The following brief notes are intended to supply the bare amount of information necessary for an understanding of the text. The pronunciation marks are, of course, added only for the sake of those who have no Greek. An accent marks the syllable which should bear the stress in the English pronunciation, and the signs [a e i o u] and [a e i o u], imply that the vowels are short or long respectively. q.v. = see the note on that name.

Ábaris: a legendary Scythian or ‘Hyperborean’ priest of Apollo, to whom miraculous powers were attributed in the way of cures and prophecy.

Aeolians: inhabitants of Aeolis, the NE. coast of the Aegean, with the island of Lesbos.

Aeschines: (1) a philosopher, pupil of Socrates (hence Aeschines Socraticus). In the eyes of Plato he was a sophist, for the reason that he took fees. His character was not of the highest. Like Plato, he visited Syracuse during the philosophic pose of the elder Dionysius.

(2) Athenian orator, constant opponent of Demosthenes, who charged him with being bribed by Philip. Died in exile 314 B.C.

Aeschylus: the first in date and most severe in style of the three great Attic tragedians, 525-466 B.C. A master of condensed and sonorous language and of powerful situations.

Aesop: the famous writer (or promulgator) of fables, c. 620-564 B.C. Said to have been an emancipated slave, who spent some time at the court of Croesus and was sent by him on a mission to Delphi to distribute largess. Practically nothing definite is known of him. His fables were most probably of Indo-Persian origin. Those which now pass under his name are a comparatively late compilation from various sources.

AgÉsilaus: Agesilaus II, king of Sparta, 398-361 B.C.; the most important man in the Greek world of his day. His wars were numerous, the most important being with the Thebans. His character was noble, his ability great, but his physique and appearance poor.

Agis: (1) Agis II, king of Sparta, 427-399 B.C.; commander against the Athenians in the Peloponnesian War, his greatest exploit being the victory of Mantinea.

(2) Base and toadying poet of Argos, who accompanied Alexander into Asia. The histories of the expedition agree with Plutarch as to his character.

AlcibÍades: a handsome noble of Athens; a type of ostentatious, ambitious, and unscrupulous brilliancy. After a measure of military and political prominence he was banished from Athens for sacrilege (415 B.C.). Becoming hostile to his country he first found a home at Sparta, thence migrated to Asia Minor and joined the Persian satrap, Tissaphernes, whom he endeavoured to bring over to the Athenian side as a means to his own recall. He returned to Athens for a brief space in 407 B.C., then removed to Thrace, and thence again to the Persian satrap.

AlcmÉon: son of Amphiaraus (q.v.), who avenged his father by putting to death his mother Eriphyle.

Alexander: (1) the Great, of Macedon.

(2) of Pherae, a despot who dominated Thessaly from 369 B.C. A cruel tyrant, assassinated through the agency of his wife.

Alexis: poet of the ‘Middle Comedy’, who had migrated from South Italy to Athens. Plutarch says that he lived to the age of 106, and Suidas that his plays numbered 245.

AlyÁttes: king of Lydia and father of Croesus, carried on wars with the Greeks of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor and had apparently some designs upon the islands.

AmÁsis: an insurgent Egyptian general who secured the throne (569 B.C.). His rule was beneficent and prosperous, and he cultivated the friendship of the Greeks, handing over to them the town of Naucratis (q. v.). When reproached with his humble origin he converted his bronze foot-pan into the effigy of a deity by way of instructive parable. He was visited by Solon and had amicable relations with Croesus.

AmmÓnius: Peripatetic philosopher from Attica, teacher of Plutarch, who speaks elsewhere of his great erudition.

AmphiarÁus: legendary seer of Argos, who accompanied the ‘Seven’ in their expedition against Thebes. A pious and just man, who was led into this false step by the persuasions of his wife, who had been bribed.

AmphÍctyons: members of a religious Council meeting at Delphi and representing the older Greek communities.

AmphÍdamas: ‘hero’ (i. e. demigod) of Chalcis in Euboea, conceived as a historical personage.

AmphitrÍtË: wife of Poseidon and queen-goddess of the sea.

Anacharsis: Scythian prince (of N. Thrace). To Greek literature he is the type of the observant and critical visitor from abroad. A pattern of the simple life and direct thinking. Said to have visited Athens about 600 B.C.

Anaxarchus: an easy-going and witty philosopher of the school of Democritus (q. v.); in the suite of Alexander on his Asiatic expedition.

AntÍgonus: a general of Alexander. On the partition of the empire he received Phrygia, Lycia, and Pamphylia, but afterwards extended his rule over all the Asiatic portion. He fell before a combination of the other Diadochi in 301 B.C.

AntÍmachus: epic poet of Colophon, who wrote at great length on the story of Thebes. He also composed a voluminous elegy on ‘Lyde’. Both pieces were crammed with mythological and other learning, and Plutarch appears to treat him as a type of the diffuse. He was a contemporary of Plato.

AntÍpater: (1) regent of Macedonia during the Asiatic expedition of Alexander and after his death (334-320 B.C.). A war with a Greek league headed by Athens ended in the submission of the latter.

(2) A Stoic philosopher of Tyre; a friend of Cato the younger, about the middle of the first century B.C.

Antiphon: several persons were so named, e. g.:

(1) an orator of the fifth century B.C.

(2) An Athenian tragic poet, put to death by the elder Dionysius at Syracuse.

(3) A sophist, epic poet, and antagonist of Socrates.

ApÉlles: (1) of Colophon or Cos, fl. c. 335-305 B.C. The greatest painter of antiquity, especially favoured by Alexander the Great. His maxim for draughtsmen nulla dies sine linea is famous.

(2) Of Chios, apparently unknown beyond Plutarch.

Appius Claudius (Caecus): Roman censor 312 B.C., originator of the Appian Way.

ArÁspes: a Mede, friend of Cyrus, who became enamoured of Panthea (q. v.).

ArcesilÁus: latter part of third century B.C.; first a disciple of Theophrastus (q. v.), but took an independent line in philosophy as founder of the sceptical New Academy. A man of amiable character and a wit.

ArchelÁus: king of Macedonia 413-399 B.C.; a lover of art and literature and a patron of Euripides and other Athenian men of letters.

ArchidÁmus: Archidamus II, king of Sparta, 469-427 B.C. There were several other kings of the name.

ArchÍlochus: of Paros, fl. c. 710-675 B.C. A lyrist of whom only fragments are extant; particularly famous for his iambic lampoons.

ArchimÉdes: the Newton of antiquity; an eminent scientist of Syracuse 287-212 B.C.; student of astronomy, applied mathematics, and engineering. He served as mechanical engineer in defending his city from the Romans, by whose soldiers he was killed in ignorance.

Archytas: of Tarentum, in the early part of the fourth century B.C., noted as a mathematician and philosophic statesman of the Pythagorean order. Both in generalship and civil business of state he was eminently successful and was trusted with extraordinary powers.

