SPECIMENS 
 
 or 
 
 ANTIENT SCULPTURE, 
 
 ^EGYPTIAN, ETRUSCAN, GREEK, 
 
 AND 
 
 ROMAN: 
 
 SELECTED FROM 
 
 DIFFERENT COLLECTIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 BY 
 
 THE SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. NICOL, FALL MALL, 
 FOR PAYNE AND FOSS. 
 1835. 
 
mm 
 
SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. 
 
 AN. soc. cn. 
 
 178?. JAMES DAWKINS, Esq. 
 1799. JOHN HAWKINS, Esq. 
 
 JOHN B. S. MORR1TT, Esq. 
 
 The DUKE of SOMERSET. 
 
 1802. The LORD NORTHWICK. 
 
 1803. The EARL of CARLISLE. 
 1805. The EARL COWPER. 
 
 The EARL of MORLEY. 
 Rt. Hon. CHARLES W. WYNN. 
 The EARL OF ABERDEEN. 
 Sir WATKIN W. WYNN, Bart. 
 
 1807. HENRY PHILIP HOPE Esq. 
 Sir WILLIAM CELL. 
 
 The EARL of CHARLEVILLE. 
 
 1808. WILLIAM DICKINSON, Esq. 
 
 1809. FREDERICK FOSTER, Esq. 
 WILLIAM WILKINS, Esq. 
 
 1811. WILLIAM R. HAMILTON, Esq. 
 
 1812. PEREGRINE E. TOWNELEY, Esq. 
 
 1813. WILLIAM FITZHUGH, Esq. 
 
 1814. Lt. Colonel LEAKE. 
 The EARL of SURREY. 
 
 1815. Rt. Hon. JOHN HOOKHAM FRERE. 
 The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNE. 
 The EARL of CHARLEMONT. 
 
 1817. RICHARD WESTMACOTT, Esq. 
 The LORD DUNDAS. 
 
 Sir JOHN SWINBURNE, Ban. 
 H. GALLY KNIGHT, Esq. 
 
 1818. The EARL of ROSEBERY. 
 
 1819. HENRY HALLAM, Esq. 
 The DUKE of BEDFORD. 
 Hon. ROBERT H. CLIVE. 
 
 1821. Hon. WILLIAM PONSONBY. 
 
 1822. WILLIAM JOHN BANKES, Esq. 
 
 1823. The MARQUESS of CHANDOS. 
 1826. ROBERT HENRY WOOD, Esq. 
 
 Hon. GEORGE VILLIERS. 
 The EARL of REPON. 
 
 1828. The EARL of MUNSTER. 
 PHILIP PUSEY, Esq. 
 
 1829. Sir GEORGE STAUNTON. Bart. 
 
 1830. DA VIES GILBERT, Esq. 
 JOHN P. DEER1NG, Esq. 
 TERRICK HAMILTON, Esq. 
 Sir MARTIN A. SHEE, P. R. A. 
 
 1831. The EARL of CALEDON. 
 
 Hon. MOUNTSTUARTELPHINSTONE. 
 BARTHOLOMEW FRERE, Esq. 
 
 1832. Rt. Hon. CHARLES R. VAUGHAN. 
 The EARL of BEVERLEY. 
 
 The LORD BURGHERSII. 
 
 Rt. Hon. Sir ROBERT GORDON. 
 
 CHARLES B. SHERIDAN, Esq 
 
 The MARQUESS of NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 1833. The MARQUESS of DOUGLAS. 
 GEORGE W. AYLMER, Esq. 
 
 1834. The DUKE of BUCCLEUCH. 
 CAPTAIN CHARLES SOTHEBY, R. N. 
 HENRY T. HOPE, Esq. 
 
 Rt. Hon. ALEXANDER BARING. 
 
 The LORD PRUDHOE. 
 
 JOHN FULLER, Esq. 
 
 Rt. Hon. Sir CHARLES BAGOT. 
 
 The LORD HEYTESBURY. 
 
 1835. JOHN MANSFIELD, Esq. 
 GEORGE ROBERT SMITH, Esq. 
 
 MARCH 1st, MDCCCXXXV. 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 ANTIENT SCULPTURE. 
 
 1. In the Dissertation prefixed to the first volume of the present work, Introduction, 
 we have endeavoured to trace the rise, progress, and decline of sculpture 
 in the nations of antiquity, as connected with the technical principles of 
 the art recorded in their histories, and illustrated by existing specimens. 
 The distinguished member of our Society, under whose auspices that 
 Dissertation was drawn up, intended, in our second volume, to have 
 embraced in his Inquiry the systematic style and principle of imitation 
 adopted by the polished nations, and the meaning of those symbols, which 
 were employed for embodying abstract ideas in visible representations. 
 The treatise, which the learned author first printed for private circulation, 
 and afterwards allowed to be communicated to the public in the pages of 
 vol. ii. b 
 
11 
 
 Introduction, a periodical journal, we have thought it our duty to annex to this volume 
 in a more permanent form; and we refer to it for much that is most 
 valuable in erudition and ingenious in conjecture. His lamented death, 
 and the unavoidable delay of our present publication have prevented 
 us from adopting as our own, opinions which more recent discoveries, 
 and maturer investigation might possibly have induced him to modify or 
 retract ; nor would we lessen the value of his suggestions by alterations 
 which can no longer receive the sanction of his approbation. We there- 
 fore give in our appendix the essay as he wrote it ; reserving to ourselves 
 in this preface the task of extending our inquiry further into those 
 peculiarities of religion and mythology, by which the arts of design were 
 first encouraged and afterwards modified, into the causes which led to 
 the perfection which they attained, and into the nature as well as the 
 reality of their superiority in Greece beyond all the surrounding nations 
 of antiquity, and beyond those of the moderns, who have deviated from 
 their principles. 
 
