EUPHORBUS, son of Panthoüs, one of the bravest of the Trojan heroes, slain by Menelaus (Iliad, xvii. 1-60). Pythagoras, in support of his doctrine of the transmigration of souls, declared that he had once been this Euphorbus, whose shield, hung up in the temple of Argos by Menelaus, he claimed as his own (Horace, Odes, i. 28. 11; Diog. Laërt. viii. 1).
EUPHORION, Greek poet and grammarian, born at Chalcis in Euboea about 275 B.C. He spent much of his life in Athens, where he amassed great wealth. About 221 he was invited by Antiochus the Great to the court of Syria. He assisted in the formation of the royal library at Antioch, of which he held the post of librarian till his death. He wrote mythological epics, amatory elegies, epigrams and a satirical poem (Ἀραί, “curses”) after the manner of the Ibis of Callimachus. Prose works on antiquities and history are also attributed to him. Like Lycophron, he was fond of using archaic and obsolete expressions, and the erudite character of his allusions rendered his language very obscure. His elegies were highly esteemed by the Romans; they were imitated or translated by Cornelius Gallus and also by the emperor Tiberius.
Fragments in Meineke, “De Euphorionis Chalcidensis vita et scriptis,” in his Analecta Alexandrina (1843); for a recently discovered fragment of about 30 lines see Berliner Klassikertexte, v. 1 (1907).
EUPHRANOR, of Corinth (middle of the 4th century B.C.), the only Greek artist who excelled both as a sculptor and as a painter. In Pliny we have lists of his works; among the paintings, a cavalry battle, a Theseus, and the feigned madness of Odysseus; among the statues, Paris, Leto with her children Apollo and Artemis, Philip and Alexander in chariots. Unfortunately we are unable among existing statues to identify any which are copies from works of Euphranor (but see a series of attributions by Six in Jahrbuch, 1909, 7 foll.). He appears to have resembled his contemporary Lysippus, notably in the attention he paid to symmetry, in his preference for bodily forms slighter than those usual in earlier art, and in his love of heroic subjects. He wrote a treatise on proportions.
EUPHRATES (Babylon. Purattu, Heb. Perath, Arab. Frāt or Furāt, Old Pers. Ufratu, Gr. Εὐφράτης), the largest river of western Asia. It may be divided into three divisions, upper, lower and middle, each of which is distinguished by special physical features, and has played a conspicuous part in the world’s history, retaining to the present day monumental evidence of the races who have lined its banks.
Upper Division.—The upper Euphrates consists of two arms, which, rising on the Armenian plateau, and flowing west in long shallow valleys parallel to Mount Taurus, eventually unite and force their way southward through that range to the level of Mesopotamia. The northern or western and shorter arm, called by the Turks Kara Su, “black water,” or Frāt Su (Armenian, Ephrāt or Yephrāt; Arab. Nahr el-Furāt or Frāt), well known to occidentalists as the Euphrates, from its having been the boundary of the Roman empire, is regarded also by Orientals as the main stream. It rises in the Dumlu Dagh, N.N.W. of Erzerum, in a large circular pool (altitude, 8625 ft.), which is venerated by Armenians and Moslems, and flows south-east to the plain of Erzerum (5750 ft.). Thence it continues through a narrow valley W.S.W. to Erzingan (3900 ft.), receiving on its way the Ovajik Su (right), the Tuzla Su (left), and the Merjan and Chanduklu (right). Below Erzingan the Frāt flows south-west through a rocky gorge to Kemakh (Kamacha; Armenian, Gamukh), where it is crossed by a bridge and receives the Kumur Su (right). At Avshin it enters a cañon, with walls over 1000 ft. high, which extends to the bridge at Pingan, and lower down it is joined from the west by the Chalta Irmak (Lycus; Arab. Lūkīya), on which stands Divrik (Tephrike). Then, entering a deep gorge with lofty rock walls and magnificent scenery, it runs south-east to its junction with the Murad Su. The Frāt, separated by the easy pass of Deve-boyūn from the valley of the Araxes (Aras), marks the natural line of communication between northern Persia and the West—a route followed by the nomad Turks, Mongols and Tatars on their way to the rich lands of Asia Minor. It is a rapid river of considerable volume, and below Erzingan is navigable, down stream, for rafts. The southern or eastern and longer