Part 4

=Dana´ides.= The fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Argos, who married the fifty sons of their uncle Ægyptus. Danaus had been told by the oracle that he would be killed by a son-in-law, and he made his daughters promise to slay their husbands immediately after marriage. All of them fulfilled their father's wishes except one, Hypermnestra, who spared her husband Lynceus.

=Daph´ne.= A daughter of the River Peneus, or of the Ladon, and the goddess Terra, of whom Apollo became enamored. Daphne fled to avoid the addresses of this god, and was changed into a laurel.

=Dar´danus.= A son of Jupiter, who killed his brother Jasius to obtain the kingdom of Etruria. He built the city of Dardania, and was reckoned to have been the founder of Troy.

=Dari´us.= A noble satrap of Persia, son of Hystaspes, who usurped the crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses. Darius was twenty-nine years old when he ascended the throne, and he soon distinguished himself by his military prowess. He besieged Babylon, which he took after a siege of twenty months. He died B.C. 485.

=Dari´us=, the second king of Persia of that name, ascended the throne of Persia soon after the murder of Xerxes. He carried on many wars with success, aided by his generals and his son Cyrus the younger. He died B.C. 404, after a reign of nineteen years.

=Dari´us.= The third king of Persia of that name. He soon had to take the field against Alexander, who invaded Persia. Darius met him with an enormous army, which, however, was more remarkable for the luxuries indulged in by its leaders than for military courage. A battle was fought near the Granicus, in which the Persians were easily defeated, and another conflict followed near Issus, equally fatal to the Persians. Darius escaped and assembled another powerful army. The last and decisive battle was fought at Arbela, Alexander being again victorious. When the fight was over Darius was found in his chariot covered with wounds and expiring, B.C. 331.

=Dejani´ra.= A daughter of OEneus, king of Ætolia. Her beauty procured her many admirers, and her father promised to give her in marriage to him who should excel in a competition of strength. Hercules obtained the prize, and married Dejanira.

=Del´phi.= A town of Phocis, at the south-west side of Mount Parnassus. It was famous for a temple of Apollo, and for an oracle celebrated in every age and country.

=Deme´trius.= A son of Antigonus and Stratonice, surnamed Poliorcetes, _destroyer of towns_. At the age of twenty-two he was sent by his father against Ptolemy, who had invaded Syria. He was defeated at Gaza, but soon afterwards obtained a victory. The greater part of his life was passed in warfare, his fortunes undergoing many changes. He was distinguished for his fondness of dissipation when in dissolute society, and for military skill and valor in the battle-field. He died B.C. 286.

=Deme´trius.= Surnamed _Soter_, king of Syria. His father gave him as a hostage to the Romans. After the death of his father, Seleucus Philopator, Antiochus Epiphanes usurped the throne of Syria, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. Demetrius procured his liberty, and established himself on the throne, causing Eupator to be put to death.

=Deme´trius.= Son of Soter, whom he succeeded after he had driven from the throne a usurper, Alexander Bala. Demetrius gave himself up to luxury, and suffered his kingdom to be governed by his favorites, thus becoming odious to his subjects. He was at last killed by the governor of Tyre, where he had fled for protection.

=Deme´trius Phale´reus.= A disciple of Theophrastus, who gained such influence over the Athenians by his eloquence and the purity of his manners that he was elected decennial archon, B.C. 317. He embellished the city, and rendered himself popular by his munificence, but his enemies plotted against him, and he fled to the court of Ptolemy Lagus, where he was received with kindness. He put an end to his life by permitting an asp to bite him, B.C. 284. There were several others of the name of Demetrius of minor note.

=Democ´ritus.= A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, one of the disciples of Leucippus. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, in quest of knowledge, and returned home in the greatest poverty. He indulged in continual laughter at the follies of mankind for distracting themselves with care and anxiety in the short term of their lives. He told Darius, who was inconsolable for the loss of his wife, that he would raise her from the dead if he could find three persons who had gone through life without adversity, whose names he might engrave on the queen's monument. He taught his disciples that the soul died with the body. He died in his 109th year, B.C. 361. He has been termed "the laughing philosopher."

