Dēlia, a surname of Diana, because she was born in Delos. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 3, li. 67.

Dēliădes, a son of Glaucus, killed by his brother Bellerophon. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 3.——The priestesses in Apollo’s temple. Homer, Hymn to Apollo.

Dēlium, a temple of Apollo.——A town of Bœotia opposite Calchis, famous for a battle fought there, B.C. 424, &c. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 45; bk. 35, ch. 51.

Dēlius, a surname of Apollo, because he was born in Delos.——Quintus, an officer of Antony, who, when he was sent to cite Cleopatra before his master, advised her to make her appearance in the most captivating attire. The plan succeeded. He afterwards abandoned his friend, and fled to Augustus, who received him with great kindness. Horace has addressed bk. 2, ode 3 to him. Plutarch, Antonius.

Delmatius Flavius Julius, a nephew of Constantine the Great, honoured with the title of Cæsar, and put in possession of Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaia. His great virtues were unable to save him from a violent death, and he was assassinated by his own soldiers, &c.

Delmĭnium, a town of Dalmatia. Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Dēlos, one of the Cyclades at the north of Naxos, was severally called Lagia, Ortygia, Asteria, Chlamidia, Pelasgia, Pyrpyle, Cynthus, and Cynæthus, and now bears the name of Sailles. It was called Delos from δηλος, because it suddenly made its appearance on the surface of the sea, by the power of Neptune, who, according to the mythologists, permitted Latona to bring forth there, when she was persecuted all over the earth, and could find no safe asylum. See: Apollo. The island is celebrated for the nativity of Apollo and Diana; and the solemnity with which the festivals of these deities were celebrated there, by the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands and of the continent, is well known. One of the altars of Apollo, in the island, was reckoned among the seven wonders of the world. It had been erected by Apollo when only four years old, and made with the horns of goats, killed by Diana on mount Cynthus. It was unlawful to sacrifice any living creature upon that altar, which was religiously kept pure from blood and every pollution. The whole island of Delos was held in such veneration, that the Persians, who had pillaged and profaned all the temples of Greece, never offered violence to the temple of Apollo, but respected it with the most awful reverence. Apollo, whose image was in the shape of a dragon, delivered there oracles during the summer, in a plain manner, without any ambiguity or obscure meaning. No dogs, as Thucydides mentions, were permitted to enter the island. It was unlawful for a man to die, or for a child to be born there; and when the Athenians were ordered to purify the place, they dug up all the dead bodies that had been interred there, and transported them to the neighbouring islands. An edict was also issued, which commanded all persons labouring under any mortal or dangerous disease to be instantly removed to the adjacent island called Rhane. Some mythologists suppose that Asteria, who changed herself into a quail, to avoid the importuning addresses of Jupiter, was metamorphosed into this island, originally called Ortygia ab ὀρτυξ, a quail. The people of Delos are described by Cicero, Academica, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 18; bk. 4, ch. 18, as famous for rearing hens. Strabo, bks. 8 & 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 329; bk. 6, li. 333.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Plutarch, de Sollertia Animalium, &c.—Thucydides, bks. 3, 4, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 73.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Callimachus, Hymn to Delos.—Claudian, Panegyricus de Consulatu Honorii Augusti, bk. 4.

Delphi, now Castri, a town of Phocis, situate in a valley at the south-west side of mount Parnassus. It was also called Pytho, because the serpent Python was killed there; and it received the name of Delphi, from Delphus the son of Apollo. Some have also called it Parnassia Nape, the valley of Parnassus. It was famous for a temple of Apollo, and for an oracle celebrated in every age and country. The origin of the oracle, though fabulous, is described as something wonderful. A number of goats that were feeding on mount Parnassus came near a place which had a deep and long perforation. The steam which issued from the hole seemed to inspire the goats, and they played and frisked about in such an uncommon manner, that the goat-herd was tempted to lean on the hole, and see what mysteries the place contained. He was immediately seized with a fit of enthusiasm, and his expressions were wild and extravagant, and passed for prophecies. This circumstance was soon known about the country, and many experienced the same enthusiastic inspiration. The place was revered, and a temple was soon after erected in honour of Apollo, and a city built. According to some accounts, Apollo was not the first who gave oracles there; but Terra, Neptune, Themis, and Phœbe were in possession of the place before the son of Latona. The oracles were generally given in verse; but when it had been sarcastically observed that the god and patron of poetry was the most imperfect poet in the world, the priestess delivered her answers in prose. The oracles were always delivered by a priestess called Pythia. See: Pythia. The temple was built and destroyed several times. It was customary for those who consulted the oracle to make rich presents to the god of Delphi; and no monarch distinguished himself more by his donations than Crœsus. This sacred repository of opulence was often the object of plunder, and the people of Phocis seized 10,000 talents from it, and Nero carried away no less than 500 statues of brass, partly of the gods, and partly of the most ♦illustrious heroes. In another age, Constantine the Great removed its most splendid ornaments to his new capital. It was universally believed, and supported, by the ancients, that Delphi was in the middle of the earth; and on that account it was called terræ umbilicus. This, according to mythology, was first found out by two doves, which Jupiter had let loose from the two extremities of the earth, and which met at the place where the temple of Delphi was built. Apollonius, bk. 2, li. 706.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 168.—Strabo, bk. 9.

