A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 26)

Cornelius Maximiliāna, a vestal virgin, buried alive for incontinency, A.D. 92.

Maximiānus Herculius Marcus Aurelius Valerius, a native of Sirmium, in Pannonia, who served as a common soldier in the Roman armies. When Diocletian had been raised to the imperial throne, he remembered the valour and courage of his fellow-soldier Maximianus, and rewarded his fidelity by making him his colleague in the empire, and by ceding to him the command of the provinces of Italy, Africa, and Spain, and the rest of the western territories of Rome. Maximianus showed the justness of the choice of Diocletian by his victories over the barbarians. In Britain success did not attend his arms; but in Africa he defeated and put to death Aurelius Julianus, who had proclaimed himself emperor. Soon after Diocletian abdicated the imperial purple, and obliged Maximianus to follow his example on the 1st of April, A.D. 304. Maximianus reluctantly complied with the command of a man to whom he owed his greatness, but before the first year of his resignation had elapsed, he was roused from his indolence and retreat by the ambition of his son Maxentius. He reassumed the imperial dignity, and showed his ingratitude to his son by wishing him to resign the sovereignty, and to sink into a private person. This proposal was not only rejected with the contempt which it deserved, but the troops mutinied against Maximianus, and he fled for safety to Gaul, to the court of Constantine, to whom he gave his daughter Faustina in marriage. Here he again acted a conspicuous character, and reassumed the imperial power, which his misfortunes had obliged him to relinquish. This offended Constantine. But, when open violence seemed to frustrate the ambitious views of Maximianus, he had recourse to artifice. He prevailed upon his daughter Faustina to leave the doors of her chamber open in the dead of night; and when she promised faithfully to execute his commands, he secretly introduced himself to her bed, where he stabbed to the heart the man who slept by the side of his daughter. This was not Constantine; Faustina, faithful to her husband, had apprised him of her father’s machinations, and a eunuch had been placed in his bed. Constantine watched the motions of his father-in-law, and when he heard the fatal blow given to the eunuch, he rushed in with a band of soldiers, and secured the assassin. Constantine resolved to destroy a man who was so inimical to his nearest relations, and nothing was left to Maximianus but to choose his own death. He strangled himself at Marseilles, A.D. 310, in the 60th year of his age. His body was found fresh and entire in a leaden coffin about the middle of the 11th century.――Galerius Valerius, a native of Dacia, who, in the first years of his life, was employed in keeping his father’s flocks. He entered the army, where his valour and bodily strength recommended him to the notice of his superiors, and particularly to Diocletian, who invested him with the imperial purple in the east, and gave him his daughter Valeria in marriage. Galerius deserved the confidence of his benefactor. He conquered the Goths and Dalmatians, and checked the insolence of the Persians. In a battle, however, with the king of Persia, Galerius was defeated; and, to complete his ignominy, and render him more sensible of his disgrace, Diocletian obliged him to walk behind his chariot arrayed in his imperial robes. This humiliation stung Galerius to the quick; he assembled another army, and gave battle to the Persians. He gained a complete victory, and took the wives and children of his enemy. This success elated Galerius to such a degree, that he claimed the most dignified appellations, and ordered himself to be called the son of Mars. Diocletian himself dreaded his power, and even, it is said, abdicated the imperial dignity by means of his threats. This resignation, however, is attributed by some to a voluntary act of the mind, and to a desire of enjoying solitude and retirement. As soon as Diocletian had abdicated, Galerius was proclaimed Augustus, A.D. 304, but his cruelty soon rendered him odious, and the Roman people, offended at his oppression, raised Maxentius to the imperial dignity the following year, and Galerius was obliged to yield to the torrent of his unpopularity, and to fly before his more fortunate adversary. He died in the greatest agonies, A.D. 311. The bodily pains and sufferings which preceded his death were, according to the christian writers, the effects of the vengeance of an offended providence for the cruelty which he had exercised against the followers of Christ. In his character Galerius was wanton and tyrannical, and he often feasted his eyes with the sight of dying wretches, whom his barbarity had delivered to bears and other wild beasts. His aversion to learned men arose from his ignorance of letters; and, if he was deprived of the benefits of education, he proved the more cruel and the more inexorable. Lactantius, de Mortibus Persecutorum, ch. 33.—Eusebius, bk. 8, ch. 16.

Maximīnus Caius Julius Verus, the son of a peasant in Thrace. He was originally a shepherd, and, by heading his countrymen against the frequent attacks of the neighbouring barbarians and robbers, he inured himself to the labours and to the fatigues of a camp. He entered the Roman armies, where he gradually rose to the first offices; and on the death of Alexander Severus he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, A.D. 235. The popularity which he had gained when general of the armies, was at an end when he ascended the throne. He was delighted with acts of the greatest barbarity, and no less than 400 persons lost their lives on the false suspicion of having conspired against the emperor’s life. They died in the greatest torments, and, that the tyrant might the better entertain himself with their sufferings, some were exposed to wild beasts, others expired by blows, some were nailed on crosses, while others were shut up in the bellies of animals just killed. The noblest of the Roman citizens were the objects of his cruelty; and, as if they were more conscious than others of his mean origin, he resolved to spare no means to remove from his presence a number of men whom he looked upon with an eye of envy, and who, as he imagined, hated him for his oppression, and despised him for the poverty and obscurity of his early years. Such is the character of the suspicious and tyrannical Maximinus. In his military capacity he acted with the same ferocity; and, in an expedition in Germany, he not only cut down the corn, but he totally ruined and set fire to the whole country, to the extent of 450 miles. Such a monster of tyranny at last provoked the people of Rome. The Gordians were proclaimed emperors, but their innocence and pacific virtues were unable to resist the fury of Maximinus. After their fall, the Roman senate invested 20 men of their number with the imperial dignity and entrusted into their hands the care of the republic. These measures so highly irritated Maximinus, that at the first intelligence, he howled like a wild beast, and almost destroyed himself by knocking his head against the walls of his palace. When his fury was abated he marched to Rome, resolved on slaughter. His bloody machinations were stopped, and his soldiers, ashamed of accompanying a tyrant whose cruelties had procured him the name of Busiris, Cyclops, and Phalaris, assassinated him in his tent before the walls of Aquileia, A.D. 236, in the 65th year of his age. The news of his death was received with the greatest rejoicings at Rome; public thanksgivings were offered, and whole hecatombs flamed on the altars. Maximinus has been represented by historians as of a gigantic stature; he was eight feet high, and the bracelets of his wife served as rings to adorn the fingers of his hand. His voracity was as remarkable as his corpulence; he generally ate 40 pounds of flesh every day, and drank 18 bottles of wine. His strength was proportionable to his gigantic shape; he could alone draw a loaded waggon, and, with a blow of his fist, he often broke the teeth in a horse’s mouth; he also broke the hardest stones between his fingers, and cleft trees with his hand. Herodian.—Jornandes, Getica.—Capitol. Maximinus made his son, of the same name, emperor, as soon as he was invested with the purple, and his choice was unanimously approved by the senate, by the people, and by the army.――Galerius Valerius, a shepherd of Thrace, who was raised to the imperial dignity by Diocletian, A.D. 305. He was nephew to Galerius Maximianus, by his mother’s side, and to him he was indebted for his rise and consequence in the Roman armies. As Maximinus was ambitious and fond of power, he looked with an eye of jealousy upon those who shared the dignity of emperor with himself. He declared war against Licinius, his colleague on the throne, but a defeat, which soon after followed, on the 30th of April, A.D. 313, between Heraclea and Adrianopolis, left him without resources and without friends. His victorious enemy pursued him, and he fled beyond mount Taurus, forsaken and almost unknown. He attempted to put an end to his miserable existence, but his efforts were ineffectual, and though his death is attributed by some to despair, it is more universally believed that he expired in the greatest agonies of a dreadful distemper, which consumed him, day and night, with inexpressible pains, and reduced him to a mere skeleton. This miserable end, according to the ecclesiastical writers, was the visible punishment of heaven, for the barbarities which Maximinus had exercised against the followers of christianity, and for the many blasphemies which he had uttered. Lactantius.—Eusebius.――A minister of the emperor Valerian.――One of the ambassadors of young Theodosius to Attila king of the Huns.

Maxĭmus Magnus, a native of Spain, who proclaimed himself emperor, A.D. 383. The unpopularity of Gratian favoured his usurpation, and he was acknowledged by his troops. Gratian marched against him, but he was defeated, and soon after assassinated. Maximus refused the honours of a burial to the remains of Gratian; and, when he had made himself master of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, he sent ambassadors into the east, and demanded of the emperor Theodosius to acknowledge him as his associate on the throne. Theodosius endeavoured to amuse and delay him, but Maximus resolved to support his claim by arms, and crossed the Alps. Italy was laid desolate, and Rome opened her gates to the conqueror. Theodosius now determined to revenge the audaciousness of Maximus, and had recourse to artifice. He began to make a naval armament, and Maximus, not to appear inferior to his adversary, had already embarked his troops, when Theodosius, by secret and hastened marches, fell upon him, and besieged him at Aquileia. Maximus was betrayed by his soldiers, and the conqueror, moved with compassion at the sight of his fallen and dejected enemy, granted him life, but the multitude refused him mercy, and instantly struck off his head, A.D. 388. His son Victor, who shared the imperial dignity with him, was soon after sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers.――Petronius, a Roman, descended of an illustrious family. He caused Valentinian III. to be assassinated, and ascended the throne; and, to strengthen his usurpation, he married the empress, to whom he had the weakness and imprudence to betray that he had sacrificed her husband to his love for her person. This declaration irritated the empress; she had recourse to the barbarians to avenge the death of Valentinian, and Maximus was stoned to death by his soldiers, and his body thrown into the Tiber, A.D. 455. He reigned only 77 days.――Pupianus. See: ♦Pupianus.――A celebrated cynic philosopher and magician of Ephesus. He instructed the emperor Julian in magic; and according to the opinion of some historians, it was in the conversation and company of Maximus that the apostacy of Julian originated. The emperor not only visited the philosopher, but he even submitted his writings to his inspection and censure. Maximus refused to live in the court of Julian, and the emperor, not dissatisfied with the refusal, appointed him high pontiff in the province of Lydia, an office which he discharged with the greatest moderation and justice. When Julian went into the east, the philosopher promised him success, and even said that his conquests would be more numerous and extensive than those of the son of Philip. He persuaded his imperial pupil that, according to the doctrine of metempsychosis, his body was animated by the soul which once animated the hero whose greatness and victories he was going to eclipse. After the death of Julian, Maximus was almost sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers, but the interposition of his friends saved his life, and he retired to Constantinople. He was soon after accused of magical practices before the emperor Valens, and beheaded at Ephesus, A.D. 366. He wrote some philosophical and rhetorical treatises, some of which were dedicated to Julian. They are all now lost. Ammianus.――Tyrius, a Platonic philosopher in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This emperor, who was naturally fond of study, became one of the pupils of Maximus, and paid great deference to his instructions. There are extant of Maximus 41 dissertations on moral and philosophical subjects, written in Greek, the best editions of which are that of Davis, 8vo, Cambridge, 1703; and that of Reiske, 2 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1774.――One of the Greek fathers of the seventh century, whose works were edited by Combesis, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1675.――Paulus Fabius, a consul with Marcus Antony’s son. Horace speaks of him, bk. 4, ode 1, li. 10, as of a gay, handsome youth, fond of pleasure, yet industrious and indefatigable.――An epithet applied to Jupiter, as being the greatest and most powerful of all the gods.――A native of Sirmium, in Pannonia. He was originally a gardener, but, by enlisting in the Roman army, he became one of the military tribunes, and his marriage with a woman of rank and opulence soon rendered him independent. He was father to the emperor Probus.――A general of Trajan, killed in the eastern provinces.――One of the murderers of Domitian, &c.――A philosopher, native of Byzantium, in the age of Julian the emperor.

