Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/930

Rh 916 MANETHO. Plutarch's treatise De Iside et Osiri (cc. 8, 9, 49, 62, 73 ; comp. Procl. ad Hesiod. Op. et D. 767), and in some other writers, who confirm the state- ments of Plutarch. (lamblich. de Myster. viii. 3 ; Aelian, H.A.s.. 16 ; Porphyr. de Abstin. p. 199.) Suidas mentions a work on Cyphi^ or the sacred incense of the Egyptians, its preparation and mix- ture, as tauglit in the sacred books of the Egyptians, and the same work is referred to by Plutarch at the end of his above-mentioned treatise. In all the passages in which statements from Manetho are preserved concerning the religious and moral doctrines of the Egyptians, he appears as a man of a sober and intelligent mind, and of profound knowledge of the religious affairs of his own coun- try ; and the presumption therefore must be, that in his historical works, too, his honesty was not inferior to his learning, and that he ought not to be made responsible for the blunders of transcribers and copyists, or the forgeries of later impostors. The historical productions of Manetho, although lost, are far better known than his theological works. Josephus (AntJud. i. 3. § 9) mentions the great work under the title of History of Egypt., and quotes some passages verbatim from it, which show that it was a pleasing narrative in good Greek (c. Apion. i. 14, &c.). The same author informs us that Manetho controverted and corrected many of the statements of Herodotus. But whether this was done in a separate work, as we are told by some writers, who speak of a treatise Tlpbs 'Upo- SoTov (Eustath. ad Horn. p. 857 ; Etym. Magn. s. V. AcovtokS/ios), or whether this treatise was merely an extract from the work of Manetho, made by later compilers or critics of Herodotus, is uncertain. The Egyptian history of Manetho was divided into three parts or books ; the first con- tained the history of the country previous to the thirty dynasties, or what may be termed the my- thology of Egypt, as it gave the dynasties of the gods, concluding with those of mortal kings, of whom the first eleven dynasties formed the con- clusion of the first book. The second opened with the twelfth and concluded with the nineteenth dynasty, and the third gave the history of the remaining eleven dynasties, and concluded with an account of Nectanebus, the last of the native Egyp- tian kings. (Syncelh CArowo^. p. 97, &c.) These dynasties are preserved in Julius Africanus and Eusebius (most correct in the Armenian version), who, however, has introduced various interpolations. A thirty-first dynasty, which is added under the name of Manetho, and carries the list of kings down to Dareius Codomannus, is undoubtedly a later fabrication. The duration of the first period described in the work of Manetho was calculated by him to be 24,900 years, and the thirty dy- nasties, beginning with Menes, filled a period of 3555 years. The lists of the Egyptian kings and the duration of their several reigns were undoubt- edly derived by him from genuine documents, and their correctness, so far as they are not interpolated, is said to be confirmed by the inscribed monuments which it has been the privilege of our time to de- cipher. (Comp. Scholl, Gesch. der Griech. Lit. vol. ii. p. 128, &c. ; Bunsen, Aegypt. StdU in der Welt- gesch. vol. i, pp. 88 — 125.) There exists an astrological poem, entitled 'Atto- reKfafiariKoi, in six books, which bears the name of Manetho ; but it is now generally acknowledged that this poem, which is mentioned also by Suidas, MANIA, cannot have been written before the fifth century of our era. A good edition of it was published some years ago by C. A. M. Axt and F. A. Rigler, Cologne, 1832, 8vo. Whether this poem was written with a view to deception, under the name of Manetho, or whether it is actually the production of a person of that name, is uncertain. But there is a work which is undoubtedly a for- gery, and was made with a view to harmonise the chronology of the Jews and Christians with that of the Egyptians. This work is often referred to by Syncellus (C%ro«. pp. 27, 30), who says that the author lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and wrote a work on the Dog Star (tj $l§Kos Trjs 5w0eos), which he dedicated to the king, whom he called :Sf€a(rT6s. (Syncell. Chron. p. 73.) The very introduction to this book, which Syncellus quotes, is so full of extraordinary things and ab- surdities, that it clearly betrays its late author, who, under the illustrious name of the Egyptian historian, hoped to deceive the world. The work of the genuine Manetlio was gradually superseded : first by epitomisers, by whom the ge- nuine history and chronology were obscured ; next by the hasty work of Eusebius, and the interpolations he made, for the purpose of supporting his system ; afterwards by the impostor who assumed the name of Manetho of Sebennytus, and mixed truth with falsehood ; and lastly by a chronicle, in which the dynasties of Manetho were arbitrarily arranged according to certain cycles. (Syncell. Chron. p. 95.) For a more minute account of the manner in which the chronology of Manetho was gradually corrupted see the excellent work of Bunsen above referred to, vol. i. p. 256, &c. [L. S.] MANGA'NES, GEO'RGIUS. [Geokgius, No. 14, p. 246.] MA'NIA, an ancient and formidable Italian, probably Etruscan, divinity of the lower world, is called the mother of the Manes or Lares. (Varro, de Ling. Lat. ix. 61 ; Arnob. adv. Gent. iii. 41 ; Macrob. Sat. i. 7.) The festival of the Compitalia was celebrated as a propitiation to Mania in common with the Lares, and, according to an ancient oracle that heads should be offered on behalf of heads, boys are said to have been sacrificed on behalf of the families to which they belonged. The consul Junius Bmtus afterwards abolished the human sacrifices, and substituted garlick and the heads of poppies for them. Images of Mania were hung up at the house doors, with a view to avert all dangers. (Macrob. I.e.) As regards her being the mother of the Manes or Lares, the idea seems to have been, that the souls of the departed on their arrival in the lower world became her children, and either there dwelt with her or ascended into the upper world as beneficent spirits. (Miiller, Die Etrusk. iii. 4.) In later times the plural Maniae occurs as the designation of terrible, ugly, and deformed spectres, with which nurses used to frighten children. (Paul. Diac. p. 128 ; Festus, p. 129, ed. Miiller.) [L. S.] MA'NIA (Marta). 1. A Phrygian, as the name implies (Mach. ap. Athen. xiii. p. 578, b), was the wife of Zenis, a Greek of Dardanus, and satrap, under Pharnabazus, of the Midland Aeolis. After the death of Zenis, Mania prevailed on Pharnabazus to allow her to retain the satrapy which her husband had held. Invested with the government, she strictly fulfilled her promise that the tribute should be paid as regularly as before,