re was an
inconsistency
in this is obvious.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
)
Ephialtes, a giant, son of Alocus. ( Vid. Aloi'tlns. )
Ernoai (*Ec>opo<), a body of magistrates at Sparta,
who were possessed of great privileges. The institu-
tion of this office is usually ascribed to Thcopompus,
the grandson of Charilaus the Proclid; but it has been
inferred, from the existence of an ephoralty in other
Dorian states before the time of Thcopompus, and
from its being apparently placed among the institu-
tions of Lyeurgus by Herodotus (1, 65) and Xeno-
phon (de Rep. L*e. , 8, 3), that it was an ancient Do-
rian magistracy. Arnold supposes that the ephori,
who were five in number, were coeval wilh the first
settlement of the Dorians in Sparta, and were merely
the municipal magistrates of the five hamlets which
composed the city {Midler, Dorians, vol. 2, p. 550,
JEn/r. transl. ); but that afterward, when the Heracli-
da? began to encroach upon the privileges of the other
Dorians, and, it would seem, in the reign of Thco-
pompus, who endeavoured to diminish the powers of
the general assembly of the Spartan aristocracv, the
Dcrians, in the struggle which ensued, gained for the
ephori an extension of authority, which placed them
virtually at the head of the state, although the nominal
sovereignty was still kept in the hands of the Heraclids.
(Arnold, ad Thucyd. , 1, ST. --Append. , 2, vol. 1, p.
646) Thus the ephori were popular magistrates, as
far as the Dorians themselves were concerned, and
? ? were, in fact, the guardians of their rights from the en-
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? E Pt
? PI
tie wile of Aidoneus, they were both taken prisoners
and detained. (I'ausan. , I, 17. --Compare Apollodo-
rus, 2, 7. --Died. Sic, 4, 36. ) It appears from Stra-
ta (3241 apd other authorities, that this town after-
ward tooK tbe name of Cichyrus, but on what occasion
we are not informed. Mr. Hughes, who has explored
with great attention this part of Epirus, reports, "that
? he rums of Ephyra are to be seen at no great dis-
tance from the Acherusian lake, near a deserted con-
<ent dedicated to St. John. Though the walls lie for
the most part in a confused mass of ruins, they may
be distinctly traced in a circular figure: those parts
which remain perfect exhibiting a specimen of masonry
apparently more rude even than Tiryns itself, though
the blocks used are not of so large dimensions. "
{Travels, vol. 2, p. 812. --Cramer's Ancient Greece,
vol. 1, p. 113, seqq)
Epicharmus, the first Greek comic writer of whom
? ve have any certain account. He was a Syracusan,
? -ither by birth or emigration. (Theocritus, Epig. , 17. )
tome make him a native of Orastus, some of Cos
iSuidas -- Eudocia, p. 100); but all agree that he
;>assed his life at Syracuse. It was about B. C. 600,
Olymp. 70, 1, thirty-five years after Thespis began to
? xhibit, eleven years after the commencement of Phry-
nichus, and just before the appearance of jEschylus as
n tragedian, that Epicharmus produced the first come-
dy properly so called. Before him this department of
the drama was, as we have every reason to believe,
eothing but a series of licentious songs and sarcastic
episodes, without plot, connexion, or consistency. He
gave to each exhibition one single and unbroken fable,
and converted the loose interlocutions into regular dia-
logue. (Arislot. , Poet. , 5, fi. ) The subjects of his
? omedics, as we may infer from the extant titles of
hirty-five of them, were partly parodies of mythologt-
tal subjects, and, as such, not very different from the
lialogue of the aatyric drama, and partly political, and
in this respect may have furnished a model for the
iialogue of the Athenian comedy. Tragedy had, some
fears before the era of Epicharmus, begun to assume
its st. - id and dignified character The woes of heroes
and the majesty of the gods had, under Phrynicus, be-
come its favourite theme. The Sicilian poet seems
to have been struck with the idea of exciting the mirth
of his audience by tbe exhibition of some ludicrous
matter dressed up in all the grave solemnity of the
newly-invented art. Discarding, therefore, the low drol-
leries and scurrilous invectives of the ancient Kuuyiia,
he opened a novel and less invidious source of amuse-
ment, by composing a set of burlesque dramas upon the
usual tragic subjects. (Athenaus, 15, p. 698, id.
Schiectgh. , vol. 5, p. 5fl5. ) They succeeded, and the
turn thus given to comedy long continued; so that
when it once more returned to personality and satire,
as it afterward did, tragedy and tragic poets were the
constant objects of its parody and ridicule. The great
changes thus effected by Epicharmus justly entitled
him to be called the Inventor of Comedy {Theocritus,
Epig. , 17), though it is probable that Phormis or Phor
mus preceded him by a few Olympiads. {Arislot. ,
Poet. , 3, 5. --Athenaus, 14, p. 652 a. ) But his mer-
. ts rest not here: he was distinguished for elegance
of composition as well as originality of conception.
Demetrius Phalereus (compare Vvssius, de Poet. Gr. ,
S, p. 31) says, that Epicharmus excelled in the choice
and collocation of epithets: on which account the
? ? name of 'E-rt^up/uoc was given to his kind of style,
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? EP1
EPICURUS.
mi; until he benevolently adopted a child whom a
friend had been compelled by poverty to expose, and
hired a nupe for its sake. --Epictetus was a teacher of
the Stoic philosophy, and the chief of those who lived
during the period of the Roman empire. Hia lessons
were principally, if not solely, directed to practical
Morality. His favourite maxim, and that into which
be resolved all practical morality, was " bear and/or-
h*r," uvixov icai an-e^ou. He appears to have dif-
fered from the Stoics on the subject of suicide. (Ar-
rian, Epict , 1, 8. ) We are told by Arrian, in his
Preface to the " Discourses," that he was a powerful
and exciting lecturer; and, according to Origen (c.
