Her father had offered to give her in marriage to this
prince, on condition of his previously yoking lions and
tears to a chariot, and Admetus successfully accom-
plished this through the aid of Apollo.
prince, on condition of his previously yoking lions and
tears to a chariot, and Admetus successfully accom-
plished this through the aid of Apollo.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
, 1824, c.
1.
) 3.
"De
Mecenate moribundo. " (Burmann, I. c, 2, ep. 120. )
Of these elegies, the first has been ascribed by many
to Ovid, even on MS. authority, and printed in the
works of that poet. (Compare Fabric. , I. c. --Passer-
at. in Prafai. . vol. 4, p. 220, ed. Burm. -- Amur, ad
Ov. Carm. , ed. Lcmaire, vol. 1, p. 399, seqq. , and on
the opposite side, Jos. Scaliger, and Burmann, vol. 1,
p. 796. ) The grounds on which the claim of Pedo
rests are not by any means satisfactory: the piece in
question, however, would seem to have been the pro-
duction of the Augustan age. Still weaker are the ar-
guments which seek to establish the claim of Pedo to
the other two elegies, which, according to Wernsdorft"
(Poet. Lot Min. , vol. 3, p. 112, seqq. ), are unworthy
? ? of him, and must be regarded as the productions of
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? ALB
lo Jo* for aid, and that deity destroyed the two broth-
en by a shower' of stones. The battle-ground was
oiled, from the appearance which it presented, the
Crajnu lapvUux, or " Stony plain" (Mela, 2, 5), and
lay between MassUia and the Rhone. Apollodorus
(2,5, 10) calls the brothers Alebion and Dercynus
CA/. A'uv re <<oi Afpjcwoc), and lays the scene in Li-
gura (Atywj). This, however, as Vossius (ad Mel,
lr. )nmirks, should not have misled Salmasius (Sau-
miK,) since Liguria and the Ligures once extended
eren to the Rhone. (Compare Heync,ad Apollod. , I.
t. ) To Albion is ascribed by some, if indeed so ridicu-
lous an etymology be ? worth mentioning, one of the
names of Britain. --II. The earlier name of the island
of Great Britain, called by the Romans Britannia Ma-
jor; from which they distinguished Britannia Minor,
the modern French province of Bretagne. Agatheme-
rns (11, 4), speaking of the British islands, uses the
names Hibernia and Albion for the two largest; Ptol-
emy (2, 3) calls Albion a British island; and Pliny
(4. 16) says, that the island of Britain was formerly
called Albion, the name of Britain being common to
all the islands around it. (" Britannia iruula Al-
ton ipn nomen fuit. cum Urilamiicit. vocarcnter om-
KJ. ") The etymology of the name is uncertain.
Some writers derive it from the Greek <;/. >>'? ,- (the
neater of (iX^oc), "'white," in reference to the chalky
cliffs on the coasts; others have recourse to the He-
brew albrn, " white;" and others again to the Pho? ni-
cian alp or alpin, " high," and " high mountain;" from
the height of the coast. Sprengel thinks It of Gallic
origin, the same with Albin, the name of the Scotch
highlands It appears to him the plural of Alp or Ailp,
which signifies " Rocky Mountains," and to have been
given to the island, because the shore, which looks
towards France, appears like a long row of rocks. The
term evidently conies from the same source with the
word Alfa, and conveys the associate ideas of a high
and chalky, or whitish, coast. (Vid. Alpes, and com-
pare Adelung, Ifitfiradates, vol. 2, p. 42, seqq. ) The
ancient British poets call Britain Init Wen, "the white
island. " (Xannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 32, seqq. )
ALBIS, a river of Germany, now the Elbe. It is
called Albios by Dio Cassias (55, 1). This was the
easternmost stream in Germany with which the Ro-
mans became acquainted in the course of their expedi-
tions; and they knew it, moreover, only in the north-
ern part of its course. Tacitus learned that the Hcr-
munduri dwelt near its sources. (Germ. , 41. ) Ptol-
emy also was acquainted with the quarter where it
rose, on the east side of his Sudetes, near the confines
of the modem Moravia. The only Koman who passed
this stream with an army was L. Domitius Ahcnobar-
bus, A. U. C. 744 ; and though he made no farther prog-
ress, the passage of the Albis was deemed worthy of a
triumph. (Plat. , 4, 14. --Veil. Pat. , 2, 106. --Tacit. ,
Ana. , 1,59. --Id. ib. , 13, svtfin. --Flav. Vop. Prob. , 13. )
At-Bituf, I. Ingaunum, a city of Laguria, on the
coast, some distance to the southwest of Genua. It
was the capital of the Ingauni, and answers to the
modern AUkenga. (Strab. , 202. -- Plin. , 3, 6. ) --II.
Intetnelram, a city of Liguria, on the coast, to the
soothirest of the preceding. It was the capital of the
Interaelii, and corresponds to the modern Vintimiglta.
(Strata, 203. --Plin. , 3, 5. ) From Tacitus (Hist. , 2,
13;. we learn that it was a municipium.