Mazăca, a large city of Cappadocia, the capital of the province. It was called Cæsarea by Tiberius, in honour of Augustus.

Mazāces, a Persian governor of Memphis. He made a sally against the Grecian soldiers of Alexander, and killed great numbers of them. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Mazæus, a satrap of Cilicia, under Artaxerxes Ochus.――A governor of Babylon, son-in-law to Darius. He surrendered to Alexander, &c. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Mazāres, a satrap of Media, who reduced Priene under the power of Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 161.

Mazaxes (singular, Mazax), a people of Africa, famous for shooting arrows. Lucan, bk. 4, li. 681.

Mazĕras, a river of Hyrcania, falling into the Caspian sea. Plutarch.

Mazīces and Mazȳges, a people of Libya, very expert in the use of missile weapons. The Romans made use of them as couriers, on account of their great swiftness. Suetonius, Nero, ch. 30.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 684.

Mecænas, or Mecœnas Caius ♦Cilnius, a celebrated Roman knight, descended from the kings of Etruria. He has rendered himself immortal by his liberal patronage of learned men and of letters; and to his prudence and advice Augustus acknowledged himself indebted for the security which he enjoyed. His fondness for pleasure removed him from the reach of ambition, and he preferred to die, as he was born, a Roman knight, to all the honours and dignities which either the friendship of Augustus or his own popularity could heap upon him. It was from the result of his advice, against the opinion of Agrippa, that Augustus resolved to keep the supreme power in his hands, and not by a voluntary resignation to plunge Rome into civil commotions. The emperor received the private admonitions of Mecœnas in the same friendly manner as they were given, and he was not displeased with the liberty of his friend, who threw a paper to him with these words, “Descend from the tribunal, thou butcher!” while he sat in the judgment-seat, and betrayed revenge and impatience in his countenance. He was struck with the admonition, and left the tribunal without passing sentence of death on the criminals. To the interference of Mecœnas, Virgil owed the restitution of his lands, and Horace was proud to boast that his learned friend had obtained his forgiveness from the emperor, for joining the cause of Brutus at the battle of Philippi. Mecœnas was himself fond of literature, and, according to the most received opinion, he wrote a history of animals, a journal of the life of Augustus, a treatise on the different natures and kinds of precious stones, besides the two tragedies of Octavia and Prometheus, and other things, all now lost. He died eight years before Christ; and, on his death-bed, he particularly recommended his poetical friend Horace to the care and confidence of Augustus. Seneca, who has liberally commended the genius and abilities of Mecœnas, has not withheld his censure from his dissipation, indolence, and effeminate luxury. From the patronage and encouragement which the princes of heroic and lyric poetry among the Latins received from the favourite of Augustus, all patrons of literature have ever since been called Mecœnates. Virgil dedicated to him his Georgics, and Horace his odes. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 66, &c.—Plutarch, Augustus.—Herodian, bk. 7.—Seneca, ltrs. 19 & 92.

Mechaneus, a surname of Jupiter, from his patronizing undertakings. He had a statue near the temple of Ceres at Argos, and there the people swore, before they went to the Trojan war, either to conquer or to perish. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22.

Mecisteus, son of Echius, or Talaus, was one of the companions of Ajax. He was killed by Polydamus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 28, &c.――A son of Lycaon. Apollodorus.

Mecrida, the wife of Lysimachus. Polyænus, bk. 6.

Mēdēa, a celebrated magician, daughter of Æetes king of Colchis. Her mother’s name, according to the more received opinion of Hesiod and Hyginus, was Idyia, or, according to others, Ephyre, Hecate, Asterodia, Antiope, or Neræa. She was the niece of Circe. When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, Medea became enamoured of him, and it was to her well-directed labours that the Argonauts owed their preservation. See: Jason and Argonautæ. Medea had an interview with her lover in the temple of Hecate, where they bound themselves by the most solemn oaths, and mutually promised eternal fidelity. No sooner had Jason overcome all the difficulties which Æetes had placed in his way, than Medea embarked with the conquerors for Greece. To stop the pursuit of her father, she tore to pieces her brother Absyrtus, and left his mangled limbs in the way through which Æetes was to pass. This act of barbarity some have attributed to Jason, and not to her. When Jason reached Iolchos, his native country, the return and victories of the Argonauts were celebrated with universal rejoicings; but Æson the father of Jason was unable to assist at the solemnity, on account of the infirmities of his age. Medea, at her husband’s request, removed the weakness of Æson, and by drawing away the blood from his veins, and filling them again with the juice of certain herbs, she restored to him the vigour and sprightliness of youth. This sudden change in Æson astonished the inhabitants of Iolchos, and the daughters of Pelias were also desirous to see their father restored, by the same power, to the vigour of youth. Medea, willing to revenge the injuries which her husband’s family had suffered from Pelias, increased their curiosity, and by cutting to pieces an old ram and making it again, in their presence, a young lamb, she totally determined them to try the same experiment upon their father’s body. They accordingly killed him of their own accord, and boiled his flesh in a cauldron; but Medea refused to perform the same friendly offices to Pelias which she had done to Æson, and he was consumed by the heat of the fire, and even deprived of a burial. This action greatly irritated the people of Iolchos, and Medea, with her husband, fled to Corinth to avoid the resentment of an offended populace. Here they lived for 10 years with much conjugal tenderness; but the love of Jason for Glauce, the king’s daughter, soon interrupted their mutual harmony, and Medea was divorced. Medea revenged the infidelity of Jason by causing the death of Glauce, and the destruction of her family. See: Glauce. This action was followed by another still more atrocious. Medea killed two of her children in their father’s presence, and when Jason attempted to punish the barbarity of the mother, she fled through the air upon a chariot drawn by winged dragons. From Corinth Medea came to Athens, where, after she had undergone the necessary purification of her murder, she married king Ægeus, or, according to others, lived in an adulterous manner with him. From her connection with Ægeus, Medea had a son, who was called Medus. Soon after, when Theseus wished to make himself known to his father [See: Ægeus], Medea, jealous of his fame, and fearful of his power, attempted to poison him at a feast which had been prepared for his entertainment. Her attempts, however, failed of success, and the sight of the sword which Theseus wore by his side, convinced Ægeus that the stranger against whose life he had so basely conspired was no less than his own son. The father and the son were reconciled, and Medea, to avoid the punishment which her wickedness deserved, mounted her fiery chariot, and disappeared through the air. She came to Colchis, where, according to some, she was reconciled to Jason, who had sought her in her native country after her sudden departure from Corinth. She died at Colchis, as Justin mentions, when she had been restored to the confidence of her family. After death she married Achilles in the Elysian fields, according to the traditions mentioned by Simonides. The murder of Mermerus and Pheres, the youngest of Jason’s children by Medea, is not attributed to their mother according to Ælian, but the Corinthians themselves assassinated them in the temple of Juno Acræa. To avoid the resentment of the gods, and deliver themselves from the pestilence which visited their country after so horrid a massacre, they engaged the poet Euripides, for five talents, to write a tragedy, which cleared them of the murder, and represented Medea as the cruel assassin of her own children. And besides, that this opinion might be the better credited, festivals were appointed, in which the mother was represented with all the barbarity of a fury murdering her own sons. See: Heræa. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Hyginus, fables 21, 22, 23, &c.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Dionysius Periegetes.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 5, ch. 21.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3; bk. 8, ch. 11.—Euripides, Medea.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, fable 1; Medicamina Faciei Femineæ.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 19.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 3, &c.—Orpheus.—Flaccus.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 556.

Medesicaste, a daughter of Priam, who married Imbrius son of Mentor, who was killed by Teucer during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, ch. 172.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Media, a celebrated country of Asia, bounded on the north by the Caspian sea, west by Armenia, south by Persia, and east by Parthia and Hyrcania. It was originally called Aria, till the age of Medus the son of Medea, who gave it the name of Media. The province of Media was first raised into a kingdom by its revolt from the Assyrian monarchy, B.C. 820; and after it had for some time enjoyed a kind of republican government, Deioces, by his artifice, procured himself to be called king, 700 B.C. After a reign of 53 years he was succeeded by Phraortes, B.C. 647; who was succeeded by Cyaxares, B.C. 625. His successor was Astyages, B.C. 585, in whose reign Cyrus became master of Media, B.C. 551; and ever after the empire was transferred to the Persians. The Medes were warlike in the primitive ages of their power; they encouraged polygamy, and were remarkable for the homage which they paid to their sovereigns, who were styled kings of kings. This title was afterwards adopted by their conquerors the Persians, and it was still in use in the age of the Roman emperors. Justin, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Polybius, bks. 5 & 10.—Curtius, bk. 5, &c.—Diodorus Siculus, bk. 13.—Ctesias.