Cds. , 1, ad intl. ), his style was superior to that of
Plato. It ia a proof of the estimation iu which Epic-
tetus was held, that, on his death, his lamp was pur-
chased by some more eager than wise aspirant after
philosophy for three thousand drachmas, or over five
hundred dollars of our currency. (Lucian, adv. In-
ioct. her. ement , vol. 8. p. 15, erf Bip. ) Though it
is said by Suidas that Epictetus wrote much, there is
good reason to believe that he himself wrote nothing.
His Discourses were taken down by his pupil Arrian,
and published after his* death in six books, of which
four remain. The same Arrian compiled the Enchi-
ridion, and wrote a life of Epictetus, which is lost.
Some fragments have been preserved, however, by
Stobsus. Simplicius has also left a commentary on
his doctrine, in the Eclectic manner. The best edi-
tion of the remains of Epictetus is that of Schwcig-
heeuser, 6 vols. 8vo, L\ps. , 1799. The same editor
has published the Enchiridion, together with the Ta-
blet of Cebes, in a separate volume (Lips. , 1797,
8vo). There is an English version of the Enchiridion
or Manual by Mrs. Carter. {Fabric, Bibl. Grac, ed.
HarUs, vol. 5, p. 64. --Enfield, Hist. I'hilos. , vol. 2,
p 121. --Encycl. Us. Knoicl. , vol. 9, p. 471. )
Epiccrus, a celebrated philosopher, born in the year
Ml B. C. , seven years after the death of Plato. He
was a native of the Island of Samos, whither his father
had gone from Athens, in the year 352 B. C. , among
2000 colonists then sent out by the Athenians. (Stra-
ta 638. ) Yet he was an Athenian by right, belong-
ing to the borough Gargettus, and to the tribe . 'Egeis.
Hj father Neocles is said to have been a schoolmas-
ter, and his mother Chasristrata to have practised arts
of magic, in which iv was afterward made a charge
against Epicurus, that, when he was young, he assist-
ed her. (Diog. JLaert. , 10, 4. ) Having passed his
early years in Samos and Teos, he went to Athens at
the age of eighteen. We are told that he had begun
to study philosophy when only fourteen, having been
incited thereto by a desire, which the teachers to whom
he had applied had failed to satisfy, of understanding
Hesiod's description of chaos; and that he began with
the writings of Democritus. In Samos he is said to
nave received lessons from Patnphilus, a follower of
Plato. iSutd. --Cic, N. D. , 1, 26. )--On the occa-
sion of this his first visit to Athens, Epicurus stayed
there for a very short time. He left it in consequence
of the measures taken by Perdiccas after the death of
Alexander the Great, and went to Colophon to join his
rather. In his 32d year. 310 B. C. , he went to Myti-
iene, where he set up a school. Staying only one year
at this latter place, he next proceeded to Lampsacus,
v. her ? he taught for four years. He returned to Athens
in the year 306 B. C. , and now founded the school,
? ? which ever after was named from him the Epicurean.
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? EJVJURUS
EPI
tnfc utmost his pains; choosing that which tends to
- itsasure rather than that which tends to pain, and
ion which tends to a greater pleasure or to a lesser
lain rather than that which tends respectively to a
lesser pleasure or a greater pain. He used the terms
pleasure and pain in the most comprehensive way, as
including pleasure and pain of both mind and body;
sud he esteemed the pleasures and pains of the mind
as incomparably greater than those of the body. Ma-
iling, then, good and evil, or virtue and vice, depend
4ii a tendency to increase pleasure and diminish pain,
or the opposite, he arrived, aa he easily might do, at
the several virtues to be inculcated and vices to be
denounced. And when he got thus far, even his ad-
versaries had nothing to say against him. It is strange
that they should have continued to revile the principle,
no matter by what name it might be called, when they
saw that it was a principle which led to truth. --The
period in which Epicurus opened his school was pecu-
liarly favourable. In the room of the simplicity of the
Socratic doctrine, nothing now remained but the sub-
tlety and affectation of Stoicism, the unnatural severity
of the Cynics, or the debasing doctrine of indulgence
taught and practised by the followers of Aristippus.
The luxurious refinement which now prevailed in
Athens, while it rendered every rigid scheme of phi-
losophy, as well as all grossuess of manners, unpopular,
inclined the younger citizens to listen to a preceptor
who smoothed the stern and wrinkled brow of philos-
ophy, and, under the notion of conducting his follow-
ers to enjoyment in the bower of tranquillity, led them
unawares into the path of moderation and virtue.
