From its very brevity there is no small danger of the epigram passing
into childish triviality: the paltriest pun, a senseless anagram, is
considered stuff enough and to spare. For proof of this there is
unfortunately no need to look far; but perhaps the reader could not find
a better collection ready to his hand than the second twenty-five of the
_Epigrammatum centuriae_ of Samuel Erichius; by the time he reaches No.
11 of the 47th century, he will be quite ready to grant the
appropriateness of the identity maintained between the German _Seele_,
or soul, and the German _Esel_, or ass.
Of the epigram as cultivated by the Greeks an account is given in the
article ANTHOLOGY, discussing those wonderful collections which bid fair
to remain the richest of their kind. The delicacy and simplicity of so
much of what has been preserved is perhaps their most striking feature;
and one cannot but be surprised at the number of poets proved capable of
such work. In Latin literature, on the other hand, the epigrammatists
whose work has been preserved are comparatively few, and though several
of them, as Catullus and Martial, are men of high literary genius, too
much of what they have left behind is vitiated by brutality and
obscenity. On the subsequent history of the epigram, indeed, Martial has
exercised an influence as baneful as it is extensive, and he may fairly
be counted the far-off progenitor of a host of scurrilous verses. Nearly
all the learned Latinists of the 16th and 17th centuries may claim
admittance into the list of epigrammatists,--Bembo and Scaliger,
Buchanan and More, Stroza and Sannazaro. Melanchthon, who succeeded in
combining so much of Pagan culture with his Reformation Christianity,
has left us some graceful specimens, but his editor, Joannes Major
Joachimus, has so little idea of what an epigram is, that he includes in
his collection some translations from the Psalms. The Latin epigrams of
Etienne Pasquier were among the most admirable which the Renaissance
produced in France. John Owen, or, as he Latinized his name, Johannes
Audoenus, a Cambro-Briton, attained quite an unusual celebrity in this
department, and is regularly distinguished as Owen the Epigrammatist.
The tradition of the Latin epigram has been kept alive in England by
such men as Porson, Vincent Bourne and Walter Savage Landor. Happily
there is now little danger of any too personal epigrammatist suffering
the fate of Niccolo Franco, who paid the forfeit of his life for having
launched his venomous Latin against Pius V., though he may still incur
the milder penalty of having his name inserted in the _Index
Expurgatorius_, and find, like John Owen, that he consequently has lost
an inheritance.
In English literature proper there is no writer like Martial in Latin
or Logau in German, whose fame is entirely due to his epigrams; but
several even of those whose names can perish never have not disdained
this diminutive form. The designation epigram, however, is used by
earlier English writers with excessive laxity, and given or withheld
without apparent reason. The epigrams of Robert Crowley (1550) and of
Henry Parrot (1613) are worthless so far as form goes. John Weever's
collection (1599) is of interest mainly because of its allusion to
Shakespeare. Ben Jonson furnishes a number of noble examples in his
_Underwoods_; and one or two of Spenser's little poems and a great many
of Herrick's are properly classed as epigrams. Cowley, Waller, Dryden,
Prior, Parnell, Swift, Addison, Johnson, Goldsmith and Young have all
been at times successful in their epigrammatical attempts; but perhaps
none of them has proved himself so much "to the manner born" as Pope,
whose name indeed is almost identified with the epigrammatical spirit in
English literature. Few English modern poets have followed in his
footsteps, and though nearly all might plead guilty to an epigram or
two, there is no one who has a distinct reputation as an epigrammatist.
Such a reputation might certainly have been Landor's, had he not chosen
to write the best of his minor poems in Latin, and thus made his readers
nearly as select as his language.
The French are undoubtedly the most successful cultivators of the "salt"
and the "vinegar" epigram; and from the 16th century downwards many of
their principal authors have earned no small celebrity in this
department. The epigram was introduced into French literature by Mellin
de St Gelais and Clement Marot. It is enough to mention the names of
Boileau, J.B. Rousseau, Lebrun, Voltaire, Marmontel, Piron, Rulhiere,
and M.J. Chenier. In spite of Rapin's dictum that a man ought to be
content if he succeeded in writing one really good epigram, those of
Lebrun alone number upwards of 600, and a very fair proportion of them
would doubtless pass muster even with Rapin himself. If Piron was never
anything better, "pas meme academicien," he appears at any rate in
Grimm's phrase to have been "une machine a saillies, a epigrammes, et a
bons mots." Perhaps more than anywhere else the epigram has been
recognized in France as a regular weapon in literary and political
contests, and it might not be altogether a hopeless task to compile an
epigrammatical history from the Revolution to the present time.
While any fair collection of German epigrams will furnish examples that
for keenness of wit would be quite in place in a French anthology, the
Teutonic tendency to the moral and didactic has given rise to a class
but sparingly represented in French. The very name of _Sinngedichte_
bears witness to this peculiarity, which is exemplified equally by the
rude _priameln_ or _proeameln_, of the 13th and 14th centuries and the
polished lines of Goethe and Schiller. Logau published his _Deutsche
Sinngetichte Drey Tausend_ in 1654, and Wernicke no fewer than six
volumes of _Ueberschriften oder Epigrammata_ in 1697; Kastner's
_Sinngedichte_ appeared in 1782, and Haug and Weissen's _Epigrammatische
Anthologie_ in 1804. Kleist, Opitz, Gleim, Hagedorn, Klopstock and A.W.
Schlegel all possess some reputation as epigrammatists; Lessing is
_facile princeps_ in the satirical style; and Herder has the honour of
having enriched his language with much of what is best from Oriental and
classical sources.
It is often by no means easy to trace the history of even a single
epigram, and the investigator soon learns to be cautious of
congratulating himself on the attainment of a genuine original. The same
point, refurbished and fitted anew to its tiny shaft, has been shot
again and again by laughing cupids or fierce-eyed furies in many a
frolic and many a fray. During the period when the epigram was the
favourite form in Germany, Gervinus tells us how the works, not only of
the Greek and Roman writers, but of Neo-Latinists, Spaniards, Dutchmen,
Frenchmen, Englishmen and Poles were ransacked and plundered; and the
same process of pillage has gone on in a more or less modified degree in
other times and countries. Very noticeable often are the modifications
of tone and expression occasioned by national and individual
characteristics; the simplicity of the prototype may become common-place
in the imitation, the sublime be distorted into the grotesque, the
pathetic degenerate into the absurdly sentimental; or on the other hand,
an unpromising _motif_ may be happily developed into unexpected beauty.
A good illustration of the variety with which the same epigram may be
translated and travestied is afforded by a little volume published in
Edinburgh in 1808, under the title of _Lucubrations on the Epigram--_
[Greek: Ei men en mathein a dei pathein,
kai me pathein, kalon en to mathein
ei de dei pathein a d' en mathein,
ti dei mathein; chre gar pathein.]