 Origin of 2. The writers, who have treated of the origin of sculpture, have some- 
 
 sculpture. 
 
 times confounded the invention of the art itself, with the introduction of 
 some improvement more or less important in the processes subsequently 
 adopted by different nations. The subject is necessarily attended with 
 obscurity, but taking the word Sculpture in its widest acceptation, as 
 including the various methods of representing in plastic materials the 
 forms of visible objects, it is obvious that no nation has any exclusive 
 Vol. I. p. ]|, claim to such a discovery, and that, as we have already observed in 
 
 Prelim. Diss. 
 
 our remarks on primitive art, it was probably known to the rudest, 
 long before the records that we now possess were composed, and even 
 before the knowledge of letters or civil institutions had given any perma- 
 nence to tradition. The natural love of imitation and the delight produced 
 by it in early life, in savages no less than in civilized communities, must 
 have introduced the rudiments of imitative art into every country, where 
 tractable materials were found and applied to the purposes of life. We 
 still may see in the huts of Tartar hordes, in the islands of the Pacific, in 
 the heart of Africa, and in the wigwains of the American Indian, such 
 grotesque and imperfect models of human and animal forms as every 
 nation instinctively frames for itself long before any principles of art 
 could be supposed to influence or guide such productions. 
 
Ill 
 
 3. It is perhaps more worthy of observation, that wherever these pro- idolatry, 
 ductions are found, they have been, almost invariably, the objects of 
 idolatry, or at least the instruments of superstition. We do not at this 
 moment recollect a single instance in any country, where such rude 
 attempts have been encouraged from the mere pleasure afforded by their 
 resemblance to the object represented. Dolls are dolls to children only; 
 
 but the developed imagination of man even in his least cultivated state 
 has always led him, through associations and analogies readily conceived, 
 to endow his EiqqXz with mysterious and supernatural attributes. The 
 forms of living creatures, however imperfect, were connected in the 
 imagination with sentient beings, their deformity was not always without 
 expression, and even their staring ugliness would give them the power of 
 exciting terror. " Primus in orbe deos fecit timor" is emphatically true 
 of idol worship, and the savage who talked to his puppet made of wood, 
 clay, or feathers, would infallibly be brought by his excited fancy to 
 connect its appearance or accidents with the fortunes of his life, or the 
 phenomena of nature. His images, if not actually adored as Gods, have 
 always been revered as Talismans or Obis, possessing supernatural power 
 over present events, or supernatural prescience of the future. Thus far, 
 we think, many nations have arrived ; there the rudest and simplest have 
 remained ; but the further progress of the invention has been modified 
 by the various institutions of other communities. 
 
 4. In ^Egypt, and in iEgypt only, we possess the actual monuments of Egyptian art. 
 a finished style of art, anterior even to the oldest records of profane 
 
 history; or rather perhaps the monuments themselves are records of 
 more antient date than any which are yet known to us. Without dis- 
 cussing the minutise of the chronological system of Mons. Cliampollion, 
 we find from his interpretation of the hieroglyphics on the walls of the 
 /Egyptian temples, that under the conquering dynasty of the kings, who 
 expelled the shepherd race from that country as early as the nineteenth 
 century before the Christian aera, the walls and tombs of Thebes were 
 decorated with durable sculpture, as well as with paintings representing 
 historical and personal events, equal or rather superior in design and 
 execution to any of their later productions. 
 
 5. The more recent researches of our countrymen, and the con- 
 temporary labours of literary foreigners, have enabled us to authenticate 
 
Egyptian art. in a great degree, as well as to appreciate the superior merit of the 
 more antient ^Egyptian relics. Beside the statues we possess from the 
 Memnonium, one of which is engraved in our first plate from the original 
 in the British Museum, we lay before the reader, in the next engraving, 
 one of the two colossal Lions of red granite brought by Lord Prudhoe 
 from the interior of Nubia, bearing on it the name in hieroglyphic 
 characters of Amenoph the third, the ^Ethiopian sovereign, who was 
 called Meimion by the Greek historians. Our remarks upon these interest- 
 ing monuments will be found in their place, but their style and execution 
 are so important both to the corroboration of the Grecian records, as to 
 the progress of civilization from ^Ethiopia to iEgypt, and also to the 
 history of sculpture, as an early art, that we may be allowed to advert to 
 the following facts gathered from Lord Prudhoe's journal. 
 
 (i. On the south-east side and near the foot of Gebel Birkel, a mountain 
 in Nubia, are the extensive remains of an antient city lying about eighty 
 miles beyond Dongola, and above the upper cataracts of the Nile. The 
 antient name of this town has not been ascertained, but it would appear 
 to have been the capital of Tirhakah, who is called in the Bible king of 
 ^Ethiopia, since some of his finest buildings are found here, and are still 
 in good preservation. The necropolis is marked by the remains of seven- 
 teen pyramids, and in the ruins of the city six temples are distinctly 
 traceable. The largest of these, including the propria, chapels and 
 sanctuaries, is about 495 feet in length and 120 feet wide. It includes 
 in its vast circumference an older temple built by Amenoph the third, 
 whose wall on the north-east has been faced with another outward wall 
 built by one of his successors and inscribed with a more recent name. 
 The great altar of beautiful grey granite was dedicated by Tirhakah. 
 Another grey granite altar, of workmanship not much inferior, has on it 
 the name of another sovereign ; while that of Amenoph the third remains 
 on the grey granite rams at the entrance of the propylon, and on a pedestal 
 within the temple, of far superior work. 
 
 7- The same name of Amenoph the third was inscribed on one of the 
 Lions of red granite which were found at a short distance in front of 
 another ruined temple dedicated by Anion Asro, and the other Lion was 
 also inscribed by Anion Asro with a dedication to Amenoph the third 
 with his own name, but the hieroglyphics on this were of a sculpture far 
 
 2d Kings, 
 xix. 9. 
 
V 
 
 inferior to the other. They might probably belong originally to the /Egyptian art. 
 temple erected, as we have seen, by that earlier sovereign. 
 
