form and solemnity were first introduced into Greece from Egypt by a
certain Melampus, and if we admit that Bacchus is the same as Isis,
the Dionysia of the Greeks are the same as the festivals celebrated
by the Egyptians in honour of Isis. They were observed at Athens
with more splendour and ceremonious superstition than in any other
part of Greece. The years were numbered by their celebration, the
Archon assisted at the solemnity, and the priests that officiated
were honoured with the most dignified seats at the public games.
At first they were celebrated with great simplicity, and the time
was consecrated to mirth. It was then usual to bring a vessel of
wine adorned with a vine branch, after which followed a goat, a
basket of figs, and the φαλλοι. The worshippers imitated in their
dress and actions the poetical fictions concerning Bacchus. They
clothed themselves in fawns’ skins, fine linen, and mitres; they
carried thyrsi, drums, pipes, and flutes, and crowned themselves
with garlands of ivy, vine, fir, &c. Some imitated Silenus, Pan,
and the Satyrs by the uncouth manner of their dress, and their
fantastical motions. Some rode upon asses, and others drove the
goats to slaughter for the sacrifice. In this manner both sexes
joined in the solemnity, and ran about the hills and country,
nodding their heads, dancing in ridiculous postures, and filling the
air with hideous shrieks and shouts, and crying aloud, “Evoe Bacche!
Io! Io! Evoe! Iacche! Io Bacche! Evohe!” With such solemnities were
the festivals of Bacchus celebrated by the Greeks, particularly
the Athenians. In one of these there followed a number of persons
carrying sacred vessels, one of which contained water. After these
came a select number of noble virgins, carrying little baskets of
gold filled with all sorts of fruits. This was the most mysterious
part of the solemnity. Serpents were sometimes put in the baskets,
and by their wreathing and crawling out they amused and astonished
the beholders. After the virgins followed a company of men carrying
poles, at the end of which were fastened φαλλοι. The heads of these
men, who were called φαλλοφοροι, were crowned with ivy and violets,
and their faces covered with other herbs. They marched singing songs
upon the occasion of the festivals, called φαλλικα ᾁσματα. Next to
the φαλλοφοροι followed the ἰθυφαλλοι in women’s apparel, with white
striped garments reaching to the ground; their heads were decked
with garlands, and on their hands they wore gloves composed of
flowers. Their gestures and actions were like those of a drunken
man. Besides these, there were a number of persons called λικνοφοροι,
who carried the λικνον or _musical van_ of Bacchus; without their
attendance none of the festivals of Bacchus were celebrated with
due solemnity, and on that account the god is often called λικνιτης.
The festivals of Bacchus were almost innumerable. The name of the
most celebrated were the Dionysia ♦ἀρχαιότερα, at Limnæ in Attica.
The chief persons that officiated were 14 women called γεραιραι,
_venerable_. They were appointed by one of the archons, and before
their appointment they solemnly took an oath before the archon
or his wife, that their body was free from all pollution.――――The
greater Dionysia, sometimes called ἀστικα or τα κατ’ ἀστυ, as
being celebrated _within the city_, were the most famous. They
were supposed to be the same as the preceding.――――The less Dionysia,
sometimes called τα κατ’ ἀργους, because celebrated _in the country_,
or ληναια, from ληνος, _a wine-press_, were, to all appearance,
a preparation for the greater festivals. They were celebrated in
autumn.――――The Dionysia βραυρωνια, observed at _Brauron_ in Attica,
were a scene of lewdness, extravagance, and debauchery.――――The
Dionysia νυκτηλια were observed by the Athenians in honour of
Bacchus Nyctelius. It was unlawful to reveal whatever was seen
or done during the celebration.――――The Dionysia called ὠμοφαγια,
because human victims were offered to the god, or because the
priests imitated the _eating of raw flesh_, were celebrated with
much solemnity. The priests put serpents in their hair, and by
the wildness of their looks, and the oddity of their actions, they
feigned insanity.――――The Dionysia ἀρκαδικα were yearly observed in
Arcadia, and the children who had been instructed in the music of
Philoxenus and Timotheus, were introduced in a theatre, where they
celebrated the festivals of Bacchus by entertaining the spectators
with songs, dances, and different exhibitions. There were, besides
these, others of inferior note. There was also one observed every
