Agonius

:"For the German religious leader sometimes known as "Brother Agonius", see Michael Wohlfahrt."Agonius or Enagonius (Gr. polytonic|Ἀγώνιος) was an epithet of several gods in Greek mythology (or a distinct deity).Citation | last = Schmitz | first = Leonhard | author-link = | contribution = Agonius | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 75 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | place = Boston | year = 1867 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0084.html ] Aeschylus and Sophocles use it of Apollo and Zeus, [Aeschylus, "Agamemnon" 513] [Sophocles, "Trachinian Women" 26] and apparently in the sense of helpers in struggles and contests, [Comp. Eustathius of Thessalonica "ad Il. p. 1335] or possibly as the protectors of soldiers. [cite book | last = McClintock | first = John | authorlink = John McClintock | coauthors = | title = Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature | publisher = Harper & Bros. | date = 1889 | location = New York | pages = 66-67 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=0wvLHeiXEJcC | doi = | id = | isbn = ] But Agonius is more especially used as an epithet of Hermes, who presides over all kinds of solemn contests (polytonic|ἀγῶνες), such as the Agonalia. [Pausanias, "Description of Greece" v. 14. § 7] [Pindar, "Olympian Odes" vi. 133, with the scholia] Classical scholar William Warde Fowler thought it likely the deity or the epithets were merely inventions of the pontifices. [cite book | last = Fowler | first = William Warde | authorlink = William Warde Fowler | coauthors = | title = The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic: An Introduction to the Study of the Religion of the Romans | publisher = Macmillan & Co. | date = 1908 | location = London | pages = 281 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=FGEKAAAAIAAJ | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

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. [cite book | last = Massi | first = H. J. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Compendious Description of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in the Vatican Palace | publisher = | date = 1890 | location = Rome | pages = 76 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=HmZ51dXFED4C | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

"Agonius" was also the original name of the Quirinal Hill in Rome. [cite book | last = Lemprière | first = John | authorlink = John Lemprière | coauthors = | title = Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms | publisher = W. E. Dean | date = 1839 | location = New York | pages = 270 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=D6QPAAAAYAAJ | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

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