The two collections of epigrams most accessible to the English reader
are Booth's _Epigrams, Ancient and Modern_ (1863) and Dodd's _The
Epigrammatists_ (1870). In the appendix to the latter is a pretty full
bibliography, to which the following list may serve as a
supplement:--Thomas Corraeus, _De toto eo poematis genere quod
epigramma dicitur_ (Venice, 1569; Bologna, 1590); Cottunius, _De
conficiendo epigrammate_ (Bologna, 1632); Vincentius Gallus,
_Opusculum de epigrammate_ (Milan, 1641); Vavassor, _De epigrammate
liber_ (Paris, 1669); _Gedanke von deutschen Epigrammatibus_ (Leipzig,
1698); _Doctissimorum nostra aetate Italorum epigrammata; Flaminii
Moleae Naugerii, Cottae, Lampridii, Sadoleti, et aliorum, cura Jo.
Gagnaei_ (Paris, c. 1550); Brugiere de Barante, _Recueil des plus
belles epigrammes des poetes francais_ (2 vols., Paris, 1698); Chr.
Aug. Heumann, _Anthologia Latina: hoc est, epigrammata partim a
priscis partim junioribus a poetis_ (Hanover, 1721); Fayolle,
_Acontologie ou dictionnaire d'epigrammes_ (Paris, 1817); Geijsbeck,
_Epigrammatische Anthologie_, Sauvage, _Les Guepes gauloises: petit
encyclopedie des meilleurs epigrammes, &c., depuis Clement Marot
jusqu'aux poetes de nos jours_ (1859); _La Recreation et passe-temps
des tristes: recueil d'epigrammes et de petits contes en vers
reimprime sur l'edition de Rouen_ 1595, &c. (Paris, 1863). A large
number of epigrams and much miscellaneous information in regard to
their origin, application and translation is scattered through _Notes
and Queries_.
See also an article in _The Quarterly Review_, No. 233.
EPIGRAPHY (Gr. [Greek: epi], on, and [Greek: graphein], to write), a
term used to denote (1) the study of inscriptions collectively, and (2)
the science connected with the classification and explanation of
inscriptions. It is sometimes employed, too, in a more contracted sense,
to denote the palaeography, in inscriptions. Generally, it is that part
of archaeology which has to do with inscriptions engraved on stone,
metal or other permanent material (not, however, coins, which come under
the heading NUMISMATICS).
See INSCRIPTIONS; PALAEOGRAPHY.
EPILEPSY (Gr. [Greek: epi], upon, and [Greek: lambanein], to seize), or
FALLING SICKNESS, a term applied generally to a nervous disorder,
characterized by a fit of sudden loss of consciousness, attended with
convulsions. There may, however, exist manifestations of epilepsy much
less marked than this, yet equally characteristic of the disease; while,
on the other hand, it is to be borne in mind that many other attacks of
a convulsive nature have the term "epileptic" or "epileptiform" applied
to them.
Epilepsy was well known in ancient times, and was regarded as a special
infliction of the gods, hence the names _morbus sacer_, _morbus divus_.
It was also termed _morbus Herculeus_, from Hercules having been
supposed to have been epileptic, and _morbus comitialis_, from the
circumstance that when any member of the forum was seized with an
epileptic fit the assembly was broken up. _Morbus caducus_, _morbus
lunaticus astralis_, _morbus demoniacus_, _morbus major_, were all terms
employed to designate epilepsy.
There are three well-marked varieties of the epileptic seizure; to these
the terms _le grand mal_, _le petit mal_ and _Jacksonian epilepsy_ are
usually applied. Any of these may exist alone, but the two former may be
found to exist in the same individual. The first of these, if not the
more common, is at least that which attracts the most attention, being
what is generally known as an _epileptic fit_.
Although in most instances such an attack comes on suddenly, it is in
many cases preceded by certain premonitory indications or warnings,
which may be present for a greater or less time previously. These are of
very varied character, and may be in the form of some temporary change
in the disposition, such as unusual depression or elevation of spirits,
or of some alteration in the look. Besides these general symptoms, there
are frequently peculiar sensations which immediately precede the onset
of the fit, and to such the name of _aura epileptica_ is applied. In its
strict sense this term refers to a feeling of a breath of air blowing
upon some part of the body, and passing upwards towards the head. This
sensation, however, is not a common one, and the term has now come to be
applied to any peculiar feeling which the patient experiences as a
precursor of the attack. The so-called _aura_ may be of mental
character, in the form of an agonizing feeling of momentary duration; of
sensorial character, in the form of pain in a limb or in some internal
organ, such as the stomach, or morbid feeling connected with the special
senses; or, further, of motorial character, in the form of contractions
or trembling in some of the muscles. When such sensations affect a limb,
the employment of firm compression by the hand or by a ligature
occasionally succeeds in warding off an attack. The aura may be so
distinct and of such duration as to enable the patient to lie down, or
seek a place of safety before the fit comes on.
The seizure is usually preceded by a loud scream or cry, which is not to
be ascribed, as was at one time supposed, to terror or pain, but is due
to the convulsive action of the muscles of the larynx, and the expulsion
of a column of air through the narrowed glottis. If the patient is
standing he immediately falls, and often sustains serious injury.
Unconsciousness is complete, and the muscles generally are in a state of
stiffness or tonic contraction, which will usually be found to affect
those of one side of the body in particular. The head is turned by a
series of jerks towards one or other shoulder, the breathing is for the
moment arrested, the countenance first pale then livid, the pupils
dilated and the pulse rapid. This, the first stage of the fit, generally
lasts for about half a minute, and is followed by the state of clonic
(i.e. tumultuous) spasm of the muscles, in which the whole body is
thrown into violent agitation, occasionally so great that bones may be
fractured or dislocated. The eyes roll wildly, the teeth are gnashed
together, and the tongue and cheeks are often severely bitten. The
breathing is noisy and laborious, and foam (often tinged with blood)
issues from the mouth, while the contents of the bowels and bladder are
ejected. The aspect of the patient in this condition is shocking to
witness, and the sight has been known to induce a similar attack in an
onlooker. This stage lasts for a period varying from a few seconds to
several minutes, when the convulsive movements gradually subside, and
relaxation of the muscles takes place, together with partial return of
consciousness, the patient looking confusedly about him and attempting
to speak. This, however, is soon followed by drowsiness and stupor,
which may continue for several hours, when he awakes either apparently
quite recovered or fatigued and depressed, and occasionally in a state
of excitement which sometimes assumes the form of mania.
Epileptic fits of this sort succeed each other with varying degrees of
frequency, and occasionally, though not frequently, with regular
periodicity. In some persons they only occur once in a lifetime, or once
in the course of many years, while in others they return every week or
two, or even are of daily occurrence, and occasionally there are
numerous attacks each day. According to Sir J.R. Reynolds, there are
four times as many epileptics who have their attacks more frequently
than once a month as there are of those whose attacks recur at longer
intervals. When the fit returns it is not uncommon for one seizure to be
followed by another within a few hours or days. Occasionally there
occurs a constant succession of attacks extending over many hours, and
with such rapidity that the patient appears as if he had never come out
of the one fit. The term _status epilepticus_ is applied to this
condition, which is sometimes followed with fatal results. In many
epileptics the fits occur during the night as well as during the day,
but in some instances they are entirely nocturnal, and it is well known
that in such cases the disease may long exist and yet remain
unrecognized either by the patient or the physician.
