It
owed its institution to the following circumstance.
owed its institution to the following circumstance.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
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? ECBATANA.
Ecn
Isidorus Characcuns has 'AiroCarava, a manifest er-
ror. Reland (Diss. Miscell. , pt. 3, p. 107) deduces
tho name from the Persian Ac, "a lord" or " master,"
and Abadan, "acultivated and inhabited place. "--Ec-
batana, being in a high and mountainous country, was
a favourite residence of the Persian kings during sum-
mer, when the heat of Susa was almost insupportable.
The Parthian kings also, at a later period, retired to it
in the summer to avoid the excessive heal of Clesi-
phor. According to Herodotus (1, 98), Ecbatana was
built near the close of the eighteenth century B. C. by
Dejoces, the founder of the Median monarchy. The
book of Judith (1, 2) assigns the building of this city,
or, rather, the erection of Us citadel, to Arphaxad, in the
twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Assyria. Some writers make Arphaxad the same with
Dejoces, while others identify him with Phraortes, the
son of the latter, who might have repaired the city, or
else made some additions to it. --Herodotus furnishes
us with no hint whence we may infer the relative po-
sition of Ecbatana on the map of Media. His de-
scription of the fortress or citadel, however, is par-
ticular. "The Modes," he remarks, " in obedience
to their king's command, built those spacious and
massy fortifications now called Ecbatana, circle within
circle, according to the following plan. Each inner
circle overtops its tttcr neighbour by the height of the
battlements alone. This was effected partly by the
nature of the ground, a conical hill, and partly by the
building itself. The number of the circles was seven;
within the innermost were built the palace and the
treasury. The circumference of the outermost wall
and of the city of Athens may be regarded as nearly
equal. The battlements of the first circle are white;
of the second, black; of the third, scarlet; of the fourth,
azure; of the filth, orange. All these are brilliantly
coloured with different paints. But the battlements
of the sixth circle are ailvered over, while those of the
aoventh are gilt. Dejoces constructed these walls
around his palace for his own personal safety. But
he ordered the people to erect their houses in a circle
around the outward wall. " (Herod. , 1, 98, teg. )--
The Orientals, however, according to Diodorus Sicu-
! us, claimed a far more ancient origin for Ecbatana.
They not only described it as the capital of the first
Median monarchy, founded by Arbaces, but as exist-
ing prior to the era of the famed and fabulous Semira-
mis, who is said to have visited Eobatana in the course
of her royal journeys, and to have built there a magnifi-
cent palace. She also, with immense labour and ex-
pense, introduced abundance of excellent water into
the city, which before had been badly supplied with it,
and she effected this object by perforating the adjacent
Mount Orontcs, and forming a tunnel, fifteen feet broad,
and forty feet high, through which sho conveyed a lake-
stream. (Diod. Sic. , 2, 13. ) Ecbatana continued a
splendid city under the Persian sway, the great king
spending at this place the two hottest months of the
year. (Ailian, I. c. --Xen. , I. c. ) The Macedonian
conquest did not prove destructive to Ecbatana, as it
had to the royal palace at Perscpolis. Alexander de-
posited in Ecbatana the treasures taken from Persepo-
lis and Pasargada, and one of the last acts of his life
was a royal visit to the Median capital. Although not
equally favoured by the Seleucids, it still retained the
traces of its former grandeur; and Polybius has left on
record a description of its state under Antiochus the
? ? Great, which shows that Ecbatana was still a splendid
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? EDE
to h o, a daughter of the Air and Tellus, who chiefly
resided in the vicinity of the Cephissus. She was once
? ne of Juno's attendants; but, having offended that
goddess by her deception, she was deprived, in a great
measure, by her, of the power of speech. Juno de-
clared, that in future she should have but'little uso of
her tongue; and immediately she lost all power A do-
ing any more than repeat the sounds which she heard.
Eci. : happening to see the beautiful youth Narcissus,
became deeply enamoured of him. But, her love be-
ing slighted, she pined away till nothing remained of
hei but her voice and bones. The former still exists,
the latter mere converted into stone. (Ovid, Met. , 3,
341, seqq. )
Bctbnes, a people who, according to Pausanias,
first inhabited the territory of Thebes, in Bceotia.
Ogyges is said to have been their first king. They
were exterminated by a plague, and succeeded by the
Hyantes. (Compare Strabo, 401. --Pausan. , 9, 5. --
Lycophr. , v. 433. )
Edessa, I. a city of Mesopotamia, in the district of
Osroene, on the banks of a small river called Scirtus.
It lay northeast of Zeugma, and southeast of Samosa-
ta, and, according to the Itin. Ant. , nine geographical
miles from the Euphrates and Zeugma (ed. Wessrfiwr,
p. 185). Procopius (Pert. , 2, 12) places it a day's
journey from Batnae; and an Arabian writer cited by
Wesseling (ad Itin. Ant. , I. c), about six parasangs or
four miles. Edessa is said to have been one of those
numerous cities which were built by Seleucus Nicator,
and was probably called after the city of the same
name in Macedonia. It was once a place of great cc-
ebrity, and famous for a temple of the Syrian goddess,
which was one of the richest in the world. During
the intestine broils which greatly weakened the king-
dom of Syria, Augurus or Abgarus seized on this city
and its adjacent territory, which he erected into a
kingdom, and transmitted the royal title to his poster-
ity. We learn from St. Austin that our Saviour
| romised Abgarus that the city should be impregna-
ble; and Euagrius (Hist. Eccles. , 4, 27) observes,
that although this circumstance was not mentioned in
our Lord's Tetter, still it was the common belief; which
was much confirmed when Chosroes, king of Persia,
after having set down before it, was obliged to raise
the siege. This is all, however, a pious fable. --Edessa
was called Cailirhoe, from a fountain contained within
it. (I'lm. , 5, 24-. ) The sources of this fountain still
remain, and the inhabitants have a tradition that this
is the place where Abraham offered up his prayer pre-
vious to his intended sacrifice of Isaac. (Compare
Ifiebuhr, vol. 2, p. 407. -- Tavernier, lib. 2, c. 4. )
In later limes it was termed Roha, or, with the article
of the Arabs, Orrhoa, and by abbreviation Orrha. This
appellation would seem to have arisen from the cir-
cumstance of Edessa having been the capital of the
district Osroene, or, as it was more probably called,
Onhoene. The modern name is Orrhoa or Orfa.
