Quotes4study

29:4. Thou shalt be brought down, thou shall speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the python, and out of the earth thy speech shall mutter.

THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS     OLD TESTAMENT

Beneath Epistrophus and Schedius, took Their destined station on Boeotia's left, The brave Phocensians; they in forty ships From Cyparissus came, and from the rocks Of Python, and from Crissa the divine; From Anemoria, Daulis, Panopeus, And from Hyampolis, and from the banks Of the Cephissus, sacred stream, and from Lilæa, seated at its fountain-head.

BOOK II.     The Iliad by Homer

The transition is easy to Apollo as a warlike god; in fact, the earlier legends represent him as engaged in strife with Python, Tityus, the Cyclopes and the Aloidae. He is _Boëdromios_ ("the helper"), _Eleleus_ ("god of the war-cry"), and the Paean was said to have been originally a song of triumph composed by him after his victory over Python. In Homer he frequently appears on the field, like Ares and Athene, bearing the aegis to frighten the foe. This aspect is confirmed by the epithets _Argyrotoxos_ ("god of the silver bow"), _Hecatebolos_ ("the shooter from afar"), _Chrysaoros_ ("wearer of the golden sword"), and his statues are often equipped with the accoutrements of war.[3] Entry: APOLLO

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo"     1910-1911

This laurel is generally held to be the _Daphne_ of the ancients, though Lindley, following Gerard (_Herball_, 1597, p. 761), asserted that the Greek _Daphne_ was _Ruscus racemosus_. Among the Greeks the laurel was sacred to Apollo, especially in connexion with Tempe, in whose laurel groves the god himself obtained purification from the blood of the Python. This legend was dramatically represented at the Pythian festival once in eight years, a boy fleeing from Delphi to Tempe, and after a time being led back with song, crowned and adorned with laurel. Similar [Greek: daphnêphoriai] were known elsewhere in Greece. Apollo, himself purified, was the author of purification and atonement to other penitents, and the laurel was the symbol of this power, which came to be generally associated with his person and sanctuaries. The relation of Apollo to the laurel was expressed in the legend of Daphne (q.v.). The victors in the Pythian games were crowned with the laurels of Apollo, and thus the laurel became the symbol of triumph in Rome as well as in Greece. As Apollo was the god of poets, the _Laurea Apollinaris_ naturally belonged to poetic merit (see LAUREATE). The various prerogatives of the laurel among the ancients are collected by Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ xv. 30). It was a sign of truce, like the olive branch; letters announcing victory and the arms of the victorious soldiery were garnished with it; it was thought that lightning could not strike it, and the emperor Tiberius always wore a laurel wreath during thunderstorms. From its association with the divine power of purification and protection, it was often set before the door of Greek houses, and among the Romans it was the guardian of the gates of the Caesars (Ovid, _Met._ i. 562 sq.). The laurel worn by Augustus and his successors had a miraculous history: the laurel grove at the imperial villa by the ninth milestone on the Flaminian way sprang from a shoot sent from heaven to Livia Drusilla (Sueton. _Galba_, i.). Like the olive, the laurel was forbidden to profane use. It was employed in divination; the crackling of its leaves in the sacred flame was a good omen (Tibull. ii. 5. 81), and their silence unlucky (Propert. ii. 21); and the leaves when chewed excited a prophetic afflatus ([Greek: daphnêphagoi], cf. Tibull. ii. 5. 63). There is a poem enumerating the ancient virtues of the laurel by J. Passeratius (1594). Entry: LAUREL

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 3 "Latin Language" to "Lefebvre, François-Joseph"     1910-1911

