The Thebans to find
everything
around him altered.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
] vvoov.
This would clearly be one of the earliest
EPIDAURUS ('Enidavpos), the mythical foun- steps in the gradual transformation of the old
der of Epidaurus, a son of Argos and Evadne, but dithyrambic performance into the dramatic tragedy
according to Argive legends a son of Pelops, and / of later times, and may tend to justify the state
.
P.
## p. 37 (#53) ##############################################
EPIGONI.
37
EPIMENDIES.
ed
10
T
true
and
E)
ment which ascribes the invention of tragedy to of Laodamas, after whose fall they took to flight
the Sicyonians. We do not know the period at to protect themselves within their city. On the
which Epigenes flourished, and the point was a part of the Epigoni, Aegialeus had fallen. The
doubtful one in the time of Suidas, who says (s. v. seer Teiresias, however, induced the Thebans to
Oforis) that, according to some, he was the 16th quit their town, and take their wives and children
before Thespis, while, according to others, he with them, while they sent ambassadors to the
almost immediately preceded him. (See Müller, enemy to sue for peace. The Argives, however,
Dor. iv. 7. & 8; Meineke, Hist. Crit. Com. Gracc. took possession of Thebes, and razed it to the
p. 354; Arist. Poët. 3; Fabric. Bill. Graec. vol. ground. The Epigoni sent a portion of the booty
ii. pp. 160, 303, vol. ir. p. 10; Dict. of Ant. p. and Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, to Delphi,
980, a. )
(E. E. ] and then returned to Peloponnesus. The war of
EPIGENES (Ewiyévns) of Byzantium is sup- the Epigoni was made the subject of epic and
posed to have lived about the time of Augustus by tragic poems. (Paus. ix. 9. 3. ) The statues
some, and several centuries earlier by others; no- of the seven Epigoni were dedicated at Delphi.
thing, in fact, is known of his date, except what (Paus. x. 10. § 2. )
(L. S. ]
may be inferred from the slight mention of him EPIGONUS ('Eulyovos) of Thessalonicn, the
by Seneca, Pliny, and Censorinus. According to author of two epigrams in the Greck Anthology.
Seneca (Nat. Quaest. vii. 30. ), Epigenes professed (Brunck. Anal. vol
. ii
. p. 306; Jacobs, vol. iii. p.
to have studied in Chaldea, from whence he i9, vol. xiii. p. 889. )
[P. S. )
brought, among other things, the notions of the EPIGONUS, a Greek statuary, whose works
Chaldeans on comets, in his account of which he were chiefly in imitation of other artists, but who
is held to differ much from Apollonius Myndius displayed original power in two works, namely, a
(see his life), though it is not, we think, difficult to trumpeter, and an infant caressing its slain mother.
reconcile the two. Pliny (H. N. vii. 56) has a pas- It is natural to suppose that the latter work was
sage about Epigenes, which states that he asserts an imitation of the celebrated picture of Aristeides.
the Chaldeans to have had observations recorded on (Plin. xxiv. 8. s. 19. § 29. )
[P. S. )
brick (coctilibus laterculis) for 720 (? ) years, and EPILY'CUS ('Etiaukos), an Athenian comic
that Berosus and Critodemus say 420 (? ) years. poet of the old comedy, who is mentioned by
But among the various readings are found 720 an ancient grammarian in connexion with Aristo-
thousand and 420 thousand, which seem to be the phanes and Philyllius, and of whose play Kwpaliokos
ones, for on them Pliny goes on to remark a few fragments are preserved. (Suid. s. v. ; Athen.
“ Ex quo apparet aeternus litterarum usus. " Fa- iv. pp. 133, b. , 140, a. , xiv. p. 650, C. , xv. p. 691,
bricius and Bayle (Dict. art. Babylon) adopt the C. ; Bekker, Anecd. p. 411. 17; Phot. Ler. s. v.
larger readings, and also Bailly, who takes them TeTTiyóviov; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec, vol. i. p.
to mean days. Pliny may perhaps seem to say 269, ii. pp. 887, 889; Bergk, de Relig. Com. Att.
that Epigenes is the first author of note who made Ant. p. 431. ) An epic poet of the same nanie, a
any such assertion about the Chaldeans: “Epi- brother of the comic poet Crates, is mentioned
genes . . . docet gravis auctor imprimis ;” and thus by Suidas (s. v. Kpátns).
