Amphiănax, a king of Lycia in the time of Acrisius and Prœtus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.
Amphiarāus, son of Oicleus, or, according to others, of Apollo by Hypermnestra, was at the chase of the Calydonian boar, and accompanied the Argonauts in their expedition. He was famous for his knowledge of futurity and thence he is called by some son of Apollo. He married Eriphyle, the sister of Adrastus king of Argos, by whom he had two sons, Alcmæon and Amphilochus. When Adrastus, at the request of Polynices, declared war against Thebes, Amphiaraus secreted himself, not to accompany his brother-in-law in an expedition in which he knew he was to perish. But Eriphyle, who knew where he had concealed himself, was prevailed upon to betray him by Polynices, who gave her as a reward for her perfidy a famous golden necklace set with diamonds. Amphiaraus being thus discovered, went to the war, but previously charged his son Alcmæon to put to death his mother Eriphyle, as soon as he was informed that he was killed. The Theban war was fatal to the Argives, and Amphiaraus was swallowed up in his chariot by the earth, as he attempted to retire from the battle. The news of his death was brought to Alcmæon, who immediately executed his father’s command, and murdered Eriphyle. Amphiaraus received divine honours after death, and had a celebrated temple and oracle at Oropos in Attica. His statue was made of white marble, and near his temple was a fountain, whose waters were ever held sacred. They only who had consulted his oracle, or had been delivered from a disease, were permitted to bathe in it, after which they threw pieces of gold and silver into the stream. Those who consulted the oracle of Amphiaraus first purified themselves, and abstained from food for 24 hours, and three days from wine, after which they sacrificed a ram to the prophet, and spread the skin upon the ground, upon which they slept in expectation of receiving in a dream the answer of the oracle. Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum, mentions that the oracle of Amphiaraus was once consulted in the time of Xerxes, by one of the servants of Mardonius, for his master, who was then with an army in Greece; and that the servant, when asleep, saw in a dream the priest of the temple, who upbraided him and drove him away, and even threw stones at his head when he refused to comply. This oracle was verified in the death of Mardonius, who was actually killed by the blow of a stone which he received on the head. Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 40.—Philostratus, Lives.—Apollonius, bk. 2, ch. 11.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 243, &c.—Hyginus, fables 70, 73, 128, & 150.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, bk. 9, fable 10.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 34; bk. 2, ch. 37; bk. 9, chs. 8 & 19.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 8 & 9; bk. 3, ch. 6, &c.—Strabo, bk. 8.
Amphiarāĭdes, a patronymic of Alcmæon as being son of Amphiaraus. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 43.
Amphicrătes, an historian who wrote the lives of illustrious men. Diogenes Laërtius.
Amphictyon, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, reigned at Athens after Cranaus, and first attempted to give the interpretation of dreams, and to draw omens. Some say that the deluge happened in his age. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 6.——The son of Helenus, who first established the celebrated council of the Amphictyons, composed of the wisest and most virtuous men of some cities of Greece. This august assembly consisted of 12 persons, originally sent by the following states: the Ionians, Dorians, Perhæbians, Bœotians, Magnesians, Phthians, Locrians, Malians, Phocians, Thessalians, Dolopes, and the people of Œta. Other cities in process of time sent also some of their citizens to the council of the Amphictyons, and in the age of Antoninus Pius, they were increased to the number of 30. They generally met twice every year at Delphi, and sometimes sat at Thermopylæ. They took into consideration all matters of difference which might exist between the different states of Greece. When the Phocians plundered the temple of Delphi the Amphictyons declared war against them, and this war was supported by all the states of Greece, and lasted 10 years. The Phocians, with their allies the Lacedæmonians, were deprived of the privilege of sitting in the council of the Amphictyons, and the Macedonians were admitted in their place, for their services in support of the war. About 60 years after, when Brennus, with the Gauls, invaded Greece, the Phocians behaved with such courage, that they were reinstated in all their former privileges. Before they proceeded to business, the Amphictyons sacrificed an ox to the god of Delphi, and cut his flesh into small pieces, intimating that union and unanimity prevailed in the several cities which they represented. Their decisions were held sacred and inviolable, and even arms were taken up to enforce them. Pausanias, Phocis & Achaia.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Suidas.—Hesychius.—Aeschines.
Amphiclea, a town of Phocis, where Bacchus had a temple.
Amphidāmus, a son of Aleus, brother to Lycurgus. He was of the family of the Inachidæ. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.——One of the Argonauts. Flaccus, bk. 1, li. 376.——A son of Busiris, killed by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.
Amphidrŏmia, a festival observed by private families at Athens, the fifth day after the birth of every child. It was customary to run round the fire with a child in their arms; whence the name of the festivals.
Amphigenīa, a town of Messenia in Peloponnesus. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 178.
Amphilŏchus, a son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. After the Trojan war, he left Argos, his native country, and built Amphilochus, a town of Epirus. Strabo, bk. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.——An Athenian philosopher who wrote upon agriculture. Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 1.