Chapter VI: Part 6

Many give an account of the Lestrygons, and Lamiae, upon the Liris in Italy; and also upon other parts of that coast: and some of them did settle there. But they were more particularly to be found in [652]Sicily near Leontium, as the Scholiast upon Lycophron observes. [653][Greek: Laistrugones, hoi nun Leontinoi.] _The antient Lestrygons were the people, whose posterity are now called Leontini_. The same writer takes notice of their incivility to strangers: [654][Greek: Ouk esan eithismenoi xenous hupodechesthai.] That they were Amonians, and came originally from Babylonia, is pretty evident from the history of the Erythrean Sibyl; who was no other than a Lamian priestess. She is said to have been the daughter of Lamia, who was the daughter of Poseidon. [655][Greek: Sibullan--Lamias ousan thugatera tou Poseidonos.] Under the character of one person is to be understood a priesthood: of which community each man was called Lamus, and each priestess Lamia. By the Sibyl being the daughter of Lamia, the daughter of Poseidon, is meant, that she was of Lamian original, and ultimately descended from the great Deity of the sea. Who is alluded to under that character, will hereafter be shewn. The countries, to which the Sibyl is referred, point out her extraction: for she is said to have come from Egypt, and Babylonia. [656][Greek: Hoi de auten Babulonian, heteroi de Sibullan kalousin Aiguptian.] If the Sibyl came from Babylonia and Egypt, her supposed parent, Lamia, must have been of the same original.

The Lamiae were not only to be found in Italy, and Sicily, but Greece, Pontus, and [657]Libya. And however widely they may have been separated, they are still represented in the same unfavourable light. Euripides says, that their very name was detestable.

[658][Greek: Tis t' ounoma tod' eponeidiston brotois]
[Greek: Ouk oide Lamias tes Libustikes genos.]

Philostratus speaks of their bestial appetite, and unnatural gluttony. [659][Greek: Lamias sarkon, kai malista anthropeion erain.] And Aristotle alludes to practices still more shocking: as if they tore open the bodies big with child, that they might get at the infant to devour it. _I speak_, says he, _of people, who have brutal appetites_. [660][Greek: Lego de tas theriodeis, hoion ten anthropon, ten legousi tas kuousas anaschizousan ta paidia katestheein.] These descriptions are perhaps carried to a great excess; yet the history was founded in truth: and shews plainly what fearful impressions were left upon the minds of men from the barbarity of the first ages.

One of the principal places in Italy, where the Lamia seated themselves, was about Formiae; of which Horace takes notice in his Ode to AElius Lamia.

[661]AEli, vetusto nobilis ab Lamo, &c.
Authore ab illo ducis originem,
Qui Formiarum moenia dicitur
Princeps, et innantem Maricae
Littoribus tenuisse Lirim.

The chief temple of the Formians was upon the sea-coast at Caiete. It is said to have had its name from a woman, who died here: and whom some make the nurse of AEneas, others of Ascanius, others still of [662]Creusa. The truth is this: it stood near a cavern, sacred to the God Ait, called Ate, Atis, and Attis; and it was hence called Caieta, and Caiatta. Strabo says, that it was denominated from a cave, though he did not know the precise [663]etymology. There were also in the rock some wonderful subterranes, which branched out into various apartments. Here the antient Lamii, the priests of Ham, [664]resided: whence Silius Italicus, when he speaks of the place, styles it [665]Regnata Lamo Caieta. They undoubtedly sacrificed children here; and probably the same custom was common among the Lamii, as prevailed among the Lacedaemonians, who used to whip their children round the altar of Diana Orthia. Thus much we are assured by Fulgentius, and others, that the usual term among the antient Latines for the whipping of children was Caiatio. [666]Apud Antiquos Caiatio dicebatur puerilis caedes.

The coast of Campania seems to have been equally infamous: and as much dreaded by mariners, as that of Rhegium, and Sicily. Here the Sirens inhabited, who are represented, as the bane of all, who navigated those seas. They like the Lamii were Cuthite, and Canaanitish priests, who had founded temples in these parts; and particularly near three small islands, to which they gave name. These temples were rendered more than ordinary famous on account of the women, who officiated. They were much addicted to the cruel rites, of which I have been speaking; so that the shores, upon which they resided, are described, as covered with the bones of men, destroyed by their artifice.

[667]Jamque adeo scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat,
Difficiles quondam, multorumque ossibus albos.

They used hymns in their temples, accompanied with the music of their country: which must have been very enchanting, as we may judge from the traditions handed down of its efficacy. I have mentioned, that the songs of the Canaanites and Cretans were particularly plaintive, and pleasing:

[668]They sang in sweet but melancholy strains;
Such as were warbled by the Delian God,
When in the groves of Ida he bewail'd
The lovely lost Atymnius.

But nothing can shew more fully the power of antient harmony than the character given of the Sirens. Their cruelty the antients held in detestation; yet always speak feelingly of their music. They represent their songs as so fatally winning, that nobody could withstand their sweetness. All were soothed with it; though their life was the purchase of the gratification. The Scholiast upon Lycophron makes them the children of the muse [669]Terpsichore. Nicander supposes their mother to have been Melpomene: others make her Calliope. The whole of this is merely an allegory; and means only that they were the daughters of harmony. Their efficacy is mentioned by [670]Apollonius Rhodius: and by the Author of the Orphic [671]Argonautica: but the account given by Homer is by far the most affecting.

[672][Greek: Seirenas men proton aphixeai, hai rha te pantas]
[Greek: Anthropous thelgousin, hotis spheas eisaphikanei.]
[Greek: Hostis aidreiei pelasei, kai phthongon akousei]
[Greek: Seirenon, toi d' outi gune, kai nepia tekna]
[Greek: Oikade nostesanti paristatai, oude ganuntai;]
[Greek: Alla te Seirenes ligurei thelgousin aoidei,]
[Greek: Hemenoi en leimoni; polus t' amph' osteophin this]
[Greek: Andron puthomenon, peri de rhinoi phthinuthousin.]

