Elotæ. See: [Helotæ].
Elpēnor, one of the companions of Ulysses, changed into a hog by Circe’s potions, and afterwards restored to his former shape. He fell from the top of a house where he was sleeping, and was killed. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 252.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 10, li. 552; bk. 11, li. 51.
Elpinīce, a daughter of Miltiades, who married a man that promised to release from confinement her brother and husband, whom the laws of Athens had made responsible for the fine imposed on his father. Cornelius Nepos, Cimon.
Eluīna, a surname of Ceres.
Elyces, a man killed by Perseus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 3.
Elymāis, a country of Persia, between the Persian gulf and Media. The capital of the country was called Elymais, and was famous for a rich temple of Diana, which Antiochus Epiphanes attempted to plunder. The Elymeans assisted Antiochus the Great in his wars against the Romans. None of their kings are named in history. Strabo.
Ely̆mi, a nation descended from the Trojans, in alliance with the people of Carthage. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 8.
Elymus, a man at the court of Acestes in Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 73.
Elyrus, a town of Crete. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 16.
Ely̆sium and Elysii Campi, a place or island in the infernal regions, where, according to the mythology of the ancients, the souls of the virtuous were placed after death. There happiness was complete, the pleasures were innocent and refined. Bowers for ever green, delightful meadows with pleasant streams, were the most striking objects. The air was wholesome, serene, and temperate; the birds continually warbled in the groves, and the inhabitants were blessed with another sun and other stars. The employments of the heroes who dwelt in these regions of bliss were various; the manes of Achilles are represented as waging war with the wild beasts, while the Trojan chiefs are innocently exercising themselves in managing horses, or in handling arms. To these innocent amusements some poets have added continual feasting and revelry, and they suppose that the Elysian fields were filled with all the incontinence and voluptuousness which could gratify the low desires of the debauchee. The Elysian fields were, according to some, in the Fortunate Islands on the coast of Africa, in the Atlantic. Others place them in the island of Leuce; and, according to the authority of Virgil, they were situate in Italy. According to Lucian, they were near the moon; or in the centre of the earth, if we believe Plutarch. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 638.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4.—Pindar.—Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 3, li. 57.—Lucian.—Plutarch, [♦]de Consul.