wall by Dionysius, who, to complete the work expeditiously, employed
60,000 men upon it, so that in 30 days he finished a wall 4¾ miles
long, and of great height and thickness.
=Epīrus=, a country situate between Macedonia, Achaia, and the Ionian
sea. It was formerly governed by kings, of whom Neoptolemus son
of Achilles was one of the first. It was afterwards joined to
the empire of Macedonia, and at last became a part of the Roman
dominions. It is now called _Larta_. _Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Mela_, bk. 2,
ch. 3.――_Ptolemy_, bk. 3, ch. 14.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 1.――_Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 121.
=Epistrŏphus=, a son of Iphitus king of Phocis, who went to the Trojan
war. _Homer_, _Iliad_.
=Epitades=, a man who first violated a law of Lycurgus, which forbade
laws to be made. _Plutarch_, _Agis_.
=Epitus.= _See:_ Epytus.
=Epium=, a town of Peloponnesus on the borders of Arcadia.
=Epŏna=, a beautiful girl, the fruit, it is said, of a man’s union
with a mare.
=Epŏpeus=, a son of Neptune and Canace, who came from Thessaly to
Sicyon, and carried away Antiope, daughter of Nicteus king of Thebes.
This rape was followed by a war, in which Nycteus and Epopeus were
both killed. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 6.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 7,
&c.――――A son of Aloeus, grandson to Phœbus. He reigned at Corinth.
_Pausanias_, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 3.――――One of the Tyrrhene sailors, who
attempted to abuse Bacchus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 3, li. 619.
=Eporedōrix=, a powerful person among the Ædui, who commanded his
countrymen in their war against the Sequani. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 7, ch. 67.
=Epŭlo=, a Rutulian killed by Achates. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 12,
li. 459.
=Epytides=, a patronymic given to Periphas the son of Epytus, and the
companion of Ascanius. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 547.
=Epy̆tus=, a king of Alba. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 44.――――A king
of Arcadia.――――A king of Messenia, of the family of the Heraclidæ.
――――The father of Periphus, a herald in the Trojan war. _Homer_,
_Iliad_, bk. 17.
=Equajusta=, a town of Thessaly.
=Equĭcŏlus=, a Rutulian engaged in the wars of Æneas. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 9, li. 684.
=Equīria=, festivals established at Rome by Romulus, in honour of Mars,
when horse-races and games were exhibited in the Campus Martius.
_Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 5, ch. 3.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 2,
li. 859.
=Equotutĭcum=, now _Castel Franco_, a little town of Apulia, to which,
as some suppose, Horace alludes in this verse, bk. 1, satire 5,
li. 87,
_Mansuri oppidulo, versu quod dicere non est._
=Eracon=, an officer of Alexander, imprisoned for his cruelty.
_Curtius_, bk. 10.
=Eræa=, a city of Greece, destroyed in the age of Strabo, bk. 3.
=Erana=, a small village of Cilicia on mount Amanus. _Cicero_,
_Letters to his Friends_, bk. 15, ltr. 4.
=Erăsēnus=, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing for a little space under
the ground, in Argolis. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, li. 275.
――_Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 13.
=Erasippus=, a son of Hercules and Lysippe.
=Erasistrătus=, a celebrated physician, grandson to the philosopher
Aristotle. He discovered by the motion of the pulse the love which
Antiochus had conceived for his mother-in-law Stratonice, and was
rewarded with 100 talents for the cure by the father of Antiochus.
He was a great enemy to bleeding and violent physic. He died B.C.
257. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5, ch. 7.――_Plutarch_, _Demetrius_.
=Erăto=, one of the muses who presided over lyric, tender, and
amorous poetry. She is represented as crowned with roses and myrtle,
holding in her right hand a lyre, and a lute in her left, musical
instruments of which she is considered by some as the inventress.