They are the words of Circe to Ulysses, giving him an account of the dangers which he was to encounter.

[673]Next where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas.
Their song is death, and makes destruction please.
Unblest the man, whom music makes to stray
Near the curst coast, and listen to their lay.
No more that wretch shall view the joys of life,
His blooming offspring, or his pleasing wife.

In verdant meads they sport, and wide around
Lie human bones, that whiten all the ground:
The ground polluted floats with human gore,
And human carnage taints the dreadful shore.
Fly, fly the dangerous coast.

The story at bottom relates to the people above-mentioned; who with their music used to entice strangers into the purlieus of their temples, and then put them to death. Nor was it music only, with which persons were seduced to follow them. The female part of their choirs were maintained for a twofold purpose, both on account of their voices and their beauty. They were accordingly very liberal of their favours, and by these means enticed seafaring persons, who paid dearly for their entertainment. Scylla was a personage of this sort: and among the fragments of Callimachus we have a short, but a most perfect, description of her character.

[674][Greek: Skulla, gune katakasa, kai ou psuthos ounom' echousa.]

[Greek: Katakasa] is by some interpreted _malefica_: upon which the learned Hemsterhusius remarks very justly--[Greek: katakasa] cur Latine vertatur malefica non video. Si Grammaticis obtemperes, meretricem interpretabere: erat enim revera [Greek: Nesiotis kale hetaira], ut Heraclitus [Greek: peri apis]: c. 2. Scylla then, under which character we are here to understand the chief priestess of the place, was no other than a handsome island strumpet. Her name it seems betokened as much, and she did not belie it: [Greek: ou psuthos ounom' echousa]. We may from these data decipher the history of Scylla, as given by Tzetzes. [Greek: En de proton Skulla gune euprepes; Poseidoni de sunousa apetheriothe.] _Scylla was originally a handsome wench: but being too free with seafaring people she made herself a beast_. She was, like the Sibyl of Campania, said by Stesichorus to have been the daughter of [675]Lamia. Hence we may learn, that all, who resided in the places, which I have been describing, were of the same religion, and of the same family; being the descendants of Ham, and chiefly by the collateral branches of Chus, and Canaan.

The like rites prevailed in Cyprus, which had in great measure been peopled by persons of these [676]families. One of their principal cities was Curium, which was denominated from [677]Curos, the Sun, the Deity, to whom it was sacred. In the perilous voyages of the antients nothing was more common than for strangers, whether shipwrecked, or otherwise distressed, to fly to the altar of the chief Deity, [Greek: Theou philiou, kai xeniou], _the God of charity and hospitality_, for his protection. This was fatal to those who were driven upon the western coast of Cyprus. The natives of Curium made it a rule to destroy all such, under an appearance of a religious rite. Whoever laid their hands upon the altar of Apollo, were cast down the precipice, upon which it stood. [678][Greek: Euthus estin akra, aph' hes rhiptousi tous hapsamenous tou bomou tou Apollonos]. Strabo speaks of the practice, as if it subsisted in his time. A like custom prevailed at the Tauric Chersonesus, as we are informed by Herodotus. [679][Greek: Thuousi men tei Parthenoi tous te nauegous, kai tous an labosi Hellenon epanachthentas, tropoi toioide. Katarxamenoi rhopaloi paiousi ten kephalen. Hoi men de legousi, hos to soma apo tou kremnou diotheousi kato; epi gar kremnou hidrutai to Hiron. ktl.] _The people of this place worship the virgin Goddess Artemis: at whose shrine they sacrifice all persons, who have the misfortune to be shipwrecked upon their coast: and all the Grecians, that they can lay hold of, when they are at any time thither driven. All these they without any ceremony brain with a club. Though others say, that they shove them off headlong from a high precipice: for their temple is founded upon a cliff._

The den of Cacus was properly Ca-Chus, the cavern or temple of Chus, out of which the poets, and later historians have formed a strange personage, whom they represent as a shepherd, and the son of Vulcan. Many antient Divinities, whose rites and history had any relation to Ur in Chaldea, are said to have been the children of Vulcan; and oftentimes to have been born in fire. There certainly stood a temple of old upon the Aventine mountain in Latium, which was the terror of the neighbourhood. The cruelties of the priests, and their continual depredations, may be inferred from the history of Cacus. Virgil makes Evander describe the place to AEneas; though it is supposed in his time to have been in ruins.

[680]Jam primum saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupem,
Disjectae procul ut moles, desertaque montis
Stat domus, et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinam.
Hic spelunca fuit, vasto submota recessu,
Semihominis Caci, facies quam dira tegebat,
Solis inaccessum radiis: semperque recenti
Caede tepebat humus; foribusque affixa superbis
Ora virum tristi pendebant pallida tabo.
Huic monstro Vulcanus erat pater.

Livy mentions Cacus as a shepherd, and a person of great strength, and violence. [681]Pastor, accola ejus loci, Cacus, ferox viribus. He is mentioned also by Plutarch, who styles him Caccus, [Greek: Kakkos]. [682][Greek: Ton men gar Hephaistou paida Romaioi Kakkon historousi pur kai phlogas aphienai dia tou stomatos exo rheousas.] As there were both priests, and priestesses, in temples of this sort, persons styled both Lami, and Lamiae; so we read both of a Cacus, and a Caca. The latter was supposed to have been a Goddess, who was made a Deity for having betrayed her brother to Hercules. [683]Colitur et Caca, quae Herculi fecit indicium boum; divinitatem consecuta, quia perdidit fratrem. In short, under the characters of Caca, and Cacus, we have a history of Cacusian priests, who seem to have been a set of people devoted to rapine and murder.

What we express Cocytus, and suppose to have been merely a river, was originally a temple in Egypt called Co-Cutus: for rivers were generally denominated from some town, or temple, near which they ran. Co-Cutus means the Cuthite temple, the house of Cuth. It was certainly a place of inquisition, where great cruelties were exercised. Hence the river, which was denominated from it, was esteemed a river of hell; and was supposed to have continual cries, and lamentations resounding upon its waters.