AIBCL. <<. the more ancient name of the Tiber. Man-
Bert considers Albula the Latin, and Tiberis the Etru-
? ? rian, name for the stream; which last became in the
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? ALC
ALC
Initial, he left his native city and came to Rome, where
he soon attained to distinction as a pleader. A sin-
gular adventure induced him to leave the bar. Intend-
ing, on one occasion, merely to employ a rhetorical
figure, he said to the opposite party, who was accused
oi impiety towards his parents, "Swear by the ashes
of thy father and mother" (and thou shalt gain thy
cause. ) The defendant immediately accepted the con-
dition, and, though Albutius protested that he merely
employed a figure of rhetoric, the judges admitted the
oath, and the defendant was acquitted. In his old age
Albutius returned to Novaria, where he assembled his
fellow-citizens, and represented to them that his age
and the maladies under which he was labouring ren-
dered life insupportable. When he had finished his
harangue he retired to his dwelling, and starved him-
self. --IV. (Kid. Supplement. )
An'. ici's. I a celebrated poet of Mytilene, in Les-
bos, and the contemporary of Sappho, Pittacus, and
Stesichorus. (Clinton's Fast. Hell. , vol. 1, p. 5, 2dcd. )
He was famed as well for his resistance to tyranny and
his unsettled life, as for his lyric productions. Having
aided Pittacus to deliver his country from the tyrants
which oppressed it, he quarrelled with this friend,
when the people of Mytilene had placed uncontrolled
power in the hands of the latter, and some injurious
verses, which he composed against Pittacus, caused
himself and his adherents to be driven into exile. An
endeavour to return by force of arms proved unsuc-
cessful, and Alcsus fell into the power of his former
friend, who, forgetting all that had passed, generously
granted him both life and freedom. In his odes Al-
effius treated of various topics. At one time he in-
veighed against tyrants; at another he deplored the
misfortunes which had attended him, and the pains of
exile: while, on other occasions, he celebrated the
praises of Bacchus and the goddess of love. He wrote
in the . Eolie dialect. Dionysius of Halicamassus
speaks in high commendation of the lofty character of
his compositions, the conciseness of his style, and the
clearness of his images. His productions, indeed,
breathed the same spirit with his life. A strong,
manly enthusiasm for freedom and justice pervaded
even those in which he sang the pleasures of love and
wine. But the sublimity of his nature shone brightest
when he praised valour, chastised tyrants, described
the blessings of liberty, and the misery and hardships
of exile. His lyric muse was versed in all the forms
and subjects of poetry, and antiquity attributes to him
hymns, odes, and songs. A few fragments only are
left of all of them, and a distant echo of his poetry
reaches us in some of the odes of Horace. Alcteus
was the inventor of the metre that bears his name, one
of the most beautiful and melodious of all the lyric
measures. Horace has employed it in many of his
odes. As regards the personal character of the poet,
it may be remarked, that the charge of cowardice
which some have endeavoured to fasten upon him, for
his misfortune in having lost his shield during a con-
flict between the Mytileneans and Athenians for the
possession of Sigteum, would seem to be anything but
just. Equally unjust is the same charge, as brought
against Horace for his conduct at Philippi. (Consult
the work of Van Ommeren, Horaz als Mensch und
Burger von Rom. , Ac, Aus dem Holland. , von L.
Walch. )--The fragments that remain to us of the po-
etry of Alceus, are to be found in the collections of
? ? H. Stephens and Fulvius Ursinus. Jani, one of the
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? AL. C
AwiTHocs, I. a son of Pelops, who, being guspect-
<<i of murdering his brother Chrysippus, came to Me-
pra, where he killed a lion, which had destroyed the
king's son. The monarch had promised the hand of
his daughter, and the succession to the throne, unto
him who should succeed in destroying the wild beast.
Alcathous, therefore, gained both of these prizes, and
raccteded in the course of time to the kingdom of Me-
pra. In commemoration of him, festivals, called Al-
ealhoia, were instituted at Megara. (Ptuuan. , 1, 41,
4t)--11 One of the two citadels ofMegara, so called
fiom ita founder Alcathous. (Paiuan. , 1, 40 and 42. )
ALCI, a town of the Celtiberi, in Hispania Tarra-
conensis, called also Alcaratium. It answers to the
modemAlearax, in New Castile, on the river Guartla. -
vu*a. (Lit. , 40, 47, *eqq. )
ALCMOR, an Argive, who, along with Chronius,
wrrired on his side, the battle between 300 of his
fxintrrmen and 3OO Lacedemonians. ( Vid. Othrya-
bi. --Hcrodat. , I, 82. )
ALCKTIS, daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetus.
Her father had offered to give her in marriage to this
prince, on condition of his previously yoking lions and
tears to a chariot, and Admetus successfully accom-
plished this through the aid of Apollo. This same deity,
who was then serving with Admetus, in accordance
with the sentence that had been passed against him
(nd. . ? sculapius, Amphry sus, and Cyclopes), obtained
from the fates, that when Admetus should be about
to end his existence, his life would be spared and pro-
longed, provided another willingly died in his stead.