(Ckron. Edcss. in Assemanni Bibl. Orient. , vol. 1, p.
388. ) The Arabians revere the spot as the seat of
learned men and of the purest Arabic. (Abulpharag. ,
Hist. Dynast. , p. 16, ed. Wesseling, ad loc. )--II. A
city of Macedonia, called also /Edessa and ^Egoe,
situite on the Via Egnatia, thirty miles west of Pella.
According to Justin (7,1) it was the city occupied by
Cannus on his arrival in the country, and it continued
apparently to be the capital of Macedonia, until the
seat of government was transferred to Pella. Even
? ? after this event it remained the place of sepulture for
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? ELA
good account. So f! a Lande found in Italy, on a hill
near Pietra Mala, not far from Firenzuola, flames
breaking fort. i from the ground, the vapour from which
resembled petroleum in smell. (Voyage iTun Fran-
cois en Itaiie, vol. 2, p. 134. -- 1768. ) Compare also
:he remarks of Salmasius on the account given by So-
'inus of a volcanic hilt near Agrigentum in Sicily.
^Solin. , c. 5. --Salmas. , ad loe. , p. 89, seqq. )
Eion, a port at the mouth of the Strymon, twenty-
fire stadia from Amphipolis, of which, according to
Thicydides (4, 102), it formed the harbour. This
Historian affirms it to have been more ancient than
Amphipolis. It was from Eion that Xerxes sailed to
Asia, according to Herodotus, after the battle of
Salatnis. (Herodot. , 8, 118. ) Boges was left in
command of the town on the retreat of the Persian ar-
mies, and made a most gallant resistance when be-
sieged by the Grecian forces under Cimon. On the
total failure of all means of subsistence, he ordered a
vast pile to be raised in the centre of the town, and
having placed on it his wives, children, and domestics,
he caused them to be slain; then, scattering every-
thing of value in the Strymon, he threw himself on the
burning pile and perished in the flames. (Herodot. ,
7, 107. --Thucyd. , 1, 98. ) After the capture of Am-
phipolis, the Spartans endeavoured to gain possession
of Eion also, buHtn this design they were frustrated
by the arrival of TJiucydidcs with a squadron from
Thasus, who repelled the attack. (Thucyd. , 4, 107. )
Cleon afterward occupied Eion, and thither the remains
of his army retreated after their defeat before Amphip-
olis. (Thucyd. , 5, 10. ) This place is mentioned by
Lycophron (v. 417). In the middle ages a Byzantine
town was built on the site of Eion, which now bears
the name of Contessa. (Cramer's Ancient Greece,
vol. 1, p. 295, seqq. )
? Ei. . >:i. the port of the city of Pergsmus. Accord-
ing to some traditions, it had been founded after the
? iege of Troy, by the Athenians, under the command
of Mnestheus. (Strab. , 622. ) EUca was distant 12
stadia from the mouth of the Ca'icus, and 120 from
Pergamus. (Strab. , 615. ) The modern name is Ia-
lea or Lalea. Smith places the ruins of this city at
no great distance from Clisiakevi, on the road from
Smyrna to Bcrganat. (Account of the Seven Churches
of Asia, p. 7. --Lib. , 36, 43. --Fausan. , 9, 5. )
Ei. auarai. us, I. the surname of the sun at Emesa.
--II. The name of a Roman emperor. (Kief. Emesa
and Heliogabalus. )
ElapheholTa. a festival in honour of Diana the
Huntress. In the celebration a cake was made in the
form of a deer, IXaQoe, and offered to the goddess.
It
owed its institution to the following circumstance.
When the Phocians had been severely defeated by the
Thessalians, they resolved, by the persuasion of a cer-
tain Deiphantus, to raise a pile of combustible materi-
als, and burn their wives, children, and effects, rath-
er than submit to the enemy. This resolution was
unanimously approved of by the women, who decreed
Deiphantus a crown for his magnanimity. When
everything was prepared, before they fired the pile,
they engaged their enemies, and fought with such des-
perate fury, that they totf'ly routed them, and obtain-
ed a complete victory. Ir. commemoration of this
unexpected success, this festival was instituted to
Diana, and observed with the greatest solemnity.
(Athcn. , 14, p. 646, e. --fastellanus, dc Fest. Grac. ,
p. 115. )
? ? Elatea, the most considerable and important of the
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? F, I, F.
ELEUSIN1A.
