According
to a Sicyonian rent of the unfortunate emperor Andronicus the
legend, Sicyon also was a son of Metion and a Elder (A.
legend, Sicyon also was a son of Metion and a Elder (A.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
)
tians, as is asserted, it might have been in 303, as METHYMNA (Μήθυμνα), a daughter of Macar
Cave thinks, or in 311, according to Fabricius. and wife of Lesbus, from whom the town of Me-
Methodius was a man of great learning and exem- thymna, in Lesbos, derived its name. (Diod. v.
plary piety, who enjoyed the general estem of his 81 ; Steph. Byz. 8. 9. )
(L. S. )
contemporaries. He wrote scveral works, the prin-
METHYMNAEUS (Mnovuvaios), a surname
cipal of which are: J. Heps 'Avao táoews, De of Dionysus, derived, according to some, from
Resurrectione, against Origen, which was divided Methymna, rich in vines. (Hesych. s. v. ; Viry.
into two or perhaps three parts. Fragments of it Georg. ii
. 20. ) Others derived it from učbu (sweet
are given by Epiphanius in his Panarium; in or wine), as Plutarch (Sympos. iii. 2) and Athe-
Photius, Billiotheca ; a few are contained in the naeus (viii. p. 363).
(L. S. )
works of Damascenus ; 2. Περί των γενετών, METIADU'SÁ (Mntiáðovo a), a daughter of
De Creatis, in Photius ; 3. Tepl Autecouciou kal Eupalamus, and wife of king Cécrops, by whom
nóbev tà hard, De Libro Arbitrio. Leo Allatius she became the mother of Pandion. (A pollod. iii.
had the complete text with a Latin version, but 15. $ 5; Paus. i. 5. & 3. )
(L. S. ]
the work, as contained in the edition of Methodius METI'LIA GENS, an Alban house, which, on
by Combéfis
, is not quite complete. 4. Nepi tñs the destruction of Alba Longa, migrated to Rome.
drgedourtou napoevelas kal dyvelas, De An- (Dionys. iii. 29. ) Since the Metilii were imme-
gelica Virginitate et Castitate, written in the form diately admitted into the Roman senate, they must
of a dialogue. Leo Allatius published this work, at the time of their migration have been of patri-
Gr. et Lat. , in his Diatriba de Methodiis, at Rome, cian rank. In history, however, they occur only
1656, 8vo. and dedicated it to Pope Alexander as plebeians. Pliny (H. N. xxxv. 17) mentions a
VII. At the same time Petrus Possinus obtained lex Metilia de Fullonibus in B. c. 220. (W. B. D. ]
the Greek text of this work from Lucas Holsten, METI'LIUS. 1. Sp. Metilius, tribune of
at Rome ; and having prepared a copy for the the plebs in B. C. 416. He brought forward a
press, sent it, together with a Latin version, to rogation for fresh assignments of the public land to
Paris, where it was published in the following the commons, but was foiled in his attempt by his
year, 1657, fol. Possinus, strangely enough, dedi- colleagues in the tribunate. (Liv. iv. 48. )
cated his edition to the same pope, not knowing 2. M. METILIUS, tribune of the plebs in B. C.
that Leo Allatius was doing, or had just done, the 401, when he impeached two of the consular
same thing ; nor was Allatius at all aware of Pos tribunes of the preceding year, and resisted
sinus being engaged in the same work at the same the levying of the war-tax (tributum) because the
time as he was. It is also contained in Combéfis, patricians usurped the rents of the demesne-land.
Auctuar. Biblioth. Patr. Paris, 1672. Photius, (Liv. v. 11, 12. )
quoted below, says that the work had been adul- 3. M. Metilius, tribune of the plebs in B. C.
terated, and contained especially several passages 217, brought forward a rogation to deprive Q.
tending to Arianism, of which no trace is to be Fabius Maximus, then dictator, of the sole control
found in the later editions, so that his MS. was of the legions, and to admit the master of the
decidedly different from those perused by Allatius horse, Q. Minucius Thermus, to an equal share of
and Possings. 5. Oratio de Simeone et Anna, seu the command. Metilius was legatus, in B. C. 212,
In Festum Occursus et Purificationis B. Mariae, from the senate to the consuls, after some reverses,
ed. Petrus Plantinus, Antwerp, 1598. This work in the seventh year of the second Punic war. (Liv.
