Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/882

Rh 8G-t COSMAS. name iiis own is constantly associated, and under which article the particulars of their lives and deaths are mentioned, A medical prescription attributed to them is preserved by Amaldus Vil- lanovanus (Antidot. p. 453, in Opera^ ed. Basil. 1585), and there are several Greek homilies still extant in MS., written or preached in their honour. Their memory is observed by the Greek and Ro- man Churches on the 27th of September. (Ada SancL, Sept. vol. vii. p. 4'28; Bomer, De Cosma et Dam. . . Commenlatio, Helraest. 1751, 4to.; Fabric. DiU. Gr. vol. ix. p. 68, xiii. 128, ed. vet.; Bzovius, Nomendator Sanctorum Professione Medkorum ; Carpzovius, De Afedicts ab Ecdesia pro Sanctis liohitis.) [W. A. G.] COSMAS (Koo-^s), of Jerusalem, a monk, the friend and companion of John of Damascus, and afterwards bishop of Maiuma in Palestine (about A. D. 743), was the most celebrated com- ])ser of hymns in the Greek church, and obtained the surname of /teA^o's. Among his compositions was a version ((K<ppaais) of the Psalms of David in Iambic metre. Many of his hymns exist in MS., but no complete edition of them has been published. Fabricius mentions, as a rare book,' an Aldine edition of some of them. Thirteen of them are printed in Gallandi's BiUioth. Fatrwn. Several of the hymns of Cosmas are acrostics. (Suid. s. v. 'Iwdwrjs 6 Aafmaiaivos ; Fabric Bibl. Graec. xi. pp. 173—181, viii. 596.) [P.S.] COSMAS (Ko(r/xas), commonly called Indico- PLEUSTES (Indian navigator), an Egyptian monk, who flourished in the reign of Justinian, about A. D. 535. In early life he followed the employ- ment of a merchant, and was extensively engaged in traffic. He navigated the Red Sea, advanced to India, visited various nations, Ethiopia, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and almost all places of the East. Impelled, as it would appear, more by curiosity than by desire of gain, eager to inspect the habits and manners of distant people, he carried on a commerce amid dangers sufficient to appal the most adventurous. There is abundant reason for be- lieving, that he was an attentive observer of every thing that met his eye, and that he carefully recristered his remarks upon the scenes and objects which presented themselves. But a migratory life became irksome. After many years spent in this manner, he bade adieu to worldly occupations, took up his residence in a monastery, and devoted him- self to a contemplative life. Possessed of multifa- rious knowledge acquired in many lands, and doubtless learned according to the standard of his times, he began to embody his information in books. His chief work is his Toiro^'pacpla Xpi<T- TJOf jKTj, " Topographia Christiana, sive Christiano- rum Opinio de Mundo,'' in twelve books. The last book, as hitherto published, is imperfect at the end. The object of the treatise is to shew, in opposition to the universal opinion of astronomers, that the earth is not spherical, but an extended surface. The arguments adduced in proof of such a position are drawn from Scripture, reason, testimony, and the authority of the fathers. Weapons of everj- kind are employed against the prevailing theory, and the earth is affirmed to be a vast oblong plain, its length from east to west being more than twice its breadth, the whole enclosed by the ocean. The only value of the work consists in the geographical and historical information it contains. Its author desciibes in general with great accuracy the situa- COSMAS. tion of countries, the manners of their people, their modes of commercial intercourse, the nature and properties of plants and animals, and many other particulars of a like kind, which serve to throw light on the Scriptures. His illustrations, which are far from being methodically arranged, touch upon subjects the most diverse. He speaks, for example, of the locality where the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, their garments in the wilder- ness, the terrestrial paradise, the epistle to the Hebrews, the birthday of the Lord, the rite of baptism, the catholic epistles, Egyptian hierogly- phics, the state of the Christians in India, their bishops, priests, &c. But the most curious and interesting piece of antiquarian information relates to that celebrated monument of antiquity which was placed at the entrance of the city Adulite, con- sisting of a royal seat of white marble consecrated to Mars, with the images of Hercules and Mercury sculptured upon it. On every side of this monu- ment Greek letters were written, and an ample inscription had been added, as has been gene- rally supposed, by Ptolemy II. Euergetes (b. c. 247-222). This was copied by Cosmas, and is given, with notes, in the second book of the Topography. It appears, however, from the re- searches of Mr. Salt, that Cosmas has made two different inscriptitms into one, and that while the first part refers to Ptolemy Euergetes, the second relates to some Ethiopian king, whose conquests are commemorated on the inscription. The author also inserts in the work, in illustration of his sen- timents, astronomical figures and tables. We meet too with several passages from writings of the fathers now lost, and fragments of epistles, espe- cially from Athanasius. Photius (cod. 36) reviewed this production with- out mentioning the writer's name, probably because it was not in the copy he had before him. He speaks of it under the titles of Xpiffriavov /3i§Ao$, '• Christianorum liber, Expositio in Octateuchum ;" the former, as containing the opinion of Christians concerning the earth ; the latter, because the first part of the work treats of the tabernacle of Moses and other things described in the Pentateuch. The same writer affirms, that many of Cosmas's narra- tives are fabulous. The monk, however, relates events as thej' were commonly received and viewed in his own time. His diction is plain and familiar. So far is it from approaching elegance or elevation, that it is even below mediocrity. He did not aim at pompous or polished phraseology ; and in several places he modestly acknowledges that his mode of expression is homely and inelegant. Manuscripts vary much in the contents of the work. It was composed at different times. At first it consisted of five books ; but in consequence of various attacks, the author added the remaining seven at different periods, enlarging, correcting, and curtailing, so as best to meet the arguments of those who still contended that the earth was sphe- rical. This accounts for the longer and shorter forms of the production in different manuscript copies. The entire treatise was first published by Bernard de Montfaucon, from a MS. of the tenth centur}', in Greek and Latin, in his CoUectio Nova Patrum et Scriptortim Graecorum., fol., Paris, 170(j, vol. ii. pp. 113 — 346, to which the editor prefixed an able and learned preface. This is the best edition. It is also printed in the BiUiotheca Vctt. Patrum edited by Gallandi, Yen. 1765, vol. ix.