=Demos´thenes.= A celebrated Athenian, was son of a rich blacksmith and Cleobule. He became pupil of Plato, and applied himself to study the orations of Isocrates. At the age of seventeen he gave early proof of his eloquence and abilities in displaying them against his guardians, from whom he obtained restitution of the greater part of his estate. To correct the stammering of voice under which he labored he spoke with pebbles in his mouth. In the battle of Cheronæa he evinced cowardice, and saved his life by flight. He ended his life by taking poison, which he always carried in a quill, in the sixtieth year of his age, B.C. 322.

=Deuca´lion.= A son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the earth was covered by a deluge of water, sent by Jupiter as a punishment for the impiety of mankind. Deucalion constructed a ship, and by this means saved himself and Pyrrha. The ship, after being tossed on the waves for nine days, rested on Mount Parnassus. The deluge of Deucalion is supposed to have occurred B.C. 1503.

=Dia´na.= The goddess of hunting. According to Cicero there were three of the name--viz.: a daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, a daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and a daughter of Upis and Glauce. The second is the most celebrated, and all mention of Diana by ancient writers refers to her. To shun the society of men she devoted herself to hunting, and was always accompanied by a number of young women, who, like herself, abjured marriage. She is represented with a quiver, and attended by dogs. The most famous of her temples was that at Ephesus, which was one of the wonders of the world.

=Dicta´tor.= A magistrate at Rome, invested with regal authority.

=Di´do.= A daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, who married Sichæus or Sicharbus, her uncle, who was priest of Hercules. Pygmalion killed Sichæsus to obtain his immense riches, and Dido, disconsolate at the loss of her husband, set sail with a number of Tyrians in quest of a place in which to form a settlement. A storm drove her fleet on the African coast, and she bought of the inhabitants as much land as could be covered by a bull's hide cut into thongs. On this land she built a citadel called Byrsa, which was the nucleus of a great city. Her subjects wished her to marry again, but she refused, and erected a funeral pile, on which she ascended and stabbed herself to death.

=Diocletia´nus, Cai´us Valer´ius Jo´vius.= A celebrated Roman emperor, born of an obscure family in Dalmatia. He was first a common soldier, and by merit gradually rose to the position of a general, and at length he was invested with imperial power. He has been celebrated for his military virtues, and though he was naturally unpolished by education, yet he was the friend and patron of learning and genius. His cruelty, however, against the followers of Christianity, has been severely reprobated. After reigning twenty-one years in great prosperity, he abdicated, A.D. 304, and died nine years afterwards, aged sixty-eight.

=Diodo´rus, Sic´ulus.= Celebrated as the author of a history of Egypt, Persia, Syria, Media, Greece, Rome and Carthage. It was divided into forty books, of which only fifteen are extant, with a few fragments.

=Dio´genes.= A celebrated cynic philosopher of Sinope, banished from his country for coining false money. From Sinope he retired to Athens, where he became the disciple of Antisthenes, who was at the head of the Cynics. He dressed himself in the garment which distinguished the Cynics, and walked about the streets with a tub on his head, which served him as a house. His singularity, joined to his great contempt for riches, gained him reputation, and Alexander the Great visited the philosopher and asked him if there was anything in which he could oblige him. "Get out of my sunshine," was the reply of the Cynic. Such independence pleased the monarch, who, turning to his courtiers, said, "Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes." He was once sold as a slave, and his magnanimity so pleased his master, that he made him the preceptor of his children and the guardian of his estates. He died, B.C. 324, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. The life of Diogenes does not bear strict examination: whilst boasting of his poverty, he was so arrogant that it has been observed that his virtues arose from pride and vanity, not from wisdom or sound philosophy.

=Dio´genes Laer´tius.= An Epicurean philosopher, born in Cilicia. He wrote the lives of the philosophers, in ten books. This work contains an accurate account of the ancient philosophers, and is replete with anecdotes respecting them. It is compiled, however, without any plan, method, or precision, though neatness and conciseness are observable in it.

=Diome´des=, a son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king of Ætolia, and one of the bravest of the Grecian chiefs in the Trojan war. He often engaged Hector and Æneas, and obtained much military glory.

