scriptions of Socrates, and the elegance of their style. Three pseudo-Platonic dialogues are conjecturally ascribed to him; That Virtue can he Taught; Axiŏchus, or on Death, and Eryxias, or on Riches. But it is doubtful whether they are really from his hand.
(2) Æschines the Orator, born at Athens b.c. 389, in a low station. As a youth, he assisted his father in keeping an elementary school, then acted as clerk to several inferior magistrates, was for a time an actor in third-rate parts, till an accident removed him from the stage, when he became secretary to the esteemed orators and statesmen Aristophon and Eubūlus, at whose recommendation he was twice elected to a government clerkship. Having thus acquired a sound knowledge of the laws and of legal proceedings, and being gifted with considerable talent, fine elocution and a dignified manner, to which his experience on the stage had contributed, he now came forward as a public speaker, and soon became an important personage. As a member of the embassy sent to Philip of Macedon for the conclusion of peace, b.c. 347, he was won over by the king to second the plans which proved so fatal to Athens, and was therefore accused of high treason by Timarchus and Demosthenes in b.c. 345; but he managed to clear himself by a triumphant attack on the private life of Timarchus. In b.c. 342 Demosthenes, who hated him, the head of the Macedonian party, as bitterly as he was hated by him, renewed the charge in his oration On the False Embassy. Æschines, however, met it successfully by an equally brilliant speech bearing the same title. His unpatriotic conduct occasioned the war with Philip, which led to the overthrow of the Athenians and Thebans at Chæronēa, 338, and set the seal to the Macedonian supremacy over Greece. His own fall at last was brought on by his hatred of Demosthenes. Æschines had previously brought a charge of illegality against Ctēsĭphōn for proposing the distinction of a golden crown for Demosthenes. The charge was repeated b.c. 330, in a brilliant oration nominally directed Against Ctesiphon, but really aimed at his old rival. He was completely crushed by Demosthenes' great speech On the Crown, and being condemned to pay a fine of 1,000 drachmas, went into voluntary exile at Rhodes, where he is said to have opened a school of oratory. Thence he removed to Samos, and died b.c. 314. Beside the three orations named (Against Timarchus, On the False Embassy, Against Ctesiphon), we have under his name a collection of twelve letters professing to be written from Rhodes, but really forged by a later hand. Among the orators of his time Æschines ranks next to Demosthenes. His orations are elaborated with the utmost care and reflexion, they have fulness, force, smoothness, and grace; but lack the terseness, the rhythm, and the moral inspiration of those of Demosthenes. They were spoken of in antiquity as the Three Graces.
Æschy̌lŭs. The earliest of the three great tragic poets of Greece, son of Euphŏriōn. He was born at Eleusis, near Athens, b.c. 525, of an old and noble stock, fought at Marathon, Sălămis and Platææ, and in his 25th year appeared as a writer of tragedies and rival of Pratĭnas and Chœrĭlus, though he did not win his first victory till 488 b.c. About 476 he lived in Sicily, at the court of Hiero of Syracuse, and composed his Ætnœans for the consecration of the city of Ætna, founded by that king in the place of the ancient Cătăna. On his return to Athens he was beaten by the young Sophŏcles with his very first play, but vanquished him again the next year with the Tetralogy of which the Seven against Thebes formed a part. After the performance of his Oresteia, b.c. 459, he quitted home once more, perhaps in disgust at the growing power of the democracy; and after three years’ residence at Gela in Sicily, was killed, says one story, by an eagle dropping a tortoise on his bare skull. The inhabitants of Gela buried his remains, and honoured them with a splendid monument. At a later time the Athenians, on the motion of the orator Lycurgus, placed a brazen statue of him, as well as of Sophocles and Eurĭpīdes, in the theatre; by a decree of the people a chorus was granted for every performance of his plays, and the garland of victory voted him as though he were still living among them. His tragedies, like those of the other two, were preserved in a special standard copy, to guard them against arbitrary alterations. His son Euphorion was also an esteemed tragic poet, so was his sister’s son Phĭlŏcles and his descendants for several generations. (See Tragedy.) The number of Æschylus's plays is stated as 90, of which 82 are still known by title, but only 7 are preserved: (1) The Persians, performed in 473 b.c., was named from the chorus. Its subject was the same as that of Phrynichus' Phœnissæ, the defeat of Xerxes at Salamis, but was differently treated. (2) The Seven
