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

APIS. APIS. 227
who was killed by Aetolus during the funeral of his birth, and built a house there in the direcgames celebrated in honour of Azanes. (Paus. v. i. tion towards the rising sun. In this house the
~ 6; AETOLUS.) god was fed with milk for the space of four months,
Apis, the son of Phoroneus, is said, after his and after this, about the time of the new moon,
death, to have been worshipped as a god, under the scribes and prophets prepared a ship sacred to
the name of Serapis (2daparis); and this state- the god, in which he was conveyed to Memphis.
ment shews that Egyptian mythuses are mixed Here he entered his splendid residence, containing
up with the story of Apis. This confusion is still extensive walks and courts for his amusement. A
more manifest in the tradition, that Apis gave his number of the choicest cows, forming as it were
kingdom of Argos to his brother, and went to the harem of the god, were kept in his palace at
Egypt, where he reigned for several years after- Memphis. The account of Diodorus, though on
wards. (Euseb. C kron. n. 271; Augustin, de Civ. the whole agreeing with that of Aelian, contains
Dei, xviii. 5.) Apis is spoken of as one of the some additional particulars of interest. Pliny and
earliest lawgivers among the Greeks. (Theodoret. Ammianus Marcellinus do not mention the god's
Graec. Affect. Cur. vol. iv. p. 927, ed. Schulz.) harem, and state that Apis was only once in every
2. A son of Telchis, and father of Thelxion. year allowed to come in contact with a cow, and
He was king at Sicyon, and is said to have been that this cow was, like the god himself, marked in
such a powerful prince, that previous to the arrival a peculiar way. Apis, moreover, drank the water
of Pelops, Peloponnesus was called after him Apia. of only one particular well in his palace, since the
(Paus. ii. 5. ~ 5.) water of the Nile was believed to be too fattening.
Besides the third Apis, the son of Jason, men- The god had no other occupation at Memphis,
tioned above, there is a fourth, a son of Asclepius, than to receive the services and homage of his
mentioned by Aeschylus. (Suppl. 262.) [L. S.] attendants and worshippers, and to give oracles,
APIS ('A-ms), the Bull of Memphis, which which he did in various ways. According to
enjoyed the highest honours as a god among the Pliny, his temple contained two thalami, and acEgyptians. (Pomp. Mela, i. 9; Aelian, Hist. An. cordingly as he entered the one or the other, it
xi. 10; Lucian, de Sacrif. 15.) He is called the was regarded as a favourable or unfavourable sign.
greatest of gods, and the god of all nations, while Other modes in which oracles were derived from
others regard him more in the light of a symbol of Apis are mentioned in the following passages:
some great divinity; for some authorities state, Lutat. ad Stat. Theb. iii. 478; Diog. Lairt. viii. 9;
that Apis was the bull sacred to the moon, as Paus. vii. 22. ~ 2; Plin., Aelian, Solinus, I. cc.;
Mnevis was the one sacred to the sun. (Suid. s. v.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 14.
Ammian. Marcell. xxii. 14; Aelian, 1. c.; Lutatius, As regards the mode in which Apis was worad Stat. Theb. iii. 478.) According to Macrobius shipped, we know, from Herodotus (ii. 38, 41),
(Sat. i. 21), on the other hand, Apis was regarded that oxen, whose purity was scrupulously examined
as the symbol of the sun. The most common before, were offered to him as sacrifices. His
opinion was, that Apis was sacred to Osiris, in birthday, which was celebrated every year, was
whom the sun was worshipped; and sometimes his most solemn festival; it was a day of rejoicing
Apis is described as the soul of Osiris, or as iden- for all Egypt. The god was allowed to live only
tical with him. (Diod. i. 21; Plut. de Is. et Os. a certain number of years, probably twenty-five.
20, 33, 43; Strab. xvii. p. 807.) (Lucan, Phars. viii. 477; Plut. de Is. et Os. 56.)
In regard to the birth of this divine animal If he had not died before the expiration of that peHerodotus (iii. 28) says, that he was the offspring riod, he was killed and buried in a sacred well, the
of a young cow which was fructified by a ray from place of which was unknown except to the initiated,
heaven, and according to others it was by a ray of and he who betrayed it was severely punished.
the moon that she conceived him. (Suid., Aelian, (Arnob. adv. Gent. vi. p. 194.) If, however, Apis!. cc.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 43.) The signs by which died a natural death, he was buried publicly and
it was recognised that the newly born bull was solemnly, and, as it would seem, in the temple of
neally the god Apis, are described by several of Serapis at Memphis, to which the entrance was;he ancients. According to Herodotus (1. c.; left open at the time of Apis' burial. (Paus. i. 18.:omp. Strab. 1. c.), it was requisite that the animal ~ 4; Clem. Alex. Strom. i. p. 322; Plut. de Is. et
5hould be quite black, have a white square mark Os. 29.) The name Serapis or Sarapis itself is
m the forehead, on its back a figure similar to said to signify "the tomb of Apis." Respecting
hat of an eagle, have two kinds of hair in its the particular ceremonies and rites of the burial,
oail, and on its tongue a knot resembling an insect its expenses, and the miracles which used to acalled tcdvOapos. (Compare Ammian. Marcell. 1. c.; company it, see Diod. i. 84, 96; Plut. 1. c. 29, 35.
5olinus, 32.) Pliny (II. N. viii. 71), who states, As the birth of Apis filled all Egypt with joy and
hat the cantharus was under the tongue, adds, festivities, so his death threw the whole country
hat the right side of the body was marked with a into grief and mourning; and there was no one,
vhite spot resembling the horns of the new moon. as Lucian says, who valued his hair so much that
kelian says, that twenty-nine signs were required; he would not have shorn his head on that occasion.
sut some of those which he mentions have refer- (Lucian, de Sacrif. 15, de Dea Syr. 6; Tibull. i. 8;
nce to the later astronomical and physical specu- Ammian. Marc., Solin. 11. cc.) However, this time
itions about the god. When all the signs were of mourning did not usually last long, as a new
3und satisfactory in a newly born bull, the cere- Apis was generally kept ready to fill the place of
lony of his consecration began. This solemnity his predecessor; and as soon as he was found, the
Sdescribed by Aelian, Pliny, Ammianus Marcel- mourning was at an end, and the rejoicings began.
nus, and Diodorus. (i. 85.) When it was made (Diod. i. 85; Spartian. IIadr. 12.)
nown, says Aelian, that the god was born, some The worship of Apis was, without doubt, qrigit the sacred scribes, who possessed the secret nally nothing but the simple worship of the bull,
nowledge of the signs of Apis, went to tIhe place and formed a part of the fetish-worship of the
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