ii^N£j»: ... 258 Castor and Pollux, 263 Perseus, ^sculapius, 267 Prometheus, Atlas, 273 Orpheus, and Amphion, Achilles, .... 279 Ulysses and Orion, 283 Osires, Apis, Se7'apis, 286 APPENDIX— OF THE VIRTUES AND VICES WHICH HAVE BEEN DEIFIED. The Virtues and the Good Deities^ . . . 292 The Vices and the Evil DeitteSy . . • 298 2N^S©JBWlS^2®l5 MODERN DliSCRIPTION OF THE PANTHEON. This temple, the most celebrated of those which have escaped the more essential injuries of time, im- presses us with a very striking idea of the magnifi- cence of the ancients. From its circular form it has acquired the name of the rotunda. The entrance to it is under a grand portico, supported by sixteen im- mense columns of the Corinthian order, each of them composed of a single piece of red oriental granite. Of these, eight of them are in front, and sustain an entablature and frontispiece of the most beautiful proportion which architecture can boast. The cir-» cumference of each of these columns is fourteen feet ; and the height, independent of the base and capital, which are of white marble, two and forty. The in- side of the temple is supplied with light through one circular aperture, the diameter of which is six and twenty feet, and to which there is an ascent by a staircase consisting of an hundred and ninety steps The gallery over the principal altar of a semicircu lar form, is obtained from the thickness of the wall, and supported by pillars of yellow marble. On every side are chapels adorned also with columns of yellow marble, and with pilasters crowned with an entablature of white marble, which extends round the building. The walls and the pavement are cased with marble. The whole presents us with an assem- blage of rare beauty ; and we cannot but regret the 2 14 loss of its statues and some of its other original or- naments ; which would still improve the magnifi* cence of its effect. The bronze ornaments of the dome were removed in the pontificate of Urban "VTII. for the purpose of forming the canopy of the great altar in St. Peter's. We know that the bronze gates ornamented with bass-relief, were taken away by Genseric, king of the Vandals, and were lost in the sea of Sicily. THE FABULOUS HISTORIES CHAPTER I. THE APPROACH TO THE PANTHEON.— THE ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY. The Fabulous Pantheon, is, as its name imports, the Temple of all the Gods, which the superstitious folly of men have feigned through a gross ignorance of Uie true and only God. It may be right to give some account of the Pan- theon, of which you have a view in the plate that fa- ces the title page. It is uncertain by whom this beau- tiful edifice was erected : some suppose it to have been built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus ; but others contend that he only enlarged and adorned it, and added to it a magnificent portico. Its body is cylindrical, and its roof or dome spherical ; its inner diameter was one hundred and forty-four feet, and the height from the pavement to the grand apertm'e, on its top, was also one hmidred and forty-four feet. Its exterior was built after the Corinthian order of architecture. The inner circumference is divided into seven grand niches, six of which are flat at the top, but the seventh, which is opposite to the entrance, is arched. Before each niche are two columns of an- tiqu£ yellow marble, fluted, and of one entire block. The whole wall of the temple, as high as the grand cornice inclusive, is cased with different kinds of precious marble, in compartments. The frieze n 16 entirely of porphyry. Above the grand cornice rises an attic, in which are wrought, at equal distances, fourteen oblong square niches, between each of which were four marble pilasters, and between the pillars, marble tables of various kinds. This attic had a (•omplete entablature ; but the cornice projected less than that of the grand order below. The spherical roof springs from the cornice, which is divided by bands that cross each other like the meridians and parallels of an artificial terrestrial globe. The spa- ces between the bands decrease ni size as they ap- proach the top of the roof, to which they do not reach, there being a considerable space left plain, between them and the great opening. The walls below were formerly decorated with works of carved brass or silver, and the roof was co- vered on the outside with plates of gilded bronze. Tae portico is composed of sixteen columns of granite, four feet in diameter, eight of which stand in front, with an equal intercolumniation. To these columns is a pediment, whose tympanum, or flat, was orna- mented with bass-reliefs in brass : the cross beams, which formed the ceiling of the portico, were covered with the same metal, and so were the doors. Such was the Pantheon, the richness and magnificence of which induced Pliny, and others, to rank it among the wonders of the world. This temple subsisted in all its grandeur, till the incursion of Alaric, who plundered it of its precious metals. The building continues to this day ; but it was, in the beginning of the seventh centur}', converted, by Boniface IV. into a Christian church, and dedicated to the ^' Vir- gin ]\Iary, and all the saints." The causes which have chiefly conduced to the establishment and continuance of idolatry are thus enumerated : 1. The first cause of idolatry was the extreme foU hjj and vain glory of men, who have denied to Him, 17 who is the inexhausted fountain of all good, the hon- ours which they have attributed to muddy streams . " Digging." as the prophet Jeremiah complains, '' to tliemselves broken and dirty cisterns, and neglecting and forsaking the most pure fountain of living wa- ters." It ordinarily happened after tliis manner : if any one excelled in stature of body, if he were en- dued with greatness of mind, or noted for clearness of wit, he first gained to himself the admiration of the ignorant vulgar ; this admiration was by degrees turned into a profound respect, till at length they paid him greater honour than men ought to receive, and ranked the man among the number of gods ; while the more prudent were either carried away by tlie torrent of the vulgar opinion, or were miable or afraid to resist it. 2. The sordid flattery of subjects toward their princes, was a second cause of Idolatry. To gratify their vanity, to flatter thei.r pride, and to soothe them in their self-conceit, they erected altars, and set the images of their princes on them ; to which they offered incense, in like manner as to the gods ; and not unfrequently, while they were living. 3. A third cause of Idolatry, was an immoderate love of immortality in many ; who studied to attain it, by leaving effigies of themselves behind them ; ima- gining that their names would still be preserved from the power of death and time, so long as they lived in brass, or in statues of marble, after their funerals. 4. A desire of perpetuating the memories of excel- lent and useful men to future ages, was the fourth cause of Idolatry. For to make the memory of such men eternal, and their names immortal, they made them gods, or rather called them so. The contriver and assertor of false gods was Ni- nus, the first king of the Assyrians, who, to render the name of his father Belus, or Nimrod immortal, 2* 18 Morsljipped lilin with divine honours after his death, w liich is tluis accounted for : After Ninus had concjuered many nations far and near, and buiU the city called after his name, Nine- veh; in a public assembly of the Babylonians he extolled his father Belus, the founder of the empire and city of Babylon, beyond all measure, representing Iiim not only worthy of perpetual honour among all posterity, but also of an immortality among the gods above. He then exhibited a statue of him, curiously and neatly made, to which he commanded them to pay the same reverence that they would have given to Belus while alive ; he also appointed it to be a common sanctuary to the miserable, and ordained, " that if at any time an offender should fly to this statue, it should not be lawful to force him away to punishment." This privilege easily procured so great a veneration to the dead prince, that he was thought more than a man, and, therefore, was cre- ated a god, and called Jupiter, or, as others write, Saturn of Babylon ; where a most magnificent tem- ple was erected to him by his son. After this beginning of Idolatry, several nations formed to themselves gods ; receiving into that num- ber not only mortal and dead men, but brutes also ; and even the most mean and pitiful inanimate things. For it is evident from the authority of innumerable writers, that the Africans w^orshipped the heavens as a god; the Persians adored fire, water, and the winds; the Lybians, the sun and moon; the The- bans, sheep and weasels; the Babylonians of Mem- phis, a whale ; the inhabitants of IMendes, a goat theThessalanians, storks ; the S3Tophoenicians, doves the Egyptians, dogs, cats, crocodiles and hawks nay, leeks, onions, and garhc. Which most sense- less folly Juvenal wittity exposes. " sanctas gentes, quibus haic nascuntur in Ijortis Numina" 19 Religious nations sure, and bless'd abodes, Where ev'ry orchard is o'errun with gods. The ancient Romans, who were so superior in arms, in arts, in eloquence, and in almost every thing that can adorn human nature, were plunged into the grossest idolatry. They reckoned among their gods not only beasts and things void of all sense, but, which is a far greater madness., they some- times worshipped as gods, the very worst of man- kind. Besides their own country gods, and family gods, they worshipped all strange deities that came to the city, and which were made free of it. Whence it came to pass, in time, that when they saw their pre- cincts too narrow to contain so many, necessity forced them to send their gods into colonies, as they did their men. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMmATIOJV OJV THE FOREGO- LYG CHAPTER. What is meant by the Fabulous Pantheon ? Give some account of the Pantheon at Rome. To what purpose w^as it devoted by Pope Boniface ? What causes have conspired to the establishment of Idolatry ? W^ho was the contriver of false gods, and how is the circum- stance accounted for ? Whom or what did the Africans, Persians, and others wor- ship as gods ? Did the ancient Romans exhibit more wisdom in this respect? To what had they recourse when their deities became very attmerous ? CHAPTER II. THE ENTRANCE INTO THE PANTHEON. A DISTRI- BUTION OF THE GODS INTO SEVERAL CLASSES. As the Roman people were distributed into three ranks ; namely, of ^senators or noblemen, knights or gentlemen, plebeans or citizens; as also into ^noble, • Patricii, equites, et plebeii. f Nobiles, novi, et ignobiles. Cic. pro Muraen. 20 new-raised, and ignohle ; (of which the neiv-rai&ed were those who did not receive their nobihty from their ancestors, but obtained it themselves by their own virtue;) so the Roman gods were divided, as it were, into three classes. The first class is of superior gods, Dii majorum gehtium, for the people paid to them a higher degree of worship ; because they imagined that these gods were more eminently employed in the government of this world. These were called also select, because they had always the title of celestial gods, and were famous and eminent above others, of extraordinary authority and renown. Twelve of these were styled consentes ; because, in affairs of great importance, Jupiter admitted them into his council. The images of these were fixed in the Forum at Rome : six of them were males, and six females ; commonly, with- out other additions, called The Twelve gods ; and whose names Emiius comprises in a distich. Juno, Vesta, Mlnen^a, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Jupiter, Vulcanus, Apollo. These twelve gods were believed to preside over the twelve months ; to each of them was allotted a month; January to Juno, February to JYeptune, March to Minerva, April to T^enus, May to Apollo, June to Mercury, July to Jupiter, August to Ceres, September to T^ulcan, October to Mars, JS^ovember to Diana, December to T^esta. They likewise pre- sided over the twelve celestial signs. If to these twelve Dii Consentes, you add the eight followins^, Janus, Saturnus, Genius, Sol, Pluto, Bacchus, Tel- lus, and Luna, you will have twenty, that is, all the select gods. The second class contains the gods of lower rank and dignity, who were styled Dii Minorum Gentium; because they shine wifli a less degree of glorj , and have been placed among the gods, as Cicero says, by 21 their own merits. Wlience they are called also Ad- scriptitii, Minuscularii^ Putatii, and Indigetes : be- cause now they wanted nothing ; or because, being translated from this earth into heaven, they conversed with the gods; or being fixed, as it were, to certain places, committed peculiarly to their care, they dwelt in them, to perform the duty intrusted to them. Thus ^neas was made a god, by his mother Venus, in the manner described by Ovid : His better parts by lustral waves refin'd, More pure and nearer to ethereal mind ; With gums of fragrant scent the goddess strews, And on his features breathes ambrosial dews. Thus deified, new honours Rome decrees, Shrines, festivals ; and styles him Indiges.— jl/e^. 14. The gods of the third and lower class, are some- times called Minuti, Vesci, and Miscellanei, but more usually Semones, whose merits were not sufficient to gain them a place among the celestial gods; yet their virtues were such, that the people thought ±2:r. superior to mortal men. They were called Patel- larii, from certain small dishes, in which the an- cients offered to the gods their sacrifices, of which Ovid makes mention : To Vesta's deity, with humble mess, In cleanly dish serv'd up, they now address. To these we ought to adjoin the gods called JVo- vensiles, which the Sabines brought to Rome by the command of king Tatius; and which were so named, and some say, because they were latest of all rec- koned among the gods ; or because they were presi- dents over the changes, by which the things of this world subsist. Circius believes them to have been the strange gods of conquered nations ; whereof the numbers were so vast, that it was thought fit to call all in general A^ov ensiles, lest they should forget any of them. And lastly, to this class also we must refer 22 those gods and goddesses by whose help and means, as Cicero says, men are advanced to heaven, and obtain a place among the gods ; of which sort are the principal virtues, as we shall shoAV in the proper place. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMIKJITION. Were the heathen gods, all of one degree of rank ; if not, into how many classes were they divided ? What is said of the first class ? Why were they called select 9 Why were some of them called consenies f Over what did the twelve gods preside ? Enumerate them. Which others make up the twenty Select gods ? Which is the second class of gods, and why are they so styled » What aie the gods of the third class, and how are they deno rainated ? What are the " NovensUes ?" : CHAPTER m. V - A SUPPOSED VIEW OF THE PANTHEON. A MORE COMMODIOUS DIVISION OF THE GODS. Having already described to you the structure and ornaments of this wonderful building, within the nich- es of which the statues of the gods were placed, it is right you should be informed, that the three classes, mentioned above, are here divided into six, and paint- ed upon tlie several parts of the Pantheon. 1. The celestial gods and goddesses are upon an arch. 2. The terrestrial, upon the wall on tlie right hand. 3. The marine and river gods upon the wall on the left. 4. The infernal, upon the lower compartment by the pavement. 5. The minuti or semonesj and miscella- nei, before you. 6. The adscriptitii and indigetes behind you. Our discourse shall likewise consist of six parts ; in each of which I shall lay before you whatever I have found most remarkable among the 23 best authors upon this subject. Let us, however first sit down together awhile ; and, as the place is free from company, we will take a deliberate view of the whole army of gods, and inspect them one after another ; beginning, as is fit, with the celestial, and so with Jove, according to the direction of the poet : " Ab Jove principium Musae : Jovis omnia plena*** Virg. Eel. 3. From the great father of the Gods above My Muse begins : for all is full of Jove. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATION Into how many classes are the gods in the pantheon dividtui f How are they ranged ? Whence does the description begin ? Repeat the line from Virgil and translation. PART I. OF THE CELESTIAL DEITIES* CHAPTER I. SEC. L— JUPITER. HIS IMAGE. The gods commonly called celestial, are Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Mercury, and Bacchus. The celes- tial goddesses are Juno, Vesta, Minerva or Pallas, Venus, Luna, and Bellona. We will begin with Jupiter,* the father and king of gods and men, whom you see sitting in a throne of ivory and gold, under a rich canopy, with a beard, holding thunder in his right hand, which he brandish- es against the giants at his feet, whom he formerly conquered. His sceptre, they say, is made of cy- press, which is a symbol of the eternity of his empire, because that wood is free from corruption. On his sceptre sits an eagle, either because he was brought up by it, or because an eagle resting upon his head, portended his reign, or because in his wars with the giants an eagle brought him his thunder ; and thence receiv^ed the title of Jupiter's armour hearer. He wears golden shoes, and an embroidered cloak, adorned with various flowers and figures of animals. This cloak, it is reported, Dionysius the tyrant took from him in Sicily, and giving him a \voollen cloak instead of it, said, " That would be more convenient for him in all seasons, since it was warmer in the • * biv&m pater atque hominum rex. Virg. S,n. 1. cPmfflB^ 25 \«nnter, and much lighter in the summer." Yet you must not be surprised, if by chance you should see him in another place, and in another dress, for he is wont to be decked in several fashions, according to the various names he assumes, and according to tlie diversity of the people among whom he is worship- ped. You may see him among the Lacedaemonians without ears ; whereas the Cretans are so liberal to him in this particular, that they give him four. So much for the figure of Jupiter. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. Which are the celestial gods ? Who is Jupiter? Of what is his sceptre the symbol ? What does the eagle on his sceptre denote ? What happened to him with respect to his cloak ? How was he represented by the Lacedaemonians and Cretans ^ SEC. 2. JUPITER'S DESCENT AND EDUCATION. Those who were skilled in the Heathen Theology, reckon up three Jupiters ; of which the first and se- cond were born in Arcadia. The father of the one was ^ther ; from whom Proserpine and Liber are said to be born. The father of the other was Coelus; he is said to have begot IMinerva. The third was a Cretan, the son of Saturn, whose tomb is yet extant in tlie isle of Crete. But Varro reckoned up three hmidred Jupiters ; and others mention a much larger number ; for there was hardly any nation that did dot worship a Jupiter of their own, and suppose him to be born among themselves. But of all these, the most famous Jupiter, according to the general opin- ion, is he, whose mother was Ops, and whose father was Saturn ; to whom therefore all that the poets fabulousl}^ wrote about the other Jupiters is usual- ly ascribed. He was educated at the place where he was bom, that is, upon the mountain Ida in Crete, but it is not 26 agreed by whom he was brought up. Some affirm, that he was educated by the Curetes and Corybantes-; some say, by the Nymphs, and some, by Amaltheea, the daughter of Mellissus, king of Crete. Others, ©n the contrary, have recorded, that the bees fed him with honey ; and some maintain, that a goat gave him milk. Not a few say, that he was nourished by doves ; some, by an eagle ; man}^, by a bear. And further, it is the opinion of some concerning the aforesaid Amalthsea, that she was not the daughter of Mellissus, as we have mentioned ; but the very goat which suckled Jupiter, whose horn he gave af- terwards to his nurses, with this admirable privilege, " that whoever possessed it should immediately ob- tam every thing that he desired." They add be- sides, that after this goat was dead, Jupiter took the skin and made a shield of it ; with which he singly combated the giants ; whence that shield was called ^gisj from a Greek word that signifies a she goat, which at last he restored to life again, and, giving her a new skin, placed her among the celestial con- stellations. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXJMIJVATIOJV. How many Jupiters were there, and whence do they derive their origin ? Which was the most famous Jupiter ? What is ascribed to him ? Where was he educated ? What do authors say of those who brought him up ? What is said of the horn of the goat which is thought to have suckled Jupiter ? Why was his shield called the ^gis ? SEC. 3.— EXPLOITS OF JUPITER. He overcame, in war, the Titans and the Giants, df whom we shall say more when we speak of Saturn. He also delivered his father Saturn from imprison- ment ; but afterwards deposed him from the throne, and banished him for a conspiracy, and then divided 27 the paternal inheritance with his two brothers, Nep- tune and Phito. In fine, he so assisted and obhged all mankind by the great favours which he did, that be not onh^ thence obtained the name of Jupiter, but he was advanced also to divine honours, and was esteen>- ed the common father both of gods and men. Among some of his most illustrious actions, we ought to re- member the story of Lycaon. For when Jupiter had heard a report concerning the wickedness and great impiety of men, it is said that he descended from heaven to the earth, to know the real truth of it ; and that being come into the house of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, where he declared himself to be a god, while others were preparing sacrifices for him, Lycaon derided him : nor did he stop here, but be- ing desirous to try whether Jupiter was a god, he kills one of his domestic servants, roasts and boils Ithe flesh of him, and sets it on the table as a ban- quet for Jupiter ; who, abhori'ing the wTetch's bar- barit}^ fired the palace with lightning, and turned Lycaon into a wolf. Ovid Met. 1. With respect to his other exploits, some of them are absurd ; others are highly criminal, if taken in a literal sense. But it is supposed by the Abbe Ba- nier and other learned writers on this subject, that they are merely allegorical, and conceal some mean- ing, at present either lost to us or open to conjecture. 1st. Such for instance his having wooed his sister, Juno, in the shape of a crow ; an ill-boding fowl one would suppose, not very likely to captivate tlie heart of a tender maid, but, perhaps, the croak- mg thing might take very well with a termagant, such as she has been described to be. 2d. Next, that he overcame the innocence of Danae, daughter of Acrisius, king of the Argives ; this monarch be- ing forewarned by the oracle that he would perish by the hand of his grandson shut up his only child m a tower ; Jupiter, however assumed the shape of 28 a shining metal called gold, (In which no small por tion of his divinity has ever since resided,) and de- scending through the roof, fell into the lady's lap. 3d. At another time he flew into the arms of Leda, tlie wife of T^iidarus, in the shape of a beautiful swan. 4tli. In the likeness of a wild satyr, he be- haved like a ruffian to Antiope, the wife of Lycus, king of Thebes. 5th. He imposed upon Alcmena by assuming the figure of her husband Amphitryon, 6th. In the shape of fire he won the heart of Egina, tlie daughter of Asopus, king of Boetia. 7th. He deceived Calisto by counterfeiting the modesty and countenance of Diana; yet, he shamefully abandoned her to the cruel persecution of Juno, who transformed her into a bear ; but, however, commiserating her condition, he placed her and her son Areas both in the heavens. Calisto Is said to be the great bear and Areas the little. 8th. He sent an eagle to snatch away Ganymede, the son of Tros, as he hunted upon the mountain Ida. Or rather he himself, being changed into an eagle, took him unto his claws, and carried him up to heaven. He offered the same violence to Asteria ; the daughter of Coeus, a young lady of the greatest modesty, to whom he appeared in the shape of an eagle, and carried her away in his talons. 9th, Personally attached to Europa, daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, he ordered Mercury to convey her to tlie seashore, where, having transformed himself into a bull, he took her upon his back and transported her Into Crete. The bull is supposed to have bee® the ship upon which a bull was painted, in which Eu- ropa was carried away. In like manner the horse Pegasus, which was painted upon Bellerophon's ship, and the ram, which was painted on that of Phryxus and Helle, created ample matter of fiction for the poets. But to return to our fable : Agenor Immediately or- dered his son Cadmus to travel, and search every \\ here for his sister Europa ; which he did, but could 29 no where find her. Cadmus dared not return without her, because, by a sentence not less unjust to him than Idnd to his sister, his father had banished him for ever unless he found her. Wherefore he built the city of Thebes, not far from the mountain Parnassus ; and as it happened that his companions, who were with him were devoured by a certain serpent, while tliey went for water ; he, to avenge their death, slew that serpent ; whose teeth he took out, and, by the advice of Minerva, sowed them in the ground ; and suddenly sprouted up a harvest of armed soldiers, who, quarrelling among themselves, with the same speed that they grew up, mowed one another down, excepting five only, by whom that country was peo- pled afterward. At length Cadmus and his wife Hermione, after much experience, and many proofs of the inconstancy of fortmie, were changed into serpents. He is said to have invented sixteen of the letters of the Greek alphabet ; «, /3, y, ^, e, i, y,, a, ft, v, o, ^, ^, c, T, y, which, in the time of the judges of Israel, he brought out of Phoenicia into Greece : two hundred and fifty years after this, Palamedes added four more letters, namely, |, 6, ^, x^ in the time of the siege of Troy ; although some affirm that Epicharmus invent- ed the letters 6 and x • and six hundred and fifty years after the siege of Troy, Simonides invented the other four letters, namely, n, s', ^, 4"' Cadmus is also said to have taught the manner of writing in prose ; and that he was the first among the Greeks who consecrated statues to the honour of the gods, qUESTIOA'S FOR EXAMINATION, Mention some of the exploits of Jupiter? How did he derive his name and honours ? What did he to Lycaon, and why? "What is his other exploits ? What happened to Calisto ? 3* 30 Wliat circumstance occurred to Ganymede and Asteria? r Exjilaiu the fable respecting Europa ? What did Agenor do to recover his daughter? What city did Cadmus build, and what exploit did he pbiform on a serpent ? Which of the letters of the Greek alphabet did Cadmus inTent? Who addetl the others, and when ^ What besides did Cadmus do for the benefit of mankind ? SEC. 4.— THE NAMES OF JUPITER, Can hardly be numbered ; so many did he obtain, either from the places \^ here he lived and was wor- shipped, or from the things diat he did. The most remarkable shall be given alphabetically. The Greeks called him Ammon, or Hammon, which name signifies sandy. He obtained this name first in Lybia, where he was worshipped, under the figure of a ram ; because, when Bacchus was athirst in the fabulous deserts of Arabia, and implored the assist- ance of Jupiter, Jupiter appeared in the form of a ram, opened a ibuntain with his foot, and discovered it to him. But others give this reason, because Jupiter in war wore a helmet, whose crest was a ram's head. The Babylonians and Assyrians, whom he govern- ed, called him Belus, who was the impious author of idolatry : and because of the uncertainty of his de- scent, they believed that he had neither father nor mother ; and, therefore, he was thought the first of all gods. In difierent places, and languages, he was afterwards called Beel, Baal, Beelphegor, Beel- zebub, and Belzemen. Jupiter was called Capitolinus, from the Capito- Jine hill, upon the top of which he had the first tem- ple that ever was built in Rome ; this Tarquin the Elder determined to build, Tarquin the Proud did build, and Horatius, the consul, dedicated. He was also called Tarpeius, from the Tarpeiau rock, on which this temple was built. He was hke- wise styled Optimus Maximum, from his power and wiUingness to profit all men. 31 He was also called Ciistos. There is in Nero's coins an image of him sitting on his throne, which bears in one hand thunder, and in the other a spear, with this inscription, Jupiter Custos. In some forms of oaths he was commonly called Diespiter, the father of light ; as we shall further remark presently under the word Lapis ; and to the same purpose he was by the Cretans called Dies. The title of Dodonseus was given him from the city Dodona in Chaonia, which was so called from Dodona, a nymph of the sea. Near to this city there was a grove sacred to Jupiter, which was planted with oaks ; and famous, because it was the mast ancient oracle of all Greece. Two doves de- livered responses there to those who consulted it : or, as others used to say, the leaves of the oaks themselves became vocal, and gave forth oracles. He was named Elicius, because the prayers of men may bring him down from heaven. Quod ccelo precibus eliciatur. " Eliciunt ccelo te Jupiter, unde Minores Nunc quoque te celebrant, Eliciumque vocant." — Fast 3. Jove can't resist the just man's cries, They bring him down, e'en from the skies j Hence he's Elicius call'd. The name Feretrius is given him, because be smites his enemies, or because he is the giver of peace ; for when peace w^as made, the sceptre by which the ambassadors swore, and the flint-stone on which they confirmed their agreement, were brought out of his temple : or lastly, because, after they had overcome their enemies, they carried the grand spoils [spolia opima) to his temple. Romulus first presented such spoils to Jupiter, after he had slain Acron, king of Csenina ; and Cornelius Gallus of- fered the same spoils, after he had conquered Tolum- mus, king of Hetruria j and thirdly, M. Marcellus, 32 when he had vanquished Viridomarus, khig of the Gauls, as we read in Virgil : *' Tertiaque arma Patri suspendet capta Quirino.'* And the third spoils shall grace Feretrian Jove. — ^n. 6 Those spoils were called opima, which one general took from the other in battle. Fulminator, or Ceraiinius, in Greek Kefetwvies, is Jupiter's title, from hurling thunder, which is thoughv to be his proper office, if we beUeve the poet : -0 qui res hominumque Deumque ^ternis regis imperils, et fulmine terres." — Virg. JEn. 1. 229. king of gods and men, whose awful hand Disperses thunder on the seas and land ; Dispensing all with absolute command. In Lycia they worshipped him under the name of Gragus, r^a^^iog ^Grapsios'] and Genitor. In iEgium, about the seacoast, he is said to have had a temple with the name of Homogynus. At Praeneste he was called Imperator. There was a most famous statue of him at that place, afterward translated to Rome. He was called Latialis, because he was worshipped m Latium, a comitry of Italy ; whence the Latin festivals are denominated, to which all the inhabit- ants of those cities of Italy resorted, who desired to be partakers of the solemnity ; and brought to Ju- piter several oblations ; particularly, a bull was sa- crificed at tliat time, in the common name of them all, of which every one took a part. The name Lapis, or as others write, Lapideus, was given him by the Romans, who believed that an oath* made in the name of Jupiter Lapis, was the most solemn of all oaths. And it is derived either * Juramentum per Jovem Lapidem omnium sanctissimum Cic, 7. ap. 12. , 33 from the stone which was presented to Saturn by his wife Ops, who said it was Jupiter, in which sense Eusebius says, that Lapis reigned in Crete ; or from the flint-stone, which, in making bargains, the swearer held in his hand, and said, *" If knowingly I deceive, so letDiespiter, saving the city and the capitol, cast me away from all that is good, as I cast away this stone ;" upon which he threw the stone away. The Romans had another form, not milike to this, of making bargains, which may be mentioned here : f " If with evil intention I at any time deceive ; upon that day, O ! Jupiter, so strike thou me, as I shall this day strike this swine ; and so much the more strike thou, as thou art the more able and skilfid to do it ;" he then struck down the swine. In the language of the people of Campania, he is called Lucetius, from lux ; and among the Latins Di- espiter, from dies. Which names were given to Ju- Eiter, " because he cheers and comforts us with the ght of the day, as much as with life itself :" or, be- cause he was believed to be the father of light. The people of Ehs used to celebrate him by the title of Martins. He was also called Muscarius, because he drove away the flies ; for when the rehgious exercises of Hercules were interrupted by a multitude of flies, he immediately oflTered a sacrifice to Jupiter, wliich be- ing finished, all the flies flew away. He was styled Nicephorus, that is, carrying vic- tory : and by the oracle of Jupiter Nicephorus, em- peror Adrian was told, that he should be promoted to the empire. Livy often mentions him 5 and ma- * Si sciens fallo, me Diespiter, salva urbe arceque, bonis eji cial ut ego hunc lapidem. — Fest ap. Lil. t Si dolo malo aliquando fallam, tu illo vhy JNl^Wph^ns ? Why was he denommated Opitulatoi', Centip^,da, Almus, and Ruminus ? ^ > On what account was he denominated Olympius, Pistor, Pitt- vius, Prajdator ? What are his titles in Virgil, Homer, and Ennius? How did he obtain the title Stator ? Why, and by whom was he called Soter ? What was he called by the augurs? Why Avas he called Triocuhas .'' Why was he called Xenius, and why Zeus ? SEC. 5.— THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE FABLE, AND WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY THE NAME JUPITER. Natural philosophers many times think that heaven IS meant by the name Jupiter : whence many authors express the thunder and lightning, which came from heaven, by these phrases : Jove tonante,- fulgente, <^c» and in this sense Virgil used the word Olympus. " Panditur interea domus omnipotentis Olympi." Ma. 10. Meanwhile the gates of heaven unfold. Others liave imagined that the air, and the things that are therein contained, as thunder, lightnings rain, meteors, and the like, are signified by the same name. In which sense Horace is to be understood, when he says : sub Jove, that is, " in the open air." Some, on the contrary, call the air Juno, and the fii'e Jupiter, by which the air being warmed becomes fit for the production of things. Odiers, again, call the sky Jupiter, and the earth Juno : because out of the earth all things spring ; which Virgil has ele- gantly expressed in the second book of his Georgics ; '' Turn pater omnipotens fcecundis imbribis aether, Cohjugis in gremium lets descendit, et omnes Magnus alit, magno cbmmistus corpore, foetus." Euripides thought so, when he said that the sky ought to be called Summus Deus, " the great God." Plato's opinion was different ; for he thought that the sun was Jupiter ; and Homer, together with the aforesaid Euripides, thinks that he is fate; which 4 38 fate is, according to Cicero's definition, — *" The cause from all eternity why such things as are al- ready past, were done 3 and why such things as are doing at present, he as they are; and why such things as are to follow hereafter, shall follow ac- cordingly." In shortj others by Jupiter understand the soul of the world ; which is diffused not only through all human bodies, but hkewise through all the parts of the universe, as Virgil poetically de- scribes it : ^The heaven and earth's compacted frame, And flowing AVaters, and the starry frame, And both the radiant lights, one common soul Inspires, and feeds, and animates the AThole. This active mind, infus'd through all the space, Unites and mingles with the mighty mass. — iEn. 6. Jupiter is usually represented by the ancients sts governing the world by his providence ; and is de- scribed as viewing from an eminence the pursuits and contentions of mankind, and weighing in his scales their fortunes and their merits. He is the moderator of the differences of the gods, and when- ever any of the inferior deities asked him a favour, he was disposed to nod his assent : He, whose all-conscious eyes the world behold, Th' eternal thunderer, sat enthron'd in gold : " High heav'n the footstool for his feet he makes, And W'ide beneath him, all Olympus shakes. He spake ; and awful bends his sable browns, Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod ; The stamp of fate and sanction of the god : High heaven, w ith trembling, the dread signal took, And all Olympus to the centre shook. — Homer. AH heaven is represented as shaken with his ter- rors, and neither men nor gods had the temerity to oppose his will ; * .interna rerum causa; cur ea, quae preterierint, facta sint; et ea, quag instant, fiant ; et ea, quas consequentur, futura sint. C*c. de Divin. 1. %: .^ 39^ Then spaku th' almighty father as he sat Enthron'd in gold ; and clos'd the great debate, Th' attentive winds a solemn silence keep ; The wond'ring waves lie level on the deep ; Earth to his centre shook ; high heav'n was aw'd, And all th' immortal powi-s stood trembling at the god. Virgil. questiojxs for EXAMIKATION. What do philosophers understand by the word Jupiter ? What meaning do others give of it ? What is the example from Horace ? How does Virgil understand it in the Georgics ? Repeat the original and translation ? Give me the opinion of Euripides, Plato, and Homer ? Repeat the lines from the sixth iEneid, and point out the ap- plication ? How is Jupiter represented by the ancients ? Repeat the lines from Homer ? How is he lepresented by Virgil? CHAPTER n. SEC. I.— APOLLO. HIS IMAGE AND DESCENT. Apollo is represented as a beardless youth, witii long hair, comely and graceful, who wears a laurel crown, and shines in garments embroidered with gold, with a bow and arrows in one hand, and a harp in the other. He is at other times described holding a shield in onxi hand and the Graces in the other. And because he has a threefold power in heaven, where he is called Sol ; in earth, where he is named Liber Pater ; and in hell, where he is styled Apollo ; he is usually painted with these three things : a harp, a shield, and arrows. The harp shows that he bears rule in heaven, where all things are full of harmony ; the shield describes his office in earth, where he gives health and safety to terrestrial crea^ tures ; his arrows show his authority in hell, for who* ever he strikes with them, he sends them into bell. 40 Sometimes he is painted with a crow and a hawk flying over his head, a wolf and a laurel tree on one side, and a swan and a cock on the other ; and un- der his feet grasshoppers creeping. The crow is sa- cred to him, because he foretells the weather, and shows the different changes of it by the clearness or hoarseness of his voice. The swan is likewise en- dued v/ith a divination,* because foreseeing his hap- piness in death, he dies with singing and pleasure. The wolf is not unacceptable to him, not only be- cause he spared his flock when he was a shepherd, but the sharpness of his eyes represents the foresight of prophecy. The laurel tree is of a very hot na- ture, always flourishing, and conducing to divination and poetic raptures ; and the leaves of it put under the pillow, was said to produce true dreams. The hawk has eyes as bright as the sun ; the cock fore- tells his rising; and the grasshoppers so entirely depend on him, that they owe their rise and sub- sistence to his heat and influence. There were four Apollos : the first and most an- cient of them was born of Vulcan, and was the tute- lary god of the Athenians ;f the second was a Cre- tan, a son of one of the Corybantes ; the third was born of Jupiter and Latona ; the fourth was born in Arcadia, called by the Arcadians, Nomius. But though, as Cicero says, there were so many Apollos, yet the rest of them are seldom mentioned, and all tliat they did is ascribed to one only, namely, to him that was born of Jupiter and Latona, which is thuj represented : Latona, the daughter of Coeus the Titan, con- ceived twins by Jupiter : Juno, incensed at it, sent the serpent Python against her ; and Latona, to es- * Cygiii non sine causa Apollini dicati sunt, quod ab eo divi- tiatiouem habere videantur ; quia pra^videntes quid in morte bo- ni sit, cum cantu et voluptate raoriuntur. Cic. Tuscul. 1. t Lanier's Mylhologv. 41 cape the serpent, fled into the island of Delos ; where she brought forth Apollo and Diana at the same birth. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATIOK. How is Apollo represented ? With what things is he painted, and why ? Why are the crow, hawk, wolf, swan, and laurel, consecrated to him ? • How many Apollos were there, and which is the principal ? Where was Apollo born, and what was the occasion of bis birth at Dftlos ? SEC. 2.— ACTIONS OF APOLLO. Apollo was advanced to the highest degree of honour and worship by these four means, viz : by the invention of physic, music, poetry, and rhetoric, which is ascribed to him ; and, therefore, he is sup- posed to preside over the Muses. It is said that he taught the arts of foretelling events, and shooting with arrows ; when, therefore, he had benefited man- kind infinitely by these favours, they worshipped him as a god. Hear how gloriously he himself re- peats his own accomplishments of mind and nature, where he magnifies himself to the flying nymph whom he passionately loved. -" Nescis, temeraria, nescis Quem fuglas, ideoque fugis- Jupiter est genitor. Per me quod eritque, fuitque, Estque, patet. Per me concordant carmina nervis; Certa quidem nostra est, nostra tamen una sagitta Certior, in vacuo, quae vulnera pectore fecit. Inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem Dicor ; et herbarum est subjecta potentia nobis." Ov. Met, 1. Stay, nymph, he cried, I follow not a foe ; Thus from the lion darts the trembling doe : Thou shunn'st a god, and shunn'st a god that loves. But think from whom thou dost so rashly fly, Nor basely born, nor shepherd's swain am I. —What shall be, Or is, or ever was, in fate I see. 4* 42 Mine is the invention of tiie charming lyre ; Sweet notos and heavenly numbers 1 inspire. Sure is my how. unenirig is my dart, But ah ! more deadly his, \\ ho pierc'd my heart. Med'cine is mine ; vvliat lierbs and simjoles grow In fields, in forests, all their powers I know, And am the great physician call'd below. His principal actions are as follows : 1. He destroyed all the Cyclops, the forgers of Jupiter's thunderbolts, with his arrows, to revenge the death ofiEsculapius, his son, whom Jupiter had killed with thunder, because by the help of his physic he revived the dead. ^For this act Apollo was cast down froui heaven and deprived of his di- vinity, exposed to the calamities of the world, and commanded to live in banishment upon the earth. In this distress he was compelled by want to look after Admetus' cattle : where, it is said, he first invented and formed a harp. After this. Mercury got an op- portunity to drive away a few of the cattle of his herd by stealth ; and while Apollo complained and threatened to punish him, unless he brought the same cattle back again, his harp was also stolen by the samef god 5 so that his anger was changed to laughter. 2. He raised the walls of the city of Troy, by the music of his harp alone ; if we may believe the poet : " Ilion aspices, firmataque turribus altis Mffiui, ApoUinai structa canore lyrai." — Ovid. Ep. Parid. Troy you shall see, and walls divine admire; Built by the music of Apollo's lyre. Some say that there was a stone, upon which Apollo only laid down his harp, and the stone by the touch became so melodious, that whenever it was struck with another stone, it sounded like a harp. 3. By misfortune he killed Hyacinthus, a boy that he loved. For, while Hyacinthus and he were * Lucian Dial. Mort. t Hor. Carm 1. 43 playing together at quoits, Zephyrus was enraged, because Apollo was better beloved by Hyacinthus than himself; and, having an opportunity of re- venge, he blew the quoit that Apollo cast, against the head of Hyacinthus, by which blow he fell down dead. Apollo caused the blood of the youth, that was spilt upon the earth, to produce flowers called violets, as Ovid finely expresses it : " Ecce cruor, qui fusus humi signavera.t herbam, Desinit esse cruor; Tyrioque nitentinr ostro Flos oritur, formamque capit, quam lilia ; si non Purpureus color huic, argenteus esse in illis. ' — Met. 10. Behold the blood, which late the grass had dy'd, Was now no blood ; from which a flower full blown, Far brighter than the Tyrian scarlet shone, Which seem'd the same, or did resemble right A lily, changing but the red to white. m^ Besides, he was passionately fond of Cyparissus, ^^ginother boy, who, when he had unfortunately killed a fine deer, which he exceedingly loved and had brought up from its birth, was so melancholy for his misfortune, that he constantly bewailed the loss of his deer, and refused all comfort. Apollo, be- cause he begged of the god that his mourning might be made perpetual, in pity changed him into a cj^press tree, the branches of which were always used at fu- nerals. " munusque supremum, Hoc petit a superis, ut tempore lugeat omni, — Ingemuit, tristisque Deus, lugebere nobis, Lugebisque alios, aderisque dolentibus, inquit" Ov. Met, 10. Implores that he might never cease to mourn, When Phoebus sighing, I for thee will mourn, Mourn thou for others, hearses still adorn. 4. He fell violently in love with the virgin Daphne, so famous for her modesty. He pursued her, but while she fled from the violence of his pas- 44 sion, she was changed into a laurel, which remains always flourishing, and always pure. 5. He courted also a long time the nymph Bolina, but never could gain her ; for she chose rather to tlirow herself into the river and be drowned, than yield to his wishes. 6. Leucothoe, the daughter of Orchamus, king of Babylon, was not so tenacious. Her father could not bear the disgrace brought on his family, and buried her alive. Apollo was greatly grieved at this, and though he could not bring her again to life, he poured nectar upon the dead body, and thereby turned it into a tree that drops frankincense. " Nectare adorato spargit corpusque locumque, Multaque praequestus, tanges tamen aethera, dixit. Protinus imbutum coelesti nectare corpus Dellcuit, terraaique suo madefecit adore ; Virgaque per glebas, sensim radicibus actis, Thurea surresit ; tumulumque cacumine rupit." Ov. Met. 4. He mourned her loss, and sprinkled all her hearse With balmy nectar, and more precious tears. Then said since fate does here our joys defer, Thou shalt ascend to heav'n and bless me there Her body straight embalm'd with heav'nly art, Did a sweet odour to the ground impart, And from the grave a beauteous tree arise, That cheers the gods with pleasing sacrifice. The attachment of Leucothoe and Apollo had been discovered to her father by her sister Clytie, whom Apollo formerly loved, but now deserted : which she seeing, pined away, with her eyes con- tinually looking up to the sun, and at last was changed into a flower called a sun-flower, or helio^ trope. Ovid Met. 4. 7. Apollo was challenged in music by Marsyas, a proud musician ; and when he had overcome him, Apollo slayed him for his temerity, and converted bim into the river of that name in Phrygia. 8. Midas, king of Phrygia, having foolishly de- 45 V ■ termined the victory to Pan, when Apollo and he sang together, Apollo stretched his ears to the length and shape of asses' ears. IMidas endeavoured to hide his disgrace hy his hair : but since it was im- possible to conceal it from his barber, he prevailed with him by great promises, not to divulge what he saw. But the barber went and dug a hole, and put- ting his mouth to it, whispered these words, " King Midas has asses' ears :" and the reeds that grew out of that hole, if they were moved by the least blast of wind, uttered the same words, viz, " King Midas has the ears of an ass." Secedit, huraumque Effodit, et domini quales conspexerit aures, Voce refert parva." Ovid Mel. 15. He dug a hole, and in it whispering said, What monstrous ears sprout from king Midas' head ! QUESTIONS FOR EXAMIJVATIOJV. How was Apollo advanced to honour ? Repeat the description of himself, as given by Ovid. ' What occurred to Apollo, with regard to the Cyclops? What is said of the music of his harp ? How did he kill Hyacinthus, and what was the effect of it? Repeat the lines from Ovid. What is the stoiy of Cyparissus .'' Repeat the lines from Ovid. What is related of Daphne .' * What is related of Bolina ? What happened to Leucothoe ? ^ What became of Marsyas ? What is the story respecting Midas ? SEC. 3.