Myth.) A king of Athens from whom the Egean Sea received its name. His son Theseus went to Crete to deliver Athens from the tribute it had to pay to Minos, promising that, on his return, he would hoist white sails as a signal of his safety. This he forgot to do, and Egeus, who was watching for him on a rock on the sea-coast, on perceiving a black sail, thought that his son had perished, and threw himself into the sea. E-gi'na. (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A daughter of the river-god Asopus, and a favorite of Jupiter. 'gis. [Gr. Aiyis.Ĵ (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) 1. The shield of Jove, fashioned by Vulcan, and described as striking terror and amazement into the beholders. 2. A sort of short cloak, worn by Minerva, which was covered with scales, set with the Gorgon's head, and fringed with snakes. -gis'thus. [Gr. Alyιovos.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A son of Thyestes, and the paramour of Clytemnestra, whose husband, Agamemnon, he *reacherously murdered at a repast. He was subsequently killed by Orestes, a son of Agamemnon, who thus avenged his father's death. See THYESTES. Egle (eg'le). [Gr. Alyλn.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) 1. One of the Hesperides. 2. The most beautiful of the Naiads, and the mother of the Graces. A-gyp'tus. [Gг. Alуνπтоç.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A son of Belus, and twin brother of Danaus. He had by several wives fifty sons, who were married to their fifty cousins, the daughters of Danaus, and all but one of whom were murdered by their wives on the bridal night. Æli- Læ'li- Cris'pis. The unknown subject of a very celebrated enigmatical inscription, preserved in Bologna, which has puzzled the heads of many learned men who have attempted to explain it. It is as follows: Elia Lælia Crispis, Nec vir, nec mulier, nec androgyna; Nec puella, nec juvenis, nec anus; Nec meretrix, nec pudica; Sublata neque fame, nec ferro, neque veneno; Nec cælo, nec aquis, nec terris; Nec maritus, nec amator, nec necessarius; Hanc neque molem, neque pyramidem, neque sepulchrum, Scit et nescit quid posuerit. Hoc est, sepulchrum intùs cadaver non habens; Hoc est, cadaver, sepulchrum, extrà non, habens; Sed cadaver idem est, et sepulchrum sibi. Elia Lælia Crispis, neither man, nor woman, nor hermaphrodite; neither girl, nor boy, nor old woman; neither harlot nor virgin; but all of these: destroyed neither by hunger, nor sword, nor poison; but by all of them: lies neither in heaven, nor in the water, nor in the ground, but everywhere. Lucius Agatho Priscus, neither her husband, nor her lover, nor her kinsman; neither sad, glad, nor weeping, but all at once; knows and knows not what he has built, which is neither a funeral-pile, nor a pyramid, nor a tomb; that is, a tomb without a corpse, a corpse without a tomb; for corpse and tomb are one and the same. Various explanations of the meaning of this curious epitaph have, from time to time, been put forward; but there is much reason for doubting whether it has any. Some have thought the true interpretation to be rain-water; some, the so-called "materia prima; " some, the reasoning faculty; some, the philosopher's stone; some, love; some, a dissected person; some, a shadow; some, hemp; some, an embryo. Professor Schwartz, of Coburg, explained it of the Christian Church, referring, in support of his opinion, to Galatians iii. 28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Spondanus, in his " Voyage d'Italie," affirms that the inscription is only a copy, and that it is not known what has become of the original. He denies its antiquity, regarding it as the ludicrous fancy of a modern author, who, he insists, was ignorant of the principles of Latin family nomenclature. But Franckenstein says that this assertion has been confuted by Misson, in the appendix to his Travels." I might add what attracted considerable notice at the time, and that is my paper in the "Gentleman's Magazine upon the inscription Elia Lalia, which I subscribed Edipus. Sir W. Scott. Bacon's system is, in its own terms, an idol of the theater. It would scarcely guide a man to a solution of the riddle Elia Lalia Crispis, or to that of the charade of Sir Hilary [by Praed]. J. W. Draper. Æ-mil'i-. Wife of Egeon, and an abbess at Ephesus, in Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors.” -ne'as. [Gr. 'Aiveías.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A Trojan prince, the hero of Virgil's "Eneid." He was the son of Anchises and Venus, and was distinguished for his pious care of his father. Having survived the fall of Troy, he sailed to Italy, and settled in Latium, where he married Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, whom he succeeded in his kingdom. See CREUSA. 'o-lus. [Gr. Aloλos.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) The ruler and god of the winds, who resided in the islands in the Tyrrhenian sea, which were called from him the Æolian Islands. s'a-cus. [Gr. Aloakoç.