Euphrŏsy̆na, one of the Graces, sister to Aglaia and Thalia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 35.
Euplæa, an island of the Tyrrhene sea, near Neapolis. Statius, bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 1, li. 149.
Eupŏlis, a comic poet of Athens, who flourished 435 years before the christian era, and severely lashed the vices and immoralities of his age. It is said that he had composed 17 dramatical pieces at the age of 17. He had a dog so attached to him, that at his death he refused all aliments, and starved himself on his tomb. Some suppose that Alcibiades put Eupolis to death, because he had ridiculed him in a comedy which he had written against the Baptæ, the priests of the goddess Cotytto, and the impure ceremonies of their worship; but Suidas maintains that he perished in a sea-fight between the Athenians and the Lacedæmonians in the Hellespont, and that on that account his countrymen, pitying his fate, decreed that no poet should ever after go to war. Horace, bk. 1, satire 4; bk. 2, satire 10.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 6, ltr. 1.—Ælian.
Eupompus, a geometrician of Macedonia.——A painter. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.
Eurianassa, a town near Chios. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.
Eurĭpĭdes, a celebrated tragic poet born at Salamis the day on which the army of Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks. He studied eloquence under Prodicus, ethics under Socrates, and philosophy under Anaxagoras. He applied himself to dramatical composition, and his writings became so much the admiration of his countrymen, that the unfortunate Greeks, who had accompanied Nicias in his expedition against Syracuse, were freed from slavery, only by repeating some verses from the pieces of Euripides. The poet often retired from the society of mankind, and confined himself in a solitary cave near Salamis, where he wrote and finished his most excellent tragedies. The talents of Sophocles were looked upon by Euripides with jealousy, and the great enmity which always reigned between the two poets gave an opportunity to the comic muse of Aristophanes to ridicule them both on the stage with success and humour. During the representation of one of the tragedies of Euripides, the audience, displeased with some lines in the composition, desired the writer to strike them off. Euripides heard the reproof with indignation; he advanced forward on the stage, and told the spectators that he came there to instruct them, and not to receive instruction. Another piece, in which he called riches the summum bonum and the admiration of gods and men, gave equal dissatisfaction, but the poet desired the audience to listen with silent attention, for the conclusion of the whole would show them the punishment which attended the lovers of opulence. The ridicule and envy to which he was continually exposed, obliged him at last to remove from Athens. He retired to the court of Archelaus king of Macedonia, where he received the most conspicuous marks of royal munificence and friendship. His end was as deplorable as it was uncommon. It is said that the dogs of Archelaus met him in his solitary walks, and tore his body to pieces 407 years before the christian era, in the 78th year of his age. Euripides wrote 75 tragedies, of which only 19 are extant; the most approved of which are his Phœnissæ, Orestes, Medea, Andromache, Electra, Hippolytus, Iphigenia in Aulis, Iphigenia in Tauris, Hercules, and the Troades. He is peculiarly happy in expressing the passions of love, especially the more tender and animated. To the pathos he has added sublimity, and the most common expressions have received a perfect polish from his pen. In his person, as it is reported, he was noble and majestic, and his deportment was always grave and serious. He was slow in composing, and laboured with difficulty, from which circumstance a foolish and malevolent poet once observed that he had written 100 verses in three days, while Euripides had written only three. “True,” says Euripides, “but there is this difference between your poetry and mine; yours will expire in three days, but mine shall live for ages to come.” Euripides was such an enemy to the fair sex that some have called him μισογυνης, woman-hater, and perhaps from this aversion arise the impure and diabolical machinations which appear in his female characters; an observation, however, which he refuted, by saying he had faithfully copied nature. In spite of all this antipathy he was married twice, but his connections were so injudicious, that he was compelled to divorce both his wives. The best editions of this great poet are that of Musgrave, 4 vols., 4to, Oxford, 1778; that of Canter apud Commelin, 12mo, 2 vols., 1597; and of Barnes, folio, Cambridge. 1694. There are also several valuable editions of detached plays. Diodorus, bk. 13.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Cicero, De Inventione, bk. 1, ch. 50; Orator, bk. 3, ch. 7; Academica bk. 1, ch. 4; De Officiis, bk. 3; Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, bk. 2; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bks. 1 & 4, &c.
Eurīpus, a narrow strait which separates the island of Eubœa from the coast of Bœotia. Its flux and reflux, which continued regular during 18 or 19 days, and were commonly unsettled the rest of the month, was a matter of deep inquiry among the ancients; and it is said that Aristotle threw himself into it because he was unable to find out the causes of that phenomenon. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 95.—Strabo, bk. 9.
Euristhenes. See: [Eurysthenes].
Eurōmus, a city of Caria. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 33; bk. 33, ch. 30.
Eurōpa, one of the three grand divisions of the earth known among the ancients, extending, according to modern surveys, about 3000 miles from north to south, and 2500 from east to west. Though inferior in extent, yet it is superior to the others in the learning, power, and abilities of its inhabitants. It is bounded on the east by the Ægean sea, Hellespont, Euxine, Palus Mæotis, and the Tanais in a northern direction. The Mediterranean divides it from Africa on the south, and on the west and north it is washed by the Atlantic and northern oceans. It is supposed to receive its name from Europa, who was carried there by Jupiter. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 1, &c.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 275.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 222.——A daughter of Agenor king of Phœnicia and Telephassa. She was so beautiful that Jupiter became enamoured of her, and the better to seduce her he assumed the shape of a bull and mingled with the herds of Agenor, while Europa, with her female attendants, were gathering flowers in the meadows. Europa caressed the beautiful animal, and at last had the courage to sit upon his back. The god took advantage of her situation, and with precipitate steps retired towards the shore, and crossed the sea with Europa on his back, and arrived safe in Crete. Here he assumed his original shape, and declared his love. The nymph consented, though she had once made vows of perpetual celibacy, and she became mother of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus. After this distinguished amour with Jupiter, she married Asterius king of Crete. This monarch, seeing himself without children by Europa, adopted the fruit of her amours with Jupiter, and always esteemed Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus as his own children. Some suppose that Europa lived about 1552 years before the christian era. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, fable 13.—Moschus, Idylls.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5; bk. 3, ch. 1.——One of the Oceanides. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 356.——A part of Thrace near mount Hæmus. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 1.