is said to be the production of a later Methodius, xxii. 25, xxv. 22. )
but Allatius vindicates the authorship of Methodius 4. T. Metilius Croto, legatus, in B. C. 215,
Patarensis. 6. óyos tepl Maptúpwv, Sermo de from the praetor Appius Claudius Pulcher to the
Martyribus. 7. Els tá Baia, In Ramos Palmarum, legions in Sicily. (Liv. xxiii. 31. ) [W. B. D. ]
an oration, of which Photius has extracts. The METIOCHE. (MENIPPE. ) A second person
authorship of Methodius is doubtful. 8. Libri of the name was a Trojan woman, who was painted
adrersus Porphyrium, of which there are fragments by Polygnotus in the Lesche at Delphi. (Paus. X.
in Damascenus. 9. De Pythonissa contra Ori- 26. & 1. )
[L. S. )
genem, lost. 10. Commentarii in Cantica Cantico MEʼTIOCHUS (Mntloxos), an Athenian orator,
rum, fragments. 11. Eévwv, lost, &c. This a contemporary and friend of Pericles, for whom
Methodius is said to have written a work, De he often spoke in the assembly at Athens. (Plut.
Revelatione, which, however, is more justly attri-Praecept. Pol. 15; Bekker, Anecdot. p. 309 ;
buted to a later Methodius. (No. 3. ] The Schömann, De Sortit. Jud. p. 40, &c. ) (L. S. )
principal works of Methodius, viz. , De Libro Ar- MEʼTION (Mntiwv), a son of Erechtheus and
bitrio, De Resurrectione, De Angelicu Virginitate et Praxithea, and husband of Alcippe.
Custitate, two homilies, and the extracts given by the Metionidae, expelled their cousin Pandion from
Photius were published by Combéfis, Graece et his kingdorn of Athens, but were themselves after-
Latine, cum notis, Paris, 1644, fol. , together with wards expelled by the sons of Pandion (Apollod.
the works of Amphilochus and Andreas Cretensis. ii. 15. SS 1, 5, 6, 8 ; Paus. i. 5. & 3). Diodorus
(Phot. Cod. 234, 235, 236, 237 ; Cave. Hist. Lit. (iv. 76) calls Daedalus one of the sons of Metion,
3 riesce
(See
He also me
IDIS
ܠܐ ܐ 31A ;
3. 6. )
apa ramai
Jon of the
(
med bs es per
able to:
2 Cars
sed. Tina
boc potrebno
Lite D. 64
A
His sons,
and rimtos
in the te
urth century
Andre
ce Patzroy
sa Chaves,
Teach of a sett
mbe in doi
## p. 1068 (#1084) ##########################################
1068
METOCHITA.
METON.
F
jof
(E
to
AL
tbe
jece
Thi
or t
Elea
furt
othe
upos
othe
and Metion himself a son of Eupalamus and grand- not. ; Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 1276, p. 645, ed.
son of Erechtheus (comp. Plat. Ion, p. 533, a. ; Geneva. )
[W. P. )
Paus. vii. 4. & 5). Apollodorus (iii. 15. § 8) on METOCHITA, THEODO'RUS (eodwpos
the other hand, calls Éupalamus à son of Métion Ó Metoxitos), the intimate friend and adhe
and father of Daedalus.
According to a Sicyonian rent of the unfortunate emperor Andronicus the
legend, Sicyon also was a son of Metion and a Elder (A. D. 1282—1328), was a man of extra-
grandson of Erechtheus. (Paus. ii. 6. $ 3; comp. ordinary learning and great literary activity, al-
Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 468, who calls the wife though much of his time was taken up by the
of Metion Iphinoë. )
[L. S. ] duties he had to discharge as Magnus Logotheta
METIS (Máris). 1. The personification of Ecclesiae Constant, and the various commissions
prudence, is described as a daughter of Oceanus and with which he was entrusted by his imperial friend.
Thetys. At the instigation of Zeus, she gave to No sooner had Andronicus the Younger usurped
Cronos a vomitive, whereupon he brought back his the throne, in 1328, than he deposed Metochita
children whom he had devoured (Apollod. i. 2. S and sent him into exile. The learned priest, how-
1, &c. ; Hes. Theog. 471). She was the first love ever, was soon recalled, but, disgusted with the
and wife of Zeus, from whom she had at first en world, he retired into a convent in Constantinople,
deavoured to withdraw by metamorphosing herself where he died in 1332. It is said that he was
in various ways. She prophesied to him that she the son of the preceding Georgius Metochita, with
would give birth first to a girl and afterwards to a whom he has often been confounded. Nicephorus
boy, to whom the rule of the world wils destined Gregoras, the writer, delivered the funeral oration
by fate. For this reason Zeus devoured her, when at the interment of Th. Metochita, and wrote an
she was pregnant with Athena, and afterwards he epitaph which is given in Fabricius. Many details
himself gave birth to a daughter, who issued from referring to the life of this distinguished divine are
his head (Apollod. i. 3. $ 6 ; Hes. Theog. 886). contained in the works of Nicephorus Gregoras
Plato (Sympos. p. 203, b. ) speaks of Porus as a and John Cantacuzenus. Metochita wrote a great
son of Metis
, and according to Hesiod, Zeus de number of works on various subjects ; the princi-
voured Metis on the advice of Uranus and Ge, pal are:-1. Napáopaois, being commentaries on
who also revealed to him the destiny of his son. various works of Aristotle's, especially Physica, De
(Comp. Welcker, Die Aeschyl. Tril. p. 278. ) Anima, De Coclo, De Ortu et Interitu, De Memoria
