Chapter L: E. L (3)

"Thou art come from long forsaken homes,
Wherein our young days flew,
Thou hast found sweet voices lingering there,
The loved, the kind, the true!
Thou callest back those melodies,
Though now all changed and fled,
Be still, be still, and haunt us not
With music from the dead!

"Are all these notes in thee, wild wind?
These many notes in thee?
Far in our own unfathomed souls
Their fount must surely be;
Yes! buried, but unsleeping, there;
Thought watches, memory lies,
From whose deep urn the tones are poured
Through all earth's harmonies."

HEMANS.

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The principal winds are Boreas, Auster, Eurus and Zephyrus. Boreas, God of the North, carried away Orithya, who refused to receive his addresses. By her he had Zetes and Calais, Cleopatra and Cheone. He once changed himself into a horse, to unite himself with the mare of Dardanus, by which he had a female progeny of twelve, so swift, that they ran or rather flew over the sea without wetting a foot. The Athenians dedicated altars to him when Xerxes invaded Europe.

Auster, God of the south wind, appeared generally as an old man with grey hair, a gloomy countenance, a head covered with clouds, a sable vesture and dusky wings. He is the dispenser of rain and of all heavy showers.

Eurus, God of the east, is represented as a young man, flying with great impetuosity, and often appearing in a playful and wanton humour.

Zephyrus, God of the West, the warmest of all the winds, married Flora, and was said to produce flowers and fruits, by the sweetness of his breath. Companion of love, he has the figure of a youth, and the wings of a butterfly.

SONGS OF THE WINDS.

"We are free! we are free! in our home the skies,
When we calmly sleep, or in tumult rise,
When we smile on the vision-like realms below,
Or vengefully utter the chords of woe.
When we dance in the sunbeams, or laughingly play
With the spring clouds that fly from our kisses away,
When we grapple and fight with the bellowing foam,
Or slumber and sleep in our shadowless home."

NORTH WIND.

"I've blastingly wandered
Where nature doth pant;
And gloomily pondered
O'er sadness and want.

An old man was sighing
O'er angel lips gone,
His cherub was dying,
And he was alone.

On his grey locks I clotted
An ice-crown cold,--
His sinews I knotted;
His tale is told."

SOUTH WIND.

"I met two young lovers,
And listed their vows,
Where the woodbine covers
The old oak boughs.

Enhancing their pleasures
I fluttered around.
And joined with glad measures
Their soft sighs' sound.

They blessed me for bringing
Sweet perfumes near,
They blessed me for singing
A cadence so dear."

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EAST WIND.

"I've wafted through bowers
Where angels might muse,
And kiss their bright flowers
Of loveliest hues.

And maidens were singing
Of beauty and love,
Their symphonies ringing,
Resounded above.

I parted the tresses,
From fairy-like brows,
Where the lily impresses
Its earliest vows."

WEST WIND.

"I've rolled o'er the regions
Of earth and sea,
And laughed at the legions
That trembled at me.

I've madly gambolled
With clouds and waves;
And closed, as I rambled,
My victim's grave.

I've roared and I've revelled,
With fiend-like glee,
Earth's palaces levelled,
Wrecks dashed o'er the sea."

CHORUS.

"We are free, we are free, in our realms of air,
We list to no sorrow, we own no care;
We hold our carousals aloft with the stars,
Where they glitter along in their golden cars,
We frolic and bound with the playful wave,
Which the prison-like confines of earth doth lave;
We are glad, we are glad, and in breeze or in blast,
We will sport round the world as long as 'twill last."

JENNINGS.

Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus, married Ceyx, who was drowned as he was going to Claros to consult an oracle. Alcyone was apprized in a dream of her husband's fate, and finding on the morrow his body upon the shore, she threw herself into the sea. The Gods, touched by her fidelity, changed her and her husband into the birds of the same name, who keep the waters calm and serene while they build and sit on their nests in the surface of the sea.

"O, poor Alcyone!
What were thy feelings on the stormy strand,
When thou saw'st Ceyx borne a corse to land?
O, I could weep with thee,
And sit whole tides upon the pebbly shore,
And listen to the waves lamenting roar,
O, poor Alcyone!
But now thy stormy passion past,
Thou upon the wave at last,
Buildest, from all tempest free,
Thou and Ceyx, side by side,
Charming the distempered tide,
O, dear Alcyone!"

The Syrens were three in number, and were companions of Proserpine, at the time of her being carried off; they prayed for wings from the Gods, to unite their efforts with those of Ceres. {147}

In despair at the uselessness of their search, they retired to the sea shore, where, in the midst of desolate rocks, they sang songs of the most enchanting and attractive nature, while those who were drawn by their beauty to listen to them, perished on the spot.

"Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul,
And lap it in Elysium: Scylla wept
And chid her barking waves into attention,
And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause."

OVID.

Charybdis was an avaricious woman, who, stealing from Hercules, was slain by him, and became one of the divinities of the sea.

Scylla, daughter of Hecate and of Phorcys, was a beautiful nymph, greatly beloved by Glaucus, also one of the deities of the sea. Scylla scorned his addresses, and the God, to render her propitious, sought the aid of Circe, who no sooner saw him than she became enamoured, and, instead of assisting him, tried to win his love to herself tho' in vain. To punish her rival, Circe poured the juice of poisonous herbs into the waters of the fountain where Scylla bathed, and no sooner had the nymph entered, than her body, below the {148} waist, was changed into frightful monsters, like dogs, which never ceased barking, while the remainder of her form assumed an equally hideous appearance, being supported by twelve feet, with six different heads, each bearing three rows of teeth. This sudden metamorphose so alarmed her, that she threw herself into that part of the sea which separates the coast of Italy and Sicily, where she was changed into rocks which continue to bear her name, and which were deemed as dangerous to sailors, as the whirlpool of Charybdis, on the coast of Sicily, and from which has arisen the proverb, "By avoiding Charybdis we fall upon Scylla!"

