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(Ἀμφιδάμας; Amphidámas). [German version] [1] Hero from Tegea in Arcadia Hero from Tegea in Arcadia, son of Aleus, brother of Lycurgus son of Cepheus and Auge (Paus. 8,4,8), one of the Argonauts (Apoll. Rhod. 1,161; 2,1046). In Apollod. 3,105 he is not the brother, but the son of Lycurgus, and his children are Melanion ( Atalante) and Antimache, wife of Eurystheus. Deviating genealogies in the Homeric scholia  Aphidas. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Opuntic Locrian Opuntic Locrian. Patroclus killed his son during an astragalos game and sought protection from Pe…

[German version] (Αὐτονόη; Autonóē). Daughter of  Cadmus and  Harmonia, sister of  Semele,  Agave and Ino ( Leucothea), wife of Aristaeus, mother of  Actaeon (Hes. Theog. 977; Apollod. 3,26; 30; Hyg. Fab. 184). In Euripides' Bacchae she leads a thiasos of Theban Maenads (230; 680; Ov. Met. 3,720). Following the death of her son, she goes to Megara; her tomb is mentioned by Pausanias (1,44,5).…

The Roman god of passage in a topographical, temporal and figurative sense. His name is derived from ianua (‘passage, gate’) and is connected with  Ianiculum. The name refers to the god as well as to the cultically relevant ga…

[German version] (Κινύρας, Kinýras). Mythic founder of the temple of  Aphrodite of Paphus, and progenitor of the priestly family of the Cinyradae, who shared the leadership of the cult together with the Tamiradae family (whose ancestor, the Cilician seer Tamiras, C. had introduced), but later presided alone over the worship and oracle (Tac. Hist. 2,3).…

[English version] The polarity between Apollo and Dionysus and the phenomena linked with these gods was introduced into modern aesthetic discussion by Friederich Nietzsche. Nietzsche understood the ‘duplicity of Apollo and Dionysus’ as a fundamental opposition of Greek aesthetics : An ihre (sc. der Griechen) beiden Kunstgottheiten, Apollo und Dionysus, knüpft sich unsere Erkenntnis, daß in der griech. Welt ein ungeheurer Gegensatz, nach Ursprung und Zielen, zw. der Kunst des Bildners, der apollinischen, und der unbildlichen Kunst der Musik, als der des Dionysus, besteht (‘it i…

[German version] [1] Precious stone According to Theophr. De lapidibus 31 [1.68], a precious stone ( gemma) named after the river of the same name in S…

(Καρμάνωρ; Karmánōr). [German version] [1] Cretan seer A Cretan seer and priest of purification, as such closely connected with  Apollo, the god of ritual purification, and with Delphi, his centre of cult worship. He purifies Apollo and Artemis after the killing of the snake  Python (in Tarrha, Phaestus or Dion on Crete, Paus. 2,30,3; Euseb. Praep. evang. 5,31); in his house Apollo loves the nymph Acacallis who becomes mother of the founding heroes of the Cretan city Elyrus (on the myth of abandonment …

[German version] [1] 9th of the 10 Attic phylae (Αἰαντίς; Aiantís). The 9th of the 10 Attic phylae, dating from the phyle reforms of  Cleisthenes (Hdt. 5,66). Named after the hero  Ajax [1], son of Telamon, king of  Salamis. In the 4th cent. BC it included four …

(Ἀλήτης; Alḗtēs). Suggestive hero's name, ‘Roamer’. [German version] [1] Mythical conqueror of Corinth Son of the Heraclid Hippotes, captures and colonizes Corinth after expelling the descendants of  Sisyphus with help from Melas, an ancestor of  Cypselus (Str. 8,8,5; Konon FGrH 26 F 1,26; Paus. 2,4,3 f; 5,18,8), or he receives the rulership from the Heraclids (Diod. Sic. 7,9,2). His dynasty is replaced by the  Bacchiadae, and in poetry the Corinthians are called Aletidai after him. He won power in Corinth with the help of the Dodona oracle, which told him that he w…

