IDIOCY. as IDOMENEUS. be a party to this formal contract, for he could not ask the question nor s|H'nk the response. JMifiies.s also incupacituted one for such a con- tract, by preventinf; his hearing; the question or tlio answer. But the civil law never counte- nanceil the presumption that a deaf and dumb person wa.s mentally incapable of enleriuf; into a consensual contract. Jn modern Enj,'lish law the |iresuiiiption is only /oiwin /(/en, and may be repelled by evidence, that the particular per- .son whose competency is brought into question Uoe.s possess sullieient intelliponce to rank as one of sound mind. Consult: the Commentaries of Hlaekstone and Kent: Holmes, Misunderstand- iiiii.i of the Viiil Law. 6 Am. Law Rev., 37; and the authorities referred to undcT Medical Jubis- I'KIOE.NCE. IDIOM ( Lat. idiomn, Gk. ISluiim, idiSma, pe- ruli:iiily. from iSiOva0ai, idiousthai, to make one's own. from Kiot, idius, one's own, pecu- liar). A term uscil to denote a phrase or form of words approved by the {reneral usa^'e of a lanf.'uaj,i', while in many cases it will admit of neither {rranimati<'al noi logical analysis. In a broader sense, it denotes the genius or peculiar cast of a language; hence it is often applied to a peculiar form or variation of a language, a dialect. IDIOP'ATHY (from Gk. Idtoirdeeia, idlopa- Ihcid. piciiliar feeling, from Mi07ra*i}$, idiopa- thi-s, alfected fK'Culiarly, from fSioj, idios, pecu- liar + Td9os, jxtthos. feeling!. Idiosyncrasy (q.v. ) ; peculiar susceptibility. The term is also used of the i]wality of being idiopathic. . disease is called idiopathic as distinguished from one resulting from a wound, traumatic. An idio- ])athic disease is therefore an idiopathy. ID'IOSYN'CRASY (Ok. ISiOiTvyKpaTla, idiosyn- hiiinid. pc(iili;ii' tciii|K'ramont, from ISiot, idios, peculiar + aiyKpaair, xynkrasis, mixture, from avyxtpavvivai, sniihtraiiniinoi, to mix together, from aiv, aim. together + Kepavyimt. keranny- 51(11, to mix, from icpacrir, krasis, mixture). .An inilividual trait or constitutional peculiarity. Thus, there are persons who have a great dis- like to |)arlicvilar kinds of food, smells, sounds, etc.. which to most |)ersiins are agreeable; and. on the other hand, a desire is sometimes mani- fested for things generally disliked. In partic- ular individuals an eruption of the skin will be caused by eating strawberries, or fainting by the smell of a rose, when the person is un- aware of the cause. Idiosyncrasies also occur in consequence of which certain medicines be- come inoperative, or certain poisons harmless. Idiosyncrasies are either permanent or tempo- rary, sometimes arising from mere morbid con- ditions, and disappearing along with them. The term is also employed to denote mental, as well as phiislrnl peculiarities, which are often signs of insanity, such as baseless antipathies to cer- tain persons, bizarre arrangement of articles in one's room, permanent dread of passing certain olijccts. etc. IDLE LAKE. In Spenser's Faerie Queene, the lake on which Pha-dria sailed. IDLER, The. The title of a series of papers by Dr. .Johnson, published in Pavne's Universal Chronicle (1758-60). IDOL (OF. idnle. T.at. idnhim. from Ok. rfSu- Xo», li.lolon, image, from tlHmi. eidenai. Skt. vid, to know, Lat. videre, to see). An image in- tended to represent a deity, and to Ik- adored aa such. The act of such adoration is idolatry. Through theological usage, the term idolatry has come to mean in a general sense any worship or obeisance paid to any other than the Su- preme Being as conceived by Judaism, Chris- tianity, or Islam. Conlining our.s<dves to the more restricted usage, the worship of idols ap- jicars to be a phase of religious evolution that is natural to nam at a certain stage of culture. It arises from the desire to furnish some tangible evidence of the presence of the powers upon whom man feels himself to be dependent. In this sense idolatry is to be distinguished from the attribution of rlivine force to a sacred stone, river, or other object. The sanctity is inherent, for one reason or the other, in such objects themselves, whereas the sanctity of an idol is due to its Ix'ing a symbol. It becomes evident, therefore, that while the direct worship of ob- jects is a link in leading to a symbolical image- worship, the latter Ixdongs to a phase of re- ligious thought transcending the more primi- tive manifestations of the religious instinct. This thesis linds an illustration in the religious history of the Semites, as well as in that of the (Greeks and Homans. The localization of nature deities, such as the sun, moon, and certain planets, led in the case of the Babylonians and Kgj'ptians to representation of the gods of a more or less fanciful character, and the develop- ment of the art instinct acts as a powerful factor in promoting and maintaining the worship of these gods under the form of images of men or animals, or of a combination of the two. The induence e.xertcd by Babylonian and Kg^ptian culture led the nations of Palestine — notably the Pho'nician.s — to replace poles and stones by sym- bolical representations of the gods, and the Hebrews liUewi.sc after they had advanced to the agricultural stage fell a prey to these same influ- ences until, through the reaction brought about by the teachings of the prophets, an emphatic jirotest against all manner of idolatry is em- bodied in the religious system and cult of post- exilic Judaism. The rise of Christianity helped to spread the doctrine further, though the Chris- tian veneration of sacred images (see I.MAOE-
OKSUIP) was by some confounded with idolatry.
Islam struck at the root of the matter by foriiidding the making of any representation of any living thing, whether intended to be worshiped or not (cf. Ex. xx. 4). To give life was felt to be the exclusive prerogative of God. and to attempt to reproduce even the external form of a living thing was regarded as impiety. As a consequence wherever Islam se- ctired a foothold idolatry was doomed. Zoroas- trianism at least did not encourage idolatry, but it is noticeable that in the extreme East — India, China, and .Japan — idolatry was not only reconciled with the remarkable development of religious thought that took place in those regions, hut its hold seemed to grow stronger with each new phase in this evolution. IDOM'ENEUS (Lat., from Ok. 'ISotuveOc). The grandson of Minos, and son of neucalion of Crete. As ruler of Oiosus and Crete, he led 80 ships to Troy. In the fliad he is described as one of the mightiest of the heroes, and in the battle at the ships he plays a leading part. The earlv history makes him return to his home in
