Æne´as. A Trojan prince, son of Anchises and Venus. He married Creusa, the daughter of Priam, and they had a son named Ascanius. During the Trojan war Æneas behaved with great valor in defense of Troy. When the city was in flames he is said to have carried away his father Anchises on his shoulders, leading his son Ascanius by the hand, his wife following them. Subsequently he built a fleet of twenty ships, with which he set sail in quest of a settlement. He was driven on the coasts of Africa, and was kindly received by Dido, Queen of Carthage, who became enamored with him; but he left Carthage by the order of the gods. He has been praised for his piety and his submission to the will of the gods; the term “Pius” is generally appended to his name.
Æne´is. The Æneid, a grand poem by Virgil, the great merit of which is well known. The author has imitated the style of Homer, and is by some thought to equal him.
Æolus, the ruler of storms and winds, was the son of Hippotas. He reigned over Æolia. He was the inventor of sails, and a great astronomer, from which the poets have called him the god of wind.
Æs´chines. An Athenian orator who lived about 342 B.C.; and distinguished himself by his rivalship with Demosthenes.
Æs´chylus, a soldier and poet of Athens, son of Euphorion. He was in the Athenian army at the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Platæa; but his most solid fame rests on his writings. He wrote ninety tragedies, forty of which were rewarded with a public prize. He was killed by the fall of a tortoise, dropped from the beak of an eagle on his head, B.C. 456.
Æscula´pius, son of Apollo and Coronis, or, as some say, of Apollo and Larissa, daughter of Phlegias, was the god of medicine. He married Epione, and they had two sons, famous for their skill in medicine, Machaon and Podalirus; of their four daughters, Hygeia, goddess of health, is the most celebrated.
Æson, son of Cretheus, was born at the same birth as Pelias. He succeeded his father in the kingdom of Iolchos, but was soon exiled by his brother. He married Alcimeda, by whom he had Jason, whose education he intrusted to Chiron. When Jason reached manhood he demanded his father’s kingdom from his uncle, who gave him evasive answers, and persuaded him to go in quest of the Golden Fleece. On his return Jason found his father very infirm, and at his request Medea drew the blood from Æson’s veins and refilled them with the juice of certain herbs, which restored the old man to the vigor of youth.
Æso´pus. A Phrygian philosopher who, originally a slave, procured his liberty by his genius. He dedicated his fables to his patron Crœsus. The fables which we have now under his name doubtless are a collection of fables and apologues of wits before and after the age of Æsop, conjointly with his own.
Agamem´non, king of Mycenæ and Argos, was brother to Menelaus, and son of Plisthenes, the son of Atreus. He married Clytemnestra, and Menelaus Helen, both daughters of Tyndarus, king of Sparta. When Helen eloped with Paris, Agamemnon was elected commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces invading Troy.
Agesila´us. Of the family of the Proclidæ, son of Archidamus, king of Sparta, whom he succeeded. He made war against Artaxerxes, king of Persia, with success; but in the midst of his conquests he was called home to oppose the Athenians and Bœtians. He passed over in thirty days that tract of country which had taken up a whole year of Xerxes’ expedition. He defeated his enemies at Coronea, but sickness interfered with his conquests, and the Spartans were beaten in every engagement till he again appeared at their head. He died 362 years B.C.