Eocene \'e-9-,sen\ Epoch Major division of the Tertiary Period, from 54.8 to 33.7 million years ago. It follows the Paleocene Epoch and pre¬ cedes the Oligocene Epoch. The name, derived from the Greek eos (“dawn”), refers to the dawn of recent life; during the Eocene, all the major divisions, or orders, of modem mammals appeared, as well as many essentially modern bird orders. Climates were warm and humid. Temper¬ ate and subtropical forests were widespread, but grasslands were limited.
Eochaid Ollathair See Dagda
Eohippus \,e-6-'hi-p3s\ Former name of a genus of ancestral horses, commonly called dawn horses, that flourished in North America during the Early Eocene Epoch (54.8^19 million years ago). It is now classified with European species in the genus Hyracotherium. Eohippus stood 1-2 ft (30-60 cm) high at the shoulders and was adapted to running, with hind legs longer than the forelegs. The body was lightly constructed, with slender legs and elongated feet that were functionally three-toed (though the front feet had four toes). The skull varied from shortened (primitive) to relatively long (more horselike).
Eolie \a-'6-le-,a\ Islands or Lipari \'li-pa-re\ Islands Volcanic island group, Tyrrhenian Sea, in the west-central Mediterranean Sea. Located off the northern coast of Sicily, the seven major islands and several islets have a total land area of 34 sq mi (88 sq km). The major islands are Ali- cudi, Eilcudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina, Stromboli, and Vulcano. Vulcano and Stromboli are active volcanoes. The Greeks believed the islands to be the home of the god Aeolus, king of the winds. They have been inhab¬ ited since the Neolithic Period and were held successively by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Saracens, Normans, Angevins, and Aragonese.
eon Long span of geologic time. In formal usage, eons are the longest portions of geologic time (eras are the second-longest). Three eons are recognized: the Phanerozoic Eon (dating from the present back to the beginning of the Cambrian Period), the Proterozoic Eon, and the Archean Eon. Less formally, eon often refers to a span of one billion years.
eon (Gnosticism) See aeon
EPA See Environmental Protection Agency
Epaminondas U-.pam-s-'nan-dosV (b. c. 410, Thebes—d. 362 bc, Man- tineia) Theban statesman, tactician, and leader. He defeated the Spartans at Leuctra in 371, using a new strategy that attacked the opponent’s stron¬ gest point first with overwhelming power, and made Thebes the most powerful state in Greece. He led four more successful expeditions into the Peloponnese. In 370-369 he freed the Messenian helots from Spartan enslavement. In 362, at the head of a large allied force, he defeated Sparta, Athens, and their allies at Mantineia, but he was mortally wounded.
ephemeris Vi-'fe-ms-rosX Table of the positions of celestial bodies at regular intervals, often with supplementary information. Constructed as early as the 4th century bc, ephemerides are still essential to astronomers
and navigators. Modern ephemerides are calculated, with heavy comput¬ ing and careful checking, after a mathematical description of a heavenly body’s observed motion has been evolved. Various national ephemerides are published regularly; the U.S. ephemeris, first published in 1852, became the best and is now published jointly with the U.K. as The Astro¬ nomical Almanac.
Ephesus Ve-f3-s3s\ Ancient Ionian Greek city; its ruins lie near the modern village of Selguk in western Turkey. It was situated south of the Cayster River and was the site of the Temple of Artemis. Traditionally founded by the Carians, it was one of the 12 Ionian Cities and was involved in the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. It was taken by Alexander the Great c. 334 bc and prospered throughout the Hellenistic period. It passed to Rome in 133 bc and under the emperor Augustus became the capital of the Roman province of Asia. It was an early seat of Christian¬ ity, which was visited by St. Paul; the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians was directed to the residents of the city. The Goths destroyed the city and temple in ad 262; neither ever recovered. There are extensively excavated ruins at the modern site.
ephor Ve-far, 'e-,f6r\ (Greek ephoros ) Title of the five highest Spartan magistrates. With the two kings of Sparta they formed the state’s execu¬ tive wing. The list of ephors dates back to 754 bc. Every male citizen was eligible for election to the ephorate, which conducted meetings of the GER- ousia and apella and executed their decrees. The ephors’ extensive police powers allowed them to declare war on the helots annually, with legal license to attack and kill them if necessary. In an emergency they could even arrest and try a king.
epic Long, narrative poem in an elevated style that celebrates heroic achievement and treats themes of historical, national, religious, or leg¬ endary significance. Primary (or traditional) epics are shaped from the legends and traditions of a heroic age and are part of oral tradition; sec¬ ondary (or literary) epics are written down from the beginning, and their poets adapt aspects of traditional epics. The poems of Homer are usually regarded as the first important epics and the main source of epic conven¬ tions in western Europe. These conventions include the centrality of a hero, sometimes semidivine; an extensive, perhaps cosmic, setting; heroic battle; extended journeying; and the involvement of supernatural beings.
epic theatre Dramatic form developed in Germany after World War I by Bertolt Brecht and others, intended to provoke rational thought rather than to create illusion. It presents loosely connected scenes often inter¬ rupted by direct addresses to the audience providing analysis, argument, or documentation. Brecht’s goal was to use alienating or distancing effects to block the emotional responses of the audience members and force them to think objectively about the play. Actors were instructed to keep a dis¬ tance between themselves and the characters they portrayed and to empha¬ size external actions rather than emotions.
epicentre Point on the surface of the Earth that is directly above the source (or focus) of an earthquake. There the effects of the earthquake usually are most severe. See also seismology.
Epictetus \,ep-ik-'tet-3s\ (b. c. ad 55—d. c. 135) Greek philosopher associated with Stoicism. His original name is not known; epiktetos means “acquired.” He is not known to have written anything, but his teachings were transmitted by his pupil Arrian (d. c. ad 180) in two works, the Dis¬ courses and the Encheiridion. True education, Epictetus believed, con¬ sists in recognizing that the only thing that belongs to an individual fully is his will. Humans are not responsible for the ideas that present them¬ selves to their consciousness, though they are wholly responsible for how they react to them.
Epicureanism V.e-pi-kyu-'re-o-.ni-zom, .e-pi-'kyur-e-o-.ni-zomX Meta¬ physical and ethical doctrines taught by Epicurus. In metaphysics, the basic concepts of Epicureanism were atomism; mechanical causality limited by the spontaneous “swerve” of atoms, which accounted for the freedom of motion in man and animals; the infinity of the universe; and the existence of gods as beatified and immortal natures completely extraneous to hap¬ penings in the world. In ethics, the basic concepts were the identification of the good with pleasure and of the supreme good with the absence of bodily and mental pain; the limitation of all desire and the practice of virtue; withdrawal from public life; and the cultivation of friendship. Because of its dogmatic character and its practical end. Epicureanism did not lend itself easily to development.
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626 i Epicurus ► episome
Epicurus \,e-pi-'kyu-r9s\ (b. 341, Samos, Greece—d. 270 bc, Athens) Greek philosopher. He was author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement (see Epicureanism) and a metaphysics based on atomism. His school in Athens, the Gar¬ den, competed with the Academy of Plato and the Lyceum of Aristotle. Unlike both of these schools, it admitted women, and even one of Epicurus’s slaves. It taught the avoidance of political activity and of public life. Notwithstanding the usual con¬ notations of the term epicurean today, life at the school was simple. He was a widely appealing figure in Rome during the 1st century bc; the poet- philosopher Lucretius based his work on Epicurus’s thought. His atomism was revived in the 17th cen¬ tury by Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655).