Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/86

68 Lib. 2; Hom. II. viii. 257, xi. 302; Paus. viii. 35. § 7.)

AGELA'US (Ἀγέλαος), of Naupactus, was a leading man in the Aetolian state at the time of the Achaean league. He is first mentioned in B. C. 221, when he negociated the alliance between the Illyrian chief Scerdilaidas and the Aetolians. It was through his persuasive speech that Philip of Macedonia and his allies were induced to make peace with the Aetolians (B. C. 218), and he was elected general of the latter in the following year, though his conduct in recommending peace was soon afterwards blamed by his fickle countrymen. (Plb. 4.16, 5.103-107.)

AGELEIA or AGELE'IS (Ἀγελεία or Ἀγεληἱ̈ς), a surname of Athena, by which she is designated as the leader or protectress of the people. (Hom. Il. 4.128, 5.765, 6.269, 15.213, Od. 3.378, &c.)

AGE'LLIUS. [A. GELLIUS.]

AGE'NOR (Ἀγήνωρ). 1. A son of Poseidon and Libya, king of Phoenicia, and twin-brother of Belus. (Apollod. 2.1.4.) He married Telephassa, by whom he became the father of Cadmus, Phoenix, Cylix, Thasus, Phineus, and according to some of Europa also. (Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 5; Hyg. Fab. 178; Paus. 5.25.7; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 2.178, 3.1185.) After his daughter Europa had been carried off by Zeus, Agenor sent out his sons in search of her, and enjoined them not to return without their sister. As Europa was not to be found, none of them returned, and all settled in foreign countries. (Apollod. 3.1.1; Hyg. Fab. 178.) Virgil (Aen. 1.338) calls Carthage the city of Agenor, by which lie alludes to the descent of Dido from Agenor. Buttmann (Mytholog. i. p. 232, &c.) points out that the genuine Phoenician name of Agenor was Chnas, which is the same as Canaan, and upon these facts he builds the hypothesis that Agenor or Chnas is the same as the Canaan in the books of Moses.

2. A son of Jasus, and father of Argas Panoptes, king of Argos. (Apollod. 2.1.2.) Hellanicus (Fragm. p. 47, ed. Sturz.) states that Agenor was a son of Phoroneus, and brother of Jasus and Pelasgus, and that after their father's death, the two elder brothers divided his dominions between themselves in such a manner, that Pelasgus received the country about the river Erasinus, and built Larissa, and Jasus the country about Elis. After the death of these two, Agenor, the youngest, invaded their dominions, and thus became king of Argos.

3. The son and successor of Triopas, in the kingdom of Argos. He belonged to the house of Phoroneus, and was father of Crotopus. (Paus. 2.16.1; Hyg. Fab. 145.)

4. A son of Pleuron and Xanthippe, and grandson of Aetolus. Epicaste, the daughter of Calydon, became by him the mother of Porthaon and Demonice. (Apollod. 1.7.7.) According to Pausanias (3.13.5), Thestius, the father of Leda, is likewise a son of this Agenor.

5. A son of Phegeus, king of Psophis, in Arcadia. He was brother of Pronous and Arsinoe, who was married to Alcmaeon, but was abandoned by him. When Alcmaeon wanted to give the celebrated necklace and peplus of Harmonia to his second wife Calirrhoe, the daughter of Achelous, he was slain by Agenor and Pronous at the instigation of Phegeus. But when the two brothers came to Delphi, where they intended to dedicate the necklace and peplus, they were killed by Amphoterus and Acarnan, the sons of Alcmaeon and Calirrhoe. (Apollod. 3.7.5.) Pausanias (8.24.4), who relates the same story, calls the children of Phegeus, Temenus, Axion, and Alphesiboea.

6. A son of the Trojan Antenor and Theano, the priestess of Athena. (Hom. Il. 11.59, 6.297.) He appears in the Iliad as one of the bravest among the Trojans, and is one of their leaders in the attack upon the fortifications of the Greeks. (4.467, 12.93, 14.425.) He even ventures to fight with Achilles, who is wounded by him. (21.570, &c.) Apollo rescued him in a cloud from the anger of Achilles, and then assumed himself the appearance of Agenor, by which means he drew Achilles away from the walls of Troy, and afforded to the fugitive Trojans a safe retreat to the city. (xxi. in fine.) According to Pausanias (10.27.1) Agenor was slain by Neoptolemus, and was represented by Polygnotus in the great painting in the Lesche of Delphi.

Some other mythical personages of this name occur in the following passages: Apollod. 2.1.5, 3.5.6; Hyg. Fab. 145.

AGENO'RIDES (Ἀγηνορίδης), a patronymic of Agenor, designating a descendant of an Agenor, such as Cadmus (Ov. Met. 3.8, 81, 90; 4.563), Phineus (V. Fl. 4.582), and Perseus. (Ov. Met. 4.771.)

AGE'POLIS (Ἀγέπολις), of Rhodes, was sent by his countrymen as ambassador to the consul Q. Marcius Philippus, B. C. 169, in the war with Perseus, and had an interview with him near Heraceleum in Macedonia. In the following year, B. C. 168, he went as ambassador to Rome to deprecate the anger of the Romans. (Plb. 28.14, 15, 29.4, 7; Liv. 45.3.)

AGESANDER or AGESILA'US (Ἀγήσανδρος or Ἀγεσίλαος), from ἄγειν and ἀνὴρ or λαός, a surname of Pluto or Hades, describing him as the god who carries away all men. (Callim. Hymn. in Pallad. 130, with Spanheins's note; Hesych. sub voce Aeschyl. apud Athen. iii. p. 99.) Nicander (apud Athen. xv. p. 684) uses the form Ἡγεσίλαος.

AGESANDER, a sculptor, a native of the island of Rhodes. His name occurs in no author except Pliny (Plin. Nat. 36.5. s. 4), and we know but of one work which he executed; it is a work however which bears the most decisive testimony to his surpassing genius. In conjunction with Polydorus and Athenodorus he sculptured the group of Laocoon, a work which is ranked by all competent judges among the most perfect specimens of art, especially on account of the admirable manner in which amidst the intense suffering portrayed in every feature, limb, and muscle, there is still preserved that air of sublime repose, which characterised the best productions of Grecian genius. This celebrated group was discovered in the year 1506, near the baths of Titus on the Esquiline hill : it is now preserved in the museum of the Vatican. Pliny does not hesitate to pronounce it superior to all other works both of statuary and painting. A great deal has been written respecting the age when Agesander flourished, and various opinions have been held on the subject. Winckelmann and Müller, forming their judgment from the style of art displayed in