Medias, a tyrant of Mysia, &c.

Medĭcus, a prince of Larissa, in Thessaly, who made war against Lycophron tyrant of Pheræ. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Mediolānum, now Milan, the capital of Insubria at the mouth of the Po. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 34; bk. 34, ch. 46.――Aulercorum, a town of Gaul, now Evreux, in Normandy.――Santŏnum, another, now Saintes, in Guienne.

Mediomatrices, a nation that lived on the borders of the Rhine, now Metz. Strabo, bk. 4.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Mediterraneum mare, a sea which divides Europe and Asia Minor from Africa. It receives its name from its situation, medio terræ, situate in the middle of the land. It has a communication with the Atlantic by the columns of Hercules, and with the Euxine through the Ægean. The word Mediterraneum does not occur in the classics; but it is sometimes called internum, nostrum, or medius liquor, and is frequently denominated in Scripture the Great sea. The first naval power that ever obtained the command of it, as recorded in the fabulous epochs of the writer Castor, was Crete, under Minos. Afterwards it passed into the hands of the Lydians, B.C. 1179; of the Pelasgi, 1058; of the Thracians, 1000; of the Rhodians, 916; of the Phrygians, 893; of the Cyprians, 868; of the Phœnicians, 826; of the Egyptians, 787; of the Milesians, 753; of the Carians, 734; and of the Lesbians, 676, which they retained for 69 years. Horace, bk. 3, ode 3, li. 46.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 668.—Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 17.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Livy, bk. 26, ch. 42.

Meditrīna, the goddess of medicines, whose festivals, called Meditrinalia, were celebrated at Rome the last day of September, when they made offerings of fruits. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Medoacus, or Meduacus, a river in the country of the Veneti, falling into the Adriatic sea. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 2.

Medobithyni, a people of Thrace.

Medobriga, a town of Lusitania, now destroyed. Hirtius, ch. 48.

Medon, son of Codrus, the seventeenth and last king of Athens, was the first Archon that was appointed with regal authority, B.C. 1070. In the election Medon was preferred to his brother Neleus, by the oracle of Delphi, and he rendered himself popular by the justice and moderation of his administration. His successors were called from him Medontidæ, and the office of archon remained for above 200 years in the family of Codrus under 12 perpetual archons. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 2.――A man killed in the Trojan war. Æneas saw him in the infernal regions. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 483.――A statuary of Lacedæmon, who made a famous statue of Minerva, seen in the temple of Juno at Olympia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 17.――One of the Centaurs, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 303.――One of the Tyrrhene sailors changed into dolphins by Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 671.――A river of Peloponnesus.――An illegitimate son of Ajax Oileus. Homer.――One of Penelope’s suitors. Ovid, Heroides, poem 1.――A man of Cyzicus, killed by the Argonauts.――A king of Argos, who died about 990 years B.C.――A son of Pylades by Electra. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.

Medontias, a woman of Abydos, with whom Alcibiades cohabited as with a wife. She had a daughter, &c. Lysias.

Meduacus, two rivers (Major, now Brenta, and Minor, now Bachilione), falling, near Venice, into the Adriatic sea. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 2.

Meduana, a river of Gaul, flowing into the Ligeris, now the Mayne. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 438.

Medullīna, a Roman virgin ravished by her father, &c. Plutarch, Parallela minora.――An infamous courtesan in Juvenal’s age, satire 6, li. 321.

Medus, now Kur, a river of Media, falling into the Araxes. Some take Medus adjectively, as applying to any of the great rivers of Media. Strabo, bk. 15.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 21.――A son of Ægeus and Medea, who gave his name to a country of Asia. Medus, when arrived to years of maturity, went to seek his mother, whom the arrival of Theseus in Athens had driven away. See: Medea. He came to Colchis, where he was seized by his uncle Perses, who usurped the throne of Æetes, his mother’s father, because the oracle had declared that Perses should be murdered by one of the grandsons of Æetes. Medus assumed another name, and called himself Hippotes son of Creon. Meanwhile Medea arrived in Colchis, disguised in the habit of a priestess of Diana, and when she heard that one of Creon’s children was imprisoned, she resolved to hasten the destruction of a person whose family she detested. To effect this with more certainty, she told the usurper that Hippotes was really a son of Medea, sent by his mother to murder him. She begged Perses to give her Hippotes, that she might sacrifice him to her resentment. Perses consented. Medea discovered that it was her own son, and she instantly armed him with the dagger which she had prepared against his life, and ordered him to stab the usurper. He obeyed, and Medea discovered who he was, and made her son Medus sit on his grandfather’s throne. Hesiod, Theogony.—Pausanias, bk. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Justin, bk. 42.—Seneca, Medea.—Diodorus.

Medūsa, one of the three Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the Gorgons who was subject to mortality. She is celebrated for her personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Neptune became enamoured of her, and obtained her favours in the temple of Minerva. This violation of the sanctity of the temple provoked Minerva, and she changed the beautiful locks of Medusa, which had inspired Neptune’s love, into serpents. According to Apollodorus and others, Medusa and her sisters came into the world with snakes on their heads, instead of hair, with yellow wings and brazen hands. Their bodies were also covered with impenetrable scales, and their very looks had the power of killing or turning to stones. Perseus rendered his name immortal by his conquest of Medusa. He cut off her head, and the blood that dropped from the wound produced the innumerable serpents that infest Africa. The conqueror placed Medusa’s head on the ægis of Minerva, which he had used in his expedition. The head still retained the same petrifying power as before, as it was fatally known in the court of Cepheus. See: Andromeda. Some suppose that the Gorgons were a nation of women, whom Perseus conquered. See: Gorgones. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 618.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 624.—Apollonius, bk. 4.—Hyginus fable 151.――A daughter of Priam.――A daughter of Sthenelus. Apollodorus.

Megabizi, certain priests in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. They were all eunuchs. Quintilian, bk. 5, ch. 12.

Megabyzus, one of the noble Persians who conspired against the usurper Smerdis. He was set over an army in Europe by king Darius, where he took Perinthus and conquered all Thrace. He was greatly esteemed by his sovereign. Herodotus, bk. 3, &c.――A son of Zopyrus, satrap to Darius. He conquered Egypt, &c. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 160.――A satrap of Artaxerxes. He revolted from his king, and defeated two large armies that had been sent against him. The interference of his friends restored him to the king’s favour, and he showed his attachment to Artaxerxes by killing a lion which threatened his life in hunting. This act of affection in Megabyzus was looked upon with envy by the king. He was discarded and afterwards reconciled to the monarch by means of his mother. He died in the 76th year of his age, B.C. 447, greatly regretted. Ctesias.

Megăcles, an Athenian archon, who involved the greatest part of the Athenians in the sacrilege which was committed in the conspiracy of Cylon. Plutarch, Solon.――A brother of Dion, who assisted his brother against Dionysius, &c.――A son of Alcmæon, who revolted with some Athenians after the departure of Solon from Athens. He was ejected by Pisistratus.――A man who exchanged dress with Pyrrhus, when assisting the Tarentines in Italy. He was killed in that disguise.――A native of Messana in Sicily, famous for his inveterate enmity to Agathocles tyrant of Syracuse.――A man who destroyed the leading men of Mitylene, because he had been punished.――A man who wrote an account of the lives of illustrious persons.――The maternal grandfather of Alcibiades.

Megaclides, a peripatetic philosopher in the age of Protagoras.

Megæra, one of the furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron. The word is derived from μεγαιρειν, invidere, odisse, and she is represented as employed by the gods, like her sisters, to punish the crimes of mankind, by visiting them with diseases, with inward torments, and with death. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 846. See: Eumenides.

Megăle, the Greek name of Cybele the mother of the gods, whose festivals were called Megalesia.

Megaleas, a seditious person of Corinth. He was seized for his treachery to king Philip of Macedonia, upon which he destroyed himself to avoid punishment.

Megalesia, games in honour of Cybele, instituted by the Phrygians, and introduced at Rome in the second Punic war, when the statue of the goddess was brought from Pessinus. Livy, bk. 29, ch. 14.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 337.

Megalia, a small island of Campania, near Neapolis. Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, ♦poem 3, li. 80.

Megalŏpŏlis, a town of Arcadia in Peloponnesus, built by Epaminondas. It joined the Achæan league, B.C. 232, and was taken and ruined by Cleomenes king of Sparta. The inhabitants were called Megalopolitæ, or Megalopolitani. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 14.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 8.

Megamēde, the wife of Thestius, mother by him of 50 daughters. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Meganīra, the wife of Celeus king of Eleusis in Attica. She was mother of Triptolemus, to whom Ceres, as she travelled over Attica, taught agriculture. She received divine honours after death, and she had an altar raised to her, near the fountain where Ceres had first been seen when she arrived in Attica. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.――The wife of Arcas. Apollodorus.

Megapenthes, an illegitimate son of Menelaus, who, after his father’s return from the Trojan war, was married to a daughter of Alector, a native of Sparta. His mother’s name was Teridae, a slave of Menelaus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Megāra, a daughter of Creon king of Thebes, given in marriage to Hercules, because he had delivered the Thebans from the tyranny of the Orchomenians. See: Erginus. When Hercules went to hell by order of Eurystheus, violence was offered to Megara by Lycus, a Theban exile, and she would have yielded to her ravisher had not Hercules returned that moment and punished him with death. This murder displeased Juno, and she rendered Hercules so delirious, that he killed Megara and the three children he had by her, in a fit of madness, thinking them to be wild beasts. Some say that Megara did not perish by the hand of her husband, but that he afterwards married her to his friend Iolas. The names of Megara’s children by Hercules were Creontiades, Therimachus, and Deicoon. Hyginus, fable 82.—Seneca, Hercules.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Diodorus, bk. 4.

