a
celebrated
comic poet
il Athens, born B.
il Athens, born B.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? MEM
NF. M
appointed candidate. (Vid. Marius. )--HI. L. Mem-
mius Gemellus, was tribune of the commons B. C.
M. and praetor B. C. 59, in which latter capacity he
Uad the government of Bilhynia. He was distinguish-
ed as an orator and-poet, and was the friend and patron
of Catullus and Lucretius, the latter of whom dedicated
his poem to him. Cicero describes him as a man of
rt literary acquirements, and well acquainted with
Grecian language and literature. (Brut. , 70. )
The same writer, however, represents him elsewhere
is a man of licentious habits. (/? . '/'? ad Alt. , 1, 18. )
Re was an opponent of Cesar's, and was driven into
exile by means of the latter, on the charge of bribery
in suing for the consulship, and also of extortion in the
province of Bithynia. He died in exile. (Cie , Ep.
ad Fam. , 13, I. --Manut. , ad loc. --Id. , Ep. ad Alt. ,
8, 1. --Ernesti, Ind. Hist. , s. r. )
Memnon, I. a personage frequently mentioned by
'he Greek writers. He is first spoken of in tho Odys-
sey as the son of Eos, or the morning, as a hero re-
markable for his beauty, and as the vanquisher of An-
tilochus (4, 188; 11, 521) Hesiod calls him the
King of the Ethiopians, and represents him as the son
ofTilhonus. (Theog. , 986 ) He is supposed to have
fought against the Greeks in the Trojan war, and to
have been slain by Achilles. In the "tvxooraaia, a
lost drama of . -Eschylus, the dead liody of Memnon is
carried away by his mother Eos. (Fragm. tfo. 261,
'? d. Dindorf. ) He is represented by most Greek wri-
*rs as King of the Ethiopians, but he is also said to
fcve been connected with Persia. According to Dio-
dorus (2, 22), Tithonus, the father of Memnon, govern-
ed Persia, at the time of the Trojan war, as the viceroy
of Teutamus, the Assyrian king; and Memnon erected
at Susa the palace which was afterward known by the
name of Memnonium. Diodorus also adds, that the
Ethiopians claimed Memnon as a native of their coun-
try. Pausanias combines the two accounts: he repre-
sents Memnon as king of the Ethiopians, but also says
that be came to Troy from Susa, and not from Ethio-
pia, subduing all the nations in his way. (Pausan. ,
10, 31, 6. --Id. , 1, 42, 2 ) iEschylus also, according
to Strabo, spoke of the Cissian, that is, Susian, parent-
age of Memnon (Strabo, 720): and Herodotus men-
tions the palace at Susa, called Memnonia, and also
says, that the city itself was sometimes described by
'he same name. (Herod. , 5, 53. seq. --Id. , 7, 151. )
The great majority of Greek writers agree in tracing
the origin of Memnon to Egypt or Ethiopia; and it is
not improbable that the name of Memnon was not
known in Susa till after the Persian conquest of Egypt,
and that the buildings there called Mcmnonian by the
Greeks were, in name, at least, the representative of
those in Egypt. The partial deciphering of the Egyp-
tian proper names affords us sufficient reason for be-
lieving, with Pausanias (1,42, 2), that the Memnon of
the Greeks may be identified with the Egyptian Pha-
mentoph, Phamenoth, Amenophis, or Amenolhph, of
which name the Greek one is probably only a corrup-
tion. Phamenoph is said to mean " the guardian of
the city of Ammon," or " devoted to Ammon," "be-
longing to Ammon. "--Memnon, then, must be regard-
ed as one nf the early heroes or kings of Egypt, whose
fame reached Greece in very early times. In the
eighteenth dynasty of Manetho the name of Amenophis
occurs, with this remark : "This is he who is supposed
to be the Memnon and the vocal stone. " He is Ameno-
? ? phis II. , and the son of Thutmosis, who is said to have
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? MLMN. JNIUM.
MEMNONIl. V
ci. iiukI. and shattered into a thousand pieces. ft
is about 26 feet broad between the shoulders, 54 feet
round the chest, and 13 feet from the shoulder to the
elbow. There are on the back and on both arms
uicroglyphical tablets, extremely well executed, which
identify this enormous statue with the hero whose
achievements are sculptured on the walls of the tem-
ple. This figure has sometimes been confounded
with that which bears the name of Munition, and
wh'ch has so long been celebrated for its vocal quali-
ties. The latter, however, is one of the two statues
vulgarly called Shama and Dama, which stand a little
distance from Mcdincl Abou towards the Nile. These,
we are told, are nearly equal in magnitude, being about
S3 feet in height. The thrones on which they re-
spectively rest are 30 feet long, IS broad, and be-
tween seven and eight feet high. Tbcy are placed
about 40 feet asunder; are in a line with each other,
and look towards the east, directly opposite to the
temple of Luxor. If there be any difference of size,
the southern one is the smaller. It appears to be of
one entire stone. The face, arms, and front of the
body have suffered so much from studied violence,
that not a feature of the countenance remains. The
head-dress is beautifully wrought, as are also the shoul-
ders, which, with the back, continue quite uninjured
The massy hair projects from behind the ears like that
of the sphinx. The sides of the throne are highly
ornamented with the elegant device of two bearded
figures tying the stem of the flexible lotus round the
ligula. The colossus is in a sitting posture, with the
hands resting on the knees. The other statue, which
stands on the north side, appears to be that of the
vocal Memnon. It presents the same attitude as its
companion. This famous statue was said to utter,
when it was struck by tho first beams of the sun, a
sound like the snapping asunder of a musical string,
(Pausan. , 1, 42, 3. ) Cambyses, who spared not the
Egyptian god Apis, suspecting some imposture, broke
the statue from the head to the middle of the body,
but discovered nothing. Strabo (816), who visited
the spot in a later age, states that he saw two colos-
sal figures, one of them erect, and the other broken off
from above, and the fragments lying on tho ground.