(P. S. ]
interpreted, he is made to mean that Epigenes was EPI'MACHUS, a distinguished Athenian archi-
older than Berosus, and therefore than Alexander tect and engineer, built the Helepolis of Demetrius
the Great. Weidler adopts this conclusion on dif- Poliorcetes. (Vitruv. x. 2. )
[P. S. ]
ferent and rather hypothetical grounds.
EPIME’DES ('Etihons), one of the Curetes.
(A. De M. ) (Paus. v. 7. § 4, 14. § 5; comp. CURETES ; Dac-
EPIGE’NIUS, comes et magister memoriae, TYLI. )
(L. S. ]
one of the commission of sixteen, appointed by EPIME'NIDES ('Enquevidns). 1. A poet and
Theodosius in a D. 435, to compile the Theodosian prophet of Crete. His father's name was Dosi-
Code, and one of the eight who actually signalized ades or Agesarces. We have an account of him
themselves in its composition. [DIODORUS, vol. i. in Diogenes Laërtius (i. c. 10), which, however, is
p. 1018. )
(J. T. G. ) a very uncritical mixture of heterogeneous tradi-
EPI'GONI (Ericovoi), that is, the heirs or tions, so that it is difficult, if not altogether impos-
descendants. By this name ancient mythology sible, to discover its real historical substance. The
understands the sons of the seven heroes who had mythical character of the traditions of Epimenides
undertaken an expedition against Thebes, and had is sufficiently indicated by the fact of his being
perished there. (ADRASTUS. ] Ten years after called the son of a nymph, and of his being reck-
that catastrophe, the descendants of the seven oned among the Curetes. It seems, however,
heroes went against Thebes to avenge their fathers, pretty clear, that he was a native of Phaestus in
and this war is called the war of the Epigoni. Crete (Diog. Laërt. i. 109; Plut. Sol. 12 ; de
According to some traditions, this war was under- Defect. Orac. 1), and that he spent the greater part
taken at the request of Adrastus, the only surviver of his life at Cnossus, whence he is sometimes
of the seven heroes. The names of the Epigoni called a Cnossian. There is a story that when yet a
are not the same in all accounts (Apollod. iii
. 7. boy, he was sent out by his father to fetch a sheep,
$ 2, &c. ; Diod. iv. 66 ; Paus. x. 10. § 2; Hygin. and that seeking shelter from the heat of the mid-
Fab. 71); but the common lists contain Alcmaeon, day sun, he went into a cave. He there fell into
Aegialeus, Diomedes, Promachus, Sthenelus, Ther- a sleep in which he remained for fifty-seven years.
sander, and Euryalus. Alcmaeon undertook the On waking he sought for the sheep, not knowing
command, in accordance with an oracle, and col- how long he had been sleeping, and was astonished
lected a considerable band of Argives.
The Thebans to find everything around him altered. When he
Inarched out against the enemy, under the command returned home, he found to his great amazement,
that his younger brother had in the meantime
Diodorus (ii. 8) says the Chaldeans claim for grown an old man. The time at which Epimenides
themselves 473,000 years.
lived, is determined by his invitation to Athens,
is (F.
Cares
sܕ 1
e been
Proda
her i
issigned
beretare
R
Ерітла
po 331;
511, el
nded to
is set
st acest
edra bere
srbic and
sible that
in trees
je fartas
he acopes
nd Suta
is toy a
the earliest
of the old
stic tragedy
y the state
## p. 38 (#54) ##############################################
88
EPIPHANIUS.
EPIMENIDES.
when he had already arrived at an advanced age. | allusion to Epimenides seems to be made in St.
He was looked upon by the Greeks as a great sage Paul's Epistle to Titus (i. 12). Comp. Fabric.
and as the favourite of the gods. The Athenians Bill. Graec. vol. i. pp. 30, &c. , 844 ; Höckh, Kreta,
who were visited by a plague in consequence of vol. iii. p. 246, &c. ; Bode, Gesch. der Hellen. Dichtk.
the crime of Cylon (CYLON), consulted the Del- vol. i. p. 463, &c. , and more especially C. F. Hein-
phic oracle about the means of their delivery. rich, Epimenides aus Creta, Leipzig, 1801, 8vo.
