GORGIAS GOSPORT. 



509 



than a mile from the southern shore of the promon- 

 tory that forms cape Verd; Ion. 17 25' W.; lat. 

 14 40' N. It is of consequence only from its inac- 

 cessible situation, which renders it capable of being 

 converted into a strong military position. It is about 

 two miles in circuit. It is' composed of a basalt 

 rock, which rises to the height of 300 feet, on the 

 top of which is fort St Michael. At the foot of the 

 rock is the town of Goree, said to contain 5000 

 inhabitants. It is a busy place, and the entrepot 

 of all the French trade on the opposite coast of 

 Africa. 



GORGIAS, surnamed Leontinus, from Leontium 

 in Sicily, was a learned orator and sophist, who 

 flourished in the fifth century B. C. He is said to 

 have been a disciple of Empedocles, and was one of 

 the earliest writers on rhetoric. He displayed his 

 eloquence at the Olympian and Pythian games, and 

 made such an impression, that a golden statue was 

 erected in his honour at Delphi. He was one of the first 

 who introduced numbers into prose, and who treated 

 of common-places, and showed the use of them for 

 the invention of arguments ; and, on this account, 

 Plato gave the name of Gorgias to his elegant dia- 

 logue on this subject, which is still extant. Gorgias 

 lived to the age of 107 or 108 years. 



GORGONES ; three celebrated sisters, daughters 

 of Phorcys and Ceto. Their names are Stheno, 

 Euryale, and Medusa. They were all immortal, ex- 

 cept Medusa. According to the mythologists, their 

 hairs were entwined with serpents, their hands were 

 of brass, their body was covered with impenetrable 

 scales, their teeth were as long as the tusks of a wild 

 boar, and they turned to stones all those on whom 

 they fixed their eyes. Medusa alone had serpents 

 in her hair, according to Ovid, and this proceeded 

 from the resentment of Minerva, in whose temple 

 Medusa had gratified the passions of Neptune, who 

 was enamoured of her on account of the beautiful 

 colour of her locks, which the goddess changed into 

 serpents. ^Eschylus says, that they had only one 

 tooth and one eye between them, of which they had 

 the use, each in her turn ; and, accordingly, it was at 

 the time that they were exchanging the eye, that 

 Perseus attacked them, and cut off Medusa's head. 

 According to some authors, Perseus, when he went to 

 the conquest of the Gorgons, was armed with an 

 instrument like a scythe, by Mercury, and provided 

 with a looking-glass by Minerva, besides winged 

 shoes and a helmet of Pluto, which rendered all 

 objects clearly visible and open to the view, while 

 the person who wore it remained totally invisible. 

 With weapons like these, Perseus obtained an easy 

 victory, and, after his conquest, returned his arms to 

 the different deities whose favours and assistance he 

 had experienced. The head of Medusa remained in 

 his hands, and after he had finished all his laborious 

 expeditions, he gave it to Minerva, who placed it on 

 her JEgis, with which she turned into stones all such 

 as fixed their eyes upon it. It is said that, after the 

 conquest of the Gorgons, Perseus took his flight in 

 the air towards -Ethiopia, and that the drops of blood 

 which fell to the ground from Medusa's head were 

 changed into serpents, which have ever since infested 

 the sandy deserts of Libya. The horse Pegasus also 

 arose from the blood of Medusa, as well as Chrysaor, 

 with his golden sword. The residence of the Gor- 

 gons was beyond the ocean towards the west, ac- 

 cording to Hesiod. ^Eschylus makes them inhabit 

 the eastern parts of Scythia ; and Ovid maintains as 

 the more received opinion, that they lived in the 

 inland parts of Libya, near the lake of Triton, or the 

 gardens of the Hesperides. Diodorus and others 

 explain the fable of the Gorgons, by supposing that 

 they were a warlike race of women near the Ama- 



zons, whom Perseus, with the help of a large nnny 

 totally destroyed. 



GORLITZ ; a town in the Prussian government 

 of Liegnitz, province of Silesia, in Upper Lusatia, on 

 the left bank of the Neisse; Ion. 15 31' E. ; lat. 51 

 9' N. ; contains 9900 inhabitants. Its trade in linen 

 and woollen cloth is considerable. Upon a hill, 

 before the gate, is the holy sepulchre, which, in 1489, 

 the burgomaster Emerich caused to be built alter 

 the model of that in Jerusalem, which he had twice 

 visited. Here is the seat of the Upper Lusatian 

 society of science. In the neighbourhood is the 

 Landskrone, a conic mountain of granite and basalt, 

 1390 English feet high. 



GORTZ. See Goertz. 



GOSHAWK (falco palumbarius, Lin.).~ This 

 bird is common both to the old and the new world. 

 Wilson described the American bird, in his ex- 

 cellent work, under the name of atricapillus, but, at 

 the same time, suspected that it might prove identi- 

 cal with the European. This was confirmed by Sabine. 

 European naturalists have also added to the confu- 

 sion, by describing it under the different names of 

 gallinarius, gentilis, &c., according as it varied in 

 plumage. The goshawk is twenty-one inches in 

 length ; the bill and cere are blue ; crown, black, 

 bordered on each side by a line of white, finely speck- 

 led with black ; upper parts, slate, tinged with brown ; 

 legs, feathered half way down, and, with the feet, 

 yellow; tail, feathers, with pale bands. The goshawk 

 feeds on mice and small birds, and eagerly devours 

 raw flesh. It plucks the birds very neatly, and tears 

 them into pieces, before it eats them ; but swallows 

 the pieces entire. They are said to be used by the 

 emperor of China, in his hunting excursions, when 

 he is usually attended by his grand falconer, and a 

 thousand of inferior rank. Every bird has a silver 

 plate fastened to its foot, with the name of the falcon- 

 er who has charge of it, that, in case it should be lost, 

 it may be restored to the proper person. It was also 

 used in Europe for the same purpose, in common 

 with other kinds, as the gerfalcon, the falcon, the 

 fanner, the sacre, the merlin, the hobby, and the 

 kestrel, which were called long-winged hawks, in 

 contradistinction to the goshawk, sparrowhawk, kite 

 and buzzard, which are of shorter wing, and less 

 courageous. See Falconry. 



GOSHEN, in ancient geography; a district of 

 Egypt, which Joseph procured lor lu's father and 

 brethren. 



GOSPEL; a message of joy. This word is deriv- 

 ed from good and spell, an old word signifying tidings 

 (which would make gospel a literal translation of the 

 Greek siyysXiv); or from God and spell, God's tid- 

 ings. It is commonly applied to the Christian revela- 

 tion, beginning with the glad tidings of the coming 

 of the promised Messiah, at the birth of Christ, and 

 also to the several histories of Jesus Christ, written 

 by Mark, Luke, and the apostles Matthew and John. 

 In the primitive church, those who travelled from 

 one church to another, continuing the instructions 01 

 the apostles, were called evangelists, that is, gospel- 

 lers, or preachers. More modern usage has limited 

 this word to the above-mentioned authors of the life 

 of Jesus Christ. 



GOSPORT; a seaport town of England, in Hamp- 

 shire, 1 mile N. W. Portsmouth. Lon. 1 7' \\ . ; 

 lat. 50" 57' N. It is situated on a projecting point 

 of land, at the western side of the entrance to Ports- 

 mouth harbour. On the S. W. is a commodious bay, 

 called Stake's bay. Numerous government works 

 and magazines have been established here, for sup- 

 plying the wants of the navy; extensive barracks, 

 also, for the accommodation of the military. Gos- 

 port has, of late, been regularly fortified on the land 



