Suabia, in Palestine (1190). St. Louis gave them permission to quarter
on their arms the _fleur de lis_ (1250). The order was abolished, in
1809, by Napoleon I.
=Tewksburys= (_The_), “Society” couple, always bickering, and always
making up, inveighing against the boredom of society duties, yet bent
upon complying with every by-law, and sacrificing time and happiness to
their idol.--Philip Henry Welch, _The Tailor-Made Girl_ (1888).
=Texartis=, a Scythian soldier, killed by the Countess Brenhilda.--Sir
W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
=Tezoz´omoc=, chief of the priests of the Az´tecas. He fasted ten months
to know how to appease the national gods, and then declared that the
only way was to offer “the White Strangers” on their altars. Tezozomoc
was killed by burning lava from a volcanic mountain.
Tezozomoc
Beholds the judgment ... and sees
The lava floods beneath him. His hour
Is come. The fiery shower, descending, heaps
Red ashes round. They fall like drifted snows,
And bury and consume the accursed priest.
Southey, _Madoc_, ii. 26 (1805).
=Thaddeus of Warsaw=, the hero and title of a novel by Jane Porter
(1803.)
=Thaddu=, the father of Morna, who became the wife of Comhal and the
mother of Fingal.--Ossian.
=Tha´is= (2 _syl._), an Athenian courtezan, who induced Alexander, in
his cups, to set fire to the palace of the Persian kings at Persepŏlis.
The king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy;
Thaïs led the way to light him to his prey,
And, like another Helen, fired another Troy.
Dryden, _Alexanders Feast_ (1697).
=Thaïs´a=, daughter of Simon´idês, king of Pentap´olis. She married
Periclês, prince of Tyre. In her voyage to Tyre Thaïsa gave birth to a
daughter, and dying, as it was supposed, in childbirth, was cast into
the sea. The chest in which she was placed drifted to Ephesus, and fell
into the hands of Cer´imon, a physician, who soon discovered that she
was not dead. Under proper care, she entirely recovered, and became a
priestess in the temple of Diana. Periclês, with his daughter and her
betrothed husband, visiting the shrine of Diana, became known to each
other, and the whole mystery was cleared up.--Shakespeare, _Pericles,
Prince of Tyre_ (1608).
=Thal´aba ebn Hateb=, a poor man, who came to Mahomet, requesting him to
beg God to bestow on him wealth, and promising to employ it in works of
godliness. The “prophet” made the petition, and Thalaba rapidly grew
rich. One day Mahomet sent to the rich man for alms, but Thalaba told
the messengers their demand savored more of tribute than of charity, and
refused to give anything; but afterwards repenting, he took to the
“prophet” a good round sum. Mahomet now refused to accept it, and,
throwing dust on the ungrateful churl, exclaimed, “Thus shall thy wealth
be scattered!” and the man became poor again as fast as he had grown
rich.--_Al Korân_, ix. (Sale’s notes).
=Thal´aba, the Destroyer=--that is, the destroyer of the evil spirits of
Dom-Daniel. He was the only surviving child of Hodei´rah (3 _syl._), and
his wife, Zeinab (2 _syl._); their other eight children had been cut off
by the Dom-Danielists, because it had been decreed by fate that “one of
the race would be their destruction.” When a mere stripling, Thalăba was
left motherless and fatherless (bk. i.); he then found a home in the
tent of a Bedouin named Mo´ath, who had a daughter, Onei´za (3 _syl._).
