pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
EPICTETUS, a native of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, was born of humble parents, in the first century of the Christian era. In his youth he was the slave of Epaphroditus, the freedman of Nero, an individual of gross and vulgar habits. It is said that he was one day amusing himself in twisting the leg of his slave, when Epictetus exclaimed, “you will break it;” and the event justified the prediction. “I told you so,” added the philosopher, without changing a muscle of his countenance. Of his personal history it may be readily imagined that we know but little; even his name is unknown to us, for Epictetus merely marks his condition of life, signifying in Greek a slave (ior∕χrnrος). He must, however, have received his freedom; for, when Domitian published his edict about the year 90, banishing philosophers from Italy, Epictetus retired to Nicoolis in Epirus, where it is supposed he passed the rest of his life. Spartianus indeed asserts that he lived at Rome in great intimacy with the Emperor Hadrian; but if this information be correct, he does not seem to have profited much by his intercourse with the rich, for his house is said to have been without a door, and to have had no furniture except a table, a bed, and a miserable mattress.

Epictetus was a Stoic, but possessed none of the vain boastings nor austerity of that sect of philosophy. The virtue which he prized most dearly was modesty. Being an enemy of Epicurus and his doctrines, he admired Socrates, and has left us a magnificent picture of the true cynic. As we might expect from his principles, Epictetus during the whole of his life made war on opinion. All his doctrines were reduced to this point: Our actions depend on ourselves; all other things are independent of us: let us therefore devote our whole attention to the correction and amendment of the first; but it is madness to make any effort to avoid the other, for they are entirely beyond our control. Support pain and jly pleasure, was the grand leading precept of Epictetus. It is indeed beautiful, but difficult to follow. Suidas says he wrote much, but nothing has come down to us, Arrian, the most celebrated of his disciples, collected, with much care and diligence, the discourses and principles of his master, and composed several treatises on them, viz. 1. On the Life and Death of Epictetus; 2. Twelve books of Familiar Discourses of this philosopher (these two works are lost); 3. Eight books of Dissertations on Epictetus and his Philosophy, four of which only remain; 4. Enchiridion, or Manual of Epictetus, which is preserved, and in which he presents a concise view of the moral philosophy of the Phrygian. Arrian dedicated this work to Μ. Valerius Messalinus, consul in the year of the city 901. There are also in Stobaeus many moral sayings of Epictetus, which have been collected by Blancard, Copenhagen, 1629, 12mo. The first Greek edition of the Enchiridion was published at Venice, 1528, 4to. See also Heyne’s edition with notes, Dresden, 1776, 8vo.
EPICYCLE, in the ancient astronomy, a little circle whose centre is in the circumference of a greater circle: or it is a small orb or sphere, which being fixed in the deferent of a planet, is carried along with it; and yet, by its own peculiar motion, carries the planet fastened to it round its proper centre.

