysses on his return 
 from the Trojan war visited her coasts, and 
 his companions were changed, by her potions, 
 into swine. Ulysses, who was fortified 
 against enchantments by an herb which he 
 had received from Mercury, demanded of 
 Circe the restoration of his companions to 
 their former shape : she complied with his 
 wishes, and eventually permitted him to de- 
 part from her island. 
 
 Claudia'nus. A celebrated poet, in the age of 
 Honorius, who is considered by some writers 
 to equal Virgil in the majestic character of 
 his style. 
 
 Claudius, T. Drusus Nero, son of Drusus, be- 
 came emperor of Rome after the death of 
 Caligula. He went to Britain, and obtained 
 a triumph for victories achieved by his gen- 
 erals. He suffered himself to be governed 
 by favorites whose avarice plundered the State 
 and distracted the provinces. He was poi- 
 soned by Agrippina. who wished to raise her 
 son Nero to the throne. 
 
 Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy 
 Auletes, was celebrated for her beauty. An- 
 tony became enamored of her and married 
 her, ignoring his vows to Octavia, the sister 
 of Augustus. He gave her the greatest part 
 of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire. 
 This caused a rupture between Augustus and 
 Antony, and these two famous men met at
 
 58 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Actium, when Cleopatra, by flying with sixty 
 ships, ruined the battle for Antony, and he 
 was defeated. Cleopatra destroyed herself by 
 applying an asp to her breast. 
 
 Cli'o. The first of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter 
 and Mnemosyne. She presided over history. 
 
 Cloaci na. A goddess of Rome who presided 
 over the Cloacae, which were large recepta- 
 cles for the filth of the whole city. 
 
 Clo'tho, the youngest of the three Parcae, who 
 were daughters of Jupiter and Themis, was 
 supposed to preside over the moment of birth. 
 She held the distaff in her hand and spun the 
 thread of life. 
 
 Clytemnes tra. A daughter of Tyndarus, king 
 of Sparta, and Leda. married Agamemnon, 
 king of Argos, in whose absence in the Tro- 
 jan war she misconducted herself with his 
 cousin ^gysthus. On the return of Aga- 
 memnon, Clytemnestra murdered him, as well 
 as Cassandra whom he had brought with him. 
 After this Clytemnestra ascended the throne 
 of Argos. In the mean time her son Orestes, 
 after an absence of seven years, returned, re- 
 solved to avenge the death of his father Aga- 
 memnon. On an occasion when ^gysthus 
 and Clytemnestra repaired to the Temple of 
 Apollo, Orestes, with his friend Pylades, 
 killed them. 
 
 Clyt'ia or Clyt ie. A daughter of Oceanus and 
 Tethys, beloved by Apollo. She was changed 
 into a sunflower.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 59 
 
 Codes, P. Horatius. A celebrated Roman who 
 alone opposed the whole army of Porsenna at 
 the head of a bridge while his companions 
 were cutting off the communication with the 
 other shore. When the bridge was destroyed, 
 Codes, though wounded by the darts of the 
 enemy, leapt into the Tiber and swam across 
 it, armed as he was. For his heroism a 
 brazen statue was raised to him in the Temple 
 of Vulcan. Lord Macaulaj', who has written 
 a noble poem on this heroic deed of Horatius 
 Codes, says, "There are several versions of 
 the story, and these versions differ from each 
 other in points of no small importance." Ac- 
 cording to his version Horatius had two com- 
 panions who stood by his side defending the 
 bridge ; these were Spurius Lartius and Her- 
 minius. The final quatrain of the poem rec- 
 ords how — 
 
 " With weeping and with laughter 
 Still is the story told, 
 How well Horatius kept the bridge, 
 In the brave days of old." 
 
 Co'drus. The last king of Athens, son of Melan- 
 thus. When the Heraclida? made war against 
 Athens, the oracle said that the victory would 
 be granted to that nation whose king was 
 killed in battle. The Heraclidse on hearing 
 this gave orders to spare the life of Codrus, 
 but the patriotic king disguised himself, and 
 engaging with one of the enemy, was killed. 
 The Athenians obtained the victory, and
 
 6o CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Codrus was regarded as the savior of his 
 country, 
 
 Coe'lus or Ura'nus. An ancient deity supposed 
 to be the father of Saturn, Oceanus, and 
 Hyperion. 
 
 Colchis or Corchos. A country of Asia famous 
 for the expedition of the Argonauts, and as 
 being the birthplace of Medea. 
 
 Collati nus, L. Tarquin'ius. A nephew of Tar- 
 quin the Proud. He married Lucretia. He, 
 with Brutus, drove the Tarquins from Rome. 
 
 Colossus. A celebrated brazen image at Rhodes, 
 which was considered to be one of the seven 
 wonders of the world. 
 
 Com'modus, L. Aure'lius Antoni nus, son of M. 
 Antoninus, succeeded his father in the Roman 
 empire. He was naturally cruel and fond of 
 indulging his licentious propensities. I^esir- 
 ous of being likened to Hercules, he adorned 
 his shoulders with a lion's skin, and carried 
 a knotted club in his hand. He fought with 
 the gladiators, and boasted of his skill in kill- 
 ing wild beasts in the amphitheater. He was 
 strangled by a wrestler in the thirty-first year 
 of his age, a.i;. iq2. 
 
 Co'mus. The god of revelry, feasting, and noc- 
 turnal amusements. He is represented as a 
 drunken young man with a torch in his 
 hand. 
 
 Concordia. The goddess of peace and concord 
 at Rome, to whom Camillus raised a temple 
 in the Capitol.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 6l 
 
 Confucius. A Chinese philosopher, as much 
 honored among his countrymen as if he had 
 been a monarch. He died about 499 years 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Co'non. A famous general of Athens, son of 
 Timotheus. He was made governor of all the 
 islands of the Athenians, and was defeated in 
 a naval battle by Lysander. He defeated the 
 Spartans near Cnidos, when Pisander, the 
 enemy's admiral, was killed. He died in 
 prison B.C. 393. 
 
 Constan tia. A grand-daughter of the great 
 Constantine, who married the Emperor Gra- 
 tian. 
 
 Constanti nus, surnamed the Great from the 
 greatness of his exploits, was son of Constan- 
 tius. It is said that as he was going to fight 
 against Maxentius, one of his rivals, he saw 
 a cross in the sky with the inscription, In hoc 
 vi7ice. From this he became a convert to 
 Christianity, ever after adopting a cross for 
 his standard. He founded a city where old 
 Byzantium formerly stood, and called it Con- 
 stantinopolis. There he kept his court, and 
 made it the rival of Rome in population and 
 magnificence. He died a.d. 337, after a reign 
 of thirty-one years of the greatest glory. 
 
 Constan tius Chlo rus, son of Eutropius, and 
 father of the great Constantine. He obtained 
 victories in Britain and Germany. He be- 
 came the colleague of Galerius on the abdica- 
 tion of Diocletian, and died a.d. 306, bearing
 
 62 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 the reputation of being brave, humane, and 
 benevolent. 
 
 Consul. A magistrate at Rome with regal au- 
 thority for the space of a year. There were 
 two consuls, who were annually chosen in the 
 Campus Martins. The first two were L. Jun. 
 Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus. 
 
 Corin'na. A celebrated woman of Thebes, whose 
 father was Archelodorus. It is said that she 
 obtained a poetical prize five times against 
 the competitorship of Pindar. 
 
 Coriola'nus. The surname of C. Martins, from 
 his victory over Corioli. After a number of 
 military exploits, and many services to his 
 country, he was refused the consulship. He 
 was banished, and went to the Volsci, where 
 he met with a gracious reception from Tullus 
 Aufidius, whom he advised to make war 
 against Rome, marching with the Volsci as 
 general. His approach alarmed the Romans, 
 who sent his mother and bis wife to meet him 
 and appease his resentment against his coun- 
 trymen, which with difficulty they succeeded 
 in doing. Shakspeare has made his history 
 the sul)ject of the tragedy of "Coriolanus," 
 which concludes with the assassination of the 
 hero by Tullus Aufidius and his attendants. 
 
 Come lia. A daughter of Scipio Africanus, 
 famous for her learning and virtues, and as 
 being the mother of the Gracchi, Tiberius and 
 Caius Gracchus. Her husband was T. Sem- 
 pronius Gracchus.
 
 CLASSICAL DiCTtONARY 6^ 
 
 Cras sus, M. Licin ius. A celebrated Roman, 
 who by educating slaves and selling them, be- 
 came very wealthy. He was made consul 
 with Pompey, and was afterward censor, and 
 formed one of the first triumvirate, his associ- 
 ates in it being Pompey and Caesar. In the 
 hope of enlarging his possessions he left 
 Rome, crossed the Euphrates, and hastened 
 to make himself master of Parthia. He was 
 met by Surena the Parthian general, and in 
 the battle which ensued 20,000 of the Romans 
 were killed and 10,000 made prisoners. Cras- 
 sus surrendered, and was put to death b.c. 53. 
 
 Creon, king of Corinth, was son of Sisyphus. 
 He promised his daughter Glauce to Jason, 
 who had repudiated Medea. To revenge her- 
 self on her rival, Medea sent her a present of 
 a dress covered with poison. Glauce put it 
 on, and was seized with sudden pain. Her 
 body took fire, and she expired in the greatest 
 agony. The house in which she was was also 
 consumed, and Creon and his family shared 
 Glance's fate. 
 
 Cre'on. King of Thebes, whose territories were 
 ravaged by the Sphinx. Creon offered his 
 crown to any one who would explain the 
 enigmas proposed by the Sphinx. CEdipus 
 solved the riddles, and ascended the throne of 
 Thebes. 
 
 CrcE sus, the fifth and last of the Mermnadse, who 
 reigned in Lydia, was the son of Alyattes, 
 and was considered the richest man in the
 
 64 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 world. His court was an asylum for learn- 
 ing, and ^sop, the famous fable writer, with 
 other learned men, lived under his patronage. 
 "As rich as Croesus," has become a proverb. 
 
 Cupi do, god of love, son of Jupiter and Venus, 
 is represented as a winged infant, naked, 
 armed with a bow and arrows. On gems and 
 ornaments he is represented generally as 
 amusing himself with some childish diver- 
 sion. Cupid, like the rest of the gods, as- 
 sumed different shapes, and we find him in 
 the ^neid putting on, at the request of his 
 mother, the form of Ascanius, and going to 
 Dido's court, where he inspired the queen 
 with love. 
 
 Cur'tius, M. A Roman who devoted himself to 
 the service of his country, about 360 j'-ears 
 B.C., by leaping, on horseback and fully 
 armed, into a huge gap in the earth at the 
 command of the oracle. 
 
 Cyb ele. A goddess, daughter of Coelus and 
 Terra, and wife of Saturn. She is supposed 
 to be the same as Ceres. Rhea, Ops, Vesta, 
 etc. According to Diodorus, she was the 
 daughter of a Lydian prince. On her birth 
 she was exposed on a mountain, where she 
 was tended and fed by wild beasts, receiving 
 the name of Cybele from the mountain where 
 her life had been preserved. 
 
 Cyclopes. A race of men of gigantic stature, 
 supposed to be the sons of Ctielus and Terra. 
 They had only one eye, which was in the cen-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 65 
 
 tre of the forehead. According to Hesiod 
 they were three in number, and named Arges, 
 Brontes, and Steropes. 
 
 Cyrus. A king of Persia, son of Cambyses, 
 and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of 
 Media. Xenophon has written the life of 
 Cyrus, and delineates him as a brave and vir- 
 tuous prince, and often puts in his mouth many 
 of the sayings of Socrates. 
 
 Cy'rus the younger was the son of Darius Nothus 
 and the brother of Artaxerxes, the latter suc- 
 ceeding to the throne at the death of Nothus. 
 Cyrus was appointed to the command of 
 Lydia and the sea-coasts, where he fomented 
 rebellion and levied troops under various pre- 
 tenses. At length he took the field with an 
 army of 100,000 Barbarians and 13,000 Greeks 
 under the command of Clearchus. Artaxerxes 
 met him with 900,000 men near Cunaxa. The 
 engagement ended fatally for Cyrus, who was 
 killed, 401 years b.c. 
 
 Daedalus, an Athenian, was the most ingenious 
 artist of his age ; he was the inventor of the 
 wedge and many other mechanical instru- 
 ments. He made a famous labyrinth for 
 Minos, king of Crete, but incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of Minos, who ordered him to be 
 confined in the labyrinth. Here he made 
 himself wings with feathers and wax, and 
 fitted them to his body, adopting the same 
 course with his son Icarus who was the com- 
 5
 
 66 CLASSICAI- DICTIONARY 
 
 panion of his confinement. They mounted 
 into the air, but the heat of the sun melted the 
 wax on the wings of Icarus, and he fell into 
 the ocean, which after him has been called 
 the Icarian Sea. The father alighted safely 
 at Cumae, where he built a temple to Apollo. 
 
 Dan'ae, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, and 
 Eurydice. Jupiter was enamored with her, 
 and they had a son, with whom Danae was 
 exposed in a boat on the sea by her father. 
 The winds carried them to the island of Seri- 
 phus, where she was saved by some fisher- 
 men, and carried to Polydectes, king of the 
 place, whose brother, named Dictys, educated 
 the child, who was called Perseus, and kindly 
 treated the mother. 
 
 Dana'ides. The fifty daughters of Danaus, king 
 of Argos, who married the fifty sons of their 
 uncle ^gyptus. Danaus had been told by 
 the oracle that he would be killed by a son-in- 
 law, and he made his daughters promise to 
 slay their husbands immediately after mar- 
 riage. All of them fulfilled their father's 
 wishes except one, Ilypermnestra, who spared 
 her husband Lynceus. 
 
 Daph'ne. A daughter of the River Peneus, or of 
 the Ladon, and the goddess Terra, of whom 
 Apollo became enamored. Daphne fled to 
 avoid the addresses of this god, and was 
 changed into a laurel. 
 
 Dar'danus. A son of Jupiter, who killed his 
 brother Jasius to obtain the kingdom of
 
 CLASSICAT, DICTIONARY 67 
 
 Etruria. He built the city of Dardania, and 
 was reckoned to have been the founder of 
 Troy. 
 
 Dari us. A noble satrap of Persia, son of Hys- 
 taspes, who usurped the crown of Persia after 
 the death of Cambyses. Darius was twenty- 
 nine years old when he ascended the throne, 
 and he soon distinguished himself by his mil- 
 itary prowess. He besieged Babylon, which 
 he took after a siege of twenty months. He 
 died B.C. 4S5. 
 
 Dari us, the second king of Persia of that name, 
 ascended the throne of Persia soon after the 
 murder of Xerxes. He carried on many wars 
 with success, aided by his generals and his 
 son Cyrus the younger. He died b.c. 404, 
 after a reign of nineteen years. 
 
 Dari us. The third king of Persia of that name. 
 He soon had to take the field against Alexan- 
 der, who invaded Persia. Darius met him 
 with an enormous army, which, however, was 
 more remarkable for the luxuries indulged in 
 by its leaders than for military courage. A 
 battle was fought near the Granicus, in which 
 the Persians were easily defeated, and an- 
 other conflict followed near Issus, equally 
 fatal to the Persians. Darius escaped and 
 assembled another powerful army. The last 
 and decisive battle was fought at Arbela, Al- 
 exander being again victorious. When the 
 fight was over Darius was found in his chariot 
 covered with wounds and expiring, b.c. 331.
 
 68 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Dejani'ra. A daughter of CEneus, king of ^tolia. 
 Her beauty procured her many admirers, and 
 her father promised to give her in marriage 
 to him who should excel in a competition of 
 strength. Hercules obtained the prize, and 
 married Dejanira. 
 
 Del phi. A town of Phocis at the southwest side 
 of Mount Parnassus. It was famous for a 
 temple of Apollo, and for an oracle celebrated 
 in every age and country. 
 
 Demetrius. A son of Antigonus and Stratonice, 
 surnamed Poliorcetes, destroyt:?' of to7i'?is. 
 At the age of twenty-two he was sent by his 
 father against Ptolemy, who had invaded 
 Syria. He was defeated at Gaza, but soon 
 afterward obtained a victory. The greater 
 part of his life was passed in warfare, his for- 
 tunes undergoing many changes. He was- 
 distinguished for his fondness of dissipation 
 when in dissolute society, and for military 
 skill and valor in the battle-field. He died 
 B.C. 2S6. 
 
 Demetrius. Surnamed Safer, king of Syria. 
 His father gave him as a hostage to the 
 Romans. After the death of his father, Se- 
 leucus Philopator, Antiochus Epiphanes 
 usurped the throne of Syria, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. De- 
 metrius procured his liberty, and established 
 himself on the throne, causing Eupator to be 
 put to death. 
 
 Demetrius. Son of Soter, whom he succeeded
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 69 
 
 after he had driven from the throne a usurper, 
 Alexander Bala. Demetrius gave himself up 
 to luxury, and suffered his kingdom to be 
 governed by his favorites, thus becoming 
 odious to his subjects. He was at last killed 
 by the governor of Tyre, where he had fled 
 for protection. 
 
 Demetrius Phale'reus. A disciple of Theophras- 
 tus, who gained such influence over the Athe- 
 nians by his eloquence and the purity of his 
 manners, that he was elected decennial archon, 
 B.C. 317. He embellished the city, and ren- 
 dered himself popular by his munificence, but 
 his enemies plotted against him, and he fled 
 to the court of Ptolemy Lagus, where he was 
 received with kindness. He put an end to his 
 life by permitting an asp to bite him, b.c. 284. 
 There were several others of the name of De- 
 metrius of minor note. 
 
 Democ'ritus. A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, 
 one of the disciples of Leucippus. He trav- 
 eled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, 
 and Africa in quest of knowledge, and re- 
 turned home in the greatest poverty. He in- 
 dulged in continual laughter at the follies of 
 mankind for distracting themselves with care 
 and anxiety in the short term of their lives. 
 He told Darius, who was inconsolable for the 
 loss of his wife, that he would raise her from 
 the dead if he could find three persons who 
 had gone through life without adversity, 
 whose names he might engrave on the queen's
 
 70 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 monument. He taught his disciples that the 
 soul died with the body. He died in his 109th 
 year, b. c. 361. He has been termed "the 
 laughing philosopher." Dr. Johnson refers 
 to this phase in his character in "The Vanity 
 of Human Wishes :" — 
 
 " Once more, Democritus, arise on earth, 
 With cheerful wisdom and instructive mirth. 
 See motley life in modern trappings drest. 
 And feed with varied fools th' eternal jest." 
 
 Demosthenes, a celebrated Athenian, was son of 
 a rich blacksmith, and Cleobule. He became 
 pupil of Plato, and applied himself to study 
 the orations of Isocrates. At the age of sev- 
 enteen he gave early proof of his eloquence 
 and abilities in displaying them against his 
 guardians, from whom he obtained restitution 
 of the greater part of his estate. To correct 
 the stammering of voice under which he 
 labored he spoke with pebbles in his mouth. 
 In the battle of Cheronaea he evinced coward- 
 ice, and saved his life by flight. He ended 
 his life by taking poison, which he always 
 carried in a quill, in the sixtieth year of his 
 age, B.C. 322. 
 
 Deuca lion. A son of Prometheus, who married 
 Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus. He 
 reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age 
 the earth was covered by a deluge of water, 
 sent by Jupiter as a punishment for the im- 
 piety of mankind. Deucalion constructed a 
 ship, and by this means saved himself and
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 7 I 
 
 Pyrrha. The ship, after being tossed on the 
 waves for nine days, rested on Mount Parnas- 
 sus. The deluge of Deucalion is supposed to 
 have occurred b.c. 1503. 
 
 Diana. The goddess of hunting. According to 
 Cicero there were three of the name — viz. , a 
 daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, a daugh- 
 ter of Jupiter and Latona, and a daughter of 
 Upis and Glauce. The second is the most 
 celebrated, and all mention of Diana by 
 ancient writers refers to her. To shun the 
 society of men she devoted herself to hunting, 
 and was always accompanied by a number of 
 young women, who, like herself, abjured 
 marriage. She is represented with a quiver, 
 and attended by dogs. The most famous of 
 her temples was that at Ephesus, which was 
 one of the wonders of the world. 
 
 Dictator. A magistrate at Rome, invested with 
 regal authority. 
 
 Di do. A daughter of Belus. king of Tyre, who 
 married Sichasus or Sicharbus, her uncle, who 
 was priest of Hercules. Pygmalion killed 
 Sichaeus to obtain his immense riches, and 
 Dido, disconsolate at the loss of her husband, 
 set sail with a number of Tyrians in quest of 
 a place in which to form a settlement. A 
 storm drove her fleet on the African coast, and 
 she bought of the inhabitants as much land 
 as could be inclosed by a bull's hide cut into 
 thongs. On this land she built a citadel 
 called Byrsa, which was the nucleus of a great
 
 72 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 city (Carthage) . Her subjects wished her to 
 marry again, but she refused, and erected a 
 funeral pile, on which she ascended and 
 stabbed herself to death. 
 
 Diocletia nus, Cai us Valer ius Jo vius. A cele- 
 brated Roman emperor, born of an obscure 
 family in Dalmatia. He was first a common 
 soldier, and by merit gradually rose to the 
 position of a general, and at length he was 
 invested with imperial power. He has been 
 celebrated for his military virtues, and 
 though he was naturally unpolished by educa- 
 tion, yet he was the friend and patron of learn- 
 ing and genius. His cruelty, however, 
 against the followers of Christianity has been 
 severely reprobated. After reigning twenty- 
 one years in great prosperity, he abdicated, 
 A.D. 304, and died nine years afterward, aged 
 sixty-eight. 
 
 Diodo'rus, Sic ulus. Celebrated as the author of 
 a history of Egypt, Persia, Syria, Media, 
 Greece, Rome, and Carthage. It was divided 
 into forty books, of which only fifteen are ex- 
 tant, with a few fragments. 
 
 Diogenes. A celebrated cynic philosopher of 
 Sinope, banished from his country for coining 
 false money. From Sinope he retired to 
 Athens, where he became the disciple of An- 
 tisthenes. who was at the head of the Cynics. 
 He dressed himself in the garment which dis- 
 tinguished the Cynics, and walked about the 
 streets with a tub on his head, which served
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 73 
 
 him as a house. His singularity, joined to 
 his great contempt for riches, gained him 
 reputation, and Alexander the Great visited 
 the philosopher and asked him if there was 
 anything in which he could oblige him. "Get 
 out of my sunshine," was the reply of the 
 Cynic. Such independence pleased the mon- 
 arch, who, turning to his courtiers, said, 
 "Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be 
 Diogenes. " He was once sold as a slave, and 
 his magnanimity so pleased his master, that 
 he made him the preceptor of his children and 
 the guardian of his estates. He died, b.c. 
 324, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. The 
 life of Diogenes does not bear strict examina- 
 tion : while boasting of his poverty, he was 
 so arrogant that it has been observed that his 
 virtues arose from pride and vanity, not from 
 wisdom or sound philosophy. 
 
 Dio'genes Laer tins. An Epicurean philosopher, 
 born in Cilicia. He wrote the lives of the phil- 
 osophers in ten books. This work contains 
 an accurate account of the ancient philoso- 
 phers, and is replete with anecdotes respecting 
 them. It is compiled, however, without any 
 plan, method, or precision, though neatness 
 and conciseness are observable in it. 
 
 Diome'des, a son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was 
 king of ^tolia. and one of the bravest of the 
 Grecian chiefs in the Trojan war. He often 
 engaged Hector and ^neas, and obtained 
 much military glory.
 
 74 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Diome des. A king of Thrace, son of Mars and 
 Cyrene. who fed his horses with human flesh. 
 Hercules destroyed Diomedes, and gave him 
 to his own horses to be devoured. 
 
 Di on. A Syracusan, son of Hipparina, famous 
 for his pow-er and abilities. He was related 
 toDionysiusthe First, who constantly advised 
 with him, and at whose court he obtained 
 great popularity. He was assassinated 354 
 years before the Christian era by one of his 
 familiar friends. His death was greatly la- 
 mented by the Syracusans, who raised a mon- 
 ument to his memory. When Dionysius the 
 Second ascended the throne he banished Dion, 
 who collected some forces, and in three days 
 made himself master of Syracuse. 
 
 Di on Cas'sius. A native of Nicsea in Bithynia. 
 who was raised to some of the greatest offices of 
 state in the Roman empire. He is celebrated 
 as the writer of a history of Rome which 
 occupied him twelve years in composing. 
 
 Dionysius the Elder Avas son of Hermocrates. 
 He signalized himself in the w^ars which the 
 Syracusans carried on against Carthage, and 
 made himself absolute at Syracuse. His 
 tyranny rendered him odious to his subjects. 
 He made a subterraneous cave in a rock in the 
 form of a human ear, which was called "the 
 Ear of Dionysius." The sounds of this cave 
 were all directed to one common tympanum, 
 which had a communication with an adjoining 
 room, where Dionysius spent part of his time
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 75 
 
 in listening to what was said by those whom 
 he had imprisoned. He died in the sixty- 
 third year of his age, B.C. 368, after a reign of 
 thirty-eight years. 
 
 Dionys'ius the Younger was son of Dionysius the 
 First and Doris. He succeeded his father, 
 and as soon as he ascended the throne he in- 
 vited Plato to his court and studied under him 
 for some time. Plato advised him to lay 
 aside the supreme power, in which he was 
 supported by Dion. This highly incensed 
 Dionysius, who banished Dion, who collected 
 forces in Greece, and in three days rendered 
 himself master of Syracuse, and expelled the 
 tyrant, B.C. 357. He, however, recovered 
 Syracuse ten years afterward, but was soon 
 compelled to retire again by the Corinthians 
 under Timoleon. 
 
 Dionys'ius, of Halicarnassus. A historian who 
 left his country and came to reside in Rome 
 that he might study all the authors who had 
 written Roman history. He was occupied dur- 
 ing twenty-four years on his work on Roman 
 antiquities, which consisted of twenty books. 
 
 Dir'ce. A woman whom Lycus, king of Thebes, 
 married after he had divorced Antiope. Am- 
 phion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, for cruel- 
 ties she practiced on Antiope, tied Dirce to 
 the tail of a wild bull, by which she was 
 dragged over rocks and precipices till the gods 
 pitied her and changed her into a fountain. 
 
 Discor dia. A malevolent deity, daughter of Nox,
 
 76 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and sister to Nemesis, the Parcae, and Death. 
 She was driven from heaven by Jupiter be- 
 cause she sowed dissensions among the gods. 
 At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis she threw 
 an apple among the gods, inscribed with the 
 words, Detur pulchriori, which was the pri- 
 mary cause of the ruin of Troy, and of infinite 
 misfortunes to the Greeks, 
 
 Dolabel'la, P. Corn. A Roman who married the 
 daughter of Cicero. During the civil wars he 
 warmly espoused the cause of Julius Caesar, 
 whom he accompanied at the famous battles 
 of Pharsalia and Munda. 
 
