Lagus, a Macedonian of mean extraction. He received in marriage Arsinoe the daughter of Meleager, who was then pregnant by king Philip, and being willing to hide the disgrace of his wife, he exposed the child in the woods. An eagle preserved the life of the infant, fed him with her prey, and sheltered him with her wings against the inclemency of the air. This uncommon preservation was divulged by Lagus, who adopted the child as his own, and called him Ptolemy, conjecturing that as his life had been so miraculously preserved, his days would be spent in grandeur and affluence. This Ptolemy became king of Egypt after the death of Alexander. According to other accounts Arsinoe was nearly related to Philip king of Macedonia, and her marriage with Lagus was not considered as dishonourable, because he was opulent and powerful. The first of the Ptolemies is called Lagus, to distinguish him from his successors of the same name. Ptolemy, the first of the Macedonian kings of Egypt, wished it to be believed that he was the legitimate son of Lagus, and he preferred the name of Lagides to all other appellations. It is even said that he established a military order in Alexandria, which was called Lageion. The surname of Lagides was transmitted to all his descendants on the Egyptian throne till the reign of Cleopatra, Antony’s mistress. Plutarch mentions an anecdote which serves to show how far the legitimacy of Ptolemy was believed in his age. A pedantic grammarian, says the historian, once displaying his great knowledge of antiquity in the presence of Ptolemy, the king suddenly interrupted him with the question of, “Pray tell me, sir, who was the father of Peleus?” “Tell me,” replied the grammarian, without hesitation, “tell me, if you can, O king! who the father of Lagus was.” This reflection on the meanness of the monarch’s birth did not in the least irritate his resentment, though the courtiers all glowed with indignation. Ptolemy praised the humour of the grammarian, and showed his moderation and the mildness of his temper by taking him under his patronage. Pausanias, Attica.—Justin, bk. 13.—Curtius, bk. 4.—Plutarch, De Cohibenda Ira.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 684.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 196.——A Rutulian, killed by Pallas son of Evander. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 381.
Lagūsa, an island in the Pamphylian sea.——Another near Crete. Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.
Lagȳra, a city of Taurica Chersonesus.
Laiădes, a patronymic of Œdipus son of Laius. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 18.
Laias, a king of Arcadia, who succeeded his father Cypselus, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.——A king of Elis, &c.
Lais, a celebrated courtesan, daughter of Timandra the mistress of Alcibiades, born at Hyccara in Sicily. She was carried away from her native country into Greece, when Nicias the Athenian general invaded Sicily. She first began to sell her favours at Corinth, for 10,000 drachmas, and the immense number of princes, noblemen, philosophers, orators, and plebeians who courted her embraces, show how much commendation is owed to her personal charms. The expenses which attended her pleasures gave rise to the proverb of Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. Even Demosthenes himself visited Corinth for the sake of Lais, but when he was informed by the courtesans that admittance to her bed was to be bought at the enormous sum of about 300l. English money, the orator departed, and observed that he would not buy repentance at so dear a price. The charms which had attracted Demosthenes to Corinth, had no influence upon Xenocrates. When Lais saw the philosopher unmoved by her beauty, she visited his house herself; but there she had no reason to boast of the licentiousness or easy submission of Xenocrates. Diogenes the cynic was one of her warmest admirers, and though filthy in his dress and manners, yet he gained her heart and enjoyed her most unbounded favours. The sculptor Mycon also solicited the favours of Lais, but he met with coldness; he, however, attributed the cause of his ill reception to the whiteness of his hair, and dyed it of a brown colour, but to no purpose. “Fool that thou art,” said the courtesan, “to ask what I refused yesterday to thy father.” Lais ridiculed the austerity of philosophers, and laughed at the weakness of those who pretend to have gained a superiority over their passions, by observing that the sages and philosophers of the age were not above the rest of mankind, for she found them at her door as often as the rest of the Athenians. The success which her debaucheries met at Corinth encouraged Lais to pass into Thessaly, and more particularly to enjoy the company of a favourite youth called Hippostratus. She was, however, disappointed: the women of the place, jealous of her charms, and apprehensive of her corrupting the fidelity of their husbands, assassinated her in the temple of Venus, about 340 years before the christian era. Some suppose that there were two persons of this name, a mother and her daughter. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 9, ltr. 26.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, poem 5.—Plutarch, Alcibiades.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 2.
Lāius, a son of Labdacus, who succeeded to the throne of Thebes, which his grandfather Nycteus had left to the care of his brother Lycus, till his grandson came of age. He was driven from his kingdom by Amphion and Zethus, who were incensed against Lycus for the indignities which Antiope had suffered. He was afterwards restored, and married Jocasta the daughter of Creon. An oracle informed him that he should perish by the hand of his son, and in consequence of this dreadful intelligence he resolved never to approach his wife. A day spent in debauch and intoxication made him violate his vow, and Jocasta brought forth a son. The child as soon as born was given to a servant, with orders to put him to death. The servant was moved with compassion, and only exposed him on mount Cithæron, where his life was preserved by a shepherd. The child, called Œdipus, was educated in the court of Polybus, and an unfortunate meeting with his father in a narrow road proved his ruin. Œdipus ordered his father to make way for him without knowing who he was. Laius refused, and was instantly murdered by his irritated son. His armour-bearer or charioteer shared his fate. See: [Œdipus]. Sophocles, Œdipus.—Hyginus, fables 9 & 66.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 5 & 26.—Plutarch, de Curiositate.
Lalăge, one of Horace’s favourite mistresses. Horace, bk. 1, ode 22, &c.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 7.——A woman censured for her cruelty. Martial, bk. 2, ltr. 66.
Lalassis, a river of Isauria.
Lamăchus, a son of Xenophanes, sent into Sicily with Nicias. He was killed B.C. 414, before Syracuse, where he had displayed much courage and intrepidity. Plutarch, Alcibiades.——A governor of Heraclea in Pontus, who betrayed his trust to Mithridates, after he had invited all the inhabitants to a sumptuous feast.