Ares: the Greek War-God, answering generally to the Roman Mars.

Ar?daeus (Arrhidaeus): (1) feeble half-witted king of Macedonia after his brother Alexander’s death.

(2) A general of Alexander, joint regent in 321 B.C., afterwards governor on the Hellespont.

ArÍon: c. 600 B.C.; the famous bard and harp-player of Lesbos, and supposed inventor of the dithyramb. His favourite abode was at the court of Periander.

Aristarchus: the prince of Greek grammarians and critics; flourished at Alexandria 181-146 B.C. Chiefly known for his commentaries on the language and matter of Homer, and his recension of the divergent manuscripts.

Aristeides (AristÍdes): with the sobriquet of ‘the Just’; a noble of Athens, statesman and general, who figures in the stirring times of the war with Persia. Died c. 470 B.C.

AristÍppus: of Cyrene, disciple, but not imitator, of Socrates. A student and teacher of ethics, and founder of the Cyrenaic philosophy and its cult of pleasure: fl. c. 380-366 B.C. For a time he was at the court of Dionysius (q. v.) of Syracuse.

ArÍsto: (1) the chief bearer of the name was a philosopher who became head of the Peripatetic school about 230 B.C. Anciently considered a writer of more elegance than weight.

(2) A son of Sophocles, and probably himself a tragedian.

AristÓmenes: practically regent of Egypt from 202 B.C.; a sound adviser of the young Ptolemy Epiphanes (q. v.), who put him to death for his frankness in 192 B.C.

AristÓphanes: of Athens, 444-380 B.C.; by far the greatest comic poet of antiquity. His comedy was of the ‘Old’, or personal-political type. Eleven of his plays are extant.

ArÍstophon: painter, brother of Polygnotus (who fl. c. 420 B.C.).

Aristotle: of Stageira, but commonly domiciled in Athens or in Macedonia. Pupil of Plato and subsequently tutor of Alexander. Founder of the Peripatetic school, with its head-quarters in the Lyceum (q. v.). His whole tone of mind is strikingly unlike that of his teacher, being eminently precise, logical, and scientific. His writing is without literary charm. He aimed at sound and comprehensive knowledge as the basis of right principles in society, conduct, and the arts (384-322 B.C.).

AsclÉpius: (= Aesculapius), the Greek ‘hero’ of medicine, converted by legend into a son of Apollo and ultimately into a god.

Atreides (AtrÍdes): = ‘son of Atreus’, a title of Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Áttalus (brother of Eumenes): Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamus, allied with the Romans in the middle of the second century B.C. Philopoemen was his controlling minister.

BacchÝl?des: lyric poet of Ceos, fl. c. 470 B.C., principally at the court of Hiero of Syracuse. In general he may be called a smoother and weaker Pindar.

BagÓas: a handsome young eunuch of Darius, afterwards taken into the service and affections of Alexander.

BÁthycles: an artist in metal-work, of uncertain date, but probably to be placed in the early part of the age of the Seven Sages.

Bato: comic poet of Athens, fl. c. 280 B.C.; satirized philosophers.

Bias: of Priene; precise date unknown, but fl. c. 550 B.C. He is invariably included in the list of the Seven Sages.

Bion: fl. c. 250 B.C., a philosopher from Olbia on the Black Sea, who settled at Athens, tried various systems, and ended by being a Peripatetic. He was noted for his keen sententious sayings, but was of dissolute character. Has been called ‘the Greek Voltaire’.

BrisÉÏs: captive woman assigned to Achilles, but taken from him by Agamemnon when he surrendered Chryseis.

BusÍrites: the people of Busiris (modern Abousir), about the middle of the Delta; one of the traditional birthplaces of Osiris.

Calchas: the seer of the Achaean army before Troy.

CallÍsthenes: philosopher and rhetorician; accompanied Alexander into Asia, where he used over-bold language in reproving him. Put to death 328 B.C. He wrote an account of the expedition and other historical works.

CalÝpso: nymph, on whose island the shipwrecked Odysseus was detained for seven years.

Carneades: of Cyrene, 213(?)-129 B.C.; a student of Stoicism, but leader of the Academics. He was ambassador on behalf of Athens (155 B.C.) to Rome, where he delivered striking discourses on ethics. His cardinal doctrine was the ‘withholding of assent’ to doctrines.

Cato: (1) the elder (or ‘the Censor’), 234-149 B.C. The type of severe old-fashioned Roman morality; soldier, statesman, orator, and writer.

(2) The younger (or ‘Uticensis’), 95-46 B.C.; modelled himself on his great-grandfather in respect of the moral and simple life, but was much inferior in gifts. Committed suicide 46 B.C., when the struggle against the domination of Julius Caesar had become hopeless.

Cebes: of Thebes, a pupil of Socrates and a persona in Plato’s Phaedo. He is chiefly known for his (if it is his) symbolic picture or ‘table’ of human life.

Cerameicus (-Í-): a suburb without, and a broad street within, the west walls of Athens.

CercÓpes: mythical gnomes, mischievous and thievish, who annoyed Heracles by their monkey-like tricks.

ChÁbr?as: Athenian commander at various times between 392 and 357 B.C., gaining some successes by land and sea against the Spartans. An able tactician, adventurous, but of somewhat dissolute life.

Chalcis: chief town of Euboea (Negropont), once a most important commercial centre.

Chares: Athenian general, of whose various operations we have records for 367-333 B.C. A man of little principle. He effected little against the Macedonians, and often followed independent and useless lines of action.

ChÁrm?des: uncle of Plato, who names one of his Socratic dialogues after him. At the supposed date he was a beautiful and charming youth, and the discussion is upon ‘self-control’.

Chilon: of Lacedaemon: fl. c. 600-570 B.C. Poet and coiner of maxims, and shrewd man of affairs.

ChrysÉÏs: captive woman assigned to Agamemnon; surrendered by him at the bidding of Apollo, in order to check a pestilence.

Cimon: son of Miltiades, became prominent as a commander against the Persians in 477 B.C. His chief exploit was the victory of Eurymedon, 466 B.C. A handsome, liberal, affable, but somewhat self-indulgent person.

CinÉsias: Athenian dithyrambic poet, much satirized by Aristophanes and others. His verse, music, and character appear all to have been of an inferior order.

Claudia: Roman maiden, who, in full vindication of her chastity, was enabled to move the vessel containing the image of Cybele when it stuck fast in the Tiber.

CleÁnthes: Stoic philosopher, pupil and successor of Zeno (q. v.) 263 B.C. The only fragment of his writing still extant is from a Hymn to Zeus.

CleÁrchus: (1) of Heraclea on the Black Sea; availed himself of faction to make himself despot and tyrant (365 B.C.). Despite the precautions described by Plutarch he was assassinated in 353 B.C.

(2) Of Sparta, leader of the 10,000 Greeks in the expedition of Cyrus the Younger against Babylon; decoyed and put to death by the Persians, 401 B.C. The retreat was led by Xenophon (q.v.).

