Proetus then
declared
him.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
c.
) The dates (Cic.
Brut.
c.
8.
) He paid especial attention to
of his birth and death cannot be determined. The the correct use of words (Plat. Euthyd. p. 187, e. ,
statement of Suidas (s. V. , comp. Schol. on Plat. de Cratyl. p. 384, b. , comp. Galen. in Hippocr. de
Rep. x. p. 600. c. ), that he was condemned to the Articul. iv. p. 461. 1), and the distinction of ex-
hemlock cup as a corrupter of the youth in Athens, pressions related in sense (Lach. p. 197, d. , Prot.
sounds very suspicious (comp. Welcker, p. 582). p. 340, a, 341, a. , Charmid. p. 163, d. , Meno,
According to the statement of Philostratus (p. 483, p. 75, C, comp. Themist. Orat. iv. p. 113). As
comp. 496, ed. Olearius), on which little more re- disciples of Prodicus in oratory, we find mentioned
liance can be placed, he delivered his lecture on the orators Theramenes (Aeschin. in Athen. v.
virtue and vice in Thebes and Sparta also. The p. 220, b. ; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. p. 360), and
Apology of Plato unites him with Gorgias and Isocrates (Dionys. Hal. Isocr. 1 ; Phot. cod. 260;
Hippias in the statement, that into whatever city comp. Welcker, p. 463, &c. ). Thucydides is said
they might come, they were competent to instruct to have appropriated from him his accuracy in
the youth. Lucian (Vit. Herod. c. 3) mentions the use of words (Marcell Vit. Thuc. p. xiii. ,
him among those who had held lectures at Olym- Bekk. ; comp. Schol
. ap. Hemsterhus. Annot. in
pia In the dialogues of Plato he is mentioned or Lucian. , App. 3 ; Maxim. Tyr. Dissert. vii. p. 72,
introduced, not indeed without irony, though, as Davis. )
compared with the other sophists, with a certain The speech on the choice of Hercules (Philost.
degree of esteem. (Hipp. Maj. p. 282, Theaet. p. 496 ; Xenophon, Mem. ii. 1. $ 21, only quotes
p. 151, b. , Phaedo, 60, Protag. p. 341, a. , Char the oúgypauua repl toû 'Hpakhéous) was entitled
mid. p. 163, d. , Meno, p. 96, Cratyl. p. 384. b. , inpar. (Suid. s. v. inpai and ſpód. ; Schol. ad
Symp. p. 177, Euthyd. p. 305. ) Aristophanes in Aristoph. Nub. 1. 360. Respecting the different
the Clouds (1. 360) deals more indulgently with explanations of this title, see Welcker, p. 466, &c. ,
him than with Socrates ; and the Xenophontic who refers it to the youthful bloom of Hercules. )
Socrates, for the purpose of combating the volup- To Hercules, as he was on the point, at his entrance
tuousness of Aristippus, borrows from the book of on the age of youth, of deciding for one of the two
the wise Prodicus (Ilpód. ó oopós) the story of paths of life, that of virtue and that of vice, there
the choice of Hercules (Memor. i. 1. $ 21, &c. ). appear two women, the one of dignified beauty,
This separation of Prodicus from the other so- adorned with purity, modesty, and discretion, the
phists has been pointed out by Welcker in the other of a voluptuous form, and meretricious look
above-quoted treatise (p. 400, &c. ). Like Prota- and dress. The latter promises to lead him by
goras and others, Prodicus delivered lectures in the shortest road, without any toil, to the enjoy-
return for the payment of contributions (émoet ment of every pleasure. The other, while she
- Xen. Mem. ii. 1. $ 21, comp. Philostr. p. reminds him of his progenitors and his noble na-
482; Diog. Laërt. ix. 50; ripavi Covto-Tiuh, Plat. ture, does not conceal from him that the gods
Prot. 314, b. ) of from half a drachma to 50 drach- have not granted what is really beautiful and good
mae, probably according as the hearers limited them- | apart from trouble and careful striving. The
KVITA
## p. 543 (#559) ############################################
PROETUS.
543
PROMACHUS.
e.
