Brill’s New Pauly

Get access Subject: Classical Studies
Edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (Antiquity) and Manfred Landfester (Classical Tradition).
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)

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Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.

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Mycale

(192 words)

Author(s): Lohmann, Hans (Bochum) | Blümel, Wolfgang (Cologne)
[German version] (Μυκάλη; Mykálē). Mountain range on the west coast of Asia Minor (up to 1237 m high), ending opposite Samos in Cape Trogilium, present-day Dilek Dağı; there is a debate about whether M. is actually the Hittite Arinnanda. Hom. Il. 2,869 states that M.was inhabited by the Cares tribe (cf. [1]). It is famous for the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in 479 BC (Hdt. 9,90ff.). Melia and the Archaic Panionion were situated on the M. (Hdt. 1,148); the later town of Panionion (4th ce…

Mycalessus

(226 words)

Author(s): Funke, Peter (Münster)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Boeotia, Boeotians (Μυκαλησσός; Mykalēssós). Town named in Hom. Il. 2,498 and Hom. H. Apollo 222-224 in northeast Boeotia on the road from Thebae to Chalcis [1] and to the south of the Aniforitis pass near present-day Rhitsona. References: Str. 9,2,11; 26; Stat. Theb. 7,272; 9,281; Nonnus. Dion. 13,77f.; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μ. A few wall remains [1] and a large necropolis used from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods [2] testify to its heyday in…

Mycena

(96 words)

Author(s): Michel, Raphael (Basle)
[German version] (Μυκήνη; Mykḗnē). Achaean, daughter of Inachus [1] and Melia (Argivian nymph, Meliae), by Arestor the mother of Argus [I 2] (schol. Hom. Od. 2,120; Paus. 2,16,3f.). The suitor Antinous mentions M. together with Tyro and Alcmene in a eulogy to Penelope as an example of skilful and cunning women of the dim and distant past (Hom. Od. 2,120). Another tradition viewed her as the one who gave her name to Mycenae (Mycenae; Eust. in Hom. Il. 2,569: Laconian nymph; Nonnus, Dion. 41,267f.: ‘bright-eyed’ maiden; schol. in Nic. Alex. 103: heroine). Michel, Raphael (Basle)

Mycenae

(810 words)

Author(s): Hiesel, Gerhard (Freiburg) | Lafond, Yves (Bochum)
This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Doric Migration | Dark Ages | Linear B | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Persian Wars | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture | Mineral Resources (Μυκῆναι/ M ukênai, Μυκήνη/ Mykḗnē; Lat. Mycena; Mycenae). [German version] I. Mycenaean period Settlement on a steep spur in the northern foothills of the Argolid. The oldest traces of settlement date from the early Bronze Age (2900-2500 BC). M. is the most important centre of Mycenaean culture. Excavations were carried out by H. S…

Mycenae

(2,277 words)

Author(s): Schiering, Wolfgang (Heidelberg RWG)
Schiering, Wolfgang (Heidelberg RWG) [German version] A. Antiquity (CT) Pausanias begins his brief report on Mycenae (M.) with the city's destruction at the hands of the Argives in 466 BC. The latter had felt penalized by the Mycenaeans, who had sent eighty warriors to fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC while Argos had held back. The Argives had also refrained from taking part in the Battle of Plataea. The first discoverers and users of ancient M. were the Greeks, who settled the walled fortress…

Mycenaean

(838 words)

Author(s): Plath, Robert (Erlangen)
[German version] Mycenaean is the term for the form of Greek occurring in Late Bronze Age ( c. 1420-1180 BC) texts written in Linear B. This syllabic script (Greece, systems of writing) is suited only to a limited extent to recording the forms of spoken words: thus the male name e-u-po-ro can be read as / Ehupōlos/Εὔπωλος, / Ehuporos/Εὔπορος, / Ehuphoros/ Εὔφορος or / Ehuphrōn/Εὔφρων. Hence the phonematic translation of Mycenaean syllabic sign sequences is based on often combinatorial consideration of later linguistic material from the 1st millennium BC and …

