ATHENEA, in antiquity, a feast celebrated by the ancient Greeks in honour of Minerva, who was called Athena.

ATHENÆUM, in antiquity, a public place where in the professors of the liberal arts held their assemblies, the rhetoricians declaimed, and the poets rehearsed their performances. These places, of which there were a great number at Athens, were built in the manner of amphitheatres, encompassed with seats, called cunei. The three most celebrated Athenæa were those at Athens, at Rome, and at Lyons, the second of which was built by the emperor Adrian.

ATHENÆUS, a physician, born in Cilicia, contemporary with Pliny, and founder of the pneumatic sect. He taught that the fire, air, water, and earth, are not the true elements, but that their qualities are, viz., heat, cold, moisture, and dryness; and to these he added a fifth element, which he called spirit, whence his sect had its name.