It was by means of epicycles that Ptolemy and his followers solved the various phenomena of the planets, but more especially their stations and retrogradations.
EPICYCLOID, in Geometry, a curve generated by the revolution of the periphery of a circle, along the convex or concave side of the periphery of another circle.
EPIDEMIA, in Grecian antiquity, festivals observed in honour of Apollo and Diana, at the stated seasons when those deities, who could not be present everywhere, were supposed to visit different places, in order to receive the vows of their worshippers.
EPIDEMIC, among physicians, an epithet applied to those diseases which at certain times are popular, attacking great numbers at or near the same time. See Medicine.
EPIDERMIS, in Anatomy, the cuticle or scarf-skin. See Anatomy. The word is formed of the Greek tn ∣ ,on, over, and ‰oμa f shin.
EPIDICASIA, amongst the Athenians. Daughters inheriting their parents’ estate were obliged to marry their nearest relation; which gave occasion to persons of the same family to go to law with one another, each pretending to be more nearly allied to the heiress than the rest. The suit was called indm<M<iiaς ootn ; and the virgin about whom the relations contested, sçrŵxo¢.
EPIDOTAE, certain deities who presided over the growth of children. They were worshipped by the Lacedaemonians, and chiefly invoked by those who were persecuted by the ghosts of the dead, or spectral apparitions.
EPIGONI, the sons and descendants of the Grecian heroes who were killed in the first Theban war. The war of the Epigoni is famous in ancient history. It was undertaken ten years after the Theban war. The sons or[7:9:311]those who had perished in that contest resolved to avenge the death of their fathers, and marched against Thebes, under the command of Thersander, or, according to others, of Alemaeon the son of Amphiaraus, about 1307 years before Christ. The Argives were assisted by the Corinthians and the people of Messenia, Arcadia, and Megara. The Thebans had engaged all their neighbours in their quarrel as in one common cause. The two hostile armies met on the banks of the Glissas, and a battle ensued. The combat was obstinate and bloody; but victory declared for the Epigoni, and some of the Thebans fled to Illyricum with Leodamas their general, whilst others retired into Thebes, where they were soon afterwards besieged and forced to surrender. In this war Aegialeus was the only person of note who was killed; and in the former his father Adrastus was the only individual of this description who escaped alive. This whole war, as Pausanias observes, was written in verse; and Callinus, who quotes some of the verses, ascribes them to Homer, an opinion which has been adopted by many writers. “For my part,” continues the geographer, “I own, that next to the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, I have never seen a finer poem.” The Epigoniad of Wilkie is a modern poetical celebration of the same story. The descendants of the veteran Macedonians, who served under Alexander the Great, and who had children by Asiatic women, were also called Epigoni.
EPIGRAM, in Poetry, a short poem in verse, treating only of one thing, and ending with some lively, ingenious, and natural thought or point. The word is formed of t¶nmųiM, inscription, from t<ιfιγζα<pt ∣ v, to inscribe or write upon. See Poetry.
EPIGRAPHE, among antiquaries, denotes the inscrip- , tion of a building, pointing out the time when, the persons by whom, and the uses for which, it was erected.
EPILOGUE, in Oratory, the end or conclusion of a discourse, ordinarily containing a recapitulation of the principal matters before delivered.