=Diome´des.= A king of Thrace, son of Mars and Cyrene, who fed his horses with human flesh. Hercules destroyed Diomedes, and gave him to his own horses to be devoured.

=Di´on.= A Syracusan, son of Hipparina, famous for his power and abilities. He was related to Dionysius the First, who constantly advised with him, and at whose court he obtained great popularity. He was assassinated 354 years before the Christian era by one of his familiar friends. His death was greatly lamented by the Syracusans, who raised a monument to his memory. When Dionysius the Second ascended the throne he banished Dion, who collected some forces, and in three days made himself master of Syracuse.

=Di´on Cas´sius.= A native of Nicæa in Bithynia, who was raised to some of the greatest offices of state in the Roman empire. He is celebrated as the writer of a history of Rome which occupied him twelve years in composing.

=Dionys´ius= the Elder was son of Hermocrates. He signalized himself in the wars which the Syracusans carried on against Carthage, and made himself absolute at Syracuse. His tyranny rendered himself odious to his subjects. He made a subterraneous cave in a rock in the form of a human ear, which was called "the Ear of Dionysius." The sounds of this cave were all directed to one common tympanum, which had a communication with an adjoining room, where Dionysius spent part of his time in listening to what was said by those whom he had imprisoned. He died in the sixty-third year of his age, B.C. 368, after a reign of thirty-eight years.

=Dionys´ius= the Younger was son of Dionysius the First and Doris. He succeeded his father, and as soon as he ascended the throne he invited Plato to his court and studied under him for some time. Plato advised him to lay aside the supreme power, in which he was supported by Dion. This highly incensed Dionysius, who banished Dion, who collected forces in Greece, and in three days rendered himself master of Syracuse, and expelled the tyrant, B.C. 357. He, however, recovered Syracuse ten years afterward, but was soon compelled to retire again by the Corinthians under Timoleon.

=Dionys´ius= of Halicarnassus. A historian who left his country and came to reside in Rome that he might study all the authors who had written Roman history. He was occupied during twenty-four years on his work on Roman antiquities, which consisted of twenty books.

=Dir´ce.= A woman whom Lycus, king of Thebes, married after he had divorced Antiope. Amphion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, for cruelties she practiced on Antiope, tied Dirce to the tail of a wild bull, by which she was dragged over rocks and precipices till the gods pitied her and changed her into a fountain.

=Discor´dia.= A malevolent deity, daughter of Nox, and sister to Nemesis, the Parcæ, and Death. She was driven from heaven by Jupiter because she sowed dissensions amongst the gods. At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis she threw an apple amongst the gods, inscribed with the words, _Detur pulchriori_, which was the primary cause of the ruin of Troy, and of infinite misfortunes to the Greeks.

=Dolabel´la, P. Corn.= A Roman who married the daughter of Cicero. During the civil wars he warmly espoused the cause of Julius Cæsar, whom he accompanied at the famous battles of Pharsalia and Munda.

=Domitia´nus, Ti´tus Fla´vius=, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, made himself emperer of Rome on the death of his brother Titus, whom, according to some accounts, he destroyed by poison. The beginning of his reign promised hopefully, but Domitian became cruel, and gave way to vicious indulgences. In the latter part of his reign he became suspicious and remorseful. He was assassinated A.D. 96, in the forty-fifth year of his age.

=Dra´co.= A celebrated lawgiver of Athens, who made a code of laws, B.C. 623, which, on account of their severity, were said to be written in letters of blood. Hence the term "Draconic," applied to any punishment of exceptional severity.

=Dru´sus.= A son of Tiberius and Vipsania, who became famous for his courage displayed in Illyricum and Pannonia.

=Dru´sus, M. Liv´ius.= A celebrated Roman, who renewed the proposals bearing on the Agrarian laws, which had proved fatal to the Gracchi.

=Dru´sus, Ne´ro Clau´dius.= A son of Tiberius Nero and Livia. He distinguished himself in the wars in Germany and Gaul, and was honored with a triumph. There were other Romans of the same name, but of smaller distinction.

=Dry´ades.= Nymphs that presided over the woods. Oblations of milk, oil, and honey were offered to them. Sometimes the votaries of the Dryads sacrificed a goat to them.