Love is sometimes placed by her side holding a lighted flambeau,
while she herself appears with a thoughtful, but oftener with a
gay and animated look. She was invoked by lovers, especially in
the month of April, which, among the Romans, was more particularly
devoted to love. _Apollodorus_, bk. 10.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7,
li. 37.――_Ovid_, _de Ars Amatoria_, bk. 2, li. 425.――――One of the
Nereides. _Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 2.――――One of the Dryades, wife
of Arcas king of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 4.――――One of the
Danaides, who married Bromius.――――A queen of the Armenians, after
the death of Ariobarzanes, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Eratosthĕnes=, son of Aglaus, was a native of Cyrene, and the second
entrusted with the care of the Alexandrian library. He dedicated his
time to grammatical criticism and philosophy, but more particularly
to poetry and mathematics. He has been called a second Plato, the
cosmographer and the geometer of the world. He is supposed to be the
inventor of the armillary sphere. With the instruments with which
the munificence of the Ptolemies supplied the library of Alexandria,
he was enabled to measure the obliquity of the ecliptic, which he
called 20½ degrees. He also measured a degree of the meridian, and
determined the extent and circumference of the earth with great
exactness, by means adopted by the moderns. He starved himself after
he had lived to his 82nd year, B.C. 194. Some few fragments remain
of his compositions. He collected the annals of the Egyptian kings
by order of one of the Ptolemies. _Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_,
bk. 2, ltr. 6.――_Varro_, _de Re Rustica_, bk. 1, ch. 2.
=Eratostrătus=, an Ephesian who burnt the famous temple of Diana, the
same night that Alexander the Great was born. This burning, as some
writers have observed, was not prevented or seen by the goddess of
the place, who was then present at the labours of Olympias, and the
birth of the conqueror of Persia. Eratostratus did this villainy
merely to eternize his name by so uncommon an action. _Plutarch_,
_Alexander_.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 8, ch. 14.
=Erātus=, a son of Hercules and Dynaste. _Apollodorus._――――A king of
Sicyon, who died B.C. 1671.
=Erbessus=, a town of Sicily north of Agrigentum, now _Monte Bibino_.
_Livy_, bk. 24, ch. 30.
=Erchia=, a small village of Attica, the birthplace of Xenophon.
_Diogenes Laërtius_, bk. 2, ch. 48.
=Erĕbus=, a deity of hell, son of Chaos and Darkness. He married Night,
by whom he had the light and the day. The poets often used the word
Erebus to signify hell itself, and particularly that part where
dwelt the souls of those who had lived a virtuous life, from whence
they passed into the Elysian fields. _Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_,
bk. 3, ch. 17.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4, li. 26.
=Erechtheus=, son of Pandion I., was the sixth king of Athens. He
was father of Cecrops II., Merion, Pandorus, and of four daughters,
Creusa, Orithya, Procris, and Othonia, by Praxithea. In a war
against Eleusis he sacrificed Othonia, called also Chthonia, to
obtain a victory which the oracle promised for such a sacrifice.
In that war he killed Eumolpus, Neptune’s son, who was the general
of the enemy, for which he was struck with thunder by Jupiter at
Neptune’s request. Some say that he was drowned in the sea. After
death he received divine honours at Athens. He reigned 50 years,
and died B.C. 1347. According to some accounts, he first introduced
the mysteries of Ceres at Eleusis. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6,
li. 877.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 25.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 15.
――_Cicero_, _For Sestius_, ch. 21; _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 1,
ch. 48; _Natura Deorum_, bk. 3, ch. 15.
=Erechthĭdes=, a name given to the Athenians, from their king
Erechtheus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li. 430.
=Erembi=, a people of Arabia.
=Erēmus=, a country of Ethiopia.
=Erenēa=, a village of Megara. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 44.
=Eressa=, a town of Æolia.
=Erēsus=, a town of Lesbos, where Theophrastus was born.
=Erĕtria=, a city of Eubœa on the Euripus, anciently called _Melaneis_
and _Arotria_. It was destroyed by the Persians, and the ruins
were hardly visible in the age of Strabo. It received its name
from Eretrius, a son of Phaeton. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 8, &c.
――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.――_Cornelius Nepos_,
_Miltiades_, ch. 4.