♦ ‘illustrous’ replaced with ‘illustrious’

Delphĭcus, a surname of Apollo, from the worship paid to his divinity at Delphi.

Delphīnia, festivals at Ægina, in honour of Apollo of Delphi.

Delphīnium, a place in Bœotia, opposite Eubœa.

Delphis, the priestess of Delphi. Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 43.

Delphus, a son of Apollo, who built Delphi, and consecrated it to his father. The name of his mother is differently mentioned. She is called by some Celæno, by others Melæne daughter of Cephis, and by others Thyas daughter of Castalius, the first who was priestess of Bacchus. Hyginus, fable 161.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6.

Delphȳne, a serpent which watched over Jupiter. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.

Delta, a part of Egypt, which received that name from its resemblance to the form of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. It lies between the Canopian and Pelusian mouths of the Nile, and begins to be formed where the river divides itself into several streams. It has been formed totally by the mud and sand, which are washed down from the upper parts of Egypt by the Nile, according to ancient tradition. Cæsar, Alexandrine War, ch. 27.—Strabo, bks. 15 & 17.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 13, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16.

Demădes, an Athenian, who, from a sailor, became an eloquent orator, and obtained much influence in the state. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Cheronæa by Philip, and ingratiated himself into the favour of that prince, by whom he was greatly esteemed. He was put to death, with his son, on suspicion of treason, B.C. 322. One of his orations is extant. Diodorus, bks. 16 & 17.—Plutarch, Demosthenes.

Demænetus, a rhetorician of Syracuse, enemy to Timoleon. Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon, ch. 5.

Demagŏras, one of Alexander’s flatterers.——An historian, who wrote concerning the foundation of Rome. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.

Demarāta, a daughter of Hiero, &c. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 22.

Demarātus, the son and successor of Ariston on the throne of Sparta, B.C. 526. He was banished by the intrigues of Cleomenes his royal colleague, as being illegitimate. He retired into Asia, and was kindly received by Darius son of Hystaspes king of Persia. When the Persian monarch made preparations to invade Greece, Demaratus, though persecuted by the Lacedæmonians, informed them of the hostilities which hung over their head. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 75, &c.; bk. 6, ch. 50, &c.——A rich citizen of Corinth, of the family of the Bacchiadæ. When Cypselus had usurped the sovereign power of Corinth, Demaratus, with all his family, migrated to Italy, and settled at Tarquinii, 658 years before Christ. His son Lucumon was king of Rome, under the name of Tarquinius Priscus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——A Corinthian exile at the court of Philip king of Macedonia. Plutarch, Alexander.

Demarchus, a Syracusan put to death by Dionysius.

Demarēta, the wife of Gelon. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Demariste, the mother of Timoleon.

Dēmātria, a Spartan mother, who killed her son because he returned from a battle without glory. Plutarch, Instituta Laconica.

Demetria, a festival in honour of Ceres, called by the Greeks Demeter. It was then customary for the votaries of the goddess to lash themselves with whips made with the bark of trees. The Athenians had a solemnity of the same name, in honour of Demetrius Poliorcetes.

Dēmētrias, a town of Thessaly. The name was common to other places.

