Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/827

* CYEENAICA. 715 CYRIL. and sTiortly after was uuited with Crete as a Koniaii province. It continued to prosper for some time, but with the incio;ising weakness of the Eastern Empire, to which it bek)nged, was more and more exposed to the encroachments of the desert tribes, and in a.d. 047 was overrun by the Arabs. Ancient Cyrenaica nearly corresponcls to modern Barca (q.v.). CY'RENA'IC SCHOOL. A school of phi- losophy estaldislied by the followers of Socrates upon his death. Aristippus of Cyrene, its founder, taught that pU'asure was the highest good, tlius developing one side of the Soeratic teaching to the exclusion of all others. Virtue for this school meant the course of life that se- cured the greatest enjoj-ment. For this, wisdom is necessary, since the pursuit of pleasure, prompted by instincts and impulses as they arise, often defeats itself. The wise man is the man who knows how he can obtain the maximum of enjoyment and who acts upon this knowledge. This doctrine received various modifications ac- cording to the view its adlierents took as to the way in which the hedonistic end is attainable. Thus Theodorus insisted that in the form not of the pleasure of the moment, but of enduring joy or 'cheerful frame of mind,' can true satisfaction be obtained; Hegesias urged that an excess of pleasure over pain is unattainable, hence the true, end of human endeavor is to minimize the dis- comforts of life, and he carried this doctrine to its logical outeome, that death is preferable to life : hence he w as called the 'recommender of death.' This is perhaps the earliest appear- ance of pessimism (q.v.) in Occidental philoso- phy. On the other hand, Anniceris maintained that in the search for pleasure the friendly, social, filial, patriotic man is most highly suc- cessful, and tluis went far toward carrying egoistic hedonism beyond its most obvious limita- tions. The Cyrenaic school was the precursor of the Epicurean (q.v.). Consult Watson, Herfofiisd'e Theories from Aristippus to Spencer (Glasgow, 1895), and the authorities referred to in the article on Ethics. See Ethics; Hedonism; Utilitarianism. CYRENE, st-re'ne (Lat., from Gk. Kvpvpv. Kyrenv). In ancient geography, the capital of Cyrenaica, in northern Africa, situated about 10 miles distant from the coast and 1800 feet above the level of the sea. It is said to have been founded in B.C. 631, by Battus and a body of Dorian colonists from the island of Thera. It carried on an extensive commerce with Egvpt and Greece, and was the birthplace of many distinguished men — the philosophers Aristippus and Carneades, the poet Callimachus, the astron- omer Eratosthenes, the rhetorician and Bishop Synesius. CYRI'ACUS, or CiBiACo de' Pizzicolli (1391- c.1449). One of the most diligent antiquarians of the Renaissance in Italy. He was born at Ancona. Possessed from boyhood by the spirit of exploration, he early entered upon the life of a merchant, which enabled liim to gratify his passibn for travel. Led by his admiration for Dante to Vergil, and thence to Homer, he turned to the study of the classics, and devoted his travels to the enthusiastic study and description of the remains of the past. Unlike most of the Italian scholars of his time, he did not confine himself to the monuments of Italy. He visited Vol. v.— 46. Syria, Egypt, the islands of the .Egean, and finally Athens and the mainland of Greece, every- where purchasing manusciipts, coins, and works of art, copying inscrijjtions, sketching and de- scribing roads, walls, buildings, and any other evidences of the life of ancient (Greece. His notes and drawings were collected in tlirec large folio volumes, but after his death, which occurred about 1449, they became scattered, and now are known only by fragments or partial copies. Though Cyriacus never became a learned man, ar.d oft(-n made ludicrmis mistakes, his breadth of interest ami untiring zeal led him to copy much that others neglected, and to him we owe our knowledge of many inscriptions and monuments which have since disaj)peared. .Con- sult : Voigt. ^yirlJn•hrlrlnn>(J drs klassischen At- tertiinis, vol. i.( Berlin. 189;?). where the earlier literature is cited: al«o .fahn, "Cyriacus von Ancona und .lhrecht Diirer." in Alls dcr Alter- tiimsirissenschaft (Bonn, 1808). CYRIL, sirll (Lat. ri/rUlus. Gk. KtfpAXot, Kj/rillos), S.iNT (?-444). A bishop of Alex- andria, one of the most energetic but least amiable of the Church Fathers. He was bom in Alexandria, but the date of his birth is not known. He was educated in the des- ert, 05 miles south of Alexandria, by the eenobitic monks of Nitria, with whom he lived for five years, and who probably inspired him with that fiery, intolerant, and impetuous zeal which characterized him through life. Subse- quently he went to Alexandria, where he be- came a presbyter, and on the death of his uncle, Theophilus, a.d. 412, obtained the episcopal see. The Alexandrian Jews, who were numerous and riotous, were the first to feel the efl'ects of his inflexible character. Some Christian blood hav- ing been shed by them in a city tumult, Cyril put himself at the head of a rabble of zealots, at- tacked the .Jewish quarter of Alexandria, de- stroyed the houses, and banished the inhabitants. Orestes, the Prefect of Egj'pt, having drawn up an accusation against Cyril, was attacked in the streets by 500 monks, who had come up from the deserts of Nitria, at the call of their old com- panion, ready to defend him against his foes. One of these monks having fallen in the skirmish, his corpse was carried in procession to the high church of Alexandria, where Cyril delivered a sanguinary discourse, gave the dead monk the name of Thaumasius ('the excellent'), and pro- nounced him a martyr and a saint. The violent death of Hypatia (q.v.), the famous woman phil- osopher of Alexandria, at the hands of a mob, has often been laid to the charge of Cyril, but perhaps all that can be justly alleged against him on this count is that he was in great meas- ure responsible for the riotous conditions which led up to this deplorable event. But the most important historic event in his career was his controversy with Nestorius (q.v.), whose doc- tiines were condemned by the Council of Ephesus, presided over by Cyril (431). All the sternest features of his disposition appeared in this contest. In the midst of disuuietudes, which lie himself had largely occasioned, he died June 9, a.d. 444. In the Greek Church his day in the calendar of saints is .June 9, in the Latin Church January 28. Cyril's numerous writings consist of com- mentaries, treatises, homilies, epistles, etc. The best edition was published by .Jean Aubert (Paris, 1G38, reprinted in ilignc, Patrol. Grceca.