Mycenaean culture and archaeology

(4,491 words)

Author(s): Hiesel, Gerhard (Freiburg)
A. Definition [German version] 1. History of research The culture of the Late Bronze Age (16th-11th cents. BC) on the Greek mainland is called Mycenaean culture (MC);  it is also the continuation of Minoan palace culture (Minoan culture and archaeology) in the whole area of the Aegean. It was first called thus by H. Schliemann, who rediscovered the lost material culture of early Greece in his excavations at Mycenae in 1876 and at Tiryns. The tripartite chronological system, which was developed by A. Eva…

Mycerinus

(111 words)

Author(s): Seidlmayer, Stephan Johannes (Berlin)
[German version] (Egyptian Mn-kw-R; Hdt. 2,129: Μυκερῖνος/ Mykerînos; Diod. Sic. 1,64 as a variant: Μεγχερῖνος/ Mencherînos; Manetho: Μενχέρης/ Menchérēs). Sixth king of the Egyptian 4th dynasty. Son and second successor of Chefren; ruled for 18 years (between 2500 and 2450 BC). M. built the third and smallest pyramid in Giza. Evidence from the Saitic and Persian periods (7th-5th cents. BC) indicates the restoration of his tomb and the resumption of his cult. Herodotus' extensive account (Hdt. 2,129-134), which…

Mychus

(57 words)

Author(s): Daverio Rocchi, Giovanna (Milan)
[German version] (Μυχός; Mychós). Easternmost harbour of Phocis (Str. 9,2,25; 3,13; the place name refers to the remoteness of the location) below the Helicon on the Gulf of Corinth, probably nearby modern Boulis in the Bay of Zálitzan (neolithic finds). Daverio Rocchi, Giovanna (Milan) Bibliography J.M. Fossey, The Ancient Topography of Eastern Phokis, 1986, 11, 91f.

Myci

(121 words)

Author(s): Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)
[German version] (Μύκοι; Mýkoi). Ethnic group in the Persian empire (Hdt. 3,93; 7,68; Hecat. FGrH 1 F 289) who, together with the Sagartii, Sarangae, Thamanaei, Utii and the island inhabitants of the Persian Gulf, were classed as belonging to the 14th nomos by Herodotus. It is probably correct to assume that they were  the inhabitants of the regions on both sides of the strait of Hormūz, corresponding to the Maciyā, i.e. the inhabitants of Maka, known from Achaemenid inscriptions and reliefs as well as the fortification and treasury ta…

Myecphorites

(60 words)

Author(s): Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)
[German version] (Μυεκφορίτης; Myekphorítēs). Egyptian district, mentioned only in Hdt. 2,166, located on an ‘island’ (surrounded by arms of the Nile or canals) across from Bubastis and inhabited by Calasirieis. The etymology of the name is unclear, it may mean the 20th district of lower Egypt. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) Bibliography A.B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II, Comm. 99-182, 1988, 195.

Myesis

(354 words)

Author(s): Heinze, Theodor (Geneva)
[German version] (μύησις/ mýēsis, Lat. initiatio). Myesis is the initiation into a mystery (μυστήρια/ mystḗria, Lat. initia) whereby the candidate for initiation became a μύστης ( mýstēs, Lat. initiatus, initiated). As an additional rank the initiated could later attain the epopteía . As nomen actionis for the verb μυέω/ myéō (‘I initiate’; lat. initiare), which is considered a causativum to μύω/ mýō (‘I close [lips/eyes]’), myesis semantically presupposes the term mýstēs, which, like mystḗria, is not derived from myéō but rather from mýō [1; 7. 414f.]. This derivation, which…

Mygdon

(131 words)