The second manifestation of epilepsy, to which the names _epilepsia
mitior_ or _le petit mal_ are given, differs from that above described
in the absence of the convulsive spasms. It is also termed by some
authors _epileptic vertigo_ (giddiness), and consists essentially in the
sudden arrest of volition and consciousness, which is of but short
duration, and may be accompanied with staggering or some alteration in
position or motion, or may simply exhibit itself in a look of absence or
confusion, and should the patient happen to be engaged in conversation,
by an abrupt termination of the act. In general it lasts but a few
seconds, and the individual resumes his occupation without perhaps being
aware of anything having been the matter. In some instances there is a
degree of spasmodic action in certain muscles which may cause the
patient to make some unexpected movement, such as turning half round, or
walking abruptly aside, or may show itself by some unusual expression of
countenance, such as squinting or grinning. There may be some amount of
_aura_ preceding such attacks, and also of faintness following them. The
_petit mal_ most commonly co-exists with the _grand mal_, but has no
necessary connexion with it, as each may exist alone. According to
Armand Trousseau, the _petit mal_ in general precedes the manifestation
of the _grand mal_, but sometimes the reverse is the case.
The third manifestation--_Jacksonian epilepsy_ or _partial epilepsy_--is
distinguished by the fact that consciousness is retained or lost late.
The patient is conscious throughout, and is able to watch the march of
the spasm. The attacks are usually the result of lesions in the motor
area of the brain, such being caused, in many instances, by depression
of the vault of the skull, due to trauma.
Epilepsy appears to exert no necessarily injurious effect upon the
general health, and even where it exists in an aggravated form is quite
consistent with a high degree of bodily vigour. It is very different,
however, with regard to its influence upon the mind; and the question of
the relation of epilepsy to insanity is one of great and increasing
importance. Allusion has already been made to the occasional occurrence
of maniacal excitement as one of the results of the epileptic seizure.
Such attacks, to which the name of _furor epilepticus_ is applied, are
generally accompanied with violent acts on the part of the patient,
rendering him dangerous, and demanding prompt measures of restraint.
These attacks are by no means limited to the more severe form of
epilepsy, but appear to be even more frequently associated with the
milder form--the epileptic vertigo--where they either replace altogether
or immediately follow the short period of absence characteristic of this
form of the disease. Numerous cases are on record of persons known to be
epileptic being suddenly seized, either after or without apparent
spasmodic attack, with some sudden impulse, in which they have used
dangerous violence to those beside them, irrespective altogether of
malevolent intention, as appears from their retaining no recollection
whatever, after the short period of excitement, of anything that had
occurred; and there is reason to believe that crimes of heinous
character, for which the perpetrators have suffered punishment, have
been committed in a state of mind such as that now described. The
subject is obviously one of the greatest medico-legal interest and
importance in regard to the question of criminal responsibility.
Apart, however, from such marked and comparatively rare instances of
what is termed epileptic insanity, the general mental condition of the
epileptic is in a large proportion of cases unfavourably affected by the
disease. There are doubtless examples (and their number according to
statistics is estimated at less than one-third) where, even among those
suffering from frequent and severe attacks, no departure from the normal
condition of mental integrity can be recognized. But in general there
exists some peculiarity, exhibiting itself either in the form of
defective memory, or diminishing intelligence, or what is perhaps as
frequent, in irregularities of temper, the patient being irritable or
perverse and eccentric. In not a few cases there is a steady mental
decline, which ends in dementia or idiocy. It is stated by some high
authorities that epileptic women suffer in regard to their mental
condition more than men. It also appears to be the case that the later
in life the disease shows itself the more likely is the mind to suffer.
Neither the frequency nor the severity of the seizures seem to have any
necessary influence in the matter; and the general opinion appears to be
that the milder form of the disease is that with which mental failure is
more apt to be associated. (For a consideration of the conditions of the
nervous system which result in epilepsy, see the article
NEUROPATHOLOGY.)
The influence of hereditary predisposition in epilepsy is very marked.
It is necessary, however, to bear in mind the point so forcibly insisted
on by Trousseau in relation to epilepsy, that hereditary transmission
may be either direct or indirect, that is to say, that what is epilepsy
in one generation may be some other form of neurosis in the next, and
conversely, nervous diseases being remarkable for their tendency to
transformation in their descent in families. Where epilepsy is
hereditary, it generally manifests itself at an unusually early period
of life. A singular fact, which also bears to some extent upon the
pathology of this disease, was brought to light by Dr Brown Sequard in
his experiments, namely, that the young of animals which had been
artifically rendered epileptic were liable to similar seizures. In
connexion with the hereditary transmission of epilepsy it must be
observed that all authorities concur in the opinion that this disease is
one among the baneful effects that often follow marriages of
consanguinity. Further, there is reason to believe that intemperance,
apart altogether from its direct effect in favouring the occurrence of
epilepsy, has an evil influence in the hereditary transmission of this
as of other nervous diseases. A want of symmetry in the formation of the
skull and defective cerebral development are not infrequently observed
where epilepsy is hereditarily transmitted.
Age is of importance in reference to the production of epilepsy. The
disease may come on at any period of life, but it appears from the
statistics of Reynolds and others, that it most frequently first
manifests itself between the ages of ten and twenty years, the period of
second dentition and puberty, and again at or about the age of forty.
Among other causes which are influential in the development of epilepsy
may be mentioned sudden fright, prolonged mental anxiety, over-work and
debauchery. Epileptic fits also occur in connexion with a depraved stage
of the general health, and with irritations in distant organs, as seen
in the fits occurring in dentition, in kidney disease, and as a result
of worms in the intestines. The symptoms traceable to these causes are
sometimes termed _sympathetic_ or _eccentric epilepsy_; these are but
rarely _epileptic_ in the strictest sense of the word, but rather
epileptiform.
Epilepsy is occasionally feigned for the purpose of extortion, but an
experienced medical practitioner will rarely be deceived; and when it is
stated that although many of the phenomena of an attack, particularly
the convulsive movements, can be readily simulated, yet that the
condition of the pupils, which are dilated during the fit, cannot be
feigned, and that the impostor seldom bites his tongue or injures
himself, deception is not likely to succeed even with non-medical
persons of intelligence.
The _medical treatment_ of epilepsy can only be briefly alluded to here.
During the fit little can be done beyond preventing as far as possible
the patient from injuring himself while unconsciousness continues. Tight
clothing should be loosened, and a cork or pad inserted between the
teeth. When the fit is of long continuance, the dashing of cold water on
the face and chest, or the inhalation of chloroform, or of nitrite of
amyl, may be useful; in general, however, the fit terminates
independently of any such measures. When the fit is over the patient
should be allowed to sleep, and have the head and shoulders well raised.
In the intervals of the attack, the general health of the patient is
one of the most important points to be attended to. The strictest
hygienic and dietetic rules should be observed, and all such causes as
have been referred to as favouring the development of the disease
should, as far as possible, be avoided. In the case of children, parents
must be made to realize that epilepsy is a chronic disease, and that
therefore the seizures must not be allowed to interfere unnecessarily
with the child's training. The patient must be treated as such only
during the attack; between times, though being carefully watched, must
be made to follow a child's normal pursuits, and no distinction must be
made from other children. The same applies to adults: it is far better
for them to have some definite occupation, preferably one that keeps
them in the open air. If such patients become irritable, then they
should be placed under supervision. As regards those who cannot be
looked after at home, colonies on a self-supporting basis have been
tried, and where the supervision has been intelligent the success has
been proved, a fairly high level of health and happiness being attained.
