Cyanee and Cyanea, a daughter of the Mæander, mother of Byblis and Caunus by Miletus, Apollo’s son. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 451.

Cyaneus, a large river of Colchis.

Cyanippe, a daughter of Adrastus.

Cyanippus, a Syracusan, who derided the orgies of Bacchus, for which impiety the god so inebriated him, that he offered violence to his daughter Cyane, who sacrificed him on the altar. Plutarch, Parallela minora.——A Thessalian, whose wife met with the same fate as Procris. Plutarch, Parallela minora.

Cyaraxes, or Cyaxares, son of Phraortes, was king of Media and Persia. He bravely defended his kingdom, which the Scythians had invaded. He made war against Alyattes king of Lydia, and subjected to his power all Asia beyond the river Halys. He died after a reign of 40 years, B.C. 585. Diodorus, bk. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 73 & 103.——Another prince, supposed by some to be the same as Darius the Mede. He was the son of Astyages king of Media. He added seven provinces to his father’s dominions, and made war against the Assyrians, whom Cyrus favoured. Xenophon, Cyropædia, bk. 1.

Cybēbe, a name of Cybele, from ♦κυβηβειν, because in the celebration of her festivals men were driven to madness.

♦ ‘κυβμβειν’ replaced with ‘κυβηβειν’

Cybĕle, a goddess, daughter of Cœlus and Terra, and wife of Saturn. She is supposed to be the same as Ceres, Rhea, Ops, Vesta, Bona Mater, Magna Mater, Berecynthia, Dindymene, &c. According to Diodorus, she was the daughter of a Lydian prince called Menos, by his wife Dindymene, and he adds, that as soon as she was born she was exposed on a mountain. She was preserved and suckled by some of the wild beasts of the forest, and received the name of Cybele from the mountain where her life had been preserved. When she returned to her father’s court, she had an intrigue with Atys, a beautiful youth, whom her father mutilated, &c. All the mythologists are unanimous in mentioning the amours of Atys and Cybele. The partiality of the goddess for Atys seems to arise from his having first introduced her worship in Phrygia. She enjoined him perpetual celibacy, and the violation of his promise was expiated by voluntary mutilation. In Phrygia the festivals of Cybele were observed with the greatest solemnity. Her priests, called Corybantes, Galli, &c., were not admitted in the service of the goddess without a previous mutilation. In the celebration of the festivals, they imitated the manners of madmen, and filled the air with dreadful shrieks and howlings, mixed with the confused noise of drums, tabrets, bucklers, and spears. This was in commemoration of the sorrow of Cybele for the loss of her favourite Atys. Cybele was generally represented as a robust woman, far advanced in her pregnancy, to intimate the fecundity of the earth. She held keys in her hand, and her head was crowned with rising turrets, and sometimes with the leaves of an oak. She sometimes appears riding in a chariot drawn by two tame lions; Atys follows by her side, carrying a ball in his hand, and supporting himself upon a fir tree, which is sacred to the goddess. Sometimes Cybele is represented with a sceptre in her hand, with her head covered with a tower. She is also seen with many breasts, to show that the earth gives aliments to all living creatures; and she generally carries two lions under her arms. From Phrygia the worship of Cybele passed into Greece, and was solemnly established at Eleusis, under the name of the Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres. The Romans, by order of the Sibylline books, brought the statue of the goddess from Pessinus into Italy; and when the ship which carried it had run on a shallow bank of the Tiber, the virtue and innocence of Claudia were vindicated in removing it with her girdle. It is supposed that the mysteries of Cybele were first known about 1580 years B.C. The Romans were particularly superstitious in washing every year, on the 6th of the calends of April, the shrine of this goddess in the waters of the river Almon. There prevailed many obscenities in the observation of the festivals, and the priests themselves were the most eager to use indecent expressions, and to show their unbounded licentiousness by the impurity of their actions. See: Atys, Eleusis, Rhea, Corybantes, Galli, &c. Augustine, City of God, &c.—Lactantius.—Lucian, De Syria Dea.—Diodorus, bk. 3.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 617; bk. 10, li. 252.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 566.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, lis. 210 & 361.—Plutarch, de Garrulitate.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus.—Cælius, Rhodiginus, ♦bk. 18, ch. 17, &c.