The god commanded them to get their city puri- 2. The author of a History of Rhodes, which
fied, and the Athenians sent out Nicias with a was written in the Doric dialect. (Diog. Laërt. i.
ship to Crete to invite Epimenides to come and 115; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 24, ad Apollon. Rhod.
undertake the purification. Epimenides accord- i. 1125, iii. 241, iv. 57; Eudoc. p. 81; Heinrich,
ingly came to Athens, about B. c. 596 or Olymp. Epimenid. p. 134. )
46, and performed the desired task by certain 3. The author of a work on genealogies. (Diog.
mysterious rites and sacrifices, in consequence of Laërt. i. 115. )
(L. S. )
which the plague ceased. The grateful Athenians EPIMEÄTHEUS. (PROMETHEUS and Pan-
decreed to reward him with a talent and the vessel DORA. )
which was to carry him back to his native island. EPINI'CU'S ("Exlvikos), an Athenian comic
But Epimenides refused the money, and only de poet of the new comedy, two of whose plays are
sired that a friendship should be established be- mentioned, Yποβαλλόμεναι and Mνησιπτόλεμος.
tween Athens and Cnossus. Whether Epimenides The latter title determines his date to the time of
died in Crete or at Sparta, which in later times Antiochus the Great, about B. c. 217, for Mnesip-
boasted of possessing his tomb (Diog. Laërt. i. tolemus was an historian in great favour with that
115), is uncertain, but he is said to have attained king. (Suid. s. r. ; Eudoc. p. 166; Athen. x. p. 432,
the age of 154, 157, or even of 299 years. Such b. , xi. pp. 469, a. , 497, a. , 500, f. ; Meineke, Frag.
statements, however, are as fabulous as the story Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 481, iv. pp. 505–508. ) (P. S. )
about his fifty-seven years' sleep. According to EPI'PHANES, & surname of Antiochus IV.
some accounts, Epimenides was reckoned among and Antiochus XI. , kings of Syria, (see vol. i.
the seven wise men of Greece (Diog. Laërt. Proocm. pp. 198, 199), and also of Antiochus IV. king of
$ 13; Plut. Sol. 12); but all that tradition has Commagene, one of whose sons had likewise the
handed down about him suggests a very different same surname, and is the one meant by Tacitus,
character from that of those seven, and he must when he speaks (Hist. ii. 25) of “ Rei Epipha-
rather be ranked in the class of priestly bards and nes. ” [See vol. i. p. 194. )
sages who are generally comprised under the name EPIPHA'NIUS ('Eripávios). ). Of Alex-
of the Orphici ; for everything we hear of bim, is ANDRIA, son of the mathematician Theon, who ad-
of a priestly or religious nature: he was a puri- dresses to him his commentaries on Ptolemy.
fying priest of superhuman knowledge and wisdom, (Theon, Commentary on Ptolemy, ed. Halma, Paris,
a seer and a prophet, and acquainted with the 1821–22. ) Possibly this Epiphanius is one of
healing powers of plants. These notions about the authors of a work περί βροντών και αστραπών,
Epimenides were propagated throughout antiquity, by Epiphanius and Andreas, or Andrew, formerly
and it was probably owing to the great charm at- in the library of Dr. George Wheeler, canon of
tached to his name, that a series of works, both in Durham. (Catal. MSS. Angliae et Hiberniae,
prose and in verse, were attributed to him, though Oxon. 1697. )
few, if any, can be considered to have been genu- 2. Bishop of CONSTANTIA (the ancient Salamis),
ine productions of Epimenides; the age at which he and metropolitan of CYPRUS, the most eminent of
he lived was certainly not an age of prose composition all the persons of the name of Epiphanius. (See
in Greece. Diogenes Laërtius (i. 112) notices as below. )
prose works, one on sacrifices, and another on the 3. Of CONSTANTIA and metropolitan of CYPRUS,
Political Constitution of Crete. There was also distinguished from the preceding as the Younger,
a Letter on the Constitution which Minos had given was represented at the third council of Constanti-
to Crete ; it was said to have been addressed by nople (the sixth general council) by the bishop of
Epimenides to Solon ; it was written in the modern Trimithus, one of his suffragans. Several of the dis-
Attic dialect, and was proved to be spurious by courses which have been regarded as written by
Demetrius of Magnesia. Diogenes himself has the great Epiphanius are by acuter judges ascribed
preserved another letter, which is likewise ad- either to this Epiphanius, or to a third of the same
dressed to Solon ; it is written in the Doric dia- name and bishopric. [No. 4 below. ) A work
lect, but is no more genuine than the former. The extant in MS. in the Library of St. Mark at Venice,
reputation of Epimenides as a poet may have rested and in the Imperial Library at Vienna, is also by
on a somewhat surer foundation ; it is at any rate some ascribed to this writer or the following.