The various bromides are the only medical drugs that have produced any
beneficial results. They require to be given in large doses which are
carefully regulated for every individual patient, as the quantities
required vary enormously. Children take far larger doses in proportion
than adults. They are best given in a very diluted form, and after
meals, to diminish the chances of gastric disturbance. Belladonna seems
also to have some influence on the disease, and forms a useful addition;
arsenic should also be prescribed at times, both as a tonic, and for the
sake of the improvement it effects in those patients who develop a
tendency to _acne_, which is one of the troublesome results of bromism.
The administration of the bromides should be maintained until three
years after the cessation of the fits. The occurrence of gastric pain,
palpitations and loss of the palate reflex are indications to stop, or
to decrease the quantity of the drug. In very severe cases opium may be
required.
Surgical treatment for epilepsy is yet in its infancy, and it is too
early to judge of its results. This does not apply, however, to cases of
_Jacksonian epilepsy_, where a very large number have been operated on
with marked benefit. Here the lesion of the brain is, in a very large
percentage of the patients, caused by pressure from outside, from the
presence of a tumour or a depressed fracture; the removal of the one, or
the elevation of the other is the obvious procedure, and it is usually
followed by the complete disappearance of the seizures.
EPILOGUE. The appendix or supplement to a literary work, and in
particular to a drama in verse, is called an _epilogue_, from [Greek:
epilogos], the name given by the Greeks to the peroration of a speech.
As we read in Shakespeare's _Midsummer Night's Dream_, the epilogue was
generally treated as the apology for a play; it was a final appeal made
to encourage the good-nature of the audiences, and to deprecate attack.
The epilogue should form no part of the work to which it is attached,
but should be independent of it; it should be treated as a sort of
commentary. Sometimes it adds further information with regard to what
has been left imperfectly concluded in the work itself. For instance, in
the case of a play, the epilogue will occasionally tell us what became
of the characters after the action closed; but this is irregular and
unusual, and the epilogue is usually no more than a graceful way of
dismissing the audience. Among the ancients the form was not cultivated,
further than that the leader of the chorus or the last speaker advanced
and said "Vos valete, et plaudite, cives"--"Good-bye, citizens, and we
hope you are pleased." Sometimes this formula was reduced to the one
word, "Plaudite!" The epilogue as a literary species is almost entirely
confined to England, and it does not occur in the earliest English
plays. It is rare in Shakespeare, but Ben Jonson made it a particular
feature of his drama, and may almost be said to have invented the
tradition of its regular use. He employed the epilogue for two purposes,
either to assert the merit of the play or to deprecate censure of its
defects. In the former case, as in _Cynthia's Revels_ (1600), the actor
went off, and immediately came on again saying:--
"Gentles, be't known to you, since I went in
I am turned rhymer, and do thus begin:--
The author (jealous how your sense doth take
His travails) hath enjoined me to make
Some short and ceremonious epilogue,"--
and then explained to the audience what an extremely interesting play it
had been. In the second case, when the author was less confident, his
epilogue took a humbler form, as in the comedy of _Volpone_ (1605),
where the actor said:--
"The seasoning of a play is the applause.
Now, as the Fox be punished by the laws,
He yet doth hope, there is no suffering due
For any fact which he hath done 'gainst _you_.
If there be, censure him; here he doubtful stands:
If not, fare jovially and clap your hands."
Beaumont and Fletcher used the epilogue sparingly, but after their day
it came more and more into vogue, and the form was almost invariably
that which Ben Jonson had brought into fashion, namely, the short
complete piece in heroic couplets. The hey-day of the epilogue, however,
was the Restoration, and from 1660 to the decline of the drama in the
reign of Queen Anne scarcely a play, serious or comic, was produced on
the London stage without a prologue and an epilogue. These were almost
always in verse, even if the play itself was in the roughest prose, and
they were intended to impart a certain literary finish to the piece.
These Restoration epilogues were often very elaborate essays or satires,
and were by no means confined to the subject of the preceding play. They
dealt with fashions, or politics, or criticism. The prologues and
epilogues of Dryden are often brilliantly finished exercises in literary
polemic. It became the custom for playwrights to ask their friends to
write these poems for them, and the publishers would even come to a
prominent poet and ask him to supply one for a fee. It gives us an idea
of the seriousness with which the epilogue was treated that Dryden
originally published his valuable "Defence of the Epilogue; or An Essay
on the Dramatic Poetry of the Last Age" (1672) as a defence of the
epilogue which he had written for _The Conquest of Granada_. In France
the custom of reciting dramatic epilogues has never prevailed. French
criticism gives the name to such adieux to the public, at the close of a
non-dramatic work, as are reserved by La Fontaine for certain critical
points in the "Fables." (E. G.)
EPIMENIDES, poet and prophet of Crete, lived in the 6th century B.C.
Many fabulous stories are told of him, and even his existence is
doubted. While tending his father's sheep, he is said to have fallen
into a deep sleep in the Dictaean cave near Cnossus where he lived, from
which he did not awake for fifty-seven years (Diogenes Laertius i.
109-115). When the Athenians were visited by a pestilence in consequence
of the murder of Cylon, he was invited by Solon (596) to purify the
city. The only reward he would accept was a branch of the sacred olive,
and a promise of perpetual friendship between Athens and Cnossus
(Plutarch, _Solon_, 12; Aristotle, _Ath. Pol._ 1). He died in Crete at
an advanced age; according to his countrymen, who afterwards honoured
him as a god, he lived nearly three hundred years. According to another
story, he was taken prisoner in a war between the Spartans and
Cnossians, and put to death by his captors, because he refused to
prophesy favourably for them. A collection of oracles, a theogony, an
epic poem on the Argonautic expedition, prose works on purifications and
sacrifices, and a cosmogony, were attributed to him. Epimenides must be
reckoned with Melampus and Onomacritus as one of the founders of
Orphism. He is supposed to be the Cretan prophet alluded to in the
epistle to Titus (i. 12).
See C. Schultess, _De Epimenide Cretensi_ (1877); O. Kern, _De Orphei,
Epimenidis ... Theogoniis_ (1888); G. Barone di Vincenzo, _E. di Creta
e le Credenze religiose de' suoi Tempi_ (1880); H. Demoulin,
_Epimenide de Crete_ (1901); H. Diels, _Die Fragmente der
Vorsokratiker_ (1903); O. Kern in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_.
EPINAL, a town on the north-eastern frontier of France, capital of the
department of Vosges, 46 m. S.S.E. of Nancy on the Eastern railway
between that town and Belfort. Pop. (1906), town 21,296, commune
(including garrison) 29,058. The town proper--the Grande Ville--is
situated on the right bank of the Moselle, which at this point divides
into two arms forming an island whereon another quarter--the Petite
Ville--is built. The lesser of these two arms, which is canalized,
separates the island from the suburb of Hospice on its left bank. The
right bank of the Moselle is bordered for some distance by pleasant
promenades, and an extensive park surrounds the ruins of an old
stronghold which dominated the Grande Ville from an eminence on the
east. Apart from the church of St Goery (or St Maurice) rebuilt in the
13th century but preserving a tower of the 12th century, the public
buildings of Epinal offer little of architectural interest. The old
hospital on the island-quarter contains a museum with interesting
collections of paintings, Gallo-Roman antiquities, sculpture, &c. Close
by stands the library, which possesses many valuable MSS.