 Domitia'nus, Ti tus Flavins, son of Vespasian 
 and Flavia Domitilla, made himself emperor 
 of Rome on the death of his brother Titus, 
 whom, according to some accounts, he de- 
 stroyed by poison. The beginning of his 
 reign promised hopefully, but Domitian be- 
 came cruel, an(J gave way to vicious indul- 
 gences. In the latter part of his reign he be- 
 came suspicious and remorseful. He was 
 assassinated a.d. 96, in his forty-fifth year. 
 
 Dra'co. A celebrated lawgiver of Athens, who 
 made a code of laws, b.c. 623, which, on ac- 
 count of their severity, were said to be written 
 in letters of blood. Hence the term "Dra- 
 conic, " applied to any punishment of excep- 
 tional severity. 
 
 Dni'sus. A son of Tiberius and Vipsania, who 
 became famous for his courage displayed in 
 Illyricum and Pannonia.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 77 
 
 Dru'sus, M. Liv'ius. A celebrated Roman, who 
 renewed the puoposals bearing on the Agra- 
 rian laws, which had proved fatal to the 
 Gracchi. 
 
 Dru'sus, Nero Claudius. A son of Tiberius Nero 
 and Livia. He distinguished himself in the 
 wars in Germany and Gaul, and was honored 
 with a triumph. There were other Romans 
 of the same name, but of smaller distinction. 
 
 Dry'ades. Nymphs that presided over the woods. 
 Oblations of milk, oil, and honey were offered 
 to them. Sometimes the votaries of the 
 Dryads sacrificed a goat to them. 
 
 Duum'viri. Two patricians at Rome, first ap- 
 pointed by Tarquin to keep the Sibylline 
 books, which were supposed to contain the 
 fate of the Roman empire. 
 
 Echo. A daughter of the Air and Tellus, who 
 was one of Juno's attendants. She was de- 
 prived of speech by Juno, but was allowed to 
 reply to questions put to her. 
 
 Ege'ria. A nymph of Aricia in Italy, where 
 Diana was particularly worshiped. Egeria 
 was courted by Numa. and, according to 
 Ovid, became his wife. Ovid says that she 
 was disconsolate at the death of Numa, and 
 that she wept so violently that Diana changed 
 her into a fountain. Lord Byron, in the 
 fourth canto of "Childe Harold," has a beau- 
 tiful invocation to the nymph, while describ- 
 ing the fountain of Egeria : —
 
 78 CXASSICAL J)r:tionary 
 
 "Here did'st thou sit in this enchanted cover, 
 Egeria ! thy all heavenly bosotr^ beating 
 For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover; 
 The purple midnight veil d that mystic meeting 
 With her most starr}' canopy, and seating 
 Thyself by thine adorer, what befel ? 
 This cave was surely shap'd out for the greeting 
 Of an enamor'd goddess, and the cell 
 
 Haunted by holy love— the earliest oracle!" 
 
 Elec'tra. A daughter of Agamemnon, king of 
 Argos. She incited her brother Orestes to 
 revenge his father's death by assassinating 
 his mother Clytemnestra. Her adventures 
 and misfortunes form the subject of one of the 
 finest of the tragedies of Sophocles. 
 
 Eleusin'ia. A great festival observed by the 
 Lacedaemonians, Cretans, and others, every 
 fourth year, and by the people of Athens 
 every fifth year, at Eleusis in Attica, where 
 it was introduced by Eumolpus, b.c, 1356. It 
 was the most celebrated of all the religious 
 ceremonies of Greece. The term " Mysteries" 
 is often applied to it. The expression "Eleu- 
 sinian mysteries," as applied to anything that 
 is inexplicable, has become proverbial. 
 
 Elys'ium. The Elysian Fields, a place in the in- 
 fernal regions, where, according to the an- 
 cients, the souls of the virtuous existed after 
 death. 
 
 Emped'ocles. A philosopher, poet, and historian 
 of Agrigentum in Sicily, who lived 444 b.c. 
 He was a Pythagorean, and warmly espoused 
 the belief in the transmigration of souls.
 
 CLASSICAT, DICTIONARY 79 
 
 Endym ion. A shepherd, son of ^thlius and 
 Calyce. He is said to have required of Jupi- 
 ter that he might be ahva5'S young. Diana 
 saw him as he slept on Mount Latmos, and 
 was so struck with his beauty that she came 
 down from heaven every night to visit him. 
 
 En'nius. An ancient poet, born in Calabria. He 
 obtained the privileges of a Roman citizen on 
 account of his learning and genius. 
 
 Eos. The name of Aurora among the Greeks. 
 
 Epaminon das. A famous Theban descended 
 from the ancient kings of Boeotia. At the 
 head of the Theban armies he defeated the 
 Spartans at the celebrated battle of Leuctra 
 about 370 B.C. He was killed in battle in the 
 forty-eighth year of his age. 
 
 Eph'esus. A city of Ionia, famous for a temple 
 of Diana, which was considered to be one of 
 the seven wonders of the world. 
 
 Epicte'tus. A Stoic philosopher of Hieropolis. 
 originally the slave of Epaphroditus. the 
 freedman of Nero. He supported the doctrine 
 of the immortality of the soul. 
 
 Epicurus. A celebrated philosopher, born in 
 Attica of obscure parents. He distinguished 
 himself at school by the brilliancy of his ge- 
 nius. He taught that the happiness of man- 
 kind consisted in pleasure, which arises from 
 mental enjoyment, and the sweets of virtue. 
 His death occurred 270 b.c. . his age being 
 seventy-two years. 
 
 Er'ato. One of the Muses. She presided over
 
 8o Cr.ASSICAf, DICTIONARY 
 
 lyric poetry, and is represented as crowned 
 with roses and myrtle, and holding a lyre in 
 her hand. 
 
 Er'ebus. A deity of the infernal regions, son of 
 Chaos and Darkness. The poets often use 
 the word to signify the infernal regions. 
 
 Ete'ocles. A king of Thebes, son of Qj^dipns and 
 Jocasta. After his father's death it was 
 agreed between him and his brother Polynices 
 that they should reign a year each alternately, 
 Eteocles first ascended the throne, but at the 
 end of the year he refused to resign the crown 
 Thus treated, Polynices implored assistance* 
 from Adrastus, king of Argos, whose daugh ■ 
 ter he married, and who placed an army a'; 
 his disposal. Eteocles marshaled his forces, 
 and several skirmishes took place between th?) 
 hostile hosts, when it was agreed on that the, 
 brothers should decide the contest by single; 
 combat. They fought with inveterate fury, 
 and both were killed. 
 
 Eucli'des. A famous mathematician of Alexan- 
 dria, who lived r.c. 300. He wrote fifteen 
 books on the elements of mathematics. Eu- 
 clid was so much respected that King Ptolemy 
 became one of his pupils. 
 
 Eu'menes. A Greek officer in the army of Alex- 
 ander. He was the most worthy of all Alex- 
 ander's generals to succeed him after his 
 death. He conquered Paphlagonia and Cap- 
 padocia, of which he obtained the government, 
 till the power of Antigonus obliged him to 
 
 J
 
 CLASSICAT- DICTIONARY 8l 
 
 retire. Eventually, after many vicissitudes 
 of fortune, he was put to death in prison by 
 order of Antigonus. 
 
 Eumen'ides. A name given to the Furies. They 
 sprang from the drops of blood which flowed 
 from a wound which Coelus received from 
 Saturn. According to some writers they 
 were daughters of the Earth, and sprung 
 from the blood of Saturn. Others make them 
 to be daughters of Acheron and Night, or 
 Pluto and Proserpine. According to the gen- 
 erally received opinion they were three in 
 number — Tisiphone. Megara, and Alecto, to 
 which some add Nemesis. 
 
 Euphor'bus. A famous Trojan. He wounded 
 Patroclus, whom Hector killed. He died by 
 the hand of Menelaus. 
 
 Euphrates. A large river in Asia which flowed 
 through the middle of the city of Babylon. 
 
 Eurip ides. A celebrated tragic poet born at Sal- 
 amis. He studied eloquence under Prodicus, 
 ethics under Socrates, and philosophy under 
 Anaxagoras. He often retired to a solitary 
 cave, where he wrote his tragedies. It is said 
 that he met his death by being attacked and 
 torn in pieces by dogs, 407 years before the 
 Christian era, in the seventy-eighth year of 
 his age. He is accredited with the authorship 
 of seventy- five tragedies, of which only nine- 
 teen are extant. One of his plays, "Ion." has 
 become familiarized in name to general read- 
 ers by the exquisite play thus called written 
 6
 
 82 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 by the late Judge Talfourd, and first acted at 
 Covent Garden theatre, London, May 26, 1836. 
 
 Euro pa. A daughter of Agenor, king of Phoeni- 
 cia, and Telaphassa. Her beauty attracted 
 Jupiter, and to become possessed of her he 
 assumed the shape of a handsome bull, and 
 mingled with the herds of Agenor while Eu- 
 ropa was gathering flowers in the meadows. 
 She caressed the animal, and mounted on his 
 back. The god crossed the sea with her, and 
 arrived in Crete, where he assumed his proper 
 form, and declared his love. She became 
 mother of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadaman- 
 thus. 
 
 Euryd'ice. The wife of the poet Orpheus. As 
 she fled from Aristaeus, who was enamored 
 with her, she was bit by a serpent, and died 
 of the wound. Orpheus was disconsolate at 
 her loss, and descended to the infernal regions 
 in search of her, and by the melody of his 
 lyre he obtained from Pluto the restoration of 
 Eurydice, provided he did not look behind 
 him till he reached the earth ; but his eager- 
 ness to see his wife caused him to violate the 
 conditions, and he looked behind him, thus 
 losing Eurydice for ever. 
 
 Euryd ice. Wife of Amyntas, king of Macedonia. 
 Alexander. Perdiccas, and Philip were their 
 sons, and they had a daughter named Eury- 
 one. She conspired against Amyntas. but 
 was prevented from killing him by Euryone. 
 
 Eurys thenes. A son of Aristodemus. who lived
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 83 
 
 in perpetual dissension with his twin brother 
 Procles while they both sat on the Spartan 
 throne. The descendants of Eurysthenes 
 were called Eurysthenidtc, and those of Pro- 
 cles Proclidse. 
 
 Eurys'theus. A king of Argos and Mycenae, son 
 of Sthenelus and Nicippe. Juno hastened his 
 birth by two months that he might come into 
 the world before Hercules, the son of Alc- 
 mena, as the younger of the two was doomed 
 by Jupiter to be subservient to the other. 
 This natural right was cruelly exercised by 
 Eurystheus, who was jealous of the fame of 
 Hercules, and who, to destroy him, imposed 
 upon him the most dangerous enterprises, 
 known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, all 
 of which were successfully accomplished. 
 
 Euse'bius. A bishop of Caesarea, in favor with 
 the Emperor Constantine. He was mixed up 
 in the theological disputes of Arius and Atha- 
 nasius, and distinguished himself by writing 
 an ecclesiastical history and other works. 
 
 Euterpe. One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter 
 and Mnemosyne. She presided over music. 
 
 Eutro'pius. A Latin historian in the age of 
 Julian. He wrote an epitome of the history 
 of Rome from the age of Romulus to the 
 reign of the emperor Valens. 
 
 Fa'bii. A noble and powerful family at Rome. 
 They fought with the Veientes. and all of 
 them were slain. One of the family, of ten-
 
 84 CLASSICAT, DICTIONARY 
 
 der age, remained in Rome, and from him 
 descended the family which afterwards became 
 so distinguished. 
 
 Fa'bius, Max imus Rullia nus, was the first of the 
 Fabii who obtained the name of "Maximus." 
 He was master of the horse, and his victory 
 over the Samnites in that capacity nearly cost 
 him his life. He was five times consul, twice 
 dictator, and once censor. 
 
 Fa'bius, Q. Max imus. A celebrated Roman who 
 was raised to the highest offices of state. In 
 his first consulship he obtained a victory over 
 Liguria, and the battle of Thrasymenus caused 
 his election to the dictatorship. In this office 
 he opposed Hannibal, harassing him more by 
 counter-marches and ambuscades than by 
 fighting in the open field. He died at the age 
 of one hundred, after being consul five times. 
 Others of the family were of minor distinc- 
 tion, though their names occur in Roman 
 history. 
 
 Fabric ius, Cai'us. A distinguished Roman who 
 ill his first consulship obtained several victor- 
 ies over the Samnites and Lucanians. He 
 had the most consummate knowledge of mili- 
 tary matters, and was distinguished for the 
 simplicity of his manners. 
 
 Faler'nus. A fertile mountain and plain of Cam- 
 pania, famous for its wine. Falernian wine 
 was held in great esteem by the Romans, and 
 it is often alluded to by the poets. 
 
 Fau'ni. Rural deities represented as having the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 85 
 
 legs, feet, and ears of goats, and the rest of 
 the body human. 
 
 Flac cus. A consul who marched against Sj'lla 
 and was assassinated. 
 
 Flamin ius, T, Q. A famous Roman who was 
 trained in the art of war against Hannibal. 
 He was sent in command of the Roman troops 
 against Philip of Macedonia, and met with 
 great success. 
 
 Flora. The goddess of flowers and gardens 
 among the Romans. She was the same as 
 the Chloris of the Greeks. 
 
 Fortu na. A powerful deity among the ancients, 
 daughter of Oceanus according to Homer, or 
 one of the Parcae according to Pindar. She 
 was the goddess of Fortune, and bestowed 
 riches or poverty on mankind. 
 
 Ful'via. An ambitious woman, wife of the tribune 
 Clodius, afterward of Curio, and lastly of An- 
 tony. Antony divorced her for Cleopatra. 
 She attempted to avenge her wrongs by per- 
 suading Augustus to take up arms against 
 Antony. 
 
 Galatae'a. A sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and 
 Doris. She was loved by Polyphemus, the 
 Cyclops, whom she treated with disdain, 
 while she was in love with Acis, a shepherd 
 of Sicily. 
 
 Gal'ba, Ser'vius Sulpi cius. A Roman who rose 
 to the greatest offices of the state, and exer- 
 cised his powers with equity till he was seated
 
 86 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 on the throne, when his virtues disappeared. 
 He was assassinated in the seventy-third year 
 of his age. 
 
 Gallie nus, Pub. Licin ius, A son of the emperor 
 Valerian. He reigned conjointly with his 
 father for seven years, and then became sole 
 emperor, a.d. 260. In his youth he showed 
 military ability in an expedition against the 
 Germans and Sarmatse, but when possessed of 
 the purple he gave himself up to pleasure and 
 vice. He was assassinated in his fiftieth year. 
 A.D. 268. 
 
 Gal'lus, Corne lius. A Roman knight famous for 
 his poetical as well as his military talents. 
 He was greatly attached to his slave Lycoris 
 (or Cytheris). whose beauty he extolled in his 
 poetry. 
 
 Ganyme'des. A beautiful youth of Phrygia. He 
 was taken to heaven by Jupiter while tending 
 flocks on Mount Ida, and he became the cup- 
 bearer of the gods in place of Hebe. 
 
 Gel'lius Au'lus. A Roman grammarian in the 
 age of M. Antoninus. He wrote a work called 
 "Noctes Atticse." which he composed at 
 Athens. 
 
 German'icus Cae sar, A son of Drusus and An- 
 tonia, the niece of Augustus. He was raised 
 to the most important position in the state, 
 and was employed in war in Germany, where 
 his successes obtained him a triumph. He 
 was secretly poisoned, a.d. 19, in the thirty- 
 fourth year of his age. He has been com-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY Sj 
 
 mended not only for his military talents but 
 for his learning and humanity. 
 
 Ge'ryon. A monster, represented by the poets as 
 having three bodies and three heads. It was 
 killed by Hercules. 
 
 Gigan tes. The sons of Coelus and Terra, who, 
 according to Hesiod, sprang from the blood of 
 a wound inflicted on Coelus by his son Saturn. 
 They are represented as huge giants, with 
 strength in accordance with their size. 
 
 Glau'cus. A son of Hippolochus, the son of Bel- 
 lerophon. He aided Priam in the Trojan 
 war, and was noted for his folly in exchang- 
 ing his golden armor with Diomedes for an 
 iron one. 
 
 Glau cus. A fisherman of Boeotia. He observed 
 that the fishes which he caught and laid on 
 the grass became invigorated and leaped into 
 the sea. He tasted the grass, and suddenly 
 felt a desire to live in the sea. He was made 
 a sea deity by Oceanus and Tethys. 
 
 Glaucus. A son of Minos the Second and Pasiphaj, 
 who was smothered in a cask of honey. The 
 soothsayer Polyidus, on being commanded by 
 Minos to find his son, discovered him, and by 
 rubbing his body with a certain herb restored 
 him to life. 
 
 Gordianus, M. Anto'nius Africa nus. Son of 
 Metius Marcellus. He applied himself to 
 poetry, and composed a poem in thirty books. 
 He was sent as proconsul to Africa, and sub- 
 sequently, when he had attained his eighti-
 
 88 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 eth year, he was proclaimed emperor. He 
 strangled himself at Carthage a.d. 236, and 
 was deeply lamented by the army and the 
 people. 
 
 Gordia'nus, M. Anto nius Africa nus, son of Gor- 
 dianus, was made prefect of Rome, and af- 
 terward consul by Alexander Severus. He 
 was elected emperor in conjunction with his 
 father. He was killed in a battle fought with 
 Maximinus in Mauritania. 
 
 Gordia'nus, M. Anto'nius Pius, was grandson of 
 the first Gordian. He was proclaimed em- 
 peror in the sixteenth year of his age. He 
 married the daughter of Misetheus, who was 
 distinguished by his virtues, and to whom 
 Gordian entrusted many of the chief offices of 
 the state. Gordian conquered Sapor, king of 
 Persia, and took many cities from him. He 
 was assassinated a.d. 244. 
 
 Gor'dius. A Phrygian who, from the position of 
 a peasant, was raised to the throne consequent 
 on a prediction of the oracle. The knot which 
 tied the yoke to the draught-tree of his chariot 
 was made so cunningly that the ends of the 
 cord could not be seen, and a report arose that 
 the empire of Asia was promised by the oracle 
 to him Avho should untie the Gordian knot. 
 Alexander cut the knot with his sword. 
 
 Gor'gones (the Gorgons). Three sisters, daugh- 
 ters of Phorcys and Ceto, whose names were 
 Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They pos- 
 sessed the power of turning into stone those
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 89 
 
 on whom they looked. Perseus attacked them 
 and cut off Medusa's head, which he gave to 
 Minerva, who placed it on her aegis, which 
 turned into stone those who fixed their eyes 
 on it. 
 
 Grac chus, T. Sempronius, was twice consul and 
 once censor. He married Cornelia, of the 
 family of the Scipios, a woman of piety and 
 learning. Their children , Tiberius and Caius, 
 rendered themselves famous for their obstinate 
 attachment to the interests of the populace, 
 which at last proved fatal to them. The 
 Gracchi stand out conspicuously in Roman 
 annals. The history of Caius Gracchus has 
 been dramatized by James Sheridan Knowles. 
 It was one of his earliest efforts in dramatic 
 literature, and has long been obsolete as an 
 acting play. 
 
 Gymnasium. A place among the Greeks where 
 all the public exercises were performed, and 
 where not only dancers and wrestlers exhib- 
 ited, but where poets and philosophers re- 
 peated their compositions. 
 
 Ha des, see Ades. 
 
 Halicarnas'sus. A maritime city in Asia Minor, 
 where a mausoleum, one of the seven wonders 
 of the world, was erected. It is celebrated as 
 being the birthplace of Herodotus, Dionysius, 
 and Heraclitus. 
 
 Hamadry'ades. Nymphs who lived in the country 
 and presided over trees.
 
 90 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Hamil car. A famous Carthaginian, father of 
 Hannibal. He was engaged in Sicily during 
 the first Punic war. He used to say of his 
 three sons that he kept three lions to devour 
 the Roman power. 
 
 Hannibal. A celebrated Carthaginian general, 
 son of Hamilcar. While a child he took a 
 solemn oath never to be at peace with Rome. 
 His passage of the Alps with a great army 
 was achieved by softening the rocks with fire 
 and vinegar, so that even his armed elephants 
 descended the mountains without difficulty. 
 He defeated the Romans in the great battle 
 of Cannae, but was subsequently conquered 
 by Scipio at Zama. He died by poison taken 
 from a ring in which he kept it concealed. 
 This occurred in his seventieth year, about 
 1 82 years b.c. 
 
 Harmo'dius. A friend of Aristogiton who as- 
 sisted in delivering his country from the tyr- 
 anny of the PisistratidcE. 
 
 Harpy'lae. The Harpies, winged monsters who 
 had the face of a woman, the body of a vul- 
 ture, and feet and fingers armed with claws. 
 They were three in number — Aello, Ocypete, 
 and Celeno. They were daughters of Nep- 
 tune and Terra. 
 
 Has drubal. A son of Hamilcar and brother of 
 Hannibal. He crossed the Alps and entered 
 Italy, where he was defeated by the consuls, 
 M. Livius Salinator and Claudius Nero. He 
 was killed in the battle h.c. 207, and his head
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 91 
 
 was sent to Hannibal. One of the finest pas- 
 sages in Professor Nichol's tragedy of Han- 
 nibal is the invocation over Hasdrubal's head 
 at the close of the play. 
 
 Hebe. A daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She 
 was made cupbearer to the gods, but was 
 dismissed from the office by Jupiter, because 
 she fell down in a clumsy posture as she was 
 pouring out nectar at a festival, and Gany- 
 medes succeeded her as cupbearer. 
 
 Hec ate. A daughter of Perses and Asteria. She 
 was called Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, 
 and Hecate or Proserpine in hell. 
 
 Hec tor, son of King Priam and Hecuba, was the 
 most valiant of all the Trojan chiefs who 
 fought against the Greeks. He married An- 
 dromache, the daughter of Eetion, Astyanax 
 being their son. Hector was made chief of 
 the Trojan forces when Troy was besieged by 
 the Greeks, and it is said that thirty-one of 
 the most valiant Greek chiefs were killed by 
 him, but when he met Achilles he fled. 
 Achilles pursued him, and Hector was killed, 
 and his body dragged in triumph at the char- 
 iot wheels of the conqueror. 
 
 Hec'uba, daughter of Dymas, a Phrygian prince, 
 or, according to some, of Cisseus, a Thracian 
 king, was the second wnfe of Priam, king of 
 Troy. When her son Paris was born, she ex- 
 posed him on Mount Ida, hoping he would 
 perish, as the soothsayers had predicted that 
 he would be the ruin of his country. In the
 
 92 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Trojan war she saw most of her children per- 
 ish. After enduring many misfortunes, she 
 threw herself into the sea, and was drowned. 
 Hel'ena. One of the most beautiful women in the 
 age in which she lived. Her beauty was so 
 universally admired, even in her infancy, 
 that Theseus, with his friend Pirithous, car- 
 ried her away when she was ten years of age 
 and concealed her with his mother, but she 
 was recovered by Castor and Pollux, and re- 
 stored to her native country. She married 
 Menelaus, son of Atreus, but when Paris vis- 
 ited Menelaus he persuaded her to fly with 
 him to Troy, b.c. iigS. On this, Menelaus 
 sent ambassadors to the court of Priam to de- 
 mand her restitution, but in vain, and the 
 result was the Trojan war. When Troy was 
 taken she returned to Menelaus, and after his 
 death she retired to Rhodes, where she was 
 strangled by order of Polyxo, who reigned 
 there. Her beauty and misfortunes have been 
 a theme for the poets in all ages : one of them 
 thus speaks of her : — 
 
 " Possess'd of all those glowing cliarms, 
 That fir'd the Trojan boy, 
 And kindled love with war's alarms 
 Around the walls of Troy." 
 
 Hel icon. A mountain of B(£otia on the borders 
 of Phocis. II was sacred to the Muses, who 
 had a temple there. The fountain Hippo- 
 crene flowed from this mountain.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 93 
 
 Heliogab alus, M. Aure lius Antoni us. A Roman 
 emperor who had been priest to a divinity in 
 Phoenicia. Under his sway Rome became the 
 scene of cruelty and vice. He raised his 
 horse to the honors of consulship, and in- 
 dulged in a number of absurdities which ren- 
 dered him odious to his subjects. His head 
 was cut off by his soldiers a.d. 222. 
 Hel'le. A daughter of Athamas and Nephele. 
 She fled from her father's house to avoid the 
 oppression of her mother-in-law Ino. Accord- 
 ing to some accounts, she was carried through 
 the air on a golden ram, when, becoming 
 giddy, she fell into the sea, which received 
 from her the name Hellespont. 
 Hellespon'tus. A narrow strait between Europe 
 and Asia, which received its name from 
 Helle, who is said to have been drowned in 
 it. It is celebrated as being the scene of the 
 love and death of Leander. 
 Heracli'tus. A celebrated Greek philosopher of 
 Ephesus, who lived about 500 years before the 
 Christian era. He received the appellation 
 of the Obscure Philosopher and the Mourner, 
 from his custom of weeping at the follies and 
 frailties of human life. 
 Herculaneum. A town of Campania swallowed 
 up by an earthquake, produced by an eruption 
 of Mount Vesuvius, a.d. 79. 
 ■ Hercules. A celebrated hero who, after death, 
 was ranked among the gods. According to 
 the ancients there were many persons of th©
 
 94 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 same name, but the son of Jupiter and Alc- 
 •\nena, generally called the Theban, is the 
 most celebrated. The birth of Hercules was 
 attended with many miraculous events. Be- 
 fore he was eight months old Juno sent two 
 snakes to devour him, which he seized, and 
 crushed them to death. He achieved a series 
 of enterprises known as the "Twelve Labors 
 of Hercules." These comprised the slaugh- 
 ter of the Nemaean lion, the destruction of the 
 Lernsean hydra, the catching of a stag having 
 golden horns and remarkable for his swift- 
 ness, the seizing alive a wild boar which com- 
 mitted great ravages, the cleansing of the 
 stables of Augias, the killing of the carnivo- 
 rous birds near Lake Stymphalis, the taking 
 captive a prodigious wild bull, the obtaining 
 the mares of Diomedes which fed on human 
 flesh, the getting possession of the girdle of 
 the queen of the Amazons, the destruction of 
 the monster Geryon, the obtaining the apples 
 from the garden of the Hesperides, and the 
 bringing to the earth the three-headed dog 
 Cerberus. Besides these labors he aided the 
 gods in their wars with the giants, and per- 
 formed numerous difficult feats. He was con- 
 ducted by Mercury to Omphale, queen of 
 Lydia, whom he married, and whom he per- 
 mitted to dress in his armor while he was sit- 
 ting to spin with her female servants. He 
 delivered Dejanira from the Centaur Nessiis, 
 whom he killed. The Centaur, as he expired,
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 95 
 
 • gaveDejanira a mystic tunic, which, m a 
 jealous paroxysm, she gave to Hercules to 
 put on, which he had no sooner done than he 
 was seized with a desperate distemper which 
 was incurable. He erected a burning pile on 
 Mount ^Eta. on which he cast himself. Jupi- 
 ter surrounded the burning pile with smoke, 
 amidst which Hercules, after his mortal parts 
 were consumed, was carried to heaven in a 
 chariot drawn by four horses. 
 