 8. We are well aware of the obscurity which, in spite of the successful 
 elucidation of some most ancient inscriptions, still continues to throw a 
 shade on the meaning of early hieroglyphic writing ; but if the results 
 from the attempts which have hitherto been made shall be admitted as 
 at least approaching to the truth, the inferences they suggest are very 
 important. We have now been furnished with inscriptions from various 
 monuments deciphered by Champollion and others, which correspond in 
 a very remarkable degree with a part of the catalogue of iEgyptian kings 
 recorded by Manetlio, and extracted by him from sources not always 
 deemed worthy of historical credit. These reach in general to the mo- 
 narchs indicated by him as reigning in the seventeenth or eighteenth of 
 the dynasties enumerated. In the most ancient documents of the Jewish 
 and Grecian histories where we find iEgyptian and ^Ethiopian monarchs 
 mentioned, and their actions recorded, we can now turn to corresponding 
 traces of their existence and exploits commemorated on the durable 
 materials of their temples, tombs, and palaces. We have certainly much 
 reason from this coincidence, not only to infer the truth of the narratives 
 so unexpectedly confirmed, but also the correctness of that mode of in- 
 terpretation which has led to such satisfactory results. It is at least fair, 
 when we have found it accurate in all that was previously known from 
 the more recent records of the Caesars and Ptolomies, up to the most 
 casual mention of the Pharoahs in the sacred annals of the Hebrews, to 
 conclude that in hieroglyphic inscriptions of still higher antiquity the 
 same exactitude prevailed, though we possess no longer the same means 
 of estimating it. 
 
 9. We have, therefore, less hesitation in ascribing to Sesostris and his 
 predecessor Amenoph the high antiquity which is attested by then- 
 inscribed monuments, whether in Nubia or in iEgypt. The situation of 
 these inscriptions coincides with all that is known from the traditions of 
 their lives which have been handed down to us by Manetho, and by Grecian 
 writers ; and the combats and events represented on their walls in painting 
 and relief indicate facts corresponding with the general tenour of their 
 supposed history. 
 
 10. Amenoph the third was one of the later monarchs of the eigh- 
 
 VOL. II. C 
 
vi 
 
 ./Egyptian art. teentli dynasty of Manetho ; as tlie nineteenth begins with the conquering 
 monarch, whose exploits decorate many of the walls at Thebes, and who 
 appears to have been the Sesostris, Sethos, or Serooses of the early 
 Grecian writers. The buildings and monuments of princes of the eigh- 
 teenth dynasty attest their dominion, and residence in the country above 
 the second Cataracts of the Nile, known to the Greeks by the general 
 name of ^Ethiopia. The sculpture of this and the subsequent period 
 evinces a knowledge of design, and a truth of representation, not often 
 observed by the artists of iEgypt under the government of later kings. 
 We attribute this superiority to a probable cause, when we suppose it to 
 have been directed by an active and powerful dynasty of warriors and 
 conquerors to the decoration of their palaces and temples, or the cele- 
 bration of their achievements. The more feeble character of their suc- 
 cessors, and the more settled form of their institutions, encreased the 
 ascendancy of the great lnerarchal aristocracy of the priesthood ; and the 
 patronage of art seems to have been transferred from the court and the 
 camp, to the colleges of Mgypt. The earlier monuments, whether of 
 good or defective composition, seem to have aimed at the representation 
 of actual nature, and to have been studied from living forms ; but those 
 which have been transmitted to us of later date, by ^Egyptian rulers, and 
 even after the arts of Greece were transplanted into that country with the 
 Ptolomies, exhibit but the improvement of mechanical skill in copying 
 forms long prescribed by custom, and consecrated in older sculptures, as 
 the fixed and hereditary methods of pourtraying similar objects. 
 
 11. We possess then, in the sculptures of the Thebaid and of Nubia, 
 specimens of the highest and most perfect style of imitative art, which the 
 artists of those countries were ever able to attain. Few works of any 
 earlier period have been authenticated, by which their gradual progress 
 to this degree of excellence can be estimated ; and from hence their 
 subsequent efforts appear slowly but regularly to decline in character, if 
 not in execution. All that is clearly ascertained of ^Egyptian history, 
 whether in art or empire, begins with the eighteenth dynasty ; which 
 after so many successful struggles, at last fixed the fortune of their nation. 
 The reader will find, in Cuvier's Essay on the Theory of the Earth, 
 remarks which invalidate the conclusions drawn by Champollion from the 
 more ancient authority of Manetho ; and the existence of contemporaneous 
 
vii 
 
 governments with similar institutions at Meroe, Thebes, and Memphis, /Egyptian art. 
 
 renders the long succession of dynasties at least suspicious. The catalogue 
 
 was probably extended by many lists of contemporary rulers, whether of 
 
 ^Ethiopia, the Thebaid, or the Delta, if not invented by the ingenuity of 
 
 the priesthood, who appear to have furnished similar but inconsistent 
 
 catalogues to Herodotus, and to many succeeding enquirers. The general 
 
 tradition preserved by some of these historians, that the arts and religion 
 
 of lower iEgypt were derived from ^Ethiopia, and that the higher region 
 
 of the Nile was the cradle of their nation, is consistent with all that is 
 
 extant of their monuments, and may safely be admitted. One seat of 
 
 government appears to have been at Memphis, when Moses led the 
 
 Hebrews out of captivity; but still in the subsequent age of Homer 
 
 Thebes retained its supremacy, and furnished him with an illustration 
 
 more forcible than he could probably have drawn from the city which 
 
 was nearer and more accessible. 
 
 12. Whatever may be the result of further enquiry on these, and on 
 other disputable conjectures, it is certain that at a remote and early 
 period the religion of iEgypt had assumed the form, which it afterwards 
 wore, when the writers of Greece first made themselves acquainted with 
 the country ; a great and powerful hierarchy had been established, the 
 members of which were the interpreters and ministers of a complicated 
 mythological idolatry, as well as the guardians, rivals, or controllers of a 
 despotic monarchy, according to the power of the prince, or the disposi- 
 tion of the people to obey him. On the monarchs high sounding titles 
 were already lavished ; divine honours were bestowed ; their descent was 
 traced to the gods, the sun and moon ; and they themselves are styled 
 gods the sons of gods. At this early period the art of writing or of 
 representing articulate sounds by alphabetical conventional forms already 
 existed ; and from its imperfect and complicated structure it appears to 
 have been originally invented by this hierarchy. It seems to have 
 consisted in employing, as a letter expressive of the sound required, the 
 figure of some animate or inanimate object, whose name in the iEgyptian 
 language began with a similar sound. Hence a multiplicity of signs 
 were used for each individual letter in various inscriptions; and hence 
 also a neat and dexterous style of sculpture was required to express 
 clearly and intelligibly the forms of such objects as were selected for the 
 
