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

ISOCRATES. ISTHMIUS. 633
country as Isocrates. If we set aside the -question The orations of Isocrates are printed in the
as to whether the political views he entertained various collections of the Greek orators. The first'
were practicable or wise, it must be owned that separate edition is that of Demetrius Chalcocondylas
he was a sincere lover of his native land, and that (Milan, 1493, fol.), which was followed by numerthe greatness and glory of Athens were the great ous others, which, however, are mainly based upon
objects for which he was labouring; and hence, when the edition of Aldus (e. g. those published at
the battle of Chaeroneia had destroyed the last Hagenau, 1533, 8vo.; Venice, 1542, 1544, 1549,
hopes of freedom and independence, Isocrates made 8vo.; Basel, 1546, 1550, 1555, 1561, 8vo.). A
away with himself, unable to survive the downfal better edition is that of H. Wolf (Basel, 15.53,
of his country, B. c. 338. (Plut. p. 837; Dionys. 8vo.), and with Wolf's notes and emendations,
Photius, 11. cc.; Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 17.) Basel, 1570, fol., the text of which was often reThe Alexandrian critics assigned to Isocrates the printed. Some improvements were made in the
fourth place in the canon of Greek orators, and the edition of H. Stephens (1593, fol., reprinted in
great esteem in which his orations were held by the 1604, 1642, 1651, 8vo., in London 1615, 8vo.,
ancient. grammarians is attested by the numerous and at Cambridge 1686, 8vo.). The edition of A.
commentaries that were written upon them by Auger (Paris, 1782, 3 vols. 3vo.) is not what it
Philonicus, Hieronymus of Rhodes, Cleochares, Did- might have been, considering the MSS. he had at
ymus, and others. Hermippus even treated in a his disposal. The best modern editions are those
separate work on the pupils of Isocrates; but all of W. Lange (Halle, 1803, 8vo.), Ad. Coraes
these works are lost, with the exception of the cri- (Paris, 1807, 2 vols. 8vo.), G. S. Dobson (London,ticism by. Dionysius of Halicarnassus. The lan- 1828, 2 vols. 8vo., with a Latin transl., copious
guage of Isocrates is the purest and most refined notes and scholia), and Baiter and Sauppe (ZiiAttic dialect, and thus forms a great contrast with rich, 1839, 2 vols. 12mo.). There are also many
the natural simplicity of Lysias, as well as with good editions of separate orations and of select
the sublime power of Demosthenes. His artificial orations, for which the reader must be referred to
style is more elegant than graceful, and more os- bibliographical works (Hoffmann, Lexicon Bibliogr.
tentatious -than pleasing; the carefully-rounded vol. ii. p. 615, &c.) A useful Index Graecitatis was
periods, the frequent application of figurative ex- published by Th. Mitchell, Oxford, 1827, 8vo.
pressions, are features which remind us of the so- (Comp. Westermann, Gesch. der Griech. Beredts.
phists; and although his sentences flow' very ~~ 48, 49, and Beilage iv. pp. 288-293; Leloup,
melodiously, yet they become wearisome and mo- Comnzentatio de Isocrate, Bonn, 1823, 8vo.; J. G.
notonous by the perpetual occurrence of the same Pfund, de Isocratis Vita et Scriptis, Berlin, 1833,
over-refined periods, which are not relieved by 2. Of Apollonia, a disciple of Isocrates of Athens
being interspersed with shorter and easier sen- (No. 1), with whom he has often been confounded.
tences. In saying this, we must remember that He appears, however, to have enjoyed a considerIsocrates wrote his orations to be read, -and not able reputation as an orator, for he is mentioned
with a view to their recitation before the public. among those who competed with other orators for
The immense care he bestowed upon the com- the prize which Artemisia of Caria proposed in the
position of his orations,: and the time he spent in literary contest which she instituted in honour of
working them out and polishing them, may be in- her husband Mausolus, in B. C. 352. Suidas menferred from the statement, that he was engaged for tions the titles of five of his orations, but none of
a period of ten, and according to others, of fifteen them have come down to us. (Epist. Socrat. xxviii.
years, upon his Panegyric oration. (Quintil. x. pp. 65, 67; Suid. s. v.'IeocpaTr's; Eudoc. p. 247;
4. ~ 4.) It is owing to this very care and labour Spalding, ad Quintil. ii. 15. ~ 4.) Some critics bethat in the arrangement and treatment of his sub- lieve that he was the author of the e"X" V "PTOpuch),
ject, Isocrates is far superior to Lysias and other which was mentioned above among the works of
orators of the time, and that the number of ora- his master and namesake. (Westermann, Gesck.
tions he wrote is comparatively small. d. Griech. Beredtsanik. ~ 50, notes 3 and 4. ~ 68,
There were in antiquity sixty orations which note 15.) [L. S.]
went by the name of Isocrates, but Caecilius, a ISODAETES ('Ioor3a'rqs), from. afew, i. e. the
rhetorician of the time of Augustus, recognised only god who distributes his gifts equally to all, occurs
twenty-eight of them as genuine (Plut. 1. c. p. 838; as a surname of Dionysus Zagreus. (Plut. de Ei.
Phot. Bibl. Cod. 260), and of these only twenty- ap. Delph. 9.) [L. S.]
one have c,)ne down to us. Eight of them were ISO'DETES ('IooeSrls), from 8'o, the god who
written for judicial purposes in civil cases, and in- binds all equally, is used as a surname of Pluto, to
tended to serve as models for this species of ora- express his impartiality (Hesych. s. v.), and of
tory; all the others are political discourses or show Apollo. (Bekker, Anecdot. p. 267.) [L. S.]
speeches, intended to be read by a large public: ISSA ('Iaoa), a daughter of Macareus in Lesthey are particularly characterised by the ethical bos, and the beloved of Apollo,, from whom the
element on which his political views are based. Lesbian town of Issa is said to have received its
Besides these entire orations, we have the titles name. (Ov..Met. vi. 124; Tzetz. ad LZycophl. 220;
and fragments of twenty-seven other orations, Steph. Byz. s. v.; Strab. i. p.' 60.) [L. S.]
which are referred to under the name of Isocrates. ISSO'RIA ('Iaoawpia), a surname of the LacoThere also exist under his name ten letters, which nian Artemis, derived from,Mount Issorion, on
were written to friends on political questions of the which she had a sanctuary. (Paus. iii. 14. ~ 2, 25.
time; one of them, however (the tenth), is in all ~ 3; Hesych. and Steph. Byz. s. v.,; Plut. Ages.
probability spurious. A scientific manual of rhe- 32; Polyaen. ii. 14.) [L. S.]
toric (TEXXvq pjlTopiKi) which Isocrates- wrote is I'STHMIUS ("Io'1eAos), i. e. the god worshiplost, with the exception of a few fragments, so that ped on the Isthmus (of Corinth), a surname of
we are unable to form any definite idea of his merits Poseidon, in honour of whom the Isthmian games
in this respect.. were celebrated. (Paus. ii. 9. ~ f ] [L. S.]