Polydectes, a king of Sparta, of the family of the Proclidæ. He was son of Eunomus. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 7.——A son of Magnes, king of the island of Seriphos. He received with great kindness Danae and her son Perseus, who had been exposed on the sea by Acrisius. See: [Perseus]. He took particular care of the education of Perseus; but when he became enamoured of Danae, he removed him from his kingdom, apprehensive of his resentment. Some time after he paid his addresses to Danae, and when she rejected him, he prepared to offer her violence. Danae fled to the altar of Minerva for protection, and Dictys the brother of Polydectes, who had himself saved her from the sea-waters, opposed her ravisher and armed himself in her defence. At this critical moment, Perseus arrived, and with Medusa’s head he turned into stones Polydectes, with the associates of his guilt. The crown of Seriphos was given to Dictys, who had shown himself so active in the cause of innocence. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 242.—Hyginus, fable 63, &c.——A sculptor of Greece. Pliny.
Polydeucēa, a fountain of Laconia, near Therapne. Strabo, bk. 9.
Polydōra, a daughter of Peleus king of Thessaly, by Antigone the daughter of Eurytion. She married the river Sperchius, by whom she had Mnestheus. Apollodorus.——One of the Oceanides. Hesiod.——A daughter of Meleager king of Calydon, who married Protesilaus. She killed herself when she heard that her husband was dead. The wife of Protesilaus is more commonly called Laodamia. See: [Protesilaus]. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 2.——A daughter of Perieres.——An island of the Propontis near Cyzicus.
Polydōrus, a son of Alcamenes king of Sparta. He put an end to the war which had been carried on during 20 years, between Messenia and his subjects; and during his reign, the Lacedæmonians planted two colonies, one at Crotona, and the other at Locri. He was universally respected. He was assassinated by a nobleman, called Polemarchus. His son Eurycrates succeeded him 724 years before Christ. Pausanias, bk. 3.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 204.——A celebrated carver of Rhodes, who with one stone made the famous statue of Laocoon and his children. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.——A son of Hippomedon, who went with the Epigoni to the second Theban war. Pausanias, bk. 2.——A son of Cadmus and Hermione, who married Nycteis, by whom he had Labdacus the father of Laius. He had succeeded to the throne of Thebes, when his father had gone to Illyricum. Apollodorus, bk. 3.——A brother of Jason of Pheræ, who killed his brother and seized upon his possessions. Diodorus, bk. 15.——A son of Priam killed by Achilles.——Another son of Priam by Hecuba, or, according to others, by Laothoe the daughter of Altes king of Pedasus. As he was young and inexperienced when Troy was besieged by the Greeks, his father removed him to the court of Polymnestor king of Thrace, and also entrusted to the care of the monarch a large sum of money, and the greatest part of his treasures, till his country was freed from foreign invasion. No sooner was the death of Priam known in Thrace, than Polymnestor made himself master of the riches which were in his possession; and to ensure them the better, he assassinated young Polydorus, and threw his body into the sea, where it was found by Hecuba. See: [Hecuba]. According to Virgil, the body of Polydorus was buried near the shore by his assassin, and there grew on his grave a myrtle, whose boughs dropped blood, when Æneas, going to Italy, attempted to tear them from the tree. See: [Polymnestor]. Virgil, Æneid, bks. 3, 21, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 432.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 20.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, ch. 18.
Polygius, a surname of Mercury. Pausanias.
Polygnōtus, a celebrated painter of Thasos, about 422 years before the christian era. His father’s name was Aglaophon. He adorned one of the public porticoes of Athens with his paintings, in which he had represented the most striking events of the Trojan war. He particularly excelled in giving grace, liveliness, and expression to his pieces. The Athenians were so pleased with him, that they offered to reward his labours with whatever he pleased to accept. He declined this generous offer, and the Amphictyonic council, which was composed of the representatives of the principal cities of Greece, ordered that Polygnotus should be maintained at the public expense [♦]wherever he went.—Quintilian, bk. 12, ch. 10.—Pliny, bks. 33 & 34.—Plutarch, Cimon.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 25, &c.——A statuary. Pliny, bk. 34.
[♦] ‘whereever’ replaced with ‘wherever’
Polygŏnus and Telegonus, sons of Proteus and Coronis, were killed by Hercules. Apollodorus.
Polyhymnia and Polymnia, one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over singing and rhetoric, and was deemed the inventress of harmony. She was represented veiled in white, holding a sceptre in her left hand, and with her right raised up, as if ready to harangue. She had a crown of jewels on her head. Hesiod, Theogony, lis. 75 & 915.—Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 1.—Ovid Fasti, bk. 5, lis. 9 & 53.
Polyidus, a physician who brought back to life Glaucus the son of Minos, by applying to his body a certain herb, with which he had seen a serpent restore life to another which was dead. See: [Glaucus]. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 43.——A son of Hercules by one of the daughters of Thestius. Apollodorus.——A Corinthian soothsayer, called also Polybius.——A dithyrambic poet, painter, and musician.