Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/296

Rh 282 GORDIUS. prejudice the soldiers against their sovereign. He contrived that the supplies destined for the use of the carap should be intercepted or sent in a wrong direction, and then aggravated the discontent which arose among the troops by attributing these disasters to the carelessness and incapacity of the emperor. At length he so roused their passions by artful misrepresentations, that the legions rising tumiiltuously, attacked Gordianus as the cause of their sufferings ; and having gained possession of his person, first deposed, and then put him to death. The narrativeof the circumstances attending this event, as recorded by Capitolinus, is evidently largely mingled with fable, but no doubt exists as to the manner in which Gordian perished, nor of the treachery by which the deed was accomplished. Of a lively but tractable disposition, endowed with high abilities, of amiable temper and winning address, Gordian had gained the hearts of all, and was the idol alike of the senate, the people, and the armies, until betrayed by the perfidy of his general. So well aware was Philip of the popu- larity of his victim, that, instead of commanding his statues to be thrown down, and his name to be erased from public monuments, as was the common practice under such circumstances, he requested the senate to grant him divine honours, announcing in his despatch that the young prince had died a natural death, and that he himself had been chosen unanimously to fill the vacant throne. Gordian was buried near Castrura Circesium or Cercusium, in Mesopotamia, and an epitaph, enumerating his exploits, was engraved upon the tomb in Greek, Latin, Persian, Hebrew, and Egyptian characters. The inscription itself is said to have been destroyed by Licinius, but the se- pulchre, which formed a conspicuous object as viewed from the surrounding country, was still to be seen in the days of Julian (a. D. 363), as we are told by Ammianus Marcellinus, who calls the spot Zaithay or the olive-tree. (Capitolin. Maximin. duo^ Gordiani ires ; He- rodian, lib. vii, viii. ; Victor, de Cues. xxvi. xxvii., Epit. xxvi. xxvii. ; Eutrop. ix. 2 ; Amm. Marc, xxiii. 5. § 7; Zosira.i. 14—16, 19, iii. 14 ; Eckhel, vol. vii. p. 293.) [W. R.] COIN OP GORDIANUS III. GO'RDIUS (r(JpStos), an ancient king of Phry- gia, and father of Midas, is celebrated in history, through the story of the Gordian knot. According to tradition, he was originally a poor peasant, but was destined to occupy a kingly throne, as was indicated by a prodigy which happened to him. One djiy, while he was ploughing, an eagle came down and settled on his yoke of oxen, and remained there till the evening. Gordius was sur- prised at the phenomenon, and went to Telmissus to consult the soothsayers of that place, who were very celebrated for their art. Close by the gates of the town he met a Telmissian girl, who herself possessed prophetic powers. He told her what he kid come for, and she advised him to offer up sa- GORGASUS. crifices to Zeus 0aai€V5 at Telmissus. She herself accompanied him into the town, and gave him the necessary instructions respecting the sacrifices. Gordius, in return, took her for his wife, and be- came by her the father of Midas. When Midas had grown up to manhood, internal disturbances broke out in Phrygia, and an oracle informed the inhabitants that a car would bring them a king, who should at the same time put an end to the disturbances. When the people were deliberating on these points, Gordius, with his wife and son, suddenly appeared riding in his car in the assembly of the people, who at once recognised the person described by the oracle. According to Arrian {Anab. ii. 3), the Phrygians made Midas their king, while, according to Justin (xi. 7), who also gives the oracle somewhat differently, and to others, Gordius himself was made king, and succeeded by Midas. The new king dedicated his car and the yoke to which the oxen had been fastened, to Zeus fiaai^evs, in the acropolis of Gordinm, and an oracle declared that, whosoever should untie the knot of the yoke, should reign over all Asia. It is a well- known story, that Alexander, on his arrival at Gordium, cut the knot with his sword, and applied the oracle to himself. (Comp. Curt. iii. 1. § 15 ; Plut. Alex. 18 ; Strab. xii. p. 568 ; Aelian, V. H, iv. 17.^ [L. S.] GO RDIUS, a Cappadocian by birth, the instru- ment of Mithridates Eupator VI. in his attempts to annex Cappadocia to Pontus. Gordius was em- ployed by him, in b. o. 9Q^ to murder Ariarathes VI. king of Cappadocia [Ariarathes, No. 6]. He was afterwards tutor of a son of Mithridates, whom, after the murder of Ariarathes VII. he made king of Cappadocia. Gordius was sent as the envoy of Mithridates to Rome, and afterwards employed by him to engage Tigranes, king of Armenia, to attack Cappadocia, and expel Ariobarzanes I., whom the Romans made king of that country in B. c. 93. Sulla restored Ariobarzanes in the following year, and drove Gordius out of Cappadocia. Gordius was opposed to Muraena on the banks of the Halys, B. c. 83 — 2. (Justin, xxxviii. 1 — 3 ; App. Mith. QQ ; Plut. Sull. 5.) [W. B. D.] GO'RDIUS, a charioteer, the companion of Elagabalus in his first race, and from that day for- ward the chosen friend of the emperor, by whom he was appointed praefectus vigilura. (Lamprid. Elagah. 6. 12; Dion Cass. Ixxix. 15.) [W. R.] GORDYS {V6pUs), a son of Triptolemus, who assisted in searching after lo, and then settled in Phrygia, where the district of Gordyaea received its name from him. (Steph. Byz. s. v. FopdUiou ; Strab. pp. 747, 750.) [L. S.] GO'RGASUS (rSpyaaos), a son of Machaon and Anticleia, who, together with his brother Ni- comachus, had a sanctuarj^ at Pherae, founded by Glaucus, the son of Aepytus. (Paus. iv. 3, § 6, 30. § 2. [L. S.] GO'RGASUS (Fopyaffos), one of the sons of Machaon, the son of Aesculapius, by Anticleia, the daughter of Diodes, king of Pherae, in Messenia ; who, after the death of his grandfather, succeeded to the kingdom. He also followed the example of his father, by practising the art of healing, for which he received divine honours after his death. (Paus. iv. 30. §2.) [W.A. G.] GO'RGASUS, painter and modeller. [Damo- PHiLus]. (See also Walz, Kumiblatt, 1841, note 43, p. 347.) [P.S.]