Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/185

* EPISTLE SIDE OF THE ALTAR. 159 EPITHALAMIUM. churches, when in the choir there was an amho (q.v.) on each side, one for thr epistles, the other for the gospels, the term was applied to the ehoir also. EPISTLES OF HORACE. A Beries of poems by Horace, in the form of Letters to individuals, published between B.C. -II and 12. They are a continuation of the Satires, but differ from the latter in their more tolerant and philosophical atmosphere, in their better taste, and in literary form. They are arranged in two I ks, and are in hexameter verse. The "Epistula ad Pisones" is a famous piece of criticism, better known as the Am Poetica (q.v.). EPIS'TOL-ffi OB'SCTJRO'RUM VIRO'RTJM (Uit.. 'Letters of Obscure Men'). The title of a collection of satirical letters which appeared at Hagenau in 1515, professing to be issued by the Aldine Press at Venice. It purported to be the composition of certain ecclesiastics and professors in Cologne and other places in Rhenish Germany. The letters were directed against the scholastics and monks, and helped in no small degree to bring about the Reformation. The controversy of Reuchlin (q.v.) with the baptized .Jew Pfef- fcrkorn concerning the books of the Jews gave the tirst occasion to the Epistolw, and probably their title was suggested by the letters to himself from distinguished men which Reuchlin published, under the title Virorum Epistolw Clarorum ad Reuchlinum Phorcensem ( 1514), to show that his position in this controversy was approved by the learned. The Epistolw Obscurorum were ad- dressed to Ortuinus Gratius in Deventer, who had made himself odious to the liberal minds of the time by his arrogant pretension, his determined hostility to the spirit of the age, and his lax morality. On the tirst appearance of the work it was ascribed to Reuchlin, afterwards to Reuchlin, Erasmus, and Hutten. The first part contained 41 letters, a number which was increased in subsequent editions. It was probably mainly the composition of the distinguished humanist Ero- tus Rubeanus, who originated the idea. In the composition of the second part (1519) Ulrica von Hutten had much share, but others partici- pated, including Erotus. The Epistolce were placed in the catalogue of forbidden books by a Papal bull, and this circumstance contributed not a little to spread the work. The classical edi- tion is that by Booking, Supplementum Vlrici Eutteni Operant, vols, vi., vii. (Leipzig. 1864-70). There is a German translation by Binder (Stutt- gart, 1876). Consult: Strauss, XJlrich von Hut- ten (Gth ed., Leipzig. 1895). of which there is an English translation (London, 1874) : and Pat- tison, Essaus (Oxford. 1889). EPISTOLER or EPISTLER. An English term for the clergyman (answering to the sub- deacon in the Roman mass ) who, in accordance with the 24th canon of 1603. assists the celebrant in the administration of Holy Communion. The name is derived from the fact that his princi- pal duty is to read the epistle. See Gospeler. EPIS'TROPHE, See Chloroplast. EPIS'TTLLjE EX PON'TO (Lat.. letters from 'ontus). Four books of letters, written by Ovid from his place of exile on the Black Sea. In them t he poet gives expression to his bitter re- pining against his dreary life and his separation from his family, and appeals frantically to his friends at Rome to intercede for him with the Emperor. Like the Tristia, which preceded them, the letters arc in the elegiac measure, but give the names of the persons addressed. EPTSTY'LIUM or EP'ISTYLE (Lat., from wurrfiKutv, epistylion, from ittl, epi, upon -+- otOaos, stylos, column), A beam of stone or sometimes of wood, which rests upon the capitals of columns or pillars and span thi -pace be- tween them. II is synonymous with the more customarj term architrave (q.v.). See Column. EPITAPH ( Lat. epitaphium, • pitaphius, from Gk. 4TtTo.<pi.oT, epitaphios, funeral, from M, epi, upon + to0os, taphos, tomb). 1'roperly, a com- memorative inscription on a tomb or other monu- ment over a grave. The oldc-l in -<i ipt ions of this kind that, we have are inscriptions on sarcophagi of the ancient Egyptians. These epitaphs are all very much alike, containing simply a statement of the name, family, and condition of the deceased, with a prayer to some deity, generally Osiris or Anuhis. The earliest Greek epitaphs are from the island of Thera, and date from a time as early at least as the seventh century ri.e. They contain simply the name of the deceased. The earliest Athenian epitaphs are also very short, containing hardly more than the name of the deceased, together with that of the deceased's father, and arc often writ- ten in verse, generally in an elegiac distich. The Greek epitaphs that are preserved to us from later times are often of considerable length, and are very various in character. Roman epitaphs were much more meagre than the later Greek epitaphs. On the Roman urns are the letters D. M. or D. M. S. (Diis Manibus or Diis Manibus Sacrum ), followed by certain particulars with regard to the deceased, as his age. name, and office, and the name and relationship of the person who has had the urn made. A not uncommon feature of the Roman inscription is the strong adjuration ad- dressed to the passers-by not to disturb the tomb. In modern as in ancient times, the epi- taph has been made a literary form — as, for in- stance, by Ben Jonson and Pope. For Greek epitaphs, consult: Kaibel's Epigrammata Greeca ex Lapidibus Collegia (Berlin, 1878); Reinaeh, Traiti d'epigraphu grecque (Paris. 1S85) : Pre- fer. Inscriptiones (innrr Metrical ex Scriptoribus prmter Anthologiam Collectce (Leipzig, lxitl); Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum I Berlin, 1878- 82). For Latin epitaphs: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarwm I Berlin, 1863 et seq.) ; Biicheler and Kicse. Anthologia Latina, vol. ii. (Leipzig, 1869- 70); Cholodniak, Carmina Sepulcralia Latina (Saini Petersburg, ls f i7i. For modern epitaphs : Kippax, Churchyard Literatun : a Choici Collec- tion of American Epitaphs (Chicago, 1876); Andrews. Curious Epitaphs (London, 1883). EPTTHALA'MIUM (Lat., from Gk. briSaKi- faos. epithalamios, nuptial, from eirl, epi, upon •+- 6d?anos, thalamos, bridal chamber). A mar- riage song sung by a chorus of maidens, or of youths and maidens, before the chamber of a newly married couple. The time at which it was sung was ordinarily the evening after the mar- riage festival: but there was also a waking song. Closely connected with the epithalamium is the hymeneal song (virtuosi, which was sung either at the wedding banquet or during the marriage procession to the new home. As a general term the hymeneal includes the epithalamium. Among