Cleisthenes: Athenian noble, who adopted the popular cause and made important democratic changes in the constitution; fl. from 510 B.C.

Cleitus (Clitus): a Macedonian commander under Alexander, whose life he saved at the battle of GranÍcus (334 B.C.). He was killed (328 B.C.) by Alexander with a spear-thrust, after a quarrel at a carousal, in which he had spoken with excessive freedom to his chief.

CleobulÍnË: daughter (as the name implies) of Cleobulus (q.v.). Though her father is said to have named her Eumetis (‘sagacious’), the word may be suspected of being an afterthought.

CleobÚlus: c. 610-560 B.C. A citizen of Lindus in Rhodes, who became its despot. His position may have been similar to that of Pittacus (q.v.).

CleÓmenes: Cleomenes III, high-minded king of Sparta, 240-222 B.C. On his defeat by the Achaeans he fled to Ptolemy Euergetes, with whom he was in alliance. The next Ptolemy (Philopator) suspected and imprisoned him.

Cleon: a tanner of Athens; an able but coarse-grained leader of the popular party 428-422 B.C. A special enemy of Aristophanes (q.v.), whose fiercest political attacks are delivered against him. A self-sufficient amateur in military operations, in one of which he was slain.

ClÓdius: P. Clodius Pulcher; a daring and unscrupulous person, who became quaestor in 61 B.C. and tribune of the plebs in 59 B.C. The notorious and relentless enemy of Cicero. Killed by Milo on the high road 52 B.C.

ColÓnus: a suburb of Athens outside the north wall, with a small hill, grove, and sanctuary.

CÓlophon: Greek town of Asia Minor, near the Aegean coast, about ten miles north of Ephesus.

Cornelia: daughter of Scipio Africanus; the famous ‘mother of the Gracchi’; the type of matronly virtue, dignity, cultivation, and high example.

CrÁterus: a noble type of Macedonian; one of Alexander’s generals. After the death of his chief (323 B.C.) he became colleague with Antipater in the Graeco-Macedonian portion of the empire. See also under Eumenes.

Crates: of Thebes; pupil of Diogenes (q.v.) at Athens; fl. c. 320 B.C. A Cynic philosopher in practice as well as theory, he renounced his wealth and led the simple life in a cheerful manner. A philosophic writer and a tragic poet.

Croesus: king of Lydia 560-546 B.C. A wealthy and powerful ruler, who made war upon the Persians when their empire was growing rapidly under Cyrus. Was defeated and carried off in the train of the conqueror. While in power he was in friendly or hostile relations with various Greek states, and was particularly noted for his liberality to the Delphian oracle. Whether Solon ever actually had the famous interview with Croesus is chronologically doubtful, but it is not impossible.

CyÁxares: king of Media, appears in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia as uncle of Cyrus the Great, but the whole book is something of a romance.

CÝpselus: father of Periander, established himself as despot of Corinth c. 656 B.C. His name was commonly associated with cypsele (‘chest’). The designs upon him in his infancy were those of a Corinthian noble house, and were made in consequence of an oracle foretelling danger from the child.

Cyrus: (1) the elder: the famous Persian monarch, founder of the empire, and subjugator of Babylon. The stories told of him in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon are largely romance.

(2) the younger: satrap of Lydia, Phrygia, &c., who sought, but failed, to dispossess his brother Artaxerxes with the assistance of a Greek force (401 B.C.). This was the expedition related in Xenophon’s Anabasis.

Daphnus: a river running into the Corinthian Gulf on the north side not far from the entrance.

DarÍus: (1) Darius I; strong and able king of Persia (521-485 B.C.), previously satrap under Cyrus the Great. This is the Darius mentioned in connexion with Gobryas.

(2) Darius II (Ochus or Nothus), or Darius the Younger, a weak monarch endangered by perpetual rebellions, 424-405 B.C.

(3) Darius Codomannus, overthrown by Alexander. Died 330 B.C.

DÉlos: central island of the south half of the Aegean, with a temple of Apollo, the gathering-place of a great religious confederacy of Ionians.

DemarÁtus: of Corinth, in friendly relations with Philip and a mediator between him and Alexander after their quarrel in 337 B.C.

DemÉtrius: (1) Demetrius I (or Poliorcetes), king of Macedonia. His father Antigonus, king of Asia, sent him in 307 B.C. to annex Greece, then under Cassander and Ptolemy. It was at this time that he took Megara and met with Stilpo (q. v.).

(2) Demetrius PhalÉreus: Athenian orator and writer (345-283 B.C.); an able and cultivated man, put in charge of Athens by the Macedonians, 317 B.C. First highly honoured, then expelled, he made his way to Thebes and subsequently to Alexandria.

(3) The name of several Macedonian officers in the army of Alexander.

DemÓcr?tus: c. 460-360 B.C. Of Abdera in Thrace. A great traveller and student, who developed (though he did not invent) the ‘Atomic Theory’. Ethically his aim was cheerfulness of mind (hence ‘the laughing philosopher’). His character was of the highest for truth and simplicity.

DicaeÁrchus: philosopher from Massana in Sicily; writer on history and geography. A follower of Aristotle, fl. c. 300 B.C.

DÍocles: the narrator of the Dinner of the Seven Sages: professional seer, and interpreter and expiator of omens and dreams. Nothing is known of such a person outside Plutarch.

DiÓgenes: (1) the Cynic philosopher of Sinope, who migrated to Athens, and after being captured by pirates was sold as a slave to a Corinthian. Whether or not he ever lived in the famous (earthenware) ‘tub’ is doubtful. He was distinguished for his plainness of life, his shrewd good sense, his independence, and his caustic tongue.

(2) Tragic poet of Athens, c. 404 B.C.

Dion: of Syracuse, brother-in-law of the elder Dionysius (q. v.). On the visit of Plato to Sicily he became a disciple of that philosopher. The younger Dionysius resented his reputation and his harshness. Dion therefore removed to Athens and other parts of Greece, whence he returned with a force, expelled Dionysius, and was himself appointed practically dictator. Assassinated 353 B.C.

Dionysius: (i) the elder: despot of Syracuse (‘sole general’) 405-367 B.C. He extended its power over a great part of Sicily, and strongly fortified the city itself. In the end he became a veritable tyrant. Like many other despots he affected literature and philosophy, and himself wrote bad verses. After inviting Plato to Syracuse he quarrelled with and dismissed that philosopher.

(2) the younger, who succeeded his father. For a time he was under the influence of Dion (q.v.) assisted by Plato. Of weaker character and more licentious than his father, he was compelled to abandon Syracuse after a rule of eleven years. Insecurely restored ten years later he was again driven out by Timoleon (343 B.C.). The remainder of his life was spent in poverty at Corinth, where he is said to have taught an elementary school.

DodÓna: in Epirus, near the modern Janina; a very ancient seat of the worship of Zeus.