— NAMES OF APOLLO. As the Latins call him Sol, because there is but one sun ; so some think the Greeks gave him the name of Apollo for the same reason. Though others think that he is called iYpollo, either because he drives away diseases, or because he darts vigor- ously his rays. He was called Cynthius, from the mountain Cyn- thus, in the island of Delos ; whence Diana also was called Cynthia, 46 And Delius, from the same island, because he was born there : or, as some say, because Apollo (who is the sun,) by his light, makes all things manifest 5 for which reason he is called Phana^us. He was named Delphinius, because he killed the serpent Python, called Delphis : or else, because when Castilius, a Cretan, carried men to the planta- tions, Apollo guided him in the shape of a dolphin- His title Delphicus comes from the city Delphi, in Boeotia. Here Apollo had the most famous tem- ple in the world, in which he uttered the oiacles to those who consulted him ; which he first received from Jupiter. They say that this famous oracle became dumb at the birth of our Saviour, and when Augustus, who was a great votary of Apollo, de- sired to know the reason of its silence, the oracle answered him, that in Judea a child was born, who was the son and image of the supreme God, and had commanded him to depart, and return no more an- swers. Me puer Hebrseus, divos Dens ipse gubernans, Cederc sede jubet, tristem(|ue redire sub orcum j Aris ergo dehinc nostris abscedito, Caesar. Apollo was likewise called Didymoeus, which word in Greek, signifies /m;/«5, by which are meant the two great luminaries of heaven, the sun and the moon, which alternately enlighten the world by day and by night. He was also called Nomius, which signifies either a shepherd, because he fed the cattle of Admetus ; or because the sun, as it were, feeds all things that the earth generates, by his heat and influence. Or perhaps tliis title may signify lawgiver ; and was given him, because he made very severe laws, when he was king of Arcadia. He was styled Pnean, either from allaying sorrows, or from his exact skill in striking ; wherefore he is 47 armed with arrows. And we know that the sua strikes us, and often hurts us with his rays, as with so many darts. He is accordingly referred to in this character by Homer : Bent was his bow, the Girecian' hearts to wound, Fierce as he mov'd his silver shafts resound. Breathing revenue, a sudden night he spreadj And gloomy darkness roU'd around his head. ;• The fleet in view, he twang'd his deadly bow, And hissing fly the feathered fates below. On mules and dogs th' infection first began j And last the vengeful arrows fix'd on man. — Iliad. By this name Paean, his mother Latona, and the spectators of the combat, encouraged Apollo, when he fought with the serpent Python, crying frequently, " Strike him, P(ean, with thy darts." By the same name the diseased invoke his aid, crying, " Heal us, Psean." And hence the custom came, that not only all hymns in the praise of Apollo were called Pceanes, but also, in all soiig:s of triumph in the celebration of all victories, n^ cried out, " lo Paean." After tliis manner the ai. and wanton lover in Ovid acts his triumph too : " Dicite lo Pa?an, et lo, bis discite, Paean ! Decidit in casses praeda petita meos." ^rt. Am. ^. Sing lo Psean twice, twice lo say; My toils are pitch'd, and I have caught my prey. He was called Phoebus, from the great swiftness of his motion. He was named Pythius, not only from the serpent Python, which he killed, but likewise from asking and consulting ; for none among the gods was more consulted, or delivered more responses, or spake more oracles than he ; especially in the temple which he had at Delphi, to which all sorts of nations resort- ed, so that it was called " the oracle of all the earth." The oracles were first given out by a 3'omig virgin ; afterwards it was determined that an old woman 48 should give the answers, in the dress of a young maid, who was therefore called Pythia, from Py- thms, one of Apollo's names, and sometimes Phoe- bas, from Pho^hus, another of them. But as to the manner hy which the woman imderstood the god's mind, men difler. There are also different opinions respecting the tripos on which the oracle sat. Some say tliat it was a table with three feet ; on which she placed herself when she designed to give forth oracles. But others say, that it was a vessel, in which she was plunged before she prophesied ; or rather, that it was a golden vessel, furnished with ears, and sup- ported by three feet, whence it was called tripos ; and on this the lady sat down. It happened that this tripos was lost in the sea, and afterwards taken up in the nets of fishermen, who contended among themselves which should have it : the Pythian priestess being asked, gave answer that it ought to be sent to the wisest man of all Greece. Where- upon it was carried to Thales of Miletus ; who sent it to Bias, as to a wiser person ; Bias referred it to another, and that other referred it to a fourth, till, after it had been sent backward and forward to all the wise men, it retured again to Thales, who dedi- cated it to Apollo, at Delphi. The seven wise men of Greece were, " Thales of Miletus,^^ " Solon of Athens" " Chilon of Lacedce- mon," " Fittacus of Mytilene^" " Bias of Priene," " Cleohulus of Lindi" and " Periander of Co- rinth.''^ 1 will add some remarkable things con- cerning them : Thales was reckoned among the wise men, be- cause he was believed to be the first that brought geometry into Greece. He first observed the courses of the times, the motion of the winds, the nature of thunder, and the motions of the smi and the stars. Being asked what he thought the most difficult thing 45 m the world, he answered, " To know one's self.' This perhaps was the occasion of the advice written on the front of Apollo's temple, to those that were about to enter, " Know thyself." Tviodi tsxvtok When Solon visited Croesus, king of Lydia, the king showed his vast treasures to him, and ask- ed him wiiether he knew a man happier than he : " Yes," says Solon, " I know Tellus, a very poor, but a very virtuous man, at Athens, who lives in a little tenement, and he is more happy than your majesty : for neither can those things make us happy, which are subject to the changes of the times; nor is any one to be thought truly happy till he dies." It is said, when king Croesus was afterward taken prisoner by Cyrus, and laid upon the pile to be burnt, he remembered this saying of Solon, and often repeated his name ; so that Cyrus asked why he cried out Solon, and who the god was whose as- sistance he begged. Croesus said, " I now find by experience that to be true, which he told me j" and he then related the story. Cyrus, on hearing i^ was so touched with the vicissitude of human affairs, that he preserved Croesus from the fire, and ever af- ter had him in great honour. Chilo had this saying continually in his mouth: *' JVe quid nimium cupias," " Desire nothing too much." Yet when his son had got the victory at the Olympic games, the good man died with joy, and all Greece honoured his funeral. Bias, a man no less famous for learning than no* bility, preserved his citizens a long time. And when at last, says Cicero, his country Priene was taken, and the rest of the inhabitants, in their escape, car* ried away with them as much of their goods as they could ; one advised him to do the same, but he made answer. " Ego vero facio, nam omnia mea mecum portoJ^ " It is what I do ah eady ; for all thingf that are mme I carry about me." He often ssdd» 5 50 " Amicos Ita aniare opertere, ut aliquando essent osuri, " That friends should reniembei so to love one another, as persons who sometimes hate one another." A sentiment very unworthy of a wise and good man. Of the rest, nothing extraordinary is reported. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATION. What is the origin of the name Apollo ? Why was he called Cynthius, Delius, and Delphinius? From what did he derive his title Delphicus ? When did the oracle become dumb ? Why was he called Didymeeus and Nomius ? Why was he styled Paean ? On what account was he named Phoebus and Pythius? What is said of the tripos ? Who were the seven wise men of Greece ? On what account w as Thales celebrated ? For what is Solon celebrated ? What was the famous saying of Chllo ? Why is Bias reckoned among the seven wise men ? SEC. 4.— THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE FABLE APOL- LO MEANS THE SUN. Every one agrees, that by Apollo the Sun is to be understood ; for the four chief properties ascribed to Apollo, were the arts of prophesying, of healing, of darting, and of music ; of all which we may find, iu the sun, a lively representation and image. It may be observed that Apollo's skill in music seems to agree with the nature of the sun, which, being placed in the midst of the planets, makes \v\x\i tliem a kind of harmony, and as it were, a concert : and because the sun is thus placed the middlemost of the seven planets, the poets assert, that the instru- ment which Apollo plays on, is a harp with seven sdrings. Besides, from the things sacrificed to Apollo, it appears that he was the Sun : the first of these was the olive, the fruit of which cannot be nourished in places distant from it. 2. The laurel, a tree always 51 flourishing, never old, and conducing to divination ; and therefore the poets are crowned with laurel. 3. Among animals, swans were offered to him ; because, as was observed before, thc}^ have from Apollo, a faculty of divination ; for they, foreseeing the hap- piness in death, die singing and pleased. 4. Grif- fins also, and crows, were sacred to him for the same reason ; and the hawk, which has eyes as bright and piercing as the sun ; the cock, which foretells hii^ rising, and the grasshopper, a singing creature : hence it was a custom among the Athenians, to fast- en golden grasshoppers to their hair, in honour of Apollo. And especially, if we derive the name of Lato- na, the mother of Apollo and Diana, from the Greek a«v^<«v6> [lanthano, to lie hid^ it will signify, that before the birth of Apollo and Diana, that is, before the production of the sun and moon, all things lay involved in darkness ; from which these two glo- rious luminaries afterward proceeded, as out of the womb of a mother. But notwithstanding all this, several poetical fa- bles have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. And of those therefore it is necessary to treat apart, qUESTIOA'S FOR EXAMIKATIOK. What were the chief properties of Apollo ? Why does Apollo's skill in music agree with the nature of the sun ? How is it inferred that he was the sun from the things saci> ficed to him ? What is ittfsrred from the name Latona, mother ot Apollo and Diana ? 52 CHAPTER III. SEC. 1.— THE SUN. HIS GENEALOGY, NAMES, AND ACTIONS. This glorious sun, which illustrates all things with his light, is called Sol, as Cicero says, either be- cause he is the only star that is of that apparent mag- nitude ; or because, when he rises, he puts out all the other stars, and only appears himself. Vel quia Solus ex omnibus sideribus tantus est ; vel quia cum exortus est, obscuratis omnibus. Solus appareat. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2. 3. Although the poets have said, that there were five Sols ; yet, whatever they delivered concerning each of them severally, they commonly apply to one, who was the son of Hype- rion, and nephew to jEther, begotten of an unknown inother. The Persians call the sun Mithra, accounting him the greatest of their gods, and worship him in a cave. His statue has the head of a lion, on which a turban called tiara, is placed ; it is clothed with Persian at- tire, and holds with both hands a mad bull by the horns. Those that desired to become his priests, and understand his mysteries, did first undergo a great many hardships before they could attain to the honour of that employment. It was not lawful for the kings of Persia to drink immoderately, but upon that day in which the sacrifices were ofiered to ]^Iithra. The Egyptians called the sun Horus ; whence those parts into which the sun divides the day, are called horcd, hours. They represented his power by a sceptre, on the top of which an eye was placed ; by which they signified that the sun sees every thing, aud that all things are seen by his means. 53 These horct were thought to be the daughters ok Sol and Chronis, who early m the morning prepare the chariot and the horses for their father, and open the gates of the day. qUESTIO.YS FOR EXAMIKATIOX. What is Cicero's opinion with regard to Sol, and to who» does the name apply ? What is said of the Persians with regard to the sun ? What was necessary to be done by those who would become the priests of the sun ? What name did the Egyptians give to the sun, and how did they represent his power ? Who were the " horae," and what was their business ? SEC. 2.— OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. The seven wonders of the world : 1. The Colossus at Rhodes, a statue of the sun„ seventy cubits high, placed across the mouth of the harbour ; a man could not grasp his thumb with both his arms. Its legs were stretched out to such a distance, that a large ship under sail might easily pass into the port between them. It was twelve years making, and cost three hundred ^talents. It stood fifty years, and at last was thrown down by an earthquake. And from this Colossus the people of Rhodes were named Colossenses; and now every statue of an unusual magnitude is called Colossus. 2. The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, a work of the greatest magnificence ; which the ancients great- ly admired. fTwo hundred and twenty years were spent in finishing it, though all Asia was employed* It was supported by one hundred and twenty-seven pillars sixty feet high, each of which was raised by as many kings. Of these pillars thirty-seven were engraven. The image of the goddess was made of ebony, as we learn from history. 3. The Mausoleum, or sepulchre of Mausolus^ » A Rhodian talent is worth 322/. 18*. 4d. English. t Plin. 1. 7. c. 38. h 1. 16. c. 4U. 6* 54 king ofCarra, *biiilt by his queen Artemisia, of the purest marble ; and yet the workmanship of it was much more valuable than the marble. It was from north to south sixty-three feet long, almost four hundred and eleven feet in compass, and twenty-five cubits (that is, about thirty-five feet) high, surround- ed with thirty-six columns, which were beautified in a wonderful manner. From this Mausoleum all other sumptuous sepulchres are called by the same name. 4. A statue of Jupiter, in the temple of the city of f Olympia, carved with the greatest art by Phidias, out of ivory, and made of a prodigious size. 5. The walls of Babylon (the metropolis of Chal- dea,) Jbuilt by queen Semiramis ; their circum- ference was sixty miles, and their breadth fifty feet, so that six chariots might conveniently pass upon them in a row. 6. The llpyramids of Egypt; three of which, re- markable for their height, still remain. The first has a square basis, and is one hundred and forty- three feet long, and one thousand feet high ; it is made of great stones, the least of which is thirty feet thick ; and three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed in building it, for the space of twen- ty years. The other two, which are somewhat smaller, attract the admiration of all spectators. In these pyramids, it is reported, the bodies of the kings of Egypt lie interred. 7. The palace of §Cyrus, king of the Medes, made by Menon, with no less prodigaUty than art j for he cemented the stones with gold. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMmATIOjY. What is the first of the seven wonders of the world ; how Is it described, and what name did the inhabitants of Rhodes de- rive from it. Describe the second of the wonders of the world ? • Plin. 1. 36. c. 5. f Phil. 1. 36. c. 3. t Plin. 1. 6. c. 26. I Plin I. 36. c. 13, Belo. 1. 2. c. 32 ^Calepin. V.MiracuIum. 65 'Which was the third, and what technical term owes its orisia to it ? Which was the fourth ? Describe the fifth ? Give some account of the sixth ? Which was the seventh ? | SEC. 3.— THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN The most celebrated of Sol's children was Phaeton, who gave the poets an excellent opportunity of show- ing their ingenuity by the following action. Epa- phus, one of tlie sons of Jupiter, quarrelled with i*haeton, and said that though he called himself the son of Apollo, he was not. This slander so pro- voked Pheeton, that by Clymene, his mother's ad- vice, he went to the royal palace of the Sun, to bring thence some indubitable marks of his nativity. The sun received him kindly, and owned him as his son ; and, to take away all occasion of doubting hereafter, he gave him liberty to ask any thing, swearing by the Stygian lake, an oath which none of the gods dare violate, that he would not deny him. Phseton then desired leave to govern his father's cha- riot for one day. This was the occasion of great grief to his father, who endeavoured to persuade him not to persist in his project, which no mortal was capable of executing. Phceton, however, pressed him to keep his promise, and perform what he had sworn by the river Styx. The father was forced to comply with his son's rashness : he directed him how to guide the horses, and especially advised him to observe the middle path. Phaeton was transport- ed with joy, mounted his chariot, and taking the reins, began to drive the horses ; which, finding him unable to govern them, ran away, and set on fire both the heaven and the earth. Jupiter, to put an end to the conflagration, struck him out of the chariot with thunder, and cast him headlong into the river Po. His sisters, Lampethusa, Lampetia, and Pha- 56 ethusa, lamenting his death, incessantly, upon the banks of that river, were turned, by the pity of the gods, into poplars, from that time weeping amber in- stead of tears. This forms a subject of one of the most beautiful passages in Ovid. — Met. 2. Circe, the most skilful of all sorceresses, poisoned her husband, a king of the Sarmatians ; for which she was banished by her subjects, and flying into Italy, fixed her seat on the promontory Circseum, where she fell in love with Glaucus, a sea god, who at the same time loved Scylla ; Circe turned her into a sea monster, by poisoning the water in which she used to wash. She entertained Ulysses, who was driven hither by the violence of storms, with great civility; and restored his companions, whom, ac- cording to her usual custom, she had changed into hogs, bears, wolves, and the like beasts, unto their former shapes. Pasiphge, the wife of Minos, king of Crete, loved an officer named Taurus, hence the fable of her at- tachment to a hull, and of her giving birth to a mon- ster, half man and half beast, called Mino-Taurus, or, Minotaur, The Minotaur was shut up in a labyrinth, which Daedalus made by the order of king Minos. This labyrinth was a place diversified with very many windings and turnings, and cross paths, rumiing in- to one another ; — see Theseus. Daedalus was an excellent artificer of Athens, and, as it is said, in- vented the ax, the saw, the plummet, the augur, and glue ; he also first contrived masts and yards for ships ; besides, he carved statues so admirably that they not only seemed alive, but could never stand still in one place ; nay, would fly away unless they were chained. This Daedalus, together with Icarus, his son, was shut up by Minos in the labyrinth which he had made, because he had assisted Pasiphae in her intrigues, ^d finding no way to escape, he made 67 wings for himself and his son, with wax and the feathers of birds : fastening these wings to their shoulders, Daedalus flew out of Crete into Sicily, but Icarus in his flight, neglecting his father's advice, observed not his due course, and out of juvenile wantonness flew higher than he ought ; upon which the wax was melted by the sun, the wings broke in pieces, and he fell into the sea, which is since, ac- cording to Ovid, named the Icarian sea, from him. "Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis." — Trisi. 1. Icarian seas from Icarius were called. To these children of the sun, we may add his niece and his nephew Bybhs and Caunus. Byblis was in love with Caunus, and followed him so long to no purpose, that at last, being quite oppressed with sorrow and labour, she sat down under a tree, and shed such a quantity of tears, that she was con- verted into a fountain. " Sic lachrymis consumpta suis Phcebeia Byblis Vertitur in fontem, qui nunc quoque vallibus illis IVomen habet clomina?, nigraque sub ilice manat." Ov. Met. 9. Thus the Phcebian Byblis, spent in tears, Becomes a livi.ig fountain, which yet bears Her name, and, under a black holm that grows In those rank valleys, plentifully flows. qUESTW.XS FOR EXAMIKJITIOK. What is said of PhaKon, one of the children of the sun ? What happened to Phajton ? Who were his sisters, and what happened to them .•' Who was Circe, and what is related of her ? Who was Pasip'^ae, and how is the fable of the Monitaur ex- plained ? Who was Daedalus, and what circumstances are related of him ? Who were the niece and nephew of Sol ? 58 CHAPTER IV. SEC. 1— MERCURY. HIS IMAGE, BIRTH, QUALITIES AND OFFICES. Mercury is represented with a cheerful counte- nance and hvely eyes ; having wings fixed to his hat and his shoes, and a rod in his hand, which is wing- td, and bound about by two serpents. His face is ^'iartly black and dark, and partly clear and bright , because sometimes he converses with the celestial, and sometimes with the infernal gods. He wears winged shoes, which are called Talaria, and wings are also fastened to his hat, which is called Petasus, because, since he is the messenger of the gods, he ought not only to run, but to ^y. His wings are emblematical of the wings which language gives to the thoughts of men. His cha- racter, as tlie swift messenger of the gods, is thus referred to by Homer : — The god who mounts the winged winds Fast to his feet the golden pinions binds. That high through fields of air his flight sustain, O'er t'le wide earth, and o'er the boundless main , He grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly, Or in soft slumbers seals the wakeful eye ; Then shoots from heav'n to high Pieria's steep, And stoops incumbent on the rolling deep. — Odyssey. His parents were Jupiter, and Maia, the daughtei of Atlas ; and for that reason, they used to offer sa- crifices to him in the month of May. They say that Juno was his nurse, and once when he took his milk too greedily, it ran out of his moudi upon the hea- vens, and made that white stream which they call '' The Milky-way." He had many offices. 1. The first and principal was to carry the commands of Jupiter 5 whence he ((UK-I7EESITYJ yjfgjg WTijyy 69 is commonly called " The messenger of the gods." 2. He swept the room where the gods supped, and made the beds ; and underwent many other the like servile employments ; hence he was styled Camillus or Casmillus, that is, an inferior servant of gods ; for anciently all boys and girls under age were call- ed Camilli and Camillae : and the same name was afterward given to the young men and maids, who attended the priests at their sacrifices : though the peopleofBcEOtia, instead of Camillus, sayCadmillus; perhaps from the Arabic word chadam, to serve ; or from the Phoenician word chadmel, god's servant or minister sacer. 3s He attended upon dying persons to unloose their souls from the chains of the body, and carry them to hell : he also revived, and placed in new bodies those souls which had completed their full time in the Elysian fields. Almost all which things Virgil comprises in seven verses. *' Dixerat. Ille patris magni parere parabat Imperio, et primum pedibus talaria nectit Aurea, quae sublimem alis sive aequora supra, Seu terrara, rapido pariter cum flamine portant. Turn virgam capit ; hac animas ille evocat Oreo Pallentes, alias sub tristia Tartara mittit ; Dat soranos, adimitque, et lumina morte resignat." .^n.4 Hermes obeys ; with golden pinions binds His flying feet, and mounts the western winds • And, whether o'er the seas or earth he flies, With rapid force they bear him down the skies. But first he grasps, within his awful hand, The mark of sov'reign pow'r, his magic wand : With this he draws the souls from hollow graves j With this he drives them down the Stygian waves ; With this he seals in sleep the wakeful sight, And eyes, though clos'd in death, restores to light. His remarkable qualities were these : 1 . He was the inventor of letters, and excelled in eloquence, so that the Greeks called him Hermes, from his *skill in interpreting or explaining ; and, therefore, he is • 'Awo ra Ipu-nni*" i. e. ab interpretando. 60 accounted the god of the rhetoricians and orators. 2. He is reported to have been the inventor of contracts, weights, and measures ; to have first taught the arts of buying, selling, and trafficking ; and to have received the name of Mercury*^ from his under- standing of merchandise. Hence he is accounted the god of the merchants^ and the god ofgain ; so that all unexpected gain and treasure, which comes of a sud- den, is from liim called ip,u.e7ov or spf^cctov. 3. In the ait of thieving he certainly excelled all the sharpers that ever were, or will fbe ; and is the prince and god of thieves. The very day on which he was born, he stole away some cattle from king Admetus' herd, although Apollo was keeper of them ; who complained much of the theft, and bent his bow against him : but, in the mean time. Mercury stole even his arrows from him. While he was yet an infant, and entertained by Vulcan, he stole his tools from him. He took away by stealth Venus' girdle, while she embraced him ; and Jupiter's sceptre : he designed to steal the thunder too, but he was afraid lest it should burn him. 4. He was mightily skilful in making peace ; and for that reason was sometimes painted with chains of gold flowing from his mouth, with which he linked together the minds of those that heard him. And he not only pacified mortal men, but also the immortal gods of heaven and hell ; for whenever they quarrel- led among themselves, he composed their differences. *' Pacis et armorum, superis imisque Deorum, Arbiter, alato qui pede carpit iter." — Ovid Fast. S. Thee, wing-foot, all the gods, both high and low, The arbiter of war and peace allow. This pacificatory faculty of his is signified by th« rod that he holds in his hand, which Apollo hereto- • A mercibus, vel a mercium cura, Philostrat, in Soph. S. t Lucian. Diall. ApoU. et Vulc 61 fore gave Ii:m, because he liad given Apollo a harp» This rod had a wonderlul faculty of deciding all controversies. The virtue was first discovered by Mercury, wiio seeing two serpe/its fighting, as he travelled, he put his rod between them, and recon- ciled tlieni presently ; for they mutually embraced each other; and stuck to the rod, which is called Caduceus. *Hence all ambassadors sent to make peace are called Caduceatores : for, as wars were denounced by -fFeciales, so they were ended by Caduceatores. qUESTIOXS FOR EXAMINATION. How is Mercury represented ? VThy does lie wear wings, and what are they called.' Who \Vere his parents ? What is said to be the origin of the Milky-way ? W^hat are Mercury's principal offices ? What was the first remarkable quality belonging to Mercury/ What was the second ? What was tlie third ? What was the fourth ? What emblem of peace does he carry ■* How was this virtue discovered ? What was the rod called, and what name is derived from it? SEC. 2.— ACTIONS OF MERCURY. Of which tlie following are the most remarkable Hermaplu'oditus, the son of Mercury and W^nus, was a celebrated hunter. In one of his excursions through the forests, he was observed by a wood nymph called Salmacis, who, struck with his manly form and noble visage, both new to her, anxiously followed him wherever he went. But Hermaphro- dims inured to solitude by the nature of his pursuits, and unaccustomed to the soft attractions of female society, as anxiously avoided her, until she had re- course to stratagem, and to hide in ambusli to be- hold him. At length, however, they met at a favourite foimtain in the midst of the foi^^st, where he usually • Horn, in Hvm. f Lexic. Lat. in hoc Vcrbo. '6 62 came to bathe during the heat of the day. Here the infatuated nymph imprudently disclosed her senti- ments. Such I'rankness merited a generous return, but the ungrateful and sturdy huntsman, unmoved by her advances, rejected her widi disgust, upon which the indignant Salmacis prayed the gods to avenge the insult by wedding him tor ever to a fe- male form. Her prayer was granted, and the wretched Hermaphroditus, equally amazed and shocked at the change, prayed then in turn, to alle- viate the poignancy of his misfortue by sending him companions of similar form. The gods always mer- ciful, listened to his entreaties, and decreed that whoever, thereafter, should bathe in that fountain, should resemble Hermaphroditus, and partake alike the form and qualities of either sex. A herdsmen, whose name was Battus, saw Mer- cury stealing Admetus' cows from Apollo their keep- er. When Mercury perceived that his theft was discovered, he went to Battus, and desired that he would say nothing, and gave him a delicate cow^ Battus promised him secrecy. Mercury, to try his fidelity, came in another shape to him, and asked him about the cows ; whether he saw them, or knew the place where the thief carried tliem. Battus de- nied it ; but Mercury pressed him hard, and pro- mised that he would give him both a bull and a cow, if he would discover it. With this promise he was overcome ; upon which Mercury was enraged, and laying aside his disguise, turned him into a stone called Index. This story Ovid describes in very elegant verse* The ancients used to set up statues where the roads crossed : these statues they called Indices, be- cause with an arm or finger held out they showed tlie way to this or that place. The Romans placed some in pubhc places and highways ; as t\u Athe- nians did at tlieir doors to drive away thieves ; and 63 they call these statues Hermae, from Mercury, whose Greek name was Hermes : concerning which Her- mcC it is to be observed : 1. That they have neither hands nor feet ; and hence ]\Iercury was called Cyllenius, and by con- traction Cyllius, which words are derived from a Greek word signifying a man without hands and feet ; and not from Cyllene, a mountain in Arcadia, on which he was educated. 2. A purse was usually hung to a statue of Mer- cury, to signify that he was the god of gain and pro- fit, and presided over merchandising ; in which, be- cause many times things are done by fraud and treachery, they gave him the name of Dolius. 3. The Romans used to join the statues of Mer- cury and Minerva together, and these images they called Hermathena? ; and sacrificed to both deities upon the same altar. Those who had escaped any great danger, always oflered sacrifices to Mercury ; they ofiered up a calf, and milk, and honey, and es- pecially the tongues of the sacrifices, which, with a great deal of ceremony, they cast into the fire, and then the sacrifice was finished. It is said that the Megarenses first used this ceremony. quESTTO.rs for examijvatjok. Wliat is related of Mercury in connexion with Venus ? What is the story of Battus ? What were the ancient indices ? Wliat were the Hermai ? Why was Mercury called Cyllenius ^ Why was he called Dolius ? What were the Hermathenaj ? What were the sacrifices offered to Mercury, and why/ 04 CHAPTER V. SEC. 1.— BACCHUS HIS IMAGE AND BIRTH. Bacchus, the god of ivine, and the captain and emperor of drunkards, is represented with swoln cheeks, red face, and a body bloated and puffed up. He is crowned with ivy and wine-leaves ; and has in his hand a thyrsus, instead of a sceptre, which is a javelin with an iron head, encircled by ivy or vine- leaves. He is carried in a chariot, which is some- times drawn by tigers and lions, and sometimes by lynxes and panthers : and, like a king, he has his guards, w ho are a drunken band of satyrs, demons, nymphs that preside over the wine-presses, foiries of fountains, and priestesses. Silenus oftentimes comes after him, sitting on an ass that bends under his burden. He is sometimes painted an old man, and some- times a smooth and beardless boy ; as Ovid and Ti- bullus describe him. 1 shall give you the reason of these things, and of his horns, mentioned a* Ovid: -" Tibi inconsumpta juventa Tn puer tetenius, tu torinosissiaius alto Coiispicei-is ccelo, tibi, cum sine cornibus adstas, Virgineuin caput est." . Still dost thou eujoy Unwasted youth : Eternally a boy ■J'hou'rt seen in heaven, whom all perfections grace And when uahonrd, thou hast a virgin's face. According to the poets, the birth of Bacchus was both wonderful and ridiculous. They say, that when Jupiter was in love with Se- mele, it excited Juno's jealousy, who endeavoured to destroy her ; and in the shape of an old woman, visited Semcle, and advised her to oblige him, when f: -• ., 65 he came, by an inviolable oath, to grant her a r^ quest : then, says she to Semele, ask him to come to you as he is wont to come to Juno : and he will come clotiied in all his glory, and majesty, and ho- nour. Semele was greatly pleased with this advice ; and therefore, when Jupiter visited her next, she begged a ("avour of him, but did not expressly name the lavour. Jupiter bound liimseH* in the most so- lemn oath to grant her request, let it be ^^llat it would. Semele, little foreseeing what she desired would prove her ruin, made the rash request. What Jupiter had so solemnly sworn to perform, he could not refuse : he accordmgly put on all his terrors, ar- rayed himself with his greatest glory, and in the midst of thunder and lightning entered Semele's house. Her mortal body could not stand the shock, and she perished ; for the thmider struck her down and stupified her, and the lightning reduced her to a^hes. So fatal are the rash desires of the ambitious ! Bac- chus, her son, not yet born, was preserved, taken from his mother, and sewed into Jupiter's thigh, whence in fulness of time he was born, and deliver- ed into the hands of Mercury to be carried into Eu- bcea, to Macris, the daughter of Aristaeus, who ini- mediately anointed his lips with honey, and brought him up with great care in a cave, to which lh(;re were two gates. Ovid. Met. 3. qUESTIO.rS fob EXJMIjY^TOLX. How is Bacchus representftd ? By what is iiis chariot drawn? How is lie painted r Give some account of Bacchus' birth ? What u as the co?:se(|!ietice ( f thai reipiest ? What did Macris do for Bacchus at his birth f SEC. 3.-TIIE NAMES OF BACCIIdS. Bacchus was so called from a Greek word, wliich iignifies " to revel :" and for the same reason, tho 66 wild women, his companions, are called Thyades and Mamades, which words sic^nify madness and fol- ly. They were also called jMimaUones, that is, imi- tators or mimics ; because they imitated all Bac- chus' actions. Bilbrmis, because he was reckoned both a young and an old man ; with a beard, and without a beard : or, because wine (of which Bacchus is the emblem) makes people sometimes cheerful and pleasant, sometimes peevish and morose. He was named Brisaeus, either from the nymph his nurse ; or from the use of the grapes and honey, which he invented, for b?'isa signifies a bunch of press- ed grapes ; or else from the promontory Brisa, hi the island of Lesbos, where he was worshipped. Bromius, from the crackling of fire, and noise of thunder, that was heard when his mother was killed. Bimater, because he had two mothers : the first was Semele, and the other the thigh of Jupiter, into which he was received after he was saved from the fire. He is called also by the Greeks Bu genes, that is, born of an ox, and thence Tauriformis, or Tauri- ceps ; and he is supposed to have horns, because he first ploughed with oxen, or because he was the son of Jupiter Amnion, who had the head of a ram. Dcemon bonus ; the " good angel;" and in feasts, after the victuals were taken away, the last glass was drunk round to his honour. Dithyrambus, which signifies either that he was born twice, of Semele and of Jove ; or the double gate that the cave had, in which he was brought up . or perhaps it means that drunkards cannot keep se- crets ; but whatever is in the head comes in the mouth, and bursts forth, as fast as it w^ould out of two doors. Dionysius or Dionysus, from his father Jupiter, or from the nymphs called Nysse, by whom he was 67 nursed, as tney say, or from a Greek word, signify- ing " to prick," because he pricked his father's side with his iioriis, when he was born ; or from Jupiter's lameness, who limped when Bacchus was in his thigh ; or from an island among the Cyclades, call- ed Dia, or Naxos, which was dedicated to him when he married Ariadne ; or lastly, from the city of Ny- sa, in which Bacchus reigned. Evius, or Evous : for, in the war of the giants, when Jupiter did not see Bacchus, he thought that he was killed, and cried out " Alas son !" or because when he found that Bacchus had overcome the u^iants, by clianging himself into a lion, he cried out again, " Well done son." Ew ine Evan, from the acclamations of Bacchantes, who were therefore called Evantes. Euchius, because Bacchus fills his glass plenti- fully, even up to the brim. Eleleus and Eleus, from the acclamation where- with they animated the soldiers before the fight, or encouraged them in the battle itself. The same ac- clamation was also used in celebrating the Orgia, which were sacrifices ofiered up to Bacchus. laccus was also one of his names, from the noise which men make when drunk : and this title is given him by Claudian : from whose account of Bacchus, we may learn, that he was not always naked, but sometimes clothed with the skin of a tiger. LenaDus ; because wine palliates and assuages the sorrows of men's minds; or from a Greek word, which signifies the " vat" or " press" in which wine is made. Liber and Liber Pater, from libero ; as in Greek they call him LXiv6ip-o* present wisdom ; that is, true and skilful knowledge^ joined with discreet and prudent manners. They hereby signify also the understanding of the noblest arts, and the accomplishments of the mind ; like- wise the virtues, and especially chastity : for, 1. ]\Iinerva is said to be born out of Jupiter's brain : because the wit and ingenuity of man did not invent the useful sciences, v.hich, for the good of men were derived from the brain of Jupiter ; that is, from the inexhausted fountain of the divine wi-sdom, whence not only the arts and sciences, but the bless- ings of wisdom and virtue also proceed. 2. Pallas was born armed ; because a wi^ man's soul being fortified with wisdom and virtue, is invin- cible : he is prepared and armed against fortune ; in dangers he is intrepid, in crosses unbroken, in calamities impregnable. Thus, though the image o/ Jupiter perspires in bad weather, yet as Jupiter him- self is dry and unconcerned, so a wise man's mind is hardened against the assaults that fortune can make upon his body. 3. She invented and exercised the art of spinning; and hence other young women may learn, if they would preserve their good character, never to in- dulge idleness, but to employ themselves continu- ally in some sort of work j after the example of Lucretia. 4. As the spindle and the distaff were the inven- CTx rm "T-Eiwa 99 tion of Minerva, so they are the arms of every vir- tuous woman. For which reason those instruments were formerly carried before the bride when she was brought to her husband's house ; and somewhere it is a custom, at the funeral of women, to throw the distafl' and spindle into the grave with them. 5. An owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva, and painted upon her images, which is the representation of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelhng the clouds of ignorance and error, is dear sighted where others are stark blind. qUESTWJYS FOR EXAMINATION. What do the poets represent by the story of Minerva ? Why is Minerva said to have orio;inated from Jupiter's brain? Why was she said to be born armed ? What lesson should Minerva teach as the inventress of spiQ>- ning ? Why were the spindle and distaff carried before the brid«, when she went to her husband's house ? What does the owl represent as sacred to Minerva ? CHAPTER IX. SEC. 1.— VENUS. HER IMAGE. HER DESCENT. Turn j^our eyes now to a sweet object, and view that goddess in whose countenance the graces sit playing, and discover all their charms. You see a pleasantness, a mirth, and joy in every part of her face. Observe with what becoming pride she holds up her head and views herself, where she finds nothing but joys and' soft delights. She is clothed with a purple mantle glittering with diamonds. By her side stand two Cupids, and round her are three- Graces, and after follows the lovely beautiful Adc>-> nis, who holds up the goddess' train. The chariot in which she rides is made of ivory, finely carve(l> 100 and beautifully painted and gilded. It is drawn by 8wans and doves, or swallows as Venus directs, when she pleases to ride. Venus, whom in more honourable terms men style the " goddess of the Graces," the author of elegance, beauty, neatness, delight, and cheerfulness, is in re- ahty tlie mistress, president, and patron of all manner of licentiousness ; and it should seem, by the v\or- ship which was formerly paid to her, that men used al that period to erect altars to, and deify their vices ; tliat they hallowed the greatest impieties with frank- incense, and thought to ascend into heaven by the »teps of their iniquities. You will see her sometimes painted like a young virgin rising from the sea, and riding in a shell ; at otlier times like a woman holding the shell in her hand, her head being crowned with roses. Some- times her picture has a silver looking-glass in one hand, and on the feet are golden sandals and buc- kles. In the pictures of the Sic^'onians, she holds a poppy in one hand, and an apple in the other. At Elis she was painted treading on a tortoise; showing thereby that 3'oung women ought not to ramble abroad ; and that married women ought to keep silence, love their home, and govern their fa- mily. She wore a girdle or belt, called Cestus ; m which all kinds of pleasures were folded, and which was supposed to excite irresistible aflection. Some give her arrows ; and make Python Suada, the goddess of eloquence, her companion. We learn from several authors, that there were four Venuses, born of different parents, but this Ve- nus of whom we speedv was the most eminent, and had the beauties as well as the disgraces of the others commonly ascribed to her. She sprang from tlie froth of the sea. She was by the Greeks called Aphrodite, ex a(p^oc, sjjuma. As soon as she was born, she was laid, like a pearl, in a shell instead of 101 a cradle ; and was driven, by Zephyrus upon the island Cythera, \Aliere the Horte, or hours, re- ceived, educated, accomplished, and adorned her ; and, when she came of age, carried her into heaven, and presented her to the gods, all of whom, being taken with her beauty, desired to marry her : but she was at lengtli betrothed to Vulcan, and married to him. qUESTIOJ^S FOR EXAMINATION. How is Venus described ? By wliom is she attended ? How is her chariot drawn ? What different descrijitions are given of her ? What may be inferred from the worship paid to Venus ? How is she painted ? How is she painted at Elis, and what does that denote ? What was she called by the Greeks ? What happened to her as soon as she was born ? By whom was she educated, and who did she marry? SEC. 2— NAMES OF VENUS. She is called Venus, say^ Cicero, because all- things are subject to the laws of love. Or else, as others say, her name is given her because she is emi- nently beautiful ; for she is the goddess of beauty. Or lastly, she is so called, because she was a stran- ger or foreigner to the Romans ; for she was first wor- shipped by the Egyptians, and from the Egyptians she was translated to the Greeks, and from them to the Romans. Let us now proceed to her other names. Amica, 'Eraipx ^Hetaira] was a name given her by the Athenians ; because she joins lovers together ; and this Greek word is used both in good and bad senses. Armata, because when the Spartan w^omen sallied out of their tow n, besieged by the Messenians, and beat them, a temple was dedicated to Venus Ai- mata. 9* 102 Apaturia, that is " the deceiver," for nothhig is more deceitful than love, which flatters our eyes and pleases us, like roses in their finest colours, but at the same time kaves a thorn in the heart. She was called by the Romans Barbata ; because, when the Roman women were so troubled with a disease that caused their hair to fall off, they pray- ed to Venus, and their hair grew again; upon which they made an image of Venws with a comb, and gave it a beard, that she might have the signs of both sexes. Cypris, Cypria, and Cyprogenia, because she was worshipped in the island of Cyprus : Cytheris and Cytherea ; from the island of Cythera, whither she was first carried in a sea-shell. There was a temple at Rcme dedicated to Venus Calva ; because when the Gauls possessed that city, ropes for the engines were made with the women's hair. Erycina, from the mountain Eryx in the island of Sicily ; upon which jEneas built a splendid and fa- mous temple to her honour, because she was his mo- tlier. Horace makes mention of her under this name. She is properly called Ridens, and Homer calls her a lover of laughing : for she is said to be born laughing, and thence called the *' goddess of mirth." Hortensi'S, because she looks after the production of seed and plants in gardens. And Festus tells us, that the word Venus is by Naevius put for herbs, as Ceres is for bread, and Neptunus for fish. Idalia and Acidalia from the mountain Idalus, in the island of Cyprus, and the fountain Acidalius, in Boeotia. Marina, because she was born of the sea, to which Ausonius refers in his poem. "Orta salo, suscepta solo, patre edida Ccelo." Heav'n gave her life, the sea a cradle gave, And earth's wide regions her with joy receive. 103 She is called Aphroditus and Anadyomne, that is, emerging out of tlie waters, as Apelles painted her ; and Pontia, from Pontus. Hence came the custom, that those who had escaped any danger by water, used to sacrifice to Venus. Hence also the mari- ners observed those solemnities called Aphrodisia, which Plutarch describes in a treatise against Epi- curus. Melanis, or MelEenis, that is dark and concealed ; whence the Egyptians worshipped a Venus, called Scoteia, a goddess to be admired in the night. Migonitis signifies her power in the management of love. Therefore, Paris dedicated the first temple to Venus Migonitis. Paphia, from the city Paphos in the island of Cy- prus, where they sacrificed flowers and frankincense CO her. And this is mentioned by Virgil : " Ipsa paphum sublimis adit, sedesque revisit Lajta suas, ubi templum illi, centumque Sabaeo Thure calent arse, sertisque recentibus halant." — ,®n. 1. This part perform'd, the goddess flies sublime To visit Paphos and her native clime ; "Where garlands, ever green and ever fair. With vows are otter'd, and with solemn pray'r: A hundred altais in her temple smoke, A thousand bleeding hearts her pow'r invoke. Her name Verticordia, signifies the power of love to change hearts, and to ease the minds of men from all cares that perplex them. Ovid mentions this power, and for the same reason Venus is called in the Greek Epistrophia. qUESTlO.XS FOR EXAMINATION. "Why is she called Amica and Armata? Why was she called Apaturia and Barbata ? Why was she denominated Cypris and Cytheris ? Why was a temple dedicated to Venus Calva at Rome? Why was she called Erycina and Ridens ? Why was she denominated Hortensis Idalia? and Acidalia? 104 How did she derive her names Marina and Aphroditis Why is slie called iNIelienie-, and why Migonitis? Why is she called Faphia and Verticordia ? SEC. 3.