Philyllius, a comic poet. Athenæus.
Phily̆ra, one of the Oceanides, who was met by Saturn in Thrace. The god, to escape from the vigilance of Rhea, changed himself into a horse, to enjoy the company of Philyra by whom he had a son, half a man and half a horse, called Chiron. Philyra was so ashamed of giving birth to such a monster, that she entreated the gods to change her nature. She was metamorphosed into the linden tree, called by her name among the Greeks. Hyginus, fable 138.——The wife of Nauplius.
Philyres, a people near Pontus.
Phily̆rĭdes, a patronymic of Chiron the son of Philyra. Ovid, Ars Amatoria.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 550.
Phineus, a son of Agenor king of Phœnicia, or, according to some, of Neptune, who became king of Thrace, or, as the greater part of the mythologists support, of Bithynia. He married Cleopatra the daughter of Boreas, whom some call Cleobula, by whom he had Plexippus and Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he married Idæa the daughter of Dardanus. Idæa, jealous of Cleopatra’s children, accused them of attempts upon their father’s life and crown, or, according to some, of attempts upon her virtue, and they were immediately condemned by Phineus to be deprived of their eyes. This cruelty was soon after punished by the gods. Phineus suddenly became blind, and the Harpies were sent by Jupiter to keep him under continual alarm, and to spoil the meats which were placed on his table. He was some time after delivered from these dangerous monsters by his brothers-in-law Zetes and Calais, who pursued them as far as the Strophades. He also recovered his sight by means of the Argonauts, whom he had received with great hospitality, and instructed in the easiest and speediest way by which they could arrive in Colchis. The causes of the blindness of Phineus are a matter of dispute among the ancients, some supposing that this was inflicted by Boreas, for his cruelty to his grandson, whilst others attribute it to the anger of Neptune, because he had directed the sons of Phryxus how to escape from Colchis to Greece. Many, however, think that it proceeded from his having rashly attempted to develop futurity, while others assert that Zetes and Calais put out his eyes on account of his cruelty to their nephews. The second wife of Phineus is called by some Dia, Eurytia, Danae, and Idothea. Phineus was killed by Hercules. Argonautica, bk. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 15.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 19.—Orpheus.—Flaccus.——The brother of Cepheus king of Æthiopia. He was going to marry his niece Andromeda, when her father Cepheus was obliged to give her up to be devoured by a sea monster, to appease the resentment of Neptune. She was, however, delivered by Perseus, who married her by the consent of her parents, for having destroyed the sea monster. This marriage displeased Phineus; he interrupted the ceremony, and, with a number of attendants, attacked Perseus and his friends. Perseus defended himself, and turned into stone Phineus and his companions, by showing them the Gorgon’s head. Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fables 1 & 2.—Hyginus, fable 64.——A son of Melas.——A son of Lycaon king of Arcadia.——A son of Belus and Anchinoe.
Phinta, a king of Messenia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 4.
Phinthias, a fountain where it is said nothing could sink. Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 2.
Phintia, a town of Sicily, at the mouth of the Himera. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 83.
Phintias, called also Pithias, Pinthias, and Phytias, a man famous for his unparalleled friendship for Damon. See: [Damon]. Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3, bk. 10; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 22.—Diodorus, bk. 6.——A tyrant of Agrigentum, B.C. 282.
Phinto, a small island between Sardinia and Corsica, now Figo.