■Egyptian art. purpose. As these inscriptions were executed on granite, basalt, and 
 other materials of great hardness and difficulty of execution, they must 
 have been well acquainted with the art of fusing and tempering metals, 
 and with the various modes of preparing materials and tools for their 
 operations. No monuments or records of ruder dr more imperfect times 
 in /Egvpt have yet been discovered, though from this period the art 
 remained stationary, or rather seems to have become more and more 
 mechanical, and less dependent on characteristic imitation. But though 
 we are unable, from the extreme obscurity and imperfection of our his- 
 torical materials, to trace the steps by which jEgypt attained its early 
 civilisation, the analogy of its progress in eveiy known community would 
 still lead us to infer, that the unhewn pillar was older than the obelisk, 
 and that gods of clay, of palm trees, or wild fig trees, were known and 
 worshipped before stones could be subjected to the chisel. 
 Worship of 13. The worship of the creator and disposer of all things was, as we 
 nom""a. Th!C ' learn from the authentic records of Scripture, revealed to man in the 
 earliest stage of his existence. That of the hidden power or powers 
 which preside over the great phenomena of nature is so natural to him in 
 social life, and the worship of the phamomena themselves so obvious to 
 the untutored feeling of the savage, that some religion has probably 
 been found wherever man was settled. The earliest, most natural, and 
 consequently most general defection from the purer worship of the first 
 ages of the world, was into that which has since been called the purer 
 Sabasism, the adoration of the heavenly bodies and the elements of nature. 
 These afforded no temptations to idolatry, and were probably worshipped 
 directly, and not under the forms of substituted representatives, or at least 
 under such only as were analogous to their prototypes in their effects and 
 terrestrial operations. The earliest records of almost every nation, and 
 the earliest names of their divinities, proclaim this worship to have been 
 nearly universal, with the exception of that race to which the primeval 
 religion was preserved by a series of divine revelations. The sun and 
 moon were accordingly reverenced, as the beneficent causes of life and 
 happiness ; and the thunder, as the author of destruction, in every country ; 
 and the titles of the Baalim and Ashtaroth, of Phre and Isis, of the oldest 
 gods of Greece, of Syria, India and yEgypt alike bear witness to the 
 prevalence of this superstition, no less than those of Mithras and Arimanes. 
 
IX 
 
 But, as we have already observed, a new source of superstitious venera- Worship of 
 * Natural Ph. 
 
 tiou was opened to the imagination of man as soon as his own ingenuity nomena. 
 
 had enabled him to imitate the forms of living agents. That these imita- 
 tions have been the objects of worship in almost every country, whether 
 barbarous or civilised, is a remarkable fact ; and we think also that it is 
 scarcely less remarkable, that they were almost invariably identified with 
 objects so dissimilar in their appearance, as those of the purer and more 
 obvious, if not more rational, worship of the elementary bodies. 
 
 14. Wherever indeed the progress of elementary religion, and the civil Symbolic 
 
 Attributes. 
 
 constitution of the country, had separated from the rest of the community 
 a caste of Brahmins or a sacred college of priests exclusively charged 
 with the service of the national deities, they would soon apply to their 
 own purposes these new and powerful incentives of emotion. The casual 
 forms given by the potter to his charmed clay, or resulting- from the clumsy 
 effort of the carver to imitate men and animals in wood, were probably 
 identified by the priesthood, through some forced or fanciful analogy, with 
 the beings already worshipped. Gods would then be classed, monsters 
 symbolically explained, terrible and perhaps sensual attributes would be 
 added, the people terrified, and the art established. We think it still 
 possible to recognise much of this process in the early and long continued 
 fo nils of sacred sculpture which prevailed in iEgypt, China and Hindos- 
 tan, as well as in the less permanent monsters, which were similarly 
 worshipped in Greece, Asia or Etruria. The general resemblance of 
 these pristine efforts of art may be perhaps more naturally accounted for 
 by the common principle of them all, than by any very authentic record 
 of early mutual communications; and there are certainly" observable 
 differences in the style of each, which would lead us to infer their original 
 independence of each other. We know little of the state of art in Assyria 
 or Babylonia, the great depositories of primitive civilisation in Asia ; but 
 from the records we possess of the Jewish and Greek historians, we have 
 
 ■ The elongated limbs and attenuated forms on many Egyptian monuments, and some of the 
 early Greek and Italian vases, may be contrasted with the figures of Elephanta and Ellora, with 
 the coloured metopes of Selinus, and the fictile vases of the real Etrurians, ft is singular how 
 nearly the rudeness and imperfection of these early Etruscan works resemble that of the degenerate 
 Roman sculpture in the lower empire , were it not for the inscriptions which occasionally occur 
 they would be classed with the barbarisms executed under the. successors of Constantine. (See 
 some of those which have been brought from Volterra.) 
 
 vol. n. ( \ 
 
X 
 
 Symbolic 
 Attributes. 
 
 Worship of 
 Images. 
 
 no reason to suppose that Bel or Dagon were less hideous than their 
 contemporary deities of .iEgypt and iEthiopia. That such images retained 
 their influence, and were adored by communities of civilised men ; and 
 that they still continue to retain it in many parts of the world, present a 
 phenomenon in the history of the human mind as strange and extraordi- 
 nary as it was then familiar, and all but universal ; for these nations, at 
 an early period, in fact included all that could pretend to any degree of 
 refinement. In consequence of their institutions they each arrived at a 
 regulated system of superstition : they symbolised in monstrous repre- 
 sentations the supposed attributes of their gods ; they improved the 
 mechanical means of representing them ; and they introduced new or 
 more costly materials for the purpose : but where hereditary or hierarchal 
 institutions were established, they soon consecrated particular forms and 
 modes of treatment, which became too sacred for innovation, and con- 
 sequently for improvement. Invention in such subjects was soon limited 
 to increased dexterity in mere mechanical execution ; or not being en- 
 couraged to vary the established design of their figures, it was only directed 
 to enhance their terrors, or to introduce new symbols expressive of the 
 dreams of religious and sacerdotal metaphysicians. From such sources 
 however the art derived its earliest encouragement, and from such insti- 
 tutions no nearer approach to the resemblance of actual nature could be 
 expected. 
 