— ACTIONS OF VENUS. Pygmalion, a statuary, considering the great in conveniences of marrying, had resolved to live sin gle ; bnt afterward making a most elegant and arti« ficial image of Venus, he fell so much in love with his ow n workmanship that he begged Venus to turn it into a w^oman, and enliven the ivory. His wish- es were granted, and of her he had Paphos, from whom the island Paphos had its name. Ovid Met. 10. Pyramus and Thisbe were both inhabitants of the city of Babylon ; equal in beauty, age, condition, and fortune. They began to love each other from their cradles. Their houses were contiguous, so that their love arose from their neighbourhood, grew greater by their mutual play, and was perfected by their singular beauty. This love increased with their years, and in due time, they begged their pa- rents' consent ; which was refused, because of some former quarrels between the two families. And that the children might not attempt any thing against their parents' will, they were not permitted to see each other. There was a partition-wall between both houses, in which wall there was a small chink, never discovered by any of the servants. This cre- vice the lovers found, and met here : their words and their sighs went through, but kisses could not pass ; which, when they parted, they printed on each side of the wall. By some contrivance they met and agreed upon an interview under the shade of a large mulberry tree, which stood near a foun- tain. When night came on, Thisbe deceived her keepers, and escapes first, and flies into the wood ^ for love gave her wings. When she got to the ap 105 pointed place, a lioness fresh from the slaughter of 6ome cattle, came to drink at the fountain. Thisbe was so frightened that she ran into a cave, and in her flight her veil fell from her head ; the lioness return- ing from the fountain, found the veil, and tore it with her jaws besmeared with blood. Pyramus comes next, and sees the print of a wild beast's foot, and finds the veil of Thisbe bloody and torn. He, ima- gining that she was killed and devoured by the wild beast, grew distracted, and hastened to the ap- pointed tree ; but not finding Thisbe, he threw him- self upon his sword, and died. Thisbe in the mean time, recovered from her fright, came to the mul- berry tree, where she saw Pyramus in the struggles of death : she embraced her dying lover, mingled her tears with his blood, and folding her arms about him, called upon him to answer her, but he was speechless, and looking up expired. Thisbe, dis- tracted with grief, tore her cheeks, beat her breast, rent her hair, and sbed a deluge of tears upon his cold face ; nor did she cease to mourn, till she per- ceived her veil, bloody and torn, in Pyramus' hand She then understood the occasion of his death, and drew the sword from the body of her lover, plunged it into her own, and falling accidentally on him, gave him a cold kiss, and breathed her last breath mto his bosom. The tree, warmed with the blood of the slain lovers, became sensible of their misfor- tune, and mourned. Its berries, which were before white, became red with grief, and blushed for the death of Pyramus ; when Thisbe also died, the ber- ries then became black and dark, as if they had put on mourning. Such were the fatal eifects of love. In the next place hear the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes. She was the daughter of the king Schseneus, or Oseneus. It was doubted whether her beauty or swiftness in running were greater. When she consulted the oracle, whether she should marry 106 or not, this answer was given, "That maniagiR would be iatal to her." Upon \\ hich the virgin hid herself in the woods, and lived in places remote from the conversation of men. But the more she avoided them, the more eagerly they courted her ; for her disdain inflamed their desires, and her pride raised their adoration. At last, when she saw she could not otherwise deliver herself from the impor- tunity of her lovers, she made this agreement with them : " You court me in vain ; he who overtakes me in running shall be my husband ; but they who are beaten by me shall suffer death ; I will be the victor's prize, but the vanquished's punishment. If these terms please, go with me into the field." They all agreed to these conditions : " Venit ad banc legem temeraria turba procorum." Ov. Met. la All her mad wooers take the terms propos'd. They strove to outrun her ; but they were all beaten and put to death according to the agree- ment ; suffering the loss of their lives for the fault of their feet. Yet the example of these lovers did not deter Hippomenes from undertaking the race, who entertained hopes of winning the victory, be- cause Venus had given him three golden apples, gathered in the gardens of the Hesperides, and also told him how to use them. Hippomenes briskly set out and began the race ; and when he saw that Atalanta overtook him, he threw down a golden ap- ple ; the beauty of it enticed her so that she went out of her way, followed the apple, and took it up. " Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile tollit." She, greedy of the shining fruit, steps back To catch the rolling gold. Afterward he threw down another, which she pursued also to obtain ; and again a third ; so tliat 107 while Atalanta was busied in gathering them up Hippomenes reached the goal, and took the lady as the prize of his victory. But forgetful of the grati- tude and respect due to Venus, he met with a si«gnal punishment. Himself and Atalanta were turned into a lion and lioness. Another proof of the fatal effects of love is the case of Paris and Helena. Paris was the son of Priamus, king of Troy, by Hecuba. His mother, when she was pregnant, dreamed that she brought forth a burning torch : and asking the oracle for an interpretation, was answered, " That it portended the burning of Troy," and tliat the fire should be kindled by her son. Therefore, as soon as the child was born, he was exposed upon the mountain Ida : where the shepherds brought him up privately, edu- cated him, and called him Paris. When he was grown to man's estate, he gave such tokens of singu- lar prudence and equity in deciding controversies, that on a great difference which arose among the goddesses, they referred it to his judgment to be de- termined. The goddess ^Discordia was the occa- sion of this contention : for, because all the gods and goddesses, except herself, were invited to the marriage of Peleus, she was angry, and resolved to revenge the disgrace ; therefore, when they all met and set down at the table, she came in privately, and threw down upon the table an apple of gold, on which was this inscription, " Let the fairest take it." Hence arose a quarrel among the goddesses for every one thought herself the most beautifuL But at last, all the others yielded to the three supe- rior goddesses, Junoj Pallas, and Venus ; who dis- puted so eagerly, that Jupiter himself was not able to bring them to agreement. He resolved therefore to leave the final determination of it to the judgment • Dion. Chrysost. Orat. 20. Philostrat. in Icon. t Pulchrior accipiat, vel, Detur pulchriori. 108 of Paris ; so that she should have tho p.pple to whom Paris sliould adjudge it. The goddesses consent, and call for Paris, who was then feeding siieep upon a mountain. They tell him their business, and court his lavour with great promises : Juno promised to reward him witli power, Pallas with wisdom, and Venus promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. He pronounted Venu? the fairest, and assigned to her the apple uf gold. Ve- nus did not break her promise to Paris ; for in a little time Paris was owned to be king Priam's son, and sailed into Greece with a great fleet, under the colour of an embassy, to fetch away Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world, who was be- trothed to Menelaus, king of Sparta, and lived in his house. When he came, Menelaus was from home, and, in his absence, Paris carried away Helena to Troy. Menelaus demanded her, but Paris refused to send her back ; and this occasioned that fatal war between the Greeks and Trojans, in which Troy, the metropolis of all Asia, v/as taken and burnt, in the year of the world 2871. There were killed eight hundred sixty-eight thousand of the Grecians ; among whom Achilles, one of their generals, lost his life by the treachery of Paris himself. There were slain six hundred and seventy-sii thousand of the Trojans, from the beginning of the war to the taking of the city, among whom Paris himself was killed by P3 rrhus or Philoctetes ; and his brother Hector, the pillar of his country, was killed by Achilles. When the city was taken and burnt, king Priamus, the father of Paris and Hector, at once lost all his children, his queen Hecuba, his kingdom and his life. Helena, after Paris was kill- ed, married his brother Deiphobus : yet she at length betrayed the castle to the Grecians, and admitted Menelaus into her chamber to kill Deiphobus : by which, it is said, she was reconciled to the favour of 109 Menelaiis again. These things, however, belong rather to history than to fable. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAML\ATIOK. What happened to Pygmalion ? Can you give in short the story of Pyramus and Thisbe ? Give the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes. Give an abridged account of the fates of Paris and Helena. SEC 4.— THE COMPANIONS OF VENUS ; VIZ. HYME- NJ=:US, THE CUPIDS, THE GRACES, ADONIS. The first of Venus' companions was the god Hy- menseus. He presided over marriage, and was the protector of yomig miraarried women. He was the son of Bacchus and Venus Urania, born in Attica, where he used to rescue virgins carried away by thieves, and restore them to their parents. He was of a very fair complexion ; crowned with the ama- racus or sweet marjoram, and sometimes with roses ; in one hand he carried a torch, in the other a veil of flame colour, to represent the blushes of a virgin. Newly married women offered sacrifices to him, as they did also to the goddess Concordia. Cupid was the next of Venus' companions. He is called the god of love, and many different parents are ascribed to him, because there were many Cupids. Plato says he was born of Penia, the goddess of poverty, by Poros, the son of Coun- sel and Plenty. Hesiod relates, that he was born of Chaos and Terra. Sappho derives him from Ve- nus and Coelum. Alcseus says he was the son of Lite and Zephyrus. Simonides attributes hira to Mars and Venus ; and Alcmeeon, to Zephyrus and Flora. But whatever parents Cupid had, this is plain, he always accompanies Venus, either as a son or a servemt. The poets speak of two Cupids. One of which Is an ingenious youth, the son of Venus and Jupiter, a celestial deity ; the other the son of Erebus and Nox* 10 no \^Hell and Kight,'] a vulgar god, whose companions are drunkenness, sorrow, enmity, contention, and such kind of plagues. One of these Cupids is call- ed Eros, and the other Anteros ; both of them are boys, and naked, and winged, and blind, and armed with a bow and arrows and a torch. They have two darts of diflercnt natures ; a golden dart which procures love, and a leaden dart which causes ha- tred. Anteros is also the god who avenges slight- ed love. Although tliis be the youngest of all the celestial gods, yet his power is so great, that he is esteemed the strongest, for he subdues them all. Without his assistance, his mother Venus is weak, and can do nothing, as she herself confesses in Virgil. " Nate, meae vires, mea magna potentia, soIhs." ^n. 4. Thou art my strengtli, son, and power alone. He is naked because the lover has nothing of his own, but deprives himself of all that he has, for his mistress' sake. Cupid is a boy, because he is void of judgment. His chariot is drawn by lions, for the rage and fierceness of no creature is greater than the extrava- gance and madness of violent love. He is blind, because a lover does not see the faults of his beloved object, nor consider in his mind the mischief pro- ceeding from that passion. He is winged, because nothing flies swifter than love, for he who loves to- day, may hate to-morrow. Lastly, he is armed with arrows, because he strikes afar off. The Graces called *Charites, were three sisters, the daughters of Jupiter and Eurynome, or Euno- mia, as Orpheus says, or rather, as others say, the daughter of Bacchus and Venus. The first was • Xapirts dictaj u^o Ttis 2\ctf:u4 i. e. a gaudio. Ill called *Aglaiaj from her cheerfulness, her beauty, or her worth ; because kindness ought to be perform- ed freely and generously. The second, f Thalia, from her perpetual verdure ; because kindness ought never to die, but to remain fresh always in the re- ceiver's memory. The third, JEuphrosyne, from her cheerfulness ; because we ought to be free and cheerful, as well in doing as in receiving a kindness. These sisters were painted naked, or in transpa- rent and loose garments, young and merry, with hands joined. One was turned from the behslder, as if she was going from him ; the other two turned their faces, as if they were coming to him ; by which we miderstand, that when one kindness is done, thanks ai*e twice due; once when rectived, and again when it is repaid. The Graces are naked, because kindnesses ought to be done in sincerity and candour, and with- out disguise. They are young, because the memo- ry of kindness received ouglit never to grow old. They are virgins, because kindness ought to be pure, without expectation of requital. Their hands are joined, because one good turn requires another; there ought to be a perpetual intercourse of kind- ness and assistance anioiij^ friends. Adonis was tlie son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, and Myrrhac As he was very handsome, Venus took great delight m liim, and loved his company. When he hunted, a boar gored him with his tusks, and killed him. Venus bewailed his death with much sorrow and concern, and changed his blood, which was shed on the ground, into the flower ane- mone, which ever since has retahied the colour of blood. While she flew to assist him, being led by his dying voice, a thorn ran into her foot, and the * AyXalec id est, splendor, honestas, vel dignitas. t BaXala. (nam SaXs/a est MusEe nomeii) id est, veridilas et cinnitas a ^ccWu vireo. X "Eviffoffwriy id est, iKtitia et urbanitas. Vide Hcsiod, in Theog. 112 blood that came thence fell on the rose, which be- fore was white, but thereby made red. Venus besought of, and obtained from Jupiter, that he should return to life for six months in every year ; so that Adonis revives and dies in incessant succession. In Greece, Phoenicia, and some other countries, festivals were appointed expressive of this circumstance : the solemnity continued several days; the first part being spent in lamentations for his loss, and the second in joy for his restoration. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMmATION. Who wa3 Hymenaeus, and of whom was he the protector? Whose son was he, and how was he represented ? Who was Cupid, and whose son was he said to be ? How many Cupids do the poets describe, and how are they represented ? What is his character with regard to power ? Why is he represented naked ? How is his chariot drawn ? Why is he represented blind, winged, and armed with arrows ? Who were the Graces, and what were their names ? How are they represented in paintings ? Why are they said to be ever young, naked, and with their hands joined ? Who was Adonis '' what was the cause and consequences of his death ? CHAPTER X LATONA. Latona was the daughter of Phoebe, by Caeus the Titan. So great was her beauty, that Jupiter fell in love with her, which excited the jealousy of Jmio, who caused her to be cast out of heaven to the earth ; not contented with this, she obliged Terra, by an oath, not to give her a habitation, and be- sides she set the serpent Python upon her, to per-*- 113 secute her wherever she went. Juno, however, was disappomted, for the island Delos received Latona, where, under a pahn or an oUve tree, she bi'ought forth Diana ; who, as soon as she was born, nursed and took care of her brother Apollo. Her reception at Delos, notwithstanding the oath of Terra, is thus accounted for. This island for- merly floated in the sea, and they say that at the time it was hidden under the waters, when Terra took her oath, but that it emerged afterwards by the order of Neptune, and became fixed and immovea- ble for Latona's use, from which time it was called Delos, because it was visible hke other places. The island Delos emerged for Latona's use, be- cause it was sister to Latona. Some say, that her name was formerly Asteria, whom Jupiter loved and <:ourted, but she was converted into an island : others report that she was converted into a quail, (Ovid Met. 15,j and flew into this island, which was, tlierefore, among other names, called Ortygia.. Ni- che's pride, and the barbarity of the countrymen of Lycia, increase the fame of this goddess. Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus, and the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes. She was so enriched with all the gifts of nature and fortune, and her hap- piness so great, that she could not bear it : being pufled up with pride, and full of self-conceit, she be- gan to despise Latona, and to esteem herself the greater, saying : " is any happiness to be compared to mine, who am out of the reach of fortune ^ She may rob me of much wealth, but she cannot injure me, since she must leave me still very rich. Does any one's wealth exceed mine f Is any one's beauty like mine ? Have I not seven most beautiful daughters, and as many ingenious and handsome sons f And have I not, therefore, reason to be proud .'"' In tliis manner she boasted of her happine-ss, and de- spised others : but her pride, in a short time, depri- 10* 114 ved her of all the happiness which she possessed, and reduced her iVom the height of good fortune to the lowest degree of misery. For when Latona saw herself despised, and her sacrifices disturbed by Nio- be, she appointed Apollo and Diana to punish the injury that was offered to their mother. Immediate- ly they went with their quivers well filled with arrows, to Niobe's house ; where first they killed the sons, then the daughters, and next the father, in the sight of Niobe, who by that means was stupified with grief, till at length she was turned into marble, which, because of this misfortune, is said to shed ma- ny tears to this day. — Ovid Met. 6. The rustics of the country of Lycia in Asia, did also experience the anger of Latona to their ruin ; for when she wandered in the fields, the heat of the weather and toil of her journey brought such a drought upon her that she almost fainted for thirst. At last discovering a sprhig in the bottom of the val- ley, slie ran to it witli great joy, and fell on her knees to drink the cool waters : Gelidos potura liquores.' To quench her thirst with the refreshing stream. But the neighbouring clowns hindered her, and bid her depart. She earnestly begged leave, and they denied it : she did not desire she said to injure the stream by washing herself in it, but only to quench her thirst. "Quid prohibetis aquas? usus communis aquanim: IVec solem proprium natura, nee aera fecit, ' iS'ec tenues undas. Ad publica munera veni. Quae tamen ut detis supplex peto. Non ego nostroa Abluere hie artiis, lassataque membra parabam : Sed relevare siiim. Caret os humore loquentis, Et fauces arent, vlxque est via vocis in illis. Haiistus aqua; niihi nectar erit: vitamque fatebor Accepisse siraul." G¥ THE [UNITEESITT 115 -Why hinder you, said she, The use of water that to all is free The sun, the air, the pure and cooling wave, Nature made free. I claim the boon she gave : ^ Yet humbly I entreat it, not to drench My weary limbs, but killing thirst to quench. My tons;ue wants moisture, and my jaws are dry, Scarce is there way for speech. For drink I die, Water to me were nectar. If I live, 'Tis by your favour. They regarded not her entreaties, but with threats endeavoured to drive her away. This great inhu- manity moved the indignation of Latona, who cursed them, and said, " jMay you always hve in this wa- ter." Immediately they were turned into frogs, and leaped into the muddy water, where they ever after lived. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMTKATIOK. Who was Latona, and what was the consequence of Jupiter's affection to her ? Where was Diana born, and how was she employed immedi* ately after her birth .-* How is Latona's reception at Delos accounted for.? What is said of her transmigrations into an island and quail } Who was Niobe, and what is said of her pride and self-sufli- ciency ? What was Latona's conduct towards Niobe .' Into what was Niobe changed .' What happened to the rustics of Lycia, and why were they sd punished ? CHAPTER XI. AURORA. •Aurora, the daughter of Terra and Titan, the sister of the sun and moon, and mother of the stars and the winds, is a goddess drawn in a chariot of gold by white horses ; her countenance shines like gold 5 her fingers are red like roses : so Homer de- 116 scribes Aurora. The Greeks call Aurora by another name, and some say that she was the daughter of Hyperion and Thia, or of Pallas, from whom the poets also call her Pallantias. She by force carried two beautiful young men, Cephalus and Tithonus, into heaven. Cephalus married Procris, the daughter of the king of Athens. When Aurora could, by no per- suasion, move him to leave her, she carried him into heaven ; but even there she could not shake his con- stancy ; therefore she sent him again to his wife Procris, disguised in the habit of a merchant. Af- ter this she gave him an arrow that never missed the mark, which she had received from Minoe. When Cephalus had this arrow, he spent his whole time in hunting and pursuing wild beasts. Procris, sus- pecting the constancy of her husband, concealed herself in a bush, to discover the truth : but when she moved carelessly in the bush, her husband think- ing some wild beast was there, drew his bow, and shot his wife to the heart. — Ovid Met. 7. Tithonus was the son of Laomedon, and brother of Priamus : Aurora, for his singular beauty, carri- ed him up to heaven, and married him ; and, instead of portion, obtained from the Fates immortality for him. She had Memnon by him, but she forgot to ask the Fates to grant him perpetual youth, so that he became so old and decrepid, that, like an infant, he was rocked to sleep in a cradle. Hereupon he grew weary of life, and wishing for deatli, asked Aurora to grant him power to die. She said, that it was not in her power to grant it, but that she would do what she could : and therefore turned Jier husband into a grasshopper, which, they say, moults when it is old, and grows young again. — Ovid Met. 13. Memnon went to Troy, to assist the king Priam, where, in a duel with Achilles, he was killed ; and, 117 in the place where he fell, a fountain arose which every year, on the same day on which he died, sends forth blood instead of water. But as his body lay upon the funeral pile to be burnt, it was changed mto a bird by his mother Aurora's intercession 5 and many other birds of the same kind flew out of the pile with him, which, from his name, were called Aves Memnonise : these, dividing themselves into two troops, and furiously fighting with their beaks and claws, with their own blood appeased the ghost of Memnon, from whom they sprung. — Ovid Met. 13. There was a statue of this Memnon, made of black marble, and set up in the temple of Serapis at Thebes, in Egypt, of which they relate an incredi- ble story : for it is said that the mouth of the statue, when first touched by the rays of the rising sun, sent forth a sweet and harmonious sound as though it rejoiced when its mother Aurora came ; but at the setting of the sun, it spnt forth a low melancholy tone, as lamenting her departure. qUESTIOJYS FOR EXAMIKATION. Who was Aurora, how was her chariot drawn, and how is she described by Homer ? Who did she carry to heaven ? What is said of Cephalus, and what became of his wife Pro- of is? Who is Tithon, and what is related of him ? Into what was he changed, and why ? What became of Memnon, and what is said to have happened where he was killed ? Into what was his dead body changed ? Where was his statue erected, and what is reported of it ? PART 11. OF THE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. CHAPTER I. SEC. L— SATURN. HIS IMAGE, FAMILY, AND ACTfONS. Look upon the wall on the right hand. On that wall, which is the second part of the Pantheon, as well as of our discourse, you see the terrestrial dei- ties divided into two sorts ; for some of them inhabit both the cities and the fif'lds indiftprently, nnd are called in general *'* the terrestrial goddesses :" but the others live only in the countries and the woods, and are properly called f" the gods of the woods." We will begin with the first. Of the terrestrial gods, which are so called, be- cause their habitation is in the earth, the most cele- brated are Saturn, Janus, Vulcan, iEolus, and Mo- mus. The terrestrial goddesses are Vesta, Cybele, Ceres, the Muses, and Themis : they are equal in number to the celestial gods and goddesses. We Mill begin with the eldest, Saturn, who is re- presented as a decrepid Jold man, with a long beard and hoary head. His shoulders are bowed like an arch, his jaws hollow and thin, his cheeks sunk; his nose is flat, his forehead full of furrows, and his • Dli terrestres urbes et campos promiscue incolunt. t Dii autem sylvestres rure tantum et in sylvis degunt t Virg. iEn. 7. 119 chin turned up ; his right hand holds a rusty scythe, and his left a child, which he is about to devour. He is the son of Terra, or Vesta, and Ccelum, Coelus, or CccJius, who was the son of jEdier and Dies, and the most ancient of all the gods. This Coelum married his own daughter Vesta, by whom he had many children. The most eminent of them was Saturn, whose brothers were the Cyclops, Ocea- nus, Titan, the hundred-handed giants, and divers others ; his sisters were Ceres, Tethys, and Ops, or Rhea, whom he afterwards married. The sisters persuaded their mother Vesta to exclude Titan, or Titanus, the eldest son, and to appoint Saturn heir of his father's kingdom. When Titan saw the fixed resolution of his mother and sisters, he would not strive against the stream, but voluntarily quitted his right, and transferred it to Saturn, under condition that he should not bring up any male chil- dren, so that after Saturn's death, the kingdom might return to the children of Titan. His wife Ops, perceiving that her husband devour- ed all her male children, when she brought forth the twins, Jupiter and Juno, she only sent Juno to hira, and sent Jupiter to be nursed in Mount Ida, by the priestesses of Cybele, who were called Curetes, or Corybantes. It was their custom to beat drums and cymbals while the sacrifices were ofiered up, and the noise of them hindered Saturn from hearing the cries of Jupiter. By the same trick she also saved Neptune and Pluto fi:om her devouring hus- band. Titan, when he saw himself cheated, and the agreement broken, to revenge the injury, raised for- ces, and brouglit them against Saturn, and making both him and Rhea prisoners, he bound them, and shut them together in hell, where they lay till .Jupi- ter, a few years after, overcame the Titans, and set his father and mother again at liberty. After this 120 Saturn strove to take away his life ; because he heard bj an oracle that he should be driven out of his kingdom by a son, as in reality he was after- wards ; for Jupiter deposed him from the throne, and expelled him the kingdom ; because he had con- spired to take away his life. Beside this, when he found Saturn almost drunk with mead, he bound and maimed him, as Saturn had also maimed his father Coelum before, with his sickle. Saturn having thus lost his kingdom went into Italy, which was anciently called Saturnia. He lived there with king Janus ; and that part of Italy ill which he lay hidden, was afterwards called La- tium, and the people Latini ; as Ovid observes : " Inde diu Genti raansit Saturnia nomen: Dicta fuil Latium terra, latente Deo." Fast. 1. The name Saturnia thence this land did bear, And Latium too, because ke shelter'd here. King Janus made Saturn partner of his kingdom, upon which Saturn reduced the people to civil so- ciety, and joined them to each other, as it were, in chains of brass, that is, by the brass money which he invented ; and therefore, on one side of the money was stamped a ship. " At bona posteritas pnpplm signavit in aera, Hospitis adventum testiiicata Dei." Fast. 3. A sh-ip by th' following age was stamp'd on coin, To show they once a god did entertain. And on the other side was stamped a Janus Bifrons. But although the money was brass, yet this was the golden age in which Saturn lived, when, as the poets, who magnify the happiness of that age, would per- suade us, the earth without the labour of ploughing and sowing brought forth its fruits, and all things were common to all, Virgil hath given an elegant description of this happy age in the eighth book of his Mne'id : 121 " Primus ad aethereo venit Saturnus Olympo, Arma Jovis fugiens, et regnis exul ademptis. Is genus indocile, ac dispersum montibus altis Composuit, legesque dedit. Latiumque vocari Maluit, liis quoniam latuisset tutus in oris : Aurea, quae ut perhibent, illo sub rege fuere SaBcula ; sic placida populos in pace regebat." Then Saturn came, who fled the pow'rs of Jove, Robb'd of his realms, and banish'd from above. The men dispers'd on hills to tov^n he brought, The laws ordain'd, and civil customs taught, And Latiura call'd the land, where safe he lay From his unduteous son, and his usurping sway. With his wild empire, peace and plenty came j And hence the golden times derived their name. qUEST10^'S FOR EXAMIKATIOK. How are the terrestrial deities divided, and why? Which are the most celebrated of the celestial deities? How is Saturn described ? Whose son was he, and who were his brothers and sisters? What was the conduct of his sisters to him ? How did Titan act, ar.»d for what did he stipulate ? By what means did Jupiter escape, and who besides were sa ved in like manner ? Who were the corybantes ; and what was their custom in ofc faring sacrifices ? How did Titan avenge himself upon Saturn? Who released Saturn, and kow did he requite the exertions of Tupiter in his behalf? How did Jupiter act afterwards? What is the origin of the name Latini ? Repeat the two Latin and English lines. What did he perform at Latium ? How is the age in which Saturn flourished describedby thepoetrf Repeat the lines from Virgil — " Primus ad sethereo venit," &;c. SEC. 2.— NAMES OF SATURN. SACRIFICES, &c Many derive the name Saturnus* from sowing, because be first taught the art of sowing and tilling the gi'ound, in Italy ; and therefore he was esteem- ed the god of husbandry, and called Stercutius by the Romans, because he first fattened the earth with manure : he is accordingly painted with a sickle, ♦ Saturnus dictus est a Satu, sicut a Portu Portunus, et a Nq^ tti Neptunus. Festus. Serv. in JEn. 7. Lips. Sat. 3. 11 122 with which the meadows are mowed and the corn is cut down. This sickle was thrown into Sicily, and there fell within a city then called Trepanmn, and since Trepano, from that circumstance ; though others affirm, that this city had its name from that sickle which Ceres had from Vulcan, and gave the Titans v/hen she taught them to mow. But others say, the town had its name oecause it v/as crooked and hollow, like a sickle. Indeed Sicily is so fruit- ful in corn and pasture, that the poets justly imagin- ed that the sickle was invented there. Saturnus is derived from that ^fulness which is the effect of his bounty when he fills the people with provisions ; as his wife was called f Ops, because " she helps the hungry." Others affirm, that he is called Saturn, Jbecause he is satisfied vjith the years that he devours, for Saturn and Time are the same. Men were sacrificed to SaUirn, because he was delighted, as they thought, with human blood : therefore the gladiators were placed under his pro- tection, and fought at his feasts. The Romans es- teemed him an infernal gcd, as Plutarch says, be- cause the planet Saturn is malignant and hurtful. Those who sacrificed to him had their heads bare, and his priests wore scarlet garments. On this altar were placed wax tapers lighted, because by Saturn men were brought from the darlmess of error to the light of truth. The feasts Saturnalia, in the Greek language Kpovix [^Croiiial were instituted either by Tullu- king of the Romans, or, if we believe Livy, by Sempronius and Minutius, the consuls. Till the time of Julius Ceesar they were finished in one day, viz. on the 19th of December ; after this they began to celebrate them for three days ; and then, during four or five, by the order of CaUgula : and some * A saturando, quasi saturet populos annona. f Quod esurientibes opem ferat. X Quod ipse saturetur annis quos ipse devorat. Cic.de Nat. Deor. 2 123 write, that they lasted seven days. Hence they call ed these days the first, the second, the third, &ic festivals of Saturn : and when these days were added to the feast, the first day of celebrating it was the 17th day of December. Upon these festival days, 1. The senate did not sit. 2. The schools kept holyday. 3. Presents were sent among friends. 4. It was milawful to proclaim war, or execute oilenders. 5. Servants were allowed to be jocose and merry toward their masters ; as we learn from Ausonius : " Aurea nunc revocat Saturni festa December ; Nunc tibi cum doraino ludere, verna, licet." Eel. de Men. December now brings Saturn's merry feasts, When masters bear their sportive servants' jests. 6. Nay, the masters waited on their servants, who sat at table, in memory of that liberty which all en- joyed in ancient times in Saturn's reign, when there was no servitude. 7. Contrary to the custom, they washed them as soon as they arose, as if tliey were about sitting down at table. 8. And lastly, they put on a certain festival garment, called synthesis, like a cloak, of purple or scarlet colour, and this gentlemen only wore. Q,UESTIOKS FOR EXAMINATION. How is the name of Saturn derived, and why is he esteemed Ihe god of husbandry ? Why is lae often painted with a sickle in his hand ? How do others derive the name as an assistant to the poor ? Why were gladiators put under his protection ? How was he esteemed by the Romans ? How were jii-' sacrifices made ? When were the Saturnalia institut<;d; and how long did they last in each year ? What peculiarities were observed during the feasts ? SEC. 3.— THE HISTORICAL SENSE OF THE FABLE BY SATURN IS MEANT NOAH. Although it is generally said, that Saturn was Nimrod, the founder of the empire of Babylon, yet I 124 am more iiicliiKid to believe the opinion of Bochar* tus, who maintains that Saturn and Noah were the same. The reasons which he brings are these : 1 . In the time of Noah '^the whole earth spoke one language : and the ancient mythologists say, that the beasts understood this language. And it is said, jthat in Saturn's age there was but one language, which was common to men and brutes. 2. Noah is called in the Hebrew language Ja man of the earth, that is, a husbandman, according to the usual phrase of Scripture, which calls a sol- dier ||a man of war ; a strong man §a man of arms ; a murderer ITa man of blood ; an orator *^a man of words ; and a shepherd \\artian of cattle. Now Saturn is justly called a man of the earth, because lie married Tellus, whose other names were Rhea and Ops. 3. As Noah was the first planter of vineyards, so the art of cultivating vines and fields is attributed to Saturn's invention. 4. As Noah was once overcome with wine, be- cause perhaps he never experienced the strength of it before; so the Saturnahans did frequently drink excessively, because Saturn protected drunken men. 5. As Noah cursed his son Ham, because he saw his father's nakedness with delight ; so Saturn made a law that whoever saw the gods naked should be punished. 6. Plato says, " that Saturn and his wife Rhea, and those with them, were born of Oceanus and The- tis :" and thus Noah, and all that were widi him, were in a manner new born out of the waters of the deluge, by the help of the ark. And if a ship was sta;Tiped upon the ancient coins, because Saturn * Genesis xi. 1. § Job xxii. 3. t Plato in Politicis. TI 2 Samuel xvi. 17. X Vir terras, Gen. ix. 20. ** Exod. iv. jj jQshuei V, 4, ft Gen. xlvi. 33. 125 came into Italy in a ship ; surely this honour be- longed rather to Noah, who in a ship preserved the race of mankind from utter destruction. 7. Did Noah foretel the coming of the flood ? so did Saturn foretel, *" that there should be great quantities of rain, and an ark built, in which men, and birds, and creeping things, should all sail to- gether." 8. Saturn is said to have devoured all his sons, except Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. So Noah may be said to have condemned all men, f because he foretold that they would be destroyed in the flood. For in the scripture phrase, the prophets are said to " do the things which they foretel shall be done hereafter." But as Saturn had three sons left to him not devoured ; so Noah had three, Shem, Cham or Ham, and Japhet, who were not destroyed by the flood. Furthermore, these reasons may persuade us that Noah's son Cham is Jupiter : 1 . His Hebrew name Ham is by many called Cham, from which the Egyptians had the name 'a^m-sv [Amouri] and the Africans had Ammon or Hammon. 2. Cham was the youngest son of Noah, as Jupiter was of Saturn. 3. Jupiter is said to be lord of the heavens ; thus Cham had Africa, which comitry is esteemed nearer the heavens than any other countries, because it has the planets vertical. Japhet is the same with Neptune ; for as Nep- tune had the command of the sea, so the islands and peninsulas fell chiefly to Japhet's lot. Shem is supposed to be the Pluto of the ancients, which is thus accounted for : he was so holy, and so • Kpovoj vr^offnfi,a!vii 'uridcti zrXn^of e/ifipcj* &LC. id est, Satumns praenunciat magnam imbrium vim futuram, et fabricandam, «sse arcani, et in ea cum volucribus, reptilibus, atque ju- mentis esse navigandum. dlex. Polyhislor. Apud Cyril, contra Julian, 1. 1. t Hebrews xi. 7. 126 great an enemy to idolatry, that tlue idolaters hated him while he lived, and endeavoured to blacken his memory when he died, by sending him to the Sty- gian darkness, and putting into his hand the sceptre of hell. The Greek words signifying Saturn and Time, differ only in one letter, from which it is plain, that by Saturn, Time may be meant. And on this ac- count Saturn is painted devouring his children, and throwing them up again ; as time devours and con- sumes all things that it has produced, which at length revive and are renewed. Our days, months, or years, are the children of Time, which he con- stantly devours and produces anew. Lastly, as Saturn has his scythe, so has Time too, with which he mows down all things ; neither can the hardest adamant withstand the edge thereof. qUESTWJ^S FOR EXAMINATION, With what scripture character has Saturn been identified ? What is the first reason for supposing Saturn and Noah to bo the same person ? What is the second ? What is the third ? What is the fourth ? What is the fifth ? What is the sixth ? What is the seventh ? What is the eighth ? What are the reasons for supposing Noah's son Cham to be Jupiter ? With which of the scripture characters is Neptune compared ? How is it accounted for that Shem and Pluto are the same personages ? Point out the arguments to prove that Saturn and Time are the same ? ^ ■ or TBE '^y \ U1TI7EESITTJ ^^mmm 127 CHAPTER n. SEC. 1. —JANUS. HIS IMAGE, NAMES, AND ACTIONS Janus is the two-faced god ; holding a key in his right hand, and a rod in his left. Beneath his feet you see twelve altars ; some say he was the son of Ccelus and Hecate ; and that this name was given to him *from a word signifying to go or pass through, f Whence it is that thoroughfares are called in the plural number jani ; and the gates before the door of private houses, januce. A place at Rome was called Jani, in which were three images of Janus : and there usurers and creditors met always to pay and receive money. This place is mentioned both by JTully and || Horace. As he is painted with two faces, so he is called by Virgil, Bifrons, and by Ovid, Biceps : " Jane Biceps anni tacite labentis imago, Solus de superis, qui tua terga vides." Thou double pate, the sliding year dost show, The only god that thine own back can view. Because so great was his prudence, that he saw both the things past, and those which were future. Or by Janus the world was thought to be meant, viewing with two faces the two principal quarters, the east and the west. When Romulus, king of the Romans, made a • Jan IS quasi Eanus ab eundo. f Unde fit ut transitiones perviae Jani (plurali numero) fores que in limis profanarum aedium Januae dicerentur. Cic. de Nat. Deor. $ Viri optimi ad medium Janum sedentes. Cic. de Offic. 2. Dempster, in Paralip. [I Imus et Summus Janus. Horat. I. 1, ep. 1. 128 league with Titus, king of the Sabines, they set np an image of Janus Bifrons, intending thereby to re- present both nations between which the peace was conchided. Numa afterwards built a temple, which had double doors, and dedicated it to the same Ja- nus. When Fahsci, a city of Hetruria, was taken, there was an image of Janus found with four faces ; upon which the temple of Janus had four gates, but o£ that temple we shall speak by-and-by. He is called Claviger, " turnkey" or " club-beai^ cr," from the rod and the key in his hands. He held the rod, because he was the guardian of the ways, rector viarum ; and the key for these reasons : 1. He was the inventor of locks, doors, and gates, which are called januce, after his name : and him- self is called Janitor, because doors were mider hia protection. 2. He is the Janitor of the year, and of all the months ; the first of which takes the name of Janu- ary from him. To Juno belongs the calends of the months, and she committed them to his care, there- fore he is called by some Junonius, and Martial takes notice, that the government of the year was com- mitted to him ; for which reason twelve altars were dedicated to him, according to the number of the months ; as there were also twelve small chapels in his temple. The consuls at Rome were inaugurated in tlie temple of Janus, who were from this said to open the year. Upon the calends of January (and as Macrobius says on the calends of March) a new laurel was hung upon the statue of Janus, and the old laurel was taken away ; to which custom Ovid refers. " Laurea Flaminibus, quae toto perstitit anno Tollitur, et frondes sunt in honore novae." Fast. 8L The laurel that the former year did grace, T' a fresh and verdant gailand yields his place. 129 Pliny thought this custom was occasioned because Janus rules over the year ; " The statue," says he, "of Janus, which Avas dedicated by Numa, had its fingers so composed, as to signify the number of three hundred and sixty-five days ; to show diat Ja- nus was a god, by his knowledge of the year, and time, and ages." He had not these figures described on his hand, but had a peculiar way of numbering tliem, by bending, stretching, or mixing his fijigers, of which numeration many are the opinions of au- thors. 3. He holds a key in his hand, because he is, as it were, the door through which the prayers of man- kind have access to the gods : for, in all sacrifices, prayers were offered up to Janus. And Janus him- self gives the same reason, as we find in Ovid, why, before men sacrificed to any of the other gods, they first ofiered sacrifice to him : — " Cur quamvis aliorum numina placem, Jane, tibi primum thura merumque fero ? Ut posiis adituaa per me, qui iimina servo, Ad quoscunque voles iiiquit; habere decs." Fcut. h Why is't that though I other gods adore, I first must Janus* deity implore ? — Because I hold the door, by which access Is had to any god you would address. But Festus says, because men thought that all things took their being from Janus, therefore they first made their supplications to him as to a common father. For though the name father is given to all the gods, yet Janus was particularly called by tliis name. He first built temples and altars, and instituted religious rites ; and for that reason, among others, in all sacrifices they begin their rites by ofiering bread, corn, and wine, to Janus, before any thing is ofiered to any other deity. Frankincense was ne- ver ofiered to him, though Ovid mentions it, whick 130 therefore he inserts either by poetical license, or only in respect to the sacrifices which were in use in his time. For Pliny asserts, that they did not sa- crifice with firankincense in the times of the Trojans. Neither does Homer m the least mention frankincense in any place where he speaks concerning sacrificev5. He was also called Patulcius and Clusius, or Patu- lacius and Clausius ; from opening and shutting ; for in the time of war Janus' temple was open, but shut in the time of peace. This temple was found- ed by Romulus and Tatius. Numa ordained that it should be opened when the Romans waged war, but shut when they enjojed peace. Ovid mentions both these latter names of Janus in a distich : and Virgil describes the manner and occasion of opening his temple, and also the conse quences of shutting i^ again : " Sunt gerainae belli portas sic nomine dicunt Religione S5)cr?e e\ ^aivi formidine martis. Centum aerei claudunt vecfes ajternaque ferri Robora ; nee cusvos abslsiit limine Janus. Has ubi cerla sedet patribus sententia pugnae, Ipse Quii'inali trabeacinctuqueGabino In^ignis,* resfcrat stridentla limina consul." ^n. 7. Two gates of steel (the name of Mars they bear, And fecill are worshipped with religious fear) Before his temple stand : the dire abode And the fear'd issues of the furious god Are fenc'd with brazen bolts ; without the gates The weary guardian Janus doubtly waits. Then when the sacred senate votes the wars, The Roman consul their decree declares, And in his robes the sounding gates unbars. It is remarkable, that within the space of seven hundred years, tliis temple of Jaims was shut only thrice : once by Numa ; the second time by the consuls ]\Iarcus Attilius and Titus Manlius, after the Carthaginian war ; and lastly, by Augustus, after the victory at Actium. In this story of Janus, we may behold the repre- sentation of a very prudent person ; whose wisdowj 131 consists " in the remembrance of things past, and in the foresight of things to come." " Aspera turn positis mitescent saecula bellis : Cana fides, et Vesta, Remo cum fratre Quirinus Jura dabunt ; dira^. ferro et compagibus arctis Claudentur belli porta?, Furor impius intus, Sieva sedens super arma, et centum vinctus ahenia Post tergum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento." Then dire debate, and impious war shall cease, Then the steni age be sof len'd into peace : Then banish'd faith shall once again return, And vestal fires in liallow'd temples burn ; And Remus with Quirinus shall sustain The righteous laws, and fraud and force restrain. Janus himself before his fane shall wait, And keep the dreadful issues of his gate, With bolts and iron bars. Within remains Imprison'd Fury, bound in brazen chains ; High on a trophy rais'd of useless arms He sits, and threats the world w^ith vain alarms. The prudent man ought therefore to have, as it were, two faces ; that, according to his natural sa- gacity of mind, and ripeness of judgment, observing both things past and future, he may be able to dis- cern the causes, beginnings, and progresses of all events and things. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATION. Who was Janus, and from what is his name derived ? Who mentions the place called the Jani at Rome, and for whai was it used ? What is he named by Virgil and Ovid, and why ? What happened in the reigns of Romulus and Numa? Why w^as he called Claviger ? Why was he named Janitor ? Which month is said to be named after him Why is he called Junonius ? Why were the Roman consuls said to open the year? To what custom does Ovid refer ? What does Pliny say on this subject ? Why does he hold a key in his hand ? What did Janus do ? What sacrifices were offered to him ? Why was he called Patulcius and Clusius ? 132 By whom was the temple of Janus founded ? In hou' long was it only thrice shut? What does the story of Janus teach ? CHAPTER III. VULCAN. HIS SERVANTS AND SONS Vulcan is both a smith and a god, and had a shop in the island Lemnos, where he exercised his trade, and where, though he was a god himself, he made Jupiter's thunder and the arms of the other gods. He was born of Jupiter and Juno, some say of Jimo only ; and being contemptible for his deformity, was cast down from heaven into the island Lemnos, whence he is called Lemnius : he broke his leg with the fall, and if the Lemnians had not caught him when he fell, he had certainly broke his neck : he has ever since been lame. "^'In requital of their kindness, he fixed his seat among them, and set up the craft of a smith ; teaching them the manifold uses of fire and iron ; and from softening and polishing iron, fhe re- ceived the name Mulciber, or Midcifer. He was the god of fire, the inventor and patron of the art of fabricating arms and all kinds of utensils from the metals. His most celebrated works are the famous palace of the sun ; the armour of Achilles and Mne- as ; the beautiful necklace of Hermione, and the CTOv^n of Ariadne. According to Homer, the shield of Achilles was enamelled with metals of various co- lours, and contained twelve historical designs, with • "Ttov i^iis 70V "Epwra, yctjvcc7x,a,, o£ t^v 'A^/Joairw?, Cupid is Vulcan's son, Venus his wife, No wonder then he goes lame all his life. t A mulcendo ferro. Vide Lucan, 1, 1. /'V^'- "V^m^ 133 groups of figures of great beauty : the seats wK Vulcan constructed for the gods were so contrive- that they came self-moved from the sides of thi apartment to the place where each god seated him- self at the table when a council was to be held. He is described by Homer in the midst of his works • -the silver footed dame Reacli'd the Vulcanian dome, eternal frame ! High-eminent, amid the works divine, Where heaven's far beaming brazen mansions shine. There the lame Architect tlie goddess found, Obscure in smoke, his forges flaming round ; While bath'd in SAveat, from fire to lire he flew, And, puffing loud, the roaring bellows blew\ Then from his anvil the lame artist rose ; Wide with distorted legs obliijue he goes, And stills the bellows, and, in order laid. Locks in their chest the instruments of trade. Then with a sponge the sooty workman drest His brawny arms imbrown'd, and hairy breast: With his huge sceptre grac'd, and red attire. Came halting forth the sov'reign of the fire. — Homer, He obtained in marriage the most beautiful god- dess Venus ; who behaved treacherously towards him, as has been already noticed. He desired to marry ^linerva, and Jupiter consented, if he could overcome her modesty. For when Vulcan made arms for the gods, Jupiter gave him leave to choose out of the goddesses a wife, and he chose Minerva ; but he admonished her at the same time to refuse him, as she successfully did. At Rome were celebrated the Vulcania, feasts in lionour of Vulcan ; at which they threw animals into the fire to be burnt to death. The Athenians instituted other feasts to his honour, called Chalsea. A temple besides was dedicated to him upon the mountain jEtna, from which he is sometimes named iEtnaeus. This temple was guarded by dogs, whose sense of smeUing was so exquisite, that they could discern whether the persons tha came thither were chaste and religious, or whether they were wicked ^ 12 134 they used to meet, and flatter and follow the good, esteeming them the acquaintance and friends of Vul- can their master. It is feigned, that the first woman was fashioned by the hammer of Vulcan, and that every god gave lier some present, whence she was called Pandora. Pallas gave her wisdom, Apollo the art of music, Mercury the art of eloquence, Venus gave her beau- ty, and the rest of the gods gave her other ac- comphshments. They say also, that when Prome- theus stole fire from heaven, to animate the man which he had made, Jupiter was incensed, and sent Pandora to Prometheus with a sealed box, but Pro- metheus would not receive it. He sent her with the same box again to the wife of Epimetheus, the bro- ther of Prometheus ; and she, out of a curiosity na- tural to her sex, opened it, which as soon as she had done, all sorts of diseases and evils, with which it was filled, flew among mankind, and have infest- ed them ever since. And nothing was left in the bottom of the box but Hope. Vulcan's servants were called Cyclops, because they had but one eye, which was in the middle of tlieir foreheads, of a circular figure ; Neptune and Amphitrite were their parents. The names of three of them were Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon ; besides these there were many more, ail of whom exercised the art of smithery under Vulcan, as we are taught by Virgil. — JEn. 8. Cacus, so called from his wickedness, tormented all Latium with his fires and robberies ; living like a beast in a dismal cave. He stole Hercules' oxen, and dragged them backward by their tails into his cave, that the track of their feet might not discover this repository of his thefts. But Hercules passing by, heard tlie lowing of the oxen in the cave, broke open the doors, and seizing the villain, put him to death. — Virg. JEn. 8. 