He adds, however, a tradition, that this had been oc-
casioned by an earthquake. The geographer says
that he and . Elius Callus, with many other friends
/ and a large number of soldiers, were standing by these
statues early in the morning, when they heard a cer-
tain sound, but could not determine whether it came
from the colossus, or the base, or from tho surrounding
multitude. He mentions also that it was a current
belief that the sound came from that part of the statue
which remained on tho base. Pliny and Tacitus
mention the sound produced from the statue without
having themselves heard it (Pint. , 36, 11. -- Tacit. ,
Ann. , 2, 61. --Compare Juvenal, 15, 5), and Lucian
informs us that Demetrius went on purpose to -Egypt
to see the pyramids and Memnon's statue, from which
a voice proceeded at the rising of the sun. (Toxaris,
6, 27. ) It was a general persuasion, indeed, among
the Egyptians as well as others, that before Cambyses
broke this colossus, it uttered the seven mysterious
vowels. What characterizes, however, in a particu-
lar degree, the statue of vocal celebrity, is the inscrip-
tions, both in Greek and Latin, in verse and prose, with
which its legs are covered. Most of these inscriptions
? ? belong to the period of the early Roman emperors,
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? MEM
MEMPHIS.
sume in the lap of the statue in the year 1824, and
ronjectured that it might have been uaed to deceive
the Rinnan v'-iters; but the nature of tho sound,
which did not agree with the accounts given by an-
neiit aulhoia, seemed to present an insuperable objec-
tion. In a subsequent visit to Thebes in 1830, on
igiir. summing the statue and its inscriptions, I found
! bat oho Ballilla had compared it to the striking of
irass; and feeling convinced that this authority was
iiore decisive than the vague accounts of thoso wri-
ters who had never heard it, I determined on posting
ionic peasants below and aacending myself to the lap
of the statue, with a view of hearing from them the
impression made by the sound. Having struck the
sonorous block with a small hammer, I inquired what
they heard, and their answer, Ente betidrob e'nahas,
'You are striking brass,' convinced me that the
sound was the same that deceived the Romans, and
led Strabo to observe that it appeared to him as the
effect of a alight blow. " (Wilkinson11 Topography
of Thtbct, p. 36, seq )--The head of the colossal
Memnon in the British Museum has no claim to be con-
sidered the vocal Memnon described by Strabo, Taci-
tus, and Pausanias. The height of the figure to which
the head belongs was about 24 feet when entire.
There is also an entire colossal Memnon in the British
Museum 9 feet 6) inches high, which is a copy of the
jreat Memr. on at Thebes. {Hamilton's Mgyptiaca.
-- Philological Museum, No. 4, art. Memnon. --En-
a/el. Us. Knowi, vol. IS, p. 88, seqq. )
Memphis, a famous city of Egypt, on the left side
af the Nile. Concerning the epoch of its foundation
and its precise situation, writers are r. ot agreed. With
regard to its position, it would seem, from a review
of all the authorities which bear upon the subject,
that Memphis stood about IS miles south of the Apex
of the Delta: this, at least, is D'Anville's opinion.
Herodotus (2, 99) assigns the founding of Memphis
to Menes, and Diodorus (1, SO) to Uchoreus. From
the account given by the former of these writers, it
would seem that the Nile originally ran nearer the
Libyan mountains, and that Menes, having erected a
Urge dam about a hundred stadia south of the spot
where Memphis afterward stood, caused the river to
pursue a more easterly course. After he had thus di-
verted the current of the stream, he built Memphis
within the ancient bed of the Nile. The great em-
bankment was always an object of attention, and
Herodotus states that under the Persian dominion it
was annually repaired; for if the river had at any time
broken through the bank, the whole city would have
be in inundated. In Memphis the same Menes erected
a njignincent tenylc to Vulcan or Phtha. (Herod. , I.
e. ) What Herodotus partly saw and partly learned
from the lips of the priests relative to this city, Dio-
dorus confirms (I, SO). He, too, speaks of the large
embankment, of a vast and deep excavation which re-
ceived the water of the river, and which, encircling
the city, excep in the quarter where the mound was
constructed, rendered it secure against any hostile
attack. He differs from Herodotus, however, in ma-
king, as has already been remarked, Uchoreus to have
been its founder. On this point, indeed, there appears
to have been a great diversity of opinion among the
ancient writers, for we find the building of Memphis
assigned also to Epaphus (Schol. , in Stat. , Theb. , 4,
737) and to Apis. (Syncellus, p. 149. --Compare
? ? Wesseling, ad Diod. Sic, I. c. ) It is more than
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? MEN
MENANDER.