Here he was found by Abdaldar, an evil spirit, sent from Dom-Daniel to
kill him; but the spirit was killed by a simoom, just as he was about to
stab the boy, and Thalaba was saved (bk. ii.). He now drew from the
finger of Abdaldar, the magic ring, which gave him power over all
spirits; and, thus armed, he set out to avenge the death of his father
(bk. iii.). On his way to Babylon he was encountered by a merchant, who
was in reality the sorcerer, Loba´ba, in disguise. This sorcerer led
Thalaba astray into the wilderness, and then raised up a whirlwind to
destroy him; but the whirlwind was the death of Lobaba himself, and
again Thalaba escaped (bk. iv.). He reached Babylon at length, and met
there Mohāreb, another evil spirit, disguised as a warrior, who
conducted him to the “mouth of hell.” Thalaba detected the villainy, and
hurled the false one into the abyss (bk. v.). The young “Destroyer” was
next conveyed to “the paradise of pleasure,” but he resisted every
temptation, and took to flight just in time to save Oneiza, who had been
brought there by violence (bk. vi.). He then killed Aloa´din, the
presiding spirit of the garden, with a club, was made vizier, and
married Oneiza, but she died on the bridal night (bk. vii.). Distracted
at this calamity, he wandered towards Kâf, and entered the house of an
old woman, who was spinning thread. Thalaba expressed surprise at its
extreme fineness, but Maimu´na (the old woman) told him, fine as it was,
he could not break it. Thalaba felt incredulous, and wound it round his
wrists, when, lo! he became utterly powerless; and Maimuna, calling up
her sister, Khwala, conveyed him helpless to the island of Moha´reb (bk.
viii.). Here he remained for a time, and was at length liberated by
Maimuna, who repented of her sins, and turned to Allah (bk. ix.). Being
liberated from the island of Mohāreb, our hero wandered, cold and
hungry, into a dwelling, where he saw Laila, the daughter of Okba, the
sorcerer. Okba rushed forward with intent to kill him, but Laila
interposed, and fell dead by the hand of her own father (bk. x.). Her
spirit, in the form of a green bird, now became the guardian angel of
“The Destroyer,” and conducted him to the simorg, who directed him the
road to Dom-Daniel (bk. xi.), which he reached in time, slew the
surviving sorcerers, and was received into heaven (bk. xii.).--Southey,
_Thalaba, the Destroyer_ (1797).
=Thales´tris=, queen of the Amazons. Any bold, heroic woman.
As stout Armi´da [_q.v._], bold Thalestris,
And she [_Rhodalind q.v._] that would have been the mistress
Of Gondibert.
S. Butler, _Hudibras_, i. 2 (1663).
=Tha´lia=, the Muse of pastoral song. She is often represented with a
crook in her hand.
Turn to the gentler melodies which suit
Thalia’s harp, or Pan’s Arcadian lute.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, ii. (1790).
=Thaliard=, a lord of Antioch.--Shakespeare, _Pericles, Prince of Tyre_
(1608).
=Tham´muz=, God of the Syrians, and fifth in order of the hierarchy of
hell: (1) Satan, (2) Beëlzebub, (3) Moloch, (4) Chemos, (5) Thammuz (the
same as Ado´nis). Thammuz was slain by a wild boar in Mount Lebanon,
from whence the river Adonis descends, the water of which, at a certain
season of the year, becomes reddened. Addison saw it, and ascribes the
redness to a minium washed into the river by the violence of the rain.
Thammuz came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer’s day;
While smooth Adonis from his native rock
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 446, etc. (1665).
=Thamu´dites= (3 _syl._), people of the tribe of Thamûd. They refused to
believe in Mahomet without seeing a miracle. On a grand festival, Jonda,
prince of the Thamûdites, told Sâleh, the prophet, that the god which
answered by miracle should be acknowledged God by both. Jonda and the
Thamûdites first called upon their idols, but received no answer. “Now,”
said the prince to Sâleh, “if God will bring a camel big with young from
that rock, we will believe.” Scarcely had he spoken, when the rock
groaned and shook and opened; and forthwith there came a camel, which
there and then cast its young one. Jonda became at once a convert, but
the Thamûdites held back. To add to the miracle, the camel went up and
down among the people crying, “Ho! every one that thirsteth, let him
come, and I will give him milk!” (compare _Isaiah_ lv. 1.).
