IDOMENEUS IFFLAND. 



41 



common father of all men, but its own tutelai 

 divinity, and so had every tribe, family, and even 

 individual. The image of this tutelar god had its 

 place in the house, and became the god of a house, 

 of a man, or of a family. His presence and power 

 were limited to the place of his residence : lie 

 became the protector and counsellor of him by whom 

 he was chosen. The god of the hunter and of the 

 warrior became the god of hunting and of war. 

 The god of the shepherd took care of the herds, and 

 the god of the husbandman became the patrou ol 

 agriculture and the bestower of fruitful seasons. 

 Those divinities required particular ministers, whose 

 duty it was to regulate their worship, to bring before 

 them the wishes of men, and return their answers to 

 the suppliants. This office, selfish cunning turned 

 to its own advantage. Individuals pretended to a 

 familiar intercourse with the gods : thus originated 

 prophecies and oracles. Many sensible men, even 

 in the most ancient times, were, however, convinced 

 of the folly of all this, and were led to the idea of 

 one God. 



IDOMENEUS ; son of Deucalion, and grandson 

 of Minos, king of Crete. He was remarkable for his 

 beauty, and was one of the suitors of Helen ; he, 

 however, continued a friend of Menelaus, and often 

 visited him in Lacedsemon. With Merion, he led 

 the Cretans, in eighty ships, to Troy, and distin- 

 guished himself by his valour. At the funeral games 

 of Patroclus, he quarrelled with Ajax Oileus, main- 

 taining that Diomed had won the prize in the chariot 

 race, while Ajax claimed it for Eumelus. Achilles 

 ordered them both to be silent, and Diomed asserted 

 that Idomeneus had feeble eyesight, through age, 

 whence it appears that he must then have been very 

 old. After the conquest of Troy, he embarked with 

 Nestor, among the first of the Greeks, and, during 

 the voyage, was assailed by a violent tempest. To 

 escape from it, he made to Neptune the rash vow, 

 that he would sacrifice to him the first person whom 

 he should meet. The storm abated, and he arrived 

 happily at the port ; but the first person he met was 

 his only son, who had heard of the arrival of his 

 father, and came to welcome him. Nevertheless, 

 Idomeneus sacrificed him. His subjects, who feared 

 the vengeance of the gods upon their land for such a 

 deed, rebelled, and drove him from the island. He 

 went to Italy, and founded the city of Salentum, 

 where he introduced the laws of Minos, and was 

 honoured as a god after his death. According to 

 other historians, he was driven from Crete by Leucus, 

 and went to Colophon, where he died, and was 

 buried on mount Cercaphus. Others, and especially 

 Diodorus, say nothing of the vow, but relate that he 

 returned safely to Crete, where he died quietly, after 

 a long and peaceful reign ; that he was buried near 

 Gnossus, and received divine honours. 



IDRIA, a town in Carniola, in the Austrian 

 kingdom of Illyria, so celebrated for its quicksilver 

 mines, lies in a valley surrounded on every side by 

 lofty mountains, covered by thick woods ; population, 

 4139, who are mostly engaged in mining, or in 

 occupations connected therewith. The valley being 

 extremely narrow, the houses stand on the sides of 

 the hill, each with a garden annexed to it, in which 

 tlie miners raise a few vegetables, notwithstanding 

 the inclemency of the climate and the sterility of the 

 soil. The little river Idrizza, in winter a formidable 

 torrent, runs through the midst. The number of 

 labourers, above and below ground, is stated at 900, 

 exclusive of upwards of 300 wood-cutters, who fell 

 timber in the forests, which they float down the 

 rivers, or prepare in various ways. The annual 

 produce of these mines amounted formerly, for a 

 considerable, period, to from 500 to 600 tons .of quick- 



silver. The greatest part of it used to be exported 

 to Spain, whence it was sent to America for the 

 amalgamation of silver ores ; but the revolutions, 

 terminating in the independence of the Spanish 

 colonies, effectually interrupted those dealings, and, 

 as the market for the produce was diminished, the 

 mines of Idria were wrought with less vigour, and 

 the amount now produced is not more than half that 

 above-mentioned. A great part of the quicksilver is 

 conveyed to Vienna, and sold on the account of the 

 emperor. England, it is said, takes the largest 

 share. The mines of Idria have the reputation of 

 being the most magnificent in the world. The gal- 

 leries and adits are so neat and spacious, that no dis- 

 agreeable exhalation is perceptible. The entrance 

 is by a lofty, vaulted cavern, conducting to the 

 descents : these are formed by clean stone steps, 

 which are kept in excellent order. The steps have 

 several landing places, paved with broad flags, and 

 provided with benches to rest on. As the miners 

 proceed deeper into the pit, the passages continue to 

 be arched over, and provided with steps. In a very 

 few places, the vault is supported with wood, and 

 occasionally the solid rock is cut through, which, of 

 course, needs no support. The ore is not of uniform 

 richness; some specimens furnish 80 per cent., but 

 the average does not exceed 60. The small quantity 

 of virgin quicksilver that is occasionally found, is 

 shown as a rarity. The principal shaft is 80 fathoms 

 in depth. In the beginning of the present century, 

 the wood-work in the galleries of these mines took 

 fire, and the conflagration raged so obstinately as to 

 threaten the destruction of the whole. The heated, 

 sulphurous exhalations prevented the workmen from 

 approaching the scene of danger, and the flames 

 could not be extinguished until the river was led, by 

 an artificial channel, to discharge itself into the 

 mines. The mines belong to the government, and 

 are wrought entirely at its expense. The district of 

 Idria contains sixty-three square miles, and 10,000 

 inhabitants, who manufacture linen and laces 



IDUNA. See Northern Mythology. 



I. E. ; abbreviation of id est, Latin for that is. 



IFERTEN. See Yverdun. 



IFFLAND, AUGUSTUS WILLIAM ; a celebrated 

 German actor and dramatic writer, born at Hanover, 

 April 19, 1759. His taste for the theatre manifested 

 itself in his infancy, and he was so much affected by 

 the representation of the Rhodogune of Corneille, 

 that his parents would suffer him to be taken to the 

 theatre but very rarely. Nothing, however, could 

 prevent him from indulging his natural inclination ; 

 and his father having declared that he would never 

 permit him to be an actor, he left home privately, and 

 made his debut at Gotha, in 1777. The poet G otter, 

 who then resided in that city, assisted young Iffland 

 with his advice. When this theatre was dissolved, 

 he went to Manheim, in 1779, and, in 1796, was 

 invited to Berlin, to take the direction of the theatre 

 there, and, in 1811, was appointed general director 

 of all the royal plays. He died Sept. 22, 1814. His 

 autobiography is in volume first of his works. He 

 was no less famous as a writer than as an actor. His 

 first production was a tragedy, called A Ibert of Thur- 

 neisen, which was well received by the public, and 

 was followed by a number of dramatic pieces for the 

 theatre of Manheim, among which may be mentioned, 

 the Neighbours ; Daughters to be married ; the Act 

 of Birth ; the Idlers ; Mr Musard ; besides transla- 

 tions from the French of Picard and Duval. and from 

 the Italian of Goldoni. The works ot Iffland are 

 very numerous. An edition of them was published 

 under his own direction, at Leipsic, in 1798 (17 vols., 

 8vo). It comprises, besides forty-seven plays, me- 

 moirs of his theatrical career, and reflections on 



