Adōnia, festivals in honour of Adonis, first celebrated at Byblos in Phœnicia. They lasted two days, the first of which was spent in howlings and lamentations, the second in joyful clamours, as if Adonis was returned to life. In some towns of Greece and Egypt they lasted eight days; the one half of which was spent in lamentations, and the other in rejoicings. Only women were admitted, and such as did not appear were compelled to prostitute themselves for one day; and the money obtained by this shameful custom was devoted to the service of Adonis. The time of the celebration was supposed to be very unlucky. The fleet of Nicias sailed from Athens to Sicily on that day, whence many unfortunate omens were drawn. Plutarch, Nicias.—Ammianus, bk. 22, ch. 9.
Adōnis, son of Cinyras by his daughter Myrrha [See: [Myrrha]], was the favourite of Venus. He was fond of hunting, and was often cautioned by his mistress not to hunt wild beasts, for fear of being killed in the attempt. This advice he slighted, and at last received a mortal bite from a wild boar which he had wounded, and Venus, after shedding many tears at his death, changed him into a flower called anemone. Proserpine is said to have restored him to life, on condition that he should spend six months with her, and the rest of the year with Venus. This implies the alternate return of summer and winter. Adonis is often taken for Osiris, because the festivals of both were generally begun with mournful lamentations, and finished with a revival of joy as if they were returning to life again. Adonis had temples raised to his memory, and is said by some to have been beloved by Apollo and Bacchus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 13, li. 53.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 10, li. 18.—Bion, Adonis.—Hyginus, fables 58, 164, 248, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, fable 10.—Musæus, Hero & Leander.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 20; bk. 9, ch. 41.——A river of Phœnicia, which falls into the Mediterranean, below Byblus.
Adramyttium, an Athenian colony on the sea coast of Mysia, near the Caycus. Strabo, bk. 13.—Thucydides, bk. 5, ch. 1.
Adrāna, a river in Germany. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 56.
Adrānum, a town of Sicily, near Ætna, with a river of the same name. The chief deity of the place was called Adranus, and his temple was guarded by 1000 dogs. Plutarch, Timoleon.
Adrasta, one of the Oceanides who nursed Jupiter. Hyginus, fable 182.
Adrastia, a fountain of Sicyon. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 15.——A mountain. Plutarch, Lucullus.——A country near Troy called after Adrastus, who built there a temple to Nemesis. Here Apollo had an oracle. Strabo, bk. 13.——A daughter of Jupiter and Necessity. She is called by some Nemesis, and is the punisher of injustice. The Egyptians placed her above the moon, whence she looked down upon the actions of men. Strabo, bk. 13.——A daughter of Melisseus, to whom some attribute the nursing of Jupiter. She is the same as Adrasta. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.
Adrastii Campi, a plain near the Granicus, where Alexander first defeated Darius. Justin, bk. 11, ch. 6.
Adrastus, son of Talaus and Lysimache, was king of Argos. Polynices, being banished from Thebes by his brother Eteocles, fled to Argos, where he married Argia daughter of Adrastus. The king assisted his son-in-law, and marched against Thebes with an army headed by seven of his most famous generals. All perished in the war except Adrastus, who, with a few men saved from slaughter, fled to Athens, and implored the aid of Theseus against the Thebans, who opposed the burying of the Argives slain in battle. Theseus went to his assistance, and was victorious. Adrastus, after a long reign, died through grief, occasioned by the death of his son Ægialeus. A temple was raised to his memory at Sicyon, where a solemn festival was annually celebrated. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 480.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 7.—Statius, Thebiad, bks. 4 & 5.—Hyginus, fables 68, 69, & 70.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39; bk. 8, ch. 25; bk. 10; ch. 90.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 67, &c.——A peripatetic philosopher, disciple to Aristotle. It is supposed that a copy of his treatise on harmonics is preserved in the Vatican.——A Phrygian prince, who having inadvertently killed his brother, fled to Crœsus, where he was humanely received, and entrusted with the care of his son Atys. In hunting a wild boar, Adrastus slew the young prince, and in his despair, killed himself on his grave. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 35, &c.——A Lydian, who assisted the Greeks against the Persians. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 5.——A soothsayer in the Trojan war, son of Merops. Homer, Iliad, bks. 2 & 6.—The father of Eurydice, who married Ilus the Trojan. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 12.——A king of Sicyon, who reigned four years, B.C. 1215.——A son of Hercules. Hyginus, fable 242.
Adria, Adriānum, or Adriatĭcum mare, a sea lying between Illyricum and Italy, now called the gulf of Venice, first made known to the Greeks by the discoveries of the Phocæans. Herodotus, bk. 1.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 33; bk. 3, odes 3 & 9.—Catullus, poems 4, 6.