The vases of this period are usually grouped in three or four different types, corresponding to the ancient districts of Lucania, Campania and Apulia, each with its special features of technique, drawing and subjects. In Lucanian vases the drawing is bold and restrained, more akin to that of the Attic vases; in Campania a fondness for polychromy is combined with careless execution. In Apulia a tendency to magnificence exemplified in the great funeral and theatrical vases is followed by a period of decadence characterized by small vases of fantastic form with purely decorative subjects. Besides these we have the school of Paestum, represented by two artists who have left their names on their vases, Assteas and Python. A well-known example of the work of the former is a _krater_ in Madrid with Heracles destroying his children, a theatrical and quasi-grotesque composition, and there is a fine example of Python's work in a _krater_ in the British Museum, with Alkmena, the mother of Heracles, placed on the funeral pyre by her husband Amphitryon, and rain-nymphs quenching the flames (Plate I. fig. 55). Entry: IV

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics"     1910-1911

_Fauna._--The zoology of Assam presents some interesting features. Wild elephants abound and commit many depredations, entering villages in large herds, and consuming everything suitable to their tastes. Many are caught by means of female elephants previously tamed, and trained to decoy males into the snares prepared for subjecting them to captivity. A considerable number are tamed and exported from Assam every year. Many are killed every year in the forests for the sake of the ivory which they furnish. The government _keddah_ establishment from Dacca captures large numbers of elephants in the province, and the right of hunting is also sold by auction to private bidders. The annual catch of the latter averages about two hundred. The rhinoceros is found in the denser parts of the forests and generally in swampy places. This animal is hunted and killed for its skin and its horn. The skin affords the material for the best shields. The horn is sacred in the eyes of the natives. Contrary to the usual belief, it is stated that, if caught young, the rhinoceros is easily tamed and becomes strongly attached to his keeper. Tigers abound, and though many are annually destroyed for the sake of the government reward, their numbers seem scarcely, if at all, to diminish. Leopards and bears are numerous; and the sand-badger, the _Arctonyx collaris_ of Cuvier, a small animal somewhat resembling a bear, but having the snout, eyes and tail of a hog, is found. Among the most formidable animals known is the wild buffalo or _gaur_ which is of great size, strength and fierceness. The fox and the jackal exist, and the wild hog is very abundant. Goats, deer of various kinds, hares, and two or three species of antelope are found, as are monkeys in great variety. The porcupine, the squirrel, the civet cat, the ichneumon and the otter are common. The birds are too various to admit of enumeration. Wild game is plentiful; pheasants, partridges, snipe and water-fowl of many descriptions make the country a tempting field for the sportsman. Vultures and other birds of prey are met with. Crocodiles (commonly called alligators) swarm in all parts of the Brahmaputra, and are very destructive to the fish, of which hundreds of varieties are found, and which supply a valuable article of food. The most destructive of the _ferae naturae_, as regards human life, are, however, the snakes. Of these, several poisonous species exist, including the cobra and karait (_Naja tripudians_ and _Bungarus caeruleus_). The bite of a fairly-grown healthy serpent of either of these species is deadly; and it is ascertained that more deaths occur from snake-bite than from all the other wild beasts put together. Among the non-poisonous serpents the python ranks first. This is an enormous boa-constrictor of great length and weight, which drops upon his prey from the branch of a tree, or steals upon it in the thick grass. He kills his victim by rolling himself round the body till he breaks its ribs, or suffocates it by one irresistible convolution round its throat. He seldom or never attacks human beings unless in self-defence, and loss of life from this cause is scarcely ever reported. Entry: ASSAM

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens"     1910-1911

A little farther on, but below the Sacred Way, is another open space, of circular form, which is perhaps the [Greek: halôs] or sacred threshing-floor on which the drama of the slaying of the Python by Apollo was periodically performed. Opposite this space, and backed against the beautifully jointed polygonal wall which has for some time been known, and which supports the terrace on which the temple stands, is the colonnade of the Athenians. A dedicatory inscription runs along the face of the top step, and has been the subject of much dispute. Both the forms of the letters and the style of the architecture show that the colonnade cannot date, as Pausanias says, from the time of the Peloponnesian War; Th. Homolle now assigns it to the end of the 6th century. The polygonal terrace wall at the back, on being cleared, proves to be covered with inscriptions, most of them concerning the manumission of slaves. Entry: A