When the day came. Alcestis heroically devoted her-
ielf for her husband, but -was rescued from the lower
world and restored to the regions of day by Hercules.
According to another version of the legend, she was
tent back again to life by Proserpina. Euripides has
bunded upon this story of Alcestis one of his most
beautiful tragedies. (Apollod. , 1, 9, 14. ) This game
legend U also given in a different and more historical
form, ax follows ? . when Medea had prevailed upon the
daughters of Pelias to cut their father in pieces, in ex-
pectation of seeing him restored to youth, and they
were panned by their brother Acagtus, Alcestis fled
for protection to her cousin Admetug. This prince
refusing to deliver her up, Acagtus marched against
him, took him prisoner, and threatened to put him to
death, when Alcestis heroically surrendered herself
into her brother's hands, and saved the life of Adme-
tuc. It happened, however, that, just at thig time,
Hercules came that way with the horses of Diomede,
tad was hospitably entertained by Admetus. On
learning from him what had taken place, the hero was
fired with indignation, attacked Acastus, destroyed his
army,and rescued Alcestis. whom he restored in safe-
ty to his royal host. (Eudocia, Ion. ap. Vtlloison. ,
Anted. Grate. , vol. 1, 21, seqq. )
f is, I. a king of Epirus, descended from Pyr-
rhus, the son of Achilles, and an ancestor of 1'ynhus,
king of Epirug. He was driven by his subjects from
the throne, bat regained his power by the aid of Dio-
nyous the elder, of Syracuse. --II. King of Epirug,
? on of Arymbas. and grandson of the preceding. His
subjects strangled him, together with his two sons,
B. C. 312. --III. The eighth king of Macedonia, son
of-'EropuB, and father of Amyntas I. He reigned 29
years, from 576 to 647 B. C. --IV. A general of Al-
exander the Great, and brother of Perdiccas. He slew
himself after a defeat by Antigonus, during the contests
? ? that ensued after Alexander's decease. --V. An his-
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? ALC
ALCM. EON.
For Alcidcm in the passage of Livy here quoted, we
should no doubt read, according to Turnebus (Advers. ,
30, 57), Alcidemum, " the people's strength. "
Aecibachus, a painter. (Vid. Supplement. )
Alcimrdon, I. an Arcadian hero. (Vid. Supple-
ment. )--II. An embosser or chaser spoken of by Vir-
gil (Eclog. , 3, 37, 44), who mentions some goblets of
his workmanship. Sillig thinks he was a contempo-
rary of the poet's.
Alcimknes. Vid. Supplement.
Alcimos. Vid. Supplement.
Alcinoos, I. a son of Nausithous, king of Phseacia,
praised for his love of agriculture. He kindly enter-
tained Ulysses, who had been shipwrecked on his coast.
The gardens of Alcinous are beautifully described by
Homer, and have afforded, also, a favourite theme for
succeeding poets. The island of the Phsacians is
called by Homer Scheria. Its more ancient name
was Drepane. After the days of Homer it was called
Corcyra. Now Corfu. ( Vid. Corcyra. --Homer, Od. ,
7--Orph. , in Argon. --Virg. , G. , 2, 87-- Stat. , I. --
Sylv. , 3, 81. ) -- II. A Platonic philosopher. {Vid.
Supplement. )--III. A son of Hippothoon, who, in con-
junction with his father and eleven brothers, expelled
Icarion and Tyndareus from Lacednmon, but was af-
terward killed, with his father and brothers, by Hercu-
les. (Apollod. , 3, 10, 5. )
Alciphron, the most distinguished of the Greek
epistolary writers. Nothing is known of his life, and
even his era is uncertain. Some critics place him be-
tween Lucian, whom he has imitated, and Aristeme-
tus, to whom he served as a model; in other words,
between the years 170 and 350 of the present era.
Others, however, are inclined to transfer him to the
fifth century. Neither side have attended to the cir-
cumstance of there being among the letters of Aris-
ttenetus a kind of correspondence between Lucian
and Alciphron. This correspondence, it is true, is
fictitious; yet it indicates, at the same time, that Aris-
tsnetus regarded those two writers as contemporaries,
and we have no good reason to accuse him of any er-
ror in this respect. Though a contemporary, Alciph-
ron might still have imitated Lucian: it is much more
probable, however, that the passages which appear to
us to be imitations are borrowed by those two writers
from some ancient comic poets. The letters of Al-
ciphron are 116 in number, forming three books. They
are distinguished for purity, clearness, and simplicity,
and are important as giving us a representation of
Athenian manners, drawn from dramatic poets whose
writings are now lost. The best portion of the work
is the 2d book, containing the letters of the hctera, or
courtesans; and, among these, that of Menander to
Glycerion, and that of Glycerion to Menander. The
principal editions are, that of Bergler, Lips. , 1715,8vo,
with an excellent commentary; that of Wagner, Lips. ,
1778, 2 vols. 8vo, containing a corrected text, a Latin
version, the commentary of Bergler, and the editor's
own notes; and that of Boissonade, Paris, 1822, 8vo.