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A son of Priam, who was enamored of the nymph Hesperia, and, on her death, threw himself into the sea, and was changed by Thetis into a cormorant. s/cu-la'pi-us. [Gr. Ασκληπιός.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) The son of Apollo, and the god of the medical art. He was killed with a flash of lightning by Jupiter, because he had restored several persons to life. 'son. [Gr. Alowv.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) The father of Jason. He was restored to youth by Medea. Afric. A poetical contraction of Af rica. Heber. Where Afric's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand. Ag'a-mem'non. [Gr. 'Ayaμéμvwv.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) King of Mycenæ, brother of Menelaus, and commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces in the Trojan war. See ÆGISTHUS. Ag'a-nip'pe. [Gr. 'Ауаvíππη.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A fountain at the foot of Mount Helicon, in Boeotia, consecrated to Apollo and the Muses, and believed to have the power of inspiring those who drank of it. The Muses are sometimes called Aganippides. Agapida, Fray Antonio (fri anto'ne-o a-gå-pe'tha). The imaginary chronicler of the "Conquest of Granada," written by Washington Irving. A-ga've. [Gr. 'Ayaví.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A daughter of Cadmus, and the mother of Pentheus, whom, in a fit of frenzy, she tore to pieces on Mount Citharon, believing him to be a wild beast. A'gib. The third Calendar in the story of "The Three Calendars," in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments." Agitator, The Irish. See IRISH AG ITATOR. Ag-lā'i-a (20). [Gr. 'Ayλain.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth. One of the three Graces. Ag'nes (Fr. pron. ân'yes'); 1. A young girl in Molière's "L'École des Femmes," who is, or affects to be, remarkably simple and ingenuous. The name has passed into popular use, and is applied to any young woman unsophisticated in affairs of the heart. Agnes is the original from which Wycherley took his Mrs. Pinch wife, in the "Country Wife," subsequently altered by Garrick into the "Country Girl." 2. A character in Dickens's novel of "David Copperfield." See WICKFIELD, AGNES. Ag'nî. [Sansk., fire.] (Hindu Myth.) The god of lightning and the sun's fire. Agramante (å-grå-mån'tă), or Ag'rặmant. King of the Moors, in Bojardo's poem of "Orlando Innamorato," and in Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso." Ag'ra-vaine, Sir. A knight of the Round Table, celebrated in the old romances of chivalry. He was surnamed "L'Orgueilleux," or "The Proud." A-Green, George. See GEORGE A-GREEN. Agricane (å-gre-kå'na), or Ag'ri-căn. A fabulous king of Tartary, in Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato," who besieges Angelica in the castle of Albracca, and is killed by Orlando in single contest. In his dying moments, he requests baptism at the hand of his conqueror, who, with great tenderness, bestows it. He is represented as bringing into the field no fewer than two million two hundred thousand troops. Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp, When Agrican, with all his northern powers, Besieged Albracca, as romancers tell. Milton. A de Ague-cheek, Sir Andrew. lightful simpleton in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." See SLENDER. "To this straight-haired country squire, life consists only in eating and drinking; eating beef, he himself fears, has done harm to his wit; in fact, he is stupid even to silliness, totally deprived of all fashion, and thus of all self-love or self-conceit." Gervinus, Trans. I suppose I must say of Jeffrey as Sir Andrew Ague-cheek saith: " An I had known he was so cunning of fence, I had seen him damned ere I had fought him." Byron. A-has'u-e'rus (-hazh'oo-e'rus, 10). See JEW, THE WANDERING. Ahmed, Prince. See PRINCE AH MED. Ah'ri-mặn, or Ah'ri-mā'neṣ. [Per., from Sansk. ari, foe.] (Myth.) A deity of the ancient Persians, being a personification of the principle of evil. To his agency were ascribed all the evils existing in the world. Ormuzd, or Oromasdes, the principle of good, is eternal, but Ahriman is created, and will one day perish. See ORMUZD. I recognize the evil spirit, Sir, and do honor to Ahrimanes in taking off my hat to this young man. Thackeray. Ai'denn. An Anglicized and disguised spelling of the Arabic form of the word Eden; used as a synonym for the celestial paradise. Tell this soul, with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore. Poe. death. A tradition mentioned by Pausanias states, that from his blood there sprang up a purple flower, which bore the letters ai on its leaves, which were at once the initials of his name and a sigh. Gad! she shoots her glances as sharply from behind the old pile yonder, as Teucer from behind Ajax Telamon's shield. Sir W. Scott. 