"Upon the beech a winding bay there lies,
Sheltered from seas, and shaded from the skies;
This station Scylla chose; a soft retreat
From chilling winds and raging cancer's heat.
The vengeful sorceress visits this recess,
Her charm infuses, and infects the place.
Soon as the nymph wades in, her nether parts
Turn into dogs, then at herself she starts.
A ghastly horror in her eyes appears
But yet she knows not what it is she fears,
In vain she offers from herself to run,
And drag's about her what she strives to shun.
"Oppressed with grief the pitying god appears,
And swells the rising surges with his tears;
From the detested sorceress he flies,
Her art reviles, and her address denies,
Whilst happless Scylla, changed to rocks, decrees
Destruction to those barks that beat the seas."

GARTH.

The Harpies were monsters with the faces of old women, the wings and body of a vulture, the ears of a bear, having claws on their feet and hands, and spreading famine wherever they made their hideous appearance.

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DIVINITIES OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS.

The Parcae or Fates, were three powerful goddesses, who presided over the birth and life of mankind. Clotho, the youngest of the sisters, governed the moment of birth, and held a distaff in her hand: Lacheses spun out all the events and actions in the time; and Atropos, the eldest, cut the thread of humanity with her scissors.

------"The fates, in vengeance pitiless;
Who at the birth of men dispense the lot
Of good and evil. They of men and gods
The crimes pursue, nor ever pause from wrath
Tremendous, till destructive on the head
Of him that sins the retribution falls."

HESIOD.

Their powers were great and extensive, and they are represented by some as sitting at the foot of the throne of the King of Hell; while others make them appear on radiant seats amidst the celestial spheres, clothed in robes spangled with stars, and wearing crowns on their heads.

Their dresses are differently described by some authors.

Clotho has on a variegated robe, and on her head a crown of seven stars. She holds a distaff in her hand, reaching from heaven to earth. The garment which Lacheses wore was variegated with a great number of stars, and near her a variety of spindles. Atropos was clothed in black; she held scissors in her hand, with clues of threads of various sizes, according to the length or shortness of the lives whose destinies they were supposed to contain.

"The three Parcae, Fates fair offspring born,
The world's great spindle as its axle turn;
Round which eight spheres in beauteous order run,
And as they turn, revolving Time is spun,
Whose motions all things upon earth ordain,
Whence revolutions date their fickle reign.
These robed in white, at equal distance throned,
Sit o'er the spheres, and twirl the spindle round,
On each of which a syren loudly sings,
As from the wheel the fatal thread she flings;
The Parcae answer, in the choir agree
And all those voices make one harmony."

The worship of the Parcae was well established in some parts of Greece, and though mankind knew they were inexorable, and that {150} it was impossible to mitigate their decrees, yet they evinced a respect for their divinity, by raising statues to them.

* * * * *

NIGHT.

Nox, one of the most ancient deities among the heathens, was the daughter of Chaos. From her union with her brother Erebus, she gave birth to day and light: she is called by some of the poets, the mother of all things, of gods no less than of men, and was worshipped with great solemnity by the ancients, who erected to her a famous statue in Diana's temple at Ephesus. The cock was offered to her, as the bird which proclaims the coming of the day. She is drawn mounted on a chariot, and covered with a veil bespangled with stars, and the constellations preceded her as her messengers.

Sometimes she is seen holding two children under her arms, one of which is dark like night, and the other light like day.

"Night, when like perfumes that have slept
All day within the wild flower's heart,
Steal out the thoughts the soul has kept
In silence and apart:
And voices we have pined to hear,
Through many a long and lonely day,
Come back upon the dreaming ear,
From grave lands far away,
And gleams look forth of spirit eyes
Like stars along the darkening skies!"

HERVEY.

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She has been described by some of the modern writers, as a woman clothed in mourning, crowned with poppies, and drawn in a chariot by owls and bats.

SONG OF NIGHT.

"I come to thee, O Earth!
With all my gifts; for every flower, sweet dew
In bell, and urn, and chalice, to renew
The glory of its birth.

I come with every star;
Making thy streams, that on their noon-day track,
Give but the moss, the reed, the lily back,
Mirrors of world's afar.

I come with peace; I shed
Sleep through the wood walks, o'er the honey bee,
The lark's triumphant voice, the fawn's young glee,
The hyacinth's meek head.

On my own heart I lay
The weary babe; and sealing with a breath
Its eyes of love, send fairy dreams, beneath
The shadowing lids to play.

I come with mightier things!
Who calls me silent? I have many tones--
The dark skies thrill with low mysterious moans,
Borne on my sweeping wings.

I waft them not alone
From the deep organ of the forest shades,
Or buried streams, unheard amidst their glades
Till the bright day is done.

But in the human breast,
A thousand still, small voices I awake,
Strong in their sweetness, from the soul to shake
The mantle of its rest.

I bring them from the past,
From true hearts broken, gentle spirits torn,
From crushed affections, which, though long o'erborne,
Make their tones heard at last.

I bring them from the tomb!
O'er the sad couch of late repentant love
They pass--though low as murmurs of a dove--
Like trumpets through the gloom.

I come with all my train;
Who calls me lonely? Hosts around me tread,
The intensely bright, the beautiful, the dead,
Phantoms of heart and brain.

Looks from departed eyes--
These are my lightnings! fill'd with anguish vain,
Or tenderness too precious to sustain,
They smite with agonies.

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I that with soft control,
Shut the dim violet, hush the woodland song,
I am the avenging one! the arm'd, the strong,
The searcher of the soul.

