EP1CHARMUS 



2948 



EPIDEMIC 



even when serious, and however 

 charged with poetic quality since 

 they forsook the region of the 

 heroic, of events that might have 

 happened, for the region of the 

 symbolic, marvellous or incredible 

 have little in common with the 

 true and original types. In the 

 mock-heroic, like the classical Ba- 

 trachomyomachia, or Battle of the 

 Frogs and Mice, or Pope's Rape of 

 the Lock, the manner and machi- 

 nery of epic poetry are imitated, the 

 great style applied to the trifling 

 subject, with humorous intention 

 or for the purposes of parody or 

 burlesque. In modern times prob- 

 ably the nearest approach to the 

 epic spirit is realized in The 

 Dynasts of Thomas Hardy. See 

 Poetry. 



Epicharmus (c. 560-470 B.C.). 

 Greek comic poet. Born at Megara 

 in Sicily, he lived there until its 

 destruction in 483, when he re- 

 moved to Syracuse, where he en- 

 joyed the patronage of the " ty- 

 rants " Gelo and Hiero. The chief 

 representative of the Dorian or 

 Sicilian comedy, his 35 plays writ- 

 ten in the Doric dialect, of which 

 only scanty fragments remain, dealt 

 chiefly with mythological subjects 

 (Busiris,the shipwrecked Odysseus, 

 the Sirens). They were distin- 

 guished by rapidity of action, in 

 which, according to Horace, they 

 served as a model for Plautus. 



Epictetus. Stoic philosopher 

 who lived about 100 A.D. Born at 

 Hierapolis in Phrygia, he was taken 

 as a slave to Rome. Having been 

 given his freedom, he became an 

 adherent and teacher of Stoicism, 

 and when Domitian expelled the 

 philosophers from Rome, Epictetus 

 removed to Nicopolis in Epirus, 

 where he lived until the reign of 

 Hadrian. One of his pupils, Arrian 

 the historian, published his Dis- 

 courses and a Manual of his doc- 

 trines. The latter and four books of 

 the Discourses are extant. Accord- 

 ing to Epictetus, we are only con- 

 cerned with things that are under 

 our control ; all other things are 

 adiaphora (indifferent). The good 

 is that which corresponds to reason 

 and the general moral ideas im- 

 planted in us ; the bad is that 

 which runs counter to them. The 

 highest principles of life are pa- 

 tience, abstemiousness, and self- 

 control. , Epictetus assumed the 

 existence of daimonia, spirits 

 which, like that of Socrates, accom- 

 panied man everywhere and acted 

 as his guardians through life. 



Epicureanism. The doctrines 

 of the school founded by the Greek 

 philosopher Epicurus (341-270 

 B.C. ). He was of Athenian parent- 

 age, and born in Samos. Coming 

 to Athens, he founded his school 



in his Garden, which became as 

 famous as the Stoic Porch 

 about 306. Epicurus divided 

 philosophy into three parts : 

 Canonics (logic, the theory of 

 knowledge), Physics, and Ethics. 

 The basis of all knowledge is the 

 evidence of sensual perception ; 

 all perceptions are true and irre- 

 futable. Opinions are true or false, 

 according as they are confirmed 

 or refuted by perception. 



In physics Epicurus agrees in the 

 main with Democritus, the founder 

 of the atomic theory. Bodies are 

 formed by the collision and com- 

 bination of an infinite number of 

 atoms in infinite space. The num- 

 ber of worlds also is infinite. The 

 gods, made of the finest atoms, do 

 not trouble about the world or 

 human affairs, but live happily hi 

 the empty spaces between the dif- 

 ferent worlds. The soul is material, 

 made up of the finest atoms dis- 

 persed throughout the body. There 

 is no such thing as immortality ; 

 after death the soul-atoms are 

 scattered. Sensation is due to 

 effluxes and images, which issue 

 from the surface of things and 

 pass through the air to the sight 

 or understanding. 



