influence over the Athenians by his eloquence and the purity of his
manners that he was elected decennial archon, B.C. 317. He embellished
the city, and rendered himself popular by his munificence, but his
enemies plotted against him, and he fled to the court of Ptolemy Lagus,
where he was received with kindness. He put an end to his life by
permitting an asp to bite him, B.C. 284. There were several others of
the name of Demetrius of minor note.
=Democ´ritus.= A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, one of the disciples of
Leucippus. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and
Africa, in quest of knowledge, and returned home in the greatest
poverty. He indulged in continual laughter at the follies of mankind for
distracting themselves with care and anxiety in the short term of their
lives. He told Darius, who was inconsolable for the loss of his wife,
that he would raise her from the dead if he could find three persons who
had gone through life without adversity, whose names he might engrave on
the queen's monument. He taught his disciples that the soul died with
the body. He died in his 109th year, B.C. 361. He has been termed "the
laughing philosopher."
=Demos´thenes.= A celebrated Athenian, was son of a rich blacksmith and
Cleobule. He became pupil of Plato, and applied himself to study the
orations of Isocrates. At the age of seventeen he gave early proof of
his eloquence and abilities in displaying them against his guardians,
from whom he obtained restitution of the greater part of his estate. To
correct the stammering of voice under which he labored he spoke with
pebbles in his mouth. In the battle of Cheronæa he evinced cowardice,
and saved his life by flight. He ended his life by taking poison, which
he always carried in a quill, in the sixtieth year of his age, B.C. 322.
=Deuca´lion.= A son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha, the daughter of
Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the earth
was covered by a deluge of water, sent by Jupiter as a punishment for
the impiety of mankind. Deucalion constructed a ship, and by this means
saved himself and Pyrrha. The ship, after being tossed on the waves for
nine days, rested on Mount Parnassus. The deluge of Deucalion is
supposed to have occurred B.C. 1503.
=Dia´na.= The goddess of hunting. According to Cicero there were three of
the name--viz.: a daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, a daughter of
Jupiter and Latona, and a daughter of Upis and Glauce. The second is the
most celebrated, and all mention of Diana by ancient writers refers to
her. To shun the society of men she devoted herself to hunting, and was
always accompanied by a number of young women, who, like herself,
abjured marriage. She is represented with a quiver, and attended by
dogs. The most famous of her temples was that at Ephesus, which was one
of the wonders of the world.
=Dicta´tor.= A magistrate at Rome, invested with regal authority.
=Di´do.= A daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, who married Sichæus or
Sicharbus, her uncle, who was priest of Hercules. Pygmalion killed
Sichæsus to obtain his immense riches, and Dido, disconsolate at the
loss of her husband, set sail with a number of Tyrians in quest of a
place in which to form a settlement. A storm drove her fleet on the
African coast, and she bought of the inhabitants as much land as could
be covered by a bull's hide cut into thongs. On this land she built a
citadel called Byrsa, which was the nucleus of a great city. Her
subjects wished her to marry again, but she refused, and erected a
funeral pile, on which she ascended and stabbed herself to death.
=Diocletia´nus, Cai´us Valer´ius Jo´vius.= A celebrated Roman emperor,
born of an obscure family in Dalmatia. He was first a common soldier,
and by merit gradually rose to the position of a general, and at length
he was invested with imperial power. He has been celebrated for his
military virtues, and though he was naturally unpolished by education,
yet he was the friend and patron of learning and genius. His cruelty,
however, against the followers of Christianity, has been severely
reprobated. After reigning twenty-one years in great prosperity, he
abdicated, A.D. 304, and died nine years afterwards, aged sixty-eight.
=Diodo´rus, Sic´ulus.= Celebrated as the author of a history of Egypt,
Persia, Syria, Media, Greece, Rome and Carthage. It was divided into
forty books, of which only fifteen are extant, with a few fragments.
=Dio´genes.= A celebrated cynic philosopher of Sinope, banished from his
country for coining false money. From Sinope he retired to Athens, where
he became the disciple of Antisthenes, who was at the head of the
Cynics. He dressed himself in the garment which distinguished the
Cynics, and walked about the streets with a tub on his head, which
served him as a house. His singularity, joined to his great contempt for
riches, gained him reputation, and Alexander the Great visited the
philosopher and asked him if there was anything in which he could oblige
him. "Get out of my sunshine," was the reply of the Cynic. Such
independence pleased the monarch, who, turning to his courtiers, said,
"Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes." He was once sold as
a slave, and his magnanimity so pleased his master, that he made him
the preceptor of his children and the guardian of his estates. He died,
B.C. 324, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. The life of Diogenes does
not bear strict examination: whilst boasting of his poverty, he was so
arrogant that it has been observed that his virtues arose from pride and
vanity, not from wisdom or sound philosophy.
