526 



PHILOMELA PHILOSOPHY. MENTAL. 



beautiful works of art." This is the field presented 

 to tlie stude nt of philology. 



PHILOMELA ; in fabulous story, a daughter of 

 Pandion, king of Athens, who was transformed into 

 a nightingale. According to the fable, Progne, sister 

 of I'hiloineln, married the Thracian prince Terens, 

 l>y \\hoin *he had a son, Ilys. When Itys had grown 

 up, Tereus went to Athens, and, at the persuasion 

 of his wife, took her si-tcr with him on his return. 

 On the way, Tereus violated her person, and, to 

 conceal his crime, cut out her tongue. But Philo- 

 mela made it known to Progne by means of some 

 tapestry, on which she embroidered her story. To 

 gratify their revenge, they murdered Itys, and served 

 him up to his father. When he saw the remains of 

 his son, he pursued them : but they invoked the gods 

 for help, ami they were all immediately transformed. 

 Progne fled to the woods in the form of a nightingale, 

 lamenting for Itys. Philomela mournfully uttered 

 Tereu, under the form of a swallow, in broken chir- 

 pings, on account of the mutilation of her tongue ; 

 and Tereus, in the form of a lapwing, uttered a 

 piercing poo, or woo. Another story makes Philo- 

 mela the wife and the nightingale, and Progne the 

 sister and the swallow. 



PH1LOPCEMEN, the last great military com- 

 mander of the Greeks, was born at Megalopolis, in 

 Arcadia, B. C. 253, and, after the early death of his 

 father, was educated by Cassander, a noble Manti- 

 iici-a n. Two academical philosophers were his teach- 

 ers, and instilled into him high principles of honour 

 and patriotism. Disinclined to a life of study, and 

 thirsting for enterprise, military glory was his ambi- 

 tion, and to that all his youthful exercises were 

 directed. No sooner had lie begun to bear arms, 

 than lie joined his countrymen in their incursions 

 into the Spartan territories. When he was thirty 

 years old. (Jleomenes, king of Sparta, surprised 

 Megalopolis by night, and Philopcemen, who had 

 unsuccessfully endeavoured to repel him, covered 

 the retreat of his fellow-citizens to Messene, at the 

 extreme hazard of his own life. When Antigoiius, 

 king of Macedonia, came to the assistance of the 

 Acliasans against Cleomenes, Pliiioj oemen joined him 

 with the cavalry of his native place, and distinguish- 

 ed himself in the battle of Sellasia, in which the 

 Spartans were totally defeated. Antigonus proposed 

 to take him into his service ; but Philopoemen would 

 only consent to serve some years as a volunteer in so 

 excellent a school of warfare, and, in that capacity, 

 was engaged in the war in Crete. Returning with 

 a high reputation, he received from the Acliaeans the 

 command of their cavalry, which, under him, became 

 formidable throughout all Greece. In a battle with 

 the ./Etolians and Eleans, he killed, with his own 

 hand, the commander of the Elean cavalry, and thus 

 decided the victory in his favour. In 210 B. C., he 

 was appointed commander- in-chief of the forces of 

 the Achaean league. After having reorganized the 

 Acha an army, he led it into the field against Ma- 

 chanidas, tyrant of Sparta, who was advancing at the 

 head of a powerful force, against Achaia. They en- 

 countered each other at Mantinea. After a hard 

 struggle, Philopoemen killed Machanidas in single 

 combat, and gained a complete victory. The 

 Achaeans perpetuated the memory of this achieve- 

 ment by the erection of a bronze statue in the temple 

 of Delphi. When the Achaeans had declared war 

 against Nabis, a later Spartan tyrant, and Nabis 

 had besieged Gythium, Philopoemen attacked him by 

 sea, but was defeated. He then surprised the enemy's 

 camp, advanced against Sparta, overthrew the forces 

 of Nabis, and destroyed a great part of them. Nabis 

 was soon after murdered, and Sparta was taken and 

 pillaged by the ^Etolians, against whom the inha- 



bitants had risen, when Philopoemen arrived before 

 the city with a small force. He took advantage of 

 this emergency to prevail upon them to join the 

 Acliu'iin < onfederacy, 191. They were desirous of 

 showing their gratitude to the restorer of peace by a 

 present of 120 talents, but he refused to accept it. 

 But the Spartans soon became dissatisfied, separated 

 from ilu> confederacy, and called in the Romans to 

 their assistance. Philopcemen, as commander of llie 

 Acha?ans, declared war against Sparta. '1 lie Roman 

 consul 1'iilvius endeavoured to mediate between the 

 parties ; but their ambassadors returned from Rome 

 with an indecisive answer. Philopoemen, however, 

 proceeded against Sparta, and demanded the surren- 

 der of the authors of the disturbances. Accompanied 

 by the principal Spartans, they presented themselves 

 in the Achaean camp ; but, while the complaints 

 were under examination, an affray took place be- 

 tween them and the Spartan exiles, in which the 

 Acliaeans also engaged. Seventy-three Spartans 

 were seized, and executed by Philopoemen, after a 

 short trial. The city was consequently surrendered 

 and treated by Philopoemen with the same rigours 

 as if it had been taken by storm. He commanded 

 the Spartans to destroy their walls, to dismiss their 

 mercenaries, to admit the exiles, to expel the slaves 

 who had been set free by the tyrants, and substitute 

 the Achaean code for the laws of Lycurgus. The 

 Romans, to whom they had recourse for protection, 

 declared these conditions too severe, but added that 

 they had no right to violate them. Soon after, how- 

 ever, the Roman senate, eager to humble the power- 

 ful Achasan confederacy, sent an embassy to induce 

 it to soften their rigour. Philopoemen procured the 

 rejection of this demand ; but the Romans finally 

 prevailed on the federal congress to admit Sparta 

 again into the confederacy as an independent state. 

 Hardly was this afi'air settled, when Messene re- 

 volted. Philopoemen, though broken by infirmity 

 and disease, marched against the insurgents, and at 

 first beat them back, but was afterwards attacked 

 with such fury, that he was obliged to give way. 

 Separated from his followers, and thrown from his 

 horse, he fell, dangerously wounded on his head, 

 into the hands of the enemy. He was carried in 

 chains to Messene, where his appearance moved to 

 tears many of the inhabitants who had fought under 

 him, and on whom he had conferred benefits. To 

 destroy this impression, the government caused him 

 to be thrown into a subterraneous dungeon, and, the 

 next morning, he was obliged to drink poison. 

 When he received the cup, having been informed 

 that his troops had saved themselves, he said, " That 

 is enough for me ; I die content ;" and emptied it 

 with a cheerful countenance. Thus died (B C. 183) 

 one of the greatest generals of Greece, whom the 

 ancients compared to Hannibal and Scipio. His 

 ashes were transported to his native city with great 

 pomp ; statues were raised to his memory in most of 

 the Grecian cities, and a yearly offering was made at 

 his tomb by the city of Megalopolis. 



PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. See Alchemy. 



PHILOSOPHY, MENTAL. Philosophy owes its 

 name to the modesty of Pythagoras, who refused 

 the title a-efos (wise), given to his predecessors, 

 Thales, Pherecydes, &c., as too assuming, and con- 

 tented himself with the simple appellation of <piKo<r 

 (a friend or lover of wisdom). The term was after- 

 wards commonly applied to men eminent for wisdom, 

 as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others. 



I. Idea and Object of Philosophy. Various as the 

 idea of philosophy may be, since it is the product of 

 independent thinking, which necessarily leads to 

 opposite views and opinions, its subjects are the 

 same in the minds of all reflecting men, and are the 