:
former seeks to deter him from the path of virtue and Acrisius then shared his kingdom with his
by urging the difficulty of it; the latter calls at- brother, surrendering to him Tiryuth, i. e. the
tention to the unnatural character of enjoyment Heraeum, Midea and the
coast of Argolis (Paus. ii.
which anticipates the need of it, its want of the 16. & 2). By his wife Proetus became the father
highest jos, that arising from noble deeds, and the of three daughters, Lysippe, Iphinoë, and Iphia-
consequences of a life of voluptuousness, and how nassa (Servius, l. C. , calls the two last Hipponoë and
she herself, honoured by gods and men, leads to Cyrianassa, and Aelian, V. A. ii. 42, mentions
all noble works, and to true well-being in all cir- only two daughters, Elege and Celaene). When
cumstances of life. Hercules decides for virtue. these daughters arrived at the age of maturity, they
This outline in Xenophon probably represents, in were stricken with madness, the cause of which is
a very abbreviated form, and with the omission differently stated by different authors ; some sy
of all collateral references, the leading ideas of that it was a punishment inflicted upon them by
the original, of which no fragments remain (comp. Dionysus, because they had despised his worship
Welcker, p. 469, &c. , who also shows that the (Apollod. l. c. ; Diod. iv. 68), and according to
amplifications in Dio Chysostomus and Themistius others, by Hers, because they presumed to consider
belong to these rhetoricians, and are not derived themselves more handsome than the goddess, or
from the Horas of Prodicus, p. 488, &c. Re- because they had stolen some of the gold of her
specting the numerous imitations of this narrative statue (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. vi. 48). In this stnte
in poets, phlosophers, rhetoricians, and in works of madness they wandered through Peloponnesus.
of art, see, in like manner, Welcker, p. 467, &c. ). Melampus promised to cure them, if Proetus would
In another speech, which treated of riches, and give him one third of his kingdom. As Proetus re-
the substance of which is reproduced in the dia- fused to accept these terms, the madness of his
logue Eryxias, Prodicns had undertaken to show daughters not only increased, but was communicated
that the value of external goods depends simply to the other Argive women also, so that they mur-
upon the use which is made of them, and that dered their own children and ran about in a state
virtue must be learnt. (Welcker endeavours to of frenzy.
Proetus then declared him. self willing to
point out the coincidence of the former doctrine listen to the proposal of Melampus ; but the latter
with that of Socrates and Antisthenes, p. 493, now also demanded for his brother Bias an equal
&c. ) Similar sentiments were expressed in Pro share of the kingdom of Argos. Proetus consented
dicus's Praise of Agriculture (Themist. Orat. 30, (Herod. ix. 34 ; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. ix. 30), and
p. 349; comp. Welcker, p. 496, &c. ). His views Melampus having chosen the most robust among the
respecting the worthlessness of earthly life in young men, gave chase to the mad women, amid
different ages and callings, and how we must long shouting and dancing, and drove them as far as
after freedom from connection with the body in Sicyon. During this pursuit, Iphinoë, one of the
the heavenly and cognate aether, are found repre- daughters of Proetus, died, but the two others were
sented in the dialogue Axiochus, from a lecture by cured by Melampus by means of purifications, and
Prodicus; as also his doctrine that death is not to were then married to Melampus and Bias. There
be feared, as it affects neither the living nor the was a tradition that Proetus had founded a sanc-
departed (comp. Stob. Serm. XX. 35). Whether the tuary Hera, between Sicyon and Titane, and one
appended arguments for immortality are borrowed of Apollo at Sicyon (Paus. ii. 7. 97, 12. $ 1).
from him, as Welcker (p. 500) endeavours to show, The place where the cure was effected upon his
is doubtful. The gods he regarded as personifica- daughters is not the same in all traditions, some
tions of the sun, moon, rivers, fountains, and what- mentioning the well Anigros (Strab. viii. p. 346),
ever else contributes to the comfort of our life others the well Cleitor in Arcadia (0v. Met. xv.