The fortifications of Epinal are connected to the southward with
Belfort, Dijon and Besancon, by the fortified line of the Moselle, and
north of it lies the unfortified zone called the _Trouee d'Epinal_, a
gap designedly left open to the invaders between Epinal and Toul,
another great fortress which is itself connected by the Meuse _forts
d'arret_ with Verdun and the places of the north-east. Epinal therefore
is a fortress of the greatest possible importance to the defence of
France, and its works, all built since 1870, are formidable permanent
fortifications. The Moselle runs from S. to N. through the middle of the
girdle of forts; the fortifications of the right bank, beginning with
Fort de la Mouche, near the river 3 m. above Epinal, form a chain of
detached forts and batteries over 6 m. long from S. to N., and the
northernmost part of this line is immensely strengthened by numerous
advanced works between the villages of Dogneville and Longchamp. On the
left bank, a larger area of ground is included in the perimeter of
defence for the purposes of encampment, the most westerly of the forts,
Girancourt, being 7 m. distant from Epinal; from the lower Moselle to
Girancourt the works are grouped principally about Uxegney and Sarchey;
from Girancourt to the upper river and Fort de la Mouche a long ridge
extends in an arc, and on this south-western section the principal
defence is Fort Ticha and its annexes. The circle of forts, which has a
perimeter of nearly 30 m., was in 1895 reinforced by the construction of
sixteen new works, and the area of ground enclosed and otherwise
protected by the defences of Epinal is sufficiently extensive to
accommodate a large army.
Epinal is the seat of a prefect and of a court of assizes and has
tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of
trade-arbitrators, a chamber of commerce, training-colleges, a communal
college and industrial school, and exchange and a branch of the Bank of
France. The town, which is important as the centre of a cotton-spinning
region, carries on cotton-spinning, -weaving and -printing, brewing and
distilling, and the manufacture of machinery and iron goods, glucose,
embroidery, hats, wall-paper and tapioca. An industry peculiar to Epinal
is the production of cheap images, lithographs and engravings. There is
also trade in wine, grain, live-stock and starch products made in the
vicinity. Epinal is an important junction on the Eastern railway.
Epinal originated towards the end of the 10th century with the founding
of a monastery by Theodoric (Dietrich) I., bishop of Metz, whose
successors ruled the town till 1444, when its inhabitants placed
themselves under the protection of King Charles VII. In 1466 it was
transferred to the duchy of Lorraine, and in 1766 it was, along with
that duchy, incorporated with France. It was occupied by the Germans on
the 12th of October 1870 after a short fight, and until the 15th was the
headquarters of General von Werder.
EPINAOS (Gr. [Greek: epi], after, and [Greek: naos], a temple), in
architecture, the open vestibule behind the nave. The term is not found
in any classic author, but is a modern coinage, originating in Germany,
to differentiate the feature from "opisthodomus," which in the Parthenon
was an enclosed chamber.
EPINAY, LOUISE FLORENCE PETRONILLE TARDIEU D'ESCLAVELLES D'
(1726-1783), French writer, was born at Valenciennes on the 11th of
March 1726. She is well known on account of her _liaisons_ with Rousseau
and Baron von Grimm, and her acquaintanceship with Diderot, D'Alembert,
D'Holbach and other French men of letters. Her father, Tardieu
d'Esclavelles, a brigadier of infantry, was killed in battle when she
was nineteen; and she married her cousin Denis Joseph de La Live
d'Epinay, who was made a collector-general of taxes. The marriage was an
unhappy one; and Louise d'Epinay believed that the prodigality,
dissipation and infidelities of her husband justified her in obtaining a
formal separation in 1749. She settled in the chateau of La Chevrette in
the valley of Montmorency, and there received a number of distinguished
visitors. Conceiving a strong attachment for J.J. Rousseau, she
furnished for him in 1756 in the valley of Montmorency a cottage which
she named the "Hermitage," and in this retreat he found for a time the
quiet and natural rural pleasures he praised so highly. Rousseau, in his
_Confessions_, affirmed that the inclination was all on her side; but
as, after her visit to Geneva, Rousseau became her bitter enemy, little
weight can be given to his statements on this point. Her intimacy with
Grimm, which began in 1755, marks a turning-point in her life, for under
his influence she escaped from the somewhat compromising conditions of
her life at La Chevrette. In 1757-1759 she paid a long visit to Geneva,
where she was a constant guest of Voltaire. In Grimm's absence from
France (1775-1776), Madame d'Epinay continued, under the superintendence
of Diderot, the correspondence he had begun with various European
sovereigns. She spent most of her later life at La Briche, a small house
near La Chevrette, in the society of Grimm and of a small circle of men
of letters. She died on the 17th of April 1783. Her _Conversations
d'Emilie_ (1774), composed for the education of her grand-daughter,
Emilie de Belsunce, was crowned by the French Academy in 1783. The
_Memoires et Correspondance de Mme d'Epinay, renfermant un grand nombre
de lettres inedites de Grimm, de Diderot, et de J.-J. Rousseau, ainsi
que des details_, &c, was published at Paris (1818) from a MS. which she
had bequeathed to Grimm. The _Memoires_ are written by herself in the
form of a sort of autobiographic romance. Madame d'Epinay figures in it
as Madame de Montbrillant, and Rene is generally recognized as Rousseau,
Volx as Grimm, Garnier as Diderot. All the letters and documents
published along with the _Memoires_ are genuine. Many of Madame
d'Epinay's letters are contained in the _Correspondance de l'abbe
Galiani_ (1818). Two anonymous works, _Lettres a mon fils_ (Geneva,
1758) and _Mes moments heureux_ (Geneva, 1759), are also by Madame
d'Epinay.
See Rousseau's _Confessions_; Lucien Perey [Mlle Herpin] and Gaston
Maugras, _La Jeunesse de Mme d'Epinay, les dernieres annees de Mme
d'Epinay_ (1882-1883); Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol. ii.;
Edmond Scherer, _Etudes sur la litterature contemporaine_, vols. iii.
and vii. There are editions of the _Memoires_ by L. Enault (1855) and
by P. Boiteau (1865); and an English translation, with introduction
and notes (1897), by J.H. Freese.