more likely that he should have composed such (Labbe, Concilia, vol. vi. col. 1058; Fabric. Bill.
poetry as Xpouoi and Kalapuol than any other. Graec. vol
. viii. pp. 258, 273, &c. , 1. pp. 249, 276,
(Suidas, s. v. 'Emevions ; Strab. X. p. 479 ; 279, 302 ; Petavius, Preface to the second volume of
Paus. i. 14. § 4. ) It is, however, very doubtful his edition of Epiphanius ; Oudin, Commentarius de
whether he wrote the Séveris Kad Deoyovia of the Scriptor. Eccles, vol. ii. 318. 19. )
Curetes and Corybantes in 5000 verses, the epic 4. Third bishop of ConstaNTIA of the name.
on Jason and the Argonauts in 6500, and the epic A letter of his, congratulating Joannes or John on
on Minos and Rhadamanthys in 4000 verses; all his restoration to the patriarchate of Constantinople
of which works are mentioned by Diogenes. There (A. D. 867), is given, with a Latin version, by
cannot, however, be any doubt but that there ex- Labbe. (Concilia, vol viii. col. 1276. ) See the pre-
isted in antiquity certain old-fashioned poems ceding article.
written upon skins; and the expression, 'Esquevi- 5. Of CONSTANTINOPLE. On the death of
Delov dépua was used by the ancients to designate Joannes or John 11. , the Cappadocian, patriarch of
anything old-fashioned, obsolete, and curious. An Constantinople, Epiphanius, then a presbyter, was
## p. 39 (#55) ##############################################
EPIPHANIUS.
89
EPIPHANIUS.
chosen to succeed him : he had been the syncellus" | 36; Fabric. Bill. Grace vol. viii. p.
EPIDAURUS ('Enidavpos), the mythical foun- steps in the gradual transformation of the old
der of Epidaurus, a son of Argos and Evadne, but dithyrambic performance into the dramatic tragedy
according to Argive legends a son of Pelops, and / of later times, and may tend to justify the state
.
P.
## p. 37 (#53) ##############################################
EPIGONI.
37
EPIMENDIES.
ed
10
T
true
and
E)
ment which ascribes the invention of tragedy to of Laodamas, after whose fall they took to flight
the Sicyonians. We do not know the period at to protect themselves within their city. On the
which Epigenes flourished, and the point was a part of the Epigoni, Aegialeus had fallen. The
doubtful one in the time of Suidas, who says (s. v. seer Teiresias, however, induced the Thebans to
Oforis) that, according to some, he was the 16th quit their town, and take their wives and children
before Thespis, while, according to others, he with them, while they sent ambassadors to the
almost immediately preceded him. (See Müller, enemy to sue for peace. The Argives, however,
Dor. iv. 7. & 8; Meineke, Hist. Crit. Com. Gracc. took possession of Thebes, and razed it to the
p. 354; Arist. Poët. 3; Fabric. Bill. Graec. vol. ground. The Epigoni sent a portion of the booty
ii. pp. 160, 303, vol. ir. p. 10; Dict. of Ant. p. and Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, to Delphi,
980, a. )
(E. E. ] and then returned to Peloponnesus. The war of
EPIGENES (Ewiyévns) of Byzantium is sup- the Epigoni was made the subject of epic and
posed to have lived about the time of Augustus by tragic poems. (Paus. ix. 9. 3. ) The statues
some, and several centuries earlier by others; no- of the seven Epigoni were dedicated at Delphi.
thing, in fact, is known of his date, except what (Paus. x. 10. § 2. )
(L. S. ]
may be inferred from the slight mention of him EPIGONUS ('Eulyovos) of Thessalonicn, the
by Seneca, Pliny, and Censorinus. According to author of two epigrams in the Greck Anthology.
