Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/209

ANTIMACHUS. not for any higher or poetical reason, that Agathar- chides made an abridgment of it. (Phot, liihl. p. 171, ed. Bekker.) The principal work of Antiraachus was his epic poem called Tlwbais (07j§o?s), which Cicero desig- nates as maf/num illnd volumen. Porphyrias {ad llurat. vui Pisoju 146) says, that Antimachus had spun out his poem so much, that in the 24th book {rolunicn) his Seven Heroes had not yet arrived at Thel;es. Now as in the remaining part of the work the poet had not only to describe the war of the Seven, but also probably treated of the war of the Epigoni (Schol. ud Aristoph, Pacr, 1268), the length of the poem must have been immense. It was, like the elegy Li/de, full of mythological lore, and all that had any connexion with the subject of the poem was incorjxjrated in it. It was, of course, dilficult to control such a mass, and hence we find it stated bj' Quintilian (x. 1. § 53 ; comp. Dion3s. Hid. Z>e t^erb. Compos. 22), that Antimachus was unsuccessful in his descriptions of passion, that his works were not graceful, and were deficient in arrangement. His style also had not the simple and easy flow of the Homeric poems. He bor- rowed expressions and phrases from the tragic writers, and frequently introduced Doric forms. (Schol. ad Nicand. Theriac. 3.) Antimachus was thus one of the forerunners of the poets of the Alexandrine school, who wrote more for the leamed and a select number of readers than for the public at large. The Alexandrine grammarians assigned to him the second place among the epic poets, and the emperor Hadrian preferred his works even to those of Homer. (Dion. Cass. Ixix. 4; Spartian. Hadrian. 5.) There are some other works which are ascribed to Antimachus, such as a work en- titled "ApTf/its (Stcph. Byz. s. V. KoTvKaiov), a second called AeA-ra (Athen. vii. p. 300), a third called 'laxlvT] (Etymol. M. s. r. 'AgoA^Twp), and perhaps also a Centauromachia (Natal. Com. vii. 4) ; but as in all these cases Antimachus is mentioned without any descriptive epithet, it can- not be ascertained whether he is the Clarian poet, for there are two other poets of the same name. Suidas says that Antimachus of Claros was also a grammarian, and there is a tradition that he made a recension of the text of the Homeric poems ; but respecting these points see F. A. Wolf, Pro- h'.rjom. pp.clxxvii. and clxxxi., &c. The numerous fragments of Antimachus have been collected bv C. A. G. Schellenberg, Halle, 1786, 8vo. Some additional fragments are contained in H. G. Stoll, Animadv. in Anthnachi Fragm. Giitting. 1841. Those belonging to the Thebais are collected in Diintzer's Die Fragm. der Episch. Pocs. der Griedi. his aiif Aleaund. p. ^9, &c., comp. with NadUrag^ p. 38, &c. See N. Bach, Phildae, Ilcrmesianacti^ t^'c. reliquiae^ ^c. Epimdrum de Antimadii Lyda., p. 240 ; Blomtield in the Classical Journal, iv. p. 231 ; Welckcr, Der Epische Cydus, p. 102, &c. 2. Of Teos, an epic poet. Plutarch {Romtd. 1 2) states, that he was said to have known some- thing about the eclipse which occurred on the day of the foundation of Rome. Clemens Alexandrinus {Strom, vi. p. 622, c.) quotes an hexameter verse from him, which Agias is said to have imitated. If this statement is correct, Antimachus would belong to an early period of Greek literature. 3. Of Heliopolis in Egypt, is said by Suidas to hvive written a poem called Koa-fioiroita, that is, oil ivi creation of the universe, consisting of 3780 ANTINOUS. 191 hexameter verses. Tzetzes {ad Lycophr. 245) quotes three lines from Antimachus, but whether they belong to Antimachus of Heliopolis, or to either of the two other poets of the same name, cannot be ascertained. (Diintzer, Fragm. der Episdi. Poes. von Alexand.., &c. p. 97.) f L. S.] ANTi'MACHUS, a sculptor, celebrated for his statues of ladies. (Plin. xxxiv. 19. § 26.) [P. S.J ANTIME'NIDAS. [Alcaeus.] ANTIMOERUS {"AvTl/xotpos), a sophist, was a native of Mcnde in Thrace, and is mentioned with praise among the disciples of Protagoras. (Plat. Prolog, p. 315, a.; Themist. Oral. xxix. p. 347, d.) fL. S.] ANTrNOE {'Avriv6v), a daughter of Cepheus. At the command of an oracle she led the inhabit- ants of Mantineia from the spot where the old town stood, to a place where the new town was to be. founded. She was guided on her way by a serpent. She had a monument at Alantineia com- memorating this event. (Pans. viii. 8. § 3, 9. § 2.) In the latter of these passages she is called Antonoe. Two other mythical personages of this name occur in Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 164; Pans. viii. 1 1 . § 2. [L. S.] ANTI'NOUS ('AvTiVous), a son of Eupeithes of Ithaca, and one of the suitors of Penelope, who during the absence of Odysseus even attempted to make himself master of the kingdom and threaten- ed the life of Telemachus. (Hom. Od. xxii. 48, &c., iv. 630, &c., xvi. 371.) When Odysseus after his return appeared in the disguise of a beggar. Anti- nous insulted him and threw a foot-sfool at him. {Od. xviii. 42, &c.) On this account he was the first of the suitors who fell by the hands of Odys- seus, (xxii. 8,&c.) [L.S.] ANTI'NOUS ('Ax/TiVous), a chief among the Molossians in Epeirus, who became involved, against his own will, in the war of Perseus, king of Macedonia, against the Romans. His family and that of another chief, Cephalus, were connect- ed with the royal house of ^Nlacedonia by friend- ship, and although he was convinced that the war against Rome would be ruinous to Macedonia and therefore had no intention of joining Perseus, yet Charops, a young Epeirot, who had been educated at Rome and wished to insinuate himself into the favour of the Romans, calumniated Antinous and Cephalus as if they entertained a secret hostility towards Rome. Antinous and his friends at first treated the machinations of Charops with contempt, but when they perceived that some of their friends were arrested and conveyed to Rome, Antinous and Cephalus were compelled, for the sake of their own safety, openly, though unwillingly, to join the Macedonian party, and the Molossians followed their example. After the outbreak of the war Antinous fell fighting, b. c. 168. Polybius does not state clearly whether Antinous fell in battle, or whether he put an end to his own life in despair. (Polyb. xxvii. 13, xxx. 7.) [L. S.] ANTI'NOUS, a youth, probably of low origin, born at Bithynium or Claudiopolis in Bithynia. On account of his extraordinary beauty he was taken by the emperor Hadrian to be his page, and soon became the object of his extravagant affection. Hadrian took him with him on all his journeys. It was in the course of one of these that he was drowned in the Nile. It is uncertain whether his death was accidental, or whether he threw himself into the river, either from disgust at the life he led.