 15. As we have already observed, the worship of images began pro- 
 bably in the vague terror of a rude people at their hideous resemblance 
 to humanity; but in countries where a certain progress had been made, 
 and in which a priesthood had been consecrated to the elementary religion, 
 their influence was soon directed in aid of the primeval adoration. Man 
 made his gods after himself ; and the likeness was adopted by the priests 
 in the progress to a more visible and lucrative superstition. Astronomy 
 became fraught with signs and wonders ; and the priests were not less 
 ingenious in applying symbolically the casual figures of sculpture to the 
 ed deities of their country, than antiquaries and philosophers have 
 been found, in reconciling to their own preconceived ideas the 
 fortuitous system of ancient mythology. The sun migrated through a 
 hundred human forms in various countries ; was adored as the bull Apis, 
 as a lion, a cock, a ram, a wolf, and in half the monsters of the zodiac ; 
 
 recogms 
 since 
 
xi 
 
 the moon and stars and lightning made a similar masquerade ; hut Worship of 
 
 j i -i i i Images. 
 
 conjecture and philosophy nave not always been very successful, though 
 often very positive, in deciding on the causes why these particular forms 
 were preferable to others. We cannot but suspect that many of them 
 were casually adopted, explained, symbolised, and gradually systematised 
 by the priests, who, especially in Mgypt, formed a community apart 
 powerfully influencing the rest of the society. Once adopted and recog- 
 nised, such forms acquired a meaning, and became permanent wherever 
 there were similar institutions. Still we can everywhere trace in the 
 names of their deities the worship of the heavenly bodies, and in their 
 forms the prevalence of idolatry. In part of Syria, in Palestine at least, 
 it was superseded at an early period by the purer doctrine of the revealed 
 religion ; and the divine prohibition of the Jewish laws, established by 
 their conquests, left the idols of Canaan in the obscurity to which it 
 reduced their adorers. The earlier and simple worship of Sabaiism 
 had also still maintained itself in some of the hardier and more warlike 
 tribes, who continued to worship the sun and moon, and fire, as their 
 terrestrial emblems. Among these arose the Magian ritual, and the 
 religion promulgated by Zoroaster. Before them, under the conquering 
 army of Cyrus and the Persians, " Bel bowed down, and Nebo stooped," 
 the altars and images of Chaldam and of central Asia were overthrown, 
 and sculpture became extinct ; for in these countries its representations 
 were an abomination. Such, in the civilised nations of antiquity, was the 
 fate of art, before the peculiar circumstances and character of the Pelasgic 
 and Hellenic tribes had given it an impulse, till then unknown, and a 
 perfection, which it has been the object of subsequent societies to 
 imitate. 
 
 16. A religion derived from such an origin, and professed by tribes The Sim and 
 and nations independent of each other, and under very different circum- M ° 0 "' 
 stances, would naturally diverge into a variety of forms ; and this we know 
 took place. The great visible and beneficent agents of nature, the sun, 
 " that looks from his dominion like the god of this new world" — the 
 moon, " rising in clouded majesty, apparent queen of heaven," with her 
 starry host, became the primary objects of adoration to the nomadic or 
 agricultural tribes in mild and genial climates. Of this system the sun 
 was naturally the supreme, and was adored under a thousand names in 
 
xii 
 
 The Sim and many districts of Asia and the south. The Bacchus of one local ritual 
 was the Bel us of another, and the Adonis or Thammuz of a third, and 
 was endowed with attributes analogous to the effects he was known or 
 supposed to produce. Those most generally assigned to him, as well as 
 to the moon, the bow and arrows were suggested by the solar and lunar 
 rainbows, which sometimes accompany their course. The Phoenician 
 Hercules, the Delphic Apollo, and many other personifications of the 
 same deity have these weapons assigned to them. But a god superior to 
 other deities, when men became civilised, and the human mind enlarged, 
 was also esteemed the father and first cause of all the subordinate divi- 
 nities ; and from being originally the ruler of the sun became invested 
 with supposed omnipotence more or less rudely conceived, and presenting 
 a train of different imaginary associations. 
 Personification 17- Less favoured nations and ruder tribes in the recesses of the 
 o un er. mountam anf | t ] ie gl 00m 0 f primeval forests learned naturally to fear, 
 and tried to propitiate the more destructive agents of nature. The 
 thunderbolt has seldom fallen on the hut of the savage, or riven the trees 
 around it without suggesting to his imagination the imagery, though not 
 the noble expression, which occurred to the poet of Augustus : — 
 Ipse Pater, medid nimborum in nocte, corusc& 
 Fulmina molitur dextr& 
 
 To him his vows wei'e paid — 
 
 Mortalia cord a 
 Per gentes humilia stravit pavor 
 
 anil thus the god, whose darkness overshadowed the sun itself, the cloud- 
 compelling Jove, the thunderer of heaven, was enthroned on Lycieus, 
 Gargarus, the Cretan Ida, the Thessalian Olympus, and on other less 
 celebrated mountains, with many legendary names and local rites of 
 various observance but homogeneous origin. In Greece his supremacy 
 was the theme of their earliest poetry ; but with the Greeks Hyperion and 
 Phuebe and their Titanian brethren, the beneficent rulers of a golden 
 age, acknowledged as older though less powerful deities, had been 
 banished from their worship by his superior might. We see in the fol- 
 lowing words of the chorus of antient Argives in the Agamemnon of 
 iEschylus (v. 162, Ed. Wellauer) how much the sentiment of successive 
 dethronements of the supreme deity until the establishment of the reign 
 of J.upiter, was a part of the religious creed of the antients. 
 
xx[tya%ta Sqctffu ftmav, 
 ouSsv olv ztiiv av. 
 
 Of 8 ZXUT E$U, TOIOL- 
 
 xn^oc oiyjmi TV%pti. 
 
 Zwx 8: tk s^p^ovaQ mpma xXotZav, 
 
 TmhlOLl fy£VG>l> TO XXi>. 
 
 Jupiter consequently became father of gods and men; and in that capa- 
 city shared in the common attributes of other supreme deities as his 
 votaries acquired faith in such metaphysical abstractions. 
 
