Lycĭdas, a centaur, killed by the Lapithæ at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 310.——A shepherd’s name. Virgil, Eclogues.——A beautiful youth, the admiration of Rome in the age of Horace. Horace, bk. 1, ode 4, li. 19.
Lycimna, a town of Peloponnesus.
Lycimnia, a slave, mother of Helenor by a Lydian prince. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 446.
Lyciscus, an Athenian archon.——A Messenian of the family of the Æpytidæ. When his daughters were doomed by lot to be sacrificed for the good of their country, he fled with them to Sparta, and Aristodemus upon this cheerfully gave his own children and soon after succeeded to the throne. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 9.——A youth of whom Horace was enamoured.
Ly̆cius, a son of Hercules and Toxicreta.——A son of Lycaon.——An epithet given to Apollo from his temple in Lycia, where he gave oracles, particularly at Patara, where the appellation of Lyciæ sortes was given to his answers, and even to the will of the fates. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 346.——A surname of Danaus.
Ly̆cŏmēdes, a king of Scyros, an island in the Ægean sea, son of Apollo and Parthenope. He was secretly entrusted with the care of young Achilles, whom his mother Thetis had disguised in woman’s clothes, to remove him from the Trojan war, where she knew he must unavoidably perish. Lycomedes has rendered himself infamous for his treachery to Theseus, who had implored his protection when driven from the throne of Athens by the usurper Mnestheus. Lycomedes, as it is reported, either envious of the fame of his illustrious guest, or bribed by the emissaries of Mnestheus, led Theseus to an elevated place, on pretence of showing him the extent of his dominions, and perfidiously threw him down a precipice, where he was killed. Plutarch, Theseus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 17; bk. 7, ch. 4.——Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.——An Arcadian, who, with 500 chosen men, put to flight 1000 Spartans and 500 Argives, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.——A seditious person at Tegea.——A Mantinean general, &c.——An Athenian, the first who took one of the enemy’s ships at the battle of Salamis. Plutarch.
Lycon, a philosopher of Troas, son of Astyonax, in the age of Aristotle. He was greatly esteemed by Eumenes, Antiochus, &c. He died in the 74th year of his age. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.——A man who wrote the life of Pythagoras.——A poet.——A writer of epigrams.——A player, greatly esteemed by Alexander. A Syracusan who assisted in murdering Dion.——A peripatetic philosopher.
Lycōne, a city of Thrace.——A mountain of Argolis. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 24.
Ly̆cōphron, a son of Periander king of Corinth. The murder of his mother Melissa by his father had such an effect upon him, that he resolved never to speak to a man who had been so wantonly cruel against his relations. This resolution was strengthened by the advice of Procles his maternal uncle, and Periander at last banished to Corcyra a son whose disobedience and obstinacy had rendered him odious. Cypselus, the eldest son of Periander, being incapable of reigning, Lycophron was the only surviving child who had any claim to the crown of Corinth. But when the infirmities of Periander obliged him to look for a successor, Lycophron refused to come to Corinth while his father was there, and he was induced to leave Corcyra, only on promise that Periander would come and dwell there while he remained master of Corinth. This exchange, however, was prevented. The Corcyreans, who were apprehensive of the tyranny of Periander, murdered Lycophron before he left that island. Herodotus, bk. 3.—Aristotle.——A brother of Thebe, the wife of Alexander tyrant of Pheræ. He assisted his sister in murdering her husband, and he afterwards seized the sovereignty. He was dispossessed by Philip of Macedonia. Plutarch.—Diodorus, bk. 16.——A general of Corinth, killed by Nicias. Plutarch, Nicias.——A native of Cythera, son of Mastor. He went to the Trojan war with Ajax the son of Telamon, after the accidental murder of one of his citizens. He was killed, &c. Homer, Iliad, bk. 15, li. 450.——A famous Greek poet and grammarian, born at Chalcis, in Eubœa. He was one of the poets who flourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus, and who, from their number, obtained the name of Pleiades. Lycophron died by the wound of an arrow. He wrote tragedies, the titles of 20 of which have been preserved. The only remaining composition of this poet is called Cassandra or Alexandra. It contains 1474 verses, whose obscurity has procured the epithet of Tenebrosus to its author. It is a mixture of prophetical effusions, which, as he supposes, were given by Cassandra during the Trojan war. The best editions of Lycophron are that of Basil, 1546, folio, enriched with the Greek commentary of Tzetzes; that of Canter, 8vo, apud Commelin. 1596; and that of Potter, folio, Oxford, 1702. Ovid, Ibis, li. 533.—Statius, bk. 5, Sylvæ, poem 3.
Lycopŏlis, now Siut, a town of Egypt. It received this name on account of the immense number of wolves, λυκοι, which repelled an army of Æthiopians, who had invaded Egypt. Diodorus, bk. 1.—Strabo, bk. 17.