Mind years mug, hare done towards its destruction,
iherc are yet found in it works so wonderful that they
'Dnfouud even a reflecting mind, and are such as the
most eloquent would not be able to describe. The
more you consider them, the more does your astonish-
ment increase; and the more you look at them, the
more pleasure you experience Every idea which they
? uggest immediately gives birth to some other still
more n. vel and unexpected; and as soon as you ima-
gine that you have traced out their full scope, you dis-
cover that there is something still greater behind. "
Among the works here alluded to, he specifies a mon-
olithic temple similar to the one mentioned by Herod-
otus, adorned with curious sculptures. He next ex-
patiates upon the idols found among the ruins, not less
remarkable for the beauty of their forms, the exactness
of their proportions, and perfect resemblance to na-
ture, than for their truly astonishing dimensions. We
measured one of them, he says, which, without in-
cluding the pedestal, was 45 feet in length, 15 feet
from side to aide, and from back to front in the same
proportion. It was of one block of red granite, covered
with a coating of red varnish, tho antiquity of which
seemed only to increaae its lustre. The ruins of
Memphis, in his time, extended to the distance of half
a day'e journey in every direction. But so rapidly has
the work of destruction proceeded since the twelfth
century, that few points have been more debated by
modern travellers than the site of thia celebrated me-
tropolis. The investigations of the French, as nas al-
ready been remarked, appear to have decided the ques-
tion. "At Myt-Rahyneh (Metrahaini), one league
from Saccara, we found," says General Dugna, "so
many blocks of granite covered with hieroglyphics and
sculptures around and within an esplanade three leagues
in circumference, enclosed by heaps of rubbish, that we
were convinced these must be the ruins of Memphis.
The sight of some fragments of one of those colos-
? usses, which Herodotus says were erected by Sesos-
ris at the entrance of the temple of Vulcan, would,
ndced, have been sufficient to dispel our doubts had
any remained. The wrist of this colossus shows that
t must have been 45 feet high. " (RusieWs Egypt,
p. 216, scifj. )-- Memphis is thought by many to have
been the Noph of Scripture. {Isaiah, 19, 13--Jcr. ,
i, \6. --Ezek. ,30, 13-16. )
Menander (Mtvavdpoc), I.
a celebrated comic poet
il Athens, born B. C. 342. According to Suidas, he
*as the son of Diopithes and Hegistrate, was cross-
eyed, and yet clear-headed enough (orpaSof too oipeic
'<fi>c dc tov voiiv). His father was at this time com-
mander of the forces stationed by the Athenians at the
Hellespont, and must therefore have been a man of
>>ome consequence. Alexis, the comic poet, was his
uncle and instructer in the drama. (Proleg. , Aris-
'oph. , p. 30 ) Theophrastus was his tutor in philoso-
phy and literature, and he may have derived from the
latter the knowledge of character for which he waa so
eminent. (Ding. Laert. , 5, 36. ) The merit of his
pieces obtained for him the title of Chief of the New
Comedy. His compositions were remarkable for their
elegance, refined wit, and knowledge of human nature.
In his 21st year he brought out the 'Opyrf, his first
'(Proleg. , Aristoph. , p. xxx. ) He lived 29
drama.
vears more, dying B. C. 292, after having composed
105 plays, according to some aulhorities (Apollod. , ap.
? ? A*l. Geli, 17,4), and according to others 108. (Sui-
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? AT R ;\
ME>>
iteout 370 H. C He mi the author of a treatise
Hep* KJrjd'ixr. *<Jv," Concerning discourses delivered
for mere display. " -- III. Surnamed "Protector," a
Greek writer, who lived at Constantinople during the
latter half of the sixth century. He was one of the
emperor's body-guard, whence he derived the name of
"Protector. " (Cod. Theodos. . 6, 84. ) He wrote a
history of the Eastern empire, from A. D. 659 to A. D.
582, in eight books, of which considerable extracts
have been preserved in the " Ecloga Legationum,"
? ttributed to Conatantine Porphyrogenitus. The best
edition of Menander is by Bekker and'Niebuhr, Bonn. ,
1830, together with the fragments of Dexippus, Eu-
napius, Patricius, &c. (Encycl. Us. Knoxel. , vol. 15,
p. 9S. )
MisapTi, I. a powerful tribe of Belgic Gaul, occu-
pying originally all the country between the Rhenus
and Mosa (Rhine and Meuse) as far nearly as the ter-
ritory of Julick. In Caesar's time they had even pos-
sessions on the eastern side of the Rhine, until driven
thence by the German tribes. (Cos. , B. G. , 4, 4. )
At a later period they removed from the banks of the
Rhine, when the Ubii and Sigambri, from Germany,
established themselves on the western bank of the riv-
er. From a passage in Tacitus (Hist. , 4, 28), it ap-
pears that the territory of this tribe was subsequently
to be found along the lower Mcuse. They had a for-
tress on this last-mentioned stream, whose name of
Cistellum still subsists in Kessel. In Caesar's days
the Menapii had no city, but lived after the German
fashion, in the woods and among the fens. (Man-
nert, Geogr. ,vo\. 2, pt. 1, p. 201. )--II. A Gallic tribe
who migrated into Hibernia (Ireland), and settled in
part of the modern province of Leinster. (Manner! ,
Geogr. , vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 218. )
Mrsiv a freedmanof Pompey the Great, noted for
frequent! ? changing sides in the war between Sextus
Pompcius and the triumvirs. He first deserted the
party of Sextus, under whom he held an important
liv ll command, and went over to Augustus: then
be returned to his former side; and again abandoned
>< and joined the forces of the enemy. (Compare Ap-
tian, B. C, 5, 78, seqq. ) The historian just quoted
apf lies to him the very appropriate title of xa? . i/i-po-
tornc. Horace has been thought to allude to him in
hi] 4th Epode; but this opinion, though countenanced
ky the earlier commentators, has been rejected by
nore recent scholars. (DSring, ad Horat, Epod. , 4,
ir/r)
Mendes, a city of Egypt, in the Delta Parvum,
northeast of Sebennytus, and near the coast. It was
the chief city of, and gave name to, the Mendesian
nome. From it also the Mendesian mouth of the Nile
(Ostium Mendesium), now the canal of Achmun, de-
rived its appellation. The goat was here an object of
adoration, and Herodotus states (2. 46) that both this
animal and the god Pan were called in the Egyptian
language Mendes. Pan was worshipped at this place
with the visage and feet of a goat; though what the
Greek writers here call Pan answers more correctly
to the deity Priapus, or the generative attribute ran-
fidered abstractedly. At Mendes, female goats were
also held sacred. The fable of Jupiter having been
suckled by a goat probably arose from some emble-
matic composition, the true explanation of which was
known only to the initiated. --The city of Mendes
gradually disappeared from history, and in its imme-
? ? diate vicinity rose the city of Thmuis, where the goat
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? ME A
MEN
hie means o. subsistence, and, according to a law of
Solon's, they were cited before the court of Areopagus,
to givo an account of the manner in which they were
supported. The master of one of the public prisons
was, at their request, sent for, and attested, that every
night these two youths went among the criminals, and,
by grinding with them, earned two drachmas, which
snabled them to spend the day in the study of philoso-
phy. The magistrates, struck with admiration at
such an extraordinary proof of an indefatigable thirst
tfter knowledge, dismissed them with high applause,
and presented them with two hundred drachmae.
