Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/174

156 AMYNTAS. Or. the defeat of the Persians at the battle of Issus, Amyntas fled with a large body of Greeks to Tripolis in Phoenicia. There he seized some ships, with which he passed over to Cyprus, and thence to Egj'pt, of the sovereignty of which — a double traitor — he designed to possess himself The gates of Pelusium were opened to him on his pretending that he came with authority from Da- reius : thence he pressed on to Memphis, and being joined by a large number of Egyptians, defeated in a battle the Persian garrison under Mazaces. But this victory made his troops over-confident and in- cautious, and, while they were dispersed for plun- der, Mazaces sallied forth upon them, and Amyntas himself was killed with the greater part of his men. (Diod. xviL 48 ; ^Vrr. il p. 40, c ; Curt. iv. 1, § 27, &c., iv. 7. § 1, 2.) It is possible that the subject of the present arti- cle may have been the Amyntas who is mentioned among the ambassadors sent to the Boeotians by Philip, B. c. 338, to prevent the contemplated alliance of Thebes with Athens. It 7nay also have been the son of Andromenes. (Plut. Dem. pp. 849, 854; Diod. xvi. 85.) 6. A king of Galatia and several of the adja- cent countries, mentioned by Strabo (xii. p. 5()9) as contemporary with himself. He seems to have first possessed Lycaonia, where he maintiiined more than 300 flocks. (Strab. xii. p. 568.) To this he added the territory of Derbe by the murder of its prince, Antipiter, the friend of Cicero (Cic. ad Finn. xiii. 73), and Isaura and Ciippadocia by Roman favour. Plutarch, who enumerates him among the adherents of Antony at Actium {Ant. p. 944, c), speaks probably by anticipation in call- ing him king of Galatia, for he did not succeed to that till the death of Deiotarus (Strab. xii. p. 5C7); and the latter is mentioned by Plutarch himself (A7it. p. 945, b.) as deserting to Octavius, just be- fore the battle, together with Amyntas. While pursuing his schemes of aggrandizement, and endeavouring to reduce the retractory high- landers around him, Amyntas made himself master of Homonada (Strab. xii. p. 569), or Homona (Plin. H.X. V. 27), and slew the prince of that place ; but his death was avenged by his widow, and Ampitas fell a victim to an ambush which she laid for him. (Strab. I.e.) [E. E.] COIN OF AMYNTAS, KING OF GALATIA. AMYNTAS {'AfivvTas), a Greek writer of a work entitled 'l^radixoi, which was probably an ac- count of the different halting-places of Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expedition. He perhaps accompanied Alexander. (Nake, Choerilns, p. 205.) From the references that are made to it, it seems to have contained a good deal of historical informa- tion. ( Athen. ii. p. 67, a., x. p. 442, b., xi. p. 500, d., xii. pp. 5 1 4, f,, 529, e. ; Aelian, H. N. v. 1 4, xviL 17.) AMYNTAS, surgeon. [Amentes.] AMYTIIAON. AIMYNTIA'NUS {"kfivvTiavos), the author of" a work on Alexander the Great, dedicated to the emperor M. Antoninus, the style of which Photius blames. He also wrote the life of Olympias, the mother of Alexander, and a few other biographies. (Phot. Cod. 131, p. 97, a., ed. Bekker.) The Scholiast on Pindar {ad 01. iii. 52) refers to a work of Amyntianus on elephants. AMYNTOR ('Ajuui/Twp), according to Homer (//. X. 266), a son of Ormenus of Eleon in Thessaly, where Autolycus broke into his house and stole the beautiful helmet, which afterwards came into the hands of Meriones, who wore it during the war against Troy. Amj-ntor was the father of Grantor, Euaemon, Astydameia, and Phoenix. The last of these was cursed and expelled by Amyntor for having entertained, at the instigation of his mother Cleobule or Hippodameia, an unlaw- ful intercourse with his father's mistress. (Horn. //. ix. 434, &c. ; Lycophr. 417.) According to ApoUodorus (ii. 7. §7, iii. 13. § 7), who states, that Amyntor blinded his son Phoenix, he was a king of Ormenium, and was slain by Heracles, to whom he refused a passjige through his dominions, and the hand of his daughter Astydameia. (Comp. Diod. iv. 37.) According to Ovid {Met. viii. 307, xii. 364, &c.), Amyntor took part in the Calydo- nian hunt, and was king of the Dolopes, and when conquered in a war by Peleus, he gave him his son Grantor as a hostage. [L. S.] A'MYRIS {"Afivpis), of Sybaris in Italy, sur- named "the Wise," whose son was one of the suitors of Agarista, at the beginning of the sixth century, b. c. Amyris was sent by his fellow-citi- zens to consult the Delphic oracle. His reputation for wisdom gave rise to the proverb, A/iupis juaiverat, "the wise man is mad." (Herod, vi. 126 ; Athen. xii. p. 520, a. ; Suidas. s. v. ; Eustath. ad 11. ii. p. 298 ; Zenobius, Paroemiogr. iv. 27.) AMYRTAEUS {^hixvpraios). 1. The name, according to Ctesias {ap. Pliot. Cod. 72, p. 37, Bekker), of the king of Egypt who was conquered by Cambyses. [Psammknitus.] 2. A Saite, who, having been invested with the title of king of Egypt, was joined with Inarus the Libyan in the command of the Egyptians when they rebelled against Artaxerxes Longimanus(B. c. 460). After the first success of the Egyptians, B. c. 456 [AcHAEMENEs], Artaxerxes sent a second immense army against them, by which they were totally defeated. Amyrtaeus escaped to the island of Elbo, and maintained himself as king in the marshy districts of Lower Egypt till about the year 414 B.C., when the Egyptians expelled the Persians, and Amj'rtaeus reigned six years, being the only king of the 28th dynasty. His name on the monuments is thought to be Aomahorte. Eusebius calls him Amyrtes and Amyrtanus ('A^uprai/os). (Herod, ii. 140, iii. 15; thuc. i. 110 ; Diod. xi. 74, 75 ; Ctesias. ap. Phot. pp. 27, 32, 40, Bekker; Euseb. Chron. Armen. pp. 10 i, 342, ed. Zohrab and Mai; Wilkinson's Aid. Eijypt. i. p. 205.) [P. S.] A'MYRUS ("Ajuupos), a son of Poseidon, from whom the town and river Amyrus in Thessa'y were believed to have derived their name. (Stepli. Byz. S.V.; Val. Place, ii. 11.) [L. S.] AMYTHA'ON ('AAiu0aw«/), a son of Cretheus and Tyro (Hom, Od. xi. 235, &c.), and brother of Aeson and Pheres. (Hom. Od. xi. 259.) He dwelt at Pylos in Messenia, and by Idomene be-