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov"     1910-1911

The fame of the Pythian oracle at Delphi, connected with the slaying of Python by the god immediately after his birth, gave especial prominence to the idea of Apollo as a god of prophecy. Python, always represented in the form of a snake, sometimes nameless, is the symbol of the old chthonian divinity whose home was the place of "enquiry" ([Greek: pythesthai]). When Apollo Delphinius with his worshippers from Crete took possession of the earth-oracle Python, he received in consequence the name Pythius. That Python was no fearful monster, symbolizing the darkness of winter which is scattered by the advent of spring, is shown by the fact that Apollo was considered to have been guilty of murder in slaying it, and compelled to wander for a term of years and expiate his crime by servitude and purification. Possibly at Delphi and other places there was an old serpent-worship ousted by that of Apollo, which may account for expiation for the slaying of Python being considered necessary. In the solar explanation, the serpent is the darkness driven away by the rays of the sun. (On the Delphian cult of Apollo and its political significance, see AMPHICTYONY, DELPHI, ORACLE; and Farnell, _Cults_, iv. pp. 179-218.) Oracular responses were also given at Claros near Colophon in Ionia by means of the water of a spring which inspired those who drank of it; at Patara in Lycia; and at Didyma near Miletus through the priestly family of the Branchidae. Apollo's oracles, which he did not deliver on his own initiative but as the mouthpiece of Zeus, were infallible, but the human mind was not always able to grasp their meaning; hence he is called _Loxias_ ("crooked," "ambiguous"). To certain favoured mortals he communicated the gift of prophecy (Cassandra, the Cumaean sibyl, Helenus, Melampus and Epimenides). Although his favourite method was by word of mouth, yet signs were sometimes used; thus Calchas interpreted the flight of birds; burning offerings, sacrificial barley, the arrow of the god, dreams and the lot, all played their part in communicating the will of the gods. Entry: APOLLO

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo"     1910-1911

DRAGON (Fr. _dragon_, through Lat. _draco_, from the Greek; connected with [Greek: derkomai], "see," and interpreted as "sharp-sighted"; O.H. Ger. _tracho_, _dracho_, M.H.G. _trache_, Mod. Ger. _Drachen_; A.S. _draca_, hence the equivalent English form "drake," "fire-drake," cf. Low Ger. and Swed. _drake_, Dan. _drage_), a fabulous monster, usually conceived as a huge winged fire-breathing lizard or snake. In Greece the word [Greek: drakôn] was used originally of any large serpent, and the dragon of mythology, whatever shape it may have assumed, remains essentially a snake. For the part it has played in the myths and cults of various peoples and ages see the article SERPENT-WORSHIP. Here it may be said, in general, that in the East, where snakes are large and deadly (Chaldea, Assyria, Phoenicia, to a less degree in Egypt), the serpent or dragon was symbolic of the principle of evil. Thus Apophis, in the Egyptian religion, was the great serpent of the world of darkness vanquished by Ra, while in Chaldaea the goddess Ti[=a]mat, the female principle of primeval Chaos, took the form of a dragon. Thus, too, in the Hebrew sacred books the serpent or dragon is the source of death and sin, a conception which was adopted in the New Testament and so passed into Christian mythology. In Greece and Rome, on the other hand, while the oriental idea of the serpent as an evil power found an entrance and gave birth to a plentiful brood of terrors (the serpents of the Gorgons, Hydra, Chimaera and the like), the _dracontes_ were also at times conceived as beneficent powers, sharp-eyed dwellers in the inner parts of the earth, wise to discover its secrets and utter them in oracles, or powerful to invoke as guardian genii. Such were the sacred snakes in the temples of Aesculapius and the _sacri dracontes_ in that of the Bona Dea at Rome; or, as guardians, the Python at Delphi and the dragon of the Hesperides. Entry: DRAGON

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 "Dodwell" to "Drama"     1910-1911