(Athenians, 4. p. 168. ) They met with aeveral other
friends, who liberally supplied them with whatever waa
necessary to enable them to prosecute their studies.
By the advice of his friend, and probably in his society,
Menedemus went from Athens to Megara, to attend
upon the instructions of Stilpo. He expressed his
approbation of the manner in which this philosopher
taught, by giving him the appellation of "the Liber-
al. " He next visited Elis, where he became a disci-
ple of Phaedo, and afterward his successor. Transfer-
ring the Eliac school from Elis to his native city, he
gave it the name of Eretrian. In his school he neg-
lected those forms which were commonly observed in
places of this kind; his hearers were not, as usual,
placed on circular benches around him; but every one
attended him in whatever posture he pleased, standing,
walking, or sitting. At first Menedemus was received
by the Erctrians with contempt, and, on account of the
vehemence with which he disputed, he was often
branded with the appellation of cur and madman But
afterward he rose into high esteem, and was intrusted
with a public office, to which was affixed an annual
stipend of 200 talents. He discharged the trust with
fidelity and reputation, but would only accept a fourth
part of the salary. * He waa afterward sent as ambas-
sador to Ptolemy, Lysander, and Demetrius, and did
his countrymen several important services. Antigonus
entertained a personal respect for him, and professed
kin-self one of his disciples. His intimacy with this
orince made the Eretrians suspect him of a design to
betray their city to Antigonus. To save himself, he
fled to Antigonus, and soon after died, in the 84th year
of his age. It is thought he precipitated his death by
abstaining from food, being oppressed with grief at the
ingratitude of his countrymen, and on being unable to
persuade Antigonus to restore the lost liberties of his
country. (Diog. Laert. ,%, $ 125, seqq. -- Enfield's
History of Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 204, seqq. )--II. A
native of Lampsacus, in whom the spirit of the Cynic
sect degenerated into downright madness. Dressed
in a black cloak, with >>n Arcadian cap upon his head,
on which were drawn the figures of the twelve signs
of the zodiac, with tr/uric buskins on his legs, with a
long beard, and with an ashen staff in his hand, he
went about like a maniac, saying that he was a spirit,
returned from the lower world to admonish the living.
He lived in the reign of Antigonus, king of Macedon.
(Diog. Laert. , 6,Y t02. --Suid. ,s v. fait--Enfield's
History of Philosophy, vol. I, p. 314. )
Me. nki. ai Portub (Mci'fXuiof Xt/ir/v, Herod. , 4,
169), a harbour on the Mediterranean coast of Africa,
in Cyrcna-ca, and between the city of Cyrene and
Egypt. It was fabled to have Jerived ita name from
Menelaua, who, on fleeing from Egypt, i<. -"<ied upon
this coast. (Strab. , 1195-- Scylaz, p. 45. --Corn.
? ? Kef. , Vil. Ages, 17. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt.
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? MEN
MEN
Henalaut but the Egyptian priests pretended that
Paris was oriven by arfverse winds to Egypt, where
Proteus, who was then king, learning the truth, kept
Helena and dismissed Paris; that the Greeks would
not believe the Trojans, that the was not in their city,
till they bad taken 't; and that then Menelaus sailed
to Egypt, wbire L* wife was restored to him. (He-
rut. , 'i, 113, <<eqq. - Vid. Helena. --Keightley's My-
Sk tiogy, p. 4j'Z, stqq)--As regards the reconciliation
? f Menelaus and Helen, Virgil follows the account
which makes the latter to have ingratiated herself into
'. he favour of her first husband by betraying Deipho-
bus into his hands on the night when Troy was taken.
(? n. , 6, 494. seqq. --Compare (faint. Col. , 13, 354,
seqq--Diet. Cret. , 5, 116. )
Menknius, I. Agrippa, a celebrated Roman, who
obtained the consulship B. C. 501, and who afterward
prevailed upon the people, when they had seceded to
the Mons Sacer, to return to the city. He related on
this occasion the well-known fable of the stomach and
the limbs. (Liv. , 2, id. --Id. , 2, 32. )--II. Titus, son
of the preceding, was chosen consul with C.
