Part 12

=Alcmæon=, was son of the prophet Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. His father going to the Theban war, where, according to an oracle, he was to perish, charged him to revenge his death upon Eriphyle, who had betrayed him. _See:_ Eriphyle. As soon as he heard of his father’s death, he murdered his mother, for which crime the Furies persecuted him till Phlegeus purified him and gave him his daughter Alphesibœa in marriage. Alcmæon gave her the fatal collar which his mother had received to betray his father, and afterwards divorced her, and married Callirhoe the daughter of Achelous, to whom he promised the necklace which he had given to Alphesibœa. When he attempted to recover it, Alphesibœa’s brothers murdered him on account of the treatment which he had shown their sister, and left his body a prey to dogs and wild beasts. Alcmæon’s children by Callirhoe revenged their father’s death by killing his murderers. _See:_ Alphesibœa, Amphiaraus. _Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 17; bk. 6, ch. 18; bk. 8, ch. 24. ――_Plutarch_, _de Exilio_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 7.――_Hyginus_, fables 73 & 245.――_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bks. 2 & 4.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 2, li. 44; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 9, fable 10.――――A son of Ægyptus, the husband of Hippomedusa. _Apollodorus._――――A philosopher, disciple to Pythagoras, born in Crotona. He wrote on physic, and he was the first who dissected animals to examine into the structure of the human frame. _Cicero_, _de Natura Deorum_, bk. 6, ch. 27.――――A son of the poet Æschylus, the 13th archon of Athens.――――A son of Syllus, driven from Messenia with the rest of Nestor’s family, by the Heraclidæ. He came to Athens, and from him the Alcmæonidæ were descended. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 18.

=Alcmæŏnĭdæ=, a noble family of Athens, descended from Alcmæon. They undertook for 300 talents to rebuild the temple of Delphi, which had been burnt, and they finished the work in a more splendid manner than was required, in consequence of which they gained popularity, and by their influence the Pythia prevailed upon the Lacedæmonians to deliver their country from the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ. _Herodotus_, bks. 5 & 6.――_Thucydides_, bk. 6, ch. 59.――_Plutarch_, _Solon_.

=Alcman=, a very ancient lyric poet, born in Sardinia, and not at Lacedæmon, as some suppose. He wrote in the Doric dialect six books of verses, besides a play called Colymbosas. He flourished B.C. 670, and died of the lousy disease. Some of his verses are preserved by Athenæus and others. _Pliny_, bk. 11, ch. 33.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 41; bk. 3, ch. 15.――_Aristotle_, _History of Animals_, bk. 5, ch. 31.

=Alcmēna=, was daughter of Electryon king of Argos, by Anaxo, whom _Plutarch_, ♦_Theseus_ calls Lysidice, and _Diodorus_, bk. 2, Eurymede. Her father promised his crown and his daughter to Amphitryon, if he would revenge the death of his sons, who had been all killed, except Licymnius, by the Teleboans, a people of Ætolia. While Amphitryon was gone against the Ætolians, Jupiter, who was enamoured of Alcmena, resolved to introduce himself into her bed. The more effectually to insure success in his amour, he assumed the form of Amphitryon, declared that he had obtained a victory over Alcmena’s enemies, and even presented her with a cup, which he said he had preserved from the spoils for her sake. Alcmena yielded to her lover what she had promised to her future husband; and Jupiter, to delay the return of Amphitryon, ordered his messenger, Mercury, to stop the rising of Phœbus, or the sun, so that the night he passed with Alcmena was prolonged to three long nights. Amphitryon returned the next day; and after complaining of the coldness with which he was received, Alcmena acquainted him with the reception of a false lover the preceding night, and even showed him the cup which she had received. Amphitryon was perplexed at the relation, and more so upon missing the cup from among his spoils. He went to the prophet Tiresias, who told him of Jupiter’s intrigue; and he returned to his wife proud of the dignity of his rival. Alcmena became pregnant by Jupiter, and afterwards by her husband; and when she was going to bring forth, Jupiter boasted in heaven that a child was to be born that day to whom he would give absolute power over his neighbours, and even over all the children of his own blood. Juno, who was jealous of Jupiter’s amours with Alcmena, made him swear by the Styx, and immediately prolonged the travails of Alcmena, and hastened the bringing forth of the wife of Sthenelus king of Argos, who, after a pregnancy of seven months, had a son called Eurystheus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 8, fable 5, &c., says that Juno was assisted by Lucina to put off the bringing forth of Alcmena, and that Lucina, in the form of an old woman, sat before the door of Amphitryon with her legs and arms crossed. This posture was the cause of infinite torment to Alcmena, till her servant, Galanthis, supposing the old woman to be a witch, and to be the cause of the pains of her mistress, told her that she had brought forth. Lucina retired from her posture, and immediately Alcmena brought forth twins, Hercules conceived by Jupiter, and Iphiclus by Amphitryon. Eurystheus was already born, and therefore Hercules was subjected to his power. After Amphitryon’s death, Alcmena married Rhadamanthus, and retired to Ocalea, in Bœotia. This marriage, according to some authors, was celebrated in the island of Leuce. The people of Megara said that she died ♠on her way from Argos to Thebes, and that she was buried in the temple of Jupiter Olympius. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 41; bk. 5, ch. 18; bk. 9, ch. 16.――_Plutarch_, ♦_Theseus_ & _Romulus_.――_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 11; _Iliad_, bk. 19.――_Pindar_, _Pythian_, ♣poem 4.――_Lucian_, _Dialogi Deorum_.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4. ――_Hyginus_, fable 29.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, chs. 4, 7; bk. 3, ch. 1.――_Plautus_, _Amphitruo_.――_Herodotus_, bk. 2, chs. 43 & 45. ――――_See:_ Amphitryon, Hercules, Eurystheus.