=Dio´genes Laer´tius.= An Epicurean philosopher, born in Cilicia. He wrote
the lives of the philosophers, in ten books. This work contains an
accurate account of the ancient philosophers, and is replete with
anecdotes respecting them. It is compiled, however, without any plan,
method, or precision, though neatness and conciseness are observable in
it.
=Diome´des=, a son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king of Ætolia, and one of
the bravest of the Grecian chiefs in the Trojan war. He often engaged
Hector and Æneas, and obtained much military glory.
=Diome´des.= A king of Thrace, son of Mars and Cyrene, who fed his horses
with human flesh. Hercules destroyed Diomedes, and gave him to his own
horses to be devoured.
=Di´on.= A Syracusan, son of Hipparina, famous for his power and
abilities. He was related to Dionysius the First, who constantly advised
with him, and at whose court he obtained great popularity. He was
assassinated 354 years before the Christian era by one of his familiar
friends. His death was greatly lamented by the Syracusans, who raised a
monument to his memory. When Dionysius the Second ascended the throne he
banished Dion, who collected some forces, and in three days made himself
master of Syracuse.
=Di´on Cas´sius.= A native of Nicæa in Bithynia, who was raised to some
of the greatest offices of state in the Roman empire. He is celebrated
as the writer of a history of Rome which occupied him twelve years in
composing.
=Dionys´ius= the Elder was son of Hermocrates. He signalized himself in
the wars which the Syracusans carried on against Carthage, and made
himself absolute at Syracuse. His tyranny rendered himself odious to his
subjects. He made a subterraneous cave in a rock in the form of a human
ear, which was called "the Ear of Dionysius." The sounds of this cave
were all directed to one common tympanum, which had a communication with
an adjoining room, where Dionysius spent part of his time in listening
to what was said by those whom he had imprisoned. He died in the
sixty-third year of his age, B.C. 368, after a reign of thirty-eight
years.
=Dionys´ius= the Younger was son of Dionysius the First and Doris. He
succeeded his father, and as soon as he ascended the throne he invited
Plato to his court and studied under him for some time. Plato advised
him to lay aside the supreme power, in which he was supported by Dion.
This highly incensed Dionysius, who banished Dion, who collected forces
in Greece, and in three days rendered himself master of Syracuse, and
expelled the tyrant, B.C. 357. He, however, recovered Syracuse ten years
afterward, but was soon compelled to retire again by the Corinthians
under Timoleon.
=Dionys´ius= of Halicarnassus. A historian who left his country and came
to reside in Rome that he might study all the authors who had written
Roman history. He was occupied during twenty-four years on his work on
Roman antiquities, which consisted of twenty books.
=Dir´ce.= A woman whom Lycus, king of Thebes, married after he had
divorced Antiope. Amphion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, for cruelties she
practiced on Antiope, tied Dirce to the tail of a wild bull, by which
she was dragged over rocks and precipices till the gods pitied her and
changed her into a fountain.
=Discor´dia.= 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 amongst the gods. At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis
she threw an apple amongst the gods, inscribed with the words, _Detur
pulchriori_, which was the primary cause of the ruin of Troy, and of
infinite misfortunes to the Greeks.
=Dolabel´la, P. Corn.= A Roman who married the daughter of Cicero. During
the civil wars he warmly espoused the cause of Julius Cæsar, whom he
accompanied at the famous battles of Pharsalia and Munda.
=Domitia´nus, Ti´tus Fla´vius=, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla,
made himself emperer of Rome on the death of his brother Titus, whom,
according to some accounts, he destroyed by poison. The beginning of his
reign promised hopefully, but Domitian became cruel, and gave way to
vicious indulgences. In the latter part of his reign he became
suspicious and remorseful. He was assassinated A.D. 96, in the
forty-fifth year of his age.
=Dra´co.= A celebrated lawgiver of Athens, who made a code of laws, B.C.
623, which, on account of their severity, were said to be written in
letters of blood. Hence the term "Draconic," applied to any punishment
of exceptional severity.
