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

152 AMPHJITRITE.
AMPHISTRATUS ('APf.nr'paros) and his
brother Rhecas were the charioteers of the Dioscuri. They were believed to have taken part in
the expedition of Jason to Colchis, and to have occupied a part of that country which was called
after them Heniochia, as sjvioxos signifies a
charioteer. (Strab. xi. p. 495 Justin. xlii. 3.)
Pliny (H. N. vi. 5) calls them Amphitus and Thelchius. (Comp. Mela, i. 19. ~ 110; Isidor. Orig.
xv. 1; Ammian. Marcellin. xxii. 8.) [L. S.]
AMPHI'STRATUS ('A.UporpaTros), a Greek
sculptor, flourished about B. c. 324. From the
notices of two of his works by Pliny (xxxvi. 4.
~ 10) and Tatian (Orat. in Graec. 52, p. 114,
Worth.), it is supposed that most of his statues
were cast in bronze, and that many of them were
likenesses. [P. S.]
AMPHI'THEMIS ('APuOlEius), a son of
Apollo and Acacallis, who became the father of
Nasamon and Caphaurus, or Cephalion, by the
nymph Tritonis. (Hygin. Fab. 14; Apollon.
Rhod. iv. 1494.) [L. S.]
AMPHITRI'TE ('AstquTp"il), according to
tlesiod (Theog. 243) and Apollodorus (i. 2. ~ 7)
a Nereid, though in other places Apollodorus (i. 2.
~ 2, i. 4. ~ 6) calls her an Oceanid. She is represented as the wife of Poseidon and the goddess of
the sea (the Mediterranean), and she is therefore
a kind of female Poseidon. In the Homeric
poems she does not occur as a goddess, and Amphitrite is merely the name of the sea. The most
ancient passages in which she occurs as a real
goddess is that of Hesiod above referred to and
the Homeric hymn on the Delian Apollo (94),
where she is represented as having been present at the birth of Apollo. When Poseidon
sued for her hand, she fled to Atlas, but her
lover sent spies after her, and among them one
Delphinus, who brought about the marriage between her and Poseidon, and the grateful god
rewarded his service by placing him among the
stars. (Eratosth. Catast. 31; Hygin. Poet. Astr.
ii. 17.) When afterwards Poseidon shewed some
attachment to Scylla, Amphitrite's jealousy was
excited to such a degree, that she threw some
magic herbs into the well in which Scylla used to
bathe, and thereby changed her rival into a monster
with six heads and twelve feet. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph.
45, 649.) She became by Poseidon the mother of
Triton, Rhode, or Rhodes, and Benthesicyme.
(Hesiod. Tlheog. 930, &c.; Apollod. i. 4. ~ 6; iii.
15. ~ 4.) Later poets regard Amphitrite as the
goddess of the sea in general, or the ocean. (Eurip.
(ycl. 702; Ov. Met. i. 14.) Amphitrite was frequently represented in ancient works of art; her
figure resembled that of Aphrodite, but she was
usually distinguished from her by a sort of net
which kept her hair together, and by the claws of
a crab on her forehead. She was sometimes represented as riding on marine animals, and sometimes as drawn by them. The temple of Poseidon
on the Corinthian isthmus contained a statue of
Amphitrite (Paus. ii. 1. ~ 7), and her figure appeared among the relief ornaments of the temple of
Apollo at Amyclae (iii. 19. ~ 4), on the throne of
the Olympian Zeus, and in other places. (v. 2. ~ 3,
comp. i. 17. ~ 3, v. 26. ~ 2.) We still possess a
considerable number of representations of Amphitrite. A colossal statue of her exists in the Villa
Albani, and she frequently appears on coins of
Syracuse, The most beautiful specimen extant is

AMPHITRYON.
that on the arch of Augustus at Rimini. (Winckehnann, Alto Denkm'iler, i. 36; HIirt, Myithol.
Bilderbuch, ii. p. 159.) [L. S.]
AMPHITRYON or AMPHI'TRUO ('Auqmrpovwv), a son of Alcaeus, king of Troezen, by
Hipponome, the daughter of Menoeceus. (Apollod.
ii. 4. ~ 5.) Pausanias (viii. 14. ~ 2) calls his
mother Laonome. While Electryon, the brother
of Alcaeus, was reigning at Mycenae, the sons of
Pterelaus together with the Taphians invaded his
territory, demanded the surrender of the kingdom,
and drove away his oxen. The sons of Electryon
entered upon a contest with the sons of Pterelaus,
but the combatants on both sides all fell, so that
Electryon had only one son, Licymnius, left, and
Pterelaus likewise only one, Eueres. The Taphians, however, escaped with the oxen, which
they entrusted to Polyxenus, king of the Eleans.
Thence they were afterwards brought back to
Mycenae by Amphitryon after he had paid a
ransom. Electryon now resolved upon avenging
the death of his sons, and to make war upon the
Taphians. During his absence he entrusted his
kingdom and his daughter Alcmene to Amphitryon,
on condition that he should not marry her till
after his return from the war. Amphitryon now
restored to Electryon the oxen he had brought
back to Mycenae; one of them turned wild, and
as Amphitryon attempted to strike it with his
club, he accidentally hit the head of Electryon mnd
killed him on the spot. Sthenelus, the brother of
Electryon, availed himself of this opportunity for
the purpose of expelling Amphitryon, who together
with Alcmene and Licymnius went to Thebes.
Here he was purified by Creon, his uncle. In
order to win the hand of Alcmene, Amphitryon
prepared to avenge the death of Alcmene's brothers
on the Taphians (Teleboans), and requested Creon
to assist him in his enterprise, which the latter
promised on condition that Amphitryon should deliver the Cadmean country from a wild fox whichl
was making great havoc there. But'as it was
decreed by fate that this fox should not be overtaken by any one, Amphitryon went to Cephalus
of Athens, who possessed a famous dog, which,
according to another decree of fate, overtook every
animal it pursued. Cephalus was induced to lend
Amphitryon his dog on condition that he should
receive a part of the spoils of the expedition against
the Taphians. Now when the dog was hunting
the fox, Fate got out of its dilemma by Zeus
changing the two animals into stone. Assisted by
Cephalus, Panopeus, Heleius, and Creon, Amphitryon now attacked and ravaged the islands of the
Taphians, but could not subdue them so long as
Pterelaiis lived. This chief had on his head one
golden hair, the gift of Poseidon, which rendered
him immortal. His daughter Comaetho, who was
in love with Amphitryon, cut off this hair, and
after Pterelaus had died in consequence, Amphitryon took possession of the islands; and having
put to death Comaetho, and given the islands to
Cephalus and Heleius, he returned to Thebes with
his spoils, out of which he dedicated a tripod to
Apollo Ismenius. (Apollod. ii. 4. ~ 6, 7; Paus.
ix. 10. ~ 4; Herod. v. 9.) Respecting the amour
of Zeus with Alcmene during the absence of Amphitryon see ALCMENE. Amphitryon fell in a war
against Erginus, king of the Minyans, in which
he and Heracles delivered Thebes from the tribute
which the city had to pay to Erginus as an atone