135 His cave was so dark, that it admitted not the least ray of light ; the floor of it was red with the blood perpetually shed upon it, and the heads and limbs of tlie men he had murdered were fastened to the posts of the doors. Cae-culus also lived by plunder and robbery. He was so called from the smallness of his eyes : it is tliought the noble family of the Csecihi at Rome de- rived their origin from him. He was the founder of the city Prseneste. Others say, that the shep- herds found Cseculus unhurt in the midst of the fire, as soon as he was born ; from which he was thought to be the son of Vulcan. To these servants and sons of Vulcan, add the shepherd Polyphemus, a monster not unlike them, born of Neptune. For he had but one eye in his forehead, like the Cyclops, and he procured his living by murders and robberies, like Cacus and Cseculus. This monster drew Ulj^sses and some of his companions into his den in Sicil}^, and devoured them. He thought, too, that the rest of Ulysses' servants could not escape his jaws. But Ulysses made him drunk with wine, and then with a fire brand quite put out his sight, and escaped. " Visceribus miserorum, et sanguine vescitur atro, Vidi egomet, duo de numero cum corpora nostra Prensa manu magna, medio resupinus in antro Fran ge ret ad saxum, sanieque aspera natarent Limiiia: vidi, atro cum membra fluentia tabo Manderet, et tepidi tremerent sub dcntibus artus. Hand impune quidem : nee talia passus Ulysses, Oblitusve sui est Ithacus discrimine tanto. Nam simul e^pletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus Cervicem inflexam posuit, jacuitque per antrum Immensus, saniem eructans, ac frusta cruento Per somnum cornmixta mero ; nos magna precati Numina, sortitique vices, una undique circum Fundimur, et telo lumen terebramus acute Ingens ; quod torva solum sub fronte latebat, Argolici clypei aut Phoebeae lampadis instar." — Vir^. Mn. 3 136 The joints of slaughter'd Avrelches are his food, And for his wine he quaffs the streaming blood. These eyes beheki, when with his spacious hand He seiz'd two captives of our Grecian hand ; Stretch'd on liis back, he dash'd against the stones Their broken bodies and tlieir crackling bones. With spouting blood tiie purple pavement swims, While the dhe glutton grinds tlie trembling limbs. Not unreveng'd Ulysses bore their fate, Nor thoughtless of his own unhappy state; For gorg'd with flesh, and drunk with human wine, While fast asleep the giant lay supine, Snoring aloud, and belcliing from his maw His undigested foam and morsels raw ; We pray, we c:ist the lots; and then surround The monstrous body, stietch"d along the ground, Each as he could approach him, lends a hand To bore his eyebald with a fiaming brand ; Beneath his frowning forehead lay his eye, For only one did this vast frame supply, But that a globe so large, iiis front it fill'd. Like the sun's disk, or like the Grecian shield. qUESTIOKS FOR EXMILY^TIOJV. Who was Vulcan, and where did he exercise his trade Whose son was he, and what accident happened to him .' How was his iife saved, and how did he requite the kindness of his benefactors ? Who did he marry ? Did he wish to marry any one besides, and was he successful / What were the Vulcania, and how were they celebrated .'' What other feasts; and what temple was dedicated to him' What is said of the dogs that guarded that temple ? What story is told of Vulcan with respect to Pandora.' Who were Vulcan's servants, and w^iat was their business' What is said of his son Cacus ? What is said of Calculus, another son ? How is Polyphemus described ? CHAPTER IV. iEOLUS. He who stands next him is iEokis, the " god of the winds," the son of Jupiter and Acesta or Seges ta, the daughter of Hippotas, from whom he is iia 137 nied Hippotades. He dwelt in one oi thost seven islands, which from him are called iEolise, and some- times Vulcanise. He was a skillul astronomer, and an excellent natural philosopher : he understood more particularly tlie nature of the winds ; and, by observing the clouds of smoke of the ^olian islands, he was enabled to foretel winds and tempests a great while before they arose, and it was generally believed they were under his power : so that he could raise the winds, or still them as he pleased. Hence he was styled emperor and king of the winds, the children of Astreeus and Aurora. Virgil de- scribes Juno coming to him, at his palace, of whicJ: he gives a description 'n beautiful verse ; " Nimborum in patriam, loca feta furentibus Austris, ^oliatn venit. Hie vasto rex iEolus antro Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras Imperio premit, ac vinclis et carcere froenat. lUi indignantes magno cum murmure mentis Circum claustra fremunt. Cclsa sedet jEoIus arce, Sceptra tenens ; mollitque animos, et tcmperat has* Ni facial, maria ac terras, ccelumque profundum Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras, Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdldit atris, Hoc metuens ; molemque, et montes insuper altos, Imposuit ; regeraque dedit, qui focdere certo, Et premere, et laxas sciret dare jussus habenas." Thus rag'd the goddess, and with fury fraught. The restless regions of the storms she sought. Where, in a spacious cave of living stone, The Tyrant ^Eolus, from his airy throne, With pow'r imperial curbs the struggling winds, And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds. This way and that, th' in.patient captives tend. And, pressing for relief, the mountains rend. High in his hall th' undaunted monarch stands, And shakes his sceptre, and their rage commands j Which did he not, their unresisted sway Would sweep the world before them in their way. Earth, air and seas, through empty space would roll, And heav'n would fly before the driving soul. In fear of this, the father of the gods Confined their fury to these dark abodes, And lock'd them safe, oppress'd with mountain-loads 5 12* 138 Impos'd a king with arbitrary sway, To loose their fetters, or their force allay. Q,UESTIO^^S FOR EXJMIJV^TIOK. Who was Mollis, and where did he liv^e ? What was his character as a philosopher? What was generally believed of him ? How was he styled in consequence of this ? Give Virgil's fine description — CHAPTER V. MOMUS. The name of the god Momus is derived from the Greek, signifying a jester, mocker, or mimick ; for tliat is his business. He follows no particular em- ployment, but lives an idle life, yet nicely observes the actions and sayings of the other gods, and when he finds them doing amiss, or neglecting their duty, he censures, mocks and derides them with the great- est liberty. Neptune, Vulcan, and Minerva, may witness the truth of this. They all contended for the mastery as the most skilful artificer : whereupon Neptune made a bull, Minerva a house, and Vulcan a man : Momus was appointed judge between them ; but he chid them all three. He accused Neptune of impru- dence, because he did not place the bull's horns in his forehead before his eyes : for then the bull might give a surer and a stronger blow. He blamed Mi- nerva, because her house was immoveable ; so that it could not be carried away, if by chance it was pla- ced among bad neighbours. But he said that Vul- can was the most imprudent of them all, because he did not make a window in the man's breast, that we 139 might see what his thoughts were, whether he de- signed some trick, or whether he intended what he spoke. The parents of Momus were Nox and Somniis. It IS a sign of a dull, drowsy, sottish disposition, when we see a man satirizing and censuring the actions of all other men, because none but God is wholly per- fect : some imperfections attaches to every other be- ing, so that every thing is defective and liable to blame. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMIKJITION. What does the name of Momus signify ? How is he employed ? For what did Neptune, Vulcan, and Minerva contend ? What was the decision of Momus with respect to their SCT©- n»l performances ? Who were the parents of Momus ? What does a satirical temper indicate CHAPTER VI. OF THE TERRESTRIAL GODDESS VESTA Vesta, whom you see sitting and holding a drum is the wife of Coelum, and the mother of Saturn. She is the eldest of the goddesses, and is placed among the terrestrial goddesses, because she is the same with Terra, and has her name from *clothing ; plants and fruits being the garments of the earth. Or, f according to Ovid, the earth is called Vesta from its stabihty, because it supports itself. She • Quod plantis frugibusque terra vestiatur. t " Stat vi terra sua, vestando Vesta vocatur."— — Farf. 6. By its own strength supported Terra stands ; Hence it is Vesta nam'd. 140 sits, because the earth is immoveable, and was sup- posed to be placed in the centre of the world. Ves- ta has a drum, because the earth contains the bois- terous winds in its bosom ; and divers flowers weave tiiemselves into a crown, with which her head is crowned. Several kinds of animals creep about and fawn upon her. Because the earth is round, Ves- ta's temple at Rome was also round, and some say that the image of Vesta was orbicular in some pla- ces, but "^Ovid says her image was rude and shape- less. And hence round tables were anciently called vestce, because, like the card), they supply all neces- saries of life for us. It is no wonder that the first oblations in all sacrifices were offered to her, since whatever is sacrificed springs from the earth. And the Greeks both began and concluded their sacrifi- ces with Vesta, whom they esteemed as the mother of all the gods. There were two Vestas, the elder and the young- er. The first of whom I have been speaking was the wife of Coelum and the mother of Saturn. The second was the daughter of Saturn by his wife Rhea. And as the first is the same with Terra, so the other is the same with Ignis : and her power was exercised about altars and houses. The woi'd vesta is often put for fire itself, for it is derived from a Greek word which signifies a chimney, a house, or household goods. She is esteemed the president and guardian of houses, and one of the household deities ; not without reason, since she invented tlie art of building houses : and, therefore, an image of Vesta, to which they sacrificed every day, was pla- ced before the doors of the houses at Rome : and the places where these statues were set up were call- ed vestibular from Vesta. • " Effigiem nullam Vesta nee ignis habet." No image V^esta's shape can e'er express, Or fire's 1 141 Tins goddess was a virgin, and so great an ad- mirer of virginity, that when Jupiter, her brother, gave her liberty of asking what she would, she beg- ged that she might always be a virgin, and have the first oblations in all sacrifices. She not only ob- tained her desire but received this further honour among the Romans, that a perpetual fire was kept in her temp!e, among the sacred pledges of the em- pire ; not upon an altar, or in tlie chimnies, but in earthen vessels, hanging in the air ; which the ves- tal virgms tended with so much care, that if by chance this fire was extinguished, all public and pri- vate business was interrupted, and a vacation pro- claimed till they had expiated the unhappy prodigy with incredible pains ; and if it appeared that the virgins were the occasion of its going out, by care- lessness, they were severely pmiished, and sometimes with rods. In j-ecompense for this severe law, the vestals ob- tained extraordinary privileges and respect : they had the most honourable seat at games and festi- vals : the consuls and magistrates gave way when- ever they met them : their declarations in trials were admitted without the form cf an oath ; and, if they happened to encounter in their path a criminal go- ing to the place of execution, he immediately ob- tained his pardon. Upon the calends of ]\Iarch, every year, though it was not extinguished, they used to renew it with no other fire than that which was produced by the rays of the sun. It has been conjectured, that when the poets say that Yesta is the same with fire, the fire of Vulcan's forge is not miderstood, nor yet the dangerous flames of Venus, but a pure, unmixed, benign llame, so ne- cessary for us, that human life cannot possibly sub- sist without it ; whose heat being difiiised through all the parts of the body, quickens, cherishes, re- freshes, and nourishes it ; a flame really sacred, hea- 142 venly, and divine ; repaired daily by the food which we eat, and on which the safety and welfare of our bodies depend. Tins llame moves and actuates the whole body ; and cannot be exthiguished but when life itself ceases with it. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMIKATIOK. "Who Avas Vesta ? Why is she placed among the terrestrial goddesses What reasons are assigned for the ornaments with which she ts decked ? Why is Vesta's temple round ? What are the Vestas ? Why Avere tlie first sacrifices offered to Vesta ? W^hy did the Greeks begin and conclude their sacrifices with Vesta ? Who Avere thp Iaa'd Vestas ? For Avhat i^s Uie word " vesta" put? W"hy is she esteeiiicd the president and guardian of houses : and AAhy AA'as her image placed before the doors of the houses at Rome ? What favour did she ask of Jupiter ; and Avhat other honour did she obtain among the Romans ? V^^hat Avas the duty of the vestal \'irgins ? What Avas the punishment inflicted on them if they suffered Che fire to go out ? What respect Avas paid them, by Avay of recompense for the severity of this law ? When and hoAv Avas the vestal fire reneAved? What is understood by the vestal fire ? CHAPTER VII. SEC. 1.— CYBELE. HER IMAGE. HER NAMES. Cybele is the goddess not of cities only, but of all things which the earth sustains. She is the Earth itself. On the earth are built many towers and castles, so on her head is placed a crown of tow- ers. In her hand she carries a key, for in winter 143 the earth loclis up those treasures which she brings forth and dispenses with so much plenty in summer. She rides in a chariot, because the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised by its own weight. But that chariot is supported by wheels, since the earth is a revolving body, and turns round ; and it is drawn by lions, because nothing is so fierce, so savage, or so ungovernable, but a mo- therly piety and tenderness is able to tame it, and make it submit to the yoke. I need not explain why her garments are painted with divers colours, and figured with the images of several creatures, since every body sees that such a dress is suitable to the earth. She is called Cybele, and Ops, and Rhea, and Dindymene, and Berecynthia, and Bona Dea, (the good goddess,) and Ideea, and Pessinuntia, and Magna Deorum Mater, (the great mother of the gods,) and sometimes also Vesta. All these names, for different reasons, were given to the same god- dess ; who was the daughter of Coelum by the elder Vesta, and Saturn's wife. She is called Cybele, from the mountain Cybelus in Phrygia, where sacrifices were first instituted to her. Or the name was given her from the behaviour of her priests, who used to dance upon their heads, and toss about their hair like madmen, foretelling things to come, and making a horrible noise. These were named Galli, and this fury and outrage in pro- phesying is described by Lucian in his first book. Others again derive the word Cybele from a cube, because the cube, which is a body every way square, was dedicated to her by the ancients. She is called Ops, because she brings help and assistance to every thing contained in this world. Her name ^Rhea is derived from the abundance * A psu, fluo, quod bonis omnibus circumfluat. 144 of benefits, which, without ceasing, flow from her on every side. Dindymeiie and Dindj'me, is a name jjiven her from the mountain Dindymus, in PIn-ygia. Virgil calls her mater Berecjnthia, from Bere- cynthus, a castle in that country ; and in the same place describes her numerous and happy offspring. -'* Qualis Berecynthia mater Invehitur curru Piirygiai turrita per urbes Laeta Deum partu, centum complexa nepotes, Omnes ccelicolas, omms supera alta tenentes." — wEn. 6. High as the mother of the gods in places, And proud, like her, of an immortal race, Then, when in pomp she makes the Phrygian round| With golden turrets on her temple crown'd, A hundred gods her sweeping train supply, Her offspring all, and all command the sliy. She was by the Greeks called ^Pasithea ; that is, as the Romans usually named her, the mother of all the gods ; and from the -j-Greek word signifying a mother. Her sacrifices were named Metroa, and to celebrate them was called Metrazein, in the same language. Her name Bona Dea implies that all good things necessary for the support of life proceed from her. She is also called Fauna, Jbecause she is said to fa- vour all creatures ; and Fatua, because it was thought that new born children never cried till they touched the ground. It is said, that this Bona Dea was the wife of king Faunus ; who beat her with myrtle rods till she died, because she disgraced her- self, and acted very unsuitable to the dignity of a queen, by drinking so much wine that she became • Pasithea, id est, zrasi ^seis fi'^mp, omnibus diis maters, Luc. 1. 2. t A f/.tiTfip, mater, dcrivantnr f^arpua Cybeles sacra, et ft^ rfKtuv sacra ea celebrare. Coel. Rhod. 1. 8. c. 17 t Fauna quod animantibus favere, dicatur. 145 drunk. But the king afterwards repenting of his severity, deilied his dead wife, and paid her divine honours. This is the reason assigned why it was forbidden that any one sliould bring myrtle into her temple. In her sacrifices, the vessels of wine were covered ; and when the women drank out of them they called it milk, not wine. ^The modesty of. this goddess was so extraordinary, that no man ever saw her except her husband ; or scarce heard her name : wherefore her sacrifices were performed in private, and all men were excluded from the temple. *' Sacra bonag maribus non adeunda Deae. — Tib. I. el. 6. No men admitted were to Cybele's rites. From the great privacy observed by her votaries, the place in which her sacrifices were performed was called Opertum, and the sacrifices themselves were styled Opertanea, for the same reason that Pluto is by the poets called Gpertus. Silence was observed in a most peculiar manner in the sacrifices of Bona Dea, as it was in a less degree in all other sacrifices , according to the doctrine of the Pythagoreans and Egyptians, v\ ho taught, that God was to be worship- ped in silence, since from this, at the first creation, all things took their beginning. To the same pur- pose, Plutarch says, "fMen were our masters to teach us to speak, but we learn silence from the gods : from those we learn to hold our peace,^ m tiieir rites and initiations." She was called Idsea Mater, from the mountahi Ida, ih Phr^gia, or Crete, for she was at both pla- ces highly honoured : as also at Rome, whither they brought her from the city Pessinus in Galatia, by a Juvenal. Sat. 9. t Loquendi magistrds homines habemus, tacendi Decs: ab niis silentium accipientes in initiationibus et mysteriis : — Plut, de LoQuac. 13 146 remarkable miracle. For when the ship in which she was carried, stopped in the mouth of tlie Tiber, tlie vestal Claudia (whose fine dress and free beha- viour made her modesty suspected) easily drew the ship to si lore witii her girdle, where the goddess was received by the hands of virgins, and the citizens went out to meet her, placing censers v/ith frankin- cense before their doors ; and when they had lighter the frankincense, they prayed that she would enter freely into Rome, and be favourable to it. And be- cause the Sybils had prophesied that Ideea Mater should be introduced by the " best man among the Romans, the senate ^'was a httle busied to pass a judgment in the case, and resolve who was the best man in the city : for every one was ambitious to get the victory in a dispute of that nature more than if they stood to be elected to any commands or honours by the voices either of the senate or people. At last the senate resolved that P. Scipio, the son of Cneus, who was killed in Spain, a young gentleman who had never been quccstor, was the best man in the whole cit3^" She was called Pessinuntia -j-from a certain field in Phrygia, into which an image of her fell from hea- ven ; from this the place was called Pessinus, and the goddess Pessinuntia. And here the Phrygians first began to celebrate the sacrifices Orgia to this goddess, near the river Gallus, from which her priests were called Galli. When these priests desired that great respect and adoration should be paid to any thing, they pretended that it fell from heaven ; and * Haud parvoe rei judicium senatum tenebat, qui vir optimus in clvitate esset : verum certe victoriam ejus rei sibi quisque mallet, quam ulla imperia, honoresve, suffragio seu Patrum, sen Plebis, delates. Patres conscripti P. Scipionem, Cnei filium ejus, qui in Hispania occidebatur, adolescentem, nondum Quaes torem, judicaverunt in tota civitate virum optimum esse. t Hesiod. 1. ]. 147 they called these images A/o^tc-t-/?, [JDiope^e,] that is, " sent from Jupiter." Of which sort were the Ancile, the Palladium, and the effigies of this goddess, con- cerning which we now speak. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATION. Who was Cybele ? How is she represented ? In what does slie ride, and how is she drawn' Why are her garments of divers colours? Why is she called Cybele ? What were her priests called ? Why is she called Ops and Rhea ? Why and by whom is she called Dindyme and Berecynthia P What was she called by the Greeks, and why ? What does the name of Bona Dea imply ? Who was Bona Dea ? Why is myrtle prohibited from her temple ? What was observed in her sacrifices, and why ? What was the saying of Plutarch ? Why was Cybele called Idaia Mater ? Why was she called Pessinuntia '! Why were her priests called Galll ; and under what pretence were they able to get particular respect paid to any thing ? SEC. 2.— OF THE SACEIFICES AND PRIESTS OF CYSELE. Her sacrifices, hke the sacrifices of Bacchus, were celebrated with a confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals ; and the sacrificants liov.ded, as if they were mad ; they profaned both the temple of their goddess, and the ears of their hearers, v/ith their vile words and actions. The following rites were pecu- liarly observed in her sacrifices : her temple was open- ed, not by hands, but by prayers ; none entered who had tasted garlic ; the priests sacrificed to her sitting, and touching the earth, and ofiered the hearts of the victims. And lastly, among the trees, the box and tlie pine- were sacred to her. The box, because the pipes used in her sacrifices were made of it : the pine, for the sake of Atys, Attes, or Attynes, a boy that Cybele much loved, and made him president of 148 her rites, upon condition that he always presei-ved his chastity invioJate. But he forgot his vow, and lost that virtue ; wherefore the offended goddess tlirew him into such a madness, that he was about to lay violent hands upon himself, but Cybele, in pity, turned him into a phie. There w^as, however, a true Atys, the son of Croe- sus, king of Lydia. He was born dumb ; but when he saw in the fight a soldier at his father's back, with a sword lifted up to kill him, the strings of his tongue, which hindered his speech, burst ; and by speaking clearly, he prevented his father's destruc- tion. The priests of Cybele v/ere named Galli, from a river of Phrygia. Such was the nature of the wa- ter of this river, that whoever drank of it immedi- ately grew mad. The Galli, as often as they sacri- ficed, furiously cut and slashed their arms with knives ; and thence all furious and mad people were called Galantes. Beside the name of Galli, they were also called Curetes, Corybantes, Telchines, Cablri, find Idsei Dactyli. Some say that these priests were different from the Galli ; but most peo- ple believe them to be the same, and say that they were priests of Cybele. The Curetes were either Cretans, or jEtolians, or Euboeans : and had their names from shaving ; so that Curetes and Detonsi signify almost the same thing. For they shaved the hair of their heads be- fore, but wore hair behind, that they might not be taken (as it has often happened) by the forelocks, by the enemy ; or, perhaps they were called Cure- tes, ^because they were habited in long vests, like young maidens 5 or lastly, ybccause they educated Jupiter in his infancy. * Kwo Tm Kiifiy,;, a puella, quod pnellarum stolam inditebant. t Ato Tni KopoT^ofla.;, ab educatioiie ju-venum, quod Jovem infantem aluisse perhibcntur, Strabo. 149 Her priests were also called Corybantes ; because in the sacrifices of their goddess they tossed their heads and danced, and butted with their foreheads like rams, after a mad fashion. Thus, when they initiated any one into their sacrifices, ^they placed him in a chair, and danced about him like fools. Another name of her priests was Telchines. These were famous magicians and enchanters ; and they came from Crete to Cyprus, and thence into Rhodes, which latter island was called Telchines fi-om them. Or, if we believe others, they were de- serving men, and invented many arts for the good of the public, and first set up the statues and images of the gods. The Cabiri, or Caberi, so called from Cabiri, mountains of Phrygia, were either the servants of the gods, or gods themselves, or rather daemons, or the same with the Corybantes ; for the people*s opinions concerning them are different. The Idsei Dactyli were the servants and assistants of Magna Mater ; called Idsei from the mountain Ida, where they lived ; and Dactyli from the fingers, for the priests were ten, Hke the fingers : they served Rhea every where, and in every thing, as if they were fingers to her. f Yet many affirm, that there were more than ten. (lUESTIO^'S FOR EX^Mm^TIOJi. How were the sacrifices of Cybele celebrated ? ' What peculiar rites were observed in them ? W hy were the box and pine sacred to Cybele ? On what condition was Atys made president of her rites, and what happened to him on his breaking his vow ? Who was the true Atys, and what is his history ? What property belonged to the river Gallus? What was the origin of the word " gallantes ?" Awo rev xopvrrtiy, a cornibus feriendo, et ficclvtit incedendD Strabo. 1. 1. Plato in Enthid. t Digiti enim Qraece dicuntur txptrvXn, 13* 150 What other names have been given to the priests of Cybele? From what did the Curetes derive their name ? From what circumstance were the Corybantes named? Who were the Telchines ? Who were the Cabiri ? Who was the Idsei Dactyli ? CHAPTER VUL SEC. 1.— CERES. HER IMAGE AND SACRIFICES. Ceres is a tall majestic lady; who stands beau- tified with yellow liair, and crowned with a turban composed of the ears of corn ; her bosom swells with breasts as white as snow ; her right hand is full ot poppies and ears of corn, and in her left is a lighted torch. She is the daughter of Saturn and Ops ; whose singular beauty made the gods themselves her lovers and admirers. Her brothers Jupiter and Nep- tune fell in love with her. She had Proserpine by Jupiter. And by Neptune it is uncertaian whether she was the mother of a daughter, or a horse called Arion. Upon the mountain jEleus, in Arcadia, an altar was dedicated to Ceres ; her image had the body of a woman, but the head of a horse ; it re- mained perfect and entire in the midst of fire. Yet others have told us that Ceres did not bring forth a horse, but a daughter. The Arcadians thought it a mcked thing to call this daughter by any other name than " the lady," or " the great goddess," which were the usual names of her mother Ceres. Ceres was greatly ashamed of this disgrace, and testified her sorrow by the mourning clothes which slpie afterwards wore ; whence she was named Melae- na, MeXoctvu nigra ; she retired into the dark recess- es of a cave, where she lay so privately that none of 151 the gods knew where she was, till Pan, the god of the woods, discovered her by chance, and told Jupiter ; who, sending the Fates to her, persuaded her at last to lay aside her grief, and rise out of the cave, which was a happy and joyful thing for all the world. For in her absence a great infection reigned tlirough- out all sorts of living creatures, which sprang from the corruption of the fruits of the earth, and the gra- naries every where. She is the goddess of the fruits, and her name is derived '^from the care which she exerts in producing or preserving them. It is sup- posed that she first invented and taught the art of tilling the earth, and sowing corn, and of making bread therewith, when before mankind only ate acorns. " Prima Ceres unco glebam dimovit aratro, Prima dedit fruges alimentaque mitia terris, Prima dedit leges. Cereris sunt omnia munus." Ceres was she who first our furrows plough'd ; Who gave sweet fruits, and easy food aliow'd. Ceres first tam'd us with her gentle laws ; From her kind hand the world subsistence draws. This may be learned from Ovid, who tells us that Ceres was the first that made laws, provided whole- some food, and taught the art of husbandry, of ploughing and sowing. For, before her time, the earth lay rough and un- cultivated, covered with briers and unprofitable plants ; when there were no proprietors of land, they neglected to cultivate it ; when nobody had any ground of his own, they did not care to fix land- marks ; but all things were common to all men, tiU Ceres, who had invented the art of husbandry, taught men how to exercise it ; and then they began • Ceres dicitur quasi Ceres a gerendis fructibus : aut quasi Se- rens, vel ab antiquo verbo Cereo, quod idem est ac Creo, qucd cunctarum frugum creatrix sit et altrix. Cic. Nat. Deo. 2. 152 to contend and dispute about the limits of those fields from the culture of which they reaped so much profit ; and hence it was necessary that laws should be enacted to determine the rights and properties of those who contended. For this reason Ceres was named the foundress of laws: and hence she is crowned with corn. 1. Ceres is beautiful and well shaped; because tlie earth, which she resembles, appears beautiful and delightful to the beholders ; especially when it is arrayed with plants, diversified with trees, adorn- ed with flowers, enriched with fruits, and covered Ti^'ith greens ; when it displays the honours of spring, and pours forth the gifts of autumn with a bountiful hand. 2. Her hair is yellow, and w^hen the ears of com are ripe, they are adorned with a golden colour. 3. Her breasts swell with milk, whence she is styled Mammosa sometimes, ^because, after the earth is impregnated with seed, and big with the fruit thereof, it brings forth all things out of itself in abundance, and like a mother, feeds and nourishes us ; and hence she is called f Alma, and JAltrix Nostra. 4. She holds a lighted torch, because, when Pro- serpine was stolen away by Rluto, her mother ||Ce* res was greatly afilicted at the loss of her daughter and, being very desirous to find her again, she kind- led her torches with the flames which burst from the mountain Mtna. ; and with them sought her daughter through the whole world. 5. She carries poppy, because, when through grief she could not obtain the least rest or sleep, Ju- piter gave her poppy to eat : for this plant is endu- ed with a power to cause sleep and forgetfulness. Her grief was a little allayed by sleep, but she far* • Cic. Nat. Deor. 2 and 3. f Virg. Geo. 1. X Cic. Nat. Deor. 2, jj Cic. in Verrem. 153 got not her loss, and, after many voyages and joujv neys, she at last heard where Proserpine was ; as we shall hear in its proper place. We often *see a young man sitting in a chariot drawn by flying serpents. It is Triptolemiis, in the chariot wliich Ceres gave him. He was the son of Celeus, king of Eleusis in Attica. Ceres brought him up from his infancy, upon this occasion : while she was seeking Proserpine by sea and land, upon the w'ay she came into the city Eleusis, where king Celeus entertained her 5 whose kindness she requited by bringing up his young son, whom, in the day time she fed with celestial and divine milk, but in the night covered him all over with fire. The child in a lew days became a beautiful young man by this extraordinary manner of education. Meganira, his mother, greatly wondering at this speedy progress, was very desirous to know how Ceres dealt with her son ; she therefore looked through a small hole, and saw Ceres cover her son Triptolemus with burning coal. This affrighted her so, that she cried out that Ceres was murdering her son ; and ran into the room to save him. Ceres punished her imprudent curiosity w^ith death ; then putting Triptolemus into a splendid cha- riot, she sent him throughout the world, to show mankind the use of corn. He executed her com- mands so faithfully, and taught men the art of hus- bandry, of sowing, reaping, and of thrashing the corn so well, that hence he obtained his name *Trip- tolemus. Ovid gives us an excellent description of this in the fifth book of his Metamorphoses. Ceres once changed a boy into a lizard : for, be- ing very w^ary with travelling, and thirsty, she came to a cottage, and begged a little water to v/ash her mouth, of an old woman that lived there ; the old woman no-t only gave her water, but also barley • Triptolemus dictilur quasi rfi^Kt vas sXaj, id est, hordeuiQ terens. Hygin. fac. 147. 154 broth ; which, when the goddess took greedily, the woman's son, Stellio, a saucy boy, mocked her. ' This so raised Ceres' indignation, that in a rage she flung some of the broth into the boy's face, who was thereby changed into an evet, or hzard. We may notice here Erisichthon, who, in con- tempt of the sacrifices of Ceres, defJed her groves, and cut down one of her oaks ; for which he was punished with perpetual hunger : so that, when he has devoured all the meat and food which he can by any means procure, he is forced to eat his own flesh to support his body ; and to bring upon himself a horrible death, the better to sustain life. Among all the Cerealia, or sacrifices instituted to tlie honour of Ceres, these which follow are the chief: 1. The Eleusian mysteries were of two sorts,* tlie greater and the lesser ; one qualification requisite to both was to be able to keep a great secret. Though Triptole.iius had appointed that no stranger should be initiated into the great mysteries, yet Hercules, to whom thev durst refuse nothing, demanded to be admitted to them, and upon his account other cere- monies were instituted, which they called the lesser mysteries, and these were celebrated afterwards at Agra and Athens. Those who were ambitious to be admitted to them, repaired to this place in the month of November, sacrificed to Jupiter, and kept the skins of the victims to lay upon their feet when they were purified upon the banks of the river Ilissus. We know not exactly what sort of ceremonies were made use of in those purifications. These lesser mysteries served as a preparation for the greater * Mr. Tooke is very brief on the subject of the Eleusinian mysteries, which were the most important mentioned in the history of the ancient rites; and as many fancy that the an- cient order of Free Masonrjj is a branch of the Eleusinian order, we have thought proper here to give a more full account of these cerealia than can be found in any edition of Tooke's Pan- Uieon heretofore published Am. Ed. 155 ones, whicli were celebrated at Eleusis ; and hy their means persons were initiated into the secret ce- remonies of Ceres. After having passed through a good many trials, the person was Mystes, that is, qualified for being very soon initiated into the great- er Mysteries, and to become Epoptes, or the witness of the most secret mysteries, which were not procu- red till after five years probation ; during which he might enter into the vestibule of the temple, but not into the sanctuary. When one was initiated, he was introduced by night into the temple, after having his hands wash- ed at the entry, and a crown of myrtle put upon him. Then was opened a little box wherein were the laws of Ceres, and the ceremonies of her mysteries 5 and after having given him these to read, he was made to transcribe them. A slight repast, in memory of that wiiich the goddess liad got from Baubo, suc- ceeded this ceremony ; after which the Mystes en- tered into the sanctuary, over which the priest drew the veil, and then all was in darkness in the twink- ling of an eye. A bright light succeeded and ex- hibited to view the statue of Ceres magnificently adorned ; find while they were attentive in consider- ing it, the light again disappeared, and all was once more wrapped in profound darkness. The peals of thunder that were heard, the lightnings that flashed from all hands, the thunder that broke in the midst of the sanctuary, and a thousand monstrous figures lliat appeared on all sides, filled the initiated with horror and consternation ; but the next moment a calm succeeded, and there appeared in broad day light a charming meadow, where all came to dance and make merry together. It is probable that this meadow v/as in a place en- closed with walls behind the sanctuary of the temple, which they opened all of a sudden, when the day- light was let in ; and this scene appeared tlie more 156 agreeable, that it succeeded a night when nothing but doleful and liideous objects were to be seen. There it was that amidst jollity and mirth, all the secrets of tlic mysteries were revealed. But after all, we knovr not well what passed there, these myste- ries having been long kept an impenetrable secret; and had it not been for some libertines, who got themselves initiated in order to divulge them, they had never been brought to light. In both the greater and the lesser, a perpetual and wonderful silence was observed : to publish any thing concerning them was a crime, hence came the proverb concerning silent per- sons, Amy,!/. E^svTivcc [Attica Eleusina^ and the word tnysterium signifies a " religious rite," from f^vcj [muo^ OS claudo. This much is true, that the greatest modesty, and even a pretty severe chastity was ex- acted from the mystae and women who presided over tiie feasts of this goddess. The purifications and oblation that were practised, would make one iiiiagine they were not so dissolute as some authors kave alleged ; unless we will say that the abuses which the fathers of the church speak of were not In the primitive institution, but had only crept into them afterwards. This night being spent in these ceremonies, the priest dismissed the assembly with some barbarous words, which shows that they had been instituted by people v/ho spoke another lan- guage, namely, by the Egyptians. After having spoke of the initiated, we must, be* fore we be done, say something of the ministers who officiated in the festivals. The first was a Jliero phantes or a Mystagogos, that is, a man who shows the sacred things, and the initiated Avere not per- mitted to mention his name to the profane. The second was a Daduchus, or Torch-Bearer. The third a Sacred Herald. The fourth a Minister of the Aliar ; this was a young man who put up pray- ers in behalf of the assembly, and was subject to the 157 superior ministers. Besides these four ministers there were two prophets to do sacrifice, and five delegates, to see that all things were performed in order ; the first was called the king, and the other four Epimeletes. The Thesmophoria was instituted by Triptole- mus ; and those women who vowed perpetual chas- tity were initiated in them. For some days a fast was kept ; and wine was altogether banished from her altar ; whence this expression came, Cereri nup- Has facere^ which (among the ancients) signifies a least where there was no wine. Swine were sacri- ficed to this goddess, because they hurt the fruits of the earth : " Prima Ceres avid© gavisa est sanguine porcSB, Ulta suas merita casde nocentes opes." Ovid Fast, l, Ceres with blood of swine we best atone, Wiiich thus requite the mischief they have done. And garlands, composed of ears of corn, were oA fered to her : " Flava Ceres, tibi sit nostro de rure corona Spicea, quae templi pendeat ante fores." Tibullvs. To thee, fair goddess, we'll a garland plait Of ears of corn, to adorn thy temple gate. Ambarvalla were instituted to purge the fields, and to beg fruitfulness and plenty. They were so called, because the sacrifices were led about the fields; as the suburbs ^amburbia] were esteemed sacred, because the sacrifice was carried round the city.-- These sacrifices were performed by husbandmen, who carried a sow with yoking, or a cow-calf, through the corn and the hay, in the beginning of harvest, tlirice ; the countrymen following him with dancing and leaping, and acclamations of joy, till all the fields rung with the noise. In the mean time, one 14 158 of tliem, adorned with a crown, sung the praises of Ceres ; and after they had ofiered an oblation of wine mixed with lioney and milk before they began to reap, they sacrificed tlie cow to her. The rites of tlie Ambarvalia are beautifully described by Virgil : " Cuncta tibi Cererem pubes agrestis adoret: Cul tu lacte favos, el miti dilue Baccho, Terque novas circum felix eat hostia fruges ; Omiiis qiiain chorus et socii coniitantur ovantes, Et Cererem clamore vocent in tecta : neque ante Falcem maturis quisqiiam supponat aristis, Quam Cereri, torla redimitus tempora quercu, Det motus incompositos, et carmina dicat." Geo. 1« Let ev'ry swain adore her power divine, And milk and honey mix with sparkling wine: Let all the choir of clowns attend this show, In long procession, shouting as they go; Invoking her to bless their yearly stores, Inviting plenty to their crowded floors. Tims in the spring, and thus in summer's heat, Before the sickles touch the rip'ning wheat, On Ceres call ; and let the lab'ring hind "With oaken wreaths his hollov/ temples bind: On Ceres let him call, and Ceies praise, With'^xncouth dances, and with country-lays. qUESTIOKS FOR EXAMINATION. tlow is Ceres represented ? Who is she, and who were her brothers ? What kind of altar was dedicated to her on the mountain ;Eleus ? What were the usual names of her mother Ceres? Why was she named Melajna? Where did she conceal herself ; who discovered her ; andwbo persuaded her to come out of her retirement ? What happened to the v.-orld during her absence ? What inventiof.s are ascribed to her ? In what respects does she resemble the earth ? Why does she carry a poppy ? What is the history of Triptolemus ? What is the history of Stellio ? What is the history of Eri.sichthon ? What were the Elensinia' From what is the word '' mystery" derived? Who instituted the Thesmophoria, and who were initiated ta Uim ? ;Cts£ OF TIIE UFI7ER suufy> II M, ■',.,, I, I mw^m 159 Why were the Ambarvalia instituted ? Repeat the lines from Virgil in which these sacrifices are d« scribed. CHAPTER IX. SEC. 1.— THE MUSES. THEIR IMAGE, NAMES, AND NUMBER. Tke mnses are nine virgins, crowned with palms ; their dress is decent and becoming. They sit to- gether in the shade of a laurel arbour. Some of them play on the harp, some upon the cithern, some upon the pipe, some upon the cymbal, and some harmo- niously sing and play at once. Methinks I hear them with united minds, voices, and hands, make an agreeable concord arise from their diiierent instru- ments, governing their- several voices in such a man- ner as to produce the most noble harmony. They are the mistresses of all the sciences, the presidents of the musicians and poets, and the go- vernors of the feasts and solemnities of the gods. They are the daughters of Jupiter and the nymph Mnemosyne, and were born on the mountain Picri- us. Some affirm that they had other parents, and ancient writers say, that they lived before Jupiter, and were the daughters of Coelum. They are call- ed the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (which in Greek signifies " memory,") because all students and scholars ought not only to have great ingenuity, but ready memories. The Musee were formerly called Mosge, and were so named from a *Greek word that signifies " to inquire," because men, by inquiring of them • 'Aara tv f/u(rai, id est, ab inquirendo. Plalo in Cratylo. 160 learn the things of which they were before ignorant. But others say, they had their name from ^their resemblance, because there is a similitude, and an affinity and relation between all the sciences ; in which they agree, and are united with one another. Wherefore the Muses are often painted with their hands joined; dancing in a ring; in the middle of lliem sits Apollo, their commander and prince. The pencil of nature described them in that manner upon the agate which Pjrrhus, who made war against the Romans, wore in a ring ; for in it was a representa- tion of the nine Muses, and Apollo holding a harp : and these figures were not delineated by art, but by the spontaneous handywork of nature : and the veins of the stone were formed so regularly, that every idiise had her particular distinction. They had each a name derived from some parti- cular accomplishment of their minds or bodies. The first, Calliope, was so called from fthe sweet- ness of her voice ; she presides over rhetoric, and is esteemed the most excellent of all the nine. The second, Clio, is so named from Jglory. For she is the historical Muse, and takes her name from the excellence of the things she records. The third, Erato, has her name from §love, be- cause she sings of amours, or because learned men are beloved and praised by others. She is also called Saltatrix; for she first invented the art of dancing, over v.hich she presided. She was also the inventress of poetr}^ The fourth, Thalia, from ||her gayety, briskness, * Mtiircii, quasi eftoavffx,:, id est similes. Cassiodor t 'Asro T'/i; xx/.»; oTtii a suavitats vocis. 'A^ro m kXus;, a gloria sc. rerum gestarum quas memo. Schol Ap. I. § 'Ato th ipcoroi, ab more. Ovid Art. Am. 2. IJ 'AfTo Tis^aXXiiv, id est, virere, germinare ; et florere. Procl in Hesiod. 161 and pleasantry. Some ascribe to her the invention of comedy, others of geometry. The fifth, Melpomene, from ^the excellency of her song and the melody she makes when she sings. Slie is supposed to have presided over tragedy, and to have invented sonnets. The sixth, Terpsichore,-}- has her name from the pleasure she takes in dancing, because she delights in balls. Some call her Citharistria. The seventh, Euterpe, or Euterpia, from Jthe sweetness of her singing. Some call her Tibicina, because, according to them, she presides over the pipes : and some say logic was invented by her. The eighth, Polyhymnia, or Pol^aimia, or Poly- menia, from <5>her excellent memory : and therefore the invention of writing history is attributed to her, which requires a good memor}'. It was owing to her, II that the songsters add to the verses that they sing, hands and fingers which speak more than the tongue ; an expressive silence ; a language without words J in short, gesture and action. The ninth, ITUrania, was so called either because she sings of divine things ; or because, through her assistance, men are praised to the skies, or because, by the sciences, they become conversant in the con- templation of celestial things. Bahusius, a modern poet, has comprised the names of all the Muses in a distich ; that is, he has made the nine Muses to stand, which is something strange, but upon eleven feet. Perhaps you will remember * A iA,i,'k-s:o(ji,a.t canto et modulor, vcl d-sso ts (ji,iXos "ssonn con- centum facere. t 'A.*o T£:!T£(VTaij ;^;;o^9;j quod clioreis delectetur. X Ab tvrifs^t)?, jucunda nempe in concentu. § AzffoXv; multus et iJt,niot, memoria. II Quod carminibus additae sint orchestrarura loquacissimae ma- nus, linquosi digiti, silentium clamosum, expositio tacita, uno yerbo gestus et actio. H AiTa Tn if?av», a ccelo. 14* 162 their names better, when they are thus joined to- gether in two verses : " Calliope, Polymneia, Erato, Clio, atque Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Urania." /. 4. ep. 1. The most remarkable of the names which are com- mon to tliem all are : Heliconides, or Heliconiades, from the momitaia Helicon, in Boeotia. Parnassides, from the momitain Parnassus, in Phocis, which has two heads, where, if any person slept, he presently became a poet. It was anciently called Larnassus, from Larnace, the ark of Deu- calion, which rested here, and was named Parnassus after the flood, from an inhabitant of this mountain, so called. Citherides, or Citheriades, from the mountain Ci- ther on, where they dwelt. Aonides, from the country Aonia. Pierides, or Pierise, fom the mountain Pierus, or Pieria, in Thrace ; or from the daughters of Pierius ajid Anippe, who, daring to contend with the Muses, were changed into pies. Pegasides and Hippocrenides, from the famous fountain Helicon, which by the Greeks is called *Hippocrene, and by the Latins, fCaballinus, both which words signify the horse's fountain : it was also named Pegaseius, from Pegasus, the winged horse, which by striking a stone in this place with his foot, opened the fountain, Jand the waters be- came vocal. Aganippides, or Aganippeae, from the fomitain Aganippe. Castalides, from the fountain Castalius, at the foot of Parnassus. • Ab nsr-xos eques, et «/:»}v»j tons. t Caballinus, a Caballus, id estj equus, j Ovid Met. 5. 