It h of small size, being, according to the French
measurement, 700 toises long and 200 broad. The
island was remarkable for its fertility, and it is there-
fore easy to believe, that, in early ages, when, accord-
ing to Manetho, Egypt was divided into several dynas-
ties, one of these had its capital on this island. The
cataracts of the Nile are not far distant, and hence El-
ephantine became the depot for all the goods that were
destined for the countries to the south, and that re-
quired land-carriage in this quarter in order to avoid
the falls of the river. The Nile has here a very con-
siderable breadth, and it is natural to suppose, that, on
its entrance into Egypt, the inhabitants wero desirous
of ascertaining the rise of the stream at the period of
its annual increase. Hence we find a Nilometer here,
on the banks of the river. (Strabo, 817. ) In the
time of the Pharaohs, the garrison stationed on the
frontiers against the Ethiopians had their head-quar-
ters at Elephantine. In the Roman times, however,
the frontiers were pushed farther to the south. In the
fourth century, when all Egypt was strongly guarded,
the first Cohort Theodtma. ua was stationed in this isl-
and, according to the Notitia Imperii. --It is surpri-
sing that merely the Greek name for this island has
come down to us, since Herodotus was here during
the Persian sway, when Grecian influence could by
no means have been strong enough to supplant the
original name by one which is evidently a mere trans-
lator of it. The modern name of Elephantine is
Gtzyrel Astuan, " the Island of Syene. " There are
some ruins of great beauty remaining, and, in particu-
lar, a superb gate of granite, which formed the entrance
of one of the porticoes of the temple of Cnepht.
(Maimert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p 323, seqq. )
Elkphantis, an impure poetess. Consult Martial
(? >>. , 12, 43, 4), Suetonius (Vit. Tib. , 43), and the
remarks of the commentators on each of these places.
Elsphantophagi, a people of . Ethiopia. (Consult
tsmarks under the article . Ethiopia, page 72, col. 1. )
Elkusikia, a great festival observed every fourth
Jtar by the Celeans, Phliasians, as also by the PheneaUe,
Lacedaemonians, Parrhastans, and Cretans; but more
part cularly by the people of Athens every fifth year,
at Eleusis in Attica, where it was said to have been
introduced by Eumolpus, B. C. 1356. It was the most
celebrated of all the religious ceremonies of Greece,
whence it is often called, by way of eminence, uvo-
rr,pia, the mysteries. It was so superstitiously ob-
served, that if any one ever revealed it, it was sup-
posed that he had called divine vengeance upon his
bead, and it was unsafe to live in the same house with
him. Such a wretch was publicly put to an ignomin-
ious death. This festival was sacred to Ceres and
Proserpina; everything contained a mystery; and
Oeres herself was known only by the name of ax-
Ma, from the sorrow (u^Soc) which she suffered for
the loss of her daughter. This mysterious secrecy
was solemnly observed, and enjoined on all the vota-
ries of the goddess; and if any one ever appeared at
the celebration, either intentionally or through igno-
rance, without proper introduction, he was immediately
punished with death. Persons of both sexes and ail
ages were initiated at this solemnity, and it was looked
upon as so heinous a. crime to neglect this sacred part
of religion, that it was one of the heaviest accusations
which contributed to the condemnation of Socrates.
The initiated were under the more particular care of
? ? the deities, and therefore their lives were supposed to
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? EI. EUSINIA.
ELEUSlNlA
Myst. a" Eleusis, p. 26, seqq. --ScheUing, ubcr die
Gollhcit. van Samotkrak, p. 81. ) The speculations of
alt those writers, as well as the opinion of Von Ham-
mer, who derives the word 'Ofnrai from the Persian
Cambaksck, which denotes, according to him, "voti
mi compos," have been very unceremoniously put to
flight by Lobeck. This able and judicious critic has
emended the text of Hesychius so as to read as fol-
lows: Koyf, o/ioiuc Truf, iTrufruvn/ia TcreXeafttvoic,
and thus both Koyi; and iru? are nothing more than
mere terms of dismission. The former of these is
borrowed from tho language of the Athenian assem-
blies for voting. The pebble or ballot was dropped
into the urn through a long conical tube; and as this
lube was probably of some length, and the urn itself
of considerable size, in order to enable several hundred
persons to vote, the stone striking against the metal
bottom made a sharp, loud noise. This sound the
Athenians imitated by the monosyllable <<oyf. Hence
the term Aojf came to denote that all was ended, that
(he termination of an affair was reached; and hence
Hesychius assimilates it to tho form wuj, which ap-
pears to have had the same force as the Latin inter-
jection pax. {Lobeck, Aglaophamus, p. 776, seqq. -r-
Philol. Museum, No. 2, p. 425, not. )-7-But to return to
the mysteries: the garments in which the new-comers
were initiated were held sacred, and of no less efficacy
to avert evils than charms and incantations. . From
this circumstance, therefore, they were never left off
before they were totally unfit for wear, after which they
were appropriated for children, or dedicated to the god-
dess. The chief person that attended at the initiation
was called lepoijiuvrnc, the revcaler of sacred things.
He was a citizen of Athens, and held his office during
life, though, among the Ccleans and Phliasians, it was
limited to the period of four years. He was obliged
to devote himself totally to the service of the deities;
and his life was to be chaste and single. The Hiero-
phant had three attendants; the first was called dadov-
Xoc, torch-bearer, and was permitted to marry; the
second was called Kr//wf, a xrier; the third adminis-
tered at the altar, and was called 6 eiri jiupij). There
were, besides these, other inferior officers, who took
particular care that everything was performed accord-
ing to custom. The first of these, called jiaaikcvc,
was one of the archons; he offered prayers and sac-
rifices, and took care that there was no indecency or
irregularity during the celebration. Besides him there
were four others, called iirifiefajrat, curators, elected
by the people. One of them was chosen from the sa-
cred family of the Eumolpide, the other was one of
the Ceryces, and the rest were from among the citi-
zens. There were also ten persons who assisted at
this and every other festival, called lepoxotoi, because
'. hey offered sacrifices. --This festival was observed in
the month Bocdromion or September, and continued
nine days, from the 15th till the 23d. During that
time it was unlawful to arrest any man, or present any
petition, on pain of forfeiting a thousand drachmas, or,
according to others, on pain of death. It was also un-
lawful f jr those who were initiated to sit upon the
cover of a well, to eat beans, mullets, or weazels. If
any woman rode to Eleuais in a chariot, she was obli-
ged, by an edict of Lycurgus, to pay 6000 drachmas.