♦ ‘de Reb. Græc.’ replaced with ‘Theseus’ ♠ ‘in’ replaced with ‘on’ ♣ ‘9’ replaced with ‘4’

=Alcon=, a famous archer, who one day saw his son attacked by a serpent, and aimed at him so dexterously that he killed the beast without hurting his son.――――A silversmith. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 13, fable 5.――――A son of Hippocoon. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 14.――――A surgeon under Claudius, who gained much money by his profession, in curing hernias and fractures.――――A son of Mars.――――A son of Amycus. These two last were at the chase of the Calydonian boar. _Hyginus_, fable 173.

♦=Alcyŏna=, a pool of Greece, whose depth the emperor Nero attempted in vain to find. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 37.

♦ Resorted into proper alphabetical order

=Alcyŏne=, or =Halcyŏne=, daughter of Æolus, married Ceyx, who was drowned as he was going to Claros to consult the oracle. The gods apprised Alcyone in a dream of her husband’s fate; and when she found, on the morrow, his body washed on the sea-shore, she threw herself into the sea, and was with her husband changed into birds of the same name, who keep the waters calm and serene, while they build and sit on their nests on the surface of the sea, for the space of 7, 11, or 14 days. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 399.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 7.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 11, fable 10.――_Hyginus_, fable 65.――――One of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas. She had Arethusa by Neptune, and Eleuthera by Apollo. She, with her sisters, was changed into a constellation. _See:_ Pleiades. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 30; bk. 3, ch. 18.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Hyginus_, fable 157.――――The daughter of Evenus, carried away by Apollo after her marriage. Her husband pursued the ravisher with his bow and arrows, but was not able to recover her. Upon this, her parents called her Alcyone, and compared her fate to that of the wife of Ceyx. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 9, li. 558.――――The wife of Meleager. _Hyginus_, fable 174.――――A town of Thessaly, where Philip, Alexander’s father, lost one of his eyes.

=Alcyŏneus=, a youth of exemplary virtue, son to Antigonus. _Plutarch_, _Pyrrhus_.――_Diogenes Laërtius_, bk. 4.――――A giant, brother to Porphyrion. He was killed by Hercules. His daughters, mourning his death, threw themselves into the sea, and were changed into Alcyons by Amphitrite. _Claudian_, _De Raptu Proserpinæ_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 6.

=Aldescus=, a river of European Sarmatia, rising from the Riphæan mountains, and falling into the northern sea. _Dionysius Periegetes._

=Alduăbis.= _See:_ Dubis.

=Alea=, a surname of Minerva, from her temple built by Aleus son of Aphidas, at Tegæa in Arcadia. The statue of the goddess made of ivory was carried by Augustus to Rome. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, chs. 4 & 46.――――A town of Arcadia, built by Aleus. It had three famous temples, those of Minerva, Bacchus, and Diana the Ephesian. When the festivals of Bacchus were celebrated, the women were whipped in the temple. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 23.

=Alēbas=, a tyrant of Larissa, killed by his own guards for his cruelties. _Ovid_, _Ibis_, li. 323.

