34 
P H M 
been little known in his time, for no extant writer of an¬ 
tiquity alludes to it, (the Phaedrus mentioned by Mar¬ 
tial being probably another perfon;) and Seneca exprefl- 
ly obferves, that the Romans had not attempted “ Fa¬ 
bles and dEfopian compofitions.” This circumftance in¬ 
deed might throw a fulpicion on the genuinenefs of the 
work, did not its ftyle and manner refer it to the beft age 
of Roman literature. It remained unknown to the mo¬ 
derns till 1595 or 1596, when Francis Pithou difcovered 
a copy in the library of St. Remi at Rheirns, and fent it 
to his brother Peter, who publifhed it. Only two MSS. 
of Phsedrus are faid to exift, both imperfeft, and both 
tranfcribed from the fame copy with fo much carelefl'nefs 
that they are full of errors ; whence few ancient works 
have given more trouble and room for conjecture to the 
critics. 
From what circumftance Phaedrus drew upon himfelf 
the refentment of Sejanus appears doubtful. It has been 
fuppofed by fome, that the recolleftion of the benefits he 
had received from Auguftus, having rendered him 
firongly attached to the pofterity of that prince, among 
whom were Agrippa and Germanicus, objefts of the par¬ 
ticular jealoufy of Tiberius; the notoriety of fuch an at¬ 
tachment would afford a fufficient opportunity to Seja- 
nus of drawing down upon our author the difpleafure of 
the gloomy and fufpicious monarch. But this feems a 
very far-fetched fuppcfition ; and Phaedrus moreover ad¬ 
mits, (Prol. lib. 3.) that he was himfelf the author of his 
calamities ; from which it may reafonably be prefumed, 
that fome of his fables had given umbrage to Sejanus, or 
others connected with the favourite. Indeed, though at 
this diftanceof time the point and precife defign of many 
of the apologues are neceffarily loft to us, it appears pretty 
evident, that the fable of the “ Frogs demanding a King” 
has reference to the inactive luxury of Tiberius, and the 
cruelties exercifed in his name by Sejanus; and that of 
the “ Frogs and the Sun,” to the arrogance of the favou¬ 
rite in afpifing to the marriage of Livia, the daughter of 
Germanicus. For, though the fubjeCts of thefe, as indeed 
of the greater part of the fables,are to be found inASfop, he 
evidently, in tranflating and verbifying them, took care to 
adapt them to the particular purpofe he had in view, and the 
events that w ere palling around him. The freenefs of the al- 
lufions and animadverfions contained in fome of his fables 
fubjeCted him to the diflike, not only of Sejanus, but of 
many others, who perceived or imagined that their vices 
were cenfured in his pages. Hence he was fubjeCted to a 
feries of profecutions, w'hich ferved greatly to embitter 
his exiftence, as we may infer from many paftages in his 
Prologues and Epilogues, and more efpecially from his 
fuppliant appeal to the compaflion of Eutychus his patron, 
(Epil. lib. iii.) at a time when, though confcious of his 
innocence, he was evidently labouring under fome im¬ 
pending profecution. 
The earlieft of his fables appear to have been written, 
or at leaf! publifhed, in the reign of Tiberius ; and, accor¬ 
ding to fome commentators, thelaft books made their ap¬ 
pearance under Claudius. Concerning the merits of thefe 
fables, great diverfity of opinion has exifted. While fome 
have lavifhed upon them the higheft encomiums, others re¬ 
proach them with exceflive concifenefs and frequent ob- 
Icurity; others,while they acknowledge their beauties, con- 
fid er that the having uniformly adopted dEfopforhis model 
excluded the author from any claim to the praife of ori¬ 
ginality ; and fome accufe him of having interwoven into 
his own volumes the compofitions of other writers of the 
day. In more recent times, the favourable judgment of 
the Fables of Phaedrus has been almoft univerfal among 
thofe beft qualified to forma correCt decifion on the fub- 
jeft. Scriverius is diffufe in his eulogium, both upon the 
plan and execution of his work ; and Tanaquil Faber 
ranks him next to Terence, for fweetnefs and fimplicity 
ofdidion. HisLatinity is eminently pure, and his ftyle 
peculiarly neat and elegant, bearing evidence of a writer 
from his early years embued and familiarifed with the 
P H A 
beauties of the language in which he wrote. His moral 
charader is entitled to every praife : he appears invaria¬ 
bly the (launch defender and unftirinking advocate of 
virtue ; and his prudence, in the mialt of his fatirical al- 
lufions, was, as we have already remarked, very confpi- 
cuous, though inefficient to fnield him from the enmity 
of the vicious and powerful in thedepraved period at which 
helived. Among the beft editions ofPhsedrus may be men¬ 
tioned, thofe of Hoogftraten, 4to. Amft. J701 ; and of 
Burman.4to. Leyden, 1727. Monthly Mag. Aug. 1823. 