Author(s): Frey, Alexandra (Basle)
(Μύγδων; Mýgdōn). [German version] [1] King of the Bebrycians King of the Bebrycians, brother of Amycus [1]; killed by Heracles when he attacked Heracles' host, Lycus [5]. After M.'s death, Heracles gives Lycus a large part of the land of the Bebrycians, which is renamed Herakleia (Apollod. 2,100). Frey, Alexandra (Basle) [German version] [2] Ruler of the Phrygians Along with Otreus, M. rules over the Phrygians at the Sangarius river. These Phrygians are also called Mygdonians, after M. (Paus. 10,27,1; schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2,786f.). Priamus aids them in…

Mygdones

(147 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] (Μυγδόνες; Mugdónes). Thracian inhabitants of the Mygdonia [1] region (Μυγδονία/ Mygdonía; Macedonia) between the lower Axios, the Gulf of Thermae, the Bolbe and the Kruša and Bogdanska mountains in the east (Hdt. 7,123f.; 127; Strab. 7a,1,11; 36). At the time of Herodotus (5th cent. BC) it was home to groups of Paeones, Sitones and Crestones; according to Thucydides 2,99,4 the Edones were expelled from Mygdonia by the Macedonian kings (after 479 BC? [4. 15]), at the time of Strabo it was i…

Mygdonia

(367 words)

Author(s): Schwertheim, Elmar (Münster) | Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)
(Μυγδονία; Mygdonía). [German version] [1] Region in northwestern Asia Minor Region in northwestern Asia Minor whose name is derived from the Thracian Mygdones who, like the Doliones and the Mysi (Mysia), migrated to the northwestern part of Asia Minor in the 12th cent. BC. The area in which they settled was bordered at the northwest by the Dascylitis (Δασκυλῖτις, now Kuş Gölü), at the northeast by Apameia [1]; in the southwest their settlements reached to the Mysian Olympus [13] (modern-day Uludağ), in t…

Myia

(115 words)

Author(s): Riedweg, Christoph (Zürich)
[German version] (Μυῖα; Myîa). Daughter of Pythagoras and Theano, according to Porph. Vita Pythagorica 4 (cf. Anon. Photii p. 237,16 Thesleff = Phot. Bibl. 249, VII p. 126,31 Henry; Suda s.v. M.), according to Iambl. VP 267 wife of Milon [2] of Croton. Perhaps she is the one referred to in Timaeus' report (FGrH 566 F 131 = Porph. ibid.) that Pythagoras' daughter, as a maiden, was the leader of the maidens in Croton, and as a woman she led the women. A pseudepigraphic letter to Phyllis regarding the proper choice of a nurse is found in [1]. Riedweg, Christoph (Zürich) Bibliography 1 A. Städele, D…

Myiager, Myiodes

(192 words)

Author(s): Auffarth, Christoph (Tübingen)
[German version] (Μυίαγρος/ Muíagros, Μυιώδης/ Muiṓdēs). Sacrifices attract flies. In order to drive them away, those offering a sacrifice would provide a preliminary sacrifice (with an additive?), the blood of which would satisfy the gnats (according to Ael. NA 5,17 for Leucas; 11,8). In the half-empty town of Alipheira the help of the ‘gnat-chaser’ Myiager was called upon (Paus. 8,26,7). In Olympia, on the malaria plain, similar protection was provided  by sacrifices to Zeus Apómyios, the ‘fly repeller’ (Paus. 5,14,1; Plin. HN 10,75; 29,106), or Myiakórēs/ Myiṓdēs (‘fly catche…

Mykonos

(344 words)

Author(s): Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart)
[German version] (Μύκονος; Mýkonos). Island in the  Cyclades (Plin. HN 4,66) with an area of 88 km2, barren, rocky, poor in water, hilly, but without very high mountains (the highest elevation amounts to just 390 m). The earliest settlement was in the late Neolithic (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC; Bay of Panormos in the north). An early Cycladic settlement (after 2600 BC) was on the peninsula of Anavolousa in the southwest. There were two urban centres on M. (Skyl. 58; cf. Syll.3 1024): near Palaiokastro to the southeast of the Bay of Panormos (from the middle of the B…

