Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 34Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (34)
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Di'amond, one of three brothers, sons of the fairy Agapê. Though very strong, he was slain in single fight by Cambalo. His brothers were Pri'amond and Tri'amond.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. (1596).
Diamond Jousts, nine jousts instituted by Arthur, and so called because a diamond was the prize. These nine diamonds were all won by Sir Launcelot, who presented them to the queen, but Guinevere, in a tiff, flung them into the river which ran by the palace.—Tennyson, Idylls of the King ("Elaine").
Diamond Sword, a magic sword given by the god Syren to the king of the Gold Mines.
She gave him a sword made of one entire diamond, that gave as great lustre as the sun.—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("The Yellow Dwarf," 1682).
Diana, the heroine and title, a pastoral of Montemayor, imitated from the Daphnis and Chloe of Longos (fourteenth century).
Dian'a, daughter of the widow of Florence with whom Hel'ena lodged on her way to the shrine of St. Jacques le Grand. Count Bertram wantonly loved Diana, but the modest girl made this attachment the means of bringing about a reconciliation between Bertram and his wife Helena.—Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well (1598).
Dian'a de Lascours, daughter of Ralph and Louise de Lascours, and sister of Martha, alias Ogari'la. Diana was betrothed to Horace de Brienne, whom she resigns to Martha.—E. Stirling, The Orphan of the Frozen Sea (1856).
Dian'a the Inexorable. (1) She slew Orion with one of her arrows, for daring to make love to her. (2) She changed Actæon into a stag and set her own dogs on him to worry him to death, because he chanced to look upon her while bathing. (3) She shot with her arrows the six sons and six daughters of Niobé, because the fond mother said she was happier than Latona, who had only two children.
Dianae non movenda numina.
Horace, Epode, xvii.
Diana the Second of Salmantin, a pastoral romance by Gil Polo.
"We will preserve that book," said the cure, "as carefully as if Apollo himself had been its author."—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).
Diana (the Temple of), at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of antiquity, was set on fire by Herostratos to immortalize his name.
Diana of the Stage, Mrs. Anne Brace-girdle (1663-1748).
Dian'a's Foresters, "minions of the moon," "Diana's knights," etc., highwaymen.
Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king,
let not us that are "squires of the night's body"
be called
thieves
... let us be "Diana's foresters,"
"Gentlemen of the shade," "minions of the
moon."—Shakespeare, I
Henry IV
. act i. sc. 2
(1597).
Diano'ra, wife of Gilberto of Friu'li, but amorously loved by Ansaldo. In order to rid herself of his importunities, she vowed never to yield to his suit till he could "make her garden at midwinter as gay with flowers as it was in summer" (meaning never). Ansaldo, by the aid of a magician, accomplished the appointed task; but when the lady told him that her husband insisted on her keeping her promise, Ansaldo, not to be outdone in generosity, declined to take advantage of his claim, and from that day forth was the firm and honorable friend of Gilberto.—Bocaccio, Decameron, x.5.
The Franklin's Tale of Chaucer is substantially the same story. (See DORIGEN).
Diarmaid, noted for his "beauty spot," which he covered up with his cap; for if any woman chanced to see it, she would instantly fall in love with him.—Campbell, Tales of the West Highlands ("Diarmaid and Grainne").
Diav'olo (Fra), Michele Pezza, Insurgent of Calabria (1760-1806).—Auber, Fra Diavolo (libretto by Scribe, 1836).
Dibble (Davie), gardener at Monkbarns.—Sir W. Scott, Antiquary (time, George III.).
Dibu'tades (4 syl.), a potter of Sicyon, whose daughter traced on the wall her lover's shadow, cast there by the light of a lamp. This, it is said, is the origin of portrait painting. The father applied the same process to his pottery, and this, it is said, is the origin of sculpture in relief.
Will the arts ever have a lovelier origin than that fair daughter of Dibutades tracing the beloved shadow on the wall!--Ouida, Ariadnê, i. 6.
Dicae'a, daughter of Jove, the "accusing angel" of classic mythology.