163 Some write, that there were but three in the be- ginning ; because sound, out of which all singing is *brmed, is naturally threefold : either made by the voice alone ; or by blowing, as in pipes, or by striking, as in citherns or drums. Or it may be. because there are three tones of the voice, or other instruments, the bass, the tenor, and the treble. Or lastly, because all the sciences are distributed into three general parts ; philosophy, rhetoric, and ma- thematics ; and each of these parts is subdivided into three other parts ; philosophy into logic, ethics, and physics ; rhetoric into the demonstrative, de- liberative, and judicial kind : mathematics into mu- sic, geometry, and arithmetic : and hence it came to pass, that they reckoned not only Three Muses, but Nine. Others give a different reason why they are Nine. When the citizens of Sicyon appointed three skilful artificers to make the statues of the Three Muses, promising to choose those three statues out of the nine which they liked best, they were all so well made that they could not tell which to prefer ; so that they bought them all, and placed them in the temples : and Hesiod afterward assigned to them the names mentioned above. Some affirm that they were virgins, and others deny it, who reckon up their children. Let no per- son, however, despise the Muses, unless he design to bring destruction upon himself by the example of Thamyras or Thamyris ; who, being conceited of his beauty and skill in singing, presumed to chal- lenge the Muses to sing, upon condition, that if he was overcome, they should punish him as they pleas- ed. And after he was overcome, he was deprived at once both of his harp and his eyes. qUESTIOJYS FOR EXAMIN.iTION, Who are the Muses, and how are they dressed? What is their employment ? 164 Over what do they preside ? Who were their parents, and why are they called daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne ? Why were they formerly called Mosae ? How were the Muses represenled on Pyrrhus' ring From what were their names derived ? How did Calliope derive her name? Who was Clio ? What does Erato derive her name from ? Why is Thalia so called ? What are the peculiar excellencies of Melpomene and Tcrpsi chore ? In what does Euterpe excel ? From what does Polyhymnia derive her name ? Why w-as Urania so named ? Repeat the distich of Bahusias. Give some account of the names common to all the Muses. How many Muses were there at first, and how were the three converted into Nine ? What other reason is given ? What should the example of Thamyris teach ? CHAPTER X. THEMIS, ASTRiEA, NEMESIS, Are three goddesses, who contrive and consult together on affairs of great moment. Themis, the first of them, is the daughter of Coe- lum and Terra. According to the ^"signification of her name, her oftice is to instruct mankind to do things honest, just, and right. Therefore her images were brought and placed before those who were about to speak to the people, that they might be ad- monished thereby to say nothing in public but what was just and righteous. Some say she spoke ora- cles at Delphi, before Apollo ; though Homer says, that she served Apollo with nectar and ambrosia. There was another Themis, of whom Justice, Law, • Qifjt,is enim significat fas. 165 ..nd Peace, are said to be born. Heslod, by way of eminence, calls her modest, because she was ashamed to say any thing that was done against right and equity. Eusebius calls her Carmenta; ■'^because by lier verse and precepts she directs eve- ry one to that wliich is just. But here he means a different Carmenta, who was the mother of Evander, otherwise called Themis Nicostrata, a prophetical lady. She was wo:'shipped by the Romans, because she prophecied ; and was called Carmenta, either from the verse in which she uttered her predictions, or from the madness which seemed to possess her when she prophecied. To this lady an altar was dedicated near the gate Carmentalis, by the Capi- tol ; and a temple was also built to her honour upon this occasion : When the senate forbade the married women the use of litters or sedans, they combined together, and resolved that they would never bring children, unless their husbands rescinded that edict : they kept to this agreement witii so much resolution, that the senate was obliged to change their sentence, and yield to tiie women's will, and allow them all se- dans and chariots again. And v/hen their wives conceived and brouglit forth fine children, they erected a temple in honour of Carmenta. Astrsea, the daughter of Aurora and Astraeus the Titan, (or, as others say, the daughter of Jupiter and Themis,) v/as esteemed the princess of Justice. The poets feign, that in the Golden Age she de- scended from heaven to the earth ; and being of- fended at last by the wickedness of mankind, she returned to heaven again, after all the gods had gone before her. She is many times directly called by the name of Justitia ; as particularly by Virgil. And when she had returned to heaven again, she was placed where we now see the constellation Virgo. * Quod carminibus edictisque suis praecipiat unicuique quod Justura est. Eusub. Praep. Evar.g. 1. 3. 166 The parents of Nemesis were Jupiter and Neces- sity ; or, according to otliers, Nox and Oceanus. She was the goddess that rewarded virtue, and pun- ished vice : and she taught men their duty, so that she received her name *from the distribution tliat she made to every body. Jupiter deceived her, as the story says, in the shape of a goose ; and that she brought forth an egg, which she gave to a shep- herd whom she met, to be carried to Leda. Leda laid up the egi^ in a box, and Helena was soon af- ter produced of that egg. But others give us quite diflerent accounts of the matter. The Romans cer- tainly sacrificed to this goddess, when they went to war ; whereby they signified that tl^-ey never took up arms unless in a just cause. She is called by another name, Adrastsea, from AdraruiA, king of tlie Argives, who first built an altar to her , or, per- haps from j-tlie diiiiculty of escaping from her : be- cause no guilty person can flee from the pi,'n!shment due to his crime, though Justice sometimes over- takes him late. She has indeed wings, but does not always use them ; but then the slower her foot b, die harder is her hand : " Ad scelerum pcenas ultrix veiiit ira tonantis, Hoc graviore manu, quo graviore pede." Vengeance divine to punisli sin moves slow, The slower is its pace, the surer is its blow. Rhamiiusia is another name of this goddess ; from Rhamnus, a town in Attica, where she had a tem- ple, in which there was a statue of her made of one stone, ten cubits high ; she held the bough of an ap- ple-tree in her hand, and had a crown upon her * Awo m ifixa-rni-sDv ifx,7;(Ttus, a distributione quas unicuique sit Plato de Legibus Dial. t Ab a non e( o.lf.affKUj fugio, quod videlicet nerao nocensiv efiugere queat pcenain suit scele'ibus debitain. 167 bead, In which many images of deer were engraven. She had also a wheel, which denoted her swiftness when she avenges. qUESTIOA'S FOR EX.^MmATIOJf, Who are tlie goddesses that are consulting together on im- portant bus'iness ? Who was Themis ; and what was her business ; and why weio Uer images placed before public speakers ? Who were the cliildreti of the other Themis? Why was Themis styled modest by Hesiod ; and Carmentaby Eusebius ? Wliy was a temple erected in honour of Carmenta ? Who was Astra^a ? Who were the parents of Nemesis? What did the Romans sacrifice to her? Why was she called Adrastffia? Why is she named Rhamnusia ? CHAPTER XI. THE GODS OF THE WOODS, AND THE RURAL GODa PAN. HIS NAMES, DESCENT, ACTIONS, he. We are now come to the images of the gods and goddesses of the woods. Here you may see the gods Pan, Silvaniis, the Faimi, the Satyri, Silenus, Priapns, Aristreus, and Terminus. And there you see the goddesses, Diana, Pales, Flora, Feronia, Pomona, and an innumerable com- pany of Nymphs. Pan is called by that name, either, as some tell us, because he exhilarated the minds of all the gods with the music of the pipe, winch he invented ; and by the harmony of the cithern, upon Vr hich he play- ed skilfully as soon as he was born. Or, perhaps, he is called Pan, because he governs the affairs of 168 the universal world by his mind, as he represents it by his body. The Latins called him Inmis and Incubus, the " iiip,htuiare ;" and at Rome he was worshipped, and called Lupercus and Lyceus. To his honoui a temple was built at the foot of the Palatine hill, and festivals called Lupercalia were instituted, in which his priests, the Luperci, ran about the streets naked. His descent is uncertain, but the common opinion IS, that he was born of Mercury and Penelope. For when Mercury fell violently in love with her, and tried in vain to move her, at last, by changing himself into a white goat, succeeded. Pan, after he was born, was wrapt up in the skin of a hare, and carried to heaven. Ho is represented as a horned half goat, that re- sembles a beast rather than a man, much less a god. He has a smiling, ruddy face, his nose is flat, his beard comes down to his breast, his skin is spotted, and he has the tail, legs, and feet of a goat ; his head is crowned or girt about with pine, and he holds a crooked staff in one hand, and in the other a pipe of uneven reeds, with the music of which he can cheer even the gods themselves. When the Gauls, under Brennus, their leader, made an irruption into Greece, and were just about to plunder the city Delphi. Pan, so terrific in ap- pearance, alarmed them to such a degree, that they all betook themselves to flight, though nobody pur- sued them. Whence we proverbially say, that men are in panic fear, when we see them aflrighted witli- ont a cause. Now hear what the image of Pan signifies. Pan 15 a symbol of the world. In his upper part he re- sembles a man, in his lower part a beast ; because the superior and celestial part of the world is beau- tiful, radiant, and glorious ; as is the face of this I'lfiit. vss^ 'v'"^. '( lRy» ;i!'lk> 7^^' ''s^'-vTv-l/ 'V-'-'^' y^sf ,^ 169 god, whose liorns resemble the rays of the sun, and the horns of the moon : the redness of his face is like the splendour of the sky ; and the spotted skin that he wears, is an image of the starry firmament* In his lower parts he is shagged and deformed, which represents the shrubs and wild beasts, and the trees of the earth below : his goats' feet signffy the solidity of the earth ; and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the seven planets. He has a sheep-hook, crooked at the top, in his hand, which signifies the turning of the year mto itself. The nymphs dance to the music of the pipe; which instrument Pan first invented. You will won- der when you hear the relation which the poets give to this pipe, namely, as oft as Pan blows it, the dugs of the sheep are filled with milk : for he is the god of the shepherds and hunters, the captain of the nymphs, the president of the mountains and of a country life, and the guardian of the flocks that graze upon the mountains : '' Pan curat oves, oviumque magistros." Virg. Ed. 2. Pan loves the shepherds, and their flocks he feeds. The nymph Echo fell in love with him, and brought him a daughter named Iringes, who gave Medea the medicines with which he charmed Jason. He could not but please Dryope, to gain whom, he laid aside his divinity and became a shepherd. But he did not court the nym-ph Syrinx with so much suc- cess : for she ran away to avoid her lover ; tiU coming to a river (where her flight was stopped,) she prayed the Naiades, the nymphs of the waters, because she could not escape her pursuer, to change feer into a bundle of reeds, just as Pan was laying hold of her, who therefore caught the reeds in liis 15 170 arms instead of her. The winds moving these reeds backward and forward occasioned mournful but mu- sical sounds, which Pan perceiving, he cut them down, aad made of them reeden pipes : " Dumque ibi suspirat, motos in arundine ventos Eflecisse sonum tenuern, similemque querent!. Arte nov^a, vocisque Deum dulcedine captum, Hoc milii concilium tecum, dixisse, manebitj Atque ita disparibus calamis compagine cerae Inter se junctis nomen tenuisse puellse," He sighs, his sighs the tossing reeds return In soft small notes, like one that seem'd to mourny The new, but pleasant notes the gods surprise, Yet this shall make us friends at last, he cries: So he this pipe of reeds unequal fram'd With wax ; and Syrinx from his mistress nam'd. But Lucretius ascribes the invention of these pipes not to Pan, but to some countrymen, who had ob- served, on another occasion, the whisthng of the wuid through reeds : *• Zephyri cava per calamorum sibila primum: Agrestes docuere cavas inflare cicutas ; Inde minutatim dulces didicere querelas, Tibia quas fundit digitis pulsata canentum: Avia per nemora ac sylvas saltusque reperta, Per loca pastorum deserta atque otia Dia." LucT. 1. 5. And while soft ev'ning gales blew o'er the plains, And shook the sounding reeds, they taught the swains; • And thus the pipe was fram'd, and tuneful reed: And while the tender flocks securely feed, And harmless shepherds tune their pipes to love* And Amaryllis sounds in ev'ry grove. In the sacrifices of this god, they offered to him milk and honey in a shepherd's bottle. He was more especially worshipped in Arcadia, for which reason he is so often called Pan, Deus Arcadiae. Some derive from him Hispania, Spain, formerly called Iberia ; for he lived there, when he returned from the Indian war, to which he went with Bacchus and the Satyrs. x71 qUESTIOjYS FOR EXAMLYATION. From what does Pan derive his name ? What Avas he called by the Latins, and under what title was he worshipped at Rome ? What is the origin of Pan ? How is he represented ? What is the origin of the phrase " panic-struck?" What does the image of Pan signify ? What instruments did he invent, and what occurs when he blows his pipe ? ■What does Lucretius say of the invention of the pipes? Repeat the lines. What were used in the sacrifices of Pan ? Whence is he derived ? CHAPTER XII. SILVANUS AND SILE?WS. Although many writers confound Silvanus the Fauni, Satyri, and Sileni, with Pan, yet, as others distinguish them, we shall treat of them separately, and begin with Silvanus. Silvanus, who is placed next to Pan, with the feet of a goat, and the face of a man, of little stature. He holds cypress in his hand stretched out. He is so called from silvce, the woods ; for he presides over them. He loved the boy Cyparissus, who had a tame deer, in which he took great pleasure. Sil- vanus by chance killed it ; upon which the youth died for grief. Therefore Silvanus changed him into a cypress-tree, and carried a branch of it always in his hand, in memory of his loss. Silenus follows next, with a flat nose, bald head^ large ears, and a small flat body ; he derives his name from his jocular temper, because he perpetu- ally jests upon the people. He sits upon a saddle- 172 backed ass : but when he walks, he leans upon a staiF. He was foster-father to Bacchus his master, and his perpetual companion, and consequeiuly was almost always drunk, as we find him described in the sixth Eclogue of Virgil. Tlie cup which he and Bacchus used, was called Caiitharus ; and a staff n'ith which he supported himself. Ferula : this he ased when he was so drunk, as it often happened hat he could not sit, but fell from his ass. The Satyrs were not only constant companions of Silenus, but were assistants to him j tliey held him ai great esteem, and honoured him as their father; and when thej^ became old, they were called Sileni •,oo. And concerning Silenus' ass, they say, that We was translated into lieaven, and placed among !he stars ; because in the giant's war, Silenus rode on him, and helped Jupiter very much. " When Silenus v/as asked, " What was the best .hing that could befall man?" he, after long silence^ answered, " It is best for all never to be born, but being born, to die very quickly." WMch expres- .*ion Fliny reports nearly in the same words : f There have been man}^ who hare judged it happy never to have been born, or to die immediately after one's birth. qUESTIOjXS FOR EXAMIJS'JiTIO.Y. How is Silvanus represented? From what is liis name derived ? * Wliy is he represented with a branch of cypress in his hand? How is Silenus represented ? What are his cap and statF called? Who were his companions ? What became of his as«3 ? What was the decision of Silenus with respect to the bes4 tiling that can befall man ? *Rogatus quidnam, esset hominibus optimum: respondit om nibus esse optimum non nasci, et natos quam citissime inteire Plut in Consolatione Apol. t Multi extitere qui non nasci, optimum censerunt, aut quam citissime aboleri. In Prefat. 1. 7 173 CHAPTER XIII. THE SATYRS, FAUNS, PRIAPUS, ARISTJ=:US TERMINUS. Behold ! Those are Satyrs who dance under the shade of that tall and spreading oak , they have heads armed with horns, goat's feet and legs, crook- ed hands, and tails not much shorter than horses* tails. There is no animal in nature more libidi- nous than these gods. Their -name itseli shows their nature. The Fauns, whom you see joined with the Satyrs, differ trom them in the name only ; at least they are not unlike them in their looks : for they have hoois and horns, and are crowned with the branches of the pine. When they meet drunken persons, they stupily them with their looks alone. The boors of the country call them the " rural gods ;'' and pay them ihe more respect because they are armed with horns and nails, and painted in terrible shapes. Faunus, or Fatuellus, was the son of Picus, king of the Latins. He married his own sister, whose name was Fauna or Fatuella : he consecrated and made her priestess ; after which she had the gift of prophecy. History likewise tells us that this Fau- nus was the father and prince of the other Fauns and Satyrs. His name was given him from his skill in prophecying ; and thence also fatus signifies both persons that speak rashly and inconsiderately, and enthusiasts ; because they who prophecy, deliver the mmd and will of another, and speak things which tliemselves, many times, do not understand. Priapus, painted wic'a a sickle in his hand, was the son of Venus and Bacchus, born at Lampsacus ; from whence he was banished, till by the oracle's • Satyrus derivatur a-^ro Tti; cahf a veretro. Euseb. Praep, Evan. jg^ 174 command he was recaikv!, and made god of the gardens, and crowned wit!^ garden herbs. He car- ries a sicide hi his hand, to cut ofl' from the trees all superfluous boughs, and to drive away diieves and beasts, and mischievous birds ; whence he is called Avistupor. His image is usually placed in gardens, as we may learn from Tibullus, Vn*gil, and Horace. He is railed Hellespontiacus by the poets ; because tiie city Lampsacus, where lie was born, was situ- ate upon tiie Hellespont. He was very deformed, which misfortune was occasioned by the ill usage that his modier sudered while pregnant, from Juno. He was named Priapus, Phallus, and Fascinum, from his deformity. All these names have an in- decent signification ; though by some he is called Bonus Dfemon, or tlie good Genius. Aristasus ; whom you see busied in that nursery of olives, supporting and improving the trees, is em- ployed in drawing oil from tlie olive, which art he first invented. He also found out the use of honey, and therefoi'e, you see rows of bee-hives near him. For these two profitable inventions, the ancients paid him divine honours. He was otherwise called Nomius and Agrfeus, and was the son of Apollo by C\rene; or, as Cicero says, the son of Liber Pater, educated by the nymphs, and taught by them the art of making oil, honey, and cheese. He fell in love with Euridice, the wife of Orpheus, and pursued her into a wood, where a serpent stung her so that she died. On this account the nymphs hated him, ai:d destroyed all hjs bet- s to revenge the death of Euridice. The loss was ex- ceedingly deplored by him r and asking his mother's advice, he was told by the^ oracle that he ought by sacrifices to appease Euridice. Wherefore he sacri- ficed to her four bulls and four heifers, and his loss was supplied ; for suddenly a swarm of bees burst forth from the carcases ol' the bulls. 175 Another god, greatly honoured in the city of Rome, is Teiininus, because they imagine that the boundaries and limits of men's estates are under his protection. His name, and the divine honours paid to him by the ancients, are mentioned by Ovid, Ti- bidlus, and Seneca. The statue of this god was eidier a square stone, or a log of wood planed ; which they usually perfumed with ointment, and crowned with garlands. And, indeed, the Lapides Terminales (that iS, *' land-marks,") were esteemed sacred 5 so that who- ever dared to move, or plough up, or transfer them to another place, his head became devoted to the Diis Terminalibus, and it was lawful for any body to kill him. And lurther, though they did not sacrifice the lives of animals to those stones, because they though that it was not lawful to stain them with blood ; yet they offered wafer made of flour to them, and the first fruits of corn, and the like : and upon the last day of the year, they always observed festivals to their honour, called Terminalia. qUESTIOA^S FOR EXAMUVATIOXi' How are the Satyrs represented ? How are the Fauns represented, and what are they called by the country-boors ? What does history say of Faunus ? How did he obtain his name ? Who was Priapus, and where was he born ? How is he represented, and for what is the sickle in his hand? Why was he called Hellespontiacus? Where is his image placed? What is Aristaeus's employment.' ■>, What did he invent? Why was he called Nomius? ", - What is the story of Euridice? 4'. How did Terminus derive his name ' What was his statue ? What is raid of the Lapides Terminales ? What did the ancients offer as sacrifices to these stones? 176 CHAPTER XIV, THE GODDESSES OF THE WOODS. DIANA. Hkiif: comes a goddess, taller than the other god- desses, in whose virgin looks we may ease our eyes, which have been wearied with the horrid sight of those monstrous deities. Welcome, Diana ! your hunting habit, the bow in your hand, and the quiver full of arrows, which hang down from your should- ers, and the skin of a deer fastened to your breast, discover who you are. Your behaviour, which is free and easy, but modest and decent ; your gar- ments, which are handsome and yet careless, show that you are a virgin. Your name indicates your modesty and honour. Actseon, the son of Aristaeus, the famous hunts- man, unfortunately observing you, whilst bathing, was changed into a deer, which was afterwards torn in pieces by the dogs. Furtlier honour is due to you ; because you repre- sent the IMoon, the glory of the stars, and the only goddess who observed perpetual chastity. Nor am I ignorant of that tamous and deserving action w hich you did to avoid tlie flames of Alpheus, wlien you so hastily tied to your nymphs, who were altogether in one place ; and so besmeared both yourself and them with dirt, that when he came he did not know you : whereby your honest deceit suc- ceeded according to your intentions ; and the dirt which injures every thing else, added a new lustre to your virtue. Diajia is called Triformis and Tergemina. First, because though she is but one goddess, yet she has three difi'erent names, as well as three difi'erent offi- ces. In the heavens she is called Luna ; on the DlM^t^ 177 earth she is named Diana ; and in hell she is called Hecate or Proserpine. In the heavens she enlight- ens every thing by her ra\ s ; o;i the earth she keeps ander her power ail wild beasts by her bow and her dart ; and in hell she keeps all the ghosts and the spirits in subjection to her by her power and au- tliority. The several names and offices are coid- Qrised in an ingenious distich : " Terret, lustrat, agit; Proserpina, Luna, Diana; Ima, suprema, feras ; sceptro, t'ulgore, sagitta." Dempter in Paraiip. But altlioiigh Luna, Diana, and Hecate, are com- monly thought to be only three different names of the same goddess, yet Hesiod esteems them three distinct goddesses. Secondly, because she has, as the poets say, three heads ; the head of a horse on the right side, of a dog on the left, and a human head in the midst : whence some call her three- headed, or three-faced. And others ascribe to her the likeness of a bull, a dog, and a lion. Virgil and Claudian also mention her three countenances. Thirdly, according to the opinion of some, she is called Triformls, because the moon hath three phases or shapes : tlie new moon appears arched vvith" a semicircle of hght ; tbe half moon fills a semicircle w^ith light ; and the full moon fdls a whole circle or orb vvith its splendour. But let us examine these names more exactlj^ She is named Luna, from shining, either because she only in the night time sends fordi a glorious light, or else because she shines by borrowed li^ht, and not by her own 5 and therefore the light with which she shines is always "^ new light. Her chariot is drawn with a vAuie and a black horse; or with two oxen, because she has got two horns ; sorae- * Quod luce aliena splcndeat, unde Gra?ce dicitur SiXwij si fiXxi nov, id est, lumen novum. Id. ibid. 178 times a mule is added, because she has no children, and shines by the light of the sun. Some say, that Lunos of both sexes have been worshipped, especial- ly among the Egyptians ; and indeed they give this property to all tlie otlier gods. Thus both Lunus and Luna were worshipped, but with this difference, that those who vvorshipped Luna were thought sub- ject to the women, and those who worshipped Lunus were superior to them. We must also observe, that the men sacrificed to Venus, under the name of Luna in women's clothes, and the women in men's clothes. This Luna had a lover who was named Endy- mion, and he was courted b}' her, insomuch, that to kiss him, she descended out of heaven, and came to the mountain Latmus, or Lathynius, in Caria ; he lay condemned to an eternal sleep by Jupiter ; because, v.hen he was taken into heaven, he at- tempted to make love to Juno. In reality, Endy- mion v.as a famous astronomer, wvlio first described the course of the moon, and he is represented sleep- ing, because he contemplated nothing but the plane- tary motions. Hecate may be derived from UyJsv [heJcathen] eminus ; because the moon darts her rays or ar- rows afar off. She is said to be the daughter ot Ceres by Jupiter, who being cast out by her mo- ther, and exposed in the streets, was taken up by shepherds, and nourished by them ; for v» hich rea- son she was worshipped in the streets, and her statue was usually set before the doors of the houses, whence she took the name Prop^dsea. Others de- rive her name from Ua.ro'i [/icc«?07i] centum, because they sacrificed a hundred victims to her : or, be- cause, by her edict, those who die and are not buri- ed, wander a hundred years up and down hell. However, it is certain that she is called Trivia, from triviis, "the streets;" for she was believed to pre- side over the streets and ways ; so that they sacri- 179 ficed to her In the streets ; and the Athenians, every new moon, made a sumptuous supper for her there, which was eaten in the night hy the poor people of the city. They say that she was excessively tall, her head was covered with frightful snakes instead of hair, and her feet were like serpents. She was re- presented encompassed with dog^s ; because that ani- mal was sacred to her; and Hesychius says, that she was sometimes represented by a dog. We are told diat she presided over enchantments, and that when she was called seven times she came to the sacrifices : as soon as these were finished, several apparitions appeared, called from her Hecata^a. She was called by the Egyptians, Bubastrs ; her feasts were named Bubastse ; and the city where they were yearh' celebrated was called Bubastis. She is called Chitone and Chitonia, ^ because women after childbirth used first to sacrifice to Ju- no, and then ofler to Diana their own and their chil- dren's clothes. She was named Dictynna, not only from the f nets which she used, for she was a huntress, and the princess of hunters (for which reason all woods v/ere dedicated to her,) but also because Britomar- tis the virgin, whom she hunted, fell^nto the nets, and vowed, if she escaped, to build a temple for Diana. She did escape, and then consecrated a temple to Diana Dictynna. Others relate the story thus • When Britomartis, whom Diana loved be- cause she was a huntress, fled from Minos her lover, and cast herself into the sea ; she fell into the fish- ermen's nets, and Diana made her a goddess. The ancients thought that Diana left off hunting on the ides of August, therefore at that time it was not • HiTcavyi, quasi tunicata a ;^<7-aJv, tmiica ; solebant enim foemi- nae partus laboribus perfunctce Junoni sacrificare : suas autein nx infantiuni veste? Diante consecrare. Plut. 3. Symp. c. ult. t Retia enim ^iKvra dicuntur. 180 lawful for any one to hunt, but they crowned the dugs with garlands, and by the light of torches, made of stubble, hung up the hunting instruments near them. We shall only adjoin, to what has been said, the two stories of Chione and Meleager. Chione was the daughter of Dsedalion, the son of Daedalus : she was beloved by Apollo and Mercu- ry, and was the mother of twins ; namely, Philam- mon, a skilful musician, and Autolychus, who prov- ed a famous juggler, and an artful thief. She was so far from thinking this a shame, that she grew very proud ; na}*, openly boasted, that her beauty had charmed two gods. Besides, she was so bold as to speak scornfully of Diana's beauty, and to pre- fer herself before her : but Diana punished the in- solence of this boaster, for she drew her bow, and shot an arrow through her tongue, and thereby put her to silence : Se preeferre Dianae Suslinuit, faciemque Deae culpavit. At illi Ini fcrox niota est, factisque placablmus. inquit, IS'i'c mora curvavit cornu, nervusque sagittam Impulil. et meritam trajecit arundine linguam." She to Diana's durst her face prefer, And blame her beauty. With a cruel look, She said our deed shall right us. Forthwith took Her bow, and bent it; which she strongly drew, And through her guilty tongue the arrow flew. Meleager was punished for the fault of his father Oeneus, who, when lie offered his first fruits to the gods, Vvilfully forgot Diana ; tlierefore she was an- gry, and sent a wild boar into the fields of his king- dom of Caledonia, to de?troy them. Meleager, accompanied with many chosen youths, immediately undertook either to kill this boar, or to drive hira out of the country. The Virgin Atalanta was among 181 the hunters, and gave the boar the first wound ; and soon after Meleager killed liim. He valued Atalan- ta more who wounded him, than himself who killed him, and tlierefore offered her the bftar's skin. But the uncles of Meleager were enraged that the hide was given to a stranger, violently took it from her ; upon which Meleager killed tJiem. As soon as his mother Althaea understood that Meleager had killed her brothers, she sought revenge like a mad woman. In Althaea's chamber was a billet, which, when Me- leager was born, the Fates took, and threw into the fire, saying. The new-born infant shall live as long as this stick remains unconsumed : " Tempora, dlxerunt, eadem lignoque tibique, O modo nate, damus : quo poslquarn carmine dictO| Excessere Dea3 ; flagrantem mater ab igne Eripuit ramum, sparsitque liquentibiis undisj Servatusque diu juvenis servaverat annos." O lately born, one period we assign To thee and to the brand. The charm they weave Into his fate, and then the chamber leave. His mother snatch"d it with a hasty hand Ont of the fire, and quench'd the flaming brand, This in an inward closet closely lays, And by preserving it prolongs his days. The mother snatched it out of the fire and quench- ed it, and laid it in a closet. But now, moved with rage, she goes to her chamber, and fetching th€ stick, she threv/ it into the fire : -" Dextraque aversa trementi, Funereum torrem medios conjecit in ignes. -With eyes turn'd back, her quaking hand To trembling (lames exposed the fun'ral brand, As the log burned, Meleager, though absent, felt fire in his bowels, which consumed him in the same manner that the wood was consumed ; and when at IG iS2 last the log was quite reduced to ashes, and the fire quenched, Meleager at the same time expired, and turned to dust. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXMIIJVATIOJi. How is Diana described ? What is said of Actason ? Why does Diana represent the moon ? What is said of her with regard to Alpheus ? Why is she called Triformis ? How is she named in the heavens, in the earth, and in heU and why so ? Repeat the Latin distich. Why is she named Luna3 ? How was LuL'aj worshipped among the Egyptians? What is said of Endymion ? What is said of Hecate ? 'Vny was she called Trivia? Why is she represented as encompassed with dogs? Why is she called Bubasta;. and why Brimo ? Why was she called Lucina and Opis ? Why was she called Chitone ? Why was she named Dictynna ? Why did the ancients esteem it unlawful to hunt after the first of August ? Give some account of the stories of Chione and Meleager. CHAPTER XV. PALES, FLORA, FERONIA, POMONA. That old lady, whom you see surrounded by shepherds, is Pales, the goddess of shepherds and pastures. Some call her Magna Mater and Vesta, To this goddess they sacrificed milk, and wafers made of millet, that she might make the pastures fruitful. They instituted the feasts called Palilia, or Parilia, to her honour, which were observed upon the eleventh or twelfth day of the calends of May cr..Tii; II M,-.. .1,1 TliOIEiL 183 by the shepherds in the field, on the same day in which Rornukis laid the foundation of the city. These feasts were celebrated to appease this god- dess, that she might drive away the wolves, and prevent the diseases incident to cattle. The so- lemnities observed in the Palilian feasts were many: the shepherds placed little heaps of straw in a par- ticular order, and at a certain distance ; then they danced and leaped over them ; then they purified the sheep and the rest of the cattle with the fume ol rosemary, laurel, sulphur, and the like ; as we learn from Ovid, who gives a description of the rites. "Alma Pales, faveas pastoria sacra canenti, Prosequar officio si tua facta meo. Cei'te ego de vitiilo cinerem, stipulamque fabalein Seepe tuli, l liich she heard : " Corpus adhuc Echo, non vox erat ; et tamen usuni Garrula non alium ; (jiiam nunc habet, oris habebat ; Reddere de muitis ut verba novissinia posset." Ovid. Mtl. 3. 189 She was a nymph, thouo;li only now a sound j Yet of her tongue no other use was fomul, Than now slie has; v/liich never conid be more, Than to repeat "what she had heard before. Juno inflicted this punislinient on her for her talk- ativeness : for when, prompted by her jealousy, she came down to discover Jupiter among the nymphs. Echo detained her very long with her tedious dis- courses, that the nymphs might have an opportunitjT to escape, and hide thems(?lves : "Fecerat hoc Juno, quia cum deprendere posset Sub Jove sa'pe suo nymplias in monte jacentes, Ilia dcam longo prudens sermone tenebat, Dum fugcreiit nymphae." This change impatient Juno's anger wrought, Who, when her Jove she o'er the mountains sought, Was oft by Eciio's tedious tales misled, Till the shy nymphs to caves and grotto's fled. This Echo by chance met Narcissus rambling in the woods ; and she so ad?nired his beauty that she fell in love with him : she discovered her love to him, courted him, followed and embraced him, but he broke from her embraces, and hastily fled from her sight : upon which the despised nymph hid herself in the woods, and pined away with grief, so that every part of her but her voice was consumed, and her bones were turned into stones. " Vox tantum, atq;ie ossa snpersiint ; Vox manet: ossa ferunt lapidis traxisse figuram ; Inde latet sylvis, nuUoquc in monte videlcr, Omnibus auditur: sonus est qui vivU in iila." Her flesh consumes and moulders with despair, And all her body's juice is turn'd to air; So wonc'rous are the effects of restless pain, That nothing but her voice and boiies remain ; Nay, e'en the very bones at last are gone, And metamorphos'd to a thoughtless stane; Yet still the voice does in the woods survive, The form's departed, but the sound's alive. 190 Narcissus met with as bad a fate : for though he nould neither love others, nor admit of their love, yet he fell so deeply in love with- his own beauty, diat the love of himself proved his ruin. His thirst led him to a fountain, whose waters were clear and bright as silver : " Fons erat illimis nitidis argenteus undis." Ovid Met. 3. There was by chance a living fountain near, Whose unpollatcd channel ran so clear, That it seem'd liquid silver. When he stooped to drink, he saw his own image , he stayed gazing at it, insomuch that he fell pas- sionately in love with it. A little water only sepa- rated him irom his beloved object : " Exigua prohibetur aqua" A little drop of water does remove And keep liim from the object of his love. He continued a long time admiring this beloved picture, before he discovered what it was that he .so passionately adored ; bat at length the unhappy creature perceived, that the torture he suffered was from the love of his own self: "Flammas, inquit, moveoque, feroque : Quod ciipio mccum est: inopem me copia fecit. ntinam a nostro secedere corpore possem! Votum in amante novum est, vellem quod amamusabcsset." My love does vainly on nivself return, And iaiis the cruel flames with which I burn. The thing desir'd I still about me bore, And too much plenty has confirm'd me poor. O that I from mv much-lov'd self could go; A strange request, yet would to God 'twere so ! In a word, his passion conquered him, and the power of love was greater than he could resist, so that, by degrees, he wasted away and consumed, amth 191 at last, by the favour of the gods, was turned into a daffodil, a flower called by his own name. qUESTIO.XS FOR EX^^MLYATIOK Who are the Nymphs; how are they engaged; and from whence do they derive their general nanne? From whom do they get their peculiar names, and into what classes are they divided ? Who are tl:e celestial Nymphs ? Give some account of the terrestrial Nymphs. Over what d-d the marine Nymphs preside? Whom did the Nymphs attend? What Is said of Areth.usa ? Who was Echo, and v.hat is her history? What is the history of Narcissus? CHAPTER XVII. THE INFERIOR RURAL DEITIES. RusiNA, the goddess to whose care all parts of tlie country are committed. Collina, she who reigns over the hills. Vallonia, wlio holds her empire in the valleys. Hippona, who presides over the horses and sta- bles. Bubona, v/ho hath the care of the oxen. Seia, who takes care of the seed, while it lies bu- ried in the earth. She is likewise called Segetia, because she takes care of the blade as soon as it ap- pears green above the ground. Runcina is the goddess of weeding. She is in^ voked when the fields are to be weeded. Occator is tlie god of harrowing. He is wor- shipped when the fields are to be harrowed. Satoi and Sarritor are the gods of sowing and raking. 19.2 To the god Robigus were celebrated festivals call- ed Robigalia, wliich v-jre usually observed upon the seventh of the calends of May, to avert tlie blasting of the corn. Stercutius, Stercutus, or Sterculius, called li^ie- wise Sterquilinius and Picumnus, is the god who first invented the art of manuring the ground. Proserpine is the goddess who presides over the corn, when it is sprouted pretty high above the eartli. We shall speak more of her when we discourse con- cerning the infernal deities. Nodosus, or Nodotus, is the god that takes care of the knots and the joints of the stalks. Volusia is the goddess who takes care to fold the blade round the corn, before the beard breaks out, wliich foldings of the blade contain the beard, as pods do the seed. Patelina, vv ho takes care of the corn after it is broken out of the pod, and appears. The goddess Flora presides over the ear when it blossoms. Lactura, or Lactucina, who is next to Flora, pre^ sides over the ear when it begins to have mnlk. And Matura takes care that the ear comes to a just maturity. Hostilina was worshipped that the ears of com might grow even, and produce a crop proportioi*- ably to the seed sown. Tutelina, or Tutuhna, hath a tutelage of com when it is reaped. Pilumnus invented the art of kneading and baking bread. He is commonly joined with Picumnus, hii brother, v/hom v/e mentioned above. Mellona is the goiddess who invented the art of making honey. And Fornax is esteemed a goddess ; because, be** (ore the invention of grinding wheat, corn was parch- ed in a furnace. Ovid makes mention of this goddess* 193 *» Facia Dea est Fornax, laeli fornace coloni Grant, ut vires temperet ilia suas." Fast. 6. A goddess Fornax is, and her the clowns adore, That they may've kindly batches by her pow'r. qUESTIOJ^S FOR EXMfmATION. Who were the Rusina, Collina, Vallonia, and Hippona ? What were the occupations of Bubona, Seia, Runcina, &nd Occator ? Who were the gods of sowing and raking? On what account were the Robigalia instituted ? Who invented the art of manuring the land ? Over what does Proserpine preside ? Who were Nodosus, Volusia, and Fatellina ? Over what does Flora, Lactura, and Matura preside f Why was Hostilena worshipped ? W^hat was the office of Tutelina ? What did Pilumnus invent? Who was Mellona ? Why is Fornax esteemed a goddess f <.F THE &£i 1 17 PART III. OF THE GODS OF THE SEA, CHAPTER I. SEC. 1.— NEPTUNE. HIS NAME AND DESCENT, ACTIONS AND CHILDREN. Neptune, the king of the waters, is represented with black hair and bhie eyes, holding a sceptre in nis right hand, like a fork with three tines, and beautifully arrayed in a mantle of blue, clasping his .eft hand round his queen's waist. He stands up- right in his chariot, which is a large escalopshell, drawn by sea horses, and attended b}^ odd kind of animals, which resemble men in the upper parts, and fish in the lower. His name is derived, by the change of a few letters, from the word nubo, which signifies " to cover ;" because the sea encompasses, embraces, and, as it were, covers the land. Or, as others believe, he is so called from an Egyptian Word (nepthen,) which signifies the coasts and pro- montories, and other parts of the earth, which are washed by the waters. So that Cicero, who de- rives Neptune from nando (swimming,) is either mistaken, or the place is corrupt. Neptune is the governor of the sea, the father of the rivers and the fountains, and the son of Saturn by Ops. His mother preserved him from the de- to 195 vo ' rng jaws of Saturn, who ate up all the male chus'ren that was born to him, by givintj; Saturn a yoii\\9; foal to eat in his stead. In the Greek he is called Uoa-ei^av [^Posiedon,~\ because he so binds our feet thit we are not able to walk within his do- minions'., that is, on the water. When he came of age, Saturn's kingdom was di- vided by lot, and the maritime parts fell to hiip. He and .<\pollo, by Jupiter's command, were torced to c.':.rve Liaomedon, in building the walls of Troy ; betawse he and some other gods had plotted against Ju{,''ler. Then he took ^Amphitrite to wife, who refi/.>.ed a long time to hearken to his courtship ; but at lastj by the assistance of a dolphin, and by the power i'Tfluttery, he gained her. To recompense which kiidness, the dolphin was placed among tne stars, avid made a constellation. Amphitrite had two other names ; Salacia, so called from salum, the sea, or tl^" salt water, towards the lower part and bottom of '.he sea ; and Venilla, so called from veni' endo, beca.ise the sea goes and comes with the tide, or ebbs and flows by turns. The poe^s tell us, that Neptune produced a horse in Attica out of the ground, by striking it with his trident; whence he is called Hippius and Hippo- dromus, and he is esteemed the pr^ sident over horse races. At his altar, in the Circus at Rome, games were instituted, in which they represented the an- cient Romans by violence carrying away the Sabine women. His altar was under ground, and sacrifi- ces were offered to him by the name of Consus, the god of counsel ; which for the most part ought to be given privately ; and therefore the god Consul was worshipped in an obscure and private place. The solemn games Consualia, celebrated ni the * Dicitur a,y,(piTftrn wa.foi TO ufKpirpitiiv a circumterendo, quod errans mare circumterat. 196 month of March, were instituted In honour of Nep- tune. At the same time, the horses left working, and the mules were adorned with garlands of flowers. Hence it also happens, that the chariot of Nep- tune is drawn by hippocam^n, or sea horses, as well as sometimes by dolphhis. Those sea horses had the tails of fishes, and only two feet, which were like the fore feet of a horse, according to the description given of them in Statius : " lUic ^Egeo Neptunus gurgUe fesso:- In portam deducit equos, prior haurit habeaas Ungula, postremi solvuntur in aeqtiora pisces." Treb- 2, Good IS'eplune's steeds to rest are set up here, In the jEgean gulph, whose fore parts harness bear, Their hinder parts fish-shap'd. And this is the reason why Virgil calls them two- footed horses : Neptune guides them, and goads Uiem with his trident, as it is expressed in Statius : " Triplici telo jubet ire jugales : lUi spumiferos glomerant a pectore fluctu?, Pone natant, delentque pedum vestigia cauda." Achil. 1, Shaking his trident, urges on his steeds, Who witli two feet beat from thsir brawny breasts The foaming billows ; but their hinder parts Swim, and go smooth against the curling surge. It was therefore Neptune's peculiar office, not only to preside over, and to govern horses both hy land and sea, but also the government of ships were com- mitted to his care, which wTre always safe under his protection ; for whenever he rides upon the waters, the weather immediately grows fair, and the sea calm. -" Tumida aquora placat, Collectasque fugat nubes, solemque reduclt." Virg.^n. 1 He sraoolh'd the sea, PispeU'd the darkness, and restored the day 197 " Subsidunt undas, tnmiduraqiie sub axe tonanti Sternitur aequor aquis, fugiunt vasto a^there nimbi " ^n. 6. High on the waves his azure car he guides, Its axles thunder, and the sea subsides ; And the smooth ocean rolls her silent tides. -" ^quora postquam Prospiciens genitor, caeloque invectus aperto, Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo." Virg. JEh. -Where'er he guides His finny coursers, and in triumph rides, The waves unruffle, and the sea subsides The most remarkable of his children were Triton, Phorcus or Proteus. Of the first we shall speak in another place. Phorcus or Phorcys, was his son by the nymph Thesea. He was vanquished by Atlas, and drowrj- ed in the sea. His surviving friend said, that )>€ was made a sea god, and, therefore, they worship- ped him. We read of another Phorcus, who had three daughters, they had but one eye among them all, which they all could use. When either of thera desired to see any thing, she fixed the eye in her forehead, in the same manner as men fix a diamond in a ring ; and having used it, she pulled the eye out again, that her sisters might have it; thus they all used it, as there was occasion. Proteus, his son by the nymph Phoenice, was the keeper of the sea calves. He could convert himself into all sorts of shapes ; sometimes he could flow like the water, and sometimes burn like the fire ; sometimes he was a fish, a bird, a lion, or whatever he pleased. — Ovid Met. 8. Nor was this wonderful power enjoyed by Pro- teus alone ; for Vertumnus, one of the gods of the Romans, possessed it ; his *narae shows it, as we * Vertumnus dictus est a vertendo 17^ 198 observed before in the story of Pomona. From this god, Verlumnus, comes that common Latin expres- sion, henc or male veriaf, may it succeed well or ill ; because it is the business of V'ertumnus to preside over the turn or change of things, which happen according to expectation, though oftentimes what we think good is found in the conclusion [waZe vertere'] to be worse than was expected ; as that sword wh.ich Dido received from ^Eneas, with which she afterwards killed herself. Neptune "^endued Per icly menus, Nestor's brother, with the same power ; and he was killed by Hercu- les when in the shape of a fly : for when Hercules fought against Neleus, a fly tormented and stung him violently ; and Ai Pallas discovering to him that this fly was Periclymenus, he killed him. Neptune gave the same power to Metra, Mestra, or Mestre, the daughter of Erisichthon, by which f she was enabled to succour lier father's insatiable hunger. For the same cause Caenis, a virgin of Thessaly, obtained the same, or rather a greater power, from Neptune ; for he gave her power to change hei sex, and made her invulnerable : she, therefore, turned herself into a man, and was. called Cseneus. She fought against the Centaurs, till they had over- whelmed her with a vast load of trees, and buried her alive ; after which she was changed into a bird ©f her own name. — Ovid Met, "Ensemqiie rechiHit Dardaiiium, non hos quitsUum raunus in usns." I'irg. JEn 4. The Trojan sword unslieath'd, A gift by liim not to Ibis use bequealh'd. • Horn, in Odyss. 