(Sext. Emp. adv. Math. i. 52 ; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 325), or Lusi in Arcadia (Paus. viii. 18. & 3). Some
i. 42), and he is therefore, though hastily, charged even state that the Proetides were cured by Ascle-
with atheism (ib. 55).
[Ch. A. B. ) pius. (Pind. Pyth. ii. 96. )
PRODO'RUS, one of the statuaries mentioned Besides these daughters, Proetus had a son,
by Pliny as of some celebrity, but not distinguished Megapenthes (Apollod. ii. 2. & 2; comp. MEGA-
by any of their works. (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. $ PENTHES). When Bellerophontes came to Proetus
(P. S. ] to be purified of a murder which he had committed,
ÞROETUS (lipoitos). 1. A son of Abas and the wife of Proetus fell in love with him, and in-
Ocaleia, and a twin brother of Acrisius. In the vited him to come to her : but, as Bellerophontes
dispute between the two brothers for the king- refused to comply with her desire, she charged him
dom of Argos, Proetus was defeated and expelled before Proetus with having made improper pro-
(Paus. ii. 25. § 6). The cause of this quarrel posals to her. Proetus then sent Bellerophontes
is traced by some to the conduct of Proetus to Jobates in Lycia, with a letter in which Jobates
towards Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius (Apollod. was desired to murder Bellerophontes. (Hom. Il vi.
ii. 4. § 1), and Ovid (Met. v. 238) represents 157, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 3. § 1 ; Tzetz ad Lyc. 17 ;
Acrisius as expelled by Proetus, and Perseus, the comp. HIPPONOUS. )
grandson of Acrisius, avenges his grandfather by 2. A son of Thersander and father of Maera.
changing Proetus into a block of stone, by means (Paus. X. 30. ; Schol. ad Od. xi. 325. ) (L. S. )
of the head of Medusa But according to the com- PROMACHORMA (IIpouaxópua), i. e. “the
mon tradition, Proetus, when expelled from Argos, protectress of the bay," was a surname of Athena,
fied to Jobates or Amphianax in Lycia, and mar- under which she had a sanctuary on mount Bu-
ried his daughter Anteia or Stheneboea (Hom. I. porthmos near Hermione. (Paus. ii
. 34. & 9. ) [L. S. )
vi. 160; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 630, &c. ; comp. PRO'MACHUS (IIpouaxos). 1. One of the
Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vi. 48). Jobates, thereupon, Epigoni, was a son of Parthenopaeus. (Apollod.
restored Proetus to his kingdom by armed force. ii. 7. 82; Paus. X. 10. § 4. )
Tirynth was taken and fortified by the Cyclopes 2. A son of Aeson, was killed by Pelias. (Apol-
(Schol ad Eurip. Orest. 953; Paus. ii. 16. & 4), I lod. i. 9. § 7; comp. PELIAS. )
25. )
a
## p. 544 (#560) ############################################
644
PROMETHEUS.
PROMETHEUS.
66
1
3. A son of Alegenor, a Boeotian, fought in the fame (Hes. Theog. 521, &c. , Op. et Dies, 47, &c. ;
Trojan war. (Hom. Il. xiv. 475. )
Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii, 15; Apollod. ii. 5. $ 11).
4. A son of Heracles and brother of Echephron. Prometheus had cautioned his brother Epimetheus
(Paus. viii. 42. $ 2; comp. EchEPHRON. ) against accepting any present from Zeus, but Epi-
5. The name Promachus, that is, “ the champion," metheus, disregarding the advice, accepted Pandora,
also occurs as a surname of Heracles at Thebes who was sent to him by Zeus, through the media-
(Paus. ix. 11. & 2), and of Hermes at Tanagra (ix. tion of Hermes. Pandora then lifted the lid of the
22. & 2).