I that shower dewy light
Through slumbering leaves, bring storms!--the tempest birth
Of memory, thought, remorse:--be holy, Earth!
I am the solemn night!"

HEMANS.

* * * * *

DEATH.

Poets have given to Death a heart of iron, bowels of steel, black wings, and a net with which she envelopes her victims. Statuaries carve her under the form of a large skeleton, armed with a scythe, and bearing wings. Sparta and Elis honoured her, but Phoenicia and Spain paid to her more particularly the homage of a divinity. She inhabits the infernal regions; and though, in more modern times, Death has been always addressed as a divinity of the masculine gender. The Lacedaemonians indeed, regarded her, not as an existing, but as an imaginary being.

"Mysterious power! whose dark and gloomy sway
Extends o'er all creation, what art thou?
They call thee 'King of Terrors!' drear dismay
Followeth thy footsteps, and around thy brow
Hovers a thick impenetrable cloud,
Which, to some hearts, is Hope's sad funeral shroud.

Beside the infant on its cradle bed,
The mother watches thro' the hour of night;
Hope hath not quite her lonely spirit fled,
Tho' o'er her first-born babe hath passed the blight
Of fell disease: wait, wait one moment more,
Thy hand has touched it, Death, and hope is o'er.

Thou turn'st the hall of revelry to gloom,
The wedding garment to a garb of woe;
Thou com'st in silence to the banquet room,
Ceased is the noisy mirth, the red wine's flow,
And men look pale at thee, and gasp for breath,
Thou doest this, thou doest more, oh! Death

Thou twin'st the cypress wreath round victory's brow,
The brave have won the fight, but, fighting, fell;
It was thine arm that laid the victor low,
And toll'd amid the triumph, a lone knell
For his departure: Death--thy gloomy power
Can throw a sadness o'er the happiest hour.

Thou comest to the monarch in his hour
Of pomp, and pride, and royalty's array;
And the next victim of thy reckless power
May be the beggar in his hut of clay:
Thy hand can lay the tattered vagrant down
Beside the head that wore the kingly crown.

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Childhood is thine, its unexpanded bloom,
Shrinks to decay beneath thy chilling breath;
Gay Youth, thou witherest, with thy touch of doom,
Stern Manhood shrinks beneath thy grasp, oh, death,
And fragile Age by worldly cares opprest,
Sinks, softly sinks, into those arms for rest.

And then methought death's hollow voice replied,
'Rash mortal--would'st thou tempt the dangerous gloom,
Launch thy frail bark upon the awful tide
That leaves the lonely islands of the tomb;
Darest thou, in thy vain impotence of pride
Demand the knowledge to frail man denied?

Call'st thou me reckless, when I place my hand
Upon the earliest buddings of the spring?
Had I allowed those sweet buds to expand,
What would the skies of gloomy autumn bring?
Darkness, dismay: those sweet buds, leaf by leaf,
Had sadly faded, full of tears and grief.

What though I slew the victor in his pride,
'Tis meet the brave on battle field should die,
His name is echoed thro' the nations wide,
Reared is the column where his ashes lie;
He sought for fame, he won it, bravely won;
He died for fame, when his great task was done.

What tho' I turn the banquet room to grief,
The wedding garment to a garb of woe,
Do I not bring to wounded hearts relief?
Do I not ease the wretched of his woe?
Then taunt me not with wanton cruelty,
Man knows 'tis written 'thou must surely die!'

But at what hour, no mortal power may know,
Whether at morn, at dewy eve, or night,
When sinks the heart beneath its weight of woe,
Or throb the pulses with supreme delight,
Vain mortal! cease God's sovereign will to scan,
Be thou prepared to meet the son of man!'"

CLARKE.

* * * * *

SLEEP.

Sleep, the accustomed companion of night, inhabits the lower regions, though Ovid has placed his palace in the cold Scythia.

----------------"In his dark abode
Deep in a cavern dwells the drowsy god,
Whose gloomy mansion nor the rising sun
Nor setting, visits, nor the lightsome noon;
But lazy vapours round the region fly,
Perpetual twilight and a doubtful sky;
No crowing cock does there his wings display
Nor with his horny bill provoke the day;
Nor watchful dogs, nor the more wakeful geese,
Disturb, with nightly noise, the sacred peace:
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Nor beast of nature nor the laws, are nigh,
Nor trees with tempests rocked, nor human cry,
But safe repose, without an air of breath,
Dwells here, and a dumb quiet next to death,
An arm of Lethe with a gentle flow,
Arising upward from the rock below,
The palace moats, and o'er the pebbles creeps,
And with soft murmurs calls the coming sleeps.
Around its entry nodding poppies grew,
And all cool simples that sweet rest bestow;
Night from the plants their sleepy virtue drains,
And passing, sheds it on the silent plains:
No door there was th' unguarded house to keep,
On creaking hinges turned to break his sleep.
But in the gloomy court was raised a bed,
Stuffed with black plumes, and in an ebon stead;
Black was the covering too where lay the god,
And slept supine, his limbs displayed abroad."

OVID.

The principal minister of Sleep is Morpheus, son of Somnus, who was the presider over sleep; the former was the parent of dreams, of whom, by a beautiful idea, imagination was said to be the mother. The palace of Somnus was a dark cave, where the god lies asleep on a bed of feathers. The dreams stand by him, and Morpheus, as his principal minister, watches, to prevent any noise from awaking him.

"Oh lightly, lightly tread,
A holy thing is sleep;
On the worn spirit shed,
And eyes that wake to weep.
A holy thing from heaven,
A gracious, dewy cloud,
A covering mantle given,
The weary to enshroud!

Oh! lightly, lightly tread;
Revere the pale, still brow,
The meekly drooping head,
The long hair's willowy flow.
Ye know not what ye do,
That call the slumberers back,
From the world unseen by you
Unto life's dim faded track.