(Ἀφείδας; Apheídas). Suggestive heroic name, ‘not miserly’. [German version] [1] Figure of the Odyssee Son of Polypemon from Alybas, as whose son Eperitus Odysseus passes himself off (Hom. Od. 24,304). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] King of Athens King of Athens, son of Oxyntes; his i…

(Ἄμφιος; Ámphios). [German version] [1] Son of the seer Merops of Percote A. and Adrestus, sons of the seer Merops of Percote, fought in the Trojan war against his will and were slain by Diomedes (Hom. Il. 2,828-834; 11,328-334). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Selagos from Paesus Son of Selagos from Paesus, killed by Telamonian Ajax (Hom. Il. 5,612; Tzetz. Alleg…

I. Theory of myth [German version] A. Definition Despite many attempts, it has proven impossible to arrive at a definition of myth (Gr. μῦθος/ mýthos; Lat. mythos) that would satisfy all disciplines. The most satisfactory one refers to G.S. Kirk and W. Burkert who described myth as a ‘traditional narrative of collective significance’ [1; 2]. Still, this definition fails to fully represent the function of myth in the time after Classical Antiquity, when we find myths in entertaining narratives such as Ovidius's ‘Metamorphoses or Nonnus's …

[German version] ‘Eternity’, personification of duration of political rule. In the imperial period one can swear by the ‘eternal duration’ of the rule of an emperor, likewise invoke his fame or his well-being (Plin. Ep. 10,41,1; 83). The cult of Aeternitas probably begins in the early imperial period in Spain: coins (for instance from Tarraco and Emerita) under Augustus and Tiberius depict a temple with the legend, Aeternitati Augustae [1]. First depictions of the goddess occur under Vespasian, and the first cult reference is a sacrifice of   the Arvales fratres to A. imperii, after the discovery of the Pisonian conspiracy in the year AD 66 [2]; later Pliny swore by the Aeternitas and Salus of Trajan (Epist. 83). The image of A. is represented as standing, or on a cart drawn by lions or elephants. Attributes indicate duration (Phoenix, the snake with tail in its mouth -- Uroborus -- and the longevious elephant), the expected abundance (cornucopia), sovereig…

Name of a Roman Plebeian family from Tusculum (who, as mint masters, liked to place on their coins the Dioscuri, who were particularly revered there, RRC 290, 307, cf. 353), whose members often held the office of praetor; the family did not attain the consulate until the early Imperial period. 1. Republican period [German version] [I 1] F. Legate Legate of the proconsul Q. Servilius Caep…

[German version] (Ἄνδροκλος; Ándroklos). Son of king Codrus of Athens. According to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 155), the leader of the procession of colonists going from there to Ionia; however, according to Hellanicus (FGrH 4 F 125), Neleus, son of Codrus, already has this role. A. expels L…

[German version] (Ἄντικλος; Ántiklos). One of the Greeks in the wooden horse. He wanted to answer Helena, when, near the horse standing on the hill fortress, she was imitating the voices of Greek women. However, Odysseus closed his mouth until Athena had led Helena away (Hom. Od. 4,271-89; Q. Smyrn. 12,317; Apollod. ep. 5,19; Ov. Ib. 567). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Αἴγεστος; Aígestos). Son of Trojan parents who had fled to Sicily; fights with Elymus at Troy and founds Egesta/Segesta after his return (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,52). According to another tradition, son of Sicilian river god   Crimisus and the Trojan nymph Egesta/Segesta (Serv. Aen. 1,550). Virgil recounts in Aen. 5, how A. (whom he calls Acestes) receives Aeneas as a guest.…

Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] A. Terminology (CT) Neither Greek nor Latin had a…

[German version] (Ἄμυρις; Ámyris). From Siris, called ‘the Wise’, father of Damasus, one of the suitors of  Agariste, the mother of Cleisthenes (Hdt. 6,127). The epithet associates him with the general sphere of the pre-philosophical, archaic Tales of Sages [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

[German version] (Ἀμυθάων; Amytháōn). Son of Cretheus and Tyro in Iolcus, broth…