2. A male being, a mystic personification of the et Reminiscentia, De Somno et Vigilia, and others.
power of generation among the so-called Orphics, The Greek text has never been published. A
similar to Phanes and Ericapaeus. (Orph. Fragm. Latin version by Gentianus Hervetus appeared at
vi. 19, viſi, 2. )
[L. S. ] Basel, 155,9, 4to ; reprinted, Ravenna, 1614, 4to ;
METIUS. [Mettius. ]
2. Xpovikov, a Roman history from Julius Caesar
METOCHI'TA, GEOʻRGIUS (repyros to Constantine the Great ; the Greek text, with a
Metoxitos), magnus diaconus in Constantinople, Latin version, by John Meursius, Leyden, 1618.
lived in the thirteenth century. He was an inti- 4to. Regarding the doubts on Metochita's author-
mate friend and staunch adherent of the emperor ship of this work, compare Fabricius ; 3. 'Trouvnua-
Andronicus the Elder, and one of those few Greek Tromol Kal EnuEico Eis yrwulkai, various commen-
divines who advocated the re-union of the Greek taries, essays, sentences, &c. , published under the
and Latin churches. For both these reasons he title Specimina Operum Theod. Melochitae, by
was deposed and exiled, about 1283, by the em- Janus Bloch, Copenhagen, 1790, 8vo. The fol-
peror Andronicus the Younger. He died in exile, lowing are still unpublished :-4. Tepl NewTepe-
but the year of his death is not known. Some say kîs kakondela, De mala recentiorum Consuetudine,
that he was the father of the following Theodore treats on the corruption of the church, especially of
Metochita, with whom several modern writers have the anti-Christian changes introduced into the
confounded him. He wrote different works of no rites. Arcadius made a Latin version of this work,
small importance for the history of the time: his which, however, seems not to have been published.
style is abominable, but full of expressive strength 5. Abyou, eight books on ecclesiastical history, two
and barbarous vigour. 1. 'Artipinois, &c. , or of which are extant in MS. 6. Capita Philosophica
Refutatio trium Capitum Maximi Planudis; 2. et Historica Miscellanea CXX. , of which Fabricius
'Avriponors, &c. , or, Responsio ad ea quae Manuel gives the titles. Their great variety allows us to
Nepos Cretensis publicavit, both publistied together, infer the extensive learning and the speculative
Greek and Latin, by Leo Allatius, in the second genius of Metochita. 7. Michaelis Palaeologi et
volume of Graecia Orthodox. 3. Fragmentum ex Irenes Augustae Epitaphium. 8. Astronomica.
Oratione de Unione Ecclesiarum, published by the Metochita was one of the best astronomers of his
same in his diatribe Contra Hottinger. ; 4. Fragm. time. 9. Commentarii in Ptolemaei Magnam Syn-
er Oratione de Dissidio Ecclesiar. , ibid. ; 5. Trac- taxin, said to be extant in MS. in Spain. (Fabric.
tatus de Processione Spiritus Suncti Patrumque hác Bibl. Graec. vol. X. p. 412, &c. ; Cave, Hist. Lit.
in re Sententiis, divided into five parts or books ; ad ann. 1276, and Wharton, in Append. to Cave,
a fragment of the fourth was published by Com- ad ann. 1301 ; Thomas Magister, Ipoo PoveUTIKOV
béfis in the second volume of Nova Biblioth. Putr. (ad Metochitam) and Epistola (to the same), ed.
and a fragment of the fifth by Leo Allatius in Graec. et Lat. , together with other letters of the
De Purgatorio and Contra Hottinger. , who gives same Thomas, Laurentius Normann, Upsala,
some information on the whole work in his De 1693, 4to. )
(W. P. ]
Consensu utriusque Ecclesiae, p. 771; 6. Oratio METON (Métwv), a citizen of Tarentum, who,
Antirrhetica contra Georgium Cyprium Patriarcham. when the decree was proposed for calling in the
7. Oratio de Sacris Mysteriis ; 8. Explicatio Regu- assistance of Pyrrhus, came into the assembly of
larum S. Nicephori, &c. , and other minor pro- the people, in the garb of a reveller, and accom-
ductions, most of which were known to Leo panied by a flute-player, as if just come from a
Allatius. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. X. p. 412, / banquet. When the people laughed at him, and
and
that
Dom
copie
oft
anot
Meu
buir
of Me
bear
anoti
M
sary
Lare
biinsa
chus
Melo
and
either
calls
leny
in ih
unles
to be
(grese
drav,
ferred
Fears
lendar
Hut.
