on the Syntax of the Parts of Speech. It is not clear whether the surname Dyscolus (the 'crabbed') had reference to his literary style or to his disposition of mind.
APOLLONIUS MO'LON. A Greek rhetorician, born at Alabanda, in Caria. He taught rhetoric at Rhodes, and was a distinguished pleader in the courts of justice. In B.C. 81, being sent to Rome as an ambassador by the Rhodians, he addressed the Roman Senate in Greek. He stayed some time at Rome, and was there heard by Cicero, who afterwards (B.C. 78) visited him at Rhodes. Other distinguished Romans, among them Cæsar, also attended his lectures.
APOLLONIUS RHO'DIUS (c.295 c.215 B.C.) .
An epic poet, son of Silleus (or Illeus). born at
Alexandria. As a youth lie was the pupil of Calli-
niaehus, but afterwards entered into a bitter strife
with his former teacher, on literary grounds. Cal-
limachus was the champion of the short poem m
the artiiicial and learned style, while Apollonius
preferred the lengthy poem in the simple style
of Homer. The Argo'naiitUv. the most important
and onlv extant poem of Apollonius, was in part
written' while the author was at Alexandria, and
was received with scorn by the audience there.
Apollonius then withdrew to Rhodes, revised his
poem, and produced it with great acclaim. He
received citizenship at Rhodes, set up a
school of rhetoric there, and styled himself the
Rhodiait. Later in life he is said to have re-
turned to Alexandria, and to have succeeded
Eratosthenes as librarian — an office which he
held till his death. The Aiiivnaiitica is an epic
poem in four books, containing an account of the
expedition of the Argonauts in quest of the Gol-
den Fleece. The first two books describe the de-
parture of the expedition and the adventures on
the wav; the third book tells of the passion of
Medea;" the fourth book gives an account of the
return home. The poem imitates the language
and stvle of Homer, but it is laliored and lacks
spirit "and movement. The Aryommtica was
much admired bv the Romans, being translated
at least once, and often imitated by them.
Apollonius wrote other works in verse and in
prose. Critical edition l>y Merkel (1854).
APOL'LOS (Gk. 'AiroXXiis, an abbreviation of
AttoXXwkos, ApuUoHios). An early Christian mis-
sionary and companion of Saint Paul. He was
an lexandrian, converted probably in Alexandria
by followers of John the Baptist, and at once
threw himself with enthusiasm into the work
of propagating the new faith. He came to Ephe-
sus and there gladlv accepted the fuller instruc-
tion which he received from Priscilla and
Aquila. Thus equipped, he passed on to
Corinth where he labored with great success
( cts xviii. 24-28). But unhappily, there were
those there who made a party called by his
name and so contributed to the factional
troubles in the Corinthian Onirch. From Corinth
he went to Ephesus. But his Corinthi.an ad-
mirers, who preferred his more rhetorical man-
ner of preaching to the simpler manner of Paul,
desired his return, and he i>romised to come a
little later (I. Cor. i. 10-12: iii. 4-6; xvi. 12).
The last mention of him in the New Testament
(Titus iii 13) shows him about to undertake
a journev to Crete. According to tradition he
became the first bishop of Crete.
APOLLO SAUROC'TONOS (Lizard killer). A statue of the youthful Apollo in the Vatican — a copy of a bronze of Praxiteles. It represents the god leaning against a tree, on the point of stabbing a lizard with a dart as the reptile crawls up the trunk.
APOLLYON, a-pOl'li-on or a-p6l'yun (Gk.
ATToWioiy, from diroWivai, apolhjmi, to destroy).
A designation used (Rev. ix. 3-11) to trans-
late the Hebrew Abaddon, which means destruc-
tion, and which was one of the names given to the
great gathering place of the dead, more com-
monly known as Sheol. Apollyon is personified
as the angel having dominion over the locusts
coming up out of the 'bottomless pit' at the
sound of the fifth trumpet on the day of judg-
ment. In the Apocrypha (Tobit iii. 8) the slayer
of the seven husbands of Sarah, daughter of
Raguel, is called Asmodeus, who is by some
critics identified with Abaddon, or Apollyon. In
Talmudic literature (Treatise Shabbath 55»).
Abaddon is the name given to the angel who with
Maweth. i.e. 'death,' stands over the six angels
of destruction, who aid God in the punishment
of the wicked.
AP'OLO'GIA PRO VI'TA SU'A (Lat., defense concerning his life). John Henry (afterwards Cardinal) Newman's defense of his position in the "Oxford movement." Its immediate cause was an accusation made by Charles Kingsley, that, "Truth for its own sake has never been a virtue with the Roman clergy. Father Newman informs us that it need not and, on the whole, ought not to be." Newman first demanded a substantiation or a retraction of this charge; and, unable to obtain either, published the Apologia.
APOL'OGIE FOR PO'ETRY. A famous work written by Sir Philip Sidney in 1580, and published in 1595, in answer to an attack on the playhouses entitled The School of Abuse, dedicated to him without his consent, by Stephen Gosson. It is a defense and eulogy of the art of poetry, closely modeled after Aristotle's Poetics, and couched in the exaggerated Elizabethan style.
AP'OLOGUE (Gk. ἀπόλογος, apologos). A fable, parable, or short story, intended to serve as a pleasant vehicle of some moral doctrine. One of the oldest and best apologues or parables is that by Jotham, as given in the book of Judges (ix. 7-15). Another celebrated apologue is that of the "belly and the members," related by the patrician Menenius Agrippa. Æsop's fables have enjoyed a world-wide reputation. Luther held such "an opinion of the value of the apologue as a vehicle of moral truth, that he edited a revised Æsop, for which he wrote a characteristic preface. He says: "In doing this, I have especially cared for young people, that they may receive instruction in a style suitable to their age, which is naturally fond of all kinds of fiction;" and I have wished to gratify this natural taste without indulging anything that is bad." Consult Jacob, Introduction to the Fables of Æsop (New York, 1896).
APOL'OGY ( Gk. ἀπολογία, apologia, a speech in defense, defense). A term now commonly understood as synonymous with an excuse for breach of an engagement, etc., but originally used as the title of any work written in defense of certain doctrines, as in the Apology of Socrates,