[684]Cocytus, named of lamentation loud
Heard on its banks.

Milton supposes the river to have been named from the Greek word [Greek: kokutos]: but the reverse is the truth. From the baleful river and temple Co-cutus came the Greek terms [Greek: kokutos], and [Greek: kokuo]. Acheron, another infernal river, was properly a temple of Achor, the [Greek: theos apomuios] of Egypt, Palestine, and Cyrene. It was a temple of the Sun, called Achor-On: and it gave name to the river, on whose banks it stood. Hence like Cocutus it was looked upon as a melancholy stream, and by the Poet Theocritus styled [685][Greek: Acheronta polustonon], _the river of lamentations_. Aristophanes speaks of an eminence of this name, and calls it [686][Greek: Acherontios skopelos haimatostages], _the rock of Acheron, dropping blood_.

* * * * *

OF

MEED OR [Greek: METIS],

AND THE

GODDESS HIPPA.

One of the most antient Deities of the Amonians was named Meed, or Meet; by which was signified divine wisdom. It was rendered by the Grecians [Greek: Metis] in the masculine: but seems to have been a feminine Deity; and represented under the symbol of a beautiful female countenance surrounded with serpents. The author of the Orphic Poetry makes Metis the origin of all [687]things: which Proclus expresses [688][Greek: ten demiourgiken aitian]: and supposes this personage to be the same as Phanes, and Dionusus, from whom all things proceeded. By Timotheus Chronographus, in his account of the creation, this divinity was described as that vivifying light, which first broke forth upon the infant world, and produced life and motion. His notion is said to have been borrowed from Orpheus: [Greek: Ephrase de (ho] [689] [Greek: Orpheus) hoti to phos rhexan ton aithera ephotise pasan ten ktisin; eipon, ekeino einai to phos to rhexan ton aithera to proeiremenon, to hupertaton panton, hou onoma ho autos Orpheus akousas ek Manteias exeipe METIS, hoper hermeneuetai BOULE, PHOS, ZOODOTER. Eipen en tei autou ekthesei tautas tas treis theias ton onomaton dunameis mian einai dunamin, kai hen kratos touton Theon, hon oudeis horai.] The account is remarkable. Hippa was another Goddess, of the like antiquity, and equally obsolete. Some traces however are to be still found in the Orphic verses above-mentioned, by which we may discover her original character and department. She is there represented as the nurse of [690]Dionusus, and seems to have been the same as Cybele, who was worshipped in the mountains of [691]Phrygia, and by the Lydians upon Tmolus. She is said to have been the soul of the [692]world: and the person who received and fostered Dionusus, when he came from the thigh of his father. This history relates to his second birth, when he returned to a second state of childhood. Dionusus was the chief God of the Gentile world, and worshipped under various titles; which at length came to be looked upon as different Deities. Most of these secondary Divinities had the title of Hippius, and Hippia: and as they had female attendants in their temples, these too had the name of Hippai. What may have been the original of the term Hippa, and Hippus, will be matter of future disquisition. Thus much is certain, that the Greeks, who were but little acquainted with the purport of their antient theology, uniformly referred it to [693]horses. Hence it was often prefixed to the names of Gods, and of Goddesses, when it had no relation to their department; and seemed inconsistent with their character. We have not only an account of [Greek: Ares Hippios], Mars the horseman; but of Poseidon Hippius, though a God of the sea. He is accordingly complimented upon this title by the Poet Aristophanes.

[694][Greek: Hippi' Anax Poseidon, hoi]
[Greek: Chalkokroton hippon ktupos]
[Greek: Kai chremetismos handanei.]

Ceres had the title of Hippia: and the Goddess of wisdom, Minerva, had the same. We read also of Juno Hippia, who at Olympia partook of joint rites and worship, with those equestrian Deities Neptune, and Mars. Pausanias mentions [695][Greek: Poseidonos Hippiou, mai Heras Hippiou bomoi]: and hard-by [Greek: tei men Areos Hippiou, tei de Athenas Hippiou bomos.] In Arcadia, and Elis, the most antient rites were preserved: and the Grecians might have known, that the terms Hippa and Hippia were of foreign purport from the other titles given to Juno at Olympia. For they sacrificed here to [696]Amonian Juno, and to Juno Paramonian; which were also titles of Hermes. Hippa was a sacred Egyptian term, and as such was conferred upon Arsinoe, the wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus: for the princes of Egypt always assumed to themselves sacred appellations. [697][Greek: Hippia Arsinoe, he tou Philadelphou gune.] As the Grecians did not inquire into the hidden purport of antient names, they have continually misrepresented the histories of which they treated. As Ceres was styled Hippa, they have imagined her to have been turned into a [698]mare: and Hippius Poseidon was in like manner changed to a horse, and supposed in that shape to have had an intimate acquaintance with the Goddess. Of this Ovid takes notice.

[699]Et te, flava comas, frugum mitissima mater
Sensit equum: te sensit avem crinita colubris
Mater equi volucris.

The like is mentioned of the nymph [700]Ocuroe: also of Philyra, who was so changed by Saturn. He is said to have taken upon himself the same shape, and to have followed her neighing over the mountains of Thessaly.

[701]Talis et ipse jubam cervice effudit equina
Conjugis adventu pernix Saturnus, et altum
Pelion hinnitu fugiens implevit acuto.

All these legendary stories arose from this antient term being obsolete, and misapplied. Homer makes mention of the mares of Apollo, which the God was supposed to have bred in Pieria:

[702][Greek: Tas en Pieriei threps' argurotoxos Apollon.]

And he has accordingly put them in harness, and given them to the hero Eumelus. Callimachus takes notice of the same mares in his hymn to the Shepherd God Apollo.

[703][Greek: Phoibon kai Nomion kikleskomen, exet' ekeinou,]
[Greek: Exet' ep' Amphrusoi zeugetidas etrephen hippas,]
[Greek: Eitheou hup' eroti kekaumenos Admetoio.]