Mylae

(512 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) | Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) | Falco, Giulia (Athens)
[German version] [1] Town in southern Perrhaebia (Μύλαι; Mýlai). Town in southern Perrhaebia ( Perrhaebi) between Chyretiae und Phalanna, mentioned in literature only about the year 171 BC, when it was captured and plundered by Perseus after a long resistance (Liv. 42,54,1ff.). Starting from the evidence in Livy, M. has been located in a citadel's ruins - the walls had been restored during the Byzantine period - on a steep hill above the Xerias (= Titaresius) near present Damasion, where also inscriptions attributed to M. have been discovered (IG IX 2, 332-337; [1]). Kramolisch, Herwig …

Mylas

(53 words)

Author(s): Antoni, Silke (Kiel)
[German version] (Μύλας; Mýlas). One of the Telchines. Inventor of the mill (according to Paus. 3,20,2 the Laconian King Myles), founder of the cult of the Mylánteioi theoí in Cameirus on Rhodes, and eponym of the promontory of Mylantia near Cameirus (Hesych. s.v. Μ.; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μυλαντία). Antoni, Silke (Kiel)

Mylasa

(878 words)

Author(s): Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Diadochi and Epigoni | Pergamum | Persian Wars | Pompeius | Delian League | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (τὰ Μύλασα; tà Mýlasa). Main locality of the Cares in the land of Caria, modern Milâs. Place name pre-Greek, ancient cults of Carian Zeus in M. and environs (Hdt. 1,171; Str. 14,2,23). M. participated in the Ionian Revolt under the Carian Heraclides (the son of Ibanollis, tyrant of M.; Hdt. 5,37,121). In the middle of the 5th cent. BC, M. was a membe…

Myle

(4 words)

see Mills

Mylissa, Mylitta

(118 words)

Author(s): Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen)
[German version] (Μυλίσσα/ Mylíssa, Μυλίττα/ Mylítta). Hdt. 1,131 reports on prostitution in Babylon in conjunction with the cult of M., the Babylonian Aphrodite, in which every unmarried Babylonian woman supposedly had to participate. This was the cult of the Babylonian goddess Mulliltu/Mullittu (Assyrian Mulissu; Aramaic mlsṯ; older reading Ninlil), the wife of Enlil (see [2] for earlier evidence from Babylonia). Hsch. also cites M. In Nicolaus of Damascus (FGrH 2, 332 F 4) she is encountered as Molís (Μολίς). In late antique Mandaic incantations she appears as Mulit. Kessler, Ka…

Mylleas

(46 words)

Author(s): Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)
[German version] (Μυλλέας; Mylléas). Son of  Zoilus from Beroea [1]. In 326 BC he was one of the trierarchs of  Alexander  [4] the Great's Indus fleet (Arr. Ind. 18,6). M.'s son Alexander was granted citizenship in Athens  (IG II/III2 710). Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)

Myllenas

(59 words)

Author(s): Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)
[German version] (Μυλλένας; Myllénas). Scribe of Alexander [4] the Great, was to lead lightly armed infantry along by-ways to the summit of the Aornus [2] (Curt. 8,11,5: Mullinus). The enterprise failed. He is probably the Macedonian M., son of Asander, who was accorded the proxenía with privileges in Eretria (IG XII 9, 197). Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)

Myllias

(141 words)

Author(s): Riedweg, Christoph (Zürich)
[German version] (Μυλλίας/ Myllías). Pythagorean from Croton. It is said that he was reminded by Pythagoras of an earlier incarnation as Midas, son of the Phrygian king Gordius [1], and then went to Asia Minor to carry out rituals at Gordius's grave as ordered by Pythagoras (Aristot. fr. 191 Rose = 174 Gigon = Ael. VH 4,17 and Iambl. v.P. 143). The name M. is also found in a horror story by Neanthes FGrH 84 F 31 (= Iambl. VP 192-194), in which Dionysius [2] II (or I according to [1]) uses torture i…