Epilogue, in the Drama, a speech addressed to the audience after the play is over, by one of the principal actors, and usually containing some reflections on certain incidents in the play, especially those in the part of the person who speaks it, together with somewhat of pleasantry, intended to compose the passions raised in the course of the representation; a practice which is ridiculed by the Spectator, and compared to a merry jig upon the organ after a good sermon, in order to wipe away any impressions that might have been thereby produced, and to send the people away just as they came.
EPIMENIDES, a native of Gnossus in Crete, who seems to have flourished about 594 b. c. and of whom we have several very extraordinary accounts. Being probably a man anxious to distinguish himself, he was not long in perceiving that the readiest way to obtain the object he had in view was to work on the love of the supernatural, a feeling inherent in the minds of an ignorant people. Accordingly we are told that he retired from all intercourse with his countrymen, and no doubt devoted himself to the acquisition of that knowledge which enabled him to act the part which he had chalked out for himself. When he imagined his name forgotten, he re-appeared with his hair and beard long and matted, and spread a report that he had slept upwards of two hundred ant ninety years. Who does not recognise in this the story or the seven sleepers? In accordance with this spi- it °h charlatanry, he pretended to the gift of prophecy, nd to intimate converse with the gods. Yet under all ns outward garb of fanaticism he seems to have conceal- e a profound knowledge of mankind, and to have employed the influence he had acquired in obtaining the sanction of the Cretans to a code of laws constructed on just and sound principles. His fame became so widely spread, that Solon, under pretence of purifying the city of Athens from the blood shed in consequence of civil feuds and dissensions, determined to make use of his influence to prepare the way for the laws which he wished to introduce. A vessel was equipped, and Epimenides baying acceded to the invitation given him, assisted in purifying the city, and at the same time prepared the way for the legislation of Solon. He wrote several works, of which the most considerable was a poem on the expedition of the Argonauts; but none of these has come down to us. His life has been written by Diogenes Laertius, but that writer is too credulous to admit of our placing much dependence on the facts he states. See Cic. Div. i. 18, and Leg. ii. 2; Vai. Max. viii. 5; Suidas; Plato De Leg. ; Pausanias; also, for his age, Vossius De Hist. Grcec. Lug. Bat. 1651; Fabricius, Biblioth. Groec. i. 6.
EPIMETHEUS, a son of Japetus and Clymene, one of the Oceanides, w ho inconsiderately married Pandora, by whom he had Pyrrha, the wife of Deucalion. He had the curiosity to open the box which Pandora had brought with her, and thence issued the train of evils which from that moment have never ceased to afflict the human race. Hope was the only redeeming ingredient which remained at the bottom of the box, not having had sufficient time to escape; and she it is alone who comforts men under misfortunes. Epimetheus was changed into a monkey by the gods, and sent into the island Pithecusa.
EPINAL, an arrondissement of the department of the Vosges, in France, extending over 550 square miles, and divided into five cantons, which are subdivided into 116 communes, with 68,610 inhabitants. The capital, a city of the same name, is situated on the river Moselle, which divides it into two parts. It is a well-built place, containing 1100 houses and 7820 inhabitants, who carry on some trade in earthenware, cotton goods, paper, and leather. Long. 6. 29. E. Lat. 48. 22. N.
EPIPHANIUS, St, an ancient father of the church, born at Besanducan, a village in Palestine, about the year 332. He founded a monastery near the place of his birth, and presided over it. He was afterwards elected bishop of Salamis, when he took part with Paulinus against Meletius, and ordained in Palestine Paulinian, the brother of St Jerome, on which a contest arose between him and John bishop of Jerusalem. He afterwards called a council in the island of Cyprus, in which he procured a prohibition of the reading of Origen’s writings, and made use of all his endeavours to prevail on Theophilus bishop of Alexandria to engage St Chrysostom to declare in favour of that decree; but not meeting with success, he himself proceeded to Constantinople, where he refused to have any conversation with St Chrysostom, and formed the design of entering the church of the apostles to publish his condemnation of Origen. Being informed, however, of the danger to which he would be exposed, he resolved to return to Cyprus, but died at sea in the year 403. His works were printed in Greek at Basil, 1544, in folio, and were afterwards translated into Latin, in which language they have often been reprinted. Petavius revised and corrected the Greek text with the aid of two manuscripts, and published it together with a new translation at Paris in 1622. This edition was reprinted at Cologne in 1682.
EPIPHANY, a Christian festival, otherwise called the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, observed on the sixth of January, in honour of the appearance of our Saviour to the three magi or wise men, who came to adore him and bring him presents. The feast of epiphany was not originally a distinct festival, but formed part of that [7:9:312]of the nativity of Christ, which being celebrated twelve days, the first and last of which were high or chief days of solemnity, either of these might properly be called epiphany·, as that word signifies the appearance of Christ in the world.

The word in the original Greek, wr∕pαwα, signifies appearance or apparition, and, as some critics think, was applied to this feast, on account of the star which appeared to and guided the magi. St Jerome and St Chrysostom take the epiphany for the day of our Saviour’s baptism, when he was declared to men by the voice, The est films meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and accordingly it is still observed by the Copts and Ethiopians in this view. But others contend that the feast of Christmas, or the nativity of our Saviour, was held in different churches on this day, which had the denomination epiphany or appearance, by reason of our Saviour’s first appearance upon earth at that time. And it must be allowed that the word is used amongst the ancient Greek fathers, not to signify the appearance of the star to the magi, but that of our Saviour to the world; in which sense St Płu! uses the word epiphania in his second epistle to Timothy (i. 10.)
EPISCOPAL, something belonging to Bishops.
EPISCOPALIANS, in Ecclesiastical History, an appellation given to those who prefer the episcopal government and discipline to all others.
EPISCOPIUS, Simon, one of the most learned men of the seventeenth century, and the chief supporter of the Arminian sect, was born at Amsterdam in 1583. In 1612 he was chosen divinity professor at Leyden, in the room of Gomarus, who resigned; but the functions of his office, with his private studies, were light, compared with the difficulties he sustained on account of the Arminian controversy. The states of Holland having invited Episcopius to take his place at the synod of Dort, he went thither, accompanied by some ministers; but the synod would not allow them to sit as judges, nor to appear in any other capacity than as persons summoned before them; and, in the end, they were deposed from their functions and banished. Episcopius and his persecuted brethren retired to Antwerp; but the times growing more favourable, he returned to Holland in 1626, and was made minister of the church of the Remonstrants at Rotterdam. In 1634 he was chosen rector of the college founded by the sect at Amsterdam, and died in 1643. His works form two volumes in folio.
EPISODE, in Poetry, a separate incident, story, or action, which a poet invents and connects with his principal action, so that his work may abound with a greater diversity of events. See Poetry.
EPISTEMONARCH, in the ancient Greek church, an officer of great dignity, who, acting in the capacity of censor, had the care of every thing relating to faith.
EPISTLE, the same as letter; but it is now chiefly used in speaking of ancient writings, as the epistles of St Paul, of Cicero, of Pliny, and so on.

