Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1115

Rh THEUDAS. THETIS (©eVis), one of the daughters of Ne- reus and Doris, was the wife of Peleus, by whom she became the mother of Achilles. (Horn. //. i. 538, xviii. 35, &c., 52, &c. ; Hes. TJieog. 244.) Later writers describe her as a daughter of Cheiron (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i, 558). According to others, Peleus married Philomela, the daughter of Actor, but his friend Cheiron, wishing to render Peleus celebrated, spread the report that he was married to Thetis. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 816.) Being a granddaughter of Poseidon, Catul- lus (64. 28) calls her Neptunine. As a marine divinity, she dwelt like her sisters, the Nereids, in the depth of the sea, with her father Nereus. (Horn. //. i. 358, xviii. 36, xx. 207.) She there received Dionysus on his flight from Lycurgus, and the god, in his gratitude, presented her with a golden urn. (Horn. //. vi. 135, Od. xxiv. 75 ; comp. Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 273.) When Hephaestus was thrown down from heaven, he was likewise received by Thetis. She had been brought up by Hera (//. xxiv. 60), and when she reached the age of ma- turity, Zeus and Hera gave her, against her own will, in marriage to Peleus. Poseidon and Zeus himself are said by some to have sued for her hand (Pind. Isthm. viii. 58), but when Themis declared that the son of Thetis would be more illustrious than his father, both suitors desisted. (Pind. I. c. viii. 70 ; Ov. Met. xi. 225, xv. 856, xi. 350, &c. ; Aeschyl. Prom. 767 ; Hygin. Fab. 54 ; Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vi. 42.) Others state that Thetis rejected the offers of Zeus, because she had been brought up by Hera (Plom. //. xxiv. 60 ; Apollon. Rhod. iv. 793) ; and the god, to revenge himself, decreed that she should marry a mortal. Cheiron then informed his friend Peleus how he might gain possession of her, even if she should metamorphose herself ; for Thetis, like Proteus, had the power of assuming any form she pleased, and she had recourse to this means of escaping from Peleus, but the latter did not let her go, until she again assumed her proper form. ( Apol- lod. iii. 13. § 5 ; Pind. Nem. iii. 60 ; Pans. viii. 18. § 1.) Others again relate, that a marine divinity appeared to Peleus on Mount Pelion, and testified her love to him, but without revealing herself to him. Peleus, however, who saw her playing with dolphins, recognised the goddess, and henceforth shunned her presence. But she encouraged him, reminding him of the love of Eos to Tithonus, of Aphrodite to Anchises, &c., and promised to pre- sent him with a son who should be more illustrious than any mortal. (Philostr. Her. 19. 1.) The wedding of Peleus was honoured with the presence of all the gods. (Horn. //. xxiv. 62.) After she had become the mother of Achilles, she bestowed upon him the tenderest care and love. (Hom. //. i. 359, 500, &c., viii. 370, xviii. 73, 457 ; comp. Achilles.) Her prayers to Zeus for him were listened to, because at one time, when Zeus was threatened by the other gods, she induced Briareus or Aegaeon to come to his assistance. (Hom. //. i. 396, &c.) Thetis had a temple (Thetideion) be- tween Old and New Pharsalus in Thessaly (Strab. ix. p. 431), and in Sparta and Messenia she was likewise worshipped. (Paus. iii. 14. § 4, 22. § 2.) [L. S.] THEUDAS or THEIO'DAS or THE'ODAS (06wSas or ®€iwZas or ©eo^as)., a physician be- longing to the sect of the Empirici (Galen, De MeUi. Med. ii. 7, vol. x. p. 142), who is perhaps THIMBRON. 1103 the person mentioned by Diogenes Laertius (ix. § 116), as being a native of Laodiceia, a pupil of Antiochus of Laodiceia, and a contemporary of Menodotus, about the beginning of the second century after Christ. 2. The physician quoted by Andromachus (ap. Galen. De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. vi. 14. vol. xiii. p. 925), must be a diflferent person, who lived in the first century after THIMBRON or THIBRON {©i/xepwp, ®[. Spwv). I. A Lacedaemonian, was sent out as harmost in B. c. 400, with an army of about 5000 men, to aid the lonians against Tissaphernes, who wished to bring them into subjection. On Thim- bron's arrival in Asia he collected reinforcements, among which the most important was the mass of the Cyrean Greeks at Pergamus, and he succeeded in gaining over or capturing several cities. But meanwhile he allowed his troops to plunder the country of their allies, and he was therefore super- seded by Dercyllidas, and obliged to return to Sparta, where he was brought to trial, and fined. It would appear that he was unable to pay the penalty, and went into exile. But in B. c. 392 (for there is no reason to suppose this a different person) we again find him sent by the Lacedae- monians into Asia to command against Struthas. He seems, however, to have been still, as before, careless of his duties and neglectful of discipline, while he was addicted also to convivial pleasures. One day, accordingly, Struthas purposely sent some Persian cavalry to commit depredations within sight of Thimbron. The latter sallied forth in a disorderly manner to check them, and Struthas suddenly came up with a superior force, by which Thimbron was defeated and slain. (Xen. ^«a6. vii. 6. § 1, 8. § 24, Hell. iii. 1. §§ 4—8, iv. 8. §§ 17—19 ; Diod. xiv. 36—38 ; Isocr. Fa?ieg. p. 70, d; Polyaen. ii. 19.) 2. A Lacedaemonian, was a confidential officer of Harpalus, the Macedonian satrap of Babylon under Alexander the Great. According to one account it was Thimbron who murdered Harpalus in Crete, in B. c. 324. [Harpalus, No. 1.] He then possessed himself of his late master's trea- sures, fleet, and army, and, ostensibly espousing the cause of some Cyrenaean exiles, sailed to Cy- rene with the intention of subjugating it. He defeated the Cyrenaeans in a battle, obtained pos- session of their harbour, Apollonia, together with the treasures he found there, and compelled them to capitulate on condition of paying him 500 ta- lents, and supplying him with half of their war- chariots for his expeditions. This agreement, how- ever, they were soon induced to repudiate by Mnasicles, one of Thimbron's officers, who had deserted his standard, and gone over to the enemy. Under the able direction of Mnasicles, the Cyre- naeans recovered Apollonia, and, though Thimbron was aided by the Barcaeans and Hesperians, and succeeded in taking the town of Teucheira, yet, on the whole, his fortunes declined, and he met be- sides with a severe disaster in the loss of a great number of his men, who were slain or captured by the enemy, and in the almost total destruction of his fleet by a storm. Not discouraged, however, he collected reinforcements from the Peloponnesus, defeated the Cyrenaeans (who were now aided by the Libyans and Carthaginians), and closely be- sieged Cyrene. Pressed by scarcity, the citizens quarrelled among themselves, and the chiefs of the