Myllus

(120 words)

Author(s): Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen)
[German version] Said to be an early Attic writer of comedies (neither names of plays nor fragments have been preserved), considered variously a contemporary of Euetes [2] and Euxenides in the time of Epicharmus [1. test. 1], or of Susarion and Magnes [3] [1. test. 2]; elsewhere an actor M. is mentioned who supposedly used masks dyed with minium [1. test. 5]. Perhaps M. owes his existence only to a verse by Cratinus [1] (fr. 96 K.-A.) that seems to concern a comic figure (comparable to Maison?) wh…

Mylos

(4 words)

see Mills

Myndus

(497 words)

Author(s): Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg)
[German version] (Μύνδος; Mýndos). City in southwestern Asia Minor on the western coast of the peninsula stretching from  Halicarnassus to M., modern Gümüşlük. Its predecessor was a fortified highland settlement of the Leleges (Old ‘M.’, Plin. HN 5,107) on Mount Boz (3.5 km to the south). In the 5th cent. BC, M. was a member of the Delian League. In about 360, the town was abandoned or relocated to a harbour protected by foothills. The refoundation, probably under  Maussollus, was simultaneously connected with a synoikismós of six settlements around Halicar…

Mynes

(84 words)

Author(s): Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)
(Μύνης; Mýnēs). [German version] [1] Ruler of a city in the Troad Mythological ruler of a city in the Troad, during the destruction of which the husband of Briseis was killed by  Achilles (Hom. Il. 19,296). He is probably identical with the son of Euenus, the brother of Epistrophus (Hom. Il. 2,692). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Progenitor of the Attic dynasty Mythological progenitor of the Attic dynasty, father of Pedias, the wife of king Cranaus (Apollod. 3,186). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

Myonia

(288 words)

Author(s): Daverio Rocchi, Giovanna (Milan)
[German version] (Μυονία/ Myonía, Μυάνη/ Myánē, Μυών/ Myṓn). One of the four towns in Locris (Locri, Locris [1]) (Paus. 10,38,8; Plin. HN 4,8: Myania), about 30 stadia ( c. 5,7 km) north of Amphissa, from where it is possible only with difficulty to reach Locris (Thuc. 3,101,2; Steph. Byz. see Μ., here also Μυών; Herodian. 3,1,22; 3,1,297), exact location uncertain; there is discussion about Hagia Efthymia [1. 79], Seghditsa (present-day Pavliani) on the eastern slope of Ghiona [2. 380], Topolia (present-day Elaion) with r…

Myonnesus

(58 words)

Author(s): Külzer, Andreas (Vienna)
[German version] (Μυόννησος; Myónnēsos). Small island shaped like a mouse (μῦς/ mŷs Greek = ‘mouse’, hence the name) in the Diaulos Oreon (straits between Euboea and the coast of Achaea Phthiotis), south west of Antron, modern Agios Nikolaos (Str. 9,5,14). Külzer, Andreas (Vienna) Bibliography F. Stählin, Das hellenistische Thessalien, 1924, 182  Id., s.v. M. (1), RE 16, 1080.