Unto the tribe of Thamûd we sent their brother, Sâleh. He said, “O, my
people, worship God; ye have no god besides him. Now hath a manifest
proof come unto you from the Lord. This she-camel of God is a sign
unto you; therefore dismiss her freely ... and do her no hurt, lest a
painful punishment seize upon you.”--_Al Korân_, vii.
⁂ There is a slight resemblance between this story and that of the
contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal, so graphically described
in _1 Kings_ xviii.
=Tham´yris= (_Blind_), a Thracian poet, who challenged the Muses to a
contest of song, and was deprived of sight, voice, and musical skill for
his presumption (Pliny, _Natural History_, iii. 33, and vii. 57).
Plutarch says he had the finest voice of any one, and that he wrote a
poem on the _War of the Titans with the Gods_. Suidas tells us that he
composed a poem on creation. And Plato, in his _Republic_ (last book),
feigns that the spirit of the blind old bard passed into a nightingale
at death. Milton speaks of:
Blind Thamyris and blind Mæon´idês [_Homer_].
_Paradise Lost_, iii. 35 (1665).
=Thanatopsis.= “View of, or meditation upon death.”
W. C. Bryant’s poem bearing this name was written when he was but
nineteen years old (1818). It is the best of his poems.
=Thancmar=, châtelain of Bourbourg, the great enemy of Bertulphe, the
provost of Bruges. Charles “the Good,” earl of Flanders, made a law in
1127, that a serf was always a serf till manumitted, and whoever married
a serf became a serf. By these absurd laws, the provost of Bruges became
a serf, because his father was Thancmar’s serf. By the same laws,
Bouchard, though a knight of long descent became Thancmar’s serf,
because he married Constance, the provost’s daughter. The result of
these laws was that Bertulphe slew the earl and then himself, Constance
went mad and died, Bouchard and Thancmar slew each other in fight, and
all Bruges was thrown into confusion.--S. Knowles, _The Provost of
Bruges_ (1836).
=Thaumast=, an English pundit, who went to Paris, attracted by the rumor
of the great wisdom of Pantag´ruel. He arranged a disputation with that
prince, to be carried on solely by pantomime, without the utterance of a
single word. Panurge undertook the disputation for the prince, and
Pantagruel was appointed arbiter. Many a knotty point in magic, alchemy,
the cabala, geomancy, astrology, and philosophy were argued out by signs
alone, and the Englishman freely confessed himself fully satisfied, for
“Panurge had told him even more than he had asked.”--Rabelais,
_Pantagruel_, ii. 19, 20 (1533).
=Thaumaturga.= Filumēna is called _La Thaumaturge du Dixneuvième
Siecle_. In 1802, a grave was discovered with this inscription: LUMENA
PAXTE CVMFI, which has no meaning, but being re-arranged makes PAX
TE-CUM, FI-LUMENA. So Filumena was at once accepted as a proper name and
canonized. And because as many miracles were performed at her tomb as at
that of the famous Abbé de Paris, mentioned in Paley’s _Evidences_, she
was called “The Nineteenth-Century Miracle-Worker.” But who Filumena
was, or if indeed she ever existed, is one of those secrets which no
one, perhaps, will ever know. (See ST. FILOMENA.)
=Thaumatur´gus.= Gregory, bishop of Neo-Cæsarēa, in Cappadocia, was so
called on account of his numerous miracles (212-270).
ALEXANDER OF HOHENLOHE, was a worker of miracles.
APOLLONIUS OF TYA´NA, “raised the dead, healed the sick, cast out
devils, freed a young man from a lamia or vampire of which he was
enamored, uttered prophecies, saw at Ephesus the assassination of
Domitian at Rome, and filled the world with the fame of his sanctity”
(A.D. 3-98).--Philostrătos, _Life of Apollonius of Tyana_, in eight
books.
FRANCIS D’ASSISI (_St._), founder of the Franciscan order (1182-1226).
