110 



IPHICRATES IRELAND 



natives of South America. The gray is the root of 

 a species of richardia ; the other, that of the cephee- 

 lu ipecacuanha. The two roots, however, do not 

 difl'er in their medicinal properties, and they are much 

 employ ed indiscriminately. It was first brought to 

 Europe towards the middle of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury ; but was not generally used till about the year 

 l(38b', when it was introduced, under the patronage 

 of Louis XIV. Its taste is bitter and acrid, cover- 

 ing the tongue with a kind of mucilage. It is one of 

 the safest and mildest emetics with which we are 

 acquainted, and is administered as a powder, in the 

 tincture, or infused in wine. It is also less injurious, 

 if it does not operate as an emetic, than antimony, 

 from its not disturbing the bowels as that does. 



IPHICRATES ; a famous Athenian military com- 

 mander, in the fourth century before the Christian 

 era. He was born in obscurity, but raised himself 

 to eminence in his profession, by his courage and 

 talents, early in life. In the war of Corinth, 395 

 B. C., he opposed, with success, Agesilaus, the war- 

 like king of Sparta. He afterwards commanded a 

 body of auxiliary troops, in the service of Artaxer- 

 xes, king of Persia, in an expedition to Egypt ; and, 

 in 368 B. C., he relieved Sparta, when invaded by 

 the Theban general Epaminondas. In the social war, 

 he was one of the commanders of the fleet fitted out 

 by the Athenians, for the recovery of Byzantium, 

 when, being accused of treachery by one of his col- 

 leagues, he defended himself with such spirit, that he 

 was acquitted by his volatile countrymen; but, though 

 he lived to a great age, he did not again engage in 

 active service. In the early part of his career, he 

 restored to his dominions Seuthes, king of Thrace, 

 whose daughter he married. Iphicrates was a strict 

 observer of discipline, and was the author of some 

 important improvements in the arms and accoutre- 

 ments of the Athenian soldiery. He was accustomed 

 always to fortify his camp in the field, even in a 

 friendly country ; and, when once asked why he took 

 so much trouble, he answered, " Because, if, contrary 

 to probability, I should be attacked, I may not be 

 obliged to make the disgraceful excuse, that I did 

 not expect it." 



IPHIGENIA, daughter of Agamemnon and Cly- 

 temnestra (according to some, an illegitimate daugh- 

 ter of Theseus and Helen, adopted by Cly temnestra 

 in childhood), was to have been sacrificed to Diana, 

 at the advice of the prophet Calchas, when the god- 

 dess, enraged with Agamemnon, because he had slain, 

 in hunting, her consecrated hind, detained the Greek 

 fleet in Aulis by a calm. Under the pretence that 

 she was to be married to Achilles, Iphigenia was 

 taken from her mother, and led to the altar. But, 

 in the moment when the priest was about to give the 

 death blow, Iphigenia disappeared, and, in her stead, 

 a beautiful hind was substituted, whose blood gushed 

 out on the altar. Diana had relented, and conveyed 

 her in a cloud to Tauris, where she became the 

 priestess of the goddess. Conformably with the 

 cruel law of the country, she was obliged to sacrifice 

 every Greek that landed there. Her brother Orestes, 

 coming thither on his wanderings, in despair at the 

 murder of his mother, and wishing to take away the 

 statues of Diana, was likewise condemned to be 

 sacrificed to the goddess. A recognition took place 

 in the temple, and, after deliberating on the means 

 of escape, Orestes succeeded in removing Iphigenia 

 and the statues of Diana. Some nations maintained, 

 that they derived the worship of Diana of Tauris 

 from Iphigenia. She herself is said to have arrived 

 at the island of Leuca, and, after being endowed with 

 immortal youth, and the name of Orilochia, to have 

 married the shade of Achilles. Pausanias says that 

 her grave was shown at Megara. In two famous 



operas by Gluck, and Goethe's masterpiece, Iphige- 

 nia auf Tauris (Iphigenia at Tauris), Iphigenia is the 

 leading character. 



IPHITUS ; king of Elis, in Greece, the son of 

 Praxonidas, and grandson of Oxylus, memorable as 

 the institutor of the famous Olympic games. They 

 are said to have been originally celebrated by Pelops, 

 or, according to some, by Hercules, in honour of 

 Jupiter ; and, after being neglected for several ages, 

 they were restored or re-established by I plains. Con- 

 troversies have arisen as to the age in which this 

 prince lived. Some chronologers place him 884 B.C.; 

 but Sir Isaac Newton has shown that he probably 

 lived a century later, and that the first games of his 

 institution were held 766 B. C. ; from which period 

 they were continued, without interruption, for seve- 

 ral centuries. See Olympic Games. 



IPSARA. See Psara. 



IPS1LANTI. See Ypsilanti. 



IRAK ADJEMI. See Persia. 



IRAK ARABI ; the ancient Babylonia and Chal- 

 dea. 



IRAN. See Persia. 



IRELAND ; a large and fertile island of Europe, 

 the second in extent of the British islands, is situated 

 in the Atlantic ocean, between Ion. 5 g 19' and 10 

 28' W., and lat. 51 15' and 55 23' N. It is sepa- 

 rated from Great Britain by the Irish channel or St 

 George's channel, and the North channel. These 

 channels vary much in breadth. The least breadth 

 is between the Mull of Kintyre, in Argyleshire, arid 

 Torhead, in the county of Antrim, the distance be- 

 tween these two places being about fourteen miles. 

 The nearest land to Ireland on the west is America ; 

 on the south Galicia, in Spain ; and on the north, the 

 Hebrides. 



History. The beginning of the history of Ireland 

 is enveloped in fable. The historians of the country 

 speak of Greek and Phoenician colonies, give lists of 

 kings, &c., for which there is no historical foundation. 

 The vernacular language of the Irish proves that they 

 are a part of the great Celtic race, which was once 

 spread all over Western Europe. (See Gaul.) No 

 Irish manuscript has been found more ancient that 

 the tenth century. The oldest and most authentic 

 Irish records were written between the tenth and 

 twelfth centuries ; some of them go back, with some 

 consistency, as far as the Christian era ; but there is 

 no evidence that the Irish had the use of letters be- 

 fore the middle of the fifth century, when Christianity 

 and Christian literature were introduced by St Patrick. 

 The new faith did not flourish till a century later, 

 when St Columba erected monasteries. In the eighth 

 and ninth centuries, the scholars of Ireland were 

 among the most distinguished at the courts of the 

 Saxon kings, and of Charlemagne. But when the 

 Northmen commenced their descents on the coasts, 

 the ecclesiastics took to flight ; and it is evident, 

 from the condition of the people at a later period, 

 that the learning of the Irish clergy never extended 

 beyond the walls of the monasteries. Divided among 

 a number of barbarous and hostile chiefs, Ireland 

 had been for a long time torn by internal wars, and, 

 for nearly two centuries, ravaged by the Danes, 

 when, in the beginning of the eleventh century, Brian 

 Borrhoimi, or Boroihmh (the Conqueror), united the 

 greater part of the island under his sceptre, restored 

 public tranquillity, and expelled the northern inva- 

 ders. In 1155, Elenry II, king of England, obtained 

 a bull from Adrian IV., granting him the possession 

 of Ireland. In 1169, English troops under the earl 

 of Pembroke (Strongbow) landed in the country, 

 which was soon partially reduced by the invaders, 

 aided by the mutual hostilities and jealousies of the 

 native chiefs. The country over which the English 