Ερistlεs and Gospels, in the liturgy of the Church of England, are portions of Scripture selected from the writings of the evangelists and apostles, and appointed to be read, in the communion service, on Sundays and holidays. They are believed to have been selected by St Jerome, and by him put into the lectionary.

The epistles and gospels are placed in an admirable order and method, and bear a special relation to the several days on which they are read. The year is distinguished into two parts; the first being designed to commemorate Christ’s sojourn upon earth, and the other to instruct us to live after his example. The former includes the whole time from Advent to Trinity Sunday; the latter all the Sundays from Trinity to Advent.
EPISTYLE, in the ancient architecture, a term used by the Greeks for what we call architrave, that is, a massive piece of stone or wood laid immediately over the capital of a column.
EPITAPH (from ι~ι, upon, and raφος, sepulchre), a monumental inscription in honour or in memory of a person[7:9:318] deceased. It has been disputed whether the ancient Jews inscribed epitaphs on the monuments of the dead; but however this may be, it is certain that epitaphs of very ancient date are found among them. The Athenians, by way of epitaph, commonly put only the name of the dead, with the epithet χgnffreς, signifying good., or ⅛gωi, hero, and the word γaigt, intimating their good wishes; but the name of the deceased’s father and that of his tribe were occasionally added. The Lacedaemonians allowed epitaphs to none but those who had died in battle. The Romans inscribed their epitaphs diis manibus ; and frequently introduced the dead, by way of prosopopoeia, speaking to the living.
EPITHALAMIUM, in Poetry, a nuptial song or composition in praise of the bride and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity.