The design of this law was to destroy all distinction
between the richer and poorer sort of citizens. --The
first day of the celebration was called uyvpfioc, assem-
? ? bly, as it might be said that the worshippers first met
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? KLEUSINIA.
ELE
Eleusis and Athens were long independent of each
Mber. (Aglaoph. , p. 214, 1351. --Midler, Dorians,
>>ol. 1, p. 201. ) The worship of Ceres and Proser-
pina was the national and secret religion of the Eleu-
sinians, from which the Athenians were of course ex-
cluded, as well as all other Greeks. But when Eleusis
was conquered, and the two states coalesced, the Athe-
nians became participators in the worship of these
deities; which, however, remained so long confined to
them, as to have given rise to a proverb ('Arn/tot ro
'EXtvoivia), applied to those who met together in se-
cret for the performance of any matter. {Aglaoph. ,
p. 271. ) Gradually, with the advance of knowledge,
and the decline of superstition and national illiberally,
admission to witness the solemn rites celebrated each
year at Eleusis was extended to all Greeks of either
sex and of every rank, provided they came at the prop-
er time, had committed no inexpiable offence, had per-
formed the requisite previous ceremonies, and were
introduced by an Athenian citizen. (Aglaoph. , p. 14,
28, 31. ) These mysteries, as they were termed, were
performed with a considerable degree of splendour, at
the charge of the state, and under the superintendence
of the magistrates; whence it follows, as a necessary
consequence, that the rites could have contained no-
thing that was grossly immoral or indecent. (Agla-
oph. , p. 116. ) There does not appear to be any valid
reason for supposing, as many do, that a public dis-
course on the origin of things and that of the gods,
and on other high and important matters, was de-
livered by the Hierophant, whose name would rather
seem to be derived from his exhibiting the sacred
things, ancient statues probably of the goddesses,
which were kept carefully covered up, and only shown
on these solemn occasions. The delivery of a public
discourse would, in fact, have been quite repugnant to
the usages of the Greeks in their worship of the gods;
md the evidence offered in support of this supposition
. s extremely feeble. But the singing of sacred hymns,
. n honour of the goddess, always formed a part of the
service. (Aglaoph. , p. 63, 193. --Midler, Prolegom. ,
p. 250, seq. ) The ancient writers are full of the prais-
es of the Eleusinian mysteries, of the advantage of
being initiated, i. e. , admitted to participate in them,
and of the favour of the gods in life, and the cheerful
hopes in death, which were the consequence of it.
Hence occasion has been taken to assert, that a sys-
tem of religion little inferior to pure Christianity was
taught in them. But these hopes, and this tranquillity
of mind and favour of heaven, are easy to be accounted
for without having recourse to so absurd a supposition.
Every act performed in obedience to the will of Heaven
is believed to draw down its favour on the performer.
The Mussulman makes his pilgrimage to the Kaaba at
Mecca, the Catholic to Loretto, Compostella, or else-
where; and each is persuaded that, by having done
so, he has secured the divine favour. (Aglaoph. , p.
70, seq. ) So the Greek who was initialed at Eleusis
(the mysteries of which place, owing to the fame in
which Athens stood, and the splendour and magnifi-
cence with which they were performed, eclipsed all
others) retained ever after a lively sense of the hap-
piness which he had enjoyed, when admitted to view
H> interior of the illuminated temple, and the sacred
relics which it contained, when, to his excited imagi-
nation, the very gods themselves seemed visibly to de-
scend from their Olympian abodes, amid the solemn
? ? lymns of the officiating priests. Hence there natu-
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? ELE
? nuuld yield to tho control of Athena, but that the sa-
cred rites of Ceres should be celebrated at the former
city. Ceres and Tnptolemus were both worshipped
here with peculiar solemnity, and here also was shown
. he Harius Campus, where Ceres was said to have
first sewn torn. (Pmuatmu, 1, 38. ) Dodwcll ob-
serves, that the soil, though arid, still produces abun-
dant haivests (vol. I, p. 583). The temple of Elcusis
was burned by the Persian army, in the invasion of
Attica (Herod. , 9, 65), but was rebuilt, under the ad-
ministration of Pericles, by Ictinus, the architect of
the Parthenon. (Strabo, 395. --Pint. , Vil. Pcriclis. )
Strabo says, that the mystic cell oi this celebrated edi-
fice was capable of containing as many persons as a
tneatrc. A portico was afterward added by Deme-
trius Phalereus, who employed for that purpose the
architect Philo. This magnificent structure was en-
tirely destroyed by Alaric A. D. 396 (Eunap. , Vit.
Soph. , p. 75'MMnd has ever since remained in ruins.
Eleusis, though so considerable and important a place,
was classed among the Attic demi. (Strabo, I c. ) It
belonged to the tribe Hippothoontis. (Stepk. Byz. ,
t. v. 'Etevolr. ) Livy speaks of the citadel as being
a fortress of some strength, comprised within the sa-
cred precincts of the temple (31, 25. --Compare Scy-
isr, Ptriplus, p. 21); and Dodwell observes (vol.