=Erētum=, a town of the Sabines near the Tiber, whence came the
adjective _Eretinus_. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 711.――_Tibullus_,
bk. 4, poem 8, li. 4.
=Eruthalion=, a man killed by Nestor in a war between the Pylians and
Arcadians. _Homer_, _Iliad_.
=Ergăne=, a river whose waters intoxicated as wine.――――A surname of
Minerva. _Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 14.
=Ergenna=, a celebrated soothsayer of Etruria. _Persius_, satire 2,
li. 26.
=Ergias=, a Rhodian who wrote a history of his country.
=Ergīnus=, a king of Orchomenos, son of Clymenus. He obliged the
Thebans to pay him a yearly tribute of 100 oxen, because his father
had been killed by a Theban. Hercules attacked his servants, who
came to raise the tribute, and mutilated them, and he afterwards
killed Erginus, who attempted to avenge their death by invading
Bœotia with an army. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 17.――――A river of
Thrace. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 2.――――A son of Neptune.――――One of the
four brothers who kept the Acrocorinth, by order of Antigonus.
_Polyænus_, bk. 6.
=Erginnus=, a man made master of the ship Argo by the Argonauts, after
the death of Typhis.
=Eribœa=, a surname of Juno. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 5.――――The mother of
Ajax Telamon. _Sophocles._
=Eribotes=, a man skilled in medicine, &c. _Orpheus._
=Erĭcētes=, a man of Lycaonia, killed by Messapus in Italy. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 749.
=Erichtho=, a Thessalian woman famous for her knowledge of poisonous
herbs and medicine. _Lucan_, bk. 6, li. 507.――――One of the Furies.
_Ovid._――_Hesiod_, bk. 2, li. 151.
=Erichthŏnius=, the fourth king of Athens, sprung from the seed of
Vulcan, which fell upon the ground when that god attempted to offer
violence to Minerva. He was very deformed, and had the tails of
serpents instead of legs. Minerva placed him in a basket, which
she gave to the daughters of Cecrops, with strict injunctions not
to examine its contents. Aglauros, one of the sisters, had the
curiosity to open the basket, for which the goddess punished her
indiscretion by making her jealous of her sister Herse. _See:_
Herse. Erichthon was young when he ascended the throne of Athens.
He reigned 50 years, and died B.C. 1437. The invention of chariots
is attributed to him, and the manner of harnessing horses to
draw them. He was made a constellation after death under the name
of Bootes. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 553.――_Hyginus_,
fable 166.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 14.――_Pausanias_, bk. 4,
ch. 2.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 113.――――A son of Dardanus,
who reigned in Troy, and died 1374 B.C., after a long reign of about
75 years. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.
=Ericinium=, a town of Macedonia.
=Ericūsa=, one of the Lipari isles, now _Alicudi_.
=Erĭdănus=, one of the largest rivers of Italy, rising in the Alps,
and falling into the Adriatic by several mouths; now called the
_Po_. It was in its neighbourhood that the Heliades, the sisters of
Phaeton, were changed into poplars, according to Ovid. Virgil calls
it the king of all rivers, and Lucan compares it to the Rhine and
Danube. An Eridanus is mentioned in heaven. _Cicero_, _Aratus_, li.
145.――_Claudian_, _Panegyricus de Consulatu Honorii Augusti_, bk. 6,
li. 175.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, fable 3.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 1, ch. 3.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Lucan_, bk. 2, li. 409.――_Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 482; _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 659.
=Erĭgŏne=, a daughter of Icarius, who hung herself when she heard
that her father had been killed by some shepherds whom he had
intoxicated. She was made a constellation, now known under the
name of _Virgo_. Bacchus deceived her by changing himself into a
beautiful grape. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, fable 4.――_Statius_,
bk. 11, _Thebiad_, li. 644.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 33.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 14.――_Hyginus_, fables 1 & 24.――――A
daughter of Ægisthus and Clytemnestra, who had by her brother
Orestes, Penthilus, who shared the regal power with Timasenus, the
legitimate son of Orestes and Hermione. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 18.
――_Paterculus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.