Seneca (Nat. Quaest. vii. 30. ), Epigenes professed (Brunck. Anal. vol
. ii
. p. 306; Jacobs, vol. iii. p.
to have studied in Chaldea, from whence he i9, vol. xiii. p. 889. )
[P. S. )
brought, among other things, the notions of the EPIGONUS, a Greek statuary, whose works
Chaldeans on comets, in his account of which he were chiefly in imitation of other artists, but who
is held to differ much from Apollonius Myndius displayed original power in two works, namely, a
(see his life), though it is not, we think, difficult to trumpeter, and an infant caressing its slain mother.
reconcile the two. Pliny (H. N. vii. 56) has a pas- It is natural to suppose that the latter work was
sage about Epigenes, which states that he asserts an imitation of the celebrated picture of Aristeides.
the Chaldeans to have had observations recorded on (Plin. xxiv. 8. s. 19. § 29. )
[P. S. )
brick (coctilibus laterculis) for 720 (? ) years, and EPILY'CUS ('Etiaukos), an Athenian comic
that Berosus and Critodemus say 420 (? ) years. poet of the old comedy, who is mentioned by
But among the various readings are found 720 an ancient grammarian in connexion with Aristo-
thousand and 420 thousand, which seem to be the phanes and Philyllius, and of whose play Kwpaliokos
ones, for on them Pliny goes on to remark a few fragments are preserved. (Suid. s. v. ; Athen.
“ Ex quo apparet aeternus litterarum usus. " Fa- iv. pp. 133, b. , 140, a. , xiv. p. 650, C. , xv. p. 691,
bricius and Bayle (Dict. art. Babylon) adopt the C. ; Bekker, Anecd. p. 411. 17; Phot. Ler. s. v.
larger readings, and also Bailly, who takes them TeTTiyóviov; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec, vol. i. p.
to mean days. Pliny may perhaps seem to say 269, ii. pp. 887, 889; Bergk, de Relig. Com. Att.
that Epigenes is the first author of note who made Ant. p. 431. ) An epic poet of the same nanie, a
any such assertion about the Chaldeans: “Epi- brother of the comic poet Crates, is mentioned
genes . . . docet gravis auctor imprimis ;” and thus by Suidas (s. v. Kpátns).
(P. S. ]
interpreted, he is made to mean that Epigenes was EPI'MACHUS, a distinguished Athenian archi-
older than Berosus, and therefore than Alexander tect and engineer, built the Helepolis of Demetrius
the Great. Weidler adopts this conclusion on dif- Poliorcetes. (Vitruv. x. 2. )
[P. S. ]
ferent and rather hypothetical grounds.
EPIME’DES ('Etihons), one of the Curetes.
(A. De M. ) (Paus. v. 7. § 4, 14. § 5; comp. CURETES ; Dac-
EPIGE’NIUS, comes et magister memoriae, TYLI. )
(L. S. ]
one of the commission of sixteen, appointed by EPIME'NIDES ('Enquevidns). 1. A poet and
Theodosius in a D. 435, to compile the Theodosian prophet of Crete. His father's name was Dosi-
Code, and one of the eight who actually signalized ades or Agesarces. We have an account of him
themselves in its composition. [DIODORUS, vol. i. in Diogenes Laërtius (i. c. 10), which, however, is
p. 1018. )
(J. T. G. ) a very uncritical mixture of heterogeneous tradi-
EPI'GONI (Ericovoi), that is, the heirs or tions, so that it is difficult, if not altogether impos-
descendants. By this name ancient mythology sible, to discover its real historical substance. The
understands the sons of the seven heroes who had mythical character of the traditions of Epimenides
undertaken an expedition against Thebes, and had is sufficiently indicated by the fact of his being
perished there. (ADRASTUS. ] Ten years after called the son of a nymph, and of his being reck-
that catastrophe, the descendants of the seven oned among the Curetes. It seems, however,
heroes went against Thebes to avenge their fathers, pretty clear, that he was a native of Phaestus in
and this war is called the war of the Epigoni. Crete (Diog. Laërt. i. 109; Plut. Sol. 12 ; de
According to some traditions, this war was under- Defect. Orac. 1), and that he spent the greater part
taken at the request of Adrastus, the only surviver of his life at Cnossus, whence he is sometimes
of the seven heroes. The names of the Epigoni called a Cnossian. There is a story that when yet a
are not the same in all accounts (Apollod. iii
. 7. boy, he was sent out by his father to fetch a sheep,
$ 2, &c. ; Diod. iv. 66 ; Paus. x. 10. § 2; Hygin. and that seeking shelter from the heat of the mid-
Fab. 71); but the common lists contain Alcmaeon, day sun, he went into a cave. He there fell into
Aegialeus, Diomedes, Promachus, Sthenelus, Ther- a sleep in which he remained for fifty-seven years.