 Hermes. A name of Mercury among the Greeks. 
 
 Herminius. A valiant Roman who defended the 
 bridge with Codes against the army of Por- 
 senna. Lord Macaulay, in his noble poem 
 "Horatius, " alludes to him as one of the 
 •'dauntless three" who defended the bridge 
 against the host of Porsenna — 
 
 " And out spake strong Herminius, 
 Of Titian blood was he, 
 'I will abide on thy left side, 
 
 And keep the bridge with thee.' " 
 
 Hermi'one. A daughter of Mars and Venus who 
 married Cadmus. She was changed into a 
 serpent, and placed in the El5^sian Fields. 
 
 Hermi one. A daughter of Menelaus and Helen. 
 She was privately promised in marriage to 
 Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, but her 
 father, ignorant of the engagement, gave her 
 hand to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, whose 
 services he had experienced in the Trojan 
 war. 
 
 Hermip'pus. A freedman, disciple of Philo, in
 
 g6 CLASStCAI. DICTIONARY 
 
 the reign of Adrian, by whom he was greatly 
 esteemed. He wrote five books on dreams. 
 
 Hermoc rates. A general of Syracuse, who was 
 sent against the Athenians. His lenity 
 toward the Athenian prisoners was regarded 
 with suspicion. He was banished from Sicily, 
 and was murdered on his attempt to return to 
 his country. 
 
 Hermodo'rus. A philosopher of Ephesus who is 
 said to have assisted, as interpreter, the Ro- 
 man decemvirs in the composition of the ten 
 tables of laws which had been collected in 
 Greece. 
 
 Hero. A beautiful girl of Sestos greatly be- 
 loved by Leander, a youth of Abydos, The 
 lovers were greatly attached to each other, 
 and often in the night Leander swam across 
 the Hellespont to Hero in Sestos, till on one 
 tempestuous night he was drowned, and Hero 
 in despair threw herself into the sea and per- 
 ished. 
 
 Hero'des, surnamed the Great, followed the for- 
 tunes of Brutus and Cassius, and afterward 
 those of Antony. He was made king of Judaea 
 by the aid of Antony, and after the battle of 
 Actium he was continued in power by submis- 
 sion to and flattery of Augustus. He rendered 
 himself odious by his cruelty, and as he knew 
 his death would be a cause for rejoicing, he 
 ordered a number of the most illustrious of 
 his subjects to be confined and murdered di- 
 rectly he expired, that there might appear to
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 97 
 
 be grief and shedding of tears for his ovrn 
 death. Herod died in the seventieth year of 
 his age, after a reign of 40 years. 
 
 Herodotus. A celebrated historian of Plalicar- 
 nassus. He ranks among historians as Homer 
 does among the poets and Demosthenes 
 among the orators. His great work is a his- 
 tory of the wars of the Persians against the 
 Greeks, from the age of Cyrus to the battle 
 of Mycale in the reign of Xerxes ; besides 
 which it gives an account of many celebrated 
 nations. A life of Homer is attributed to his 
 pen, though by some the authorship is doubted. 
 
 Hesi'odus. A celebrated poet, born at Ascia in 
 Boeotia. He lived in the age of Homer, and 
 obtained a poetical prize in competition with 
 him, according to Varro and Plutarch. Quin- 
 tilian, Philostratus, and others maintain that 
 Hesiod lived before the age of Homer. He- 
 siod. without possessing the sublimity of Ho- 
 mer, is admired for the elegance of his diction. 
 
 Hesi'one. A daughter of Laodemon, king of 
 Troy. It was her fate to be exposed to a sea- 
 monster, to whom the Trojans presented 
 yearly a young girl to appease the resentment 
 of Apollo and Neptune, whom Laodemon had 
 offended. Hercules undertook to rescue her, 
 and attacking the monster just as he was 
 about to devour her, killed him with his club. 
 
 Hesperides. Three Nymphs, daughters of Hespe- 
 rus. Apollodorus mentions four, ^gle, Ery- 
 thia, Vesta, and Arethusa. They were ap- 
 7
 
 98 CLASSICAL DICTIONARV 
 
 pointed to guard the golden apples which Juno 
 gave to Jupiter on the day of their marriage. 
 The place where the Hesperides lived was a 
 celebrated garden, abounding with delicious 
 fruit, and was guarded by a dragon which 
 never slept. It was one of the labors of Her- 
 cules to procure some of the golden apples, 
 which he succeeded in doing after slaying the 
 dragon. 
 
 Hieron'ymus. A tyrant of Sicily, who succeeded 
 to the throne when he was fifteen years old. 
 He rendered himself odious by his cruelty and 
 oppression. 
 
 Hieron'ymus. A Christian writer, commonly 
 called St. Jerome. He was distinguished for 
 his zeal against heretics. He wrote com- 
 mentaries on the prophets, St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, etc. He died a.d. 420 in his eightieth 
 year. 
 
 Hippar'chus. A son of Pisistratus, who succeeded 
 his father, as tyrant of Athens, with his 
 brother Hippias. He patronized some of the 
 learned men of his age. and distinguished 
 himself for his love of literature. 
 
 Hippocrates. A celebrated physician of Cos. 
 He delivered Athens from a dreadful pesti- 
 lence in the beginning of the Peloponnesian 
 war, for which he was rewarded with a golden 
 crown. He died in his ninety-ninth year. 
 B.C. 361. 
 
 Hippocre'ne. A fountain of Boeotia, near Mount 
 Helicon, sacred to the Muses. It rose from
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 99 
 
 the ground when struck by the ieet of the 
 horse Pegasus. 
 
 Hippodami'a. A daughter of CEnomaus, king of 
 Pisa, who married Pelops, son of Tantalus. 
 Her father would marry her only to some one 
 who should conquer him in a chariot race. 
 Her beauty was great, and many were compe- 
 titors for her hand, though the conditions in- 
 volved death in case of defeat in the race. 
 After thirteen suitors had been defeated, 
 Pelops entered the lists, and by bribing the 
 charioteer of CEnomaus, obtained the victory 
 and married Hippodamia. 
 
 Hippolyte. A queen of the Amazons, given in 
 marriage to Theseus by Hercules. Hippoly- 
 tus was their son. 
 
 Hippolytus. Son of Theseus and Hippolyte. 
 His stepmother Phaedra fell in love with him. 
 He fled to the sea-shore, where, his horses 
 taking fright and rushing among the rocks, 
 his chariot was broken in pieces, and he was 
 killed. According to some accounts he was 
 restored to life by Diana. 
 
 Hippo'nax. A Greek poet born at Ephesus, 540 
 years before the Christian era. He cultivated 
 satirical poetry, which was marked by its 
 beauty and vigor. 
 
 Home'rus. A celebrated Greek poet, the most 
 ancient of all the profane writers. The age 
 in which he lived is not known, though some 
 suppose it to be about 168 years after the 
 Trojan war. Uncertainty prevails, also, as
 
 loo CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 to the place of his nativity, seven cities claim- 
 ing to be thus honored. These are Smyrna, 
 Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, 
 and Athena?. In his two famous poems, the 
 Iliad and Odyssey, he has displayed the most 
 consummate knowledge of human nature, and 
 rendered himself immortal by the sublimity 
 and elegance of his poetry. In the Iliad he 
 gives a narrative of the siege of Troy, and the 
 Odyssey deals with the wanderings of Ulysses 
 after the fall of the city. Byron, in "The 
 Bride of Abydos, " calls him 
 
 " The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle," 
 
 thus assuming Chios to be his birthplace, Scio 
 being the modern name of the place. Dry- 
 den, in his well-known lines commencing 
 
 " Three poets in three distant ages born," 
 
 ranks him with Virgil and Milton, giving 
 Homer the palm of "loftiness of thought." 
 One of the old poets thus alludes to his verse : — 
 
 " Read Homer once, and you can read no more, 
 For all books else appear so mean and poor; 
 Verse will seem prose; but still persist to read, 
 And Homer will be all the books you need." 
 
 Hono'rius. An emperor of the Western Empire 
 of Rome, who succeeded his father, Theodo- 
 sius the Great. He conquered his enemies 
 by the ability of his generals, and suffered 
 his people to be governed by ministers who 
 took advantage of his indolence and indiffer- 
 ence. He died a.d. 423.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY lOI 
 
 Hora tii. Three brave Romans, born at the same 
 time, who fought against the three Curiatii 
 about 667 years before Christ. At the begin- 
 ning of the fight two of the Koratii were 
 killed, and the surviving one pretended to fly, 
 thus separating his antagonists as they pur- 
 sued him, and then, attacking them singly, 
 he slew them all. 
 
 Hora'tius, Q. Flac'cus. A celebrated poet born 
 at Venusia. His rising talents obtained the 
 attention of Virgil and Varius, who recom- 
 mended him to the care of Maecenas and Au- 
 gustus, the celebrated patrons of literature. 
 Under this fostering patronage Horace gave 
 himself up to indolence and pleasure. He 
 was warm in his friendships, and if he at any 
 time gave offense, he was ready to make any 
 concession to effect a reconciliation. In his 
 satires and epistle he displays much wit and 
 satirical humor. He died in his fifty-seventh 
 ^-ear, b.c. 8. 
 
 Horatius. See Cocles. 
 
 Horten'sius, Q. A celebrated orator who began 
 to distinguish himself in the Roman Forum 
 when he was nineteen years old. Cicero 
 speaks eulogistically of his oratorical powers, 
 and of his retentive memory. Quintilian 
 alludes to his orations in terms of high com- 
 mendation. 
 
 Hyacin'thus. A son of Amyclas and Diomede, 
 greatly beloved by Apollo and Zephyrus. He 
 was accidentally killed by Apollo, who
 
 I02 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 changed his blood into a flower which bore his 
 name. 
 
 Hy'bla. A mountain in Sicily, famous for the 
 odoriferous herbs which grew on it. It was 
 noted for its honey. 
 
 Hydra. A celebrated monster which infested the 
 neighborhood of Lake Lernain Peloponnesus. 
 It was one of the labors of Hercules to destroy 
 the monster, which he effected with the aid 
 of lolas. 
 
 Hyge'ia. The goddess of health, daughter of 
 ^sculapius. She was held in great venera- 
 tion among the ancients. 
 
 Hymenae us or Hy men, the god of m.arriage among 
 the Greeks, was the son of Bacchus and Venus, 
 or, according to some, of Apollo and one of 
 the Muses. 
 
 Hymet'tus. A mountain of Attica, about two 
 miles from Athens, famous for its bees and 
 honey. 
 
 Hyperi on. A son of Coelus and Terra, wdio mar- 
 ried Thea. Aurora was their daughter. Hy- 
 perion is often used by the poets to signify 
 the sun ; as, for instance, by Shakspeare in 
 "Titus Andronicus" (act v. sc. 2) — 
 
 "Even from Hyperion's rising in the east. 
 Until his very downfall in the sea." 
 
 Also in "Troilus and Cressida" and other of 
 Shakspeare's plays, the same license is used. 
 Hypermnes'tra. Une of the Danaides, who were 
 the fifty daughters of Danaus. She was
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I03 
 
 ordered by her father to murder her husband 
 Lynceus on the night of their marriage, which 
 she refused to do. Danaus wished to punish 
 her for her disobedience, but afterward for- 
 gave her, and left his kingdom at his death 
 to Lynceus. 
 Hypsipyle. A queen of Lemnos, daughter of 
 Thoas. During her reign, Venus, whose 
 altars had been slighted, punished the Lem- 
 nian women by causing their husbands' af- 
 fections to be estranged from them. This 
 enraged the women, and they put to death 
 their male relations, except in the case of 
 Hypsipyle, who spared her father Thoas, 
 
 Ic'arus. A son of Daedalus, who, with his father, 
 took a winged flight from Crete to escape the 
 anger of Minos. His flight was too high, and 
 thus the sun melted the wax which cemented 
 his wings, and he fell into the sea and was 
 drowned. 
 
 Idom eneus succeeded his father Deucalion on 
 the throne of Crete, and accompanied the 
 Greeks to the Trojan war, during which he 
 rendered himself famous for his valor. On 
 his voyage home, being caught in a great 
 tempest, he vowed to Neptune that if he es- 
 caped he would make an offering to the god 
 of the first living creature he saw on his ar- 
 rival at the Cretan shore. He escaped the 
 storm, and the first to meet him on his land- 
 ing was his son. He performed his vow, and
 
 I04 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 became so odious to his subjects that he had 
 to leave his dominions. 
 
 Igna tius. A bishop of Antioch torn to pieces by- 
 lions in the amphitheater at Rome a.d, 107. 
 His works consisted of letters to the Ephe- 
 sians, Romans, etc. He zealously supported 
 the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. 
 
 rius, fourth king of Troy, was son of Tros by 
 Callirrhoe. He married Eurydice, the daugh- 
 ter of Adrastus. He embellished the city of 
 Ilium, called also Troy from his father Tros. 
 
 I'no. A daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, who 
 nursed Bacchus." She married Athamas, king 
 of Thebes, after he had divorced Nephele. 
 
 I'o, a daughter of Inachus, was a priestess of 
 Juno at Argos. Jupiter changed her into a 
 beautiful heifer, and eventually restored her 
 to her own form. She was greatly persecuted 
 by Juno. She married Telegonus, king of 
 Egypt, or Osiris according to others, and 
 treated her subjects with such kindness that 
 after death she received divine honors, and 
 was worshiped under the name of Isis. 
 
 Tolas or lola'us. A son of Iphiclus, king of 
 Thessaly, who assisted Hercules in conquer- 
 ing the Hydra; he burnt with a hot iron the 
 place where the monster's heads had been cut 
 off to prevent their re-growth. 
 
 Iph iclus. A son of Amphitryon and Alcmena. 
 twin brother of Hercules. As the children 
 were cradled together, Juno, jealous of Her- 
 cules, sent two large serpents to destroy him.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I05 
 
 At the sight of the snakes Iphiclus showed 
 great alarm, but Hercules seized them, one in 
 each hand, and squeezed them to death. 
 
 Iphicrates. A celebrated general of Athens, who, 
 though son of a shoemaker, rose to the high- 
 est offices in the state. He made war against 
 the Thracians, and assisted the Persian king 
 against Egypt. 
 
 Iphigeni'a. A daughter of Agamemnon and Cly- 
 temnestra. When the Greeks, going to the 
 Trojan war, were detained at Aulis by con- 
 trary winds, they were informed by a sooth- 
 sayer that to appease the gods they must sac- 
 rifice Iphigenia to Diana. As the fatal knife 
 was about to be plunged into her, Iphigenia 
 suddenly disappeared, and a goat of great 
 beauty was found in the place where she had 
 stood ready for the sacrifice. 
 
 Iph'itus. A son of Eurytus, king of CEchalia. 
 When his father had promised his daughter 
 lole to any one who could excel him or his 
 sons in drawing the bow, Hercules accepted 
 the challenge and was victorious. Eurytus, 
 however, refused to fulfil the compact by giv- 
 ing his daughter to the conqueror. After- 
 ward some oxen were stolen from Eurytus, 
 and Iphitus was sent in quest of them. In 
 his search he met Hercules, who aided him in 
 seeking the lost animals, but on recollecting 
 the faithlessness of Eurytus he killed Iphitus. 
 
 Irens'us. A native of Greece, disciple of Poly- 
 carp, and bishop of Lyons. He wrote on dif=
 
 Io6 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 fe rent subjects, and suffered martyrdom a.d. 
 
 202. 
 
 Iris. One of the Oceanides, messenger of the 
 gods, and more particularly of Juno. Her 
 office was to cut the thread which seemed to 
 detain the soul of those who were expiring. 
 She is the same as the rainbow. 
 
 I'sis. A celebrated deity of the Egyptians, 
 daughter of Saturn and Rhea, according to 
 Diodorus of Sicily. Some suppose her to be 
 the same as lo, who was changed into a cow, 
 and restored to her human form in Egypt, 
 where she taught agriculture, and governed 
 the people with mildness and equity, for 
 which she received divine honors after her 
 death. 
 
 Isoc'rates. A celebrated orator, son of a musical 
 instrument maker at Athens. He opened a 
 school of eloquence at Athens, where he was 
 distinguished for the number, character, and 
 fame of his pupils. He was intimate with 
 Philip of Macedon, but the aspiring ambition 
 of Philip displeased Isocrates, and the defeat 
 of the Athenians at Chseronea had such an 
 effect on him that he did not long survive it. 
 He died, after being four days without taking 
 any aliment, in his ninety-ninth year, about 
 338 years before Christ. He was honored 
 after death by the erection of a brazen statue 
 to his memory by Timotheus, one of his 
 pupils, and Aphareus, his adopted son. Mil- 
 ton, in one of his sonnets, speaks of him as
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 107 
 
 "that old man eloquent" when alluding to his 
 death as being caused by the news of the bat- 
 tle of Chaeronea. 
 
 rtys. A son of Tereus, king of Thrace, and 
 Procne, daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. 
 He was killea oy nis mother when he was six 
 years old, and served up to his father to be 
 eaten by him. He was changed into a pheas- 
 ant, his mother into a swallow, and his father 
 into an owl. 
 
 Ixion. A king of Thessaly, son of Phlegias, or, 
 according to Hyginus, of Leontes, or, accord- 
 ing to Diodorus, of Antion and Perimela. 
 Jupiter carried him to heaven and placed him 
 at the table of the gods, where he became 
 enamored wnth Juno, which so incensed Jupiter 
 that he banished him from heaven, and ordered 
 Mercury to tie him to a wheel in hell which 
 continually whirled round, keeping Ixion in 
 perpetual torture. 
 
 Janus. An ancient king who reigned in Italy. 
 He was a native of Thessaly, and, according 
 to some writers, a son of Apollo. He built a 
 town which he called Janiculum. Some au- 
 thors make him to have been son of Coelus and 
 Hecate. He is represented with two faces, 
 because he was acquainted with the past and 
 future. His temple was always open in time 
 of war, and was shut when peace existed. 
 
 Jap'etus. A son of Coelus or Titan and Terra. 
 who married Asia, or, according to some
 
 I08 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 writers, Clymene. The Greeks looked on 
 him as the father of all mankind. 
 
 Jason. A celebrated hero, son of .^son and 
 Alcimedes. His education was entrusted to 
 the Centaur Chiron. The greatest feat re- 
 corded of him is his voyage in the Argo to 
 Colchis to obtain the Golden Fleece, which, 
 aided by Juno, he succeeded in doing. Medea, 
 daughter of ^etes, king of Colchis, fell in love 
 with Jason. She was a powerful magician, 
 and on Jason having vowed eternal fidelity to 
 her, she gave him charms to protect him from 
 danger. After securing the Fleece, Jason set 
 sail from the country with his wife Medea. 
 After some years he became enamored with 
 Glauce, daughter of Creon, king of Corinth, 
 whom he married, having divorced Medea. 
 This cruel act was revenged by Medea, who 
 destroyed her children in the presence of their 
 father. Jason is said to have been killed by 
 a beam which fell on his head as he was re- 
 posing by the side of the ship which had borne 
 him to Colchis. 
 
 Jocas'ta. A daughter of Menoeceus, who married 
 Laius, king of Thebes, CEdipus being their 
 son. She afterward married CEdipus with- 
 out knowing who he was, and on the discov- 
 ery she hanged herself. By some mytholo- 
 gists she is called Epicasta. 
 
 Jose'phus, Fla'vius. A celebrated Jew, born in 
 Jerusalem, who signalized himself in a siege 
 conducted by Vespasian and Titus in a small
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I09 
 
 town in Judaea. He was present at the siege 
 of Jerusalem by Titus, and received all the 
 sacred books which it contained from the con- 
 queror's hands. He wrote a history of the 
 wars of the Jews in Syriac, and afterwards 
 translated it into Greek. He also wrote a 
 work, which he divided into twenty books, on 
 Jewish antiquities. He died a.d. 93, in his 
 fifty -sixth year. 
 Jovia nus, Fla vius Clau dius. A native of Pan- 
 nonia elected emperor of Rome by the soldiers 
 after the death of Julian. He refused the 
 purple at first, but on being assured that his 
 subjects were favorably disposed toward 
 Christianity he accepted the crown. He died 
 about seven months after assuming the su- 
 preme power, being found in bed suffocated 
 by the vapors of charcoal which had been 
 lighted in his room, a.d. 364. 
 Ju'ba. A king of Numidia and Mauritania who 
 favored the cause of Pompey against Julius 
 Ciesar. He defeated Curio, whom Csesar had 
 sent to Africa, and after the battle of Phar- 
 salia he joined his forces to those of Scipio. 
 He was conquered in a battle at Thapsus, and 
 killed himself. His kingdom became a 
 Roman province, of which Sallust was the 
 first governor. 
 Ju'ba, the second of that name, was led captive to 
 Rome to give lustre to the triumph of Caesar. 
 He wrote a history of Rome which was often 
 commended and quoted by the ancients.
 
 no CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Jugur tha. A distinguished Numldian who went 
 with a body of troops to the assistance of 
 Scipio who was besieging Numantia. Jugur- 
 tha endeared himself to the Roman general 
 by his bravery and activity. His uncle Mi- 
 cipsa appointed him successor to the throne, 
 with his two sons Adherbal and Hiempsal, the 
 latter of whom was slain by Jugurtha, and 
 the former had to fly to Rome for safety. 
 Csecilius Metellus was sent against Jugurtha, 
 who was betrayed, and delivered into the 
 hands of the Romans. He died in prison, 
 B.C. io6. 
 
 Ju'lia. A daughter of Julius Caesar and Cornelia, 
 famous for her virtues and personal charms. 
 She was obliged by her father to divorce her- 
 self from her first husband to marry Pompey 
 the Great, with the object of cementing the 
 friendship between him and her father. 
 
 Ju'lia. Daughter of Augustus, remarkable for 
 her beauty, genius, and vices. Her father 
 gave her in marriage to Marcellus, after 
 whose death she united herself to Agrippa, 
 and again becoming a widow she married 
 Tiberius. Her conduct now became so un- 
 seemly that she was banished to a small island 
 on the coast of Campania, where she was 
 starved to death. 
 
 Ju'lia. A daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina, 
 born at Lesbos, a.d. 17. She married M. 
 Vinucius, a senator, when she was sixteen 
 years old. She was banished on suspicion of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY III 
 
 conspiracy by her brother Caligula. She was 
 notorious for her licentious conduct, and was 
 put to death when she was about twenty-four 
 years of age. 
 
 Ju'lia. A celebrated woman born in Phoenicia. 
 She applied herself to the study of philosophy, 
 and was conspicuous for her mental as well 
 as her personal charms. She came to Rome, 
 where she married Septimius Severus, who 
 was afterward invested with the purple. She 
 was also called Domna. 
 
 Julia'nus. A son of Julius Constantius, the 
 brother of Constantine the Great, born in 
 Constantinople. The massacre which at- 
 tended the elevation of the sons of Constan- 
 tine to the throne nearly proved fatal to Julian 
 and his brother Gallus. The two brothers 
 were privately educated and taught the doc- 
 trine of the Christian religion — which after- 
 ward Julian disavowed, and in consequence 
 of this the term "Apostate" is generally af- 
 fixed to his name. He died, a.d. 363, in his 
 thirty-second year. His last moments were 
 spent in a conversation with a philosopher 
 about the immortality of the soul. Julian's 
 character has been admired by some writers, 
 but generally he is censured for his apostasy. 
 
 Ju'no. A celebrated deity among the ancients, 
 daughter of Saturn and Ops. Jupiter married 
 her. and the nuptials were celebrated with the 
 greatest solemnity in the presence of all the 
 gods. By her marriage with Jupiter, Juno
 
 112 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 became the queen of all the gods, and mis- 
 tress of heaven and earth. She presided over 
 marriage, and patronized those of her sex who 
 were distinguished for virtuous conduct. 
 Paris gave her great offense by giving the 
 golden apple, as an award to beaut}', to Venus 
 instead of herself. 
 
 Ju'piter. The chief of all the gods of the an- 
 cients. According to Varro there were three 
 hundred persons of that name. To him of 
 Crete, who passed for the son of Saturn and 
 Ops, the actions of the rest have been attrib- 
 uted. Jupiter was educated in a cave on 
 Mount Ida, in Crete, and fed with the milk of 
 the goat Amaltha^a. While he was very 
 young he made war on the Titans, whom he 
 conquered. The beginning of his reign in the 
 supernal regions was interrupted by the re- 
 bellion of the giants who were sons of the 
 Earth, and who were desirous of revenging 
 the death of the Titans, but by the aid of 
 Hercules Jupiter overpowered them. Jupiter 
 married Metis, Themis, Ceres, Euronyme, 
 Mnemosyne, Latona, and Juno. His worship 
 was universal : he was the Amnion of the 
 Africans, the Belus of Babylon, and the Osiris 
 of Egypt. 
 
 Juvena'lis, D. Junius. A poet born at Aquinum 
 in Italy. lie came to Rome at an early age. 
 where he applied himself to the writing of 
 satires, some of which are extant. He died 
 in the reign of Trajan a.d. 128. His writings
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY TI3 
 
 . . are distinguished by a lively style, but abound 
 with ill humor. 
 
 Labe'rius, J. Dec'imus. A Roman knight famous 
 for his skill in writing pantomimes. Csesar 
 made him appear on the stage in one of his 
 plays, which he resented by throwing out 
 aspersions on Csesar during the performance, 
 and b) warning the audience against tyranny. 
 
 Lach esis. One of the Parcae, or Fates. She 
 presided over futurity, and was represented 
 as spinning the thread of life, or according to 
 some as holding the spindle. 
 
 Laertes. A king of Ithaca who married Anticlea, 
 daughter of Autolycus. Ulysses was their 
 son, and succeeded him on the throne, Laertes 
 retiring to the country, and devoting his time 
 to gardening, in which employment he was 
 found by Ulysses on his return from the Tro- 
 jan war, after twenty years' absence. 
 