=Dru´sus.= A son of Tiberius and Vipsania, who became famous for his
courage displayed in Illyricum and Pannonia.
=Dru´sus, M. Liv´ius.= A celebrated Roman, who renewed the proposals
bearing on the Agrarian laws, which had proved fatal to the Gracchi.
=Dru´sus, Ne´ro Clau´dius.= A son of Tiberius Nero and Livia. He
distinguished himself in the wars in Germany and Gaul, and was honored
with a triumph. There were other Romans of the same name, but of smaller
distinction.
=Dry´ades.= Nymphs that presided over the woods. Oblations of milk, oil,
and honey were offered to them. Sometimes the votaries of the Dryads
sacrificed a goat to them.
=Duum´viri.= Two patricians at Rome, first appointed by Tarquin to keep
the Sibylline books, which were supposed to contain the fate of the
Roman empire.
=Ech´o.= A daughter of the Air and Tellus, who was one of Juno's
attendants. She was deprived of speech by Juno, but was allowed to reply
to questions put to her.
=Ege´ria.= A nymph of Aricia in Italy, where Diana was particularly
worshiped. Egeria was courted by Numa, and, according to Ovid, became
his wife. Ovid says that she was disconsolate at the death of Numa, and
that she wept so violently that Diana changed her into a fountain.
=Elec´tra.= A daughter of Agamemnon, king of Argos. She incited her
brother Orestes to revenge his father's death by assassinating his
mother Clytemnestra. Her adventures and misfortunes form the subject of
one of the finest of the tragedies of Sophocles.
=Eleu´sinia.= A great festival observed by the Lacedæmonians, Cretans, and
others, every fourth year, and by the people of Athens every fifth year,
at Eleusis in Attica, where it was introduced by Eumolpus, B.C. 1356. It
was the most celebrated of all the religious ceremonies of Greece. The
term "Mysteries" is often applied to it. The expression "Eleusinian
mysteries," as applied to anything that is inexplicable, has become
proverbial.
=Elys´ium.= The Elysian Fields, a place in the infernal regions, where,
according to the ancients, the souls of the virtuous existed after
death.
=Emped´ocles.= A philosopher, poet, and historian of Agrigentum in Sicily,
who lived 444 B.C. He was a Pythagorean, and warmly espoused the belief
in the transmigration of souls.
=Endym´ion.= A shepherd, son of Æthlius and Calyce. He is said to have
required of Jupiter that he might be always young. Diana saw him as he
slept on Mount Latmus, and was so struck with his beauty that she came
down from heaven every night to visit him.
=En´nius.= An ancient poet, born in Calabria. He obtained the privileges
of a Roman citizen on account of his learning and genius.
=E´os.= The name of Aurora among the Greeks.
=Epaminon´das.= A famous Theban descended from the ancient kings of
Boeotia. At the head of the Theban armies he defeated the Spartans at
the celebrated battle of Leuctra about 370 B.C. He was killed in battle
in the forty-eighth year of his age.
=Eph´esus.= A city of Ionia, famous for a temple of Diana, which was
considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world.
=Epicte´tus.= A Stoic philosopher of Hieropolis, originally the slave of
Epaphroditus, the freedman of Nero. He supported the doctrine of the
immortality of the soul.
=Epicu´rus.= A celebrated philosopher, born in Attica of obscure parents.
He distinguished himself at school by the brilliancy of his genius. He
taught that the happiness of mankind consisted in pleasure, which arises
from mental enjoyment, and the sweets of virtue. His death occurred 270
B.C., his age being seventy-two.
=Er´ato.= One of the Muses. She presided over lyric poetry, and is
represented as crowned with roses and myrtle, and holding a lyre in her
hand.
=Er´ebus=, A deity of the infernal regions, son of Chaos and Darkness. The
poets often use the word to signify the infernal regions.
=Ete´ocles.= A king of Thebes, son of OEdipus and Jocasta. After his
father's death it was agreed between him and his brother Polynices that
they should reign a year each alternately. Eteocles first ascended the
throne, but at the end of the year he refused to resign the crown. Thus
treated, Polynices implored assistance from Adrastus, king of Argos,
whose daughter he married, and who placed an army at his disposal.
Eteocles marshalled his forces, and several skirmishes took place
between the hostile hosts, when it was agreed on that the brothers
should decide the contest by single combat. They fought with inveterate
fury, and both were killed.
