Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/938

Rh 920 CYRNUS. that after the Nicene creed had been generally ' adopted, he approsed of and embraced its dogmas. Epiphanius speaks in express terms of his Semi- Arianism, and even Touttee acknowledges the fact. His coldness towards the Nicenians and his inti- macy with the Eiisebians, give colour to thisopinion. But he was by no means disposed to carry out doctrines beyond the written word, or to wander into the regions of speculation. His published •writings attest his orthodoxy and firm belief in the Nicene creed. Among his works are also preserved a homily on the case of the paralytic man (John v. 1 — 16), and a letter to the emperor Constantius, giving an account of the luminous cross which appeared at Jerusalem, 351. His writings were published in Latin at Paris, 1589. and his Catecheses in Greek at the same place, 1564, 8vo. ; in Greek and Latin at Cologne, 1564. Prevotius edited them all in Greek and Latin at Paris in 1608, 4to.; and afterwards Dion Petavius at Paris, 16*22, fol. They were reprinted from Prevotius's edition, at Paris in 1631, fol., along with the works of Synesius of Cyrene. A much better edition than ajiy of the preceding was that of Thomas Milles, in Greek and Latin, Ox- ford, 1703, fol. The best is that of the Benedic- tine monk, A. A. Touttee, Paris, 1720, foi. The preface contains a very elaborate dissertation on the life and writings of Cyril. (See Touttee '» preface; Cave's Historia I.iteraria^ vol. i. pp. 211, 212, Oxford, 1740; Schrock, Kirchengeschichle^ vol. xii. p. 343, &c. ; Theodoret, Histor. Eccle- siast. libb. ii. and v. ; Tillemont, Eccles. Mem. vol. viii. ; Guerike, Handbmh der Kinhenyesehiclde^ vol. i. pp. 344, 345, note 3, f'unfte Atiflage; Mur- dock's Moshwiin., vol. i. p. 241, note 16.) [S. D.] CYRILLUS (KujUiXAoy), of Scythopolis, a Palestine monk, belonging to the sixth century. In the sixteenth year of his age he made a profession of the monastic life in his native place. Prompted by a desire to see sacred places, he visited Jerusa- lem, and, by the advice of his mother, put himself under the care of John the Silentiarj', by whom he was sent to the famous monastery of Laura. Leontius, prefect of the monastery, received him into the order of the monks. The time of his birth and death is alike unknown. About A. D. 557, he wrote the life of St. John the Silentiary. This is still extant, having been published in Greek and Latin by Henschenius and Papebro- chius in the Acta iiinciorum^ 13th of May. He also wrote the life of Euthymius the abbot, who died 472, which is extant, but in an interpolated form by Simeon Metaphrastes. It was publisiied by Cotelerius in Greek and Latin in his Atonu- menla Ecclesiae d'ruecae, vol. ii., Paris, 1681, 4to. It is also in the AcUi Sanctonim, January 20. In addition to these, he wrote the life of St. Sabas, the ancient Latin version of which, before it was coriupted by Simeon, was published by Bollandus in the Ada Sanctorum belonging to the 20th of January. It is given in Greek and Latin in Co- telerius's AIo?iumeiita^ vol. iii. p. 220. (Cave, His- tor. IJterar. vol. i. p. 529.) [S. D.] CYRNUS {Kvpvos), two mythical personages, from the one of whom the island of Cyrnus or Cyrne (Corsica) derived its name (Serv. ad Virg. Ecluy. ix. 30 ; Herod, i. 167), and the other was regarded as the founder of Cymus, a town in Caria. (Diod. v. 60.) [L. S.] CYRUS. CYRRHESTES. [Andronicus Cvrrhestes.] CYRSILUS (KvptrlKos). 1. An Athenian, who, on the approach of Xerxes, when the Athe- nians had resolved to quit their citj', advised his countrymen to remain and submit to the foreign invader. For this cowardly advice, Cyrsilus, toge- ther with his wife and children, was stoned to death by the Athenians. (Deni. de Curon. p. 296; Cic. de Of. iii. 1 1.) 2. Of Pharsalus, is mentioned by Strabo (xi. p. 530) as one of the companions of Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expeditions, who afterwards wrote an account of the exploits of Alexander. Nothing further is known about him. [L. S.] CYRUS THE Elder {Kvpos 6 rtaXaios or TTpoTcpos), the founder of the Persian empire. The life of this prince is one of the most important portions of ancient history, both on account of the magnitude of the empire which he founded, and because it forms the epoch at which sacred and profane history become connected : but it is also one of the most difficult, not only from the almost total want of contemporary historians, but also from the fables and romances with which it was overlaid in ancient times, and from the perverse- ness of modern writers, of the stamp of Rollin and Hales, who have followed the guidance, not of the laws of historical evidence, but of their own notions of the right inteqiretation of Scripture. Herodotus, within a century after the time of Cyrus, found his history embellished by those of the Persians who wished to make it more imposing (o< ^ovKoi-ifvoi (Tffxvovu TO iTfpi. Kvpov^y and had to make his choice between four ditt'erent stories, out of which he professes to have selected the account given by those who wished to tell the truth {jov iovra eyeiv yov, i. 95). Nevertheless his nar- rative is evidently founded to some extent on fabulous tales. The authorities of Ctesias, even the royal archives, were doubtless corrupted in a similar manner, besides the accumulation of errors during another half century. Xenophon does not pretend, what some modem writers have pretended for him, that his Cyropaedeia is anything more than an historical romance. In such a work it is always impossible to separate the framework of true his- tory from the fiction : and even if w^e could do this, we should have gained but little. Much reliance is placed on the sources of information which Xenophon possessed in the camp of the younger Cyrus. No idea can be more iallacious ; for what sort of stories would be current there, except the fables which Herodotus censures, but which would readily and alone pass for true in the camp of a prince who doubtless delighted to hear nothing but what was good of the great ancestor whose name he bore, and whose fame he aspired to emulate ? And even if Xenophon was aware of the falsity of these tales, he was justified, as a writer of fiction, in using them for his purpose. Xenophon is set up against Herodotus. The comparative value of their authority, in point of time, character, and means of information, is a question which, by itself, could never have been decided by a sober-minded man, except in favour of Herodotus. But it is thought that the account of Xenophon is more consistent with Scripture than that of Herodotus. This is a hasty assump- tion, and in truth the scriptural allusions to the time of Cyrus are so brief, that they can only be interpreted by the help of other authorities. In