 La'gus. A Macedonian of mean extraction, who 
 married Arsinoe, daughter of Meleager. 
 On the birth of a child it was exposed in the 
 woods by Lagus, but an eagle preserved its 
 life by feeding and sheltering it with her 
 wings. The infant was afterward known as 
 King Ptolemy the First of Egypt. 
 
 Lais. A woman of immoral character, daughter 
 of Timandra and Alcibiades. Diogenes, the 
 Cynic, was one of her admirers, and gained her 
 heart. She went to Thessaly, where the wo- 
 men, jealous of her charms, assassinated her, 
 8
 
 114 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Laoc oon. A priest of Apollo who in the Trojan 
 war was opposed to the admission of the 
 wooden horse to the city. For this, as a 
 punishment, two enormous serpents were sent 
 to attack him, which they did while, accom- 
 panied by his two sons, he was offering a sac- 
 rifice to Neptune. The serpents coiled round 
 him and his sons, and crushed them to death. 
 Lord Byron ("Childe Harold," canto iv.) thus 
 alludes to the Laocoon group in marble in the 
 Vatican : 
 
 " Or, turning to the Vatican, go see 
 
 Laocoon's torture, dignifying pain — 
 A father's love and mortal's agony 
 
 With an immortal's patience blending. Vain 
 
 The struggle; vain, against the coiling strain 
 And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp, 
 
 The old man's clench; the long, envenom'd chain 
 Rivets the living links— the enormous asp 
 Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp." 
 
 Laom'edon. Son of Ilus, and king of Troy. He 
 married Strynio, called by some Placia or 
 Leucippe. Podarces, afterward known as 
 Priam, was their son. Laomedon built the 
 walls of Troy, in which he was assisted by 
 Apollo and Neptune. 
 
 Lap ithus. A son of Apollo and Stilbe. He 
 married Orsinome, Phorbas and Periphas 
 being their children, to whose numerous de- 
 scendants was given the name Lapithae, a 
 number of whom attended the nuptials of 
 Pirithous with Hippodamia, the daughter of 
 Adrastus, king of Argos. The Centaurs also
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I15 
 
 attended the festivity, and quarreled with the 
 Lapithse, which resulted in blows and slaugh- 
 ter. Many of the Centaurs were slain, and 
 they were at last obliged to retire. 
 
 Lares. Gods of inferior power at Rome, who 
 presided over houses and families. They 
 were two in number, sons of Mercury and 
 Lara. 
 
 Lati'nus. A son of Faunus and Marica. king of 
 the Aborigines in Italy, who from him were 
 called Latini. 
 
 Lato'na. A daughter of Coeus, the Titan, and 
 Phoebe. She was admired for her beauty 
 by Jupiter. Juno made Latona the object of 
 her vengeance, and sent the serpent Python 
 to persecute her. 
 
 Lean'der. A youth of Abydos. He was passion- 
 ately in love with Hero, a young girl of 
 Sestos. He was in the habit of swimming 
 across the Hellespont to visit her, in doing 
 which, on a tempestuous night, he was 
 drowned. Lord Byron performed the same 
 feat in 1810, an exploit which he has cele- 
 brated in verse in his occasional pieces. He 
 expresses surprise that, as the truth of Lean- 
 der's story had been questioned, no one had 
 hitherto tested its practicability. 
 
 Le'da. A daughter of king Thespius and Eury- 
 themis, who married Tyndarus. king of 
 Sparta. She is famous for her intrigue with 
 Jupiter. She was the mother of Pollux, 
 Helena, Castor, and Clytemnestra. She is
 
 ri6 CLASfilCAT, DICTIONARY 
 
 said to have received the name- of Nemesis 
 after death. 
 
 Lem'ures. The manes of the dead. The an- 
 cients supposed that after death the departed 
 souls wandered over the world and disturbed 
 the peace of its inhabitants. 
 
 Leon'idas. A celebrated king of Lacedsemon 
 who went to oppose Xerxes, king of Persia, 
 who had invaded Greece with a vast army. 
 A great battle was fought at Thermopylae, the 
 entire army of Leonidas consisting of 300 men 
 who refused to abandon him. For a time this 
 small army resisted the vast legions of Xerxes, 
 till at length a traitor conducted a detachment 
 of Persians by a secret path to the rear of 
 Leonidas, when his soldiers were cut to pieces, 
 one only of the 300 escaping. The late Rev. 
 George Croly, author of "Salathiel," wrote a 
 poem, called "The Death of Leonidas," 
 which, after describing in vivid language the 
 determined valor of the Greeks, thus con- 
 cludes : 
 
 " Thus fought the Greek of old; 
 Thus will he fight again: 
 Shall not the self-same mould 
 Bring forth the self-same men?" 
 
 Lepi'dus, M. ^Emilius. A celebrated Roman, 
 one of the triumvirs with Augustus and An- 
 tony. He was of an illustrious family, and, 
 like many of his contemporaries, remarkable 
 for ambition. He was unable to maintain his 
 position as triumvir; and, resigning power, 
 he sank into obscurity.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY II7 
 
 Le'the. One of the rivers of hell, whose waters 
 were imbibed by the souls of the dead which 
 had been for a certain period confined in Tar- 
 tarus. Those who drank of this river forgot 
 whatever they had previously known. In 
 this sense the word is constantly used by the 
 poets. Thus Shakspeare (Henry IV. part ii. 
 act V. scene 2) says : 
 
 " May this be washed in Lethe and for.e:otten." 
 Leucip'pus. A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, 
 about 428 years before Christ. He was a dis- 
 ciple of Zeno. His life was written by Diog- 
 enes. There were several others of the same 
 name. 
 Leuc tra. A village in Boeotia, famous for the 
 victory which Epaminondas, the Theban gen- 
 eral, obtained over the superior force of Cle- 
 ombrotus, king of Sparta, b.c. 371. 
 Licinius, C. A tribune of the people celebrated 
 for his intrigues and ability. He was a ple- 
 beian, and was the first of that class that was 
 raised to the office of master of the horse to 
 the dictator. There were a number of other 
 Romans of the same name. 
 Liv'ius, Ti'tus. A native of Padua, a celebrated 
 historian. He passed the chief part of his 
 time at Naples and Rome, but more particu- 
 larly at the court of Augustus, who liberally 
 patronized him. The name of Livy is ren- 
 dered immortal by his history of the Roman 
 empire. The merit of this history is admitted 
 by all, and the high rank which Livy holds
 
 Il8 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 among historians is undisputed. Lord Byron 
 speaks of it in his "Childe Harold" as "Livy s 
 picture page. " 
 
 Liv ius, Androni cus. A dramatic poet Avho flour- 
 ished at Rome about 240 years before the 
 Christian era. 
 
 Longi nus, Dionys ius Cas sius. A celebrated 
 Greek philosopher of Athens. He was pre- 
 ceptor of the Greek language, and afterward 
 minister, to Zenobia, the famous queen of 
 Palmyra. 
 
 Luca nus, M. Annae us. A native of Corduba in 
 Spain. At an early age he went to Rome, 
 where his rising talents recommended him to 
 the emperor Nero. He unwisely entered into 
 a poetical contest with Nero, in which he ob- 
 tained an easy victory, which greatly offended 
 the emperor. After this Lucan was exposed 
 to much annoyance from Nero, and was in- 
 duced to join in a conspiracy against him, on 
 which he was condemned to death, the mode 
 of which he had the liberty of choosing. He 
 decided to have his veins opened in a warm 
 bath, and died quoting some lines from his 
 "Pharsalia. " Of all his works none but the 
 " Pharsalia" remains. 
 
 Lucia nus. A celebrated writer of Samosata. 
 His works are numerous, consisting chiefly of 
 dialogues written with much force. He died 
 A.i). 180, being, as some say, torn in pieces by 
 dogs for his impiety. 
 
 Lu cifer. The name of the planet Venus, or
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY II9 
 
 morning star. It is called Lucifer when ap- 
 pearing in the morning before the sun, but 
 when it appears after its setting it is called 
 Hesperus. 
 
 Lucil ius, C. A Roman knight, who is regarded 
 as the first satirical writer among the Romans. 
 Of thirty satires which he wrote only a few 
 verses remain. He died at Naples B.C. 103. 
 
 Lucilius Luci'nus. A famous Roman who fled 
 with Brutus from the battle of Philippi. He 
 was taken prisoner, but the conquerors spared 
 his life. 
 
 Luci na. A daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She 
 was the goddess who presided over the birth 
 of children. 
 
 Lucre tia. A celebrated Roman lady, daughter 
 of Lucretius and wife of Tarquinius Colla- 
 tinus. A number of young noble Romans at 
 Ardea, among whom were Collatinus and the 
 sons of Tarquin the Proud, were discussing 
 the virtues of their wives at home, and it was 
 agreed to go to Rome to ascertain how their 
 wives employed themselves in their husbands' 
 absence in the camp. While the wives of the 
 others were indulging in feasting and dissipa- 
 tion, Lucretia was found in her house em- 
 ploying herself with her servants in domestic 
 duties. She was brutally treated by Sextus 
 Tarquin, a relative of Collatinus, and stabbed 
 herself. This was the signal for a rebellion, 
 the result being the expulsion of the Tarquins 
 from Rome
 
 I20 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Lucretius, Ca'rus T. A celebrated Roman poet 
 and philosopher. The tenets of Epicurus 
 were embraced by him, and were explained 
 and elucidated in a poem which he wrote, 
 De rerum fiaturd. This poem is distin- 
 guished by genius and elegance, but the doc- 
 trines it inculcates have an atheistical tend- 
 ency. Lucretius is said to have destroyed 
 himself b.c. 54. 
 
 Lucul'lus, Lucius Licin ius. A Roman noted 
 for his fondness of luxury and for his military 
 abilities. He was born about 115 years be 
 fore the Christian era, and distinguished him 
 self by his proficiency in eloquence and phil 
 osophy. He was soon advanced to the con 
 sulship, and entrusted with the managemen 
 of the Mithridatic war, in which he displayec 
 his military talents. 
 
 Lycur'gus. A celebrated lawgiver of Sparta, son 
 of King Eunomus and brother to Polydectes. 
 He succeeded his brother on the Spartan 
 throne. In the laws which he enacted he 
 maintained a just equilibrium between the 
 throne and the people ; he banished luxury 
 and encouraged the useful arts, and adopted 
 a number of measures having for their object 
 the well-being of the people. Lycurgus has 
 been compared with Solon, the celebrated 
 legislator of Athens. 
 
 Lyn'ceus, son of Aphareus, was one of the hunt- 
 ers of the Calydonian boar, and one of the 
 Argonauts. He was so sharp-sighted that he
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 121 
 
 could see through the earth and distinguish 
 objects at a great distance from him. There 
 was another person of the same name who 
 married Hypermnestra, daughter of Danaus. 
 
 Lysan'der. A celebrated general of Sparta in the 
 last years of the Peloponnesian war. He 
 drew Ephesus from the interest of Athens, 
 and gained the friendship of Cyrus the 
 younger. He gave battle to the Athenian 
 fleet, and destroyed it all except three ships. 
 In this battle, which was fought 405 years be- 
 fore the Christian era, the Athenians lost a 
 great number of men, and in consequence of 
 it forfeited their influence over neighboring 
 states. Lysander was killed in battle 394 
 years k.c. 
 
 Lysim achus. A son of Agathocles, who was 
 one of the generals of Alexander. After the 
 death of that monarch Lysimachus made him- 
 self master of Thrace, where he built a town 
 which he called Lysimachia. 
 
 Lysip'pus. A famous statuary of vSicyon. He 
 applied himself to painting, but he was born 
 to excel in sculpture. He lived about 325 
 years before the Christian era, in the age of 
 Alexander the Great. 
 
 Macro'bius. A Latin writer who died a.d. 415. 
 He has rendered himself famous for a com- 
 position called Saturmilia, a miscellaneous 
 collection of antiquarian and critical literature. 
 
 Msander. A celebrated river of Asia Minor
 
 122 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 flowing into the ..^gean Sea. It is famous 
 among the poets for its windings, and from 
 it the application of the word "meandering" 
 to a winding stream has become proverbial. 
 
 Maece nas, or Mecae nas, C. Clinius, a celebrated 
 Roman knight, has rendered himself im- 
 mortal by his liberal patronage of learned 
 men. To the interference of Maecenas, Virgil 
 was indebted for the restitution of his lands. 
 Maecenas, according to the received opinion, 
 wrote a history of animals and a journal of 
 the life of Augustus. Virgil dedicated his 
 Georgics to him, as did Horace his Odes. 
 
 Ma nes. A name applied by the ancients to the 
 soul when departed from the body. 
 
 Man lius, Marcus. A celebrated Iloman who, at 
 an early age, distinguished himself for valor. 
 When Rome was taken by the Gauls, he, with 
 a body of his countrymen, fled to the Capitol, 
 which he defended when it was surprised in 
 the night by the enemy. This gained him 
 the surname of Capitoliniis, and the geese 
 which had awakened him to action by their 
 clamor were afterward held sacred among 
 the Romans. 
 
 Mara thon. A village of Attica, celebrated for 
 the victory which the Athenians and Platseans, 
 under the command of Miltiades, gained over 
 the Persian army, 490 h.c. Lord Byron 
 ("Don Juan," canto ill. verse 86) alludes to 
 Marathon, and the famous battle fought 
 there ;—
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I23 
 
 " The mountains look on Marathon, 
 
 And Marathon looks on the sea; 
 And, musing there an hour alone, 
 
 I dream'd that Greece might still be free; 
 For, standing on the Persians' grave, 
 I could not deem myself a slave." 
 
 Marcel lus, Mar cus Clau dius. A famous Roman 
 general. He was the first Roman who ob- 
 tained some advantage over Hannibal. He 
 conquered Syracuse, with the spoils from 
 which he adorned Rome. He was killed in 
 battle in his fifth consulship. 
 
 Marcel'lus. A Roman who distinguished himself 
 in the civil wars of Caesar and Pompey by his 
 firm attachment to the latter. He was ban- 
 ished by Caesar, but was afterwards recalled 
 at the request of the Senate. Pope ("Essay 
 on Man," epistle iv.) has a couplet referring 
 to him : — 
 
 " And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels, 
 Than Caesar with a senate at his heels." 
 
 There were some other Romans of the same 
 name, of minor repute. 
 
 Mardo'nius. A general in the army of Xerxes 
 who was defeated in the battle of Plataea, 
 where he was slain, B.C. 479. 
 
 Ma rius, C. A celebrated Roman who signalized 
 himself under Scipio at the siege of Xumantia. 
 He was appointed to finish the war against 
 Jugurtha, who was defeated and betrayed into 
 the hands of the Romans. After this new 
 honors awaited Marius. He was elected
 
 T24 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 consul, and was sent against the Teutones. 
 The war was prolonged, and Marius was a 
 third and fourth time invested with the con- 
 sulship. At length two engagements were 
 fought, and the Teutones were defeated, a 
 vast number of them being left dead on the 
 battle-fields. After many vicissitudes Marius 
 died, B.C. 86, directly after he had been hon- 
 ored with the consulship for the seventh time. 
 There were a number of others of the same 
 name, but of minor note. 
 
 Mars, the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and 
 Juno, or of Juno alone, according to Ovid. 
 The loves of Mars and Venus are greatly cele- 
 brated. On one occasion, while in each 
 other's conipany, Vulcan spread a net round 
 them, from which they could not escape with- 
 out assistance. They were thus exposed to 
 the ridicule of the gods till Neptune induced 
 Vulcan to set them at liberty. During the 
 Trojan war Mars interested himself on the 
 side of the Trojans, and 'defended the favor- 
 ites of Venus with great determination. 
 
 Mar'syas. A celebrated piper of Cclajne in 
 Phrygia. He challenged Apollo to a trial of 
 skill in music, which challenge was accepted, 
 the Muses being appointed umpires. The 
 palm of victory was awarded to Apollo, who 
 tied his antagonist to a tree and flayed him. 
 
 Martia'lis, Marcus Valerius. A native of Spain 
 who came to Rome when he was about twenty 
 years old, where he became n<;ticeable by his
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 125 
 
 poetical genius. Martial wrote fourteen books 
 of epigrams and died in the seventy-fifth year 
 of his age. 
 
 Masinis'sa. A king of a small part of Africa, 
 who at first assisted the Carthaginians in their 
 wars against Rome, but who subsequently be- 
 came an ally of the Romans. After his de- 
 feat of Syphax he married Sophonisba, the 
 wife of Syphax, which gave offense to the 
 Roman general, Scipio, on which Masinissa 
 induced Sophonisba to end her life by poison. 
 In the battle of Zama, Masinissa greatly con- 
 tributed to the defeat of Hannibal. He died 
 in his ninety-seventh year, 149 years before 
 the Christian era. 
 
 Mauso lus. A kingof Caria. His wife Artemisia 
 was very disconsolate at his death, and erected 
 one of the grandest monuments of antiquity 
 to perpetuate his memory. This famous 
 building, which was deemed to be one of the 
 seven wonders of the world, was called 
 "Mausoleum," which name has been since ap- 
 plied to other grand sepulchral monuments. 
 
 Maximi'nus, Ca'ius Ju'lius Ve'rus, was the son of 
 a peasant of Thrace. He entered the Roman 
 armies, where he gradually rose till he was 
 proclaimed emperor a.d. 235. He ruled with 
 great cruelty, and was eventually killed by 
 his own soldiers. He was of immense size 
 and strength, and was able to break the hard- 
 est stones between his fingers. 
 
 Medea. A celebrated magician, daughter of
 
 126 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 -(Eetes, king of Colchis, and niece of Cuxe. 
 When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the 
 Golden Fleece. Medea fell in love with him, 
 and they exchanged oaths of fidelity, and 
 when he had overcome all the difficulties 
 which he had to encounter, Medea embarked 
 with him for Greece. She lived in Corinth 
 with her husband Jason for ten years, with 
 much conjugal happiness, when he became 
 enamored with Glance, daughter of Creon, 
 king of Corinth. To avenge herself on Jason 
 she caused the destruction of Glauce, and 
 killed her two children in his presence. 
 Medusa. One of the three Gorgons. daughter of 
 Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of 
 the Gorgons subject to mortality. She was 
 celebrated for her personal charms and the 
 beauty of her hair, which Minerva changed 
 into serpents. According to Apollodorus and 
 others, the Gorgons were born with snakes on 
 their heads instead of hair, and with yellow 
 wings and brazen hands. Perseus rendered 
 himself famous by his conquest of Medusa. 
 He cut off her head and placed it on the aegis 
 of Minerva. The head had the power of 
 changing those who looked at it into stone. 
 Medusa, as we are informed by Lord Lytton, 
 was an expression applied to Mary Queen of 
 Scots in her own day, and in his brilliant 
 poem, "The Last Days of Queen Elizabeth," 
 he speaks of the unfortunate queen as 
 " Thou soft Medusa of the fated line."
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 27 
 
 Melea ger. A celebrated hero of antiquity who 
 signalized himself in the Argonautic expedi- 
 tion, and especially by killing the Calydonian 
 boar, a famous event in mythological history. 
 
 Melpomene. One of the Muses, daughter of 
 Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over 
 tragedy. She is generally represented as a 
 young woman wearing a buskin and holding 
 a dagger in her hand. 
 
 Mem non. A king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus 
 and Aurora. He came with ten thousand men 
 to assist Priam in the Trojan war, where he 
 behaved with great courage, and killed Anti- 
 lochus, Nestor's son, on which Nestor chal- 
 lenged Memnon to fight, but he refused on 
 account of the great age of the challenger ; 
 but he fought Achilles, who killed him. A 
 statue was erected in his honor which had the 
 property of uttering a melodious sound every 
 day at sunrise. Tennyson, in his "Palace of 
 Art," alludes to this statue thus : — 
 
 " As morn from Memnon drew 
 Rivers of melodies." 
 
 Menander. A celebrated comic poet of Athens, 
 educated under Theophrastus. He was uni- 
 versally esteemed by the Greeks. He wrote 
 io3 comedies, of which only a few fragments 
 remain. 
 
 Menela'us. A king of Sparta, brother to 
 Agamemnon. He married Helen, the most 
 beautiful woman of her time. Paris, having 
 arrived in Sparta in the absence of Menelaus,
 
 I2S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 persuaded her to elope with him. which was 
 the cause of the Trojan war. In the tenth 
 year of the war Helen, it is said, obtained the 
 forgiveness of Menelaus, with whom she re- 
 turned to Sparta, where, shortly after his re- 
 turn, he died. 
 
 Mene nius Agrip'pa. A celebrated Roman who 
 appeased the Roman populace in the infancy 
 of the consular government by repeating to 
 them the well-known fable of the belly and 
 limbs. He lived B.C. 495. 
 
 Menip'pus. A Cynic philosopher of Phoenicia. 
 He was originally a slave, and, obtaining his 
 liberty, became notorious as a usurer. He 
 wrote thirteen books of satires. 
 
 Mentor. A faithful friend of Ulysses, and guide 
 and instructor of his son, Telemachus. The 
 term Mentor has become proverbial as applied 
 to any one who is an educator of youth. 
 
 Mercu'rius. A celebrated god of antiquity, called 
 Hermes by the (ireeks. He was the mes- 
 senger of the gods, and conducted the souls of 
 the dead into the infernal regions. He pre- 
 sided over orators, merchants, and was also 
 the god of thieves. The invention of the lyre 
 is ascribed to him. This he gave to Apollo, 
 and received in exchange theCaduceus. which 
 the god of poetry used to drive the flocks of 
 King Admetus. 
 
 Mer ope. One of the Atlantides. She married 
 Sisyphus, son of ^olus, and was changed into 
 a constellation.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 29 
 
 Me'rops. A king of the island of Cos, who mar- 
 ried Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was 
 changed into an eagle, and placed among the 
 constellations. 
 
 Messali'na, Valeria, was notorious for her vices. 
 She married the emperor Claudius, who, 
 wearied with her misconduct, cited her to ap- 
 pear before him and reply to the accusations 
 which were brought against her, on which she 
 attempted to destroy herself, but failing to do 
 so, was slain by one of the tribunes who had 
 been sent to summon her. 
 
 Metelli. The surname of the family of the 
 Ccccilii at Rome, the most noted of whom are 
 —a general who defeated the Achaeans, took 
 Thebes, and invaded Macedonia; Quintus 
 Csecilius. rendered famous by his successes 
 against Jugurtha. the king of Numidia; Q. 
 Csecilius Celer, who distinguished himself 
 against Catiline. He died fifty-seven years 
 before Christ, greatly lamented by Cicero, 
 who was one of his warmest friends ; L. Cae- 
 cilius, a tribune in the civil wars of Ccesarand 
 Pompey, who favored the cause of Pompey ; 
 Q. Csecilius, a warlike general who conquered 
 Crete and Macedonia; Metellus Cimber, one 
 of the conspirators against Caesar. He gave 
 the signal to attack and murder the dictator. 
 
 Micip'sa. A king of Numidia, son of Masinissa. 
 who, at his death, b.c. 119, left his kingdom 
 between his sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, 
 and his nephew Jugurtha. 
 9
 
 I30 
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Mi'das. A king of Phrygias, son of Gordius oi 
 Gorgias. According to some traditions, in 
 the early part of his life he found a treasure, 
 to which he owed his greatness and opulence. 
 He showed hospitality to Silenus, in return 
 for which Bacchus permitted him to choose 
 whatever recompense he pleased. He de- 
 manded of the god that whatever he touched 
 might be turned into gold. His wish was 
 granted, but when the very food which he at- 
 tempted to eat became gold in his mouth he 
 prayed Bacchus to revoke the favor, and he 
 was ordered to wash himself in the river 
 Pactolus, the sands oi which were turned into 
 gold by the touch of Midas. Afterward, in 
 consequence of maintaining that Pan was 
 superior to Apollo in singing and playing the 
 flute, he had his ears changed into those of an 
 ass by the god. 
 
 Mi'lo. A celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. 
 He is said to have carried on his shoulders a 
 bullock for a considerable distance, and to 
 have killed it with a blow from his fist, and 
 eaten it in one day. In his old age he at- 
 tempted to pull up a tree by the roots, which, 
 when half-cleft, re-united, and his hands re- 
 maining imprisoned in the tree, he was eaten 
 by wild beasts, about 500 years before the 
 Christian era. 
 
 Milti'ades, son of Simon, was sent by the Atheni- 
 ans to take possession of the Chersonesus. 
 On his arrival he seized some of the principal
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 131 
 
 inhabitants of the country, made himself ab- 
 solute in Chersonese, and married the daughter 
 of Olorus, king of the Thracians. He was 
 present at the celebrated battle of Marathon, 
 where the command was ceded to him, owing 
 to his superior abilities. He obtained the 
 victory, but an olive crown, which he de- 
 manded from his fellow-citizens as a reward 
 for his valor, was refused. Afterwards he 
 was intrusted with a fleet of seventy ships, 
 with which to punish some islands which had 
 revolted to the Persians. At first he was suc- 
 cessful, but afterward fortune frowned on 
 him. He was accused of treason and con- 
 demned to death, but his sentence was, owing 
 to his great services, commuted. He died in 
 prison of some wounds he had received which 
 became incurable. In " Childe Harold" (canto 
 ii.) Lord Byron alludes to Marathon as 
 
 " The battle-field where Persia's victim horde 
 First bow'd beneath the brunt of Hellas' sword." 
 
 Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, war, and all the 
 liberal arts, sprang, full-grown and armed, 
 from the head of Jupiter, and was immediately 
 admitted to the assembly of the gods, and be- 
 came one of the most faithful counselors of 
 her father. Her power in heaven was great : 
 she could hurl the thunders of Jupiter, prolong 
 the life of men, and bestow the gift of proph- 
 ecy. She was known among the ancients 
 by many names. She was called Athena.
 
 1^2 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia (because she was 
 worshipped near the lakeTritonis) and Hippia 
 (because she first taught mankind how to 
 manage the horse) , Sais (because she was 
 worshipped at Sais) , and some other ames. 
 She is usually represented with a helmet on 
 her head with a large plume on it, in one hand 
 holding a spear, and in the other a shield with 
 the head of Medusa on it. Temples were 
 erected for her worship in different places. 
 one of the most renowned of which was the 
 Parthenon at Athens. From this building a 
 large collection of ancient sculpture was 
 brought to the British Museum by Lord Elgin 
 more than seventy years ago. which is known 
 as the "Elgin Marbles." Lord Byron wrote a 
 scathing satire in reference to the removal of 
 these marbles, familiar to his readers undei 
 the title of "The Curse of Minerva." He de- 
 scribes the goddess as appearing, grief- 
 stricken, to appeal against what his lordship 
 deemed a desecration : — 
 
 " Yes, t'was Minerva's self; but ah, how changed 
 Since o'er the Dardan field in arms she ranged ! 
 Not such as erst, by her divine command, 
 Her form appeared frorn Phidias' plastic hand; 
 Gon2 were the terrors of her awful brow, 
 Her idle segis bore no Gorgon now." 
 