Forth stepped the just Dicaea, full of rage.
Phineas Fletcher,
The Purple Island
, vi. (1633).
Diccon the Bedlamite, a half-mad mendicant, both knave and thief. A specimen of the metre will be seen by part of Diccon's speech:
Many amyle have I walked, divers and sundry waies,
And many a good man's house have I bin at in my dais;
Many a gossip's cup in my tyme have I tasted,
And many a broche and spyt have I both turned and basted ...
When I saw it booted nit, out at doores I hyed mee,
And caught a slyp of bacon when I saw none spyd mee
Which I intend not far hence, unless my purpose fayle,
Shall serve for a shooing home to draw on two pots of ale.
Gammer Gurton's Needle
(1575).
Dicil'la, one of Logistilla's handmaids, noted for her chastity.—Ariosto, Orlanda Furioso (1516).
Dick, ostler at the Seven Stars inn, York.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, Greorge II.).
Dick, called "The Devil's Dick of Hellgarth;" a falconer and follower of the earl of Douglas.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Dick (Mr.), an amiable, half-witted man, devoted to David's "aunt," Miss Betsey Trotwood, who thinks him a prodigious genius. Mr. Dick is especially mad on the subject of Charles I.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).
Dick Amlet, the son of Mrs. Amlet, a rich, vulgar tradeswoman. Dick assumes the airs of a fine gentleman, and calls himself Colonel Shapely, in which character he gets introduced to Corinna, the daughter of Gripe, a rich scrivener. Just as he is about to elope, his mother makes her appearance, and the deceit is laid bare; but Mrs. Amlet promises to give her son £10,000, and so the wedding is adjusted. Dick is a regular scamp, and wholly without principle; but being a dashing young blade, with a handsome person, he is admired by the ladies.—Sir John Vanbrugh, The Confederacy (1695).
Dick Shakebag, a highwayman in the gang of Captain Colepepper (the Alsatian bully).—Sir W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I).
Dickson (Thomas) farmer at Douglasdale.
Charles Dickson, son of the above, killed in the church.—Sir W. Scott, Castle Dangerous (time, Henry I.).
Dicta'tor of Letters, Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, called the "Great Pan" (1694-1778).
Dictionary (A Living). Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646-1716) was so called by George I.
Longinus was called "The Living Cyclopaedia" (213-273).
Daniel Huet, chief editor of the Delphine Classics, was called a Porcus Literarum for his unlimited knowledge (1630-1721).
Diddler (Jeremy), an artful swindler; a clever, seedy vagabond, who borrows money or obtains credit by his songs, witticisms, or other expedients.—Kenny, Raising the Wind.
Diderick, the German form of Theodorick, king of the Goths. As Arthur is the centre of British romance, and Charlemagne of French romance, so Diderick is the central figure of the German minnesingers. Didier (Henri), the lover of Julie Les-urques (2 syl.); a gentleman in feeling and conduct, who remains loyal to his fiancée through all her troubles.—Ed. Stirling, The Courier of Lyons (1852).
Dido, daughter of Belus, king of Tyre. She bought "as much land in Africa as a bull's hide could cover," shred the hide into strings, and enclosed a large tract. Æneas was wrecked upon her coast, and a love affair ensued. He deserted her, and she killed herself after watching his ship until it was out of sight.
Die'go, the sexton to Lopez the "Spanish curate."—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Spanish Curate (1622).
Die'go (Don), a man of 60, who saw a country maiden named Leonora, whom he liked, and intended to marry if her temper was as amiable as her face was pretty. He obtained leave of her parents to bring her home and place her under a duenna for three months, and then either return her to them spotless, or to make her his wife. At the expiration of the time, he went to settle the marriage contract; and, to make all things sure, locked up the house, giving the keys to Ursula, but to the outer door he attached a huge padlock, and put the key in his pocket. Leander, being in love with Leonora, laughed at locksmiths and duennas, and Diego (2 syl.), found them about to elope. Being a wise man, he not only consented to their union, but gave Leonora a handsome marriage portion.—I. Bickerstaff, The Padlock.