♦ ‘8’ replaced with ‘18’

Cybĕle and Cybela, a town of Phrygia. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Cybĕlus, a mountain of Phrygia, where Cybele was worshipped.

Cy̆bĭra, a town of Phrygia, whence Cybiraticus. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 6, li. 33.

Cybistria, a town of Cappadocia. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 15.

Cycesium, a town of Peloponnesus, near Pisa.

Cychreus, a son of Neptune and Salamis. After death he was honoured as a god in Salamis and Attica. As he left no children, he made Telamon his successor, because he had freed the country from a monstrous serpent. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 35.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Cyclădes, a name given to certain islands of the Ægean sea, those particularly that surround Delos as with a circle; whence the name (κυκλος, circulus). They were about 53 in number, the principal of which were Ceos, Naxos, Andros, Paros, Melos, Seriphos, Gyarus, Tenedos, &c. The Cyclades were reduced under the power of Athens by Miltiades; but during the invasion of Greece by the Persians, they revolted from their ancient and natural allies. Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades, ch. 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Dionysius Periegeta.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 64.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 127; bk. 8, li. 692.—Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 247.

Cyclōpes, a certain race of men of gigantic stature, supposed to be the sons of Cœlus and Terra. They had but one eye, in the middle of the forehead; whence their name (κυκλος, circulus, ὠψ, oculus). They were three in number, according to Hesiod, called Arges, Brontes, and Steropes. Their number was greater according to other mythologists, and in the age of Ulysses, Polyphemus was their king. See: Polyphemus. They inhabited the western parts of the island of Sicily; and because they were uncivilized in their manners, the poets speak of them as men-eaters. The tradition of their having only one eye originates from their custom of wearing small bucklers of steel which covered their faces, and had a small aperture in the middle, which corresponded exactly to the eye. From their vicinity to mount Ætna, they have been supposed to be the workmen of Vulcan, and to have fabricated the thunderbolts of Jupiter. The most solid walls and impregnable fortresses were said, among the ancients, to be the work of the Cyclops, to render them more respectable; and we find that Jupiter was armed with what they had fabricated, and that the shield of Pluto, and the trident of Neptune, were the produce of their labour. The Cyclops were reckoned among the gods, and we find a temple dedicated to their service at Corinth, where sacrifices were solemnly offered. Apollo destroyed them all, because they had made the thunderbolts of Jupiter, with which his son Æsculapius had been killed. From the different accounts given of the Cyclops by the ancients, it may be concluded that they were all the same people, to whom various functions have been attributed, which cannot be reconciled one to the other, without drawing the pencil of fiction or mythology. Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 1 & 2.—Homer, Odyssey, bks. 1 & 9.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 140.—Theocritus, Idylls, poem 1, &c.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 170; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 630; bk. 8, li. 418, &c.; bk. 11, li. 263.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 780; bk. 14, li. 249.——A people of Asia.

Cycnus, a son of Mars by Pelopea, killed by Hercules. The manner of his death provoked Mars to such a degree that he resolved severely to punish his murderer, but he was prevented by the thunderbolts of Jupiter. Hyginus, fables 31 & 261.—Hesiod, Shield of Heracles.——A son of Neptune, invulnerable in every part of his body. Achilles fought against him; but when he saw that his darts were of no effect, he threw him on the ground and smothered him. He stripped him of his armour, and saw him suddenly changed into a bird of the same name. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, fable 3.——A son of Hyrie, changed into a swan.——A son of Sthenelus king of Liguria. He was deeply afflicted at the death of his friend and relation Phaeton, and in the midst of his lamentations he was metamorphosed into a swan. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 367.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 189.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 30.——A horse’s name. Statius, bk. 6, Thebiad li. 524.