 18. The confusion thus made between the primary attributes of the 
 personified Tliunder, and those which belong to Jupiter as the Supreme 
 God, with other and similar confusions, gave rise to the popular and 
 poetical mythology of the Iliad; and the same causes produced like 
 effects through all the regions of polytheism. The dominant tribes of 
 Pelasgi and Hellenes were worshippers of Jupiter, and probably of that 
 Jupiter whose throne was on Olympus, and his most antient worship at 
 Dodona. The gods of other tribes, though essentially as great, yet with 
 various names were admitted only in subordination to his power, and 
 honoured as local or as limitary deities, as his children, or as assessors of 
 his throne, or in the departments of ocean, earth, or air. Thus the 
 Bacchus, Apollo and Hercules of Greece were yet in more eastern 
 climates themselves supreme ; as the sun with whom they were identical ; 
 and the mighty mother adored in Phrygia, as well as Astarte queen of 
 heaven, shrunk into the Ceres and Diana or Venus of the poets and 
 mythologists. The rank they thus lost in the popular religion was yet 
 locally retained in the mysteries, which seem to have originated in these 
 proscribed superstitions. The early civilization and system of iEgypt 
 was available to give plausibility and consistence to these for the most 
 part foreign rituals, and to account by ingenious abstractions for whatever 
 was in its literal and direct application contradictory or unintelligible. 
 The mysteries seem to have been founded on the original worship of the 
 sun, moon, and earth, the beneficent and productive powers of nature, 
 and gradually to have been directed to the higher and invisible source of 
 these great effects. The popular religion proceeded as it began, enrolling 
 new deities from every local tribe that acceded to the federal worship of 
 
 Personification 
 of Thunder. 
 
r<s5 
 
 is 
 11 
 
 Worship of the 
 Elements. 
 
 Personification Olympus ; or adding new legends, and attributes to those already eon- 
 ' ** trived in honour of the older gods. Thus all the stories of the Cretan 
 Jove, and of the Arcadian Lord of all, (the Pan of Lycams, and Mamalus) 
 and a thousand others were engrafted on the original superstition of the 
 northern Greeks. 
 
 19. The true and radical distinction between the systems of idolatry 
 established during the first ages of the world will be found in these two 
 great divisions, the adoration of the beneficent, or the propitiation of the 
 destructive powers of nature under the supremacy of the sun or of the 
 thunderer. Each was associated with the other by minor and subordinate 
 personifications in the gradual complication of their European and Asiatic 
 mythologies prior to any historical records. Their poets were older than 
 their historians, but the abstractions of metaphysical allegory were by 
 them already engrafted, even in Homer's time, on the simpler and ruder 
 structure of the elementary religion : although in his poem Jupiter is still 
 the thunderer o^ifyiiurnc, nf&xrtfiriK the cloud-compelling Jove, whose 
 name Zwt is derived, we think with probability from the awe and terror 
 he inspired. The power rather than the goodness or benevolence of the 
 divine nature was thus personified; and consequently their legends 
 however wild were free from the grossness and impurity of the oriental 
 system of worship ; and in Homer we find little allusion to the unmanly 
 and indecent rites so largely ingrafted into the mysteries of the Orphic 
 Gods by the Dorian race, which succeeded to the warriors whom he 
 celebrated. The popular religion reflected the tinge of those feelings in 
 which it had originated. The geological character of the Phlegraan pro- 
 montory in Macedonia, shews that the volcano, and earthquake gave rise 
 to the old fable of the war with the earthborn giants ; and in the victory 
 of the Thunderer we recognize the awful electric storm which invariably 
 accompanies an eruption. Subsequent poets in later ages transferred the 
 scene to iEtna or Campania. The Fates and Furies were the ministers, 
 war and discord the employment ; the retributive and penal justice of 
 heaven, the chief function of the deities that the people were taught to 
 adore. Such at least is the spirit of mythology in the heroic age of 
 Greece, and under the dominion of the race of Pelops ; and the poetry 
 of a later age, being derived from Homer and the earlier Mythi, was 
 deeply tinctured with the same gloomy hues in the tragedians of the 
 
XV 
 
 Attic stage. Thessaly, Boeotia, iEtolia, and the Peloponnesus were the Worship of the 
 antient seat of this dominant religion of the Danai. 
 
 20. The Heraclidae during their long expatriation and mixture had Oracles, 
 interwoven with their national creed a peculiar and zealous devotion to 
 Apollo and a deference for his oracles. The return of these races, and 
 
 the ascendancy the Dorians acquired in Greece, gave new lustre and 
 wider celebrity to Delos and to Delphi; 1 but their own traditions indicate 
 that much of the ritual observed was of foreign origin, from Crete, and 
 probably from Asia, where we find from the unquestionable testimony of 
 Homer that his worship prevailed in early ages. Apollo was recognised 
 as a national divinity by the Greeks, but he was the protector of Troy, 
 and the enemy of the besieging force. His oracular rites, in the encreased 
 consequence which they acquired after the return of the Heraclidre seem 
 to have been engrafted from Asia on the original stock of a dissimilar 
 religion, which still on the old national system recognised in Jupiter its 
 acknowledged chief. 
 
 21. The national superstitions of the greater part of Asia appear at all Philosophical 
 times to have been of a distinct and opposite character, though afterwards M CB ° ^es ■ 
 blended reciprocally with those of Greece. In the adoration of the sun 
 
 and moon the Asiatics were led to regard them as the great productive 
 and conservative powers of nature. Of creation and creative power they 
 had only veiy obscure and indistinct conceptions ; and that power, in its 
 true sense, was not ascribed to the Supreme Deity either in the Grecian 
 or Asiatic mythology till the later period when philosophy attained to 
 those doctrines, which even then it involved in secrecy and mystery ; the 
 existence and necessity of a first and final cause of all things. " Ex 
 nihilo nil fit," was a maxim as completely recognised by the rude re- 
 ligionists of antient times as by the epicureans of the Roman empire ; 
 and an eternity of brute matter, a chaos or mundane egg was assumed, 
 the changes of which were vaguely conceived as productions generated 
 by time or darkness, or by the eternal sun, the vivifier and preserver of 
 the universe. In the Grecian ritual this gave rise to a supposed series of 
 older gods, the parents of the universe, and patrons of a golden age : for 
 the supremacy of Jupiter could not be made compatible with that of a 
 beneficent and productive being ; as his primary attribute was destruction. 
 