? MEM
NF. M
appointed candidate. (Vid. Marius. )--HI. L. Mem-
mius Gemellus, was tribune of the commons B. C.
M. and praetor B. C. 59, in which latter capacity he
Uad the government of Bilhynia. He was distinguish-
ed as an orator and-poet, and was the friend and patron
of Catullus and Lucretius, the latter of whom dedicated
his poem to him. Cicero describes him as a man of
rt literary acquirements, and well acquainted with
Grecian language and literature. (Brut. , 70. )
The same writer, however, represents him elsewhere
is a man of licentious habits. (/? . '/'? ad Alt. , 1, 18. )
Re was an opponent of Cesar's, and was driven into
exile by means of the latter, on the charge of bribery
in suing for the consulship, and also of extortion in the
province of Bithynia. He died in exile. (Cie , Ep.
ad Fam. , 13, I. --Manut. , ad loc. --Id. , Ep. ad Alt. ,
8, 1. --Ernesti, Ind. Hist. , s. r. )
Memnon, I. a personage frequently mentioned by
'he Greek writers. He is first spoken of in tho Odys-
sey as the son of Eos, or the morning, as a hero re-
markable for his beauty, and as the vanquisher of An-
tilochus (4, 188; 11, 521) Hesiod calls him the
King of the Ethiopians, and represents him as the son
ofTilhonus. (Theog. , 986 ) He is supposed to have
fought against the Greeks in the Trojan war, and to
have been slain by Achilles. In the "tvxooraaia, a
lost drama of . -Eschylus, the dead liody of Memnon is
carried away by his mother Eos. (Fragm. tfo. 261,
'? d. Dindorf. ) He is represented by most Greek wri-
*rs as King of the Ethiopians, but he is also said to
fcve been connected with Persia. According to Dio-
dorus (2, 22), Tithonus, the father of Memnon, govern-
ed Persia, at the time of the Trojan war, as the viceroy
of Teutamus, the Assyrian king; and Memnon erected
at Susa the palace which was afterward known by the
name of Memnonium. Diodorus also adds, that the
Ethiopians claimed Memnon as a native of their coun-
try. Pausanias combines the two accounts: he repre-
sents Memnon as king of the Ethiopians, but also says
that be came to Troy from Susa, and not from Ethio-
pia, subduing all the nations in his way. (Pausan. ,
10, 31, 6. --Id. , 1, 42, 2 ) iEschylus also, according
to Strabo, spoke of the Cissian, that is, Susian, parent-
age of Memnon (Strabo, 720): and Herodotus men-
tions the palace at Susa, called Memnonia, and also
says, that the city itself was sometimes described by
'he same name. (Herod. , 5, 53. seq. --Id. , 7, 151. )
The great majority of Greek writers agree in tracing
the origin of Memnon to Egypt or Ethiopia; and it is
not improbable that the name of Memnon was not
known in Susa till after the Persian conquest of Egypt,
and that the buildings there called Mcmnonian by the
Greeks were, in name, at least, the representative of
those in Egypt. The partial deciphering of the Egyp-
tian proper names affords us sufficient reason for be-
lieving, with Pausanias (1,42, 2), that the Memnon of
the Greeks may be identified with the Egyptian Pha-
mentoph, Phamenoth, Amenophis, or Amenolhph, of
which name the Greek one is probably only a corrup-
tion. Phamenoph is said to mean " the guardian of
the city of Ammon," or " devoted to Ammon," "be-
longing to Ammon. "--Memnon, then, must be regard-
ed as one nf the early heroes or kings of Egypt, whose
fame reached Greece in very early times. In the
eighteenth dynasty of Manetho the name of Amenophis
occurs, with this remark : "This is he who is supposed
to be the Memnon and the vocal stone. " He is Ameno-
? ? phis II. , and the son of Thutmosis, who is said to have
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? MLMN. JNIUM.
MEMNONIl. V
ci. iiukI. and shattered into a thousand pieces. ft
is about 26 feet broad between the shoulders, 54 feet
round the chest, and 13 feet from the shoulder to the
elbow. There are on the back and on both arms
uicroglyphical tablets, extremely well executed, which
identify this enormous statue with the hero whose
achievements are sculptured on the walls of the tem-
ple. This figure has sometimes been confounded
with that which bears the name of Munition, and
wh'ch has so long been celebrated for its vocal quali-
ties. The latter, however, is one of the two statues
vulgarly called Shama and Dama, which stand a little
distance from Mcdincl Abou towards the Nile. These,
we are told, are nearly equal in magnitude, being about
S3 feet in height. The thrones on which they re-
spectively rest are 30 feet long, IS broad, and be-
tween seven and eight feet high. Tbcy are placed
about 40 feet asunder; are in a line with each other,
and look towards the east, directly opposite to the
temple of Luxor. If there be any difference of size,
the southern one is the smaller. It appears to be of
one entire stone. The face, arms, and front of the
body have suffered so much from studied violence,
that not a feature of the countenance remains. The
head-dress is beautifully wrought, as are also the shoul-
ders, which, with the back, continue quite uninjured
The massy hair projects from behind the ears like that
of the sphinx. The sides of the throne are highly
ornamented with the elegant device of two bearded
figures tying the stem of the flexible lotus round the
ligula. The colossus is in a sitting posture, with the
hands resting on the knees. The other statue, which
stands on the north side, appears to be that of the
vocal Memnon. It presents the same attitude as its
companion. This famous statue was said to utter,
when it was struck by tho first beams of the sun, a
sound like the snapping asunder of a musical string,
(Pausan. , 1, 42, 3. ) Cambyses, who spared not the
Egyptian god Apis, suspecting some imposture, broke
the statue from the head to the middle of the body,
but discovered nothing. Strabo (816), who visited
the spot in a later age, states that he saw two colos-
sal figures, one of them erect, and the other broken off
from above, and the fragments lying on tho ground.