? ECBATANA.
Ecn
Isidorus Characcuns has 'AiroCarava, a manifest er-
ror. Reland (Diss. Miscell. , pt. 3, p. 107) deduces
tho name from the Persian Ac, "a lord" or " master,"
and Abadan, "acultivated and inhabited place. "--Ec-
batana, being in a high and mountainous country, was
a favourite residence of the Persian kings during sum-
mer, when the heat of Susa was almost insupportable.
The Parthian kings also, at a later period, retired to it
in the summer to avoid the excessive heal of Clesi-
phor. According to Herodotus (1, 98), Ecbatana was
built near the close of the eighteenth century B. C. by
Dejoces, the founder of the Median monarchy. The
book of Judith (1, 2) assigns the building of this city,
or, rather, the erection of Us citadel, to Arphaxad, in the
twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Assyria. Some writers make Arphaxad the same with
Dejoces, while others identify him with Phraortes, the
son of the latter, who might have repaired the city, or
else made some additions to it. --Herodotus furnishes
us with no hint whence we may infer the relative po-
sition of Ecbatana on the map of Media. His de-
scription of the fortress or citadel, however, is par-
ticular. "The Modes," he remarks, " in obedience
to their king's command, built those spacious and
massy fortifications now called Ecbatana, circle within
circle, according to the following plan. Each inner
circle overtops its tttcr neighbour by the height of the
battlements alone. This was effected partly by the
nature of the ground, a conical hill, and partly by the
building itself. The number of the circles was seven;
within the innermost were built the palace and the
treasury. The circumference of the outermost wall
and of the city of Athens may be regarded as nearly
equal. The battlements of the first circle are white;
of the second, black; of the third, scarlet; of the fourth,
azure; of the filth, orange. All these are brilliantly
coloured with different paints. But the battlements
of the sixth circle are ailvered over, while those of the
aoventh are gilt. Dejoces constructed these walls
around his palace for his own personal safety. But
he ordered the people to erect their houses in a circle
around the outward wall. " (Herod. , 1, 98, teg. )--
The Orientals, however, according to Diodorus Sicu-
! us, claimed a far more ancient origin for Ecbatana.
They not only described it as the capital of the first
Median monarchy, founded by Arbaces, but as exist-
ing prior to the era of the famed and fabulous Semira-
mis, who is said to have visited Eobatana in the course
of her royal journeys, and to have built there a magnifi-
cent palace. She also, with immense labour and ex-
pense, introduced abundance of excellent water into
the city, which before had been badly supplied with it,
and she effected this object by perforating the adjacent
Mount Orontcs, and forming a tunnel, fifteen feet broad,
and forty feet high, through which sho conveyed a lake-
stream. (Diod. Sic. , 2, 13. ) Ecbatana continued a
splendid city under the Persian sway, the great king
spending at this place the two hottest months of the
year. (Ailian, I. c. --Xen. , I. c. ) The Macedonian
conquest did not prove destructive to Ecbatana, as it
had to the royal palace at Perscpolis. Alexander de-
posited in Ecbatana the treasures taken from Persepo-
lis and Pasargada, and one of the last acts of his life
was a royal visit to the Median capital. Although not
equally favoured by the Seleucids, it still retained the
traces of its former grandeur; and Polybius has left on
record a description of its state under Antiochus the
? ? Great, which shows that Ecbatana was still a splendid
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? EDE
to h o, a daughter of the Air and Tellus, who chiefly
resided in the vicinity of the Cephissus. She was once
? ne of Juno's attendants; but, having offended that
goddess by her deception, she was deprived, in a great
measure, by her, of the power of speech. Juno de-
clared, that in future she should have but'little uso of
her tongue; and immediately she lost all power A do-
ing any more than repeat the sounds which she heard.
Eci. : happening to see the beautiful youth Narcissus,
became deeply enamoured of him. But, her love be-
ing slighted, she pined away till nothing remained of
hei but her voice and bones. The former still exists,
the latter mere converted into stone. (Ovid, Met. , 3,
341, seqq. )
Bctbnes, a people who, according to Pausanias,
first inhabited the territory of Thebes, in Bceotia.
Ogyges is said to have been their first king. They
were exterminated by a plague, and succeeded by the
Hyantes. (Compare Strabo, 401. --Pausan. , 9, 5. --
Lycophr. , v. 433. )
Edessa, I. a city of Mesopotamia, in the district of
Osroene, on the banks of a small river called Scirtus.
It lay northeast of Zeugma, and southeast of Samosa-
ta, and, according to the Itin. Ant. , nine geographical
miles from the Euphrates and Zeugma (ed. Wessrfiwr,
p. 185). Procopius (Pert. , 2, 12) places it a day's
journey from Batnae; and an Arabian writer cited by
Wesseling (ad Itin. Ant. , I. c), about six parasangs or
four miles. Edessa is said to have been one of those
numerous cities which were built by Seleucus Nicator,
and was probably called after the city of the same
name in Macedonia. It was once a place of great cc-
ebrity, and famous for a temple of the Syrian goddess,
which was one of the richest in the world. During
the intestine broils which greatly weakened the king-
dom of Syria, Augurus or Abgarus seized on this city
and its adjacent territory, which he erected into a
kingdom, and transmitted the royal title to his poster-
ity. We learn from St. Austin that our Saviour
| romised Abgarus that the city should be impregna-
ble; and Euagrius (Hist. Eccles. , 4, 27) observes,
that although this circumstance was not mentioned in
our Lord's Tetter, still it was the common belief; which
was much confirmed when Chosroes, king of Persia,
after having set down before it, was obliged to raise
the siege. This is all, however, a pious fable. --Edessa
was called Cailirhoe, from a fountain contained within
it. (I'lm. , 5, 24-. ) The sources of this fountain still
remain, and the inhabitants have a tradition that this
is the place where Abraham offered up his prayer pre-
vious to his intended sacrifice of Isaac. (Compare
Ifiebuhr, vol. 2, p. 407. -- Tavernier, lib. 2, c. 4. )
In later limes it was termed Roha, or, with the article
of the Arabs, Orrhoa, and by abbreviation Orrha. This
appellation would seem to have arisen from the cir-
cumstance of Edessa having been the capital of the
district Osroene, or, as it was more probably called,
Onhoene. The modern name is Orrhoa or Orfa.