36),
Op rei
Athen
tions
before
Fros
## p. 1069 (#1085) ##########################################
METON.
1069
METROBIUS.
3
29
ܗܳܢܶ
LA
ಜಿ.
called out to him to sing thein a song, he answered, these observations of the solstices made by Meton
" You are right to encourage men to sing and make and Euctenon is thus to be determined (ilalma, i.
merry now while they can, for when Pyrrhus is 163):-" It is said that this observation was mado
arrived we shall have to lead a very different sort at Athens when Apseudes was archon, on the 21st
of life. " By this artifice he produced a great effect of the month Phamenoth, in the morning. Now,
upon the assembly ; but the decree was never from this solstice to that which was observed by
theless carried. (Plut. Pyrrh. 13; Dion Cass. Aristarchus in the fiftieth year of the first period
Fr. Vat. 45, p. 169, ed. Mai ; Dionys. xvii. of Calippus, there have elapsed, as Hipparchus says,
13, 14. )
(E. H. B. ) 152 years. And since this fiftieth year, which
METON (Métur). With the name of Meton we was the forty-fourth after the death of Alexander,
join those of PHAEINUS (Pacivós) and EUCTEMON to the four hundred and sixty-third, which is that
(Evrthuwv), all of Athens, contemporaries, and, as of my observation, there have elapsed 419 years. "
to the little which is known of them, inseparable. Such are the data from which, and from the pre-
As to Phacinus, he appears nowhere except in a sumed meaning of a passnge in Diodorus, Meton's
passage of Theophrastus, who says (dle Sigis Tem-solstice, the acknowledged epoch of commencement
pest. sub init. ) that he observed the solar tropics at of the period, has been placed B. C. 432. But
Athens on Lycabettus ; from which Meton learnt we are far from seeing how it has been made out.
the mode of constructing the cycle of nineteen Delambre gives no opinion, but quotes Cassini's,
years. Salmasius has a conjecture which we only which he would not have done on any point in
mention here because it suggested a reverse con- which care or research could have given him one of
jecture. There is in Aratus the following line (at his own. But though the particular date of this
the beginning of the Divsemeia) :
epoch is not fixed to a year or two, the general
'Εννεακαίδεκα κύκλα φαεινού ήελίοιο.
era of Meton is well fixe as well by the datit
above mentioned as by Aelian (Vur. Hist. xiii. 12),
This, says Salmasius, should be paeivoû 'Hielono, who states that he feigned insanity to avoid sailing
or the shining sun here mentioned is Phaeinus offor Sicily in the ill-fated expedition of which he is
Elea. The conjecture has been rejected with stated to have had an evil presentiment.
scorn by Petavius, Weidler, &c. May we not go The length of the year, according to Meton, is
further, and ask whether it ought not to be the stated by Ptolemy as 3654 days and 46 of a day.
other way? Did any Phaeinus give information This is more than half an hour too long. But then
upon tropics to Meton (a known observer them) it should be remembered that this length of the
other than paelvós 'Hénos, Apollo himself? It is year is that deduced from assuming that Meton
worth noting that Phaeinus is a strange adjective, held his own period to be exact. Now it by no
and a strange form of it, for a proper name ; and means follows that in stating the cycle he meant to
that a slight mistake of Theophrastus (no astro- assert that it was mathematically true. Whether
nomer, as far as is known), or of some one whom he he was himself the inventor of this remarkable
copied, might easily have converted the old epithet period, or whether he found it elsewhere, cannot
of the Sun into an astronomer. And there is now be known.
another astronomer, Philip, contemporary with The number of different persons to whom this
Meton, to whom (with Euctemon) Geminus attri- astronomical period has been attributed (Fabric.
butes the cycle of nineteen years, to the exclusion Bill. Gruec. vol. ii. p. 9), may furnish some pre-
of Meton. Here is one confusion in which Philip sumption that Meton only brought forward and
bears a part, and there might easily, bave been made popular a piece knowledge which he and
another.
others had derived from an oriental source: a thing
Much emendation has often been found neces by no means unlikely in itself.