Megāra (æ, and plural, orum), a city of Achaia, the capital of a country called Megaris, founded about 1131 B.C. It is situate nearly at an equal distance from Corinth and Athens, on the Sinus Saronicus. It was built upon two rocks, and is still in being, and preserves its ancient name. It was called after Megareus the son of Neptune, who was buried there, or from Megareus, a son of Apollo. It was originally governed by 12 kings, but became afterwards a republic, and fell into the hands of the Athenians, from whom it was rescued by the Heraclidæ. At the battle of Salamis the people of Megara furnished 20 ships for the defence of Greece, and at Platæa they had 300 men in the army of Pausanias. There was here a sect of philosophers called the Megaric, who held the world to be eternal. Cicero, Academica, bk. 4, ch. 42; On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 17; Letters to Atticus, bk. 1, ltr. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.――A town of Sicily, founded by a colony from Megara in Attica, about 728 years before the christian era. It was destroyed by Gelon king of Syracuse; and before the arrival of the Megarean colony it was called Hybla. Strabo, ♦bk. 6, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 689.

Megareus, the father of Hippomenes, was son of Onchestus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 605.――A son of Apollo.

Megāris, a small country of Achaia, between Phocis on the west and Attica on the east. Its capital city was called Megara. See: Megara. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 7.

Megarsus, a town of Sicily,――of Cilicia.――A river of India.

Megasthĕnes, a Greek historian in the age of Seleucus Nicanor, about 300 years before Christ. He wrote about the oriental nations, and particularly the Indians. His history is often quoted by the ancients. What now passes as his composition is spurious.

Meges, one of Helen’s suitors, governor of Dulichium and of the Echinades. He went with 40 ships to the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Megilla, a native of Locris, remarkable for beauty, and mentioned by Horace, bk. 1, ode 27, li. 11.

Megista, an island of Lycia, with a harbour of the same name. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 22.

Megistias, a soothsayer, who told the Spartans that defended Thermopylæ, that they all should perish, &c. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 219, &c.――A river. See: Mella.

Mela Pomponius, a Spaniard, who flourished about the 45th year of the christian era, and distinguished himself by his geography divided into three books, and written with elegance, with great perspicuity and brevity. The best editions of this book, called De Situ Orbis, are those of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1722, and of Reinhold, 4to, Eton, 1761.

Melænæ, a village of Attica. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 12, li. 619.

Melampus, a celebrated soothsayer and physician of Argos, son of Amythaon and Idomenea, or Dorippe. He lived at Pylos in Peloponnesus. His servants once killed two large serpents, which had made their nests at the bottom of a large oak, and Melampus paid so much regard to these two reptiles, that he raised a burning pile and burned them upon it. He also took particular care of their young ones, and fed them with milk. Some time after this the young serpents crept to Melampus as he slept on the grass near the oak, and, as if sensible of the favours of their benefactor, they wantonly played around him, and softly licked his ears. This awoke Melampus, who was astonished at the sudden change which his senses had undergone. He found himself acquainted with the chirping of the birds, and with all their rude notes, as they flew around him. He took advantage of this supernatural gift, and soon made himself perfect in the knowledge of futurity, and Apollo also instructed him in the art of medicine. He had soon after the happiness of curing the daughters of Prœtus, by giving them hellebore, which from this circumstance has been called melampodium, and as a reward for his trouble he married the eldest of these princesses. See: Prœtides. The tyranny of his uncle Neleus king of Pylos obliged him to leave his native country, and Prœtus, to show himself more sensible of his services, gave him part of his kingdom, over which he established himself. About this time the personal charms of Pero the daughter of Neleus had gained many admirers, but the father promised his daughter only to him who brought into his hands the oxen of Iphiclus. This condition displeased many; but Bias, who was also one of her admirers, engaged his brother Melampus to steal the oxen, and deliver them to him. Melampus was caught in the attempt and imprisoned, and nothing but his services as a soothsayer and physician to Iphiclus would have saved him from death. All this pleaded in favour of Melampus, but when he had taught the childless Iphiclus how to become a father, he not only obtained his liberty, but also the oxen, and with them he compelled Neleus to give Pero in marriage to Bias. A severe distemper, which had rendered the women of Argos insane, was totally removed by Melampus, and Anaxagoras, who then sat on the throne, rewarded his merit by giving him part of his kingdom, where he established himself, and where his posterity reigned during six successive generations. He received divine honours after death, and temples were raised to his memory. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 287; bk. 15, li. 225.—Herodotus, bks. 2 & 9.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18; bk. 4, ch. 3.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 550.――The father of Cisseus and Gyas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10.――A son of Priam. Apollodorus, bk. 3.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Melampyges, a surname of Hercules, from the black and hairy appearance of his back, &c.

Melanchætes, one of Actæon’s dogs, so called from his black hair. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Melanchlæni, a people near the Cimmerian Bosphorus.

Melanchrus, a tyrant of Lesbos, who died about 612 B.C.

Melane, the same as Samothrace.

Melaneus, a son of Eurytus, from whom Eretria has been called Melaneis.――A centaur. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Metamorphoses, bk. 3.――An Æthiopian, killed at the nuptials of Perseus. Metamorphoses, bk. 5.

Melanida, a surname of Venus.

Melanion, the same as Hippomenes, who married Atalanta, according to some mythologists. Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Melanippe, a daughter of Æolus, who had two children by Neptune, for which her father put out both her eyes, and confined her in a prison. Her children, who had been exposed and preserved, delivered her from confinement, and Neptune restored to her her eye-sight. She afterwards married Metapontus. Hyginus, fable 186.――A nymph who married Itonus son of Amphictyon, by whom she had Bœotus, who gave his name to Bœotia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 1.

Melanippĭdes, a Greek poet about 520 years before Christ. His grandson, of the same name, flourished about 60 years after at the court of Perdiccas II. of Macedonia. Some fragments of their poetry are extant.

Melanippus, a priest of Apollo at Cyrene, killed by the tyrant Nicocrates. Polyænus, bk. 8.――A son of Astacus, one of the Theban chiefs who defended the gates of Thebes against the army of Adrastus king of Argos. He was opposed by Tydeus, whom he slightly wounded, and at last was killed by Amphiaraus, who carried his head to Tydeus. Tydeus, to take revenge of the wound he had received, bit the head with such barbarity, that he swallowed the brains, and Minerva, offended with his conduct, took away the herb which she had given him to cure his wound, and he died. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 18.――A son of Mars, who became enamoured of Cometho, a priestess of Diana Triclaria. He concealed himself in the temple, and ravished his mistress, for which violation of the sanctity of the place the two lovers soon after perished by a sudden death, and the country was visited by a pestilence, which was stopped only after the offering of a human sacrifice by the direction of the oracle. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 19.――A Trojan, killed by Antilochus in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 15.――Another, killed by Patroclus.――Another, killed by Teucer.――A son of Agrius.――Another, son of Priam.――A son of Theseus.

Melanosyri, a people of Syria.

Melanthii, rocks near the island of Samos.

Melanthius, a man who wrote a history of Attica.――A famous painter of Sicyon. Pliny, bk. 35.――A tragic poet of a very malevolent disposition in the age of Phocion. Plutarch.――A Trojan, killed by Eurypylus in the Trojan war. Homer, Odyssey.――A shepherd in Theocritus, Idylls.――A goat-herd, killed by Telemachus after the return of Ulysses. Ovid, ltr. 1, Heroides.――An elegiac poet.

Melantho, a daughter of Proteus, ravished by Neptune under the form of a dolphin. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 12.――One of Penelope’s women, sister to Melanthius. Homer, Iliad, bk. 18, &c.; Odyssey, bk. 18.

Melanthus, Melanthes, or Melanthius, a son of Andropompus, whose ancestors were kings of Pylos. He was driven from his paternal kingdom by the Heraclidæ, and came to Athens, where king Thymœtes resigned the crown to him, provided he fought a battle against Xanthus, a general of the Bœotians, who made war against him. He fought and conquered [See: Apaturia], and his family, surnamed the Neliadæ, sat on the throne of Athens, till the age of Codrus. He succeeded to the crown 1128 years B.C., and reigned 37 years. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.――A man of Cyzicus. Flaccus.――A river of European Sarmatia, falling into the Borysthenes. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, ltr. 10, li. 55.

Melas (æ), a river of Peloponnesus.――Of Thrace, at the west of the Thracian Chersonesus.――Another in Thessaly,――in Achaia,――in Bœotia,――in Sicily,――in Ionia,――in Cappadocia.――A son of Neptune.――Another, son of Proteus.――A son of Phryxus, who was among the Argonauts, and was drowned in that part of the sea which bore his name. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Meldæ, or Meldorum urbs, a city of Gaul, now Meaux, in Champagne.

