Parthenius
- A mountain in Arcadia, now Partheni, Liv. 34, 26; Mel. 2, 3, 5; Plin. 4, 6, 10, § 21.—
- B Adj.: Parthenii saltus, Verg. E. 10, 57; so, nemus, Ov. M. 9, 188; Stat. Th. 4, 285: valles, Ov. H. 9, 49: antra, Prop. 1, 1, 11.—
- II A river in Paphlagonia, now Bartan Tchai, Mel. 1, 19; Plin. 6, 2, 2, § 5; Val. Fl. 5, 104; Ov. P. 4, 10, 49.—
- III A Grecian erotic poet and grammarian, an instructor of Virgil, Suet. Tib. 70; Gell. 9, 9, 3; 13, 26, 1; Macr. S. 5, 17.—
- IV A silversmith, famous in the time of Juvenal, Juv. 12, 43.—
- V A male proper name, Mart. 9, 50, 3.
- —Hence, Parthĕnĭānus, a, um, adj.: toga, given by Parthenius, Mart. l. l:
- 1. gebergte tussen Argolis en Arcadië, waar Hercules de hinde v. Artemis ving; — adj. Parthenius, a, um [nemus; valles; antra];
- 2. rivier in Paphlagonië (Kl.-Azië), nu de Bartin Su;
- 3. Griekse dichter en grammaticus uit Nicaea, die in 73 v. Chr. als krijgsgevangene naar Rome kwam; leermeester v. Vergilius.
PARTHE´NIUS(Παρθένιος), the most important river in the west of Paphlagonia. It owes its Greek name probably to a similarity in the sound of its native appellation, which is still Bartan-Suor Bartine;though Greek authors fabled that it derived its name from the fact that Artemis loved to bathe in its waters (Scymn. 226, foll.) or to hunt on its banks, or from the purity of its waters. The river has its sources on mount Olgassys, and in its north-western course formed the boundary between Paphlagonia and Bithynia. It empties itself into the Euxine about 90 stadia west of Amastris. (Hom. Il. 2.854; Hes. Th. 344; Hdt. 2.104; Xenoph. Anab. 5.6.9, 6.2.1; Strab. 12. p. 543; Ptol. 5.1.7; Arrian, Peripl. p. 14; Steph. B. s. v.,who erroneously states that the river flowed through the middle of the town of Amastris; Ov. Pont. 4.1049; Amm. Marc. xxii 9.)
[L.S](Παρθένιος). A Greek grammarian and poet, of Nicaea in Bithynia, who was brought captive to Rome during the war with Mithridates. After his release, he lived there till the time of Tiberius, esteemed as a scholar and poet, especially as a writer of elegiac verse. He was acquainted with Vergil, whom he taught Greek, and one of his poems is said to have been the model for the Moretum (q. v.); but he was more closely connected with the elegiac poet, Cornelius Gallus. For Gallus he composed the only work of his which has survived, under the title, Erotic Experiences (Περὶ Ἐρωτικῶν Παθημάτων). This is a collection of thirty-six prose stories of unhappy lovers, compiled from ancient poets, especially from those of the Alexandrian school. They are in reality only sketches and were intended to be developed by Gallus into poems of passion. Apart from the light which the work throws on the Alexandrine poets, of whose productions it contains fragments, it has a special interest as a precursor of the Greek novel. Edited by Hirschig in the Didot collection (Paris, 1856). See novels and romances.
- Paus. 9.13.5
- Syrians in its neighbourhood: Hdt. 2.104
- infant Telephus exposed on: Apollod. 2.7.4, Apollod. 3.8.2
- Paus. 1.28.4, Paus. 8.6.4, Paus. 8.48.7, Paus. 8.54.6, 7
- vision of Pan seen there by Phidippides: Hdt. 6.105