He adds, however, a tradition, that this had been oc-
casioned by an earthquake. The geographer says
that he and . Elius Callus, with many other friends
/ and a large number of soldiers, were standing by these
statues early in the morning, when they heard a cer-
tain sound, but could not determine whether it came
from the colossus, or the base, or from tho surrounding
multitude. He mentions also that it was a current
belief that the sound came from that part of the statue
which remained on tho base. Pliny and Tacitus
mention the sound produced from the statue without
having themselves heard it (Pint. , 36, 11. -- Tacit. ,
Ann. , 2, 61. --Compare Juvenal, 15, 5), and Lucian
informs us that Demetrius went on purpose to -Egypt
to see the pyramids and Memnon's statue, from which
a voice proceeded at the rising of the sun. (Toxaris,
6, 27. ) It was a general persuasion, indeed, among
the Egyptians as well as others, that before Cambyses
broke this colossus, it uttered the seven mysterious
vowels. What characterizes, however, in a particu-
lar degree, the statue of vocal celebrity, is the inscrip-
tions, both in Greek and Latin, in verse and prose, with
which its legs are covered. Most of these inscriptions
? ? belong to the period of the early Roman emperors,
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? MEM
MEMPHIS.
sume in the lap of the statue in the year 1824, and
ronjectured that it might have been uaed to deceive
the Rinnan v'-iters; but the nature of tho sound,
which did not agree with the accounts given by an-
neiit aulhoia, seemed to present an insuperable objec-
tion. In a subsequent visit to Thebes in 1830, on
igiir. summing the statue and its inscriptions, I found
! bat oho Ballilla had compared it to the striking of
irass; and feeling convinced that this authority was
iiore decisive than the vague accounts of thoso wri-
ters who had never heard it, I determined on posting
ionic peasants below and aacending myself to the lap
of the statue, with a view of hearing from them the
impression made by the sound. Having struck the
sonorous block with a small hammer, I inquired what
they heard, and their answer, Ente betidrob e'nahas,
'You are striking brass,' convinced me that the
sound was the same that deceived the Romans, and
led Strabo to observe that it appeared to him as the
effect of a alight blow. " (Wilkinson11 Topography
of Thtbct, p. 36, seq )--The head of the colossal
Memnon in the British Museum has no claim to be con-
sidered the vocal Memnon described by Strabo, Taci-
tus, and Pausanias. The height of the figure to which
the head belongs was about 24 feet when entire.
There is also an entire colossal Memnon in the British
Museum 9 feet 6) inches high, which is a copy of the
jreat Memr. on at Thebes. {Hamilton's Mgyptiaca.
-- Philological Museum, No. 4, art. Memnon. --En-
a/el. Us. Knowi, vol. IS, p. 88, seqq. )
Memphis, a famous city of Egypt, on the left side
af the Nile. Concerning the epoch of its foundation
and its precise situation, writers are r. ot agreed. With
regard to its position, it would seem, from a review
of all the authorities which bear upon the subject,
that Memphis stood about IS miles south of the Apex
of the Delta: this, at least, is D'Anville's opinion.
Herodotus (2, 99) assigns the founding of Memphis
to Menes, and Diodorus (1, SO) to Uchoreus. From
the account given by the former of these writers, it
would seem that the Nile originally ran nearer the
Libyan mountains, and that Menes, having erected a
Urge dam about a hundred stadia south of the spot
where Memphis afterward stood, caused the river to
pursue a more easterly course. After he had thus di-
verted the current of the stream, he built Memphis
within the ancient bed of the Nile. The great em-
bankment was always an object of attention, and
Herodotus states that under the Persian dominion it
was annually repaired; for if the river had at any time
broken through the bank, the whole city would have
be in inundated. In Memphis the same Menes erected
a njignincent tenylc to Vulcan or Phtha. (Herod. , I.
e. ) What Herodotus partly saw and partly learned
from the lips of the priests relative to this city, Dio-
dorus confirms (I, SO). He, too, speaks of the large
embankment, of a vast and deep excavation which re-
ceived the water of the river, and which, encircling
the city, excep in the quarter where the mound was
constructed, rendered it secure against any hostile
attack. He differs from Herodotus, however, in ma-
king, as has already been remarked, Uchoreus to have
been its founder. On this point, indeed, there appears
to have been a great diversity of opinion among the
ancient writers, for we find the building of Memphis
assigned also to Epaphus (Schol. , in Stat. , Theb. , 4,
737) and to Apis. (Syncellus, p. 149. --Compare
? ? Wesseling, ad Diod. Sic, I. c. ) It is more than
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? MEN
MENANDER.