three years called Dionysia τριετηρικα, and it is said that Bacchus
instituted it himself in commemoration of his Indian expedition, in
which he spent three years. There is also another, celebrated every
fifth year, as mentioned by the scholiast of Aristophanes.――――All
these festivals, in honour of the god of wine, were celebrated by
the Greeks with great licentiousness, and they contributed much
to the corruption of morals among all ranks of people. They were
also introduced into Tuscany, and from thence to Rome. Among the
Romans, both sexes promiscuously joined in the celebration during
the darkness of night. The drunkenness, the debauchery, and impure
actions and indulgencies which soon prevailed at the solemnity,
called aloud for the interference of the senate, and the consuls
Spurius Posthumius Albinus and Quintus Martius Philippus made
a strict examination concerning the propriety and superstitious
forms of the Bacchanalia. The disorder and pollution which was
practised with impunity by no less than 7000 votaries of either
sex, were beheld with horror and astonishment by the consuls, and
the Bacchanalia were for ever banished from Rome by a decree of
the senate. They were again reinstituted there in length of time,
but not with such licentiousness as before. _Euripides_, _Bacchæ_.
――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 737.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 3, li. 533; bk. 4, li. 391; bk. 6, li. 587.
♦ ‘ἀλχαιωτερα’ replaced with ‘ἀρχαιότερα’
=Diŏnȳsiădes=, two small islands near Crete.――――Festivals in honour of
Bacchus. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 13.
=Diŏnȳsias=, a fountain. _Pausanias_, bk. 4, ch. 36.
=Diŏnysides=, a tragic poet of Tarsus.
=Diŏnȳsiodōrus=, a famous geometer. _Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 109.――――A
Bœotian historian. _Diodorus_, bk. 15.――――A Tarentine, who obtained
a prize at Olympia in the 100th Olympiad.
=Dionȳsion=, a temple of Bacchus in Attica. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 43.
=Dionȳsipŏlis=, a town of Thrace. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 2.
=Dionȳsius I.=, or the elder, was son of Hermocrates. He signalized
himself in the wars which the Syracusans carried on against the
Carthaginians, and, taking advantage of the power lodged in his
hands, he made himself absolute at Syracuse. To strengthen himself
in his usurpation, and acquire popularity, he increased the pay of
the soldiers, and recalled those that had been banished. He vowed
eternal enmity against Carthage, and experienced various success in
his wars against that republic. He was ambitious of being thought a
poet, and his brother Theodorus was commissioned to go to Olympia,
and repeat there some verses in his name, with other competitors,
for the poetical prizes. His expectations were frustrated, and his
poetry was received with groans and hisses. He was not, however, so
unsuccessful at Athens, where a poetical prize was publicly adjudged
to one of his compositions. This victory gave him more pleasure
than all the victories he had ever obtained in the field of battle.
His tyranny and cruelty at home rendered him odious in the eyes of
his subjects, and he became so suspicious that he never admitted
his wife or children to his private apartment without a previous
examination of their garments. He never trusted his head to a barber,
but always burnt his beard. He made a subterraneous cave in a rock,
said to be still extant, in the form of a human ear, which measured
80 feet in height and 250 in length. It was called the ear of
Dionysius. The sounds of this subterraneous cave were all necessarily
directed to one common tympanum, which had a communication with an
adjoining room, where Dionysius spent the greatest part of his time
to hear whatever was said by those whom his suspicion and cruelty
had confined in the apartments above. The artists that had been
employed in making this cave were all put to death by order of
the tyrant, for fear of their revealing to what purposes a work of
such uncommon construction was to be appropriated. His impiety and
sacrilege were as conspicuous as his suspicious credulity. He took a
golden mantle from the statue of Jupiter, observing that the son of
Saturn had a covering too warm for the summer, and too cold for the
winter, and he placed one of wool instead. He also robbed Æsculapius
of his golden beard, and plundered the temple of Proserpine. He died
of an indigestion in the 63rd year of his age, B.C. 368, after a
reign of 38 years. Authors, however, are divided about the manner
of his death, and some are of opinion that he died a violent death.