Cydas, a profligate Cretan, made judge at Rome by Antony. Cicero, Philippics, speeches 5 & 8.

Cydias, an Athenian of great valour, &c. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 21.——A painter who made a painting of the Argonauts. This celebrated piece was bought by the orator Hortensius, for 164 talents. Pliny, bk. 34.

Cydippe, the wife of Anaxilaus, &c. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 165.——The mother of Cleobis and Biton. See: Cleobis.——A girl beloved by Acontius. See: Acontius.——One of Cyrene’s attendants. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 329.

Cydnus, a river of Cilicia, near Tarsus, where Alexander bathed when covered with sweat. The consequences proved almost fatal to the monarch. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Justin, bk. 11, ch. 8.

Cydon, a friend of Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 335.

Cydon and Cydonia, now Canea, a town of Crete, built by a colony from Samos. It was supposed that Minos generally resided there. Hence Cydoneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 22.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 858.—Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 109.—Livy, bk. 37, ch. 60.—Lucan, bk. 7, li. 229.

Cydonia, an island opposite Lesbos. Pliny, bks. 2 & 4.

Cydrara, a city of Phrygia. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 30.

Cydrolāus, a man who led a colony to Samos. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Cygnus. See: Cycnus.

Cylabus, a place near Argos in Peloponnesus. ♦Plutarch, Pyrrhus.

♦ ‘Piut.’ replaced with ‘Plutarch’

Cylbiani, mountains of Phrygia where the Gayster takes its rise. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.

Cylices, a people among the Illyrians. There was in their country a monument in honour of Cadmus. Athenæus.

Cylindus, a son of Phryxus and Calliope.

Cyllabaris, a public place for exercises at Argos, where was a statue of Minerva. Pausanias, Corinthia.

Cyllabărus, a gallant of the wife of Diomedes, &c.

Cyllărus, the most beautiful of all the Centaurs, passionately fond of Hylonome. They perished both at the same time. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 408.——A celebrated horse of Pollux or of Castor, according to Seneca. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 90.

Cyllen, a son of Elatus. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Cyllēne, the mother of Lycaon by Pelasgus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 8.——A naval station of Elis in Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 23.——A mountain of Arcadia, with a small town on its declivity, which received its name from Cyllen. Mercury was born there; hence his surname of Cylleneius, which is indiscriminately applied to anything he invented, or over which he presided. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 663.—Horace, epode 13, li. 13.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 17.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 139.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 146; Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 147.

Cyllēnēius, a surname of Mercury, from his being born on the mountain of Cyllene.

Cyllyrii, certain slaves at Syracuse. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 155.

Cylon, an Athenian who aspired to tyranny. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 71.

Cyma, or Cymæ, the largest and most beautiful town of Æolia, called also Phriconis, and Phricontis, and Cumæ. See: Cumæ. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 11.—Cicero, Flaccus, ch. 20.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 149.

Cymodŏce, Cyme, and Cymo, one of the Nereides. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 255.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 388.

Cymōlus and Cimōlus, an island of the Cretan sea. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 463.

Cymŏthoe, one of the Nereides, represented by Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 148, as assisting the Trojans with Triton after the storm with which Æolus, at the request of Juno, had afflicted the fleet.

Cynara, one of Horace’s favourites. Bk. 4, ode 1, li. 4.

Cynægīrus, an Athenian, celebrated for his extraordinary courage. He was brother to the poet Æschylus. After the battle of Marathon, he pursued the flying Persians to their ships, and seized one of their vessels with his right hand, which was immediately severed by the enemy. Upon this he seized the vessel with his left hand, and when he had lost that also, he still kept his hold with his teeth. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 114.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 9.

Cynæthium, a town of Arcadia, founded by one of the companions of Æneas. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Cynāne, a daughter of Philip king of Macedonia, who married Amyntas son of Perdiccas, by whom she had Eurydice. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Cynāpes, a river falling into the Euxine. Ovid, bk. 4, ex Ponto, ltr. 10, li. 49.

Cynaxa. See: Cunaxa.

