extinguifhed by the Romans after the deftruction of Corinth, Polyb. ii. 41. iv. 1. et in legation. 144.

After the conqueft of the Heraclide, MYCENE gradually funk in its importance, being usually fubject to Argos*. After the Perfian war, the people of Argos and Tegea, through envy, deftroyed the city of Mycenæ, Strab. viii. 372.; Paufan. ii. 16. fo that Strabo fays the leaft veftige of it did not remain in his time, Ibid.; but Paufanias mentions feveral, Ib. Polybius fpeaks of Mycenae as exifting in his time, Excerpt. xvi.; and Thucydides only fays, that its infignificant appearance in his time was not a proper reafon for difcrediting its former power, i. 10. for he obferves, that if Lacedæmon were left defolate, it would appear, from the meannefs of its edifices, to have been a place of much lefs importance than it really was; but that if the fame thing fhould happen to Athens, from the magnificence of its public buildings, quite the reverfe would be the cafe, Ib.

Argos and Mycenæ, from their vicinity, are fometimes put by the poets the one for the other; thus by Euripides in his Iphigenea and Oreftes, Strab. viii. 377.

TEMĚNUS was the firft of the defcendants of Hercules that reigned over Argos and Sparta. His fon CISUS fucceeded. The Argives, who, as Paufanias obferves, were always fond of liberty, left nothing to him and his pofterity but the mere name of King, ii. 19.

III. FABULOUS HISTORY of LACEDÆMON.

TH

HE first king of Lacedæmon is faid to have been LELEX, from whom the inhabitants were called Leleges. His grandfon EUROTAS gave name to the river which runs past the city, having made a canal for draining its ftagnating waters. Having no male offspring, he left the kingdom to LACEDA MON, whofe mother was called Taygeta, and from her a neighbouring mountain was named Taygetus. Lacedæmon married SPARTA, the daughter of Eurotas, after whom

In the war against the Perfians, it was the only city in Argolis that fert affift. ance to the Lacedæmonians. On this account the people of Argos and Tegea laid siege to Mycena, at a time when the Lacedæmonians, from domeftic diftrefs, could not afford it relief; and having taken the city, levelled it with the ground, Diodor. xi. 65.

he

he called the city, and gave his own name to the country. But this diftinction was not obferved. His fon AMYCLAS built the town AмYCLE. Here the tomb of his youngest fon HYACINTHUS, (Amyclides, Ovid. Met. x. 162.) a youth remarkable for his beauty, was ftanding in the time of Paufanias*, iii. 1.

We know little about the first kings of Sparta or Lacedæmon, but their names. The most famous was TYNDARUS or Tyndareus, the fon of Oebălus, who was placed on the throne by Hercules. He married LEDA, the daughter of Theftius, with whom, while pregnant, Jupiter is faid to have had commerce under the form of a fwan, Ovid. ep. viii. 67. whence the is fabled to have laid two eggs; from the one of which were produced Pollux and Helena to Jupiter; and from the other, Caflor and Clytemnefira to Tyndarus, Hygin. 77. & 78. The two former were fupposed to be immortal, and the two latter mortal, Serv. in Virg. Æn. ii. 601. vi. 121.3 Hygin. 80. Horace makes both Caftor and Pollux to spring from the fame egg †, Sat. ii. 1. 26.

CASTOR and POLLUX were diftinguished for many exploits. They accompanied Jafon in the Argonautic expedition, Paufan. iii. 24. Having landed in Bithynia, afterwards called Bebrycia, from a nation in Thrace that fettled there, Strab. xii. 541. Pollux conquered and flew Amycus, the fon of Neptune, and king of that country, in the combat of the ceftus, to which Amycus ufed to challenge all ftrangers, Serv. in

*This boy was the favourite of Apollo, and being killed by an accidental ftroke of the difcus or quoit, was by that god changed into a flower, which ftill bears his name, having two letters, A 1, infcribed on it, expreffive of Apollo's grief. The Spartans inftituted a festival in memory of this youth, called HYACINTHIA, Orid Met. x. 162.-220.; Pasfan. iii. 10. &c 19.; Plin, xxi. 11. Hyacinthus is called from his country, TÆNARIDES, Ovid. Ib. 183, and QEBA LIDES, Ib. 196.

† Caftor and Pollux are from Tyndarus called TYNDARĭdæ. Ovid. Met. viii. 301.3 and OEBALIDE, from their grandfather, Ovid. Faß. v. 795.; Stat. Theb. v. 458. alfo PUERI LEDE, Horat. od. i. 12. 25.; and DioSCURI, i. e. the children of Jupiter, Cic. Nat. D. ui. 21. Sometimes CASTORES, Plin. vii. 22. Pollux is aifo called POLLUCES, Plaut. Bacch. iv. 8. 53. and both Caftor and Pollux, GEMINUS POLLUX,' Horat. ed. iii. 29. ult. So Helena was called TYNDARIS -idis, Virg. Æn. ii. 601. From Ocbalus, the father of Tyndareus, the country of Laconia was called OEBALIA, Stat. Achill. i. 20. So Tarentum, becaufe peopled by a colony from Lacedæmon, l'irg. G. iv. 125. Matres Oebaliæ or Oebalides, denotes Sabine or Ro man matrons, because fome Lacedæmonians are fupposed to have fettled in that country, Ovid. Fof. iii. 230. Oebălis purpura, i. e. Laconica, Stat. Silv. i. 2. 151. OFBALIA PELLEX, Helen, Ovid, rem, amor. 358. called alfo TENARIA MARITÁ, Ovid. ep. xii. 45.; TENARIS SOROR, Ib. viii. 72. and Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, OEBALIUS, Ib. i. 260. So Hyacinthus is called Tanarides, -dæ, from cape Tænarus, and Ocbalides, Ovid. Met. x. 182. & 196. Virg.