Dies Irae. The name generally given from the opening words to a mediaeval hymn on the Last Judgment. The author is unknown, but the hymn is now generally ascribed to a monk of the Abruzzi, in Naples, Thomas de Celano, who died about 1255.
Dies irae, dies ilia
Sol vet sseclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla.
That Day of Wrath, that dreadful day
When Heaven and Earth shall pass away,
So David and the Sibyl say.
Diet of Performers.
BEAHAM sang on bottled porter.
CATLEY (Miss) took linseed tea and madeira.
COOKE (G.F.) drank everything.
HENDEESON, gum arable and sherry.
INCLEDON sang on madeira.
JOEDAN (Mrs.) drank calves'-foot jelly and sherry.
KEAN (C.) took beef-tea for breakfast, and preferred a rump-steak for dinner.
KEAN (Edm.) EMERY and REEVE drank cold brandy-and-water.
KEMBLE (John) took opium.
LEWIS, mulled wine and oysters.
MACEEADY used to eat the lean of mutton-chops when he acted, and subsequently lived almost wholly on a vegetable diet.
OXBERRY drank tea.
RUSSELL (Henry) took a boiled egg.
SMITH (W.) drank coffee.
WOOD (Mrs.) sang on draught porter.
WEENCH and HAELEY took no refreshment during a performance.—W. O. Russell, Representative Actors. 272.
Die'trich (2 syl.). So Theod'oric The Great is called by the German minnesingers. In the terrible broil stirred up by Queen Kriemhild in the banquet hall of Etzel, Dietrich interfered, and succeeded in capturing Hagan and the Burgundian King Ghinther. These he handed over to the queen, praying her to set them free; but she cut off both their heads with her own hands.—The Niebelungen Lied (thirteenth century.)
Dietrich (John), a laborer's son of Pomerania. He spent twelve years under ground, where he met Elizabeth Krabbin, daughter of the minister of his own village, Rambin. One day, walking together, they heard a cock crow, and an irresistible desire came over both of them to visit the upper earth, John so frightened the elves by a toad, that they yielded to his wish, and gave him hoards of wealth, with part of which he bought half the island of Riigen. He married Elizabeth, and became founder of a very powerful family.—Keightley, Fairy Mythology. (See TANHAUSER.)
Dietz (Bernard). Broad-shouldered giant who wears an air of deep and gentle repose, and comes like a benediction from heaven to the sick room of Count Hugo in Blanche Willis Howard's novel The Open Door. He is a stone-mason who says with a genial laugh,
"I hope if I'm lucky enough to get into the New Jerusalem they talk about, there'll still be a little building going on, for I shouldn't feel at home without a block of stone to clip."
His grand simplicity and strong common sense medicine the morbid soul of the more nobly-born man. His argument against the suicide Hugo contemplates as an open door out of the world, surprises the listener profoundly.
"You see, you can never destroy anything. You can only seem to. The life in us—it doesn't ask us if we want to be born,—it doesn't ask us if we want to die. It is beyond us, and I don't believe it can be destroyed" (1889).
Dieu et Mon Droit, the parole of Richard I. at the battle of Gisors (1198).
Diggery, one of the house-servants at Strawberry Hall. Being stage-struck, he inoculates his fellow-servants (Cymon and Wat) with the same taste. In the same house is an heiress named Kitty Sprightly (a ward of Sir Gilbert Pumpkin), also stage-struck. Diggery's favorite character is "Alexander the Great," the son of "Almon." One day, playing Romeo and Juliet, he turns the oven into the balcony, but, being rung for, the girl acting "Juliet" is nearly roasted alive. (See DIGGORY.)—J. Jackman, All the World's a Stage.
Digges (Miss Maria), a friend of Lady Penfeather; a visitor at the Spa.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan's Well (time, George III.).
