Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/65

ÆS crabs, taken at certain lunar periods. He is not to be confounded with a writer of the same name mentioned by Pliny in his "Natural History," lib. viii.  ÆSCHYLUS, the father of Greek tragedy, and one of the greatest dramatic writers of any age. He was born in the year 525 ., in the district of Eleusis in Attica, a few miles west from Athens, on the borders of Megara. In the neighborhood of the world-renowned sanctuary of Ceres, his youth was spent under the solemn religious influences which gave so decided a tone to his dramatic works. At the age of twenty-five, he exhibited his first tragedy; but did not gain his first dramatic prize till the year 484 ., when he was forty-one years of age. Meanwhile the soul of Greek nationality had been roused in all its strength by the invasion of the generals of Darius, ending in their disgraceful defeat at Marathon in 480. In this battle Æschylus fought; and the ardour of his patriotism was no less prominently manifested by the part which he took in the great naval engagement of Salamis, ten years afterwards. There can be no doubt that the lofty tone of his poetry, and that of his contemporary, Pindar, who was only seven years his junior, is to be attributed in no small degree to the impulse which the whole Greek mind received from the great political movement that terminated in the complete overthrow of the insolent claims of the Oriental autocrat. But in Æschylus there is also distinctly visible a certain soldierly attitude, and a delight in the pomp and circumstance of war, that is clearly traceable to the atmosphere of Marathon and Salamis, which the poet had breathed. The only other external event of any consequence in the life of the father of tragedy, is his sojourn in Sicily, a country which King Hiero had about that time rendered an agreeable place of residence for poets and literary men. That Æschylus, whose sympathies were aristocratic, was driven to leave Athens by his aversion to the ultra-democratic tendencies of the time, even then visible to the thoughtful eye, is probable, but not authenticated. Certain it is, however, that he died at Gela in that country, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, 456 ., and about twenty years before the outbreak of the calamitous Peloponnesian war. Only two years before his death he had exhibited the famous trilogy of the Orestiad, the only complete specimen of a Greek dramatic trilogy now existing, and generally allowed to be, as a whole, the masterpiece, not only of its author, but of the whole tragic literature of Greece, so for as its most notable specimens have been transmitted to modern times. As a tragic writer, Æschylus has seldom been so highly estimated as he deserves; but the large and liberal criticism of modern times has delighted to recognize his peculiar excellences, which had been somewhat obscured by the more popular graces of Sophocles and Euripides. No doubt the diction of the poet is sometimes turgid, and now and then obscure; but so far as the obscurity arises from the corruption of the text (which is generally the case), the writer must remain free from blame; and a tendency to employ now and then language somewhat inflated, will readily be forgiven where such a fine eye for dramatic effect is constantly found combined with the loftiest moral purpose, and the most sustained elevation of thought. The dramatic power of some of the scenes in the "Agamemnon" and the "Eumenides" has never been surpassed, not even by Shakspeare; the calm statuesque grandeur of the "Prometheus" has made the name of the stouthearted Titan as familiar to the readers of English poetry in the nineteenth century, as it was to the auditors of Bœotian Hesiod 800 years before the Christian era. In the "Persians," again, by selecting a historical subject, the battle of Salamis, the daring genius of the great tragedian ventured to open a new field for the Greek dramatist; destined, however, to be triumphantly taken possession of only by our own Shakspeare, about 2000 years after the hint was given. Besides the pieces just mentioned, Æschylus composed "The Seven against Thebes," and "The Suppliants"—in all seven pieces; a small remnant of the ninety dramas which Suidas reports him to have composed. The most famous editions of this writer are those of Stanley, Schutz, Wellauer, Paley, and Hermann; the English poetical translations are by Potter and Blackie.—J. S. B.  