Wagner had been furnished by Bast with the readings
of two Vienna MSS. , but, according to the Critical
Epistle of the last-mentioned scholar, did not make all
the use of these collated readings which he might have
done. Among the papers of Bast, after his decease,
were found various readings of the Letters of Alciph-
ron, derived from four Paris MSS. , two of the Vat-
ican, and one of Heidelberg. Many of these were
? ? preferable to the received readings. Along with them
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? ALC
Having shown much kindness and attention to the
person* whom Croesus had sent to Delphi for the pur-
pose of consulting the oracle, that monarch invited
him to Sardis, and gave him permission to carry from
the royal treasury as much gold as he could bear off
with him at one visit. Herodotus (6, 125) gives an
account of the mode in which he availed himself of
the royal oOei^ filling with gold his arms, the folds of
hi* habit, his large shoes worn expressly for the occa-
sion, and having not only his hair powdered with gold-
? f'ibut m* mouth fu>> of it. To these Crcesus even
added other valuable presents; and to this source He-
rodotus traces the wealth of the family. We must not,
however, regard this Alcaueon as the founder of the
line. (Compare AIcma=on II. )--IV. The last of the
perpetual archons at Athens, was succeeded by Cha-
mps, the son of ^Eschylus, as decennial archon.
Boecth (. Explic. ad find. , Pylk. , 7, p 301) makes him
not to have belonged to the family of the Alcmajonidaj
proper, but to have been reckoned among the Alcmteon-
ids merely because his mother belonged to that house.
--V. A natural philosopher. (Vid. Supplement. )
Alcjlkoxid^:, a noble family of Athens, descended
from Alcmson. ( Vid. Alcmaon II. ) When driven
from Athens by the tyranny of the Pisistratidae, they
first endeavoured to return by force of arms ; but hav-
ing met with a serious check at Lipsydrion, in the
Psoman borough of A. ttica, they turned their atten-
tion to a surer and more pacific mode of operation.
The temple at Delphi having been burned, and having
remained in ruins for some considerable time, the Alc-
r. iT. jin i. i. after their defeat, engaged with the Am-
phietyonic council to rebuild the structure for the
sum of 300 talents. They finished the work, however,
in a much more splendid manner than the terms of
their contract required, and attained, in consequence, to
great popularity. By dint of the favour with which
they were now regarded, as well as by means of a
Urge sum of money, they prevailed upon the Pytho-
ns-- whenever application of a public or private na-
ture was made from Lacedasinon to the god at Delphi,
to conclude the answer of"the oracle, whatever it might
be, with an admonition to the Lacedcemonians to give
liberty to Athens. This artifice had the desired effect;
and, though Sparta was in friendly relations with the
PUistr atithe, it was determined to invade Attica,
which was accordingly done, and the result was, that
the Spartans expelled Hippias, and restored the Alc-
mioiml. t- (B. C. 510). The restored family found
themselves in an isolated position, between the nobles,
who appeared to have been opposed to them, and the
popular party, which had been hitherto attached to the
PUistratide. Clisthenes, now the head of thc. Alc-
mxonida;, joined the latter party, and gave a new con-
? titution to Athens. He abolished the four ancient
tribes, and made a fresh geographical division of Atti-
ca into ten new tribes, each of which bore a name de-
rived from some Attic hero. The ten tribes were sub-
divided into districts of various extent called- done* or
borough*, each containing a town or village as its chief
place. The constitution of Clisthenes had the effect
of transforming the commonalty into a new body. The
whole frame of the state was recognized to corre-
spond with the new division of the country. To Clis-
thenes. also, i<< ascribed the formal institution of the
ostracism.
Alcmaj. Vid. Supplement.