Hence the popularity of his school. It cannot be de-
nied, however, that, from the time when this philosopher
? ppeared to the present day, an uninterrupted course
jf censure has fallen upon his memory; so that the
name of his sret has almost become a proverbial ex-
pression for everything corrupt in principle a>>d infa-
iiii/. -o in character. The charges brought against Epi-
curus are, that he superseded all religious principles by
dismissing the gods from the care of the world , that
if he acknowledged their existence, it was only in con-
formity to popular prejudice, since, according to his
system, nothing exists in nature but material atoms;
that he discovered great insolence and vanity in the
disrespect with which he treated the memory of for-
mer philosophers, and the characters and persons of
his contemporaries; and that both he and his disciples
were addicted to the grossest sensuality. These ac-
cusations, too, have been not only the voice of common
rumour, but more or less confirmed by men distinguish-
ed for their wisdom and virtue--Zeno, Cicero, Plutarch,
(ialen, and a long train of Christian fathers. With
n spc t to the first charge, it certainly admits of no ref-
utaiibd. The doctrine of Epicurus concerning nature
militated directly against the agency of a Supreme Be-
ing in the formation and government of the world; and
his misconceptions with respect to mechanical motion,
and the nature of divine happiness, led him to divest
the Deity of some of his primary attributes. It does
not, however, appear that he entirely denied the exist-
ence of superior powers. Cicero charges him with
inconsistency in having written books concerning piety
and the reverence due to the gods, and in maintaining
that the gods ought to be worshipped, while he assert-
ed that they had no concern in human affairs. That
thr.
re was an inconsistency in this is obvious. But
? ? Epicurus professed, that the universal prevalence of the
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? E Pi
EPIDAURW
Btision anil faction, lhat bane of the Grecian states,
entailed upon the city their attendant evils, and so im-
paired its strength that it was forced to seek from the
Corcyreans that aid against foreign as well as domes-
tic enemies which its necessities required. The re-
fusal of Corcyra compelled the Epidamnians to apply
to Corinth, which gladly sought this opportunity of in-
creasing its influence at the expense of that of Corcyra.
A Corinthian force, together with a fresh supply of col-
anists, was accordingly despatched by land to the aid
sf Epidamnua, and contributed greatly to restore or-
aer and tranquillity. The Corcyreans, however, who
were on no friendly terms with the Corinthians, could
odt brook this interference in the affairs of . their colony;
. hey also equipped a fleet, whii. h, on ita arrival at Epi-
lamnus, summoned that town to receive back those
citizens who had been banished, and to send away the
Corinthian reinforcement. On the rejection of this
proposal by the Epidamnians, the Corcyreans, in con-
unction with the neighbouring Illyrians, besieged the
town, and, after some days, compelled it to surrender.
These are the events which Thucydides has related at
length, from their intimate connexion with the origin
of the Peloponnesian war. We know but little of the
fortunes of Epidamnus from this period to its conquest
by the Romans. Aristotle, in his Politics (5, 1), no-
tices a change which took place in its constitution,
from the government of magistrates called phylarchs to
that of a senate. The character of its inhabitants,
which was once virtuous and just, was also impaired
by luxury and vice, if we may credit Plautus, who
portrays them in his Menaschmi. (Act. 2, Sc. I. )
That Venus was particularly worshipped here we learn
from Catullus (36, 11). --Dyrrachium became the
scene of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.
The latter general, having been compelled to withdraw
from Italy by his enterprising adversary, retired to
Dyrrachium on the opposite coast of Illyria, and hav-
ing collected all his forces round that city, deter-
mined to make a stand against the enemy. Caesar
soon followed him thither, having formed the bold de-
sign of blockading his adversary in his intrenched
camp close to the town. This led to a series of op-
erations, which are detailed at length by Caesar him-
self; the success of which continued doubtful until
Pompey at length forced his enemy to retire, and was
thus enabled to transfer the seat of war into Thessaly.
(Cos. , B. C, 3, 41, seqq. --Appian, R. C, 2, 40. )
In addition to the strength of its situation, Dyrrachium
was of importance to the Romans from its vicinity to
Brundisium. Cicero landed there on his banishment
from Italy, and speaks of the kindness he experienced
from the inhabitants. (Ep. ad Fam. , 14, 1. ) We
learn, indeed, from . (Elian (V. H, 13, 16), that the
laws of this city were particularly favourable to stran-
gers. Dio Cas. <<ius observes, that Dyrrachium sided
with Antony during the last civil wars of the republic;
and thence it was that Augustus, after his victory, re-
warded his soldiers with estates in its territory. The
Byzantine historians speak of it as being still a con-
siderable place in their time. (Ann. Comncn. , 1, 41.
-Cedren. . RaJil. Imp. , p. 703. --Nieeph. , Cullist. ,
17, 3. ) But it is now scarcely more than a village,
which is rendered unhealthy by its proximity to some
marshes. Its modern name is Durasso. (Cramer's
Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 49, seqq )
EpioauBia, a festival at Athens in honour of JEa-
? ? cjfspius.
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? CPI
in
sad been founded by the Argives, to whom, indeed,
according to Herodotus, the whole of this coast, as far
S3 the Malean promontory, once belonged. Apollo-
dorus (ap. Strab. , 368) pretended, that Limera was
jnly a contraction for Limenera, by which allusion was
made to the convenience of the harbour. The town
was situate on an eminence near the sea, and con-
tained, among other buildings, a celebrated temple of
/Esculapius. The ruins of Epidaurus Limera are to
be seen a little to the north of the modem Monem-
iasia. {Itin. of Morea, p. 335. ) Its site is now known
by the name of Palaio Embasia. {Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 3, p. 201. )--III. A maritime city of Illy-
ria, south of the river Naro. Mannert identifies it with
the Arbona of Polybins (2, 11. --Manntrt, Geogr. ,
vol. 7, p. 350).
