or Colophon, son of Pithius. He lived in the age of Alexander the
Great, who honoured him so much that he forbade any man but Apelles
to draw his picture. He was so attentive to his profession that he
never spent a day without employing his pencil, whence the proverb
of _Nulla dies sine lineâ_. His most perfect picture was Venus
Anadyomene, which was not totally finished when the painter died.
He made a painting of Alexander holding thunder in his hand, so much
like life that Pliny, who saw it, says that the hand of the king
with the thunder seemed to come out of the picture. This picture was
placed in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. He made another of Alexander,
but the king expressed not much satisfaction at the sight of it: and
at that moment a horse, passing by, neighed at the horse which was
represented in the piece, supposing it to be alive; upon which the
painter said, “One would imagine that the horse is a better judge of
painting than your Majesty.” When Alexander ordered him to draw the
picture of Campaspe, one of his mistresses, Apelles became enamoured
of her, and the king permitted him to marry her. He wrote three
volumes upon painting, which were still extant in the age of Pliny.
It is said that he was accused in Egypt of conspiring against the
life of Ptolemy, and that he would have been put to death had not
the real conspirator discovered himself, and saved the painter.
Apelles never put his name to any pictures but three; a sleeping
Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an Alexander. The proverb of _Ne sutor
ultra crepidam_ is applied to him by some. _Pliny_, bk. 35, ch. 10.
――_Horace_, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 238.――_Cicero_, _Letters to his
Friends_, bk. 1, ltr. 9.――_Ovid_, _Ars Amatoria_, bk. 3, li. 401.
――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 8, ch. 11.――――A tragic writer. _Suetonius_,
_Caligula_, ch. 33.――――A Macedonian general, &c.
=Apellĭcon=, a Teian peripatetic philosopher, whose fondness for
books was so great that he is accused of stealing them, when he
could not obtain them with money. He bought the works of Aristotle
and Theophrastus, but greatly disfigured them by his frequent
interpolations. The extensive library, which he had collected at
Athens, was carried to Rome when Sylla had conquered the capital
of Attica, and among the valuable books was found an original
manuscript of Aristotle. He died about 86 B.C. _Strabo_, bk. 13.
=Apennīnus=, a ridge of high mountains which run through the middle
of Italy, from Liguria to Ariminum and Ancona. They are joined to
the Alps. Some have supposed that they ran across Sicily by Rhegium
before Italy was separated from Sicily. _Lucan_, bk. 2, li. 306.
――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 226.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 4,
li. 743.――_Strabo_, bk. 2.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Aper Marcus=, a Latin orator of Gaul, who distinguished himself as
a politician, as well as by his genius. The dialogue of the orators,
inserted with the works of Tacitus and Quintilian, is attributed to
him. He died A.D. 85.――――Another. _See:_ Numerianus.
=Aperopia=, a small island on the coast of Argolis. _Pausanias_,
bk. 2, ch. 34.
=Apĕsus=, =Apesas=, or =Apesantus=, a mountain of Peloponnesus near
Lerna. _Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 3, li. 461.
=Aphaca=, a town of Palestine, where Venus was worshipped, and where
she had a temple and an oracle.
=Aphæa=, a name of Diana, who had a temple in Ægina. _Pausanias_,
bk. 2, ch. 30.
=Aphar=, the capital city of Arabia, near the Red sea. _Arrian_,
_Periplus of the Euxine Sea_.
=Apharētus=, fell in love with Marpessa daughter of Œnomaus, and
carried her away.
=Aphareus=, a king of Messenia, son of Perieres and Gorgophone,
who married Arene daughter of Œbalus, by whom he had three sons.
_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 1.――――A relation of Isocrates, who wrote
37 tragedies.
=Aphas=, a river of Greece, which falls into the bay of Ambracia.
_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 1.
=Aphellas=, a king of Cyrene, who, with the aid of Agathocles,
endeavoured to reduce all Africa under his power. _Justin_, bk. 22,
ch. 7.
