Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/663

Rh her by Hera, whom the nymph by her chatter had prevented from discovering the sports of Zeus among her sister Oreades. Another tale relates that Echo fell in love with Narcissus, who was deaf to her entreaties, and that in her grief she wasted away until nothing remained but her bones and her voice. The name Narcissus, again, denotes one who is oppressed by lethargy, and thus the story becomes a counterpart to that of Selene and Eiulymion. Another legend speaks of her as being loved by Pan, the Latin Favouius, the soft and purifying breeze, and represents her lover as seeking in vain to see her form, although everywhere he hears her voice. Ovid, Met. iii. 35 G et seq. ; Paus. ix. 31, 6. For, in physics, see ,.  ECIJA, a city of Spain, in the province of Seville, 53 miles E.N.E. of the city of that name, on the left bank of the Jeuil, Xenil, or Genii, the ancient Siugulis, a tributary of the Guadalquivir. The river, thus far navigable, is there crossed by a fine old bridge; and the antiquity of the town betrays itself both by the irregularity of its arrangement, and by its walls and gateways, and its numerous inscriptions and other relics. Among its public buildings it numbers six parish churches, seven nunneries, thirteen secularized convents, two hospitals, a theatre, a foundling asylum, and barracks. The principal square is surrounded with pillared porticoes, and has a fountain in the centre ; and along the river bank there runs a fine promenade, planted with poplar trees and adorned with statues. From an early period the shoemakers of Ecija have been in high repute throughout Spain; and woollen cloth, flannel, linen, and silks are manufactured in the town. The vicinity is fertile in corn and wine, and cotton is also cultivated to some extent. The heat is so great that the spot has acquired the sobriquet of El Sarteu, or the Frying-pan of Andalusia. Ecija, called Estija by the Arabs, is the ancient Astigis, which was raised to the rank of a Roman colony with the title of Augusta Firma, and, according to Pliny and Pomponius Mela, was the rival of Cordova and Seville. If local tradition may be believed, it was visited by the apostle Paul, who converted his hostess Santa Xantippa ; and, according to one version of his life, it was the see of the famous Crispin. Among its modern celebrities the most remarkable is Luis Valez de Guerara, the dramatist. Population 27,216.  ECK, (–), the most in defatigable and important opponent of Martin Luther, was born 13th November, at Eck in Swabia. His father was a peasant, who becoming bailift of the village, added Eck to the family name Maier. The son entered in his eleventh year the university of Heidelberg, from which he went to Tiibiugen, where he took his master of arts degree in his fourteenth year, and afterwards studied theology. He then went to Cologne, and afterwards to Freiburg, where, besides studying jurisprudence and mathematics, he taught philosophy. In he published a work on logic. From this time he appears to have devoted his attention chiefly to theology ; and his skill and versatility in scho lastic disputations having attracted considerable notice, the duke of Bavaria, in, presented him to the chair of theology in the university of Ingolstadt. In he took part in a public disputation at Bologna, and in  in one at Vienna, on both occasions gaining great admiration. In he circulated privately his Obelisci against Luther s thesis on the mass. Luther intrusted his defence to Carlstadt, who, besides answering the insinua tions of Eck in 400 distinct theses, declared his readiness to meet him in a public disputation. The challenge was accepted, and the disputation took place at Leipsic in. It lasted for three weeks, and Luther as well as Carlstadt opposed himself to Eck. The general impression was that victory rested with Eck ; but apparently success only embittered his animosity against his opponents, for from that time his whole efforts were devoted to Luther s overthrow. He induced the universities of Cologne and Louvain to condemn the Reformer s writings, and in went to Rome to obtain strict regulations against what he called the &quot; Lutherans.&quot; He returned with the celebrated papal bull against Luther s writings, and with, the commission to publish it, but at Leipsic met with so bad a reception from the inhabitants, that he was com pelled to take refuge in the Pauline convent. Eck took a leading part in the Augsburg diet of, and in the con ferences at Worms in and at Ratisbon in. He died in. He is said to have been a bad linguist, and not an able theologian, but to have possessed great readiness and fluency, a retentive memory, and remarkable dexterity in sophistical argumentation. Among his numerous writ ings is a translation of the Bible, which was written to supersede that of Luther, but met with no success.  ECKERMANN, (1792–1854), friend of Goethe, and editor of his works, was born at &quot;Winsen in Hanover, in 1792. After serving as a volunteer in the War of Liberation (1813–1814), he obtained an appoint ment in the war office at Hanover. At the age of twenty- five he became a student at the gymnasium of Hanover and afterwards at the university of Gottingen, returning to Hanover in 1822. His acquaintance with Goethe began in tlie following year, when he sent to him the manuscript of his Beitrdye zur Poesie. Soon afterwards he went to Weimar, and was appointed private secretary to the poet. For several years he was also engaged as tutor to the son of the grand duke. In 1830 he travelled in Italy with Goethe s son. In 1838 he was named councillor of the grand duchy, and appointed librarian to the grand duchess. Eckermann is chiefly remembered for the important contributions to our knowledge of the great poet contained in his Gesprache mit Goethe, the first and second parts of which appeared in 1836, and the third in 1848. This work was first trans lated into English by Margaret Fuller, and published at Boston, U.S., in 1839. Another English translation, by John Oxenford, appeared in London in 1850. It has been translated into almost all the European languages, not excepting Turkish. To Eckermann Goethe intrusted the publication of his posthumous works (1832-1833). He was also joint-editor with Riemer of the complete edition of Goethe s works in 40 vols. (1839-1840). Eckermann died at Weimar, December 3, 1854.  ECKERSBERG, (1783-1853), Danish painter, was born in South Jutland in 1783. He became successively the pupil of Abildgaard and of David. From 1810 to 1813 he lived at Paris under the direction of the latter, and then proceeded, as an independent artist, to Rome, where he worked until 1816 in close fellowship with Thorvvaldsen. His paintings from this period The Spartan Boy, Bacchus and Ariadne, and Ulysses testify to the influence of the great sculptor over the art of Eckersberg. Returning to Copenhagen, he found himself easily able to take the first place among the Danish painters of his time, and his portraits especially were in extreme popularity. It is claimed for Eckersberg by the native critics that &quot;he created a Danish colour,&quot; that is to say, he was the first painter who threw off conventional tonea and the pseudo-classical landscape, in exchange for the clear atmosphere and natural outlines of Danish scenery. But Denmark has no heroic landscape, and Eckersberg in losing the golden common-places scarcely succeeds in being delight ful. His landscapes, however, are pure and true, while in his figure-pieces he is almost invariably conventional and old-fashioned. He became the president of the Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Charlottenberg, and died iu 1853.