Dolon: a Trojan in the Iliad, who undertakes to penetrate the Achaean camp as a spy, but is slain in the attempt.

DryÓpians: a people of Central Greece.

ElephantÍnË = Djesiret-el-Sag; a garrisoned island in the Nile (First Cataract) opposite the modern Assouan; the frontier town of Egypt towards Ethiopia.

EmpÉdocles: Sicilian physical and practical philosopher of Acragas (= Girgenti); fl. c. 450 B.C. His studies of nature specially qualified him for the cure or ‘purification’ of epidemics due to insanitary conditions. His travels took him to Athens and other parts of Greece. The legend went that he threw himself into the crater of Etna.

Eos: = Aurora, dawn-goddess; wife of Tithonus; mother of Memnon, the opponent of Achilles.

EpÁminondas: a type of patriotism, particularly to his compatriot Plutarch. The greatest of Theban commanders and statesmen, especially famous for his victory over the Spartans at Leuctra (371 B.C.). So far as he applied any philosophy to life, it was that of Pythagoras.

Éphorus: historian of Cumae, fl. c. 340 B.C. His history, once very famous and much discussed, covered a period of 750 years.

EpichÁrmus: c. 540-450 B.C.; the great comic poet of Sicily, chiefly associated with the court of Hiero I (q.v.) at Syracuse.

EpicÚrus: 342-270 B.C. Athenian philosopher and founder of the Epicurean school, of which the aim was ‘peace of mind’ or ‘freedom from emotional disturbance’. His own life (as his tenets required) was simple and wholesome, and the self-indulgence of the sect in later days was either a parody or a misconception of his teachings. A voluminous writer on physics and ethics, but with a bad style.

EpimÉn?des: priest-prophet and bard of Crete, with peculiar knowledge of medicine and methods of purification. Many fables were current concerning him (e.g. of his sleep of fifty-seven years). He was called in by the Athenians (c. 596 B.C.) to cleanse their city of a plague.

EpimÉtheus: brother of Prometheus (q.v.). The name was taken to mean ‘After-thinker’, and hence arose a notion that he ‘thought too late’.

ErasÍstratus: a very distinguished physician in the earlier part of the third century B.C. He practised and taught in Syria and Alexandria. An eminent student of anatomy.

EratÓsthenes: librarian of Alexandria under the Ptolemies; a writer on mathematical geography, history, and grammar. Died about 196 B.C.

Éresus: a town on the south-west coast of Lesbos (Mytilene); birthplace of Theophrastus.

ErÉtria: the second town of Euboea, a little south of Chalcis. See Lelantum.

ErÍnys: a spirit of vengeance sent up from the underworld to punish unnatural crimes and offences.

Éteocles: (legendary): son of Oedipus, joint king of Thebes with Polyneices, whom he expelled through a selfish desire to rule alone.

EuÉnus: two poets of Paros are so named, one of the date of Socrates and one earlier. It is, and was anciently, difficult to distinguish between the two.

EÚmenes: an eminent and very able general (and also secretary) of Alexander, after whose death he obtained (322 B.C.) the chief command in Asia. His subordinate Neoptolemus, governor of Armenia, made head against him with the help of Craterus. Their defeat, mentioned in the article on Garrulity, took place in Cappadocia in 321 B.C.

EÚpolis: one of the three chief poets of the ‘old’ comedy of Athens, a contemporary of Aristophanes (q.v.).

EurÍpides: 480-406 B.C.; third in date of the three great Athenian tragedians. His works were numerous and uneven. His poetical merits were (and are) variously estimated.

Fabius Maximus: the best known person of the name was Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, who saved Rome by his waiting tactics against Hannibal; but the one who was associated with Polybius, as pupil and patron, was Q. F. M. Aemilianus, consul in 145 B.C., who served against Macedonia and in Spain.

GÓbryes: one of the seven Persian nobles (Darius being another) who conspired against the usurper Smerdis the Mage. Darius was raised to the throne and Gobryes became one of his lieutenants.

GÓrg?as: of Leontini in Sicily: orator, rhetorical teacher, and sophist, who visited Athens 427 B.C. and subsequently. His style, which was highly artificial, was widely imitated. He is the Gorgias of Plato’s dialogue.

Gorgo: of Sparta; wife of Leonidas and daughter of Cleomenes I. Stories of her wisdom and sagacity are told by Herodotus (6. 49, 7. 239).

Gylippus: Spartan general who came to the rescue of Syracuse and chiefly caused the utter collapse of the Athenian attack upon that city. After the fall of Athens (404 B.C.) it was his business to convey to Sparta the 1,500 talents of booty. He opened the seams of the sacks, filched about one-fifth of the amount, but was betrayed by the inventories enclosed.

HarmÓdius: a handsome youth of Athens associated with Aristogeiton (the older man) in the assassination of Hipparchus, brother of the despot Hippias in 514 B.C. Though Athens was not liberated till four years later, these tyrannicides were canonized as saviours of their country.

Hecuba: the aged wife of Priam, and mother of Hector.

Hephaestus: practically the Greek equivalent of the Latin Vulcan or Fire-God. He is represented as a lame, but sturdy and somewhat humorous deity, a master of smithcraft.

Heracleides (HÉraclides): It is not clear to which person of the name Plutarch refers. The best known was Heracleides Ponticus, a pupil of Plato and a miscellaneous writer.

Heracleitus (HeraclÍtus): physical philosopher of Ephesus, fl. c. 515 B.C. Famous for the compression of his style, which became so cryptic that he earned the title of the ‘Obscure’. He was something of a hermit and favoured the simple vegetarian life. The ‘weeping philosopher’.

HermÍone: daughter of Menelaus and Helen; married to Neoptolemus (son of Achilles) and jealous of Andromache, whom she tried to put to death.

HerÓdotus: c. 484-400 B.C.; the so-called ‘Father of History’. He travelled widely in the East and in the Grecian world, and wrote on Lydia, Babylonia, Egypt, Persia, and the great Persian war. His desire is to get at the facts, but he displays a naÏve fondness for story-telling and for wonders and miracles.

HerÓph?lus: of Chalcedon; a most eminent physician and a discoverer in anatomy and physiology; fl. c. 300 B.C.

Hiero I: or the Magnificent, despot of Gelon and Syracuse (478-467 B.C.), and most powerful Sicilian of his day. Poets at one time or other associated with his court were Epicharmus, Xenophanes, Simonides, Aeschylus, Pindar, and Bacchylides.

HierÓnymus: tragic and dithyrambic poet of Athens and apparently a writer on poets.

HippÓcrates: of Cos; the ‘father of medicine’; the most renowned physician and medical teacher and writer of antiquity: c. 460-357 B.C.

Hypereides (HyperÍdes): Attic orator; patriot, contemporary and, for the most part, supporter of Demosthenes in his anti-Macedonian policy. Put to death by Antipater (q.v.), 322 B.C. An elegant speaker, of dubious private life.

