[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

pretensions. He gave out that he was secretly subsisted by food brought to him by the nymphs; and he is said
to have taken nourishment in so small quantities, as to be exempted from the ordinary necessities of nature.
[76] He boasted that he could send his soul out of his body, and recal it, when he pleased; and alternately
appeared an inanimate corpse, and then again his life would return to him, and he appear capable of every
human function as before. [77] He is said to have practised the ceremony of exorcising houses and fields, and
thus rendering them fruitful and blessed. [78] He frequently uttered prophecies of events with such forms of
ceremony and such sagacious judgment, that they seemed to come to pass as he predicted.
One of the most memorable acts of his life happened in this manner. Cylon, the head of one of the principal
families in Athens, set on foot a rebellion against the government, and surprised the citadel. His power
however was of short duration. Siege was laid to the place, and Cylon found his safety in flight. His partisans
forsook their arms, and took refuge at the altars. Seduced from this security by fallacious promises, they were
brought to judgment and all of them put to death. The Gods were said to be offended with this violation of the
sanctions of religion, and sent a plague upon the city. All things were in confusion, and sadness possessed the
whole community. Prodigies were perpetually seen; the spectres of the dead walked the streets; and terror
universally prevailed. The sacrifices offered to the gods exhibited the most unfavourable symptoms. [79] In
this emergency the Athenian senate resolved to send for Epimenides to come to their relief. His reputation was
great. He was held for a holy and devout man, and wise in celestial things by inspiration from above. A vessel
was fitted out under the command of one of the first citizens of the state to fetch Epimenides from Crete. He
performed various rites and purifications. He took a certain number of sheep, black and white, and led them to
EPIMENIDES. 35
Lives of the Necromancers
the Areopagus, where he caused them to be let loose to go wherever they would. He directed certain persons
to follow them, and mark the place where they lay down. He enquired to what particular deity the spot was
consecrated, and sacrificed the sheep to that deity; and in the result of these ceremonies the plague was stayed.
According to others he put an end to the plague by the sacrifice of two human victims. The Athenian senate,
full of gratitude to their benefactor, tendered him the gift of a talent. But Epimenides refused all
compensation, and only required, as an acknowledgment of what he had done, that there should be perpetual
peace between the Athenians and the people of Gnossus, his native city. [80] He is said to have died shortly
after his return to his country, being of the age of one hundred and fifty-seven years. [81]
EMPEDOCLES.
Empedocles has also been mentioned as a disciple of Pythagoras. But he probably lived too late for that to
have been the case. His principles were in a great degree similar to those of that illustrious personage; and he
might have studied under one of the immediate successors of Pythagoras. He was a citizen of Agrigentum in
Sicily; and, having inherited considerable wealth, exercised great authority in his native place. [82] He was a
distinguished orator and poet. He was greatly conversant in the study of nature, and was eminent for his skill
in medicine. [83] In addition to these accomplishments, he appears to have been a devoted adherent to the
principles of liberty. He effected the dissolution of the ruling council of Agrigentum, and substituted in their
room a triennial magistracy, by means of which the public authority became not solely in the hands of the rich
as before, but was shared by them with expert and intelligent men of an inferior class. [84] He opposed all
arbitrary exercises of rule. He gave dowries from his own stores to many young maidens of impoverished
families, and settled them in eligible marriages. [85] He performed many cures upon his fellow-citizens; and
is especially celebrated for having restored a woman to life, who had been apparently dead, according to one
account for seven days, but according to others for thirty. [86]
But the most memorable things known of Empedocles, are contained in the fragments of his verses that have
been preserved to us. In one of them he says of himself,  I well remember the time before I was Empedocles,
that I once was a boy, then a girl, a plant, a glittering fish, a bird that cut the air. [87] Addressing those who
resorted to him for improvement and wisdom, he says,  By my instructions you shall learn medicines that are
powerful to cure disease, and re-animate old age; you shall be able to calm the savage winds which lay waste
the labours of the husbandman, and, when you will, shall send forth the tempest again; you shall cause the
skies to be fair and serene, or once more shall draw down refreshing showers, re-animating the fruits of the
earth; nay, you shall recal the strength of the dead man, when he has already become the victim of Pluto. [88]
Further, speaking of himself, Empedocles exclaims:  Friends, who inhabit the great city laved by the yellow
Acragas, all hail! I mix with you a God, no longer a mortal, and am every where honoured by you, as is just;
crowned with fillets, and fragrant garlands, adorned with which when I visit populous cities, I am revered by
both men and women, who follow me by ten thousands, enquiring the road to boundless wealth, seeking the
gift of prophecy, and who would learn the marvellous skill to cure all kinds of diseases. [89] [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]