sary when an ancient writer enumerates those who Of Euctemon, independently of his astronomical
have written on subjects which he had not studied partnership with Meton, nothing is known. Ge-
himself: witness the passage in Vitruvius (ix. 7), minus and Ptolemy both frequently refer to him on
in which the older texts and versions join Hippar- the rising and setting of stars, on which is to be
chus and Aratus with Eudaemon, Callistus, and inferred he had left some work.
tians, as is asserted, it might have been in 303, as METHYMNA (Μήθυμνα), a daughter of Macar
Cave thinks, or in 311, according to Fabricius. and wife of Lesbus, from whom the town of Me-
Methodius was a man of great learning and exem- thymna, in Lesbos, derived its name. (Diod. v.
plary piety, who enjoyed the general estem of his 81 ; Steph. Byz. 8. 9. )
(L. S. )
contemporaries. He wrote scveral works, the prin-
METHYMNAEUS (Mnovuvaios), a surname
cipal of which are: J. Heps 'Avao táoews, De of Dionysus, derived, according to some, from
Resurrectione, against Origen, which was divided Methymna, rich in vines. (Hesych. s. v. ; Viry.
into two or perhaps three parts. Fragments of it Georg. ii
. 20. ) Others derived it from učbu (sweet
are given by Epiphanius in his Panarium; in or wine), as Plutarch (Sympos. iii. 2) and Athe-
Photius, Billiotheca ; a few are contained in the naeus (viii. p. 363).
(L. S. )
works of Damascenus ; 2. Περί των γενετών, METIADU'SÁ (Mntiáðovo a), a daughter of
De Creatis, in Photius ; 3. Tepl Autecouciou kal Eupalamus, and wife of king Cécrops, by whom
nóbev tà hard, De Libro Arbitrio. Leo Allatius she became the mother of Pandion. (A pollod. iii.
had the complete text with a Latin version, but 15. $ 5; Paus. i. 5. & 3. )
(L. S. ]
the work, as contained in the edition of Methodius METI'LIA GENS, an Alban house, which, on
by Combéfis
, is not quite complete. 4. Nepi tñs the destruction of Alba Longa, migrated to Rome.
drgedourtou napoevelas kal dyvelas, De An- (Dionys. iii. 29. ) Since the Metilii were imme-
gelica Virginitate et Castitate, written in the form diately admitted into the Roman senate, they must
of a dialogue. Leo Allatius published this work, at the time of their migration have been of patri-
Gr. et Lat. , in his Diatriba de Methodiis, at Rome, cian rank. In history, however, they occur only
1656, 8vo. and dedicated it to Pope Alexander as plebeians. Pliny (H. N. xxxv. 17) mentions a
VII. At the same time Petrus Possinus obtained lex Metilia de Fullonibus in B. c. 220. (W. B. D. ]
the Greek text of this work from Lucas Holsten, METI'LIUS. 1. Sp. Metilius, tribune of
at Rome ; and having prepared a copy for the the plebs in B. C. 416. He brought forward a
press, sent it, together with a Latin version, to rogation for fresh assignments of the public land to
Paris, where it was published in the following the commons, but was foiled in his attempt by his
year, 1657, fol. Possinus, strangely enough, dedi- colleagues in the tribunate. (Liv. iv. 48. )
cated his edition to the same pope, not knowing 2. M. METILIUS, tribune of the plebs in B. C.
that Leo Allatius was doing, or had just done, the 401, when he impeached two of the consular
same thing ; nor was Allatius at all aware of Pos tribunes of the preceding year, and resisted
sinus being engaged in the same work at the same the levying of the war-tax (tributum) because the
time as he was. It is also contained in Combéfis, patricians usurped the rents of the demesne-land.
Auctuar. Biblioth. Patr. Paris, 1672. Photius, (Liv. v. 11, 12. )
quoted below, says that the work had been adul- 3. M. Metilius, tribune of the plebs in B. C.
terated, and contained especially several passages 217, brought forward a rogation to deprive Q.
tending to Arianism, of which no trace is to be Fabius Maximus, then dictator, of the sole control
found in the later editions, so that his MS. was of the legions, and to admit the master of the
decidedly different from those perused by Allatius horse, Q. Minucius Thermus, to an equal share of
and Possings. 5. Oratio de Simeone et Anna, seu the command. Metilius was legatus, in B. C. 212,
In Festum Occursus et Purificationis B. Mariae, from the senate to the consuls, after some reverses,
ed. Petrus Plantinus, Antwerp, 1598. This work in the seventh year of the second Punic war. (Liv.
