Agonius

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For the German religious leader sometimes known as "Brother Agonius", see Michael Wohlfahrt.

Agonius or Enagonius (Gr. Ἀγώνιος) was an epithet of several gods in Greek mythology (or a distinct deity).[1] Aeschylus and Sophocles use it of Apollo and Zeus,[2][3] and apparently in the sense of helpers in struggles and contests,[4] or possibly as the protectors of soldiers.[5] But Agonius is more especially used as an epithet of Hermes, who presides over all kinds of solemn contests (ἀγῶνες), such as the Agonalia.[6][7] Classical scholar William Warde Fowler thought it likely the deity or the epithets were merely inventions of the pontifices.[8]

According to a 19th century catalog of Greek and Roman art in the Vatican Palace, there was in that building a statue considered by the museum's curator to be that of Hermes Enagonius, dated to the time of Lysippos, although other critics have variously believed the statue to depict Heracles, Theseus or Meleager.[9]

"Agonius" was also the original name of the Quirinal Hill in Rome.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), “Agonius”, in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 75 
  2. ^ Aeschylus, Agamemnon 513
  3. ^ Sophocles, Trachinian Women 26
  4. ^ Comp. Eustathius of Thessalonica ad Il. p. 1335
  5. ^ McClintock, John (1889). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. New York: Harper & Bros., 66-67. 
  6. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece v. 14. § 7
  7. ^ Pindar, Olympian Odes vi. 133, with the scholia
  8. ^ Fowler, William Warde (1908). The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic: An Introduction to the Study of the Religion of the Romans. London: Macmillan & Co., 281. 
  9. ^ Massi, H. J. (1890). Compendious Description of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in the Vatican Palace, 76. 
  10. ^ Lemprière, John (1839). Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms. New York: W. E. Dean, 270. 

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).