(Ckron. Edcss. in Assemanni Bibl. Orient. , vol. 1, p.
388. ) The Arabians revere the spot as the seat of
learned men and of the purest Arabic. (Abulpharag. ,
Hist. Dynast. , p. 16, ed. Wesseling, ad loc. )--II. A
city of Macedonia, called also /Edessa and ^Egoe,
situite on the Via Egnatia, thirty miles west of Pella.
According to Justin (7,1) it was the city occupied by
Cannus on his arrival in the country, and it continued
apparently to be the capital of Macedonia, until the
seat of government was transferred to Pella. Even
? ? after this event it remained the place of sepulture for
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? ELA
good account. So f! a Lande found in Italy, on a hill
near Pietra Mala, not far from Firenzuola, flames
breaking fort. i from the ground, the vapour from which
resembled petroleum in smell. (Voyage iTun Fran-
cois en Itaiie, vol. 2, p. 134. -- 1768. ) Compare also
:he remarks of Salmasius on the account given by So-
'inus of a volcanic hilt near Agrigentum in Sicily.
^Solin. , c. 5. --Salmas. , ad loe. , p. 89, seqq. )
Eion, a port at the mouth of the Strymon, twenty-
fire stadia from Amphipolis, of which, according to
Thicydides (4, 102), it formed the harbour. This
Historian affirms it to have been more ancient than
Amphipolis. It was from Eion that Xerxes sailed to
Asia, according to Herodotus, after the battle of
Salatnis. (Herodot. , 8, 118. ) Boges was left in
command of the town on the retreat of the Persian ar-
mies, and made a most gallant resistance when be-
sieged by the Grecian forces under Cimon. On the
total failure of all means of subsistence, he ordered a
vast pile to be raised in the centre of the town, and
having placed on it his wives, children, and domestics,
he caused them to be slain; then, scattering every-
thing of value in the Strymon, he threw himself on the
burning pile and perished in the flames. (Herodot. ,
7, 107. --Thucyd. , 1, 98. ) After the capture of Am-
phipolis, the Spartans endeavoured to gain possession
of Eion also, buHtn this design they were frustrated
by the arrival of TJiucydidcs with a squadron from
Thasus, who repelled the attack. (Thucyd. , 4, 107. )
Cleon afterward occupied Eion, and thither the remains
of his army retreated after their defeat before Amphip-
olis. (Thucyd. , 5, 10. ) This place is mentioned by
Lycophron (v. 417). In the middle ages a Byzantine
town was built on the site of Eion, which now bears
the name of Contessa. (Cramer's Ancient Greece,
vol. 1, p. 295, seqq. )
? Ei. . >:i. the port of the city of Pergsmus. Accord-
ing to some traditions, it had been founded after the
? iege of Troy, by the Athenians, under the command
of Mnestheus. (Strab. , 622. ) EUca was distant 12
stadia from the mouth of the Ca'icus, and 120 from
Pergamus. (Strab. , 615. ) The modern name is Ia-
lea or Lalea. Smith places the ruins of this city at
no great distance from Clisiakevi, on the road from
Smyrna to Bcrganat. (Account of the Seven Churches
of Asia, p. 7. --Lib. , 36, 43. --Fausan. , 9, 5. )
Ei. auarai. us, I. the surname of the sun at Emesa.
--II. The name of a Roman emperor. (Kief. Emesa
and Heliogabalus. )
ElapheholTa. a festival in honour of Diana the
Huntress. In the celebration a cake was made in the
form of a deer, IXaQoe, and offered to the goddess.
It
owed its institution to the following circumstance.
When the Phocians had been severely defeated by the
Thessalians, they resolved, by the persuasion of a cer-
tain Deiphantus, to raise a pile of combustible materi-
als, and burn their wives, children, and effects, rath-
er than submit to the enemy. This resolution was
unanimously approved of by the women, who decreed
Deiphantus a crown for his magnanimity. When
everything was prepared, before they fired the pile,
they engaged their enemies, and fought with such des-
perate fury, that they totf'ly routed them, and obtain-
ed a complete victory. Ir. commemoration of this
unexpected success, this festival was instituted to
Diana, and observed with the greatest solemnity.
(Athcn. , 14, p. 646, e. --fastellanus, dc Fest. Grac. ,
p. 115. )
? ? Elatea, the most considerable and important of the
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? F, I, F.
ELEUSIN1A.