=Aphĕsas=, a mountain in Peloponnesus, whence, as the poets have
imagined, Perseus attempted to fly to heaven. _Statius_, _Thebiad_,
bk. 3, li. 461.
=Aphētæ=, a city of Magnesia, where the ship Argo was launched.
_Apollodorus._
=Aphīdas=, a son of Arcas king of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8.
=Aphidna=, a part of Attica, which received its name from Aphidnus,
one of the companions of Theseus. _Herodotus._
=Aphidnus=, a friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 9, li. 702.
=Aphœbētus=, one of the conspirators against Alexander. _Curtius_,
bk. 6, ch. 7.
=Aphrīces=, an Indian prince, who defended the rock Aornus, with
20,000 foot and 15 elephants. He was killed by his troops, and his
head sent to Alexander.
=Aphrodisia=, an island in the Persian gulf, where Venus is worshipped.
――――Festivals in honour of Venus, celebrated in different parts of
Greece, but chiefly in Cyprus. They were first instituted by Cinyras,
from whose family the priests of the goddess were always chosen.
All those that were initiated offered a piece of money to Venus as
a harlot, and received as a mark of the favours of the goddess, a
measure of salt and a θαλλος; the salt, because Venus arose from the
sea; the θαλλος, because she is the goddess of wantonness. They were
celebrated at Corinth by harlots, and in every part of Greece they
were very much frequented. _Strabo_, bk. 14.――_Athenæus._
=Aphrodisias=, a town of Caria, sacred to Venus. _Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 3, ch. 62.
=Aphrodisium= (or a), a town of Apulia, built by Diomede in honour of
Venus.
=Aphrodīsum=, a city on the eastern parts of Cyprus, nine miles from
Salamis.――――A promontory with an island of the same name on the
coast of Spain. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 3.
=Aphrodīte=, the Grecian name of Venus, from ἀφρος, froth, because
Venus is said to have been born from the froth of the ocean.
_Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 195.――_Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 5.
=Aphȳtæ=, or =Aphytis=, a city of Thrace, near Pallena, where Jupiter
Ammon was worshipped. Lysander besieged the town; but the god of the
place appeared to him in a dream, and advised him to raise the siege,
which he immediately did. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 18.
=Apia=, an ancient name of Peloponnesus, which it received from king
Apis. It was afterwards called Ægialea, Pelasgia, Argia, and at last
Peloponnesus, or the island of Pelops. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 1, li.
270. Also the name of the earth, worshipped among the Lydians as a
powerful deity. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 59.
=Apiānus=, or =Apion=, was born at Oasis in Egypt, whence he went to
Alexandria, of which he was deemed a citizen. He succeeded Theus
in the profession of rhetoric in the reign of Tiberius, and wrote
a book against the Jews, which Josephus refuted. He was at the head
of an embassy which the people of Alexandria sent to Caligula, to
complain of the Jews. _Seneca_, ltr. 88.――_Pliny_, preface, _Natural
History_.
=Apicāta=, married Sejanus, by whom she had three children. She was
repudiated. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 4, ch. 3.
=Apicius=, a famous glutton in Rome. There were three of the same name,
all famous for their voracious appetite. The first lived in the time
of the republic, the second in the reign of Augustus and Tiberius,
and the third under Trajan. The second was the most famous, as he
wrote a book on the pleasures and incitements of eating. He hanged
himself after he had consumed the greatest part of his estate. The
best edition of Apicius Cælius _de Arte Coquinariâ_, is that of
Amsterdam, 12mo, 1709. _Juvenal_, satire 11, li. 3.――_Martial_,
bk. 2, ltr. 69.
=Apidănus=, one of the chief rivers of Thessaly, at the south of the
Peneus, into which it falls a little above Larissa. _Lucan_, bk. 6,
li. 372.
