an officer of Alexander, who received Cilicia at the general division of the provinces. —A son of Ptolemy, who was given to Pelopidas as an hostage.—A dithyrambic poet of Cythera. He enjoyed the favour of Dionysius tyrant of Sicily for some time, till he offended him by seducing one of his female fingers. During his confinement Philoxenus composed an allegorical poem called Cyclops; in which he had delineated the character of the tyrant under the name of Polyphemus, and represented his mistresses under the name of Galatea, and himself under that of Ulysses. The tyrant, who was fond of writing poetry, and of being applauded, removed Philoxenus from his dungeon; but the poet refused to purchase his liberty by faying things unworthy of himself, and applauding the wretched verses of Dionysius, and therefore he was sent to the quarries. Being let at liberty, he some time after was asked his opinion at a feast about some verses which Dionysius had just repeated, and which the courtiers had received with the greatest applause. Philoxenus gave no answer, but he ordered the guards that surrounded the tyrant's table to take him back to the quarries. Dionysius was pleased with his pleasantry and with his firmness, and immediately forgave him. Philoxenus died at Ephesus about 380 years before Christ.

PHILITRE, or PHILITRE, (Philtrum), in Pharmacy, &c. a strainer.

PHILITRE, is also used for a drug or preparation, which it is pretended will excite love.—The word is formed from the Greek φιλεω, "I love," or φιλος, "lover." Philters are distinguished into true and spurious, and were given by the Greeks and Romans to excite love. The spurious are spells or charms, supposed to have an effect beyond the ordinary laws of nature by some magical virtue; such are those said to be given by old women, witches, &c.—The true philters are those supposed to work their effect by some natural and magnetic power. There are many grave authors who believe the reality of these philters, and allege matter of fact in confirmation of their sentiments: among the rest, Van Helmont, who says, that upon holding a certain herb in his hand for some time, and taking afterwards a little dog by the foot with the same hand, the dog followed him wherever he went, and quite deserted his former master; which he pretends to account for thus: The heat communicated to the herb, not coming alone, but animated by the emanations of the natural spirits, determines the herb towards the man, and identifies it to him: having then received this ferment, it attracts the spirit of the other object magnetically, and gives it an amorous motion.—But this is mere cant; and all philters, whatever facts may be alleged, are mere chimeras.