EPIPHANIUS, SAINT (c. 315-402), a celebrated Church Father, born in the
beginning of the 4th century at Bezanduca, a village of Palestine, near
Eleutheropolis. He is said to have been of Jewish extraction. In his
youth he resided in Egypt, where he began an ascetic course of life,
and, freeing himself from Gnostic influences, invoked episcopal
assistance against heretical thinkers, eighty of whom were driven from
the cities. On his return to Palestine he was ordained presbyter by the
bishop of Eleutheropolis, and became the president of a monastery which
he founded near his native place. The account of his intimacy with the
patriarch Hilarion is not trustworthy. In 367 he was nominated bishop of
Constantia, previously known as Salamis, the metropolis of Cyprus--an
office which he held till his death in 402. Zealous for the truth, but
passionate and bigoted, he devoted himself to two great labours, namely,
the spread of the recently established monasticism, and the confutation
of heresy, of which he regarded Origen and his followers as the chief
representatives. The first of the Origenists that he attacked was John,
bishop of Jerusalem, whom he denounced from his own pulpit at Jerusalem
(394) in terms so violent that the bishop sent his archdeacon to request
him to desist; and afterwards, instigated by Theophilus, bishop of
Alexandria, he proceeded so far as to summon a council of Cyprian
bishops to condemn the errors of Origen. In his closing years he came
into conflict with Chrysostom, the patriarch of Constantinople, who had
given temporary shelter to four Nitrian monks whom Theophilus had
expelled on the charge of Origenism. The monks gained the support of the
empress Eudoxia, and when she summoned Theophilus to Constantinople that
prelate forced the aged Epiphanius to go with him. He had some
controversy with Chrysostom but did not stay to see the result of
Theophilus's machinations, and died on his way home. The principal work
of Epiphanius is the _Panarion_, or treatise on heresies, of which he
also wrote an abridgment. It is a "medicine chest" of remedies for all
kinds of heretical belief, of which he names eighty varieties. His
accounts of the earlier errors (where he has preserved for us large
excerpts from the original Greek of Irenaeus) are more reliable than
those of contemporary heresies. In his desire to see the Church safely
moored he also wrote the _Ancoratus_, or discourse on the true faith.
His encyclopaedic learning shows itself in a treatise on Jewish weights
and measures, and another (incomplete) on ancient gems. These, with two
epistles to John of Jerusalem and Jerome, are his only genuine remains.
He wrote a large number of works which are lost. In allusion to his
knowledge of Hebrew, Syriac, Egyptian, Greek and Latin, Jerome styles
Epiphanius [Greek: Pentaglossos] (Five-tongued); but if his knowledge of
languages was really so extensive, it is certain that he was utterly
destitute of critical and logical power. His early asceticism seems to
have imbued him with a love of the marvellous; and his religious zeal
served only to increase his credulity. His erudition is outweighed by
his prejudice, and his inability to recognize the responsibilities of
authorship makes it necessary to assign most value to those portions of
his works which he simply cites from earlier writers.
The primary sources for the life are the church histories of Socrates
and Sozomen, Palladius's _De vita Chrysostomi_ and Jerome's _De vir.
illust._ 114. Petau (Petavius) published an edition of the works in 2
vols. fol. at Paris in 1622; cf. Migne, _Patr. Graec._ 41-43. The
Panarion and other works were edited by F. Oehler (Berlin, 1859-1861).
For more recent work especially on the fragments see K. Bonwetsch's
art. in Herzog-Hauck's _Realencyk._ v. 417.
Other theologians of the same name were: (1) Epiphanius Scholasticus,
friend and helper of Cassiodorus; (2) Epiphanius, bishop of Ticinum
(Pavia), c. 438-496; (3) Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia and
Metropolitan of Cyprus (the Younger), c. A.D. 680, to whom some
critics have ascribed certain of the works supposed to have been
written by the greater Epiphanius; (4) Epiphanius, bishop of
Constantia in the 9th century, to whom a similar attribution has been
made.
EPIPHANY, FEAST OF. The word epiphany, in Greek, signifies an apparition
of a divine being. It was used as a singular or a plural, both in its
Greek and Latin forms, according as one epiphany was contemplated or
several united in a single commemoration. For in the East from an early
time were associated with the feast of the Baptism of Christ
commemorations of the physical birth, of the Star of the Magi, of the
miracles of Cana, and of the feeding of the five thousand. The
commemoration of the Baptism was also called by the Greek fathers of the
4th century the Theophany or Theophanies, and the Day of Lights, i.e. of
the Illumination of Jesus or of the Light which shone in the Jordan. In
the Teutonic west it has become the Festival of the three kings (i.e.
the Magi), or simply Twelfth day. Leo the Great called it the Feast of
the _Declaration_; Fulgentius, of the _Manifestation_; others, of the
_Apparition_ of Christ.
In the following article it is attempted to ascertain the date of
institution of the Epiphany feast, its origin, and its significance and
development.
Clement of Alexandria first mentions it. Writing c. 194 he states that
the Basilidians feasted the day of the Baptism, devoting the whole night
which preceded it to lections of the scriptures. They fixed it in the
15th year of Tiberius, on the 15th or 11th of the month Tobi, dates of
the Egyptian fixed calendar equivalent to January 10th and 6th. When
Clement wrote the great church had not adopted the feast, but toward
A.D. 300 it was widely in vogue. Thus the Acts of Philip the Martyr,
bishop of Heraclea in Thrace, A.D. 304, mention the "holy day of the
Epiphany." Note the singular. Origen seems not to have heard of it as a
feast of the Catholic church, but Hippolytus (died c. 235) recognized it
in a homily which may be genuine.
In the age of the Nicene Council, A.D. 325, the primate of Alexandria
was charged at every Epiphany Feast to announce to the churches in a
"Festal Letter" the date of the forthcoming Easter. Several such letters
written by Athanasius and others remain. In the churches so addressed
the feast of Jan. 6 must have been already current.
In Jerusalem, according to the Epistle of Macarius[1] to the Armenians,
c. 330, the feast was kept with zeal and splendour, and was with Easter
and Pentecost a favourite season for Baptism.
We have evidence of the 4th century from Spain that a long fast marked
the season of Advent, and prepared for the feast of Epiphany on the 6th
of January. The council of Saragossa c. 380 enacted that for 21 days,
from the 17th of December to the 6th of January, the Epiphany, the
faithful should not dance or make merry, but steadily frequent the
churches. The synod of Lerida in 524 went further and forbade marriages
during Advent. Our earliest Spanish lectionary, the _Liber comicus_ of
Toledo, edited by Don Morin (_Anecd. Maredsol._ vol. i.), provides
lections for five Sundays in Advent, and the gospel lections[2] chosen
regard the Baptism of Christ, not His Birth, of which the feast, like
that of the Annunciation, is mentioned, but not yet dated, December 25
being assigned to St Stephen. It is odd that for "the Apparition of the
Lord" the lection Matt. ii. 1-15 is assigned, although the lections for
Advent belong to a scheme which identified Epiphany with the Baptism.
This anomaly we account for below. The old editor of the Mozarabic
Liturgy, Fr. Antonio Lorenzano, notes in his preface S 28 that the
Spaniards anciently terminated the Advent season with the Epiphany
Feast. In Rome also the earliest fixed system of the ecclesiastical
year, which may go back to 300, makes Epiphany the _caput festorum_ or
chief of feasts. The Sundays of Advent lead up to it, and the first
Sundays of the year are "The Sunday within the octave of Epiphany," "the
first Sunday after," and so forth. December 25 is no critical date at
all. In Armenia as early as 450 a month of fasting prepared for the
Advent of the Lord at Epiphany, and the fast was interpreted as a
reiteration of John the Baptist's season of Repentance.
