A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Σμινθεύς), a surname of Apollo, which is derived by some from σμίνθος, a mouse, and by others from the town of Sminthe in Troas (Horn. Il. 1.3.9; Ov. Fast. 6.425, Met. 12.585 ; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 34). The mouse was regarded by the ancients as inspired by the vapours arising from the earth, and as the symbol of prophetic power. In the temple of Apollo at Chryse there was a statue of the god by Scopas, with a mouse under its foot (Strab. xiii. p.604, &c.; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 34), and on coins Apollo is represented carrying a mouse in his hands (Müller, Ancient Art and its Rem. § 361, note 5). Temples of Apollo Sminthens and festivals (Smintheia) existed in several parts of Greece, as at Tenedos, near Hamaxitos in Aeolis, near Parion, at Lindos in Rhodes, near Coressa, and in other places. (Strab. x. p 486, xiii. pp. 604, 605.)

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