Sĭmois (entis), a river of Troas, which rises in mount Ida and falls into the Xanthus. It is celebrated by Homer and most of the ancients poets, as in its neighbourhood were fought many battles during the Trojan war. It is found to be but a small rivulet by modern travellers, and even some have disputed its existence. Homer, Iliad.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 104; bk. 3, li. 302, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 31, li. 324.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 18.
Simosius, a Trojan prince, son of Anthemion, killed by Ajax. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4, li. 473.
Simon, a currier of Athens, whom Socrates often visited on account of his great sagacity and genius. He collected all the information he could receive from the conversation of the philosopher, and afterwards published it with his own observations in 33 dialogues. He was the first of the disciples of Socrates who attempted to give an account of the opinions of his master concerning virtue, justice, poetry, music, honour, &c. These dialogues were extant in the age of the biographer Diogenes, who has preserved their title. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 2, ch. 14.——Another who wrote on rhetoric. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 2, ch. 14.——A sculptor. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 2, ch. 14.——The name of Simon was common among the Jews.
Sĭmōnĭdes, a celebrated poet of Cos, who flourished 538 years B.C. His father’s name was Leoprepis, or Theoprepis. He wrote elegies, epigrams, and dramatical pieces, esteemed for their elegance and sweetness, and composed also epic poems, one on Cambyses king of Persia, &c. Simonides was universally courted by the princes of Greece and Sicily, and according to one of the fables of Phædrus, he was such a favourite of the gods, that his life was miraculously preserved in an entertainment when the roof of the house fell upon all those who were feasting. He obtained a poetical prize in the 80th year of his age, and he lived to his 90th year. The people of Syracuse, who had hospitably honoured him when alive, erected a magnificent monument to his memory. Simonides, according to some, added the four letters η, ω, ξ, ψ to the alphabet of the Greeks. Some fragments of his poetry are extant. According to some, the grandson of the elegiac poet of Cos was also called Simonides. He flourished a few years before the Peloponnesian war, and was the author of some books of inventions, genealogies, &c. Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Phædras, bk. 4, fables 21 & 24.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 1, li. 38.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 102.—Cicero, On Oratory, &c.—Aristotle.—Pindar, Isthmean, poem 2.—Catullus, bk. 1, poem 39.—Lucian, Macrobii.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 2.
Simplicius, a Greek commentator on Aristotle, whose works were all edited in the 16th century, and the latter part of the 15th, but without a Latin version.
Simŭlus, an ancient poet, who wrote some verses on the Tarpeian rock. Plutarch, Romulus.
Simus, a king of Arcadia after Phialus. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.
Simyra, a town of Phœnicia. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 12.
Sinæ, a people of India called by Ptolemy the most eastern nation of the world.
Sindæ, islands in the Indian ocean, supposed to be the Nicobar islands.