It h of small size, being, according to the French
measurement, 700 toises long and 200 broad. The
island was remarkable for its fertility, and it is there-
fore easy to believe, that, in early ages, when, accord-
ing to Manetho, Egypt was divided into several dynas-
ties, one of these had its capital on this island. The
cataracts of the Nile are not far distant, and hence El-
ephantine became the depot for all the goods that were
destined for the countries to the south, and that re-
quired land-carriage in this quarter in order to avoid
the falls of the river. The Nile has here a very con-
siderable breadth, and it is natural to suppose, that, on
its entrance into Egypt, the inhabitants wero desirous
of ascertaining the rise of the stream at the period of
its annual increase. Hence we find a Nilometer here,
on the banks of the river. (Strabo, 817. ) In the
time of the Pharaohs, the garrison stationed on the
frontiers against the Ethiopians had their head-quar-
ters at Elephantine. In the Roman times, however,
the frontiers were pushed farther to the south. In the
fourth century, when all Egypt was strongly guarded,
the first Cohort Theodtma. ua was stationed in this isl-
and, according to the Notitia Imperii. --It is surpri-
sing that merely the Greek name for this island has
come down to us, since Herodotus was here during
the Persian sway, when Grecian influence could by
no means have been strong enough to supplant the
original name by one which is evidently a mere trans-
lator of it. The modern name of Elephantine is
Gtzyrel Astuan, " the Island of Syene. " There are
some ruins of great beauty remaining, and, in particu-
lar, a superb gate of granite, which formed the entrance
of one of the porticoes of the temple of Cnepht.
(Maimert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p 323, seqq. )
Elkphantis, an impure poetess. Consult Martial
(? >>. , 12, 43, 4), Suetonius (Vit. Tib. , 43), and the
remarks of the commentators on each of these places.
Elsphantophagi, a people of . Ethiopia. (Consult
tsmarks under the article . Ethiopia, page 72, col. 1. )
Elkusikia, a great festival observed every fourth
Jtar by the Celeans, Phliasians, as also by the PheneaUe,
Lacedaemonians, Parrhastans, and Cretans; but more
part cularly by the people of Athens every fifth year,
at Eleusis in Attica, where it was said to have been
introduced by Eumolpus, B. C. 1356. It was the most
celebrated of all the religious ceremonies of Greece,
whence it is often called, by way of eminence, uvo-
rr,pia, the mysteries. It was so superstitiously ob-
served, that if any one ever revealed it, it was sup-
posed that he had called divine vengeance upon his
bead, and it was unsafe to live in the same house with
him. Such a wretch was publicly put to an ignomin-
ious death. This festival was sacred to Ceres and
Proserpina; everything contained a mystery; and
Oeres herself was known only by the name of ax-
Ma, from the sorrow (u^Soc) which she suffered for
the loss of her daughter. This mysterious secrecy
was solemnly observed, and enjoined on all the vota-
ries of the goddess; and if any one ever appeared at
the celebration, either intentionally or through igno-
rance, without proper introduction, he was immediately
punished with death. Persons of both sexes and ail
ages were initiated at this solemnity, and it was looked
upon as so heinous a. crime to neglect this sacred part
of religion, that it was one of the heaviest accusations
which contributed to the condemnation of Socrates.
The initiated were under the more particular care of
? ? the deities, and therefore their lives were supposed to
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? EI. EUSINIA.
ELEUSlNlA
Myst. a" Eleusis, p. 26, seqq. --ScheUing, ubcr die
Gollhcit. van Samotkrak, p. 81. ) The speculations of
alt those writers, as well as the opinion of Von Ham-
mer, who derives the word 'Ofnrai from the Persian
Cambaksck, which denotes, according to him, "voti
mi compos," have been very unceremoniously put to
flight by Lobeck. This able and judicious critic has
emended the text of Hesychius so as to read as fol-
lows: Koyf, o/ioiuc Truf, iTrufruvn/ia TcreXeafttvoic,
and thus both Koyi; and iru? are nothing more than
mere terms of dismission. The former of these is
borrowed from tho language of the Athenian assem-
blies for voting. The pebble or ballot was dropped
into the urn through a long conical tube; and as this
lube was probably of some length, and the urn itself
of considerable size, in order to enable several hundred
persons to vote, the stone striking against the metal
bottom made a sharp, loud noise. This sound the
Athenians imitated by the monosyllable <<oyf. Hence
the term Aojf came to denote that all was ended, that
(he termination of an affair was reached; and hence
Hesychius assimilates it to tho form wuj, which ap-
pears to have had the same force as the Latin inter-
jection pax. {Lobeck, Aglaophamus, p. 776, seqq. -r-
Philol. Museum, No. 2, p. 425, not. )-7-But to return to
the mysteries: the garments in which the new-comers
were initiated were held sacred, and of no less efficacy
to avert evils than charms and incantations. . From
this circumstance, therefore, they were never left off
before they were totally unfit for wear, after which they
were appropriated for children, or dedicated to the god-
dess. The chief person that attended at the initiation
was called lepoijiuvrnc, the revcaler of sacred things.
He was a citizen of Athens, and held his office during
life, though, among the Ccleans and Phliasians, it was
limited to the period of four years. He was obliged
to devote himself totally to the service of the deities;
and his life was to be chaste and single. The Hiero-
phant had three attendants; the first was called dadov-
Xoc, torch-bearer, and was permitted to marry; the
second was called Kr//wf, a xrier; the third adminis-
tered at the altar, and was called 6 eiri jiupij). There
were, besides these, other inferior officers, who took
particular care that everything was performed accord-
ing to custom. The first of these, called jiaaikcvc,
was one of the archons; he offered prayers and sac-
rifices, and took care that there was no indecency or
irregularity during the celebration. Besides him there
were four others, called iirifiefajrat, curators, elected
by the people. One of them was chosen from the sa-
cred family of the Eumolpide, the other was one of
the Ceryces, and the rest were from among the citi-
zens. There were also ten persons who assisted at
this and every other festival, called lepoxotoi, because
'. hey offered sacrifices. --This festival was observed in
the month Bocdromion or September, and continued
nine days, from the 15th till the 23d. During that
time it was unlawful to arrest any man, or present any
petition, on pain of forfeiting a thousand drachmas, or,
according to others, on pain of death. It was also un-
lawful f jr those who were initiated to sit upon the
cover of a well, to eat beans, mullets, or weazels. If
any woman rode to Eleuais in a chariot, she was obli-
ged, by an edict of Lycurgus, to pay 6000 drachmas.