Some suppose that the tyrant invented the _catapulta_, an engine
which proved of infinite service for the discharging of showers of
darts and stones in the time of a siege. _Diodorus_, bks. 13, 15, &c.
――_Justin_, bk. 20, ch. 1, &c.――_Xenophon_, _Hellenica_.――_Cornelius
Nepos_, _Timoleon_.――_Plutarch_, _Diodorus_.――――The second of that
name, surnamed the younger, was son of Dionysius I. by Doris. He
succeeded his father as tyrant of Sicily, and by the advice of Dion
his brother-in-law, he invited the philosopher Plato to his court,
under whom he studied for a while. The philosopher advised him to
lay aside the supreme power, and in his admonitions he was warmly
seconded by Dion. Dionysius refused to consent, and soon after Plato
was seized and publicly sold as a slave. Dion likewise, on account
of his great popularity, was severely abused and insulted in his
family, and his wife given in marriage to another. Such a violent
behaviour was highly resented; Dion, who was banished, collected
some forces in Greece, and in three days rendered himself master of
Syracuse, and expelled the tyrant B.C. 357. _See:_ Dion. Dionysius
retired to Locri, where he behaved with the greatest oppression,
and was ejected by the citizens. He recovered Syracuse 10 years
after his expulsion, but his triumph was short, and the Corinthians,
under conduct of Timoleon, obliged him to abandon the city. He fled
to Corinth, where to support himself he kept a school, as Cicero
observes, that he might still continue to be tyrant; and as he could
not command over men, that he might still exercise his power over
boys. It is said that he died from excess of joy, when he heard that
a tragedy of his own composition had been rewarded with a poetical
prize. Dionysius was as cruel as his father, but he did not, like
him, possess the art of restraining his power. This was seen and
remarked by the old man, who, when he saw his son attempting to
debauch the wives of some of his old subjects, asked him, with
the greatest indignation, whether he had ever heard of his having
acted so brutal a part in his younger days? “No,” answered the son,
“because you were not the son of a king.” “Well, my son,” replied
the old man, “never shalt thou be the father of a king.” _Justin_,
bk. 21, chs. 1, 2, &c.――_Diodorus_, bk. 15, &c.――_Ælian_, _Varia
Historia_, bk. 9, ch. 8.――_Quintilian_, bk. 8, ch. 6.――_Cornelius
Nepos_, _Dion_.――_Cicero_, _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 5, ch. 2.
――――An historian of _Halicarnassus_, who left his country and came
to reside at Rome, that he might carefully study all the Greek and
Latin writers, whose compositions treated of the Roman history. He
formed an acquaintance with all the learned of the age, and derived
much information from their company and conversation. After an
unremitted application, during 24 years, he gave to the world his
Roman antiquities in 20 books, of which only the 11 first are now
extant, nearly containing the account of 312 years. His composition
has been greatly valued by the ancients as well as the moderns for
the easiness of his style, the fidelity of his chronology, and the
judiciousness of his remarks and criticism. Like a faithful historian,
he never mentioned anything but what was authenticated, and he
totally disregarded the fabulous traditions which fill and disgrace
the pages of both his predecessors and followers. To the merits of
the elegant historian, Dionysius, as may be seen in his treatises,
has also added the equally respectable character of the eloquent
orator, the critic, and the politician. He lived during the Augustan
age, and came to Rome about 80 years before the christian era. The
best editions of his works are that of Oxford, 2 vols., folio, 1704,
and that of Reiske, 6 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1774.――――A tyrant of
Heraclea in Pontus, in the age of Alexander the Great. After the
death of the conqueror and of Perdiccas, he married Amestris the
niece of king Darius, and assumed the title of king. He was of such
an uncommon corpulence that he never exposed his person in public,
and when he gave audience to foreign ambassadors, he always placed
himself in a chair which was conveniently made to hide his face
and person from the eyes of the spectators. When he was asleep,
it was impossible to awake him without boring his flesh with pins.
