was thirteen times victor. He was finally defeated by Sophocles and went to Sicily, where he lived with Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse. Tradition says his death was caused by an eagle dropping a tortoise, to break its shell, on his bald head, which the bird had mistaken for a stone. Attic tragedy owes much to Æschylus. He first brought in a second actor, befitting costumes and scenery, and caused a regular stage to be built. He wrote 70 tragedies, of which only seven are now in existence: The Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, The Persians, Prometheus Bound, The Choëphori, and The Eumenides. Mrs. Browning’s poetical version of Prometheus Bound is one of the best of the many translations of his tragedies.
Æsculapius (ĕs-ku-lā′pĭ-us), in Greek fable, the god of medicine and patron of physicians, called by Homer the Blameless Physician. He was the son of Apollo. He went about healing and raising from the dead until Pluto, god of the lower world, finding his kingdom was losing its people, appealed to Jupiter, who destroyed Æsculapius by a thunderbolt. Various temples were built in his honor. The most famous was at Epidaurus, where a peculiar breed of snakes was believed to have received healing power from Æsculapius. During a pestilence the Greeks used to send for one of these serpents. The Romans also sent a solemn embassy to bring one of these healing snakes to their city, and later introduced the worship of Æsculapius at Rome. The priests of the temples of this god, called Æsclepiades, or sons of Æsculapius, were the only regular physicians of antiquity.
Æsop (ē′sop), a Greek writer of fables, born about 620 B. C. He was sold as a slave at Athens, but was freed by his master. He gained great reputation as a writer, and was invited by Crœsus, king of Lydia, to live at his court. He was sent by Crœsus, about 564 B. C., to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, where he angered the Delphians by his sarcasm and was thrown from a precipice. His real works have probably been destroyed, the fables which bear his name having been written by later authors.
Æsthetics (ēs-thet′-iks), a term signifying perceptible to the senses, and denoting the science of the beautiful in nature and the fine arts (Greek, æsthetikos). The term aesthetics, though a modern German one, is one which, in its meaning, was familiar to the ancient Greek philosophers, especially to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. What they meant by the term was the quality in the beautiful that produces to the mind as well as to the eye a certain pleasing effect and a refined pleasure. When we speak of æsthetic ideas, studies or emotions we mean those things that appeal to our sense of the beautiful, or that treat of the expression and embodiment of beauty by art. See Schiller’s Treatise on Æsthetics; Cousin on The True, the Beautiful and the Good, and Alison’s essay on The Nature and Principle of Taste.
Ætna, Mount. See Etna.
Afghanistan (äf-găn′ĭs-tän′), is a mountainous country of south Central Asia governed by a hereditary monarch called an amir. The present ruler is Habibullah Khan. The government is under the supervision of Great Britain which contributes to it an annual subsidy. It is frequently spoken of as the “buffer state” between British India on the east and Turkistan, the province of Russia to the north of it.
Afghanistan was a part of the empire of Timur the Great and after changing masters several times became independent in 1747. In 1838 the British sent an army into Afghanistan to place on his throne the Amir Shah Shuja who had been driven into exile in India. In 1841 the British suppressed a revolt in Afghanistan and have ever since been the real power there. In 1879 the English resident and his officers and escort were massacred by the Afghans. For this severe revenge and firmer hold were taken by the English. Under the amir there is a council with governors for the separate provinces.
The army comprises about 68,000 foot soldiery, with 7000 horses and 350 guns. The mounted levies are for the most part, the retainers of the great chieftains or of the latters’ wealthier vassals.
The population, mainly Mohammedan, is estimated at 5,900,000. It is very mixed and rather discordant in character. The majority are Persians. The Afghans are a brave race; but although apparently frank and open-hearted are cruel and treacherous.
The total area (see map of Asia) is 250,000 square miles. There are practically no navigable rivers and but one railway. Travel on the few high-ways is carried on by camels and ponies. Besides these, the domestic animals are goats, dogs, horses and a few cattle and sheep.
The climate varies greatly from regions where snow never falls to regions where it seldom melts. The trade is mainly with British India. Exports are largely horses, cattle, hides, tobacco, grain, pulse, fruits, vegetables, asafoetida, madder, the castor oil plant, spices, wool; imports, sugar, tea, cotton goods and dyes. There are two harvests: wheat, barley, peas and beans sown in autumn and reaped in summer; rice, millet and corn sown in spring and reaped in autumn. The other principal crops are almonds, pomegranates, figs, grapes, peaches, quinces, cherries, apricots and plums.
The minerals include copper, lead and iron with small quantities of gold and there are precious stones, including lapis lazuli. The manufactures include clothes, silks, felts, carpets and various articles made from goat’s and camel’s hair and sheepskin.
