Amphitri´te. A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, who married Neptune. She is sometimes called Salatia. She was mother of Triton, a sea deity.
Amphit´ryon. A Theban prince, son of Alcæus and Hipponome. His sister Anaxo married Electryon, king of Mycenæ, whose sons were killed in battle by the Teleboans. Electryon gave his daughter Alcmena to Amphitryon for avenging the death of his sons.
Anachar´sis, a Scythian philosopher 592 years B. C., who, on account of his wisdom, temperance, and knowledge, has been called one of the seven wise men. He has rendered himself famous among the Ancients by his writings, his poems on war, the laws of the Scythians, etc.
Anac´reon. A famous lyric poet of Teos, in Ionia, favored by Polycrates and Hipparchus, son of Philostratus. He was of intemperate habits and fond of pleasure. Some of his odes are extant, and the elegance of his poetry has been the admiration of every age and country. He lived to the age of eighty-five, and after a life of voluptuousness was choked with a grape stone. He flourished B. C. 532.
Anadyom´ene. A famous painting by Apelles of Venus rising from the sea.
Anaxag´oras. A Clazomenian philosopher, who disregarded wealth and honors to indulge his fondness for meditation and philosophy. He applied himself to astronomy, and obtained a knowledge of eclipses. He used to say he preferred a grain of wisdom to heaps of gold. He was accused of impiety and condemned to die, but he ridiculed the sentence, which he said had already been pronounced on him by nature. He died at the age of seventy-two, B. C. 428.
Anaxar´ete. A girl of Salamis, who so arrogantly rejected the addresses of Iphis, a youth of ignoble birth, that he hanged himself at her door. She saw the spectacle without emotion, and was changed into stone.
Anchi´ses. A son of Capys and Themis. He was so beautiful that Venus came down from heaven on Mount Ida to enjoy his company. Æneas was the son of Anchises and Venus, and was intrusted to the care of Chiron the Centaur. When Troy was taken, Anchises had become so infirm that Æneas had to carry him through the flames upon his shoulders, and thus saved his life.
Androm´ache. Daughter of Eetion, king of Thebes. She married Hector, son of Priam, and was the mother of Astyanax. Her parting with Hector, who was going to battle, is described in the Iliad, and has been deemed one of the most beautiful passages in that great work. Pope’s translation of the Iliad (book 6) describes with great pathos and beauty the parting of Hector from his wife and child.
Androm´eda. A daughter of Cepheus, king of Æthiopia, and Cassiope. She was promised in marriage to Phineus when Neptune drowned the kingdom and sent a sea monster to ravage the country, because Cassiope had boasted that she was fairer than Juno and the Nereides. The oracle of Jupiter Ammon was consulted, but nothing could stop the resentment of Neptune except the exposure of Andromeda to the sea monster. She was accordingly tied to a rock, but at the moment that the monster was about to devour her, Perseus, returning from the conquest of the Gorgons, saw her, and was captivated with her beauty. He changed the monster into a rock by showing Medusa’s head, and released Andromeda and married her.