Myos Hormos

(105 words)

Author(s): Felber, Heinz (Leipzig)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Commerce | India, trade with | Egypt (Μυὸς Ὅρμος/ Muòs Hórmos, Egyptian Dww). Port on the Red Sea, modern Quṣar. Only Ptol. 4,5,8 refers to this port as Leukos limen, probably the result of a misidentification [1]. From the 1st cent. AD onwards, its links with the port city of Berenice [9] gained in importance. Remains of mostly sacral buildings in situ date back to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Felber, Heinz (Leipzig) Bibliography 1 A.Bülow-Jacobsen, H. Cuvigny, J.-L. Fournet, The Identification of Myos Hormo…

Myra

(476 words)

Author(s): Zimmermann, Martin (Tübingen)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Byzantium | | Asia Minor | Lycii, Lycia | Natural catastrophes | Pilgrimage | Pompeius | Education / Culture (Μύρα; Mýra). Since classical times, at the latest (5th cent. BC), M. was an inhabited polis (city-state) in Lycia (castle; Lycian inscription TAM 1,85-97; Lycii, with map), 20 km to the west of present-day Finike. In the 3rd cent. BC, M. became one of the six most important Lycian poleis thanks to a fertile plain and a port (Str. 14,3,3). In the 2nd cent. BC, M. minted both polis coins and the district coins of th…

Myrae

(53 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim)
[German version] (Μύραι/ Mýrai, Scyl. 65; or to be corrected to Εὐρέα[ι]/ Euréa[i]? Cf. [1]). Town in the north of the peninsula of Magnesia [1], south of Homole, location unknown. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Bibliography     1 J.A.W. Warren, Two Notes on Thessalian Coins, in: NC 7,1, 1961, 1-8. F. Stählin, s.v. M., RE 16, 1089.

Myrcinus

(163 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Macedonia, Macedones (Μύρκινος; Mýrkinos). Edonian settlement (Edones), later Greek polis, east of the lower Strymon; both its ancient and its modern name is M. (Str. 7a,1,33). In 513 BC, Darius [1] gave M. to Histiaeus [1] who expanded and fortified the town. After the collapse of the Ionian Revolt,   Aristagoras [3] led more colonists to M.; after his death (497 BC), the Edonians regained M.  (Hdt. 5,11; 124ff.; Thuc. 4,102,2). In 423 BC, after …

Myriandrus

(147 words)

Author(s): Sayar, Mustafa H. (Cologne) | Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Μυρίανδρος; Myríandros). Settlement on the shores of the Gulf of Issus (Str. 14,5,19). Its exact localization is not yet established, possibly 80 stades ( c. 15 km) south of Alexandria [3] (Stadiasmus maris magni 157), the location of the ruins of Adatepe [1. 363]. The place name is of Anatolian origin ( Myriandos; cf.  Hdt. 4,38), later Graecisized (M. = ‘Town of 1,000 men’). Xen. An. 1,4,6 described M. as a Phoenician  emporion (‘trading station’, cf also Scyl. 102). M. probably lo…

Myrina

(670 words)

Author(s): Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) | Külzer, Andreas (Vienna) | Schwertheim, Elmar (Münster)
(Μύρινα; Mýrina). [German version] [1] Amazon Amazon (Dionysius Chalcidensis FHG 4 F 2), daughter of Cretheus, wife of Thoas (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,601); eponym of the city of the same name (M. [3]) on Lemnos (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 138c). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Teucer Daughter of Teucer, wife of Dardanus [1], first mentioned in Hom. Il. 2,814; her burial mound was displayed outside Troy as Batieia (Strab. 12,8,6). She was regarded as an Amazon in ancient times. Extensive raids are mentioned in Diod. 3,54f. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [3] City in southw…

Myrinus

(91 words)

Author(s): Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna)
[German version] (Μυρῖνος; Myrȋnos). Elegant epigrammatic poet in the ‘Garland’ of Philippus. Four poems are extant, showing him as a skillful imitator of Leonidas [3] of Tarentum; however, he also displayed an independent creativity, in a satirical setting (Anth. Pal. 6,254: a dedication to Priapus by a hermaphrodite frail with age; 11,67: against an old woman behaving like a child) as well as in an idyllic-pastoral one (ibd. 6,108 and 7,703; the latter poem is erroneously placed amongst the epitaphs). Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) Bibliography GA II.1, 286-289; 2, 319-322.