arm, called by the Turks Murad Su (Arsanias Fl.; Armenian, Aradzani; Arab. Nahr Arsanas), rises south-west of Diadin, in the northern flank of the Ala Dagh (11,500 ft.), and flows west to the Alashgerd plain. Here it is joined by the Sharian Su from the west, and the two valleys form a great trough through which the caravan road from Erzerum to Persia runs. The united stream breaks through the mountains to the south, and, receiving on its way the Patnotz Su (left) and the Khinis Su (right), flows south-west, west and south, through the rich plain of Bulanik to the plain of Mūsh. Here it is joined by the Kara Su (Teleboas), which, rising near Lake Van, runs past Mūsh and waters the plain. The river now runs W.S.W. through a deep rocky gorge, in which it receives the Gunig Su (right), to Palu (where there are cuneiform inscriptions); and continues through more open country to its junction with the Frāt Su. About 10 m. E.N.E. of Kharpūt the Murad is joined by its principal tributary, the Peri Su, which drains the wild mountain district, Dersim, that lies in the loop between the two arms. The Murad Su is of greater volume than the Frāt, but its valley below Mūsh is contracted and followed by no great road. Below the junction of the two arms the Euphrates flows south-west past the lead mines of Keban Maden, where it is 120 yds. wide, and is crossed by a ferry (altitude, 2425 ft.), on the Sivas-Kharpūt road. It then runs west, south and east round the rock-mass of Musher Dagh, and receives (right) the Kuru Chai, down which the Sivas-Malatia road runs, and the Tokhma Su, from Gorun (Gauraina) and Darende. At the ferry on the Malatia-Kharpūt road (cuneiform inscription) it flows eastwards in a valley about a quarter of a mile wide, but soon afterwards enters a remarkable gorge, and forces its way through Mount Taurus in a succession of rapids and cataracts. After running south-east through the grandest scenery, and closely approaching the source of the western Tigris, it turns south-west and leaves the mountains a few miles above Samsāt (Samosata; altitude, 1500 ft.). The general direction of the great gorges of the Euphrates, Pyramus (Jihun) and Sarus (Sihun) seems to indicate that their formation was primarily due to the same terrestrial movements that produced the Jordan-’Araba depression to the south. The length of the Frāt is about 275 m.; of the Murad, 415 m.; and of the Euphrates from the junction to Samsāt, 115 m.
Middle Division.—The middle division, which extends from Samsāt to Hit, is about 720 m. long. In this part of its course the Euphrates runs through an open, treeless and sparsely peopled country, in a valley a few miles wide, which it has eroded in the rocky surface. The valley bed is more or less covered with alluvial soil, and cultivated in places by artificial irrigation. The method of this irrigation is peculiar. Three or four piers or sometimes bridges of masonry are run out into the bed of the river, frequently from both sides at once, raising the level of the stream and thus giving a water power sufficient to turn the gigantic wheel or wheels, sometimes almost 40 ft. in diameter, which lift the water to a trough at the top of the dam, whence it is distributed among the gardens and melon patches, rice, cotton, tobacco, liquorice and durra fields, between the immediate bed of the river and the rocky banks which shut it out from the desert. The wheels, called naoura, are of the most primitive construction, made of rough branches of trees, with palm leaf paddles, rude clay vessels being slung on the outer edge to catch the water, of which they raise a prodigious amount, only a comparatively small part of which, however, is poured into the aqueducts on top of the dams. These latter are exceedingly picturesque, often consisting of a series of well-built Gothic arches, and give a peculiar character to the scenery; but they are also great impediments to navigation. In some parts of the river 300 naouras have been counted within a space of 130 m., but of late years many have fallen into decay. By far the larger part of the valley is quite uncultivated, and much of it is occupied by tamarisk jungles, the home of countless wild pigs. Where the valley is still cultivated, the jerd, a skin raised by oxen, is gradually being substituted for the naoura, no more of the latter being constructed to take the place of those which fall into decay.