11. t •' Nunc e'jua, nunc ales, mode bos, modo servus obihat. Praebeltatfjue uvido iion jnsta alimenta parenti." — Ovid Met, 3, 199 qUESTIOjXS FOR EXAMINATION. How is Neptune represented ? From what is iiis name dei ived ? Whose son was Neptune, and how was his life preserved? What is his name in Greek, and why? What task was imposed on him for his rebellion against Ju- piter ? Why w as tlic dolphin made a constellation ? What were Amphitrite's names, and from what were they derived r Why ie Neptune called Hippius and Hippodromus? What games were instituted at his altar, and what sacrifice* were offered him ? What were the Consualia, and how were they kept? What were the Hippocampi? What was Neptune's peculiar office? Who were Neptune's children? What is the history of Phorcus? Who was Proteus, and what particular power had he? What is said of Vertumnus ? What is the history of Periclymenus ? Who was Mestra, and what did she do? What power did Neptune g/ant to Cgenis ? CHAPTER II. TRITON, AND THE OTHER MARINE GODS. Triton was the son of Neptune by Amphitrite ; he was his father's companion and trumpeter. Half of him resembles a man, but his other part is like a fish : his two feet are like the fore feet of a horse, his tail is cleft and crooked, like a half moon, and his hair resembles wild parsley. Two princes of Par- nassus, Virgil and Ovid, give most elegant descrip- tions of him : " Hunc vehit immanis Triton, et ca2rula concha Exterreiis freta ; cui laterum *enus his|)ida nanti Frons hominem pra^fert, in pristim desinit alvus, Spumea pestifero sub pe&tore murmurat unda." — Mn. 10 200 Him and his martial train the Triton bears, High on his poop the sea-green god appears; Frowning, he seems his crooked shell to sound, And at the blast the billows dance around. A hairy man above the waist he shows ; A porpoise tail beneath his body grows. And ends a fish : his breast the waves divide, And froth and foam augment the murm'ring tide. " Caeruleum Tritona vocat ; conchaque sonaci Inspirare jubet ; fluctusque et flumina signo Jam revocare dato. Cava buccina suniitur illi Tortilis, in latum (juaj turbine crescit ab imo : Buccina, quaj medio concepit ut aera ponto, Littora voce replet sub utroque jacentia Phcebe." — Met. 1 Old Triton rising from the deep he spies, Whose shoulders rob'd with native purple rise, And bids him liis loud-sounding shell inspire, And give the floods a signal to retire. He his wreath'd trumpet takes (as given in charge) That from the turning bottom grows more large; This, when the Psumen o'er the ocean sounds, The east and west from shore to shore rebounds. Oceanus another of the seagods, was the son ol Coelum and Vesta. He, by the ancients, was called the " Father," not only of all the rivers, but of the animals, and of the very gods themselves ; for they imagined that all things in nature took their begin- ning from him. It is said that he and his wife Te- thys were parents of three thousand sons, the most eminent of which was : Nereus, who was nursed and educated by the waves, and afterward dwelt in the Mgean sea, and became a famous prophecier. He was the father of fifty daughters by his wife Doris, whose nymphs were called after their father's name, Nereides. Palsemon, and his mother Ino, are also to b€ reckoned among the sea deities. They were made seagods on this occasion : Ino's husband, Athamas, was distracted, and tore his son Learchus into pie- ces, and dashed him against the wall : Ino saw this, and fearing lest the same fate should come upon her- 201 self and lier other son, Melicerta, she took her soo, and with him threw herself into the sea : where they were made sea deities. Nothing perished in the wa- ters but their names. Though their former names wore lost in tlie waves, yet they found new ones : she was called Leucothea, and he Palsemon by the Greeks, and Portumnus by the Latins. Glaucus, the fisherman, became a seagod by a more pleasant way : for when he pulled the fishes which he had caught out of his nets, and laid them on the shore, he observed that by touching a certain herb, they recovered tlieir strength, and leaped again into the water. He wondered at so strange an efiect, and had a desire to taste this herb. When he had tasted it, he followed his fishes, and, leaphig into the water, became a god of the sea. — Ovid Met. 13. To these we may add the story of Canopus, a god of the Egyptians, who, by the help of water, gained a memorable victory over the god of the Chaldeans. When these two nations contended about the power and superiority of their gods, the priests consented to bring tvv'o gods together, that they might decide thsir controversy. The Chal- deans brought their god Ignis (Fii'e,) and the Egyptians brought Canopus : they set the two gods near one another to fight. Canopus was a great pitcher filled with water, and full of holes, but so stopped with wax that nobody could discern them * when the fight began. Fire, the god of the Chal- deans, melted the wax, which stopped the holes ; so that Canopus, with rage and violence assaulted Ig- nis with streams of water, and totally extinguished vanquished, and overcame him. qUESTIOJYS FOR EXAMJKATIOK'. Who was Triton, and how is he described ? Give Virgil's description. 202 Give Ovid's account. Who was OccHtius ' What is said of Nereus ? Give the history of Talaemon. How was Glaucus transformed to a seagoJ ? What story is told of Canopus ? CHAPTER III. THE MONSTERS OF THE SEA. THE SIRENS, SCYLLA, AND CHARYBDIS. There were three Sirens, whose parentage is un» certain, though some say they were the offspring of the river Achelous, and tlie muse Melpomene. They had the faces of women, but the bodies of flying fishes : they dwelt near the promontory Pel oris in Sicily, (now called Capodi Faro,) or in tlie islands called Sirenusfe, which are situate in the extreme parts of Italy ; where, with the sweetness of their singing, they allured all the rien to them that sail- ed by those coasts : and when by their charms they brought upon them a dead sleep, tiiey drowned them in the sea, and afterward took them out and devoured them. Their names were Parthenope, fwho died at Naples, for which reason that city was formerly called Parthenope,) LigtC, and Leucosia. That their charms might be more easily received, and make the greater impression on the minds of the hearers, they used musical instruments with their Toices, and adapted the matter of their songs to the temper and inclination of their hearers. With some songs they enticed the ambitious, with others the vo- luptuous, and with other songs tliey drew on the co- vetous to their destruction. 203 ♦* Monstra maris Sirenes erant, quae voce canora Quasliuet admissas detinuere rates." — Ov. Art. Am. 3. Sirens were once seamonsters, mere decoys, Trepanning seamen with their tuneful voice. History mentions only two passengers, viz. Ulys- ses and Orpheus, who escaped. The first was fore- warned of the danger of their charming voices ])y Circe : tiierefore he stopped the ears of his com- panions with wax, and was himself fast bound to the mast of the ship, by which means he safely passed the fatal coasts. But Orpheus overcame them in their own art, and evaded the temptations of their murdering music, by playing upon his harp, and singing the praises of the gods so well, that he out- did the Sirens. The fates had ordained, that the Si- rens should live till somebody who passed by heard them sing, and yet escaped alive. When, therefore, they saw themselves overcome, they grew desperate, and threw themselves headlong into the sea, and were turned into stones. Some write, that they were formerly virgins, Proserpine's companions, who sought every where for her when she was sto- len away by Pluto ; but when they could not find her, that they were so grieved, that they cast them- selves into the sea, and from that time were changed into seamonsters. Others add, that by Juno's per- suasion they contended in music with Muses, who overcame them, and, to punish their rashness, cut off tlieir wings, with which they afterward made for tliemselves garlands. The poets teach by this fiction, that the *" minds of men are deposed from their proper seat and state, by the allurements of pleasure." It corrupts them ; and there is not a more deadly plague in nature to manldnd than voluptuousness. Whoever addicts • Voluptatura illicebris mentem e sua sede et statu diraoveii. Cic. de Senectu*e. 204 himself altogether to pleasure, loses his reason, and is ruined ; and lie that desires to decline their charms, must stop his ears and not listen to them ; but heark- en to the music of Orpheus. That is, he must ob- serve the precepts and instruction of the wise. The description of Scyila is very various ; for some say that she was a most beaivuihl woman from the breasts downward, but had six dotrs' heads • and others say, that in her upper parts she resem- bles a woman, in her lower, a serpent and a wolf. But whatever her picture was, all acknowledge that she w^as the daughter of Phorcus. She was court- ed by Glaucus, and received his addresses ; upon which Circe, who passionately loved Glaucus, and could not bear that Scyila should be preferred be- fore her by Glaucus, poisoned with venomous herbs those waters in which Scyila used to wash herself: Scyila was ignorant of it, and according to her cus- tom, went into the fountain ; and when she saw that the lower ppxrts of her body were turned into the heads of dogs, being extremely grieved that she had lost her lieauty, she cast herself headlong into the sea, where she was turned into a rock, famous for the many shipwrecks that happen there. This rock is still seen in the sea that divides Italy from Sicily, between Messina, a city of Sicil}', and Rhe- ^um (now Reggio) in Calabria. It is said to be surrounded with dogs and wolves, which devour the persons who are cast away there : but by this is meant, that when the waves, by a storm, are dashed against this great rock, the noise a little resembles the barking of dogs, and the howling of wolves. There was another Scyila, the daughter of king Nisus, in love with jNIinos, who besieged her father in the city of Megara. She betrayed both her fa- ther and her country to him, by cutting off the fatal lock of purple hair, in which were contained her fa- ther's and her country's safety, and sent it to the 205 besieger. Minos gained the city by it, but detested Scylla's perfidiousness, and hated her. She could lot bear this misfortune, but was changed into a lark. Nisus, her father, was likewise changed into a spar- hawk, ^^ hich is called nisus, after his name, and, as if he still ought to punish his daugliter's baseness, pursues the lark with great fury to devour her. Charybdis is a vast whirlpool in the same Sicilian sea, over against Scylla, which swallows whatsoever comes within its circle, and throws it up again. They say, that this Charybdis was formerly a very ravenous woman, who stole away Hercules* oxen : for which theft Jupiter struck her dead with thun- der, and then turned her into this gulf. Virgil gives an elegant description of these two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis. " Dextrum Scylla latus, lasviim implacata Charybdi* Obsidel atque imo barathri ter gurgite vastos Sorbet in abruptum iVtictus, rursusque sub auras Erigit alternos, et sidera verberat unda, At Scyllam caecis cohibet spelunca latebris Ora exsertantem, et naves in saxa trahentend : Prima hominis facies, et pulchro pectore virgo Pube tenus : postrema immani corpore pristis, Delphinum caudas utero commissa Jnporum." — ^iu 3 Far on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides: Charybdis roaring on the left presides, And in her greedy whirlpool sucks the tides; Then spouts them from below : with fury driv'n, The waves mount up, and wash the face of heav'n. But Scylla from lier den, with open jaws The sinking vessel in her eddy draws; Then dashes on the rocks. A human face And virgin bosom hide the tail's disgrace: Her parts obscene below the waves descend, With dogs enclos'd, and in a dolphin end. *ri«e fables of Scylla and Charybdis represent lust and gluttony, vices which render our voyage through this world extremely hazardous and perilous. Lust, like Scylla, engages unwary passengers by the beau- ty and pomp of her outside ; and when they are evr 18 206 tangled in her snares, she tortures, vexes, torments, and disquiets them with rage and fury, which ex- ceeds the madness of dogs, or the ravenousness of Avolves. Ghittony is a Charybdis, a gulf or whirl- pool that is insatiable : it buries families alive, de- vours estates, consumes lands and treasures, and sucks up all things. qUESTIOJSS FOR EXMUKjiTIOK. Who were the Sirens, and how are they described ' What Avere their names ? How did they entice the unwaiy ? Who escaped their machinations, and how did they effect it? What became of the Sirens aftenvards ? W^hat moral is to be drawn from this story? What is the histoiy of Scylla? What is said of the other Scylla ? Give the history of Chaiybdis. What is the moral of the fable ? i'it OF TBB p PART IV. OF THE INFERINAL DEITIES. CHAPTER L A VIEW OF HELL. CHARON. RIVERS OF HELL, CERBERUS. We are now in the confines of hell. Prithee come along with me ; I will be the same friend to you that the Sibyl was to jEneas. Nor shall you need a golden bough to present to Proserpine. You see here painted those regions of hell, of which you read a most elegant description in Virgil : " Spelunca alta fuit, vastoque immanis hiatu, Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris ; Quam super baud ulla3 poterant impune volantes Tendere iter pennis : talis sese balitus alris Faucibus efFundens supera ad convexa ferebat ; Unde locum Graii dixerunt nomine Avernum." — JEn 6. Deep was the cave, and downward as it went From the wide mouth a rocky rough descent; And here th' access a gloomy grove defends ; And there th' unnavigai»le lake extends, O'er whose unhappy waters, void of light, No bird presumes to steer his airy flight, Such deadly stenches from the depth arise. And steaming sulphur, which infects the skies; Hence d'o the Grecian bards their legends make, And give the name Avernus to the lake. The passage that leads to these infernal domin- ions was a wide dark cave, through which you pass 208 by a steep rocky descent till you arrive at a gloon? r grove, and an unnavigable lake, called *Avernus, from which such poisonous vapours arise, that no birds can fly over it ; for in their flight they fall down dead. The monsters at the entrance of hell are those fa- tal evils which bring destruction and death upon mankind, by means of which the inhabitants of these dark regions are greatly augmented ; and those evils are care, sorrow, diseases, old age, fright, fa- mine, want, labour, sleep, death, sting of conscience, force, fraud, strife, and war. * Vsstibulum ante ipsum, primisque in faucibus Orcl# Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Cur« ; Pallentesque habitant Morbi tritisque Senectus, Et Metus, et malesuada Fames, et turpis Egestas, (Terribiles visa forma?) Lelhumque Laborque. Turn consanguineus Lethi Sopor, et mala mentis Gaudia, mortiferumque adverse in limine BeDum. Ferreique Eumenidum thalami,et Discordiademens Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis." .ZEn. 6. Just in the gate, and in the jaws of Hell, Revengeful Care and sullen Sorrows dwell ; And pale Diseases, and repining Age, Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage : Here Toil and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep, (Forms terrible to view.) their sentry keep. With anxious Pleasures of a guilty mind, Deep Fraud before, and open force behind ; The Furies' iron beds, and Strife that shakes Her hissing tresses, and unfolds her snakes. Charon is an old decrepid, long-bearded fellow : he is the ferryman of hell ; his f name denotes the ungracefulness of his aspect. In the Greek lan- guage he is called UopSy.iv^, \_Po7ihmeus,'] that is, portitor ; " ferryman." You see his image, but you * Avernus dicitur quasi aopve$, id est, sine avibus. Quod nul- lae volucres lacum ilium, ob lethiferum halitum, pratervolare sulvte posse nt. f Charon, quasi Acbaron, id est, sine gratia ab a non; et ^ftf>; gratia. 209 may read a more beautiful and elegant picture of him drawn by the pen of Virgil. '' Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina serva Terribilj squalore Charon : cui plurima mento Canities inculta jacet ; stant lumina flamma, Sordidus ex humeris nodo dependet amictus, Ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat, Et FeiTuginea subvectat corpora cymba, Jam senior } sed cruda Deo viridisque senectus." *2En. 6. There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coasts ; A sordid god : down from his hoary chin A length of beard descends, uncorab'd, unclean ; His eyes like hollow furnaces on fire ; A girdle foul with grease binds his obscene attire. He spreads his canvass, with his poll he steers ; The frights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears. He look'd in years, yet in his years were seen A youthful vigour, and autumnal green. He is waiting to take and carry over to the other side of the lake the souls of the dead, which you see flocking on the shores in troops. Yet he takes not all promiscuously who come, but such only whose bodies are buried when they die ; for the unburied wander about the shores an hundred years, and then are carried over. " Centum errant annos, volitant haec litora circum : Turn demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt." — ^n. 6. A hundred years they wander on the shore, At length, their penance done, are wafted o'er. But first they pay Charon his fare, which is at least a halfpenny. There are three or four rivers to be passed by the dead. The first is Acheron, which receives them when they come first. This Acheron was the son of Terra or Ceres, born in a cave, and conceived without a father ; and because he could not endure light, he ran down into hell and was changed into a river, whose waters are extremely bitter. 18* 210 The second is Styx, which is a lake rather than a river, and was formerly the daughter of Oceanus, and the mother of the goddess Victoria by Acheron. When Victoria was on Jupiter's side in his war against the Giants, she obtained the prerogative for her mother, that no oath that was sworn among the gods by her name, should ever be violated : for if any one of the gods broke an oath sworn by Styx, they were banished from the nectar and the table of* the gods a year and nine days. This is the Stygian 'ake, by which when the gods swore, they observed their oath with the utmost scrupulousness. "Dii cujus jurare timent et fallere numen." Virg. JEn. 6. The sacred stream Avhich heaven's imperial state Attests in oaths, and fears to violate. The third river, Coc3^tus, flows out of Styx with a lamentable groaning noise, and imitates the howl- ing, and increases the exclamations of the damned. Next comes ^'Phlegethon, or Puriphlegeton, so called because it swells with waves of fire, and all its streams are flames. When the souls of the dead have passed over these four rivers, they were afterwards carried to the pa- lace of Pluto, where the gate is guarded by Cerbe- rus, a dog with three heads, whose body is covered in a terrible manner with snakes, instead of hair. This dog is the porter of hell, begotten of Echidna, by the giant Typhon, and is described by Virgil and by Horace. " Cerberus hac ingens latratu regna trifauci Personat adverse recubans immanis in antro." Stretch'd in his kennel, monstrous Cerb'rus round From triple jaws made all these realms resound. • A because he excites and hastens people to their ruin and death : but others think that he is so named ^because, like one that brings up the rear of an army, he attends at the last moments of men's hves. He is called Summanus, that is, the chief ^*of all the infernal deities ; the principal governor of all the ghosts and departed spirits. The thunder that hap- pens in the night is attributed to him : whence he is * aJjjj eeths, id est, triste, tenobrosum. t A.ut quasi aopxTa;, quod videri minimc possit, aut ab « pri- vante,et£/^£ postremum humanae vitas actum excipit. Guth. 1. i. c. 4. dc ur. Man. ** Quasi summus Deorum manium. Aug. de Civ. Dei. I. 4. 214 commonly styled also, the Infernal Jupiter, the Sty- gian Jupiter, the Third Jupiter ; as Neptune is the second Jupiter. The Fates will tell you that Pluto presides over life and death ; that he not only governs the depart- ed spirits below, but also can lengthen or shorten the lives of men here on the earth, as he thinks fit. maxime noctis Arbiter, umbrarumcjue potens, cui nostra laborant Stamina qui finem cunctis et semina proebes, Nascendique vices alterna morte rependis, Qui vitam lethumque regis." Claud, de Rap. Pros^ Great prince o' th' gloomy regions of the dead, From whom we hourly move our wheel and thread, Of nature's growth and end thou hast the sway, All mortals' birth with death thou dost repay. Who dost command 'em both. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, I join him to Pluto, because their names and office are very si- milar ; they are both of them gods of riches, which are the root of all evil, and which nature, our com- mon parent, hath placed near hell ; and, indeed, there is not a nearer way to hell than to hunt gree- dily after riches. Plutus was the son of Jason, or Jasiiis, by Ceres : he was blind and lame, injudicious, and timorous. And truly these infirmities are justly ascribed to him ; for if he were not blind and injudicious, he would never pass over good men, and heap his trea- sures upon the bad. He is lame, because great es- tates come slowly. He is fearful and timorous, be- cause rich men watch their treasure with a great deal of fear and care. qUESTIOA'-S FOR EXAMINATION. Who is Pluto, and how did he become possessed of bi« do* mmion ? How is he painted ? 215 What does the key signify ? Wliat does his name Pluto signify, and why is he so called f What does the name Hades signify ? Why is he called Agesilaus ? From what does his name Februus come ? Wliy is he called Orcus ? Why is he called Snmmanus, and what else is he styled? Over what does Pluto preside ? in what respects is Plutus like Pluto ? Who was Plutus, and how is he represented ? CHAPTER III. PROSERPINE. THE FATES. THE FURIES. She who sits next to Pluto is the Queen of hell, *the infernal Juno, fthe " lady" (as the Greeks com- monly call her,) and the most beloved wife of Pluto, the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter. She is called both Proserpine and Libera. When all the goddesses refused to marry Pluto, because he was so deformed, he was vexed at this contempt and scorn, and troubled that he was forced to live a single life ; wherefore, in a rage, he seated himself in a chariot, and arose on a sudden from a den in Sicily, Jwhere he saw a company of very beautiful virgins gathering flowers in the fields of En- na, a beautiful place, situate about the middle of the island. One of them, Proserpine, pleased him above the rest, for she surpassed them all in beauty. He carried her with him from that place, and on a sudden sunk into the earth near Syracuse. In the place where he descended, a lake arose : and Cice- ro says, the people of Syracuse keep yearly festivals to which great multitudes of both sexes resort. ♦ Virg. ^n. 6. f AnToitiit, domina. Paus. in Aread. i Cic. in Verrem. 6. 216 The nymphs, her companions, were grievously affriglited, and fled away. In the mean time Ceres, the mother of Proserj)ine, seeks her daughter among her acquaintance a long time, but in vain. She next kindled torches by the flames which burst out from the top of the mountain ^Etna, and went with them, to seek her daughter throughout the world ; neither did she give over her vain labour, till the nymph Arethusa fully assured her, that Proserpine was stolen by Pluto, and carried down into his king- dom. In great anger, she immediatly hastened and expostulated with Jupiter concerning the violence that was ofl^ered her daughter ; and the god pro- mised to restore Proserpine again, if she had not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres went joyfully down, and Proserpine, full of triumph and gladness, prepa- red to return into this world ; when Ascalaphus dis- covered, that he saw Proserpine, while she walked m Pluto's orchard, piuck a promegranate, and eat some grains of it ; therefore, Proserpine's journey was immediately stopped. Ceres being amazed at tbis new misfortune, and incensed at the fatal dis- covery of Ascalaphus, turned him into an owl, a bird said to be of an ill omen, and unlucky to aU that see it : but at last, by the importunity of her prayers to Jupiter, she extorted this favour from him, that he should permit Proserpine to live half the year, at least with her in heaven, and the other half below in hell, with her husband. " Et Dea regnonim numen commune duomm, Cum maite est totidcm, totidem rum conjuge menses.'* Ov. Met. 6 The goddess now in eitlier empire sways, Six montlis with Ceres, six with Pluto stays. Proserpine afterwards loved this disagreeable husband so much, that jealous of Mentha, she changed her into mint, an herb of her own name. 217 Let us now turn our eyes toward the tribunal of Pluto ; where you see, in that dismal picture, con- tinual trials : and all persons, as well the accusers as the offenders, who have been formerly wicked in their lives, receive their death impartially from the three Fates ; after death they receive their sentence impartially from the three judges; and after condem- nation, their pmiishment impartially from the three Furies. The Fates are represented by three ladies : their garments are made of ermine, white as snow, and bordered with purple. They were born either of Nox and Erebus, or of Necessity, or of the Sea, or of that rude and undigested mass which the ancients called Chaos. They are called Parcse in Latin ; because, as *Varro thinks, thej^ distributed good and bad things to persons at their birth ; or, as the common and received opinion is, f because they spare nobody. They are also called Fatum, " fate ;" and are three in number, because they order, the past, present, and future time. JFate, says Cicero, is all that which God hath decreed and resolved shall come to pass, and which the Grecians call Eif^tupf^evT} [^Eimar- mene.~\ Fatum is derived from the word /an, to pronounce or declare ; because when any one is bom, these three sisters pronounce what fate will befall him. Their names and offices are as follows ; the name of one is ||Clotho ; the second is called §Lachesis ; * Parcae dicuntur partu, a quod nascentibus hominibus bona malaque conferre censentur. t Aut a parcendo per Antiphrasin, quod nemini parcant, Serv. in JEn. 1. J Est autem Fatum id orane quod a Deo constitutum et do- signatum est ul eveniat, quod Greeci ufAap/Aivi} appellant. D« Fato et Divinat. A verbo xkuSu id est, neo. Ab X«y;^;av«, sortior. 19 218 the third *Atropos, because she is unalterable, un-* changeable. These names the Grecians give them, Nona, Dccima, and Morta. To them is intrusted the management of the fatal thread of life : for Clotho draws the thread between her fingers ; Lachesis turns about the wheel; and Atropos cuts the thread spun with a pair of scissors. That is, Clotho gives us life, and brings us into the world ; Lachesis determines the fortunes that shall befall us here; and Atropos concludes our lives. j-One speaks, the other writes, and the third spins. The Furies have the faces of women. Their looks are full of terror ; they hold lighted torches in their hands ; snakes and serpents lash their necks and shoulders. They are called in Latin sometimes Furice ; Jbecause they make men mad, by the stings of conscience which guilt produces. They are also called ||Dira?, §Eumenides, and ITCanes ; and were the oflspring of ^^Nox and ff Acheron. Their proper names are Alecto, Tisiphone, and Magsera ; and they are esteemed virgins ; because, since they are the avengers of all wickedness, nothing can corrupt and pervert them from inflicting the punishment that is due to the offender. There are onl}^ three Furies, because there are three principal passions of the mind, anger, covetous- ness, and lust, by which mankind are chiefly hurried into all sorts of wickedness; for anger begets revenge, covetousness provokes us to get immoderate wealth by right or wrong, and lust persuades us to pursue our pleasures at any rate. Indeed some add a ffourth Fury, called Lisso that is, rage and madness ; but * Ab a privativa particula, et Tpt^ru verto, quod verti et fleet© nequeat. t Una loquitur, altera scribit, tertia fila ducit. Serv. in Mn. I t Quod sceleratos in furorem agant. 11 Virg. JEn. 3. § Ibid. 8. H Ibid. 4. •*Ibid. 6. H Ibid. n. 219 she is easily reduced to the other three : as also Erinnys, a name common to them all. The office of the Furies is to observe and pmiish the crimes of bad men, and to torment the conscien- ces of secret offenders ; whence they are commonly also entitled ^the goddesses, the discoverers and re- vengers of bad actions. They punish and torment the wicked, by frightening and following them with burning torches. You see the picture of them there, and you will find them beaiitifally described in the twelfth book of Virgil's iEneld : " Dicuntur geminfe pestes, cognomine Direc, Qiias ct Tartaream Nox inleinpesta Megaeram Uno eodeiuque tulit partu, parWDtisque revinxit Serpentum spiris, ventosasque addidit alas." Deep in the dismal regions, void of light, Two daughters at a birth were born to Night : These their brown mother, brooding on her care, Endn'd with windy wings to fleet in air, With serpents girt alike, and crown'd -with hissing hair, In heav'n the Diree call'd. QUESTIONS FOR EXMimATION. Who was Proserpine ? How did Pluto obtain her for his wife ? What steps did Ceres take to recover her daughter? What favour did Ceres obtain for Proserpine ? What do the Fates, the Judges, and the Furies determine? Who are the Fates ? Why are they called Parcae ? What is fate, according to Cicero ? From what is the word '< fate" derived ? What are the names and offices of the Fates ? How are the Furies described ? What are their common and what their proper names? Why are there only three Furies ? What is the office of the Furies ? * Deae speculatrices et v indices Facinorum. 220 CHAPTER IV. NIGHT. DEATH. SLEEP. THE JUDGES OF HELL. Nox is, of all the gods, the most ancient : she was llie sister of Erebus, and the daughter of the first Chaos ; and of these two, Nox and Erebus, Mors [deatli] was born. She is represented as a skeleton, (h-esscd usually w^ith a speckled garment and black w ings : but there are no temples nor sacrifices, nor priests consecrated to Mors, b^'.^ause she is a god- dess whom no prayers can move, or sacrifices pacify. Scmnus [*S7ee;?] is the brother of Death, and also ' hath wings, like her. Iris, who was sent by Juno to the palace of this god, mentions the great benefits that he bestows c,'i mankind ; such as quiet of mind, tranquillity, freedom from care, and refreshment of the spirits, by which men are enabled to proceed iq their labours : " Somne, quies rcrnm, placldissime Somne Deorum, Pax animi, quein cura i'ugit, qui corpora duris Fessa minlsteriis mulces reparasque labori." Ov. Mel. 11. Thou rest o' th' world, Sleep, the most peaceful god, Who drlv'st care from the mind,, and dost unload The tired limbs of all their weariness, And for new toil the body dost refresh. In this palace there are two gates, out of which dreams pass and repass ; one of these gates was made of clear ivory, through which false dreams pass; the other was made of transparent honij and through that gate true visions come to men : " Sunt geminse Somni portcp, quarum altera fertur Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris: Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto ; Sed falsa ad ccelum mittunt insomnia manes." Virg. mn. 6. 221 Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn ; Of polish'd iv'ry this, that of transparent horn : True visions through transparent horn arise ; Through polish'd iv'ry pass deluding lies. *Morpheus, the servant of Somnus, who can put on any shape or figure, presents these dreams to those who sleep ; and these dreams were brought from a great spreading elm in hell, under whose shade they urnially sit. Near the three Furies and the three Fates, f you see the three judges of hell, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and jEacus, who are believed to be judges of the souls of the dead ; because they exercised the offices of judges in Crete with the greatest prudence, dis- cretion, and justice. The first two were the sons of Jupiter by Europa : the last was the son of Jupiter by ^gina. When all the subjects of queen -^gina were swept away in a plague, beside Macus, he begged of his father, that he would repair the race of mankind, which was almost extinct ; Jupiter heard his prayer, and turned Ja great multitude of ants, which crept about a hollow old oak, into men, who afterward were called Myrmidones, from M-^p^k [Jllurmex,'] which word signifies an ant. These three had their particular province assign- ed by Pluto in this manner : Rhadamanthus was ap- pointed to judge the Asiatics, and jEacus the Euro- peans, each holding a staff in his hand ; but Minos holds a golden Sceptre and sits alone, and oversees the judgments of Rhadamanthus and iEacus ; and if in their courts there arose a case that w^as ambi- guous and difficult, then Minos used to take the cog- nizance thereof, and decide it. Cicero adds to these a fourth judge, Triptolemus ; but we have already discoursed of him in his proper place. • Ovid. Met. 11. Virg. JEn. 6. t Horn. Odyss. 2. i Ovid. Met. 7. Plata in Georg. 19* 222 quESTiojys for examikatioj^ Who is Nox, and how was INIors produced? How is Mors, or Death, represented? Who is Somnus, and what benefits does he bestow on man' kind ? Who is Morpheus and Somnus ? Who are the judges of hell, and whose sons were they ? What is the origin of the Myrmidones ? What was the province of the judges ? CHAPTER V. THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE CONDEMNED IN HELL From the judges let us proceed to the criminals, whom you see represented there in horrid colours. It will be enough if we take notice of the most cele- brated of them, and notice their crimes, and the punishments inflicted on them. The giants were the sons of Terra [the eartK^ when she received the blood of Coelum, which flow- ed from that dishonourable wound given him by his son Saturn. They are all very tall i4i stature, with horrible dragon's feet ; their looks and their bodies are altogether full of terror. Their impudence *was so great, that they strove to depose Jupiter from the possession of heaven ; and when they engaged with the celestial gods, they fheaped up mountains upon mountains, and thence darted trees, set on fire, against the gods and heaven. They hurled also prodigious massy stones and solid rocks, some of which, falling upon the earth again, became moun- tains ; others fell into the sea, and became islands. This Jbattle was fought upon the Phlegrsean plains, near the borders of Campania, Hwhich country is * Horn. Odyss. 12. t Ovid. Met. 1. { Nat. Comes, 1. 6. 1| Horn. Hymn, in Apollin. 223 called Phlegra, from (p'Kiyu \^phltgo'\ uro, for it abounds in subterraneous fires, and hot baths flow- ing continually. The giants were beaten and all cut off, either by Jupiter's thunder, Apollo's arrows, or by the arms of the rest of the gods. And some say, that out of the blood of the slain, which was spilt upon the earth, serpents and such envenomed and pernicious animals were produced. The most eminent of those giants were, Typhoeus, or Typhon, the son of Juno, had no father. So vast was his magnitude, that he touched the east with one hand, and the west with the other, and the heavens with the crown of his head. A hun- dred dragon's heads grew from his shoulders ; his body was covered with feathers, scales, rugged hair, and adders ; from the ends of his fingers snakes issu- ed, and his two feet had the shape and folds of a serpent's body ; his eyes sparkled with fire, and his mouth belched out flames. He was at last over- come, and thrown down ; and, lest he should rise again, the whole island of Sicily was laid upon him • " Nititur ille quidem, pugnatque resurgere saepe : Dextra sed Ausonio manus est subjecta Peloro ; T.aeva, Pachyne, tibi? Lilybaeo crura premuntur; Praegravat ^tna caput." Ovid. Met. 6. He struggles oft, and oft attempts to rise ; But on his right hand vast Pelorus lies ; On's left Pachynus ; Lilybaeus spreads O'er his huge thighs ; £uid ^tna keeps his heads. This island was also called Trinacria, because it bears the shape of a triangle, in the corners of which are the three promontories, Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybaeus ; Pelorus was placed on his right hand, Pachynus on his left, and Lilybseus lay upon his legs. ^geon was another prodigious and cruel giant: Virgil tells us that he had fifty heads and a hundred 224 hands, from which he was called Centumgeminu* and by the Grecians, Briareus. "iEgeon qualis, centum cui brachia dicunt, Centenasque manus, quinquaginta oribus ignem Pectoribusque arsisse : Jovis cum fulmina contra Tot paribus streperet clypeis, tot stringeret enses." JEn. 10 And as ^Egeon, when with heav'n he strove, Stood opposite in arms to mighty Jove, Mov'd all his hundred hands, provok'd to war, Defy'd the forky lightning from afar : At fifty mouths his flaming breath expires, And flash for flash returns, and fires for fires ; In his right hands as many swords he wields And takes the thunder on as many shields. He hurled a hundred rocks against Jupiter at one throw ; yet Jupiter dashed him down, bound him in a hundred chains, and thrust him under the moun- tain jEtna ; where, as soon as he moves his side, the mountain casts forth great flames of fire. Tityus was the son of Jupiter and Elara, born in a subterraneous cave, in which Jupiter hid his mo- ther, fearing the anger of Juno. She brought forth a child of so prodigious a bulk that the earth was rent to give him a passage out of the cave ; and thence he was believed to be a son of the earth. Juno afterward persuaded this giant to accuse Lato- na of criminal conduct ; for which Jupiter struck him with thunder down into hell : there he lies, stretched out, covering nine acres of ground with his body ; and a vulture continually gnaws his liver, which grow s again every month : "Nee non et Tityon, terras omniparentis alumnum, Cernere erat ; cui tota novem per jugera corpus Porrigitur, rostroque immanis vultur obunco Immortale jecur tundens, fcecundaque poenis Viscera, rimaturque epulis, habitatque sub alto Pectore : nee fibris requies data ulla renatis/ ' Virg. JEn, 6, There Tityus tortur'd lay, who took his birth From heav'n, his nursing from the fruitful earth ; 225 Here his gigantic limbs, with large embrace. Infold nine acres of infernal space : A rav'nous vulture in his open side Her crooked beak and cruel talons try'd ; Still, for the growing liver digg'd his breast, The growing liver still snpply'd the feast; Still are the entrails fruitful to their pains, Th' immortal hunger lasts, tli' immortal food remains. To tliese we may add the Titans, the sons of Ter- ra and Coelum ; the chief of whom was Titanus, Saturn's eldest brother : they made war against Sa- tm-n, because the birth of Jupiter was concealed, and conquered him ; but they were afterward over- come by Jupiter, and cast down into hell. Phlegyas, who was the king of the Lapithae in Thessaha, and the father of the nymph Coronis. When he heard that Apollo had deceived his daugh- ter, he went in anger and fn-ed the temple of Apollo at Delphi : for which the enraged god shot him through the body with an arrow, and inflicted on him the following punishment : A great stone hangs over his head, which he imagines every moment will fail down and crush him to pieces : "Quos super atr?i sllex jamjam lapsura, cadentique Imminet assimilis." Virg. ^n. 6. -A massy stone. Ready to drop, hangs o'er his cursed head. Thus he sits, perpetually fearing what will never come to pass ; which makes him frequently call out to men, to observe the rules of justice and the pre- cepts of religion : " Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere Divos." Learn justice hence, and don't despise the gods. Ixion was the son of Phlegyas : he killed his own sister, and obtained his pardon from the gods, who 226 advanced him to heaven ; and his prosperity made him so arrogant, that he attempted to make love to Juno. This insolent attempt was discovered to Ju- piter, who sent a cloud in the shape of Juno, which tlie deceived lover embraced, and thence those mon- sters, the Centaurs, were born : he was then thrown down to the earth again ; where, because he boast- ed every where that he had gained the heart of the queen of the gods, he was struck with thunder down into hell, and tied fast to a wheel, which continy- ally turns about. Salmoneus was king of Elis ; his ambition was not satisfied with an earthly crown, for he desired divine honours ; and, that the people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the city, and drove his chariot upon it, imitating by this noise Jupiter's thunder ; he also threw down light- ed torches, and those who were struck by them, were taken and killed. Jupiter would not suffer so great insolence, and therefore threw the proud man Irom his stage into hell, where iEneas, when he visited the infernal regions, saw him punished as Virgil relates ; " Vidi crudeles dantem Salmonea poenas, Dum flammas Jovis et sonitus imitatur Olympi." ^n 6. Salmoneus suffering cruel pains I found, For emulating Jove ; the rattling sound Of mimic thunder, and the glitt'ring blaze Of pointed lightnings, and their forked rays. Sisiphus was a famous robber killed by Theseus , he ts condemned in hell to roll *a great and unwiel- dy stone to the top of a high hill, and as oft as the stone almost touches the top of the mountain, it slides down again. The Belides were fifty virgin sisters, so called * In^ens et non exsuperabile sasum. Virg, 227 from their grandfather Belus ; and named also Da- naides, from their father Danaijs, who married them to the fifty sons of his brother. The oracle fore- told, that Danaijs should be slain by his son-in-law ; wherefore he commanded his daughters to provide daggers, and on iheir wedding-night to kill their husbands. The daughters performed their promises, and killed their husbands, except Hypermnestra, for she spared Lynceus, her husband, who afterward kdlcd Danaiis, and took his kingdom. This great impiety was thus punished : they were condemned to draw water out of a deep well, and fill a tub, that (like a seive) is full of holes ; the water runs out as fast as it is put in, so they are tormented with a per- petual and unprofitable labour. " Assiduas repetunt quas perdunt Belides undas."- Ovid. Mel. 4. They hourly fetch the water that they spill. Tantalus, another remarkable criminal, was the son of Jupiter and the nymph Plota. He invited all the gods to a feast, to get a plain and clear proof of their divinity : when they came, he killed and quar- tered his own son Pelops, and boiled him and set tlie joints before them to eat. All the gods abstain- ed from such horrible diet, except Ceres, who being melancholy and inattentive from the recent loss of her daughter, eat one of the child's shoulders. Af terward the gods sent Mercury to recall him to life, nnd gave him an ivory shoulder, instead of the shoulder which Ceres had eaten. This Pelops was the husband of Hippodamia, who bore him, Atreus, and Thyestes ; the latter of whom was banished, be- cause he seduced CErope his brother Atreus' wife ; and when he was recalled from banishment, he eat up his children ; for Atreus killed them, and had them served in dishes to the table, where he and Thyestes dined together. It is said, that the sun 2^8 could not endure so horrible a sight, and turned his course back again to the east. But as Tantalus' crime was greater, so was his punishment ; *for he is tormented with eternal Iiunger and thirst in the midst of plenty, both of meat and drink: he stands in water up to his lips, but cannot reach it ; and fruit is placed just to his mouth, which he cannot take hold of. Ovid mentions the punishment of Tan- talus, but assigns another reason for it ; namely, be- cause he divulged the secrets of the gods to men. " Qucerit aquas in aqiiis, et poma fugacia captat Tantalus, hoc illi gariula lingua dedit." Now this fable of Tantalus represents the condi- tion of a miser, who in the midst of plenty suffers want, and wants as much the things which he has, as those which he has not ; as Horace rightly says, where he applies this fable of Tantalus to the real wants of the covetous man. " Tantalus, a labris sitiensfugientia captat Fluraina. Quid rides ? mutato nomine, dfe te Fabula narratur. Serm. 1. 1. Though Tantalus, you've heard, does stand chin deep In water, yet he cannot get a sip : At which you smile ; now all on't would be true, Were the name changed, and the tale told of you. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMIKATIOX. Who were the Giants ? How are they and their actions described ? How were they subdued ? Who was Typba^us or Typlion, and how is he described* What became of him ? W'ho Avas iEgeon, and what were his other names ' What became of h'lm when he was subdued ? Wiio w as Tityus ? What became of him ? Who were the Titans, and w hat is said of their chiel f * Horn. Odyss. 11. 259 Who was Phleg^-as ; what was his crime ; and what his pun ishment ? What is said of Ixion ? What is said of Salmoneus ? Wbo was Sysyphus ; and what his punishment ? Who were the Belides ? What is the history of Tantalus ? What are the lines of Horace descriptive of Tantalus? CHAPTER VI. MONSTERS OF HELL. ELYSIUM. LETHE. There are many strange pictures of these infer- nal monsters, but the most deformed are the Cen- taurs, who were the ancient inhabitants of Thessalia, and the first who tamed horses, and used them in war. Their neighbours, who first saw them on horseback, thought that they had partly the mem- bers of a man, and partly the limbs of a horse. But the poets tell us another story ; for they say that Ixion begat them of a cloud, whence they are called *Nu- biginae ; and Bacchus is said to have overcome them. Geryon, because he was the king of three islands called Balearides, is feigned to have three bodies ; or, it ma}^ be, because there were three bodies of the same name, whose minds and afiections were so united, that they seemed to be governed and to live by one soul. They add, that Geryon kept oxen, which devoured the strangers that came to him • they were gutirded by a dog with two heads, and a dragon with seven. Hercules killed the guards and drove the oxen away. The Harpies, so called f from their rapacity, were born of Oceanus and Terra. They had the faces of • Virg. Mn. 6. t Ab afxtxlu, rapio. 20 230 virgins and the bodies of birds ; their hands were nrmed with claws, and their habitation was in the islands. Their names were ^llo, Ocypete, and Ce- leno ; which last brought forth Zeph} rus, the " west wind," and Balius, and Xaiitkiis, the horse of Achil- les. Virgil gives us an elegant description of these tJirce sisters. *' At sublto3 horrifico lapsu de montihus adsunt Harpyac; et niai^uis f]Matiunt clangoribus alas: Sive T)ex, sea sunt Dira?, obsca^;ueque volucres. Tristius iiaud illis monstnim est. nee seevior ulla Pestis et ii-a Deiini, Stygiis sese cxtulit undis. Virginei voliicnim vultus, fcedissima ventris Proluvies. mica^que manus, ct pallida semper Ora fame." JEn.S. When from the mountain tops, Avitli hideous cry And clattering wings, the filthy harjiies fly: Monsters more fierce o.'iended heav'n ne'er sent, From hell's abyss, for human punishment. With virgin faces, l)ut with wombs obscene ; Foul paunches, and with ordure still unclean; With claws for hands, and looks forever lean. To the three Harpies add the three Gorgons, Me- dusa, Stheno, and Euryale, who were the daughters of Phorcus and Cete. Instead of hair, their heads were covered with vipers, w^hich so terrified the be-* holder, that they turned him presently into a stone. Perhaps they intended to represent, by this part of the fable, the extraordinary beauty of these sisters ; which was such, that whoever saw them were ama- zed, and stood immoveable like stones. There were other Gorgons beside, born of the same parents, who were called Latrise, or Empusje. They had only one eye and one tooth, common to them all : they kept this tooth and eye at home in a little vessel, and which ever of them went abroad, she used them. They had the faces of women, and also the necks and breasts ; but below they were covered with scales, and had the tails of serpents. They used to entice men,. and then devour them. 231 The Chimaera *\vas r* monster, which vomited forth fire ; he had the head and breast of a lion, the body of a croat, and the tail of a dragon, as it is ex- pressed in a known verse, and described by Ovid : " Prima leo, postrema draco, media inde capella." A lion's head and breast resejuble his, His waist a goat's, !iis tail a dragon's is. " Quoque Chimffirajugo niediis in partibus ignera, Pectus et ora lea.', caudam sorpentis habebat." Met. 9. And on the cr.Tgijy top Chima^ra dwell?, ^vith lion's face and mane, A goat's rough body, and a serpent's train. A volcano ni Lycia occasioned this fable ; for in the top of the mountain were lions ; in the mid- dle, where was pasture, goats lived ; and the bottom of it abounded with serpents. Bellerophon made 'his mountain habitable, and therefore is said to have killed the Chimaera. The monster Sphynx was begotten of Typhon and Echidna. She had the head and breast of a woman, the wings of a bird, the body of a dog, and the paws of a lion. She lived in the mountain Sphincius, as- saulted all passengers, and infested the country about Thebes ; insomuch that the oracle of Apollo was consulted concerning her, and answer was made, that unless somebody did resolve the riddle of Sphynx, there would be no end to that great evil. Many endeavoured to explain it, but were overcome, and torn in pieces by the monster. Creon, at that time king of Thebes, published an edict through all Greece, in which if any one could explain the riddle of Sphinx, he promised that he would give him to wife his own sister Jocasta. The riddle was this ; f" What animal is that, which walks upon four {eet in the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three * Hom. Iliad. 24. t Quidam animal mane quadrupes, meridie falpes, vesperi tri- pes esset .' 