Diggon [Davie], a shepherd in the Shephearde's Calendar, by Spenser. He tells Hobbinol that he drove his sheep into foreign lands, hoping to find better pasture; but he was amazed at the luxury and profligacy of the shepherds whom he saw there, and the wretched condition of the flocks. He refers to the Roman Catholic clergy, and their abandoned mode of life. Diggon also tells Hobbinol a long story about Roffynn (the bishop of Rochester) and his watchful dog Lauder catching a wolf in sheep's clothing in the fold.—Ecl. ix. (September, 1572 or 1578).
Diggory, a barn laborer, employed on state occasions for butler and footman by Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle. He is both awkward and familiar, laughs at his master's jokes and talks to his master's guests while serving. (See DIGGERY.)—Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer. (1773).
Diggory (Father), one of the monks of St. Botolph's Priory.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).
Dimanche, (Mons.), a dun. Mons. Dimanche, a tradesman, applies to Don Juan for money. Don Juan treats him with all imaginable courtesy, but every time he attempts to revert to business interrupts him with some such question as, Comment se porte Madame Dimanche? or Et votre petite fille Claudine comment se porte-t-ell? or Le petit Colin fait-il toujours bien du bruit avec son tambour? or Ét votre petit chien Brusquet, gronde-t-il toujours aussi fort ...? and, after a time, he says he is very sorry, but he must say good-bye for the present, and he leaves Mons. without his once stating the object of his call. (See SHUFFLETON.) Molière, Don Juan (1665).
Dimmesdale (Arthur). Master Prynne, an English physician living in Amsterdam, having determined to join the Massachusetts Colony, sent his young wife Hester before him to await his coming. He was detained two years, and on reaching Boston, the first sight that met his eyes was his wife standing in the pillory with a young babe in her arms and with the letter A, the mark of her shame, embroidered in scarlet on her breast. A young clergyman, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, regarded by all the people as a saint, too good for earth, was earnestly exhorting her to declare the name of the child's father, but she steadfastly refused, and was sent back to prison. Prynne who had heard in Amsterdam rumors of his wife's infidelity, both to discover her betrayer and to hide his own relation to his wife, had taken the name of Roger Chillingworth, and with eyes sharpened by jealousy and wounded pride, soon discovered that his wife's lover was no other than Dimmesdale himself. As a physician and under the guise of friendship he attached himself to the minister, and pursued his ghastly search for the secret cause that was eating away his life. How it all ended is shown in that wonderful book where, as in a Greek drama, the fates of Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and the love-child, Little Pearl, are traced in lines of fire.—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.
Dinant', a gentleman who once loved and still pretends to love Lamira. the wife of Champernel.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Little French Lawyer (1647).
Dinarza'de (4 syl.), sister of Scheherazadê, Sultana of Persia. Dinarzadê was instructed by her sister to wake her every morning an hour before daybreak, and say, "Sister, relate to me one of those delightful stories you know," or "Finish before daybreak the story you began yesterday." The sultan got interested in these tales, and revoked the cruel determination he had made of strangling at daybreak the wife he had married the preceeding night. (See SCHEHERAZADE.)
Dinas Emrys, or "Fort of Ambrose" (i.e. Merlin), on the Brith, a part of Snowdon. When Vortigern built this fort, whatever was constructed during the day was swallowed up in the earth during the night. Merlin (then called Ambrose or Embres-Guletic) discovered the cause to be "two serpents at the bottom of a pool below the foundation of the works." These serpents were incessantly struggling with each other; one was white, and the other red. The white serpent at first prevaled, but ultimately the red one chased the other out of the pool. The red serpent, he said, meant the Britons, and the white one the Saxons. At first the Saxons (or white serpent) prevailed, but in the end "our people" the red serpent "shall chase the Saxon race beyond the sea."—Nennius, History of the Britons (842).
And from the top of Brith, so high and wondrous
steep
Where Dinas Emris stood, showed where
the serpents fought
The white that tore the red, for whence the
prophet taught
The Britons' sad decay.
Drayton, Polyolbion, x, (1612).