J. J. GASSNER, of Bratz, in the Tyrol, exorcised the sick and cured
their diseases “miraculously” (1727-1779).
ISIDORE (_St._) of Alexandria (370-440).--Damascius, _Life of St.
Isidore_ (sixth century).
JAMBLICHUS, when he prayed, was raised ten cubits from the ground, and
his body and dress assumed the appearance of gold. At Gadăra he drew
from two fountains the guardian spirits, and showed them to his
disciples.--Eunapius, _Jamblichus_ (fourth century).
MAHOMET, “the prophet.” (1) When he ascended to heaven on Al Borak, the
stone on which he stepped to mount rose in the air as the prophet rose,
but Mahomet forbade it to follow any further, and it remained suspended
in mid-air. (2) He took a scroll of the _Korân_ out of a bull’s horn.
(3) He brought the moon from heaven, made it pass through one sleeve and
out of the other, and then allowed it to return to its place in heaven.
PASCAL (_Blaise_) was a miracle-worker (1623-1662).
PLOTI´NUS, the Neo-platonic philosopher (205-270).--Porphyrius, _Vita
Plotini_ (A.D. 301).
PROCLUS, a Neo-platonic philosopher (410-485).--Marinus, _Vita Procli_
(fifth century).
SOSPITRA possessed the power of seeing all that was done in every part
of the whole world.--Eunapius, _Œdeseus_ (fourth century).
VESPASIAN, the Roman emperor, cured a blind man and a cripple by his
touch during his stay at Alexandria.
VINCENT DE PAUL, founder of the “Sisters of Charity” (1576-1660).
=Thaumaturgus Physicus,= a treatise on natural magic, by Gaspar Schott
(1657-9).
=Thaumaturgus of the West,= St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153).
=Theag´enes and Chariclei´a= (_The Loves of_), a love story, in Greek,
by Heliodorus, bishop of Trikka (fourth century). A charming fiction,
largely borrowed from by subsequent novelists, and especially by Mdlle.
de Scudéri, Tasso, Guarini and D’Urfé. The tale is this: Some Egyptian
brigands met one morning on a hill near the mouth of the Nile, and saw a
vessel, laden with stores, lying at anchor. They also observed that the
banks of the Nile were strewn with dead bodies and the fragments of
food. On further examination they beheld Charicleia sitting on a rock,
tending Theagĕnês, who lay beside her severely wounded. Some pirates had
done it, and to them the vessel belonged. We are then carried to the
house of Nausĭclês, and there Calasīris tells the early history of
Charicleia, her love for Theagenês, and their capture by the pirates.
=Thea´na= (_3 syl._) is Anne, countess of Warwick.
No less praiseworthy I Theana read ...
She is the well of bounty and brave mind,
Excelling most in glory and great light,
The ornament is she of womankind,
And court’s chief garland with all virtues dight.
Spenser, _Colin Clout’s Come Home Again_ (1595).
=Thebaid= (_The_), a Latin epic poem in twelve books, by Statius (about
a century after Virgil). Laïos, king of Thebes, was told by an oracle
that he would have a son, but that his son would be his murderer. To
prevent this, when the son was born he was hung on a tree by his feet,
to be devoured by wild beasts. The child, however, was rescued by some
of the royal servants, who brought him up, and called his name Œdĭpos
or Club-foot, because his feet and ankles were swollen by the thongs.
One day, going to Thebes, the chariot of Laïos nearly drove over the
young Œdipos; a quarrel ensued, and Laïos was killed. Œdipos, not
knowing whom he had slain, went on to Thebes, and ere long married the
widowed queen, Jocasta, not knowing that she was his mother, and by her
he had two sons and two daughters. The names of the sons were Et´eoclês
and Polynīcês. These sons in time dethroned their father, and agreed to
reign alternate years. Etĕŏclês reigned first, but at the close of the
year refused to resign the crown to his brother, and Polynicês made war
upon him. This war, which occurred some forty-two years before the siege
of Troy, and about the time that Debŏrah was fighting with Sisĕra
(_Judges_ iv.), is the subject of the _Thebaid_.