3 F 2

Virg. n. v. 373.; Val. Flacc. iv. 166. &c. whence Pollux came to be esteemed the god of boxing and wrestling, Ib. & Stat. Silv. iv. 2. 48.Caftor diftinguished himself by his skill in managing horfes; hence he was worshipped as the patron of riders, Ovid. Faft. v. 700. Met. viii. 301. Am. iii. 2. 54. But this fkill in horfemanfhip is alfo fometimes afcribed to Pollux, Virg. G. iii. 89. called by Virgil AMYCLEUS; and by Ovid, Ep. viii. 71. from Amycle, a town twenty ftadia, or two miles and a half, from Lacedæmon, Polyb. v. 19. where these two brothers were brought up; hence the town is called Ledea Amycla, Stat. Theb. vii. 163.; Sil. ii. 434. They carried off from Colchis the ftatue of Mars, Paufan. iii. 19. In a ftorm, while they were praying to the gods for affiftance, two flames appeared to play about their heads, Diodor. iv. 43.; Hygin. 14. and foon after there was a calm whence they came to be confidered as the gods of mariners; and these flames (ignes fatui), which frequently appear at fea in warm countries, were afcribed to Caftor and Pollux, and called HELENA, Plin. ii. 37. If double, they were efteemed an omen of good weather, Ib. and the contrary if fingle; which is ftill the cafe. This appearance Horace is fuppofed by fome to call ALBA STELLA, od. i. 12. 27. but it is more proper here to take fella for fiella, literally two bright ftars in Gemini, called Caftor and Pollux, or Fratres Helena, much attended to by mariners; thus, Od. i. 3. 2. iv. 8. 31.; Ovid. Faft. v. 720.

The conduct of Caftor and Pollux to LYNCEUS and Idas, cannot be ranked among thofe great actions by which Horace fays they merited divine honours after death, ep. ii. 1. 5. od. iv. 5. 35. & 8. 31. LYNCEUS and IDAS were natives of Meffenia, who alfo went with Jafon in the expedition to Colchis,, Hygin. 14. They were the fons of Aphareus, king of Meffenia, who was born of the fame mother with Tyndăreus, Paufan . 1. or according to Hyginus, the fons of Aphareus and Arēna, the daughter of Oebulus; so that in either cafe they were coufin-germans to Caftor and Pollux.

LYNCEUS was fo remarkable for his quicknefs of fight, that he is faid to have feen things concealed below ground, as it is fuppofed, from his firft having difcovered mines, Hygin. 14. and to have penetrated with his eyes to the infernal regions, Valer. Flace. Arg. i. 464. whence any perfon remarkable for quickness of fight was called LYNCEUs, Horat. Sat. i. 2. 90. Ep. i. 1. 28.; Cic. Fam. ix. 2. as one Strabo, who is reported to have seen at the distance of one hundred and thirtyfive miles, and to have difcerned from Lilybæum the Carthagini

an

an fleet coming out of the port of Carthage, fo as to count the number of fhips, Plin. vii. 21.; Val. Max. i. 8. ext. 14.

Caftor and Pollux, falling in love with the brides of Lynceus and Idas, the daughters of Leucippus, (LEUCIPPIDES, Ovid. ep. xvi. 327.) carried them off by force. Lynceus, endeavouring to recover his miftrefs, was flain by Caftor, who in his turn was killed by Idas. Pollux, in revenge, flew Idas, Hygin. 80.; but Ovid reprefents this matter differently, Faft. v. 699. &c. Paufanias fays, that this conteft was about some cattle; and that after the death of Lynceus and Idas the government of Meffenia fell to Neftor, the fon of Neleus, iv. 3. Pollux obtained leave from Jupiter to fhare his immortality with his brother, and to live and die for a day alternately, Homer. Ody. xi. 302. &c. hence faid by Virgil fratrem alterna morte redemiffe, En. vi. 121. and to pafs one day in heaven and another alternately in the infernal regions, Sil. ix. 295. xiii. 805.; Pindar. Nem. Od. x. ftroph. 4. fo Pluto fpeaks of retaining both, Stat. Theb. viii. 50. The foundation of this fable was, that Caftor and Pollux were fuppofed to have been converted into the conftellation called GEMINI, or The Twins, Hygin. Aftron. ii. 22. alfo fecundæ fidera LEDE, Ovid. Amer. ii. 11. 29. in which are two bright ftars, one in the head of each, which never rife or fet together; but when one of them finks below the horizon, the other is above it, and the contrary, Ovid. ib.