Dine with Duke Humphrey (To), to have no dinner to go to. The Duke referred to was the son of Henry IV., murdered at St. Edmundsbury, and buried at St. Alban's. It was generally thought that he was buried in the nave of St. Paul's Cathedral; but the monument supposed to be erected to the duke was in reality that of John Beauchamp. Loungers, who were asked if they were not going home to dinner, and those who tarried in St. Paul's after the general crowd had left, were supposed to be so busy looking for the duke's monument that they disregarded the dinner hour.
Diner-Out of the First Water, the Rev. Sidney Smith; so called by the Quarterly Review (1769-1845).
Dingle (Old Dick of the), friend of Hobbie Elliott of the Heugh-foot farm.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time, Anne).
Dingwall (Davie), the attorney at Wolfe's Hope village.—Sir W. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor (time William III.).
Dinias and Dercyllis (The Wanderings, Adventures, and Loves of), an old Greek novel, the basis of the romance of Antonius Diog'enês in twenty-four books and entitled Incredible Things beyond Thule [Ta HuperThoulen Apista], a store-house from which subsequent writers have borrowed largely. The work is not extant, but Photius gives an outline of its contents.
Dinmont (Dandy, i.e. Andrew), an eccentric and humorous store farmer at Charlie's Hope. He is called "The fighting Dinmont of Liddesdale."
Ailie Dinmont, wife of Dandy Dinmont.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time George II.).
This novel has been dramatized by Daniel Terry.
Dinner Bell. Burke was so called from his custom of speaking so long as to interfere with the dinner of the members (1729-1797).
Diocle'tian, the king and father of Erastus, who was placed under the charge of the "seven wise masters" (Italian version).
In the French version, the father is called "Dolop'athos."—Sandabar's Parables.
Diog'enes, Greek cynic, who carried a lantern at noon, to search for an honest man.
Diog'enes (4 syl.), the negro slave of the cynic philosopher Michael Agelestês (4 syl.).—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
Di'omede (3 syl.), fed his horses on human flesh, and he was himself eaten by his horse, being thrown to it by Herculês.
Dion (Lord), father of Euphra'sia. Euphrasia is in love with Philaster, heir to the crown of Messi'na. Disguised as a page, Euphrasia assumes the name of Bellario and enters the service of Philaster.—Beaumont and Fletcher, Philaster or Love Lies a-bleeding (1638).
(There is considerable resemblance between "Euphrasia" and "Viola" in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 1614).
Dionæ'an Cæsar, Julius Cæsar, who claimed descent from Venus, called Dionê from her mother. Æneas was son of Venus and Anchisês.
Ecce, Dionæi processit Cæsaris astrum.
Virgil,
Eclogues
, ix. 47.
Dio'ne (3 syl.), mother of Aphroditê (Venus), Zeus or Jove being the father. Venus herself is sometimes called Dionê.
Oh, bear ... thy treasures to the green recess,
Where young Dionê strays; with sweetest airs
Entice her forth to lend her angel form
For Beauty's honored image.
Akenside,
Pleasures of Imagination
, (1744).
Dionys'ia, wife of Cleon, governor of Tarsus. Periclês prince of Tyre commits to her charge his infant daughter Mari'na, supposed to be motherless. When her foster-child is fourteen years old, Dionysia, out of jealousy, employs a man to murder her, and the people of Tarsus, hearing thereof, set fire to her house, and both Dionysia and Cleon are burnt to death in the flames,—Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1608).
Dionys'ius, tyrant of Syracuse, dethroned Evander, and imprisoned him in a dungeon deep in a huge rock, intending to starve him to death. But Euphrasia, having gained access to him, fed him from her own breast. Timoleon invaded Syracuse, and Dionysius, seeking safety in a tomb, saw there Evander the deposed king, and was about to kill him, when Euphrasia rushed forward, struck the tyrant to the heart, and he fell dead at her feet.—A. Murphy, The Grecian Daughter (1772).
In this tragedy there are several gross historical errors. In act i. the author tells us it was Dionysius the Elder who was dethroned, and went in exile to Corinth; but the elder Dionysius died in Syracuse, at the age of 63, and it was the younger Dionysius who was dethroned by Timoleon, and went to Corinth. In act v. he makes Euphrasia kill the tyrant in Syracuse, whereas he was allowed to leave Sicily, and retired to Corinth, where he spent his time in riotous living, etc.