Epithalamia were sung amongst the Jews at the door of the bride, by her friends and companions, the evening before the marriage. Amongst the Greeks the epithalamium was sung as soon as the married couple had gone to bed, and was attended with shouts and stamping of the feet to drown the cries of the bride. They returned in the morning, and with the same song, a little altered, saluted them again. The evening song was .called 49r∕dαλα- μιa ×οιμητoaι, the morning salute was called wrι0aλα,μιαο tγign>ia. The practice amongst the Romans was the same, but their epithalamia were often obscene.
EPITHET, in Poetry and Rhetoric, an adjective expressing some quality of a substantive to which it is joined, or such an adjective as is annexed to substantives by way of ornament and illustration, not to make up an essential part of the description.
EPITOME, in literary history, the same with Abridgment.
EPITRITUS, in Prosody, a foot consisting of three long syllables and one short. Of these, grammarians reckon four kinds; the first consisting of an iambus and spondee, as sălūtāntēs ; the second, of a trocheus and spondee, as concitātĩ ; the third of a spondee and an iambus, as commumcãns ; and the fourth of a spondee and trocheus, as ĩncãntãre. See the articles Spondeus, Trocheus, and Iambus.
EPITROPUS, a kind of judge, or rather an arbitrator, which the Greek Christians, under the dominion of the Turks, were in use to elect in the several cities, in order to terminate the differences that arose among them, and thus avoid carrying them before the Turkish magistrates. See Arbitrator.
EPOCHA, in Chronology, a term or fixed point of time whence the succeeding years are numbered or reckoned.
EPODE, in Lyric Poetry, the third or last part of the ode, the ancient ode being divided into strophe, antistrophe, and epode. The epode was sung by the priests, standing still before the altar, after all the turns and returns of the strophe and antistrophe, and was not confined to any precise number or kind of verses. The epode is now a general name for all kinds of little verses which follow one or more great ones, of what kind soever these be; and in this sense a pentameter is an epode after an hexameter.
EPOPOEIA, in Poetry, the history, action, or fable, which forms the subject of an epic poem. The word is derived from the Greek νχος, carmen, verse, and πro∕sw, facio, I make. In the common use of the word, however, epopoeia is the same with epos, or epic poem itself. See Poetry.
EPPING, a market-town of the county of Essex, in the hundred of Waltham, seventeen miles from London. It was remarkable for its situation in a district formerly very woody, and preserved by our ancient monarchs for the enjoyment of the sports of the held. It was then called Waltham Forest, and extended almost to the capital. In the same neighbourhood also was Hainault Forest, where a fair was held for many centuries under a remarkable tree, well known by,the name of Fairlop Oak, which has existed till recently, and was of prodigious size. The greater part of these districts have been disforested, and converted into fertile fields. The town of Epping has a market, which is held on Friday, but at a small distance from the buildings. It preserves the fame it has long enjoyed for its butter, its sausages, and its pork, in the London markets. The population amounted in 1801 to 1729 in 1811 to 1874, in 1821 to 2146, and in 1831 to 2313. ’
EPPINGEN, a city, the capital of a bailiwick of the same name, in the grand duchy of Baden in Germany. It is situated on the river Elsenz, and contains 336 houses, with 2439 inhabitants.
EPSOM, a town of the county of Surrey, fifteen miles from London. It was formerly frequented on account of its saline springs, and is now so on account of the races held on the down near it. County meetings are generally held here. The neighbourhood abounds with elegant seats of the nobility and gentry. The population amounted in 1801 to 2404, in 1811 to 2515, in 1821 to 2890, and in 1831 to 3231.
EPULARES, in Antiquity, an epithet given to those who were admitted to the sacred epulce or entertainments, it being unlawful for any to be present at them who were not pure and chaste.
EPULO, in Antiquity, the name of a minister of sacrifice among the Romans.

The pontifices not being able to attend all the sacrifices performed at Rome to the numerous gods adored by that people, appointed three ministers, whom they called epulones, because they had conferred on them the care and management of the epula, or feasts in the solemn games and festivals. Their number was at length augmented from three to seven, and afterwards to ten. Their first establishment was in the year of Rome 558, under the consulate of L. Furius Purpureo and Μ. Claudius Marcellus.
EPULUM, in Antiquity, a solemn feast prepared for the gods in times of public danger. The feast was sumptuous, and the gods being formally invited, attended by proxy; for the statues were brought on rich beds furnished with soft pillows, called pulvinaria ; and thus accommodated, their godships were placed on their couches at the most honourable part of the table. The care of the epula belonged to the epulones, and the gods were plentifully served with the richest dainties, as if they were able to eat; but the epulones performed that function for the divinities, and no doubt showed themselves competent proxies.

Epulum is also used to signify any solemn feast; and hence w e meet with epulum ferale, a funeral entertainment.
EQUABLE, an appellation given to such motions as always continue the same, without being either accelerated or retarded.
EQUAL, a term of relation between two or more things of the same magnitude, quantity, or quality. Mathematicians speak of equal lines, angles, figures, circles, ratios, solids.
EQUALITY is that agreement between two or more things, by which they are denominated equal.
EQUANIMITY denotes that calm and even frame ° mind and temper, under good or bad fortune, by which a man appears to be neither puffed up nor overjoyed wit prosperity, nor dispirited, soured, or rendered uneasy by adversity.
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EQUATOR, or Aequator, in Astronomy and Geography , a great circle of the sphere, equally distant from the two poles of the world, or having the same poles with those of the world. It is called the equator, because when the sun is in it the days and nights are equal ; whence also it is denominated the equinoctial, and, when drawn on maps and planispheres, the equinoctial line, or simply the line. Every point of the equator is distant a quadrant from the poles of the world; and hence it follows that the equator .’vides the sphere into two hemispheres, in one of which is the northern, and in the other the southern pole.