A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

148 AMPHIAPRAUS.
hood, and the blunders committed so numerous,
that it cannot be used with safety for reference.
The style, where it is not a mere catalogue of
names, is simple and unaffected, but both in the
construction of the sentences and in the use of
particular words, we can detect many traces of
corrupted latinity. The commentaries and criticisms of Salmasius, Muretus, Freinsheim, Heinsius, Perizonius and other scholars will be found
in the edition of Duker at the end of his Florus.
(Lug. Bat. 1722-1744, and reprinted at Leips.
1832.) Ampelius was first published in a separate
form, with very useful prolegomena, by Tzschucke
(Leips. 1793), and subsequently by Pockwitz
(Liinenb. 1823), and F. A. Beck. (Leips.
1826.) [W. R.]
AMPHIANAX ('AppLdcvae), a king of Lycia.
When Proetus was expelled from Argos by his
twin-brother Acrisius, Amphianax received him at
his court, gave him his daughter Anteia (some call
her Stheneboea) in marriage, and afterwards led
him back to Argolis, where his share in the government and Tiryns were restored to him. Some
traditions called this Lycian king lobates. (Apollod. ii. 2. ~ 1; Hom. 11. vi. 157, &c.) [L. S.]
AMPIIIA'NUS, a Greek tragic poet at Alexandria. (Schol. ad German. Arat. 332, p. 78, ed.
Buhl.)
AMPHIARAI'DES, a patronymic from Amphiaraus, by which Ovid (Fast. ii. 43) calls his
son Alcmaeon. [L. S.]
AMPHIARA'US ('A1tctdpaos), a son of Oicles
and IIypermnestra, the daughter of Thestius.
(Hom. Od. xv. 244; Apollod. i. 8. ~ 2; Hygin.
Fab. 73; Paus. ii. 21. ~ 2.) On his father's side
he was descended from the famous seer Melampus.
(Paus. vi. 17. ~ 4.) Some traditions represented
him as a son of Apollo by Hypermnestra, which,
however, is merely a poetical expression to describe him as a seer and prophet. (Hygin. Fab.
70.) Amphiaraus is renowned in ancient story as
a brave hero: he is mentioned among the hunters
of the Calydonian boar, which he is said to have
deprived of one eye, and also as one of the Argonauts. (Apollod. i. 8. ~ 2, 9. ~ 16.) For a time
lie reigned at Argos in common with Adrastus;
but, in a feud which broke out between them,
Adrastus took to flight. Afterwards, however, he
became reconciled with Amphiaraus, and gave him
his sister Eriphyle in marriage [ADRASTUS], by
whom Amphiaraus became the father of Alcmaeon,
Amphilochus, Eurydice, and Demonassa. On
marrying Eriphyle, Amphiaraus had sworn, that
he would abide by the decision of Eriphyle on any
point in which he should differ in opinion from
Adrastus. When, therefore, the latter called upon
him to join the expedition of the Seven against
Thebes, Amphiaraus, although he foresaw its unfortunate issue and at first refused to take any
part in it, was nevertheless persuaded by his wife
to join his friends, for Eriphyle had been enticed
to induce her husband by the necklace of Harmonia
which Polyneices had given her. Amphiaraus on
leaving Argos enjoined his sons to avenge his
death on their. heartless mother. (Apollod. iii. 6.
~ 2; Hygin. Fab. 73; Diod. iv. 65; Hom. Od.
xv. 247, &c.) On their way to Thebes the heroes
instituted the Nemean games, and Amphiaraus
won the victory in the chariot-race and in throwing
the discus. (Apollod. iii. 6. ~ 4.) During the
war against Thebes, Amphiaraus fought bravely

AMPHICRATES.
(Pind. 01. vi. 26, &c.), but still he could not suppress his anger at the whole undertaking, and
when Tydeus, whom he regarded as the originator
of the expedition, was severely wounded by Melanippus, and Athena was hastening to render him
immortal, Amphiaraus cut off the head of Melanippus, who had in the mean time been slain, and
gave Tydeus his brains to drink, and Athena, struck
with horror at the sight, withdrew. (Apollod. iii.
6. ~ 8.) When Adrastus and Amphiaraus were
the only heroes who survived, the latter was pursued by Periclymenus, and fled towards the river
Ismenius. Here the earth opened before he was
overtaken by his enemy, and swallowed up Amphiaraus together with his chariot, but Zeus made
him immortal. (Pind. Nem. ix. 57, 01. vi. 21,
&c.; Plut. Parall. 6; Cic. de Divn. i. 40.)
Henceforth Amphiaraus was worshipped as a hero,
first at Oropus and afterwards in all Greece.
(Paus. i. 34. ~ 2; Liv. xlv. 27.) He had a sanctuary at Argos (Paus. ii. 23. ~ 2), a statue at
Athens (i. 8. ~ 3), and a heroum at Sparta.
(Muller, Orcsiom. pp. 146, 486.) The departure
of Amphiaraus from his home when he went to
Thebes, was represented on the chest of Cypselus.
(Paus. v. 17. ~ 4.) Respecting some extant works
of art, of which Amphiaraus is the subject, see
Griineisen, Die alt gricchische Bronze des T ix'sclen
Kabinets in Tubingen, Stuttg. and Tiibing. 1835.
The prophetic power, which Amphiaraus was
believed to possess, was accounted for by his descent from Melampus or Apollo, though there was
also a local tradition at Phlins, according to which
he had acquired them in a night which he spent in
the prophetic house (olioss iavwrlKs) of Phlius.
(Paus. ii. 13. ~ 6; comp. i. 34. ~ 3.) He was,
like all seers, a favourite of Zeus and Apollo.
(Hom. Od. xv. 245.) Respecting the oracle of
Amphiaraus see Dict. of Ant. s.v. Oraculam. It
should be remarked here, that Virgil (Aen. vii. 671)
mentions three Greek heroes as contemporaries of
Aeneas, viz. Tiburtus, Catillus, and Coras, the first
of whom was believed to be the founder of Tibur,
and is described by Pliny (H. N. xvi. 87) as a son
of Amphiaraus. [L. S.]
AMPHICLEIA ('Aplfi"cXhea), the daughter of
Ariston, and the wife of the son of lamblichus, received instruction in philosophy from Plotinus.
(Porphyr. vit. Plotin. c. 9.)
AMPHI'CRATES ('Awpiucpcdrs), king of Samos in ancient times, in whose reign the Samians
invaded Aegina. (Herod. iii. 59.)
AMPHICRATES ('AQPlacpdrssT), a Greek
sophist and rhetorician of Athens. Ile was a
contemporary of Tigranes (B. c. 70), and being
exiled (we know not for what reason) from Athens,
he went to Seleuceia on the Tigris. The inhabitants
of this place requested him to teach rhetoric in
their city, but he haughtily refused, saying, that
the vessel was too small to contain a dolphin. He
then went to Cleopatra, the daughter of Mithridates, who was married to Tigranes, and who
seems to have become attached to him. Amphicrates soon drew suspicions upon himself, and was
forbidden to have any intercourse with the Greeks,
whereupon he starved himself to death. (Plut.
Lucull. 22.) Longinus (de Sublinm. p. 54, ed. Toup)
mentions him along with Hegesias and Matris,
and censures him for his affectation of sublimity.
Whether he is the same person as the Amphicrates
who wrote a work on celebrated men (irepi ivdo5wv