Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/721

Rh CHRYSOLORAS. plier, astronomer, and statesman. His uncommon talents procured him an introduction to JohnCanta- cuzenus, formerly emperor (John VI.) and from 1 355 a monk. Cantacuzenus recommended him to the emperor Manuel 11.(1.391 — 14*25), by whom he was employed in various important offices. Manuel sent him on sevenil occasions as ambassador to foreign courts. One hundred letters which Chry- soloras wrote to that emperor are extant in MS. in the Bodleian, and in the Royal Library at Paris. Besides these letters, Chrysoloras wrote several treatises on religious subjects, entitled AtoAo7oi, such as " Dialogus adversus Demetrium Cydonium, pro Nicolao Cabasila de Processions Spiritus Sancti;" "Dialogus contra Latinos;" "Enco- mium in S. Demetrium Martyrem ;" " Tractatus ex Libris Nili contra Latinos de Processione Spi- ritus Sancti ;" " Epistola ad Barlaamum de Pro- cessione Spiritus Sancti," extant in a Latin trans- lation, probably made by the same Barlaam with his own refutation, in the Bibliotheca Patnun Coloniensis ;" " Homilise de Transfiguratione Christi ;"' " De Sepultura ;" " De Resurrectione ;" " De Annunciatione,'' &c., extant in MS. in dif- ferent libraries in England and on the continent. " Disputatio coram Manuele Imperatore inter Demetrium Chrysoloram et Antonium Asculanum de Christi Verbis, Melius ei (Judae) esset si natus non fuisset," Ex versione Georgii Trombae, Flo- rence, 1618; it seems that the Greek text of this work is lost. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. xi. p. 411, &c. ; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. ii. p. 520.) [W. P.] CHRYSOLO'RAS, MANUEL {UavoxniK 6 'X.pvaoXwpas), one of the most learned Greeks of his time, contributed to the revival of Greek litera- ture in western Europe. Towards the close of the fourteenth century the Greek empire was in the greatest danger of being overthrown by sultan Bayazid II., who, however, was checked in his ambitious designs by Timur, and being taken prisoner by him, died in captivity. Before this event, and probably in A. d. 1389, Manuel Chry- soloras was sent by the emperor Manuel Palaeologus to some European kings (among others to the Eng- lish), at whose courts he remained several years, endeavouring to persuade them to undertake a crusade against the Turks. His efforts, however, were unsuccessful, for the western princes had no confidence in the Greek emperor, nor in his pro- mises to effect the union of the Greek with the Latin church. Having become acquainted with several of the most learned Italians, he accepted their proposition to settle in Italy and to lecture on the Greek language and literature. This he did with great success in Venice, Florence, Milan (1397), Pavia, and Rome : his most distinguished pupils were Leonardo Aretino, Leonardo Bruni, Poggio Bracciotini, Filelfo, Francisco Strozzi, and many more. His renown as a learned priest and eloquent orator were so great, that he was sent to the council of Constance, where he died a short time after his arrival, in the month of April, 1415. He was buried in the church of the Dominicans at Constance, and Aeneas S3'lyiu8 wrote his epitaph, which is given in the works cited below. Manuel Chrysoloras was the author of several treatises on religious subjects, and a considerable number of letters on various topics, which are ex- tant in different libraries in Italy, France, Germany, and Sweden. Only two of his works have been printed, viz., 1. " Epistolae III de Comparatione CHRYSOSTOMUS. 703 Veteris et Novae Romae," the Greek text with a Liitin version by Petrus Lambecius, appended to " Codices de Antiquitatibus Constantinop.'" Paris, 1665, fol. These letters are elegantly written. The first is rather prolix, and is addressed to the emperor John Palaeologus ; the second to John Chrysoloras ; and the third to Demetrius Chryso- loras. This John Chrysoloras, the contemporary of Manuel and Demetrius Chrysoloras, wrote some treatises and letters of little importance, several of which are extant in MS. 2. 'EpwrTj/iaro sive Quaestiones (that is, ** Grammaticales"), printed probably for the first time in 1488, and frequently reprinted at the latter end of that century and the beginning of the next. This is a grammar of the Greek language, and one of the first that circulated in Italy. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. xi. p. 409, &c.) [W. P.] CHRYSOPELEIA {Xpvaoir4eLa), a hama- dryad who was one day in great danger, as the oak-tree which she inhabited was undermined by a mountain torrent. Areas, who was hunting in the neighbourhood, discovered her situation, led the torrent in another direction, and secured the tree by a dam. Chrysopeleia became by Areas the mother of Elatus and Apheidas. (Apollod. iii. 9. $ 1 ; Tzetz. ad Lycaph. 480.) [L. S.] CHRYSO'STOMUS, JOANNES (Xpuo-cJo-ra- fios, golden-mouthed, so sumamed from the power of his eloquence), was born at Antioch, most pro- bably A. D. 347, though the dates 344 and 354 have also been given. His father Secundus was a general in the imperial army, and his mother An- thusa was left a widow soon after his birth. From her he received his first religious impressions, so that she was to him what Monica was to Augustin, though, unlike Augustin, Chrysostom from his earliest childhood was continually advancing in seriousness and earnestness of mind, and underwent no violent inward struggle before he embriiced Christianity. To this circumstance, Neander {Kirchengesch. iii. p. 1 440, &c.) attributes the pecu- liar form of his doctrine, his strong feeling that the choice of belief or unbelief rests with ourselves, and that God's grace is given in proportion to our own wish to receive it. Libanius taught him elo- quence, and said, that he should have desired to see him his successor in his school, if the Christians had not stolen him. Before his ordination, he re- tired first to a monastery near Antioch, and after- wards to a solitary cavern, where he committed the whole of the Bible to memory. In this cavern he so injured his health that he was obliged to return to Antioch, where he was ordained deacon by the bishop Meletius, A. d. 381, who had previously baptized him, and afterwards presbyter by Flavia- nus, successor to Meletius, a. d. 386. At Antioch his success as a preacher was so great, that on the death of Nectarius, ai'chbishop of Constantinople, he was chosen to succeed him by Eutropius, minis- ter to the emperor Arcadius, and the selection was readily ratified by the clergy and people of the im- perial city, A. D. 397. The minister who appointed him was a eunuch of infamous profligacy, and Chrysostom was very soon obliged to extend to him the protection of the church. Tribigild, tlm Ostrogoth, aided by the treachery of Gainas, th« imperial general, who hated and despised Eutropiua, threatened Constantinople itself by his armies, and demanded as a condition of peace the head of Eu- tropius, who fled to 1>he sanctuary of the cathedral. While he was grovelling in terror at the altax,