n, whose reign was marked by
a great persecution of the Christians. This Efeso or Ephesus was
appointed to see the decree of the emperor against the obnoxious sect
carried out in the island of Sardinia; but being warned in a dream not
to persecute the servants of the Lord, both he and his friend Potito
embraced Christianity, and received a standard from Michael the
archangel himself. On one occasion, being taken captive, St. Efeso was
cast into a furnace of fire, but received no injury; whereas those who
cast him in were consumed by the flames. Ultimately, both Efeso and
Potito suffered martyrdom, and were buried in the island of Sardinia.
When, however, that island was conquered by Pisa in the eleventh
century, the relics of the two martyrs were carried off and interred
in the duomo of Pisa, and the banner of St. Efeso was thenceforth
adopted as the national ensign of Pisa.

EGALITE (_Philippe_), the duc d'Orleans, father of Louis Philippe,
king of France. He himself assumed this "title" when he joined the
revolutionary party, whose motto was "Liberty, Fraternity, and
Egalite" (born 1747, guillotined 1793).

EGE'US (3 _syl_.), father of Her'mia. He summoned her before The'seus
(2 _syl_.), duke of Athens, because she refused to marry Demetrius, to
whom he had promised her in marriage; and he requested that she might
either be compelled to marry him or else be dealt with "according to
law," _i.e._ "either to die the death," or else to "endure the livery
of a nun, and live a barren sister all her life." Hermia refused to
submit to an "unwished yoke," and fled from Athens with Lysander.
Demetrius, seeing that Hermia disliked him but that Hel'ena doted on
him, consented to abandon the one and wed the other. When Egeus was
informed thereof, he withdrew his summons, and gave his consent to the
union of his daughter with Lysander.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night's
Dream_ (1592).

[Illustration] S. Knowles, in _The Wife_, makes the plot turn on a
similar "law of marriage" (1833).

E'GIL, brother of Weland; a great archer. One day, King Nidung
commanded him to shoot at an apple placed on the head of his own son.
Egil selected two arrows, and being asked why he wanted two, replied,
"One to shoot thee with, O tyrant, if I fail."

(This is one of the many stories similar to that of _William Tell,
q.v._) EGILO'NA, the wife of Roderick, last of the Gothic kings of
Spain. She was very beautiful, but cold-hearted, vain, and fond o