 Minos. A king of Crete, son of Jupiter and 
 Europa. who gave laws to his subjects B.C. 
 1406, which remained in full force in the age 
 of Plato.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 133 
 
 Mi'nos the Second was a son of Lycastes, the son 
 of Minos the first, and king of Crete. He 
 married Pasiphse, the daughter of Sol and 
 Perseis. 
 
 Minotau rus. A celebrated monster, half a man 
 and half a bull, for which a number of young 
 Athenian men and maidens were yearly ex- 
 acted to be devoured. The Minotaur was 
 confined in a famous labyrinth, where at 
 length it was slain by Theseus, who was 
 guided out of the labyrinth by a clue of thread 
 given to him by Ariadne, daughter of King 
 Minos. 
 
 Mithrida'tes First, king of Pontus. He was 
 tributary to the crown of Persia : his attempts 
 to make himself independent of that fealty 
 proved fruitless, being defeated in a battle 
 which he had provoked, and having to sue for 
 peace. 
 
 Mithrida'tes, surnamed "Eupator" and "The 
 Great," succeeded to the throne of Pontus 
 when eleven years of age. The beginning of 
 his reign was marked by ambition and cruelty. 
 At an early age he mured himself to hard- 
 ships by devoting himself to manly exercises, 
 ■ and sleeping in the open air on the bare earth. 
 He was constantly engaged in warfare against 
 the Romans, and his contests with them are 
 known as the Mithridatic wars. His hatred 
 of the Romans was so great that, to destroy 
 their power, he ordered all of them that were 
 in his dominions to be massacred ; and in one
 
 134 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 night 150,000 according to Plutarch, or 80,000 
 according to another authority, were slaugh- 
 tered. This cruel act called for revenge, and 
 great armies were sent against him. After 
 varied fortunes Mithridateshad to succumb to 
 Pompey, and, worn- out with misfortune, at- 
 tempted to poison himself, but unsuccessfully, 
 as the numerous antidotes to poison which in 
 early life he had taken strengthened his con- 
 stitution to resist the effect. He then ordered 
 one of his soldiers to give him the fatal blow 
 with a sword, which was done. He died 
 about sixty-three years before the Christian 
 era, in his seventy second year. He is said to 
 have been the most formidable opponent the 
 Romans ever had, and Cicero estimates him 
 as the greatest monarch that ever sat upon a 
 throne. It is recorded of him that he con- 
 quered twenty-four nations, whose different 
 languages he knew and spoke fluently. There 
 were a number of persons of the same name, 
 but of inferior note. 
 
 Mnemosyne. A daughter of Coelus and Terra, 
 mother of the nine Muses. Jupiter assumed 
 the form of a shepherd in order to enjoy her 
 company. 
 
 Mo'mus, the god of mirth amongst the ancients, 
 according to Hesiod, was the son of Nox. He 
 amused himself by satirizing the gods by 
 turning into ridicule whatever they did. 
 
 Morpheus. A minister of the god Somnus, who 
 imitated very naturally the gestures, words,
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I35 
 
 and manners of mankind. He is sometimes 
 called the god of sleep. He is generally rep- 
 resented as a sleeping child, of great corpu- 
 lence, with wings. 
 
 Mos'chus. A Greek bucolic poet in the age of 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus. His eclogues are 
 characterized by sweetness and elegance, and 
 are said to be equal in merit to the productions 
 of Theocritus. 
 
 Mure na. A celebrated Roman, who invaded the 
 dominions of Mithridates, at first with success 
 but afterward he met with defeat. He was 
 honored with a triumph on his return to Rome. 
 
 Mu'sa. The Muses, certain goddessis who pre- 
 sided over poetry, music, dancing, and all the 
 liberal arts. They were daughters of Jupiter 
 and Mnemosyne, and were nine in number, 
 Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene. Terpsi- 
 chore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Calliope, and 
 Urania. 
 
 Mycenae. A town of Argolis said to have been 
 built by Perseus. It received its name from 
 Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was taken 
 and destroyed by the Argives. 
 
 Naiades. Inferior deities who presided over 
 rivers, springs, wells, and fountains. The 
 Naiads generally inhabited the country, and 
 resorted to the woods and meadows near the 
 stream over which they presided. They are 
 represented as young and beautiful girls lean- 
 ing on an urn, from which flows a stream of
 
 136 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 water, ^gle was the fairest of them, accord- 
 ing to Virgil. The word Naiad has become 
 Anglicized, and is in frequent use, especially 
 by the poets. Thus Scott says ("Lady of the 
 Lake," canto i. verse 17), 
 
 " In listening mood she seemed to stand 
 The guardian Naiad of the strand." 
 
 Narcis sus. A beautiful youth, son of Cephisus 
 and the nymph Liriope, was born at Thespis 
 in Boeotia. He saw his image reflected in a 
 fountain and became in love with it, thinking 
 it to be the nymph of the place. His fruitless 
 attempts to reach this beautiful object so pro- 
 voked him, that he killed himself. His blood 
 was changed into a flower which still bears 
 his name. 
 
 Nemae'a. A town of Argolis, with a wood where 
 Hercules in the sixteenth year of his age killed 
 the celebrated Nemscan lion. It was the first 
 of the labors of Hercules to destroy the mon- 
 ster, and when he found that his arrows and 
 clubs were useless against an animal whose 
 skin was impenetrable, he seized it in his 
 arms and strangled it. 
 
 Nemesis. One of the infernal deities, daughter 
 of Nox. She was the goddess of vengeance. 
 She is made one of the Parctc by some mythol- 
 ogists, and is represented with a helm and a 
 wheel. The term is sometimes used to signify 
 vengeance itself. 
 
 Neoptol emus. A king of Epirus, son of Achilles
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 137 
 
 and Deidamia, called also Pyrrhus. He 
 greatly signalized himself during the siege of 
 Troy, and he was the first who entered the 
 wooden horse. He was inferior to none of the 
 Grecian warriors in valor. Ulysses and Nes- 
 tor alone were his superiors in eloquence and 
 wisdom. 
 
 Ne'pos, Cornelius. A celebrated historian in the 
 reign of Augustus, and, like the rest of his 
 literary contemporaries, he enjoyed the 
 patronage and obtained the favor of the em- 
 peror. He was the intimate friend of Cicero 
 and Atticus, and recommended himself to 
 notice by delicacy of sentiment and a lively 
 disposition. Of all his valuable works the 
 only one extant is his Lives of illustrious 
 Greek and Roman generals. 
 
 Neptu'nus. One of the gods, son of Saturn and 
 Ops, and brother to Jupiter and Pluto. He 
 was devoured by his father as soon as he was 
 born, and restored to life again by a potion 
 given to Saturn, by Metis, the first wife of 
 Jupiter. Neptune shared with his brothers 
 the empire of Saturn, and received as his por- 
 tion the kingdom of the sea. He did not think 
 this equivalent to the empire of heaven and 
 earth which Jupiter had claimed, therefore 
 he conspired to dethrone him . The conspiracy 
 was discovered, and Jupiter condemned Nep- 
 tune to build the walls of Troy. He married 
 Amphitrite, who thus broke a vow she had 
 made of perpetual celibacy. The lerm Nep-
 
 138 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 tune is often used to signify the sea itself, 
 thus Shakspeare ("Tempest," act v. scene i) 
 says, 
 
 " Ye that on the sands with printless foot 
 Do chase the ebbing Neptune." 
 
 Nereides. Nymphs of the sea, daughters of 
 Nereus and Doris. According to most of the 
 mytliologists, they were fifty in number. 
 They are represented as young and handsome 
 girls, sitting on dolphins and armed with 
 tridents. 
 
 Nero, Claudius Domit ius Caesar. A celebrated 
 Roman emperor, son of Caius Domitius 
 Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of 
 Germanicus. His name is the synonym for 
 cruelty and vice. In the night it was his wont 
 to sally out from his palace to visit the mean- 
 est taverns and the different scenes of de- 
 pravity that were to be found. He appeared 
 on the stage, sometimes representing the 
 meanest characters. He resolved to imitate 
 the burning of Troy, and caused Rome to be 
 set on fire in different places, the flames being 
 unextinguished for nine days, and he enjoyed 
 the terrible scene. During the conflagration 
 he placed himself on the top of a tower and 
 sang, accompanying himself on a lyre, of the 
 destruction of Troy. Many conspiracies were 
 formed against him, the most dangerous of 
 which he was saved from by the confession of 
 a slave. He killed himself a.d. 68, in the 
 thirty second year of his age, after a reign of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I39 
 
 thirteen years and eight months. "Wretch 
 that he was, it is said that he had some few to 
 mourn for him, and Suetonius records that 
 some unseen hand had placed flowers on his 
 tomb. This incident is alluded to by Lord 
 Byron in these exquisite lines at the end of the 
 third canto of "Don Juan" : 
 
 " When Nero perished by the justest doom, 
 
 Which ever the destroyer yet destroyed, 
 Amidst the roar of liberated Rome, 
 
 Of nations freed, and the world overjoy'd, 
 Some hands unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb; 
 
 Perhaps the weakness of a heart not void 
 Of feeling for some kindness done when power 
 
 Had left the wretch an uncorrupted hour.'' 
 
 Ner'va, M. Cocce ius. A Roman emperor after 
 the death of Domitian, a.d. 96. He rendered 
 himself popular by his mildness and gen- 
 erosity. In his civil character he set an ex- 
 ample of good manners and sobriety. He 
 made an oath that no senator should suffer 
 death during his reign, which he carried out 
 by pardoning two members of the senate who 
 had conspired against his life. He died in 
 his seventy-second year a.d. gS, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Trajan. 
 
 Nessus. A celebrated Centaur killed by Hercules 
 for insulting Dejanira. 
 
 Nes tor. A son of Xeleus and Chloris, nephew to 
 Pelias, and grandson to Neptune. He was 
 present at the bloody battle between the 
 Lapithse and the Centaurs, which took place 
 at the nuptials of Pirithous. As king of Pylos
 
 14© CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 he led his soldiers to the Trojan war, where 
 he distinguished himself among the Grecian 
 chieftains by eloquence, wisdom, and pru- 
 dence. Homer makes his character as the 
 most perfect of all his heroes. After the 
 Trojan war Nestor retired to Greece, where 
 he lived during his declining 3'ears in peace 
 and tranquillity. The manner and time of his 
 death are unknown. 
 
 Ni'nus. A son of Belus. He built Nineveh and 
 founded the Assyrian monarchy, of w^hich he 
 was the first sovereign, b.c. 2059. ^^ married 
 Semiramis, whose husband had destroyed 
 himself through fear of Ninus. He reigned 
 fifty-two years. 
 
 Ni'obe. A daughter of Tantalus, king of Lydia, 
 and Euryanassa, or Dione. She married 
 Amphion, and, according to Hesiod, they 
 had ten sons and ten daughters. All the sons 
 of Niobe expired by the darts of Apollo, and 
 all the daughters, except Chloris, were de- 
 stroyed by Diana. Niobe, overwhelmed with 
 grief, was changed into a stone. 
 
 Nito'cris. A celebrated queen of Babylon, who 
 built a bridge across the Euphrates in the 
 middle of that city, and dug a number of re- 
 servoirs for the superfluous water of the river. 
 
 Nom'ades. A name given to people who had no 
 fixed habitation, and who continually changed 
 their place of residence in quest of fresh 
 pastures for the cattle they tended. There 
 were Nomades in Scythia, India, Arabia, etc.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I4I 
 
 The word is in constant use as Anglicized— 
 Nomad — meaning any one who leads a wan- 
 dering and unsettled life. 
 
 Nox. One of the most ancient deities among the 
 heathens, daughter of Chaos. She gave birth 
 to the Day and the Light, and was mother of 
 the Parcse, Hesperides, Dreams, Death, etc. 
 
 Nu'ma Pompil'ius. A celebrated philosopher of 
 Cures. He married Tatia, daughter of Tatius, 
 king of the Sabines. and at her death he re- 
 tired into the country to devote himself to 
 literary pursuits. At the death of Romulus 
 the Romans fixed on him to be their new king. 
 Numa at first refused the offer of the crown, 
 but at length was prevailed on to accept it. 
 He endeavored to inculcate into the minds of 
 his subjects a reverence for the deity, and he 
 did all he could to heal their dissensions. He 
 encouraged the report of his visits to the 
 nymph Egeria. and made use of her name to 
 give sanction to the laws which he had made. 
 He dedicated a temple to Janus, which, dur- 
 ing his whole reign, remained closed as a 
 mark of peace and tranquillity at Rome. 
 Numa died after a reign of forty-three years 
 (B.C. 672), during which he had given en- 
 couragement to the useful arts, and had culti- 
 vated peace. 
 Nym'phae. Certain female deities among the 
 ancients. They were generally divided into 
 two classes — nymphs of the land and nymphs 
 of the sea. Of the former some presided over
 
 142 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 woods, and were called Dryades and Hama- 
 dryades. Of the sea nymphs some were called 
 Oceanides, Nereides, Naiades, etc. 
 
 Ocean ides and Oceanit'ides. Sea nymphs, 
 daughters of Oceanus, from whom they re- 
 ceived their name. According to Apollodorus 
 they were 3,000 in number, while Hesiod 
 speaks of them as consisting of forty-one. 
 
 Oce'anus. A powerful deity of the sea, son of 
 Coelus and Terra. He married Tethys, the 
 Oceanides being their children. 
 
 Octa'via. A Roman lady, sister to the emperor 
 Augustus, celebrated for her beauty and 
 virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, 
 and, after his death, Antony, who for some 
 time was attentive to her, but eventually de- 
 serted her for Cleopatra. 
 
 Octavia nus, or Octa vius Caesar. A famous 
 Roman, who, after the battle of Actium, had 
 bestowed on him by the senate the surname 
 Augustus, as expressing his dignity and 
 greatness. 
 
 Odena'tus. A celebrated prince of Palmyra. At 
 an early period of his life he inured himself 
 to bear fatigue by hunting wild beasts. He 
 was a faithful ally of the Romans, and gave 
 great offense to Sapor, king of Persia, in con- 
 sequence. In the warfare which ensued he 
 obtained advantage over the troops of Sapor, 
 and took his wife prisoner, besides gaining 
 great booty. He died by the hand of one of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 143 
 
 his relations whom he had offended. Zenobia 
 succeeded him on the throne. 
 
 CE'dipus. A son of Laius, king of Thebes, and 
 Jocasta. Laius was informed by the oracle, 
 as soon as he married Jocasta, that he would 
 perish by the hands of his son. On his birth 
 CEdipus was given to a domestic, with orders 
 to expose him to death on the mountains, 
 where he was found by one of the shepherds 
 of Polybus, king of Corinth. Periboea, the 
 wife of Polybus, educated him as her own 
 child, tending him with great care. In after 
 life he met Laius in a narrow lane in a chariot, 
 and being haughtily ordered to make way for 
 Laius, a combat ensued in which Laius was 
 slain. After this CEdipus was attracted to 
 Thebes by the fame of the Sphinx, who de- 
 voured all those who attempted to explain 
 without success the enigmas which she pro- 
 pounded. The enigma proposed by the 
 Sphinx to CEdipus was : — What animal in the 
 morning walks upon four feet, at noon upon 
 two, and in the evening upon three? CEdipus 
 solved the riddle by replying that the animal 
 was man, who in childhood crawls on his 
 hands and feet, on attaining manhood walks 
 on two feet erect, and in the evening of life 
 supports his tottering steps with a staff. The 
 monster, on hearing the correct solution of the 
 riddle, dashed her head against a rock and 
 perished. 
 
 CE'neus. A king of Calydon, son of Parthaon or
 
 144 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Portheus and Euryte. He married Althaea, 
 their children being Clymenus, Meleager, 
 Gorge, and Dejanira. In a general sacrifice he 
 made to the gods he slighted Diana, who, in 
 revenge, sent a wild boar to waste his country. 
 The animal was killed by Meleager in the 
 celebrated Calydonian boar hunt. After this 
 misfortunes overtook CEneus, and he exiled 
 himself from Calydon, and died on his way to 
 Argolis. 
 
 GEnom'aus. King of Pisa, in Elis, and father of 
 Hippodamia. He was told by the oracle that 
 he would perish by his son-in-law. Being 
 skilful in driving a chariot, he announced that 
 he would give his daughter in marriage only 
 to some one who could defeat him in a race, 
 death being the result to those who were de- 
 feated. After a number of aspirants had con- 
 tended and failed, Pelops, son of Tantalus, 
 entered the lists, and by bribing the charioteer 
 of CEnomaus. who provided a chariot with a 
 broken axle-tree, Pelops won the race, and 
 married Hippodamia, becoming king of Persia. 
 CEnomaus was killed in the race. 
 
 Olym'pia. Celebrated games which received their 
 name either from Olympia. where they were 
 observed, or from Jupiter Olympius, to whom 
 they were dedicated. 
 
 Olym'pus. A mountain in Macedonia and Thes- 
 saly. The ancients supposed that it touched 
 the heavens, and thus they have made it the 
 residence of the gods, and the place where
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I45 
 
 Jupiter held his court. On the top of the 
 mountain, according to the poets, eternal 
 spring reigned. 
 
 Om'phale. A queen of Lydia, daughter of Jar- 
 danus. She married Tmolus, who at his 
 death left her mistress of his kingdom. She 
 had heard of the exploits of Hercules, and 
 wished to see him. After he had slain 
 Eurytus, Hercules was ordered to be sold as 
 a slave, and was purchased by Omphale, who 
 gave him his liberty. He became in love 
 with Omphale, who reciprocated his passion. 
 He is represented by the poets as being so 
 infatuated with her that he sat spinning by 
 her side surrounded by her women, while she 
 garbed herself with his lion's skin, arming 
 herself with his club. 
 
 Oppianus. A Greek poet of Cilicia. He wrote 
 some poems celebrated for their sublimity 
 and elegance. Caracalla gave him a piece of 
 gold for every verse in one of his poems. 
 Oppian died of the plague in the thirtieth 
 year of his age. 
 
 Ops. A daughter of Coelus and Terra, the same 
 as the Rhea of the Greeks, who married 
 Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She 
 was known among the ancients by the dif- 
 ferent names of Cybele, Bona Dea. Magna 
 Mater, Thya. Tellus, and Proserpina. 
 
 Ores'tes. A son of Agamemnon and Clytem- 
 nestra. His father was slain by Clytemnestra 
 and ^gisthus, but young Orestes was saved 
 10
 
 146 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 from his mother's dagger by his sister Electra, 
 called by Homer Laodicea. and was conveyed 
 to the house of Strophius, king of Phocis, who 
 had married a sister of Agamemnon. He 
 was indulgently treated by Strophius, who 
 educated him with his son Pylades. The two 
 young princes formed the most inviolable 
 friendship. When Orestes had arrived at 
 years of manhood he avenged his father's 
 death by killing his mother Clytemnestra. 
 
 Or'igen. A Greek writer, celebrated for his 
 learning and the sublimity of his genius. He 
 suffered martyrdom in his sixty-ninth year. 
 His works are numerous, consisting of com- 
 mentaries on the Scriptures and various 
 treatises. 
 
 Orpheus. A son of Q£ger and the Muse Calliope. 
 Some suppose him to be the son of Apollo. 
 He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according 
 to some, from Mercury, on which he played 
 in such a masterly manner that the melodious 
 sounds caused rivers to cease to flow, and 
 savage beasts to forget their wildness. He 
 married Eurydice, who died from the bite of 
 a serpent. Orpheus felt her death acutely, 
 and to recover her he visited the infernal re- 
 gions. Pluto, the king of the infernal re- 
 gions, was enraptured with the strains of 
 music from the lyre of Orpheus, and, accord- 
 ing to the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, 
 the stone of Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus 
 forgot his burning thirst, and even the Furies
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY T47 
 
 relented, so fascinating were the .sounds ex- 
 tracted from the lyre. Phito was moved by 
 the sorrow of Orpheus, and consented to re- 
 store Eurydice to him, provided he forbore to 
 look behind him till he had reached the ex- 
 tremity of his domain. Orpheus agreed to 
 this, but forgot his promise, and turned round 
 to look at Eurydice, who instantly vanished 
 from his sight. After this he separated him- 
 self from the society of mankind, and the 
 Thracian women, whom he had offended by 
 his coldness, attacked him while they cele- 
 brated the orgies of Bacchus, and after they 
 had torn his body to pieces they threw his head 
 into the Hebrus. Mr. Wiffen, in a translation 
 from the Spanish of Garcilaso de la Vega, thus 
 beautifully alludes to the strains of Orpheus : 
 
 " Had I the sweet resounding: lyre, 
 
 Whose voice could in a moment chain 
 The howling wind's ungovern'd ire. 
 
 And movement of the raging main. 
 
 On savage hill the leopard rein. 
 The lion's fiery soul entrance. 
 
 And lead along with golden tones. 
 
 The fascinated trees and stones. 
 In voluntary dance.'' 
 
 Osi'ris. A great deity of the Egyptians, husband 
 of Isis. The ancients differ in opinion con- 
 cerning this celebrated god. but they all agree 
 that as ruler of Egypt he took care to civilize 
 his subjects, to improve their morals, to give 
 them good and salutary laws, and to teach 
 them agriculture.
 
 148 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Ovid'ius, P. Na'so. A celebrated Roman poet 
 born at Sulmo. He was sent at an early age 
 to Rome, and afterward went to Athens in 
 the sixteenth year of his age, where his prog- 
 ress in the study of eloquence was great. His 
 natural inclination, however, w^as toward 
 poetry, and to this he devoted his chief atten- 
 tion. His lively genius and fertile imagina- 
 tion soon gained him admirers ; the learned 
 became his friends ; Virgil, Propertius, 
 Horace, and Tibullus honored him with their 
 correspondence, and Augustus patronized him 
 with unbounded liberality. These favors, 
 however, were transitory, and he was ban- 
 ished to a place on the Euxine Sea by order 
 of the emperor. The true cause of his ban- 
 ishment is not known. His friends ardently 
 entreated the emperor to permit him to return, 
 but in vain, and he died in the seventh or 
 eighth year of his banishment, in the fifty- 
 ninth year of his age, A.D.17. A great por- 
 tion of his works remains. These consist of 
 the "Metamorphoses," "Fasti," "Epistolse," 
 etc. "While his works are occasionally disfig- 
 ured by indelicacy, they are distinguished by 
 great sweetness and elegance. 
 
 Pacto'lus. A celebrated river of Lydia. It was 
 in this river that Midas washed himself when 
 he turned into gold whatever he touched. 
 
 Pae'an. A surname of Apollo derived from the 
 word pcEan, a hymn which was sung in his 
 honor for killing the serpent Python.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I49 
 
 Palae'mon or Pale'mon. A sea deity, son of 
 Athamas and Ino. His original name was 
 Melicerta. He assumed the name of Palaemon 
 after being changed into a sea deity by Nep- 
 tune. 
 
 Palame des. A Grecian chief, son of Nauplius. 
 king of Euboea, and Clymene. He was sent 
 by the Greek princes, who were going to the 
 Trojan war, to bring Ulysses to the camp, 
 who, to withdraw himself from the expedi- 
 tion, had pretended to be insane. Palamedes 
 soon penetrated the deception, and Ulysses 
 was obliged to join in the war. but an invet- 
 erate enmity arose between the two, and by 
 an unworthy artifice Ulysses procured the 
 death of Palamedes. Palamedes is accredited 
 with the invention of dice, backgammon, and 
 other games. 
 
 Palatinus, Mens. A celebrated hill, the largest 
 of the seven hills on which Rome was built. 
 
 Palinu'rus. A skillful pilot of the ship of ^neas. 
 He fell into the sea while asleep, and was ex- 
 posed to the waves for three days, and on 
 reaching the shore was murdered by the in- 
 habitants of the place where he landed. 
 
 Palladium. A celebrated statue of Pallas. It 
 represented the goddess as holding a spear in 
 her right hand, and in her left a distaff and 
 spindle. It fell down from heaven near the 
 tent of Ilus as he was building the citadel of 
 Ilium, while, according to others, it fell in 
 Phrygia ; another account says Dardanus re-
 
 150 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 ceived it as a present from his mother Electra ; 
 other accounts are given of its origin. It is 
 generally agreed, however, that on the pres- 
 ervation of the statue the fate of Troy de- 
 pended. This was known to the Greeks dur- 
 ing the Trojan war, and they contrived to 
 obtain possession of it. But some authors 
 say that the true Palladium was not carried 
 away by the Greeks, but only a statue which 
 had been placed near it, and which bore some 
 resemblance to it. 
 
 Pallas. A name of Minerva. She is said to 
 have received the name because she killed a 
 noted giant bearing that name. 
 
 Palmy ra. The capital of Palmyrene, a country 
 on the eastern boundaries of Syria, now called 
 Tadmor. It is famous as being the seat of 
 government of the celebrated Queen Zenobia. 
 
 Pan. The god of shepherds, huntsmen, and the 
 inhabitants of the country. He was in ap- 
 pearance a monster; he liad two small horns 
 on his head, and his legs, thighs, tail, and 
 feet were like those of the goat. 
 
 Pan'darus. A son of Lycaon, who aided the 
 Trojans in their war with the Greeks. He 
 broke the truce which had been agreed on by 
 the contending armies, and wounded Mene- 
 laus and Diomedes. He was at last killed by 
 Diomedes. 
 
 Pandi on. A king of Athens, father of Procne and 
 Philomela. During his reign there was such 
 ail abundance of corn, wine, and oil in his
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 151 
 
 realm that it was supposed that Bacchus and 
 Minerva had personally visited the country. 
 
 Pandora. A celebrated woman ; the first mortal 
 female that ever lived, according to Hesiod. 
 She was made of clay by Vulcan, and having 
 received life, all the gods made presents to 
 her. Venus gave her beauty and the art of 
 pleasing ; the Graces gave her the power of 
 captivating ; Apollo taught her how to sing, 
 and Mercury instructed her in eloquence. 
 Jupiter gave her a beautiful box, which she 
 was ordered to present to the man who mar- 
 ried her. This was Epimetheus, brother of 
 Prometheus, who opened the box, from which 
 issued a multitude of evils, which became dis- 
 persed all over the world, and which from 
 that fatal moment have never ceased to affect 
 the human race. Hope alone remained at the 
 bottom of the box. 
 
 Pansa, C. Vib'tus. A Roman consul, who, with 
 Hirtius, pursued the assassins of Caesar, and 
 was killed in a battle near Mutina. 
 
 Pantheon. A celebrated temple at Rome, built 
 by Agrippa in the reign of Augustus, and 
 dedicated to all the gods. 
 