He died in the 55th year of his age. As his reign was remarkable
for mildness and popularity, his death was severely lamented by his
subjects. He left two sons and a daughter, and appointed his widow
queen-regent.――――A surname of Bacchus.――――A disciple of Chæremon.
――――A native of Chalcis, who wrote a book entitled κτισεις, or _the
origin of cities_.――――A commander of the Ionian fleet against the
Persians, who went to plunder Phœnicia. _Herodotus_, bk. 6, ch. 17.
――――A general of Antiochus Hierax.――――A philosopher of Heraclea,
disciple to Zeno. He starved himself to death, B.C. 279, in the
81st year of his age. _Diogenes Laërtius._――――An epic poet of
Mitylene.――――A sophist of Pergamus. _Strabo_, bk. 13.――――A writer
in the Augustan age, called _Periegetes_. He wrote a very valuable
geographical treatise in Greek hexameters, still extant. The best
edition of his treatise is that of Henry Stephens, 4to, 1577, with
the scholia, and that of Hill, 8vo, London, 1688.――――A christian
writer, A.D. 492, called _Areopagita_. The best edition of his works
is that of Antwerp, 2 vols., folio, 1634.――――The music master of
Epaminondas. _Cornelius Nepos._――――A celebrated critic. _See:_
Longinus.――――A rhetorician of Magnesia.――――A Messenian madman, &c.
_Plutarch_, _Alexander_.――――A native of Thrace, generally called the
Rhodian, because he lived there. He wrote some grammatical treatises
and commentaries, B.C. 64. _Strabo_, bk. 14.――――A painter of
Colophon.
=Diŏphănes=, a man who joined Peloponnesus to the Achæan league.
_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 30.――――A rhetorician intimate with Tiberias
Gracchus. _Plutarch_, _Tiberius Gracchus_.
=Diŏphantus=, an Athenian general of the Greek mercenary troops in
the service of Nectanebus king of Egypt. _Diodorus_, bk. 16.――――A
Greek orator of Mitylene, preceptor to Tiberius Gracchus. _Cicero_,
_Brutus_.――――A native of Alexandria in the fourth century. He wrote
13 books of arithmetical questions, of which six are still extant,
the best edition of which is that in folio, Tolosæ, 1670. He died
in his 84th year, but the age in which he lived is uncertain. Some
place him in the reign of Augustus, others under Nero and Antonines.
=Diopœnus=, a noble sculptor of Crete. _Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 4.
=Diopŏlis=, a name given to Cabira, a town of Paphlagonia, by Pompey.
_Strabo_, bk. 12.
=Diōres=, a friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. He had engaged in the
games exhibited by Æneas on his father’s tomb in Sicily. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 297; bk. 12, li. 509.
=Dioryctus=, a place of Acarnania, where a canal was cut (δια ὀρυσσω),
to make Leucadia an island. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 1.
=Dioscorĭdes=, a native of Cilicia, who was physician to Antony and
Cleopatra, or lived, as some suppose, in the age of Nero. He was
originally a soldier, but afterwards he applied himself to study,
and wrote a book upon medicinal herbs, of which the best edition
is that of Saracenus, folio, Frankfurt. 1598.――――A man who wrote
an account of the republic of Lacedæmon.――――A nephew of Antigonus.
_Diodorus_, bk. 19.――――A Cyprian, blind of one eye, in the age of
Ptolemy Philadelphus.――――A disciple of Isocrates.――――An astrologer
sent ambassador by Julius Cæsar to Achillas, &c. _Cæsar_, _Civil
War_, bk. 3, ch. 109.