2. A son of Oïleus, king of the Locrians. He was one of the great heroes among the Greeks in the Trojan war, but inferior to the son of Telamon, whence he is called the lesser Ajax. His shafts, like those of the lesser Ajax, were discharged more readily that the archer was inaccessible to criticism, personally speaking, as the Grecian archer under his brother's sevenfold shield. Sir W. Scott. A-lad'din. A character in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments," who becomes possessed of a wonderful lamp, and an equally wonderful ring, on rubbing which two frightful genii appear, who are respectively the slave of the lamp and the slave of the ring, and who execute the bidding of any one who may have these talismans in his keeping. By means of the lamp and ring, Aladdin is enabled to marry a daughter of the sultan of China, and builds in a single night a magnificent palace containing a large hall with four-and-twenty windows in it decorated with jewels of every description and of untold value, one window only being excepted, which is left quite plain that the sultan may have the glory of finishing the apartment. But all the treasures of his empire and all the skill of his jewelers and goldsmiths are not sufficient to ornament even one side of the window; whereupon Aladdin, after having the materials which have been used removed and returned to the sultan, directs the genie to complete the window, which is immediately done. At length, a malignant magician fraudulently obtains the miraculous lamp, during the temporary absence of the owner, and instantaneously transports the palace to Africa. But the ring still remains to Aladdin, and enables him to pursue and circumvent the thief, and to recover the lamp and restore the palace to its former situation. The ephemeral kingdom of Westphalia, the appanage of Jerome Bonaparte, composed out of the spoils of these principalities, vanished into air, like the palace of Aladdin, in the Arabian tale. Sir W. Scott. Ah! who shall lift that wand of magic power, And the lost clew regain? The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower Unfinished must remain. Longfellow. Alaric Cottin (ȧ'lå'rêk' kot'tan'). A nickname given by Voltaire to Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, who was distinguished for his military genius, and was also known as a dabbler in literature, and a writer of bad French verses. The first name refers to the famous Visigothic king and warrior, while the second probably refers to the Abbé Cotin, a mediocre poet of the seventeenth century, who was severely satirized by Boileau, Molière, and other writers of his time. See TRISSOTIN. A-las'năm. The hero of a story in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" entitled "The History of Prince Zeyn Alasnam and the Sultan of the Genii," which relates how he came into the possession of immense wealth, including eight statues of solid gold; how he was led to seek for a ninth statue more precious still, to place on an empty pedestal; and how he found it at last in the person of the most beautiful and purest woman in the world, who became his wife. In this brilliant comedy [Congreve's "Love for Love"], there is plenty of bright and sparkling characters, rich as wit and imagination can make them; but there is wanting one pure and perfect model of simple nature, and that one, wherever it is to be found, is, like Alasnam's lady,.. .. Worth them all. Sir W. Scott. A-las'tor. [Gr. 'AháoTwp, from ȧ privative, and λaverv, to forget.] In classical mythology, a surname of Zeus or Jupiter; also, in general, a punitive deity, a house-demon, the never-forgetting, revengeful spirit, who, in consequence of some crime perpetrated, persecutes a family from generation to generation. Plutarch relates that Cicero, in his hatred of Augustus, meditated killing himself by the fireside of this prince in order to become his Alastor. In the Zoroastrian system, Alastor is called the Executioner or Tormentor. Origen says he is the same as Azazel Others confound him with the Exterminating Angel. By Wierus and other mediæval demonographers, Alastor is described as a devil in the infernal court, and the chief executive officer in great undertakings. Shelley, in his poem entitled "Alastor," makes him the "Spirit of Solitude." Al-bā'ni-â, A name given to Scotland, Alba-ny. or the Scottish Highlands, in the old romances and histories. It is said to have been derived from a certain fabulous Albanact, who received this portion of the island of Albion, or Britain, from his father Brutus. See ALBYN. Al'ba-ny Regency. A name popularly given in the United States to a jurto of astute Democratic politicians, having their head-quarters at Albany, who controlled the action of the Democratic party for many years, and hence had great weight in national politics. The effort to elect William H. Crawford president, instead of John Quincy Adams, was their first great struggle. Alvi-on. An ancient name of Britain, said to have been given to it on account of the lofty white cliffs (Lat. albus, white) on