sander, and Euryalus. Alcmaeon undertook the On waking he sought for the sheep, not knowing
command, in accordance with an oracle, and col- how long he had been sleeping, and was astonished
lected a considerable band of Argives.
The Thebans to find everything around him altered. When he
Inarched out against the enemy, under the command returned home, he found to his great amazement,
that his younger brother had in the meantime
Diodorus (ii. 8) says the Chaldeans claim for grown an old man. The time at which Epimenides
themselves 473,000 years.
lived, is determined by his invitation to Athens,
is (F.
Cares
sܕ 1
e been
Proda
her i
issigned
beretare
R
Ерітла
po 331;
511, el
nded to
is set
st acest
edra bere
srbic and
sible that
in trees
je fartas
he acopes
nd Suta
is toy a
the earliest
of the old
stic tragedy
y the state
## p. 38 (#54) ##############################################
88
EPIPHANIUS.
EPIMENIDES.
when he had already arrived at an advanced age. | allusion to Epimenides seems to be made in St.
He was looked upon by the Greeks as a great sage Paul's Epistle to Titus (i. 12). Comp. Fabric.
and as the favourite of the gods. The Athenians Bill. Graec. vol. i. pp. 30, &c. , 844 ; Höckh, Kreta,
who were visited by a plague in consequence of vol. iii. p. 246, &c. ; Bode, Gesch. der Hellen. Dichtk.
the crime of Cylon (CYLON), consulted the Del- vol. i. p. 463, &c. , and more especially C. F. Hein-
phic oracle about the means of their delivery. rich, Epimenides aus Creta, Leipzig, 1801, 8vo.
The god commanded them to get their city puri- 2. The author of a History of Rhodes, which
fied, and the Athenians sent out Nicias with a was written in the Doric dialect. (Diog. Laërt. i.
ship to Crete to invite Epimenides to come and 115; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 24, ad Apollon. Rhod.
undertake the purification. Epimenides accord- i. 1125, iii. 241, iv. 57; Eudoc. p. 81; Heinrich,
ingly came to Athens, about B. c. 596 or Olymp. Epimenid. p. 134. )
46, and performed the desired task by certain 3. The author of a work on genealogies. (Diog.
mysterious rites and sacrifices, in consequence of Laërt. i. 115. )
(L. S. )
which the plague ceased. The grateful Athenians EPIMEÄTHEUS. (PROMETHEUS and Pan-
decreed to reward him with a talent and the vessel DORA. )
which was to carry him back to his native island. EPINI'CU'S ("Exlvikos), an Athenian comic
But Epimenides refused the money, and only de poet of the new comedy, two of whose plays are
sired that a friendship should be established be- mentioned, Yποβαλλόμεναι and Mνησιπτόλεμος.
tween Athens and Cnossus. Whether Epimenides The latter title determines his date to the time of
died in Crete or at Sparta, which in later times Antiochus the Great, about B. c. 217, for Mnesip-
boasted of possessing his tomb (Diog. Laërt. i. tolemus was an historian in great favour with that
115), is uncertain, but he is said to have attained king. (Suid. s. r. ; Eudoc. p. 166; Athen. x. p. 432,
the age of 154, 157, or even of 299 years. Such b. , xi. pp. 469, a. , 497, a. , 500, f. ; Meineke, Frag.
statements, however, are as fabulous as the story Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 481, iv. pp. 505–508. ) (P. S. )
about his fifty-seven years' sleep. According to EPI'PHANES, & surname of Antiochus IV.
some accounts, Epimenides was reckoned among and Antiochus XI. , kings of Syria, (see vol. i.
