Amithāon, or Amythāon, was father to Melampus the famous prophet. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 3, li. 451.
Ammālo, a festival in honour of Jupiter in Greece.
Ammiānus. See: [Marcellinus].
Ammon and Hammon, a name of Jupiter, worshipped in Libya. He appeared under the form of a ram to Hercules, or, according to others, to Bacchus, who, with his army, suffered the greatest extremities for want of water, in the deserts of Africa, and showed him a fountain. Upon this Bacchus erected a temple to his father, under the name of Jupiter Ammon, i.e. sandy, with the horns of a ram. The ram, according to some, was made a constellation. The temple of Jupiter Ammon was in the deserts of Libya, nine days’ journey from Alexandria. It had a famous oracle, which, according to ancient tradition, was established about 18 centuries before the time of Augustus, by two doves which flew away from Thebais in Egypt, and came, one to Dodona, and the other to Libya, where the people were soon informed of their divine mission. The oracle of Hammon was consulted by Hercules, Perseus, and others; but when it pronounced Alexander to be the son of Jupiter, such flattery destroyed its long-established reputation, and in the age of Plutarch it was scarce known. The situation of the temple was pleasant; and according to Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 310,—Lucretius, bk. 6, li. 147,—Herodotus, Melpomene.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 7, there was near it a fountain whose waters were cold at noon and midnight, and warm in the morning and evening. There were above 100 priests in the temple, but only the elders delivered oracles. There was also an oracle of Jupiter Ammon in Æthiopia. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 29.—Strabo, bks. 1, 11, & 17.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum, & Iside et Osiride.—Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 10; bk. 10, ch. 5.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 6; bk. 2, chs. 32 & 55; bk. 4, ch. 44.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 18; bk. 4, ch. 23.—Hyginus, fable 133; Poeticon Astronomicon, bk. 2, ch. 20.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 11, ch. 11.——A king of Libya, father to Bacchus. He gave his name to the temple of Hammon, according to Diodorus, bk. 8.
Ammon and Brothas, two brothers famous for their skill in boxing. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 107.
Ammōnia, a name of Juno in Elis, as being the wife of Jupiter Ammon. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 15.
Ammōnii, a nation of Africa, who derived their origin from the Egyptians and Æthiopians. Their language was a mixture of that of the two people from whom they were descended. Herodotus, bks. 2, 3, & 4.
Ammōnius, a christian philosopher, who opened a school of Platonic philosophy at Alexandria, 232 A.D., and had amongst his pupils Origen and Plotinus. His treatise, Περι Ὁμοιων, was published in 4to by Valckenaer, Leiden, 1739.——A writer who gave an account of sacrifices, as also a treatise on the harlots of Athens. Athenæus, bk. 13.——An Athenian general surnamed Barcas. Polybius, bk. 3.
Ammothea, one of the Nereides. Hesiod, Theogony.
Amnias, a river of Bithynia. Appian, Mithridatic Wars.