=Apĭna= and =Apinæ=, a city of Apulia, destroyed with Trica, in its
neighbourhood, by Diomedes; whence came the proverb of _Apina et
Trica_, to express trifling things. _Martial_, bk. 14, ltr. 1.
――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 11.
=Apiŏla= and =Apiolæ=, a town of Italy, taken by Tarquin the Proud.
The Roman Capitol was begun with the spoils taken from that city.
_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.
=Apion=, a surname of Ptolemy, one of the descendants of Ptolemy Lagus.
――――A grammarian. _See:_ Apianus.
=Apis=, one of the ancient kings of Peloponnesus, son of Phoroneus and
Laodice. Some say that Apollo was his father, and that he was king
of Argos, while others call him king of Sicyon, and fix the time
of his reign above 200 years earlier, which is enough to show he is
but obscurely known, if known at all. He was a native of Naupactum,
and descended from Inachus. He received divine honours after death,
as he had been munificent and humane to his subjects. The country
where he reigned was called Apia; and afterwards it received the
name of Pelasgia, Argia, or Argolis, and at last that of Peloponnesus,
from Pelops. Some, amongst whom is Varro and St. Augustine, have
imagined that Apis went to Egypt with a colony of Greeks, and that
he civilized the inhabitants, and polished their manners, for which
they made him a god after death, and paid divine honours to him
under the name of Serapis. This tradition, according to some of the
moderns, is without foundation. _Æschylus_, _Suppliant Maidens_.
――_Augustine_, _City of God_, bk. 18, ch. 5.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch.
5.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 1.――――A son of Jason, born in Arcadia;
he was killed by the horses of Ætolus. _Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 1.
――――A town of Egypt on the lake Mareotis.――――A god of the Egyptians,
worshipped under the form of an ox. Some say that Isis and Osiris
are the deities worshipped under this name, because during their
reign they taught the Egyptians agriculture. The Egyptians believed
that the soul of Osiris was really departed into the ox, where it
wished to dwell, because that animal had been of the most essential
service in the cultivation of the ground, which Osiris had introduced
into Egypt. The ox that was chosen was always distinguished by
particular marks: his body was black; he had a square white spot
upon the forehead, the figure of an eagle upon the back, a knot
under the tongue like a beetle; the hairs of his tail were double,
and his right side was marked with a whitish spot, resembling the
crescent of the moon. Without these, an ox could not be taken as
the god Apis; and it is to be imagined that the priests gave these
distinguishing characteristics to the animal on which their credit
and even prosperity depended. The festival of Apis lasted seven days;
the ox was led in a solemn procession by the priests, and every one
was anxious to receive him into his house, and it was believed that
the children who smelt his breath received the knowledge of futurity.
The ox was conducted to the banks of the Nile with much ceremony,
and if he had lived to the time which their sacred books allowed,
they drowned him in the river, and embalmed his body, and buried
it in solemn state in the city of Memphis. After his death, which
sometimes was natural, the greatest cries and lamentations were
heard in Egypt, as if Osiris was just dead; the priests shaved their
heads, which was a sign of the deepest mourning. This continued till
another ox appeared, with the proper characteristics to succeed as
the deity, which was followed with the greatest acclamations, as if
Osiris was returned to life. This ox, which was found to represent
Apis, was left 40 days in the city of the Nile before he was carried
to Memphis, during which time none but women were permitted to
appear before him, and this they performed, according to their
superstitious notions, in a wanton and indecent manner. There was
also an ox worshipped at Heliopolis, under the name of Mnevis; some
suppose that he was Osiris, but others maintain that the Apis of
Memphis was sacred to Osiris, and Mnevis to Isis. When Cambyses came
into Egypt, the people were celebrating the festivals of Apis with
every mark of joy and triumph, which the conqueror interpreted as
an insult upon himself. He called the priests of Apis, and ordered
the deity itself to come before him. When he saw that an ox was the
object of their veneration, and the cause of such rejoicings, he
wounded it on the thigh, ordered the priests to be chastised, and
commanded his soldiers to slaughter such as were found celebrating
such riotous festivals. The god Apis had generally two stables, or
rather temples. If he ate from the hand, it was a favourable omen;
but if he refused the food that was offered him, it was interpreted
as unlucky. From this Germanicus, when he visited Egypt, drew the
omens of his approaching death. When his oracle was consulted,
incense was burnt on an altar, and a piece of money placed upon it,
after which the people that wished to know futurity applied their
ear to the mouth of the god, and immediately retired, stopping
their ears till they had departed from the temple. The first sounds
that were heard, were taken as the answer of the oracle to their
questions. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 22.――_Herodotus_, bks. 2 & 3.