Íbycus: of Rhegium, fl. c. 540 B.C. at the court of the despot of Samos; a lyric poet of the erotic type. The proverb, ‘the cranes of Ibycus’, arose from the story that, when being murdered by brigands near Corinth, he invoked a flock of cranes, then flying past, to avenge his death. Plutarch tells the sequel (Garrulity).

ino: or LeucÓthea; a mythological personage, daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas. One story went that, when she leapt into the sea, she was carried to Corinth by a dolphin. Hence the allusion in the story of Arion.

iphÍcrates: Athenian general in early part of the fourth century B.C. An innovator in tactics and military equipment, noted for his prudence and foresight.

IschÓmachus: a character of the name appears in Xenophon’s Oeconomicus as lecturing his wife upon the principles of domestic management. Such a philosophically disposed person may be the associate of Socrates mentioned by Plutarch.

Ithacans: the people of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, one of the Ionian islands, south of Corfu.

IxÍon: mythical Thessalian king, who made illicit love to Hera, wife of Zeus, and was punished by being fastened to a perpetually revolving wheel in Hades.

Laelius: C. Laelius Sapiens, friend of Scipio Africanus Minor. Consul 140 B.C. Cicero’s De Amicitia is otherwise named his Laelius. Philosopher, orator, and scholar.

LaÉrtes: aged father of Odysseus; superannuated king of Ithaca.

Lechaeum: the port of Old Corinth, with which it was connected by walls one and a half miles in length.

LelÁntum: a river of Euboea, flowing through the fertile Lelantine plain (between Chalcis and Eretria), which was long a bone of contention between the two cities.

LeÓn?das: the famous Spartan king, who so stubbornly held the pass of Thermopylae against the Persians with his ‘Three Hundred’, 480 B.C.

Leptis: a town in Africa near the modern Tripoli; a Phoenician settlement and afterwards a Roman colony.

Lesches: one of the post-Homeric (‘Cyclic’) poets, and writer of the Little Iliad; a native of Lesbos, fl. c. 705 B.C.

Leuctra: Boeotian village; the scene of the great defeat of the Spartans by Epaminondas, 371 B.C.

Livia: Livia Drusilla, 56 B.C.-A.D. 29. Her first husband was Tiberius Claudius Nero, by whom she was the mother of Tiberius, the future emperor. Married to Augustus (then Octavianus) in 38 B.C., and having no children by him, she was anxious to keep the succession in her own family. A woman of strong character, she exerted a tactful control over Augustus and attempted one more imperious over Tiberius, but failed.

Locri: Locri Epizephyrii, an important Greek town of South Italy, about the modern Gerace. Its constitutional code was often regarded as a model.

Locris: a Greek community lying along the north side of the middle of the Corinthian Gulf.

Loxias: Apollo as God of Oracles. The name was commonly interpreted as ‘Riddling’ or ‘Indirect’.

Lucullus: Roman conqueror of Mithridates, succeeded in his command by Pompey, 66 B.C. Famous for his wealth and luxury, and particularly for his lavish feasts. A byword for self-indulgence.

LycÉum: an exercise ground with terraces (‘walks’) and colonnades just outside the wall to the east of Athens. It was here that Aristotle discoursed on the ‘Walk’ (peripatos), whence the name ‘Peripatetic’ became applied to his school.

Lycurgus: (1) the more or less legendary lawgiver and constitution-maker of Sparta. His date and personality are quite uncertain, and he is not improbably as mythical as Heracles.

(2) son of Dryas, a legendary Thracian king who resisted the worship of Dionysius and hacked down his sacred plant, the vine. Dionysius punished him with madness, during which he killed his own son, thinking him a vine. The story is much varied in particulars.

Lysander: Spartan admiral, who won the battle of Aegospotami against the Athenians and concluded the reduction of Athens in 404 B.C. He was afterwards distinguished for his ostentation and arrogance.

Lysias: orator and professional rhetorician of Athens, distinguished for the purity and lucidity of his diction and his grace of style: fl. c. 403 B.C. The majority of his 230 speeches were written for litigants.

LysÍmachus: of Macedonia; became king of Thrace on the partition of Alexander’s empire. A man of powerful physique and an able soldier. Later his territory included the western half of Asia Minor. Killed in battle 281 B.C.

Masinissa: king of Numidia; first a supporter, then an enemy, of Carthage, he lent great assistance to the Romans from 204 B.C. to 148. His reign was long and he died at ninety.

Meidias (MÍdias): an Athenian citizen and bitter enemy of Demosthenes, one of whose best known speeches is a violent, and possibly a rather scurrilous, attack upon him.

MelÁnthius: of Athens: an inferior tragic and elegiac poet of worthless character: a contemporary of Aristophanes and Plato.

MeleÁger: legendary prince of Calydon. Having slain his mother’s brothers, he was cursed by her, and thereupon refused to take further part in the war against the Curetes. No offers could induce him to leave his chamber and rout the enemy, until he yielded to the prayers of his wife Cleopatra.

Menander: chief poet of the Athenian New Comedy (or comedy of manners), 342-291 B.C.; a polished and easy-tempered man of the world. His sententious writings lent themselves to quotation and were much read in schools. To moralizing critics of a later age he was to comedy what Homer was to epic.

MenedÉmus: philosopher and statesman of Euboea, of the ‘Megarian’ school. Died c. 277 B.C.

MÉropË: the name of several mythological semi-goddesses, mostly connected with the heavenly bodies.

Metellus: Q. Caecilius Metellus, who successfully conducted the Numidian War against Jugurtha (109 B.C.) until superseded by Marius. A man of high character, military ability, and intellectual culture.

MetrodÓrus: favourite pupil of Epicurus (q.v.) and almost co-master of his school. Died 277 B.C.

MithridÁtes: Mithridates VI, or the Great, king of Pontus 120-63 B.C., a Hellenized oriental famed for his physical and intellectual ability, his ambition and daring; of importance in history for his wars with the Romans under Lucullus and Pompey. He made a special study of poisons and their antidotes.

MnesÍph?lus: Athenian statesman of sound practical ability, taken by Themistocles as his model. It was he who urged Themistocles to force on the battle of Salamis (480 B.C.). In the Dinner-Party Plutarch borrows the name for an imaginary friend of Solon.

MolycrÉa: a town just inside the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf on the north side.

Myron: Boeotian sculptor; fl. 430 B.C. Best known by his Discobolus and his ‘Cow’. His work included animal forms, and human figures in a state of muscular activity or tension.

MÝrs?lus: see Pittacus.

Naucratis: a Greek town in the Delta of Egypt, thirty miles from the sea. At first only a trading-station, it was granted privileges of internal self-government by Amasis (q.v.).

NeoptÓlemus: see Eumenes.

Nestor: the typical wise old man of the Iliad.

Nicander: poet and physician of Colophon; fl. in earlier half of second century B.C. Two of his poems are extant: the Theriaca on venomous animals, and the Alexipharmaca (or ‘Antidotes‘) on poisons and their remedies. The verse in itself is poor.