232 at night ?" QCdlpus, encouraged with the hopes of the reward, undertook it, and happily explained it ; so that the Spliynx was enraged, and cast herself headlong into the sea, and died. He said, that the animal was a man, who in his infancy creeps upon his hands and feet, and so may be said to go on four feet ; when he grows up he walks on two feet ; but when he grows old, he uses the support of a stafl, and so may be said to walk on three feet. This CEdipuswas the son of Laius, king of Thebes, Soon after his birth, Laius commanded a soldier to carry his son QCdipus into a wood, and then destroy him ; because it had been foretold by the oracle, that he should be killed by his own son. But the soldier was moved with pity toward the child, and afraid to imbrue his hands in royal blood ; where- fore he pierced his feet with a hook, and hanged him on a tree to be killed with hunger. One of the shepherds of Polybius, king of Corinth, found him, and brought him to the queen, who, because she had no children, educated him as her own son, and from '^his swollen feet called him CEdipus. When CEdi- pus came to age, he knew that king Polybius was not his father, and therefore resolved to find out his parents : he consulted the oracle, and was told that he should meet his father in Phocis. In his jour- ney he met some passengers, among whom was his father, but he knew him not : a quarrel arose, and in the fray he by chance killed his father. After this he proceeded on his journey, and arrived al Thebes, where he overcame Sphynx, and for his re- ward married Jocasta, whom he knew not to be his mother then, but discovered it afterward. He had, by her, two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daugters, Antigone and Ismena. fWhen afterward * Puerum (Edipum vovacit a tumere pedum othu enira tumea et 5raj pedem significat. t Senecee (Edip. 233 he found, by clear proof, that he had killed his fa ther, and married his mother, he was seized with so great madness that he pulled out his own eyes, and would have killed himself, if his daughter Antigone (who led him about alter he was blind) had not hin- dered him. Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of CEdipus and Jocasta, ^succeeded their father in the government ; and they agreed to reign a year each, in their turns. Eteocles reigned the first year, and then refused to admit his brother Polynices to the throne ; upon which a war arose, and the two brothers, in a duel, killed each other. Their enmity lasted longer than their lives ; for when their bodies were placed on the same pile, to be burnt by the same fire, the flames refused to unite, but divided themselves into two parts. There is a place in the infernal dominions abound- ing with pleasures and delights, which is called the Elysium ; fbecause thither the souls of the good re- sort, after they are loosed from the chains of the bod} V and have been purified from the light offences that they had contracted in this world : " Quisque snos patimur manes ; exinde per amplum Mittiniur Elysium, et pauci laeta arva tenemus." Mn. 6. All have their manes, and those manes bare : The few Avho're cleans'd, to those abodes repair, And breathe in ample fields the soft Elysian air. ^neas received this account from one of the In- habitants of it, as V'rgil tells us, who describes this place as abounding v/ith all the delights that the most pleasant plains, and the finest and most tempe- rate air, can produce. • Stat. Theb, t Ato rr.s xmiui, a solutione -, quod Animae piorum corpo- reis 3olutae vinculis, loca illi petant postquam purgatae sunt a levioribus noxis quas contraxerent. 20* 234 Dcvenere locos laetos, et amaena vireta Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas. Largior hie carnpos aither et lumina vestit Purpureo : solemque suum sua sidera norunt. These holy rites perform'd, they took their way Where long extended plains of pleasure lay. The verdant fields with those of heav'n may vie, "With ether vested, and a purple sky: The blissful seats of happy souls below, Stars of their own, and their own sun they know."* There is a river in hell called Lethe, -j-from the forgetfulness it causes. For if any body drinks this water, he immediately forgets all things past 5 so that when the souls of the pious have spent many ages in the Ely si an fields, they drink the water of Lethe, and are believed to pass into new bodies, and return into the world again : and it is necessary they should forget both the pleasures they have received in Elysi- um, and the miseries they did formerly endure in this life, that they may willingly return into this miserable ife again. These souls went out from Elysium by that ivory gate ; which you see painted in the lower part of this wall : Animse, quibus altera fate Corpora debentur, Lethaji ad fluminis undara Securos latices et longa oblivia potant. Virg. ^n, 6. Souls that by fate Are doom'd to take new shapes, at Lethe's brink QuatF drafts secure and long oblivion drink. • Mr. Cliffton, an American poet, thus beautifully describes the charms of Elysium, in lines which would do honour to Pope, "There, rage no storms; the sun diffuses there His temper'd beams, thro' skies for ever fair. There gentler airs, o'er brakes of myrtle blow; Hills greener rise, and purer waters flow ; There bud the woodbine and the jes,mine pale,' With ev'ry bloom that scents the morning gale; While thousand melting sounds the breezes bear, In silken dalliance to the dreaming ear. And golden fruits, 'mid shadowy blossoms, shine, In fields immortal and in groves divine. t At and lionourabie ||sentiments. Angerona was the goddess that removed the Hanguish of the mind. Siata, or Statua Mater, was worshipped in the Forum, that it should not be bunU, or sulier damage from the irequent iires, wliich happened there in the night. The goddess Laverna was the protectress of tlfieves, who, from her, were named Laverniones : they worshij)ped her, that th.eir designs ard intrigues might be successi'ul ; her im;ige was a iiead without a body. * Ans;ii aiu! Volimma wtri' so iianird, because, tliroiiuli llirir incwiis, men ■^'ucti' \\il!iii!^ to follow lhinu:s thai arc j^'oocl. Aiiis liociii'ms was worsliipped on liiis occasion: A c'onjnion soldier rcporicd, dial lii llu' i}ii4,lit he lieard a Noicc say, " {\\v Gaids arc couiiiii:." No- body mir.di'd wliat lie said, beca.ise lie was a poor fellow. Alter the Gallic war, Cainilliis advised the Romans to expiate their ollence in nei^ieclini; this nocturnal Noice, which Torewarned iheni of i!ie(iul- lic wai", and the enstfnju: destruction ; nj)oi> u hicli a tenij)le was (L'dicated in Via Nova to Ains Locii- lius. A j)articnlar ^od was assii;i)ed and ascribed to every member of the body of ma.n. The head was sacred to Jupiter, llie breast to Xep- time, tl:e w aist to !\birs ; the forelieavd to (ienius, the eyebrows to Jnno, tlie eyes to (Jnp:;l, the ears lo IMemotia, the ri,u,ht hand to Fides, the bac!; and the Iiinder paits to Phito, the reins to V'einis, the feel to Mercury, the kiiees to Misericordia, the ancles and soles of liie feet to Thetis, and the fiiii;ers to Mi- ner\a. The aslroloirers assiiz;n the ;)ai-ts of ihe body lo tlie celestial c(inslelIations, in another juanner. The chief of the funeral deities is i/:bilii!a, whom some account to be the same as W-juis ; but oi.ijers think that she was Proserpine. In her temple all things necessary for fur.erals were sold or lei. liibi- tina so:netimes signifies the grave, and Libilinarii, those JJien who were en^ployed in bm-ying the dead. Porta Libitina, at Rome, was that gale ilnoiigh which the dead bodies were carried lo be burnt: and RaLones Libitina*, in Stietoifpi'^, signifies ihose accouiits whu-h we call " the b.lls of m; Increas' with hissing heads in Lerna's lake. Hail, Jove's undoubted son ! an added gi-ace , To heav'n, and the great author of thy race. Receive the grateful off'rings which we pay, And smile propitious on thy solemn day. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXJlMmATIOJV. Who w^ere the Semi-Dei ? What account is given of the heroes ? Who Avas Hercules ? Who was the twin-brother of Hercules, and for what was be celebrated ? How did Juno act with regard to Hercules ? By whom was she reconciled; and what w^as the consequenoe of the reconciliation ? What were the proper names of Hercules ; and how did bd delve them ? Why was Hercules subject to Euristheus ? Repeat the Latin lines descriptive of Hercules' labours. What was his first labour ? What was his second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth.' What did he do with regard to Antaeus.'' How did he act with B?^n4s ? ^J""'^ Why did he kill the giants^MUiCJIl and Bergeon? 22* 258 What was his conduct with regard to Atlas, Cacas, Prome- theus, and Theodamus ? How did he deliver Hesione ? What is the meaning of the fable of Achelous? What is related of Deianira ? CHAPTER n. JASON. THESEUS Jason, the son of (Eson, king of Thessalla, by Alcimede, was an infant when his father died, so that his uncle Pelius administered the government. When he came of age, he demanded possession of the crown ; but PeHus advised him to Colchis, under pretence of gaining the golden fleece thence, though his real intention was to kill him with the labour and danger of the journey. The golden fleece was the hide of a ram, of a white or purple colour, which was given to Phryxus, son of Athamus and Nephele, by his mother. Phryx- us and his sister Helle, fearing the designs of their stepmotlier Ino, got on a ram to save themselves by flight. But while they swam over the narrowest part of Pontus, Helle, afli'ighted at the tossing of the waves, fell down ; whence the sea was called Hellespont. Phryxus was carried over safe ; and went to ^ta, king of Colchis, a country of Asia, near the Pontns ; where he was kindly received, and sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, or ]\Iars, who af- terwards placed it among the constellations. Only his hide or fleece was hung up in a grove sacred to Mars. It was called the Golden Fleece, because it was of a golden colour ; and it was guarded by bulls that breathed fire from their nostrils, and by a vast and watchful dragon, as a sacred and divine pledge, and as a thi'ng of the greatest importance. 259 Jason went on board a ship called Argo, from the builder of that name ; and chose forty-nine noble companions, who, from the ship, were called Argo- nautae, among whom were Hercules, Orpheus, Cas .or, and Pollux. In his voyage, he visited Hipsy- phile, queen of Lemnos, who had twins by him. Then, after a long voyage, and many dangers, he arrived at Colchis, and demanded the Golden Fleece of king ^ta, who granted his request, on condition that he tamed the bulls which guarded it; killed the dragon, and sowed his teeth in the ground ; and lastly, destroyed the soldiers who sprang from the ground where these teeth were sown. Jason undertook the thing, and was delivered from manifest destruc- tion by the assistance of Medea, the king's daughter, who was in love with him. For, observing her di- rections, he overcame the bulls, laid the dragon asleep, carried away the fleece, and fled by night, carrying Medea with him, whom he afterward mar- ried. ^ta pursued them, but his daughter, to stop his pursuit, tore her brother Absyrtus, who went with her, in pieces, and scattered the limbs on the road ; that when her father saw the torn members of his son, he might stop to gather them up. So Jason and the Argonautae returned to their own country, where Medea by her charms restored Jason's father, the old decrepid ^son, to youth again ; though some say that ^son died before their return. Af- ter this, Jason divorcing himself from Medea, he married Creusa, the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth : and Medea, to revenge his perfidiousness, not only murdered the two children that she had by him in his own sight, but, in the next place, enclosed fire in a little box, and sent it to Creusa, who opened the box, and by the fire which burst out of it, was burnt, together with the whole court. When she had done this, the admirable sorceress flew by magic 260 art to Athens. Some write that she was reconciled afterwards to Jason. But what has been said is enough for this hero ; let us proceed to Theseus, whose parents were jEthra and ^geus, king of Athens. Minos, kuig of Crete, made war against jEgeus, because the Athenians had disho- nourably and barbarously killed his son, who carried the prize in the games. When he had banished the Athenians, he imposed this severe condition upon them, that they should send seven of the most noble youths of their country into Crete by lot every year. In the fourth year the lot fell upon Theseus, which mightily grieved and troubled his father jEgeus. Theseus went on board a ship, whose sails and tackle were black, and received this command from his father : " If by the propitious providence of hea- ven he escaped the dangers, and did return safe unto his own countr}^ again, that then he should change his black sails into white ones, that his father, being assured of his safety by that signal, might be sensible of his happiness as soon as might be." The event was fortunate to Theseus; but very unfortunate to his father iEgeus : for when Theseus came to Crete, he was shut up in the Labyrinth ; but he slew the Minotaur, and escaped out of that inextricable prison by the help of Ariadne. After this he set sail for Athens in the same mournful ship in which he came to Crete, but forgot to change his sails, according to the instructions which his father had given him ; so that, when his father beheld from a watchtower the ship returning with black sails, he imagined that his son was dead, and cast himself headlong into the sea, which was afterward called the ^gean or Black Sea, from his name and destiny. Ariadne was the daughter of Minos, king ol Crete. She having delivered Theseus out of the 261 labyrinth by the means of a thread, followed him in his return to the island of Naxiio, where he perfidi- ously and ungratefully left her. But Bacchus, pity- ing her miseiable condition, married her, and gave her a crown that was illuminated with seven stars, which he had before received from Venus. This crown was called Gnossia Corona ; and Ariadne her- self was surnamed Gnossis, from the city of that name in Crete. After the death ci Ariadne, the same was carried among the stars, and made a con- stellation in the heavens. It was thought that Diana caused the death of Ariadne, because she preserved not her virginity. The actions of Theseus were so famous, that they accounted him a Hercules. For, 1. He killed the Minotaur. 2. He overcame the Centaurs. 3. He vanquished the Thebans. 4. He defeated the Ama- aons. 5. He went down into hell ; and returned back into the world again. He and Pirithous, his most intimate friend, the lawful son of Ixion, agreed never to marry any wo- men except Jupiter's daughters. Theseus married Helena, the daughter of Jupiter and Led a, and none of Jupiter's daughters remained on the earth for Pirithous ; therefore they both went down into hell to steal Proserpine away from h^r husband Pluto. As soon as they entered hell, Pirithous was unfortunately torn in pieces by the dog Cerberus ; but Theseus came alive into the palace of Pluto, who fettered him, and kept him till Hercules was sent into hell by Euristheus to rescue him. The Amazons were women' animated with the souls and bravery of men ; a military race, inhabit- ing that part of Scythia which is washed by the river Tanais. They were called Amazons, ^either because they cut oiT one of their breasts, or f because • Ab « privativo et fia^es mamma, t Ab «/«« simul et ^k vivere. 262 they lived together without the society ot men They were a nation of women, who, that the country might have inhabitants and not be depopulated, when the present race of women died, admitted the ad- dresses of the neiglibouring young men. They kill- ed the boys at tlieir birth, but brought up the girls. They cut off their right breast that they might more conveniently use their hands in shooting their ar- rows, and brandishing their weapons against their enemy. These female warriors, by their frequent Excursions, became possessors of a great part ot Asia, when Hercules, accompanied with Theseus, made war upon them, and defeated them ; and taking Hippolyte, their queen, prisoner, he gave her in marriage to Theseus. Theseus had by Hippolyte his son Hippolytus, who was very beautiful, and mightily addicted to hunting, and a remarkable lover of chastity ; for when ^Phaedra, his step mother, (the daughter of king Minos, whom Theseus had preferred to her sister Ariadne) made love to him, he repulsed her. This repulse provoked her so much, that when her husband returned, she accused him wrongfully. Theseus gave ear to the wicked woman, and behev- ed her untruth against his son Hippolytus, who per- ceiving it, fled away in his chariot. In his flight he met several monstrous sea-calves, which frighted his horses, so that they threw him out of his seat, his feet were entangled in the harness, and he was drag- ged through the thickets oi* a wood, and torn to pieces miserably. iEsculapius afterwards, at the request of Diana, restored him to life again. But he however left Greece and came into Italy, where he changed his name to fVirbius, because he had been a man twice. Phaedra was gnawn with the stings of her own conscience, and hanged herself. • 0\rid. in Ep. Phaedr, t Quod, vir bis esset. V- OF THB ' \ 263 And not long after, Theseus, being banished from his country, ended an illustrious life with an obscure death. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATIOK. Who was Jason; and why sent after the Golden Fleece? What was the Golden Fleece? Whence was the Hellespont named ? By whose assistance did Jason procure the Fleece? Who was Medea, and what were her actions? Who was Theseus, and what were his actions ? i^^gean or Black Sea ; why so called ? Who was Ariadne, and what happened to her? What agreement w^as made between Theseus and Perithooj; Upd what became of the latter ? Who were the Amazons ; and what account is given of IheiB? What is the story of Hippolytus ? What became of Phaedra and Theseus ? CHAPTER m. CASTOR AND POLLUX. Castor and Pollux are twin brothers, the sons of Jupiter and Leda, who was the wife of Tyndarus, king of Laconia, whom Jupiter loved, but could not succeed in his amour till he changed himself into a swan ; which swan was afterwards made a constel- lation. Leda produced two eggs^ which hatched the twin brothers. Out of one ^g^ came Pollux and Helena, who sprang from Jupiter, and were therefore immortal. But out of the other, by Tyn- darus' her husband, came "^Castor and Clytemnes- tra, who were mortal. Yet both Castor and Pollux are frequently called Tyndaridse by the poets, as Helena is also called Tyndaris, from the same king Tyndarus. • Hor. Sat. I. 264 Castor and Pollux accompanied Jason when h^ sailed to Colchis ; and, when he returned thence, they recovered their sister Helena from Theseus, who had stolen her, by overcoming the Athenians that fought for him, to whom tlieir clemency and hu- manity were so great after the defeat, that the Athe- nians called them the sons of Jupiter ; and hence white lambs were offered upon their altars. *But although they were both at the same birth, and, as some think out of the same egg^ yet their tempers were different. Castor being, as some say, a mortal person, was killed by Lynceus : upon which Pollux prayed to Jupiter to restore him to life again, and confer an immortality upon him. But this could not be grant- ed. However, he obtained leave to divide his im- mortality between himself and his brother Castor, and thence it came to pass f that they lived after- wards by turns every other day, or, as some say, every other fortnight. After the death of Castor, a kind o^ pyrrliick, or dance in armour, was instituted to his honour ; which was performed by young men armed, and called J" Castor's dance." At length they both were translated into heaven, and made a constellation, which is still called Gemi- ni. Sailors esteem these stars lucky and prosperous to them, "^because, when the Argonauts were driven * " Castor gaudet equis: Ovo prognalus eodem, Pugnis : quot capitum vivunt, totidem in studiorum Millia." Horat. Smn. % \ As many men, so mf^ny their delights. t " Sic fratem Pollux alterna morte redemit, Itque reditque viam." Virg, JSn, & Tlius Pollux, offering his alternate life, Could free his brother. They did daily go By turns aloft, by turns descend below. \ Plin, 1. 7. c. 5. 7. ap. Nat Com. 4 Hor. Carm. 3. 265 by a violent tempest, two lambent flames settled upon the heads of Castor and Pollux, and a calm imniediateiy ensued : from which a virtue more than human was thought to be lodged in these youths* If only one flame appeared, they called it Helena, and it was esteemed fatal and destructive to mari- ners. There was a famous temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux in the Forum at Rome ; for it was be- lieved, that in the dangerous battle of the Romans with the Latins, they assisted the Romans, ri.ding upon white horses. And hence came that form of swearing by the temple of Castor, which women only used, saying, "^Ecastor : whereas, when men swore, they usually swore by Hercules, using the words jHercule, Hercle, Hercules, Mehercules, Me- hercule. But both men and women swore by the temple of Pollux, using the word -^depol, an oath common to them both. Clytemnestra was married to Agamemnon, whom, after his return from the siege of Troy, she killed by the help of jEgisthus ; with whom, in the mean time, she had lived. She attempted also to kill his son Orestes, and would have done so, Jif his sister Electra had not delivered him at the very point of destruction, sending him privately to Strophius, king of Phocis. After Orestes had lived there twelve years, he returned to his own country, and slew both Clytemnestra and iEgistlius. He killed also Pyrr- hus, in the temple of Apollo ; because he had car- ried away Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus, who was first betrothed to Orestes. ^Therefore the Fu- ries tormented him ; neither could he obtain deli* verance from them, till he had expiated his crimes • jEcastor, et .'fidepol. id est, per aidem Castoris et FoIIucb. t Passim apiid Terp.nt. Plant. CAcGV. k.c. t Soph, ill Electr. Eiirip. in Orest § Cic. de Amicit. 23 2G6 at the altar of Diana Tanrica, whither he was con"* ducted by iiis friend P\ lades, liis perpetual com- panion and partner in all his dangers ; "^their friend- ship was so close and sacred, that either of them would die for the other. The goddess Diana, who was worshipped in Tau» rica Chersonesus, or Chcrronesus, a })eninsnla, so called from the Tauri, an ancient people of Sc ythia EuropaB. She was worshipped with human victims; the lives and the blood of men being sacrificed to fier. When Orestes went thither, his sister Iphi- genia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was priestess to Diana Taurica : she was made priestess on the fol- lowing occasion. Agamemnon, king of the Argives, was, bj the common consent of the Grecians, appointed general in their expedition against Troy ; and after his re- turn home, was killed by his own wife Clytemnestra. This Agamemnon killed a deer by chance, in the country of Aulis, which belonged to Diana ; the goddess was angry, and caused such a calm, that for want of wind, the Grecian ships bound for Troy, were fixed and immoveable : upon this they consult- ed the soothsayers, who answered, f that they must satisfy the winds, and Diana, with some of the blood of Agamemnon. Therefore Ulysses was forthwith sent to bring away Iphigenia, the daughter of Aga* memnon, from her mother, by a trick, under pre- tence of marrj'ing her to Achilles. While theyomig lady stood at the altar to be sacrificed, the goddesi pitied her, and substituted a hind in her stead, and gent her to Taurica Chersonesus ; where, by the or- der of kingThoas, she presided over those sacrifices of the goddess, v.hich were solemnized with human blood. When Orestes was brouglit thither by the inhabitants to be sacrificed, he was known and pre- * Eurip. in Ipliig. in Taur. t Eurip. in Iphip. in Taur. . J ST M^^ui^js^xu'^ 267 served b}' his sister. After which Thoas was kill* ed, and the image of Diana, which lay hidden among a bundle of sticks, was carried away ; and hence Diana was called Fascelis, from fascis, a " bundle." qUESTWKS FOR EXAMUCATION. Who were Castor and Pollux, and what was their origin ? Why were white Iambs offered upon their altars? What became of Castor, and wliat was granted to him at tho request of his brother? What dotlie Sailors say of the stars Castor and Pollux? What is related of the temple dedicated to them ? What is the story of Clyternnestra ? Who was Diana Taurica ; how was she worshipped ; and wh© was her priestess ? What is related of Agamemnon? On what account was Diana called Fascelis? CHAPTER IV. PERSEU3. iESCULAPIUS. Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, who was shut up by her father in a very strong tower, where no man could enter, because her father had been told by an oracle, that he should be killed by his own grandchild. But nothing is impregnable to love : for Jupiter, as we are told by Horace, by changing himself into a shower of gold, descended through the tiles into the lady's apartment. "Inclnsam Dana^n turris ahenca Robusla^Miue fores, el vigilum canum Tristcs excubia^ munierant satis Noclurnis ab adulteris- Si r.oii Acrisium, virginis abdita? Custodim pavidura, J. iter et Venus Rir.issent: foie enim tutum iter et patens, Converse in pretium Deo." Carm. J. 3. 10, 268 Witliin a brazen tow'r immur'd, By dogs and ceritinels secur'd, From midnight revels, and intrigues of love, Fair Dana? was kept within her guardian's pow'r; But gentle Venus smi'.'d, and anurous Jove Knew he could soon unlock the door, And by his art successful prove, Changed to a golden show'r. As soon as Acrisius had heard tliat his daughter bad brought forth a son, lie ordered that she and the infant should be shut up in a chest, and thrown into the sea : the chest was driven to the island Se- riphus, where a fisherman found it, took them out, and presented them to king Pol jdectes ; who be- came enamoured of Danae, and brought up her son; whom he called Perseus. Perseus, when he was grown a man, received from Mercury a scythe of adamant, and wings, which he fixed to his feet : Pluto gave him a helmet, and Minerva a shield of brass, so bright, that it reflected the images of things, like a looking-glass. His first exploit was the deliverance of Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, who was bound by the nymphs to a rock, to be devoured by a sea-monster, because her mother Cassiope, or Cas- siopeia, had proudly preferred her daughter's beau- ty to theirs ; and when he had delivered her, he took her to wife. After which, both the mother and the daughter, and the son-in-law, were placed among the celestial constellations. His next expe- dition was against the Gorgons, of whom we have spoken before : he encountered Medusa, their prin- cess, whose head was supplied with snakes in the place of hair ; he saw the image of her head by the brightness of his shield, and, by the favourable as- sistance of Minerva, struck it off: he then fixed it upon a shield, and, by showing it, afterward turned many persons into stone. Atlas was turned by the sight of it, into the mountain in Mauritania of that 269 name : because he rudely refused to entertain Per- seus. When Medusa's head was cut off, the horse Pegasus sprang Irom the blood which fell on the ground, he was so called from ^ryiyv [^p^ge] " a fountain," because he was produced near the foun- tains of the sea. This horse had wings ; and flying over the mountain Helicon, he struck it with his hoof, and opened a fountain, which they call in Greek, Hippocrene ; and in Latin, Fons Caballinus ; that is, the " horse fountain." But afterward, while he drank at the fountain Pyrene in Corinth, where Bel- lerophon prepared himself for his expedition against the Chimsera, he was taken by him and kept. Bellerophon's first name was Hipponus ; because he first taught the art of governing horses with a bridle : but when he had killed Bellerus, a king of Corinth, he was afterward called Bellerophontes. This Bellerophon, the son of Glaucus, king of Ephyra, was equally beautiful and virtuous ; he re- sisted all the temptations by which Sthenobsea, the wife of Prsetus, enticed him to love her ; and his repulses provoked her so, that in revenge she accus- ed the innocent stranger to her husband. Praetus, however, would not violate the laws of hospitality with the blood of Bellerophon, but sent him into Lycia, to his father-in-law Jobates, with letters, which desired him to punish Bellerophon, as his crime deserved. Jobates read the letters, and sent him to fight against the Solymi, that he might be killed in the battle : but he easily vanquished them, and in many other dangers, to which he was expos- ed, he always came off conqueror. At last he was sent to kill the Chima:}ra ; which he undertook, and performed, when he had procured the horse Pegasus, by the help of Neptune. Therefore Jobates, ad- miring the bravery of the youth, gave him one of his daughters to wife, allotting him also a part of his kingdom. Sthenobsea killed herself when she 23* 270 heard this. This happy success so transported Bel lerophon, tliat he endeavoured to fly upon Pegasus to heaven ; Tor which Jupiter struck him with mad- ness, and he fell from his liorse into a fieUl called Aleius Campus, "^because in that place Bellerophoii wandered up and down blind, to the end of his life : but Pegasus was placed among the stars. Some say that this was the occasion of the fable of the Chi- mcera. Tliere was a famous pirate, who used to sail m a ship in whose prow was painted a lion, in the stern a dragon, and by the body of the ship a goat was described ; and this pirate was killed by Belle- rophon, in a long boat that was called Pegasus. From the letters which Bellerophon carried Jobates, fcomes the proverb, " Bellerophon's letters ;" when any a:ie carries letters, wiiich he imagines are wrote in his favour, but are sent to procure his ruin : and such letters are frequentl}' called " Letters of Uriah," for the same reason. jEsculapius is represented as a bearded old man, leaning on his jointed cane, adorned with a crown of laurel, and encompassed with dogs. He is the god of the physicians and physic, and the son of Apollo by the nymph Ceronis. He improved the art of physic, which before was little understood ; and for that reason they accounted him a god. Apollo shot tlie nymph his mother when she was pregnant, be- cause she admitted the addresses of another young man after he had become enamoured of her. But he repented after he had killed her, took out the child alive, and delivered him to be educated by the physician Chiron, Jwho taught him his own art : the youth made so great a progress in it, that be- cause he restored health to the sick, and gave safety • Al) aXiUU 2XVO. f ^iXXipipnTo; '^^afj^fiura, Bclkrophonlii UtereR nsildtius dictS| LilerfT i'ri(t. J Ovid Mel. 1. 271 to those whose condition was desperate, he was thought to have a power of recalling the dead to life again. Upon this Pluto, the king of hell, ^com- plained to Jupiter that his revenue was very much diminished, and his subjects taken from him by means of ^Esculapius ; and at length, by his persua- sion, Jupiter killed him with a stroke of thunder. He wears a crown of laurel, because that tree is powerful in curing many diseases. By the knots in his stall', is signified the difficulty of the study of physic. He has dogs painted about him, and dogs in his temple ; because many believe that he was born of uncertain parents, and exposed, and after- ward nourished by a bitch. fOthers say, that a goat, which was pursued by a dog, gave suck to the forsaken infant ; and that the shepherds saw a lam- bent tiaine playing about his head, which was a prog- nostication of his future divinity. The Cyrenians used to olfer a goat to him in the sacrifices ; either because he was nourished by a goat, as was said, Jor because a goat is always in a fever ; and therefore a goat's constitution is very contrary to health. §Piato says, that they used to sacrifice dung-hill cocks to him, which are deemed the most vigilant of all birds ; for of all virtues, watchfulness is chiefly necessary to a physician. ^sculapius was worshipped first at Epidaurus, where he was born ; afterward at Rome, because, on being sent for thither, he delivered the city from a dreadful pestilence. For which reason, a temple was dedicated to him in an island in the mouth of the Tiber, where he was worshipped under the form of a great serpent ; for when the Romans came to Epidaurus to transport the god thence ; a great ser- • VI rj^. JEn. 7. t Kactiiiit. de fals. Religo. Paean, in Corinlh J Didvm. I. 3. Nat. Cum. ^ la Pha^done. 272 pent entered the ship, which they believed was ^sculapius ; and broufj^ht it to Rome with them. Others tell the story thus : when tlie Romans were received by the people of Epidaurus with all kind- ness, and were carried into the temple of iEscula- pins ; the serpent, under whose image they worship- ped that god, went voluntarily into the ship of the Romans. I can tell you nothing of the children of iEscula- pius, except their names. He had two sons, called Machaon and Podalirius, both famous physicians, who followed Agamemnon, the general of the Gre- cians, to the Trojan war, and were very service- able among the soldiers ; and two daughters, Hygioea (though some think this was his wife) and Jaso. Chiron, his master, was a Centaur, and the son of Saturn and Phillyra ; for when Saturn embraced that nymph, he suddenly changed himself into a horse, because his wife Ops came in. Phillyra was born a creature, in its upper parts like a man, in its lower parts like a horse. She called it Chiron ; when he grew up, he betook himself to the woods ; and there, learned the virtues of herbs, he became a most excellent physician. For his skill in physic, and for his other virtues, which were many, he was appointed tutor to Achilles ; he also instructed Her- cules in astronomy, and taught jEsculapius physic. At last, when he handled Hercules' arrows, one of them dipped in the poisonous blood of the Lernaean hydra, fell upon his foot, and gave him a wound that was incurable, and pains that were intolerable ; in- somuch that he desired to die, but could not, because he was born of immortal parents. Therefore, at length the gods translated him into the firmament, where he now remains ; for he became a constella- tion called Sagittarius, which is placed in the zo- diac. 273 QUESTIOA'S FOR EXAMmATlO,Y. Who was Perseus ? What order did Acrisiiis give with regard to his grandson, and now was the child saved ? What were the exploits of Perseus ? What is said of Medusa's head, and what happened when it was cut off? How is Pegasus described ? For what was Bellerophon famous P Give the circumstances attending h*.3 history. What is meant by '* Bellerophon's letters;" and what else are they called ? Who was ^sculapius? What became of his mother? Under whose care was yF.sculapins brought up? What complaint was made against him ? Why does he wear a crown of laurel ; and Avhat do the staff and dogs signify ? Why were goats and coclcs sacrificed to him? Where was he first worshipped ; and why was he adored un- der the form of a serpent ? Who were iEsculapius's children? What is the history of Chiron? CHAPTER II. PROMETHEUS. ATLAS. Prometheus, the son of Japetus, and the father of Deucalion, was the first, as we find in history, that formed man out of clay ; which he did with such art and skill, that Minerva was amazed, and proflered to procure him any thing from heaven ; which would complete his work. Prometheus answered, that he did not know what in heaven v/ould be useful to him, since he had never seen heaven. Therefore ]\Ii- nerva carried him up into heaven, and showed hira all its wonders. He observed that the heat of the sun would be very useful in animating the man which he had formed ; therefore he lighted a stick by the wheel of the sun's chariot, and carried it lighted with him to the earth. This theft displeased Jupiter so much, that he sent Pandora into the world to Pro- 271 metbeiis, with a box filled with all sorts of evila, Proiiiethctis, jeuring and suspecting the matter, re- fused to accept it; but his brother Epirnetheus was not so cautious ; for he took it and opened it, and all the c. ;i^ that were in it Hew abroad among man- kind. VViien he perceived wiiat he had done, he immediately shut the box again, and by good for- tune hindered Hope from flying away, which stuck to tlie bottom of the box. Yon may remember how sweetly Ho:ace speaks of this theft of Prometheus. *• Atidax omnia perpeti Geiitis humana ruit per vetitum nefas. Audax Japeti genus Igneni t'niiide mala gentibiis intulit ; Post ignem ajtlierea domo Subductu^n, macies et nova febrium Terris incubuit cohors : Semot^ labinim ; quasi sine labro. t Apoll 1. 3. Eurip. in Iphig. , , t Cell. 1.2. c. 11. * 24* 282 Thetis, his mother, had heard from an oracle, that he should be killed in the expedition against Troy, On the other hand, Calchas, the diviner, had de- clared, that Troy could not be taken without him. By the cunning of Ulysses he was forced to go : for wlien his mother Thetis hid him in a boarding-school (in Gyneca}o) in the island of Scycros, one of the Cyclades, in the habit of a virgin, among the daugh- ters of king Lycomedes, Ulysses discovered the trick : he went thither in the disguise of a merchant, and took with him several goods to sell. The king's daughters, began to view and handle curiously the bracelets, the glasses, and necklaces, and such like women's ornaments ; but Achilles, on the contrary laid hold of the targets, and fitted the helmets to his head, and brandished the swords, and placed them to his side. Thus Ulysses plainly discovered Achil- les from the virgins, and compelled him to go to the war ; after that Vulcan, by Thetis' entreaty, had given him impenetrable armour. Achilles at Troy killed Hector, the son of Priamus ; and was killed himself by Paris, by a trick of Polyxena : and all the Nymphs and Muses are said to have lamented his death. This Polyxena was the daughter of Priamus, king of Troy, a virgin of extraordinary beauty. Achilles by chance saw her upon the walks of the city, and fell in love with her, and desired to marry her. Priamus consented. They met in the temple of Apollo to solemnize the marriage ; where Paris, the brother of Hector, coming in privateh^ and lurking behind Apollo's image, shot Achilles suddenly with an arrow, in that part of his foot in which only he was vulnerable. After this Troy was taken, and the ghost of Achilles demanded satisfaction for the mur- der, which the Grecians appeased by oflering the blood of Polyxena. qUESTlOJ^S FOR EXJiMmJITIOK. Who were Orpheus and Aniphion, and in what did they excel? What is related of Orpheus ? Who was Amphioii, and wnat was the occasion of the fable? Who was ArioM, and wliat is related of him ? Who was Achilles, and wliat is reported of him during liis in- fancy ? In wliat did Achilles excel ; and what is the nature of the ar- gument named after him ' Why and how was he forced into the Trojan war? What hero did he kill, and by whom was he slain ? How was he killed, and what did the Grecians do to appease his ghost? CHAPTER VII. ULYSSES. ORION. Ulysses was so named, because when Ills mother was travelling, as some sa}^ in the island of Ithaca; as others say, in Boeotia, she fell down on the *road, and brought him into the world. He was the son of Laertes and Anticlea. His wife was Penelope, a lady highly famed for her prudence and virtue. He was unwilling that the Trojan war should part him and his dear wife ; therefore, to avoid the expedition, he pretended to be mad, joining the different beasts to the same plough, and sowing the furrows with salt. But this pretence was detected by Palamedes, who laid his infant son in the furrow, while Ulysses was ploughing, to see whether he would suffer the plough share to wound him or not. When Ulysses came where his son lay, he turned the plough, and thus it was discovered that he was not a madman, and he was compelled to go to the war. There he was very serviceable to the Grecians, and was almost the sole occasion of taking the town. He forced Achilles from his retreat, and obtained the arrows of Hercules from Philoctetes, which he brought against • Graice 'Oova-a-Eyj, ab aJaj via ; quod in ipsa via ejus mater iter faciens lapsa ilium pcperit Vide Nat. Com. et Horn, in Odysf 284 Troy. He took away the ashes of Laomedoii, which were preserved upon the gate Scsea in Troy. He stole the Palladium from the city ; killed Rhoe- sus, king of Thrace, and took his horses, before they had tasted the water of the river Xanthus. In which things the destiny of Troy was wrapped up : for if the Trojans had preserved them, the town could never have been conquered. He contended with Ajax the son of Telamon and Hesrone, who was the stoutest of all the Grecians except Achilles, before judges, for the arms of Achilles. The judges were persuaded by the eloquence of Ulysses, gave sen- tence in his favour, and assigiied the arms to him. This disappointment made Ajax mad, upon which he killed himself, and his blood was turned into the violet. When Ulysses departed from Troy to return home, he sailed backward and forward ten years ; for contrary winds and bad weather hindered him from getting home. During which time, 1 . He put ott the eye of Polyphemus with a firebrand ; and then sailing to jEolia, he there obtained from iEolus all the winds which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags. His companions, behev- ing that the bags were filled with money, and not with wind, intended to rob him ; therefore, when they came almost to Ithaca, they untied the bags, and the winds gushed out, and blew him back to iEolia again. 2. When Circe had turned his com- panions into beasts, he first fortified himself against her charms with the antidote that Mercury had given him, and then ran into her cave with his sword drawn, and forced her to restore his companions to their former shapes again. After which he and Circe were reconciled, and he had by her Telego- nus. 3. He went down into hell to know his fu- ture fortune from the prophet Tiresias. 4. When he sailed to the islands of the Sirens, he stopped the 285 cars of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes to the ship's mast : by these means he avoided the dangerous snares, into which, by their charming voices, they led men. 5. And lastly, after his ship was broken and wrecked by the waves, he escaped by swimming ; and came naked and alone to the port of Phaeacia, where Nausica, the daughter of king Alcinous, found him hidden among the young trees, and entertained him civilly. When his companions were found, and the ship refitted, he was sent asleep into Ithaca, where Pallas awaked him, and advised him to put on the habit of a beg- gar. Then he went to his neat-herds, where he found his son Telemachus ; and from them he went home in a disguise j where, after he had received several affronts from the wooers of Penelope, by the assistance of the neat-herds, and his son, to whom he discovered himself, he set upon them, and killed them every one ; and then received his Penelope. Penelope, the daughter of Icarus, was a rare and perfect example of chastity. For though it was ge- nerally thought that her husband Ulysses was dead, since he had been absent from her twenty years, yet neither the desires of her parents, nor the solicita-. tions of her lovers, could prevail upon her to marry another man, and to violate the promises of con- stancy which she gave to her husband when he de- parted. And when many noblemen courted her, and even threatened her with ruin unless she declar- ed which of them should marry her, she desired that liie choice might be deferred till she had finished a piece of needle-work, about which she was then employed: but undoing by night what she had worked by day, she delayed them till Ulysses re- turned and killed them all. Hence came the pro- verb, *" to weave Penelope's web ;" that is, to * Penelopes telam texere' id est, inanem operam sumere. Vid. Erasm. Adag. 286 labour in vain ; when one hand destroys what the other has wrought. Orion, when young, was a constant companion of Diana : but because his love to the goddess exceed- ed the bounds ot* modesty, or because, as some say, he extolled the strength of his own body, and boast- ed that he could outrun and subdue the wildest and fiercest beasts, his arrogance grievously displeased the Earth ; therefore she sent a scorpion, which killed him. He was afterward carried to the liea- vens, aLd there made a constellation ; which is thought to predict foul weather when it does not ap- pear, and fair when it is visible ; whence the poets call him "^tempestuous, or stormy Orion. qUESTIOXS FOR EXAMIKATWX, From what did Ulysses derive his name ? How did he excuse himself from going to the Trojan war, and how was the artifice detected? What exploits did he perform at Troy? What was the contention between him and Ajax, and what was the consequence of it? What acts did he perform during his return .' What happened to him in Ithaca? What is said of Penelope, and whence is the origin of th9 phrase, " To weave Penelope's web r" What is said of Orion ? What does the constellation predict? CHAPTER VIII. OSIRIS, APIS, SERAPIS. Osiris, Apis, and Serapis, are three diflerent names of one and the same god. Osiris was the • Nimbosns Orion. Virg. ]£.n. nam epiuv sis;nificat turbo movco^ ttnde etiam ipse nomen sumpsisse a nonnullis judlcatur. 287 son of Jupiter, by Niobe, the daughter of Phoro- neus ; and was king of the Argives many 3'ears. He was stirred up, by the desire of glory, to leave his kingdom to his brother ^Egialus, and to sail into Egypt, to seek a new name and new king- dojus. The Egyptians were not so much over- come by his arms, as obliged to him by his cour- tesies and kindness. After this he married lo, the daughter of Inachus, whom Jupiter formerly turn- ed into a cow ; but, when by her distraction she was driven into Egypt, her former shape was again restored, and she married Osiris, and in- structed the Egyptians in letters. Therefore, both she and her husband attained to divine honours, and were thought immortal by that people. But Osiris showed tliat he was mortal ; for he was kill- ed by iiis brother Typhon. lo (afterward called Isis) sought him a great while ; and when she had found him at last in a chest, she laid him in a monument in an island near to Memphis, which islar.d ts encompassed by that sad and tatal lake, the Styx. And because when she sought him she had used dogs, who by their excellent virtue of smelling might discover where he was hidden, thence the ancient custom came, that dogs went first in an anniversary procession in honour of Isisw And the people carefully and religiously worshipped a god with a dog's head, called Anu- bis ; whicli god the poets commonly call ^Barker, '* a god half a dog, a dog half a man." He is also called Hermanubis ; because his sagacity is so great that some think him to be the same with Mercury, But let us return to Osiris and Isis. After the body of Osiris was interred, there ap- peared to the Egyptians a stately, beautiful ox ; the Egyptians thought that it was Osiris, therefore * Latratorem, semicanem Deum, Virg. ffin. 8. 288 they worshipped it, and called it Apis, which in the Egyptian language signifies an " ox." But be- cause the body, after his death, was found shut up in a *chest, he was afterward from this railed So- rapis, and by the change of a letter Serapis ; as we shall see more clearly and particularly by and by, when I have observed what Plutarch says, that Osiris was thought to be the Sun. His name comes from OS, which in the Egyptian language signifies " much," and im, an " eye ;" and his image was a sceptre, in which was placed an eye. So that Osiris signifies the same as ^«Ayo^^£6AjM,o5 [^polyoph- thalmos,~\ " many-eyed," which agrees very well to the Sun, who seems to have as many eyes as he has rays, by which he sees, and makes all things visible. Some say that Isis is Pallas, others Terra, others Ceres, and many the Moon ; for she is painted sometimes horned, as the moon appears in the in- crease, and wears black garments ; because the moon shines in the night. In the right hand she held a cymbal, and in her left a bucket. Her head was crowned with the feathers of a vulture; for among the Egyptians that bird is sacred to Juno ; and therefore they adorned the tops of their porches with the feathers of a vulture. The priests of Isis, called after her own name Isiaci, abstained from the flesh of swine and sheep, and they used no salt to their meat. They shaved their heads, they wore paper shoes, and a linen vest, because Isis first taught the use of flax ; and hence she is called Linigera, and also Inachis, from Inachus, her father. By the name of Isis, is usually under- stood " wisdom :" and accordingly, upon the pavement of the t«mple, there was this inscription : * r#^ significat arcam, in qua inventum est illiuB torpus itr 2S9 *" I am every thing that hath been, and is, and shall be ; nor hath any mortal opened my veil." By the means of this Isis, f Ipliis, a yoimg vir- gin of Crete, the daughter of Lygdus and Tele- thusa, was changed into a man. For when Lygdus went a journey, he enjoined his wife, who was then pregnant, if she brought a daughter, that she should not educate her, but leave her exposed in the fields to perish by want. Telethusa brought forth a daughter, but was very unwilling to lose her child J therefore she dressed it in a boy's habit, and called it Iphis, which is a connnon name to boys and girls. The father returned from his journey, and believed both his wife and his daughter, who personated a son : and as soon as she was marriageable, her fa- ther, who still thouglit that she was a man, married her to the beautiful lanthe. As they went to the temple to celebrate the marriage, the mother was much concerned, and begged the favourable assist- ance of Isis, who heard her pra^^ers, and changed Iphis into a most beautiful young man. Now let us come to Serapis and Apis again. Though Serapis was the god of the Egyptians, yet he was worshipped in Greece, Jespecially at Athen«, and also at Rome. Among the diiferent nations he had different names : for he was called sometimes Jupiter Ammon, sometimes Pluto, Bac- chus, iEsculapius, and sometimes Osiris. His name w^as reckoned a])ominable by the Grecians ; for all names of seven letters, eTfruypay.u.ccrci [heptagram^ mata] are by them esteemed infamous. Some say that Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, procured the effi gies of him at Pontus, from the king of Sinope, and * 'Eyw iiui wav cfl ytycv); koli ov, xctt ttrifA.ivov xai to ificv zrtfrXt$ vtus ruv ^vTiruv uTiKocXv-.