Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology Part 13

Pl. 5.]

He was reckoned among the G.o.ds presiding over marriage, from the torches lighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in several nations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy in a heap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to Vulcan. As to his wors.h.i.+p, Vulcan had an altar in common with Prometheus, who first invented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in making arms and utensils.

His princ.i.p.al temple was in a consecrated grove at the foot of mount aetna, in which was a fire continually burning. This temple was guarded by dogs, which had the discernment to distinguish his votaries by tearing the vicious, and fawning upon the virtuous.

He was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the walls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the G.o.d of fire ought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid him by the Romans was, that those a.s.semblies were kept in his temple where the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the Romans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their treaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that G.o.d was the symbol.

This deity, as the G.o.d of fire, was represented differently in different nations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, placed in the mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat diffused through all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is figured as a lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair neglected; half naked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and having a round peaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a smith's tongs in his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by the Cyclops, or by some of the G.o.ds or G.o.ddesses for whom he is employed.

The poets described him as blackened and hardened from the forge, with a face red and fiery whilst at his work, and tired and heated after it. He is almost always the subject either of pity or ridicule. In short, the great celestial deities seem to have admitted Vulcan among them as great men used to keep buffoons at their tables, to make them laugh, and to be the b.u.t.t of the whole company.

If we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must have recourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was the most mutable figure on earth, for he a.s.sumed shapes suitable to all seasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural dress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and other artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus of the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or husbandry will halt without the a.s.sistance of the handicraft or mechanic arts. In this apparatus he was called _Mulciber_, (from _Mulci_, to direct and manage, and _ber_ or _beer_, a cave or mine, comes Mulciber, the king of the mines or forges;) he was called also Hephaistos, (from _Aph_, _father_, and _Esto_, _fire_, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the father of fire; and from _Wall_, to work, and Canan, to _hasten_, comes _Wolcon_, Vulcan, or _work furnished_;) all which names the Greeks and Romans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a _symbol_ to a _G.o.d_.

aeOLUS, G.o.d of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by Acasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to most authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is represented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent their committing any more such devastations as they had before occasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction of Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by which a pa.s.sage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea.

According to some, the aeolian, or Lipari islands were uninhabited till Liparus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of them his name. aeolus married his daughter Cyane, peopled the rest and succeeded him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who hospitably entertained Ulysses, and as a proof of his kindness, bestowed on him several skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions of Ulysses, unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins, the winds in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest uproar; insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself alone saved by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the rougher winds the poets have placed aeolus; over the milder, Juno; and the rain, thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself.

MOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the G.o.d of pleasantry and wit, or rather the jester of the celestial a.s.sembly; for, like other monarchs, it was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an instance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune, Minerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a house, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked the bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he might give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was immovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad neighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have made a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his secrets discovered.

CHAPTER IV.

_Terrestrial G.o.ddesses._

CYBELE, _or_ Vesta _the elder_. It is highly necessary, in tracing the genealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between this G.o.ddess and Vesta the _younger_, her daughter, because the poets have been faulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes and actions of the one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cybele, was daughter of Clus and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she bore a numerous offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of Cybele, under which she is most generally known, and which she obtained from Mount Cybelus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were first inst.i.tuted. Her sacrifices and festivals, like those of Bacchus, were celebrated with a confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals; the sacrificants howling as if mad, and profaning both the temple of the G.o.ddess, and the ears of their hearers with the most obscene language and abominable gestures.

Under the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon ancient coins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a sphere or drum in the other. As Cybele, she makes a more magnificent appearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, crowned with towers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being G.o.ddess, not of cities only, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was crowned with turrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of cities, but also that in winter the earth locks those treasures up, which she brings forth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, because (fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised by its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, because the earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by lions, may imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a motherly piety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are painted with divers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the images of several creatures, because such a dress is suitable to the variegated and more prevalent appearance of the earth.

VESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single life, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to grant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her virginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the great founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have restored the ancient rites and wors.h.i.+p of this G.o.ddess, to whom he erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant fire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the care of which was intrusted to a select number of young females appointed from the first families in Rome, and called _Vestal virgins_.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

APOLLO AND THE MUSES.

Pl. 6.]

As this Vesta was the G.o.ddess of fire, the Romans had no images of her in her temple; the reason for which, a.s.signed by Ovid, is that fire has no representative, as no bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was the guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in the porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is certain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme being than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout the east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on the preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they thought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune.

CERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, Crete, and Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing the ground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In her youth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and by him she had Perephata, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time she took up her residence in Corcyra, so called in later times, from a daughter of Asopus, there buried, but anciently _Drepanum_, from the sickle used by the G.o.ddess in reaping, which had been presented her by Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted torches at the volcano of Mount aetna, and mounting her car, drawn by winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the night with lighted torches and loud exclamations.

It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptolemus, and his brother Eubuleus; but the generality of writers agree in conferring the honor on the nymph Arethusa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and companion of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river Alpheus, saw Proserpine in the infernal regions.

