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718 ERNESTI EROSTRATUS of Cumberland, eldest surviving brother of William, ascended the throne of Hanover. Here he became notorious for his tyrannical disposition. His first act was to abrogate the constitution of 1833, which had been sanc- tioned by William IV. In 1848 he yielded for a time to the exigencies of the moment, and granted a more liberal constitution. Shortly before his death he concluded a treaty with Prussia, by which Hanover joined the German Zollverein (Sept. 7, 1851). He was succeeded by his son, George V. (born May 27, 1819), who, though blind, reigned till Hanover was annexed to Prussia in 1866, when he took up his abode at Hietzing, near Vienna. ERNESTI. I. Johaim August, a German phi- lologist, born in Tennstadt, Thuringia, Aug. 4, 1707, died in Leipsic, Sept. 11, 1781. He was made professor of ancient literature in the university of Leipsic in 1742, of eloquence in 1756, and of theology in 1758. His critical editions of Greek and Roman classics, Xen- ophon, Homer, Callimachus, Polybius, Sue- tonius, Tacitus, and Cicero are justly celebra- ted, especially the edition of Cicero's writings, and the glossary appended thereto, Clams Cice- roniana (6th ed., Halle, 1831). His. excellent Latin style obtained for him the surname of the German Cicero. As a theological writer he belonged to the school of rationalists. His most eminent theological work is the In- stitutio Interprets Nom Testamenti (3d ed., 1775), of which an English translation, by 0. H. Terrot, appeared in Edinburgh (2 vols. 12mo, 1833-'43). II. August Wilhelm, nephew of the preceding, born at Frohndorf, near Tennstadt, Nov. 26, 1733, died in Leipsic, July 29, 1801. In 1765 he was professor of phi- losophy in the university of Leipsic, succeeded his uncle as professor of eloquence in 1770, and edited the works of Livy (1769) and Am- mianusMarcellinus (1773), besides many others. ERNST, Heinrich Wilhelm, a German violinist and composer, born in Briinn in 1814, died in Nice, Oct. 8, 1865. He played in public at the age of 10, studied under Joseph Boehm of Vienna, and also under Mayseder and Seyfried. In 1829 he made his first professional tour, exciting much attention at Munich, Stuttgart, and other musical centres. In 1832 he went from Vienna to Paris, where he remained several years studying the violinists of the French school, especially De Beriot, whose fa- vorite pupil he became. In 1840 he resumed his professional tours, in the course of which he visited Vienna, Berlin, and most of the other German cities, and later Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and England, where he re- mained several years. During the last eight years of his life he resided at Nice, an invalid goffering under a nervous malady that impaired his powers and rendered his life unhappy. Among the best known and most frequently played of his works are his Elegie, the con- certo in F sharp major, his quartets for stringed instruments, and his violin studies. His fame, however, rested principally upon his great merit as a virtuoso. He was called the most poetic of violinists, combining the grace and elegance of De Beriot with a deeper feeling and a larger and grander tone. In his best days he was almost without a rival in Europe. EROS, in Greek mythology, the god of love. There are two distinct conceptions of Eros. In the earlier, which appears in Hesiod, and in Plato, Aristotle, and the Orphic hymn, he is one of the oldest of the gods, or even the first of the gods. Hesiod associates him with Chaos, Ge (Earth), and Tartarus. He is elsewhere de- scribed as a son of Cronos (Saturn) and Ge, or as a god who had no parentage and came into ex- istence by himself. He was one of the funda- mental causes in the formation of the world, inasmuch as he was the uniting power of love, which brought order and harmony among the conflicting elements of Chaos. The Romans gave this divinity no place in their religion, but when they speak of what they had heard from the Greeks translate Eros into Amor. The Eros of the later Greek poets is identical with the Latin Cupid, and is one of the young- est of the gods. He is generally called the son of Aphrodite (Venus), though sometimes of Polymnia, Penia, Artemis (Diana), or Iris ; and his father is variously said to be Zeus (Jupiter), Poms, Hermes (Mercury), Ares (Mars), or Zephyrus. He was generally de- scribed as a handsome youth, but in the latest poets as a wanton boy full of tricks and cruel sports. In this stage he is the god of sensual love, bearing sway over the gods as well as overmen, taming lions and tigers, and depriving Hercules of his arms and Zeus of his thunder- bolts. His arms are arrows and torches, which no one can touch with impunity. He has wings. His eyes are sometimes covered, so that he acts blindly. He is the usual companion of his mother Venus. His statue and that of Mercury stood in the Greek gymnasia. The number of the loves is extended by later poets, who make them sons of Venus or of nymphs. Thespise in Bceotia was the most famous place for the worship of Eros ; there it was very ancient, and the old representa- tion of the god was a rude stone, to which exquisite sculptures were added in later times. A quinquennial festival, the Erotidia or Erotia, was celebrated there in honor of the god. The goose was sacred to him, also the hare, the cock, and the ram. He was a favorite subject with the ancient statuaries, and Prax- iteles represented him as a full-grown youth of perfect beauty. Respecting the connection between Eros and Psyche, see PSYCHE. EROSTRATUS, or Herostratns, an Ephesian who lived in the middle of the 4th century B. C., and whom a deed of infamy has given a place in history. On the night in which Alexander the Great was born, in 356 B. C., he set fire to the great temple of Diana at Ephesus, whicl' was utterly destroyed. When it was ascer- tained who had perpetrated the sacrilege, Eros-