Cyneas. See: Cineas.

Cynesii and Cynetæ, a nation on the remotest shores of Europe, towards the ocean. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 33.

Cynethussa, an island in the Ægean sea. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Cynia, a lake of Acarcania. Strabo, bk. 16.

Cynĭci, a sect of philosophers founded by Antisthenes the Athenian. They received this name à caninâ mordacitate, from their canine propensity to criticize the lives and actions of men, or because, like dogs, they were not ashamed to gratify their criminal desires publicly. They were famous for their contempt of riches, for their negligence of their dress, and the length of their beards. Diogenes was one of their sect. They generally slept on the ground. Cicero, bk. 1, De Officiis, chs. 35 & 41.

Cynisca, a daughter of Archidamus king of Sparta, who obtained the first prize in the chariot-races at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Cyno, a woman who preserved the life of Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 110.

Cynocephăle, a town of Thessaly, where the proconsul Quintius conquered Philip of Macedon, and put an end to the first Macedonian war, B.C. 197. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 7.

Cynocephăli, a nation of India, who have the head of a dog, according to some traditions. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 2.

Cynophontis, a festival of Argos, observed during the dog days. It received its name ἀπο του κυνας φονειν, killing dogs, because they used to kill all the dogs they met.

Cynortas, one of the ancient kings of Sparta, son of Amyclas and Diomede. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Cynortion, a mountain of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 27.

Cynos, a town of Locris.——Another in Thessaly, where Pyrrha, Deucalion’s wife, was buried.

Cynosargres, a surname of Hercules.——A small village of Attica of the same name, where the Cynic philosophers had established their school. Herodotus, bks. 5 & 6.

Cynossēma (a dog’s tomb), a promontory of the Thracian Chersonesus, where Hecuba was changed into a dog, and buried. Ovid, bk. 13, Metamorphoses, li. 569.

Cynosūra, a nymph of Ida in Crete. She nursed Jupiter, who changed her into a star which bears the same name. It is the same as the Ursa Minor. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 107.

Cynthia, a beautiful woman who was mistress to Propertius.——A surname of Diana, from mount Cynthus, where she was born.

Cynthius, a surname of Apollo, from mount Cynthus.

Cynthus, a mountain of Delos, so high that it is said to overshadow the whole island. Apollo was surnamed Cynthius, and Diana Cynthia, as they were born on the mountain, which was sacred to them. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 36.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 304; Fasti, bk. 3, li. 346.

Cynūrenses, a people of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Cynus, a naval station of Opus. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 1.

Cypărissi and Cyparissia, a town of Peloponnesus, near Massenia. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 31.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 5.

Cypărissus, a youth, son of Telephus of Cea, beloved by Apollo. He killed a favourite stag of Apollo’s, for which he was so sorry that he pined away, and was changed by the god into a cypress tree. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 680.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 121.——A town near Delphi. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Cyphăra, a fortified place of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 13.

Cypriānus, a native of Carthage, who, though born of heathen parents, became a convert to christianity, and the bishop of his countrymen. To be more devoted to purity and study, he abandoned his wife; and as a proof of his charity, he distributed his goods to the poor. He wrote 81 letters, besides several treatises, De Dei gratiâ, De virginum habitu, &c., and rendered his compositions valuable by the information which he conveys of the discipline of the ancient church, and by the soundness and purity of his theology. He died a martyr, A.D. 258. The best editions of Cyprian are that of Fell, folio, Oxford, 1682, and that reprinted Amsterdam, 1700.