The first book recapitulates the history given above, and then goes on
to say that Polynicês went straight to Argos, and laid his grievance
before King Adrastos (bk. i.). While at Argos he married one of the
king’s daughters, and Tydeus the other. The festivities being over,
Tydeus was sent to Thebes to claim the throne for his brother-in-law,
and, being insolently dismissed, denounced war against Eteoclês. The
villainous usurper sent fifty ruffians to fall on the ambassador on his
way to Argos, but they were all slain, except one, who was left to carry
back the news (bk. ii). When Tydeus reached Argos he wanted his
father-in-law to march at once against Thebes, but Adrastos, less
impetuous, made answer that a great war required time for its
organization. How ever, Kapăneus (3 _syl._), siding with Tydeus
[_Ti´.duce_], roused the mob (bk. iii.), and Adrastos at once set about
preparations for war. He placed his army under six chieftains, viz.,
Polynicês, Tydeus, Amphiarāos, Kapaneus, Parthenopæos and Hippomĕdon, he
himself acting as commander-in-chief (bk. iv.). Bks. v., vi. describe
the march from Argos to Thebes. On the arrival of the allied army before
Thebes, Jocasta tried to reconcile her two sons, but, not succeeding in
this, hostilities commenced, and one of the chiefs, named Amphiaraos,
was swallowed up by an earthquake (bk. vii.). Next day Tydeus greatly
distinguished himself, but fell (bk. viii.). Hippomedon and Parthenopæos
were both slain the day following (bk. ix.). Then came the turn of
Kapaneus, bold as a tiger, strong as a giant, and a regular dare-devil
in war. He actually scaled the wall, he thought himself sure of victory,
he defied even Jove to stop him, and was instantly killed by a flash of
lightning (bk. x.). Polynicês was now the only one of the six remaining,
and he sent to Eteoclês to meet him in single combat. The two brothers
met, they fought like lions, they gave no quarter, they took no rest. At
length Eteoclês fell, and Polynicês, running up to strip him of his
arms, was thrust through the bowels, and fell dead on the dead body of
his brother. Adrastos now decamped, and returned to Argos (bk. xi.).
Creon, having usurped the Theban crown, forbade any one, on pain of
death, to bury the dead; but when Theseus, king of Athens, heard of this
profanity, he marched at once to Thebes, Creon died, and the crown was
given to Theseus (bk. xii.).
=Theban Bard= (_The_), THEBAN EAGLE or THEBAN LYRE, Pindar, born at
Thebes (B.C. 522-442).
Ye that in fancied vision can admire
The sword of Brutus and the Theban lyre.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1799).
=Thecla= (_St._) said to be of noble family, in Ico´nium, and to have
been converted by the Apostle Paul. She is styled in Greek martyrologies
the _protomartyress_, but the book called _The Acts of Paul and Thecla_
is considered to be apocryphal.
On the selfsame shelf
With the writings of St. Thecla herself.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Thekla=, daughter of Wallenstein.--Schiller, _Wallenstein_ (1799).
=Thélème= (_Abbey of_) the abbey given by Grangousier to Friar John for
the aid he rendered in the battle against Picrochole, king of Lerné. The
abbey was stored with everything that could contribute to sensual
indulgence and enjoyment. It was the very reverse of a convent or
monastery. No religious hypocrites, no pettifogging attorneys, no
usurers were admitted within it, but it was filled with gallant ladies
and gentlemen, faithful expounders of the Scriptures, and every one who
could contribute to its elegant recreations and general festivity. The
motto over the door was: “FAY CE QUE VOULDRAS.”--Rabelais, _Gargantua_,
i. 52-7 (1533).
_Thélème_, the Will personified. Voltaire, _Thélème and Macare_.