=Dioscorĭdis insula=, an island situate at the south of the entrance
of the Arabic gulf, and now called _Socotra_.
=Dioscūri=, or _sons of Jupiter_, a name given to Castor and Pollux.
There were festivals in their honour, called _Dioscuria_, celebrated
by the people of Corcyra, and chiefly by the Lacedæmonians. They
were observed with much jovial festivity. The people made a free
use of the gifts of Bacchus, and diverted themselves with sports,
of which wrestling matches always made a part.
=Dioscurias=, a town of Colchis. _Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 28.
=Diospăge=, a town of Mesopotamia. _Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 26.
=Diospŏlis=, or =Thebæ=, a famous city of Egypt, formerly called
Hecatompylos. _See:_ Thebæ.
=Diotīme=, a woman who gave lectures upon philosophy, which Socrates
attended. _Plutarch_, _Convivium Septem Sapientium_.
=Diotīmus=, an Athenian skilled in maritime affairs, &c. _Polyænus_,
bk. 5.――――A stoic, who flourished 85 B.C.
=Diotrephes=, an Athenian officer, &c. _Thucydides_, bk. 3, ch. 75.
=Dioxippe=, one of the Danaides. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 1.
=Dioxippus=, a soldier of Alexander, who killed one of his
fellow-soldiers in a fury, &c. _Ælian._――――An Athenian boxer, &c.
_Diodorus_, bk. 17.――――A Trojan killed by Turnus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 9, li. 574.
=Dipæa=, a place of Peloponnesus, where a battle was fought between
the Arcadians and Spartans. _Herodotus_, bk. 9, ch. 35.
=Diphĭlas=, a man sent to Rhodes by the Spartans, to destroy the
Athenian faction there. _Diodorus_, bk. 14.――――A governor of Babylon
in the interest of Antigonus. _Diodorus_, bk. 19.――――An historian.
=Dīphĭlus=, an Athenian general, A.U.C. 311.――――An architect so slow
in finishing his works, that _Diphilo tardior_ became a proverb.
_Cicero_, _Letters to his brother Quintus_, bk. 3.――――A tragic
writer.
=Diphorĭdas=, one of the Ephori at Sparta. _Plutarch_, _Agesilaus_.
=Dipœnæ=, a town of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 31.
=Dipŏlis=, a name given to Lemnos, as having two cities, Hephæstia and
Myrina.
=Dipsas= (antis), a river of Cilicia, flowing from mount Taurus.
_Lucan_, bk. 8, li. 255.――――(adis), a profligate and incontinent
woman mentioned by _Ovid_, _Amores_, bk. 1, poem 8.――――A kind of
serpent. _Lucan_, bk. 9.
=Dipylon=, one of the gates of Athens.
=Diræ=, the daughters of Acheron and Nox, who persecuted the souls of
the guilty. They are the same as the furies, and some suppose they
are called Furies in hell, Harpies on earth, and Diræ in heaven.
They were represented as standing near the throne of Jupiter, in
an attitude which expressed their eagerness to receive his orders,
and the power of tormenting the guilty on earth with the most
excruciating punishments. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4, li. 473; bk. 8,
li. 701.
=Dirce=, a woman whom Lycus king of Thebes married after he had
divorced Antiope. When Antiope became pregnant by Jupiter, Dirce
suspected her husband of infidelity to her bed, and imprisoned
Antiope, whom she tormented with the greatest cruelty. Antiope
escaped from her confinement, and brought forth Amphion and
Zethus on mount Cithæron. When these children were informed of the
cruelties to which their mother had been exposed, they besieged
Thebes, put Lycus to death, and tied the cruel Dirce to the tail
of a wild bull, which dragged her over rocks and precipices, and
exposed her to the most poignant pains, till the gods, pitying her
fate, changed her into a fountain, in the neighbourhood of Thebes.
According to some accounts, Antiope was mother of Amphion and Zethus
before she was confined and exposed to the tyranny of Dirce. _See:_
Amphion, Antiope. _Propertius_, bk. 3, poem 15, li. 37.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 9, ch. 26.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 12, ch. 57.――_Lucan_,
bk. 3, li. 175; bk. 4, li. 550.