In ethics Epicurus follows the 

 Cyrenaics. Pleasure is the aim of 

 life, the only happiness. No plea- 

 sure is bad in itself, but only plea- 

 sure in rest freedom from pain is 

 a true good. The virtuous man, he 

 who rightly pursues pleasure, is 

 alone happy. In modern language, 

 Epicureanism is used for addiction 

 to sensual enjoyment, more par- 

 ticularly that of the table. See 

 Ethics; Philosophy. 



Epicycle (Gr. epi, upon ; kykhs, 

 circle). A circle, the centre of which 

 moves along the circumference of a 

 greater circle. In Ptolemy's system 

 of the heavens each of the " seven 

 planets " was supposed to revolve in 

 an epicycle. This obsolete explana- 

 tion describes with approximate 

 truth the relative motion of a planet 

 with regard to the earth, if the earth 

 is assumed to be stationary. 



Epidaurus. Town of Argolis, 

 ancient Greece, situated on the 

 Saronic Gulf. It was famous for its 

 temple of Asclepios (Aesculapius), 

 the god of healing, about 8 m. 

 distant, which was extensively 

 visited by the sick from all parts of 

 Greece. Miraculous cures similar 

 to those at Lourdes are recorded. 

 Excavations carried on since 1881 

 have revealed remains of the tem- 

 ples of Asclepios and Artemis, of 

 a tholos or rotunda, and inscrip- 

 tions connected with the worship 

 of Asclepios. 



Epidemic (Gr. epi, in; demos, 

 people). Occurrence of a disease 

 among a number of persons about 



the same time. When a disease is 

 continually present in a locality the 

 term endemic is usually employed. 

 A pandemic is an outbreak of a 

 disease which extends over the 

 whole or a large part of the world. 

 In the Middle Ages, when sanita- 

 tion was still in its infancy, epi- 

 demics were of frequent occurrence 

 and were usually regarded as mani- 

 festations of divine wrath. Later 

 the communicability of the disease 

 from one person to another was 

 recognized, and the cause of the 

 outbreak was looked for in clima- 

 tic occurrences or cosmic phenom- 

 ena for example, the influence of 

 a comet. 



How Epidemics are Spread 

 In the 18th and 19th centuries 

 more scientific views were gradu- 

 ally established, and it was recog- 

 nized that the disease was con- 

 veyed from one to another by some 

 virus or poisonous agent, which 

 was eventually found in most cases 

 to be a bacillus or other micro- 

 organism. Epidemics are spread 

 by various agencies. Pollution of 

 drinking water by sewage has been 

 the commonest cause of outbreaks 

 of cholera and typhoid fever. Epi- 

 demics of diphtheria have fre- 

 quently been spread by contamin- 

 ated milk. In other cases insects or 

 animals have been the transmitting 

 agent. Typhus-fever, for example, 

 is conveyed by the bite of the louse, 

 and plague by the rat flea. Air- 

 borne infection is probably the 

 method of transmission of in- 

 fluenza, and possibly of scarlet 

 fever and small-pox. Epidemics 

 may also be caused by the whole- 

 sale contamination of food with 

 poisonous substances. In 1900 

 there was an epidemic of arsenic 

 poisoning in the N. of England due 

 to the contamination of beer with 

 arsenic derived originally from ar- 

 senical iron pyrites from which 

 sulphuric acid used in the manu- 

 facture of the beer had been made. 

 Epidemics of lead poisoning have 

 also followed the contamination of 

 drinking water by lead derived 

 from cisterns and conduit pipes. 



Measures of Prevention 

 The prevention and arrest of 

 epidemics necessitate active mea- 

 sures which vary with the par- 

 ticular circumstances controlling 

 the disease. Often a system of 

 notification of affected persons, 

 followed by their isolation, is im- 

 portant. This is only possible in 

 advanced communities and where 

 the severity of the disease justifies 

 the course and the numbers are 

 not too great to cope with. It 

 could be followed, for example, in 

 this country during outbreaks of 

 small-pox, but it could not be done 