Myrmecides

(94 words)

Author(s): Neudecker, Richard (Rome)
[German version] (Μυρμηκίδης; Myrmēkídēs). Sculptor in marble and toreutics . His creative period is not known, it probably lay in the 6th cent. BC. Mostly named in conjunction with Callicrates [2], he had a legendary reputation for producing microscopically small works in marble, iron and ivory. There are descriptions of a quadriga small enough to fit under the wings of a fly, a ship the size of a bee and a sesame seed enscripted with Homeric verses. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Overbeck, No. 293, 2168, 2192-2201  P. Mingazzini, s.v. M., EAA 5, 1963, 313-314.

Myrmecium

(235 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Patricius (Μυρμήκιον; Myrmḗkion). Harbour town on the European shore of the Bosporus [2] on Cape M. (Μ. ἄκρον; M. ákron), founded in the second quarter of the 6th cent. BC. It is uncertain whether M. had been an autonomous Ionian colony or a foundation by Panticapaeum (Ps.-Scyl. 68; Str. 7,4,5).  It is located close to the modern Karantinnaya. Quite early on, M. joined the  Bosporan League, led by Panticapaeum. M. experienced its greatest prosperity in the Hellen…

Myrmex

(177 words)

Author(s): Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen)
(Μύρμηξ; Mýrmēx). [German version] [1] Father of the eponymous heroine of the Attican deme of Melite According to Philochorus FGrH 328 F 27 and Hes. fr. 225 M.-W. (= Harpocr. 202,7 Dindorf) he was the father of the eponymous heroine of the Attican deme of Melite. The legend of the Athenians' futile war against the máchimoi mýrmēkes (‘embattled ants’; Eubulus, Glaucus PCG V fr. 20) who guarded the gold dust on Mt. Hymettus, is likewise set in Attica and probably related to this myth. It became proverbial (Pl. Plt. 450b; Harpocr. 308,6 Dindorf). Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [German version] [2]…

Myrmidon

(122 words)

Author(s): Frey, Alexandra (Basle) | Ameling, Walter (Jena)
(Μυρμιδών/ Myrmidṓn, ‘ant’). [German version] [1] Progenitor of the Myrmidones Eponymous progenitor of the Homeric people of the Myrmidones (Hellanikos FHG 1 F 17); son of Eurymedusa, fathered by Zeus in the guise of an ant (Eratosth. In Serv. Aen. 2,7; Clem. Al. Protreptikos 34). With his wife Pisidice, daughter of Aeolus, M. fathered Antiphus and Actor (Apollod. 1,52) as well as the gluttonous Erysichthon (Hellanikos l.c.). Frey, Alexandra (Basle) [German version] [2] Military official under Ptolemy I, 315 BC Athenian, sent in 315 BC by Ptolemy I along with 10,000 soldier…

Myrmidones

(153 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim)
[German version] (Μυρμιδόνες/ Myrmidónes). People who lived in the old Thessalian region of Phthia (the future Achaea Phthiotis). According to Homer they were the subjects of king Peleus (Hom. Il. 21,188f.), and then of king Neoptolemos (Hom. Od. 3,188); as followers of Achilles [1] they took part in the Trojan War with 50 ships (Hom. Il. 2, 683ff.). Their neighbours were the  Hellenes of Hellas (Hom. Il. 9,382; Hom. Od. 11,496). A doubt has recently been raised whether their capital city (on the s…

Myron

(1,023 words)

Author(s): Kinzl, Konrad (Peterborough) | Neudecker, Richard (Rome) | Meister, Klaus (Berlin)
(Μύρων; Mýrōn). [German version] [1] Name of several persons from Sicyon Several persons from Sicyon named M. are mentioned in literature: a) Hdt. 6,126,1: Sicyonian nobleman (7th century BC), son of Andreas, father of Aristonymus, grandfather of the ‘tyrant’ Cleisthenes [1]. b) Paus. 6,19,1f.: the ‘tyrant’ M., victor in the chariot race at Olympia (648 BC), founder of the Sicyonian treasure house (thesauros) at Olympia. c) Nicolas of Damascus, FGrH 90 F 61: one of the three tyrant brothers descended from Orthagoras (evil M., good Isodemus, cunning Cleisthenes) from the ‘ Orthagorides…