――_Pliny_, bk. 8, ch. 38, &c.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Plutarch_, _Iside
et Osiride_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 7; bk. 2, ch. 1.――_Mela_, bk.
1, ch. 9.――_Pliny_, bk. 8, ch. 39, &c.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Ælian_,
_Varia Historia_, bks. 4 & 6.――_Diodorus_, bk. 1.
=Apisāon=, son of Hippasus, assisted Priam against the Greeks, at the
head of a Pæonian army. He was killed by Lycomedes. _Homer_, _Iliad_,
bk. 17, li. 348.――――Another on the same side.
=Apitius Galba=, a celebrated buffoon in the time of Tiberius.
_Juvenal_, satire 5, li. 4.
=Apollināres ludi=, games celebrated at Rome in honour of Apollo. They
originated from the following circumstance. An old prophetic poem
informed the Romans, that if they instituted yearly games to Apollo,
and made a collection of money for his service, they would be
able to repel the enemy whose approach already threatened their
destruction. The first time they were celebrated, Rome was alarmed
by the approach of the enemy, and instantly the people rushed out
of the city, and saw a cloud of arrows discharged from the sky on
the troops of the enemy. With this heavenly assistance they easily
obtained the victory. The people generally sat crowned with laurel
at the representation of these games, which were usually celebrated
at the option of the pretor, till the year A.U.C. 545, when a law
was passed to settle the celebration yearly on the same day about
the nones of July. When this alteration happened, Rome was infested
with a dreadful pestilence, which, however, seemed to be appeased by
this act of religion. _Livy_, bk. 25, ch. 12.
=Apollināris, Caius Sulpitius=, a grammarian of Carthage, in the second
century, who is supposed to be the author of the verses prefixed to
Terence’s plays as arguments.――――A writer better known by the name
of Sidonius. _See:_ Sidonius.
=Apollinīdes=, a Greek in the wars of Darius and Alexander, &c.
_Curtius_, bk. 4, ch. 5.
=Apollĭnis arx=, a place at the entrance of the Sibyl’s cave. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 6.――――Promontorium, a promontory of Africa. _Livy_,
bk. 30, ch. 24.――――Templum, a place in Thrace,――――in Lycia. _Ælian_,
_Varia Historia_, bk. 6, ch. 9.
