A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

620. IRENAEUS. IRENAEUS.
3. A daughter of Ligdus and Telethusa, of example,'his writings contain the most puerile
Phaestus in Crete. She was brought up as a boy, absurdities.
because, previous to her birth, her father had or- The chief work of Irenaeus, and the only one
dered the child to be killed, if it should be a girl. now extant, is entitled Adversus itaereses, or De
When Iphis had grown up, and was to be be- Refutatione et Eversione falsae Scientiae, Libri V.,
trothed to Ianthe, the difficulty thus arising was the object of which is to refute the Gnostics. The
removed by the favour of Isis, who had before ad- original Greek is lost, with the' exception of some
vised the mother to treat Iphis as a boy, and now fragments preserved by Epiphanius and other
metamorphosed her into a youth. (Ov. Met. ix. writers on heresies; but the work exists in a bar665, &c.) [L. S.] barons, but ancient Latin version, which Dodwell
I'PHITUS (Ibpros). ]. A son of Eurytus of supposes to have been composed towards the end of
Oechalia, is mentioned among the Argonauts, but the 4th century. Irenaeus also wrote a discourse
was killed by Heracles. (Hom. Od. xxi. 14, &c.; against the Gentiles, 7rept Lro-T?1rt7s; a work on
Apollod. ii. 6. ~ 1; Paus. iii. 15. ~ 2; Apollon. the preaching of the apostles, addressed to his
Rhod. i. 86.) brother Marcianus; a book of tracts on various
2. A son of Naubolus, and father of Schedius, questions, AlaAeSXwv 8Lacpcpwv; and several letters
Epistrophus, and Eurynome, in Phocis, was like- respecting the ecclesiastical controversies of his day,'wise one of the Argonauts. (Hom. Il. ii. 518, xvii. among which were two to Florinus, a friend of his,
306; Paus. x. 4. ~ 1; Apollod. i. 9. ~ 16; Apol- who had become a convert to Gnosticism; one to
Ion. Rhod. i. 207; Orph. Arg. 144.) Blastus on schism, and the synodic epistle above
3. A son of Haemon, Praxonides, or Iphitus. referred to, from the Gallic churches to Victor,
At the command of the Delphic oracle, he restored bishop of Rome, respecting Easter. Of these works
the Olympian games, and instituted the cessation only a few fragments remain.
of all war during their celebration. (Paus. v. 4. The editio princeps of Irenaeus is that of Eras~ 5.) Another Iphitus, who is otherwise unknown, mus, Basel, 1526, 8vo., containing the Latin version
is mentioned by Apollodorus (ii. 5; ~ 1). [L. S.] of the five books against heretics, reprinted at
IPHTHI'ME ('Ic0pFxv). 1. One of the Nere- Basel, 1534, 1548, 1554, and 1560, fol.; at Paris,
ides, and the mother of the Satyrs, (Nonn. Dionys. 1545, 1563, and 1567, 8vo.; re-edited, with vaxiv. 114.) rious readings, by Jo. Jac. Grynaeus, Basel, 1571:
2. A daughter of Icarius, and sister of Penelope. the first edition, containing the fragments, besides
Athena assumed the appearance of Iphthime, when the Latin version, was that of Nicolas Gallasius,
she appeared to the unfortunate mother of Tele- Paris, 1570, fol.; next comes the edition of Fr.
qaachns.'(Hom. Od. iv. 797.) [L. S.] Fenardentius, Cologne, 1596, 1625, and best,1639;
IRENAEUS (ElpWrvaoes). 1. St., bishop of but the best edition of all is that of Grabe, Oxon.
Lyon, in Gaulo during the latter part of the second 1702, fol., which was re-edited by the Benedictine
century after Christ, seems to have been a native Massuet, Paris, 1710, fol.: this Benedictine edition
Qf'Smyrna,'or of some neighbouring place in Asia was reprinted in two volumes folio, at Venice,
Minor. - The time of' his birth is- not known ex- 1734. The chief separate edition of the fragments
actly, but Dodweil is certainly.wrong in placing it is that of Pfaff, Hag. -Com. 1715, 8vo. (Euseb.
so early as A. D. 97; it was probably between A.D. H. E. v. 15, 20, 24, 26; Hieron. de Vir. I/lust.
120 and' A. D. 140. In his' early youth he heard 33; Dodwell, Dissertationes in Irenaeunm; Cave,
Polycarp, for whom he felt throughout life the Hist. Litt. sub ann. 167; Lardner's Credibility; the
greatest reverence. The occasion of his going from Ecclesiastical Histo ies of Tillemont, Fleury, Jortin,
Asia to Gaul is uncertain; the common account is Mosheim, and Schrbckh; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol.
that he accompanied Pothinus on his mission to vii. p. 75.)
Gaul, which resulted in the formation of the churches 2. Bishop of Tyre, but previously a count of the
at Lyon and Vienne. He became a presbyter to empire, was the representative of the emperor TheoPothinus, on whose martyrdom, in A. D. 177, dosius at the council of Ephesus, where he took
Irenaeus succeeded to the bishopric of the church part with the Nestorians, A. D. 431. Immediately
at Lyon. His government was signalised by after the council, he hastened to Constantinople, in
Christian devotedness and zeal, and he made many order to counteract the influence of the representsconverts from heathenism. He was most active in tives of the party of Cyril on the emperor's mind.
opposing the Gnostics, and -especially the Valen- In this he succeeded for the time; but, after long
tinians. He also took part in the controversy re- vacillation, Theodosius at last declared himself
specting the time of keeping Easter, and wrote a against the Nestorians, and banished Irenaeus from
letter to Victor, bishop of Rome, rebuking the-arro- his court, about A. D. 435. Irenaeus betook himgance with which. he anathematised the Asiatic self to his friends, the Oriental bishops, by whom he
churches. Irenaeus seems to have lived till about was made' bishop of Tyre, A. D. 444. In an imthe end of the second century. The,silence of all perial decree against the Nestorians, which still
the early writers, such as Tertullian, Eusebius, exists, it is ordered that Irenaeus should be deposed
Augustin, and: Theodoret, sufficiently refutes the from his bishopric, and deprived of his clerical
claim to the honours of martyrdom, which later character. The sentence was carried into effect in
writers set up in his behalf. But he eminently de- A. D. 448. In his retirement, Irenaeus wrote a
serves the far higher honour attached to sincere history of the Nestorian struggle, under the title of
piety and the zealous, but not arrogant discharge Tragoedia sea Comnmentarii de Rebus in Synodo
of his episcopal duties. He was possessed of con- Ephesina ac in Oriente gestis. The original Greek
siderable learning, but was very deficient in sound is lost entirely, but we have an old Latin translajudgment respecting the value of those traditions, tion of parts of it, published by Christian Lupus,
which, as they came from men who lived in the Louvain, 1682; for, though Lupus entitled his
age next to the apostles, he eagerly received and book Variorumn Patrumn Epistolae ad Conciliusn
recorded. On the subject of the Millennium, for Ephesintum pertinentes, there can be no doubt that