Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/130

 Laert. Vit. jEfchin. 94 ^ N E A S. That a covetous man never pleafes any body, but by his death. That it was a flavifh vice to tell lies. That luft fullies and ftains every age of man, but quite extinguishes old age. ./ESCHINES, a Socratic philofophcr, the fon of Charinus a faufage-maker. He was continually with Socrates, which occafioned this philofopher to fay, that the faufage-maker s fon was the only perfon who knew how to pay a due regard to him. It is faid that poverty obliged him to go to Sicily, to Dionyfius the Tyrant, and that he met with great contempt from Plato. We are informed of this by Diogenes Laertius, in his Life of ^fchines, who repeats the fame in his Life of jf.Cafaubpnpj ato> This however is inconfiftent with a paflage of Plu- Not.inDiog. tarch,in his book "Concerning the Difference between a Friend and a Flatterer," where this author introduces Plato recom- mending ./Efcbines to Dionyfius ; who, upon Plato's recom- mendation, treats him in the moft friendly and honourable manner. /Efcbines was extremely well received by Arittip- pus ; to whom he (hewed feme of his dialogues, and received a handfome reward from him. He would not venture to profefs philofophy at Athens, Plato and Ariftippus being in fuch high efrecm ; but he fet up a fchool to maintain himlelf. He afterwards wrote orations for the Forum. Laertius tells us, that Polycritus Mendaeus affirmed, in his full book " Of the Hifiory of Dionyfius," that ./Efchines lived with the tyrant .till he was depofed upon Dion's coming to Syracufe; and there is extant an epiiile of his to Dionylius. Phrynicus, in Photius, ranks him amongft the beft orators, and mentions his orations as"~rhe ftandatd of the pure Attic ftyle. Her mo- genes has alfo fpoken very highly of him. ./Efchines had fo faithfully copied the dodrines of Socrates, and his dialogues were fo exactly agreeable to the genius and manner of that great philofopher, that Ariftippus fufpe&ed, and Menedemus ace u fed him of having affumed to himfelf what had been written by Socrates. According to Suida?, .rKfchines wrote the following dialogues, Miltiades, Callias, Rhinon, Afpafia, Axiochus, Telauges, Alcibiades, Acepha- li, Phaedon, Polsnus, Eryxias, Erafiftratus, Scythici, and one Concerning Virtue. Of thefe there are only three ex- tant : i. " Concerning Virtue," whether it can be taught. 2. " Eiixiasor Erafiftratus, concerning riches, whether they are good." 3. "Axiochus, concerning death, whether it is to be feared." They were tranflated into Latin by Rudolphus Agri- cola, Sebaftian Corradus, and John Serranusj but their verfion* Laert. Heiych. Stanley's Lives. Vit. /Efch Photii BibJioth. cod. Ixi. De Formis Orationis, lib. Ji. cap. 12. Photius, cc ,i. chiii.