=Apollo=, son of Jupiter and Latona, called also Phœbus, is often
confounded with the sun. According to Cicero, bk. 3, _de Natura
Deorum_, there were four persons of this name. The first was son
of Vulcan, and the tutelary god of the Athenians. The second was
son of Corybas, and was born in Crete, for the dominion of which he
disputed even with Jupiter himself. The third was son of Jupiter and
Latona, and came from the nations of the Hyperboreans to Delphi. The
fourth was born in Arcadia, and called Nomion, because he gave laws
to the inhabitants. To the son of Jupiter and Latona all the actions
of the others seem to have been attributed. The Apollo, son of
Vulcan, was the same as the Orus of the Egyptians, and was the most
ancient, from whom the actions of the others have been copied. The
three others seem to be of Grecian origin. The tradition that the
son of Latona was born in the floating island of Delos, is taken
from the Egyptian mythology, which asserts that the son of Vulcan,
which is supposed to be Orus, was saved by his mother Isis from
the persecution of Typhon, and entrusted to the care of Latona, who
concealed him in the island of Chemmis. When Latona was pregnant by
Jupiter, Juno, who was ever jealous of her husband’s amours, raised
the serpent Python to torment Latona, who was refused a place to
give birth to her children, till Neptune, moved at the severity of
her fate, raised the island of Delos from the bottom of the sea,
where Latona brought forth Apollo and Diana. Apollo was the god of
all the fine arts, of medicine, music, poetry, and eloquence, of
all which he was deemed the inventor. He had received from Jupiter
the power of knowing futurity, and he was the only one of the gods
whose oracles were in general repute over the world. His amours with
Leucothoe, Daphne, Issa, Bolina, Coronis, Clymene, Cyrene, Chione,
Acacallis, Calliope, &c., are well known, and the various shapes he
assumed to gratify his passion. He was very fond of young Hyacinthus,
whom he accidentally killed with a quoit; as also of Cyparissus, who
was changed into a cypress tree. When his son Æsculapius had been
killed with the thunders of Jupiter for raising the dead to life,
Apollo, in his resentment, killed the Cyclops who had fabricated
the thunderbolts. Jupiter was incensed at this act of violence, and
he banished Apollo from heaven, and deprived him of his dignity.
The exiled deity came to Admetus king of Thessaly, and hired
himself to be one of his shepherds, in which ignoble employment he
remained nine years; from which circumstance he was called the god
of shepherds, and at his sacrifices a wolf was generally offered,
as that animal is the declared enemy of the sheepfold. During his
residence in Thessaly, he rewarded the tender treatment of Admetus.
He gave him a chariot drawn by a lion and a bull, with which he was
able to obtain in marriage Alceste the daughter of Pelias; and soon
after, the Parcæ granted, at Apollo’s request, that Admetus might be
redeemed from death, if another person laid down his life for him.
He assisted Neptune in building the walls of Troy; and when he was
refused the promised reward from Laomedon the king of the country,
he destroyed the inhabitants by a pestilence. As soon as he was born,
Apollo destroyed with arrows the serpent Python, whom Juno had sent
to persecute Latona; hence he was called Pythius; and he afterwards
vindicated the honour of his mother, by putting to death the
children of the proud Niobe. _See:_ Niobe. He was not the inventor
of the lyre, as some have imagined, but Mercury gave it him, and
received as a reward the famous caduceus with which Apollo was wont
to drive the flocks of Admetus. His contest with Pan and Marsyas,
and the punishment inflicted upon Midas, are well known. He
received the surnames of Phœbus, Delius, Cynthius, Pœan, Delphicus,
Nomius, Lycius, Clarius, Ismenius, Vulturius, Smintheus, &c., for
reasons which are explained under those words. Apollo is generally
represented with long hair, and the Romans were fond of imitating
his figure, and therefore in their youth they were remarkable for
their fine heads of hair, which they cut short at the age of 17 or
18. He is always represented as a tall, beardless young man, with a
handsome shape, holding in his hand a bow, and sometimes a lyre; his
head is generally surrounded with beams of light. He was the deity
who, according to the notions of the ancients, inflicted plagues,
and in that moment he appeared surrounded with clouds. His worship
and power were universally acknowledged: he had temples and statues
in every country, particularly in Egypt, Greece, and Italy. His
statue, which stood upon mount Actium, as a mark to mariners to
avoid the dangerous coasts, was particularly famous, and it appeared
to a great distance at sea. Augustus, before the battle of Actium,
addressed himself to it for victory. The griffin, the cock, the
grasshopper, the wolf, the crow, the swan, the hawk, the olive, the
laurel, the palm tree, &c., were sacred to him; and in his
sacrifices, wolves and hawks were offered, as they were the natural
enemies of the flocks, over which he presided. Bullocks and lambs
were also immolated to him. As he presided over poetry, he was often
seen on mount Parnassus with the nine muses. His most famous oracles
were at Delphi, Delos, Claros, Tenedos, Cyrrha, and Patara. His most
splendid temple was at Delphi, where every nation and individual
made considerable presents when they consulted the oracle. Augustus,
after the battle of Actium, built him a temple on mount Palatine,
which he enriched with a valuable library. He had a famous colossus
in Rhodes, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. Apollo
has been taken for the sun; but it may be proved by different
passages in the ancient writers, that Apollo, the Sun, Phœbus,
and Hyperion, were all different characters and deities, though
confounded together. When once Apollo was addressed as the Sun,
and represented with a crown of rays on his head, the idea was
adopted by every writer, and from thence arose the mistake.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1, fables 9 & 10; bk. 4, fable 3, &c.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 7; bk. 5, ch. 7; bk. 7, ch. 20; bk. 9, ch.