Mĕleāger, a celebrated hero of antiquity, son of Œneus king of Ætolia, by Althæa daughter of Thestius. The Parcæ were present at the moment of his birth, and predicted his future greatness. Clotho said that he would be brave and courageous, Lachesis foretold his uncommon strength, and Atropos declared that he should live as long as that fire-brand, which was on the fire, remained entire and unconsumed. Althæa no sooner heard this, than she snatched the stick from the fire, and kept it with the most jealous care, as the life of her son was destined to depend upon its preservation. The fame of Meleager increased with his years; he signalized himself in the Argonautic expedition, and afterwards delivered his country from the neighbouring inhabitants, who made war against his father, at the instigation of Diana, whose altars Œneus had neglected. See: Œneus. No sooner were they destroyed than Diana punished the negligence of Œneus by a greater calamity. She sent a huge wild boar, which laid waste all the country, and seemed invincible on account of its immense size. It became soon a public concern; all the neighbouring princes assembled to destroy this terrible animal, and nothing became more famous in mythological history than the hunting of the Calydonian boar. The princes and chiefs who assembled, and who are mentioned by mythologists, are Meleager son of Œneus, Idas and Lynceus sons of Aphareus, Dryas son of Mars, Castor and Pollux sons of Jupiter and Leda, Pirithous son of Ixion, Theseus son of Ægeus, Anceus and Cepheus sons of Lycurgus, Admetes son of Pheres, Jason son of Æson, Peleus and Telamon sons of Æacus, Iphicles son of Amphitryon, Eurytryon son of Actor, Atalanta daughter of Schœneus, Iolas the friend of Hercules, the sons of Thestius, Amphiaraus son of Oileus, Protheus, Cometes, the brothers of Althæa, Hippothous son of Cercyon, Leucippus, Adrastus, Ceneus, Phileus, Echeon, Lelex, Phœnix son of Amyntor, Panopeus, Hyleus, Hippasus, Nestor, Menœtius the father of Patroclus, Amphicides, Laertes the father of Ulysses, and the four sons of Hippocoon. This troop of armed men attacked the boar with unusual fury, and it was at last killed by Meleager. The conqueror gave the skin and the head to Atalanta, who had first wounded the animal. This partiality to a woman irritated the others, and particularly Toxeus and Plexippus the brothers of Althæa, and they endeavoured to rob Atalanta of the honourable present. Meleager defended a woman, of whom he was enamoured, and killed his uncles in the attempt. Meantime the news of this celebrated conquest had already reached Calydon, and Althæa went to the temple of the gods to return thanks for the victory which her son had gained. As she went she met the corpses of her brothers that were brought from the chase, and at this mournful spectacle she filled the whole city with her lamentations. She was upon this informed that they had been killed by Meleager, and in the moment of resentment, to revenge the death of her brothers, she threw into the fire the fatal stick on which her son’s life depended, and Meleager died as soon as it was consumed. Homer does not mention the fire-brand, whence some have imagined that this fable is posterior to that poet’s age. But he says that the death of Toxeus and Plexippus so irritated Althæa, that she uttered the most horrible curses and imprecations upon the head of her son. Meleager married Cleopatra the daughter of Idas and Marpessa, as also Atalanta, according to some accounts. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1, li. 997; bk. 3, li. 518.—Flaccus, bks. 1 & 6.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 31.—Hyginus, fable 14.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 9.――A general who supported Aridæus when he had been made king, after the death of his brother Alexander the Great.――A brother of Ptolemy, made king of Macedonia B.C. 280 years. He was but two months invested with the regal authority.――A Greek poet in the reign of Seleucus, the last of the Seleucidæ. He was born at Tyre, and died at Cos. It is to his well-directed labours that we are indebted for the Anthologia, or collection of Greek epigrams, which he selected from 46 of the best and most esteemed poets. The original collection of Meleager has been greatly altered by succeeding editors. The best edition of the Anthologia is that of Brunck, in three vols., 4to and 8vo, Strasbourg, 1772.

Mĕleāgrĭdes, the sisters of Meleager, daughters of Œneus and Althæa. They were so disconsolate at the death of their brother Meleager, that they refused all aliments, and were, at the point of death, changed into birds called Meleagrides, whose feathers and eggs, as it is supposed, are of a different colour. The youngest of the sisters, Gorge and Dejanira, who had been married, escaped this metamorphosis. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 540.—Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 26.

Melesander, an Athenian general, who died B.C. 414.

Meles (ētis), a river of Asia Minor, in Ionia, near Smyrna. Some of the ancients supposed that Homer was born on the banks of that river, from which circumstance they call him Melisigènes, and his compositions Meletææ chartæ. It is even supported that he composed his poems in a cave near the source of that river. Strabo, bk. 12.—Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, poem 7, li. 34.—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 201.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 5.――A beautiful Athenian youth, greatly beloved by Timagoras, whose affections he repaid with the greatest coldness and indifference. He even ordered Timagoras to leap down a precipice, from the top of the citadel of Athens, and Timagoras, not to disoblige him, obeyed, and was killed in the fall. This token of true friendship and affection had such an effect upon Meles, that he threw himself down from the place, to atone by his death for the ingratitude which he had shown to Timagoras. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 30.――A king of Lydia, who succeeded his father Alyattes, about 747 years before Christ. He was father to Candaules.

Melesigĕnes, or Melesigĕna, a name given to Homer. See: Meles.

Melia, a daughter of Oceanus, who married Inachus.――A nymph, &c. Apollodorus.――A daughter of Oceanus, sister to Caanthus. She became mother of Ismarus and Tenerus by Apollo. Tenerus was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and the river Ladon in Bœtia assumed the name of Ismarus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 10.――One of the Nereides.――A daughter of Agenor.

Mĕlĭbœa, a daughter of Oceanus, who married Pelasgus.――A daughter of Amphion and Niobe. Apollodorus.――A maritime town of Magnesia in Thessaly, at the foot of mount Ossa, famous for dyeing wool. The epithet of Melibœus is applied to Philoctetes, because he reigned there. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 401; bk. 5, li. 251.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 188.――Also an island at the mouth of the Orontes in Syria, whence Melibœa purpura. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Melibœus, a shepherd introduced in Virgil’s eclogues.

Mĕlĭcerta, Melicertes, or Melicertus, a son of Athamas and Ino. He was saved by his mother from the fury of his father, who prepared to dash him against the wall as he had done his brother Learchus. The mother was so terrified that she threw herself into the sea, with Melicerta in her arms. Neptune had compassion on the misfortunes of Ino and her son, and changed them both into sea deities. Ino was called Leucothoe or Matuta, and Melicerta was known among the Greeks by the name of Palæmon, and among the Latins by that of Portumnus. Some suppose that the Isthmian games were in honour of Melicerta. See: Isthmia. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Hyginus, fables 1 & 2.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 529, &c.—Plutarch de Convivium Septem Sapientium.

Meligūnis, one of the Æolian islands near Sicily.

Melīna, a daughter of Thespius, mother of Laomedon by Hercules.

Melīsa, a town of Magna Græcia.

Melissa, a daughter of Melissus king of Crete, who, with her sister Amalthæa, fed Jupiter with the milk of goats. She first found out the means of collecting honey; whence some have imagined that she was changed into a bee, as her name is the Greek word for that insect. Columella.――One of the Oceanides, who married Inachus, by whom she had Phoroneus and Ægialus.――A daughter of Procles, who married Periander the son of Cypselus, by whom, in her pregnancy, she was killed with a blow of his foot, by the false accusation of his concubines. Diogenes Laërtius.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.――A woman of Corinth, who refused to initiate others in the festivals of Ceres, after she had received admission. She was torn to pieces upon this disobedience, and the goddess made a swarm of bees rise from her body.

Melissus, a king of Crete, father to Melissa and Amalthæa. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 13.—Lactantius [Placidus], bk. 1, ch. 22.――An admiral of the Samian fleet, B.C. 441. He was defeated by Pericles, &c. Plutarch, Pericles.――A philosopher of Samos, who maintained that the world was infinite, immovable, and without a vacuum. According to his doctrines, no one could advance any argument upon the power or attributes of Providence, as all human knowledge was weak and imperfect. Themistocles was among his pupils. He flourished about 440 years before the christian era. Diogenes Laërtius.――A freedman of Mecænas, appointed librarian to Augustus. He wrote some comedies. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, ltr. 16, li. 30.—Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians.

Melĭta, an island in the Libyan sea, between Sicily and Africa, now called Malta. The soil was fertile, and the country famous for its wool. It was first peopled by the Phœnicians. St. Paul was shipwrecked there, and cursed all venomous creatures, which now are not to be found in the whole island. Some, however, suppose that the island on which the Apostle was shipwrecked, was another island of the same name in the Adriatic on the coast of Illyricum, now called Melede. Malta is now remarkable as being the residence of the knights of Malta, formerly of St. John of Jerusalem, settled there A.D. 1530, by the concession of Charles V., after their expulsion from Rhodes by the Turks. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 46.――Another on the coast of Illyricum, in the Adriatic, now Melede. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 26.――An ancient name of Samothrace. Strabo, bk. 10.――One of the Nereides. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 825.

Melitene, a province of Armenia.

Melĭtus, a poet and orator of Athens, who became one of the principal accusers of Socrates. After his eloquence had prevailed, and Socrates had been put ignominiously to death, the Athenians repented of their severity to the philosopher, and condemned his accusers. Melitus perished among them. His character was mean and insidious, and his poems had nothing great or sublime. Diogenes Laërtius.

Spurius Melius, a Roman knight accused of aspiring to tyranny, on account of his uncommon liberality to the populace. He was summoned to appear by the dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, and when he refused to obey, he was put to death by Ahala the master of horse, A.U.C. 314.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Melixandrus, a Milesian, who wrote an account of the wars of the Lapithæ and Centaurs. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 11, ch. 2.

Mella, or Mela, a small river of Cisalpine Gaul, falling into the Ollius, and with it into the Po. Catullus, poem 68, li. 33.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 278.

Mella Annæus, the father of Lucan. He was accused of being privy to Piso’s conspiracy against Nero, upon which he opened his veins. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 16, ch. 17.

Melobōsis, one of the Oceanides.

Melon, an astrologer, who feigned madness and burnt his house that he might not go to an expedition, which he knew would be attended with great calamities.――An interpreter of king Darius. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 13.

Melos, now Milo, an island between Crete and Peloponnesus, about 24 miles from Scyllæum, about 60 miles in circumference, and of an oblong figure. It enjoyed its independence for above 700 years before the time of the Peloponnesian war. This island was originally peopled by a Lacedæmonian colony, 1116 years before the christian era. From this reason the inhabitants refused to join the rest of the islands and the Athenians against the Peloponnesians. This refusal was severely punished. The Athenians took Melos, and put to the sword all such as were able to bear arms. The women and children were made slaves, and the island left desolate. An Athenian colony repeopled it, till Lysander reconquered it and re-established the original inhabitants in their possessions. The island produced a kind of earth successfully employed in painting and medicine. Strabo, bk. 7.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12; bk. 35, ch. 9.—Thucydides, bk. 2, &c.

Melpes, now Melpa, a river of Lucania, falling into the Tyrrhene sea. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Melpia, a village of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 38.

Melpŏmĕne, one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over tragedy. Horace has addressed the finest of his odes to her, as to the patroness of lyric poetry. She was generally represented as a young woman with a serious countenance. Her garments were splendid; she wore a buskin, and held a dagger in one hand, and in the other a sceptre and crowns. Horace, bk. 3, ode 4.—Hesiod, Theogony.

Memaceni, a powerful nation of Asia, &c. Curtius.

Memmia Sulpitia, a woman who married the emperor Alexander Severus. She died when young.

Memmia lex, ordained that no one should be entered on the calendar of criminals who was absent on the public account.

