old Olynthian captive, to serve as a model, that he might be able to portray correctly the agonies of Prometheus while the Vulture preyed upon his vitals. This story is doubtless a fiction, as it is found nowhere but in the Controversies. Olynthus was taken by Philip of Macedon, B. C. 347, about forty years subsequent to the latest accounts of Parrhasius.
THE VANITY OF PARRHASIUS.
This great artist was well aware of his powers,
but the applause which he received, added to a naturally
vain and conceited disposition, so completely
carried him away, that Pliny terms him "the most
insolent and the most arrogant of artists." He assumed
the title of The Elegant, styled himself the
Prince of Painters, wrote an epigram upon himself,
in which he proclaimed his birth, and declared
that he had carried the art to perfection. He
clothed himself in purple, and wore a wreath of
gold on his head; and when he appeared on public
occasions, particularly at the Olympic games, he
changed his robes several times a day. He went
so far as to pretend that he was descended from
Apollo, one of whose surnames was Parrhasius,
and even to dedicate his own portrait as Mercury
in a temple, and thus received the adoration of the
multitude.
THE INVENTION OF THE CORINTHIAN CAPITAL.
About B. C. 550, there died at Corinth a marriageable
virgin; and her nurse, according to the