These Hippai, misconstrued mares, were priestesses of the Goddess Hippa, who was of old worshipped in Thessaly, and Thrace, and in many different regions. They chanted hymns in her temples, and performed the rites of fire: but the worship growing obsolete, the very terms were at last mistaken. How far this worship once prevailed may be known from the many places denominated from Hippa. It was a title of Apollo, or the Sun, and often compounded Hippa On, and contracted Hippon: of which name places occur in Africa near Carthage[704]. [Greek: Hete de Kirta polis entautha kai hoi duo Hippones.] Argos was of old called Hippeion; not from the animal [Greek: Hippos], but [705][Greek: apo Hippes tou Danaou,] _from Hippa the daughter of Danaus_. That is from a priestess, who founded there a temple, and introduced the rites of the Goddess whom she served. As it was a title of the Sun, it was sometimes expressed in the masculine gender Hippos: and Pausanias takes notice of a most curious, and remarkable piece of antiquity, though he almost ruins the purport of it by referring it to an horse. It stood near mount Taygetus in Laconia, and was called the monument of Hippos. The author tells us, [706]_that at particular intervals from this monument stood seven pillars, [Greek: kata tropon oimai archaion,] placed_, says he, _as I imagine, according to some antient rule and method; which pillars were supposed to represent the seven planets_. If then these exterior stones related to the [707]seven erratic bodies in our sphere, the central monument of Hippos must necessarily have been designed for the Sun. And however rude the whole may possibly have appeared, it is the most antient representation upon record, and consequently the most curious, of the planetary system.

It is from hence, I think, manifest, that the titles Hippa, and Hippos, related to the luminary Osiris; and betokened some particular department of that Deity, who was the same as Dionusus. He was undoubtedly worshipped under this appellation in various regions: hence we read of Hippici Montes in Colchis: [Greek: Hippou kome] in Lycia: [Greek: Hippou akra] in Libya: [Greek: Hippou oros] in Egypt: and a town Hippos in Arabia Felix. There occur also in composition[708], Hippon, Hipporum, Hippouris, Hippana, Hipponesus, Hippocrene. This last was a sacred fountain, denominated from the God of light, who was the patron of verse, and science: but by the Greeks it was referred to an animal, and supposed to have been produced by the hoof of an horse. The rites of Dionusus Hippius were carried into Thrace, where the horses of Diomedes were said to have been fed with human flesh. Deianira is introduced by Ovid, as asking Hercules, if he did not well remember this practice.

[709]Non tibi succurrit crudi Diomedis imago,
Efferus humana qui dape pavit equos?

Abderus, the founder of Abdera, is supposed to have been a victim to these animals: of which Scymnus Chius gives the following account.

[710][Greek: Ton d' epi thalattei keimenon estin polis]
[Greek: Abder', ap' Abderou men onomasmene,]
[Greek: Tou kai ktisantos proteron auten; hos dokei]
[Greek: Hupo ton Diomedous husteron xenoktonon]
[Greek: Hippon phtharenai.]

These horses, [Greek: xenoktonoi], which fed upon the flesh of strangers, were the priests of Hippa, and of Dionusus, styled Hippus, or more properly Hippius. They seem to have resided in an island, and probably in the Thracian Chersonese: which they denominated [711]Diu-Medes, or the island of the Egyptian Deity Medes. From hence the Grecian Poets have formed a personage Diomedes, whom they have made king of the country. There were opposite to Apulia islands of the same name, where similar rites prevailed. The priests were here Cycneans, and described as a species of swans, who were kind to people of their own race, but cruel to [712]strangers. A Diomedes is supposed to have been a king in these parts, and to have given name to these islands. It is said by Scymnus Chios above, that Abderus, who was devoured by the horses of Diomedes in Thrace, built the city, which bore his name. The Grecians continually supposed the personage, in whose honour a city was built, to have been the founder. I have mentioned, that Abderus signifies the place of Abdir, which is a contraction of Abadir, the serpent Deity Ad-Ur, or Adorus. And it is plain from many passages in antient writers, that human sacrifices were common at his shrine; and particularly those of infants. By Abdera being a victim to the horses of Diomedes is meant that the natives of that place, which stood in the vicinity of the Chersonesus, were obliged to submit to the cruel rites of the Diomedean [713]priests. The very name must have come from them; for they worshipped the Deity under the titles of Meed, Hippa, and Abadir; and various other appellations.

There is an account given by [714]Palaephatus of one Metra, who in the more authentic manuscripts is called [Greek: Mestra], Meestra. It is said of her, that she could change herself into various forms, particularly [Greek: ek kores genesthai boun, kai authis kuna, kai orneon,] _that she would instead of a young woman appear an ox, or a cow; or else be in the shape of a dog, or of a bird_. She is represented as the daughter of Eresicthon: and these uncommon properties are mentioned by Ovid[715], who sets them off with much embellishment. The story at bottom is very plain. Egypt, the land of the Mizraim, was by the Greeks often styled [716]Mestra and [717]Mestraia: and by the person here called Mestra we are certainly to understand a woman of that country. She was sometimes mentioned simply as a Cahen, or priestess, which the Grecians have rendered [Greek: kuna], a dog. Women in this sacred capacity attended at the shrine of Apis, and Mneuis; and of the sacred heifer at Onuphis. Some of them in different countries were styled Cygneans, and also Peleiadae, of whom the principal were the women at [718]Dodona. Many of them were priestesses of Hippa, and upon that account styled Hippai, as I have shewn. Hence the mythologists under the character of Meestra have represented an Egyptian priestess, who could assume many departments, which were misconstrued different shapes. She could become, if we may credit Ovid,

Nunc equa, nunc ales, modo bos.

or according to Palaephatus, [Greek: boun, kuna, kai orneon]: _a cow, a dog, and a bird_. The whole of this related to the particular service of the priestess; and to the emblem under which the Deity was worshipped.

* * * * *

RITES

OF

DAMATER, OR CERES.

