Dolōn: a Trojan in the Iliad, who undertakes to penetrate the Achaean camp as a spy, but is slain in the attempt.
Dryópians: a people of Central Greece.
Elephantínë = Djesiret-el-Sag; a garrisoned island in the Nile (First Cataract) opposite the modern Assouan; the frontier town of Egypt towards Ethiopia.
Empédŏcles: Sicilian physical and practical philosopher of Acragas (= Girgenti); fl. c. 450 B.C. His studies of nature specially qualified him for the cure or ‘purification’ of epidemics due to insanitary conditions. His travels took him to Athens and other parts of Greece. The legend went that he threw himself into the crater of Etna.
Eōs: = Aurora, dawn-goddess; wife of Tithonus; mother of Memnon, the opponent of Achilles.
Epáminōndas: a type of patriotism, particularly to his compatriot Plutarch. The greatest of Theban commanders and statesmen, especially famous for his victory over the Spartans at Leuctra (371 B.C.). So far as he applied any philosophy to life, it was that of Pythagoras.
Éphŏrus: historian of Cumae, fl. c. 340 B.C. His history, once very famous and much discussed, covered a period of 750 years.
Epichármus: c. 540-450 B.C.; the great comic poet of Sicily, chiefly associated with the court of Hiero I (q.v.) at Syracuse.
Epicúrus: 342-270 B.C. Athenian philosopher and founder of the Epicurean school, of which the aim was ‘peace of mind’ or ‘freedom from emotional disturbance’. His own life (as his tenets required) was simple and wholesome, and the self-indulgence of the sect in later days was either a parody or a misconception of his teachings. A voluminous writer on physics and ethics, but with a bad style.
Epiménȋdes: priest-prophet and bard of Crete, with peculiar knowledge of medicine and methods of purification. Many fables were current concerning him (e.g. of his sleep of fifty-seven years). He was called in by the Athenians (c. 596 B.C.) to cleanse their city of a plague.