 Par'cae. The Fates, powerful goddesses who 
 presided over the birth and life of mankind. 
 They were three in number, Clotho, Lachesis, 
 and Atropos, daughters of Nox and Erebus, 
 according to Hesiod, or, according to what he 
 says in another place, of Jupiter and Themis. 
 
 Paris. The son of Priam, king of Troy, and
 
 152 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Hecuba ; he was also called Alexander. He 
 was destined before his birth to cause the ruin 
 of his country, and before he was born his 
 mother dreamt that he would be a torch which 
 would set fire to her palace. The soothsayers 
 predicted that he would be the cause of the 
 destruction of Troy. In consequence of these 
 foretold calamities Priam ordered a slave to 
 destroy the child immediately after birth, but 
 instead of acting thus the slave exposed the 
 child on Mount Ida, where some shepherds 
 found him and took care of him. Paris gave 
 early proofs of courage, and his graceful con- 
 tenance recommended him to CEnone, a 
 nymph of Ida, whom he married. At the 
 marriage of Peleus and Thetis the goddess of 
 discord, who had not been invited, showed 
 her displeasure by throwing into the assembly 
 of the gods, who were at the nuptials, a 
 golden apple, on which were the words : — Let 
 it be given to the fairest. The apple was 
 claimed by Juno, Venus, and Minerva. Paris, 
 who had been appointed to award it to the 
 most beautiful of the three goddesses, gave it 
 to Venus. Subsequently I^aris visited Sparta, 
 where he persuaded Helen, wife of Menelaus, 
 the most beautiful woman of the age, to elope 
 with him. This caused the Trojan war. Dif- 
 ferent accounts are given of the death of Paris. 
 By some he if? said to have been killed by one 
 of the arrows of Philoctetes which had once 
 belonged to Hercules.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY T53 
 
 Parme'nio. A celebrated general in the armies 
 of Alexander the Great, by whom he was re- 
 garded with the greatest affection. The firm 
 friendship which existed between the two 
 generals was broken in a sudden fit of anger 
 by Alexander, who ordered his friend to be 
 put to death, b.c. 330. 
 
 Parnassus. A mountain of Phocis sacred to the 
 Muses, and to Apollo and Bacchus. It was 
 named thus after a son of Neptune who bore 
 that designation. Lord Byron alludes to it in 
 "Childe Harold," canto i. : 
 
 " Oh, thou Parnassus ! whom I now survey, 
 Not in the frenzy of a dreamer's eye, 
 Not in the fabled landscape of a lay. 
 But soaring snow-clad through thy native sky, 
 In the wild pomp of mountain majesty !"' 
 
 Parrha'sius. A famous painter of Ephesus in the 
 age of Zeuxis, about fifteen years before 
 Christ. He contended on one occasion with 
 Zeuxis for the palm in painting, and Zeuxis 
 acknowledged that he was excelled by Par- 
 rhasius. 
 
 Parthenon. A temple of Athens sacred to Mi- 
 nerva. It was destroyed by the Persians, and 
 was rebuilt by Pericles. 
 
 Pasiph'ae. A daughter of the vSun and of Per- 
 seis, who married Minos, king of Crete. She 
 became the mother of the Minotaur which was 
 killed by Theseus. 
 
 Patroclus. One of the Grecian chiefs during the 
 Trojan war. He contracted an intimate
 
 154 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 friendship with Achilles, and when the Greeks 
 went to the Trojan war Patroclus accompanied 
 them. He was the constant companion of 
 Achilles, living in the same tent, and when 
 his friend refused to appear in the field of 
 battle, because of being offended with Aga- 
 memnon. Patroclus imitated his example. 
 Nestor, however, prevailed on him again to 
 take the field, and Achilles lent him his ar- 
 mor. Hector encountered him, and after a 
 desperate fight slew him. The Greeks ob- 
 tained his dead body, which was brought into 
 the Grecian camp, where Achilles received it 
 with great lamentation, and again taking the 
 field, killed Hector, thus avenging the death 
 of his friend. 
 
 Pau lus iEmil'ius. A Roman celebrated for his 
 military achievements, surnamed "Macedo- 
 nicus" from his conquest of ]Macedonia. In 
 earl}' life he distinguished himself by his ap- 
 plication and for his love for military disci- 
 pline. In his first consulship he reduced the 
 Ligurians to subjection, and subsequently 
 obtained a great victory over the Macedo- 
 nians, making himself master of the country. 
 In the office of censor, which he filled, he be- 
 haved with great moderation, and at his 
 death, about i68 years before the Christian 
 era, the Romans mourned deeply for him. 
 
 Pausa'nias. A Spartan general who greatly sig- 
 nalized himself at the battle of Plataea against 
 the Persians. He afterward, at the head of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 155 
 
 the Spartan armies, extended his conquests in 
 Asia, but the haughtiness of his behavior 
 made him many enemies. He offered, on 
 certain conditions, to betray Greece to the 
 Persians, but his perfidy was discovered, on 
 which he fled for safety to a temple of Mi- 
 nerva, where he was starved to death, b.c. 
 
 471- 
 
 Peg asus. A winged horse sprung from the blood 
 of Medusa. According to Ovid he fixed his 
 abode on Mount Helicon, where, by striking 
 the earth with his foot, he raised a fountain 
 which has been called Hippocrene. 
 
 Pe lens. A king of Thessaly, son of ^acus and 
 Endeis, the daughter of Chiron. He married 
 Thetis, one of the Nereids. 
 
 Pe lias. Son of Neptune and Tyro. On his birth 
 he was exposed in the woods, but his life was 
 preserved by some shepherds. Subsequently 
 Tyro was married to Cretheus, king of lolchos. 
 They had three children, of whom ^son was 
 the eldest. Pelias visited his mother after 
 the death of Cretheus, and usurped the author- 
 ity which properly belonged to the children 
 of the deceased monarch. Jason, the son of 
 ^son, who had been educated by Chiron, on 
 attaining manhood demanded the kingdom, 
 the government of which Pelias had usurped. 
 Jason was persuaded by Pelias to waive his 
 claim for the present, and start on the Argo- 
 nautic expedition. On his return, accompan- 
 ied by the sorceress Medea, she undertook to
 
 156 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 restore Pelias to youth, explaining that it was 
 necessary first to cut his body to pieces and 
 place the limbs in a caldron of boiling water. 
 This was done, when Medea refused to fulfil 
 her promise, which she had solemnly made to 
 the daughters of Pelias, who were four in 
 number, and who had received the patronymic 
 of the " Peliades. " 
 
 Pe lion, sometimes called Pelios. A celebrated 
 mountain of Thessaly, the top of which is 
 covered with pine-trees. 
 
 Pelop Idas. A celebrated general of Thebes, son 
 of Hippoclus. It was owing to his valor and 
 prudence, combined with the ability of Epam- 
 inondas, that the famous victory of Leuctra 
 was won. 
 
 Pe'lops. A celebrated prince, son of Tantalus, 
 king of Phrygia. He was killed by his father, 
 and served up as a feast to the gods, who had 
 visited Phrygia. He was restored to life, and 
 married Hippodamia, having won her through 
 defeating her father in a chariot race. 
 
 Penates. Certain inferior deities among the Ro- 
 mans, who presided over the domestic affairs 
 of families. 
 
 Penelope. A celebrated princess of Greece, 
 daughter of Icarius, and wife of Ulysses, 
 king of Ithaca. She became the mother of 
 Telemachus, and was obliged to part, with 
 great reluctance, from her husband when the 
 Greeks obliged him to go to the Trojan war. 
 The strife between the hostile forces continued
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I57 
 
 . for ten years, and when Ulysses did not re- 
 turn home at the conclusion of the war her 
 fears and anxieties became overwhehning. 
 She was beset by a number of suitors, who 
 told her that her husband would never return. 
 She received their advances with coldness, but 
 as she was devoid of power, and, as it were, 
 almost a prisoner in their hands, she tempo- 
 rized with them. After twenty years' absence 
 Ulysses returned, and at once delivered her 
 from the persecutions of her suitors. Penel- 
 ope is described by Homer as a model of 
 female propriety, whilst some more modern 
 writers dispute the correctness of this view. 
 The accounts given by different authors re- 
 specting her, in fact, differ materially. By 
 some she is said to have been the mother of 
 Pan. 
 
 Penthesile'a. A queen of the Amazons, daughter 
 of Mars. She came to assist Priam in the last 
 years of the Trojan war, and was slain by 
 Achilles. 
 
 Per 'gamus. The citadel of the city of Troy The 
 word is often used to signify Troy. From it 
 Xerxes reviewed his troops as he marched to 
 invade Greece. 
 
 Per'icles. An Athenian of noble family, son of 
 Xanthippus and Agariste. His naturally 
 great mental powers were greatly improved 
 by attending the lectures of Zeno and other 
 philosophers. He became a commander, a 
 statesman, and an orator, and gained the es-
 
 158 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 teem of the people by his address and liber- 
 ality. In his ministerial capacity, Pericles 
 did not enrich himself. The prosperity and 
 happiness of Athens was his primary ob- 
 ject. He made war against the Lacedae- 
 monians, and restored the temple of Delphi 
 to the care of the Phocians, who had been 
 improperly deprived of that honorable trust. 
 The Peloponnesian war was fomented by his 
 ambitious views. He at length lost his popu- 
 larity, but only temporarily, and he was re- 
 stored to all the honors of which he had been 
 deprived. A pestilence which prevailed 
 proved fatal to him in his seventieth year, 
 about 429 years before Christ. 
 Perseus. A son of Jupiter and Danae, the 
 daughter of Acrisius. It had been predicted 
 by the oracle that Acrisius was to perish by 
 his daughter's offspring, so Perseus, soon 
 after his birth, was, with his mother Danae, 
 thrown into the sea. Both were saved, and 
 reached the island of Seriphos, where they 
 were treated kindly by Polydectes, the king, 
 who, however, soon became jealous of the 
 genius of Perseus. Perseus had promised 
 Polydectes to bring him the head of the Gor- 
 gon Medusa. To enable him to obtain this 
 Pluto lent him a helmet which made the 
 wearer invisible, Minerva gave him her buck- 
 ler, and Mercury furnished him with wings. 
 Thus equipped he found the Gorgons, and cut 
 off Medusa's head, with which he fled through
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 159 
 
 the air, and from the blood which dropped 
 from It sprang the horse Pegasus. During 
 his flight Perseus discovered Andromeda 
 chained to a rock to be devoured by a sea 
 monster, which he destroyed, and married 
 Andromeda. He now returned to vSeriphos, 
 where he turned into stone Polydectes by 
 showing him Medusa's head. By an accident, 
 in throwing a quoit he killed Acrisius, thus 
 fulfilling the prediction of the oracle. 
 
 Perseus or Per ses. A son of Philip, king of 
 Macedonia. He distinguished himself by his 
 enmity to the Romans, and when he had made 
 sufficient preparations he declared war against 
 them. He, however, wanted courage and 
 resolution, and though he at first obtained 
 some advantages over the Roman armies, his 
 timidity proved destructive to his cause. He 
 was defeated at Pydna, and soon after was 
 taken prisoner, and died in prison at Rome. 
 
 Per sius, Au lus Flac cus. A Latin poet of Vola- 
 terrae. He was of a good family, and soon 
 became intimate with the most illustrious 
 Romans of his day. The early part of his life 
 was spent in his native town, but at the age 
 of sixteen he was removed to Rome, where he 
 studied philosophy. He died in his thirtieth 
 year, a.d. 62. The satires of Persius were 
 read with pleasure and avidity by his con- 
 temporaries. 
 
 Per'tinax, Pub'lius Hel'vius. A Roman emperor 
 after the death of Comraodus. He was de-
 
 l6o CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 scended from an obscure family, and for some 
 time was employed in drying wood and mak- 
 ing charcoal. He entered on a military life, 
 and by his valor rose to offices of the highest 
 trust, and was made consul. At the death of 
 Commodus he was selected to succeed to the 
 throne. His patriotism gained him the affec- 
 tion of the worthiest of his subjects, but there 
 were some who plotted against him. He was 
 killed by his soldiers a.d. 193. 
 
 Petro'nius Arbiter. A favorite of Emperor Nero, 
 and one of the ministers and associates of his 
 pleasures and vices. He was made proconsul 
 of Bithynia, and afterward was honored with 
 the consulship. Eventually he became out 
 of favor with Nero, and resolved to destroy 
 himself, which he did by having his veins 
 opened, a.u. 66. Petronius distinguished 
 himself by his writings as well as by his 
 voluptuousness. He is the author of many 
 elegant compositions, which are, however, 
 often characterized by impropriety of lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Phaedra. A daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, 
 who married Theseus. She became the mother 
 of Acamas and Demophoon. She brought an 
 unjust accusation against Hippolytus (a son 
 of The-seus before she married him) , who was 
 killed by the horses in his chariot taking 
 fright, causing him to be thrown under the 
 wheels and crushed to death. On hearing 
 this Phajdra acknowledged the falseness of
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY l6l 
 
 the charge she had brought against Hippo- 
 lytus, and hanged herself in despair. 
 
 Phae'drus. A Thracian who became one of the 
 freedmen of the emperor Augustus. He 
 translated the fables of ^sop into Iambic 
 verse. 
 
 Pha'ethon. A son of the Sun, or of Phoebus and 
 Clymene. According to Hesiod and Pausa- 
 nias he was son of Cephalus and Aurora, or 
 of Tithonus and Aurora according to Apollo- 
 dorus. He is, however, generally acknowl- 
 edged to be son of Phoebus and Clymene. 
 Phoebus allowed him to drive the chariot of 
 the sun for one day. Phaethon, on receiving 
 the reins, at once showed his incapacity ; the 
 horses became unmanageable, and heaven 
 and earth were threatened with a conflagra- 
 tion, when Jupiter struck Phaethon with a 
 thunderbolt, and hurled him into the river 
 Po, where he perished. 
 
 Phalaris. A tyrant of Agrigentum, who treated 
 his subjects with great cruelty. Perillus made 
 him a brazen bull, inside of which he proposed 
 to place culprits, and by applying fire burn 
 them to death. The first to be thus burnt in 
 this manner was Perillus himself. The cruel- 
 ties practised by Phalaris were revenged by a 
 revolt of his people, who put him to death by 
 burning him in the bull. 
 
 Pha'on. A boatman of Mitylene, in Lesbos. He 
 received a box of ointment from Venus, who 
 had presented herself to him in the form of an 
 IX
 
 1 62 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 old woman. When he had rubbed himself 
 with the unguent he became beautiful, and 
 Sappho, the celebrated poetess, became en- 
 amored with him. For a short time he de- 
 voted himself to her, but soon treated her 
 with coldness, upon which she threw herself 
 into the sea and was drowned. 
 
 Pharnaba'zus. A satrap of Persia who assisted 
 the Lacedaemonians against the Athenians, 
 and gained their esteem by his devotion to 
 their cause. 
 
 Pha'ros. A small island in the bay of Alexan- 
 dria, on which was built a tower which was 
 considered one of the seven wonders of the 
 world. It was erected in the reigns of Ptolem}' 
 Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphus, the architect 
 being Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes, 
 
 Pharsa'lia. A town of Thessaly, famous for the 
 great battle fought there between Julius Caesar 
 and Pompey, in which the former obtained 
 the victory. 
 
 Phid ias. A celebrated sculptor of Athens, who 
 died B.C. 432. He executed a statue of Mi- 
 nerva, which was placed in the Pantheon. 
 
 Philip'pi. A town of Macedonia, celebrated for 
 two battles fought there, 15. c. 42, between 
 Augustus and Antony and the republican 
 forces of Brutus and Cassius, in which the 
 former were victorious. 
 
 Philip'pus, king of Macedonia, was son of Amyn- 
 tas, king ni Macedonia. He learnt the art of 
 war from Epaminondas. He married Olym*
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 163 
 
 pias. the daughter of Neoptolemus, king of 
 the Molossi, and became father of Alexan- 
 der the Great. Among the most important 
 evisnts of his reign was the battle of Chyero- 
 nea, which he won from the Greeks. The 
 character of Philip is that of a sagacious, pru- 
 dent, but artful and intriguing, monarch. He 
 was assassinated by Pausanias at the celebra- 
 tion of the nuptials of his daughter, in the 
 forty-seventh year of his age and the twenty- 
 fourth of his reign, about 336 years before the 
 Christian era. 
 
 Philip'pus. The last king of Macedonia of that 
 name was son of Demetrius. He aspired to 
 become the friend of Hannibal. His intrigues 
 were discovered by the Romans, who in- 
 vaded his territories, and extorted peace from 
 him on terms which were humiliating. He 
 died in the forty-second year of his reign, 179 
 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Phi'lo. A Jewish writer of Alexandria, a.d. 40. 
 His works related to the creation of the world, 
 sacred history, and the laws and customs of 
 the Jewish nation. 
 
 Philocte'tes was one of the Argonauts. He re- 
 ceived from Hercules the arrows which had 
 been dipped in the gall of the Hydra. The 
 Greeks, in the tenth year of the Trojan war, 
 were informed by the oracle that Troy could 
 not be taken without these arrows. Philocte- 
 tes repaired to the Grecian camp, where he 
 destroyed a number of the Trojans, among
 
 164 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 whom was Paris, with the arrows. The ad- 
 ventures of Philoctetes are the subject of one 
 of the best tragedies of Sophocles. 
 Philome'la. A daughter of Pandion, king of 
 Athens. Her sister Procne had married 
 Tereus, king of Thrace, and being separated 
 from Philomela spent her time in great mel- 
 ancholy. She persuaded her husband to go 
 to Athens and bring her sister to Thrace. 
 Tereus, on the journey, treated Philomela 
 with great cruelty, and cut off her tongue, con- 
 fining her in a lonely castle, and reporting to 
 Procne that she was dead. Philomela, how- 
 ever, found means to inform Procne that she 
 was living. In revenge for the cruelty of 
 Tereus, Procne murdered his son and served 
 him up as food at a banquet. On hearing 
 this Tereus drew his sword to slay the sisters, 
 when he was changed into a hoopoe. Philomela 
 into a nightingale, and Procne into a swallow. 
 In poetry we frequently find the nightingale 
 alluded to as Philomela, as in this quatrain, 
 which occurs in a contribution to the "Eto- 
 nian :— 
 
 " Hark ! upon the passing gale 
 Philomela''s plaintive wail ! 
 Feelings how serene and tender 
 Does the lovely music render." 
 
 Philopoe'men. A celebrated general of the Achae- 
 ans, born at Megalopolis. At an early age 
 he distinguished himself in the field of battle, 
 at the same time appearing fond of agricul-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 1 65 
 
 ture and a country life. He adopted Epami- 
 nondas as his model, and was not unsuccess- 
 ful in imitating the prudence and other good 
 qualities of the famous Theban. When Me- 
 galopolis was attacked by the Spartans, Phil- 
 opoemen, then in his thirtieth year, gave the 
 most decisive proofs of his valor. Raised to 
 the rank of commander, he showed his ability 
 to discharge that important trust by killing 
 with his own hand Mechanidas, the tyrant of 
 Sparta, and defeating his army. Sparta hav- 
 ing become, after its conquest, tributary to 
 the Achseans, Philopoemen enjoyed the tri- 
 umph of having subdued one of the most 
 powerful states of Greece. He was at length 
 made prisoner by the Messenians, and was 
 treated by their general, Dinocrates. with 
 great severity. He was poisoned in his seven 
 tieth year, about 1S3 years before the Chris- 
 tian era. 
 
 Philos'tratus. A famous Sophist born at Lemnos, 
 or, according to some, at Athens. He came 
 to Rome, where he was patronized by Julia, 
 the wife of the Emperor Severus. She en- 
 trusted him with some papers referring to 
 Apollonius, whose life he wrote. This bio- 
 graphy is, written with elegance, but contains 
 many exaggerated descriptions and improb- 
 able stories. 
 
 Phi'neus. A son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, 
 or, according to some, a son of Xeptune, who 
 became king of Thrace. He married Cleopa-
 
 1 66 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 tra (called by some Cleobula) , the daughter 
 of Boreas, their children being Plexippus and 
 Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he 
 married Idaea, the daughter of Dardanus, 
 who, jealous of Cleopatra's children, accused 
 them of an attempt on their father's life, and 
 they were condemned by Phineus to have their 
 eyes put out. This cruelty was punished by 
 the gods, Phineus being made blind, and the 
 Harpies were sent by Jupiter to keep him in 
 continual alarm. He recovered his sight by 
 means of the Argonauts, whom he received 
 with great hospitality. 
 
 Phleg ethon. A river in the infernal regions, be- 
 tween the banks of which flames of fire flowed 
 instead of water. 
 
 Phle'gon. One of the Emperor Adrian's f reed- 
 men. He wrote a historical account of Sicily, 
 an account of the principal places in Rome, 
 and treatises on different subjects. His style 
 was inelegant, and he evinced a want of judg- 
 ment in his writings. 
 
 Pho cion. An Athenian celebrated for his public 
 and private virtue. He was distinguished for 
 his zeal for the general good, and for his mili- 
 tary abilities. The fickleness of the Atheni- 
 ans, however, caused them to lose sight of his 
 virtues, and, being accused of treason, he was 
 condemned to drink poison, which he took with 
 the greatest heroism. His death occurred 
 about 3t8 years before the Christian era. 
 
 PhcE nix, son of Amyntor, king of Argos, and
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 167 
 
 Cleobule or Hippodamia, was preceptor to 
 Achilles. He accompanied his pupil to the 
 Trojan war, and Achilles was ever grateful 
 for the precepts he had received from him. 
 After the fall of Troy he died in Thrace, and, 
 according to Strabo, was buried near Tra- 
 chinia, where his name was given to a river. 
 
 Phry'ne. A beautiful woman who lived at Athens 
 about 328 years before the Christian era. She 
 was beloved by Praxiteles, who painted her 
 portrait. It is said that Apelles painted his 
 Venus Anadyomene after he had seen Phryne 
 on the sea-shore with dishevelled hair. There 
 was another woman of the same name, who 
 was accused of impiety. When her judges 
 were about to condemn her she unveiled her 
 bosom, and her beauty so captivated them 
 that they acquitted her. 
 
 Phryx us. A son of Athamas, king of Thebes, 
 and Nephele. On the plea of insanity, Nephele 
 was repudiated by Athamas, who then married 
 Ino, who persecuted Phryxus with inveterate 
 hatred, because he was to succeed to the throne 
 in preference to one of her own children. Be- 
 ing apprised that Ino had designs on his life, 
 he started with his sister Helle to go to yEetes, 
 king of Colchis. According to the poets they 
 mounted on a ram, whose fleece was gold, 
 which soared into the air, directing its course 
 to Colchis. Helle became giddy, and falling 
 into the sea (afterward called the Helles- 
 pont), was drowned. Phryxus arrived at the
 
 1 68 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 court of ^etes, whose daughter Chalciope he 
 married. Some time afterward he was killed 
 by his father-in-law. The murder of Phryxus 
 gave rise to the famous Argonautic expedition 
 under Jason, the object being to recover the 
 Golden Fleece, wliich Jason succeeded in ob- 
 taining. 
 
 Phyl'lis. A daughter of Sithon, or, according to 
 other writers, of Lycurgus, king of Thrace. 
 She received Demophoon, who landed on her 
 coasts on his return from the Trojan war, and 
 fell in love with him, and he reciprocated her 
 affection; but afterward proving faithless, 
 Phyllis hanged herself, and, according to an 
 old tradition, was changed into an almond 
 tree. 
 
 Pious. King of Latium. son of Saturn, who mar- 
 ried Venilia. As he was hunting he was met 
 by Circe, who became enamored with him. 
 She changed him into a woodpecker. 
 
 Pier'ides. A name given to the Muses, because 
 they were born in Pieria, or, as some say, be- 
 cause they were supposed to be the daughters 
 of Pierus, a king of Macedonia, who settled 
 in B(X3otia. 
 
 Pin'darus. A celebrated lyric poet of Thebes. 
 When he was young it is said that a swarm of 
 bees settled on his lips and left on them some 
 honey, which was regarded as a prognostic of 
 his future greatness. After his death great 
 respect was shown to his memory, and a 
 statue was erected in liis honor in one of the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 169 
 
 most public places in Thebes. Pindar is said 
 to have died at the age of eighty-six, b.c. 435. 
 Of his works, the odes only are extant : they 
 are admired for sublimity of sentiment and 
 grandeur of expression. 
 
 Piraeus, A celebrated harbor at Athens about 
 three miles from the city. It was joined to 
 the town by two walls, one built by Pericles, 
 and the other by Themistocles. 
 
 Pirith'ous. Son of Ixion and Dia, the daughter 
 of Deioneus. He was king of the Lapithae, 
 and wished to become acquainted with The- 
 seus, king of Athens, of whose fame and ex- 
 ploits he had heard. They became cordial 
 friends. Pirithous married Hippodamia, and 
 invited the Centaurs to attend his nuptials, 
 where, having become intoxicated, they be- 
 haved with great rudeness, on which they were 
 attacked and overcome by Theseus, Pirithous, 
 Hercules, and the rest of the Lapithae. Many 
 of the Centaurs were slain, and the rest saved 
 their lives by flight. 
 
 Pisan der. A commander in the Spartan fleet 
 during the Peloponnesian war. He was great- 
 ly opposed to democracy at Athens. He was 
 killed in a naval battle near Cnidus, b.c. 394. 
 
 Pisis'tratus. A celebrated Athenian who distin- 
 guished himself by valor in the field and by 
 eloquence at home. He obtained a bodyguard 
 of fifty men to defend his person, and having 
 thus got a number of armed men on whom he 
 could rely, he seized the citadel of Athens,
 
 170 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and soon made himself absolute. After this 
 a conspiracy was formed against him, and he 
 was banished from the city. He soon, how- 
 ever, re-established himself in power, and 
 married the daughter of Megacles, one of his 
 greatest enemies, whom he afterward repu- 
 diated. On this his popularity waned, and 
 he fled from Athens, but after an absence of 
 eleven years he returned, and was received by 
 the people with acclamation. He died about 
 527 years before the Christian era. 
 Pi'so. A celebrated family at Rome, eleven of 
 whom had obtained the consulship, and some 
 of whom had had been honored with triumphs 
 for their victories. Of this family the most 
 famous were — Lucius Calpurnius, who was 
 tribune of the people about 149 years before 
 Christ, and afterward consul. He gained 
 honor as an orator, a statesman, and a his- 
 torian. Caius, another of the family, distin- 
 guished himself during his consulship by his 
 firmness in resisting the tumults raised by the 
 tribunes and the clamors of the people. Cneus, 
 who was consul under Augustus, rendered 
 himself odious by his cruelty. He was ac- 
 cused of poisoning Germanicus, and, being 
 shunned by his friends, destroyed himself. 
 Lucius, a governor of Spain, who was assas- 
 sinated by a peasant. Lucius, a governor of 
 Rome for twenty years, during which time he 
 discharged his duties with moderation and 
 justice. Caius, who was at the head of a con
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 171 
 
 spiracy against Nero. He committed suicide 
 by venesection. 
 