30, &c.――_Hyginus_, fables 9, 14, 50, 93, 140, 161, 202, 203, &c.
――_Statius_, bk. 1, _Thebiad_, li. 560.――_Tibullus_, bk. 2, poem 3.
――_Plutarch_, _de Amore Prolis_.――_Homer_, _Iliad_ & _Hymn to
Apollo_.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bks. 2, 3, &c.; _Georgics_, bk. 4,
li. 323.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 10.――_Lucian_, ♦_Dialogi Deorum_.
――_Propertius_, bk. 1, poem 28.――_Callimachus_, _Hymn to Apollo_.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, chs. 3, 4, & 9; bk. 2, ch. 5; bk. 3, chs.
5, 10, & 12.――――One of the ships in the fleet of Æneas. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 171.――――Also a temple of Apollo upon mount
Leucas, which appeared at a great distance at sea; and served as a
guide to mariners, and reminded them to avoid the dangerous rocks
that were along the coast. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 275.
♦ ‘Dial. Mer. & Vulc.’ replaced with ‘Dialogi Deorum’
=Apollocrătes=, a friend of Dion, supposed by some to be the son of
Dionysius.
=Apollodōrus=, a famous grammarian and mythologist of Athens, son
of Asclepias and disciple to Panætius the Rhodian philosopher. He
flourished about 115 years before the christian era, and wrote a
history of Athens, besides other works. But of all his compositions,
nothing is extant but his _Bibliotheca_, a valuable work, divided
into three books. It is an abridged history of the gods, and of the
ancient heroes, of whose actions and genealogy it gives a true and
faithful account. The best edition is that of Heyne, Göttingen, in
8vo, 4 vols., 1782. _Athenæus._――_Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 37.――_Diodorus_,
bks. 4 & 13.――――A tragic poet of Cilicia, who wrote tragedies
entitled Ulysses, Thyestes, &c.――――A comic poet of Gela in Sicily,
in the age of Menander, who wrote 47 plays.――――An architect of
Damascus, who directed the building of Trajan’s bridge across the
Danube. He was put to death by Adrian, to whom, when in a private
station, he had spoken in too bold a manner.――――A writer who
composed a history of Parthia.――――A disciple of Epicurus, the most
learned of his school, and deservedly surnamed the illustrious. He
wrote about 40 volumes on different subjects. _Diogenes Laërtius._
――――A painter of Athens, to whom Zeuxis was a pupil. Two of his
paintings were admired at Pergamus, in the age of Pliny; a priest
in a suppliant posture, and Ajax struck with Minerva’s thunders.
_Pliny_, bk. 35, ch. 9.――――A statuary in the age of Alexander. He
was of such an irascible disposition, that he destroyed his own
pieces upon the least provocation. _Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 8.――――A
rhetorician of Pergamus, preceptor and friend to Augustus, who wrote
a book on rhetoric. _Strabo_, bk. 13.――――A tragic poet of Tarsus.
――――A Lemnian who wrote on husbandry.――――A physician of Tarentum.
――――Another of Cytium.