(L. S. ) vessel in which the foresight of Prometheus had
PROMA'THIDES (Ipoua018ns), of Heraclein, concealed all the evils which might torment mortals
wrote a work entitled 'Hulauboi, which treated of in life. Diseases and sufferings of every kind now
mythological subjects (Athen. vii. p. 296, b. ). Be- issued forth, but deceitful hope alone remained be-
sides this work, which must have been in poetry, hind (Hes. Op. et Dies, 83, &c.
of his birth and death cannot be determined. The the correct use of words (Plat. Euthyd. p. 187, e. ,
statement of Suidas (s. V. , comp. Schol. on Plat. de Cratyl. p. 384, b. , comp. Galen. in Hippocr. de
Rep. x. p. 600. c. ), that he was condemned to the Articul. iv. p. 461. 1), and the distinction of ex-
hemlock cup as a corrupter of the youth in Athens, pressions related in sense (Lach. p. 197, d. , Prot.
sounds very suspicious (comp. Welcker, p. 582). p. 340, a, 341, a. , Charmid. p. 163, d. , Meno,
According to the statement of Philostratus (p. 483, p. 75, C, comp. Themist. Orat. iv. p. 113). As
comp. 496, ed. Olearius), on which little more re- disciples of Prodicus in oratory, we find mentioned
liance can be placed, he delivered his lecture on the orators Theramenes (Aeschin. in Athen. v.
virtue and vice in Thebes and Sparta also. The p. 220, b. ; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. p. 360), and
Apology of Plato unites him with Gorgias and Isocrates (Dionys. Hal. Isocr. 1 ; Phot. cod. 260;
Hippias in the statement, that into whatever city comp. Welcker, p. 463, &c. ). Thucydides is said
they might come, they were competent to instruct to have appropriated from him his accuracy in
the youth. Lucian (Vit. Herod. c. 3) mentions the use of words (Marcell Vit. Thuc. p. xiii. ,
him among those who had held lectures at Olym- Bekk. ; comp. Schol
. ap. Hemsterhus. Annot. in
pia In the dialogues of Plato he is mentioned or Lucian. , App. 3 ; Maxim. Tyr. Dissert. vii. p. 72,
introduced, not indeed without irony, though, as Davis. )
compared with the other sophists, with a certain The speech on the choice of Hercules (Philost.
degree of esteem. (Hipp. Maj. p. 282, Theaet. p. 496 ; Xenophon, Mem. ii. 1. $ 21, only quotes
p. 151, b. , Phaedo, 60, Protag. p. 341, a. , Char the oúgypauua repl toû 'Hpakhéous) was entitled
mid. p. 163, d. , Meno, p. 96, Cratyl. p. 384. b. , inpar. (Suid. s. v. inpai and ſpód. ; Schol. ad
Symp. p. 177, Euthyd. p. 305. ) Aristophanes in Aristoph. Nub. 1. 360. Respecting the different
the Clouds (1. 360) deals more indulgently with explanations of this title, see Welcker, p. 466, &c. ,
him than with Socrates ; and the Xenophontic who refers it to the youthful bloom of Hercules. )
Socrates, for the purpose of combating the volup- To Hercules, as he was on the point, at his entrance
tuousness of Aristippus, borrows from the book of on the age of youth, of deciding for one of the two
the wise Prodicus (Ilpód. ó oopós) the story of paths of life, that of virtue and that of vice, there
the choice of Hercules (Memor. i. 1. $ 21, &c. ). appear two women, the one of dignified beauty,
This separation of Prodicus from the other so- adorned with purity, modesty, and discretion, the
phists has been pointed out by Welcker in the other of a voluptuous form, and meretricious look
above-quoted treatise (p. 400, &c. ). Like Prota- and dress. The latter promises to lead him by
goras and others, Prodicus delivered lectures in the shortest road, without any toil, to the enjoy-
return for the payment of contributions (émoet ment of every pleasure. The other, while she
- Xen. Mem. ii. 1. $ 21, comp. Philostr. p. reminds him of his progenitors and his noble na-
482; Diog. Laërt. ix. 50; ripavi Covto-Tiuh, Plat. ture, does not conceal from him that the gods
Prot. 314, b. ) of from half a drachma to 50 drach- have not granted what is really beautiful and good
mae, probably according as the hearers limited them- | apart from trouble and careful striving. The
KVITA
## p. 543 (#559) ############################################
PROETUS.
543
PROMACHUS.
e.