Dēmētrius, a son of Antigonus and Stratonice, surnamed Poliorcetes, destroyer of towns. At the age of 22, he was sent by his father against Ptolemy, who had invaded Syria. He was defeated near Gaza, but he soon repaired his loss by a victory over one of the generals of the enemy. He afterwards sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens, and restored the Athenians to liberty, by freeing them from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy, and expelling the garrison, which was stationed there under Demetrius Phalereus. After this successful expedition, he besieged and took Munychia, and defeated Cassander at Thermopylæ. His reception at Athens, after these victories, was attended with the greatest servility; and the Athenians were not ashamed to raise altars to him as to a god, and to consult his oracles. This uncommon success raised the jealousy of the successors of Alexander; and Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus united to destroy Antigonus and his son. Their hostile armies met at Ipsus, B.C. 301. Antigonus was killed in the battle; and Demetrius, after a severe loss, retired to Ephesus. His ill success raised him many enemies; and the Athenians, who lately adored him as a god, refused to admit him into their city. He soon after ravaged the territories of Lysimachus, and reconciled himself to Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughter Stratonice in marriage. Athens now laboured under tyranny; and Demetrius relieved it, and pardoned the inhabitants. The loss of his possessions in Asia recalled him from Greece, and he established himself on the throne of Macedonia, by the murder of Alexander the son of Cassander. Here he was continually at war with the neighbouring states; and the superior power of his adversaries obliged him to leave Macedonia, after he had sat on the throne for seven years. He passed into Asia, and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with various success; but famine and pestilence destroyed the greatest part of his army, and he retired to the court of Seleucus for support and assistance. He met with a kind reception, but hostilities were soon begun; and after he had gained some advantages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops in the field of battle, and became an easy prey to the enemy. Though he was kept in confinement by his son-in-law, yet he maintained himself like a prince, and passed his time in hunting and in every laborious exercise. His son Antigonus offered Seleucus all his possessions and even his person, to procure his father’s liberty; but all proved unavailing, and Demetrius died in the 54th year of his age, after a confinement of three years, 286 B.C. His remains were given to Antigonus, and honoured with a ♦splendid funeral pomp at Corinth, and thence conveyed to Demetrias. His posterity remained in possession of the Macedonian throne till the age of Perseus, who was conquered by the Romans. Demetrius has rendered himself famous for his fondness of dissipation when among the dissolute, and his love of virtue and military glory in the field of battle. He has been commended as a great warrior, and his ingenious inventions, his warlike engines, and stupendous machines in his war with the Rhodians, justify his claims to that perfect character. He has been blamed for his voluptuous indulgencies; and his biographer observes, that no Grecian prince had more wives and concubines than Poliorcetes. His obedience and reverence to his father have been justly admired; and it has been observed, that Antigonus ordered the ambassadors of a foreign prince particularly to remark the cordiality and friendship which subsisted between him and his son. Plutarch, Parallel Lives.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 17, &c.——A prince who succeeded his father Antigonus on the throne of Macedonia. He reigned 11 years, and was succeeded by Antigonus Doson. Justin, bk. 26, ch. 2.—Polybius, bk. 2.——A son of Philip king of Macedonia, given up as a hostage to the Romans. His modesty delivered his father from a heavy accusation laid before the Roman senate. When he returned to Macedonia, he was falsely accused by his brother Perseus, who was jealous of his popularity, and his father too credulously consented to his death, B.C. 180. Livy, bk. 40, ch. 20.—Justin, bk. 32, ch. 2.——A Magnesian.——A servant of Cassius.——A son of Demetrius of Cyrene.——A freedman of Pompey.——A son of Demetrius, surnamed Slender.——A prince surnamed Soter, was son of Seleucus Philopater, the son of Antiochus the Great king of Syria. His father gave him as a hostage to the Romans. After the death of Seleucus, Antiochus Epiphanes, the deceased monarch’s brother, usurped the kingdom of Syria, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. This usurpation displeased Demetrius, who was detained at Rome; he procured his liberty on pretence of going to hunt, and fled to Syria, where the troops received him as their lawful sovereign, B.C. 162. He put to death Eupator and Lysias, and established himself on his throne by cruelty and oppression. Alexander Bala the son of Antiochus Epiphanes laid claim to the crown of Syria, and defeated Demetrius in a battle, in the 12th year of his reign. Strabo, bk. 16.—Appian.—Justin, bk. 34, ch. 3.——The Second, surnamed Nicanor, or Conqueror, was son of Soter, to whom he succeeded by the assistance of Ptolemy Philometer, after he had driven out the usurper Alexander Bala, B.C. 146. He married Cleopatra daughter of Ptolemy; who was, before, the wife of the expelled monarch. Demetrius gave himself up to luxury and voluptuousness, and suffered his kingdom to be governed by his favourites. At that time a pretended son of Bala, called Diodorus Tryphon, seized a part of Syria; and Demetrius, to oppose his antagonist, made an alliance with the Jews, and marched into the east, where he was taken by the Parthians. Phraates king of Parthia gave him his daughter Rhodogyne in marriage; and Cleopatra was so incensed at this new connection, that she gave herself up to Antiochus Sidetes her brother-in-law, and married him. Sidetes was killed in a battle against the Parthians, and Demetrius regained the possession of his kingdom. His pride and oppression rendered him odious, and his subjects asked a king of the house of Seleucus, from Ptolemy Physcon king of Egypt; and Demetrius, unable to resist the power of his enemies, fled to Ptolemais, which was then in the hands of his wife Cleopatra. The gates were shut up against his approach by Cleopatra; and he was killed by order of the governor of Tyre, whither he had fled for protection. He was succeeded by Alexander Zebina, whom Ptolemy had raised to the throne, B.C. 127. Justin, bk. 36, &c.—Appian, Syrian Wars.—Josephus.——The Third, surnamed Eucerus, was son of Antiochus Gryphus. After the example of his brother Philip, who had seized Syria, he made himself master of Damascus, B.C. 93, and soon after obtained a victory over his brother. He was taken in a battle against the Parthians, and died in captivity. Josephus, bk. 1.——Phalereus, a disciple of Theophrastus, who gained such an influence over the Athenians, by his eloquence, and the purity of his manners, that he was elected decennial archon, B.C. 317. He so embellished the city, and rendered himself so popular by his munificence, that the Athenians raised 360 brazen statues to his honour. Yet in the midst of all this popularity, his enemies raised a sedition against him, and he was condemned to death, and all his statues thrown down, after obtaining the sovereign power for 10 years. He fled without concern or mortification to the court of Ptolemy Lagus, where he met with kindness and cordiality. The Egyptian monarch consulted him concerning the succession of his children; and Demetrius advised him to raise to the throne the children of Eurydice, in preference to the offspring of Berenice. This counsel so irritated Philadelphus the son of Berenice, that after his father’s death he sent the philosopher into Upper Egypt, and there detained him in strict confinement. Demetrius, tired with his situation, put an end to his life by the bite of an asp, 284 B.C. According to some, Demetrius enjoyed the confidence of Philadelphus, and enriched his library at Alexandria with 200,000 volumes. All the works of Demetrius, on rhetoric, history, and eloquence are lost; and the treatise on rhetoric, falsely attributed to him, is by some supposed to be the composition of Halicarnassus. The last edition of this treatise is that of Glasgow, 8vo, 1743. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Cicero, Brutus & de Officiis, bk. 1.—Plutarch, De Exilio.——A Cynic philosopher, disciple of Apollonius Thyaneus, in the age of Caligula. The emperor wished to gain the philosopher to his interest by a large present; but Demetrius refused it with indignation, and said, “If Caligula wishes to bribe me, let him send me his crown.” Vespasian was displeased with his insolence, and banished him to an island. The Cynic derided the punishment, and bitterly inveighed against the emperor. He died in a great old age; and Seneca observes, that nature had brought him forth, to show mankind that an exalted genius can live securely without being corrupted by the vices of the surrounding world. Seneca.—Philostratus, Apollonius.——One of Alexander’s flatterers.——A native of Byzantium, who wrote on the Greek poets.——An Athenian killed at Mantinea, when fighting against the Thebans. Polyænus.——A writer who published a history of the irruptions of the Gauls into Asia.——A philological writer in the age of Cicero. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 8, ltr. 11.——A stage player. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 99.——Syrus, a rhetorician at Athens. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 174.——A geographer surnamed the Calatian. Strabo, bk. 1.