 Pit'tacus, a native of Mitylene in Lesbos, was one 
 of the seven wise men of Greece. He died in 
 the eighty-second year of his age. about 570 
 years before Christ, the latter part of his life 
 being spent in retirement. Many of his 
 maxims were inscribed on the walls of Apollo's 
 temple at Delphi, to show how high an opinion 
 his countrymen entertained of his abilities as 
 a moralist and philosopher. 
 
 Plancus, L. Muna tius. A Roman conspicuous 
 for his follies and extravagance. He had 
 been consul, and had presided over a pro- 
 vince, but he forgot his dignity, and became 
 one of the most servile flatterers of Antony 
 and Cleopatra. 
 
 Platae a. A town of Boeotia, near Mount Citheron, 
 celebrated as the scene of a battle between 
 Mardonius, the general of Xerxes, king of 
 Persia, and Pausanias, who commanded the 
 Athenians. The Persians were defeated with 
 great slaughter. 
 
 Plato. A celebrated philosopher of Athens. He 
 was educated carefully, his mind being culti- 
 vated by the stud}' of poetry and geometry, 
 while his body was invigorated by the prac- 
 tice of gymnastics. He began his literary 
 career by writing poetry and tragedies. At 
 the age of twenty he was introduced to Socra- 
 tes, with whom he was for some time a pupil. 
 After traveling in various countries, he re-
 
 72 
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 tired to the neighborhood of Athens, where 
 his lectures were attended by a crowd of 
 learned, noble, and illustrious pupils. He 
 died on his birthday in the eighty-first year of 
 his age, about 348 years before the Christian 
 era. His writings were so celebrated, and his 
 opinions so highly regarded, that he was called 
 the Divine. 
 
 Plau'tus, M. Ac'cius. A dramatic poet born in 
 Umbria. He wrote twenty-five comedies, of 
 which only nineteen are extant. He died 
 about 184 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Plei'ades. A name given to seven daughters of 
 Atlas and Pleione. They were placed after 
 death in the heavens, and formed a constella- 
 tion. 
 
 Plin'ius, C. Sccun dus, called the Elder, was born 
 at Verona, of a noble family. He distin- 
 guished himself in the field, and was ap- 
 pi inted governor of Spain. When at Mise- 
 num in command of the Roman fleet, Pliny 
 observed the appearance of a cloud of dust 
 and ashes, which was the commencement of 
 the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius which 
 overwhelmed Herculaneum and Pompeii. He 
 sailed for the scene of the eruption, where he 
 was suffocated by the vapors emitted. This 
 occurred in tlie seventy-ninth year of the 
 Christian era. 
 
 Plin ius, C. Caecilius Secun dus, surnamed the 
 Younger Pliny, was son of L. Caecilius by the 
 sister of Pliny the Elder. At the age of nine-
 
 CLASSIC AT, DICTIONARY I 73 
 
 teen he distinguished himself at the bar. 
 When Trajan was invested with the purple, 
 Pliny was created consul. He died in the 
 fifty-second year of his age, a.d. 113. Pliny 
 had much to do with the persecutions of the 
 Christians in the early promulgation of the 
 Christian religion. The Rev. James Copland, 
 M.A., in an admirable little work entitled 
 "Reasons why we Believe the Bible," gives a 
 very interesting letter from Pliny to the em- 
 peror Trajan, asking instructions how to deal 
 with the Christians when they were cited to 
 appear before him. 
 
 Plutar'chus, the celebrated biographer, was born 
 at Chseronea, his father being distinguished 
 for his learning and virtues. After traveling 
 in quest of knowledge, he retired to Rome, 
 where he opened a school. Subsequently he 
 removed to Chseronea, were he died at an ad- 
 vanced age about the 140th year of the Chris- 
 tian era. His most esteemed work is the 
 "Lives of Illustrious Men." 
 
 Plu'to, son of Saturn and 0*ps, inherited his 
 father's kingdom with his brothers, Jupiter 
 and Neptune. He received as his portion the 
 kingdom of the infernal regions, of death, 
 and funerals. He seized Proserpine as she 
 was gathering flowers, and carrying her away 
 on his chariot, she became his wife and queen 
 of the infernal regions. 
 
 Plu'tus, the god of riches, was the son of Jason, 
 or Jasius, and Ceres.
 
 174 CLASSICAL DlCTIONARi' 
 
 Pol'lio, C. Asin ius. A Roman consul in the 
 reign of Augustus, who distinguished him- 
 self equally by his eloquence and exploits in 
 war. He wrote a history and some tragedies, 
 and died in his eightieth year, a.d. 4. 
 
 Pollux. A son of Jupiter and Leda, brother to 
 Castor. 
 
 Polyb ius. A native of Megalopolis. He distin- 
 guished himself by his valor against the 
 Romans in Macedonia. He wrote a univer- 
 sal history in Greek, and died about 124 years 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Polydec'tes. A son of Magnes, king of Se'riphos. 
 He received with kindness Danae and her son 
 Perseus, who had been exposed on the sea. 
 Polydectes was turned into stone by being 
 shown Medusa's head by Perseus. 
 
 Polyhymnia. One of the Muses, daughter of 
 Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over 
 singing and rhetoric. 
 
 Polyni'ces. A sou of CEdipus, king of Thebes, 
 and Jocasta. He inherited his father's throne 
 with his brother Eteocles, and it was agreed 
 that they should reign a year alternately. 
 Eteocles first ascended the throne, but re- 
 fused to resign the crown. Polynices upon 
 this fled to Argos, where he married Argia, 
 the daughter of Adrastus, the king of the 
 country, and levied an army with which he 
 marched on Thebes. The battle was decided 
 by a combat between the brothers, who killed 
 each other.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 75 
 
 Polyphe mus. A celebrated Cyclops, son of 
 Neptune and Thoosa, the daughter of Phorcys. 
 He is represented as a monster with one eye 
 in the middle of his forehead. Ulysses was 
 his captive, but escaped by putting a fire- 
 brand in the monster':: eye. 
 
 Pomona. A nymph at Rome, who was supposed 
 to preside over gardens and to be the goddess 
 of fruit trees. 
 
 Pompeii or Pompei um. A town of Campania, 
 It was partly destroyed by an earthquake 
 A.D. 63, and sixteen years afterward it was 
 overwhelmed by ashes and lava from an 
 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Herculaneum, 
 in its vicinity, shared the same fate. 
 
 Pompe ius, Cnei us, surnamed ISlagnus from his 
 exploits, was son of Pompeius Strabo and 
 Lucilia. In the contentions which existed 
 between INIarius and Sjdla Pompey linked 
 himself with the latter. Subsequently he 
 united his interest with that of Caesar and 
 Crassus, thus forming the first triumvirate. 
 A breach soon occurred, and at the great bat- 
 tle of Pharsalia. where the forces of Caesar 
 and Pompey met, the latter was totally de- 
 feated, and fled to Eg3'pt. where he was as- 
 sassinated in the fifty-eighth year of his age, 
 B.C. 48. He left two sons, Cneius and Sextus, 
 who at their father's death were masters of a 
 powerful army with which they opposed 
 Caesar, but were defeated at the battle of 
 Munda, where Cneius was slain. Sextus es-
 
 176 CLASSICAL DICTIOXARV 
 
 caped, and was put to death by Antony about 
 thirty-five years before the Christian era. 
 Por'cia. A daughter of Cato of Utica, who mar- 
 ried Bibulus, and after his death Brutus. 
 She was distinguished for her prudence and 
 courage. After her husband's death she 
 killed herself by swallowing burning coals. 
 She is said to have given herself a severe 
 wound to show that she could bear pain. 
 Shakespeare alludes to this (Julius Caesar, 
 act ii. , scene i) , where he makes her exclaim, 
 to show her heroism, 
 
 " I have made strong- proof of my constancy. 
 Giving myself a voluntary wound 
 Here, in the thigh." 
 
 Porphyr'ius. A Platonic philosopher of Tyre. 
 He studied eloquence at Athens under Lon- 
 ginus, and afterward retired to Rome. His 
 most celebrated work was in reference to the 
 Christian religion. Porphyry died a.d. 304, 
 aged seventy-one years. 
 
 Porsen na or Per sena. A king of Etruria, who 
 declared war against the Romans because they 
 refused to restore Tarquin to the throne. He 
 was prevented from entering the gates of 
 Rome by the valor of P. Horatius Codes, 
 who at the head of a bridge kept back Por- 
 senna's army, while the bridge was being cut 
 down by the Romans to prevent the entry of 
 their enemies into the city. Eventually Por- 
 senna abandoned the cause of Tarquin. Lord 
 Macaulay, in his fine poem " Horatius," repre-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 77 
 
 sents two other heroes, "Spurins Lartius" and 
 "Herminius," as keeping the bridge on either 
 hand of Horatius Codes. 
 
 Praxit'elec. A famous sculptor of Greece, who 
 lived about 324 years before the Christian 
 era. The most famous of his works was a 
 Cupid, which he gave to Phryne. He exe- 
 cuted a statue of Phryne, and also one of 
 Venus. 
 
 Pri'amus. The last king of Troy, was son of 
 Laomedon, by Strymo, called. Placia by some 
 writers. He married Arisba, whom he di- 
 vorced in order to marry Hecuba, by whom 
 he had a number of children, the most cele- 
 brated of whom were Hector, Paris, Dei- 
 phobus, Helenus, Laodice, and Cassandra. 
 After he had reigned some tim.e, Priam was 
 anxious to recover his sister Hesione, who 
 had been carried into Greece by Hercules, and 
 to achieve this, he manned a fleet, the com- 
 mand of which he gave to his son Paris, who, 
 instead of obeying the paternal instructions, 
 carried away Helen, the wife of Menelaus, 
 king of Sparta. This caused the Trojan war, 
 which lasted for ten years. At the end of the 
 war Priam was slain by Neoptolemus, the son 
 of Achilles. 
 
 Pro'bus, M. Aure lius. A native of Pannonia. 
 His father was a gardener, who became a 
 military tribune. His son obtained the same 
 office on the twenty-second year of his age, 
 and distinguished himself so much by hispro- 
 
 12
 
 178 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 bity and valor that he was invested with the 
 imperial purple. He encouraged the arts, 
 and by his victories added to the glory of his 
 country. He was slain by his soldiers in the 
 fiftieth year of his age, B.C. 282. 
 
 Proco'pius, born of a noble family in Cilicia, was 
 related to the emperor Julian. He signalized 
 himself under Julian, and afterward retired 
 to the Thracian Chersonesus, whence he made 
 his appearance at Constantinople, and pro- 
 claimed himself master of the Eastern Em- 
 pire. He was defeated in Phrygia, and be- 
 headed A. D. 366. There was a famous Greek 
 historian of the same name, who wrote the 
 history of the reign of Justinian, and who was 
 secretary to Belisarius. 
 
 Prometheus. Ason of lapctusand Clymene. one 
 of the Oceanides. He ridiculed the gods and 
 deceived Jupiter himself, who, to punish him 
 and the rest of mankind, took fire away from 
 the earth ; but Prometheus climbed the heav- 
 ens by the assistance of Minerva, and stole 
 fire from the chariot of the sun, which he 
 brought down to the earth. This provoked 
 Jupiter, and he ordered Prometheus to be 
 chained to a rock, where a vulture was to feed 
 on his liver, which was never exhausted. He 
 was delivered from his torture by Hercules, 
 who killed the vulture. 
 
 Proper'tius, Sex tus Aure lius. A Latin poet 
 born in Umbria. He came to Rome, where 
 his genius greatly reconmiended him to the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 79 
 
 great and powerful. His works, consist of 
 four books of elegies which are marked by 
 much al)ility. He died about nineteen years 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Proser pina, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, 
 called by the Greeks Persephone. As she 
 was gathering flowers Pluto carried her off to 
 the infernal regions, where he married her. 
 Ceres, having learnt that her daughter had 
 been carried away by Pluto, demanded of 
 Jupiter that Pluto should be punished. As 
 queen of hell, Proserpine presided over the 
 death of mankind. She was known by the 
 names of Hecate, Juno Inferna, Libitina, and 
 several others. 
 
 Protag oras. A Greek philosopher of Abdera in 
 Thrace. He wrote a book in which he denied 
 the existence of a Supreme Being, which book 
 was publicly burnt at Athens, and its author 
 was banished from the city. 
 
 Pro'tesila'us. A king of part of Thessaly who 
 married Laodamia, and shortly afterward 
 went to the Trojan war. He was the first of 
 the Greeks who entered the Trojan domain, 
 and on that account, in accordance with the 
 prediction of the oracle, was killed by his 
 countrymen. 
 
 Pro'teus. A sea deity, son of Oceanus and 
 Tethys, or, according to some writers, of 
 Neptune and Phenice. He had received the 
 gift of prophecy from Neptune, but when 
 consulted he often refused to give answers,
 
 l8o CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 and puzzled those who consulted him by as- 
 suming different shapes. 
 
 Psy'che. A nymph who married Cupid. Venus 
 put her to death because of this, but Jupiter, 
 at the request of Cupid, granted immortality 
 to her. 
 
 Ptolemae'us First, called Ptolemy, surnamed 
 Lagus. A king of Egypt, son of Arsinoe and 
 Lagus. He was educated in the court of the 
 king of Macedonia, and when Alexander in- 
 vaded Asia Ptolemy attended him. After 
 Alexander's death Ptolemy obtained the gov- 
 ernment of Egypt, where he gained the esteem 
 of the people by acts of kindness. He made 
 himself master of Phoenicia and Syria, and 
 rendered assistance to the people of Rhodes 
 against their enemies, for which he received 
 the name of Soter. He laid the foundation of 
 a library, which became the most celebrated 
 in the world. He died in his eighty-fourth 
 year, about 284 years b.c. He was succeeded 
 by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus, who showed 
 himself to be a w^orthy successor of his father. 
 His palace was an asylum for learned men, 
 and he greatly increased the library his father 
 had founded. Ptolemy Third succeeded his 
 father Philadelphus on the Egyptian throne. 
 He conquered Syria and Cilicia, and returned 
 home laden with spoils. He was, like his 
 predecessors, a patron of learning and the 
 arts. Ptolemy Fourth, called Philopater, 
 succeeded to the throne, his reign being
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 151 
 
 marked by acts of cruelty and oppression. 
 He died in his thirty-seventh year, after a 
 reign of seventeen years, 204 b.c. Numerous 
 members of this celebrated family in succes- 
 sion occupied the throne, not, however, ap- 
 proaching to the greatness of the founders of 
 the family. 
 
 Ptolemae us. A celebrated geographer and astron- 
 omer in the reign of Adrian and Antoninus. 
 He was a native of Alexandria, or, as some 
 say, of Pelusium. In his system of the world, 
 designated the Ptolemaic system, he places 
 the earth in the centre of the universe, which 
 " was generally received as correct till it was 
 confuted by Copernicus. 
 
 Public'ola. A surname, signifying a friend of the 
 common people, acquired by Publius Valerius. 
 He assisted Brutus to expel the Tarquins, and 
 won the victory in the battle in which Brutus 
 and the sons of Tarquin had fallen. He was 
 four times Consul, but died in poverty, and 
 was buried at the public expense amidst gen- 
 eral mourning. 
 
 Pyr'rhus. A famous king of Epirus, son of 
 ^acides and Phthia. He wrote several books 
 on encampments and the ways of training an 
 army. He fought against the Romans with 
 much valor, and they passed encomiums on 
 his great military skill. He was killed in an 
 attack on Argos, by a tile thrown on his head 
 from a housetop. 
 
 Pyr rhus. See Neoptolemus.
 
 l82 cr,ASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Pythag oras. A celebrated philosopher born at 
 Samos. He first made himself known in 
 Greece at the Olympic games, where, when 
 he was eighteen years old, he obtained the 
 prize for wrestling. He also distinguished 
 himself by his discoveries in geometry, as- 
 tronomy, and mathematics. He was the first 
 who supported the doctrine of metempsycho- 
 sis, or transmigration of the soul into different 
 bodies. He believed that the universe was 
 created from a shapeless mass of passive mat- 
 ter by the hands of a powerful Being, who was 
 the mover and soul of the world, and of whose 
 substance the souls of mankind were a portion. 
 The time and place of death of this great phil- 
 osopher are unknown, but some suppose that 
 he died at Metapontum about 497 years b.v. 
 
 Py then. A celebrated serpent sprung from the 
 mud and stagnated waters which remained on 
 the surface of the earth after the deluge of 
 Deucalion. Apollo killed the monster. 
 
 Quintilia'nus, Marcus Fa'bius, a celebrated 
 rhetorician, born in Spain. He opened a 
 school of rhetoric at Rome, and was the first 
 who obtained a salary from the State as a 
 public teacher. He died a.d. 95. 
 
 Quin'tus Cur tius Ru'fus. A Latin historian sup- 
 posed to have lived in the reign of Ve.spasian. 
 He wrote a history of the reign of Alexander 
 the Great. This woik is admired for the 
 elegance of us diction.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 83 
 
 Regil'lus. A small lake in Latium, famous as 
 being the scene of a great Roman victory, 
 which forms the subject of a fine poem by 
 Lord Macaulay, called "The Battle of the 
 Lake Regillus," included in his "Lays of An- 
 cient Rome." 
 
 Reg ulus, M. Attil ius. A consul during the first 
 Punic war. He reduced Brundusium, and in 
 his second consulship he captured a great por- 
 tion of the Carthaginian fleet. After further 
 successes he was taken prisoner by the Cartha- 
 ginians, who put him to death with refined 
 tortures. 
 
 Rhadaman thus. A son of Jupiter and Europa, 
 He reigned in the Cyclades, where his rule 
 was characterized by marked justice and im- 
 partiality. 
 
 Romulus. According t>) tradition the founder of 
 Rome. He was a son of Mars and Ilia, and 
 was twin brother of Remus. The twins were 
 thrown into the Tiber, but were saved and 
 suckled by a she- wolf till they were found by 
 Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought them up. 
 Disputes arising between the brothers in refer- 
 ence to the building of the city, Romulus 
 caused Remus to he slain. 
 
 Ros'cius. A celebrated Roman actor. He died 
 about 60 years h.c. 
 
 Ru bicon. A small river in Italy. By crossing 
 it, and thus transgressing the boundaries of 
 his province, Cspsar declared wai' against the 
 senate and P<jmpey. "Passing the Rubicon"
 
 184 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 has become a proverbial expression, indicat- 
 ing an irrevocable step taken in any weighty 
 matter. 
 
 Sacra, Vi'a. An important street in Rome, 
 where a treaty of peace was made between 
 Romulus and Tatius. 
 
 Sal'amis. An island of Attica celebrated for a 
 battle fought there between the fleets of the 
 Greeks and the Persians, in which the latter 
 suffered defeat. 
 
 Sallus'tius, Cris'pus. A celebrated Latin his- 
 torian. He wrote a history of the Catilinian 
 conspiracy, and died thirty-five years before 
 the Christian era. 
 
 Sanchoni'athon. A Phoenician historian born at 
 Berytus, or, as some say, at Tyre. He lived 
 a few years before the Trojan war, and wrote 
 on the antiquities of Phoenicia. 
 
 Sa'por. A king of Persia, who succeeded to the 
 throne about the 238th year of the Christian 
 era. He wished to increase his dominions by 
 conquest, but was defeated by Odenatus, who 
 defeated his army with great slaughter. He 
 was assassinated a.d. 273. 
 
 Sa'por. The second king of Persia of that name, 
 lie fought against the Romans, and obtained 
 several victories over them. Died a.d. 380. 
 
 Sap pho, celebrated for her beauty and poetical 
 talents, was l)orn at Lesbos about 600 years 
 before Christ She became enamored with 
 Phaon, a youth of Mitylene; but he not re-
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 185 
 
 ciprocatingher passion, she threw herself into 
 the sea from the rock of Leucadia. Moore 
 alludes to her fatal leap in his " Evenings in 
 Greece :" 
 
 " The very spot where Sappho sung 
 Her swan-like music, ere she sprung 
 (Still holding in that fearful leap, 
 By her loved lyre) into the deep, 
 And, dying, quenched the fatal fire 
 At once, of both her heart and lyre." 
 
 Sardanapa'lus. The last king of Assyria, cele- 
 brated for his luxury and indolence. His 
 effeminacy induced his subjects to conspire 
 against him with success, on which he set fire 
 to his palace and perished in the flames, B.C. 
 820. Lord Byron has made his history the 
 subject of a tragedy, in which he introduces 
 as the heroine Myrrha, a Greek slave, who 
 sets fire to a pile of inflammable materials 
 which had been raised, and perishes with 
 Sardanapalus, exclaiming as she applies the 
 torch, — 
 
 "Lo ! 
 
 I've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars.'" 
 
 The play of "Sardanapalus" is still occasion- 
 ally produced on the stage. 
 Satur'nus. The son of Coelus, or Uranus, by 
 Terra. It was customary to offer human vic- 
 tims on his altars till this custom was abol- 
 ished by Hercules. He is generally repre- 
 sented as an old man bent with age, and hold- 
 ing a scythe in his right hand.
 
 1 86 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Sat'yri. Demigods whose origin is unknown. 
 They had the feet and legs of a goat, their 
 body bearing the human form. 
 
 Scae'vola, Mu'tius, surnamed Cordus, was famous 
 for his courage. He attempted to assassinate 
 Porsenna, but was seized ; and to show his 
 fortitude when confronted with Porsenna, he 
 thrust his hand into the fire, on which the 
 king pardoned him. 
 
 Scip'io. The name of a celebrated family at 
 Rome, the most conspicuous of which was 
 Publius Cornelius, afterward called Afri- 
 canus. He was the son of Publius Scipio and 
 commanded an army against the Carthagini- 
 ans. After obtaining some victories, he en- 
 countered Hannibal at the famous battle of 
 Zama, in which he obtained a decisive vic- 
 tory. He died about 184 years before Christ, 
 in his forty eighth year. 
 
 Scip'io, Lucius Cornelius, surnamed Asiaticus, 
 accompanied his brother Africanus in his ex- 
 pedition in Africa. He was made consul 
 A.u.c. 562, and sent to attack Antiochus, king 
 of Syria, whom he completely routed. He 
 was accused <;f receiving bril)es of Antiochus. 
 and was condemned to pay large fines which 
 reduced him to poverty. 
 
 Scip io, P. iEmilia'nus. Called Africanus the 
 younger. He finished the war with Carthage, 
 the total submission of which occurred a. v. 
 147. The captive city was set on fiie, and 
 Scipio is said to have wept bitterly over the
 
 CI-ASSTCAL DICTIONARY 187 
 
 melancholy scene. On his return to Rome he 
 was appointed to conclude the war against 
 Numantia, the fall of which soon occurred, 
 and Scipio had Numantinus added to his 
 name. He was found dead in his bed and 
 was presumed to have been strangled, b.c. 
 128. 
 
 Sem ele. A daughter of Cadmus, and Hermione, 
 the daughter of Mars and Venus. She was the 
 mother of Bacchus. After death she was 
 made immortal under the name of Thyone. 
 
 Semir amis. A celebrated queen of Assyria, 
 who married the governor of Nineveh, and at 
 his death she became the wife of king Xinus. 
 She caused many improvements to be effected 
 in her kingdom, as well as distinguishing her- 
 self as a warrior. She is supposed to have 
 lived 1965 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Sen'eca, L. Anrice'us, at an early period of his life, 
 was distinguished by his talents. He became 
 preceptor to Nero, in which capacity he gained 
 general approbation. The tyrant, however, 
 determined to put him to death, and he chose 
 to have his veins opened in a hot bath, but 
 death not ensuing, he swallowed poison, and 
 was eventually suffocated by the soldiers who 
 were in attendance. This occurred in his fifty- 
 third year, and in the sixty-fifth of the Chris- 
 tian era. His works, which were numerous, 
 were chiefly on moral subjects. 
 
 Sera pis. One of the Egyptian deities, supposed 
 to be the same as Osiris. He had a mag-
 
 l88 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 nificent temple at Memphis, another at Alex- 
 andria, and a third at Canopus. 
 
 Sesos tris. A celebrated king of Egypt, who 
 lived long prior to the Trojan war. He was 
 ambitious of military fame, and achieved 
 many conquests. On his return from his vic- 
 tories he employed himself in encouraging the 
 fine arts. He destroyed himself after a reign 
 of forty-four years. 
 
 Seve rus, Lucius Septim'ius. A Roman emperor, 
 born in Africa, noticeable from his ambition. 
 He invaded Britain, and built a wall in the 
 north as a check to the incursions of the Cale- 
 donians. He died at York in the 211th year 
 of the Christian era. 
 
 Sile nus. A demigod, who is represented gener- 
 ally as a fat old man riding on an ass, with 
 flowers crowning his head. 
 
 Sil'ius Ital'icus, C. A Latin poet who retired 
 from the bar to consecrate his time to study. 
 He imitated Virgil, but with little success. His 
 poetry, however, is commended for its purity. 
 
 Simon'ides. A celebrated poet of Cos who lived 
 538 H. c. He wrote elegies, epigrams, and 
 dramatic pieces, esteemed for their beauty. 
 
 Sirenes. The Sirens. They lured to destruction 
 those who listened to their songs. When 
 Ulysses sailed past their island he stopped the 
 ears of his companions with wax, and had 
 himself tied to the mast of liis ship. Thus he 
 passed with safety, and the Sirens, disap- 
 pointed of their prey, drowned themselves.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 189 
 
 Sisyphus. Son of ^oius and Enaretta. After 
 death he was condemned, in the infernal re- 
 gions, to roll a stone to the summit of a hill, 
 which always rolled back, and rendered his 
 punishment eternal. 
 
 Soc'rates. The most celebrated philosopher of 
 antiquity, born near Athens, whose virtues 
 rendered his name venerated. His indepen- 
 dence of spirit created for him many enemies, 
 and he was accused of making innovations in 
 the religion of the Greeks. He was con- 
 demned to death by drinking hemlock, and 
 expired a few moments after imbibing the 
 poison, in his seventieth year, b.c. 400. His 
 wife was Xanthippe, remarkable for her 
 shrewish disposition, for which her name has 
 become proverbial. 
 