I shall now proceed to the rites of Ceres: and the general character of this Goddess is so innocent, and rural, that one would imagine nothing cruel could proceed from her shrine. But there was a time, when some of her temples were as much dreaded, as those of Scylla, and the Cyclops. They were courts of justice; whence she is often spoken of as a lawgiver.

[719]Prima Ceres unco terram dimovit aratro,
Prima dedit leges.

She is joined by Cicero with Libera, and they are styled the Deities, [720]a quibus initia vitae, atque victus, _legum, morum_, mansuetudinis, humanitatis, exempla hominibus, et civitatibus data, ac dispertita esse dicantur. The Deity, to whom she was a substitute, was El, the Sun. He was primarily worshipped in these temples: and I have shewn, that they were from Achor denominated Acherontian; also temples of Ops, and Oupis, the great serpent God. Hence it is said by Hesychius, that Acheron, and Ops, and Helle, and [721]Gerys, and Terra, and Demeter, were the same. [Greek: He] [722][Greek: Achero, kai Opis, kai Helle, kai Gerus, kai Ge, kai Demeter,] [723][Greek: to auto.] Ceres was the Deity of fire: hence at Cnidus she was called [Greek: Kura], [724]Cura, a title of the Sun. Her Roman name Ceres, expressed by Hesychius Gerys, was by the Dorians more properly rendered [725]Garys. It was originally a name of a city, called [Greek: Charis]: for many of the Deities were erroneously called by the names of the places where they were worshipped. Charis is Char-Is, the [726]city of fire; the place where Orus and Hephastus were worshipped. Hence as a personage she is made the wife of [727]Vulcan, on account of her relation to fire. Her title of Damater was equally foreign to Greece; and came from Babylonia, and the east. It may after this seem extraordinary, that she should ever be esteemed the Goddess of corn. This notion arose in part from the Grecians not understanding their own theology: which bad originally, became continually more depraved, through their ignorance. The towers of Ceres were P'urtain, or [Greek: Prutaneia]; so called from the fires, which were perpetually there preserved. The Grecians interpreted this [Greek: purou tameion]; and rendered, what was a temple of Orus, a granary of corn. In consequence of this, though they did not abolish the antient usage of the place, they made it a repository of grain, from whence they gave largesses to the people upon any act of merit. [728][Greek: Topos en par' Athenaiois, en hoi koinai siteseis tois demosiois euergetais edidonto; hothen kai Prutaneion ekaleito, hoionei purotameion; puros gar ho sitos;] In early times the corn there deposited seems to have been for the priests and [729]diviners. But this was only a secondary use, to which these places were adapted. They were properly sacred towers, where a perpetual fire was preserved. Pausanias takes notice of such a one in Arcadia. [730][Greek: Demetros, kai Kores hieron, pur de entautha kaiousi, poioumenoi phrontida, me lathei sphisin aposbesthen.] He mentions a like circumstance at the Prutaneion in Elis[731]: [Greek: Esti de hei Hestia tephras kai aute pepoiemene, kai ep' autes pur ana pasan te hemeran, kai en pasei nukti hosautos kaietai.] Attica at first was divided into separate and independent hamlets: each of which had its own Prutaneion, and Archon. These Archons were priests of the [732]Prutaneia; and were denominated from their office. Archon is the same as Orchon, and like Chon-Or signifies the God of light, and fire; from which title the priests had their name. In Babylonia, and Chaldea, they were called Urchani.

As in these temples there was always a [733]light, and a fire burning on the hearth, some of the Grecians have varied in their etymology, and have derived the name from [Greek: pur], Pur. Suidas supposes it to have been originally called [Greek: Puros tameion]. [734][Greek: Prutaneion, puros tameion, entha en asbeston pur.] The Scholiast upon Thucydides speaks to the same purpose. [735][Greek: Alloi de phasin, hoti to Prutaneion puros en tameion, entha en asbeston pur.] _Others tell us, that the Prutaneion was of old called Puros Tameion, from [Greek: pur], pur: because it was the repository of a perpetual fire_. It was sacred to Hestia, the Vesta of the Romans; which was only another title for Damater: and the sacred hearth had the same name. [736][Greek: Hestian d' an kuriotata kaloies ten en Prutaneioi, eph' hes to pur to asbeston anaptetai.] I have mentioned, that these places were temples, and at the same time courts of justice: hence we find, that in the Prutaneion at Athens, the laws of Solon were [737]engraved. These laws were described upon wooden cylinders: some of which remained to the time of [738]Plutarch.

Many of these temples were dedicated to the Deity under the name of Persephone, or Proserpine, the supposed daughter of Ceres. They were in reality the same personage. Persephone was styled [Greek: Kora], Cora; which the Greeks misinterpreted [Greek: Parthenos], the virgin, or damsel. How could a person, who according to the received accounts had been ravished by Pluto, and been his consort for ages; who was the reputed queen of hell, be styled by way of eminence [Greek: Parthenos]? [Greek: Kora], Cora, which they understood was the same as Cura, a feminine title of the sun: by which Ceres also was called at Cnidos. However mild and gentle Proserpine may have been represented in her virgin state by the Poets; yet her tribunal seems in many places to have been very formidable. In consequence of this we find her with Minos, and Rhadamanthus, condemned to the shades below, as an infernal inquisitor. Nonnus says,

[739][Greek: Persephone thorexen Erinnuas.]

_Proserpine armed the furies_. The notion of which Furies arose from the cruelties practised in these Prutaneia. They were called by the Latines, Furiae; and were originally only priests of fire: but were at last ranked among the hellish tormentors. Ceres the benefactress, and lawgiver, was sometimes enrolled in the list of these daemons. This is manifest from a passage in Antimachus, quoted by Pausanias, where her temple is spoken of as the shrine of a Fury.

[740][Greek: Demetros, tothi phasin Erinnuos einai edethlon.]

