THETIS THIBAUT. 



599 



later period became a powerful kingdom. Here 

 reigned Admetus, husband of Alceste, and Alex- 

 ander the tyrant. At Anthela, near Thermopylze, 

 were held thf> autumnal sessions of the Amphic- 

 tyons. Philip of Macedon made himself master of 

 all Thessaly, and it remained under the Macedonian 

 dominion until it became a Roman province. It 

 now forms, under the name of Janiah, or Janna, a 

 part of European Turkey, the boundary line of 

 Greece, as fixed by the protocol of February 3, 

 1830, running to the south of it. The old geo- 

 graphers divide the country into Thessaliotis, 

 Phthiotis, Pelasgiotis, and Hestiaeotis; or, instead 

 of the two last, into Magnesia and Perrha?bia. 

 The most remarkable mountains of Thessaly are 

 the Pindus, (Eta, Ossa, Pelion, and particularly the 

 seat of the gods, Olympus, on the frontiers of Ma- 

 cedonia. Among the rivers, besides the Peneus, 

 are the Apidanus, Achelous, Asopus, and Sper- 

 chius; among the towns, besides those already 

 named, Hellas, Trachis or Heraclea, Pbarsalus, 

 and Larissa, now the chief town in this part of 

 the country. Achilles, Jason, Philoctetes, Patro- 

 elus, and Piritbous were Thessalians. Thessaly had 

 also the reputation of producing the most powerful 

 sorceresses; and the Thessalian women were so 

 famous for their skill in magical arts, that Thessalis 

 was sometimes used to signify a sorceress or witch. 



THETIS; a daughter of Nereus and Doris, 

 therefore one of the Nereids. She aided Jupiter 

 against the Titans, who attempted to bind him, 

 and called in Briareus to his assistance. Jupiter 

 and Neptune became enamoured of her, according 

 to Pindar, and sought her in marriage; but Themis 

 or Prometheus forewarned them that she would 

 bear a son greater and more powerful than his 

 father. She was therefore destined, by the gods, 

 to become the bride of Peleus, king of the Myrmi- 

 dons, in Thessaly. She changed herself into a 

 thousand forms to avoid his embraces; but Peleus 

 finally obtained the same power of transformation, 

 by the instructions of Proteus or Chiron, and she 

 was at length obliged to yield. The nuptials were 

 celebrated on mount Pelion, and were honoured by 

 the presence of all the gods. She bore to Peleus 

 seven children, all of whom she placed in the fire 

 while her husband slept, in order to consume 

 whatever was mortal in them. But they had too 

 little of the immortal nature; and all perished 

 except Achilles, whom Peleus snatched from the 

 flames. Irritated at this act, Thetis abandoned 

 her husband, and returned to the Nereids, her 

 sisters. She still, however, took an interest in 

 the fate of her son, dipped him in the Styx to 

 render him invulnerable, and sent him, in a female 

 dress, to the court of Lycomedes, at Scyros, to pre- 

 vent him from taking part in the Trojan war. After 

 the death of Achilles (q. v.), Thetis clothed his 

 body with celestial garments, and caused the most 

 magnificent funeral games to be performed in hon- 

 our of him. Thetis was a symbol of water in the 

 old cosmogonies ; and hence the fable of her being 

 able to transform herself into a variety of shapes, 

 since water, as the primitive element of all things, 

 assumed all forms. Thetis was likewise the chief 

 divinity of Phthiotis, the kingdom of Peleus; and 

 the numerous fables concerning her were probably 

 invented in compliment to him. 



THEURDANK; a German poem, written in 

 the first part of the sixteenth century, and cele- 

 brating the exploits and adventures of Maximilian 

 1., emperor of Germany (Nuremberg, 1517.) 



THEURGY; the name which the ancients gave 

 to that part of magic which we sometimes call white 

 mayic, or the white art. The word is formed from 

 Sies (God) and i%yov (work), as denoting the art of 

 doing divine things, or things which God alone can 

 do. It is the power of working extraordinary things 

 by invoking the names of God, the saints, angels, &c. 

 Accordingly, those who have written of magic, in 

 general divide it into three parts: theurgy, which 

 operates by divine or celestial means; natural 

 magic, performed by the powers of nature ; and 

 necromancy, which proceeds by invoking demons. 

 Theurgy probably originated with the Chaldaeans 

 (q. v.), or Persians, among whom the magi chiefly 

 occupied themselves with it. The Egyptians also 

 pretended to great proficiency in the art. The 

 former considered Zoroaster its author; the latter, 

 Hermes Trismegistus. Itisabranch of magic, (q.v.) 



THEVENOT, MELCHIZEDEC, a distinguished 

 traveller, was born at Paris, in 1621, and had 

 scarcely finished his studies, when he determined 

 to gratify his inclination to visit foreign countries. 

 Having travelled in different parts of Europe, he 

 devoted himself entirely to study, and to the pro- 

 motion of literature, by collecting books and 

 manuscripts, and by carrying on a correspondence 

 with the learned in various parts of the world. 

 The office of royal librarian (1684) facilitated his 

 researches, and be contributed much to the im- 

 provement of the establishment under his care 

 He died in 1692. He published Relations de divers 

 Voyages curieux qui n'ont point cte publics (Paris, 

 166372, 4 parts, in 2 vols., fol.), and Recueil de 

 Voyages (1681, 8vo.). 



THEVENOT, JOHN DE, born at Paris, in 1633, 

 was the nephew of the preceding, with whom he 

 has sometimes been confounded. He received his 

 education at the college of Navarre, arid, in 1652, 

 commenced a journey through England, Holland, 

 Germany, and Italy; after which he resolved to 

 visit the East. In 1655, he embarked at Civita 

 Vecchia, and, after touching at Sicily and Malta, 

 went to Constantinople, Natolia, Egypt, Tunis, 

 and Carthage, and returned to France, after an 

 absence of seven years. In 1663, he again left 

 Paris to commence a second Oriental tour. After 

 visiting Syria and Persia, he went to the East 

 Indies, and, on his return through Persia, died near 

 Tauris, in 1667. An account of his first expedition 

 was published by himself, under the title of Voyage 

 de Levant (1664, 4to.); which was followed by 

 Suite du meme Voyage (4to.), and Voyage con tenant 

 la Relation de I'Indostan (1684, 4to.). This 

 traveller is said to have introduced into France the 

 use of coffee. 



THIBAUT, count of Champagne, and king of 

 Navarre, distinguished among the early French 

 poets, was the son of the count of Champagne, by 

 a daughter of Sancho, king of Navarre. After 

 having been educated at the court of Philip Au- 

 gustus, king of France, he was enabled, through 

 the influence of that monarch, to obtain the 

 counties of Champagne and Brie, in 1221. On the 

 death of his maternal uncle, in 1234, he became 

 king of Navarre; and, in 1239, he embarked for 

 the East, to engage in a crusade against the infidels. 

 After an absence of two years, he returned to his 

 own dominions, and died at Pampelona, July 10. 

 1253. Thibautwas deeply engaged in the intrigues 

 and civil dissensions which took place in France 

 during the minority of St Louis. His poetical 

 talents procured him the title of the song-makci. 