♦ ‘splended’ replaced with ‘splendid’

Demo, a sibyl of Cumæ.

Demoanassa, the mother of Ægialeus.

Democēdes, a celebrated physician of Crotona, son of Calliphon, and intimate with Polycrates. He was carried as a prisoner from Samos to Darius king of Persia, where he acquired great riches and much reputation by curing the king’s foot, and the breast of Atossa. He was sent to Greece as a spy by the king, and fled away to Crotona, where he married the daughter of the wrestler Milo. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 18.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 124, &c.

Dēmŏchăres, an Athenian sent with some of his countrymen with an embassy to Philip king of Macedonia. The monarch gave them audience, and when he asked them what he could do to please the people of Athens, Demochares replied, “Hang yourself.” This imprudence raised the indignation of all the hearers; but Philip mildly dismissed them, and bade them ask their countrymen, which deserved most the appellation of wise and moderate, either they who gave such ill language, or he who received it without any signs of resentment? Seneca, de Irâ, bk. 3.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bks. 3, 7, 8, 12.—Cicero, Brutus, ch. 3; On Oratory, bk. 2.——A poet of Soli, who composed a comedy on Demetrius Poliorcetes. Plutarch, Demetrius.——A statuary, who wished to make a statue to mount Athos. Vitruvius.——A general of Pompey the younger, who died B.C. 36.

Dēmŏcles, a man accused of disaffection towards Dionysius, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A beautiful youth, passionately loved by Demetrius Poliorcetes. He threw himself into a cauldron of boiling water, rather than submit to the unnatural lusts of the tyrant. Plutarch, Demetrius.

Demŏcoon, a natural son of Priam, who came from his residence at Abydos to protect his country against the Greeks. He was, after a glorious defence, killed by Ulysses. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4.

Dēmŏcrătes, an architect of Alexandria.——A wrestler. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 15.——An Athenian, who fought on the side of Darius against the Macedonians. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 5.