ÆSOPUS most probably flourished in the sixth century before the Christian era. little is known of his life, and some even have gone so far as to deny that there ever was such a person. There is no good reason, however, for this denial. Indeed, it seems certain that he was born a slave, and was afterwards freed, and that he composed a great many fables. Whether he ever committed these fables to writing, is matter of doubt. In all likelihood he did not. Nevertheless they were handed down by retentive memories to after generations, and in the best days of Greek literature there were collections of Æsopic fables. Very many of them have been preserved to us in Babrius and in the Latin Phædrus. Plutarch informs us that the Delphians, in consequence of a dispute about money which Æsop had been sent to distribute, threw him down a precipice, and thus he perished.—J. D.  ÆTHELNOT. See.  ÆTHELWOLD, an Englishman, and pupil of St. Dunstan, an abbot at Glasgow, and ultimately bishop of Winchester, died in 984. He published various tracts, and translated the "Regula Benedict!" into Anglo-Saxon.  ÆSTHERIUS, an architect, who flourished in the beginning of the sixth century, during the reign of Anastasius I. His merit procured him the emperor's favour, and he executed several important works in Constantinople.  ÆTION, a Grecian painter, supposed, from some expressions in Cicero and Lucian, to have been a contemporary of the celebrated Apelles. One of his pictures, exhibited at the Olympic games, excited such admiration, that Proxenides, the judge of the games, gave him his daughter in marriage.  ÆTION, according to Lucian, another Greek painter, flourishing at Rome during the reign of Hadrian or of Antoninus. His masterpiece represented Alexander and Roxana, surrounded by Cupids, playing with the arms of the hero. This picture had such success, that it was often repeated in after times, both in paintings and on gems. There is, however, great reason to suppose that he is identical with the preceding, and that he lived, instead, at the time of Alexander the Great.—R. M. <section end="65H" /> <section begin="65I" />ÆTIUS, a Roman general and patrician, born in Mysia towards the end of the fourth century, died in 454. Having for several years been detained as a hostage among the Goths and Huns, he exercised considerable influence over those barbarians. He raised a large army to support the claims of John against those of the descendants of Theodosius, and may be said to have saved Rome from the otherwise inevitable destruction with which it was menaced. He gained several brilliant victories over the Franks and Visigoths, and rendered effectual aid to the Gauls in repulsing their invaders. His high reputation, however, exposed him to the jealousy of the emperor, who had previously promised him his daughter in marriage: but on claiming the fulfilment of the promise, Valentinian, forgetful of all that the hero had effected for his country, basely put him to death. <section end="65I" /> <section begin="65J" />ÆTIUS, a Greek physician of Amida in Mesopotamia (Diarbekir), who lived, it is probable, towards the close of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century. Little is known of his history. He was a Christian; he studied at the celebrated school of Alexandria, and ultimately established himself in Constantinople, where he became physician to the court. His works exhibit great learning, and are valuable, from the circumstance that they contain many fragments from Greek writers whose works have been lost. Ætius composed an able work, in sixteen books, on a variety of topics connected with the theory and practice of medicine. According to Boerhaave, his works are to the physician what the pandects of Justinian are to the lawyer.—F. <section end="65J" /> <section begin="65K" />ÆTTENKHOVER,, a German historian; died at Munich, 1775. He was keeper of the archives of the elector of Bavaria, and has left a history of the dukes of Bavaria from the time of Otho the Great of Wittelsbach. <section end="65K" /> <section begin="65L" />AFER,, whom Quintilian mentions as the greatest orator he had ever known, was born at Nemausus (Nismes), 26 ., and held the office of praetor. He rendered himself acceptable to Tiberius by the accusation he brought against Claudia Pulchra, a relative of Agrippina, and afterwards against her son; and flattered Caligula by not replying to the discourse in which the son of Agrippina poured out his wrath against the rhetorician. Quintilian quotes some fragments in his writings.—S. <section end="65L" /> <section begin="65M" />AFESA,, surnamed , a Neapolitan painter, who lived about the middle of the seventeenth century. His chef-d'œuvre is the picture of the Assumption, which decorates the high altar of the church de Frati Conventuali di Marisco Nuovo at Naples. <section end="65M" /> <section begin="65Nnop" />AFFAITATI,, an Italian physician, was born at Cremona about the end of the fifteenth century; died 1550. He was patronised by Pope Paul III., after whose death he retired into England, where he was drowned in the Thames. <section end="65Nnop" />