=Dircenna=, a cold fountain of Spain, near Bilbilis. _Martial_, bk. 1,
ltr. 50, li. 17.
=Dirphyia=, a surname of Juno, from _Dirphya_, a mountain of Bœotia,
where the goddess had a temple.
=Dis=, a god of the Gauls, the same as Pluto the god of hell. The
inhabitants of Gaul supposed themselves descended from that deity.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 6.――_Tacitus_, _Histories_, bk. 4, ch. 84.
=Discordia=, a malevolent deity, daughter of Nox, and sister to
Nemesis, the Parcæ, and death. She was driven from heaven by Jupiter,
because she sowed dissensions among the gods, and was the cause
of continual quarrels. When the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis were
celebrated, the goddess of discord was not invited, and this seeming
neglect so irritated her, that she threw an apple into the midst of
the assembly of the gods, with the inscription of _detur pulchriori_.
This apple was the cause of the ruin of Troy, and of infinite
misfortunes to the Greeks. _See:_ Paris. She is represented with
a pale, ghastly look, her garment is torn, her eyes sparkle with
fire, and she holds a dagger concealed in her bosom. Her head is
generally entwined with serpents, and she is attended by Bellona.
She is supposed to be the cause of all dissensions, murders, wars,
and quarrels which arise upon earth, public as well as private.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 702.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 225.
――_Petronius._
=Dithyrambus=, a surname of Bacchus, whence the hymns sung in his
honour were called Dithyrambics. _Horace_, bk. 4, ode 2.
=Dittani=, a people of Spain.
=Divi=, a name chiefly appropriated to those who were made gods after
death, such as heroes and warriors, or the Lares and Penates, and
other domestic gods.
=Divitiăcus=, one of the Ædui, intimate with Cæsar. _Cicero_ bk. 1,
_de Divinatione_.
=Dium=, a town of Eubœa, where there were hot baths. _Pliny_, bk. 31,
ch. 2.――――A promontory of Crete.――――A town of Macedonia. _Livy_,
bk. 44, ch. 7.
=Divodurum=, a town of Gaul, now _Metz_ in Lorrain.
=Divus Fidius=, a god of the Sabines, worshipped also at Rome.
_Dionysius of Halicarnassus._
=Diyllus=, an Athenian historian. _Diodorus_, bk. 16.――――A statuary.
_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 13.
=Doberes=, a people of Pæonia. _Herodotus_, bk. 5, ch. 16.
=Docĭlis=, a gladiator at Rome, mentioned by _Horace_, bk. 1, ltr. 18,
li. 19.
=Docĭmus=, a man of Tarentum, deprived of his military dignity
by Philip son of Amyntas, for indulging himself with hot baths.
_Polyænus_, bk. 4.――――An officer of Antigonus. _Diodorus_, bk. 19.
――――An officer of Perdiccas, taken by Antigonus. _Diodorus_, bk. 18.
=Dōdōna=, a town of Thesprotia in Epirus, or, according to others,
in Thessaly. There was in its neighbourhood, upon a small hill
called Tmarus, a celebrated oracle of Jupiter. The town and temple
of the god were first built by Deucalion, after the universal deluge.