Alcmena. was daughter of Electryon, king of My-
? ? cene. and Anaxo. whom Plutarch calls I. ysidice, and
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? ALE
ALE
upon it. The halcyon was, on this account, though a
querulous, lamenting bird, regarded by the ancients as
a symbol of tranquillity; and, from living principally
on the water, was consecrated to Thetis. According
to Pliny (10, 47), the halcyons only showed them-
selves at the setting of the Pleiades and towards the
winter-solstice, and even then they were but rarely
seen. They made their nests, according to the same
writer, during the seven days immediately preceding
the winter-solstice, and laid their eggs during the seven
days that follow. These fourteen days are the " dies
halcyonii," or " halcyon-days," of antiquity. He de-
scribes their nests as resembling, while they float upon
the waters, a kind of ball, a little lengthened out at the
top, with a very narrow opening, and the whole not
unlike a large sponge. A great deal of this is pure
fable. The only bird in modern times at all resem-
bling either of the two kinds of halcyons described by
Aristotle (8, 3), is the Alcedo Ismda, or what the
French call martin-pechcur. All that is said, too,
about the nest floating on the water, and the days of
calm, is untrue. What the ancients took for a nest
of a bird, is in reality a zoophyte, of the class named
halcyonium by Linnreus, and of the particular species
called gcodie by Lamarck. The martin-pechcur makes
its nest in holes along the shore, or, rather, it deposites
its eggs in such holes as it finds there. Moreover, it
lays its eggs in the spring, and has no connexion
whatever with calm weather. (G. Cuvicr, ad Plin. ,
I. c. )--II.
Mecenate moribundo. " (Burmann, I. c, 2, ep. 120. )
Of these elegies, the first has been ascribed by many
to Ovid, even on MS. authority, and printed in the
works of that poet. (Compare Fabric. , I. c. --Passer-
at. in Prafai. . vol. 4, p. 220, ed. Burm. -- Amur, ad
Ov. Carm. , ed. Lcmaire, vol. 1, p. 399, seqq. , and on
the opposite side, Jos. Scaliger, and Burmann, vol. 1,
p. 796. ) The grounds on which the claim of Pedo
rests are not by any means satisfactory: the piece in
question, however, would seem to have been the pro-
duction of the Augustan age. Still weaker are the ar-
guments which seek to establish the claim of Pedo to
the other two elegies, which, according to Wernsdorft"
(Poet. Lot Min. , vol. 3, p. 112, seqq. ), are unworthy
? ? of him, and must be regarded as the productions of
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? ALB
lo Jo* for aid, and that deity destroyed the two broth-
en by a shower' of stones. The battle-ground was
oiled, from the appearance which it presented, the
Crajnu lapvUux, or " Stony plain" (Mela, 2, 5), and
lay between MassUia and the Rhone. Apollodorus
(2,5, 10) calls the brothers Alebion and Dercynus
CA/. A'uv re <<oi Afpjcwoc), and lays the scene in Li-
gura (Atywj). This, however, as Vossius (ad Mel,
lr. )nmirks, should not have misled Salmasius (Sau-
miK,) since Liguria and the Ligures once extended
eren to the Rhone. (Compare Heync,ad Apollod. , I.
t. ) To Albion is ascribed by some, if indeed so ridicu-
lous an etymology be ? worth mentioning, one of the
names of Britain. --II. The earlier name of the island
of Great Britain, called by the Romans Britannia Ma-
jor; from which they distinguished Britannia Minor,
the modern French province of Bretagne. Agatheme-
rns (11, 4), speaking of the British islands, uses the
names Hibernia and Albion for the two largest; Ptol-
emy (2, 3) calls Albion a British island; and Pliny
(4. 16) says, that the island of Britain was formerly
called Albion, the name of Britain being common to
all the islands around it. (" Britannia iruula Al-
ton ipn nomen fuit. cum Urilamiicit. vocarcnter om-
KJ. ") The etymology of the name is uncertain.
Some writers derive it from the Greek <;/. >>'? ,- (the
neater of (iX^oc), "'white," in reference to the chalky
cliffs on the coasts; others have recourse to the He-
brew albrn, " white;" and others again to the Pho? ni-
cian alp or alpin, " high," and " high mountain;" from
the height of the coast. Sprengel thinks It of Gallic
origin, the same with Albin, the name of the Scotch
highlands It appears to him the plural of Alp or Ailp,
which signifies " Rocky Mountains," and to have been
given to the island, because the shore, which looks
towards France, appears like a long row of rocks. The
term evidently conies from the same source with the
word Alfa, and conveys the associate ideas of a high
and chalky, or whitish, coast. (Vid. Alpes, and com-
pare Adelung, Ifitfiradates, vol. 2, p. 42, seqq. ) The
ancient British poets call Britain Init Wen, "the white
island. " (Xannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 32, seqq. )
ALBIS, a river of Germany, now the Elbe. It is
called Albios by Dio Cassias (55, 1). This was the
easternmost stream in Germany with which the Ro-
mans became acquainted in the course of their expedi-
tions; and they knew it, moreover, only in the north-
ern part of its course. Tacitus learned that the Hcr-
munduri dwelt near its sources. (Germ. , 41. ) Ptol-
emy also was acquainted with the quarter where it
rose, on the east side of his Sudetes, near the confines
of the modem Moravia. The only Koman who passed
this stream with an army was L. Domitius Ahcnobar-
bus, A. U. C. 744 ; and though he made no farther prog-
ress, the passage of the Albis was deemed worthy of a
triumph. (Plat. , 4, 14. --Veil. Pat. , 2, 106. --Tacit. ,
Ana. , 1,59. --Id. ib. , 13, svtfin. --Flav. Vop. Prob. , 13. )
At-Bituf, I. Ingaunum, a city of Laguria, on the
coast, some distance to the southwest of Genua. It
was the capital of the Ingauni, and answers to the
modern AUkenga. (Strab. , 202. -- Plin. , 3, 6. ) --II.
Intetnelram, a city of Liguria, on the coast, to the
soothirest of the preceding. It was the capital of the
Interaelii, and corresponds to the modern Vintimiglta.
(Strata, 203. --Plin. , 3, 5. ) From Tacitus (Hist. , 2,
13;. we learn that it was a municipium.
