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Acheʹmon

,

or Achmon, and his brother Basălas were two Cercõpĕs 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 quarrelling—“Look out for Melampyʹgos!” (i.e. Hercules).

“Ne insidas in Melampygum.”

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

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Account
Accurate
Accusative (The)
Ace
Aceldama
Acephalites
Acestes
Achæan League
Achar
Achates
Achemon
Acheron
Acherontian Books
Acherusia
Achillea
Achilles
Achilles
Achilles (pronounce A-kil-leez)
Achilles
Achilles of the West
Achilles Spear