EpidIum, I. one of the Ebuds Insula;, supposed by
Mannert to be the same with the modern Ha. (Geogr. ,
vol. 2, p. 231. )--II. A promontory of Caledonia, cor-
responding to the southern extremity of the peninsula
? >f Canlyre. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 204. )
Epigoni ('Ein'yovot, descendant! ), the sons of the
Grecian heroes who were killed in the first Theban
war. (Vid. Polynices. ) The war of the Epigoni is
famous in ancient history. It was undertaken ten years
after the first. The sons of those who had perished
in the first war resolved to avenge the death of their
fathers. The god, when consulted, promised them vic-
tory, if led by Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus. Alc-
nwon accordingly took the command. Another ac-
count, however, given by Pausanias (9, 9, 2), makes
Thersa::der, son of Polynices, to have been at the head
of the expedition. The other leaders were Amphilo-
chns, brother of Alcmaeon; -Kgialcus, son of Adras-
tus; Diomedcs, of Tydeus; Promachus, of Parthe-
nopaeus; Slhenelus, of Capaneus; and Eurypylus, of
Mecisteus. The Argives were assisted by the Mes-
senians. Arcadians, Corinthians,and Megarians. The
Thcbans obtained aid from the neighbouring states.
The invaders ravaged the villages about Thebes. A
battle ensued, in which Laodamas, the son of Eteoclcs,
slew . /Egialcus, and fell himself by the spear of Alc-
mseon. The Thebans then fled; and, by the advice of
Tiresias, they secretly left their city, which was en-
tered and plundered by the Argives, and Tht-rsander
was placed on the throne. --With the exception of the
events of the Trojan war and the return of the Greeks,
nothing was so closely connected with the Hied and
Odyssey as the war of the Argives against Thebes,
since many of the principal heroes of Greece, particu-
larly Diomede and Sthenelus, were themselves among
the conquerors of Thebes, and their fathers before
them, a bolder and wilder race, had fought on the same
spot, in a contest which, although unattended with
victory, was still far from inglorious. Hence, also, re-
puted Homeric poems on the subject of this war were
extant, which perhaps really bore a great affinity to the
Homeric time and school. For we do not find, as in
the other poems of the cycle, the name of one, or
those of several later poets, placed in connexion with
these compositions, but they are either attributed to
Homer, as the earlier Greeks in general appear to have
done; or if the authorship of Homer is doubted, they
are usually attributed to no author <<t all. Thus the
second part of the Thebais, which related to the ex-
ploits of the Epigoni, was, according to Pausanias (9,
9. 2), ascribed by some to Homer. The true reading
? ? in Pausanias, in the passage just referred to, is un-
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? KPI
EP1
Eist one ot the moat magnificent cities in the world,
naving been founded, as they imagined, by Hamath,
one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently
made to Hamath in the Old Testament. (Compare
Genesis, 10, 18. --2 Samuel, 8, 9. -8 Kings, 48, 34.
--Jerenu, 49, 23. --Amos, 6,2. ) Its name was chan-
ged to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
It u now Homo, and was in modern times the seat of
an Arabian dynasty, to which the geographer Abulfeda
belonged. {Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p. 108 Pococke,
vol. 2, p. 210. --Mannert, vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 461. )
Epiphanes (illustrious), I. a surname of Antiochus
IV. , King of Syria. --II. A surname of Ptolemy V. ,
King of Egypt.
Epiphanius, a bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, in the
fourth century. He was bom of Jewish parents, at a
village called Besanducan, near Elcutheropolis, in Pal-
estine, about A. D. 320, and appears to have been edu-
cated in Egypt, where he imbibed the principles of the
Gnostics. At length he left those heretics, and, be-
coming an ascetic, returned to Palestine and adopted
the discipline of St. Hilarion, the founder of monachism
in that country. Epi^nanius erected a monastery near
the place of his birth, over which he presided till he
was made bishop of Salamis in 367. Here he remain-
ed about 36 years, and composed most of his writings.
In 391 he commenced a controversy with John, bishop
of Jerusalem, relative to the Platonic doctrines of the
learned and laborious Origcn, against which he wrote
and preached with implacable bitterness. John fa-
voured Origen's views, but Epiphanius found in The-
ophilus, the violent bishop of Alcxandrea, a worthy
coadjutor, who, in 399, convened a council, and con-
demned all the works of Origen. Epiphanius himself
then called a council in Cyprus, A. D. 401, and reit-
erated this condemnation, after which he wrote to St.
Chrysostom, then bishop of Constantinople, requesting
him to do the same. On finding this prelate disin-
clined to sanction his violent proceedings, he forthwith
repaired to Constantinople, for the purpose of exciting
the bishops of that diocese to join in executing the de-
crees which his Cyprian council had issued; but, hav-
vig entered a church in the city in order to repeat his
tnathemas, he was forewarned by Chrysostom of the
Uegality of his conduct, and was obliged to desist.
Exasperated at this disappointment, he applied to the
imperial court for assistance, where he soon embroiled
himself with the Empress Eudoxia; for, on the occa-
sion of her asking him to pray for the young Theodo-
nus, who was dangerously ill, he replied that her son
should not die, provided she would not patronise the
defenders of Origen. To this presumptuous message
the empress indignantly answered, that her son's life
was not in the power of Epiphanius, whose prayers
were unable to save that of his own archdeacon, who
had recently died. After thus vainly endeavouring to
gratify his sectarian animosity, he resolved to return
to CVurus; but he died at sea on the passage, A. D.
403. The principal works of Epiphanius are, 1. Ha- i
riipiov, or a Treatise on Heresies, that is, peculiar sects
(aJ(U<? eic). This is the most important of his writings.
It treats of eighty sects, from the time of Adam to the
? atter part of the 4th century. 2. 'AvaicepaXaiuote,
or an Epitome of the Panarion. 3. 'Aynvparuv, or
a Drsesarse on the Faith, explaining the doctrine of
the Trinity, Resurrection, dec. 4. A treatise on the
ancient weights, measures, and coins of the Jews. --
? ? Epiphanius was a. i austere and superstitious ascetic,
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? EPyRLJS.