=Duum´viri.= Two patricians at Rome, first appointed by Tarquin to keep the Sibylline books, which were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire.

=Ech´o.= A daughter of the Air and Tellus, who was one of Juno's attendants. She was deprived of speech by Juno, but was allowed to reply to questions put to her.

=Ege´ria.= A nymph of Aricia in Italy, where Diana was particularly worshiped. Egeria was courted by Numa, and, according to Ovid, became his wife. Ovid says that she was disconsolate at the death of Numa, and that she wept so violently that Diana changed her into a fountain.

=Elec´tra.= A daughter of Agamemnon, king of Argos. She incited her brother Orestes to revenge his father's death by assassinating his mother Clytemnestra. Her adventures and misfortunes form the subject of one of the finest of the tragedies of Sophocles.

=Eleu´sinia.= A great festival observed by the Lacedæmonians, Cretans, and others, every fourth year, and by the people of Athens every fifth year, at Eleusis in Attica, where it was introduced by Eumolpus, B.C. 1356. It was the most celebrated of all the religious ceremonies of Greece. The term "Mysteries" is often applied to it. The expression "Eleusinian mysteries," as applied to anything that is inexplicable, has become proverbial.

=Elys´ium.= The Elysian Fields, a place in the infernal regions, where, according to the ancients, the souls of the virtuous existed after death.

=Emped´ocles.= A philosopher, poet, and historian of Agrigentum in Sicily, who lived 444 B.C. He was a Pythagorean, and warmly espoused the belief in the transmigration of souls.

=Endym´ion.= A shepherd, son of Æthlius and Calyce. He is said to have required of Jupiter that he might be always young. Diana saw him as he slept on Mount Latmus, and was so struck with his beauty that she came down from heaven every night to visit him.

=En´nius.= An ancient poet, born in Calabria. He obtained the privileges of a Roman citizen on account of his learning and genius.

=E´os.= The name of Aurora among the Greeks.

=Epaminon´das.= A famous Theban descended from the ancient kings of Boeotia. At the head of the Theban armies he defeated the Spartans at the celebrated battle of Leuctra about 370 B.C. He was killed in battle in the forty-eighth year of his age.

=Eph´esus.= A city of Ionia, famous for a temple of Diana, which was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world.

=Epicte´tus.= A Stoic philosopher of Hieropolis, originally the slave of Epaphroditus, the freedman of Nero. He supported the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.

=Epicu´rus.= A celebrated philosopher, born in Attica of obscure parents. He distinguished himself at school by the brilliancy of his genius. He taught that the happiness of mankind consisted in pleasure, which arises from mental enjoyment, and the sweets of virtue. His death occurred 270 B.C., his age being seventy-two.

=Er´ato.= One of the Muses. She presided over lyric poetry, and is represented as crowned with roses and myrtle, and holding a lyre in her hand.

=Er´ebus=, A deity of the infernal regions, son of Chaos and Darkness. The poets often use the word to signify the infernal regions.

=Ete´ocles.= A king of Thebes, son of OEdipus and Jocasta. After his father's death it was agreed between him and his brother Polynices that they should reign a year each alternately. Eteocles first ascended the throne, but at the end of the year he refused to resign the crown. Thus treated, Polynices implored assistance from Adrastus, king of Argos, whose daughter he married, and who placed an army at his disposal. Eteocles marshalled his forces, and several skirmishes took place between the hostile hosts, when it was agreed on that the brothers should decide the contest by single combat. They fought with inveterate fury, and both were killed.

=Eucli´des.= A famous mathematician of Alexandria, who lived B.C. 300. He wrote fifteen books on the elements of mathematics. Euclid was so much respected that King Ptolemy became one of his pupils.

=Eu´menes.= A Greek officer in the army of Alexander. He was the most worthy of all Alexander's generals to succeed him after his death. He conquered Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, of which he obtained the government, till the power of Antigonus obliged him to retire. Eventually, after many vicissitudes of fortune, he was put to death in prison by order of Antigonus.