HELENA was reckoned the most beautiful woman of her When very young fhe was carried off by Thefeus, king of Athens, and his friend Perithöus; but her brothers Caftor and Pollux brought her back by force of arms, Strab. ix. 396.; Hygin. 79.; Ovid. ep. xvi. 147. Many of the chief princes in Greece fought her in marriage. Tyndareus, at a loss how to determine among the competitors, left by preferring one he fhould offend all the reft, was advifed by Ulyffes, who himself was one of the fuitors, but whofe hopes were not very fanguine, to leave the choice entirely to the virgin herself, and to bind the fuitors by an oath to ftand by her determination, alfo to bind themselves to protect her honour, whomfoever of them the fhould prefer. This being agreed on, Helena determined in favour of MENELAUs, the fon of Atreus; who thus became king of Sparta, upon the refignation of Tyndareus, Hygin. 78. The form of adminiftering this oath to the fuitors is defcribed by Paufanias, iii. 20. Ulyffes, for his fervices, obtained PENELOPE, the daughter of Icarius and niece of Tyn

darcus,

dareus, whofe behaviour from the beginning was fuch as gave Ulyffes no caufe to regret his disappointment in Helen, Ib.

Helena lived with Menelaus for three years with every appearance of conjugal happinefs. She bore a daughter to him called HERMIONE. But Paris the fon of Priam, having come to Sparta on an embaffy, by his infinuating manners, his fplendid drefs and equipage, Horat. od. iv. 9. 13.; Ovid. ep. xvi. & xvii. feduced her, and carried her off with him to Troy *. Menelaus folicited the affiftance of all the princes of Greece, to revenge this injury. A confederacy for that purpose was formed, at the head of which was AGAMEMNON, king of Mycena, and brother to Menelaus. A lift of the Grecian leaders and their different forces is given by Homer, Il. ii. and after him by Hyginus, fab. 97. Next to Agamemnon and Menelaus, the chief were ACHILLES, the fon of Peleus, (Pelides) king of Phthia and Larissa in Theffaly, and of the fea-goddefs THETIS, with his fon PYRRHUS or Neoptolemus, and his friend PATROCLUS, the fon of Mencetius, (MENETIADES) and grandfon of Actor (AcTORIDES) by Agina; ULYSSES, the fon of Laertes, (Laer

Hecuba the daughter of Ciffeus king of Thrace (Cifseis, -idis) and wife of Priam, when he was with child of Paris, dreamed that he had brought forth a torch, Virg. Æn. vii. 319. x. 704.; Apollodor. iii. 12. 5. The foothfayers being confulted; declared, that what she should produce, would caufe the deftruction of Troy. On which account Priam ordered the infant to be expofed on mount Ida. But he was fecretly brought up at the house of a fhepherd, and when he reached the age of manhood, became a fhepherd himself, under the name of ALEXANDER or PARIS. While he fuftained that chara&er he formed a connection with the nymph OENONE; Ovid. ep. v. and determined the conteft between Juno, Minerva, and Venus about the golden apple. The goddesses, by the appointment of Jupiter, appeared before him as a judge, and pleaded each her own caufe. Jeno offered him power, Minerva wildom, and Venus, the most beautiful woman in the world, if he determine in her favour. Paris adjudged the golden apple to Venus; and thus incurred the hoftility of the two other goddeffes ever after again:ft the Trojan nation, Virg. Æn. i, 26.; Herat. ed. i. 15.10.; Ovid. ep. xvi. 43. &c.; Hyrin, 92.; hence he is called Fatalis incefufque JUDEX, Horat. od. iii. 3. 18. &c. The indignation of Juno was ftill farther encreafed against the Trojans, by jupiter making Ganymedes, a beautiful boy, the fon of Tros, his cup-bearer, in place of HEBE, the daughter of juno, and goddess of youth. Ganymedes was carried off from Ida, by an eagle, (Jovis armiger at the command of Jupiter, Virg. Æn. 1. 28. v. 252.; Ovid. Met. x. 155.; Paufan. v. 24.; Herat. od. iv. 4. 4.

Paris being difcovered and recognited by his parents, was fent into Greece with a ficet, to recover Hefione, the fiber of Priam, who had been carried off by fiercules, and given to Telamon, Jee f. 405. But Paris, intead of executing this commiftion, came to the court of Menclaus, where he was hofpitably entertained by that prince; and Menelaus being in the mean time obliged to go to Crete, Paris, in his abience, by the aid of Venus, carried off Helena, to revenge, as he pretended, the detention of Hin and on that account he was countenanced by Priam. He is called IDAUS ADULTER, Ovid. ep. xix. 177. 1acane adultere famofus BOSPES, Fiorat, od. iii. 3. 25. and the fhip in which he failed, Plereclea navis, from Pherecles, the builder of it, Ovid. ep. xvi. 22.

tiades)