Her soul is far away,
In her childhood's land, perchance,
Where her young sisters play,
Where shines her mother's glance.
Some old sweet native sound
Her spirit haply weaves;
A harmony profound,
Of woods with all their leaves.

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A murmur of the sea,
A laughing tone of streams;
Long may her sojourn be
In the music land of dreams.
Each voice of love is there,
Each gleam of beauty fled,
Each lost one still more fair--
Oh! lightly, lightly tread!"

HEMANS.

By the Lacedaemonians, the image of Somnus was always placed near that of death on account of their apparent resemblance.

"How wonderful is death,
Death and his brother Sleep!
One, pale as yonder waning moon,
With lips of lurid blue;
The other rosy as the morn
When throned in ocean's wave,
It blushes o'er the world:
Yet both so passing wonderful!"

SHELLEY.

---------------"The one glides gentle o'er the space
Of earth, and broad expanse of ocean waves,
Placid to man. The other has a heart
Of iron; yea, the heart within his breast
Is brass, unpitying; whom of men he grasps
Stern he retains."

HESIOD

* * * * *

MANES.

The Manes was a name applied generally to the soul after it has separated from the body, and were among the infernal deities being supposed to preside over the grave, burial places, and monuments of the dead.

They were worshipped with great great solemnity, particularly by the Romans, and were always invoked by the Augurs before proceeding about their sacerdotal offices.

It was believed that these spirits quitted, during the hours of night, their melancholy dwelling-place, and "revisited the glimpses of the moon," to exercise their benevolence or their fury. They were allowed also to leave their tombs three times during the course of the year while their fetes, which were the most pompous in Rome, were proceeding in their honour.

* * * * *

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NEMESIS.

Nemesis, Goddess of Justice and of Vengeance, was the daughter of Necessity. This divinity had wings, a fillet of serpents round her brow, and a sword to strike the unhappy criminals who merited its blow;--though always ready to punish the impious, she was equally liberal in rewarding the good and the virtuous. The people of Smyrna were the first who made her statue with wings, to show with what celerity she is prepared to punish the crimes of the wicked.

The Romans were particularly attentive in their adoration of this deity, whom they solemnly invoked, and to whom they offered sacrifices before declaring war, to evince to the world that they were commenced upon equitable grounds.

The Athenians instituted fetes called Nemesia, in memory of deceased persons, as the goddess was supposed to defend the relics and the memory of the dead from insult.

* * * * *

DOMESTIC DIVINITIES.

THE LARES AND THE PENATES.

The Lares were the household divinities who presided over the interests of private families. Their worship is supposed to have {157} arisen from the ancient custom among the Romans and other nations, of burying their dead within their houses, and the belief that the spirits of the departed continually hovered over their former dwellings, for the protection of the inhabitants. Their statues were placed in a niche behind the doors of the houses, or around the hearths; while at their feet was placed a dog barking, to intimate the watchfulness they exhibited. Their festivals were observed at Rome in the month of May, when their statues were crowned with garlands of flowers, and fruit offerings presented to them.

The Penates also closely resembled the Lares, and presided over houses and the domestic affairs of families. It was at the option of every master of a family to choose his Penates, and therefore Jupiter and some of the superior gods, are often invoked as domestic divinities.

They were originally the manes of the dead, but when mankind had been taught by superstition to pay deep reverence to the statues or images of their deceased friends, that reverence was soon changed for a more regular worship, and they were admitted by their votaries to share immortality and power, with the remainder or the Gods.

The statues of the Penates were generally formed of wax, silver, ivory, or earthenware, according to the poverty or riches of the worshipper.

When offerings were made to them, their shrines were crowned with garlands, and besides one day in every month set apart for their homage, their festivals were celebrated during the Saturnalia.

HYMN TO THE PENATES.

"Yet one song more! one high and solemn strain,
Ere, Phoebus! on thy temples ruined wall
I hang the silent harp: one song more!
Penates! hear me! for to you I hymn
The votive lay. Venerable powers!
Hearken your hymn of praise. Though from your rites
Estranged, and exiled from your altars long,
I have not ceased to love you, Household Gods!
O ye whom youth has 'wildered on your way,
Or vice with fair mask'd foulness, or the lure
Of Fame that calls ye to her crowded path
With folly's rattle, to your Household Gods
Return: for not in Vice's gay abodes,
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Not in the unquiet, unsafe halls of Fame
Doth Happiness abide!"
-----------------"To your Household Gods
Return, for by their altars, Virtue dwells,
And Happiness with her; hearken your hymn of praise,
Penates! to your shrines I come for rest,--
There only to be found. Household Deities,
There only shall be Happiness on earth
When man shall feel your sacred power, and love
Your tranquil joys; then shall the city stand
A huge, void sepulchre, and rising fair
Amid the ruins of the palace pile,
The olive grow, there shall the tree of peace
Strike its roots deep, and flourish."

SOUTHEY.

* * * * *

GENIUS.

The Genius was a kind of spirit which, as the ancients supposed, presided over the actions of mankind, gave them their private councils, and carefully watched over their most secret intentions. Some of the ancient philosophers maintained, that every man had two of these, the one bad, the other good. They had the power of changing themselves into whatever form they pleased, and of assuming whatever shapes were most subservient to their intentions. At the moment of death, they delivered up to judgment the person with whose care they had been entrusted; and according to the evidence he delivered, sentence was passed upon the body. The Genius of Socrates is famous in history. That great philosopher asserted that the Genius informed him when any of his friends were going to engage in some unfortunate enterprise, and stopped him from the commission of all crimes and impiety. The Genii, though at first reckoned only as the subordinate ministers of the superior deities, received divine honour for a length of time, and we find altars and statues erected to them.