Cyprus, a daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, who married Agrippa.——A large island in the Mediterranean sea, at the south of Cilicia, and at the west of Syria, formerly joined to the continent near Syria, according to Pliny. It has been anciently called Acamantis, Amathusia, Aspelia, Cerastis, Colonia or Colinia, Macaria, and Spechia. It has been celebrated for giving birth to Venus surnamed Cypris, who was the chief deity of the place, and to whose service many places and temples were consecrated. It was anciently divided into nine kingdoms, and was for some time under the power of Egypt, and afterwards of the Persians. The Greeks made themselves masters of it, and it was taken from them by the Romans. Its length, according to Strabo, is 1400 stadia. There were three celebrated temples there, two sacred to Venus, and the other to Jupiter. The inhabitants were given much to pleasure and dissipation. Strabo, bk. 16.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 14.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Justin, bk. 18, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 12, ch. 24; bk. 33, ch. 3; bk. 36, ch. 26.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Cypsĕlĭdes, the name of three princes as descendants of Cypselus, who reigned at Corinth during 73 years. Cypselus was succeeded by his son Periander, who left his kingdom, after a reign of 40 years, to Cypselus II.

♦Cypsĕsus, a king of Arcadia, who married the daughter of Ctesiphon, to strengthen himself against the Heraclidæ. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 3.——A man of Corinth, son of Eetion and father of Periander. He destroyed the Bacchiadæ, and seized upon the sovereign power, about 659 years before Christ. He reigned 30 years, and was succeeded by his son. Periander had two sons, Lycophron and Cypselus, who was insane. Cypselus received his name from the Greek word κυψελος, a coffer, because when the Bacchiadæ attempted to kill him, his mother saved his life by concealing him in a coffer. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 17.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 37.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 114; bk. 5, ch. 92, &c.—Aristotle, Politics.——The father of Miltiades. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 35.

♦ ‘Cysĕsus’ replaced with ‘Cypsĕsus’

Cyraunis, an island of Libya. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 195.

Cyrbiāna, a province of the Elymæans.

Cyre, a fountain near Cyrene.

Cyrēnaĭca, a country of Africa, of which Cyrene is the capital. See: Cyrene.

Cyrēnaĭci, a sect of philosophers who followed the doctrine of Aristippus. They placed their summum bonum in pleasure, and said that virtue ought to be commended because it gave pleasure. Diogenes Laërtius, Aristotle.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3.

Cyrēne, the daughter of the river Peneus, of whom Apollo became enamoured. He carried her to that part of Africa which is called Cyrenaica, where she brought forth Aristæus. She is called by some daughter of Hypseus, king of the Lapithæ and son of the Peneus. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 321.—Justin, bk. 13, ch. 7.—Pindar, Pythian, li. 9.——A celebrated city of Libya, to which Aristæus, who was the chief of the colonists settled there, gave his mother’s name. Cyrene was situate in a beautiful and fertile plain, about 11 miles from the Mediterranean sea, and it became the capital of the country, which was called Pentapolis, on account of the five cities which it contained. It gave birth to many great men, among whom were Callimachus, Eratosthenes, Carneades, Aristippus, &c. The town of Cyrene was built by Battus, B.C. 630, and the kingdom was bequeathed to the Romans, B.C. 97, by king Ptolemy Appion. Herodotus, bks. 3 & 4.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 5.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 70.

Cyriades, one of the 30 tyrants who harassed the Roman empire in the reign of Gallienus. He died A.D. 259.

Cyrillus, a bishop of Jerusalem, who died A.D. 386. Of his writings, composed in Greek, there remain 23 catecheses, and a letter to the emperor Constantine, the best edition of which is by Milles, folio, Oxford, 1703.——A bishop of Alexandria, who died A.D. 444. The best edition of his writings, which are mostly controversial, in Greek, is that of Paris, folio, 7 vols., 1638.

Cyrne, a place of Eubœa.

Cyrnus, a driver in the games which Scipio exhibited in Africa, &c. Silius Italicus, bk. 16, li. 342.——A man of Argos, who founded a city of Chersonesus. Diodorus, bk. 5.——A river that falls into the Caspian sea. Plutarch, Pompey.——An island on the coast of Liguria, the same as Corsica; and called after Cyrnus the son of Hercules. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 9, li. 30.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 17.

Cyrræi, a people of Æthiopia.

Cyrrhadæ, an Indian nation.

Cyrrhes, a people of Macedonia, near Pella.

