[11:1] From an unknown poet.
[12:1] A tragedian, of whom only a few fragments are preserved.
[12:2] This whole section looks almost like a paraphrase of St. Paul’s exhortation: “Be ye kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God [for Christ’s sake] hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love.”
[14:1] Τρόπος, from τρέπειν, to turn. Our phrase turn of mind virtually denotes a change, i. e. a direction of mind not native or normal.
[14:2] Ἦθος, habit. Habits are not native, but always imply a change from a previous state in which they had not begun to be.
[14:3] A man in the upper part of his body; in the lower, a dragon.
[14:4] Gelon first obtained the sovereignty of Gela in Sicily, by setting aside the minor sons of the late king, of whom he had been appointed guardian. He subsequently availed himself of dissensions in Syracuse, to obtain the sovereignty of that city, which rose to great prosperity and wealth under his reign.
[14:5] Hieron was the brother and successor of Gelon, who left an infant son. Some accounts say that he assumed the sovereignty in his nephew’s name, and retained it as in his own right. He was tyrannical in his rule, but was successful in war, and was distinguished for his patronage of literature and of learned men. Aeschylus and Pindar were among his invited and permanent guests.
[15:1] Peisistratus obtained supreme power in Athens no less than three times, and always by intrigue and violence. But his administration was wise and beneficent. He enriched Athens with several of the most costly and tasteful public edifices. He was a liberal patron of letters. He settled the poor of the city in the outlying districts of Attica, and laid the foundation for the agricultural prosperity of the state.
[15:2] This treaty could have had only a temporary effect; for at a subsequent period we read of two hundred children being burned at the shrine of Cronus in Carthage, as a propitiatory sacrifice when a successor of Gelon appeared in arms before the city. In the Hebrew Scriptures we learn that this particular form of human sacrifice was largely practised by the Canaanites,—the stock of which the Phoenicians who settled Carthage were an offshoot.