In Antioch as late as about 386 Epiphany and Easter were the two great
feasts, and the physical Birth of Christ was not yet feasted. On the eve
of Epiphany after nightfall the springs and rivers were blessed, and
water was drawn from them and stored for the whole year to be used in
lustrations and baptisms. Such water, says Chrysostom, to whose orations
we owe the information, kept pure and fresh for one, two and three
years, and like good wine actually improved the longer it was kept. Note
that Chrysostom speaks of the Feast of the _Epiphanies_, implying two,
one of the Baptism, the other of the Second Advent, when Christ will be
manifested afresh, and we with him in glory. This Second Epiphany
inspired, as we saw, the choice of Pauline lections in the _Liber
comicus_. But the salient event commemorated was the Baptism, and
Chrysostom almost insists on this as the exclusive significance of the
feast:--"It was not when he was born that he became manifest to all, but
when he was baptized." In his commentary on Ezekiel Jerome employs the
same language _absconditus est et non apparuit_, by way of protest
against an interpretation of the Feast as that of the Birth of Jesus in
Bethlehem, which was essayed as early as 375 by Epiphanius in Cyprus,
and was being enforced in Jerome's day by John, bishop of Jerusalem.
Epiphanius boldly removed the date of the Baptism to the 8th of
November. "January 6" (= Tobi 11), he writes, "is the day of Christ's
Birth, that is, of the Epiphanies." He uses the plural, because he adds
on January 6 the commemoration of the water miracle of Cana. Although in
375 he thus protested that January 6 was the day "of the Birth after the
Flesh," he became before the end of the century a convert, according to
John of Nice, to the new opinion that December 25 was the real day of
this Birth. That as early as about 385, January 6 was kept as the
physical birthday in Jerusalem, or rather in Bethlehem, we know from a
contemporary witness of it, the lady pilgrim of Gaul, whose
_peregrinatio_, recently discovered by Gamurrini, is confirmed by the
old Jerusalem Lectionary preserved in Armenian.[3] Ephraem the Syrian
father is attested already by Epiphanius (c. 375) to have celebrated the
physical birth on January 6. His genuine Syriac hymns confirm this, but
prove that the Baptism, the Star of the Magi, and the Marriage at Cana
were also commemorated on the same day. That the same union prevailed in
Rome up to the year 354 may be inferred from Ambrose. Philastrius (_De
haer._ ch. 140) notes that some abolished the Epiphany feast and
substituted a Birth feast. This was between 370 and 390.
In 385 Pope Siricius[4] calls January 6 _Natalicia_, "the Birthday of
Christ or of Apparition," and protests against the Spanish custom (at
Tarragona) of baptizing on that day--another proof that in Spain in the
4th century it commemorated the Baptism. In Gaul at Vienna in 360 Julian
the Apostate, out of deference to Christian feeling, went to church "on
the festival which they keep in January and call Epiphania." So
Ammianus; but Zonaras in his Greek account of the event calls it the day
of the Saviour's Birth.
Why the feast of the Baptism was called the feast or day of the
Saviour's Birth, and why fathers of that age when they call Christmas
the birthday constantly qualify and add the words "in the flesh," we are
able to divine from Pope Leo's (c. 447) 18th Epistle to the bishops of
Sicily. For here we learn that in Sicily they held that in His Baptism
the Saviour was reborn through the Holy Spirit. "The Lord," protests
Leo, "needed no remission of sins, no remedy of rebirth." The Sicilians
also baptized neophytes on January 6, "because baptism conveyed to Jesus
and to them one and the same grace." Not so, argues Leo, the Lord
sanctioned and hallowed the power of regeneration, not when He was
baptized, but "when the blood of redemption and the water of baptism
flowed forth from his side." Neophytes should therefore be baptized at
Easter and Pentecost alone, never at Epiphany.
Fortune has preserved to us among the _Spuria_ of several Latin fathers,
Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and Maximus of Turin, various homilies for
Sundays of the Advent fast and for Epiphany. The Advent lections of
these homilists were much the same as those of the Spanish _Liber
comicus_; and they insist on Advent being kept as a strict fast, without
marriage celebrations. Their Epiphany lection is however Matt. iii.
1-17, which must therefore have once on a time been assigned in the
_Liber comicus_ also in harmony with its general scheme. The psalms used
on the day are, cxiii. (cxiv.) "When Israel went forth," xxviii. (xxix.)
"Give unto the Lord," and xxii. (xxiii.) "the Lord is my Shepherd." The
same lection of Matthew and also Ps. xxix. are noted for Epiphany in the
Greek oration for the day ascribed to Hippolytus, which is at least
earlier than 300, and also in special old Epiphany rites for the
Benediction of the waters found in Latin, Greek, Armenian, Coptic,
Syriac, &c. Now by these homilists as by Chrysostom,[5] the Baptism is
regarded as the occasion on which "the Saviour first _appeared_ after
the flesh in the world or on earth." These words were classical to the
homilists, who explain them as best they can. The baptism is also
declared to have been "the consecration of Christ," and "regeneration of
Christ and a strengthening of our faith," to have been "Christ's second
nativity." "This _second birth_ hath more renown than his first ... for
now the God of majesty is inscribed (as his father), but then (at his
first birth) Joseph the Carpenter was assumed to be his father ... he
hath more honour who cries aloud from Heaven (viz. God the Father), than
he who labours upon earth" (viz. Joseph).[6]
Similarly the old _ordo Romanus_ of the age of Pepin (given by
Montfaulcon in his preface to the Mozarabic missal in Migne, _Patr.
Latina_, 85, col. 46), under the rubric of the Vigil of the Theophany,
insists that "the _second birth_ of Christ (in Baptism) being
distinguished by so many mysteries (e.g. the miracle of Cana) is more
honoured than the first" (birth from Mary).
These homilies mostly belong to an age (? 300-400) when the commemoration
of the physical Birth had not yet found its own day (Dec. 25), and was
therefore added alongside of the Baptism on January 6. Thus the two
Births, the physical and the spiritual, of Jesus were celebrated on one
and the same day, and one homily contains the words: "Not yet is the feast
of his origin fully completed, and already we have to celebrate the solemn
commemoration of his Baptism. He has hardly been born humanwise, and
already he is being _reborn_ in sacramental wise. For to-day, though after
a lapse of many annual cycles, he was hallowed (or consecrated) in Jordan.
So the Lord arranged as to link rite with rite; I mean, in such wise as to
be brought forth through the Virgin and to be begotten through the mystery
(i.e. sacrament) in one and the same season." Another homily preserved in
a MS. of the 7th or 8th century and assigned to Maximus of Turin declares
that the Epiphany was known as the Birthday of Jesus, either because He
was then born of the Virgin or _reborn in baptism_. This also was the
classical defence made by Armenian fathers of their custom of keeping the
feast of the Birth and Baptism together on January 6. They argued from
Luke's gospel that the Annunciation took place on April 6, and therefore
the Birth on January 6. The Baptism was on Christ's thirtieth birthday,
and should therefore be also kept on January 6. Cosmas Indicopleustes (c.