The like is mentioned by the Scholiast upon Lycophron, [741][Greek: Erinnus he Demeter en Onkais polei tes Arkadias timaitai.] Her temple stood upon the river Ladon, and she had this name given to her by the people of the place. [Greek: Kalousi de Erinnun hoi Thelpousioi ten Theon.] _The Thelpusians call the Goddess Demeter a Fury_. Herodotus speaks of a Prutaneion in Achaia Pthiotic, called Leitus; of which he gives a fearful account. _No person_, he says, _ever entered the precincts, who returned. Whatever person ever strayed that way, was immediately seized upon by the priests, and sacrificed. The custom so far prevailed, that many, who thought they were liable to suffer, fled away to foreign parts. And he adds, that after a long time, when any of them ventured to return, if they were caught, they were immediately led to the Prutaneion. Here they were crowned with garlands. and in great parade conducted to the altar_. I shall quote the author's words. [742][Greek: Leiton de kaleousi to Prutaneion hoi Achaioi; en de eselthei, ouk esti, hokos exeisi, prin e thusesthai mellei; hoste ti pros toutoisi polloi ede ton mellonton touteon thusesthai, deisantes oichonto apodrantes es allen choren. Chronou de proiontos, opiso katelthontes, en aliskontai, estellonto es to Prutaneion, hos thuetai te exegeonto, stemmasi pas pukastheis, kai hos sun pompei exachtheis.] The people of Leitus are said to have been the sons of Cutissorus. Herodotus speaks of the temple, as remaining in his time: and of the custom still subsisting. He farther mentions, that when Xerxes was informed of the history of this place, as he passed through Thessaly, he withheld himself from being guilty of any violation. And he moreover ordered his army to pay due regard to its sanctity; so very awful, it seems, was mysterious cruelty.

I imagine, that the story of the Harpies relates to priests of the Sun. They were denominated from their seat of residence, which was an oracular temple called Harpi, and Hirpi, analogous to Orphi, and Urphi in other places. I have shewn, that the antient name of a priest was Cahen, rendered mistakenly [Greek: kun], and canis. Hence the Harpies, who were priests of Ur, are styled by Apollonius, _the Dogs of Jove_. His accosting Calais, and Zethus, tells them, that it would be a profanation to offer any injury to those personages.

[743][Greek: Ou themis, o huieis Boreou xipheesin elassan]
[Greek: Harpuias, megaloio Dios KYNAS.]

This term in the common acceptation is not applicable to the Harpies, either as birds, for so they are represented; or as winged animals. But this representation was only the insigne of the people, as the vulture, and eagle were of the Egyptians: a lion of the Persians. The Harpies were certainly a [744]college of priests in Bithynia; and on that account called Cahen. They seem to have been a set of rapacious persons, who, for their repeated acts of violence, and cruelty, were driven out of the country. Their temple was styled Arpi; and the environs Arpi-ai: hence the Grecians formed [745][Greek: Harpuiai.] There was a region in Apulia named Arpi; and in its neighbourhood were the islands of Diomedes, and the birds, which were fabled to have been like swans. I have before shewn, that they were Amonian priests: so likewise were the Hirpi near Soracte in Latium. They were priests of fire: of whose customs I have taken notice.

The persons who resided in these temples are represented as persons of great strength and stature: for many of them were of the race of Anac. There is reason to think, that a custom prevailed in these places of making strangers engage in fight with some of the priests trained up for that purpose. The manner of contention was either with the caestus, or by wrestling. And as the priest appointed for the trial was pretty sure of coming off the conqueror, the whole was looked upon as a more specious kind of sacrifice. Amycus, who was king of Bithynia, is represented as of a [746]gigantic size, and a great proficient with the caestus. He was in consequence of it the terror of all strangers who came upon the coast. Cercyon of [747]Megara was equally famed for wrestling; by which art he slew many, whom he forced to the unequal contention. But Cercyon was the name of the [748]place; and they were the Cercyonians, the priests of the temple, who were noted for these achievements. Pausanias gives an account of them under the character of one person. [749][Greek: Einai de ho Kerkuon legetai kai ta alla adikos eis tous xenous, kai palaiein ou boulomenois.] _Cercyon was in other respects lawless in his behaviour towards strangers; but especially towards those who would not contend with him in wrestling_. These Cercyonians were undoubtedly priests of Ceres, or Damater: who seems to have been tired of their service, and glad to get rid of them, as we are informed by the poet.

[750]Quaeque Ceres laeto vidit pereuntia vultu
Corpora Thesea Cercyonea manu.

Before most temples of old were areas, which were designed for Gumnasia, where these feats of exercise were performed. Lucian speaks of one before the temple of [751]Apollo Lucius. And Pausanias mentions that particular [752]parade, where Cercyon was supposed to have exhibited his art. It stood before the tomb of Alope, and was called the Palaestra of Cercyon even in the time of this writer, who takes notice of many others. He styles it [Greek: taphos Alopes], as if it were a tomb. But it was a Taph, or high altar, sacred to Al-Ope, Sol Pytho, who was the Deity of the place called Cer-Cuon. Before this altar was the palaestra; where the Cercyonian priests obliged people to contend with them. I have taken notice of a Pharos at [753]Torone, which Proteus is said to have quitted, that he might not be witness to the cruelties of his sons. He fled, it seems, to Egypt, [Greek: Teknon aluxas tas xenoktonas palas], to shun their wicked practices: for they were so skilled in the Palaestric art, that they slew all strangers whom they forced to engage with them. Taurus, called Minotaurus, was a temple in Crete: but by the Grecians is spoken of as a person. Under this character Taurus is represented as a [754]renowned wrestler, and many persons are said to have been sent from Athens to be victims to his prowess. Eusebius styles him, [755][Greek: omos kai anemeros], a man of a cruel and sour disposition. After he had done much mischief, Theseus at length [Greek: Tauron katepalaise], foiled him in his own art, and slew him. He is supposed to have done the like by Cercyon. [756][Greek: Legetai de ho Kerkuon tous diastantas pantas es palen] [757][Greek: diaphtheirai plen Theseos.] _For it is said of Cercyon, that he slew every person who ventured to cope with him in wrestling, except Theseus_. In all these instances the place is put for the persons who resided in it: of which mistake I have been obliged often to take notice.