Dēmŏcrĭtus, a celebrated philosopher of Abdera, disciple to Leucippus. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, in quest of knowledge, and returned home in the greatest poverty. There was a law at Abdera, which deprived of the honour of a funeral the man who had reduced himself to indigence; and Democritus, to avoid ignominy, repeated before his countrymen one of his compositions called Diacosmus. It was received with such uncommon applause that he was presented with 500 talents; statues were erected in his honour; and a decree passed that the expenses of his funeral should be paid from the public treasury. He retired to a garden near the city, where he dedicated his time to study and solitude; and according to some authors he put out his eyes, to apply himself more closely to philosophical inquiries. He was accused of insanity, and Hippocrates was ordered to inquire into the nature of his disorder. The physician had a conference with the philosopher, and declared that not Democritus, but his enemies, were insane. He continually laughed at the follies and vanity of mankind, who distract themselves with care, and are at once a prey to hope and anxiety. 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. The king’s inquiries to find such persons proved unavailing, and the philosopher in some manner soothed the sorrow of his sovereign. He taught his disciples that the soul died with the body; and therefore, as he gave no credit to the existence of ghosts, some youths, to try his fortitude, dressed themselves in a hideous and deformed habit, and approached his cave in the dead of night, with whatever could create terror and astonishment. The philosopher received them unmoved; and without even looking at them, he desired them to cease making themselves such objects of ridicule and folly. He died in the 109th year of his age, B.C. 361. His father was so rich, that he entertained Xerxes, with all his army, as he was marching against Greece. All the works of Democritus are lost. He was the author of the doctrine of atoms, and first taught that the milky way was occasioned by a confused light from a multitude of stars. He may be considered as the parent of experimental philosophy, in the prosecution of which he showed himself so ardent, that he declared he would prefer the discovery of one of the causes of the works of nature to the diadem of Persia. He made artificial emeralds, and tinged them with various colours; he likewise dissolved stones, and softened ivory. Eusebius, bk. 14, ch. 27.—Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 20.—Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 7.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 15.——An Ephesian, who wrote a book on Diana’s temple, &c. Diogenes Laërtius.——A powerful man of Naxos. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 46.

Dēmŏdĭce, the wife of Cretheus king of Iolchos. Some call her Biadice, or Tyro. Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Dēmŏdŏchus, a musician at the court of Alcinous, who sang, in the presence of Ulysses, the secret amours of Mars and Venus, &c. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 8, li. 44.—Plutarch, de Musica.——A Trojan chief, who came with Æneas into Italy, where he was killed. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 413.——An historian. Plutarch, de Fluviis.

Dēmŏleon, a centaur, killed by Theseus at the ♦nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 356.——A son of Antenor, killed by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 395.

♦ ‘nupitals’ replaced with ‘nuptials’

Dēmŏleus, a Greek, killed by Æneas in the Trojan war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 260.

Dēmon, an Athenian, nephew to Demosthenes. He was at the head of the government during the absence of his uncle, and obtained a decree that Demosthenes should be recalled, and that a ship should be sent to bring him back.

Dēmonassa, a daughter of Amphiaraus, who married Thersander. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5.

Dēmōnax, a celebrated philosopher of Crete, in the reign of Adrian. He showed no concern about the necessaries of life; but when hungry, he entered the first house he met, and there satisfied his appetite. He died in his 100th year.——A man of Mantinea, sent to settle the government of Cyrene. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 161.

Dēmŏnīca, a woman who betrayed Ephesus to Brennus. Plutarch, Parallela minora.

Dēmŏphantus, a general killed by Antigonus, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 49.

Demophĭle, a name given to the sibyl of Cumæ, who, as it is supposed by some, sold the sibylline books to Tarquin. Varro, cited by Lactantius, [Divine Institutes], bk. 1, ch. 6.

Dēmŏphĭlus, an Athenian archon.——An officer of Agathocles. Diodorus, bk. 19.

Dēmŏphon, an Athenian, who assisted the Thebans in recovering Cadmea, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Dēmŏphoon, son of Theseus and Phædra, was king of Athens, B.C. 1182 and reigned 33 years. At his return from the Trojan war, he visited Thrace, where he was tenderly received and treated by Phyllis. He retired to Athens, and forgot the kindness and love of Phyllis, who hanged herself in despair. Ovid, Heroides, poem 2.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 55.——A friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 675.

Dēmŏpŏlis, a son of Themistocles. Plutarch, Themistocles.

Dēmos, a place of Ithaca.