=Erigoneius=, a name applied to the Dog-star, because looking towards
Erigone, &c. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 5, li. 723.
=Erĭgŏnus=, a river of Thrace.――――A painter. _Pliny_, bk. 35, ch. 11.
=Erigȳus=, a Mitylenean, one of Alexander’s officers. _Curtius_,
bk. 6, ch. 4.
=Erillus=, a philosopher of Carthage, contemporary with Zeno.
_Diogenes Laërtius._
=Erindes=, a river of Asia, near Parthia. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 11,
ch. 16.
=Erinna=, a poetess of Lesbos, intimate with Sappho. _Pliny_, bk. 34,
ch. 8.
=Erinnys=, the Greek name of the Eumenides. The word signifies the
_fury of the mind_, ἐρις νους. _See:_ Eumenides. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 2, li. 337.――――A surname of Ceres, on account of her amour with
Neptune under the form of a horse. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, chs. 25 & 42.
=Eriopis=, a daughter of Medea. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 3.
=Eriphănis=, a Greek woman famous for her poetical compositions. She
was extremely fond of the hunter Melampus, and to enjoy his company
she accustomed herself to live in the woods. _Athenæus_, bk. 14.
=Eriphidas=, a Lacedæmonian, who being sent to suppress a sedition at
Heraclea, assembled the people and beheaded 500 of the ringleaders.
_Diodorus_, bk. 14.
=Erĭphȳle=, a sister of Adrastus king of Argos, who married Amphiaraus.
She was daughter of Talaus and Lysimache. When her husband concealed
himself that he might not accompany the Argives in their expedition
against Thebes, where he knew he was to perish, Eriphyle suffered
herself to be bribed by Polynices with a golden necklace, which
had been formerly given to Hermione by the goddess Venus, and
she discovered where Amphiaraus was. This treachery of Eriphyle
compelled him to go to the war; but before he departed, he charged
his son Alcmæon to murder his mother as soon as he was informed of
his death. Amphiaraus perished in the expedition, and his death was
no sooner known than his last injunctions were obeyed, and Eriphyle
was murdered by the hands of her son. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li.
445.――_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 11.――_Cicero_, _Against Verres_, bk. 4,
ch. 18.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, chs. 6 & 7.――_Hyginus_,
fable 73.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 17.
=Eris=, the goddess of discord among the Greeks. She is the same as
the Discordia of the Latins. _See:_ Discordia.
=Erisichthon=, a Thessalian, son of Triops, who derided Ceres and cut
down her groves. This impiety irritated the goddess, who afflicted
him with continual hunger. He squandered all his possessions to
gratify the cravings of his appetite, and at last he devoured his
own limbs for want of food. His daughter Metra had the power of
transforming herself into whatever animal she pleased, and she made
use of that artifice to maintain her father, who sold her, after
which she assumed another shape, and became again his property.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, fable 18.
=Erithus=, a son of Actor, killed by Perseus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 5.
=Erixo=, a Roman knight condemned by the people for having whipped his
son to death. _Seneca_, bk. 1, _de Clementia_, ch. 14.
=Erōchus=, a town of Phocis. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 3.
=Erōpus= or =Æropes=, a king of Macedonia, who when in the cradle
succeeded his father Philip I., B.C. 602. He made war against the
Illyrians, whom he conquered. _Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 2.
=Eros=, a servant of whom Antony demanded a sword to kill himself.
Eros produced the instrument, but instead of giving it to his master,
he killed himself in his presence. _Plutarch_, _Antonius_.――――A
comedian. _Cicero_, _For Quintus Roscius the Actor_, ch. 2.――――A son
of Chronos or Saturn, god of love. _See:_ Cupido.
=Erostrătus.= _See:_ Eratostratus.
=Erōtia=, a festival in honour of Eros the god of love. It was
celebrated by the Thespians every fifth year with sports and
games, when musicians and all others contended. If any quarrels or
seditions had arisen among the people, it was then usual to offer
sacrifices and prayers to the god, that he would totally remove them.
=Errūca=, a town of the Volsci of Italy.