 So'lon, one of the wise men of Greece, was born 
 at Salamis and educated at Athens. After 
 traveling over Greece he returned, and was 
 elected archon and sovereign legislator, in 
 which capacity he effected numerous reforms 
 in the state, binding the Athenians by a solemn 
 oath to observe the laws he enacted for one 
 hundred years. After this he visited Egypt, 
 and on returning to Athens after ten years' 
 absence, he found most of his regulations dis- 
 regarded by his countrymen. On this he re- 
 tired to Cyprus, where he died in his eightieth 
 year, 558 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Som'nus, son of Nox and Erebus, was one of the 
 infernal deities, and presided over sleep.
 
 190 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Soph ocles. A celebrated tragic poet of Athens. 
 He was distinguished also as a statesman, 
 and exercised the office of archon with credit 
 and honor. He wrote for the stage, and ob- 
 tained the poetical prize on twenty different 
 occasions. He was the rival of Euripides for 
 public applause, each having his admirers. 
 He died at the age of ninety-one, 406 years 
 before Christ. 
 
 Sophonis ba. A daughter of Hasdrubal, the 
 Carthaginian, celebrated for her beauty. She 
 married Syphax, prince of Numidia, and when 
 he was conquered by the Romans she became 
 a captive to their ally, the Numidian general 
 Masinissa, whom she married. This dis- 
 pleased the Romans, and Scipio ordered 
 Masinissa to separate from Sophonisba, and 
 she, urged to this by Masinissa, took poison, 
 about 203 years before Christ. 
 
 Soz'omen. A historian who died 450 a.d. He 
 wrote an important work on ecclestiastical 
 history. 
 
 Sphinx. A monster, having the head and breasts 
 of a woman, the body of a dog, the tail of a 
 serpent, the wings of a bird, and the paws of 
 a lion. The Sphinx was sent into the neigh- 
 borhood of Thebes by Juno, where she pro- 
 pounded enigmas, devouring those who were 
 unable to solve them. One of the riddles pro- 
 posed was— What animal walked on four legs 
 in the morning, two at noon, and three in the 
 evening? CEdipus solved it, giving as the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY IQT 
 
 meaning— x\ man. who when an infant crav.-led 
 on his hands and feet, walking erect in man 
 hood, and in the evening of life supporting 
 himself with a stick. On hearing the solntion 
 the Sphinx destroyed herself. 
 Stagi ra, A town on the borders of Macedonia, 
 where Aristotle was born ; hence he is called 
 the Stagirite. 
 Sta'tius, P. Papin ius. A poet, born at Naples 
 in the reign of Domitian. He was the author 
 of two epic poems, the Thebais in twelve 
 books, and the Achilleis in two books. 
 Stsii'tor. One of the Greeks who went to the 
 Trojan war. He was noted for the loudness 
 of his voice, and from him the term "sten- 
 torian" has become proverbial. 
 Sto'ici. A celebrated sect of philosophers founded 
 by Zeno. They preferred virtue to all other 
 things, and regarded everything opposed to it 
 as an evil. 
 Stra bo. A celebrated geographer, born at 
 Amasia, on the borders of Cappadocia. He 
 flourished in the age of Augustus. His work 
 on geography consists of seventeen books, and 
 is admired for its purity of diction. 
 Styx. A celebrated river of the infernal regions: 
 The gods held it in such veneration that they 
 always swore by it, the oath being inviolable. 
 Suetonius, C. Tranquillus. A Latin historian 
 who became secretary to Adrian. His best 
 known work is his "Lives of the Caesars." 
 Sulla, See Sylla.
 
 192 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Sybaris. A town on the ba}- of Tarentum. Its 
 inhabitants were distinguished by their love 
 of ease and pleasure, hence the term "Sybar- 
 ite." 
 
 Syl'la (or Sulla) , L. Corne lius. A celebrated 
 Roman, of a noble family, who rendered him- 
 self conspicuous in military affairs, and be- 
 came antagonistic to Marius. In the zenith of 
 his power he was guilty of the greatest cruelty. 
 Ilis character is that of an ambitious, tyran- 
 nical, and resolute commander. He died 
 about seventy years before Christ, aged sixty, 
 
 Sy'phax. A king of the Masa^syllii in Numidia, 
 who married Sophonisba, the daughter of 
 Hasdrubal. He joined the Carthaginians 
 against the Romans, and was taken by Scipio 
 as a prisoner to Rome, where he died in prison. 
 
 Tac'itus, C. Cornelius. A celebrated Latin his- 
 torian, born in the reign of Nero. Of all his 
 works the "Annals" is the most extensive and 
 complete. His style is marked by force, pre- 
 cision, and dignity, and his Latin is remark- 
 able for being pure and classical. 
 
 Tac'itus, M. Claudius. A Roman, elected em- 
 peror by the Senate when he was seventy years 
 of age. He displayed military vigor, and as 
 a ruler was a pattern of economy and modera 
 tion. He died in the 276th year of the Chris- 
 tian era. 
 
 Tantalus. A king of Lydia. father of Niobe and 
 Pelops. He is represented by the poets as be-
 
 ct,assu:al dicttoxarv T93 
 
 ing. in the infernal regions, placed in a pool 
 of water, which receded from him whenever he 
 attempted to drink, thus causing him to suffer 
 perpetual thirst ; hence the origin of the term 
 "tantalizing." 
 
 Tarquin'ius Pris cus, the fifth king of Rome, was 
 son of Demaratus a native of Greece. He 
 exhibited military talents in the victories he 
 gained over the Sabines. During peace he 
 devoted attention to the improvement of the 
 capital. He was assassinated in his eightieth 
 year, 578 years b.c. 
 
 Tarquin'ius Super bus. He ascended the throne 
 of Rome after Servius Tullius, whom, he mur- 
 dered, and married his daughter Tullia. His 
 reign was characterized by tyranny, and 
 eventually he was expelled from Rome ; sur- 
 viving his disgrace for fourteen years, and 
 dying in his ninetieth year. 
 
 Tartarus. One of the regions of hell, where, ac- 
 cording to Virgil, the souls of those who were 
 exceptionally depraved were punished. 
 
 Telem'achus. Son of Penelope and Ulysses. At 
 the end of the Trojan war he went in search 
 of his father, whom, with the aid of Minerva, 
 he found. Aided by Ulysses he delivered his 
 mother from the suitors that beset her. 
 
 Tem'pe. A valley in Thessaly through which th^ 
 river Peneus flews into the ^gean. It is de- 
 scribed by the poets as one of the most de- 
 lightful places in the world. 
 
 Terentius, Pub'lius (Terence), A native of 
 13
 
 194 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Africa, celebrated for the comedies he wrote. 
 He was twenty-five years old when his first 
 play was produced on the Roman stage. Ter- 
 ence is admired for the purity of his language 
 and the elegance of his diction. He is sup- 
 posed to have been drowned in a storm about 
 159 B.C. 
 
 Te'reus. A king of Thrace who married Procne, 
 daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. He 
 aided Pandion in a war against Megara. 
 
 Terpsichore. One of the Muses, daughter of 
 Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over 
 dancing. 
 
 TertuUia'nus, J. Septim ius Flor'ens. A cele- 
 brated Christian writer of Carthage who lived 
 A.D. 196. He was originally a pagan, but em- 
 braced Christianity, of which faith he became 
 an able advocate. 
 
 Tha'is. A celebrated woman of Athens, who ac- 
 companied Alexander the Great in his Asiatic 
 conquests. She is alluded to by Dryden in 
 his famous ode, "Alexander's Feast :" 
 
 " The lovely Thais by his side 
 Sate like a blooming Eastern bride 
 In flower of youth and beauty's pride." 
 
 Tha'les. One of the seven wise men of Greece, 
 l)orn at Miletus in Ionia. His discoveries in 
 astronomy were great, and he was the first who 
 calculated with accuracy a solar eclipse. He 
 died about 548 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Thali'a. One of the Muses. She presided over 
 festivals and comic poetry.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTTONARV 1 95 
 
 Themis tocles. A celebrated general born at 
 Athens. When Xerxes invaded Greece, 
 Themistocles was entrusted with the care of 
 the fleet, and at the famous battle of Salamis, 
 fought B.C. 4S0, the Greeks, instigated to fight 
 by Themistocles, obtained a complete victory 
 over the formidable navy of Xerxes. He died 
 in the sixty-fifth year of his age, having, as 
 some writers affirm , poisoned himself by drink- 
 ing bull's blood. 
 
 Theoc'ritus. A Greek poet who lived at Syracuse 
 in Sicily 282 b.c. He distinguished himself 
 by his poetical compositions, of which some 
 are extant. 
 
 Theodo sius, Fla'vius. A Roman emperor sur- 
 naraed Magnus from the greatness of his 
 exploits. The first years of his reign were 
 marked by conquests over the Barbarians. 
 In his private character Theodosius was an 
 example of temperance. He died in his six- 
 tieth year, a.d. 395, after a reign of sixteen 
 years. 
 
 Theodosius Second became emperor of the West- 
 ern Roman empire at an early age. His ter- 
 ritories were invaded by the Persians, but on 
 his appearance at the head of a large force 
 they fled, losing a great number of their army 
 in t"he Euphrates. Theodosius was a warm 
 advocate of the Christian religion. He died 
 aged forty-nine, a.d. 450. 
 
 Theophras'tus. A native of Lesbos. Diogenes 
 enumerates the titles of more than 200 treat-
 
 196 CLASSICAL mCTIOXARV 
 
 ises which he wrote. He died in his 107th 
 year, b.c. 288. 
 Thermopylae. A narrow pass leading from 
 Thessaly into Locris and Phocis, celebrated 
 for a battle fought there, b.c. 480, between 
 Xerxes and the Greeks, in which three hun- 
 dred Spartans, commanded by Leonidas, re- 
 sisted for three successive days an enormous 
 Persian arm^^ Lord Byron (" Childe Harold, " 
 canto ii.), in an apostrophe to Greece, thus 
 refers to the famous conflict : 
 
 "Who now shall lead thy scatter'd children forth, 
 And long-accustom'd bondage uncreate? 
 Not such thy sons who whilome did await, 
 The hopeless warriors of a willing doom, 
 In bleak Thermopylae's sepulchi'al strait. 
 Oil ! who that gallant spirit shall resume, 
 Leap from Eurotas' banks, and call thee from the tomb ?" 
 
 Thersi tes. A deformed Greek, in the Trojan 
 war, who indulged in ridicule against Ulysses 
 and others. Achilles killed him because he 
 laughed at his grief for the death of Penthe- 
 silea. Shakespeare, who introduces Thersites 
 in his play of "Troilus and Cressida," de- 
 scribes him as "a deformed and scurrilous 
 Grecian. " 
 
 Theseus, king of Athens and son of -^geus by 
 ^thra, was one of the most celebrated heroes 
 of antiquity. He caught the bull of Marathon 
 and sacrificed it to Minerva, After this he 
 went to Crete amongst the seven youths sent 
 yearly by the Athenians to be devoured by the
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I 97 
 
 Minotaur, and by the aid of Ariadne he slew 
 the monster. He ascended his father's throne 
 15. c. 1235. Pirithous, king of the Lapithas, in- 
 vaded his territories, but the two became firm 
 friends. They descended into the infernal re- 
 gions to carry off Proserpine, but their inten- 
 tions were frustrated by Pluto. After re- 
 maining for some time in the infernal regions, 
 Theseus returned to his kingdom to find the 
 throne filled by an usurper, whom he vainly 
 tried to eject. He retired to Scyros, where he 
 was killed by a fall from a precipice. 
 
 Thes'pis. A Greek poet of Attica, supposed to 
 be the inventor of tragedy, b.c. 536. He went 
 from place to place upon a cart, on which he 
 gave performances. Hence the term "Thes- 
 pians," as applied to wandering actors. 
 
 The lis. A sea deity, daughter of Nereus and 
 Doris. She married Peleus, their son being- 
 Achilles, whom she plunged into the Styx, 
 thus rendering him invulnerable in every part 
 of his body except the heel by which she held 
 him. 
 
 This'be. A beautiful girl of Babylon, beloved by 
 Pyramus. 
 
 Thrasybu lus. A famous general of Athens, who, 
 with the help of a few associates, expelled the 
 Thirty Tyrants, b.c. 401 - He was sent with a 
 powerful fleet to recover the Athenian power 
 on the coast of Asia, and after gaining many 
 advantages was killed by the people of A'=.- 
 pendus.
 
 198 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Thucyd ides. A celebrated Greek historian born 
 at Athens. He wrote a history of the events 
 connected with the Peloponnesian war. He 
 died at Athens in his eightieth year, b.c. 391. 
 
 Tibe rius, Clau dius Ne ro. A Roman emperor 
 descended from the Claudii. In his early 
 years he entertained the people with magnifi- 
 cent shows and gladiatorial exhibitions, which 
 made him popular. At a later period of his 
 life he retired to the island of Capreas, where 
 he indulged in vice and debauchery. He died- 
 aged seventy-eight, after a reign of twenty- 
 two years. 
 
 Tibullus, Au'lus Al bias. A Roman knight cele 
 brated for his poetical compositions. His 
 favorite occupation was writing love-poems. 
 Four books of elegies are all that remain of his 
 compositions. 
 
 Time leon. A celebrated Corinthian, son of 
 Timodemus and Demariste. When the Syra- 
 cusans, oppressed with the tyranny of Diony- 
 sius the Younger, solicited aid from the Cor- 
 inthians, Timoleon sailed for Syracuse with a 
 small fleet. He was successful in the ex- 
 pedition, and Dionysius gave himself up as a 
 prisoner, Timoleon died at Syracuse, amidst 
 universal regret. 
 
 Ti'mon. A native of Athens, called the Misan- 
 thrope from his aversion to mankind. Ho is 
 the hero of Shakespeare's play of "Timon of 
 Athens," in wliich his churlish character is 
 powerfully delineated.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY I9Q 
 
 Timo theus. A famous musician in the time of 
 Alexander the Great. Dryden names him in 
 his well-known ode," Alexander's Feast:" 
 
 " Timotheus, placed on high 
 Amid the Uineful quire, 
 With flying fingjrs touched the lyre; 
 The trembling notes ascend the sky, 
 And heavenly ;oys inspire." 
 
 Tire'sias. A celebrated prophet of Thebes. Juno 
 deprived him of sight, and, to recompense 
 him for the loss, Jr.piter bestowed on him the 
 gift of prophecy. 
 
 Tisiphone. One of the Furies, daughter of Xox 
 and Acheron. 
 
 Tita nes. The Titans. A name given to the 
 gigantic sons A Coelus and Terra. The most 
 conspicuous of them are Saturn, Hyperion, 
 Oceanus, lapetus, Cottus, and Briareus. 
 
 Titus Vespasia'nus. Son of Vespasian and 
 Flavia Domitilla, known by his valor, par- 
 ticularly at the siege of Jerusalem. He had 
 been distinguished for profligacy, but on as- 
 suming the purple, he became a model of 
 virtue. His death, which occasioned great 
 lamentations, occurred a. d. 81, in the forty- 
 first year of his age. 
 
 Traja'nus, M. Ul pius Crini tus. A Roman em- 
 peror born at Ithaca. His services to the em- 
 pire recommended him to the notice of the 
 emperor Nerva, who adopted him as his son, 
 and invested him with the purple. The ac- 
 tions of Trajan were those of a benevolent
 
 200 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 prince. He died in Cilicia, in August a.d. 
 117, in his sixty-fourth year, and his ashes 
 were taken to Rome and deposited under a 
 stately column which he had erected. 
 
 Tribu ni Pie bis. Magistrates at Rome created in 
 the year u.c. 261 The office of Tribune to 
 the people was o..e of the first steps which 
 led to more honorable employments. 
 
 Triptolemus. Son of Oceanus and Terra, or, ac- 
 cording to some authorities, son of Celeus, 
 king of Attica, and Neaera. He was in his 
 youth cured of a severe illness by Ceres, with 
 whom he became a great favorite. She 
 taught him agriculture, and gave him her 
 chariot drawn by dragons, in which he trav- 
 eled over the earth, distributing corn to the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Tri ton. A sea deity, son of Neptune and Am- 
 phitrite. He was very powerful, and could 
 calm the sea and abate storms at his pleasure. 
 
 Triumviri. Three magistrates appointed to gov- 
 ern the Roman state with absolute power. 
 
 Tul'lus Hostil ius succeeded Numa as king of 
 Rome. He was of a warlike disposition, and 
 distinguished himself by his expedition 
 against the people of Alba, whom he con- 
 quered. 
 
 TyphcEus, or Ty phon. A famous giant, son of 
 Tartarus and Terra, who had a hundred 
 heads. He made war against the gods, and 
 was put to Might by the thunderbolts of Jupiter, 
 ■\vho crushed him under Mount ^tna.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 20I 
 
 Tyrtae'us. A Greek elegiac poet born in Attica. 
 Of his compositions none are extant except a 
 few fragments. 
 
 Ulys ses. The famous king of Ithaca, son of An- 
 ticlea and Laertes (or, ajcording tc some, of 
 Sisyphus) . He married Penelope, daughter 
 of Icarius, on which his father resigned to 
 him the crown. He went to the Trojan war, 
 where he was esteemed f c r his sagacity. On 
 the conclusion of the wr.r he embarked for 
 Greece, but was exposed to numerous mis- 
 fortunes on his journey. In his wanderings, 
 he, with some of his companions, was seized 
 by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, from whom he 
 made his escape. Afterward h: was thrown 
 on the island of ^ea, where he was exposed 
 to the wiles of the enchantress Circe. Eventu- 
 ally he was restored to hio own country, after 
 an absence of twenty years. The adventures 
 of Ulysses on his return from the Trojan war 
 form the subject of Homer's Odyssey. 
 Urania. One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter 
 and Mnemosyne. She presided over as- 
 tronomy. 
 
 Valentinia'nus the First. Son of Gratian, raised 
 to the throne by his merit and valor. He 
 obtained victories over the Barbarians in Gaul 
 and in Africa, and punished the Onadi with 
 severity. He broke a blood-vessel and died, 
 A.D, 375. Immediately after his death, his
 
 20.2. CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 son, Valentinian the Second, was proclaimed 
 emperor. He was robbed of his throne by 
 Maximus, but regained it by the aid of Theo- 
 dosius, emperor of the East. He was strangled 
 by one of his officers. He was remarkable for 
 benevolence and clemency. The third Valen- 
 tinian was made emperor in his youth, and on 
 coming to maturer age he disgraced himself 
 by violence and oppression . He was murdered 
 A.D. 454. 
 
 Valeria nus, Pub lius Licin ius. A celebrated 
 Roman emperor, who, on ascending the 
 throne, lost the virtues he had previously pos- 
 sessed. He made his son Gallienus his col- 
 league in the empire. He made war against 
 the Goths and Scythians. He was defeated 
 in battle and made prisoner by Sapor, king 
 of Persia, who put him to death by torture. 
 
 Var'ro. A Latin author, celebrated for his great 
 learning. He wrote no less than five hundred 
 volumes, but all his works are lost except a 
 treatise De Re Rustica, and another De Lin- 
 gua Latina. He died u.c. 28, in his eighty- 
 eighth year. 
 
 Venus. One of the most celebrated deities of the 
 ancients; the goddess of beauty, and mother 
 of love. She sprang from the foam of the sea, 
 and was carried to heaven, where all the gods 
 admired her beauty. Jupiter gave her in mar- 
 riage to Vulcan, but she intrigued with some 
 of the gods, and notal^ly with Mars, their ofif 
 spring );eing Hermione, Cupid, and Anteros.
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 203 
 
 She became enamored of Adoais, which 
 caused her to abandon Olympus. Her con- 
 test for the golden apple, which she gained 
 against her opponents Juno and Minerva, is a 
 prominent episode in mythology. She had 
 numerous names applied to her, conspicuous 
 amongst which may be named Anadyomene, 
 under which cognomen she is distinguished by 
 the picture, representing her as rising from 
 the ocean, by Apelles. She was known under 
 the Grecian name of Aphrodite. 
 
 Vespasia nus, Titus Flavius. A Roman emperor 
 of obscure descent. He began the siege of 
 Jerusalem, which was continued by his son 
 Titus. He died a.d. 79, in his seventieth 
 year. 
 
 Ves ta. A goddess, daughter of Rhea and Saturn. 
 The Palladium, a celebrated statue of Pallas, 
 was supposed to be preserved within her 
 sanctuary, where a fire was kept continually 
 burning. 
 
 Vesta les. The Vestals, priestesses consecrated to 
 the service of Vesta. They were required to 
 be of good families and free from blemish and 
 deformity. One of their chief duties was to 
 see that the sacred fire of Vesta was not ex- 
 tinguished. 
 
 Virgilius, Pub lius Ma ro, called the prince of the 
 Latin poets, was born at Andes, near Mantua, 
 about seventy years before Christ. He went 
 to Rome, where he formed an acquaintance 
 with Maecenas, and recommended himself to
 
 204 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 Augustus. His Bucolics were written in about 
 three years, and subsequently he commenced 
 the Georgics, which is considered one of the 
 most perfect of all Latin compositions. The 
 ^^neid is supposed to have been undertaken at 
 the request of Augustus. Virgil died in his 
 fifty- first year b.c. ig. 
 
 Virginia. Daughter of the centurion L. Vir- 
 ginius. She was slain by her father to save 
 her from the violence of the decemvir, Appius 
 Claudius. 
 
 Virgin'ius. A valiant Roman father of Virginia. 
 (See Virginia.) The story of Virginius and 
 his ill-fated daughter is the subject of the 
 well-known tragedy of "Virginius," one of 
 the early productions of J. Sheridan Knowles. 
 It is rarely performed in the present day. 
 
 Vulca'nus. The god who presided over fire, and 
 who was the patron of those who worked in 
 iron. According to Homer, he was the son 
 of Jupiter and Juno, and was so deformed 
 that at his birth his mother threw him into 
 the sea, where he remained nine years; but 
 other writers differ from thi.i opinion. He 
 married Venus at the instigation of Jupiter. 
 He is known by the name of Mulciber. The 
 Cyclopes were his attendants, and with them 
 he forged the thunderbolts of Jupiter. 
 
 Xanthippe or Xantip pe. 'i'he wife of Socrates, 
 remarkable for her ill humor and fretful dis- 
 position. She was a constant torment to her
 
 CLASSICAL DTCTTONARV 205 
 
 husband, and on one occasion, after bitterly 
 reviling him, she emptied a vessel of dirty 
 water on him, on which the philosopher coolly 
 remarked, "After thunder rain generally 
 falls." 
 Xenoc'rates. An ancient philosopher born at 
 ('alcedonia, and educated in the school of 
 Plato, whose friendship he gained. Died B.C. 
 
 314- 
 
 Xen'ophon. A celebrated Athenian, son of 
 Gryllus, famous as a general, philosopher, 
 and historian. He joined Cyrus the Younger 
 in an expedition against Artaxerxes, king of 
 Persia, and after the decisive battle of Cunaxa, 
 in which Cyrus was defeated and killed, the 
 skill and bravery of Xenophon became con- 
 spicuous. He had to direct an army of ten 
 thousand Greeks, who were now more than 
 six hundred leagues from home, and in a 
 country surrounded by an active enemy. He 
 rose superior to all difficulties till the cele- 
 brated "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" was 
 effected ; the Greeks returning home after a 
 march of two hundred and fifteen days. 
 Xenophon employed his pen in describing the 
 expedition of Cyrus, in his work the "Ana- 
 basis." He also wrote the "Cyropaedia." 
 "Memorabilia." "Hellenica," etc. He died 
 at Corinth in his ninetieth year, about 360 
 years before the Christian era. 
 
 Xer'xes succeeded his father Darius on the throne 
 of Persia. He entered Greece with an im-
 
 2o6 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 
 
 mense Army, which was. cliecked at Ther- 
 mopylas by the valor of three hundred Spar- 
 tans under king Leonidas, who for three 
 successive days successfully opposed the 
 enormous forces of Xerxes, and were at last 
 slaughtered. From this period the fortunes 
 of Xerxes waned. His fleet being defeated 
 at Salamis, and mortified with ill-success, he 
 hastened to Persia, where he gave himself up 
 to debauchery, and was murdered in the 
 twenty-first year of his reign, about 464 years 
 before the Christian era. 
 
 Za ma. A town of Numidia, celebrated as the 
 scene of the victory of Scipio over Hannibal, 
 K.c. 202. 
 
 Ze'no, a celebrated philosopher, the founder of 
 the sect of Stoics, was born at Citium in 
 Cyprus. He opened a school in Athens, and 
 soon became noticed by the great and learned. 
 His life was devoted to sobriety and modera- 
 tion. He died at the age of ninety-eight, 
 H.C.264. 
 
 Ze'no. A philosopher of Elea or Velia, in Italy. 
 He was the disciple, or, according to some, 
 the adopted son of Parmenides. Being tor- 
 tured to cause him to reveal his confederates 
 in a plot he had engaged in, he bit off his 
 tongue that he might not betray his friends. 
 
 Zeno bia. A celebrated princess of Palmyra, the 
 wife of Odenatus. After her husband's death, 
 the Roman emperor Aurelian declared war
 
 CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 207 
 
 She took the field ^vith seven 
 hundred thousand men, and though at first 
 successful, she was eventually conquered. 
 Aurelian. when she became his prisoner, 
 treated her with great humanity and con- 
 sideration. She was admired for her literary 
 talents as well as her military abilities. 
 
 Zeux'is. A celebrated painter born at Heraclea. 
 He flourished 46S years before the Christian 
 era. He painted some grapes so naturally 
 that the birds came to peck them on the can- 
 vas ; but he was disgusted with the picture, 
 because the man painted as carrying the 
 grapes was not natural enough to frighten the 
 birds. 
 
 Zo ilus. A sophist and grammarian of Am- 
 phipolis, B.C. 259. He became known by his 
 severe criticisms on the works of Isocratesand 
 Homer. 
 
 Zoroaster. A king of Bactria, supposed to have 
 lived in the age of Ninus, king of Assyria, 
 .some time before the Trojan war. He ren- 
 dered himself known by his deep researches 
 in philosophy. He admitted no visible object 
 of devotion except fire, which he considered 
 the proper emblem of a Supreme Being. He 
 was respected by his subjects and contem- 
 poraries for his abilities as a monarch, a law- 
 giver, and a philosopher, and. though many of 
 his doctrines may be deemed puerile, he had 
 many disciples. The religion of the Parsees 
 of the present day was founded by Zoroaster.
 
 2o8 cF.AssirAi. ivrrioxARV 
 
 Zos imus. A Greek historian, ^ bo lived about 
 the year 410 of the Christian era. He wrote 
 a history of some of the Roman emperors, 
 which is characterized by graceful di tion, but 
 he indulges in malevolent and vicuperativo 
 attacks on the Christians in his History of 
 Constantine. 
 
 Zos'teria. A surname of Minerva. She had two 
 statues under that name in the city of Thebes, 
 in Boeotia. The word signified girt, or armed 
 for battle, words synonymous among the an- 
 cients. 
 
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