Myronides

(300 words)

Author(s): Stein-Hölkeskamp, Elke (Cologne)
(Μυρωνίδης; Myrōnídēs). [German version] [1] Athenian strategos, 479/478 BC Athenian, member of the legation that went to Sparta in 480/479 BC to demand the immediate departure of the Peloponnesian army. In 479/478 M., as one of the strategoi led the contingent at  Plataeae (Plut. Aristeides 10,10; 20,1). Nothing is known about the lineage of M. However, the fact that he was part of the legation of 480/479 and that eleven ostraka with his name were found at the Kerameikos would indicate that he had already enjoyed great personal prestige and political influence earlier on. Persian Wars Ste…

Myrrh

(265 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (μύρρα/ mýrrha, σμύρνα/ smýrna or σμύρνη/ smýrnē as a loan word from the Semitic; Latin murra, murrha, myrrha). The aromatic resin of the true myrrh tree Commiphora abyssinica Engl., which grows to an altitude of 300 to 2000 metres, is imported from Southern Arabia, Eritrea and Northern Abyssinia and obtained by tapping young branches. When heated, it gives off a pleasant aroma that has been prized since time immemorial by the peoples of the Southeastern Mediterranean region (cf. for example Prov. 7,17; HL 1,12 et passim; Mt 2,11). Theophr. H. plant. 9,4,2-9 provi…

Myrrha

(212 words)

Author(s): Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich)
[German version] (Μύρρα; Mýrrha). Daughter of the Cyprian king Cinyras and Cenchreis or of the Assyrian king Theias. The gods' anger causes her to fall in love with her father. She is able to have sexual intercourse with him without being recognized, and becomes pregnant. When he recognizes her he tries to kill her; Zeus or Aphrodite takes pity on her and transforms her into a tree; her tears are the resin of the myrrh tree. Later Adonis is born from that tree (Apollod. 3,183f. = Panyassis fr. 27 B…

Myrrhine

(81 words)

Author(s): Kinzl, Konrad (Peterborough)
[German version] (Μυρρίνη/ Murrhínē). Athenian noblewoman, daughter of Callias [2], mother of five children by Hippias [1] (Thuc. 6,55,1). Born probably no later than 570 BC; year of death and other information unknown; object of ridicule in Aristophanes (Equ. 449). Added by Jacoby to the text of Cleidemus (FGrH 323 F 15) as the daughter of Charmus, the polemarch of c. 557/6 (regarding this and other entanglements [1. 450]). Myrtle; Peisistratus; Peisistratids Kinzl, Konrad (Peterborough) Bibliography 1 Davies 2 PA 10485 3 Traill, PAA, 662355.

Myrrhinus

(176 words)

Author(s): Lohmann, Hans (Bochum)
[German version] (Μυρρινοῦς/ Murrhinoûs). Attic paralia deme of the phyle of Pandionis, six (eight) bouleutaí, near modern Merenda. Significant archaeological finds [1; 2; 4]; an incomplete ancient fortification on the Merenda [3]. Two decrees on demes from Myrrhinus (IG II2 1182, 1183) are significant for research on the internal organization of dḗmoi. Apart from a theatre (IG II2 1182, Z. 2-4), they attest to cults of Zeus (IG II2 1183, Z. 32-36), Artemis Colaenis (IG II2 1182 ,Z. 19-21; Paus. 1,31,4; schol. Aristoph. Av. 873) and rural Dionysia (IG II2 1183, l. 36-37). Aristion [2] Loh…
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