AIBCL. <<. the more ancient name of the Tiber. Man-
Bert considers Albula the Latin, and Tiberis the Etru-
? ? rian, name for the stream; which last became in the
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? ALC
ALC
Initial, he left his native city and came to Rome, where
he soon attained to distinction as a pleader. A sin-
gular adventure induced him to leave the bar. Intend-
ing, on one occasion, merely to employ a rhetorical
figure, he said to the opposite party, who was accused
oi impiety towards his parents, "Swear by the ashes
of thy father and mother" (and thou shalt gain thy
cause. ) The defendant immediately accepted the con-
dition, and, though Albutius protested that he merely
employed a figure of rhetoric, the judges admitted the
oath, and the defendant was acquitted. In his old age
Albutius returned to Novaria, where he assembled his
fellow-citizens, and represented to them that his age
and the maladies under which he was labouring ren-
dered life insupportable. When he had finished his
harangue he retired to his dwelling, and starved him-
self. --IV. (Kid. Supplement. )
An'. ici's. I a celebrated poet of Mytilene, in Les-
bos, and the contemporary of Sappho, Pittacus, and
Stesichorus. (Clinton's Fast. Hell. , vol. 1, p. 5, 2dcd. )
He was famed as well for his resistance to tyranny and
his unsettled life, as for his lyric productions. Having
aided Pittacus to deliver his country from the tyrants
which oppressed it, he quarrelled with this friend,
when the people of Mytilene had placed uncontrolled
power in the hands of the latter, and some injurious
verses, which he composed against Pittacus, caused
himself and his adherents to be driven into exile. An
endeavour to return by force of arms proved unsuc-
cessful, and Alcsus fell into the power of his former
friend, who, forgetting all that had passed, generously
granted him both life and freedom. In his odes Al-
effius treated of various topics. At one time he in-
veighed against tyrants; at another he deplored the
misfortunes which had attended him, and the pains of
exile: while, on other occasions, he celebrated the
praises of Bacchus and the goddess of love. He wrote
in the . Eolie dialect. Dionysius of Halicamassus
speaks in high commendation of the lofty character of
his compositions, the conciseness of his style, and the
clearness of his images. His productions, indeed,
breathed the same spirit with his life. A strong,
manly enthusiasm for freedom and justice pervaded
even those in which he sang the pleasures of love and
wine. But the sublimity of his nature shone brightest
when he praised valour, chastised tyrants, described
the blessings of liberty, and the misery and hardships
of exile. His lyric muse was versed in all the forms
and subjects of poetry, and antiquity attributes to him
hymns, odes, and songs. A few fragments only are
left of all of them, and a distant echo of his poetry
reaches us in some of the odes of Horace. Alcteus
was the inventor of the metre that bears his name, one
of the most beautiful and melodious of all the lyric
measures. Horace has employed it in many of his
odes. As regards the personal character of the poet,
it may be remarked, that the charge of cowardice
which some have endeavoured to fasten upon him, for
his misfortune in having lost his shield during a con-
flict between the Mytileneans and Athenians for the
possession of Sigteum, would seem to be anything but
just. Equally unjust is the same charge, as brought
against Horace for his conduct at Philippi. (Consult
the work of Van Ommeren, Horaz als Mensch und
Burger von Rom. , Ac, Aus dem Holland. , von L.
Walch. )--The fragments that remain to us of the po-
etry of Alceus, are to be found in the collections of
? ? H. Stephens and Fulvius Ursinus. Jani, one of the
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? AL. C
AwiTHocs, I. a son of Pelops, who, being guspect-
<<i of murdering his brother Chrysippus, came to Me-
pra, where he killed a lion, which had destroyed the
king's son. The monarch had promised the hand of
his daughter, and the succession to the throne, unto
him who should succeed in destroying the wild beast.
Alcathous, therefore, gained both of these prizes, and
raccteded in the course of time to the kingdom of Me-
pra. In commemoration of him, festivals, called Al-
ealhoia, were instituted at Megara. (Ptuuan. , 1, 41,
4t)--11 One of the two citadels ofMegara, so called
fiom ita founder Alcathous. (Paiuan. , 1, 40 and 42. )
ALCI, a town of the Celtiberi, in Hispania Tarra-
conensis, called also Alcaratium. It answers to the
modemAlearax, in New Castile, on the river Guartla. -
vu*a. (Lit. , 40, 47, *eqq. )
ALCMOR, an Argive, who, along with Chronius,
wrrired on his side, the battle between 300 of his
fxintrrmen and 3OO Lacedemonians. ( Vid. Othrya-
bi. --Hcrodat. , I, 82. )
ALCKTIS, daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetus.
Her father had offered to give her in marriage to this
prince, on condition of his previously yoking lions and
tears to a chariot, and Admetus successfully accom-
plished this through the aid of Apollo. This same deity,
who was then serving with Admetus, in accordance
with the sentence that had been passed against him
(nd. . ? sculapius, Amphry sus, and Cyclopes), obtained
from the fates, that when Admetus should be about
to end his existence, his life would be spared and pro-
longed, provided another willingly died in his stead.
When the day came. Alcestis heroically devoted her-
ielf for her husband, but -was rescued from the lower
world and restored to the regions of day by Hercules.
