Wikipedia
Xanthias refers to several characters, notably all slaves, who appear in plays by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes.
In The Frogs, Xanthias is the slave of Dionysus. He delivers the opening line of the play, riding on Dionysus' donkey and debating with Dionysus about what jokes Xanthias can make. He and Dionysus trade barbs throughout the play, with Xanthias generally coming out on top. When they cross the Acheron, Xanthias is forced to carry the luggage around the lake because he was unable to participate in the Battle of Arginusae, allegedly due to pinkeye. In the underworld, Xanthias is forced by Dionysus to trade attire three times, to comedic effect - when Dionysus is dressed as Heracles, he is threatened by Aeacus, the hostess, and an ornery maid, while Xanthias as Heracles is welcomed joyfully by a nice maid. Xanthias also manages to trick Aeacus into whipping both him and Dionysus to avoid having monsters set upon him. Once the confusion about master and slave is sorted out, Xanthias flirts with the nice maid, discussing ways they secretly rebel against their masters.
Xanthias is a genus of crabs in the family Xanthidae, containing two exclusively fossil species and the following extant species:
- Xanthias canaliculatus Rathbun, 1906
- Xanthias cherbonnieri Guinot, 1964
- Xanthias dawsoni Takeda & Webber, 2006
- Xanthias gilbertensis Balss, 1938
- Xanthias glabrous Edmondson, 1951
- Xanthias inornatus (Rathbun, 1898)
- Xanthias lamarckii (H. Milne Edwards, 1834)
- Xanthias latifrons (De Man, 1887)
- Xanthias maculatus Sakai, 1961
- Xanthias nitidulus (Dana, 1852)
- Xanthias oahuensis Edmondson, 1951
- Xanthias punctatus (H. Milne Edwards, 1834)
- Xanthias sinensis (A. Milne Edwards, 1867)
- Xanthias teres Davie, 1997