Cyrrhestĭca, a country of Syria near Cilicia, of which the capital was called Cyrrhum. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 23.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 5, ltr. 18.

Cyrrhus and Cyrus, a river of Iberia in Asia.

Cyrsīlus, an Athenian, stoned to death by his countrymen, because he advised them to receive the army of Xerxes, and to submit to the power of Persia. Demosthenes, de Coronâ.—Cicero, bk. 3, de Officiis, ch. 11.

Cyrus, a king of Persia, son of Cambyses and Mandane, daughter of Astyages king of Media. His father was of an ignoble family, whose marriage with Mandane had been consummated on account of the apprehensions of Astyages. See: Astyages. Cyrus was exposed as soon as born; but he was preserved by a shepherdess, who educated him as her own son. As he was playing with his equals in years, he was elected king in a certain diversion, and he exercised his power with such an independent spirit, that he ordered one of his play companions to be severely whipped for disobedience. The father of the youth, who was a nobleman, complained to the king of the ill treatment which his son had received from a shepherd’s son. Astyages ordered Cyrus before him, and discovered that he was Mandane’s son, from whom he had so much to apprehend. He treated him with great coldness; and Cyrus, unable to bear his tyranny, escaped from his confinement, and began to levy troops to dethrone his grandfather. He was assisted and encouraged by the ministers of Astyages, who were displeased with the king’s oppression. He marched against him, and Astyages was defeated in a battle, and taken prisoner, B.C. 559. From this victory the empire of Media became tributary to the Persians. Cyrus subdued the eastern parts of Asia, and made war against Crœsus king of Lydia, whom he conquered, B.C. 548. He invaded the kingdom of Assyria, and took the city of Babylon by drying the channels of the Euphrates, and marching his troops through the bed of the river, while the people were celebrating a grand festival. He afterwards marched against Tomyris the queen of the Massagetæ, a Scythian nation, and was defeated in a bloody battle, B.C. 530. The victorious queen, who had lost her son in a previous encounter, was so incensed against Cyrus, that she cut off his head, and threw it into a vessel filled with human blood, exclaiming, Satia te sanguine quem sitisti. Xenophon has written the life of Cyrus; but his history is not perfectly authentic. In the character of Cyrus he delineates a brave and virtuous prince, and often puts in his mouth many of the sayings of Socrates. The chronology is false; and Xenophon, in his narration, has given existence to persons whom no other historian ever mentioned. The Cyropædia, therefore, is not to be looked upon as an authentic history of Cyrus the Great, but we must consider it as showing what every good and virtuous prince ought to be. Diodorus, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 75, &c.—Justin, bk. 1, chs. 5 & 7.——The younger Cyrus was the younger son of Darius Nothus, and the brother of Artaxerxes. He was sent by his father, at the age of 16, to assist the Lacedæmonians against Athens. Artaxerxes succeeded to the throne at the death of Nothus; and Cyrus, who was of an aspiring soul, attempted to assassinate him. He was discovered, and would have been punished with death, had not his mother Parysatis saved him from the hands of the executioner by her tears and entreaties. This circumstance did not in the least check the ambition of Cyrus; he was appointed over Lydia and the sea coasts, where he secretly fomented rebellion, and levied troops under various pretences. At last he took the field with an army of 100,000 barbarians, and 13,000 Greeks under the command of Clearchus. Artaxerxes met him with 900,000 men near Cunaxa. The battle was long and bloody, and Cyrus might have perhaps obtained the victory, had not his uncommon rashness proved his ruin. It is said that the two royal brothers met in person, and engaged with the most inveterate fury, and their engagement ended in the death of Cyrus, 401 years B.C. Artaxerxes was so anxious of its being universally reported that his brother had fallen by his hand, that he put to death two of his subjects for boasting that they had killed Cyrus. The Greeks, who were engaged in the expedition, obtained much glory in the battle; and after the death of Cyrus, they remained victorious in the field without a commander. They were not, however, discouraged, though at a great distance from their country, and surrounded on every side by a powerful enemy. They unanimously united in the election of commanders, and traversed all Asia, in spite of the continual attacks of the Persians; and nothing is more truly celebrated in ancient history than the bold retreat of the 10,000. The journey that they made from the place of their first embarkation till their return, has been calculated at 1155 leagues, performed in the space of 15 months, including all the time which was devoted to take rest and refreshment. This retreat has been celebrated by Xenophon, who was one of their leaders, and among the friends and supporters of Cyrus. It is said, that in the letter he wrote to Lacedæmon to solicit auxiliaries, Cyrus boasted his philosophy, his royal blood, and his ability to drink more wine than his brother without being intoxicated. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.—Diodorus, bk. 14.—Justin, bk. 5, ch. 11.——A rival of Horace, in the affections of one of his mistresses, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 24.——A poet of Panopolis, in the age of Theodosius.