Dēmosthĕnes, a celebrated Athenian, son of a rich blacksmith, called Demosthenes, and of Cleobule. He was but seven years of age when his father died. His guardians negligently managed his affairs, and embezzled the greatest part of his possessions. His education was totally neglected; and for whatever advances he made in learning, he was indebted to his own industry and application. He became the pupil of Isæus and Plato, and applied himself to study the orations of Isocrates. At the age of 17 he gave an early proof of his eloquence and abilities against his guardians, from whom he obtained the retribution of the greatest part of his estate. His rising talents were, however, impeded by weak lungs, and a difficulty of pronunciation, especially of the letter ρ, but these obstacles were soon conquered by unwearied application. To correct the stammering of his voice, he spoke with pebbles in his mouth; and removed the distortion of his features, which accompanied his utterance, by watching the motions of his countenance in a looking-glass. That his pronunciation might be loud and full of emphasis, he frequently ran up the steepest and most uneven walks, where his voice acquired force and energy; and on the sea-shore, when the waves were violently agitated, he declaimed aloud, to accustom himself to the noise and tumults of a public assembly. He also confined himself in a subterraneous cave, to devote himself more closely to studious pursuits; and to eradicate all curiosity of appearance in public, he shaved one half of his head. In this solitary retirement, by the help of a glimmering lamp, he composed the greatest part of his orations, which have ever been the admiration of every age, though his contemporaries and rivals severely inveighed against them, and observed that they smelt of oil. His abilities as an orator raised him to consequence at Athens, and he was soon placed at the head of the government. In this public capacity he roused his countrymen from their indolence, and animated them against the encroachments of Philip of Macedonia. In the battle of Cheronæa, however, Demosthenes betrayed his pusillanimity, and saved his life by flight. After the death of Philip, he declared himself warmly against his son and successor Alexander, whom he branded with the appellation of boy; and when the Macedonians demanded of the Athenians their orators, Demosthenes reminded his countrymen of the fable of the sheep which delivered their dogs to the wolves. Though he had boasted that all the gold of Macedonia could not tempt him, yet he suffered himself to be bribed by a small golden cup from Harpalus. The tumults which this occasioned forced him to retire from Athens; and in his banishment, which he passed at Trœzene and Ægina, he lived with more effeminacy than true heroism. When Antipater made war against Greece, after the death of Alexander, Demosthenes was publicly recalled from his exile, and a galley was sent to fetch him from Ægina. His return was attended with much splendour, and all the citizens crowded at the Piræus to see him land. His triumph and popularity, however, were short. Antipater and Craterus were near Athens, and demanded all the orators to be delivered up into their hands. Demosthenes, with all his adherents, fled to the temple of Neptune in Calauria, and when he saw that all hopes of safety were banished, he took a dose of poison, which he always carried in a quill, and expired on the day that the Thesmophoria were celebrated, in the 60th year of his age, B.C. 322. The Athenians raised a brazen statue to his honour, with an inscription translated into this distich:

Si tibi par menti robur, Vir magne, fuisset,
Græcia non Macedæ succubuisset hero.

Demosthenes has been deservedly called the prince of orators; and Cicero, his successful rival among the Romans, calls him a perfect model, and such as he wished to be. These two great princes of eloquence have often been compared together; but the judgment hesitates to which to give the preference. They both arrived at perfection, but the measures by which they obtained it were diametrically opposite. Demosthenes has been compared, and with propriety, by his rival Æschines, to a Siren, from the melody of his expressions. No orator can be said to have expressed the various passions of hatred, resentment, or indignation, with more energy than he; and as a proof of his uncommon application, it need only be mentioned, that he transcribed eight or even ten times the history of Thucydides, that he might not only imitate, but possess the force and energy of the great historian. The best editions of his works are that of Wolfius, folio, Frankof. 1604; that left unfinished by Taylor, Cambridge, 4to, and that published in 12 vols., 8vo, 1720, &c., Lipscomb, by Reiske and his widow. Many of the orations of Demosthenes have been published separately. Plutarch, Parallel Lives.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Cicero, Orator, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 2, ch. 33.——An Athenian general, sent to succeed Alcibiades in Sicily. He attacked Syracuse with Nicias, but his efforts were ineffectual. After many calamities he fell into the enemy’s hands, and his army was confined to hard labour. The accounts about the death of Demosthenes are various; some believe that he stabbed himself, while others suppose that he was put to death by the Syracusans, B.C. 413. Plutarch, Nicias.—Thucydides, bk. 4, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 12.——The father of the orator Demosthenes. He was very rich, and employed an immense number of slaves in the business of a sword-cutler. Plutarch, Demosthenes.——A governor of Cæsarea, under the Roman emperors.

Dēmostrătus, an Athenian orator.

Demūchus, a Trojan, son of Philetor, killed by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 457.

Dēmy̆lus, a tyrant who tortured the philosopher Zeno. Plutarch, de Stoicorum Repugnantiis.

Denseletæ, a people of Thrace. Cicero, Against Piso, ch. 34.

Deobriga, a town on the Iberus in Spain, now Miranda de Ebro.

Deodătus, an Athenian who opposed the cruel resolutions of Cleon against the captive prisoners of Mitylene.

Dēōis, a name given to Proserpine from her mother Ceres, who was called Deo. This name Ceres received, because when she sought her daughter all over the world, all wished her success in her pursuits, with the word δηεις, invenies; a δηω, invenio. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 114.

Deræ, a place of Messenia.

Derbe, a town of Lycaonia, at the north of mount Taurus in Asia Minor, now Alah-Dag.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ltr. 73.

Derbĭces, a people near Caucasus, who killed all those that had reached their 70th year. They buried such as died a natural death. Strabo.

Derce, a fountain in Spain, whose waters were said to be uncommonly cold.

Dercennus, an ancient king in Latium. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 850.