 " See Ion of Euripides, passim. 
 
xvi 
 
 Philosophical It was accordingly to the Orphic deities, to the sun, moon, and earth, the 
 Allegories. . • 11 • u 
 
 Dionysus, Proserpine, and Ceres, worshipped mystically 111 Greece, but 
 
 under other and various names adored nationally in iEgypt and in Asia, 
 that the attributes of creation or rather of generation and production 
 were originally assigned. With them arose the abominable rites, and 
 gross and impure symbols in which such ideas were conveyed ; such as 
 we can yet trace in the recorded abominations of Palestine and Syria, as 
 well as in the mystic rites of Greece, and through every phase of Oriental 
 theology, except in the simpler elementary system of the Persians. The 
 popular and poetical religion of Greece was exempted by its origin from 
 such pollutions ; and Homer scarcely ever alludes to them. The civi- 
 lized and hierarchal community of iEgypt first refined these coarse alle- 
 gories into philosophical abstractions ; and ascended into metaphysical 
 speculations 011 the operations of the deity, the source of those which long 
 occupied the schools of Athens and of Rome. The scarabaeus, apparently 
 produced by the action of the heat of the sun on the mud of the Nile, 
 became the symbol of his productive action on the primeval Chaos, and 
 these and other similar allegories were successively adopted in the mystic 
 symbols and esoteric philosophy of civilized antiquity. As these pro- 
 ceeded, the supreme deities of the two systems were reciprocally invested 
 with each other's attributes, and blended into one, the Jupiter (if;X(^MC or 
 the Apollo natoktdK of the poets, in whose verses indeed all the gods and 
 goddesses became consequently as capricious as was natural to the human 
 forms under which they are represented. The enlarged minds of their 
 later votaries had recourse to many hypotheses to solve these incongruous 
 and complicated riddles. The historians interwove the successive divi- 
 nities into their early history as heroes or sovereigns, the founders of 
 states and dynasties ; the philosopher considered them as natural or moral 
 allegories ; and none derived so much advantage from them as the poets 
 and artists, to whom they became the sources of inspired imagination, 
 and the means of exciting all its powers. Scholars have tried in vain to 
 reconcile theories, originating in abstraction and refinement, with a 
 mythology that began and was accumulated from various sources in ages 
 of ignorance and barbarism. The attempt has always failed, and con- 
 vinced us of nothing but the extensive erudition and ingenuity which have 
 been fruitlessly directed to its elucidation. 
 
xvii 
 
 22. In connecting the origin and progress of the art of sculpture Mosaic 
 
 • I.. , Writing 
 
 with ttie rise and nature of the idolatrous worship, which created an 
 
 effectual demand for it, and thus constituted its first great encouragement, 
 we are in some degree at variance with those, who, misled as we imagine 
 by the early application of its productions in iEgypt to historical records, 
 would infer that it began in rude attempts to perpetuate the memory of 
 individuals, and to delineate and commemorate their actions ; and that the 
 subsequent adoration of these idols was the consequence of the respect 
 in which the memories of such individuals were held. This theory is 
 closely connected with another, which if partially true of the very early 
 nations, will be found, as we believe, far less generally so than its ad- 
 vocates are inclined to allow. That theory has supposed the gods of the 
 early idolaters to have been only men and women deified. In iEgypt the 
 art attained maturity at a period so remote even from the date of the 
 most antient records extant, that we certainly find it there employed in 
 representing and commemorating the exploits of sovereigns, and record- 
 ing their deification on its most durable monuments. For the reason how- 
 ever to which we have alluded, we cannot suppose that it began with 
 these ; and in other countries of which we possess authentic history it is 
 not difficult to trace its progress. The Mosaic writings are our only 
 available documents of this distant period ; and concise as they are, they 
 still afford on this point some valuable and authentic information. In 
 these we find the first mention of images used for the purposes of idol 
 worship, iu the Teraphim stolen by Rachael from her father Laban's 
 house, which images he reverenced as his gods. We are not told in 
 what form these were represented. They were small and easily secreted, 
 and were probably such as are at this hour the inmates of many a Tartar's 
 hovel. In the same time and country, monuments are mentioned com- 
 memorative of the departed, and testimonials of recorded covenants. 
 These however never seem to have consisted of sculpture, understood in 
 the sense in which we use the term, as representing the forms of nature. 
 Jacob commemorated his prophetic dream at Bethel by setting up and 
 consecrating the unhewn stone of which he had made his pillow. A 
 similar pillar and a heap of stones were the memorial of his covenant with 
 Laban, and the memory of Rachael herself was perpetuated by a pillar 
 erected on her grave. Such monuments indeed continued to be used as 
 
 VOL. ]I. f 
 
xviii 
 
 Mosaic memorials of the dead in most of the surrounding countries long after the 
 
 Writings. 
 
 introduction of idolatry, and the application ot sculpture to the purposes 
 of worship ; and it was not till a later period that men were deified, or 
 their actions recorded in statuary or carving. We think, both from this 
 analogy, and from the nature of their religion, that the same order in the 
 progress of art took place in other nations, although we cannot trace it in 
 any written records. In those, from which we have more immediately 
 inherited the arts of design, we know that the progress was similar. The 
 poems of Homer are at once the most authentic record and the most 
 Ante-horoeric unquestionable proof of the degree of civilisation attained by the Hellenic 
 and Pelasgic tribes of Asia and Greece. An idolatrous system of mytho- 
 logy attests the existence of their sculptured gods ; but we still find the 
 " heap and pillar" the vjtifios and ar^lji, used in the commemoration of the 
 mighty dead ; and no mention is made of sculpture applied to the record- 
 ing of human actions. Whatever might have been the case in iEgypt, 
 it would indeed have been difficult at this period to have found in Grecian 
 art the resources necessary for such an object. From its rude attempts 
 at general representation of form and action, Homer's imagination might 
 and did anticipate in its perfection the execution of works similar to those 
 described in the well known shield of Achilles ; but whatever was the 
 supposed skill of Vulcan in its fabrication, that of his contemporary 
 mortals was in all probability very inadequate to the production of 
 individual or personal resemblance. Conventional figures of gods distin- 
 guishable by their attributes, or groups of figures representing actions, 
 must have been familiar to him long before the sculptured form of a 
 known warrior living or dead could be executed ; which in such hands 
 would at best have amounted to a hideous or ridiculous caricature. 
 Accordingly no allusion, we believe, is found in his poems to such an 
 application of the art, however usual in more recent times. 
 