=Erse=, a daughter of Cecrops. _See:_ Herse.
=Erxias=, a man who wrote a history of Colophon. He is perhaps the
same as the person who wrote a history of Rhodes.
=Eryălus=, a Trojan chief killed by Patroclus. _Homer_, _Iliad_,
bk. 16, li. 411.
=Erybium=, a town at the foot of mount Parnassus.
=Erycīna=, a surname of Venus from mount Eryx, where she had a temple.
She was also worshipped at Rome under this appellation. _Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 874.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 2, li. 33.
=Ery̆manthis=, a surname of Callisto, as an inhabitant of Erymanthus.
――――Arcadia is also known by that name.
=Erymanthus=, a mountain, river, and town of Arcadia, where Hercules
killed a prodigious boar, which he carried on his shoulders
to Eurystheus, who was so terrified at the sight that he hid
himself in a brazen vessel. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 24.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 802.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 6.――_Cicero_,
_Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 2, ch. 8; bk. 4, ch. 22.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 499.
=Ery̆mas=, a Trojan killed by Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 9, li. 702.
=Erymnæ=, a town of Thessaly. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 24.――――Of
Magnesia.
=Erymneus=, a peripatetic philosopher, who flourished B.C. 126.
=Ery̆mus=, a huntsman of Cyzicus.
=Erythea=, an island between Gades and Spain, where Geryon reigned.
_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 22.――_Mela_, bk. 3, ch. 6.――_Propertius_,
bk. 4, poem 10, li. 1.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 16, li. 195.――_Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 5, li. 649.――――A daughter of Geryon. _Pausanias_,
bk. 10, ch. 37.
=Erythīni=, a town of Paphlagonia.
=Erȳthræ=, a town of Ionia opposite Chios, once the residence of a
Sybil. It was built by Neleus the son of Codrus. _Pausanias_, bk. 10,
ch. 12.――_Livy_, bk. 44, ch. 28; bk. 38, ch. 39.――――A town of Bœotia.
_Livy_, bk. 6, ch. 21.――――One in Libya,――――another in Locris.
=Ery̆thræum mare=, a part of the ocean on the coast of Arabia. As it
has a communication with the Persian gulf, and that of Arabia or
the Red sea, it has often been mistaken by the ancient writers, who
by the word _Erythran_, understood indiscriminately either the Red
sea or the Persian gulf. It received this name either from Erythras,
or from the _redness_ (ἐρυθρος, _ruber_) of its sand or waters.
_Curtius_, bk. 8, ch. 9.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 23.――_Herodotus_,
bk. 1, chs. 180 & 189; bk. 3, ch. 93; bk. 4, ch. 37.――_Mela_, bk. 3,
ch. 8.
=Ery̆thras=, a son of Hercules. _Apollodorus._――――A son of Perseus
and Andromeda, drowned in the Red sea, which from him was called
_Erythræum_. _Arrian_, _Indica_, bk. 6, ch. 10.――_Mela_, bk. 3,
ch. 7.
=Erythrion=, a son of Athamas and Themistone. _Apollodorus._
=Ery̆thros=, a place of Latium.
=Eryx=, a son of Butes and Venus, who, relying upon his strength,
challenged all strangers to fight with him in the combat of the
cestus. Hercules accepted his challenge after many had yielded
to his superior dexterity, and Eryx was killed in the combat,
and buried on the mountain, where he had built a temple to Venus.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 402.――――An Indian killed by his
subjects for opposing Alexander, &c. _Curtius_, bk. 8, ch. 11.――――A
mountain of Sicily, now _Giuliano_, near Drepanum, which received
its name from Eryx, who was buried there. This mountain was so steep
that the houses which were built upon it seemed every moment ready
to fall. Dædalus had enlarged the top, and enclosed it with a strong
wall. He also consecrated there to Venus Erycina a golden heifer,
which so much resembled life, that it seemed to exceed the power of
art. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 478.――_Hyginus_, fables 16 & 260.
――_Livy_, bk. 22, ch. 9.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 7.――_Pausanias_, bk. 3,
ch. 16.
