Akragas

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀκράγᾱς (Akrágās); compare Agrigento.

Proper noun

Akragas

1. (historical) An ancient Greek colony on the south coast of Sicily, at the site of modern Agrigento.
   • 1892, E. A. Freeman, The History of Sicily from the Earliest Times, Volume III, Clarendon Press, page 516:

     She^[Syracuse] was now the nearest Greek neighbour of Carthage; since the overthrow of Selinous, the territories of Carthage and of Akragas had marched on each other.

   • 2002, Michael Bennett, Aaron J. Paul, Mario Iozzo, Magna Graecia: Greek Art from South Italy and Sicily, Cleveland Museum of Art, page 37:

     Pindar probably left Greece for Sicily in the autumn of 476 BC, writing to celebrate the victories of the rulers of Akragas, where he lived for a time, and undoubtedly serving as an official poet to the ruling families.

   • 2010, Tim Cooke, editor, The New Cultural Atlas of the Greek World, Marshall Cavendish, page 86:

     The city of Himera in the north of Sicily had traditionally been on good terms with Carthage; Theron of Akragas took over Himera in 483, and the exiled leader called in the Carthaginians. It was Syracuse rather than Himera which three years later won the battle of Himera. Himera was never rich again, and before the end of the century, Carthage had wiped out Himera, Selinus to the west of Akragas, and finally Akragas itself in 406. There were several restorations of Akragas, including a short Indian summer in the late 4th century BCE, but in the 3rd it became a Carthaginian fortress.

Italian

Alternative forms

• Acragas

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Ancient Greek Ἀκράγᾱς (Akrágās), whence also Agrigento and Sicilian Girgenti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈkra.ɡas/
• Rhymes: -aɡas
• Hyphenation: A‧krà‧gas

Proper noun

Akragas f

1. an ancient Greek city, part of modern Agrigento, in Sicily