Ephialtes, a giant, son of Alocus. ( Vid. Aloi'tlns. )
Ernoai (*Ec>opo<), a body of magistrates at Sparta,
who were possessed of great privileges. The institu-
tion of this office is usually ascribed to Thcopompus,
the grandson of Charilaus the Proclid; but it has been
inferred, from the existence of an ephoralty in other
Dorian states before the time of Thcopompus, and
from its being apparently placed among the institu-
tions of Lyeurgus by Herodotus (1, 65) and Xeno-
phon (de Rep. L*e. , 8, 3), that it was an ancient Do-
rian magistracy. Arnold supposes that the ephori,
who were five in number, were coeval wilh the first
settlement of the Dorians in Sparta, and were merely
the municipal magistrates of the five hamlets which
composed the city {Midler, Dorians, vol. 2, p. 550,
JEn/r. transl. ); but that afterward, when the Heracli-
da? began to encroach upon the privileges of the other
Dorians, and, it would seem, in the reign of Thco-
pompus, who endeavoured to diminish the powers of
the general assembly of the Spartan aristocracv, the
Dcrians, in the struggle which ensued, gained for the
ephori an extension of authority, which placed them
virtually at the head of the state, although the nominal
sovereignty was still kept in the hands of the Heraclids.
(Arnold, ad Thucyd. , 1, ST. --Append. , 2, vol. 1, p.
646) Thus the ephori were popular magistrates, as
far as the Dorians themselves were concerned, and
? ? were, in fact, the guardians of their rights from the en-
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? E Pt
? PI
tie wile of Aidoneus, they were both taken prisoners
and detained. (I'ausan. , I, 17. --Compare Apollodo-
rus, 2, 7. --Died. Sic, 4, 36. ) It appears from Stra-
ta (3241 apd other authorities, that this town after-
ward tooK tbe name of Cichyrus, but on what occasion
we are not informed. Mr. Hughes, who has explored
with great attention this part of Epirus, reports, "that
? he rums of Ephyra are to be seen at no great dis-
tance from the Acherusian lake, near a deserted con-
<ent dedicated to St. John. Though the walls lie for
the most part in a confused mass of ruins, they may
be distinctly traced in a circular figure: those parts
which remain perfect exhibiting a specimen of masonry
apparently more rude even than Tiryns itself, though
the blocks used are not of so large dimensions. "
{Travels, vol. 2, p. 812. --Cramer's Ancient Greece,
vol. 1, p. 113, seqq)
Epicharmus, the first Greek comic writer of whom
? ve have any certain account. He was a Syracusan,
? -ither by birth or emigration. (Theocritus, Epig. , 17. )
tome make him a native of Orastus, some of Cos
iSuidas -- Eudocia, p. 100); but all agree that he
;>assed his life at Syracuse. It was about B. C. 600,
Olymp. 70, 1, thirty-five years after Thespis began to
? xhibit, eleven years after the commencement of Phry-
nichus, and just before the appearance of jEschylus as
n tragedian, that Epicharmus produced the first come-
dy properly so called. Before him this department of
the drama was, as we have every reason to believe,
eothing but a series of licentious songs and sarcastic
episodes, without plot, connexion, or consistency. He
gave to each exhibition one single and unbroken fable,
and converted the loose interlocutions into regular dia-
logue. (Arislot. , Poet. , 5, fi. ) The subjects of his
? omedics, as we may infer from the extant titles of
hirty-five of them, were partly parodies of mythologt-
tal subjects, and, as such, not very different from the
lialogue of the aatyric drama, and partly political, and
in this respect may have furnished a model for the
iialogue of the Athenian comedy. Tragedy had, some
fears before the era of Epicharmus, begun to assume
its st. - id and dignified character The woes of heroes
and the majesty of the gods had, under Phrynicus, be-
come its favourite theme. The Sicilian poet seems
to have been struck with the idea of exciting the mirth
of his audience by tbe exhibition of some ludicrous
matter dressed up in all the grave solemnity of the
newly-invented art. Discarding, therefore, the low drol-
leries and scurrilous invectives of the ancient Kuuyiia,
he opened a novel and less invidious source of amuse-
ment, by composing a set of burlesque dramas upon the
usual tragic subjects. (Athenaus, 15, p. 698, id.
Schiectgh. , vol. 5, p. 5fl5. ) They succeeded, and the
turn thus given to comedy long continued; so that
when it once more returned to personality and satire,
as it afterward did, tragedy and tragic poets were the
constant objects of its parody and ridicule. The great
changes thus effected by Epicharmus justly entitled
him to be called the Inventor of Comedy {Theocritus,
Epig. , 17), though it is probable that Phormis or Phor
mus preceded him by a few Olympiads. {Arislot. ,
Poet. , 3, 5. --Athenaus, 14, p. 652 a. ) But his mer-
. ts rest not here: he was distinguished for elegance
of composition as well as originality of conception.
Demetrius Phalereus (compare Vvssius, de Poet. Gr. ,
S, p. 31) says, that Epicharmus excelled in the choice
and collocation of epithets: on which account the
? ? name of 'E-rt^up/uoc was given to his kind of style,
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? EP1
EPICURUS.
mi; until he benevolently adopted a child whom a
friend had been compelled by poverty to expose, and
hired a nupe for its sake. --Epictetus was a teacher of
the Stoic philosophy, and the chief of those who lived
during the period of the Roman empire. Hia lessons
were principally, if not solely, directed to practical
Morality. His favourite maxim, and that into which
be resolved all practical morality, was " bear and/or-
h*r," uvixov icai an-e^ou. He appears to have dif-
fered from the Stoics on the subject of suicide. (Ar-
rian, Epict , 1, 8. ) We are told by Arrian, in his
Preface to the " Discourses," that he was a powerful
and exciting lecturer; and, according to Origen (c.