=Eryxo=, the mother of Battus, who artfully killed the tyrant Learchus
who courted her. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 160.
=Esernus=, a famous gladiator. _Cicero._
=Esquĭliæ= and =Esquilīnus mons=, one of the seven hills of Rome,
which was joined to the city by king Tullus. Birds of prey generally
came to devour the dead bodies of criminals who had been executed
there, and thence they were called _Esquilinæ alites_. _Livy_, bk. 2,
ch. 11.――_Horace_, epode 5, li. 100.――_Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 2,
ch. 32.
=Essedŏnes=, a people of Asia, above the Palus Mæotis, who ate the
flesh of their parents mixed with that of cattle. They gilded the
head and kept it as sacred. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 1.――_Pliny_, bk. 4,
ch. 12.
=Essui=, a people of Gaul.
=Estiæotis=, a district of Thessaly on the river Peneus.
=Esŭla=, a town of Italy near Tibur. _Horace_, bk. 3, ode 29, li. 6.
=Estiaia=, solemn sacrifices to Vesta, of which it was unlawful to
carry away anything or communicate it to anybody.
=Etearchus=, a king of Oaxus in Crete. After the death of his wife,
he married a woman who made herself odious for her tyranny over her
stepdaughter Phronima. Etearchus gave ear to all the accusations
which were brought against his daughter, and ordered her to be
thrown into the sea. She had a son called Battus, who led a colony
to Cyrene. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 154.
=Eteŏcles=, a son of Œdipus and Jocasta. After his father’s death, it
was agreed between him and his brother Polynices, that they should
both share the royalty, and reign alternately each a year. Eteocles
by right of seniority first ascended the throne, but after the
first year of his reign was expired, he refused to give up the
crown to his brother according to their mutual agreement. Polynices,
resolving to punish such an open violation of a solemn engagement,
went to implore the assistance of Adrastus king of Argos. He
received that king’s daughter in marriage, and was soon after
assisted with a strong army, headed by seven famous generals. These
hostile preparations were watched by Eteocles, who on his part did
not remain inactive. He chose seven brave chiefs to oppose the seven
leaders of the Argives, and stationed them at the seven gates of
the city. He placed himself against his brother Polynices, and he
opposed Menalippus to Tydeus, Polyphontes to Capaneus, Megareus to
Eteoclus, Hyperbius to Parthenopæus, and Lasthenes to Amphiaraus.
Much blood was shed in light and unavailing skirmishes, and it was
at last agreed between the two brothers that the war should be
decided by single combat. They both fell in an engagement conducted
with the most inveterate fury on either side, and it is even said
that the ashes of these two brothers, who had been so inimical one
to the other, separated themselves on the burning pile, as if, even
after death, sensible of resentment and hostile to reconciliation.
_Statius_, _Thebiad_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.――_Aeschylus_,
_Seven Against Thebes_.――_Euripides_, _Phœnician Women_.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 9; bk. 9, ch. 6.――――A Greek, the first who raised altars
to the Graces. _Pausanias._
=Eteŏclus=, one of the seven chiefs of the army of Adrastus, in
his expedition against Thebes, celebrated for his valour, for his
disinterestedness, and magnanimity. He was killed by Megareus the
son of Creon under the walls of Thebes. _Euripides._――_Apollodorus_,
bk. 3, ch. 6.――――A son of Iphis.
=Eteocrētæ=, an ancient people of Crete.
=Eteones=, a town of Bœotia on the Asopus. _Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 7,
li. 266.
=Eteoneus=, an officer at the court of Menelaus, when Telemachus
visited Sparta. He was son of Bœthus. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 4,
li. 22.
=Eteonīcus=, a Lacedæmonian general, who upon hearing that
Callicratidas was conquered at Arginusæ, ordered the messengers of
this news to be crowned, and to enter Mitylene in triumph. This so
terrified Conon, who besieged the town, that he concluded that the
enemy had obtained some advantageous victory, and he raised the
siege. _Diodorus_, bk. 13.――_Polyænus_, bk. 1.