* * * * *

PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES OF THE SECOND ORDER.

THE GRACES.

The Graces, who were daughters of Jupiter and of Venus, presided over the enjoyments of the mind, as well as over those of the heart. Thus the orator received from them the force and brilliancy of his ideas; the artist, his perception of the beautiful; the wise man, that spirit of amiability which appreciates the charms of {159} virtue; the rich man, a love of beneficence and desire of giving; the poor gaiety and patience; the maiden, candour and modesty; and the warrior, bravery united with moderation.

The worship of the Graces appeals to have had birth in Samothracia; then Elis, Perinthia, Delphi, and Rome adopted the three sisters. By some it is asserted, that the beautiful trio remained unwedded; Homer, however, has given Sleep to the youngest as a husband.

During the many sacrifices which were instituted in the various cities, offerings to them were mingled with those to Bacchus, Mercury, the Muses, and Apollo.

The Spartan heroes before going to combat, sacrificed to Love and to the Graces. They were invoked at festivals, and three cups were drunk by those who feasted in honour of Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia.

Of them, the greatest statuaries have erected the most groups, and Socrates himself, before he joined the philosophy in which he ultimately became so eminent, had taken the chisel in his hand, and represented them of slight figure, pure countenance, smiling faces, small mouths, hair negligently tied over their head, and with their hands placed in a graceful attitude.

They sometimes bear with them a branch of myrtle and of roses, the flowers peculiarly consecrated to them.

* * * * *

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COMUS, MOMUS.

Comus, God of the pleasures of the table and of good living, was the presider over feasts and festivals, and was honoured most by the dissipated youth who, to do him reverence, wandered about at night in masks, dancing to the sound of musical instruments, and knocking at the doors of dwelling places. During his festivals, men and women exchanged each others dresses. He is represented as a young and drunken man, with a garland of flowers upon his head, his face lit up by the deity of wine, and with a flambeau in his hand which appears falling.

SONG OF COMUS.

"Welcome joy, and feast,
Midnight shout and revelry,
Tipsy dance and jollity.
Braid your locks with rosy twine,
Dropping odours, dropping wine,
Rigour now is gone to bed,
And Advice with scrupulous head:
Strict age and sour severity,
With their grave saws, in slumber lie.
We, that are of purer fire,
Imitate the starry quire,
Who, in their nightly watchful spheres,
Lead in swift round the months and years.
* * * * * *
What hath night to do with sleep?
Night hath better sweets to prove;
Venus now wakes, and wakens love.
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Come, let us our rites begin;
'Tis only day-light that makes sin,
Which these dim shades will ne'er report.
Come, knot hands, and beat the ground
In a light fantastic round."

MILTON.

Momus, his companion, is the god of joy and pleasantry, and was the buffoon and satirist of Olympus. He wears as head dress, a cap adorned with small bells, a mask in one hand, and on the other a bauble, the symbol of folly. He was constantly engaged in mocking the Gods, and whatever they did was freely turned into ridicule. He laughed at Minerva, who had made a house, because she had not formed it moveable, that the annoyance of a bad neighbourhood might be avoided. He sneered at Neptune's bull, because the eyes were not placed near enough to the horn, to render his blows surer. He irritated Vulcan, by observing that if he wished to make man perfect, he should have placed a window at his heart; and when he found the beauty of Venus was too perfect to allow of any truth to be mixed with his bitterness, he declared that the noise made by the goddess in walking was far too loud to be agreeable, and detracted from her beauty. At last these illiberal reflections were the cause of his being turned out of Olympus.

Momus has been sung many times by the choice spirits whom he inspired, as well as by the dissipated youth of the city, and occupies in poetry, a rank more elevated than that of Comus. He was greatly honoured during the more dissipated times of Rome, and it was the custom to pour libations to him, before commencing a nocturnal revel.

* * * * *

HYMEN.

This child of Venus and Bacchus presided over marriages, and has the appearance of a beautiful youth, holding a torch in his hand, and in the other a purple garment, with his head ornamented by a crown of roses.

"Till Hymen brought his love-delighted hour.
There dwelt no joy in Eden's rosy bower!
In vain the viewless seraph lingering there,
At starry midnight charmed the silent air;
In vain the wild bird carolled on the steep
To hail the sun, slow wheeling from the deep;
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In vain, to soothe the solitary shade,
Aerial notes in mingling pleasure played;
The Summer wind that shook the spangled trees,
The whispering wave, the murmuring of the breeze;
Still slowly passed the melancholy day,
And still the stranger wist not where to stray.
The world was sad; the garden was a wild!
And man, the hermit, sighed,--till woman smiled!"

CAMPBELL.

According to the more received opinions of others, Hymenaeus was a young Athenian of extraordinary beauty, but of low origin. Becoming enamoured of one of the richest and noblest of his countrywomen, he worshipped her at a distance, and followed her, though respectfully, wherever she went: and, on one occasion, joined the nations of Athens in a religious procession, disguising his sex by women's clothes. When they reached Eleusis, a great part of the procession were seized by a band of pirates, who suddenly appeared amongst them: Hymenaeus shared the captivity of his mistress, and encouraging the captives, they slew their ravishers while they slept. Immediately after this, Hymenaeus repaired to Athens, and promised to deliver them if he were allowed to marry the one he might choose from amongst them.

The Athenians consented; and the lover received so much happiness in the marriage state, that festivals were instituted in his honour, and he was solemnly invoked at their nuptials.