:
former seeks to deter him from the path of virtue and Acrisius then shared his kingdom with his
by urging the difficulty of it; the latter calls at- brother, surrendering to him Tiryuth, i. e. the
tention to the unnatural character of enjoyment Heraeum, Midea and the
coast of Argolis (Paus. ii.
which anticipates the need of it, its want of the 16. & 2). By his wife Proetus became the father
highest jos, that arising from noble deeds, and the of three daughters, Lysippe, Iphinoë, and Iphia-
consequences of a life of voluptuousness, and how nassa (Servius, l. C. , calls the two last Hipponoë and
she herself, honoured by gods and men, leads to Cyrianassa, and Aelian, V. A. ii. 42, mentions
all noble works, and to true well-being in all cir- only two daughters, Elege and Celaene). When
cumstances of life. Hercules decides for virtue. these daughters arrived at the age of maturity, they
This outline in Xenophon probably represents, in were stricken with madness, the cause of which is
a very abbreviated form, and with the omission differently stated by different authors ; some sy
of all collateral references, the leading ideas of that it was a punishment inflicted upon them by
the original, of which no fragments remain (comp. Dionysus, because they had despised his worship
Welcker, p. 469, &c. , who also shows that the (Apollod. l. c. ; Diod. iv. 68), and according to
amplifications in Dio Chysostomus and Themistius others, by Hers, because they presumed to consider
belong to these rhetoricians, and are not derived themselves more handsome than the goddess, or
from the Horas of Prodicus, p. 488, &c. Re- because they had stolen some of the gold of her
specting the numerous imitations of this narrative statue (Serv. ad Virg. Ecl. vi. 48). In this stnte
in poets, phlosophers, rhetoricians, and in works of madness they wandered through Peloponnesus.
of art, see, in like manner, Welcker, p. 467, &c. ). Melampus promised to cure them, if Proetus would
In another speech, which treated of riches, and give him one third of his kingdom. As Proetus re-
the substance of which is reproduced in the dia- fused to accept these terms, the madness of his
logue Eryxias, Prodicns had undertaken to show daughters not only increased, but was communicated
that the value of external goods depends simply to the other Argive women also, so that they mur-
upon the use which is made of them, and that dered their own children and ran about in a state
virtue must be learnt. (Welcker endeavours to of frenzy.
Proetus then declared him. self willing to
point out the coincidence of the former doctrine listen to the proposal of Melampus ; but the latter
with that of Socrates and Antisthenes, p. 493, now also demanded for his brother Bias an equal
&c. ) Similar sentiments were expressed in Pro share of the kingdom of Argos. Proetus consented
dicus's Praise of Agriculture (Themist. Orat. 30, (Herod. ix. 34 ; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. ix. 30), and
p. 349; comp. Welcker, p. 496, &c. ). His views Melampus having chosen the most robust among the
respecting the worthlessness of earthly life in young men, gave chase to the mad women, amid
different ages and callings, and how we must long shouting and dancing, and drove them as far as
after freedom from connection with the body in Sicyon. During this pursuit, Iphinoë, one of the
the heavenly and cognate aether, are found repre- daughters of Proetus, died, but the two others were
sented in the dialogue Axiochus, from a lecture by cured by Melampus by means of purifications, and
Prodicus; as also his doctrine that death is not to were then married to Melampus and Bias. There
be feared, as it affects neither the living nor the was a tradition that Proetus had founded a sanc-
departed (comp. Stob. Serm. XX. 35). Whether the tuary Hera, between Sicyon and Titane, and one
appended arguments for immortality are borrowed of Apollo at Sicyon (Paus. ii. 7. 97, 12. $ 1).
from him, as Welcker (p. 500) endeavours to show, The place where the cure was effected upon his
is doubtful. The gods he regarded as personifica- daughters is not the same in all traditions, some
tions of the sun, moon, rivers, fountains, and what- mentioning the well Anigros (Strab. viii. p. 346),
ever else contributes to the comfort of our life others the well Cleitor in Arcadia (0v. Met. xv.
(Sext. Emp. adv. Math. i. 52 ; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 325), or Lusi in Arcadia (Paus. viii. 18. & 3). Some
i. 42), and he is therefore, though hastily, charged even state that the Proetides were cured by Ascle-
with atheism (ib. 55).
