Xenagŏras, an historian. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——A philosopher who measured the height of mount Olympus.
Xenarchus, a comic poet.——A peripatetic philosopher of Seleucia, who taught at Alexandria and at Rome, and was intimate with Augustus. Strabo, bk. 14.——A pretor of the Achæan league, who wished to favour the interest of Perseus king of Macedonia against the Romans.
Xenares, an intimate friend of Cleomenes king of Sparta.
Xenetus, a rich Locrian, whose daughter Doris married Dionysius of Sicily, &c. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 7.
Xeneus, a Chian writer who composed a history of his country.
Xeniădes, a Corinthian who went to buy Diogenes the Cynic when sold as a slave. He asked him what he could do; upon which the Cynic answered, “Command freemen.” This noble answer so pleased Xeniades, that he gave the Cynic his liberty, and entrusted him with the care and education of his children. Diogenes Laërtius.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 2, ch. 18.
Xenius, a surname given to Jupiter as the god of hospitality.
Xenoclea, a priestess of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, from whom Hercules extorted an oracle by force, when she refused to answer him because he was not purified of the blood and death of Iphitus. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 13.
Xenŏcles, a tragic writer, who obtained four times a poetical prize in a contention in which Euripides was competitor, either through the ignorance or by the bribery of his judges. The names of his tragedies which obtained the victory were Œdipus, Lycaon, Bacchæ, Athamas Satyricus, against the Alexander, Palamedes, Trojani, and Sisyphus Satyricus of Euripides. His grandson bore also the name of Xenocles, and excelled in tragical compositions. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 8.——A Spartan officer in the expedition which Agesilaus undertook against the Persians.——An architect of Eleusis.——A friend of Aratus.——One of the friends of Cicero.——A celebrated rhetorician of Adramyttium. Strabo, bk. 13.
Xenocrătes, an ancient philosopher born at Chalcedonia, and educated in the school of Plato, whose friendship he gained, and whose approbation he merited. Though of a dull and sluggish disposition, he supplied the defects of nature by unwearied attention and industry, and was at last found capable of succeeding in the school of Plato after Speusippus, about 339 years before Christ. He was remarkable as a disciplinarian, and he required that his pupils should be acquainted with mathematics before they came under his care, and he even rejected some who had not the necessary qualification, saying that they had not yet found the key of philosophy. He recommended himself to his pupils not only by precepts, but more powerfully by example, and since the wonderful change he had made upon the conduct of one of his auditors [See: [Polemon]], his company was as much shunned by the dissolute and extravagant, as it was courted by the virtuous and benevolent. Philip of Macedon attempted to gain his confidence with money, but with no success. Alexander in this imitated his father, and sent some of his friends with 50 talents for the philosopher. They were introduced, and supped with Xenocrates. The repast was small, frugal, and elegant, without ostentation. On the morrow, the officers of Alexander wished to pay down the 50 talents, but the philosopher asked them whether they had not perceived from the entertainment of the preceding day that he was not in want of money. “Tell your master,” said he, “to keep his money; he has more people to maintain than I have.” Yet, not to offend the monarch, he accepted a small sum, about the 200th part of one talent. His character was not less conspicuous in every other particular, and he has been cited as an instance of virtue from the following circumstance: The courtesan Lais had pledged herself to forfeit an immense sum of money, if she did not triumph over the virtue of Xenocrates. She tried every art, assumed the most captivating looks, and used the most tempting attitudes to gain the philosopher, but in vain; and she declared at last that she had not lost her money, as she had pledged herself to conquer a human being, not a lifeless stone. Though so respected and admired, yet Xenocrates was poor, and he was dragged to prison, because he was unable to pay a small tribute to the state. He was delivered from confinement by one of his friends. His integrity was so well known, that when he appeared in the court as a witness, the judges dispensed with his oath. He died B.C. 314, in his 82nd year, after he had presided in the academy for above 25 years. It is said that he fell in the night with his head into a basin of water, and that he was suffocated. He had written above 60 treatises on different subjects, all now lost. He acknowledged no other deity but heaven, and the seven planets. Diogenes Laërtius.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 10, ltr. 1, &c. Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 2, ch. 10.—Lucian.——A physician in the age of Nero, not in great esteem. His Greek treatise, de alimento ex aquatilibus, is best edited by Franzius, Lipscomb, 8vo, 1774.——An excellent painter. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.