is said to be the production of a later Methodius, xxii. 25, xxv. 22. )
but Allatius vindicates the authorship of Methodius 4. T. Metilius Croto, legatus, in B. C. 215,
Patarensis. 6. óyos tepl Maptúpwv, Sermo de from the praetor Appius Claudius Pulcher to the
Martyribus. 7. Els tá Baia, In Ramos Palmarum, legions in Sicily. (Liv. xxiii. 31. ) [W. B. D. ]
an oration, of which Photius has extracts. The METIOCHE. (MENIPPE. ) A second person
authorship of Methodius is doubtful. 8. Libri of the name was a Trojan woman, who was painted
adrersus Porphyrium, of which there are fragments by Polygnotus in the Lesche at Delphi. (Paus. X.
in Damascenus. 9. De Pythonissa contra Ori- 26. & 1. )
[L. S. )
genem, lost. 10. Commentarii in Cantica Cantico MEʼTIOCHUS (Mntloxos), an Athenian orator,
rum, fragments. 11. Eévwv, lost, &c. This a contemporary and friend of Pericles, for whom
Methodius is said to have written a work, De he often spoke in the assembly at Athens. (Plut.
Revelatione, which, however, is more justly attri-Praecept. Pol. 15; Bekker, Anecdot. p. 309 ;
buted to a later Methodius. (No. 3. ] The Schömann, De Sortit. Jud. p. 40, &c. ) (L. S. )
principal works of Methodius, viz. , De Libro Ar- MEʼTION (Mntiwv), a son of Erechtheus and
bitrio, De Resurrectione, De Angelicu Virginitate et Praxithea, and husband of Alcippe.
Custitate, two homilies, and the extracts given by the Metionidae, expelled their cousin Pandion from
Photius were published by Combéfis, Graece et his kingdorn of Athens, but were themselves after-
Latine, cum notis, Paris, 1644, fol. , together with wards expelled by the sons of Pandion (Apollod.
the works of Amphilochus and Andreas Cretensis. ii. 15. SS 1, 5, 6, 8 ; Paus. i. 5. & 3). Diodorus
(Phot. Cod. 234, 235, 236, 237 ; Cave. Hist. Lit. (iv. 76) calls Daedalus one of the sons of Metion,
3 riesce
(See
He also me
IDIS
ܠܐ ܐ 31A ;
3. 6. )
apa ramai
Jon of the
(
med bs es per
able to:
2 Cars
sed. Tina
boc potrebno
Lite D. 64
A
His sons,
and rimtos
in the te
urth century
Andre
ce Patzroy
sa Chaves,
Teach of a sett
mbe in doi
## p. 1068 (#1084) ##########################################
1068
METOCHITA.
METON.
F
jof
(E
to
AL
tbe
jece
Thi
or t
Elea
furt
othe
upos
othe
and Metion himself a son of Eupalamus and grand- not. ; Cave, Hist. Lit. ad ann. 1276, p. 645, ed.
son of Erechtheus (comp. Plat. Ion, p. 533, a. ; Geneva. )
[W. P. )
Paus. vii. 4. & 5). Apollodorus (iii. 15. § 8) on METOCHITA, THEODO'RUS (eodwpos
the other hand, calls Éupalamus à son of Métion Ó Metoxitos), the intimate friend and adhe
and father of Daedalus.
According to a Sicyonian rent of the unfortunate emperor Andronicus the
legend, Sicyon also was a son of Metion and a Elder (A. D. 1282—1328), was a man of extra-
grandson of Erechtheus. (Paus. ii. 6. $ 3; comp. ordinary learning and great literary activity, al-
Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 468, who calls the wife though much of his time was taken up by the
of Metion Iphinoë. )
[L. S. ] duties he had to discharge as Magnus Logotheta
METIS (Máris). 1. The personification of Ecclesiae Constant, and the various commissions
prudence, is described as a daughter of Oceanus and with which he was entrusted by his imperial friend.
Thetys. At the instigation of Zeus, she gave to No sooner had Andronicus the Younger usurped
Cronos a vomitive, whereupon he brought back his the throne, in 1328, than he deposed Metochita
children whom he had devoured (Apollod. i. 2. S and sent him into exile. The learned priest, how-
1, &c. ; Hes. Theog. 471). She was the first love ever, was soon recalled, but, disgusted with the
and wife of Zeus, from whom she had at first en world, he retired into a convent in Constantinople,
deavoured to withdraw by metamorphosing herself where he died in 1332. It is said that he was
in various ways. She prophesied to him that she the son of the preceding Georgius Metochita, with
would give birth first to a girl and afterwards to a whom he has often been confounded. Nicephorus
boy, to whom the rule of the world wils destined Gregoras, the writer, delivered the funeral oration
by fate. For this reason Zeus devoured her, when at the interment of Th. Metochita, and wrote an
she was pregnant with Athena, and afterwards he epitaph which is given in Fabricius. Many details
himself gave birth to a daughter, who issued from referring to the life of this distinguished divine are
his head (Apollod. i. 3. $ 6 ; Hes. Theog. 886). contained in the works of Nicephorus Gregoras
Plato (Sympos. p. 203, b. ) speaks of Porus as a and John Cantacuzenus. Metochita wrote a great
son of Metis
, and according to Hesiod, Zeus de number of works on various subjects ; the princi-
voured Metis on the advice of Uranus and Ge, pal are:-1. Napáopaois, being commentaries on
who also revealed to him the destiny of his son. various works of Aristotle's, especially Physica, De
(Comp. Welcker, Die Aeschyl. Tril. p. 278. ) Anima, De Coclo, De Ortu et Interitu, De Memoria