The design of this law was to destroy all distinction
between the richer and poorer sort of citizens. --The
first day of the celebration was called uyvpfioc, assem-
? ? bly, as it might be said that the worshippers first met
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? KLEUSINIA.
ELE
Eleusis and Athens were long independent of each
Mber. (Aglaoph. , p. 214, 1351. --Midler, Dorians,
>>ol. 1, p. 201. ) The worship of Ceres and Proser-
pina was the national and secret religion of the Eleu-
sinians, from which the Athenians were of course ex-
cluded, as well as all other Greeks. But when Eleusis
was conquered, and the two states coalesced, the Athe-
nians became participators in the worship of these
deities; which, however, remained so long confined to
them, as to have given rise to a proverb ('Arn/tot ro
'EXtvoivia), applied to those who met together in se-
cret for the performance of any matter. {Aglaoph. ,
p. 271. ) Gradually, with the advance of knowledge,
and the decline of superstition and national illiberally,
admission to witness the solemn rites celebrated each
year at Eleusis was extended to all Greeks of either
sex and of every rank, provided they came at the prop-
er time, had committed no inexpiable offence, had per-
formed the requisite previous ceremonies, and were
introduced by an Athenian citizen. (Aglaoph. , p. 14,
28, 31. ) These mysteries, as they were termed, were
performed with a considerable degree of splendour, at
the charge of the state, and under the superintendence
of the magistrates; whence it follows, as a necessary
consequence, that the rites could have contained no-
thing that was grossly immoral or indecent. (Agla-
oph. , p. 116. ) There does not appear to be any valid
reason for supposing, as many do, that a public dis-
course on the origin of things and that of the gods,
and on other high and important matters, was de-
livered by the Hierophant, whose name would rather
seem to be derived from his exhibiting the sacred
things, ancient statues probably of the goddesses,
which were kept carefully covered up, and only shown
on these solemn occasions. The delivery of a public
discourse would, in fact, have been quite repugnant to
the usages of the Greeks in their worship of the gods;
md the evidence offered in support of this supposition
. s extremely feeble. But the singing of sacred hymns,
. n honour of the goddess, always formed a part of the
service. (Aglaoph. , p. 63, 193. --Midler, Prolegom. ,
p. 250, seq. ) The ancient writers are full of the prais-
es of the Eleusinian mysteries, of the advantage of
being initiated, i. e. , admitted to participate in them,
and of the favour of the gods in life, and the cheerful
hopes in death, which were the consequence of it.
Hence occasion has been taken to assert, that a sys-
tem of religion little inferior to pure Christianity was
taught in them. But these hopes, and this tranquillity
of mind and favour of heaven, are easy to be accounted
for without having recourse to so absurd a supposition.
Every act performed in obedience to the will of Heaven
is believed to draw down its favour on the performer.
The Mussulman makes his pilgrimage to the Kaaba at
Mecca, the Catholic to Loretto, Compostella, or else-
where; and each is persuaded that, by having done
so, he has secured the divine favour. (Aglaoph. , p.
70, seq. ) So the Greek who was initialed at Eleusis
(the mysteries of which place, owing to the fame in
which Athens stood, and the splendour and magnifi-
cence with which they were performed, eclipsed all
others) retained ever after a lively sense of the hap-
piness which he had enjoyed, when admitted to view
H> interior of the illuminated temple, and the sacred
relics which it contained, when, to his excited imagi-
nation, the very gods themselves seemed visibly to de-
scend from their Olympian abodes, amid the solemn
? ? lymns of the officiating priests. Hence there natu-
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? ELE
? nuuld yield to tho control of Athena, but that the sa-
cred rites of Ceres should be celebrated at the former
city. Ceres and Tnptolemus were both worshipped
here with peculiar solemnity, and here also was shown
. he Harius Campus, where Ceres was said to have
first sewn torn. (Pmuatmu, 1, 38. ) Dodwcll ob-
serves, that the soil, though arid, still produces abun-
dant haivests (vol. I, p. 583). The temple of Elcusis
was burned by the Persian army, in the invasion of
Attica (Herod. , 9, 65), but was rebuilt, under the ad-
ministration of Pericles, by Ictinus, the architect of
the Parthenon. (Strabo, 395. --Pint. , Vil. Pcriclis. )
Strabo says, that the mystic cell oi this celebrated edi-
fice was capable of containing as many persons as a
tneatrc. A portico was afterward added by Deme-
trius Phalereus, who employed for that purpose the
architect Philo. This magnificent structure was en-
tirely destroyed by Alaric A. D. 396 (Eunap. , Vit.
Soph. , p. 75'MMnd has ever since remained in ruins.
Eleusis, though so considerable and important a place,
was classed among the Attic demi. (Strabo, I c. ) It
belonged to the tribe Hippothoontis. (Stepk. Byz. ,
t. v. 'Etevolr. ) Livy speaks of the citadel as being
a fortress of some strength, comprised within the sa-
cred precincts of the temple (31, 25. --Compare Scy-
isr, Ptriplus, p. 21); and Dodwell observes (vol.
