EUGENOL 



3006 



EUNUCH 



Eugenol. Chief constituent of 

 clove oil. Obtained by distilling 

 cloves, and from pimento-leaf oil, 

 the oil contains from 80 to 90 p.c. 

 of eugenol. It has the same 

 spicy odour as clove oil, from which 

 it is separated by caustic potash. 

 Eugenol is used medicinally as 

 a carminative, and frequently 

 as a palliative in toothache, a 

 pledget of cotton- wool wetted with 

 eugenol being inserted into the 

 hollow tooth. Commercially euge- 

 nol is of importance in the manu- 

 facture of vanillin. 



Eugubine Tables. Seven large 

 bronze tablets found in 1444 in a 

 vault near Gubbio (ancient Igu- 

 vium, middle-age Eugubium), in 

 central Italy. They are covered 

 with inscriptions in Umbrian and 

 Latin, one in both languages, in ex- 

 cellent preservation. The oldest 

 date from 200 B.C. They embody 

 almost all that is known of the 

 Umbrian dialect and throw valu- 

 able light upon the religious cus- 

 toms of ancient Italy. The text 

 contains the proceedings of a 

 priestly corporation named the At- 

 tidian brothers, a code of religious 

 ceremonies with directions for au- 

 guries, sacrifices, and expiatory 

 ceremonies. See Inscriptions 



Euhemerus (4th century B.C.). 

 Greek rationalist. A native of Mes- 

 sene in Sicily, and a follower of the 

 Cyrenaic school, he lived at the 

 court of Cassander, king of Mace- 

 donia. Euhemerus was the author 

 of a Sacred Register, in which he 

 tells how, having been sent by Cas- 

 sander to the Indian Ocean, he 

 landed in the mythical island of 

 Panchaea. Here he discovered, in- 

 scribed on a golden pillar in a tem- 

 ple of Zeus, a history of the world, 

 the study of which led him to the 

 conclusion that the gods and heroes 

 were nothing but supermen, on 

 whom divine honours had been be- 

 stowed after death. Other Greek 

 writers had already expressed simi- 

 lar views, but they were first sys- 

 tematised by Euhemerus, whose 

 name and ideas survive in the 

 modern term Euhemerism. His 

 writings were translated into Latin 

 by Ennius, and fathers of the 

 church, such as Lactantius, made 

 use of them as a source of argu- 

 ments against paganism. 



Eulenburg, PHILIPP, PRINCE 

 zu (1847-1921). 'German diploma- 

 tist. Born at Konigsberg, he served 

 in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870, 

 studied law from 1 872-75, and then 

 entered the diplomatic service. 

 Prussian ambassador to Stuttgart, 

 1890, and Munich, 1891, he was 

 imperial ambassador to Vienna 

 from 1894-1902, when he retired 

 owing to ill-health. In 1907 he was 

 virulently attacked by Maximilian 



Harden in his Zukunft. His repu- 

 tation never recovered, and he died 

 Sept. 16, 1921. 



Eulenspiegel, TYLL. Name of 

 a peasant to whom were ascribed 

 the jests and practical jokes in a 

 popular Low-German collection of 

 the late 15th century (now lost). 

 The High-German version, the 

 basis of all subsequent editions, 

 was printed in 1515. Eulenspiegel 

 is supposed to have been an actual 

 person, who died in 1350, and his 

 traditional grave is shown at Molln. 

 His story was widely popular in 

 Europe and in England, and is 

 the basis of the well-known sym- 

 phonic poem by Richard Strauss, 

 1895. See Tyll Owlglass. 



Euler, LEONAKD( 1707-83). Swiss 

 mathematician. Born at Basel, 

 April 15. 1707, he became pro- 

 fessor of mathematics at St. Peters- 

 burg, 1733, and at Berlin by 

 Frederick II' s invitation, 1741, re- 

 turning to Russia in 1766. He died 

 there Sept. 18, 1783. He was an 

 accomplished mathematician and a 

 prolific writer on the subject, doing 

 valuable work in mathematical 

 analysis, in revising and coordinat- 

 ing the existing branches of pure 

 mathematics, and in a study of 

 planetary motions. 



Eumaeus (Gr. Eumaios}. In 

 Greek legend, the faithful swine- 

 herd of Odysseus, to whom his 

 master revealed himself when he 

 arrived in disguise in his native 

 Ithaca after 20 years' absence. 

