safe, despite the loss of his weaponry. Page (1955, 152–61) suggests that Alcaeus’ poems were the main ultimate source of information about the Sigeian War for Herodotus and all subsequent ancient authors.
SEE ALSO: Peisistratidae; Poetry; Sources for Herodotus
REFERENCES
1 Campbell, David A., ed. 1982. Greek Lyric. Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2 Page, Denys. 1955. Sappho and Alcaeus. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
FURTHER READING
1 Hornblower, Simon, ed. 2013. Herodotus: Histories Book V, 268–73. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Hutchinson, G. O. 2001. Greek Lyric Poetry, 187–227. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ALCAEUS ( Ἄλκαιος, ὁ) son of Heracles
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
According to Herodotus (1.7.2), Alcaeus was a son of HERACLES born to a female slave of IARDANUS (or perhaps to his daughter named DOULĒ). In the more common version of the story, Heracles became a slave of Omphale, daughter of Iardanus and queen of LYDIA (Gantz, EGM 439–42). Elsewhere, the name Alcaeus refers to Heracles’ grandfather, or Heracles’ original name (Diod. Sic. 1.24.4). Herodotus names Alcaeus’ great‐grandson, AGRON, as the first Heraclid king of Lydia; the last of this dynasty, CANDAULES, loses his throne to GYGES SON OF DASCYLUS.
SEE ALSO: Heracleidae; Myth
ALCAMENES (Ἁλκαμένης, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Legendary Spartan king, son of TELECLUS, member of the Agiad royal house of SPARTA. Herodotus mentions Alcamenes in the GENEALOGY he provides for LEONIDAS before the Battle of THERMOPYLAE (7.204). The Roman‐era author Pausanias attributes the Spartan CONQUEST of the town of Helos (future HELOTS, slaves owned by the Spartan state) to Alcamenes (Paus. 3.2.7; Luraghi 2003, 129–32).
SEE ALSO: Agis son of Eurysthenes; Polydorus
REFERENCE
1 Luraghi, Nino. 2003. “The Imaginary Conquest of the Helots.” In Helots and Their Masters in Laconia and Messenia: Histories, Ideologies, Structures, edited by Nino Luraghi and Susan E. Alcock, 109–41. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies.
ALCEIDES (Ἀλκείδης, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Patronymic, father of the Spartan AGETUS (6.61.5). Nothing more is known of Alceides (Alcidas, in the Doric dialect of SPARTA: LGPN III.A, 29 s.v. Ἀλκίδας (2)).
SEE ALSO: Dialects, Greek
FURTHER READING
1 Hodkinson, Stephen. 2000. Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta, 413–14. London: Duckworth.
ALCENOR AND CHROMIUS (Ἀλκήνωρ, Χρομίος)
NATASHA BERSHADSKY
Center for Hellenic Studies
The two Argive survivors of the Battle of Champions (1.82), in which 300 Argives fought 300 Spartans for the plain of THYREAE. After only one Spartan, OTHRYADES, remained alive, Alcenor and Chromius considered themselves victorious and departed to ARGOS, while Othryades stripped the slain Argives of their armor and stayed in the Spartan camp. Both the Spartans and the Argives maintained that they were victorious, and the dispute led to a larger battle, as the result of which SPARTA seized Thyreae. Other ancient sources do not feature the second battle (Chrysermus of Corinth BNJ 287 F2a, with “Agenor” for Alcenor; Theseus BNJ 453 F2). A different version existed in Argos, where the Roman‐era author Pausanias saw a statue of the Argive Perilaus, son of Alcenor, killing the Spartan Othryades (Paus. 2.20.7).
SEE ALSO: Hair; Peloponnese; Warfare
ALCETAS (Ἀλκέτης, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Alcetas appears as the father of Amyntas (the first historically attested Macedonian king) in the list of Macedonian rulers given by Herodotus (8.139), descendants of PERDICCAS, the legendary founder of the kingship. The list presents the “pedigree” of ALEXANDER SON OF AMYNTAS; Herodotus tends to introduce such lists at key moments in the narrative (Bowie 2007, 219). Here, Alexander is about to address the Athenians as an envoy of the Persian general MARDONIUS in the winter of 480/79 BCE. The name Alcetas is well‐attested in MACEDONIA beginning in the fourth century (LGPN IV, 18 s.v. Ἀλκέτας).
SEE ALSO: Aëropus; Amyntas son of Alcetas; Genealogies
REFERENCE
1 Bowie, A. M., ed. 2007. Herodotus: Histories Book VIII. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
FURTHER READING
1 Sprawski, Sławomir. 2010. “The Early Temenid kings to Alexander I.” In A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, edited by Joseph Roisman and Ian Worthington, 127–44. Malden, MA: Wiley‐Blackwell.
ALCIBIADES (Ἀλκιβιάδης, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Patronymic, father of the Athenian CLEINIAS who stood out for his performance at the Battle of ARTEMISIUM in 480 BCE (8.17). This Alcibiades (I), of the Attic DEME Scambonidae, is the first securely attested member of this important Athenian FAMILY. The fourth‐century orator Isocrates (16.25) claims that he assisted CLEISTHENES SON OF MEGACLES in expelling the PEISISTRATIDAE (and thus ushering in the DEMOCRACY at ATHENS).
FURTHER READING
1 Davies, J. K. 1971. Athenian Propertied Families, 600–300 B.C., 12–15. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
2 PAA 121620 (vol. 2, p. 29).
ALCIMACHUS (Ἀλκίμαχος, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