^iv. Ego sum quicquid fuit est erit J nec meum quisquam motalium peplum retexit. Plut in Iside. t Ovid. Met. 9. $ Pausan. in Attic. 25 290 dedicated a magnificent temple to him at Alexan* dria. Eusebius calls him the "Prince of evil de- mons :" a flasket was placed upon his head and near him lay a creature with tinee heads ; a dog's on the right side, a wolf's on the left, and a lion's head in the middle : a snake with his fold encompassed them, whosj head hung down upon the god's right hand, with which he bridled the terrible monster. Apis was king of the Argivi, and being trans- ported thence into Egypt, he became Serapis, or the greatest of all the gods of Egypt. After the death of Serapis, the ox that we mentioned a little before, succeeded in his place. *Piiny describes the form and quality of this ox, thus : An ox, in Egypt, is worshipped as a god: they call him Apis. He is thus marked : there is a white shining spot upon his right side, horns like the moon in its in- crease, and a nose under its tongue, which they call cantharus. His body, says Herodotus, was all black : in his forehead he had a v/hite square shining figure ; the c.Tigles of an eagle in his back j and beside the cantharus in his mouth, he had hair of two sorts in his tail. But Pliny goes on : if he lives beyond an appointed period of time, they drown him in the priests' fountain ; then the priests shave their heads, mourn and lament, and seek another to substitute in his room. When they have found one, he is brought by the priests to Memphis. He hath two chapels or chambers, which are the oracles of the people ; in one of them he foreteU good, in the ether evil. qUESTIOJVS FOR EXAMINATION What was Osiris ; whom did he marry; and what is told oi his wife ? What was lo afterwards cr.lled, and why did dogs go first la the procession devoted to her ? •Plin. Hist.Nat.l. 8. C.40. 291 Who was Anubis? What was Apis ; why was the name Osiris changed to Sei^ pis; and what does Osiris signify ? Who was Isis ; what is said of her ; and what is signified by the name ? How was Iphis changed into a man, and what was the cause of this metamorphosis ? Under what name has Serapis been v/orshipped ? How is he denominated by Eusebius ; and what symboli art connected with him Who was Apis ; and how is he described ty Pliny f APPENDIX. OF THE VIRTUES AND VICES WHICH HAVE BEEN DEIFIED. CHAPTER I. THE VIRTUES AND GOOD DEITIES The ancients not only worshipped the several species of virtues, but also Virtue herself, as a god- dess. Therefore, first of her, and then of the others. Virtue derives her name from vir, because virtue IS the most manly ornament. She was esteemed a goddess, and worshipped in the habii of an elderly matron, sitting upon a square stone. "^M. Marcel- lus dedicated a temple to her ; and hard by placed another, tliat was dedicated to Honour : the temple of Virtue was the passage to the temple of Honour ; hence by virtue alone true honour is attained. The priests sacrificed to honour with bare heads, and we usually uncover our heads when we see honourable and worthy men ; and since honour itself is valua- ble and estimable, it is no wonder if such respect is shown in celebrating its sacrifices. Fides had a temple at Rome, near the capitol, which fNuma Pompilius, it is said, first consecrated to her. JHer sacrifices were performed without slaughter or blood. The heads and hands of the * Liv. 1. 2. t Cic. de Officiis. j Dion. Halicarn. 1. 2. 293 priests were covered with a white cloth when they sacrificed, because faith ought to be close and se- cret. Virgil calls her *Cana Fides, either from the candour of the mind, whence fidelity proceeds, or because faith is chiefly observed by aged persons. The symbol of this goddess was a white dog, which is a faithfid creature, f Another symbol was two hands joined, or two young ladies shaking hands : for Jby giving the right hand, they engaged their faith for their future friendship. Hope had a temple at Rome, in the herb-market, which was unfortunately burnt down with lightning. "^Giraldus says, that he has seen her effigies in a golden coin of the emperor Adrian. She was de- scribed in the form of a woman standing ; her left hand lightly held up the skirts of her garments ; she leaned on her elbow ; and in her right hand held a plate, on which she was placed a ciberium, a sort of a cup fashioned to the likeness of a flower, with this inscription : SPES, P. R. " The Hope of the people of Rome." We have already related in wdiat manner Hope was left and preserved in the bottom of Pandora's box. Justice was described like a virgin, with a pierc- ing, steadfast eye, a severe brow, her aspect awful, noble, and venerable. Alexander says, that among the Egyptians she had no head, and that her left hand was stretched forth, and open. The Greeks called her Astraea. Attihus, the duumvir, dedicated a chapel to Piety, at Rome, in the place where that woman lived, who fed her mother in prison with the milk of her breasts. The story is thus ; ||the motlier was punished with • Serv. in 1. et 8. JEn. t Stat. Theb. 1. X Dextra data iidem futurae amicitiae sancibant. Liv. 1. 21. § Svntaffm. 1. 1. f] Piin- Hist. Nat. 1 7 c. 36. 25* 294 imprisonment ; her daughter, who was an ordin* y \voman, then gave suck; she came to the prii.m frequently, mid the gaoler always searched her, to see that she carried no food to her mother : at last she was found giving suck to her mother with her breasts. This extraordinary piety of the daughter gained the mother's freedom ; and they both were afterwards maintained at the public charge ; and the place was consecrated to the goddess Piety. There is a like example in the ^Grecian history, of a woman, who by her breasts nourished Cymon, her aged father, who was imprisoned, and supported him with her own milk. The Athenians erected an altar to Misericordia, " Mercy ;" f where was first established an Asylum, a place of common refuge to the miserable and un- Ibrtunate. It was not lawful to force any from thence. When Hercules died, Jhis kindred feared some mischief from those whom he had afflicted ; therefore, they erected an asylum, or temple of mer- cy, at Athens. Nothing memorable occurs concerning the god dess Clemency, unless that there was a temple erected to Clementia Caesaris, " The Clemency ot - Caesar," as we read in §Plutarch. Two temples at Rome were dedicated to Chastity; the one to Pudicitia Patricia, which stood in the ox- market ; the other to Pudicitia Plebeia, built by Virginia, the daughter of Aulus : for when she, who was born of a patrician family, ||had married a plebeian, the noble ladies were mightily incensed, and banished her from their sacrifices, and would not suffer her to enter into the temple of Pudicitia i •♦ Val. Mas. 1. 13. t Paiisan. in Attic. i Serv. in JEn. 8. In Vita Caesaris. Liv. I. 10. 295 int^ which senatorial! families only were permitted entrance. A quarrel arose upon this among the women, and a great breach was made between them. This induced Virginia, by some extraordinary ac- tion, to blot out the disgrace she had received; and therefore, she built a chapel in the long street where she lived, and adorned it with an altar, to which she invited the plebeian matrons ; and complaining to them that the ladies of quality had used her so bar- barously ; " I dedicate," says she, " this altar to Pudicitia Plebeia ; and 1 desire of you that you will as much adore Chastity, as the men do Honour ; that this altar may be followed by purer and more chaste votaries than the altar of Pudicitia Patricia, if it be possible." It is said in history, that the women, who were contented at one marriage, were usually rewarded with a *crown of chastity. Truth, the mother of Virtue, fis painted in gar- ments as white as snow ; her looks are serene, plea- sant, courteous, cheerful, and yet modest ; she is the pledge of all honesty, the bulwark of honour, the light and joy of human society. |She is commonly accounted the daughter of Time or Saturn ; be- cause truth is discovered in the course of time : but Democritus feigns that she lies hidden in the bottom of a well. Good Sense, or Understanding, [men^,] was made a goddess by the Romans, §that they might obtain a sound mind. ||An altar was built to her in the capitol, by M. JEmilius. ITThe praetor Attiliiis vowed to build a chapel to her ; which he perform ed when he was created duumvir. • Corona pudicitiae. Val. Max. 1. 2. f Philost. in Heric. et Amp. t Pint, in Quffist. Aug. de Civ. Dei. 2. Cic. Nat. Deor. 2. Liv. 22 et 23. 296 We shall find by *the concurrent testimony of many, that the goddess Concordia had many altars at several times dedicated to her ; but she was es- Apecially worshipped by the ancient Romans. Her image held a bowl in her right hand, and a horn of plenty, or a sceptre from which fruit seemed to sprout forth, in her left, f The symbol of concord was two right hands joined together, and a pome- gi-anate. Pax was honoured formerly at Athens with an altar, Jas Plutarch tells us. At Rome she had a most magnificent temple in the Forum, begun by Claudius, and finished by Vespasian ; <5>^vhich w?.s afterwards consumed by fire under emperor Corn- modus. She was described in the tbrm of a matron, holding forth ears of corn in her hands, and crowned with olives and laurel, or sometimes roses. Her particular symbol was a caduceus, a white staff borne by ambassadors when they go to treat of peace. The goddess Salus was so much honoured by the Romans, that anciently several holy days were ap- pointed in which they worshipped her. There was a gate at Rome called Porta Salutaris, because it was near to the temple of Salus. Her image was the figure of a woman sitting on a throne, and hold- ing a bowl in her right hand. Hard by stood her altar, a snake twining round it, and lifting up his head toward it. The Augurium Salutis was for- merly celebrated in the same place. It was a kind of divination, by which they begged leave of the gods that the people might pray for peace. Fidelity, ||says St. Augustine, had her temple and • Liv. I. 9. Plut. in C. Gracch. Suet, in Tib. t Lil. Gyr. synt. 1. 1. X Plut. in Cimon. Herodot. 1. 2. De Civ. Dei. 4. PIXSJ^. SJlLIJ^ 297 altar, and sacrifices were performed to her. They represented her like a venerable matron sitting upon a throne, holding a white rod in her right hand, and a great horn of plenty in her left. As the Romans were, above all things, careful of their liberty, especially after the expulsion of the kings, when they set themselves at liberty, so they built a temple to Liberty, among the number ol their other goddesses. The Romans invoked Pecunia as a goddess, that they might be rich. They worshipped the god ^sculanus, the father of Argentinus, that they might have plenty of brass and silver : and esteem- ed jEsculanus, the father of Argentinus, because brass money was used before silver. " I wonder," *says St. Augustine, " that Aurinus was not made a god after Argentinus, because silver money was fol- Gwed by gold." To this goddess. Money, O how many apply their devotions to this day ! what vow s do they make, and at what altars do they impor- tune, that they may fill their coflers ! "If they have those gods," says f Menander, " gold and silver at home, ask whatever you please, you shall hav^ it, the very gods themselves will be at your ser- vice." Lycurgus ridiculously erected an image among the JLacedaemonians, to the god Risus. The Thes- salonians, of the city of Hypata, every year sacri- ficed to this god with great jollity. The god Bonus Genius had a temple in the way that leads to the mountain Meenalus, as says Pau- sanius. At the end of the supper they ofiered a cup to him, filled with wine and water ; which was call- * Miror autem quod Argentinus non genuit Aurinum, quia et aurea pecunia subsecuta est, De Civ. Dei. 1. 4. t Hos Deos Aurum et Argentum, si domi habeas, quicquid voles, roga, tibi omnia aderunt, ipsos babebls, vel mioistranted Peos. Ap. Strob. or. de laude auri. X Plut. in Lycurgo 2^3 cd " the grace cup." Some say the cup had more water than wine ; others say the contrary. QUESTIOjYS for EXAMWATIOK, From what does the goddess Virtue derive her name > To what does the temple of Virtue lead ? In what way did the priests sacrifice to Honour? Where was the temple of Fides, and how are her sachficet ^rformed ? What were the usual symbols of Fides ? How is Hope described, and where was her temple ? How was Hope preserved to the inhabitants of the earth ? How is justice described ? Where was there a chapel dedicated to Piety, and what wai the cause of it ? Wha«. temples were dedicated to Chastity? How is Truth painted ; whose daughter is she; and why? Why w^as wens mado a goddess ? How is Concordia described, and by what symbol is she known ? Where w-as Pax honoured, how is she described, and what fcs her peculiar symbol? What is said of the goddess Salus ? How is Fidelity represented? What is said of Liberty? Why did the Romans invoke Pecunia as a goddess ? * What w'as the saying of Menander ? Who sacrificed to Risus r Where was there a temple dedicated to Bonus GeniuS) find what was offered to this god ? CHAPTER II. THE VICES AND EVIL DEITIES. 1 CALL those Evil Deities which oppose our hap- piness, and many times do us mischief. And first, of the Vices to which temples have been conse* crated. That Envy is a goddess, appears by the con- fession of Pallas, who owned that she was assisted by her, to infect a young lady, called Aglauros, with her poison. Ovid describes the house where 299 she dwells in very elegant verse, and afterward givw a most beautiful description of Envy herself. **Protinus Invidiae nigro squallentia labo Tecta petit, Domus est imis in vallibus antri Abdita, sole carens, nee uili pervia vento; Tristis, et igiiavi plenissinia frigoris ; et (]uae Igne vacet semper caligine semper abundet." Met, 2. Then strait to Envy's cell she bends her way, Wlilch all with putrid gore infected lay. Deep in a gloomy cave's obscure recess, No beams could e'er that horrid mansion bless; No breeze e'er fann'd it, but about it roU'd Eternal woes, and ever lazy cold ; No spark shone there, but everlasting gloom, Impenetrably dark, obscur'd the room. "Pallor in ore sedet; macies in corpore toto; Nusquam recta acies; livent rubigine dentes; Pectora felle virent ; lingua est sutfnsa veneno; Risus abest, nisi quem visi movere doiores. Nee fruitur somno, vigilantibus excita cnris; Sed videt ingratos, intabescitque videndo, Successus hominum : carpitque, et carpitur ana; Suppliciuraque suum est." Mel* & A deadly paleness in her cheeks are seen ; Her meager skeleton scarce cas'd with skin; Her looks awry; an everlasting scowl Sits on her brows ; her teeth deform'd and foul ; Her breast had gall more than her breast could hold ; Beneath her tongue black coats of poison roU'd ; No smiles e'er smooth'd her furrow'd brows, but those Which rise from common mischiefs, plagues, and woes: Her eyes, mere strangers to the sweets of sleep, Devouring spite for ever waking keep ; She sees blest men with vast successes crown'd, Their joys distract her, and their glories wound: She kills abroad, herself's consum'd at home, And her own crimes are her perpetual martvrdom. \ The vices Contumely and Impudence, were both adored as deities by the Athenians : and particular- ly, it is said, they were represented by a partridge ; which is esteemed a very impudent bird. The Athenians erected an altar to Calumny. Apelles painted her thus : There sits a imiu with 300 great open ears, inviting Calumny, with his hand held out, to come to him ; and two women, Igno- rance and Suspicion, stand near him. Calumny breaks out in a fury ; her countenance is comely and beautiful, her eyes sparkle like fire, and her face is inflamed with anger ; she holds a lighted torch in her left hand, and with her right twists a young man's neck, who holds up his hands in praj^er to the gods. Before her goes Envy, on her side are Fraud and Conspiracy; behind her follows Repentance^ clad in mourning and her clothes torn, with her head turned backward, as if she looked for Truth, who comes slowly after. Fraud was described with a human face, and with a serpent's body : in the end of her tail was a scor- pion's sting : she swims through the river Cocytus, and nothing appears above water but her head. Pretronius Arbiter, where he treats of the civil war between Pompey and Csesar, has given a beau- tiful description of the goddess Discordia. Intremuere tubae, ac scisso Discordia crine Extulit ad superos Stygium caput. Hujus in ore Concretus sanguis, comesaque luraina flebant J Stabant terata rubigiue denies, Tabo lingua fluens, obsessa draconibus ora: Atque inter loto laceratam pectore vcstem, Sanguineam tremula quatiebat lampada dextra '* The trumpets sound, and with a dismal yell Wild Discord rises from the vale of hell From her swell'd eyes there ran a briny flood, And clotted gore upon her visage stood; Around her head serpentine elf-locks hung, And streams of blood flow'd from her sable tongwe* Her tatterd clothes her yellow skin betray (An emblem of the breast on which they lay ;) And brandish'd flames her trembling hand obey. Fury is described sometimes chained, sometimes raging and revelling with her chains broke : but Virgil cliooses to describe her bound in chains. 301 — " Furor impius intus Saeva sedens super arma, et centum vinctus ahenis Post tergum nodis, fremit horridus ore cruento " ^n. 1 ■Within sits impious war On cursed arms, bound with a thousand chains, And, horrid wi.h a bloody mouth complains. Petronius describes her at liberty, unbound. Furor abruptis, ceu liber, habenis Sanguineuni late tollit caput; oraque mille Vulneribus confossa cruenta casside velat. Haeret detritus laevse Mavortius umbo Innumerabilibus telis gravis, atque flagranti Stipite dextra minax terris incendia portat " Disorder'd Rage, from brazen fetters freed, Ascends to earth with an impetuous speed : Her wounded face a bloody helmet hides, And her left arm a batter'd target guides ; Red brands of fire supported in her right, The impious world with flames and ruin fright. *Paiisanias and fPlutarch say, that there were temples dedicated to Fame. She is thus finely and delicately described by Virgil. *' Fama, malum quo non aliud velocius ullum, Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo ; Parva metu primo ; mox sese attollit in auras, Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condiL Illam terra parens ira irritata Deorura, Extremam (ut perhibent) Cceo Enceladoque sororem Progenuit ; pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis: Monstrum horrendum, ingens ; cui quot sunt corpore plumn* Tot vigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu) Tot linguae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit aures. Nocte volat cceli medio terrsque per umbram Stridens, nee dulci declinat luminasomno. Luce sedet custos, aut summi culmlne tecti, Turribus aut altis ; et magnas territat urbes : Tam ficti pravique tenax, quam nuncia veri." JEn* ^ Fame, the great ill, from small beginning grows, Swift from the first, and every moment brings ♦ Pansan. in Atti. t Plut in Camilla. 26 302 New vigour to her fligl ts, new pinions to her wings< Soon grows the pigmy to gigantic size, Her feet c earth, her foreljead in the skies Enrag'd against tho gods, revongeful Earth Produc'd he) last v/,' the 1'itanian birth. Swift is her walk, more swift her winged haste, A monstrous phantom, horrible and vast: As many plumes as raise her lofty flight, So many piercing eyes enlarge her sight; Millions of op'ning mouths to Fame belong, And ev'ry mouth is furnish'd with a tongue ; And round with list'ning ears the flying plague is hung. She fills the peaceful universe with cries ; No slumbers ever close her wakeful eyes ; By day from lofty tow'rs her head she shows, And spreads through trembling crowds disastrous news. With court-informers' haunts, and royal spies, Things done relates, not done she feign-s, and mingles truth w^ith lies : Talk is her business, and her chief delight To tell of prodigies; and cause affright. Why was Fortune made a goddess, says *St. Au- gustine, since she comes to the good and bad with- out any judgment ? She is so bHnd, that without distinction she runs to any body ; and many times she passes by those that admire her, and sticks to those that despise her. So that Juvenal had reason to speak in the manner he does of her. " Nullum numen abest si sit prudentla; sed te Nos facimus, Fortuna, Deam, cceloque locamUs." Sat. 20. Fo4'tnne is never worshipp'd by the wise ; But she, by fools set up, usurps the skies. Y"et the temples that have been consecrated to her, and the names that she has had, are innumera- ble : the chief of them I will point out to you. She was styled Aurea, or Regia Fortuna, and an image of her so called was usually kept in the emperor's chamber ; and when one died, it was re- moved to the palace of his successor. * Aug. de Civ. Dei. 1. m '^i) 'j.r ...II.: Ttyitstmi. 303 She Is also called Caeca, ^' blind." Neither is she only, says ^Cicero, blind herself, but she many times makes those blind ihat enjoy her. She was called Muliebris, because the mother and the wife of Coriolanus saved the city of Rome. And when his image was consecrated in their pre- sence, f it spoke these words twice : " Ladies you have dedicated to me as you should do." Servius Tullus dedicated a temple to Fortuna Obsequens, because she obeys the wishes of men. The same prince worshipped her, and built her chapels ; where she was called Prin^^^eri a, Jbe- cause both the city and the empire ---^ -d their origin from her ; also Privata or ^Propria, because she had a chapel in the court, which that prince used so familiarly, that she was thought to go down through a little window into his house. Lastly, sh€ was called Viscata, Viscosa, because we are caught by her, as birds are with birdlime ; in which sense Seneca says, *' kindnesses are birdlime." Febris, Fever, had her altars and temples in the palace. She was worshipped that she should not hurt : and for the same reason they worshipped all the other gods and goddesses of this kind. Fear and Paleness were supposed to be gods, and worshipped by Tullus Hostihus; ||when in the bat- tle between the Romans and the Vejentes it was told him that the Albans had revolted, and the Romans grew afraid and pale, for in this doubtful conjecture, he vowed a temple to Pallor and Pavor. The people of Gadara made Poverty and Art goddesses ; because the first whets the wit for the discovery of the other. * Dei Amicitia. t Rite me, Matronae, dedicatis. Auff. de Civ. Dej. 4. Val Max. 1. 2. t Plutarch. Ibid. Liv. 1 1. 304 Necessity and Violence had their chapel upon the Acro-Corinthus : but it was a crime to enter into it. M. Marcellus dedicated a chapel to Tempestas, without the gate of Capena, after he had escaped a severe tempest in a voyage to the island cf Sicily. Both the Romans and Egyptians worshipped the gods and goddesses of Silence. The Latins parti- cularly worshipped Ageronia and Tacita, whose image, they say, stood upon the altar of the god- dess Volupia, with its mouth tied up and sealed ; ^because they who endure their cares with silence and patience, do by that means procure to them- selves the greatest pleasure. The Egyptians worshipped Harpocrates, as the *• god of Silence,*' f after the death of Osiris. He was the son of Isis. They offered the first fruits of the lentils and pulse to him. They consecrated the tree persea to him ; because the leaves of it were shaped like a tongue, and the fruit like a heart.. He was painted naked in the figure of a boy, crown- ed with an Egyptian mitre, which ended at the points as it were in two buds ; he held in his left hand a horn of plenty, while a finger of his right hand was upon his lip, thereby commanding silence. And therefore I say no more ; neither can I bettei be silent, than when a god commands me to be so qUESTIOKS FOR EXAMINATION. How are the evil deities described ? How is it ascertained ? he. Wliora did the Athenians adore a,s deities? HoAV is Calumny painted by Apelles ? How was Fraud described ? Repeat the lines descriptive of Discord. How is Fury described by Virgil ? What are the lines by Fetronius ? Give me Virgil's fine description of Fame ? * Quod, qui suos angores (unde Angeronia dicta est) seqoo animo ferunt, perveniunt ad maximam voluptatem. f Epiph. 3. contra Haeresc! II M...... .1.1 HiLUFDOiMrj^^ 305 How is Fortune described ? What does Juvenal say of her ? How is she described by Cicero ? What did Servius Tullus do with respect to Fortune ? Wliy was Fortune called Viscosa, and what was Seneca^ phrase ? Why was Febris worshipped ? By whom were Fear and Paleness worshipped ? VVhy, and by whom were Poverty and Art deified ? What is said of Necessity and Violence ? ^ Who dedicated a temple to Tempestas ; and why did he 00 so? Who worshipped the gods and goddesses of Silence? Whom did the Latins worship, and why ? Whom did the Egyptians worship ? How is Harpocrates painted ? THE END 26« INDEX. Absyrtus, torn in pieces by Me- dea 259 Achelous, turns himself into a serpent, then into a bull, in which shape be is conquered by Hercules 255 Acheron, one of the infernal rivers 209 Achilles, history of 281 Acidalia, one of the names of Venus ^ 102 Action, turned into a deer by Diana, and torn in pieces by his own dogs 176 Adonis, killed by a boar^ and by Venus turned into the flower anemone 111 Adrastaea, the same with Ne- mesis, one of the goddesses of justice 166 Adsc'riptitii Dii, gods of the lower rank 21—249 ^acus, judge of hell 221 iEcastor, an oath OTily used by women, as Hercle was used by men 265 jEdepol, an oath used by both sexes 265 TEgeon, account of 223 iEgis, Jupiter's shield 26 Aello, one of the Hai-]iies 230 ^obis, god of winds, descrip- tion of 136 , great skill of 137 iE!?culapius, description of 270 ^son,the father of Jason, when very old, restored to youth by Medea 259 JEta, father of Medea, and king of Colchis 259 Africans, gods of the 18 Agamemnon, history of 266 Aglaia, one of the graces 111 Ajax, kills himself, and his blood turned into a violet 284 Alcides, one of the names of Hercules, see Hercules 251 Alecto, one of the Furies 218 Alectryon, why and how pun- . ished 80 Alpheus, story of 188 Amazons, female v^^arriors, ac- count of 261 Ambarvalia, description of 157 Ambrosia, festivals in honour of Bacchus 71 Amica, a name of Venus 101 Amphion, from whom he re- ceived his harp 280 Amphytrite, wife of Neptune 196 Andromeda, delivered by Per- seus from a sea-monster 268 Angerona, the goddess that re- moved anguish of mind 246 Anteus, a giant overcome by Hercules, see Hercules Antiope, 28 Anubis, a god with a dog's head, history of 287 Aonides, the Muses so called 162 Apaturia, a title of Venus 103 Apis, king of the Argivi 290 Apollo, description of, and how painted, 39 , what devoted to 40 Apollos, the four ib. Apollo, actions of 41 , names of 45 , signification of the fa- ble of 50 , things sacrificed to 50 INDEX. Arachne, turned into a spider by Minerva 96 Areopagus, for what used 75 , judges of their du- ties ib. Arethusa, for what celebrated 188 ArgonautEe, Jason's compan- ions that w^ent with him to fetch the g-olden fleece 259 Argus, description of 86 Ariadne, daughter of Minos 260 Arion, history of 280 Aristffius, history of 174 Armata, a title of Venus 101 4scolia, games in honour of Bacchus 71 Astraja, description of 165 /Italanta and Hippomenes, sto- ry of 106 Atlas 276 Atropos, one of the Fates 218 Atys, hi'story of 147 Avernus, a lake on the borders of hell 208 Augaeas, his stable containing three thousand oxen, cleans- ed in one day by Hercules 253 Aurora, birth and description of 115 B Baal, a name of Jupiter 30 Babylon, Avails of 54 Babylonians, gods of the 18 Bacchanalia, when celebrated 72 Bacchae, the priestesses of Bac- chus 68 Bacchus, description of 64 , birth of ib. • , names of 65 , sacrifices of, when ce- lebrated 70 . , actions of 63 , fables of 73 Battus, turned by Mercury into an index 62 Belides, fifty daughters of Da- naus, who killed their hus- bands on the wedding night 226 , punishment of in hell ib Bellerophon, history of 269 's letters, meaning of ib. Bellica, a pillar before the tem- ple of Bellona 78 Bellona, description of 77 Belus, king of Assyria, the first to whom an idol was set up and w^orshipped 17 Berecinthia, a title of Cybele, see Cybele Biblis, falls in love with her brother Caunus 57 , pines away with grief, dies, and is turned into a fountain 67 Bona Dea, a title of Cybele 144 Briareus, one of the giants that warred against heaven 224 Busiris, a tyrant that offered human sacrifices to his father Neptune 264 Cabh-i, priests of Cybele 149 Cacus, son of Vulcan 134 Cadmus, banished, and builds the city of Thebes 29 , invents the Greek let- ters : SOW' s the teeth of a dra- gon in the ground whence armed men sprung up 29 Caduceus, Mercury'.s wand de- scribed 61 Caeculus, a robber, Vulcan's son 135, Caenis 198 Caprotina, &ic. names of Juno 88 Calisto, turned into a bear, and made a constellation 28 Calliope, one of the muses 160 Calumny, how painted by Apel- les 300 Camillus, a name of Mercury, see Mercury INDEX. Canopus, god of the Egj-ptians 201 Cantharus, the name of Sile- nus' jug 172 Casitolinus, a title of Jupiter 30 Castalides, the Muses so called 162 Castor and Pollux, accompani- ed Jason to Colchis, 264 Celeno, one of the harpies 230 Centaurs, overcome by The- seus 261 Cephalns and Tithonus how carried to heaven 116 Cerberus, description of 210 Ceres, description and history of 150 , inventions of 151 , why called the foundress of laws 152 Cham, to which of the heathen gods likened Charon, how represented , office of 125 208 209 205 231 Charybdis, description of Chymara, description of Chiron, a centaur, account of 270 Circe, character of 56 , a famous sorceress, ban- ished for poisoning her hus- band ib. , falls in love with Glau- cus, and turns Scylla into a sea-monster 204 eiio, one of the Muses 160 Clotho, one of the fates 217 Clowns of Lycia, turned into frogs 115 Clytem nostra, history of 265 Cocytus, description of 210 Ccelum, wife and children of 119 Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the world described 53 Concordia, temples dedicated to 296 Corybantcs, whence the name of derived 149 Cupid, character of 109 Curetcs, signification of 148 Cybele, reason of lier different names 143 , names of the priests of, rites observed in sacrificing to 14S Cyclops, servants of Vulcan 134 Cyllenius, a title of Mercury, see Mercury Cynthius, a title of Apollo, see Apollo Cyparissus, a beautiful youth turned into a cypress-tree 43 Cypria, Cypris, Cythersa, &c. names of Venus, see Venus Cyrus, palace of 54 D. Daedalus, character and descrip- tion of 66 Dana?, 27 Danaides, story of 227 Daphne, turned intoalaurel 43 Deianira, wife of Hercules, oc- casion of his death 256 Delius, Delphicus, titles of Apollo, see Apollo Delos, origin of 113 Deluge, account of the 275 Deucalion, history of ib. Diana, description and history of 176 , names of 177 , temple of 53 Diespiter, a name of Jupiter 31 Diomedes, a tyrant of Thrace, subdued by Hercules, and given as food to his horses 253 Dira?, a name of the Furies 218 Dodoneus,aname of Jupiter 31 Dreams, bv what ways convey* edto men, 220, Dryades 186 E. Echo, description of 189 Elysium, description of 233 Envy, description of 3 Erato, one of the Muses, 160 Erisichthon, story of 164 INDEX. Euryale,one of the gorgons 230 Euterpe, one of the Muses 101 Endymioa ITS Eleusian mysteries 154 F. Fates, Iiow represented 217 Fauns, description of the 173 Febris, why worshipped 303 Feronia, the goddess of the woods, why so named 184 Fides, reverence paid to, and symbols of 292 Fleece, golden account of 258 Flora, how painted and de- scribed 183 Floralia, w^hen celebrated ib. Fortune, how represented and described 302 Fraud, description of 300 Frogs, why doomed to live in water 115 Furies, description of 218 Gallantes, from whence the term derived 148 Galli, from whence the name of derived ib. Genii 240 , history of ib. , to whom assigned 241 Ger)'on, story of 229 Giants, from what derived, character of, battles of 222 Glaucopis, a name of Minerva, see Minerva Glaucus, how transformed to a sea-god 201 Gods, false origin of 17 , of the Romans, divided into six classes 20 , celestial, enumerated 24 , terrestrial, most celebrat- ed of, named and described 118 , inferior rural 191 , of the woods 171 , and goddess, nuptial 243 •-; — , sylvan, for what mis- chievous 244 Gods, presiding over infants, , a particular one, assigned to each part of the body 247 , funeral ib. Golden Age, described 120 Golden Fleece, described 258 Gorgons, number and names of 230 Graces, description of 110 Gradivus, a title of Mars, see Mars Grasshopper, curious property of 116 Greek Letters, by whom in- vented 29 H. Hades, a name of Flute, see Pluto Halcyone, a daughter of Atlas 277 Harpies, from whom born, de- scription of 229 Hebe, the goddess of youth, her birth ; made cup bearer to Jupiter 5 but for an un- lucky fall is turned out of her office 85 Hecate, whence the name of derived 178 Helena, the most beautiful vir- gin in the world, runs aw-ay with Paris, after his death marries his brother Deipho- bus, and then betrays him to Menelaus li37 Helicon, the Muse^' mount 162 He'.lconides or Heliconiades, the Muses so called ib. Hell, description of 207 , rivers of 209 , judges of 221 , monsters of 208 Helle, drowned in that sea which from her is since call ed the Hellespont 258 Hellespontiacus, a title of Pria pus, see Priapus Hercules, actions of, to whom ascribed 250 INDEX. Hercules, iiifant strength of 251 , labours of 252 by Avhom overcome 256 Herman, statues of Mercur>' set up for the direction of travel- lers 62 Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, made into one person, called a hermaphrodite 61 Hermathena^, images used among the Romans 63 Herraes, a name of Mercury ib. Hermione, the daughter of Me- nelaus, promised to Orestes, but married to Phyrrus 265 Heroes, whence the name de- rived 249 Hesper or Hesperugo,the even- ing-star 278 Hesperides, the three daughters of Hesperus, in whose garden were golden apples, guarded by a dragon, which Hercules kills, and takes away the fruit 278 Hesperus, the brother of Atlas, turned into a star ib. Hippius and Hippodromus, names of Neptune, see Nep- tune Hippocampi, the horses of Nep- tune's chariot 196 Hippocrene, the Muses' foun- tain 162 Hippolyte, queen of the Ama- zons, married to Theseus ib. Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, his exemplary chastity; is killed by a fall from his cha- riot, and restored to life by jEsculapius ib. Hippona, a goddess presiding over horses and stables 191 Honour, why sacrificed to 292 Hope, how described 293 Horae or Hours, their late de- scent and offices 52 Hortensis, a title of Venus 102 Horus, a name of the Sun 52 Hostilina, a goddess of corn 192 Hyacinthus, killed by Apollo, with a (juoit 42 Hyades, signification of 277 Hydra, a monstrous serpent, killed by Hercules 252 Hygigea or Sanitas, a daughter of ^sculapius, see j$iscula pius Jani, a place at Rome where usurers met 127 Janitor, a title of Janus 128 Janus, description of 127 , name of, whence de- rived 128 , what sacrifices oflFered to him 130 , founder of temples and religious duties ib, , temple of, when shut ib. , story of ib. Japhet, to whom likened 125 Jason, the history of 258 Icarus, flies with artificial wings, but the sun melts them, so that he falls into the sea, and is drowned 57 Idoei Dactyl i, origin of 149 Idalia, a name of Venus, see Venus Idolatry, causes of 15 Ignis, a god of the Chaldeans fights with the Egyptian god Canopus, and is vanquished 201 Imperator, a name of Jupiter 32 Impudence, by what represent- ed 299 Incubus and Inuus, names of Pan 168 lo, Jupiter's intrigue with her, and by him turned into a cow ; after her death wor- shipped by the Egyptians, and called Isis 85 lolaus, assists Hiercules, for which, when become old, he is restored to youth again 253 Iphiclus, twin brother to Her- cules, see Hercules Iris 84 J^DEX. fudges of hell, their names and characters 221 Juno, description of 83 —, childrefi of 85 — — , character of ib. Jupiter, description of 24 ,how dressed and adorn- ed by different nations ib. 's descent, and educa- tion of 26 , exploits and actions of , names 30 Justice, how described 293 Ixion, punishment of 225 L. Labyrinth, Theseus delivered from 261 Lachcsis, one of the Fates 217 Lacinia, a title of Juno, see Juno Lactura or Lactucina, a god- dess of corn 192 Laomedon,kingof Troy,breaks the promise he had made, for which Hercules destroys Troy 255 Lapides Terminates, why es- teemed sacred 175 Lapis or Lapideus, a title of Jupiter 32 Lares, account of the 238 , feasts dedicated to ib. -, wliere worshipped 239 Latona, history of, reception of, at Delos 112 , effects of the ange-r of 114 Learchus, killed by his father Athamas 200 Leda 28 Lenseus, a name of Bacchus, see Bacchus Lethe, river of hell, description ot 234 Levana, a tutelar goddess to new-born infants 245 Leucothe, buried alive for her incontinence, and turned in- to a tree bearing frankin- cense 44 Liber and Liber Pater, names of Bacchus, see Bacchus Libitina, the goddess of fune- rals; also a nam-e for the grave itself 247 Libitinarii, officers thct buried the dead ib. Lucetius, a title of Jupiter 33 Lucina, a name of Juno, sec Juno Luna, why Diana was called by this name, see Diana Lupercalia, festivals in honour of Pan 168 Luperci, the priests of Pan 168 Lycaon, king of Arcacia, turn- ed into a wolf for his mon- strous impiety 27 Lyceus, a name of Pan, see Pan Lycian clowns, turned into frogs by Latona 115 Lycurcus, to whom erected an image 297 Lybians, gods of the 18 M. Mars, description of 76 , what things consecrated to 76 77 78 80 82 81 82 , wife of , names of , chief actions of , sacrifices of , son of , ancient rites of Marsyas, challenges Apollo in music, is overcome by him and turned into a river 44 Matura, a goddess of corn 192 Mausolus' tomb, one of tlie se- ven wonders of the world 53 Medea, story of 259 Medusa, one of tlie gorgons 230 , description of 268 Meleager, his adventure? 181 Melicerta, made a sea-god 201 I\Iel!ona, the goddess of honey 192 Melpomene, one of the Muses 161 Memnon, story of 116 INDEX. Memnon, statue of, described Mentha, turned inic a mint 216 Mercury, description of 58 • , parents of ib. , olRcesof ib. , qualities of 59 , actions of ^l , statues of, when erected 62 , sacrifices to,by whom ottered 63 Mercy, an altar erected to 294 Metra, Mestra, Mestre, the daughter of Erischthon, who could transform herself into any shape 198 Midas, treatment of by Apollo 44 , asses' ears of 45 Migonitis, a lUle of Venus, see Venus Milky-way, origin of 251 Minerva, description of 91 , why armed ib. , thingb sacred to her 92 's contention with Neptune ib. , statue of ib. , birth of ib. , names of 93 , signification of the. fable of 98 Minos, judge of hell 221 , king of Crete 260 , his conduct towards the Athenians ib. Minotaur, described 56 , overcome by The- seus 260 Mithra, a name of the Sun 5^ Momus, name of, whence iJe- rived ^ 138 , business of ib. , judgment of ib. , parents of 1.39 Morpheus, the servant of Som- nus, he brings to the people their dreams 221 Mors, the goddess of deatli 220 Moses, to whom compared 73 Mulciber or Mulcifer, a name of Vulcan, see Vulcan Muscarius, a tith: of Jupiter .33 Muses, the description of the 159 , of what the mistresses and presidents ib. , how painted 160 , names of the ib. , names of, common to all 162 , why three, and after- wards nine 163 Myrmidones, from what deriv- ed 221 N Naiades or Naides, priestcssRs of Bacchus, nymphs of the fountains 187 Napa^ffl, nymphs of the groves and vallies 187 Narcissus, falls in love with his ovsn image 190 , pines away and is turned into a daffodil ib Nema^an Lion, killed by Her- cules, see Hercules Nemesis, history of 166 Neptune, king of the waters, description of 194 , how preserved from Saturn 194 , to whom married 195 , president of the horse races ib. , governor of ships, &c. 196 , children of 197 Nereides, origin of the name of 200 Nereus, for what famous ib. Nicephorus, a title of Jupiter 33 Nimrod, to whom compared 73 Ninus, account of 17 Niobe, story of 1 13 Noah, in what respects similar to Saturn 124 Nodosus or Nodotus, a god of corn. 192 Nox, from whom derived, and how represented 220 INDEX. Nundina, a tutelar goddess to infants 245 Nyctilius, a name of Bacchus, see Bacchus Nymphs, descnption of, office of 186 Oceanus, sea-god, description of 200 Ocypete, one of the Harpies 230 Oedipus, history of 232 Opigena, a title of Juno, see Juno Opitulus or Opitulator, a name of Jupiter 34 Ops, a name of Cybele 143 Orestes, kill? his mother Cly- temnestra, and her gallant ^gisthus, also Phyrrus, for marrying his sweetheart Her- mione 265 Orgia, feasts of Bacchus 72 Orion, companion of Diana 286 Orpheus, his parentage, and amazing skill in music ; he overcomes the Sirens ; ob- tains Eurydice, his Avife,frora hell, but loses her again ; re- solves never more to marry, for which he is torn in pieces ; his harp made a constellation; the meaning of this fable 279 Osiris, king of the Argives, quits his kingdom and trax^els into Egj^it, where he marries lo; killed by his brotherTyphon; the same with Apis and Sera- pis, and also thought to be the Sun 286 Pactolus, a river whose sand is gold 69 Paean, a name of Apollo 46 Palsemon, one of the sea-gods 200 Pales, the goddess of shepherds 182 Palladium, an image of Miner- va that fell from heaven 94 Pallas, the same with Minerva 98 Palilian feasts, when and how observed 183 Pan, history of 167 Pandora, the first woman fash- ioned by Vulcan; her box, and the mischiefs that came from it on mankind 134 Pantheon, description of 15 Paphia, name of Venus 103 ParcEc, why so called, names and offices of 217 Paris, his descent and birth ; determines who is the fairest of Juno, Minerva, and Ve- nus; runs away with Helena, who was betrothed to Men©- laus, which occasions the war between the Greeks and Tro- jans, in which Paris is killed by Philoctetes 107 Parnassides, the Muses so call- ed 162 Parthenos or Parthenia, a title of Juno 90 ; and of Minerva 95 Pasiphae, falls in love with Taurus, and brings forth a Minotaur ; the meaning of this fable 56 Pax, honours paid to 296 Pecunia, why prayed to 297 Pegasus, the Muses' horse, his birth and description ; is caught and rode upon by Bellerophon, and afterwards placed in heaven among the stars 269 Penates, enumerated and de- scribed 236 Penelope 2S5 Periclymenus, one that could transform himself into any shape, and was killed by Hercules when in the shape of a fly 198 Perseus, son of Jupiter, story of 267 Persians, gods of the 18 Phaeton, the son of Sol, obtains leave to drive the chariot of the Sun for one day ; over- throws it, by which the hea- INDEX. ven and the earth are set on fire, and he is by Jupiter struck with thunder into the river Po ; his sisters turned into poplars ; the meaning of this fable 55 Philomela, story of 81 Phlegethoii or Puriphlegethon, one of the infernal rivers, the streams of which are fire 210 Phlegyas, in what manner, and why punished 225 Phorcus or Phorcys, a son of Keptune 197 Pierides or Pieriae, the Muses so called 162 Piety, description and illustra- tion of 293 Pilumnus, a rural god 192 Pistor, a naiiie of Jupiter 34 Pleiades, names of 277 , from what the name rived ib. Pluto, description of, names of, over what he presides, why blind 211 Podalirius, a famous physician 272 Polyhymnia, one of the muses 161 Polyphemus 135 Pclyxena, at her marriage with Achilles causes him lo be killed, and is sacrificed to appease his ghost 282 Pomona, the goddess of fruit 184 Porthmeus or Portitor, a name of Charon 208 Prsedator, a name of Jupiter, see Jupiter Priapus, description of 174 Procris, married to Cephalus, and killed accidentally bv him 116 Progne, story of 81 Prometheus, makes a man of clay, and animates him with fire stolen from heaven ; pun- ished by Jupiter for his theft, freed from his punishment by Hercules ; the meaning of this fable 273 Proserpine, a goddess of corn ; her descent, and how carried away by Pluto • is soiight for by her mother Ceres, who obtains from Jupiter that Proserpine should be six months with Pluto, and the other six wdth her in heaven 216 Proteus, description of 197 Pygmalion, history of 104 Pyramids of Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the w^orld 54 Pyraraus and Thisbe, account of 104 Pythius, a name of Apollo 47 Pytho, a daughter of Atlas 277 Python, killed by Apollo 47 Q. Quietus, a name of Pluto, see Pluto Quirinus, a title of Jupiter 34 ■, a title of Mars, see Mars. R. Rationes Libitinae, an account of the dead, not unlike our Bills of Mortality 247 Rhadamanthus, judge of hell 221 Rhea, a name of Cybele 143 Rhodes, Colossus of 53 Riddle, proposed by Sphynx 231 Robigus, a god of corn, whose festivals are called Robigalia 192 Roman people, ranks of 19 gods, how divided 20 , over what presid- ed ib. Runcina, the goddess of weed- ina: 191 Salii, priests of Mars, see Mars Salisubsulus, a title of Mars ib. INDEX. Salmoneus, why^and how pun- ished 226 Salus, how honoured 301 Saturn, representation and his- tory of 118 , names and sacrifices of 121 , feasts of 122 , to whom of the antedi- luvians compared 123 Saturnalia, festivals in honour of Saturn 122 Satyrs, of whom the compan- ions, and description of the 173 Scylla, the daughter of Nisus, ruins her country, by cutting off her father's purple lock of hair, and is turned into a lark 204 Scylla and Charybdis, fables of 205 Seia or Segetia, a goddess of corn 191 Semele, beloved by Jupiter; through her own ambition is destroyed 64 Semi-Dei, described 249 Serapis, the name of derived 288 Shem, who supposed to repre- sent 125 Silence, why worshipped 304 Silenus, story of 171 Silvanus, description of ib. Sirens, their description ; over- come by Orpheus, and turn- ed into stones ; the explana- tion of this fable 202 Sisyphus, a famous robber 226 Sol, a name of Apollo 45 , a name of the Sun 52 Somnus, description of 220 Sospita, atitle of Juno, see Juno Soter or Sovator, a title of Ju- piter 35 Sphynx,by whom begotten 231 Stellk), a saucy boy turned into an evet by Ceres 154 Sterculius, Stercutius, Stercutus or Sterquilinius, a rural god 192 Stheno, one of the gorgons 230 Stli;«nobcea, endeavours to en- tice Bellerophon, but is re- jected, and therefore kills herself, see Bellerophon Stymphalides, birds that feed on human flesh, destroyed by Hercules 253 Styx, description of 210 Sun, why named Sol 52 , how named by other na- tions ib. , children of 55 Syrens, story of, fee. 202 Syrinx, a nymph courted by Pan, but flies from him, and is turned into a bundle of reeds 169 T. Tantalus, wickedness and pun- ishment of 227 Telchines, an account of the 149 Tereus, marries Progne, falls in love with her sister Philo- mela, cuts out her tongue, she informs Progne of this villany by needlework, and to revenge themselves they kill and dress Itys, whom his father Tereus feeds on for supper, Progne becomes a sparrow, Philomela a night- ingale, Tereus a hoopoe, and Itys a pheasant 81 Tergemina, a title of Diana 176 Terminus, of what the god 175 Terpsichore, one of the Muses 161 Terrestrial Gods and Goddesses 118 Thalia, one of the Graces 111 , one of the Muses 160 Thamyras, dismal fate of 163 Thesmophorian Mysteries 157 Themis 164 Theodamus, killed by Hercu- les 255 Theseus, actions of, kc. 260 Thisbe, history of 104 Thyades, Bacchus' companions 66 INDEX Time ; . Saturn, why mean- ing the same 126 Tisiphone, one of the Furies 218 Titan, conduct of 119 Titans, description of 225 Tithouus. history of 116 Tytius, history of 224 Tonas and Tonitrualis, names of Jupiter 35 Trieterica, sacrifices to Bac- chus 71 Triformis, a title of Diana 177 Trioculus or Triophthalmos, a name of Jupiter 36 Triptolemus, account of 153 , fourth Judge of hell 221 Triton, a sea-god, description of 199 Tritonia, a name of Minerva 95 Trivia, a name of Hecate or Diana, see Diana Trojan war, reason of the 108 Troy, the walls of it built by the music of Apollo's harp 42 Truth, how painted 295 Tutelina or Tutulina, a goddess of corn 192 Tyndariffi, the children of Tyn- darus 263 Tyndarus, king of Laconia, the husband of Leda ib. Typhceus, description of 223 V. Vallonia, the goddess of the vallies 191 Vejovis, Vejupiter and Vedius, titles of Jupiter 36 Venus, description of 99 . , character of 100 ■ , how painted ib. , from what sprung ib. , to whom married 101 . -, names of ib. , actions of 104 , companions of 109 Verticordia, a title of Venus, see Venus Vertumnus, story of 185 Vesta, description of 139 , sacrifices of 140 , Avhy put for fire ib, , why highly esteemed ib. , fire kept in her temples 141 , privileges of ib. , meaning of by the poets ib. Vices, enumerated and describ- ed 298 Virtue, by whom worshipped 292 Volumnusand Volumna, tutelar deities to adult persons 247 Volusia, the goddess of corn 192 Vulcan, his birth, descent, and employment ; courts Miner- va, but is rejected ; marries Venus ; makes the first wo- man, who is called Pandora, his servants; his children; the signification of this fable 132 Vulcania, feasts in honour of Vulcan, see Vulcan. U. Ulysses, why so named, history of, actions 283 Urania, one of the Muses 161 Unxia, a title of Juno, see Juno W. Walls of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the world 54 Wise men of Greece, their names and characters 48 Wonders, seven of the world 53 Xanthus, one of the horses of Achilles, see Achilles Xenia, a name for presen*j5 made to strangers 86 BU. * ^ RETURN CIRCULATION DEPAR" TO^-^ 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 4 5 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-34 6-month loons may be recharged by bringing bool' Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days pri' DUE AS STAMPED B MAY 1 5 19te KTD DEC 7 1381 MAR 2 6 1982 IH - P MAR 2 4 ' » JyN 1 3 jyMH -c. CIR. BOV 25 "eg TWJG^ CiiS.v^^ DEC 1 1 1982 iftttr FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 12/80 GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY BDOD^OaSMT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY .jUni ■♦»;»" ^' I'f i ^im : -■^; 1 .?^i>A%vt*:'V* ■»«i-;'