The majority of the snakes lay eggs, but most of the vipers and the aquatic snakes are viviparous, as also are a few terrestrial species. The shell of the egg is always soft and parchment-like. As a rule the number of eggs produced among the snakes is not large, twenty or thirty being common, but some species of python lay as many as a hundred. Generally, among the oviparous snakes the eggs are buried, but some species of boas jealously guard them, enclosing them within the coils of the body. Entry: EGG

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein"     1910-1911

As regards reptiles, there are at least seven poisonous snakes--two cobras, two puff-adders and three vipers. The brilliantly coloured red and blue lizard (_Agama colonorum_) is found in the coast region of eastern Liberia. There are three species of crocodile, at least two chameleons (probably more when the forest is further explored), the large West African python (_P. sebae_) and a rare Boine snake (Calabaria). On the sea coast there is the leathery turtle (_Dermochelis_) and also the green turtle (_Chelone_). In the rivers and swamps there are soft-shelled turtle (_Trionyx_ and _Sternothaerus_). The land tortoises chiefly belong to the genus _Cynyxis_. The fresh-water fish seem in their affinities to be nearly allied to those of the Niger and the Nile. There is a species of _Polypterus_, and it is probable that the _Protopterus_ or lung fish is also found there, though its existence has not as yet been established by a specimen. As regards invertebrates, very few species or genera are peculiar to Liberia so far as is yet known, though there are probably one or two butterflies of local range. The gigantic scorpions (_Pandinus imperator_)--more than 6 in. long--are a common feature in the forest. One noteworthy feature in Liberia, however, is the relative absence of mosquitoes, and the white ants and some other insect pests are not so troublesome here as in other parts of West Africa. The absence or extreme paucity of mosquitoes no doubt accounts for the infrequency of malarial fever in the interior. Entry: LIBERIA

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 5 "Letter" to "Lightfoot, John"     1910-1911

Like other painters of the day, notably G. F. Watts, Lord Leighton executed a few pieces of sculpture. His "Athlete struggling with a Python" was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877, and was purchased for the Chantrey Bequest collection. Another statue, "The Sluggard," of equal merit, was exhibited in 1886; and a charming statuette of a nude figure of a girl looking over her shoulder at a frog, called "Needless Alarms," was completed in the same year, and presented by the artist to Sir John Millais in acknowledgment of the gift by the latter of his picture, "Shelling Peas." He made the beautiful design for the reverse of the Jubilee Medal of 1887. It was also his habit to make sketch models in wax for the figures in his pictures, many of which are in the possession of the Royal Academy. As an illustrator in black and white he also deserves to be remembered, especially for the cuts to Dalziel's Bible, already mentioned, and his illustrations to George Eliot's _Romola_, which appeared in the _Cornhill Magazine_. The latter are full of the spirit of Florence and the Florentines, and show a keen sense of humour, elsewhere excluded from his work. Of his decorative paintings, the best known are the elegant compositions (in spirit fresco) on the walls of the Victoria and Albert Museum, representing "The Industrial Arts of War and Peace." There, also, is the refined and spirited figure of "Cimabue" in mosaic. In Lyndhurst church are mural decorations to the memory of Mr Pepys Cockerell, illustrating "The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins." Entry: LEIGHTON

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 4 "Lefebvre, Tanneguy" to "Letronne, Jean Antoine"     1910-1911