550) relates that on the same grounds believers of Jerusalem joined the
feasts. All such reasoning was of course _apres coup_. As late as the 9th
century the Armenians had at least three discrepant dates for the
Annunciation--January 5, January 9, April 6; and of these January 5 and 9
were older than April 6, which they perhaps borrowed from Epiphanius's
commentary on the Gospels. The old Latin homilist, above quoted, hits the
mark when he declares that the innate logic of things required the Baptism
(which must, he says, be any how called a natal or birth festival) to fall
on the same day as Christmas--_Ratio enim exigit_. Of the argument from
the 6th of April as the date of the Annunciation he knows nothing. The
12th century Armenian Patriarch Nerses, like this homilist, merely rests
his case against the Greeks, who incessantly reproached the Armenians for
ignoring their Christmas on December 25, on the inherent logic of things,
as follows:
"Just as he was born after the flesh from the holy virgin, so he was
_born_ through baptism and from the Jordan, by way of example unto us.
And since there are here _two births_, albeit differing one from the
other in mystic import and in point of time, therefore it was
appointed that we should feast them together, as the first, so also
the second birth."
The Epiphany feast had therefore in its own right acquired the name of
_natalis dies_ or birthday, as commemorating the spiritual rebirth of
Jesus in Jordan, before the _natalis in carne_, the Birthday _in the
flesh_, as Jerome and others call it, was associated with it. This idea
was condemned as Ebionite in the 3rd century, yet it influences
Christian writers long before and long afterwards. So Tertullian says:
"We little fishes (_pisciculi_), after the example of our great fish
([Greek: ichthyn]) Jesus Christ the Lord, are born (_gignimur_) in the
water, nor except by abiding in the water are we in a state of
salvation." And Hilary, like the Latin homilists cited above, writes of
Jesus that "he was _born again_ through baptism, and then became Son of
God," adding that the Father cried, when he had gone up out of the
water, "My Son art thou, I have this day begotten thee" (Luke iii. 22).
"But this," he adds, "was with the begetting of a man who is being
reborn; on that occasion too he himself was being reborn unto God to be
perfect son; as he was son of man, so in baptism, he was constituted son
of God as well." The idea frequently meets us in Hilary; it occurs in
the Epiphany hymn of the orthodox Greek church, and in the Epiphany
hymns and homilies of the Armenians.
A letter is preserved by John of Nice of a bishop of Jerusalem to the
bishop of Rome which attests a temporary union of both feasts on January
6 in the holy places. The faithful, it says, met before dawn at
Bethlehem to celebrate the Birth from the Virgin in the cave; but before
their hymns and lections were finished they had to hurry off to Jordan,
13 m. the other side of Jerusalem, to celebrate the Baptism, and by
consequence neither commemoration could be kept fully and reverently.
The writer therefore begs the pope to look in the archives of the Jews
brought to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem, and to ascertain
from them the real date of Christ's birth. The pope looked in the works
of Josephus and found it to be December 25. The letter's genuineness has
been called in question; but revealing as it does the Church's ignorance
of the date of the Birth, the inconvenience and precariousness of its
association with the Baptism, the recency of its separate institution,
it could not have been invented. It is too tell-tale a document. Not the
least significant fact about it is that it views the Baptism as an
established feast which cannot be altered and set on another date. Not
it but the physical birth must be removed from January 6 to another
date. It has been shown above that perhaps as early as 380 the
difficulty was got over in Jerusalem by making the Epiphany wholly and
solely a commemoration of the miraculous birth, and suppressing the
commemoration of the Baptism. Therefore this letter must have been
written--or, if invented, then invented before that date. Chrysostom
seems to have known of it, for in his Epiphany homily preached at
Antioch, c. 392 (op. vol. ii. 354, ed. Montf.), he refers to the
archives at Rome as the source from which the date December 25 could be
confirmed, and declares that he had obtained it from those who dwell
there, and who observing it from the beginning and by old tradition, had
communicated it to the East. The question arises why the feast of the
Baptism was set on January 6 by the sect of Basilides? And why the great
church adopted the date? Now we know what sort of considerations
influenced this sect in fixing other feasts, so we have a clue. They
fixed the Birth of Jesus on Pachon 25 (= May 20), the day of the Niloa,
or feast of the descent of the Nile from heaven. We should thus expect
January 6 to be equally a Nile festival. And this from various sources
we know it was. On Tobi 11, says Epiphanius[7] (c. 370), every one draws
up water from the river and stores it up, not only in Egypt itself, but
in many other countries. In many places, he adds, springs and rivers
turn into wine on this day, e.g. at Cibyra in Caria and Gerasa in
Arabia. Aristides Rhetor (c. 160) also relates how in the winter, which
began with Tobi, the Nile water was at its purest. Its water, he says,
if drawn at the right time conquers time, for it does not go bad,
whether you keep it on the spot or export it. Galleys were waiting on a
certain night to take it on board and transport it to Italy and
elsewhere for libations and lustrations in the Temples of Isis. "Such
water," he adds, "remained fresh, long after other water supplies had
gone bad. The Egyptians filled their pitchers with this water, as others
did with wine; they stored it in their houses for three or four years or
more, and recommended it the more, the older it grew, just as the Greeks
did their wines."
Two centuries later Chrysostom, as we have seen, commends in identical
terms the water blessed and drawn from the rivers at the Baptismal
feast. It is therefore probable that the Basilidian feast was a
Christianized form of the blessing of the Nile, called by Chabas in his
Coptic calendar _Hydreusis_. Mas'udi the Arab historian of the 10th
century, in his _Prairies d'or_ (French trans. Paris, 1863, ii. 364),
enlarges on the splendours of this feast as he saw it still celebrated
in Egypt.
Epiphanius also (_Haer._ 51) relates a curious celebration held at
Alexandria of the Birth of the Aeon. On January 5 or 6 the votaries met
in the holy compound or Temple of the Maiden (Kore), and sang hymns to
the music of the flute till dawn, when they went down with torches into
a shrine under ground, and fetched up a wooden idol on a bier
representing Kore, seated and naked, with crosses marked on her brow,
her hands and her knees. Then with flute-playing, hymns and dances they
carried the image seven times round the central shrine, before restoring
it again to its dwelling-place below. He adds: "And the votaries say
that to-day at this hour _Kore_, that is, the Virgin, gave birth to the
Aeon."
Epiphanius says this was a heathen rite, but it rather resembles some
Basilidian or Gnostic commemoration of the spiritual birth of the Divine
life in Jesus of the Christhood, from the older creation the Ecclesia.
The earliest extant Greek text of the Epiphany rite is in a Euchologion
of about the year 795, now in the Vatican. The prayers recite that at
His baptism Christ hallowed the waters by His presence in Jordan,[8] and
ask that they may now be blessed by the Holy Spirit visiting them, by
its power and inworking, as the streams of Jordan were blessed. So they
will be able to purify soul and body of all who draw up and partake of
them. The hymn sung contains such clauses as these:
"To-day the grace of the Holy Spirit hallowing the waters appears
([Greek: epiphainetai], cf. Epiphany).... To-day the systems of waters
spread out their backs under the Lord's footsteps. To-day the unseen
is seen, that he may reveal himself to us. To-day the Increate is of
his own will ordained (lit. hath hands laid on him) by his own
creature. To-day the Unbending bends his neck to his own servant, in
order to free us from servitude. To-day we were liberated from
darkness and are illumined by light of divine knowledge. To-day for us
the Lord by means of rebirth (lit. palingenesy) of the Image reshapes
the Archetype."
This last clause is obscure. In the Armenian hymns the ideas of the
rebirth not only of believers, but of Jesus, and of the latter's
ordination by John, are very prominent.