Lerna, a country of Argolis, celebrated for a grove and a lake, where, according to the poets, the Danaides threw the heads of their murdered husbands. It was there also that Hercules killed the famous hydra. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 803; bk. 12, li. 517.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 597.—Lucretius, bk. 5.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 638.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 15.——There was a festival, called Lernæa, celebrated there in honour of Bacchus, Proserpine, and Ceres. The Argives used to carry fire to this solemnity from a temple upon mount Crathis, dedicated to Diana. Pausanias.
Lero, a small island on the coast of Gaul, called also Lerina.
Leros. See: [Leria].
Lesbos, a large island in the Ægean sea, now known by the name of Metelin, 168 miles in circumference. It has been severally called Ægira, Lasia, Æthiope, and Pelasgia, from the Pelasgi, by whom it was first peopled, Macaria, from Macareus who settled in it, and Lesbos, from the son-in-law and successor of Macareus, who bore the same name. The chief towns of Lesbos were Methymna and Mitylene. Lesbos was originally governed by kings, but they were afterwards subjected to the neighbouring powers. The wine which it produced was greatly esteemed by the ancients, and still is in the same repute among the moderns. The Lesbians were celebrated among the ancients for their skill in music, and their women for their beauty; but the general character of the people was so debauched and dissipated, that the epithet of Lesbian was often used to signify debauchery and extravagance. Lesbos has given birth to many illustrious persons, such as Arion, Terpander, &c. The best verses were by way of eminence often called Lesboum carmen, from Alcæus and Sappho, who distinguished themselves for their poetical compositions, and were also natives of the place. Diodorus, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 90.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 11.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 160.
Lesbus, or Lesbos, a son of Lapithas, grandson of Æolus, who married Methymna daughter of Macareus. He succeeded his father-in-law, and gave his name to the island over which he reigned.
Lesches, a Greek poet of Lesbos, who flourished B.C. 600. Some suppose him to be the author of the little Iliad, of which only few verses remain, quoted by Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 25.
Lestrȳgŏnes. See: [Læstrygones].
Letānum, a town of Propontis, built by the Athenians.
Lethæus, a river of Lydia, flowing by Magnesia into the Mæander. Strabo, bk. 10, &c.——Another of Macedonia,——of Crete.
Lēthe, one of the rivers of hell, whose waters the souls of the dead drank after they had been confined for a certain space of time in Tartarus. It had the power of making them forget whatever they had done, seen, or heard before, as the name implies, ληθη, oblivion.——Lethe is a river of Africa, near the Syrtes, which runs under the ground, and some time after rises again, whence the origin of the fable of the Lethean streams of oblivion.——There is also a river of that name in Spain.——Another in Bœotia, whose waters were drunk by those who consulted the oracle of Trophonius. Lucan, bk. 9, li. 355.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 47.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 545; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 714.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 235; bk. 10, li. 555.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 39.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 7, li. 27.