Dionys'ius [THE ELDER] was appointed sole general of the Syracusan army, and then king by the voice of the senate. Damon "the Pythagorean" opposed the appointment, and even tried to stab "the tyrant," but was arrested and condemned to death. The incidents whereby he was saved are to be found under the article DA'MON (q.v.).
Damon and Pythias, a drama by R. Edwards (1571), and another by John Banim, in 1825.
Dionys'ius [THE YOUNGER], being banished from Syracuse, went to Corinth and turned schoolmaster.
Corinth's pedagogue hath now
Transferred his byword
[tyrant]
to thy brow.
Byron,
Ode to Napoleon
,
Dionysius the Areopagite was one of the judges of the Areopagite when St. Paul appeared before this tribunal. Certain writings, fabricated by the neo-platonicians in the fifth century, were falsely ascribed to him. The Isido'rian Decretals is a somewhat similar forgery by Mentz, who lived in the ninth century, or three hundred years after Isidore.
The error of those doctrines so vicious
Of the old Areopagite Dionysius.
Longfellow, The Golden Legend.
Dioscu'ri (sons of Zeus), Castor and Pollux. Generally, but incorrectly, accented on the second syllable.
Dioti'ma, the priestess of Mantineia in Plato's Symposium, the teacher of Soc'rates. Her opinions on life, its nature, origin, end, and aim, form the nucleus of the dialogue. Socratês died of hemlock.
Beneath an emerald plane
Sits Diotima, teaching him that died
Of Hemlock.
Tennyson, The Princess, iii.
Diplomatists (Prince of), Charles Maurice Talleyrand de Pèrigord (1754-1838).
Dipsas, a serpent, so called because those bitten by it suffered from intolerable thirst. (Greek, dipsa, "thirst.") Milton refers to it in Paradise Lost, x. 526 (1665).
Dipsodes (2 syl.), the people of Dipsody, ruled over by King Anarchus, and subjugated by Prince Pantag'ruel (bk. ii. 28). Pantagruel afterwards colonized their country with nine thousand million men from Utopia (or to speak more exactly, 9,876,543,210 men), besides women, children, workmen, professors, and peasant-laborers (bk. iii. I).—Rabelais, Pantag'ruel (1545).
Dip'sody, the country of the Dipsodes (2 syl), q.v.
Dircæ'an Swan, Pindar; so called from Dircê, a fountain in the neighborhood of Thebes, the poet's birthplace (B.C. 518-442.)
Dirlos or D'Yrlos (Count), a paladin, the embodiment of valor, generosity, and truth. He was sent by Charlemagne to the East, where he conquered Aliar'dê, a Moorish prince. On his return, he found his young wife betrothed to Celi'nos (another of Charlemagne's peers). The matter was put right by the king, who gave a grand feast on the occasion.
Disastrous Peace (The), the peace signed at Cateau-Cambrésis, by which Henri II. renounced all claim to Gen'oa, Naples, Mil'an, and Corsica (1559).
Dis'mas, the penitent thief; Gesmas the impenitent one.
Distaffi'na, the troth-plight wife of General Bombastês; but Artaxaminous, king of Utopia, promised her "half a crown" if she would forsake the general for himself—a temptation too great to be resisted. When the general found himself jilted, he retired from the world, hung up his boots on the branch of a tree, and dared any one to remove them. The king cut the boots down, and the general cut the king down. Fusbos, coming up at this crisis, laid the general prostrate. At the close of the burlesque all the dead men jump up and join the dance, promising "to die again to-morrow," if the audience desire it.—W. B. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso (1790.)
Falling on one knee, he put both hands on
his heart and rolled up his eyes, much after the
manner of Bombastes Furioso making love to
Distaffina.—E. Sargent.