Cds. , 1, ad intl. ), his style was superior to that of
Plato. It ia a proof of the estimation iu which Epic-
tetus was held, that, on his death, his lamp was pur-
chased by some more eager than wise aspirant after
philosophy for three thousand drachmas, or over five
hundred dollars of our currency. (Lucian, adv. In-
ioct. her. ement , vol. 8. p. 15, erf Bip. ) Though it
is said by Suidas that Epictetus wrote much, there is
good reason to believe that he himself wrote nothing.
His Discourses were taken down by his pupil Arrian,
and published after his* death in six books, of which
four remain. The same Arrian compiled the Enchi-
ridion, and wrote a life of Epictetus, which is lost.
Some fragments have been preserved, however, by
Stobsus. Simplicius has also left a commentary on
his doctrine, in the Eclectic manner. The best edi-
tion of the remains of Epictetus is that of Schwcig-
heeuser, 6 vols. 8vo, L\ps. , 1799. The same editor
has published the Enchiridion, together with the Ta-
blet of Cebes, in a separate volume (Lips. , 1797,
8vo). There is an English version of the Enchiridion
or Manual by Mrs. Carter. {Fabric, Bibl. Grac, ed.
HarUs, vol. 5, p. 64. --Enfield, Hist. I'hilos. , vol. 2,
p 121. --Encycl. Us. Knoicl. , vol. 9, p. 471. )
Epiccrus, a celebrated philosopher, born in the year
Ml B. C. , seven years after the death of Plato. He
was a native of the Island of Samos, whither his father
had gone from Athens, in the year 352 B. C. , among
2000 colonists then sent out by the Athenians. (Stra-
ta 638. ) Yet he was an Athenian by right, belong-
ing to the borough Gargettus, and to the tribe . 'Egeis.
Hj father Neocles is said to have been a schoolmas-
ter, and his mother Chasristrata to have practised arts
of magic, in which iv was afterward made a charge
against Epicurus, that, when he was young, he assist-
ed her. (Diog. JLaert. , 10, 4. ) Having passed his
early years in Samos and Teos, he went to Athens at
the age of eighteen. We are told that he had begun
to study philosophy when only fourteen, having been
incited thereto by a desire, which the teachers to whom
he had applied had failed to satisfy, of understanding
Hesiod's description of chaos; and that he began with
the writings of Democritus. In Samos he is said to
nave received lessons from Patnphilus, a follower of
Plato. iSutd. --Cic, N. D. , 1, 26. )--On the occa-
sion of this his first visit to Athens, Epicurus stayed
there for a very short time. He left it in consequence
of the measures taken by Perdiccas after the death of
Alexander the Great, and went to Colophon to join his
rather. In his 32d year. 310 B. C. , he went to Myti-
iene, where he set up a school. Staying only one year
at this latter place, he next proceeded to Lampsacus,
v. her ? he taught for four years. He returned to Athens
in the year 306 B. C. , and now founded the school,
? ? which ever after was named from him the Epicurean.
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? EJVJURUS
EPI
tnfc utmost his pains; choosing that which tends to
- itsasure rather than that which tends to pain, and
ion which tends to a greater pleasure or to a lesser
lain rather than that which tends respectively to a
lesser pleasure or a greater pain. He used the terms
pleasure and pain in the most comprehensive way, as
including pleasure and pain of both mind and body;
sud he esteemed the pleasures and pains of the mind
as incomparably greater than those of the body. Ma-
iling, then, good and evil, or virtue and vice, depend
4ii a tendency to increase pleasure and diminish pain,
or the opposite, he arrived, aa he easily might do, at
the several virtues to be inculcated and vices to be
denounced. And when he got thus far, even his ad-
versaries had nothing to say against him. It is strange
that they should have continued to revile the principle,
no matter by what name it might be called, when they
saw that it was a principle which led to truth. --The
period in which Epicurus opened his school was pecu-
liarly favourable. In the room of the simplicity of the
Socratic doctrine, nothing now remained but the sub-
tlety and affectation of Stoicism, the unnatural severity
of the Cynics, or the debasing doctrine of indulgence
taught and practised by the followers of Aristippus.
The luxurious refinement which now prevailed in
Athens, while it rendered every rigid scheme of phi-
losophy, as well as all grossuess of manners, unpopular,
inclined the younger citizens to listen to a preceptor
who smoothed the stern and wrinkled brow of philos-
ophy, and, under the notion of conducting his follow-
ers to enjoyment in the bower of tranquillity, led them
unawares into the path of moderation and virtue.
