Amphistrătus and Rhecas, two men of Laconia, charioteers to Castor and Pollux. Strabo, bk. 11.—Justin, bk. 42, ch. 3.
Amphitea, the mother of Ægialeus by Cyanippus, and of three daughters, Argia, Deipyle, and Ægialea, by Adrastus king of Argos. She was daughter to Pronax. Apollodorus, bk. 1.——The wife of Autolycus, by whom she had Anticlea the wife of Laertes. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 19, li. 416.
Amphitheātrum, a large round or oval building at Rome, where the people assembled to see the combats of gladiators, of wild beasts, and other exhibitions. The amphitheatres of Rome were generally built with wood. Statilius Taurus was the first who made one with stones, under Augustus.
Amphithĕmis, a Theban general, who involved the Lacedæmonians into a war with his country. Plutarch, Lysander.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 9.
Amphithoe, one of the Nereides.
Amphītrīte, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, married Neptune, though she had made a vow of perpetual celibacy. She had by him Triton, one of the sea deities. She had a statue at Corinth in the temple of Neptune. She is sometimes called Salatia, and is often taken for the sea itself. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 930.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Claudian, de Raptu Proserpinæ, bk. 1, li. 104.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 14.——One of the Nereides.
Amphĭtryon, a Theban prince, son of Alcæus and Hipponome. His sister Anaxo had married Electryon king of Mycenæ, whose sons were killed in a battle by the Teleboans. Electryon promised his crown and daughter Alcmena to him who could revenge the death of his sons upon the Teleboans; and Amphitryon offered himself and was received, on condition that he should not approach Alcmena before he had obtained a victory. Jupiter, who was captivated with the charms of Alcmena, borrowed the features of Amphitryon when he was gone to the war, and introduced himself to Electryon’s daughter as her husband returned victorious. Alcmena became pregnant of Hercules by Jupiter, and of Iphiclus by Amphitryon, after his return. See: [Alcmena]. When Amphitryon returned from the war, he brought back to Electryon the herds which the Teleboans had taken from him. One of the cows having strayed from the rest, Amphitryon, to bring them together, threw a stick, which struck the horns of the cow, and rebounded with such violence upon Electryon, that he died on the spot. After this accidental murder, Sthenelus, Electryon’s brother, seized the kingdom of Mycenæ, and obliged Amphitryon to leave Argolis, and retire to Thebes with Alcmena. Creon king of Thebes purified him of the murder. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 213.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 1.—Hesiod, Shield of Heracles.—Hyginus, fable 29.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.
Amphitryōniădes, a surname of Hercules, as the supposed son of Amphitryon. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 103.
Amphitus, a priest of Ceres, at the court of Cepheus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 5.
Amphotĕrus, was appointed commander of a fleet in the Hellespont by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 1.——A son of Alcmæon.