2. A male being, a mystic personification of the et Reminiscentia, De Somno et Vigilia, and others.
power of generation among the so-called Orphics, The Greek text has never been published. A
similar to Phanes and Ericapaeus. (Orph. Fragm. Latin version by Gentianus Hervetus appeared at
vi. 19, viſi, 2. )
[L. S. ] Basel, 155,9, 4to ; reprinted, Ravenna, 1614, 4to ;
METIUS. [Mettius. ]
2. Xpovikov, a Roman history from Julius Caesar
METOCHI'TA, GEOʻRGIUS (repyros to Constantine the Great ; the Greek text, with a
Metoxitos), magnus diaconus in Constantinople, Latin version, by John Meursius, Leyden, 1618.
lived in the thirteenth century. He was an inti- 4to. Regarding the doubts on Metochita's author-
mate friend and staunch adherent of the emperor ship of this work, compare Fabricius ; 3. 'Trouvnua-
Andronicus the Elder, and one of those few Greek Tromol Kal EnuEico Eis yrwulkai, various commen-
divines who advocated the re-union of the Greek taries, essays, sentences, &c. , published under the
and Latin churches. For both these reasons he title Specimina Operum Theod. Melochitae, by
was deposed and exiled, about 1283, by the em- Janus Bloch, Copenhagen, 1790, 8vo. The fol-
peror Andronicus the Younger. He died in exile, lowing are still unpublished :-4. Tepl NewTepe-
but the year of his death is not known. Some say kîs kakondela, De mala recentiorum Consuetudine,
that he was the father of the following Theodore treats on the corruption of the church, especially of
Metochita, with whom several modern writers have the anti-Christian changes introduced into the
confounded him. He wrote different works of no rites. Arcadius made a Latin version of this work,
small importance for the history of the time: his which, however, seems not to have been published.
style is abominable, but full of expressive strength 5. Abyou, eight books on ecclesiastical history, two
and barbarous vigour. 1. 'Artipinois, &c. , or of which are extant in MS. 6. Capita Philosophica
Refutatio trium Capitum Maximi Planudis; 2. et Historica Miscellanea CXX. , of which Fabricius
'Avriponors, &c. , or, Responsio ad ea quae Manuel gives the titles. Their great variety allows us to
Nepos Cretensis publicavit, both publistied together, infer the extensive learning and the speculative
Greek and Latin, by Leo Allatius, in the second genius of Metochita. 7. Michaelis Palaeologi et
volume of Graecia Orthodox. 3. Fragmentum ex Irenes Augustae Epitaphium. 8. Astronomica.
Oratione de Unione Ecclesiarum, published by the Metochita was one of the best astronomers of his
same in his diatribe Contra Hottinger. ; 4. Fragm. time. 9. Commentarii in Ptolemaei Magnam Syn-
er Oratione de Dissidio Ecclesiar. , ibid. ; 5. Trac- taxin, said to be extant in MS. in Spain. (Fabric.
tatus de Processione Spiritus Suncti Patrumque hác Bibl. Graec. vol. X. p. 412, &c. ; Cave, Hist. Lit.
in re Sententiis, divided into five parts or books ; ad ann. 1276, and Wharton, in Append. to Cave,
a fragment of the fourth was published by Com- ad ann. 1301 ; Thomas Magister, Ipoo PoveUTIKOV
béfis in the second volume of Nova Biblioth. Putr. (ad Metochitam) and Epistola (to the same), ed.
and a fragment of the fifth by Leo Allatius in Graec. et Lat. , together with other letters of the
De Purgatorio and Contra Hottinger. , who gives same Thomas, Laurentius Normann, Upsala,
some information on the whole work in his De 1693, 4to. )
(W. P. ]
Consensu utriusque Ecclesiae, p. 771; 6. Oratio METON (Métwv), a citizen of Tarentum, who,
Antirrhetica contra Georgium Cyprium Patriarcham. when the decree was proposed for calling in the
7. Oratio de Sacris Mysteriis ; 8. Explicatio Regu- assistance of Pyrrhus, came into the assembly of
larum S. Nicephori, &c. , and other minor pro- the people, in the garb of a reveller, and accom-
ductions, most of which were known to Leo panied by a flute-player, as if just come from a
Allatius. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. X. p. 412, / banquet. When the people laughed at him, and
and
that
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## p. 1069 (#1085) ##########################################
METON.
