Myrtĭlus, son of Mercury and Phaetusa, or Cleobule, or Clymene, was arm-bearer to Œnomaus king of Pisa. He was so experienced in riding and in the management of horses, that he rendered those of Œnomaus the swiftest in all Greece. His infidelity proved at last fatal to him. Œnomaus had been informed by an oracle that his daughter Hippodamia’s husband would cause his death, and on that account he resolved to marry her only to him who should overcome him in a chariot race. This seemed totally impossible, and to render it more terrible, Œnomaus declared that death would be the consequence of a defeat in the suitors. The charms of Hippodamia were so great, that many sacrificed their life in the fruitless endeavour to obtain her hand. Pelops at last presented himself, undaunted at the fate of those who had gone before him, but before he entered the course he bribed Myrtilus, and assured him that he should share Hippodamia’s favours if he returned victorious from the race. Myrtilus, who was enamoured of Hippodamia, gave an old chariot to Œnomaus, which broke in the course and caused his death. Pelops gained the victory, and married Hippodamia; and when Myrtilus had the audacity to claim the reward promised to his perfidy, Pelops threw him headlong into the sea, where he perished. The body of Myrtilus, according to some, was carried by the waves to the sea-shore, where he received an honourable burial, and as he was the son of Mercury, he was made a constellation. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 84 & 224.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Apollonius, bk. 1.
Myrtis, a Greek woman who distinguished herself by her poetical talents. She flourished about 500 years B.C., and instructed the celebrated Corinna in the several rules of versification. Pindar himself, as some report, was also one of her pupils.
Myrtōum mare, a part of the Ægean sea which lies between Eubœa, Attica, and Peloponnesus, as far as cape Melea. It receives this name from Myrto, a woman; or from Myrtos, a small island opposite to Carystos in Eubœa; or from Myrtilus the son of Mercury, who was drowned there, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Hyginus, fable 84.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.
Myrtuntium, a name given to that part of the sea which lies on the coast of Epirus, between the bay of Ambracia and Leucas.
Myrtūsa, a mountain of Libya. Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo.
Mys (Myos), an artist famous in working and polishing silver. He beautifully represented the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, on a shield in the hand of Minerva’s statue made by Phidias. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.—Martial, bk. 8, ltrs. 34 & 51; bk. 14, ltr. 93.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 9, li. 14.
Myscellus, or Miscellus, a native of Rhypæ in Achaia, who founded Crotona in Italy according to an oracle, which told him to build a city where he found rain with fine weather. The meaning of the oracle long perplexed him, till he found a beautiful woman all in tears in Italy, which circumstance he interpreted in his favour. According to some, Myscellus, who was the son of Hercules, went out of Argos without the permission of the magistrates, for which he was condemned to death. The judges had put each a black ball as a sign of condemnation, but Hercules changed them all and made them white, and had his son acquitted, upon which Myscellus left Greece and came to Italy, where he built Crotona. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 19.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 8.—Suidas.
Mysia, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into major and minor. Mysia minor was bounded on the north and west by the Propontis and Bithynia, and Phrygia on the southern and eastern borders. Mysia major had Æolia on the south, the Ægean on the west, and Phrygia on the north and east. Its chief cities were Cyzicum, Lampsacus, &c. The inhabitants were once very warlike, but they greatly degenerated; and the words Mysorum ultimus were emphatically used to signify a person of no merit. The ancients generally hired them to attend their funerals as mourners, because they were naturally melancholy and inclined to shed tears. They were once governed by monarchs. They are supposed to be descended from the Mysians of Europe, a nation which inhabited that part of Thrace which was situate between mount Hæmus and the Danube. Strabo.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Cicero, Against Verres.—Flaccus, ch. 27.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.——A festival in honour of Ceres, surnamed Mysia from Mysias, an Argive, who raised her a temple near Pallene in Achaia. Some derive the words ἀπο του μυσιαν, to cloy, or satisfy, because Ceres was the first who satisfied the wants of men by giving them corn. The festival continued during seven days, &c.
Myson, a native of Sparta, one of the seven wise men of Greece. When Anacharsis consulted the oracle of Apollo, to know which was the wisest man in Greece, he received for answer, he who was now ploughing his fields. This was Myson. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.
Mystes, a son of the poet Valgius, whose early death was so lamented by the father, that Horace wrote an ode to allay the grief of his friend. Horace, bk. 2, ode 9.