"Hail, wedded love, mysterious law, true source
Of human offspring, sole propriety,
In paradise of all things common else!
By thee adulterous lust was driven from men
Among the bestial herds to range; by thee
Founded in reason, loyal, just, and pure,
Relations dear, and all the charities
Of father, son, and brother, first were known,
Far be it that I should write thee sin or blame,
Or think thee unbefitting holiest place;
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets,
Whose bed is undefiled, and chaste pronounced,
Present, or past, as saints and patriarchs used.
Here love his golden shafts employs, here lights
His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings,
Reigns here and revels, not in the bought smile
Of harlots, loveless, joyless, unendeared,
Casual fruition; nor in court amours,
Mixed dance or wanton mask, or midnight ball,
Or serenade, which the starved lover sings
To his proud fair, best quitted with disdain."

MILTON

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It was supposed that he always attended at nuptials; if not, matrimonial connections were fatal, and ended unhappily, and therefore people ran about calling aloud, Hymen! Hymen!

"God of the torch, whose soul-illuming flame
Beams brightest radiance o'er the human heart,
Of many a woe the cure,
Of many a joy the source.

Friend to each better feeling of the soul,
I sing to thee, for many a joy is thine,
And many a virtue comes
To join thy happy train.

Parent of every bliss, the busy hand
Of Fancy, oft will paint in brightest hues
How calm, how clear thy torch
Illumes the wintry hour.

We'll paint the well-trimmed fire, the frugal meal,
Prepared with good solicitude to please,
The ruddy children round,
Climbing the father's knee.

And oft will fancy rise above the lot
Of honest poverty, and dream how man
Nor rich, nor poor, enjoys
His best and happiest state.

When toil no longer irksome, and restrained
By hard necessity, but comes to please,
To vary the still hour
Of tranquil happiness,

Lured by the splendour of thy sacred torch,
The beacon light of bliss, young Love draws near,
And leads his willing slaves
To wear thy flowery chain."

SOUTHEY.

"Hymen, late, his love-knots selling,
Called at many a maiden's dwelling;
None could doubt, who saw, or knew them,
Hymen's call was welcome to them.
'Who'll buy my love-knots?
Who'll buy my love knots?'
Soon as that sweet cry resounded,
How his baskets were surrounded!

Maids, who now first dreamt of trying
Those gay knots of Hymen's tying;
Dames, who long had sat to watch him
Passing by, but ne'er could catch him,
'Who'll buy my love-knots?
Who'll buy my love-knots?'
All at that sweet cry assembled;
Some laughed, some blushed, and others trembled.

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'Here are knots,' said Hymen, taking
Some loose flowers of Love's own making;
'Here are good ones, you may trust 'em,'
(These, of course, found ready custom,)
'Come buy my love-knots,
Come buy my love-knots!
Some are labelled-knots to tie men,
Love, the maker--Bought of Hymen.'

Scarce their bargains were completed,
When the nymphs all cried, 'We're cheated;
'See these flowers, they're drooping sadly,
This gold-knot, too, ties but badly'--
'Who'll buy my love-knots,
Who'll buy my love-knots!'
Even this tie, with Love's name round it,
All a sham, he never bound it!

Love, who saw the whole proceeding,
Would have laughed, but for good breeding;
While old Hymen, who was used to,
Cries like that these dames gave loose to,
'Take back our love-knots,
Take back our love-knots!'
Coolly said, 'There's no returning
Wares on Hymen's hands--Good morning!'"

MOORE.

* * * * *

PLUTUS

--------------"All bountiful, who roams
Earth, and the expanded surface of the sea;
And him that meets him on his way, whose hands
He grasps, him gifts he with abundant gold,
And large felicity."

HESIOD.

Plutus is the god of Riches, and as the minister of the deity of the dead, inhabits the court of Pluto, thereby indicating that the precious metals are in the bowels of the earth. He was brought up by the goddess of peace, and the Greeks spoke of him as a fickle divinity, because represented as blind, he spreads by chance in his rapid course, the gold, silver, and precious stones, which escape from a box he holds in his hands; as lame, because he came slow and gradually; and with wings, to intimate that he flew away with greater velocity than he approached mankind.

Fortuna was the goddess of Fortune, and from her hands were derived riches and poverty, pleasures and misfortunes, blessings and pains.

Governed by Destiny, she guides by Occasion; and before her marches Necessity, the inflexible goddess. {165}

In Boeotia she had a statue, represented as holding Plutus in her arms, to intimate that fortune is the source whence wealth and honours flow. She is blind-folded, and her hand rests on a wheel, to intimate her inconstancy.

* * * * *

HARPOCRATES.

Harpocrates, the son of Isis and Osiris, is the god of Silence. He is represented, in his statues as young, but with a countenance calm and severe, and on his brow a mitre, divided into two equal portions. His finger is placed upon his lip, to intimate the silence he maintains, and hence, all modern works of art adopt the same sign, when they wish to represent the quality over which Harpocrates is supposed to preside.

The Romans placed his statue at the entrance of their temples, to intimate that the mysteries of religion should never be revealed to the people.

"There is a lake that to the North
Of Memphis, stretches grandly forth,
Upon whose silent shore the dead
Have a proud city of their own,
With shrines and pyramids o'erspread--
Where many an ancient, kingly head
Slumbers, immortalized in stone;
And where, through marble grots beneath,
The lifeless, ranged like sacred things,
Nor wanting aught of life, but breath,
Lie in their painted loveliness,
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And in each new successive race,
That visit their dim haunts below,
Look with the same unwithering face,
They wore three thousand years ago.
There Silence, thoughtful god, who loves
The neighbourhood of death, in groves
Of Asphodel lies hid, and weaves
His hushing spell among the leaves--
Nor ever noise disturbs the air,
Save the low, humming, mournful sound
Of priests, within their shrines at prayer,
For the fresh dead, entombed around."

MOORE.

* * * * *

THEMIS, ASTRAEA.

Themis, daughter of heaven and of earth, was the goddess of Justice, She wears a bandage over her eyes, and holds in her hands a sword, scales, and the mirror of truth. Her temple is always open.