According to another version of the legend, she was
tent back again to life by Proserpina. Euripides has
bunded upon this story of Alcestis one of his most
beautiful tragedies. (Apollod. , 1, 9, 14. ) This game
legend U also given in a different and more historical
form, ax follows ? . when Medea had prevailed upon the
daughters of Pelias to cut their father in pieces, in ex-
pectation of seeing him restored to youth, and they
were panned by their brother Acagtus, Alcestis fled
for protection to her cousin Admetug. This prince
refusing to deliver her up, Acagtus marched against
him, took him prisoner, and threatened to put him to
death, when Alcestis heroically surrendered herself
into her brother's hands, and saved the life of Adme-
tuc. It happened, however, that, just at thig time,
Hercules came that way with the horses of Diomede,
tad was hospitably entertained by Admetus. On
learning from him what had taken place, the hero was
fired with indignation, attacked Acastus, destroyed his
army,and rescued Alcestis. whom he restored in safe-
ty to his royal host. (Eudocia, Ion. ap. Vtlloison. ,
Anted. Grate. , vol. 1, 21, seqq. )
f is, I. a king of Epirus, descended from Pyr-
rhus, the son of Achilles, and an ancestor of 1'ynhus,
king of Epirug. He was driven by his subjects from
the throne, bat regained his power by the aid of Dio-
nyous the elder, of Syracuse. --II. King of Epirug,
? on of Arymbas. and grandson of the preceding. His
subjects strangled him, together with his two sons,
B. C. 312. --III. The eighth king of Macedonia, son
of-'EropuB, and father of Amyntas I. He reigned 29
years, from 576 to 647 B. C. --IV. A general of Al-
exander the Great, and brother of Perdiccas. He slew
himself after a defeat by Antigonus, during the contests
? ? that ensued after Alexander's decease. --V. An his-
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? ALC
ALCM. EON.
For Alcidcm in the passage of Livy here quoted, we
should no doubt read, according to Turnebus (Advers. ,
30, 57), Alcidemum, " the people's strength. "
Aecibachus, a painter. (Vid. Supplement. )
Alcimrdon, I. an Arcadian hero. (Vid. Supple-
ment. )--II. An embosser or chaser spoken of by Vir-
gil (Eclog. , 3, 37, 44), who mentions some goblets of
his workmanship. Sillig thinks he was a contempo-
rary of the poet's.
Alcimknes. Vid. Supplement.
Alcimos. Vid. Supplement.
Alcinoos, I. a son of Nausithous, king of Phseacia,
praised for his love of agriculture. He kindly enter-
tained Ulysses, who had been shipwrecked on his coast.
The gardens of Alcinous are beautifully described by
Homer, and have afforded, also, a favourite theme for
succeeding poets. The island of the Phsacians is
called by Homer Scheria. Its more ancient name
was Drepane. After the days of Homer it was called
Corcyra. Now Corfu. ( Vid. Corcyra. --Homer, Od. ,
7--Orph. , in Argon. --Virg. , G. , 2, 87-- Stat. , I. --
Sylv. , 3, 81. ) -- II. A Platonic philosopher. {Vid.
Supplement. )--III. A son of Hippothoon, who, in con-
junction with his father and eleven brothers, expelled
Icarion and Tyndareus from Lacednmon, but was af-
terward killed, with his father and brothers, by Hercu-
les. (Apollod. , 3, 10, 5. )
Alciphron, the most distinguished of the Greek
epistolary writers. Nothing is known of his life, and
even his era is uncertain. Some critics place him be-
tween Lucian, whom he has imitated, and Aristeme-
tus, to whom he served as a model; in other words,
between the years 170 and 350 of the present era.
Others, however, are inclined to transfer him to the
fifth century. Neither side have attended to the cir-
cumstance of there being among the letters of Aris-
ttenetus a kind of correspondence between Lucian
and Alciphron. This correspondence, it is true, is
fictitious; yet it indicates, at the same time, that Aris-
tsnetus regarded those two writers as contemporaries,
and we have no good reason to accuse him of any er-
ror in this respect. Though a contemporary, Alciph-
ron might still have imitated Lucian: it is much more
probable, however, that the passages which appear to
us to be imitations are borrowed by those two writers
from some ancient comic poets. The letters of Al-
ciphron are 116 in number, forming three books. They
are distinguished for purity, clearness, and simplicity,
and are important as giving us a representation of
Athenian manners, drawn from dramatic poets whose
writings are now lost. The best portion of the work
is the 2d book, containing the letters of the hctera, or
courtesans; and, among these, that of Menander to
Glycerion, and that of Glycerion to Menander. The
principal editions are, that of Bergler, Lips. , 1715,8vo,
with an excellent commentary; that of Wagner, Lips. ,
1778, 2 vols. 8vo, containing a corrected text, a Latin
version, the commentary of Bergler, and the editor's
own notes; and that of Boissonade, Paris, 1822, 8vo.