=Eumen´ides.= A name given to the Furies. They sprang from the drops of blood which flowed from a wound which Coelus received from Saturn. According to some writers they were daughters of the Earth, and sprung from the blood of Saturn. Others make them to be daughters of Acheron and Night, or Pluto and Proserpine. According to the generally received opinion they were three in number--Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto, to which some add Nemesis.

=Euphor´bus.= A famous Trojan. He wounded Patroclus, whom Hector killed. He died by the hand of Menelaus.

=Euphra´tes.= A large river in Asia which flowed through the middle of the city of Babylon.

=Eurip´ides.= A celebrated tragic poet born at Salamis. He studied eloquence under Prodicus, ethics under Socrates, and philosophy under Anaxagoras. He often retired to a solitary cave, where he wrote his tragedies. It is said that he met his death by being attacked and torn in pieces by dogs, 407 years before the Christian era, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He is accredited with the authorship of seventy-five tragedies, of which only nineteen are extant. One of his plays, "Ion," has become familiarized in name to general readers by the exquisite play thus called written by the late Judge Talfourd, and first acted at Covent Garden theater, May 26, 1836.

=Euro´pa.= A daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and Telaphassa. Her beauty attracted Jupiter, and to become possessed of her he assumed the shape of a handsome bull, and mingled with the herds of Agenor while Europa was gathering flowers in the meadows. She caressed the animal, and mounted on his back. The god crossed the sea with her, and arrived in Crete, where he assumed his proper form, and declared his love. She became mother of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus.

=Euryd´ice.= The wife of the poet Orpheus. As she fled from Aristæus, who was enamored with her, she was bit by a serpent, and died of the wound. Orpheus was disconsolate at her loss, and descended to the infernal regions in search of her, and by the melody of his lyre he obtained from Pluto the restoration of Eurydice, provided he did not look behind him till he reached the earth; but his eagerness to see his wife caused him to violate the conditions, and he looked behind him, thus losing Eurydice forever.

=Euryd´ice.= Wife of Amyntas, king of Macedonia. Alexander, Perdiccas, and Philip were their sons, and they had a daughter named Euryone. She conspired against Amyntas, but was prevented from killing him by Euryone.

=Eurys´thenes.= A son of Aristodemus, who lived in perpetual dissension with his twin brother Procles whilst they both sat on the Spartan throne. The descendants of Eurysthenes were called Eurysthenidæ, and those of Procles Proclidæ.

=Eurys´theus.= A king of Argos and Mycenæ, son of Sthenelus and Nicippe. Juno hastened his birth by two months that he might come into the world before Hercules, the son of Alcmena, as the younger of the two was doomed by Jupiter to be subservient to the other. This natural right was cruelly exercised by Eurystheus, who was jealous of the fame of Hercules, and who, to destroy him, imposed upon him the most dangerous enterprises, known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, all of which were successfully accomplished.

=Euse´bius.= A bishop of Cæsarea, in favor with the Emperor Constantine. He was mixed up in the theological disputes of Arius and Athanasius, and distinguished himself by writing an ecclesiastical history and other works.

=Euter´pe.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over music.

=Entro´pius.= A Latin historian in the age of Julian. He wrote an epitome of the history of Rome from the age of Romulus to the reign of the emperor Valens.

=Fa´bii.= A noble and powerful family at Rome. They fought with the Veientes, and all of them were slain. One of the family, of tender age, remained in Rome, and from him descended the family which afterwards became so distinguished.

=Fa´bius, Max´imus Rullia´nus=, was the first of the Fabii who obtained the name of "Maximus." He was master of the horse, and his victory over the Samnites in that capacity nearly cost him his life. He was five times consul, twice dictator, and once censor.

=Fa´bius, Q. Max´imus.= A celebrated Roman who was raised to the highest offices of state. In his first consulship he obtained a victory over Liguria, and the battle of Thrasymenus caused his election to the dictatorship. In this office he opposed Hannibal, harassing him more by countermarches and ambuscades than by fighting in the open field. He died at the age of 100, after being consul five times. Others of the family were of minor distinction, though their names occur in Roman history.

=Fabric´ius, Cai´us.= A distinguished Roman, who in his first consulship obtained several victories over the Samnites and Lucanians. He had the most consummate knowledge of military matters, and was distinguished for the simplicity of his manners.