Dercĕto and Dercĕtis, a goddess of Syria, called also Atergatis, whom some supposed to be the same as Astarte. She was represented as a beautiful woman above the waist, and the lower part terminated in a fish’s tail. According to Diodorus, Venus, whom she had offended, made her passionately fond of a young priest, remarkable for the beauty of his features. She had a daughter by him, and became so ashamed of her incontinence, that she removed her lover, exposed the fruit of her amour, and threw herself into a lake. Her body was transformed into a fish, and her child was preserved, and called Semiramis. As she was chiefly worshipped in Syria, and represented like a fish, the Syrians anciently abstained from fishes. Lucian, de Deâ Syria.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 13.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 44.—Diodorus, bk. 2.

Dercyllĭdas, a general of Sparta, celebrated for his military exploits. He took nine different cities in eight days, and freed Chersonesus from the inroads of the Thracians by building a wall across the country. He lived B.C. 399. Diodorus, bk. 14.—Xenophon, Hellenica, bk. 1, &c.

Dercyllus, a man appointed over Attica by Antipater. Cornelius Nepos, Phocion, ch. 2.

Dercy̆nus, a son of Neptune, killed by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Dersæi, a people of Thrace.

Derthona, now Tortona, a town of Liguria, between Genoa and Placentia, where a Roman colony was settled. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 2.

Dertose, now Tortosa, a town of Spain near the Iberus.

Derusiæi, a people of Persia.

Dēsudăba, a town of Media. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 26.

Deva, a town of Britain, now Chester on the Dee.

Deucălion, a son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha the daughter of Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the whole earth was overwhelmed with a deluge. The impiety of mankind had irritated Jupiter, who resolved to destroy the world, and immediately the earth exhibited a boundless scene of waters. The highest mountains were climbed up by the frightened inhabitants of the country; but this seeming place of security was soon overtopped by the rising waters, and no hope was left of escaping the universal calamity. Prometheus advised his son to make himself a ship, and by this means he saved himself and his wife Pyrrha. The vessel was tossed about during nine successive days, and at last stopped on the top of mount Parnassus, where Deucalion remained till the waters had subsided. Pindar and Ovid make no mention of a vessel built by the advice of Prometheus; but, according to their relation, Deucalion saved his life by taking refuge on the top of Parnassus, or, according to Hyginus, of Ætna in Sicily. As soon as the waters had retired from the surface of the earth, Deucalion and his wife went to consult the oracle of Themis, and were directed to repair the loss of mankind, by throwing behind them the bones of their grandmother. This was nothing but the stones of the earth; and after some hesitation about the meaning of the oracle, they obeyed. The stones thrown by Deucalion became men, and those of Pyrrha women. According to Justin, Deucalion was not the only one who escaped from the universal calamity. Many saved their lives by ascending the highest mountains, or trusting themselves in small vessels to the mercy of the waters. This deluge, which chiefly happened in Thessaly, according to the relation of some writers, was produced by the inundation of the waters of the river Peneus, whose regular course was stopped by an earthquake near mount Ossa and Olympus. According to Xenophon, there were no less than five deluges. The first happened under Ogyges, and lasted three months. The second, which was in the age of Hercules and Prometheus, continued but one month. During the third, which happened in the reign of another Ogyges, all Attica was laid waste by the waters. Thessaly was totally covered by the waters during the fourth, which happened in the age of Deucalion. The last was before the Trojan war, and its effects were severely felt by the inhabitants of Egypt. There prevailed a report in Attica, that the waters of Deucalion’s deluge had disappeared through a small aperture about a cubit wide, near Jupiter Olympius’s temple; and Pausanias, who saw it, further adds, that a yearly offering of flour and honey was thrown into it with religious ceremony. The deluge of Deucalion, so much celebrated in ancient history, is supposed to have happened 1503 years B.C. Deucalion had two sons by Pyrrha, Hellen, called by some son of Jupiter, and Amphictyon king of Attica, and also a daughter, Protogenia, who became mother of Æthlius by Jupiter. Pindar, poem 9, Olympian.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, fable 8; Heroides, ♦poem 15, li. 167.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 10; bk. 5, ch. 8.—Juvenal, satire 1, li. 81.—Hyginus, fable 153.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Lucian, de Deâ Syriâ.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 62.——One of the Argonauts.——A son of Minos. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.——A son of Abas.

♦ ‘45’ replaced with ‘15’

Deucetius, a Sicilian general. Diodorus, bk. 11.

Deudorix, one of the Cherusci, led in triumph by Germanicus.

Dexamĕne, one of the Nereides. Homer, Iliad, bk. 18.

Dexamĕnus, a man delivered by Hercules from the hands of his daughter’s suitors. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.——A king of Olenus in Achaia, whose two daughters married the sons of Actor. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Dexippus, a Spartan who assisted the people of Agrigentum, &c. Diodorus, bk. 13.

Dexithea, the wife of Minos. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Dexius, a Greek, father of Iphinous, killed by Glaucus in the Trojan war, &c. Homer, Iliad, bk. 7.