=Alēbion= and =Dercynus=, sons of Neptune, were killed by Hercules for stealing his oxen in Africa. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 5.

=Alecto=, one of the Furies (_a_, ληγω, _non desino_), is represented with flaming torches, her head covered with serpents, and breathing vengeance, war, and pestilence. _See:_ Eumenides. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 324, &c.; bk. 10, li. 41.

=Alector=, succeeded his father Anaxagoras in the kingdom of Argos, and was father to Iphis and Capaneus. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 18. ――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 6.

=Alectryon=, a youth whom Mars, during his amours with Venus, stationed at the door to watch against the approach of the sun. He fell asleep, and Apollo came and discovered the lovers, who were exposed by Vulcan, in each other’s arms, before all the gods. Mars was so incensed that he changed Alectryon into a cock, which, still mindful of his neglect, early announces the approach of the sun. _Lucian_, _Alectryon_ [_Gallus_].

=Alectus=, a tyrant of Britain, in Diocletian’s reign, &c. He died 296 A.D.

=Alēius Campus=, a place in Lycia, where Bellerophon fell from the horse Pegasus, and wandered over the country till the time of his death. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 6, li. 201.――_Dionysius Periegetes_, li. 872.――_Ovid_, _Ibis_, li. 257.

=Alemanni=, or =Alamanni=, a people of Germany. They are first mentioned in the reign of Caracalla, who was honoured with the surname of _Alemannicus_ for a victory over them.

=Alēmon=, the father of Myscellus. He built Crotona in Magna Græcia. Myscellus is often called Alemonides. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, lis. 19 & 26.

=Alemusii=, inhabitants of Attica, in whose country there was a temple of Ceres and of Proserpine. _Pausanias_, _Attica_.

=Alens=, a place in the island of Cos.

=Aleon=, or =Ales=, a river of Ionia, near Colophon. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 5; bk. 8, ch. 28.

=Alēse=, a town of Sicily, called afterwards Achronidion, after the founder. The Romans made it an independent city.

=Alēsia=, or =Alexia=, now _Alise_, a famous city of the Mandubii in Gaul, founded by Hercules, as he returned from Iberia, on a high hill. Julius Cæsar conquered it. _Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 68.

=Alēsium=, a town and mountain of Peloponnesus. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 10.

=Aletes=, a son of Ægisthus, murdered by Orestes. _Hyginus_, fable 122.

=Alēthes=, the first of the Heraclidæ, who was king of Corinth. He was son of Hippotas. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――――A companion of Æneas, described as a prudent and venerable old man. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 1, li. 125; bk. 9, li. 246.

=Alethia=, one of Apollo’s nurses.

=Aletĭdas= (from ἀλαομαι, _to wander_), certain sacrifices at Athens, in remembrance of Erigone, who wandered with a dog after her father Icarius.

=Aletrium=, a town of Latium, whose inhabitants are called Aletrinates. _Livy_, bk. 9, ch. 42.

=Alētum=, a tomb near the harbour of Carthage in Spain. _Polybius_, bk. 10.

=Aleuādæ=, a royal family of Larissa in Thessaly, descended from Aleuas king of that country. They betrayed their country to Xerxes. The name is often applied to the Thessalians without distinction. _Diodorus_, bk. 16.――_Herodotus_, bk. 7, chs. 6, 172.――_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 8; bk. 7, ch. 10.――_Ælian_, _De Natura Animalium_, bk. 8, ch. 11.

=Alēus=, a son of Aphidas king of Arcadia, famous for his skill in building temples. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, chs. 4 & 53.

=Alex=, a river in the country of the Brutii. _Dionysius Periegetes._

=Alexamēnus=, an Ætolian, who killed Nabis tyrant of Lacedæmon, and was soon after murdered by the people. _Livy_, bk. 35, ch. 34.

=Alexander I.=, son of Amyntas, was the tenth king of Macedonia. He killed the Persian ambassadors for their immodest behaviour to the women of his father’s court, and was the first who raised the reputation of the Macedonians. He reigned 43 years, and died 451 B.C. _Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 3.――_Herodotus_, bks. 5, 7, 8, & 9.

=Alexander II.=, son of Amyntas II., king of Macedonia, was treacherously murdered, B.C. 370, by his younger brother Ptolemy, who held the kingdom for four years, and made way for Perdiccas and Philip. _Justin_, bk. 7, ch. 5, says Eurydice, the wife of Amyntas, was the cause of his murder.