Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1055

Rh MENIPPE. MENE'STHIUS (Mev^aeios). 1. A son of Areithous and Philomedusa, of Arne in Boeotia, was slain at Troy by Paris. (Horn. //. vii. 9, &C.5 136, &c.) 2. A son of the river-god Spercheius or of Borua and Polydora, was one of the commanders of the hosts of Achilles. (Horn. II. xvi. 173, &c.) [L. S.] MENE'STRATUS (Mej/eVrpoTos), an Athe- nian, of the deraus of Amphitrope, in the tribe Antiochis, who, being in danger from an accusation brought against him by the informer Agoratus, under the tyranny of the Thirty, saved his own life by giving false information against a number of his fellow-citizens. After the restoration of the democracy he was brought to trial for this, and condemned to be beaten to death, — direTVfjLTrauiadrj. (Lys. c. Agor. pp. 134, 135.) [E. E.] MENE'STRATUS or MENESTAS (Meve'- o-Tparos, Meyeo-ras), of Epeirus, was one of the chief instigators of the Aetolians to their war, in conjunction with Antiochus, against Rome, which commenced in B. c, 192. In the following year, when the Aetolians sued for peace, M'. Acilius Glabrio, the consul, demanded that Menestratus should be delivered up, but the demand was not complied with. (Polyb. xx. 10, xxii. 14 ; Liv. xxxvi. 28, xxxviii, 10.) [E. E.] MENE'STRATUS (Mei/eVrpaTos), artists. 1. A worthless painter, ridiculed in an epigram by Lucillius, who says that his Phatthon was only fit for the fire, and liis Deucalion for the water. (Brunck, Anal vol. ii. p. 337. No. 93 ; Anth. Pal. xi. 213; comp. Martial, v. 53.) Nothing more is known of him, except what the epigram itself shows; namely, that he was a contemporary of Lucillius, and lived, therefore, in the time of Nero. 2. A sculptor, of uncertain time and country, whose Hercules and Hecate were greatly admired. The latter statue stood in the Opisthodomus {post aede7n) of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and was made, says Pliny, of marble of such brilliancy that it was necessary to warn the beholders to shade their eyes. (Plin. H. jV. xxxvi. 5. s. 4. § 10.) From this passage of Pliny, Sillig conjec- tures that the artist lived about the time of Alexander the Great. Tatian mentions him as the maker of a statue of a poetess named Learchis. (A dv. Grace. 52, p. 1 1 3, Worth. ) [ P. S. J MENF/XENUS ( Mej/e^evos), an Athenian, Bon of Demophon, was a disciple of Socrates, and is introduced by Plato as one of the interlocutors in the dialogues Li/sis and Meneacentis. [C. P. M.] ME'NIDAS (MefiSas), one of the generals of Alexander the Great, whose name occurs on several occasions. (Arrian. iii. 13. § 4, 26. § 5 ; Curt. iv. 12, 15, 16, vii. 6, 10.) [C. P. M.] MENIPPE (MeviTTTTTj). 1. A daughter of Orion and sister of Metioche. After Orion was killed by Artemis, Menippe and Metioche were brought up by their mother, and Athena taught them the art of weaving, and Aphrodite gave them beauty. Once the whole of Aonia was visited by a plague, and the oracle of Apollo Gor- tynius, when consulted, ordered the inhabitants to propitiate the two Erinnyes by the sacrifice of two maidens, who were to offer themselves to death of their own accord. Menippe and Metioche offered themselves ; they thrice invoked the infernal gods, and killed themselves Avith their shuttles. Per- VOL. II, MENIPPUS. lOil sephone and Hades metamorphosed them into comets. The Aonians erected to them a sanctuary near Orchomenos, where a propitiatory sacrifice was offered to them every year by youths and maidens. The Aeolians called these maidens Co- ronides. (Ov. Met. xiii. 6H5 ; Anton. Lib. 25 ; Schol. ad Horn. II. xviii. 486.) 2. A daughter of Peneius, and wife of Pelasgus, by whom she became the mother of Phrastor (Dion5^s. i. 28). 3. A daughter of Thamyris, and according to some the mother of Orpheus (Tzetz. Chil. i. 12). 4. A daughter of Nereus and Doris. (Hes. Theog. 260.) [L. S.] MENIPPUS (MeftTTTTos), a son of Megareus, who was believed to be buried in the prytaneum at Megara. (Pans. i. 43. § 2.) [L. S.] MENIPPUS (MeViTTTTOs), historical. 1. One of those who, with Philistides, succeeded, against the opposition of Euphraeus, and by the aid of Philip of Macedon, in making themselves tyrants of Oreus in Euboea. They were driven out by the Athe- nians under Phocion, in B. c. 341. (Dem. Phil. iii. p. 126, De Cor. pp. 248, 252, &c. ; comp. Aesch. c. Ctes. p. 68; Pint. Demosth. 17; Diod. xvi. 74.) [Callias, Vol. I. p. 568, a ; Clei- TARCHUS.] 2. An officer of Philip V. of Macedon. In B. c. 208, when Piiilip was recalled from the war in the South against the Romans and Aetolians by tidings of disturbance and revolt in Macedonia, he left Menippus and Polyphantas in command of 2500 men for the protection of the Achaeans. In the following year Menippus was sent by Philip to aid in the defence of Chalcis in Euboea against Attalus I. of Pergamus and the Romans, b)'' whom an unsuccessful attempt was made upon the town. (Liv. xxvii. 32, xxviii. 5, 6 ; Polyb. X. 42.) 3. One of the envoys of Antiochus the Great to Rome in b. c. 193, on which occasion, however, the negotiation failed in consequence of the de- mands of the Romans. (Liv. xxxiv. 57 — 59 ; App. Syr. 6.) [Hegesianax.] In b. c. 192, Menippus was sent by Antiochus as ambassador to the Aeto- lians, whom he stimulated to war with Rome by magnifying the power and resources of his master. In the same year Antiochus placed him in com- mand of 3000 men to aid in intercepting all succours sent to Chalcis in Euboea by Eumenes II. of Pergamus and the Achaeans, who contrived, how- ever, to throw aid into the town before the passage thither by sea and land had been barred by the Syrian forces. But, after Menippus had occu- pied the road to Antis, 500 Roman soldiers, also destined for the relief of Chalcis, arrived, and found themselves obliged to turn aside to Delium. Here, in spite of the sanctity of the place, they were suddenly attacked by Menippus, and were all slain except about fifty, whom he captured. (Liv. xxxv. 32, 33, 50, 51 ; comp. Diod. Exc. de Virt. et Vit. p. 574 ; App. Syr. 15.) [E. E.] MENIPPUS (MeVtTTTTos), literary. 1. A comic poet, according to Suidas; but Meineke sus- pects, on very good grounds, that the name is only a corruption of Hermippus. {Hist. Crit, Com. Graec. p. 494.) 2. A cynic philosopher, and originally a slave, was a native of Gadara in Coele-Syria (Steph. Byz. s. V. TdSapa ; Strab. xvi. p. 759). Diogenes calls him a Phoenician : Coele-Syria was some- 3x