It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest t.i.tles bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain; to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their possessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as she gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because it grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her to eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an ancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the offices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being admitted.

If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be found, that the G.o.ddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phnicians into those countries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or _covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres, shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of Ceres, from Cerets, _dissolution_ or _overthrow_. She was represented in mourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of her favorite daughter _Persephone_ (which word, translated, signifies corn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with which this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their first abundant crop, the word which signifies a _double crop_, being also a name for the _poppy_. Persephone or Proserpine found again, was a lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost lost in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which ever happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when transplanted to Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry.

Ceres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair complexion, languis.h.i.+ng eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head crowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right hand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a lighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or winged dragons.

MUSae, the _Muses_. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have been the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. They were believed to have been born on Mount Pierus, and educated by Eupheme. In general they were considered as the tutelar G.o.ddesses of sacred festivals and banquets, and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported virtue in distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer calls them superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the sciences, these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry seemed more immediately under their united protection.

These divinities, formerly called Mosae, were so named from a Greek word signifying _to inquire_; because, by inquiring of them, the sciences might be learnt. Others say they had their name from their resemblance, because there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, betwixt all the sciences, in which they agree together, and are united with each other; for which reason they are often painted with their hands joined, dancing in a circle round Apollo their leader.

They were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each holding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she presided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird sacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome, in the meadow where Numa used to meet the G.o.ddess Egeria; the care of which and of the wors.h.i.+p paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal virgins.

Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over history. Her name is derived from ??e???, _glory_, or from ??e??, to _celebrate_. She is generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book: others describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a _plectrum_, or quill.

Euterpe is distinguished by _tibiae_ or pipes whence she was called also Tibicina. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common with the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace.

Thalia presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and pleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is represented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of which they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages of their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other Muses in general by a mask, and from Melpomene, the tragic Muse, by her shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than that of Melpomene, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently less n.o.ble, than that of any other of the Muses.

Melpomene was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song. She presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus.

She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited, with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided over the stage; and she is distinguished from Thalia, or the comic Muse, by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress. Melpomene was supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as well as tragedy; as one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking her in one of his odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in another.

Terpsich.o.r.e; that is, the _sprightly_. Some attribute her name to the pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the protectress of music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus of the ancient drama was her province, to which also logic has been annexed. She is further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she holds, as well on medals as on other monuments.

Erato, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence she was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and crowned with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a bow in her left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with his bow and arrows.

Polyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies _much singing_, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs, rather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that harmony of voice and gesture which gives a perfection to oratory and poetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is represented with a crown of pearls and a white robe, in the act of extending her right hand, as if haranguing, and holding in her left a scroll, on which the word _Suadere_ is written; sometimes, instead of the scroll, she appears holding a _caduceus_ or sceptre.

Urania, or Clestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all divine or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the G.o.ds, the motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or astronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and supporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands upon a tripod.

Calliope, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to receive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calliope, as she presided over the hymns made in honor of the G.o.ds. She is spoken of by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace calls her _Regina_, and attributes to her the skill of playing on what instrument she pleases.

ASTRaeA, or ASTREA, G.o.ddess of justice, was daughter of Astraeus, one of the t.i.tans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She descended from heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with principles of justice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she re-ascended thither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac called Virgo.

This G.o.ddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound or blinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of balances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on a square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand stretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets, she was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in those of bra.s.s and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to abandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first quitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before she entirely withdrew.

NEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of Ocea.n.u.s and Nox, had the care of revenging the crimes which human justice left unpunished. The word Nemesis is of Greek origin, nor was there any Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets usually styled this G.o.ddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of Nemesis at Rhamnus in Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea, because Adrastus, king of Argos, first raised an altar to her. Nemesis is plainly divine vengeance, or the eternal justice of G.o.d, which severely punishes the wicked actions of men. She is sometimes represented with wings, to denote the celerity with which she follows men to observe their actions.

CHAPTER V.

_G.o.ds of the Woods._

_Pan_, the G.o.d of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and herds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who lived about the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of the G.o.ds to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. The most common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penelope. As soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to heaven, where he charmed all the G.o.ds with his pipe, so that they a.s.sociated him with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this he was educated on Mount Maenalus, in Arcadia, by Sione and the other nymphs, who, attracted by his music, followed him as their conductor.

Pan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished himself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in his nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with a body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls invaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them with such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being pursued: hence the expression of a _Panic fear_, for a sudden terror.

The Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names of Lupercus and Lycaeus, and built a temple to him at the foot of Mount Palatine.

He is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard covering his breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs and thighs hairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed in a spotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe of unequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being sacred to him.

Pan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the divine mind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal fire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his upper parts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of the world is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays of the sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same rays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his face resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he wears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough, hairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and mountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth; and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the seven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence by which he governs the universe.