Cleante (2 syl.), brother-in-law of Orgon. He is distinguished for his genuine piety, and is both high-minded and compassionate.—Molière, La Tartuffe (1664).
Cléante (2 Syl.), son of Har'pagon the miser, in love with Mariane (3 syl.). Harpagon, though 60 years old, wished to marry the same young lady, but Cléante solved the difficulty thus: He dug up a casket of gold from the garden, hidden under a tree by the miser, and while Harpagon was raving about the loss of his gold, Cléante told him he might take his choice between Mariane and the gold. The miser preferred the casket, which was restored to him, and Cléante married Mariane.—Molière, L'Avar (1667).
Cléante (2 syl.), the lover of Angelique, daughter of Argan the malade imaginaire. As Argan had promised Angelique in marriage to Thomas Diafoirus, a young surgeon, Cléante carries on his love as a music-master, and though Argan is present, the lovers sing to each other their plans under the guise of an interlude called "Tircis and Philis." Ultimately, Argan assents to the marriage of his daughter with Cléante.—Molière, Le Malade Imaginaire (1673).
Clean'the (2 syl.), sister of Siphax of Paphos.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Mad Lover (1617).
Cleanthe (3 syl.), the lady beloved by Ion.—Talfourd, Ion (1835).
Clean'thes (3 syl.), son of Leon'idês and husband of Hippolita, noted for his filial piety. The Duke of Epire made a law that all men who had attained the age of 80 should be put to death as useless incumbrances of the commonwealth. Simonidês, a young libertine, admired the law, but Cleanthês looked on it with horror, and determined to save his father from its operation. Accordingly, he gave out that his father was dead, and an ostentatious funeral took place; but Cleanthês retired to a wood, where he concealed Leon'idês, while he and his wife waited on him and administered to his wants.—The Old Law (a comedy of Philip Massinger, T. Middleton, and W. Rowley, 1620).
Clegg (Holdfast), a Puritan mill-wright.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Cleish'botham (Jededi'ah), schoolmaster and parish clerk of Gandercleuch, who employed his assistant teacher to arrange and edit the tales told by the landlord of the Wallace Inn of the same parish. These tales the editor disposed in three series, called by the general title of The Tales of My Landlord (q.v.). (See introduction to The Black Dwarf.) Of course the real author is Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Mrs. Dorothea Cleishbotham, wife of the schoolmaster, a perfect Xantippê, and a "sworn sister of the Eumen'idês."
Cle'lia or Cloe'lia, a Roman maiden, one of the hostages given to Por'sena. She made her escape from the Etruscan camp by swimming across the Tiber. Being sent back by the Romans, Porsena not only set her at liberty for her gallant deed, but allowed her to take with her a part of the hostages. Mdlle. Scudéri has a novel on the subject, entitled Clélie, Histoire Romaine.