Mind years mug, hare done towards its destruction,
iherc are yet found in it works so wonderful that they
'Dnfouud even a reflecting mind, and are such as the
most eloquent would not be able to describe. The
more you consider them, the more does your astonish-
ment increase; and the more you look at them, the
more pleasure you experience Every idea which they
? uggest immediately gives birth to some other still
more n. vel and unexpected; and as soon as you ima-
gine that you have traced out their full scope, you dis-
cover that there is something still greater behind. "
Among the works here alluded to, he specifies a mon-
olithic temple similar to the one mentioned by Herod-
otus, adorned with curious sculptures. He next ex-
patiates upon the idols found among the ruins, not less
remarkable for the beauty of their forms, the exactness
of their proportions, and perfect resemblance to na-
ture, than for their truly astonishing dimensions. We
measured one of them, he says, which, without in-
cluding the pedestal, was 45 feet in length, 15 feet
from side to aide, and from back to front in the same
proportion. It was of one block of red granite, covered
with a coating of red varnish, tho antiquity of which
seemed only to increaae its lustre. The ruins of
Memphis, in his time, extended to the distance of half
a day'e journey in every direction. But so rapidly has
the work of destruction proceeded since the twelfth
century, that few points have been more debated by
modern travellers than the site of thia celebrated me-
tropolis. The investigations of the French, as nas al-
ready been remarked, appear to have decided the ques-
tion. "At Myt-Rahyneh (Metrahaini), one league
from Saccara, we found," says General Dugna, "so
many blocks of granite covered with hieroglyphics and
sculptures around and within an esplanade three leagues
in circumference, enclosed by heaps of rubbish, that we
were convinced these must be the ruins of Memphis.
The sight of some fragments of one of those colos-
? usses, which Herodotus says were erected by Sesos-
ris at the entrance of the temple of Vulcan, would,
ndced, have been sufficient to dispel our doubts had
any remained. The wrist of this colossus shows that
t must have been 45 feet high. " (RusieWs Egypt,
p. 216, scifj. )-- Memphis is thought by many to have
been the Noph of Scripture. {Isaiah, 19, 13--Jcr. ,
i, \6. --Ezek. ,30, 13-16. )
Menander (Mtvavdpoc), I.
a celebrated comic poet
il Athens, born B. C. 342. According to Suidas, he
*as the son of Diopithes and Hegistrate, was cross-
eyed, and yet clear-headed enough (orpaSof too oipeic
'<fi>c dc tov voiiv). His father was at this time com-
mander of the forces stationed by the Athenians at the
Hellespont, and must therefore have been a man of
>>ome consequence. Alexis, the comic poet, was his
uncle and instructer in the drama. (Proleg. , Aris-
'oph. , p. 30 ) Theophrastus was his tutor in philoso-
phy and literature, and he may have derived from the
latter the knowledge of character for which he waa so
eminent. (Ding. Laert. , 5, 36. ) The merit of his
pieces obtained for him the title of Chief of the New
Comedy. His compositions were remarkable for their
elegance, refined wit, and knowledge of human nature.
In his 21st year he brought out the 'Opyrf, his first
'(Proleg. , Aristoph. , p. xxx. ) He lived 29
drama.
vears more, dying B. C. 292, after having composed
105 plays, according to some aulhorities (Apollod. , ap.
? ? A*l. Geli, 17,4), and according to others 108. (Sui-
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? AT R ;\
ME>>
iteout 370 H. C He mi the author of a treatise
Hep* KJrjd'ixr. *<Jv," Concerning discourses delivered
for mere display. " -- III. Surnamed "Protector," a
Greek writer, who lived at Constantinople during the
latter half of the sixth century. He was one of the
emperor's body-guard, whence he derived the name of
"Protector. " (Cod. Theodos. . 6, 84. ) He wrote a
history of the Eastern empire, from A. D. 659 to A. D.
582, in eight books, of which considerable extracts
have been preserved in the " Ecloga Legationum,"
? ttributed to Conatantine Porphyrogenitus. The best
edition of Menander is by Bekker and'Niebuhr, Bonn. ,
1830, together with the fragments of Dexippus, Eu-
napius, Patricius, &c. (Encycl. Us. Knoxel. , vol. 15,
p. 9S. )
MisapTi, I. a powerful tribe of Belgic Gaul, occu-
pying originally all the country between the Rhenus
and Mosa (Rhine and Meuse) as far nearly as the ter-
ritory of Julick. In Caesar's time they had even pos-
sessions on the eastern side of the Rhine, until driven
thence by the German tribes. (Cos. , B. G. , 4, 4. )
At a later period they removed from the banks of the
Rhine, when the Ubii and Sigambri, from Germany,
established themselves on the western bank of the riv-
er. From a passage in Tacitus (Hist. , 4, 28), it ap-
pears that the territory of this tribe was subsequently
to be found along the lower Mcuse. They had a for-
tress on this last-mentioned stream, whose name of
Cistellum still subsists in Kessel. In Caesar's days
the Menapii had no city, but lived after the German
fashion, in the woods and among the fens. (Man-
nert, Geogr. ,vo\. 2, pt. 1, p. 201. )--II. A Gallic tribe
who migrated into Hibernia (Ireland), and settled in
part of the modern province of Leinster. (Manner! ,
Geogr. , vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 218. )
Mrsiv a freedmanof Pompey the Great, noted for
frequent! ? changing sides in the war between Sextus
Pompcius and the triumvirs. He first deserted the
party of Sextus, under whom he held an important
liv ll command, and went over to Augustus: then
be returned to his former side; and again abandoned
>< and joined the forces of the enemy. (Compare Ap-
tian, B. C, 5, 78, seqq. ) The historian just quoted
apf lies to him the very appropriate title of xa? . i/i-po-
tornc. Horace has been thought to allude to him in
hi] 4th Epode; but this opinion, though countenanced
ky the earlier commentators, has been rejected by
nore recent scholars. (DSring, ad Horat, Epod. , 4,
ir/r)
Mendes, a city of Egypt, in the Delta Parvum,
northeast of Sebennytus, and near the coast. It was
the chief city of, and gave name to, the Mendesian
nome. From it also the Mendesian mouth of the Nile
(Ostium Mendesium), now the canal of Achmun, de-
rived its appellation. The goat was here an object of
adoration, and Herodotus states (2. 46) that both this
animal and the god Pan were called in the Egyptian
language Mendes. Pan was worshipped at this place
with the visage and feet of a goat; though what the
Greek writers here call Pan answers more correctly
to the deity Priapus, or the generative attribute ran-
fidered abstractedly. At Mendes, female goats were
also held sacred. The fable of Jupiter having been
suckled by a goat probably arose from some emble-
matic composition, the true explanation of which was
known only to the initiated. --The city of Mendes
gradually disappeared from history, and in its imme-
? ? diate vicinity rose the city of Thmuis, where the goat
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? ME A
MEN
hie means o. subsistence, and, according to a law of
Solon's, they were cited before the court of Areopagus,
to givo an account of the manner in which they were
supported. The master of one of the public prisons
was, at their request, sent for, and attested, that every
night these two youths went among the criminals, and,
by grinding with them, earned two drachmas, which
snabled them to spend the day in the study of philoso-
phy. The magistrates, struck with admiration at
such an extraordinary proof of an indefatigable thirst
tfter knowledge, dismissed them with high applause,
and presented them with two hundred drachmae.