Hence the popularity of his school. It cannot be de-
nied, however, that, from the time when this philosopher
? ppeared to the present day, an uninterrupted course
jf censure has fallen upon his memory; so that the
name of his sret has almost become a proverbial ex-
pression for everything corrupt in principle a>>d infa-
iiii/. -o in character. The charges brought against Epi-
curus are, that he superseded all religious principles by
dismissing the gods from the care of the world , that
if he acknowledged their existence, it was only in con-
formity to popular prejudice, since, according to his
system, nothing exists in nature but material atoms;
that he discovered great insolence and vanity in the
disrespect with which he treated the memory of for-
mer philosophers, and the characters and persons of
his contemporaries; and that both he and his disciples
were addicted to the grossest sensuality. These ac-
cusations, too, have been not only the voice of common
rumour, but more or less confirmed by men distinguish-
ed for their wisdom and virtue--Zeno, Cicero, Plutarch,
(ialen, and a long train of Christian fathers. With
n spc t to the first charge, it certainly admits of no ref-
utaiibd. The doctrine of Epicurus concerning nature
militated directly against the agency of a Supreme Be-
ing in the formation and government of the world; and
his misconceptions with respect to mechanical motion,
and the nature of divine happiness, led him to divest
the Deity of some of his primary attributes. It does
not, however, appear that he entirely denied the exist-
ence of superior powers. Cicero charges him with
inconsistency in having written books concerning piety
and the reverence due to the gods, and in maintaining
that the gods ought to be worshipped, while he assert-
ed that they had no concern in human affairs. That
thr.
re was an inconsistency in this is obvious. But
? ? Epicurus professed, that the universal prevalence of the
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? E Pi
EPIDAURW
Btision anil faction, lhat bane of the Grecian states,
entailed upon the city their attendant evils, and so im-
paired its strength that it was forced to seek from the
Corcyreans that aid against foreign as well as domes-
tic enemies which its necessities required. The re-
fusal of Corcyra compelled the Epidamnians to apply
to Corinth, which gladly sought this opportunity of in-
creasing its influence at the expense of that of Corcyra.
A Corinthian force, together with a fresh supply of col-
anists, was accordingly despatched by land to the aid
sf Epidamnua, and contributed greatly to restore or-
aer and tranquillity. The Corcyreans, however, who
were on no friendly terms with the Corinthians, could
odt brook this interference in the affairs of . their colony;
. hey also equipped a fleet, whii. h, on ita arrival at Epi-
lamnus, summoned that town to receive back those
citizens who had been banished, and to send away the
Corinthian reinforcement. On the rejection of this
proposal by the Epidamnians, the Corcyreans, in con-
unction with the neighbouring Illyrians, besieged the
town, and, after some days, compelled it to surrender.
These are the events which Thucydides has related at
length, from their intimate connexion with the origin
of the Peloponnesian war. We know but little of the
fortunes of Epidamnus from this period to its conquest
by the Romans. Aristotle, in his Politics (5, 1), no-
tices a change which took place in its constitution,
from the government of magistrates called phylarchs to
that of a senate. The character of its inhabitants,
which was once virtuous and just, was also impaired
by luxury and vice, if we may credit Plautus, who
portrays them in his Menaschmi. (Act. 2, Sc. I. )
That Venus was particularly worshipped here we learn
from Catullus (36, 11). --Dyrrachium became the
scene of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.
The latter general, having been compelled to withdraw
from Italy by his enterprising adversary, retired to
Dyrrachium on the opposite coast of Illyria, and hav-
ing collected all his forces round that city, deter-
mined to make a stand against the enemy. Caesar
soon followed him thither, having formed the bold de-
sign of blockading his adversary in his intrenched
camp close to the town. This led to a series of op-
erations, which are detailed at length by Caesar him-
self; the success of which continued doubtful until
Pompey at length forced his enemy to retire, and was
thus enabled to transfer the seat of war into Thessaly.
(Cos. , B. C, 3, 41, seqq. --Appian, R. C, 2, 40. )
In addition to the strength of its situation, Dyrrachium
was of importance to the Romans from its vicinity to
Brundisium. Cicero landed there on his banishment
from Italy, and speaks of the kindness he experienced
from the inhabitants. (Ep. ad Fam. , 14, 1. ) We
learn, indeed, from . (Elian (V. H, 13, 16), that the
laws of this city were particularly favourable to stran-
gers. Dio Cas. <<ius observes, that Dyrrachium sided
with Antony during the last civil wars of the republic;
and thence it was that Augustus, after his victory, re-
warded his soldiers with estates in its territory. The
Byzantine historians speak of it as being still a con-
siderable place in their time. (Ann. Comncn. , 1, 41.
-Cedren. . RaJil. Imp. , p. 703. --Nieeph. , Cullist. ,
17, 3. ) But it is now scarcely more than a village,
which is rendered unhealthy by its proximity to some
marshes. Its modern name is Durasso. (Cramer's
Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 49, seqq )
EpioauBia, a festival at Athens in honour of JEa-
? ? cjfspius.
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? CPI
in
sad been founded by the Argives, to whom, indeed,
according to Herodotus, the whole of this coast, as far
S3 the Malean promontory, once belonged. Apollo-
dorus (ap. Strab. , 368) pretended, that Limera was
jnly a contraction for Limenera, by which allusion was
made to the convenience of the harbour. The town
was situate on an eminence near the sea, and con-
tained, among other buildings, a celebrated temple of
/Esculapius. The ruins of Epidaurus Limera are to
be seen a little to the north of the modem Monem-
iasia. {Itin. of Morea, p. 335. ) Its site is now known
by the name of Palaio Embasia. {Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 3, p. 201. )--III. A maritime city of Illy-
ria, south of the river Naro. Mannert identifies it with
the Arbona of Polybins (2, 11. --Manntrt, Geogr. ,
vol. 7, p. 350).