Antient history affords numberless instances of this ungenerous and cruel practice. The stranger, who stood most in need of courtesy, was treated as a profest enemy: and the rites of hospitality were evaded under the undue sanction of a sacrifice to the Gods. In the history of Busiris we have an account of this custom prevailing in Egypt. [758][Greek: Bousirin de kata ten Aigupton toi Dii kallierein sphagiazonta tous parepidemountas XENOUS.] _It is said of Busiris, that he used to offer to Jupiter, as the most acceptable sacrifice, all the strangers, whom chance brought into his country_. There was a tradition concerning Antaeus, that he covered the roof of a temple, sacred to Poseidon, with the sculls of foreigners, whom he forced to engage with him. The manner of the engagement was by [759]wrestling. Eryx in Sicily was a proficient in this art, and did much mischief to strangers: till he was in his turn slain. The Deity was the same in these parts, as was alluded to under the name of Taurus, and Minotaurus, in Crete; and the rites were the same. Hence Lycophron speaks of Eryx by the name of Taurus; and calls the place of exercise before the temple,

[760][Greek: Taurou gumnadas kakoxenou]
[Greek: Pales konistras.]

This the Scholiast interprets [Greek: palaistran tou Erukos tou xenoktonou], _The Gymnasium of Eryx, who used to murder strangers_. Androgeos the son of Minos came to the [761]like end, who had been superior to every body in this art. Euripides styles the hero Cycnus [762][Greek: xenodaiktan], on account of his cruelty to strangers. He resided it seems near the sea-coast; used to oblige every person, who travelled that way, or whom ill fortune brought on shore to contend with him. And his ambition was to be able with the skulls of the victims, which he slew, to build a temple to Apollo. [763][Greek: Kakoxenos ho Kuknos, kai en parodoi tes thalasses oikon, epekertomei tous pariontas, naon toi Apolloni boulomenos ek ton kephalon oikodomesai.] Mention is made of Lycaon, qui advenas et hospites trucidavit. He is said to have founded the temple of Jupiter [764]Lycaeus, and to have first introduced human sacrifices, particularly those of infants. [Greek: Lukaon de epi ton bomon ton] [765][Greek: Lukaiou Dios brephos enenken anthropou, kai ethuse to brephos, kai espeisen epi tou bomou to haima.] _Lycaon was the person, who brought an infant, the offspring of a man, to the altar of Zeus Lucaios: and he slew the infant, and he sprinkled the altar with the blood which issued from it_. Antinous in Homer threatens to send Irus to one Echetus, a king in Epirus, who was the dread of that country. The same threat is uttered against [766]Ulysses, if he should presume to bend the bow, which Penelope had laid before the suitors. Under the character of Lycaon, Cycnus, &c. we are to understand Lycaonian and Cycnean priests; which latter were from Canaan: and this method of interpretation is to be observed all through these histories. Echetus, [Greek: Echetos], was a title of Apollo, rendered more commonly [767][Greek: Hekatos] by the Greeks, as if it came from the word [Greek: hekas]. It was an Amonian title by which Orus, and Osiris, were called: and this king Echetus was a priest of that family, who was named from the Deity, whom he served. The Poet styles him [Greek: broton delemona], from his cruelty to strangers.

[768][Greek: Pempso s' Epeironde balon en nei melainei]
[Greek: Eis Echeton basilea, broton delemona panton.]
[Greek: Hos k' apo rhina tameisi, kai ouata nelei chalkoi,]
[Greek: Medea t' exerusas doei kusin oma dasasthai.]

I'll send thee, caitiff, far beyond the seas,
To the grim tyrant Echetus, who mars
All he encounters; bane of human kind.
Thine ears he'll lop, and pare the nose away
From thy pale ghastly visage: dire to tell!
The very parts, which modesty conceals,
He'll tear relentless from the seat of life,
To feed his hungry hounds.

When the Spaniards got access to the western world, there were to be observed many rites, and many terms, similar to those, which were so common among the sons of Ham. Among others was this particular custom of making the person, who was designed for a victim, engage in fight with a priest of the temple. In this manner he was slaughtered: and this procedure was esteemed a proper method of [769]sacrifice.

The histories of which I have been speaking were founded in truth, though the personages are not real. Such customs did prevail in the first ages: and in consequence of these customs we find those beggarly attributes of wrestling and boxing conferred upon some of the chief Divinities. Hercules and Pollux were of that number, who were as imaginary beings, as any mentioned above: yet represented upon earth as sturdy fellows, who righted some, and [770]wronged many. They were in short a kind of honourable Banditti, who would suffer nobody to do any mischief, but themselves. From these customs were derived the Isthmian, Nemean, Pythic, and Olympic games, together with those at Delos. Of these last Homer gives a fine description in his Hymn to Apollo.

[771][Greek: Alla su Deloi, Phoibe, malist' epiterpeai etor.]
[Greek: Entha toi helkechitones Iaones egerethontai,]
[Greek: Autois sun paidessi, kai aidoieis alochoisi.]
[Greek: Hoide se PYGMACHIEi te, kai orchethmoi, kai aoidei]
[Greek: Mnesamenoi terpousin, hotan stesontai agona.]

These contentions had always in them something cruel, and savage: but in later times they were conducted with an appearance of equity. Of old the whole ceremony was a most unfair and barbarous process.

* * * * *

CAMPE AND CAMPI.

Another name for those Amonian temples was Campi, of the same analogy, and nearly of the same purport, as Arpi above-mentioned. It was in after times made to signify the parade before the temples, where they wrestled, and otherwise celebrated their sacred games; and was expressed Campus. When chariots came in fashion, these too were admitted within the precincts; and races of this sort introduced. Among the Latines the word Campus came to mean any open and level space; but among the Sicilians the true meaning was in some degree preserved. [Greek: Kampos--Ippodromos, Sikuloi.] Hesychius. It was properly a place of exercise in general, and not confined to races. Hence a combatant was styled [772]Campio, and the chief persons, who presided, [773]Campigeni. The exercise itself was by the Greeks styled [Greek: agon, aethlos, hamilla]; all Amonian terms, taken from the titles of the Deity, in whose honour the games were instituted. These temples partly from their symbols, and partly from their history, being misinterpreted, were by the antient mythologists represented as so many dragons and monsters. Nonnus mentions both Arpe, and Campe in this light, and says that the latter had fifty heads, each of some different beast,

[774][Greek: Es apo deires]
[Greek: Enthee pentekonta kareata poikila theron.]