Cyrus and Cyropŏlis, a city of Syria, built by the Jews in honour of Cyrus, whose humanity in relieving them from their captivity they wished thus to commemorate.

Cyrus, a river of Persia, now Kur.

Cyta, a town of Colchis, famous for the poisonous herbs which it produced, and for the birth of Medea. Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 693.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 1, li. 73.

Cytæis, a surname of Medea, from her being an inhabitant of Cyta. Propertius, bk. 2, poem 4, li. 7.

Cythēra, now Cesigo, an island on the coast of Laconia in Peloponnesus. It was particularly sacred to the goddess Venus, who was from thence surnamed Cytheræa, and who rose, as some suppose, from the sea, near its coasts. It was for some time under the power of the Argives, and always considered as of the highest importance to maritime powers. The Phœnicians had built there a famous temple to Venus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 262; bk. 10, li. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 33.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 288; bk. 15, li. 386; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 15.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 29.

Cythĕræa, a surname of Venus.

Cythēris, a certain courtesan, much respected by the poet Gallus, as well as by Antony.

Cythēron. See: Cithæron.

Cythērun, a place of Attica.

Cytherus, a river of Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 22.

Cythnos, now Thermia, an island near Attica, famous for its cheese. It has been called Ophiousa and Dryopis. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 252.

Cytineum, one of the four cities called Tetrapolis in Doris. Strabo, bk. 9.—Thucydides, bk. 1, ch. 107.

Cytissorus, a son of Phryxus, &c. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 197.

Cytōrus, now Kudros, a mountain and town of Galatia, built by Cytorus son of Phryxus, and abounding in box-wood. Catullus, poem 4, li. 13.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 311.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 437.

Cyzĭcum, or Cyzicus, an island of the Propontis, about 530 stadia in circumference, with a town called Cyzicus. Alexander joined it to the continent by two bridges, and from that time it was called a peninsula. It had two harbours called Panormus and Chytus, the first natural, and the other artificial. It became one of the most considerable cities of Asia. It was besieged by Mithridates, and relieved by Lucullus. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Diodorus, bk. 18.

Cyzĭcus, a son of Œneus and Stilba, who reigned in Cyzicus. He hospitably received the Argonauts, in their expedition against Colchis. After their departure from the coast of Cyzicus, they were driven back in the night, by a storm, upon the coast; and the inhabitants seeing such an unexpected number of men, furiously attacked them, supposing them to be the Pelasgi, their ancient enemies. In this nocturnal engagement, many were killed on both sides, and Cyzicus perished by the hands of Jason himself, who honoured him with a splendid funeral, and raised a stately monument over his grave. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Flaccus.—Apollonius.—Orpheus.——The chief town of the island of Cyzicum, built where the island is joined by the bridges to the continent. It has two excellent harbours, called Panormus and Chytus. The former is naturally large and beautiful, and the other owes all its conveniences to the hand of art. The town is situate partly on a mountain, and partly in a plain. The Argonauts built a temple to Cybele in the neighbourhood. It derives its name from Cyzicus, who was killed there by Jason. The Athenians defeated near this place their enemies of Lacedæmon, assisted by Pharnabazus, B.C. 410. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.—Strabo.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 22.—Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 636.