Cleitus

(Κλεῖτος).

1. A son of Aegyptus, murdered by Cleite. (Apollod. 2.1.5.)

2. A son of Mantius, carried off by Eos on account of his extraordinary beauty. (Hom. Od. 15.250; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1780.)

3. A son of Peisenor of Troy, slain by Teucrus. (Hom. Il. 15.445, &c.)

4. The beloved friend of Pallene, who fought with his rival Dryas for the possession of Pallene, and conquered him by the assistance of the maiden. Sithon, the father of Pallene, wanted to punish his daughter, but she was rescued from his hands by Aphrodite, and after Sithon's death she married Cleitus, and the country of Pallene derived its name from her. (Conon, Narrat. 10; Parthen. Erot. 6.)

5. King of the Sithones in Thrace, who gave his daughter Chrysonoe or Torone in marriage to Proteus, who had come to Thrace from Egypt. (Conon, Narrat. 32.) [L.S]

(Κλεῖτος or Κλειτός). 1. Son of Bardylis, king of Illyria. [See p. 463.] In B. C. 335, having received promise of aid from Glaucias, king of the Taulantians, he revolted from Alexander the Great. The latter accordingly invaded his country, and after a campaign, in which the advantage of the Illyrians and their allies lay entimely in the strong positions they were enabled to take up among their hills, compelled him to flee from his dominions and take refuge in those of Glaucias. Arrian mentions a dreadful sacrifice of three boys, three girls, and three black rams, offered by the Illyrians before their first battle with Alexander's troops. (Arr. Anab. 1.5, 6; Plut. Alex. 11; Diod. 17.8.)

2. A Macedonian, surnamed Μέλας, son of Dropides, and brother to Lanice or Hellanice, nurse of Alexander the Great. He saved Alexander's life at the battle of Granicus, B. C. 334, cutting off with a blow of his sword the arm of Spithridates which was raised to slay the king. At the battle of Arbela, B. C. 331, he commanded, in the right wing, the body of cavalry called Ἄγημα (see Plb. 5.65, 31.3); and when, in B. C. 330, the guards (ἑταῖροι) were separated into two divisions, it being considered expedient not to entrust the sole command to any one man, Hephaestion and Cleitus were appointed to lead respectively the two bodies. In B. C. 328, Artabazus resigned his satrapy of Bactria, and the king gave it to Cleitus. On the eve of the day on which he was to set out to take possession of his government, Alexander, then at Maracanda in Sogdiana, celebrated a festival in honour of the Dioscuri, though the day was in fact sacred to Dionysus--a circumstance which afterwards supplied his friends with a topic of consolation to him in his remorse for the murder of Cleitus, the soothsayers declaring, that his frenzy had been caused by the god's wrath at the neglect of his festival. At the banquet an angry dispute arose, the particulars of which are variously reported by different authors. They agree, however, in stating, that Cleitus became exasperated at a comparison which was instituted between Alexander and Philip, much to the disparagement of the latter, and also at supposing that his own services and those of his contemporaries were depreciated as compared with the exploits of younger men. Being heated with wine, he launched forth into language highly insolent to the king, quoting a passage from Euripides (Eur. Andr. 683, &c.) to the effect, that the soldiers win by their toil the victories of which the general reaps the glory. Alexander at length, stung to a frenzy of rage, rushed towards him, but was held back by his friends, while Cleitus also was forced from the room. Alexander, being then released, seized a spear, and sprung to the door; and Cleitus, who was returning in equal fury to brave his anger, met him, and fell dead beneath his weapon. (Diod. 17.21, 57; Wess. ad loc.; Plut. Alex. 16, 50-52 ; Arr. Anab. 1.15, 3.11, 27, 4.8, 9; Curt. 4.13.26, 8.1; Just. 12.6.)

3. Another of Alexander's officers, surnamed Λευκός to distinguish him from the above. He is noted by Athenaeus and Aelian for his pomp and luxury, and is probably the same who is mentioned by Justin among the veterans sent home to Macedonia under Craterus in B. C. 324. (Athen. 12.539c.; Ael. VH 9.3; Just. 12.12; Arr. Anab. 7.12.)

4. An officer who commanded the Macedonian fleet for Antipater in the Lamian war, B. C. 323, and defeated the Athenian admiral, Eetion, in two battles off the Echinades. In the distribution of provinces at Triparadeisus, B. C. 321, he obtained from Antipater the satrapy of Lydia ; and when Antigonus was advancing to dispossess him of it, in B. C. 319, after Antipater's death, he garrisoned the principal cities, and sailed away to Macedonia to report the state of affairs to Polysperchon. In B. C. 318, after Polysperchon had been baffled at Megalopolis, he sent Cleitus with a fleet to the coast of Thrace to prevent any forces of Antigonus from passing into Europe, and also to effect a junction with Arrhidaeus, who had shut himself up in the town of Cius. [See p. 350a.] Nicanor being sent against him by Cassander, a battle ensued near Byzantium, in which Cleitus gained a decisive victory. But his success rendered him over-confident, and, having allowed his troops to disembark and encamp on land, he was surprised by Antigonus and Nicanor, and lost all his ships except the one in which he sailed himself. Having reached the shore in safety, he proceeded towards Macedonia, but was slain by some soldiers of Lysimachus, with whom he fell in on the way. (Diod. 18.15, 39, 52, 72.) [E.E]