Distressed Mother (The), a tragedy by Ambrose Philips (1712). The "distressed mother" is Androm'achê, the widow of Hector. At the fall of Troy she and her son Asty'anax fell to the lot of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, Pyrrhus fell in love with her and wished to marry her, but she refused him. At length an embassy from Greece, headed by Orestês, son of Agamemnon, was sent to Epirus to demand the death of Astyanax, lest in manhood he might seek to avenge his father's death. Pyrrhus told Andromachê he would protect her son, and defy all Greece, if she would consent to marry him; and she yielded. While the marriage rites were going on, the Greek ambassadors fell on Pyrrhus and murdered him. As he fell he placed the crown on the head of Andromachê, who thus became queen of Epirus, and the Greeks hastened to their ships in flight. This play is an English adaptation of Racine's Andromaque (1667).
Ditchley (Gaffer), one of the miners employed by Sir Geoffrey Peveril.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Dithyrambic Poetry (Father of), Arion of Lesbos (fl. B.C. 625).
Ditton (Thomas) footman of the Rev. Mr. Staunton, of Willingham Rectory.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).
Divan (The), the supreme council and court of justice of the caliphs. The abbassides always sat in person in this court to aid in the redress of wrongs. It was called "a divan" from the benches covered with cushions on which the members sat.—D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientate, 298.
Dive [deev], a demon in Persian mythology. In the mogul's palace at Lahore, there used to be several pictures of these dives (1 syl), with long horns, staring eyes, shaggy hair, great fangs, ugly paws, long tails, and other horrible deformities.
Di'ver (Colonel), editor of the New York Rowdy Journal, in America. His air was that of a man oppressed by a sense of his own greatness, and his physiognomy was a map of cunning and conceit.—C. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844.)
Di'ves (2 syl.), the name popularly given to the "rich man" in our Lord's parable of the rich man and Lazarus; in Latin, Divês et Lazarus.—Luke xvi.
Divi'na Comme'dia, the first poem of note ever written in the Italian language. It is an epic by Dante' Alighie'ri, and is divided into three parts: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante' called it a comedy, because the ending is happy; and his countrymen added the word divine from admiration of the poem. The poet depicts a vision, in which he is conducted, first by Virgil (human reason,) through hell and purgatory; and then by Beatrice (revelation), and finally by St. Bernard, through the several heavens, where he beholds the Triune God.
"Hell," is represented as a funnel-shaped hollow, formed of gradually contracting circles, the lowest and smallest of which is the earth's centre. (See INFERNO, 1300).
"Purgatory" is a mountain rising solitarily from the ocean on that side of the earth which is opposite to us. It is divided into terraces, and its top is the terrestrial paradise. (See PURGATORY, 1308).
From this "top" the poet ascends through the seven planetary heavens, the fixed stars, and the "primum mobile" to the empyre'an or seat of God. (See PARADISE, 1311).
Divine (The), St. John the evangelist, called "John the Divine."
Raphael, the painter, was called Il Divino (1483-1520).
Luis Moralês, a Spanish painter, was called El Divino (1509-1586).
Ferdinand de Herre'ra, a Spanish poet (1516-1595).
Divine Doctor (The), Jean de Ruysbroek, the mystic (1294-1381).
Divine Speaker (The) Tyr'tamos, usually known as Theophrastos ("divine speaker"), was so called by Aristotle (B.C. 370-287).
Divine Right of Kings. The dogma that Kings can do no wrong is based on a dictum of Hincmar Archbishop of Rheims, viz., that kings are subject to no man so long as they rule by God's law.—Hincmar's Works, i. 693.
Divining Rod, a forked branch of hazel suspended between the balls of the thumbs. The inclination of this rod indicates the presence of water-springs and precious metals.
Now to rivulets from the mountains
Point the rods of fortune-tellers.
Longfellow, Drinking Song.
Jacques Aymar of Crôle was the most famous of all diviners. He lived in the latter half of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth. His marvellous faculty attracted the attention of Europe. M. Chauvin, M.D., and M. Garnier, M.D., published carefully written accounts of his wonderful powers, and both were eye-witnesses thereof.—See S. Baring-Gould, Myths of the Middle Ages.