Astraea, with Law and Peace, are her children, the former of whom was worshipped as Justice on the earth during the golden age; but the wickedness of mankind drove her from the world, during the succeeding periods of brass and iron, and she was placed among the constellations of the Zodiac, under the name of Virgo. She is represented as a maiden, with a stern but majestic countenance, holding a pair of scales in one hand, and a sword in the other.

* * * * *

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DEMI-GODS.

The demi-gods are those, who, sprung from the union of a mortal with a divinity, have taken their place among the Immortals; and "Fabulous History" is the name given to the recital of their deeds.

CASTOR AND POLLUX.

From the love of Jupiter for Leda, wife of Tyndarus, king of Sparta, sprang these twin-brothers. Under the form of a swan, pursued by Venus: in the shape of an eagle, the God sought refuge in Leda's arms, who in due time produced two eggs, from one of which came Pollux and Helena, and from the other, Castor and Clytemnestra.

Scarcely had Pollux emerged from childhood, when, being on an expedition with the Argonauts, they stopped in the domains of Amycus, (famous for his skill in the management of the cestus,) who challenged all strangers seeking his dominions to a trial of strength. Pollux accepted his challenge, and surpassed him in skill, on which Amycus attempting to conquer by fraud, Pollux slew him on the spot; and became the patron of athletic exercises.

Castor was skilful in the art of guiding chariots, and subduing the most fiery coursers. These brothers fought Theseus for outraging their sister Helena; they destroyed the pirates who infested {168} Hellespont and the neighbouring seas, and from this have always been considered as gods favourable to sailors. During the Argonautic expedition, in which they had accompanied Jason, when a violent storm was raging, a couple of names were seen playing over their heads, and immediately the tempest was appeased, and the sea became calm.

They were invited to a marriage feast, in which Lynceus and Idas were to be wedded to Phoebe and Talaria the daughters of Leucippus, who was brother to Tyndarus. Becoming enamoured of the two women whose nuptials they had met to celebrate, they resolved to carry them off. This violence provoked the bridegrooms: a combat ensued, in which Castor killed Lynceus, and was slain in return by Idas--Pollux revenged the death of his brother, by slaying Idas, but was unable after this to support life, so devotedly was he attached to his brother: and implored Jupiter either to restore him to life, or that he might be deprived himself of his immortality. His prayers were granted, and the two brothers passed in turn six months in the infernal regions, and six months on earth. This fraternal affection Jupiter rewarded by turning the two brothers into constellations, under the name of Gemini.

Sparta, celebrated in honour of them, a fete called Dioscuria, which was observed with jovial festivity: and in which free use was made of the gifts of Bacchus, accompanied with sports, in which wrestling matches always formed an important part.

* * * * *

JASON.

This celebrated hero was the son of Alcemede, by Aeson; the education of the youthful Jason, whose right of succession to the throne of Iolchos had been wrested from him by Pelias, was entrusted to the care of the centaur Chiron, and he was removed from the presence of the usurper of the kingdom of Iolchos, because the latter had been informed by an oracle that one of the descendants of Aeolus, (from whom Jason had come) would dethrone him. After he had distinguished himself by the most rapid success in every branch of science, Jason left the country, and by the advice of his preceptor, went to consult the oracle. He was ordered to {169} go to Iolchos, his native country, covered with the spoils of a leopard, and dressed in the garments of a Magnesian. In his journey he was stopped by the inundation of a river, over which, however, he was carried by Juno, in the character of an old woman. In crossing the stream, he lost one of his sandals, and on his arrival at Iolchos, the singularity of his dress, and the fairness of his complexion, attracted the notice of the people, and drew a crowd round him in the market place. Pelias came to see him with the others, and, as he had been warned by the oracle, to beware of a man who should appear at Iolchos with one foot bare, and the other shod, the appearance of Jason, who as we have seen, had lost one of his sandals, alarmed him, and his terrors were soon after augmented, as Jason, accompanied by his friends repaired to the palace of Pelias, and demanded the kingdom of which he had been unjustly deprived. The boldness of Jason intimidated Pelias; he was unwilling to abdicate the crown, yet he feared the resentment of his adversary.

As Jason was young and desirous of glory, Pelias reminded him that their common relation, Phryxus, had been inhumanly murdered by Aeetes, king of Colchis, in order to obtain possession of the golden fleece which belonged to the murdered man; observing, that, the deed merited punishment, and was one which would produce a crown of glory to him who should inflict it; adding, that if Jason, were to undertake it, he would resign his own crown and kingdom to him, immediately on his return. Burning with the desire of {170} military fame, Jason readily undertook an expedition which seemed to promise so much glory. The expedition was bruited about all Greece, and the young and ardent of the nation were called upon to join him in the glory and the danger.

They set sail in a ship called Argo and after a series of adventures arrived at Colchis. Alarmed at an invasion which appeared so formidable, Aeetes promised to restore the golden fleece for the possession of which he had slain Phryxus, provided the invaders consented to the conditions he should propose, and which were as follows: Jason was to tame bulls whose breath were fierce flames, with feet and horns of brass, and to plough with them, when subdued, a field sacred to Mars. He was then to sow in the ground the teeth of a serpent, from which armed men would spring up, whose rage would be directed against him who should be daring enough to plough the field; and as a conclusion to his arduous tasks, he was to kill a frightful dragon which remained ever on the watch at the tree where the golden fleece was suspended. All were in fear for the fate of the Argonauts, but Juno watched over their safety, and extricated them from their difficulties. Medea, the king's daughter, fell in love with Jason, and in an interview with her lover in the temple of Hecate, in which they swore a mutual fidelity, and bound themselves by the most solemn oaths, she pledged herself to deliver her lover from all his dangers. Her knowledge of herbs, enchantments and incantations, was uncommon, and he received from her whatever instruments and herbs could protect him against the coming dangers.