EpidIum, I. one of the Ebuds Insula;, supposed by
Mannert to be the same with the modern Ha. (Geogr. ,
vol. 2, p. 231. )--II. A promontory of Caledonia, cor-
responding to the southern extremity of the peninsula
? >f Canlyre. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 204. )
Epigoni ('Ein'yovot, descendant! ), the sons of the
Grecian heroes who were killed in the first Theban
war. (Vid. Polynices. ) The war of the Epigoni is
famous in ancient history. It was undertaken ten years
after the first. The sons of those who had perished
in the first war resolved to avenge the death of their
fathers. The god, when consulted, promised them vic-
tory, if led by Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus. Alc-
nwon accordingly took the command. Another ac-
count, however, given by Pausanias (9, 9, 2), makes
Thersa::der, son of Polynices, to have been at the head
of the expedition. The other leaders were Amphilo-
chns, brother of Alcmaeon; -Kgialcus, son of Adras-
tus; Diomedcs, of Tydeus; Promachus, of Parthe-
nopaeus; Slhenelus, of Capaneus; and Eurypylus, of
Mecisteus. The Argives were assisted by the Mes-
senians. Arcadians, Corinthians,and Megarians. The
Thcbans obtained aid from the neighbouring states.
The invaders ravaged the villages about Thebes. A
battle ensued, in which Laodamas, the son of Eteoclcs,
slew . /Egialcus, and fell himself by the spear of Alc-
mseon. The Thebans then fled; and, by the advice of
Tiresias, they secretly left their city, which was en-
tered and plundered by the Argives, and Tht-rsander
was placed on the throne. --With the exception of the
events of the Trojan war and the return of the Greeks,
nothing was so closely connected with the Hied and
Odyssey as the war of the Argives against Thebes,
since many of the principal heroes of Greece, particu-
larly Diomede and Sthenelus, were themselves among
the conquerors of Thebes, and their fathers before
them, a bolder and wilder race, had fought on the same
spot, in a contest which, although unattended with
victory, was still far from inglorious. Hence, also, re-
puted Homeric poems on the subject of this war were
extant, which perhaps really bore a great affinity to the
Homeric time and school. For we do not find, as in
the other poems of the cycle, the name of one, or
those of several later poets, placed in connexion with
these compositions, but they are either attributed to
Homer, as the earlier Greeks in general appear to have
done; or if the authorship of Homer is doubted, they
are usually attributed to no author <<t all. Thus the
second part of the Thebais, which related to the ex-
ploits of the Epigoni, was, according to Pausanias (9,
9. 2), ascribed by some to Homer. The true reading
? ? in Pausanias, in the passage just referred to, is un-
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? KPI
EP1
Eist one ot the moat magnificent cities in the world,
naving been founded, as they imagined, by Hamath,
one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently
made to Hamath in the Old Testament. (Compare
Genesis, 10, 18. --2 Samuel, 8, 9. -8 Kings, 48, 34.
--Jerenu, 49, 23. --Amos, 6,2. ) Its name was chan-
ged to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
It u now Homo, and was in modern times the seat of
an Arabian dynasty, to which the geographer Abulfeda
belonged. {Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p. 108 Pococke,
vol. 2, p. 210. --Mannert, vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 461. )
Epiphanes (illustrious), I. a surname of Antiochus
IV. , King of Syria. --II. A surname of Ptolemy V. ,
King of Egypt.
Epiphanius, a bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, in the
fourth century. He was bom of Jewish parents, at a
village called Besanducan, near Elcutheropolis, in Pal-
estine, about A. D. 320, and appears to have been edu-
cated in Egypt, where he imbibed the principles of the
Gnostics. At length he left those heretics, and, be-
coming an ascetic, returned to Palestine and adopted
the discipline of St. Hilarion, the founder of monachism
in that country. Epi^nanius erected a monastery near
the place of his birth, over which he presided till he
was made bishop of Salamis in 367. Here he remain-
ed about 36 years, and composed most of his writings.
In 391 he commenced a controversy with John, bishop
of Jerusalem, relative to the Platonic doctrines of the
learned and laborious Origcn, against which he wrote
and preached with implacable bitterness. John fa-
voured Origen's views, but Epiphanius found in The-
ophilus, the violent bishop of Alcxandrea, a worthy
coadjutor, who, in 399, convened a council, and con-
demned all the works of Origen. Epiphanius himself
then called a council in Cyprus, A. D. 401, and reit-
erated this condemnation, after which he wrote to St.
Chrysostom, then bishop of Constantinople, requesting
him to do the same. On finding this prelate disin-
clined to sanction his violent proceedings, he forthwith
repaired to Constantinople, for the purpose of exciting
the bishops of that diocese to join in executing the de-
crees which his Cyprian council had issued; but, hav-
vig entered a church in the city in order to repeat his
tnathemas, he was forewarned by Chrysostom of the
Uegality of his conduct, and was obliged to desist.
Exasperated at this disappointment, he applied to the
imperial court for assistance, where he soon embroiled
himself with the Empress Eudoxia; for, on the occa-
sion of her asking him to pray for the young Theodo-
nus, who was dangerously ill, he replied that her son
should not die, provided she would not patronise the
defenders of Origen. To this presumptuous message
the empress indignantly answered, that her son's life
was not in the power of Epiphanius, whose prayers
were unable to save that of his own archdeacon, who
had recently died. After thus vainly endeavouring to
gratify his sectarian animosity, he resolved to return
to CVurus; but he died at sea on the passage, A. D.
403. The principal works of Epiphanius are, 1. Ha- i
riipiov, or a Treatise on Heresies, that is, peculiar sects
(aJ(U<? eic). This is the most important of his writings.
It treats of eighty sects, from the time of Adam to the
? atter part of the 4th century. 2. 'AvaicepaXaiuote,
or an Epitome of the Panarion. 3. 'Aynvparuv, or
a Drsesarse on the Faith, explaining the doctrine of
the Trinity, Resurrection, dec. 4. A treatise on the
ancient weights, measures, and coins of the Jews. --
? ? Epiphanius was a. i austere and superstitious ascetic,
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? EPyRLJS.
