Phorcus, or Phorcys, a sea deity, son of Pontus and Terra, who married his sister Ceto, by whom he had the Gorgons, the dragon that kept the apples of the Hesperides, and other monsters. Hesiod, Theogony.—Apollodorus.——One of the auxiliaries of Priam, killed by Ajax during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 17.——A man whose seven sons assisted Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 328.
Phormio, an Athenian general, whose father’s name was Asopicus. He impoverished himself to maintain and support the dignity of his army. His debts were some time after paid by the Athenians, who wished to make him their general, an office which he refused, while he had so many debts, observing that it was unbecoming an officer to be at the head of an army, when he knew that he was poorer than the meanest of his soldiers.——A general of Crotona.——A peripatetic philosopher of Ephesus, who once gave a lecture upon the duties of an officer, and a military profession. The philosopher was himself ignorant of the subject which he treated, upon which Hannibal the Great, who was one of his auditors, exclaimed that he had seen many doting old men, but never one worse than Phormio. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2.——An Athenian archon.——A disciple of Plato, chosen by the people of Elis to make a reformation in their government and their jurisprudence.
Phormis, an Arcadian who acquired great riches at the court of Gelon and Hiero in Sicily. He dedicated the brazen statue of a mare to Jupiter Olympius in Peloponnesus, which so much resembled nature, that horses came near it, as if it had been alive. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 27.
Phŏrōneus, the god of a river of Peloponnesus of the same name. He was son of the river Inachus by Melissa, and he was the second king of Argos. He married a nymph called Cerdo, or Laodice, by whom he had Apis, from whom Argolis was called Apia, and Niobe, the first woman of whom Jupiter became enamoured. Phoroneus taught his subjects the utility of laws, and the advantages of a social life and of friendly intercourse, whence the inhabitants of Argolis are often called Phoronæi. Pausanias relates that Phoroneus, with the Cephisus, Asterion, and Inachus, were appointed as umpires in a quarrel between Neptune and Juno, concerning their right of patronizing Argolis. Juno gained the preference, upon which Neptune, in a fit of resentment, dried up all the four rivers, whose decision he deemed partial. He afterwards restored them to their dignity and consequence. Phoroneus was the first who raised a temple to Juno. He received divine honours after death. His temple still existed at Argos, under Antoninus the Roman emperor. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 15, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Hyginus, fable 143.
Phorōnis, a patronymic of Io the sister of Phoroneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 625.
Phorōnium, a town of Argolis, built by Phoroneus.
Photīnus, a eunuch who was prime minister to Ptolemy king of Egypt. When Pompey fled to the court of Ptolemy, after the battle of Pharsalia, Photinus advised his master not to receive him, but to put him to death. His advice was strictly followed. Julius Cæsar some time after visited Egypt, and Photinus raised seditions against him, for which he was put to death. When Cæsar triumphed over Egypt and Alexandria, the pictures of Photinus, and of some of the Egyptians, were carried in the procession at Rome. Plutarch.
Photius, a son of Antonina, who betrayed to Belisarius his wife’s debaucheries.——A patrician in Justinian’s reign.
Phoxus, a general of the Phocæans, who burnt Lampsacus, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.——A tyrant of Chalcis, banished by his subjects, &c. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 4.
Phraates I., a king of Parthia, who succeeded Arsaces III., called also Phriapatius. He made war against Antiochus king of Syria, and was defeated in three successive battles. He left many children behind him, but as they were all too young, and unable to succeed to the throne, he appointed his brother Mithridates king, of whose abilities and military prudence he had often been a spectator. Justin, bk. 41, ch. 5.