=Eucli´des.= A famous mathematician of Alexandria, who lived B.C. 300. He
wrote fifteen books on the elements of mathematics. Euclid was so much
respected that King Ptolemy became one of his pupils.
=Eu´menes.= A Greek officer in the army of Alexander. He was the most
worthy of all Alexander's generals to succeed him after his death. He
conquered Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, of which he obtained the
government, till the power of Antigonus obliged him to retire.
Eventually, after many vicissitudes of fortune, he was put to death in
prison by order of Antigonus.
=Eumen´ides.= A name given to the Furies. They sprang from the drops of
blood which flowed from a wound which Coelus received from Saturn.
According to some writers they were daughters of the Earth, and sprung
from the blood of Saturn. Others make them to be daughters of Acheron
and Night, or Pluto and Proserpine. According to the generally received
opinion they were three in number--Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto, to
which some add Nemesis.
=Euphor´bus.= A famous Trojan. He wounded Patroclus, whom Hector killed.
He died by the hand of Menelaus.
=Euphra´tes.= A large river in Asia which flowed through the middle of the
city of Babylon.
=Eurip´ides.= A celebrated tragic poet born at Salamis. He studied
eloquence under Prodicus, ethics under Socrates, and philosophy under
Anaxagoras. He often retired to a solitary cave, where he wrote his
tragedies. It is said that he met his death by being attacked and torn
in pieces by dogs, 407 years before the Christian era, in the
seventy-eighth year of his age. He is accredited with the authorship of
seventy-five tragedies, of which only nineteen are extant. One of his
plays, "Ion," has become familiarized in name to general readers by the
exquisite play thus called written by the late Judge Talfourd, and first
acted at Covent Garden theater, May 26, 1836.
=Euro´pa.= A daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and Telaphassa. Her
beauty attracted Jupiter, and to become possessed of her he assumed the
shape of a handsome bull, and mingled with the herds of Agenor while
Europa was gathering flowers in the meadows. She caressed the animal,
and mounted on his back. The god crossed the sea with her, and arrived
in Crete, where he assumed his proper form, and declared his love. She
became mother of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus.
=Euryd´ice.= The wife of the poet Orpheus. As she fled from Aristæus, who
was enamored with her, she was bit by a serpent, and died of the wound.
Orpheus was disconsolate at her loss, and descended to the infernal
regions in search of her, and by the melody of his lyre he obtained from
Pluto the restoration of Eurydice, provided he did not look behind him
till he reached the earth; but his eagerness to see his wife caused him
to violate the conditions, and he looked behind him, thus losing
Eurydice forever.
=Euryd´ice.= Wife of Amyntas, king of Macedonia. Alexander, Perdiccas, and
Philip were their sons, and they had a daughter named Euryone. She
conspired against Amyntas, but was prevented from killing him by
Euryone.
=Eurys´thenes.= A son of Aristodemus, who lived in perpetual dissension
with his twin brother Procles whilst they both sat on the Spartan
throne. The descendants of Eurysthenes were called Eurysthenidæ, and
those of Procles Proclidæ.
=Eurys´theus.= A king of Argos and Mycenæ, son of Sthenelus and Nicippe.
Juno hastened his birth by two months that he might come into the world
before Hercules, the son of Alcmena, as the younger of the two was
doomed by Jupiter to be subservient to the other. This natural right was
cruelly exercised by Eurystheus, who was jealous of the fame of
Hercules, and who, to destroy him, imposed upon him the most dangerous
enterprises, known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, all of which were
successfully accomplished.
=Euse´bius.= A bishop of Cæsarea, in favor with the Emperor Constantine.
He was mixed up in the theological disputes of Arius and Athanasius, and
distinguished himself by writing an ecclesiastical history and other
works.
=Euter´pe.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over music.
=Entro´pius.= A Latin historian in the age of Julian. He wrote an epitome
of the history of Rome from the age of Romulus to the reign of the
emperor Valens.
=Fa´bii.= A noble and powerful family at Rome. They fought with the
Veientes, and all of them were slain. One of the family, of tender age,
remained in Rome, and from him descended the family which afterwards
became so distinguished.
=Fa´bius, Max´imus Rullia´nus=, was the first of the Fabii who obtained
the name of "Maximus." He was master of the horse, and his victory over
the Samnites in that capacity nearly cost him his life. He was five
times consul, twice dictator, and once censor.