Dīa, a daughter of Deion, mother of Pirithous by Ixion.——An island in the Ægean sea, 17 miles from Delos. It is the same as Naxos. See:Naxos. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 157.——Another on the coast of Crete, now Standia.——A city of Thrace,——of Eubœa,——Peloponnesus,——Lusitania,——Italy, near the Alps,——Scythia, near the Phasis,——Caria,——Bithynia,——and Thessaly.

Diactorĭdes, one of Agarista’s suitors. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 127.——The father of Eurydame the wife of Leutychides. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 71.

Diæus, of Megalopolis, a general of the Achæans, who killed himself when his affairs became desperate. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 16.

Diadumeniānus, a son of Macrinus, who enjoyed the title of Cæsar during his father’s lifetime, &c.

Diăgon and Diăgum, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing into the Alpheus, and separating Pisa from Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 21.

Diagondas, a Theban who abolished all nocturnal sacrifices. Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 15.

Diăgŏras, an Athenian philosopher. His father’s name was Teleclytus. From the greatest superstition, he became a most unconquerable atheist, because he saw a man who laid a false claim to one of his poems, and who perjured himself, go unpunished. His great impiety and blasphemies provoked his countrymen, and the Areopagites promised one talent to him who brought his head before their tribunal, and two if he were produced alive. He lived about 416 years before Christ. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 23; bk. 3, ch. 37, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.——An athlete of Rhodes, 460 years before the christian era. Pindar celebrated his merit in a beautiful ode still extant, which was written in golden letters in a temple of Minerva. He saw his three sons crowned the same day at Olympia, and died through excess of joy. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5.—Plutarch, Pelopidas.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Diālis, a priest of Jupiter at Rome, first instituted by Numa. He was never permitted to swear, even upon public trials. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 15.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Diallus, an Athenian who wrote a history of all the memorable occurrences of his age.

Diamastigōsis, a festival of Sparta in honour of Diana Orthia, which received that name, ἀπο του μαστιγουν, from whipping, because boys were whipped before the altar of the goddess. These boys, called Bomonicæ, were originally free-born Spartans; but, in the more delicate ages, they were of mean birth, and generally of a slavish origin. This operation was performed by an officer in a severe and unfeeling manner; and that no compassion should be raised, the priest stood near the altar with a small light statue of the goddess, which suddenly became heavy and insupportable if the lash of the whip was more lenient or less rigorous. The parents of the children attended the solemnity, and exhorted them not to commit anything, either by fear or groans, that might be unworthy of Laconian education. These flagellations were so severe, that the blood gushed in profuse torrents, and many expired under the lash of the whip without uttering a groan, or betraying any marks of fear. Such a death was reckoned very honourable, and the corpse was buried with much solemnity, with a garland of flowers on its head. The origin of this festival is unknown. Some suppose that Lycurgus first instituted it to inure the youths of Lacedæmon to bear labour and fatigue, and render them insensible to pain and wounds. Others maintain that it was a mitigation of an oracle, which ordered that human blood should be shed on Diana’s altar; and according to their opinion, Orestes first introduced that barbarous custom, after he had brought the statue of Diana Taurica into Greece. There is another tradition, which mentions that Pausanias, as he was offering prayers and sacrifices to the gods, before he engaged with Mardonius, was suddenly attacked by a number of Lydians who disturbed the sacrifice, and were at last repelled with staves and stones, the only weapons with which the Lacedæmonians were provided at that moment. In commemoration of this, therefore, the whipping of boys was instituted at Sparta, and after that the Lydian procession.

Diāna, was the goddess of hunting. According to Cicero, there were three of this name; a daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, who became mother of Cupid; a daughter of Jupiter and Latona; and a daughter of Upis and Glauce. The second is the most celebrated, and to her all the ancients allude. She was born at the same birth as Apollo; and the pains which she saw her mother suffer during her labour, gave her such an aversion to marriage, that she obtained from her father the permission to live in perpetual celibacy, and to preside over the travails of women. To shun the society of men, she devoted herself to hunting, and obtained the permission of Jupiter to have for her attendants 60 of the Oceanides, and 20 other nymphs, all of whom, like herself, abjured the use of marriage. She is represented with a bent bow and quiver, and attended with dogs, and sometimes drawn in a chariot by two white stags. Sometimes she appears with wings, holding a lion in one hand and a panther in the other, with a chariot drawn by two heifers, or two horses of different colours. She is represented taller by the head than her attendant nymphs, her face has something manly, her legs are bare, well-shaped, and strong, and her feet are covered with a buskin, worn by huntresses among the ancients. Diana received many surnames, particularly from the places where her worship was established, and from the functions over which she presided. She was called Lucina, Ilythia, or Juno Pronuba, when invoked by women in child-bed, and Trivia when worshipped in the cross-ways, where her statues were generally erected. She was supposed to be the same as the moon, and Proserpine or Hecate, and from that circumstance she was called Triformis; and some of her statues represented her with three heads, that of a horse, a dog, and a boar. Her power and functions under these three characters have been beautifully expressed in these two verses: