Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/382

Rh 368 HEGESIAS. Lysias and Cliarisius [Charisius], Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus agree in thinking the man himself a thorough blockhead, and in describ- ing his style as utterly destitute of vigour and dig- nity, consisting chiefly of childish conceits and minute prettinesses. (Cic. Brut. 83, Orat. 67, 69 ; Dionys. de Compos. Verb. 4, 18.) Specimens of his style are given by Dionysius and by Photius {Cod. 250. p. 446, ed. Bekker.) Varro had rather an admiration for it. (Cic. ad Att xii. 6.) The history of Alexander the Great was the theme which he selected to dilate upon in his peculiar fashion. As regards the subject-matter of his history, Gellius (ix. 4) classes him with those writers who deal rather plentifully in the marvel- lous. Plutarch {Alex. 3) makes rather a clumsy pun in ridicule of a joke of his about Diana not being at liberty to come to the protection of her temple at Ephesus, when it was set on fire on the day on which Alexander the Great was born. (Fabric. Bill. Graec. vol. iii. p. 43, vol. ii. pp. 762, 873 ; Voss. de Hist. Gr. p. 115, &c., ed. Wester- mann ; Ruhnken, ad Ru1.il. Lup. i. 7.) 2. Hegesias (called Hegesinus by Photius, Cod. 239. p. 319, ed. Bekker), a native of Sala- mis, supposed by some to have been the author of the Cyprian poem, which, on better authority, is ascribed to Stasinus. (Athen. xv. p. 682 e. ; Fa- bric. Bihl. Graec. vol. i. p. 382.) [C. P. M.] HEGE'SIAS {'n-ynffias), a Cyrenaic philoso- pher, said by Diogenes Laertius (ii. 86, &c.) to have been the disciple of Paraebates. He was the fellow- student of Anniceris, from whom, however, he differed by presenting in its most hateful form the system which Anniceris softened and improved. [Anniceris.] He followed Aristippus in con- sidering pleasure the object of man's desire ; but, being probably of a morose and discontented turn of mind, the view which he took of human life was of the gloomiest character, and his practical infer- ences from the Cyrenaic principles were destructive alike to goodness and happiness. The latter he said could not be the aim of man, because it is not attainable, and therefore concluded that the wise man's only object should be to free himself from inconvenience, thereby reducing the whole of human life to mere sensual pleasure. Since, too, every man is sufficient to himself, all external goods were rejected as not being true sources of pleasure, and therefore all the domestic and benevolent affec- tions. Hence the sage ought to regard nothing but himself; action is quite indifferent; and if ac- tion, so also is life, which, therefore, is in no way more desirable than death This statement {riiv T€ fwi/j' T6 KoX t6v ^dpaTou alperSu) is, however, less strong than that of Cicero {Tusc. i. 34), who tells us that Hegesias wrote a book called dnoKap- repwv, in which a man who has resolved to starve himself is introduced as representing to his friends that death is actually more to be desired than life, and that the gloomy descriptions of human misery which this work contained were so overpowering, that they drove many persons to commit suicide, in consequence of which the author received the surname of Peisithanatos. This book was pub- lished at Alexandria, where he was, in consequence, forbidden to teach by king Ptolemy. The date of Hegesias is unknown, though Ritter thinks that he was contemporaneous with Epicurus. {Geschichte der PhilosophiCy viii. 1,3; see also Val. Max. viii. 9.) [G. E. L. C.J HEGESIAS. HEGE'SIAS {'Hyw'ias) and HE'GIAS ('Hrt- as), two Greek statuaries, whom many scholars identify with one another, and about whom, at all events, there are great difficulties. It is therefore the best course to look at the statements respecting both of them together. Pausanias (viii. 42. § 4, or § 10, ed. Bekker) mentions Hegias of Athens as the contemporary of Onatas and of Ageladas the Argive. Lucian {Rhet, Praec. 9, vol. iii. p 9) mentions Hegesias, in connection with Critios and Nesiotes, as belonging to the ancient school of art (ttJ? ira, Aatas epyaalas), the productions of which were constrained, stiff, harsh, and rigid, though accurate in the outlines (dTrecr^iyueva koI vevpcodr) Kal (TKKTjpot, KoX aKptSdis onroTeTafxeva rats ypa/x/xals). It seems necessary here to correct the mistake of the commentators, who suppose that Lucian is speaking of the rhetorician Hegesias. Not only is the kind of oratory which Lucian is describing not at all like that of Hegesias, but also the word ip- yacrlas, and the mention of Critios and Nesiotes (for the true reading is o^^*^ KpiTiou Kal NrjcneiTriv ; comp. Critias, p. 893, b.), sufficiently prove that this is one of the many passages in which Lucian uses the fine arts to illustrate his immediate sub- ject, though, in this case, the transition from the subject to the illustration is not very clearly marked. A similar illustration is employed by Quintilian (xii. 10. § 7), who says of Hegesias and Callon, that their works were harsh, and resembled the Etruscan style : he adds, " jam minus rigida Calamis." The testimony of Pliny is very important. After placing Phidias at 01. 84, or about a. u. c. 300, he adds, "quo eodem tempore aemuli ejus fuere Alca- menes, Critias (i. e. Critios), Nestocles (i. e. Nesi- otes), Hegias" (xxxiv. 8. s. 19). Again {iljid. §§ 16, 17): — ^"Hegiae Minerva Pyrrhusque rex laudatur : et Celetizontes pueri, et Castor et Pollux ante aedem Jovis Tonantis, Hegesiae. In Pario colonia Hercules Isidori. Eleuthereus Lycius My- ronis discipulus fuit." So stands the passage in Harduinus, and most of the modern editions. There is, even at first sight, something suspicious in the positiou of the names Hegesiae and Isidori at the end of the two sentences, while all the other names, both before and after, are put at the beginning of their sentences, as it is natural they should be, in an alphabetical list of artists ; and there is also something suspicious in the way in which the word Eleuthereus (which is explained of Eleutherae) is inserted. This last word is an emendation of Ca- saubon's. Most of the MSS. give Buthyreus, huihyres., or hutires ,• the Pintian and Bamberg give hythytes. We have therefore no hesitation in accepting Sillig's reading, " Hegiae, &c., pueri, et, &c. Tonantis : Hagesiae " (the MSS. vary greatly in the spelling of this name) " in Pario colonia Hercules : Isidori buthytes " (the last word mean- ing a person sacrificing an ox). From the above testimonies, it follows that He- gias and Hegesias were both artists of great cele- brity, and that they flourished at about the same time, namely, at the period immediately preceding that of Phidias. For Hegias was a contemporary of Onatas and Ageladas, and also of Alcamenes, Critios, Nesiotes, and Phidias ; and Hegesias of Critios, Nesiotes, Callon, and Calamis. The in- terval between the earliest and the latent of those artists is not too great to allow those who lived in