, the horn
is sounded, and Ernani stabs himself.--Verdi, _Ernani_ (an opera,
1841).

ERNEST (_Duke_), son-in-law of Kaiser Konrad II. He murders his feudal
lord, and goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to expiate his crime.
The poem so called is a mixture of Homeric legends, Oriental myths,
and pilgrims' tales. We have pygmies and cyclopses, genii and
enchanters, fairies and dwarfs, monks and devotees. After a world of
hair-breadth escapes, the duke reaches the Holy Sepulchre, pays
his vows, returns to Germany, and is pardoned.--Henry Von Veldig
(minnesinger), _Duke Ernest_ (twelfth century).

ERNEST DE FRIDBERG, "the prisoner of the State." He was imprisoned in
the dungeon of the Giant's Mount fortress for fifteen years on a false
charge of treason. Ul'rica (his natural daughter by the countess
Marie), dressed in the clothes of Herman, the deaf and dumb
jailor-boy, gets access to the dungeon and contrives his escape; but
he is retaken, and led back to the dungeon. Being subsequently set at
liberty, he marries the countess Marie (the mother of Ulrica).--E.
Stirling, _The Prisoner of State_ (1847.)

EROS, the manumitted slave of Antony the triumvir. Antony made Eros
swear that he would kill him if commanded by him so to do. When in
Egypt, Antony after the battle of Actium, fearing lest he should fall
into the hands of Octavius Caesar, ordered Eros to keep his promise.
Eros drew his sword, but thrust it into his own side, and fell dead at
the feet of Antony. "O noble Eros," cried Antony, "I thank thee for
teaching me how to die!"--Plutarch.

[Illustration] Eros is introduced in Shakespeare's _Antony and
Cleopatra_, and in Dryden's _All for Love or the World Well Lost_.

(Eros is the Greek name of Cupid, and hence amorous poetry is called
Erotic.)

EROS'TRATOS (in Latin EROSTRATUS), the incendiary who set fire to the
temple of Diana of Ephesus, that his name might be perpetuated. An
edict was published, prohibiting any mention of the name, but the
edict was wholly ineffective.

[Illustration] Charles V., wishing to be shown over the Pantheon [_All
Saints_] of Rome, was taken to the top by a Roman knight. At parting,
the knight told the emperor that he felt an almost irresistible desire
to push his majesty down from the top of the building, "in order to
immortalize his name." Unlike Erostratos, the name of this knight has
not transpired. ERO'TA, a very beautiful but most imperious princess,
passionately beloved