"She then retires to Hecate's shrine, that stood
Far in the covert of a shady wood:
She finds the fury of her flames assauged,
But, seeing Jason there, again they raged.
Blushes and paleness did by turns invade
Her tender cheeks, and secret grief betrayed;
As fire, that sleeping under ashes lies,
Fresh blown and roused, does up in blazes rise,
New kindled by her lover's sparkling eyes,
So flamed the virgin's breast.
For chance, that day, had with uncommon grace;,
Adorned the lovely youth, and thro' his face
Displayed an air so pleasing, as might charm
A goddess, and a vestal's bosom warm.
Her ravished eyes survey him o'er and o'er,
As some gay wonder never seen before;
Transported to the skies she seems to be
And thinks she gazes on a deity,
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But when he spoke and pressed her trembling hand,
And did with tender words her heart demand,
With vows and oaths to make her soon his bride,
She wept a flood of tears, and thus replied.
'I see my error, yet to ruin move,
Nor owe my fate to ignorance, but love:
Your life I'll guard, and only crave of you
To swear once more--and to your oath be true.'
He swears by Hecate, he would all fulfil,
And by her grandfather's prophetic skill
By everything that doubting love could press,
His present danger and desired success.
She credits him, and kindly does produce
Enchanted herbs, and teaches him their use,
Their mystic names, and virtues he admires.
And with his booty joyfully retires."

OVID.

He made his appearance in the field of Mars, he tamed the fury of the oxen, he ploughed the earth, and he sowed the teeth of the dragon. Immediately a band of armed men arose and rushed towards Jason: nothing daunted, the hero threw a stone amongst them, and they fell one upon the other till they were entirely destroyed. He lulled to sleep the watchfulness of the dragon, by the power of herbs, and grasped in triumph the golden fleece which was the the object of his expedition.

"Impatient for the wonders of the day,
Aurora drives the loitering stars away.
Now Mars's mount the pressing people fill,
The crowd below, the nobles crown the hill:
The king himself, high throned above the rest,
With ivory sceptre, and in purple drest.
Forthwith the brass hoofed bulls are set at large,
Whose furious nostrils sulphurous flames discharge,
The blasted herbage by their breath expires,
As forges rumble with excessive fires,
And furnaces with fiercer fury glow,
When water in the panting mass ye throw,
With such a noise from their convulsive breast,
Through bellowing throats the struggling vapour pressed.
Yet Jason marches up without concern,
While on the adventurous youth the monsters turn
Their glaring eyes, and eager to engage,
Brandish their steel-tipt horns in threatening rage:
With brazen hoofs they beat the ground, and choke
The ambient air, with clouds of dust and smoke.
Each gazing Grecian for his champion shakes,
While bold advances he securely makes
Through singeing blasts: such wonders magic art
Can work, when love conspires and plays his part.
The passive savages like statues stand,
While he their dewlap strokes with soothing hand;
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To unknown yokes their brawny necks they yield,
And like tame oxen, plough the wondering field.
The Colchians state, the Grecians shout, and raise
Their champion's courage with inspiring praise.
Emboldened now, in fresh attempts he goes,
With serpent's teeth the fertile furrows sows;
The glebe, fermenting with enchanted juice,
Makes the snakes' teeth a human crop produce,
And from the labouring earth, no single birth
But a whole troop of lusty youths rush forth,
And what's more strange, with martial fury warmed,
And for encounter all completely armed;
In rank and file, as they were sowed, they stand
Impatient for the signal of command,
No foe, but the Aemonian youth appears,
As there they level their steep pointed spears.
Wonders ensue, among his gazing foes
The fragment of a massy rock he throws,
This charm in civil war engaged them all,
By mutual wounds these earth-born brothers fall.
One labour more remains, and, though the last,
In danger far surmounting all the past;
That enterprize by fate in store was kept
To make the dragon sleep, that never slept,
Whose crest shoots dreadful lustre; from his jaws
A triple tier of forked stings he draws,
With fangs and wings of a prodigious size;
Such was the guardian of the golden prize.
Yet him besprinkled with Lethean dew
The fair enchantress into slumber threw;
While the soft guest his drowsy eyelids seals,
Th' unguarded golden fleece the stranger steals;
Proud to possess the purchase of his toil,
Proud of his royal bride, the richer spoil,
To sea both prize and patroness he bore,
And lands triumphant on his native shore."

OVID.

All these deeds being performed in the presence of the monarch and his subjects, they were struck with surprise at the boldness and success of the young hero, who immediately embarked for Europe with Medea, the great instrument of his preservation. Enraged at the desertion of his daughter, Oeetes sent his son Absyrtus to bring back the fugitives. Absyrtus overtook them, but was slain by Medea, who scattered his limbs upon the path of his father, trusting that Oeetes' paternal affection, would make him anxious to render due homage to the remains of his son, and prevent him from following with success.

On the return of the expedition to Thessaly, they were received with unusual festivity; but Oeson, Jason's father was unable to be there, owing to the infirmities of age, and Medea at her husband's desire, restored him to all the power and vigour of youth.

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With looks averted backward they advance,
Who strike and stab, and leave the blows to chance
Waking in consternation, he essays,
Weltering in blood, his feeble arms to raise;
Environed by so many swords; 'From whence
This barbarous usage? what is my offence?
What fatal fury, what infernal charm,
'Gainst a kind father does his daughter arm?'
Hearing his voice, as thunderstruck they stopped
Their resolution, and their weapons dropped:
Medea then the mortal blow bestows."

The subjects of the deceased king, when they were informed of the cause of his death, were anxious to avenge it, and Medea found herself compelled to fly with Jason to Corinth, in which place they resided forty years.