NÍcias: (1) Athenian general in the calamitous expedition against Syracuse (415-413 B.C.). A man of wealth, but religious to the point of disastrous superstition; a commander of experience, though wanting in promptitude and self-reliance. He was put to death by the victors.

(2) painter of Athens, fl. c. 310 B.C., particularly noted for his chiaroscuro and for improvements in encaustic painting.

NilÓxenus: a character probably invented by Plutarch, with a name geographically suitable.

Numa: Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, famed for his piety and the excellence of his legislation. Much of his history is legendary.

Olympias: wife of Philip (q.v.) and mother of Alexander. An imperious and vindictive woman, with good reasons for jealousy, who often figures in Macedonian feuds.

Olynthus: a Greek town on the Chalcidic peninsula, south of Thessalonica.

ÓmphalË: queen of Lydia, to whom Heracles was for a time enslaved and for whom he played an effeminate part. In a sense she played the Delilah to his Samson.

OrchÓmenus: a very ancient town in Boeotia.

Oromazdes: = Ahuramazda, the great God of the Zoroastrians; deity of light and good, as opposed to Ahrimanes.

PÁndarus: a Lycian warrior on the Trojan side, famous for his skill as an archer.

PanthÉa: beautiful wife of Abradatas, king of Susa. Cyrus, who had captured her, showed her such respect that Abradatas came over to his side.

ParmÉn?des: philosopher and legislator of Elea, fl. c. 476 B.C. His writings were in the hexameter verse then usual as the vehicle of literary philosophy.

ParmÉnio: general under Philip and Alexander, and right-hand lieutenant of the latter. Accused of taking part in a conspiracy against his chief, he was assassinated at the age of seventy in 330 B.C.

ParrhÁsius: painter of Ephesus, domiciled at Athens, c. 400 B.C.; famed for his accurate drawing and proportion. As a man he was arrogant and luxurious.

PasÍphaË: (legendary): wife of Minos of Crete; enamoured of a bull and mother of the Minotaur.

PatrÓclus: the ‘squire’ and beloved friend of Achilles. Killed by Hector in battle, and avenged by Achilles.

PeÍsistratus: a younger relative of Solon; intrigued himself into the position of despot of Athens 560 B.C. He was twice expelled, but re-established himself. A highly capable ruler, beautifier of Athens, and a lover of literature.

Peleides (-i-): (i.e. ‘son of Peleus’) = Achilles.

PÉleus: aged father of Achilles; superannuated king in Thessaly.

Periander: despot of Corinth, c. 625-585 B.C. An able and powerful ruler, patron of literature and art, generally (but not invariably) included among the Seven Sages. His early mildness is commonly reported to have passed into tyranny (see Thrasybulus). His wife was Melissa.

Pericles: the highest name among what may be called ‘Prime Ministers’ of Athens. His career may be dated 470-429 B.C., but his leadership became most pronounced about 444 B.C. A man of large conceptions, brilliant oratorical powers, and philosophic tastes, but of an aristocratic and exclusive temperament.

PersÉphonË: daughter of Demeter, wife of Pluto, and therefore, in one of her aspects, Queen of the Dead.

Perseus: king of Macedonia, on whom the Romans made war in 171 B.C. At first victorious or equal, he was defeated at Pydna by L. Aemilius Paulus 168 B.C. He was carried to Rome and lived for some years at Alba. A weak, vacillating and parsimonious monarch.

PetrÓnius: Titus (or Gaius) Petronius, the famous ‘arbiter of taste’ under Nero and director of his pleasures. Whether he was the author of the famous Satyricon is doubtful.

PhaeÁcians: seafaring inhabitants of the rich and fertile island of Phaeacia, traditionally identified with Corfu, but possibly Crete. When Odysseus arrived at the island on his raft he was hospitably entertained by King Alcinous and sent home to Ithaca by him on a ship.

Phaedra: wife of Theseus and step-mother of Hippolytus, of whom she became enamoured. The allusion in Plutarch refers to the fondness of Hippolytus for hunting.

PhÁlaris: despot of Agrigentum in Sicily c. 570 B.C. His name was in some legends proverbial for cruelty, and with him is associated the legend of roasting his victims in a brazen bull. Put he is sometimes represented otherwise and as a student of letters and philosophy.

Pheidias (PhÍd-) of Athens, the most eminent sculptor of antiquity: died 432 B.C. He is best known for his work upon the Parthenon and his colossal statue of Zeus at Olympia.

PhÉrae: a town in Thessaly, somewhat west of the modern Volo, which became dominant under the despots Jason and Alexander (q.v.).

Philadolphus: see Ptolemy (1).

PhilÉmon: Athenian poet of the New Comedy, reckoned second only to Menander. Lived c. 360-262 B.C., and wrote ninety-seven plays.

PhilÉtas: of Cos, c. 300 B.C.; elegiac poet and critic, tutor of Ptolemy II. His thinness was a matter of jest for the comedians.

Philip: 382-336 B.C. king of Macedon, father of Alexander, and, in a large measure, conqueror of Greece. Demosthenes’ Philippics and other speeches were directed against him. An able, hard-working, ambitious, and rather unscrupulous man; a hard drinker and a sensualist, especially fond of rude jest, but with intellectual tastes.

PhilÍpp?des: one of the better Athenian poets of the New Comedy; fl. c. 335 B.C. At first he attacked the Macedonian rulers, but later became a friend of Lysimachus (q.v.).

PhilÓchorus: Athenian writer on the history, antiquities, and legends of his country, and on miscellaneous subjects: fl. c. 300-260 B.C.

PhilÓcrates: Athenian orator, first a supporter, then an opponent, of Demosthenes. His policy was consistently to abet the pretensions of Philip of Macedon, who had bribed him lavishly, to the detriment of Athens. He was ultimately impeached and compelled to go into exile, 330 B.C.

PhiloctÉtos: Greek hero (in the expedition to Troy) left desolate on the island of Lemnos, where he suffered deprivations and the agonies of a gangrened foot.

Philopoemen: (1) the most distinguished Greek soldier of his day; head of the Achaean League several times from 208 B.C.; a man of culture and high character.

(2) controlling minister of Attalus II (q.v.).

PhilÓtas: there were several Macedonians of the name in the service of Alexander. The two chief were (1) the son of Parmenio, a favourite of Alexander, but found guilty of conspiracy and executed; (2) a general who subsequently became governor of Cilicia.

PhilotÍmus: a distinguished physician and writer on medicine of the date of Erasistratus and Herophilus (q.v.), c. 300 B.C.

PhilÓxenus: a dithyrambic poet of high repute: fl. at Athens 400 B.C. He thence moved to the court of Dionysius (q.v.), by whom he is said to have been imprisoned for his scathing criticism on the despot’s verses.