It was supposed to be the most ancient oracle of all Greece, and
according to the traditions of the Egyptians mentioned by Herodotus,
it was founded by a dove. Two black doves, as he relates, took
their flight from the city of Thebes in Egypt, one of which flew
to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the other to Dodona, where,
with a human voice, they acquainted the inhabitants of the country
that Jupiter had consecrated the ground, which in future would
give oracles. The extensive grove which surrounded Jupiter’s temple
was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and oracles were frequently
delivered by the sacred oaks, and the doves which inhabited the
place. This fabulous tradition of the oracular power of the doves
is explained by Herodotus, who observes that some Phœnicians carried
away two priestesses from Egypt, one of which went to fix her
residence at Dodona, where the oracle was established. It may
further be observed, that the fable might have been founded upon the
double meaning of the word πελειαι, which signifies _doves_ in most
parts of Greece, while in the dialect of the Epirots, it implies
_old women_. In ancient times the oracles were delivered by the
murmuring of a neighbouring fountain, but the custom was afterwards
changed. Large kettles were suspended in the air near a brazen
statue, which held a lash in its hand. When the wind blew strong,
the statue was agitated and struck against one of the kettles, which
communicated the motion to all the rest, and raised that clattering
and discordant din which continued for a while, and from which the
artifice of the priests drew their predictions. Some suppose that
the noise was occasioned by the shaking of the leaves and boughs
of an old oak, which the superstition of the people frequently
consulted, and from which they pretended to receive oracles. It may
be observed with more probability that the oracles were delivered by
the priests, who, by artfully concealing themselves behind the oaks,
gave occasion to the superstitious multitude to believe that the
trees were endowed with the power of prophecy. As the ship Argo was
built with some of the oaks of the forest of Dodona, there were some
beams in the vessel which gave oracles to the Argonauts, and warned
them against the approach of calamity. Within the forest of Dodona
there was a stream with a fountain of cool water, which had the
power of lighting a torch as soon as it touched it. This fountain
was totally dry at noonday, and was restored to its full course
at midnight, from which time till the following noon it began to
decrease, and at the usual hour was again deprived of its waters.
The oracles of Dodona were originally delivered by men, but
afterwards by women. _See:_ Dodonides. _Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 103.
――_Herodotus_, bk. 2, ch. 57.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 14; _Iliad_.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 21.――_Strabo_,
bk. 17.――_Plutarch_, _Pyrrhus_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9.
――_Lucan_, bk. 6, li. 427.――_Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 4, poem 8, li. 23.
=Dōdōnæus=, a surname of Jupiter from Dodona.
=Dōdōne=, a daughter of Jupiter and Europa.――――A fountain in the forest
of Dodona. _See:_ Dodona.
=Dōdōnĭdes=, the priestesses who gave oracles in the temple of Jupiter
in Dodona. According to some traditions the temple was originally
inhabited by seven daughters of Atlas, who nursed Bacchus. Their
names were Ambrosia, Eudora, Pasithoe, Pytho, Plexaure, Coronis,
Tythe or Tyche. In the latter ages the oracles were always delivered
by three old women, which custom was first established when Jupiter
enjoyed the company of Dione, whom he permitted to receive divine
honour in his temple at Dodona. The Bœotians were the only people
of Greece who received their oracles at Dodona from men, for reasons
which _Strabo_, bk. 9, fully explains.
=Doii=, a people of Arabia Felix.
=Dolabella Publius Cornelius=, a Roman who married the daughter of
Cicero. During the civil wars he warmly espoused the interest of
Julius Cæsar, whom he accompanied at the famous battles at Pharsalia,
Africa, and Munda. He was made consul by his patron, though Marcus
Antony his colleague opposed it. After the death of Julius Cæsar,
he received the government of Syria as his province. Cassius opposed
his views, and Dolabella, for violence, and for the assassination
of Trebonius, one of Cæsar’s murderers, was declared an enemy
to the republic of Rome. He was besieged by Cassius in Laodicea,
and when he saw that all was lost, he killed himself, in the 27th
year of his age. He was of small stature, which gave occasion to
his father-in-law to ask him once when he entered his house, who
had tied him so cleverly to his sword.――――A proconsul of Africa.
――――Another, who conquered the Gauls, Etrurians, and Boii at the
lake of Vadimonis, B. C. 283.――――The family of the Dolabellæ
distinguished themselves at Rome, and one of them, Lucius Cornelius,
conquered Lusitania, B.C. 99.
=Dolichaon=, the father of the Hebrus, &c. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10,
li. 696.
=Dolīche=, an island in the Ægean sea. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 6.
――――A town of Syria,――――of Macedonia. _Livy_, bk. 42, ch. 53.