=Fa´bius, Q. Max´imus.= A celebrated Roman who was raised to the highest
offices of state. In his first consulship he obtained a victory over
Liguria, and the battle of Thrasymenus caused his election to the
dictatorship. In this office he opposed Hannibal, harassing him more by
countermarches and ambuscades than by fighting in the open field. He
died at the age of 100, after being consul five times. Others of the
family were of minor distinction, though their names occur in Roman
history.
=Fabric´ius, Cai´us.= A distinguished Roman, who in his first consulship
obtained several victories over the Samnites and Lucanians. He had the
most consummate knowledge of military matters, and was distinguished for
the simplicity of his manners.
=Faler´nus.= A fertile mountain and plain of Campania, famous for its
wine. Falernian wine was held in great esteem by the Romans, and it is
often alluded to by the poets.
=Fau´ni.= Rural deities represented as having the legs, feet, and ears of
goats, and the rest of the body human.
=Flac´cus.= A consul who marched against Sylla and was assassinated.
=Flamin´ius, T. Q.= A famous Roman who was trained in the art of war
against Hannibal. He was sent in command of the Roman troops against
Philip of Macedonia, and met with great success.
=Flo´ra.= The goddess of flowers and gardens among the Romans. She was the
same as the Chloris of the Greeks.
=Fortu´na.= A powerful deity among the ancients, daughter of Oceanus,
according to Homer, or one of the Parcæ according to Pindar. She was
the goddess of Fortune, and bestowed riches or poverty on mankind.
=Ful´via.= An ambitious woman, wife of the tribune Clodius, afterwards of
Curio, and lastly of Antony. Antony divorced her for Cleopatra. She
attempted to avenge her wrongs by persuading Augustus to take up arms
against Antony.
=Galatæ´a.= A sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was loved by
Polyphemus, the Cyclops, whom she treated with disdain, while she was in
love with Acis, a shepherd of Sicily.
=Gal´ba, Ser´vius Sulpi´cius.= A Roman who rose to the greatest offices of
the state, and exercised his powers with equity till he was seated on
the throne, when his virtues disappeared. He was assassinated in the
seventy-third year of his age.
=Gallie´nus, Pub. Licin´ius.= A son of the emperor Valerian. He reigned
conjointly with his father for seven years, and then became sole
emperor, A.D. 260. In his youth he showed military ability in an
expedition against the Germans and Sarmatæ, but when possessed of the
purple he gave himself up to pleasure and vice. He was assassinated in
his fiftieth year, A.D. 268.
=Gal´lus, Corne´lius.= A Roman knight famous for his poetical as well as
his military talents. He was greatly attached to his slave Lycoris (or
Cytheris), whose beauty he extolled in his poetry.
=Ganyme´des.= A beautiful youth of Phrygia. He was taken to heaven by
Jupiter while tending flocks on Mount Ida, and he became the cupbearer
of the gods in place of Hebe.
=Gel´lius Au´lus.= A Roman grammarian in the age of M. Antoninus. He
wrote a work called "Noctes Atticæ," which he composed at Athens.
=German´icus Cæ´sar.= A son of Drusus and Antonia, the niece of Augustus.
He was raised to the most important position in the state, and was
employed in war in Germany, where his successes obtained him a triumph.
He was secretly poisoned, A.D. 19, in the thirty-fourth year of his age.
He has been commended not only for his military talents but for his
learning and humanity.
=Ge´ryon.= A monster, represented by the poets as having three bodies and
three heads. It was killed by Hercules.
=Gigan´tes.= The sons of Coelus and Terra, who, according to Hesiod,
sprang from the blood of a wound inflicted on Coelus by his son
Saturn. They are represented as huge giants, with strength in accordance
with their size.
=Glau´cus.= A son of Hippolochus, the son of Bellerophon. He aided Priam
in the Trojan war, and was noted for his folly in exchanging his golden
armor with Diomedes for an iron one.
=Glau´cus.= A fisherman of Boeotia. He observed that the fishes which he
caught and laid on the grass became invigorated and leaped into the sea.
He tasted the grass, and suddenly felt a desire to live in the sea. He
was made a sea deity by Oceanus and Tethys.
=Glau´cus.= A son of Minos the Second and Pasiphae, who was smothered in a
cask of honey. The soothsayer Polyidus, on being commanded by Minos to
find his son, discovered him, and by rubbing his body with a certain
herb restored him to life.