(Athenians, 4. p. 168. ) They met with aeveral other
friends, who liberally supplied them with whatever waa
necessary to enable them to prosecute their studies.
By the advice of his friend, and probably in his society,
Menedemus went from Athens to Megara, to attend
upon the instructions of Stilpo. He expressed his
approbation of the manner in which this philosopher
taught, by giving him the appellation of "the Liber-
al. " He next visited Elis, where he became a disci-
ple of Phaedo, and afterward his successor. Transfer-
ring the Eliac school from Elis to his native city, he
gave it the name of Eretrian. In his school he neg-
lected those forms which were commonly observed in
places of this kind; his hearers were not, as usual,
placed on circular benches around him; but every one
attended him in whatever posture he pleased, standing,
walking, or sitting. At first Menedemus was received
by the Erctrians with contempt, and, on account of the
vehemence with which he disputed, he was often
branded with the appellation of cur and madman But
afterward he rose into high esteem, and was intrusted
with a public office, to which was affixed an annual
stipend of 200 talents. He discharged the trust with
fidelity and reputation, but would only accept a fourth
part of the salary. * He waa afterward sent as ambas-
sador to Ptolemy, Lysander, and Demetrius, and did
his countrymen several important services. Antigonus
entertained a personal respect for him, and professed
kin-self one of his disciples. His intimacy with this
orince made the Eretrians suspect him of a design to
betray their city to Antigonus. To save himself, he
fled to Antigonus, and soon after died, in the 84th year
of his age. It is thought he precipitated his death by
abstaining from food, being oppressed with grief at the
ingratitude of his countrymen, and on being unable to
persuade Antigonus to restore the lost liberties of his
country. (Diog. Laert. ,%, $ 125, seqq. -- Enfield's
History of Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 204, seqq. )--II. A
native of Lampsacus, in whom the spirit of the Cynic
sect degenerated into downright madness. Dressed
in a black cloak, with >>n Arcadian cap upon his head,
on which were drawn the figures of the twelve signs
of the zodiac, with tr/uric buskins on his legs, with a
long beard, and with an ashen staff in his hand, he
went about like a maniac, saying that he was a spirit,
returned from the lower world to admonish the living.
He lived in the reign of Antigonus, king of Macedon.
(Diog. Laert. , 6,Y t02. --Suid. ,s v. fait--Enfield's
History of Philosophy, vol. I, p. 314. )
Me. nki. ai Portub (Mci'fXuiof Xt/ir/v, Herod. , 4,
169), a harbour on the Mediterranean coast of Africa,
in Cyrcna-ca, and between the city of Cyrene and
Egypt. It was fabled to have Jerived ita name from
Menelaua, who, on fleeing from Egypt, i<. -"<ied upon
this coast. (Strab. , 1195-- Scylaz, p. 45. --Corn.
? ? Kef. , Vil. Ages, 17. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt.
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? MEN
MEN
Henalaut but the Egyptian priests pretended that
Paris was oriven by arfverse winds to Egypt, where
Proteus, who was then king, learning the truth, kept
Helena and dismissed Paris; that the Greeks would
not believe the Trojans, that the was not in their city,
till they bad taken 't; and that then Menelaus sailed
to Egypt, wbire L* wife was restored to him. (He-
rut. , 'i, 113, <<eqq. - Vid. Helena. --Keightley's My-
Sk tiogy, p. 4j'Z, stqq)--As regards the reconciliation
? f Menelaus and Helen, Virgil follows the account
which makes the latter to have ingratiated herself into
'. he favour of her first husband by betraying Deipho-
bus into his hands on the night when Troy was taken.
(? n. , 6, 494. seqq. --Compare (faint. Col. , 13, 354,
seqq--Diet. Cret. , 5, 116. )
Menknius, I. Agrippa, a celebrated Roman, who
obtained the consulship B. C. 501, and who afterward
prevailed upon the people, when they had seceded to
the Mons Sacer, to return to the city. He related on
this occasion the well-known fable of the stomach and
the limbs. (Liv. , 2, id. --Id. , 2, 32. )--II. Titus, son
of the preceding, was chosen consul with C.