Memmius, a Roman citizen, accused of ambitus. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3.――A Roman knight, who rendered himself illustrious for his eloquence and poetical talents. He was made tribune, pretor, and afterwards governor of Bithynia. He was accused of extortion in his province, and banished by Julius Cæsar, though Cicero undertook his defence. Lucretius dedicated his poem to him. Cicero, Brutus.――Regulus, a Roman of whom Nero observed, that he deserved to be invested with the imperial purple. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 47.――A Roman who accused Jugurtha before the Roman people.――A lieutenant of Pompey, &c.――The family of the Memmii were plebeians. They were descended, according to some accounts, from Mnestheus the friend of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 117.

Memnon, a king of Æthiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with a body of 10,000 men to assist his uncle Priam, during the Trojan war, where he behaved with great courage, and killed Antilochus, Nestor’s son. The aged father challenged the Æthiopian monarch, but Memnon refused it on account of the venerable age of Nestor, and accepted that of Achilles. He was killed in the combat, in the sight of the Grecian and Trojan armies. Aurora was so disconsolate at the death of her son, that she flew to Jupiter all bathed in tears, and begged the god to grant her son such honours as might distinguish him from other mortals. Jupiter consented, and immediately a numerous flight of birds issued from the burning pile on which the body was laid, and after they had flown three times round the flames, they divided themselves into two separate bodies, and fought with such acrimony, that above half of them fell down into the fire, as victims to appease the manes of Memnon. These birds were called Memnonides; and it has been observed by some of the ancients, that they never failed to return yearly to the tomb of Memnon in Troas, and repeat the same bloody engagement, in honour of the hero, from whom they received their name. The Æthiopians or Egyptians, over whom Memnon reigned, erected a celebrated statue to the honour of their monarch. This statue had the wonderful property of uttering a melodious sound every day, at sun-rising, like that which is heard at the breaking of the string of a harp when it is wound up. This was effected by the rays of the sun when they fell upon it. At the setting of the sun, and in the night the sound was lugubrious. This is supported by the testimony of the geographer Strabo, who confesses himself ignorant whether it proceeded from the basis of the statue, or the people that were then round it. This celebrated statue was dismantled by order of Cambyses, when he conquered Egypt, and its ruins still astonish modern travellers by their grandeur and beauty. Memnon was the inventor of the alphabet, according to Anticlides, a writer mentioned by Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56. Moschus, Epitaphios Bionis.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 578, &c.—Ælian, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 42; bk. 10, ch. 31.—Strabo, bks. 13 & 17.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 5.—Philostratus, on Apollodorus.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 7.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 9.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus].――A general of the Persian forces, when Alexander invaded Asia. He distinguished himself for his attachment to the interest of Darius, his valour in the field, the soundness of his counsels, and his great sagacity. He defended Milotus against Alexander, and died in the midst of his successful enterprises, B.C. 333. His wife Barsine was taken prisoner with the wife of Darius. Diodorus, bk. 16.――A governor of Cœlosyria.――A man appointed governor of Thrace by Alexander.――A man who wrote a history of Heraclea in Pontus, in the age of Augustus.

Memphis, a celebrated town of Egypt, on the western banks of the Nile, above the Delta. It once contained many beautiful temples, particularly those of the god Apis (bos Memphites), whose worship was observed with the greatest ceremonies. See: Apis. It was in the neighbourhood of Memphis that those famous pyramids were built, whose grandeur and beauty still astonish the modern traveller. These noble monuments of Egyptian vanity, which pass for one of the wonders of the world, are about 20 in number, three of which, by their superior size, particularly claim attention. The largest of these is 481 feet in height measured perpendicularly, and the area of its basis is on 480,249 square feet, or something more than 11 English acres of ground. It has steps all round with massy and polished stones, so large that the breadth and depth of every step is one single stone. The smallest stone, according to an ancient historian, is not less than 30 feet. The number of steps, according to modern observation, amounts to 208, a number which is not always adhered to by travellers. The place where Memphis formerly stood is not now known; the ruins of its fallen grandeur were conveyed to Alexandria to beautify its palaces, or to adorn the neighbouring cities. Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 7, li. 28.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 660.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 10, &c.—Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, bk. 8.――A nymph, daughter of the Nile, who married Ephesus, by whom she had Libya. She gave her name to the celebrated city of Memphis. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.――The wife of Danaus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Memphītis, a son of Ptolemy Physcon king of Egypt. He was put to death by his father.

Mena, a goddess worshipped at Rome, and supposed to preside over the monthly infirmities of women. She was the same as Juno. According to some, the sacrifices offered to her were young puppies that still sucked their mother. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Pliny, bk. 29, ch. 4.

Mena, or Menes, the first king of Egypt, according to some accounts.

Menalcas, a shepherd in Virgil’s eclogues.

Menalcĭdas, an intriguing Lacedæmonian in the time of the famous Achæan league. He was accused before the Romans, and he killed himself.

Menalippe, a sister of Antiope queen of the Amazons, taken by Hercules when that hero made war against this celebrated nation. She was ransomed, and Hercules received in exchange the arms and belt of the queen. Juvenal, satire 8, li. 229.――A daughter of the centaur Chiron, beloved and ravished by Æolus son of Hellen. She retired into the woods to hide her disgrace from the eyes of her father, and when she had brought forth she entreated the gods to remove her totally from the pursuits of Chiron. She was changed into a mare, and called Ocyroe. Some suppose that she assumed the name of Menalippe, and lost that of Ocyroe. She became a constellation after death, called the horse. Some authors call her Hippe, or Evippe. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Pollux, bk. 4.――Menalippe is a name common to other persons, but it is generally spelt Melanippe by the best authors. See: Melanippe.

Menalippus. See: Melanippus.

Menander, a celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks, and received the appellation of Prince of the New Comedy. He did not disgrace his compositions, like Aristophanes, by mean and indecent reflections and illiberal satire, but his writings were replete with elegance, refined wit, and judicious observations. Of 108 comedies which he wrote, nothing remains but a few fragments. It is said that Terence translated all these, and indeed we may have cause to lament the loss of such valuable writings, when we are told by the ancients that the elegant Terence, so much admired, was in the opinion of his countrymen reckoned inferior to Menander. It is said that Menander drowned himself in the 52nd year of his age, B.C. 293, because the compositions of his rival Philemon obtained more applause than his own. Only eight of his numerous comedies were rewarded with a poetical prize. The name of his father was Diopythus, and that of his mother Hegistrata. His fragments, with those of Philemon, were published by Clericus, 8vo, 1709. Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 16.――A man who wrote an account of embassies, &c.――A king of Bactria, whose ashes were divided among his subjects, &c.――An historian of Ephesus.――Another of Pergamus.――An Athenian general defeated at Ægospotamos by Lysander.――An Athenian sent to Sicily with Nicias.――A man put to death by Alexander for deserting a fortress of which he had the command.――An officer under Mithridates, sent against Lucullus.

Menapii, a people of Belgic Gaul, near the Mosa. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Menapis, a Persian exile, made satrap of Hyrcania by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 4.

Menas, a freedman of Pompey the Great, who distinguished himself by the active and perfidious part which he took in the civil wars which were kindled between the younger Pompey and Augustus. When Pompey invited Augustus to his galley, Menas advised his master to seize the person of his enemy, and at the same time the Roman empire, by cutting the cables of his ship. “No,” replied Pompey, “I would have approved of the measure if you had done it without consulting me; but I scorn to break my word.” Suetonius, Octavius Augustus. Horace, epode 4, has ridiculed the pride of Menas, and recalled to his mind his former meanness and obscurity.

Menchēres, the twelfth king of Memphis.

Mendes, a city of Egypt, near Lycopolis, on one of the mouths of the Nile, called the Mendesian mouth. Pan, under the form of a goat, was worshipped there with the greatest solemnity. It was unlawful to kill one of these animals, with which the Egyptians were not ashamed to have public commerce, to the disgrace of human nature, from the superstitious notion that such embraces had given birth to the greatest heroes of antiquity, as Alexander, Scipio, &c. Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 42 & 46.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Menĕcles, an orator of Alabanda in Caria, who settled at Rhodes. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 53.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Meneclides, a detractor of the character of Epaminondas. Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas.

Menecrătes, a physician of Syracuse, famous for his vanity and arrogance. He was generally accompanied by some of his patients, whose disorders he had cured. He disguised one in the habit of Apollo, and the other in that of Æsculapius, while he reserved for himself the title and name of Jupiter, whose power was extended over those inferior deities. He crowned himself like the master of the gods; and in a letter which he wrote to Philip king of Macedon, he styled himself in these words, Menecrates Jupiter to king Philip, greeting. The Macedonian monarch answered, Philip to Menecrates, greeting, and better sense. Philip also invited him to one of his feasts, but when the meats were served up, a table was put separate for the physician, on which he was served only with perfumes and frankincense, like the father of the gods. This entertainment displeased Menecrates; he remembered that he was a mortal, and hurried away from the company. He lived about 360 years before the christian era. The book which he wrote on cures is lost. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 10, ch. 51.—Athenæus, bk. 7, ch. 13.――One of the generals of Seleucus.――A physician under Tiberius.――A Greek historian of Nysa, disciple to Aristarchus, B.C. 119. Strabo, bk. 16.――An Ephesian architect who wrote on agriculture. Varro, de Re Rustica.――An historian.――A man appointed to settle the disputes of the Athenians and Lacedæmonians in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian war. His father’s name was Amphidorus.――An officer in the fleet of Pompey the son of Pompey the Great.

Menedēmus, an officer of Alexander, killed by the ♦Dahæ. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 6.――A Socratic philosopher of Eretria, who was originally a tent-maker, an employment which he left for the profession of arms. The persuasive eloquence and philosophical lectures of Plato had such an influence over him, that he gave up his offices in the state to cultivate literature. It is said that he died through melancholy when Antigonus, one of Alexander’s generals, had made himself master of his country, B.C. 301, in the 74th year of his age. Some attribute his death to a different cause, and say that he was falsely accused of treason, for which he became so desperate that he died, after he had passed seven days without taking any aliments. He was called the Eretrian Bull, on account of his gravity. Strabo, bk. 9.—Diogenes Laërtius.――A cynic philosopher of Lampsacus, who said that he was come from hell to observe the sins and wickedness of mankind. His habit was that of the furies, and his behaviour was a proof of his insanity. He was the disciple of Colotes of Lampsacus. Diogenes Laërtius.――An officer of Lucullus.――A philosopher of Athens. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 19.

