LYCTUS, lye-lus, a town in the east of Crete, the residence of Idomeneus (Lye' nos). LYCURGUS, l9-cur'-gas. z. A king of Ne miea, raised from the dead by iEsculapius. 2. A king of the EdOnes in Thrace, son of Dryas, notorious for his cruelty and impiety ; tried to abolish Bacchus's worship, for which he was punished by the gods with madness ; killed his own son Dryas, and cut off his own legs, which he mistook for vine boughs, and he was tortured to death by his subjects, who were told by an oracle that they should not taste wine till Lycurgus was dead. 3. The famous legislator of Sparta, 825 B.C., was son of King Euntimus, and brother of Polydectes. On the death of Polydectes, his queen, then pregnant by him, proposed to Lycurgus, the regent, to destroy the babe if he would share the throne with her ; he feigned consent till the son, Charilaus, was born, when he imme diately proclaimed him king of Sparta, and, as his next of kin, assumed the regency ; but, from the resentment of the queen and his enemies, or to avoid all suspicion of designs on the crown of his infant nephew, he set out to visit Egypt, Crete, and Asia, proceeding even to India. On his return to Sparta he found everything in disorder, and was requested by all parties to reform the government. He submitted to the Delphic oracle the draught of a remodelled constitution, civil and military, and having received its approval, presented this to the people, and bound them by an oath to observe it till he returned to Sparta. He again set out, and remained till death in volun tary exile, that they might not change the constitution ; and his time of death and tomb were unknown. The constitution of Sparta (q. v.), as it existed in the historical age, was attributed to Lycurgus, but doubtless much of it was anterior or subsequent to his time. 4. IBIS, i'-bis, an Athenian orator and man, born about 395 B.C. ; studied under Plato and Isocrates, and supported Demos thenes. He died 323. One oration is extant.
LYCUS, lye'-us. 1. See AN•IOPE. 2. See Lvcia. 3. A river of Phrygla, flows past Colossm and Laodieda into the part of its course being under ground. 4. A river of Bithynia, near Hemel& in Pontus.
river of Armenia ; flows into the Iris near upatorla. LYDIA, 1Y-di-a, a district of Asia Minor, bounded W. by the fEgean ; S. by Carla ; N. by Mysia ; E. by Phrygla (but sometimes the coast part, Ionia, was not included); anciently 111rehdia (q. v.), and named Lydia from a Icing Lydus (q. v.) ; was at an early period civilized, and in communication with the Greek colonies. Its two early dynasties, the Atyhdee and Hiracligice, were succeeded by the Nerninada kings—Gkes, 716-678 B.C. ; Ardys, 678-629 ; Sadyattes, 629-6r7 ; Alyattes, 617-56o; and, lastly, Crmsus, 56o to his subjugation by the Persians, under Cyrus, $46, when Lydia and Mysia were con joined m one satrapy. It was afterwards under Macedonia, the Seleucidas, and, after 188, the kings of Pergamus, with which it was bequeathed by Attains III. to the Romans. Its capital was Sardis, its chief mountain Tmolus, its chief river the Cayster, and great plain the Hernias. Lf/dius is applied by Virgil to the Tiber, because flowing past Etruria (q. v.), which was believed to have been colonized by Lydian.
LYDUS, 17-dres, son of Atys and Callithiia, was king of Mmonla, which he named Lydia. His brother Tyrrhenus colonized Etruria. LYNCEUS, a. Son of Aphireus ; was an Argonaut, and present at the Calydo nian Hunt. (See InAs, 1.) a. See DANAUS. LYNCVS, lyn'-cus, or Lv:s.x, a cruel kin of Scythia (or Sicily), was made a lynx the emblem of perfidy and ingratitude) w en treacherously trying to murder his guest Triptcamus, whom Ceres had sent forth to teach mankind husbandry.