the southern coast. Others trace the word to the Celtic alb, alp, high. In the fabulous history of England, it is related that the first inhabitants were subdued by Albion, a giant and a son of Neptune, who called the island after his own name, and ruled it forty-four years. Another legend derives the name from a certain Albina, the eldest of fifty daughters of "a strange Dioclesian king of Syria," who, having murdered their husbands on their marriage-night, one only excepted, whom his wife's loyalty saved, were by him, at the suit of his wife, their sister, not put to death, but turned out to sea in a ship unmanned, and who, as the tale goes, were driven on this island, where they had issue by the inhabitants, - none but devils, as some write, or, as others assert, a lawless crew, without head or governor. Milton characterizes these stories as "too absurd and too unconscionably gross for credence; but he remarks, "Sure enough we are that Britain hath been anciently termed Albion, both by the Greeks and Romans." Not yet enslaved, not wholly vile, O Albion, O my mother isle! Coleridge. Al'bi-on, New. A name formerly given to an extensive tract of land on the north-west coast of North America. It was originally applied by Sir Francis Drake, in 1578, to the whole of what was then called California; but it was afterward confined to that part of the coast which extends from 43° to 48° N. lat., and is now included within the State of Oregon and Washington Territory. Al Borak (ål bor'ăk). [Ar., the lightning.] An imaginary animal of wonderful form and qualities, on which Mohammed pretended to have performed a nocturnal journey from the temple of Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to the seventh heaven, under the conduct of the angel Gabriel. This marvelous steed was a female, of a milk-white color, and of incredible swiftness. At every step, she took a leap as far as the longest sight could reach. She had a human face, but the cheeks of a horse; her eyes were as jacinths, and radiant as stars. She had eagle's wings, all glittering with rays of light; and her whole form was resplendent with gems and precious stones. Albracca (al-bråk'kå, 102). A castle of Cathay to which Angelica, in Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato," retires in grief at being scorned and shunned by Rinaldo, with whom she is deeply in love. Here she is besieged by Agricane, king of Tartary, who resolves to win her, notwithstanding her rejection of his suit. Ål'byn (ǎl'bin). The ancient Celtic name of Scotland, and, until Cæsar's time, the appellation of the whole island of Great Britain. It is said to be derived from the Celtic alp or alb, meaning high, and inn, an island. The Scottish Celts denominate themselves Gael Albinn, or Albinnich, in distinction from the Irish, whom they call Gael Eirinnich; and the Irish themselves call the Scottish Gael Albannaich, while their writers, so late as the twelfth century, call the country of the Scottish Gael Alban. [Written also Albin and Albinn.] The Celtic people of Erin and Albyn had, in short, a style of poetry properly called national, though Macpherson was rather an excellent poet than a faithful editor and translator. Sir W. Scott. The pure Culdees Campbell. But woe to his kindred and woe to his cause, When Albin her claymore indignantly draws. Campbell. Alceste (ål'sest'). The hero of Molière's comedy, "Le Misanthrope." "Alceste is an upright and manly character, but rude, and impatient even of the ordinary civilities of life, and the harmless hypocrisies of complaisance, by which the ugliness of human nature is in some degree disguised." Sir W. Scott. "Molière exhibited, in his Misanthrope,' a pure and noble mind which had been sorely vexed by the sight of perfidy and malevolence disguised under the forms of politeness. He adopts a standard of good and evil directly opposed to that of the society which surrounded him. Courtesy seems to him a vice, and those stern virtues which are neglected by the fops and coquettes of Paris become too exclusively the objects of his veneration. He is often to blame, he is often ridiculous, but he Macaulay. is always a good man." Al-ces'tis, or Al-ces'te. [Gr. "Aλкηστις, οι Αλκέστη.] (Gr. j Rom. Myth.) A daughter of Pelias, and the wife of Admetus. To save her husband's life, she died in his stead, but was brought back to the upper world by Hercules. Methought I saw my late espoused saint Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave, gave, Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint. Milton Al-ci'des. [Gr. 'Aλkeídns.] (Gr. § Rom. Myth.) A patronymic or title of Hercules, the grandson of Alcæus. See HERCULES. Alcina (al-che'na). A fairy in Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato," where she is represented as carrying off Astolfo. She re-appears in great splendor in Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso." The scene, though pleasing, was not quite equal to the gardens of Alcina. Sir W. Scott. |