Menegetas, a boxer or wrestler in Philip of Macedon’s army, &c. Polyænus.

Menĕlāi portus, a harbour on the coast of Africa, between Cyrene and Egypt. Cornelius Nepos, Agesilaus, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 1.――Mons, a hill near Sparta, with a fortification, called Menelaium. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 28.

Mĕnĕlāia, a festival celebrated at Therapnæ in Laconia, in honour of Menelaus. He had there a temple, where he was worshipped with his wife Helen, as one of the supreme gods.

Mĕnĕlāus, a king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. His father’s name was Atreus, according to Homer, or, according to the more probable opinion of Hesiod, Apollodorus, &c., he was the son of Plisthenes and Ærope. See: Plisthenes. He was educated with his brother Agamemnon in the house of Atreus, but soon after the death of this monarch, Thyestes his brother usurped the kingdom, and banished the two children of Plisthenes. Menelaus and Agamemnon came to the court of Œneus king of Calydonia, who treated them with tenderness and paternal care. From Calydonia they went to Sparta, where, like the rest of the Grecian princes, they solicited the marriage of Helen the daughter of king Tyndarus. By the artifice and advice of Ulysses, Helen was permitted to choose a husband, and she fixed her eyes upon Menelaus, and married him, after her numerous suitors had solemnly bound themselves by an oath to defend her, and protect her person against the violence or assault of every intruder. See: Helena. As soon as the nuptials were celebrated, ♦Tyndarus resigned the crown to his son-in-law, and their happiness was complete. This was, however, of short duration; Helen was the fairest woman of the age, and Venus had promised Paris the son of Priam to reward him with such a beauty. See: Paris. The arrival of Paris in Sparta was the cause of great revolutions. The absence of Menelaus in Crete gave opportunities to the Trojan prince to corrupt the fidelity of Helen, and to carry away home what the goddess of beauty had promised to him as his due. This action was highly resented by Menelaus; he reminded the Greek princes of their oath and solemn engagements when they courted the daughter of Tyndarus, and immediately all Greece took up arms to defend his cause. The combined forces assembled at Aulis in Bœotia, where they chose Agamemnon for their general, and Calchas for their high priest; and after their applications to the court of Priam for the recovery of Helen had proved fruitless, they marched to meet their enemies in the field. During the Trojan war Menelaus behaved with great spirit and courage, and Paris must have fallen by his hand, had not Venus interposed and redeemed him from certain death. He also expressed his wish to engage Hector, but Agamemnon hindered him from fighting so powerful an adversary. In the tenth year of the Trojan war, Helen, as it is reported, obtained the forgiveness and the good graces of Menelaus by introducing him with Ulysses, the night that Troy was reduced to ashes, into the chamber of Deiphobus, whom she had married after the death of Paris. This perfidious conduct totally reconciled her to her first husband; and she returned with him to Sparta, during a voyage of eight years. He died some time after his return. He had a daughter called Hermione, and Nicostratus, according to some, by Helen, and a son called Megapenthes by a concubine. Some say that Menelaus went to Egypt on his return from the Trojan war to obtain Helen, who had been detained there by the king of the country. See: Helena. The palace which Menelaus once inhabited was still entire in the days of Pausanias, as well as the temple which had been raised to his memory by the people of Sparta. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4, &c.; Iliad, bk. 1, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, bk. 3, chs. 14 & 19.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, &c.—Quintus Smyrnæus bk. 14.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 5 & 13.—Hyginus fable 79.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Propertius, bk. 2.—Sophocles.――A lieutenant of Ptolemy, set over Salamis. Polyænus.—Pausanias.――A city of Egypt. Strabo, bk. 14.――A mathematician in the age of the emperor Trajan.

Menēnius Agrippa, a celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in the infancy of the consular government by repeating the well-known fable of the belly and limbs. He flourished 495 B.C. Livy, bk. 2, chs. 16, 32, 33.――A Roman consul.――An insane person in the age of Horace.

Menĕphron, a man who attempted to offer violence to his own mother. He was changed into a wild beast. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 387.

Mēnes, the first king of Egypt. He built the town of Memphis, as is generally supposed, and deserved, by his abilities and popularity, to be called a god after death. Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 90.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Menesthēi portus, a town of Hispania ♦Bætica.

Menesteus, Menestheus, or Mnestheus, a son of Pereus, who so insinuated himself into the favour of the people of Athens, that, during the long absence of Theseus, he was elected king. The lawful monarch at his return home was expelled, and Mnestheus established his usurpation by his popularity and great moderation. As he had been one of Helen’s suitors, he went to the Trojan war at the head of the people of Athens, and died in his return in the island of Melos. He reigned 23 years B.C. 1205, and was succeeded by Demophoon the son of Theseus. Plutarch, Theseus.――A son of Iphicrates, who distinguished himself in the Athenian armies. Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon.

Menesthius, a Greek killed by Paris in the Trojan war.

Menetas, a man set governor over Babylon by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Meninx, or Lotophagītis insula, now Zerbi, an island on the coast of Africa, near the Syrtis Minor. It was peopled by the people of Neritos, and thence called Neritia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 318.

Menippa, one of the Amazons who assisted Ætes, &c.

Menippides, a son of Hercules. Apollodorus.

Menippus, a cynic philosopher of Phœnicia. He was originally a slave, and obtained his liberty with a sum of money, and became one of the greatest usurers at Thebes. He grew so desperate from the continual reproaches and insults to which he was daily exposed on account of his meanness, that he destroyed himself. He wrote 13 books of satires, which have been lost. Marcus Varro composed satires in imitation of his style, and called them Menippean.――A native of Stratonice, who was preceptor to Cicero for some time. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 91.

Menius, a plebeian consul at Rome. He was the first who made the rostrum at Rome with the beaks (rostra) of the enemy’s ships.――A son of Lycaon, killed by the same thunderbolt which destroyed his father. Ovid, Ibis, li. 472.

Mennis, a town of Assyria abounding in bitumen. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Menodŏtus, a physician.――A Samian historian.

Menœceus, a Theban, father of Hipponome, Jocasta, and Creon.――A young Theban, son of Creon. He offered himself to death when Tiresias, to ensure victory on the side of Thebes against the Argive forces, ordered the Thebans to sacrifice one of the descendants of those who sprang from the dragon’s teeth, and he killed himself near the cave where the dragon of Mars had formerly resided. The gods required this sacrifice because the dragon had been killed by Cadmus, and no sooner was Creon dead than his countrymen obtained the victory. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 10, li. 614.—Euripides, Phœnician Women.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 98.—Sophocles, Antigone.

Menœtes, the pilot of the ship Gyas, at the naval games exhibited by Æneas at the anniversary of his father’s death. He was thrown into the sea by Gyas for his inattention, and saved himself by swimming to a rock. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 161, &c.――An Arcadian, killed by Turnus in the wars of Æneas. Æneid, bk. 12, li. 517.

Menœtiades. See: Menœtius.

Menœtius, a son of Actor and Ægina after her amour with Jupiter. He left his mother and went to Opus, where he had, by Sthenele, or, according to others, by Philomela or Polymela, Patroclus, often called from him Menœtiades. Menœtius was one of the Argonauts. Apollodorus, bk. 4, ch. 24.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 307.—Hyginus, fable 97.

Menon, a Thessalian commander in the expedition of Cyrus the younger against his brother Artaxerxes. He was dismissed on the suspicion that he had betrayed his fellow-soldiers. Diodorus, bk. 14.――A Thessalian refused the freedom of Athens, though he furnished a number of auxiliaries to the people.――The husband of Semiramis.――A sophist in the age of Socrates.――One of the first kings of Phrygia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.――A scholar of Phidias, &c.

Menophĭlus, a eunuch to whom Mithridates, when conquered by Pompey, entrusted the care of his daughter. Menophilus murdered the princess for fear of her falling into the enemy’s hands. Ammianus, bk. 16.

Menta, or Minthe. See: Minthe.

Mentes, a king of the Taphians in Ætolia, son of Anchialus, in the time of the Trojan war.

Mentissa, a town of Spain. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 17.

Mento, a Roman consul, &c.

Mentor, a faithful friend of Ulysses.――A son of Hercules.――A king of Sidonia, who revolted against Artaxerxes Ochus, and afterwards was restored to favour by his treachery to his allies, &c. Diodorus, bk. 16.――An excellent artist in polishing cups and engraving flowers on them. Pliny, bk. 33, ch. 11.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 63, ltr. 16.

Menyllus, a Macedonian set over the garrison which Antipater had stationed at Athens. He attempted in vain to corrupt the innocence of Phocion. Plutarch.

Mera, a priest of Venus. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 8, li. 478.――A dog of Icarius, which by his cries showed Erigone where her murdered father had been thrown. Immediately after this discovery the daughter hung herself in despair, and the dog pined away, and was made a constellation in the heavens known by the name of Canis. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 363.—Hyginus, fable 130.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 7, ch. 28.

Mera, or Mœra, one of the Atlantides, who married Tegeates son of Lycaon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 48.

Mercurii promontorium, a cape of Africa near Clypea. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 44; bk. 29, ch. 27.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 4.