PhÓcion: 402-317 B.C. An upright Athenian general and statesman, who favoured, though probably not in an unpatriotic spirit, the submission of Athens to the Macedonian power under Alexander (335) and Antipater (q.v.). He was frequently opposed to Demosthenes, and was put to death by his countrymen on a charge of treason.

PhocÝl?des: epic and elegiac poet of Miletus, fl. c. 530 B.C. Many of his lines passed into current maxims, and were so intended.

Phoenix: a fugitive kindly received by Peleus and entrusted with the bringing-up of his son Achilles. He had quarrelled with his own father, whose young mistress he had corrupted at the request of his jealous mother.

Pindar: of Thebes, the most eminent lyrist of Greece, composer of songs, choral and processional odes, dirges, &c.; lived c. 522-442 B.C.

PÍttacus: of Mytilene, c. 650-569. Contemporary of Sappho. During the struggles of the oligarchical and popular parties he was appointed by the latter ‘elective autocrat’ and legislator. The chief representative on the other side had been Myrsilus. A philosophic poet and the originator of moral maxims.

Plato: the aristocratic and cultured philosopher of Athens, follower of Socrates, founder of the Academy, and writer of the Dialogues which go under his name.

PÓlemo: (1) of Athens, who in his youth abandoned profligate habits for the cult of the Platonic philosophy under the influence of Xenocrates (q.v.), whom he succeeded 315 B.C.

(2) a Stoic philosopher, traveller, and geographer, who wrote copiously on inscriptions, &c.; fl. c. 195 B.C.

PolÝbius: Greek historian from Arcadia, carried to Italy by the Romans 167 B.C., and taken under the patronage of Q. Fabius Maximus and Scipio Aemilianus. He accompanied Scipio against Carthage and in Spain. Wrote a sound, useful, unimaginative history of the years 220-146 B.C. A practical statesman and a student of the military art.

Polycleitus (-clÍt-): of Argos, fl. c. 450-412 B.C.; a sculptor of the first rank, particularly distinguished for his representation of human forms, to which he imparted his ideals of strength and beauty according to a ‘canon of proportions’. These were best typified in his Doryphorus (‘spear-bearer’), which was itself sometimes called ‘the Canon’. His chief colossal statue was the chryselephantine Hera of Argos.

Pontus: in two senses: (1) the Black Sea; (2) a province or region on the eastern half of the south coast of that sea.

PraxÍteles: the second greatest name in Athenian sculpture; fl. c. 365 B.C. He is the head of the ‘later’ (or more graceful) Attic school, Pheidias (q.v.) representing the earlier, more massive and majestic. He particularly excelled with his statues of Aphrodite (e.g. the ‘Venus of Cnidos’).

Priam: aged king of Troy, father of Hector, whose dead body he came to Achilles to ransom.

PriÉnË: an Ionian Greek town in Asia Minor a little south of Ephesus; the home of Bias.

PrÓd?cus: of Ceos, sophist and rhetorical teacher; a contemporary of Plato and a frequent visitor to Athens. His bodily weakness was notorious.

PromÉtheus: mythical semi-deity, gifted with great foresight; a benefactor of mankind by giving them fire stolen from heaven (an offence for which he was cruelly punished by Zeus), and by the invention of the civilizing arts. His name was commonly interpreted ‘Fore-thinker’.

Ptolemy: (1) Ptolemy II (Philadelphus), king of Egypt 285-247 B.C.

(2) Ptolemy III (Euergetes), king of Egypt 247-222 B.C.

(3) Ptolemy IV (Philopator), king 222-205 B.C.; a vicious and sensual monarch, ruled by his minister Sosibius.

(4) Ptolemy V (Epiphanes), king 205-181 B.C. See Aristomenes. It was in the early part of his reign that Egypt became a Roman protectorate. He came to the throne at the age of four.

Publius Nigidius: contemporary of Cicero; a man of great scientific and mathematical learning, as became a Pythagorean.

Pupius Piso: Roman orator, and consul in 61 B.C.; a supporter of Clodius and therefore hostile to Cicero.

Pyrrhus: king of Epirus, called in by the people of Tarentum against the Romans. After a dearly won victory in 280 B.C. he sent his eloquent minister to Rome to offer humiliating terms of peace. These were rejected, and after a practically equal contest he retired from Italy.

Pythagoras: of Samos, fl. c. 540-520 B.C. He had apparently travelled in the East and acquired, besides mathematical knowledge (in which he made some advances), mystical theological views and probably also his doctrine of the transmigration of souls. He migrated to Croton in South Italy, and there became the founder of a close and aristocratic philosophical brotherhood, to whom the word of the master was sufficient (ipse dixit). Many legends gathered about him and a mystical interpretation was put upon his rather compressed maxims.

Pythian: = ‘belonging to Pytho’, i.e. to Delphi, the seat of the chief oracle of Apollo.

Rhium: the promontory on the south side of the mouth of the Corinthian Gulf, the north promontory being Antirrhium.

Rusticus: L. Junius Arulenus Rusticus, a Roman noble of the Stoic school and champion of liberty, so far as that was possible under the Roman emperors. Put to death by Domitian (emperor A.D. 81-96).

Samius: lyrist and writer of epigrams at the Macedonian court, c. 300 B.C.

Scipio: (1) P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major; the brilliant and almost ideal Roman general who conquered Hannibal in 202 B.C.

(2) P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, who completed the conquest of Carthage 146 B.C.; a student of letters and philosophy.

Sciron: a spot on the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis.

Scyros: island in the Aegean off north-east of Euboea. Here Achilles was for a time hidden by his mother in woman’s dress, and occupied in feminine tasks to keep him from the dangers of Troy.

Seleucus: called Callinicus (the ‘Victorious’); king of Syria 246-226 B.C. He was defeated by Antiochus with the help of Gauls (= Galatians) at Ancyra, and it was for a time thought that he had perished in the rout. He managed, however, to retain his kingdom.

SilÁnion: Athenian portrait sculptor c. 324 B.C. His Jocasta represented her as dying, her pallor being realistically rendered by the unworthy device of mixing silver with bronze.

SilÉni: a class of tipsy satyrs associated with Dionysus. The Silenus was in a sense the Falstaff of Greek legend.

SimÓn?des: a most distinguished poet of Ceos, writer of elegies, choral and processional odes, epigrams, and drinking songs (556-467 B.C.). He spent part of his life as a kind of court poet in Thessaly and at Syracuse, and visited Athens. His compositions were of a high order, and his moral maxims much in vogue, but he was notorious for worldliness and a love of money.

SÍsyphus: legendary king of Corinth; type of fraudulent and criminal cunning; punished in Hades by being compelled to roll a stone up a hill for ever and never establishing it at the top.

Socrates: the Athenian philosopher (468-399 B.C.), from whose thinking most of the later schools were in some way descended. His object was to bring philosophy down to earth, and to arrive at true and universal definitions. His simple character, his whimsical irony, and his dialectical skill formed the groundwork for many stories. His method was conversational and non-didactic. He wrote nothing, and what we know of him is due to his disciples Plato and Xenophon, and to later writers.

