Cyrenaics, Cyrenians

pl. ( Phil.) A sect of ancient philosophers, whose founder, like that of the Cynics, had been a disciple of So crates, being Aristippus, a native of Cyrene, in Africa, after which city his folfowers were called. His great maxim was, that a man ought to control circumstances, and not be controlled by them. According to him, the sum of life was made up of pleasure and pain; the one to be sought after as good, the other to be avoided as evil. The chief good, according to him, was the greatest number of agreeable perceptions; and the true philosopher was one who actively and succe fully pursued pleasure. He taught that man ought to devote himself entirely to the enjoyment of the present moment, neither regretting the past nor caring for the future. Every act was regarded to be in itself morally indifferent; and only to be viewed as it produced pleasure or pain to the individual. The chief succe ors of Aristippus were The odor us, Hegesias, and An nicer is, each of whom became the founder of a sect known respectively as the The odor an , Hegesian , and An nicer i an schools. As Cynicism was the forerunner of Stoicism, so Cyrenaicism paved the way for Epicureanism, which constitutes its chief merit. Cyre'ne. ( Anc . Geog. The capital of Cyrenaica, was founded by Battus and his followers from Thera, B. c. 631. Seven kings of this race succeeded, and about в. с. 450 а геpublic was established. It was afterwards made subject to Egypt, and pa ed under the dominion of Rome, в. с. 74. The ruins of this town, called Ghrennah by the Turks, still exist, in a beautiful and fertile plain, about 11 m. from the Mediterranean Sea, and attest its former magnificence. It was the birthplace of many great men, among whom were Call i mach us, Eratosthenes, Carneades, Aristippus, . Cyrilla'ceæ n . pl . ( Bot .) A small order of plants. alliance Berberales , consisting of shrubs with regular symmetrical flowers having an imbricated corolla; the stamens alternating with the petals; axile placentæ; and pendulous ovules. There are 3 genera including 5 species of little importance. Cyr'il. (St.) See ST. CYRIL.