=The´lu=, the female or woman.
And divers colored trees and fresh array [_hair_]
Much grace the town [_head_], but most the Thelu gay;
But all in winter [_old age_] turn to snow and soon decay.
Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, v. (1633).
=Thenot=, an old shepherd bent with age, who tells Cuddy, the herdsman’s
boy, the fable of the oak and the briar. An aged oak, once a most royal
tree, was wasted by age of its foliage, and stood with bare head and
sear branches. A pert bramble grew hard by, and snubbed the oak, calling
it a cumberer of the ground. It even complained to the lord of the
field, and prayed him to cut it down. The request was obeyed, and the
oak was felled; but now the bramble suffered from the storm and cold,
for it had no shelter, and the snow bent it to the ground, where it was
draggled and defiled. The application is very personal. Cuddy is the
pert, flippant bramble, and Thenot the hoary oak; but Cuddy told the old
man his tale was long and trashy, and bad him hie home, for the sun was
set.--Spenser, _Shepheardes Calendar_, ii. (1579).
(Thenot is introduced also in ecl. iv., and again in ecl. xi., where he
begs Colin to sing something, but Colin declines because his mind is
sorrowing for the death of the shepherdess Dido.)
_Thenot_, a shepherd who loved Clorin chiefly for her “fidelity” to her
deceased lover. When the “faithful shepherdess” knew this, in order to
cure him of his passion, she pretended to return his love. Thenot was so
shocked to see his charm broken that he lost even his respect for
Clorin, and forsook her.--John Fletcher, _The Faithful Shepherdess_
(1610).
=Theocritus,= of Syracuse, in Sicily (fl. B.C. 280), celebrated for his
idylls in Doric Greek. Meli is the person referred to below.
Behold once more,
The pitying gods to earth restore
Theocritus of Syracuse.
Longfellow, The _Wayside Inn_ (prelude 1863).
_Theocritus_ (_The Scotch_), Allan Ramsay, author of _The Gentle
Shepherd_ (1685-1758).
_Theocritus_ (_The Sicilian_), Giovanni Meli, of Palermo, immortalized
by his eclogues and idylls (1740-1815).
=Theod´ofred=, heir to the Spanish throne, but incapacitated from
reigning, because he had been blinded by Witiza. Theodofred was the son
of Chindasuintho, and father of King Roderick. As Witiza, the usurper,
had blinded Theodofred, so Roderick dethroned and blinded
Witiza.--Southey, _Roderick, etc._ (1814).
⁂ In mediæval times no one with any personal defect was allowed to reign
and one of the most ordinary means of disqualifying a prince for
succeeding to a throne was to put out his eyes. Of course, the reader
will call to mind the case of Prince Arthur, the nephew of King John;
and scores of other instances in Italian, French, Spanish, German,
Russian, and Scandinavian history.
=Theod´omas=, a famous trumpeter at the siege of Thebes.
At every court ther cam loud menstralcye
That never trompêd Joab for to heere,
Ne he Theodomas yit half so cleere
At Thebês, when the citê was in doute.
Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_, 9592, etc. (1338).
=Theodo´ra=, sister of Constantine, the Greek emperor. She entertained
most bitter hatred against Rogēro for slaying her son, and vowed
vengeance. Rogero, being entrapped in sleep, was confined by her in a
dungeon, and fed on the bread and water of affliction, but was
ultimately released by Prince Leon.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=The´odore= (3 _syl._), son of General Archas, “the loyal subject”
of the great-duke of Muscovia. A colonel, valorous, but
impatient.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Loyal Subject_ (1618).
_Theodore_ (3 _syl._), of Ravenna, brave, rich, honored, and chivalrous.
He loved Honōria “to madness,” but “found small favor in the lady’s
eyes.” At length, however, the lady relented and married him. (See
HONORIA.)--Dryden, _Theodore and Honoria_ (from Boccaccio).