[Ch. A. B. ) pius. (Pind. Pyth. ii. 96. )
PRODO'RUS, one of the statuaries mentioned Besides these daughters, Proetus had a son,
by Pliny as of some celebrity, but not distinguished Megapenthes (Apollod. ii. 2. & 2; comp. MEGA-
by any of their works. (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. $ PENTHES). When Bellerophontes came to Proetus
(P. S. ] to be purified of a murder which he had committed,
ÞROETUS (lipoitos). 1. A son of Abas and the wife of Proetus fell in love with him, and in-
Ocaleia, and a twin brother of Acrisius. In the vited him to come to her : but, as Bellerophontes
dispute between the two brothers for the king- refused to comply with her desire, she charged him
dom of Argos, Proetus was defeated and expelled before Proetus with having made improper pro-
(Paus. ii. 25. § 6). The cause of this quarrel posals to her. Proetus then sent Bellerophontes
is traced by some to the conduct of Proetus to Jobates in Lycia, with a letter in which Jobates
towards Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius (Apollod. was desired to murder Bellerophontes. (Hom. Il vi.
ii. 4. § 1), and Ovid (Met. v. 238) represents 157, &c. ; Apollod. ii. 3. § 1 ; Tzetz ad Lyc. 17 ;
Acrisius as expelled by Proetus, and Perseus, the comp. HIPPONOUS. )
grandson of Acrisius, avenges his grandfather by 2. A son of Thersander and father of Maera.
changing Proetus into a block of stone, by means (Paus. X. 30. ; Schol. ad Od. xi. 325. ) (L. S. )
of the head of Medusa But according to the com- PROMACHORMA (IIpouaxópua), i. e. “the
mon tradition, Proetus, when expelled from Argos, protectress of the bay," was a surname of Athena,
fied to Jobates or Amphianax in Lycia, and mar- under which she had a sanctuary on mount Bu-
ried his daughter Anteia or Stheneboea (Hom. I. porthmos near Hermione. (Paus. ii
. 34. & 9. ) [L. S. )
vi. 160; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 630, &c. ; comp. PRO'MACHUS (IIpouaxos). 1. One of the
Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vi. 48). Jobates, thereupon, Epigoni, was a son of Parthenopaeus. (Apollod.
restored Proetus to his kingdom by armed force. ii. 7. 82; Paus. X. 10. § 4. )
Tirynth was taken and fortified by the Cyclopes 2. A son of Aeson, was killed by Pelias. (Apol-
(Schol ad Eurip. Orest. 953; Paus. ii. 16. & 4), I lod. i. 9. § 7; comp. PELIAS. )
25. )
a
## p. 544 (#560) ############################################
644
PROMETHEUS.
PROMETHEUS.
66
1
3. A son of Alegenor, a Boeotian, fought in the fame (Hes. Theog. 521, &c. , Op. et Dies, 47, &c. ;
Trojan war. (Hom. Il. xiv. 475. )
Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii, 15; Apollod. ii. 5. $ 11).
4. A son of Heracles and brother of Echephron. Prometheus had cautioned his brother Epimetheus
(Paus. viii. 42. $ 2; comp. EchEPHRON. ) against accepting any present from Zeus, but Epi-
5. The name Promachus, that is, “ the champion," metheus, disregarding the advice, accepted Pandora,
also occurs as a surname of Heracles at Thebes who was sent to him by Zeus, through the media-
(Paus. ix. 11. & 2), and of Hermes at Tanagra (ix. tion of Hermes. Pandora then lifted the lid of the
22. & 2).
(L. S. ) vessel in which the foresight of Prometheus had
PROMA'THIDES (Ipoua018ns), of Heraclein, concealed all the evils which might torment mortals
wrote a work entitled 'Hulauboi, which treated of in life. Diseases and sufferings of every kind now
mythological subjects (Athen. vii. p. 296, b. ). Be- issued forth, but deceitful hope alone remained be-
sides this work, which must have been in poetry, hind (Hes. Op. et Dies, 83, &c.
