which was believed to exist on the extreme boundary of the ejxrth ; but, as geographical knowledge extend- ed, the name of Atlas was transferred to other places, and thus we read of a Mauri tanian, Italian, Arcadian, and even of a Caucasian, Atlas. ( Apollod. iii, 1 0. § 1 ; Dionys. i. 61 ; Serv. ad Am. viii. 134.) The com- mon opinion, however, was, that the heaven-bearing Atlas was in the north-western part of Africa, and the range of mountains in that part of the world bears the name of Atlas down to this day. Atlas is sjiid to have been the father of the Pleiades by Pleione or by Hesperis, of the Hyades and Hespe- rides by Aethra, and of Oenomaus and Maea by Sterope. (Apollod. iii. 10. § 1; Diod. iv. 27; Serv. adAen, viii. 130.) Dione and Calypso, and Hyas and Hesperus, are likewise called his children. (Hom. Od. vii. 245 ; Hygin. Fab. 83.) Atlas was painted by Panaenus on the parapet surrounding the statue of the Olympian Zeus (Paus. v. 11. § 2); on the chest of Cypselus he was seen carrying hea- ven and holding in his hands the golden apples of the Hesperides ; and on the throne of Apollo at Amyclae he was likewise represented. (Paus. v. 18. § 1, iii. 18. § 7; comp. Heffter, in the Allgem. Sdmlzeitumj for 1832, No. 74, &c. ; E. Gerhard, Arcliemoros utid die Hesperide7i^ Berlin, 1838; Ku?istUatt for 183b', No. 64, &c. ; G. Hermann, Disseriaiio de Atlanie, Lips. 1820.) [L. S.] ATOSSA ("AToo-o-a), the daughter of Cyrus, and the wife successively of her brother Cambyses, of Smerdis the Magian, and of Dareius Hystaspis, over whom she possessed great influence. Excited by the description of Greece given her by Demo- cedes [Demucedes], she is said to have urged Dareius to the invasion of that country. She bore Dareius four sons, Xerxes, Masistes, Achaemenes, and Hystaspes. (Herod, iii. 68, 88, 133, 134, vii. 2, 3, 64, 82, 97; Aeschyl. Persae.) According to a tale related by Aspasius {ad Aristot. Ethic, p. 124), Atossa was killed and eaten by her son Xerxes in a fit of distraction. Hellanicus related (Tatian, c. Ch-uec. init.; Clem. Alex. Strom, i. p. 307, ed. Par. 1629), that Atossa was the first who wrote epistles. This statement is received by Bentley (PJialaris, p. 385, &c.),and is employed by him as one argument against the authenticity of the pretended epistles of Pha- laris. [C.P.M.] ATRATFNUS, a family-name of the Sem- pronia gens. The Atratini were patricians, and were distinguished in the early history of the re- public ; but after the year B. c. 380, no member of the femily is mentioned till B. c. 34. . A. Sempronius Atratinus, consul B. c. 497. (Liv. ii. 21 ; Dionys. vi, 1.) He had the charge of the city when the battle of the lake Regillus was fought (Dionys. vi. 2), which is va- riously placed in 498 and 496. [See p. 90, b.] He was consul again in 491, when he exerted himself with his colleague in obtaining a supply of com for the people. (Liv. ii. 34 ; Dionys. vii. 20.) In the war with the Heniicans and Volscians in 487, Atratinus was again entrusted with the cai"e of the city. (Dionys. viii. 64.) He was interrex in 482. (Dionys. viii. 90.) . A Sempronius A. v. Atratinus, son of No. 1, consular tribune B. c. 444, the year in which this office was first instituted. In consequence of a defect in the auspices, he and his colleagues re- signed, and consuls were appointed in their stead. (Liv. iv. 7 ; Dionys, xi. 61; Diod. xii. 32.)
3. L. Sempronius A. f. Atratinus, son of No. 1, consul B. c. 444. He was censor in the following year with L. Papirius Mugillanus, and they were the first who held this office. (Dionys. xi. 62, 63 ; Liv. iv. 7, 8 ; Cic. ad Fam. ix. 21.) . A. Sempronius L. f. A. n. Atratinus, son of No. 3, was consular tribune three times, in B. c. 425, 420, and 416. (Liv. iv. 35, 44, 47 ; Diod. xii. 81, xiii. 9.) . C. Sempronius A. p. A. n. Atratinus, son of No. 2, whence he is called by Livy (iv. 44) the patruelis of No. 4, was consul B. c. 423, and had the conduct of the war against the Volscians. Through his negligence and carelessness the Ro- man army was nearly defeated, and was saved only through the exertions of Sex. Tempanius, one of the officers of the cavalry. The battle was un- decided, when night put an end to it ; and both armies abandoned their camps, considering it lost. The conduct of Atratinus excited great indignation at Rome, and he was accordingly accused by the tribune L. Hortensius, but the charge was dropt in consequence of the entreaties of Tempanius and three others of his colleagues, who had served under Atratinus, and had been elected tribunes. It was revived, however, in 420, and Atratinus was condemned to pay a heavy fine. (Liv. iv. 37 — 42, 44 ; Val. Max. vi. 5. § 2.) . A. Sempronius Atratinus, master of the horse to the dictator, T. Quinctius Cincinnatus, B. c. 380. (Liv. vi. 28.) . L. Sempronius Atratinus, the accuser of M. Caelius, whom Cicero defended. (Comp. Suet. de Clar. Rhet. 2.) In his speech which has come dom to us, Cicero speaks highly of Atratinus. {Pro Cad. 1, 3, 7.) This Atratinus is apparently the same as the consul of B. c. 34, elected in the place of M. Antony, who resigned in his favour. (Dion Cass. xlix. 39.)
ATRAX ("Arpol), a son of Peneius and Bura, from whom the town of Atrax in Hestiaeotis Avas believed to have derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. f.) He was the father of Hippodameia and Caenis, the latter of whom by the will of Poseidon was changed into a man, and named Caenus. (An- tonin. Lib. 17; Ov. Met. xii. 190, &c.) [L. S.]
ATREIDES ('ATpeiSTjs), a patronymic from Atreus, to designate his sons and descendants. When used in the singular, it commonly designates Agamemnon, but in the plural it signifies the two brothers, Agamemnon and Menelaus. (Hom. II. i. 12, &c. ; Hor. Carm. ii. 4. 7, &c.) [L. S.]
ATREUS ('Ατρένs), a son of Pelops and Hippodameia, a grandson of Tantalus, and a brother of Thyestes and Nicippe. [Pelops.] He was first married to Cleola, by whom he became the father of Pleisthenes; then to Aerope, the widow of his son Pleisthenes, who was the mother of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia, either by Pleisthenes or by Atreus [Agamemnon] ; and lastly to Pelopia, the daughter of his brother Thyestes. (Schol. ad Eurip. Orcst. 5; Soph. Aj. 1271; Hygin. Fab. 83, &c.; Serv. ad Aen. i. 462.) The tragic fate of the
house of Tantalus gave ample materials to the tragic poets of Greece, but the oftener the subjects were handled, the greater were the changes and modifications which the legends underwent; but
the main points are collected in Hyginus. The story of Atreus begins with a crime, for he and his brother Thyestes were induced by their mother Hippodameia to kill their step-brother Chrysippus,