PHdED'YMA, or Phed yma, a daughter of Otanes, who 
firft difcovered that Smerdis, who had afcended the throne 
of Perfia at the death of Cainbyfes, was an impoftor. See 
the article Persia, vol. xix. p. 659, 60. 
PHdENICOP'TERUS. See Phcenicofterus. 
PHdE'NIX. See Phcenix. 
PHdENOG'AMOUS, ailj. [from the Gr. ipcetya, to 
fliow’, or make apparent, and ycx.fA.oc, marriage.] A term 
invented, if we miftake not, by the German botanifts, for 
fuch vegetables as have the parts of the flower, or organs 
of impregnation, evident and intelligible, like the gene¬ 
rality of plants. The term therefore is oppofed to cryp- 
togamous plants, which have thofe parts concealed. 
PHdENOM'ENON, or Phenomenon, f. [p«nny*evo», 
Gr.] An appearance in the works of nature.—The paper 
was black, and the colours intenfe and thick, that the 
phenomenon might be confpicuous. Newton. —Appearance; 
vifible quality.—Thefe are curiofities of little or no mo¬ 
ment to the underftanding the phenomenon of nature. 
Newton. —The mod confiderable phenomenon, belonging 
to terreftrial bodies, is gravitation, whereby all bodies in 
the vicinity of the earth prefs towards its centre. Bent¬ 
ley's Serm. —Any thing that ftrikes by any new appear¬ 
ance. Remarkable circumftance in the fubjeCt under dif- 
cuffion.— I will now point out the feveral phenomena in 
the verbal agreement and difagreement of our three firft 
gofpels. Matjh's Travjl. of Michalis's Introd. to the 
New Teftament. 
PHAETHU'SA, f [fo called by Gaertner from the Gr. 
tpocu, to ftiine, in allufion to the great fize of the plant, 
its very abundant yellow flowers, and confequently ftri- 
king appearance.] In botany, a genus of the clafs lynge- 
nefia, order polygamia fuperflua, natural order compo- 
fitae oppofitifoiiae, Linn, (corymbiferte, Jujf.) Gaertner 
founded this fuppofed new genus on the Sigetbeckia 
occidentalis of Linnaeus, under the following eflential 
character—Calyx nearly cylindrical, of many imbricated 
unequal leaves, recurved at their tips 5 receptacle chaffy; 
perfeCt florets feveral in the difk ; female one or two, 
ovate-oblong, cloven at the point, in the radius; all fer¬ 
tile; feeds hifpid, without feed-down.' 
Michaux, finding that the plant in queftion had awns 
to the feed, referred it to Verbefina, in which he is fol¬ 
lowed by Willdenow and Aiton. The youngerLinmeus 
judged it, by the feeds, to be a Coreopfis; but it wants 
feveral characters, as well as the habit, of that genus. See 
Verbesina Sigefbeckia. 
PHA'ETON, in fabulous hiftory, was the fon of the 
Sun (or Phcebus) and Clymene one of the Oceanides. 
He was fon of Cephalus and Aurora, according to Hefiod 
and Paufanias; or of Tithonus and Aurora, according 
to Apollodorus. He is, however, more generally acknow¬ 
ledged to be the fon of Phoebus and Clymene. He was 
naturally of a lively difpofition and a handfome figure. 
Venus became enamoured of him, and entrufted him with 
the care of one of her temples. This diftinguifhing fa¬ 
vour of the goddefs rendered him vain and afpiring; 
and when Epaphus, the fon of Io, had told him, to check 
his pride, that he was not the fon of Phcebus, Phaeton re- 
folved to know his true origin, and at the inftigation of 
his mother he vifited the palace of the Sun. He begged 
Phoebus, that if he really were his father, he would give 
him inconteftable proofs of his paternal tendernefs, and 
convince the world of his legitimacy. Phoebus fwore by 
Styx to grant whatever he requefted as a proof of his ac- 
1 knowledging 