Mercŭrius, a celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks. There were no less than five of this name according to Cicero; a son of Cœlus and Lux; a son of Valens and Coronis; a son of the Nile; a son of Jupiter and Maia; and another called by the Egyptians Thaut. Some add a sixth, a son of Bacchus and Proserpine. To the son of Jupiter and Maia, the actions of all the others have been probably attributed, as he is the most famous and the best known. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and of Jupiter in particular; he was the patron of travellers and of shepherds; he conducted the souls of the dead into the infernal regions, and not only presided over orators, merchants, declaimers, but he was also the god of thieves, pickpockets, and all dishonest persons. His name is derived a mercibus, because he was the god of merchandise among the Latins. He was born, according to the more received opinion, in Arcadia, on mount Cyllene, and in his infancy he was entrusted to the care of the Seasons. The day that he was born, or more probably the following day, he gave an early proof of his craftiness and dishonesty, in stealing away the oxen of Admetus which Apollo tended. He gave another proof of his thievish propensity, by taking also the quiver and arrows of the divine shepherd, and he increased his fame by robbing Neptune of his trident, Venus of her girdle, Mars of his sword, Jupiter of his sceptre, and Vulcan of many of his mechanical instruments. These specimens of his art recommended him to the notice of the gods, and Jupiter took him as his messenger, interpreter, and cup-bearer in the assembly of the gods. This last office he discharged till the promotion of Ganymede. He was presented by the king of heaven with a winged cap called petasus, and with wings for his feet called talaria. He had also a short sword called herpe, which he lent to Perseus. With these he was enabled to go into whatever part of the universe he pleased with the greatest celerity; and besides, he was permitted to make himself invisible, and to assume whatever shape he pleased. As messenger of Jupiter he was entrusted with all his secrets. He was the ambassador and plenipotentiary of the gods, and he was concerned in all alliances and treaties. He was the confidant of Jupiter’s amours, and he often was set to watch over the jealousy and intrigues of Juno. The invention of the lyre and its seven strings is ascribed to him. This he gave to Apollo, and received in exchange the celebrated caduceus with which the god of poetry used to drive the flocks of king Admetus. See: Caduceus. In the wars of the giants against the gods, Mercury showed himself brave, spirited, and active. He delivered Mars from the long confinement which he suffered from the superior power of the Aloides. He purified the Danaides of the murder of their husbands, he tied Ixion to his wheel in the infernal regions, he destroyed the hundred-eyed Argus, he sold Hercules to Omphale the queen of Lydia, he conducted Priam to the tent of Achilles, to redeem the body of his son Hector, and he carried the infant Bacchus to the nymphs of Nysa. Mercury had many surnames and epithets. He was called Cyllenius, Caduceator, Acacetos, from Acacos, an Arcadian; Acacesius, Tricephalos, Triplex, Chthonius, Camillus, Agoneus, Delius, Arcas, &c. His children are also numerous as well as his amours. He was father of Autolycus by Chione; of Myrtillus by Cleobula; of Libys by Libya; of Echion and Eurytus by Antianira; of Cephalus by Creusa; of Prylis by Issa; and of Priapus, according to some. He was also father of Hermaphroditus by Venus; of Eudorus by Polimela; of Pan by Dryope, or Penelope. His worship was well established, particularly in Greece, Egypt, and Italy. He was worshipped at Tanagra in Bœotia, under the name of Criophorus, and represented as carrying a ram on his shoulders, because he delivered the inhabitants from a pestilence by telling them to carry a ram in that manner round the walls of their city. The Roman merchants yearly celebrated a festival on the 15th of May, in honour of Mercury, in a temple near the Circus Maximus. A pregnant sow was then sacrificed, and sometimes a calf and particularly the tongues of animals were offered. After the votaries had sprinkled themselves with water with laurel leaves, they offered prayers to the divinity, and entreated him to be favourable to them, and to forgive whatever artful measures, false oaths, or falsehoods they had used or uttered in the pursuit of gain. Sometimes Mercury appears on monuments with a large cloak round his arm, or tied under his chin. The chief ensigns of his power and offices are his caduceus, his petasus, and his talaria. Sometimes he is represented sitting upon a crayfish, holding in one hand his caduceus, and in the other the claws of the fish. At other times he is like a young man without a beard, holding in one hand a purse, as being the tutelary god of merchants, with a cock on his wrists as an emblem of vigilance, and at his feet a goat, a scorpion, and a fly. Some of his statues represented him as a youth fascino erecto. Sometimes he rests his foot upon a tortoise. In Egypt his statues represented him with the head of a dog, whence he was often confounded with Anubis, and received the sacrifice of a stork. Offerings of milk and honey were made because he was the god of eloquence, whose powers were sweet and persuasive. The Greeks and Romans offered tongues to him by throwing them into the fire, as he was the patron of speaking of which the tongue is the organ. Sometimes his statues represent him as without arms, because, according to some, the power of speech can prevail over everything, even without the assistance of arms. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, &c.; Iliad, bk. 1, &c.; Hymn to Hermes.—Lucian, Dialogi Mortuorum.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 667; Metamorphoses, bks. 1, 4, 11, 14.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 35.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bks. 1, 7, 8, & 9.—Orpheus.—Plutarch, Numa.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 6.—Plato, Phædras.—Livy, bk. 36.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1; Æneid, bk. 1, li. 48.—Diodorus, bks. 4 & 5.—Apollodorus, bks. 1, 2, & 3.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 10.—Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2.—Tzetzes, Lycophron, li. 219.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum.—Lactantius [Placidus].—Philostratus, bk. 1, Imagines, ch. 27.—Marcus Manilius.—Macrobius, bk. 1, Saturnalia, ch. 19.――Trismegistus, a priest and philosopher of Egypt, who taught his countrymen how to cultivate the olive, and measure their lands, and to understand hieroglyphics. He lived in the age of Osiris, and wrote 40 books on theology, medicine, and geography, from which Sanchoniathon the Phœnician historian has taken his theogonia. Diodorus, bks. 1, & 5.—Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.—Cicero, bk. 3, de Natura Deorum.

Merĕtrix, a name under which Venus was worshipped at Abydos and at Samos, because both those places had been benefited by the intrigues or the influence of courtesans. Athenæus, bk. 13.

Mēriŏnes, a charioteer of Idomeneus king of Crete during the Trojan war, son of Molus, a Cretan prince, and Melphidis. He signalized himself before Troy, and fought with Deiphobus the son of Priam, whom he wounded. He was greatly admired by the Cretans, who even paid him divine honours after death. Horace, bk. 1, ode 6, li. 15.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, fable 1.――A brother of Jason son of Æson, famous for his great opulence and for his avarice. Polyænus, bk. 6, ch. 1.

Mermĕros, a centaur. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 305.――A Trojan, killed by Antilochus.――A son of Jason and Medea, who was father to Ilus of Corinth. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Mermnadæ, a race of kings in Lydia, of which Gyges was the first. They sat on the Lydian throne till the reign of Crœsus, who was conquered by Cyrus king of Persia. They were descendants of the Heraclidæ, and probably received the name of Mermnadæ from Mermnas, one of their own family. They were descended from Lemnos, or, according to others, from Agelaus, the son of Omphale by Hercules. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 14.

Meroe, now Nuabia, an island of Æthiopia, with a town of the same name, celebrated for its wines. Its original name was Saba, and Cambyses gave it that of Meroe from his sister. Strabo, bk. 17.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 31.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 173.—Mela, bk. 1.—Lucan, bk. 4, lis. 3, 33; bk. 10, lis. 163 & 303.

Merŏpe, one of the Atlantides. She married Sisyphus son of Æolus, and, like her sisters, was changed into a constellation after death. See: Pleiades. It is said, that in the constellation of the Pleiades the star of Merope appears more dim and obscure than the rest, because she, as the poets observe, married a mortal, while her sisters married some of the gods or their descendants. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 175.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 192.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.――A daughter of Cypselus, who married Cresphontes king of Messenia, by whom she had three children. Her husband and two of her children were murdered by Polyphontes. The murderer obliged her to marry him, and she would have been forced to comply had not Epytus or Telephontes, her third son, revenged his father’s death by assassinating Polyphontes. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 3.――A daughter of Œnopion, beloved by Orion. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.――A daughter of the Cebrenus, who married Æsacus the son of Priam.――A daughter of Erechtheus, mother of Dædalus. Plutarch, Theseus.――A daughter of Pandarus.――A daughter of the river Sangarius, who married king Priam.

Merops, a king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle and placed among the constellations. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 763.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Hyginus, Poetica astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 16.――A celebrated soothsayer of Percosus in Troas, who foretold the death of his sons Adrastus and Amphius, who were engaged in the Trojan war. They slighted their father’s advice, and were killed by Diomedes. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――One of the companions of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 702.

Meros, a mountain of India sacred to Jupiter. It is called by Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 21, Nysa. Bacchus was educated upon it, whence arose the fable that Bacchus was confined in the thigh (μηρος) of his father. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 13.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 10.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Merŭla Cornelius, a Roman who fought against the Gauls, and who was made consul by Octavius in the place of Cinna. He some time after killed himself in despair, &c. Plutarch.

Mesabătes, a eunuch in Persia, flayed alive by order of Parysatis, because he had cut off the head and right hand of Cyrus. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.

Mesabius, a mountain of Bœotia, hanging over the Euripus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 22.

Mesapia, an ancient name of Bœotia.

Mesaubius, a servant of Eumæus the steward of Ulysses. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14, li. 449.

Mesembria, now Miseuria, a maritime city of Thrace. Hence Mesembriacus. Ovid, bk. 1, Tristia, bk. 6, li. 37.――Another at the mouth of the Lissus.

Mesene, an island in the Tigris where Apamea was built, now Disel. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 27.

Mesomēdes, a lyric poet in the age of the emperor Antoninus.

Mesopotămia, a country of Asia, which receives its name from its situation (μεσος ποταμος) between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It is yearly inundated by the Euphrates, and the water properly conveyed over the country by canals. It is now called Diarbec. Strabo, bk. 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 52.

Messāla, a name of Valerius Corvinus, from his having conquered Messana in Sicily. This family was very ancient; the most celebrated was a friend of Brutus, who seized the camp of Augustus at Philippi. He was afterwards reconciled to Augustus, and died A.D. 9, in his 77th year. Plutarch.――Another consul, &c.――The father of Valeria, who married the dictator Sylla. Plutarch.――A great flatterer at the court of Tiberius.――A governor of Syria.――A tribune in one of the Roman legions during the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius, of which he wrote an historical account mentioned by Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory, ch. 14.――A consul with Domitius, &c.――A painter at Rome, who flourished B.C. 235.――A writer, whose book de Augusti progenie was edited 12mo, Leiden, 1648.

Messalīna Valeria, a daughter of Messala Barbatus. She married the emperor Claudius, and disgraced herself by her cruelties and incontinence. Her husband’s palace was not the only seat of her lasciviousness, but she prostituted herself in the public streets, and few men there were at Rome who could not boast of having enjoyed the favours of the impure Messalina. Her extravagancies at last irritated her husband; he commanded her to appear before him to answer all the accusations which were brought against her, upon which she attempted to destroy herself, and when her courage failed, one of the tribunes, who had been sent to her, despatched her with his sword, A.D. 48. It is in speaking of her debaucheries and lewdness that a celebrated satirist says,