Anchises
Anchises, father of Aeneas
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- Son of Capys, father of Aeneas, who bore him forth from burning Troy upon his shoulders, Enn. Ann. 1, 30; Verg. A. 1, 617; 3, 710 sq.; Ov. M. 9, 425; 13, 640; 13, 680 al.—Hence,
- II Derivv.
- A Anchīsēus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Anchises: tumulus, Verg. A. 5, 761; and
- B Anchīsĭădes, ae, m. patr., son of Anchises, i.e. Aeneas, Verg. A. 6, 348.
(Ἀγχίσης), a son of Capys and Themis, the daughter of Ilus. His descent is traced by Aeneas, his son (Hom. Il. 20.208,&c.), from Zeus himself. (Comp. Apollod. 3.12.2 ; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 1232.) Hyginus (Hyg. Fab. 94) makes him a son of Assaracus and grandson of Capys. Anchises was related to the royal house of Troy and king of Dardanus on mount Ida. In beauty he equalled the immortal gods, and was beloved by Aphrodite, by whom he became the father of Aeneas. (Hom. Il. 2.820; Hes. Th. 1008 ; Apollod. Hygin. ll. cc.) According to the Homeric hymn on Aphrodite (45, &c.), the goddess had visited him in the disguise of a daughter of the Phrygian king Otreus. On parting from him, she made herself known, and announced to him that he would be the father of a son, Aeneas, but she commanded him to give out that the child was a son of a nymph, and added the threat that Zeus would destroy him with a flash of lightning if he should ever betray the real mother. When, therefore, on one occasion Anchises lost controul over his tongue and boasted of his intercourse with the goddess, he was struck by a flash of lightning, which according to some traditions killed, but according to others only blinded or lamed him. (Hygin. l.c. ; Serv. ad Aen. 2.648.) Virgil in his Aeneid makes Anchises survive the capture of Troy, and Aeneas carries his father oil his shoulders from the burning city, that he might be assisted by his wise counsel during the voyage, for Virgil, after the example of Ennius, attributes prophetic powers to Anchises. (Aen. 2.687, with Serv. note.) According to Virgil, Anchises died soon after the first arrival of Aeneas in Sicily, and was buried on mount Eryx. (Aen. 3.710, 5.759, &c.) This tradition seems to have been firmly believed in Sicily, and not to have been merely an invention of the poet, for Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1.53) states, that Anchises had a sanctuary at Egesta, and the funeral games celebrated in Sicily in honour of Anchises seem to have continued down to a late period. (Ov. Fast. 3.543.) According to other traditions Anchises died and was buried in Italy. (Dionys. A. R. 1.64 ; Strab. v. p.229; Aurel. Vict. De Orig. Gent. Rom. 10, &c.) A tradition preserved in Pausanias (8.12.5) states, that Anchises died in Arcadia, and was buried there by his son at the foot of a hill, which received from him the name of Anchisia. There were, however, some other places besides which boasted of possessing the tomb of Anchises; for some said, that he was buried on mount Ida, in accordance with the tradition that he was killed there by Zeus (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 894), and others, that he was interred in a place on the gulf of Thermus near the Hellespont. (Conon 46.) According to Apollodorus (3.12.2), Anchises had by Aphrodite a second son, Lyrus or Lyrnus, and Homer (Hom. Il. 13.429) calls Hippodameia the eldest of the daughters of Anchises, but does not mention her mother's name. An Anchises of Sicyon occurs in Il. 23.296. [L.S]
- , Αγχίσης, father of Aeneas, V., O.
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…, vel quo discrimine ripas hae linquunt, illae remis vada livida verrunt Olli sic breviter fata est longaeva sacerdos Anchisa generate, deum certissima proles, Cocyti stagna alta vides Stygiamque paludem, di cuius iurare timent et fallere numen…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…sedibus ossa quierunt. Centum errant annos volitantque haec litora circum ; tum demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt. Constitit Anchisa satus et vestigia pressit, multa putans, sortemque animo miseratus iniquam. Cernit ibi maestos et mortis honore carentes…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…talibus auspiciis exsortem ducere honores. Ipsius Anchisae longaevi hoc munus habebis, cratera impressum signis, quem Thracius olim Anchisae genitori in magno munere Cisseus ferre sui dederat monumentum et pignus amoris. Sic fatus cingit viridanti tempora lauro ,…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…. Quattuor hic, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi tondentis campum late, candore nivali. Et pater Anchises Bellum, O terra hospita, portas bello armantur equi, bellum haec armenta minantur. Sed tamen idem olim…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…prole matronisque nostris, rite deos prius adprecati, virtute functos more patrum duces Lydis remixto carmine tibiis Troiamque et Anchisen et almae progeniem Veneris canemus .…
Horace, Carmina
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…excitat iras Quid furis, aut quonam nostri tibi cura recessit Non prius aspicies, ubi fessum aetate parentem liqueris Anchisen ; superet coniunxne Creüsa, Ascaniusque puer Quos omnes undique Graiae circum errant acies, et, ni mea cura…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…et veneror et confiteor et testor habita sunt in verbis communibus. Sic illa in Vergilio dicta sunt Coniugio, Anchisa, Veneris dignate superbo, et cursusque dabit venerata secundos. Confessi autem aeris, de quo facta confession est…
Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights
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…multa talenta, natis parce tuis. Belli commercia Turnus sustulit ista prior iam tum Pallante perempto. Hoc patris Anchisae manes, hoc sentit Iulus. Sic fatus galeam laeva tenet atque reflexa cervice orantis capulo tenus applicat ensem .…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…inlaetabilis ora accipit. Hic, pelagi tot tempestatibus actis, heu genitorem, omnis curae casusque levamen, amitto Anchisen hic me, pater optume, fessum deseris, heu, tantis nequiquam erepte periclis Nec vates Helenus, cum…
Vergil, Aeneid
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…armis, sed votis precibusque iubent exposcere pacem, sive deae, seu sint dirae obscenaeque volucres. Et pater Anchises passis de litore palmis numina magna vocat, meritosque indicit honores Di, prohibete minas ; di, talem avertite…
Vergil, Aeneid
(Ἀγχίσης). The son of Capys, of the royal house of Troy by both parents, ruler of Dardanus, on Mount Ida. Aphrodité loved him for his beauty, and bore him a son, Aeneas; but having, in spite of her warnings, boasted of her favour, he was (according to various versions of the story) paralyzed, killed, or struck blind by the lightning of Zeus. Vergil represents the disabled chief as borne out of burning Troy on his son's shoulders, and as sharing his wanderings over the sea, and aiding him with his counsel, till they reach Drepanum, in Sicily, where he dies, and is buried on Mount Eryx.
- beloved by Aphrodite, father of Aeneas: Apollod. 3.12.2, Apollod. E.3.34
- carried off by Aeneas at sack of Troy: Apollod. E.5.21
- tomb of, in Arcadia: Paus. 8.12.8, 9