But Campe was an oracular temple and inclosure, sacred to Ham or Cham: where people used to exercise. The fifty heads related to the number of the priests, who there resided; and who were esteemed as so many wild beasts for their cruelty. Nonnus makes Jupiter kill Campe: but Diodorus Siculus gives the honour to Dionusus; who is supposed to have slain this monster at Zaborna in Libya; and to have raised over her, [Greek: choma pammegethes], a vast mound of earth. This heap of soil was in reality a high place or altar; which in after times was taken for a place of burial. These inclosures grew by degrees into disrepute; and the history of them obsolete. In consequence of which the [Greek: taphoi], or mounds, were supposed to be the tombs of heroes. The Grecians, who took every history to themselves, imagined, that their Jupiter and Dionusus, and their Hercules had slain them. But what they took for tombs of enemies were in reality altars to these very Gods; who were not confined to Greece, nor of Grecian original. The Campanians in Italy were an antient Amonian colony; and they were denominated from Campe or Campus, which was probably the first temple, they erected. Stephanus Byzantinus shews, that there was of old such a place: [Greek: Kampos--ktisma Kampanou]: but would insinuate that it took its name from a person the head of the colony. Eustathius more truly makes it give name to the people: though he is not sufficiently determinate. [775][Greek: Kampanoi apo ton hupokathemenon ekei Kampon onomasthesan, e apo Kampou poleos.] There were many of these Campi in Greece, which are styled by Pausanias [Greek: hupaithra], in contradistinction to the temples, which were covered. They are to be found in many parts of the world, where the Amonian religion obtained, which was propagated much farther than we are aware. In our island the exhibition of those manly sports in vogue among country people is called Camping: and the inclosures for that purpose, where they wrestle and contend, are called Camping closes. There are many of them in Cambridgeshire, as well as in other parts of the kingdom. In Germany we meet with the name of Kaempenfelt; in which word there is no part derived from the Latin language: for the terms would then be synonymous, and one of them redundant. Kaempenfelt was, I imagine, an antient name for a field of sports, and exercise, like the gymnasium of the Greeks: and a Camping place in Britain is of the like purport.

* * * * *

ANTIENT HEROES.

[Greek: Katholou de phasin (hoi Aiguptioi) tous Hellenas exidiazesthai
tous epiphanestatous Heroas te, kai Theous, eti de kai apoikias tas
par' heauton.] Diodorus Sicul. l. 1. p. 21.

It has been my uniform purpose, during the whole process, which I have made in my system, to shew, that the Grecians formed Deities out of titles; and that they often attributed to one person, what belonged to a people. And when they had completed the history, they generally took the merit of it to themselves. By means of this clue we may obtain an insight into some of the most remote, and the most obscure parts of antiquity. For many and great achievements have been attributed to heroes of the first ages, which it was not possible for them singly to have performed. And these actions, though in some degree diversified, and given to different personages, yet upon examination will be found to relate to one people or family; and to be at bottom one and the same history.

OSIRIS.

If we consider the history of Osiris, he will appear a wonderful conqueror, who travelled over the face of the whole [776]earth, winning new territories, wherever he came; yet always to the advantage of those whom he subdued. He is said to have been the son of Rhea: and his chief attendants in his peregrinations were Pan, Anubis, Macedo, with Maro, a great planter of vines; also Triptolemus much skilled in husbandry. The people of India claimed Osiris, as their own; and maintained, that he was born at Nusa in their [777]country. Others supposed his birth-place to have been at Nusa in [778]Arabia, where he first planted the vine. Many make him a native of Egypt: and mention the rout of his travels as commencing from that country through Arabia, and Ethiopia; and then to India, and the regions of the east. When he was arrived at the extremities of the ocean, he turned back, and passed through the upper provinces of Asia, till he came to the Hellespont, which he crossed. He then entered [779]Thrace, with the King of which he had a severe encounter: yet he is said to have persevered in his rout westward, till he arrived at the fountains of the Ister. He was also in Italy, and Greece: from the former of which he expelled the giants near Phlegra in Campania. He visited many places upon the ocean: and though he is represented as at the head of an army; and his travels were attended with military operations; yet he is at the same time described with the Muses, and Sciences in his retinue. His march likewise was conducted with songs, and dances, and the sound of every instrument of music. He built cities in various parts; particularly [780]Hecatompulos, which he denominated Theba, after the name of his mother. In every region, whither he came, he is said to have instructed the people in [781]planting, and sowing, and other useful arts. He particularly introduced the vine: and where that was not adapted to the soil, he taught the natives the use of ferment, and shewed them the way to make [782]wine of barley, little inferior to the juice of the grape. He was esteemed a great blessing to the Egyptians both as a [783]Lawgiver, and a King. He first built temples to the Gods: and was reputed a general benefactor of [784]mankind. After many years travel they represent him as returning to Egypt in great triumph, where after his death he was enshrined as a Deity. His Taphos, or high altar, was shewn in many places: in all which he in aftertimes was supposed to have been buried. The people of Memphis shewed one of them; whereon was a sacred pillar, containing a detail of his life, and great actions, to the following purport. [785]_My father was Cronus, the youngest of all the Gods. I am the king Osiris, who carried my arms over the face of the whole earth, till I arrived at the uninhabited parts of India. From thence I passed through the regions of the north to the fountain-head of the Ister. I visited also other remote countries; nor stopped till I came to the western ocean. I am the eldest son of Cronus; sprung from the genuine and respectable race of_ ([Greek: Soos]) _Sous, and am related to the fountain of day. There is not a nation upon earth, where I have not been; and to whose good I have not contributed._