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METROBIUS.
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called out to him to sing thein a song, he answered, these observations of the solstices made by Meton
" You are right to encourage men to sing and make and Euctenon is thus to be determined (ilalma, i.
merry now while they can, for when Pyrrhus is 163):-" It is said that this observation was mado
arrived we shall have to lead a very different sort at Athens when Apseudes was archon, on the 21st
of life. " By this artifice he produced a great effect of the month Phamenoth, in the morning. Now,
upon the assembly ; but the decree was never from this solstice to that which was observed by
theless carried. (Plut. Pyrrh. 13; Dion Cass. Aristarchus in the fiftieth year of the first period
Fr. Vat. 45, p. 169, ed. Mai ; Dionys. xvii. of Calippus, there have elapsed, as Hipparchus says,
13, 14. )
(E. H. B. ) 152 years. And since this fiftieth year, which
METON (Métur). With the name of Meton we was the forty-fourth after the death of Alexander,
join those of PHAEINUS (Pacivós) and EUCTEMON to the four hundred and sixty-third, which is that
(Evrthuwv), all of Athens, contemporaries, and, as of my observation, there have elapsed 419 years. "
to the little which is known of them, inseparable. Such are the data from which, and from the pre-
As to Phacinus, he appears nowhere except in a sumed meaning of a passnge in Diodorus, Meton's
passage of Theophrastus, who says (dle Sigis Tem-solstice, the acknowledged epoch of commencement
pest. sub init. ) that he observed the solar tropics at of the period, has been placed B. C. 432. But
Athens on Lycabettus ; from which Meton learnt we are far from seeing how it has been made out.
the mode of constructing the cycle of nineteen Delambre gives no opinion, but quotes Cassini's,
years. Salmasius has a conjecture which we only which he would not have done on any point in
mention here because it suggested a reverse con- which care or research could have given him one of
jecture. There is in Aratus the following line (at his own. But though the particular date of this
the beginning of the Divsemeia) :
epoch is not fixed to a year or two, the general
'Εννεακαίδεκα κύκλα φαεινού ήελίοιο.
era of Meton is well fixe as well by the datit
above mentioned as by Aelian (Vur. Hist. xiii. 12),
This, says Salmasius, should be paeivoû 'Hielono, who states that he feigned insanity to avoid sailing
or the shining sun here mentioned is Phaeinus offor Sicily in the ill-fated expedition of which he is
Elea. The conjecture has been rejected with stated to have had an evil presentiment.
scorn by Petavius, Weidler, &c. May we not go The length of the year, according to Meton, is
further, and ask whether it ought not to be the stated by Ptolemy as 3654 days and 46 of a day.
other way? Did any Phaeinus give information This is more than half an hour too long. But then
upon tropics to Meton (a known observer them) it should be remembered that this length of the
other than paelvós 'Hénos, Apollo himself? It is year is that deduced from assuming that Meton
worth noting that Phaeinus is a strange adjective, held his own period to be exact. Now it by no
and a strange form of it, for a proper name ; and means follows that in stating the cycle he meant to
that a slight mistake of Theophrastus (no astro- assert that it was mathematically true. Whether
nomer, as far as is known), or of some one whom he he was himself the inventor of this remarkable
copied, might easily have converted the old epithet period, or whether he found it elsewhere, cannot
of the Sun into an astronomer. And there is now be known.
another astronomer, Philip, contemporary with The number of different persons to whom this
Meton, to whom (with Euctemon) Geminus attri- astronomical period has been attributed (Fabric.
butes the cycle of nineteen years, to the exclusion Bill. Gruec. vol. ii. p. 9), may furnish some pre-
of Meton. Here is one confusion in which Philip sumption that Meton only brought forward and
bears a part, and there might easily, bave been made popular a piece knowledge which he and
another.
others had derived from an oriental source: a thing
Much emendation has often been found neces by no means unlikely in itself.
sary when an ancient writer enumerates those who Of Euctemon, independently of his astronomical
have written on subjects which he had not studied partnership with Meton, nothing is known. Ge-
himself: witness the passage in Vitruvius (ix. 7), minus and Ptolemy both frequently refer to him on
in which the older texts and versions join Hippar- the rising and setting of stars, on which is to be
chus and Aratus with Eudaemon, Callistus, and inferred he had left some work.