 Eumaeus afterwards helped Odys- 

 seus to slay the suitors of Penelope 

 (q.v.). Pron. U-me-us. 



Eumenes OF CARDIA (c. 360- 

 316 B.C.). Private secretary to 

 Philip of Macedon and Alexander 

 the Great. He accompanied the 

 latter on his Persian campaigns, 

 and on Alexander's death, in 323 

 B.C., became ruler of Paphlagonia, 

 Cappadocia, and Pontus. After a 

 four years' struggle with Anti- 

 gonus (q.v.), he was taken prisoner 

 by the latter and put to death. 

 See Craterus. Pron. U-men-eez. 



Eumenes. Name of two kings 

 of Pergamum. Eumenes I reigned 

 263-241 B.C., but Eumenes II, who 

 reigned 197-159 B.C., is the more 

 important. Realizing that his in- 

 terests lay in recognition of the 

 power of the Romans, he entered 

 into an alliance with them, assisted 

 them in the war against Antiochus 

 the Great, taking part in the battle 

 of Magnesia, and was established 

 by them as ruler of Mysia, Lydia, 

 Phrygia,Lycaonia, and Pamphylia. 

 His lukewarmness in the war 

 against Perseus, king of Macedo- 

 nia, caused him to be suspected of 

 intriguing with the enemy, and he 

 never completely regained Roman 

 favour. Under his rule Pergamum 



became a city of great magnifi- 

 cence. Eumenes founded a library 

 said to rival that of Alexandria. 

 See Pergamum. 



Eumenides OK ERINYES. In 

 Greek mythology, avenging deities 

 who pursued those guilty of crime, 

 especially crimes against the family 

 and crimes of bloodshed They are 

 represented as winged women with 

 snakes sprouting from their heads 

 instead of hair, and bearing torches 

 and scourges. They were three 

 in number Tisiphone (avenger), 

 Alecto (unceasing, relentless), and 

 Megaera (jealous ). Erinyes was the 

 older name, Eumenides (the kindly) 

 being a euphemistic title, bestowed 

 upon them after they had aban- 

 doned their persecution of Orestes. 

 In Attica they were by preference 

 called Semnai, the awful goddesses. 

 They were propitiated by wine- 

 less libations of water, milk, and 

 honey. Furiae and Dirae were 

 the Roman equivalents. Pron. 

 U-meny-deez. 



Eumenides. Tragedy by Aes- 

 chylus, last of the trilogy Oresteia. 

 The subject is the trial of Orestes 

 before the Areopagus (q.v.) for the 

 murder of his mother, Clytaemnes- 

 tra. The Erinyes act as prosecu- 

 tors, and Orestes, who is defended 

 by Apollo, is acquitted by the cast- 

 ing vote of Athena. The play ends 

 with a panegyric of Athens and its 

 venerable court of justice, and the 

 Erinyes are propitiated by their 

 name being changed to Eumenides. 

 See Agamemnon ; Choephori. 



Eumolpus (Gr., sweetly sing- 

 ing). In Greek mythology, son of 

 Poseidon, the sea-god, by a mortal 

 mother, Chione, who, in remorse, 

 threw the infant Eumolpus into 

 the sea. He was saved by Posei- 

 don, and after many adventures 

 reached Attica, where he perished 

 in a war with Erechtheus, the 

 Athenian king. He was credited 

 with being the founder of the 

 Eleusinian mysteries, and his de- 

 scendants, the Eumolpidae, were 

 priests at Eleusis throughout all 

 Greek history. 



Eunuch (Gr. eune, bed ; ekhein, 

 to keep). Word originally applied 

 to a man in charge of the women's 

 apartments in Oriental countries, 

 but afterwards to a castrated at- 

 tendant in the harem. The custom 

 of entrusting women to eunuchs 

 has prevailed in the East since 

 Babylonian times, and was imi- 

 tated by the later Roman em- 

 perors. These eunuchs frequently 

 acquired great power and high 

 position. In modern times lads 

 were castrated in order to preserve 

 their clear boyish voices. Italian 

 churches employed castrati in 

 choirs, but Leo XIII abolished the 

 practice in 1878 From time to 