Although the Mandingos, and especially the Susu section, may have come as conquerors, they devoted themselves through the succeeding centuries more and more to commerce. They became to the extreme west of Africa what the Hausa are in the west-central regions. Some of the Mandingo invasions, especially in the forest region, left little more than the imposition of their language; but where there was any element of Caucasian blood (for the original Mandingo invaders were evidently dashed with the Caucasian by intermingling with some of the negroid races of north-central Africa), they imposed a degree of civilization which excluded cannibalism (still rampant in much of the forest region of West Africa), introduced working in leather and in metals, and was everywhere signalized by a passionate love of music, a characteristic of all true Mandingo tribes at the present day. It is noteworthy that many of the instruments affected by the Mandingos are found again in the more civilized regions of Bantu Africa, as well as in the central Sudan. Many of these types of musical instruments can also be traced originally to ancient Egypt. The Mandingos also seem to have brought with them in their westward march the Egyptian type of ox, with the long, erect horns. It would almost seem as if this breed had been preceded by the zebu or humped ox; though these two types are evidently of common origin so far as derivation from one wild species is concerned. The Mandingos maintain the system of totems or clans, and each section or tribe identifies itself with a symbol, which is usually an animal or a plant. The Mandenga are supposed to have either the manati or the hippopotamus as _tanna_. (Binger states that the manati was the totem of the Mande group, to which perhaps belonged originally the Susu and the Dyula.) The Bamana are the people of the crocodile; the Samanke are the people of the elephant; the Samokho of the snake. Other totems or symbols of special families or castes are the dog, the calabash or gourd, the lion, the green monkey, the leopard, the monitor lizard, a certain spice called bandugu, certain rats, the python, the puff-adder, &c. Entry: MANDINGO

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 5 "Malta" to "Map, Walter"     1910-1911

Of the reptiles found in these mountains many are peculiar. Some of the snakes of India are to be seen in the hotter regions, including the python and some of the venomous species, the cobra being found as high up as 8000 or 9000 ft., though not common. Lizards are numerous, and as well as frogs are found at all elevations from the plains to the upper Himalayan valleys, and even extend to Tibet. Entry: 6

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 4 "Hero" to "Hindu Chronology"     1910-1911

ARTEMIS, one of the principal goddesses in Greek mythology, the counterpart of the Roman Diana. The suggested etymologies of the name (see O. Gruppe, _Griechische Mythologie_, ii. p. 1267, note 2), as in the case of most of the Olympian deities, are unsatisfactory, and throw no light upon her significance and characteristics. The Homeric and later conception of Artemis, though by no means the original one, may be noticed first. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin-sister and counterpart of Apollo. She is said to have been born a day before him (on the 6th of the month) and tradition assigns them different birthplaces--Delos to Apollo, Ortygia to Artemis. But Ortygia ("home of quails") applies still to Delos, and may well have been a synonym for that island. In its original sense it does not apply either to the island of Ortygia at Syracuse, or to Ortygia near Ephesus, which also claimed the honour of having been the birthplace of the goddess. Artemis is the goddess of chastity, an aspect of her character which gradually assumed more and more importance--the protectress of young men and maidens, who defies and contemns the power of Aphrodite. Her resemblance to her brother is shown in many ways. Like him, armed with bow and arrows, she deals death to mortals, sometimes gently and suddenly, especially to women, but also as a punishment for offences against herself or morality. With him she takes part in the combat with Python and with Tityus, in the slaughter of the children of Niobe, while alone she executes vengeance on Orion. Although Apollo has nothing to do with the earlier cult of Artemis, nor Artemis with that of Delphi, their association was a comparatively early one, and probably originated in Delos. Here the connexion of Artemis with the Hyperborean legend (see APOLLO) is shown in the names of the maidens (Opis, Hecaerge) who were supposed to have brought offerings from the north to Delos, where they were buried. Both Opis (or Oupis) and Hecaerge are names of Artemis, the latter being the feminine of Hecaergos, an epithet of Apollo. Like her brother, she is not only a goddess who deals death, but she is also a healing and a purifying divinity, [Greek: oulia] ("the healer," cf. Apollo Oulios), [Greek: luae, luaia] ("purifier,") and [Greek: soteira], "she who saves from all evils" (cf. Apollo [Greek: apotropaios]). Her connexion with the prophetic art is doubtful, although mention is made of an Artemis Sibylla. To her association with Apollo are certainly to be referred the names Delphinia and Pythia, and the titles referring to state and family life--[Greek: prostataeria], [Greek: patriotis], [Greek: boulaia]. It probably accounts for her appearance as a goddess of seafarers, the bestower of fair weather and prosperous voyages. At Phigalia in Arcadia, Eurynome, represented as half woman and half fish, was probably another form of Artemis. To the same association may be traced her slight connexion with music, song and dance. Entry: ARTEMIS

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"     1910-1911