Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/61

EREBOS. events in literary as well as political history. (Har- pocrat. s. V. Eiirjvos ; Dionys. i. 46 ; Clem. Alex. Strom, i. p. 145.) This work, of which some frag- ments are still extant, formed a comprehensive chronological history, and appears to have been held in high esteem by the ancients. Apollodorus and Eusebius made great use of it, and Syncellus (p. 96, c.) has preserved from it a list of 38 kings of the Egyptian Thebes. (Comp. Bernhardy, /. e. p. 243, &c.) Another work, likewise of a chrono- logical kind, was the 'OXvfA.TriovTKai. (Diog. Laert. viii. 51 ; A then. iv. p. 154; Schol. ad E/irip. He- cuh. 569.) It contained a clironological list of the victors in the Olympic games, and other things connected with them. (Bernhardy, p. 247, &c.) Among his grammatical works we notice that On the Old Attic Comedy (Ilepi tt)? 'Apx"'"? Kwixui- Sias, sometimes simply Hepl Kw^^)5tas, or Kcuwaj- Siwv), a very extensive work, of which the twelfth book is quoted. It contained everything that was necessary to arrive at a perfect understanding of those poetical productions. In the first part of the work, Eratosthenes appears to have entered even into discussions concerning the structure of thea- tres, the whole scenic apparatus, the actors, their costumes, declamation, and the like ; and it is therefore not improbable that the 'Apx^TeiCTovMos (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 567, iii. 232) and cTKevoypaipiKos (Pollux, x. 1 ), which are mentioned as separate works, were only portions of the first part of iiis work on the Old Corned}'. After tliis general introduction, Eratosthenes discussed the works of the principal connc poets themselves, such as Aristoplianes, Cratinus, Eupolis, Pherecrates, and others, entering into detailed criticism, and giving explanations both of their language and the subjects of their comedies. We still possess a con- siderable number of fragments of this work (col- lected in Bernhardy, /. c. pp. 205 — 237) ; and from what he says about Aristophanes, it is evident that his judgment was as sound as his information was extensive. He is further said to have been engaged in the criticism and explanation of the Homeric poems, and to have written on the life and produc- tions of that poet ; but nothing certain is known in tliis respect. For more complete lists of the Avorks attributed to Eratosthenes, see the Eratos- iJienica of Bernhardv. [L. S.] ERATO'STHENES SCHOLA'STICUS, the author of four epigrams in the Greek Anthology (Brunck. A7ial. vol. iii. p. 123; Jacobs, vol. iv. p. 93), to which may be added, on the authority of the Vatican MS,, a fifth, which stands in the An- thology among those of Paul the Silentiary (No. 88). In all probability, Eratosthenes lived under the emperor Justinian. (Jacobs, Aiith. Graec. vol. xiii. p. 890 ; Fabric. Bibl. Grace, vol. iv. p. 474.) [P. S.] ERATO'STRATUS. [Herostratus] E' RAT US {'EparSs), a son of Heracles by Dynaste, was king of Argos, and made a suc- cessful expedition against Asine, winch was be- sieged and taken. (ApoUod. ii. 7. § 8 ; Pans. ii. 36. § 5.) [L. S.] E'REBOS ("Epegos), a son of Chaos, begot Aether and Hemera by Nyx, his sister. (Hesiod. T/ieoff. 123.) Hyginus {Fab. p. 1) and Cicero (ofe Nat. Deor. iii. 17) enumerate many personifica- tions of abstract notions as tlie offspring of Erebos. The name signifies darkness, and is therefore ap- plied also to the dark and gloomy space under the ERGINUS. 47 earth, through which the shades pass into Hade^ (Horn. //. viii. p. 368 ; comp. HAnKS. [L. S.] ERECHTHEUS. [Erichthonius.] E'RESUS ("Epecros), a son of Macar, from whom the town of Eresus in Lesbos derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v.) A second otherwise unknown person of this name was painted in the Lesche at Delphi. (Pans. x. 27.) [L. S.J EREUTHA'LION i^Ep^vdaKiuv), an Arcadian, who, in the annour of Areithous, which Lycurgus had given him, fought against the Pylians, but was slain by Nestor. (Horn. //. iv. 319, vii. 134, &c.) [L. S.J ERGA'MENES {'Epyafxh-ns), a king of Me- roe, an Ethiopian by birth, but who had received a Greek education. He was the first who over- threw the power of the priests, which had been paramount to that of the sovereign, and established a despotic authority. He was contemporary with Ptolemy Philadelphus, but we know nothing of the relations in which he stood towards that mon- arch. His name has been discovered in .the hieroglyphics at Dakkeh, whence it is inferred that his dominions extended as far north as that point. (Diod. iii. 6 ; Droysen, Hellenismus, vol. ii. p. 49, 278.) [E. H. B.J E'RGANE ('Ep7aV7j) or E'RGATIS, that is, the worker, a surname of Athena, who was be- lieved to preside over and instruct man in all kinds of arts. (Pans. v. 14. $ 5, i. 24. § 3 ; Plut. de Fort. p. 99, a.; Hesych. s. v.) [L. S.J E'RGIAS ('Ep7ias) of Rhodes, is mentioned as the author of a work on his native island. (Athcn. viii. p. 360.) Gesner and others are of opinion that Ergias is the same person as Erxias, who was the author of KoKo(pwvLa.K(i. (Athen. xiii. p. 561.) But which of the two names, Ergias or Erxias, is the correct one, cannot be determined. [L. S.J ERGI'NUS ('Ep7rj/os), a son of Clymenus and Buzyge or Budeia, was king of Orchomenos. After Clymenus was killed by Perieres at the festival of the Onchestian Poseidon, Erginus, his eldest son, who succeeded him as king, undertook to avenge the death of his father. He marched against Thebes, and surpassing the enemy in the number of his horsemen, he killed many Thebans, and compelled them to a treaty, in which they bound themselves to pay him for twenty years an annual tribute of 100 oxen. Heracles once met the heralds of Erginus, who were going to demand the usual tribute : he cut off their ears and noses, tied their hands behind their backs, and thus sent them to Erginus, saying that this was his tribute. Erginua now undertook a second expedition against Thebes, but was defeated and slain by Heracles, whom Athena had provided with arms. (Apollod. ii. 4. §11; Diod. iv. 10; Strab. ix. p.4l4; Eustath. ad Horn. p. 272 ; Eurip.. Here. fur. 220 ; Theocrit. xvi. 1 05.) Pausanias (ix. 37. § 2, &c.), who agrees with the other writers in the first part of the ni}'- thus, states, that Erginus made peace with Hera- cles, and devoted all his energy to the promotion of the prosperity of his kingdom. In this manner Erginus arrived at an advanced age without having either wife or children : but, as he did not wish any longer to live alone, he consulted the Delphic oracle, which advised him to take a youthful wife. This he did, and became by her the father of Tro- phonius and Agamedes, or, according to Eustathius (/. c.) of Azeus. Erginus is also mentioned among the Argonauts, and is said to have succeeded Tiphys