Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/640

* LYCIAN LANGUAGE. 566 LYCOPODIALES. Daiiioll and Spratt and Forbes copied 30 Lycian inseiiptions. anionf; theni two liilin{;iials from Laniisii and Tlos. ydiiinburn in 1841-4-2 and a^-ain in 1851 gathered a rich collection, published after his death by Schmidt. A number (jf l^yeiau coins were found and published by Fellows in 1855. The bilingual decree of Pixodarus, Carian ruler (B.C. 340-;!35), was published by Schmidt in 18C9. Most of the inscriptions have been found at Liniyra ; others come from Xanthus, Anti- phcllus. Jlyra. Telniessus, Cadyanda, Cyana?, I'inara, Rhodiopolis, Sura, and Candyba. They are written in an alphabet which has borrowed the Greek letters and adopted new signs for a number of sounds. The forms of the Cireek let- ters show a greater resemblance to the Doric than to the Ionian. If this speaks for a higher age, the presence of x and 0, unless it is a later acqui- sition, would indicate a comparatively late origin of the Lycian alphabet. Strong reasons have been adduced by Sharpe, Lassen. Savelsberg, and La- garde for the opinion that the Lycian is an Iranian language, akin to the Avestan and the old Persian and also to the Armenian. P seems to have changed into h, as in Armenian, and as / into h in the Kurdish (q.v. ) : on the other hand. s is not changed into h in the Lycian. The time of the inscriptions can be approximately fixed by their general similarity and by the known date of Pixodarus. AYhcther Savelsberg is correct in identifying Darius II. and Artaxerxes III. on the Xanthus monument cannot yet be determined with certainty. But his theory that the obelisk celebrates a great etfort to throw off the Persian yoke in the generation preceding Alexander, though somewhat bold, is at least plausilde. Con- sult the works mentioned in the article Lycia, and Grotcfcnd, in Zcitschrift fur die Kiindc dcs Morgenhindes, vol. v.; Texier. Description de I'Asie Mincurc faitc par ordre du qonrcriicment francais de 1S33-37, vol. iii. (Paris'. 1849) -. Las- sen, in Zeit.irhrift der deiitschen tiiorf/ciiliindisch- en (Icscllsclutft. vol. x. ; Moriz Schmidt, The Ljician Inscriptions (London, 1809) ; .Ychp hj- Icische Inschriften (Jena, 1809) ; Savelsberg, Bei- triige zur Ent::iffrrung h/I;ischen Sprachdenk- miiJer, i. and ii. (Ijonn, 1874-78). XYCIDAS, lls'l-das. (1) A shepherd men- tionecl in the Seventh Eclogue of Vergil. (2) A poem by Milton ( 1038). in commemoration of the death of Edward King, the poet's friend, who was drowned in 1037. LYCIUM, lis1-um. A genus of about 70 spe- cies of erect or twining, often spiny, shrubs of ■ the natural order Solanacea>, found in warm and temperate climates and much cultivated for or- nament. They bear small, entire, alternate leaves and axillary or tenninal. diversely colored, soli- tary flowers, followed liy oval orange-red berries. Ljicium riitfi'irr. popularly known as matrimony vine, and, like otiier members of the genus, liox- thorn. has been introduced from the Jlediter- ranean region and has escaped from gardens in the Ignited States. Lycium Curolinianum is ,a common native species in the salt marshes from South Carolina to Florida. LYCK, lik. A town in the Province of East Prussia, Germany, near the Russian frontier, 100 miles southeast of Konigsberg (Map: Germany, K 2). It has an old castle built on an island by the Teutonic Knights, and once used as a prison. Its industries include the manufacture of ma- chincrv. leather, mineral waters, and furniture. Poimlation, in 1900, 11,419. LYCOMEDES, lik'6-me'dez. A king of the island of Scyros. son of Apollo and Parlhcnope, father of Deidameia, and grandfather of Neopto- limus. To his care Thetis intrusted Achilles, dis- guised in feminine garments, in order to prevent him from taking part in the Trojan War, When Theseus, driven from the throne of Athens, sought his protection, Lycomedcs treacherously caused his death by throwing him down a precipice. LY'CON (Lat, from Gk. Ai'Kuv, Lykon) (c.300-2'20 B.C.). A Gi-eek Peripatetic philoso- pher, born in the Troad. lie was one of the successors of Aristotle and Theophrastus as the head of the Peripatetic School. li.c. 270-220. So distinguished was he for his charm of person and mind, and for his eloquence, that his followers prefixed the letter gannna to his name, making it VUkuv, that is, 'llie Sweet.' LY'COPHRON (Lat., from Gk. KvKlxjipuv, Li/lopliroii) (flourished third century B.C.). A Greek poet and grammarian. Born at Chalcis, Lycophron lived in later life at Alexandria, where, under Ptolemy Philadelphus (B.C. 283-247), he was distinguished as one of the Pleiad, or band of seven tragic poets. He was intrusted with the arrangement of that part of the Alexandrian library which had to dg with comedy. Suidas gives the titles of twenty of his tragedies: accord- ing to Tzetzes, he wrote forty-si.x or fifty-six pieces. The fragments of these are published by Xauck [Trag. Orwc. Frag., 2d ed., Leipzig. 1889). Only his Cassandra or Alexandra {Kaacrdflpa or ''AXe^ivSpa), an iambic poem of 1474 verses, is preserved. The story is simple — in an oracular and ob.scure style, Cassandra ))rophesies the down- fall of Troy and the subsequent adventures of the Trojan and Argive heroes. Especial attention is paid to the founding of cities. Two passages even foretell the settlement of .Eneas in Latium. but these are probaljly later interpolations. The best edition is that of Holzinger, with a German trans- lation and a commentary (Leipzig, 1895). There is an English translation by Yorke (Cambridge, I80G). LY'COPODIA'LES (Xeo-Lat. nom. pi., from vKos, IjiKos, wolf + TToiis, pons, foot ; so called from the appearance of the roots). One of flu- three great divisions of fern-plants (pferidn- phytes), and usually regarded as the one of high- est rank. Popularly they are called 'club-mosses,' and the majority of them lielong to two genera, Lyeopodium and Selaginella. They dilTcr strik ingly in habit from the other pteridophytes, in that the aerial body' consists of slender brandl- ing stems thickly clothed with very numerous small leaves. Many of the more delicate species of Selaginella resemble coar.se mosses, and are common in greenhouses as decorative plants. In the Carboniferous period (coal measures) the club-mosses included tree forms, some of whic!i were very bulk^- and formed a conspicuous |)art of the forest vegetation. Only the smaller forms have survived, about five hundred species being represented in the fiora of to-day. In temperate and colder regions the coarser Lj'copodiums pre- vail, often called 'ground-pines' as well as "club- mosses': while in the tropics the more delicate and more numerous Sclaginellas are chiefly dis- played. Aside from the moss-like habit, the most ccmspicuous feature of the group is the 'strobilus,'