Wagner had been furnished by Bast with the readings
of two Vienna MSS. , but, according to the Critical
Epistle of the last-mentioned scholar, did not make all
the use of these collated readings which he might have
done. Among the papers of Bast, after his decease,
were found various readings of the Letters of Alciph-
ron, derived from four Paris MSS. , two of the Vat-
ican, and one of Heidelberg. Many of these were
? ? preferable to the received readings. Along with them
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? ALC
Having shown much kindness and attention to the
person* whom Croesus had sent to Delphi for the pur-
pose of consulting the oracle, that monarch invited
him to Sardis, and gave him permission to carry from
the royal treasury as much gold as he could bear off
with him at one visit. Herodotus (6, 125) gives an
account of the mode in which he availed himself of
the royal oOei^ filling with gold his arms, the folds of
hi* habit, his large shoes worn expressly for the occa-
sion, and having not only his hair powdered with gold-
? f'ibut m* mouth fu>> of it. To these Crcesus even
added other valuable presents; and to this source He-
rodotus traces the wealth of the family. We must not,
however, regard this Alcaueon as the founder of the
line. (Compare AIcma=on II. )--IV. The last of the
perpetual archons at Athens, was succeeded by Cha-
mps, the son of ^Eschylus, as decennial archon.
Boecth (. Explic. ad find. , Pylk. , 7, p 301) makes him
not to have belonged to the family of the Alcmajonidaj
proper, but to have been reckoned among the Alcmteon-
ids merely because his mother belonged to that house.
--V. A natural philosopher. (Vid. Supplement. )
Alcjlkoxid^:, a noble family of Athens, descended
from Alcmson. ( Vid. Alcmaon II. ) When driven
from Athens by the tyranny of the Pisistratidae, they
first endeavoured to return by force of arms ; but hav-
ing met with a serious check at Lipsydrion, in the
Psoman borough of A. ttica, they turned their atten-
tion to a surer and more pacific mode of operation.
The temple at Delphi having been burned, and having
remained in ruins for some considerable time, the Alc-
r. iT. jin i. i. after their defeat, engaged with the Am-
phietyonic council to rebuild the structure for the
sum of 300 talents. They finished the work, however,
in a much more splendid manner than the terms of
their contract required, and attained, in consequence, to
great popularity. By dint of the favour with which
they were now regarded, as well as by means of a
Urge sum of money, they prevailed upon the Pytho-
ns-- whenever application of a public or private na-
ture was made from Lacedasinon to the god at Delphi,
to conclude the answer of"the oracle, whatever it might
be, with an admonition to the Lacedcemonians to give
liberty to Athens. This artifice had the desired effect;
and, though Sparta was in friendly relations with the
PUistr atithe, it was determined to invade Attica,
which was accordingly done, and the result was, that
the Spartans expelled Hippias, and restored the Alc-
mioiml. t- (B. C. 510). The restored family found
themselves in an isolated position, between the nobles,
who appeared to have been opposed to them, and the
popular party, which had been hitherto attached to the
PUistratide. Clisthenes, now the head of thc. Alc-
mxonida;, joined the latter party, and gave a new con-
? titution to Athens. He abolished the four ancient
tribes, and made a fresh geographical division of Atti-
ca into ten new tribes, each of which bore a name de-
rived from some Attic hero. The ten tribes were sub-
divided into districts of various extent called- done* or
borough*, each containing a town or village as its chief
place. The constitution of Clisthenes had the effect
of transforming the commonalty into a new body. The
whole frame of the state was recognized to corre-
spond with the new division of the country. To Clis-
thenes. also, i<< ascribed the formal institution of the
ostracism.
Alcmaj. Vid. Supplement.
Alcmena. was daughter of Electryon, king of My-
? ? cene. and Anaxo. whom Plutarch calls I. ysidice, and
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? ALE
ALE
upon it. The halcyon was, on this account, though a
querulous, lamenting bird, regarded by the ancients as
a symbol of tranquillity; and, from living principally
on the water, was consecrated to Thetis. According
to Pliny (10, 47), the halcyons only showed them-
selves at the setting of the Pleiades and towards the
winter-solstice, and even then they were but rarely
seen. They made their nests, according to the same
writer, during the seven days immediately preceding
the winter-solstice, and laid their eggs during the seven
days that follow. These fourteen days are the " dies
halcyonii," or " halcyon-days," of antiquity. He de-
scribes their nests as resembling, while they float upon
the waters, a kind of ball, a little lengthened out at the
top, with a very narrow opening, and the whole not
unlike a large sponge. A great deal of this is pure
fable. The only bird in modern times at all resem-
bling either of the two kinds of halcyons described by
Aristotle (8, 3), is the Alcedo Ismda, or what the
French call martin-pechcur. All that is said, too,
about the nest floating on the water, and the days of
calm, is untrue. What the ancients took for a nest
of a bird, is in reality a zoophyte, of the class named
halcyonium by Linnreus, and of the particular species
called gcodie by Lamarck. The martin-pechcur makes
its nest in holes along the shore, or, rather, it deposites
its eggs in such holes as it finds there. Moreover, it
lays its eggs in the spring, and has no connexion
whatever with calm weather. (G. Cuvicr, ad Plin. ,
I. c. )--II.
