Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/296

Rh 278 ARETE. remained behind in Syria, invaded Arabia Petraea, but was unable to reach Petra. He laid waste, however, the surrounding country, and withdrew his anny on Aretas' paying 300 talents. (Joseph. Ant. xiv. 5. § 1.) This expedition of Scaurus is commemorated on a coin, which is given under Scaurus. The successors of Scaurus in Syria also prosecuted the war with the Arabs. (Appian, Syr. 50.) 3. The father-in-law of Herod Antipas of Judaea. Herod dismissed his wife, the daughter of Aretas, in consequence of having formed an incestuous connexion with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, as we learn from the Evangelists. To revenge the wrongs of his daughter, Aretas made war upon Herod, and defeated him in a great battle. Herod applied for assistance to the Romans ; and Vitellius, the governor of Syria, re- ceived an order to punish Aretas. He accordingly marched against Petra; but while he was on the road, he received intelligence of the death of Tiberius (a. d. 37), and gave up the expedition in consequence. (Joseph. Aid, xviii. 5. §§ 1, 3.) This Aretas seems to have been the same who had possession of Damascus at the time of the conver- sion of the Apostle Paul, a. D. 31. (2 Corinth, xi. 32, 33; Acts ix. 19 — 25.) It is not improbable that Aretas obtained possession of Damascus in a war with Herod at an earlier period than Josephus has mentioned ; as it seems likely that Aretas would have resented the affront soon after it was given, instead of allowing so many years to inter- vene, as the narrative of Josephus would imply. The Aretas into whose dominions Aelius Gallus came in the time of Augustus, is prolfably also the same as the father-in-law of Herod. (Strab. xvi. p. 781.) The following is a coin of Aretas, king of Damascus, but whether it belongs to No. 2 or No. 3 is doubtful. (Eckhel, iii. p. 330.) Perhaps it is a coin of No. 2, and may have been struck when he took possession of Syria at the invitation of the inhabitants of Damascus : in that case there would have been good reason for the inscription COIN OF aretas. ARE'TE ('Ap^TTj), the wife of Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians. In the Odyssey she appears as a noble and active superintendent of the household of her husband, and when Odysseus arrived in the island, he first applied to queen Arete to obtain hospitable reception and protection. (Horn. Od. vi. 310, vii. QB, &c., 142.) Respecting her connexion with the story of Jason and Medeia, see Alci- nous. • [L. S.] A'RETE ('ApexTj), daughter of the elder Dio- nysius and Aristomache. She was first married to Thearides, and upon his death to her uncle Dion, the brother of lier mother Aristomache. After Dion had fled from Syracuse during the reign of the younger Dionysius, Arete was compelled by her brother to ARETHUSA. marry Timocrates, one of his friends ; but she was again received by Dion as his wife, when he had obtained possession of Syracuse and expelled the younger Dionysius. After Dion's assassination, B. c. 353, Arete was imprisoned together with her mother, and brought forth a son while in confine- ment. Arete and Aristomache were subsequently liberated and kindly received by Hicetas, one of Dion's friends, but he was afterwards persuaded by the enemies of Dion to drown them. (Plut. Z)/ow, 6, 21, 51, 57, 58; Aelian, V. H. xii. 47, who erroneously makes Arete the mother, and Aristo- mache the wife of Dion.) ARE'TE ('ApTjTTj), daughter of Aristippus, the founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy. She was instructed by him in the principles of his sys- tem, which she transmitted to her son, Aristippus vii. 1 . 3) ascribes the formal completion of the ear- lier Cyrenaic doctrine. We are told by Diogenes Laertius (ii. 72), that her father taught her con- tentment and moderation, both by precept and practice, and the same duties are insisted on in an epistle now extant, said to be addressed to her by him. This letter is certainly spurious [Aristip- pus], although Laertius mentions among the writ- ings of Aristippus an itricTToK-fi irpos 'Ap-qryju ttjj/ ^vyar^pa. Whether the letter lo which he refers was the same as that which we possess, is uncer- tain ; but the fact that it was extant in his time would not prove its authenticity. Aelian (//. A. iii. 40) calls Arete the sister of Aristippus, but this assertion is opposed to the statement of all other writers ; and, besides, the passage which contains it is corrupt. (Diog. Laert. ii. 72, 86 ; Brucker, Hht. Crit. Phil. ii. 2, 3.) [G. E. L. C] ARETES of Dyrrachium, an ancient chrono- grapher, some of whose calculations Censorinus {de Die Nat. 18, 21) mentions. A'RETHAS ('Ap€0as). 1. Archbishop of Cae- sareia in Cappadocia at an uncertain time (a. d. 540, according to Coccius and Cave), appears to have succeeded Andreas. He wrote a commen- tary on the Apocalypse {(rvWoyr] e^-qyrio-ewu etc diacpopocv dyicov avSpdv eis rriv 'Iwduvov tov dya- TTTj/.i.evov Kol evayyeXicTTov 'AiroKaKvrpiv), which, as its title implies, was compiled from many pre- previous works, and especially from that of An- dreas. It is usually printed with the works of Oecumenius. 2. Presbyter of Caesareia in Cappadocia, wrote a work " on the translation of St. Euthymius, patri- arch of Constantinople," who died a. d. 911. The date of Arethas is therefore fixed at 920. (Oudinus, Comment, de Script. Eccles. ii. p. 426, who, without sufficient reason, identifies the former Arethas with this writer.) 3. The author of an epigram " On his own Sister" (eTrl rr? Ihia dSe^r]), which is found in the Vatican MS. under the title of 'Apeda toO SiaKouov. (Jacobs, Paralip. ex Cod. Vatic. No. 211, in Anthol. Grace, xiii. p. 744.) If the words added in the margin, y^yov6ros Se koX apx^T^t'CTKOTTOv Kaicraoeias KamraSoKias^ mav be taken as an authority, he was the same person as the Archbishop of Caesareia. [P. S.] ARETHU'SA ('Apeeovaa), one of the Nereids (H3-gin. Praef. p. 9, ed. Staveren ; Virg. Geory. iv. 344), and the nymph of the famous well Arethusa in the island of Ortygia near Syracuse. [Alpheu.'s.] Virgil {Eclog. iv. 1, x. 1) reckons her among the
 * IAEAA.HN02 upon it.
 * UT7TpoS/5a/cTos, to whom Ritter (Gesch. der Fhil.