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

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.

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

Notes

1. Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Agonius". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 75.
2. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 513
3. Sophocles, Trachinian Women 26
4. Comp. Eustathius on Homer, Iliad p. 1335
5. McClintock, John (1889). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. New York: Harper & Bros. pp. 66–67.
6. Pausanias, 5.14.7; Pindar, Olympian Odes vi. 133, with the scholia
7. 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. pp. 281.
8. Massi, H. J. (1890). Compendious Description of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in the Vatican Palace. Rome: Vatican typography. p. 76.
9. Lemprière, John (1839). Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms. New York: W. E. Dean. p. 270.

References

• Aeschylus, translated in two volumes. 2. Agamemnon by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Sophocles, The Trachiniae of Sophocles edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1893. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Sophocles, Sophocles. Vol 2: Ajax. Electra. Trachiniae. Philoctetes with an English translation by F. Storr. The Loeb classical library, 21. Francis Storr. London; New York. William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Agonius". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

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