Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1184

Rh 1J70 NESTORIUS. and he was also seen in the painting of Polygnotus in the Lesche at Delphi. (Pans. iv. 31. § 9, x. 25, in fin. ; Philostr. Her. 2.) [L. S.] NESTOR (NeffTwp). 1. Of Larandain Lycia according to Suidas, in Lycaonia according to Strabo and Stephanus Byzantinus. He lived in the reign of the emperor Sevenis, between a. d. 194 and 211. He is mentioned by Suidas (s. u.) as an epic poet. We infer from Stepiianus Byzantinus (s. V. 'To-Tcio-Traj) that he wrote a poem called which Suidas probably refers. Suidas also men- tions that he was the father of the poet Peisander. Tryphiodorus, as we learn from Eustathius in the prooemium to the Odyssey, wrote an Odyssey Aei7ro7pa/X;UOToi/, wanting the letter a throughout. Similarly, Nestor, we learn from Suidas, wrote the Iliad, omitting in each book the letter indicating its number, as in the first book, the letter o, in the second, the letter )8, and so on with the rest. He wrote also a poem entitled MeTa/jLopcpouaeis. Four fragments of his writings are inserted in the Antho- logia Graeca (vol. iii. p. 54, ed. Jacobs). The fourth of these epigrams has point, and rebukes men for at- tempting poetry who are unskilled in the art. The last line has passed into the proverb of Erasmus, Equitandi peritus ne canas. (Fabric. Bibl. Grace. vol. i. pp. 134, 517, iii. p. 46, iv. p. 483; Jacobs, Anih. Graec. vol. iii. p. 54, vol. xiii. p. 921 ; Suid. Steph. a. cc) 2. A stoical philosopher of Tarsus. (Strab. xiv. p. 674.) 3. An academic philosopher, preceptor of Mar- cellus, son of Octavia. Marcellus died B. c. 23. (Strab. lib. xiv. p. 675 ; Clinton, F. H. vol. iii. pp. 237, 548.) [W. M. G.] NESTO'RIDES (Neo-ToprSTjs), a patronymic employed to designate Antilochus, the son of Nestor (Horn. II. vi. 33, xv. 589, xxiii. 353), and Peisis- tratus, also the son of Nestor {Od. iii. 36, 482, &c.). [L. S.] NESTO'RIU&, a celebrated Haeresiarch of the fifth century, was born, according to Socrates {H.E. vii. 29), and Theodoret {Haeret. Fabul. Compend. iv. 12), at Gennanicia, a city in the northern extremity of Syria, amid the offshoots of the Taurus. Marcellinus (Chronicon) speaks of him as a native of Antioch, and Cassian is under- stood by some to say (De Incarnat. vi. 3) that he was baptized at Antioch ; but the passage in Cassian is obscure, and the statement of Socrates is preferable to that of Marcellinus. He was ap- parently of humble birth. Cyril {Homil. iv. de Divers, p. 357; Opera, vol. v. pt.ii. ed. Paris, 1638), speaks of him as being " lifted out of the dunghill," a reference apparently to Ps. cxiii. 7, and raised to the height of heaven : language which could be applied only to one of obscure origin, even by so unscrupulous a person as Cyril. Theodoret (ibid.), who was disposed to the opinions of Nestorius, and who cannot be suspected of any personal ill-will to him, states that he could not discover either the pliice of his education or the extent of his acquire- ments ; and the silence of Socrates as to his pos- sessing any other qualifications for the patriarchate, than a good voice and a fluent utterance (evcpwuos 5^ dWus Kol euAaAos), indicates that his early education was as defective as his birth was obscure. After various changes of residence, he fixed his abode at Antioch, and having received here some instruction, was ordained presbyter. He at once NESTORIUS. set himself to gain popularitj% and succeeded : his fluency as a preacher attracted admiration ; and his staid deportment, sober garb, and studious habits excited reverence. So great and general was the respect entertained for him, that when he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, the appoint- ment was hailed with general approval. He was consecrated 10th April 428, according to the au- thority of Socrates. Liberatus places his conse- cration on the 1st of April {Breviar. cap. 4) which Le Quien {Oriens Christian., vol. i. col. 215) observes to be more consistent with the usage of the Constantinopolitan Church, as it coincided that year with Sunday, on which day the patriarchs were usually consecrated. Theophanes places the appointment of Nestorius in A. M. 5923, Alex, era, which corresponds with A. D. 430 or 431 ; but his chronology is by no means accurate in this part of his work. Nestorius was consecrated rather more than three months after the death of his predecessor Sisinnius. He gave immediately on his appointment an indication of the violent and intolerant course which he afterwards pursued. He thus publicly addressed the emperor Theodosius the Younger (Socrat. H. E. vii. 29) : " Purge the earth, sire, of heretics for me, and I will in return bestow heaven on you. Join me in putting away the heretics, and I will join you in putting away the Persians." The bigotry of some was pleased with the declara- tion, but wiser auditors listened with sorrow to the proof which it gave of his violent and boastful temper. His deeds were answerable to his words. The Arians had a house of prayer, in which they privately met for worship : on the fifth day from his ordination he attempted to destroy it ; but its persecuted occupants chose rather to set it on fire themselves ; and when the spreading conflagration had excited a tumult, they prepared, says Socrates (ibid.), but without stating in what way, to re- venge the injury. The Novatians [Novatianus] and theQuartadecimans of Asia were also persecuted by him ; the former, according to Socrates (ibid.), from his envy of the reputation of Paulus their bishop ; the latter, so far as appears, from mere in- tolerance. These persecutions led to tumults both at Miletus and Sardis, in which many persons lost their lives. The followers of Macedonius, too, [Mackdonius, No. 3], were goaded by persecution into outrage, and this was made the occasion ol further oppression. But while he was thus persecuting others, he was raising up enemies against himself by enunciating doctrines at variance, at least in appearance, with the orthodox views and tendencies of the age. He had brought with him from Antioch Anastasius, also a presbyter of that city, and in his adminis- tration of the patriarchate made him his confi- dential adviser. Theophanes calls him his Syn- cellus, or personal attendant. Both Nestorius and Anastasius appear to have imbibed the disposition prevalent at Antioch, to distinguish carefully be- tween the divine and human natures attributed to Christ, a disposition promoted by the reaction oc- casioned by the opposite opinion of the Apollina- rists. [Apollinaris, No. 2]. With these ten- dencies Nestorius of course disapproved of the practice of some persons at Constantinople who called the Virgin Mary 06OT(5/coy, '" Mother of God." Against the expression Anastasius objected in a public discourse, which, according to Theo- J
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