Solon: of Athens, c. 638-558 B.C.; aristocrat, trader, traveller, poet and thinker. Chosen at a time of political and financial crisis as mediator between parties in Attica, and as constitution-maker, he behaved with strict impartiality and self-effacement. We may believe that he visited Egypt, but his intercourse with Croesus (q.v.) is of doubtful warrant. Author of much proverbial wisdom.

Sophocles: 496-406 B.C.; second in date, and perhaps in merit, of three great Athenian tragedians; a genial and practical man of the world.

SÓtades: a poet at Alexandria c. 280 B.C. He wrote songs and satires of a lascivious kind. One account states that in consequence of his abuse he was thrown into the sea in a leaden chest.

Speusippus: of Athens, nephew and disciple of Plato, and his successor as head of the Academy (347-339 B.C.); a writer on ethical and dialectical subjects. His character is said to have excelled his intellect.

SpÍntharus: the best known person of the name was an inferior tragic poet of Heraclea on the Black Sea satirized by Aristophanes and other comedians.

Stilpo: a high-minded and sane philosopher of great dialectical acuteness. Founder of the Megarian school, which made a cult of virtue while denying the possibility of knowledge. See also under Demetrius.

Sulla: the distinguished Roman general, 138-78 B.C. He took charge of the war against Mithridates in 87 B.C., his capture of Athens taking place in the next year. His love of pleasure resulted in the pimpled face referred to in Plutarch’s article on Garrulity. Caecilia Metella was his fourth wife.

SÝbaris: the oldest Greek settlement in the southernmost part of Italy, once large, prosperous, and a by-word for effeminate luxury (whence ‘sybarite’); afterwards completely overthrown and destroyed, its place being taken by Thurii (q.v.).

Taenarum: now Matapan; cape at the end of the middle prong of the Peloponnese.

TÉlephus: king of Mysia at the time of the Trojan war. He was wounded by Achilles, and could only be cured by ‘that which had wounded him’. The remedy turned out to be the rust of Achilles’ spear.

ThÁÏs: a witty and beautiful courtesan of Athens, first associated with Alexander during his Asiatic campaigns and then with Ptolemy in Egypt.

Thales: of Miletus, c. 635-555 B.C. Famous as a physical philosopher, mathematician, and shrewd practical man. He is regularly mentioned first among the Seven Sages.

TheaetÉtus: a high-minded Athenian youth, eager for knowledge, who plays his part in Plato’s dialogue of that name.

TheÁgenes: Theban general at Chaeronea (338 B.C.).

TheÁno: wife or pupil (or both) of Pythagoras (q.v.), herself a writer on philosophy and a pattern of virtue.

Themistocles: became political leader at Athens 483 B.C., and commanded the Athenian contingent at the battle of Salamis. Subsequently (471 B.C.) this extremely able, but apparently not extremely honest, man was ostracised. His last days were spent in the service of Persia. His son Diophantus is of no note.

TheÓcritus: of Chios, rhetorician and sophist, noted for his caustic wit. The Antigonus who put him to death was Antigonus the ‘One-Eyed’.

TheÓgnis: elegiac poet of the sententious order. He flourished at Megara c. 550-540 B.C. Amid the feuds of his country he sides with the aristocrats, and allusions to political injustice are frequent. Many current maxims of proverbial wisdom were fathered on ‘Theognis’ as a matter of course.

Theon: painter of Samos, contemporary of Apelles (q.v.) and Alexander; spoken of by Pliny as ‘next to the first’.

Theophrastus: of Lesbos and afterwards of Athens; disciple and successor of Aristotle as head of the Peripatetics (322 B.C.). An encyclopaedic writer on logic, physics, history, biology, zoology, &c. His best-known work is his Characters.

Theopompus: king of Sparta, fl. c. 750 B.C. To his reign belonged the change of the form of government by the establishment of the popular ‘ephors’ to control the royal power.

ThersÍtes: misshapen and virulent demagogue in the Greek army before Troy.

Thetis: sea-goddess; mother of Achilles.

ThrasybÚlus: despot of Miletus, contemporary and friend of Periander (q.v.), over whom he exercised a bad influence, as in advising him to ‘cut down the tall poppies’.

ThÚrii: Greek city in South Italy on the west side of the Gulf of Tarentum, noted for its special democratic system.

TimÁgenes: an Alexandrian or Syrian rhetorician and historian. He taught and wrote at Rome under Augustus, whose friendship he obtained, losing it, however, through his caustic freedom.

TimoclÉa: of Thebes. Plutarch tells of her noble and daring spirit in his Life of Alexander (c. 12).

Timomachus: painter of Byzantium, first century B.C.; particularly famed for his Ajax and Medea, which were bought by Julius Caesar. Medea was represented meditating the murder of her children.

TimÓthËus: (1) an able and spirited Athenian general, who obtained several rather roving successes, chiefly against the Lacedaemonians. Something of a free lance; of popular character and considerable culture; fl. 378-354 B.C.

(2) poet and musician of Miletus, settled at Athens; fl. c. 400-360 B.C. His poems were mainly dithyrambs (high-flown and wordy compositions) or cognate lyrics. His music, at first ill received on account of its vulgarizing innovations, became immensely popular.

Tissaphernes: Persian satrap of lower Asia Minor. See Alcibiades.

TithÓnus: a mortal beloved of Eos (Aurora), who obtained for him immortality, but forgot to obtain him immortal youth.

Troezen: a town in the east of the Peloponnese near the entrance of the Saronic Gulf.

Tyndareus’ sons: Castor and Pollux, the traditional preservers of seamen.

Typhon: = Set; Egyptian malignant deity; brother, enemy, and slayer of Osiris.

XenÓcrates: 396-314 B.C.: philosopher from Chalcedon, disciple of Plato, and philosophic teacher and writer. His earnestness of character and application to study atoned for his lack of the Graces. Became head of the Academic school next but one after Plato.

XenÓphanes: philosopher of Colophon, and afterwards of Elea in Italy, in later part of sixth century B.C. Noted for his high conception of a Deity as neither anthropomorphic nor subject to human passions. His doctrines were embodied in hexameter verse.

Xenophon: of Athens; the well-known historian, and leader of the retreat of the ‘Ten Thousand’ as recorded in his Anabasis. A philosophical adherent of Socrates and a voluminous writer. Lived c. 444-359 B.C.

ZacÝnthus = Zante, the southernmost of the Ionian islands.

ZÉno: (1) of Citium in Cyprus and subsequently of Athens; founder of the Stoic philosophy; a man of simple, if rather dour, character, and capable of an apt retort: fl. c. 270 B.C. A writer on ethical, physical, and other philosophic subjects.

(2) Philosopher of Elea; disciple of Parmenides (q.v.); upholder of popular liberty against a usurping despot.