Chapter Account to Achitophel of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Achates (3 syl.) A fidus Achates. A faithful companion, a bosom friend. Achates in Virgil's Æneid is the chosen companion of the hero in adventures of all kinds.

"He has chosen this fellow for his fidus Achates." - Sir Walter Scott

Achemon or Achmon, and his brother Basalas were two Cercopes for ever quarrelling. One day they saw Hercules asleep under a tree and insulted him, but Hercules tied them by their feet to his club and walked off with them, heads downwards, like a brace of hares. Everyone laughed at the sight, and it became a proverbial cry among the Greeks, when two men were seen quarelling - "Look out for Melampygos!" (i.e. Hercules).

"Ne insidas in Melampygum."

According to Greek fable, monkeys are degraded men. The Cercopes were changed into monkeys for attempting to deceive Zeus.

Acheron The "River of Sorrows" (Greek, achos roös); one of the five rivers of the infernal regions.

"Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep." Milton: Paradise Lost, ii. 578.

Pabulum Acherontis. Food for the churchyard; said of a dead body.

Acherontian Books The most celebrated books of augury in the world. They are the books which the Etruscans received from Tages, grandson of Jupiter.

Acherusia A cavern on the borders of Pontus, said to lead down to the infernal regions. It was through this cavern that Hercules dragged Cerberus to earth.

Achillea The Yarrow, called by the French the herbe aux charpentiers - i.e., carpenter's wort, because it was supposed to heal wounds made by carpenters' tools. Called Achillea from Achilles, who was taught the uses and virtues of plants by Chiron the centaur. The tale is, that when the Greeks invaded Troy, Telephus, a son-in-law of King Priam, attempted to stop their landing; but Bacchus caused him to stumble over a vine, and, when he had fallen, Achilles wounded him with his spear. The young Trojan was told by an oracle that "Achilles (meaning milfoil or yarrow) would cure the wound;" but, instead of seeking the plant, he applied to the Grecian chief, and promised to conduct the host to Troy if he would cure the wound. Achilles consented to do so, scraped some rust from his spear, and from the filings rose the plant milfoil, which, being applied to the wound, had the desired effect.

Achilles (3 syl.) King of the Myrmidons (in Thessaly), the hero of Homer's epic poem called the Iliad. He is represented as brave and relentless. The poem begins with a quarrel between him and Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the allied Greeks: in consequence of which Achilles refused to go to battle. The Trojans prevail, and Achilles sends forth his friend Patroclos to oppose them. Patroclos fell; and Achilles, in anger, rushing into the battle killed Hector, the commander of the Trojans. He himself, according to later poems, fell in battle a few days afterwards, before Troy was taken.

Achilles

Army: The Myrmidons followed him to Troy.
Death of: It was Paris who wounded Achilles in the heel with an arrow (a post-Homeric story).
Father: Peleus (2 syl.), King of Thessaly.
Friend: Patroclos.
Horses: Balios (= swift-footed) and Xanthos (= chestnut-coloured), endowed with human speech.
Mistress in Troy: Hippodamia, surnamed Briseis (2 syl.).
Mother: Thetis, a sea goddess.
Son: Pyrrhos, surnamed Neoptolemos (= the new warrior).
Tomb: In Sigœum, over which no bird ever flies. - Pliny. x. 29.
Tutors: First, Phœnix, who taught him the elements; then Chiron the centaur.
Wife: Deidamia. (5 syl.) De-i-da-my'-ah.

Achilles (pronounce A-kil-leez). The English , John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury (1373--1453).

Achilles of England, the Duke of Wellington (1769--1852).

Of Germany, Albert, Elector of Brandenburg (1414--1486).