the seven wise men of Greece (Diog. Laërt. Proocm. pp. 198, 199), and also of Antiochus IV. king of
$ 13; Plut. Sol. 12); but all that tradition has Commagene, one of whose sons had likewise the
handed down about him suggests a very different same surname, and is the one meant by Tacitus,
character from that of those seven, and he must when he speaks (Hist. ii. 25) of “ Rei Epipha-
rather be ranked in the class of priestly bards and nes. ” [See vol. i. p. 194. )
sages who are generally comprised under the name EPIPHA'NIUS ('Eripávios). ). Of Alex-
of the Orphici ; for everything we hear of bim, is ANDRIA, son of the mathematician Theon, who ad-
of a priestly or religious nature: he was a puri- dresses to him his commentaries on Ptolemy.
fying priest of superhuman knowledge and wisdom, (Theon, Commentary on Ptolemy, ed. Halma, Paris,
a seer and a prophet, and acquainted with the 1821–22. ) Possibly this Epiphanius is one of
healing powers of plants. These notions about the authors of a work περί βροντών και αστραπών,
Epimenides were propagated throughout antiquity, by Epiphanius and Andreas, or Andrew, formerly
and it was probably owing to the great charm at- in the library of Dr. George Wheeler, canon of
tached to his name, that a series of works, both in Durham. (Catal. MSS. Angliae et Hiberniae,
prose and in verse, were attributed to him, though Oxon. 1697. )
few, if any, can be considered to have been genu- 2. Bishop of CONSTANTIA (the ancient Salamis),
ine productions of Epimenides; the age at which he and metropolitan of CYPRUS, the most eminent of
he lived was certainly not an age of prose composition all the persons of the name of Epiphanius. (See
in Greece. Diogenes Laërtius (i. 112) notices as below. )
prose works, one on sacrifices, and another on the 3. Of CONSTANTIA and metropolitan of CYPRUS,
Political Constitution of Crete. There was also distinguished from the preceding as the Younger,
a Letter on the Constitution which Minos had given was represented at the third council of Constanti-
to Crete ; it was said to have been addressed by nople (the sixth general council) by the bishop of
Epimenides to Solon ; it was written in the modern Trimithus, one of his suffragans. Several of the dis-
Attic dialect, and was proved to be spurious by courses which have been regarded as written by
Demetrius of Magnesia. Diogenes himself has the great Epiphanius are by acuter judges ascribed
preserved another letter, which is likewise ad- either to this Epiphanius, or to a third of the same
dressed to Solon ; it is written in the Doric dia- name and bishopric. [No. 4 below. ) A work
lect, but is no more genuine than the former. The extant in MS. in the Library of St. Mark at Venice,
reputation of Epimenides as a poet may have rested and in the Imperial Library at Vienna, is also by
on a somewhat surer foundation ; it is at any rate some ascribed to this writer or the following.
more likely that he should have composed such (Labbe, Concilia, vol. vi. col. 1058; Fabric. Bill.
poetry as Xpouoi and Kalapuol than any other. Graec. vol
. viii. pp. 258, 273, &c. , 1. pp. 249, 276,
(Suidas, s. v. 'Emevions ; Strab. X. p. 479 ; 279, 302 ; Petavius, Preface to the second volume of
Paus. i. 14. § 4. ) It is, however, very doubtful his edition of Epiphanius ; Oudin, Commentarius de
whether he wrote the Séveris Kad Deoyovia of the Scriptor. Eccles, vol. ii. 318. 19. )
Curetes and Corybantes in 5000 verses, the epic 4. Third bishop of ConstaNTIA of the name.
on Jason and the Argonauts in 6500, and the epic A letter of his, congratulating Joannes or John on
on Minos and Rhadamanthys in 4000 verses; all his restoration to the patriarchate of Constantinople
of which works are mentioned by Diogenes. There (A. D. 867), is given, with a Latin version, by
cannot, however, be any doubt but that there ex- Labbe. (Concilia, vol viii. col. 1276. ) See the pre-
isted in antiquity certain old-fashioned poems ceding article.
written upon skins; and the expression, 'Esquevi- 5. Of CONSTANTINOPLE. On the death of
Delov dépua was used by the ancients to designate Joannes or John 11. , the Cappadocian, patriarch of
anything old-fashioned, obsolete, and curious. An Constantinople, Epiphanius, then a presbyter, was
## p. 39 (#55) ##############################################
EPIPHANIUS.
89
EPIPHANIUS.
chosen to succeed him : he had been the syncellus" | 36; Fabric. Bill. Grace vol. viii. p.