 23. The well known and authenticated ruins of Mycenae furnish us 
 with, perhaps, the only specimen of Grecian sculpture now existing, 
 which is undoubtedly of an age anterior to Homer, and erected by 
 the family whose fame he has recorded. The carved lions, which 
 decorate the gateway of the antient capital of Atreus and his chil- 
 dren, are so remarkable, that we have given in a more correct and 
 enlarged form the best representation of them which we are able to 
 
XIX 
 
 procure, though not strictly admissible in a work limited like ours to spe- Ante-homeric 
 cimens of art actually existing ill England. They are important on many 
 accounts, and our observations on them will be found accompanying the 
 plate in which they are represented. They will enable the reader to compare 
 the Grecian art of this its remotest period with the works of a still earlier 
 date produced in ^Ethiopia and /Egypt. There is not only a similarity of 
 subject in these and the lions brought by Lord Prudhoe from the interior 
 of Nubia, but a certain knowledge of form and a mode of treatment are 
 observable in them, which may seem to indicate that the Grecian artists 
 were acquainted with /Egyptian models, or had acquired a similar style 
 and degree of execution from /Egyptian instructions. This early resem- 
 blance in the sculpture of the two nations, and the adoption of the deities 
 and legends of iEgypt into the popular rituals of the Danai, strongly tend 
 to confirm the traditions of migrations to the Peloponnesus from the shores 
 of the Nile under Danaus, Inachus and Phoroneus j and these are the 
 more credible because as the progress of art receded from its spring, the 
 divergence of the two styles became more and more apparent. The arts of 
 Greece under the races of Perseus and of Pelops were nearly extinguished, 
 and those of the Dorian tribes which succeeded to them were derived from 
 different and probably from Phoenician or Cretan sources. The monuments 
 of Mycense and the walls of Tiryns are we believe the only relics of their 
 pristine civilisation, except their mounds and earth-heaped sepulchres. 
 
 24. We possess, in the collection of bronzes presented to the Eritish 
 Museum by the late Mr. Knight, some monuments of a date not far removed 
 from this early period. Among these are two brass cauldrons (JUftrfc), 
 which like those assigned to the victors in the funeral games in honor of 
 Patroclus, have been the prizes of the foot race. An inscription in very 
 antient characters records the fact on one of them ; and the other, which 
 is without inscription, has a cover on which there are figures of men in 
 the act of running. Nothing can be ruder in the execution ; and yet these 
 works must have been of an age not far removed from that of Homer ; 
 since it is difficult to conceive that at any later period these very ordinary 
 brazen pans could have been of sufficient estimation to be the object 
 of such contention. In his days one was of less value than a brood mare 
 in foal of a mule, but of more than two talents of gold, according to the 
 order of the prizes assigned to the chariot racers by Achilles himself. 
 
XX 
 
 Mystic 25. During the revolutions which affected the progress of sculpture by 
 
 P the destruction of idol worship in the great empires of Asia, and the 
 limited application of its resources to the ritual of the ^Egyptian hierarchy, 
 the Pelasgic tribes of Greece and Asia minor were peculiarly circum- 
 stanced. Their communities were small and migratory; their priesthood 
 was neither numerous, hereditary nor independent. There were indeed 
 some local bodies and families consecrated to the service of particular 
 temples and deities, among whom the mystic worship originated in imita- 
 tion, or possibly in emulation of similar institutions in iEgypt. This 
 worship was established early at Samothrace and in Kleusis, in mysteries 
 about which so much is read and so little known ; but the national 
 mythology fluctuated with the traditions of their bards and the imagi- 
 nation of their poets, till their ceremonies and superstitions, however 
 similar to those of the other eastern nations in their origin, assumed in 
 their progress a gayer and more popular character. 
 
 Grecian Poly- 2(S. The style of art partook of this popular character, and appears to 
 
 theism. _ , 
 
 have been indigenous ; but in its selection and application of symbolical 
 forms it was early and indissolubly connected with the mystic religion, 
 which in the advancement and progress of civilisation became more and 
 more prevalent and fashionable. This mystic system of explanation, with 
 much of the ritual which accompanied it, we think was derived from 
 iEgypt ; where the style of art itself was essentially different. It has 
 been thought, we know, that in the universal feelings of reverence, 
 gratitude, or terror at the operations of the great hidden powers of 
 nature, a cognate symbolical polytheism existed in the wildest fables of 
 the most barbarous, as well as in the metaphysical allegories of the most 
 civilised nations of antiquity ; and that the earliest productions of art 
 were in all of them representations of these enigmatical and symbolical 
 personifications and abstractions. But to those who contemplate the 
 progress of the human mind in the state of barbarous or imperfect 
 civilisation, this conclusion will appear impossible. It is to the object of 
 his feelings, and not to the abstractions of the understanding, that the 
 savage pays his adoration ; and the sun which enlightened, the moon 
 which cheered, or the thunder which terrified him, were probably the 
 objects of his worship, together with the whole host of elementary and 
 natural phenomena, long before he generalized these into the creative, 
 
xxi 
 
 preservative, or destructive energies of nature, so extensively engrafted Grecian Poly- 
 
 theism. 
 
 upon the mystic mythology of the more polished nations. Symbols and 
 personifications of these visible and natural objects would indeed be soon 
 invented, and were probably among the earliest objects of idolatrous 
 veneration. The admission of animal and human forms for such a puqjose 
 sexualized their deities, and opened the way to the explanation of divine 
 operations and effects, by the analogy of progressive generation. The 
 extreme grossness and abominable impurity of their early types and 
 ceremonies were very general, and the public rites adapted to the brutal 
 propensities of an unrefined people soon attained great extension and 
 popularity. Such were the consequences which undoubtedly followed, 
 as we learn from the most antient records, in Greece and in the east, 
 no less than in iEgypt ; and such are still retained in the pagan system 
 of Hindostan. It became the business of the sacred and hierarchal com- .Egyptians, 
 munities in every country, as civilization advanced, and in iEgypt probably 
 at an earlier period than in any other, to reconcile these licentious and 
 impure popular rituals with the austerer character of their own institu- 
 tions. They gratified the progressive refinement of their more intellectual 
 votaries by inculcating the symbolical nature of the more obvious images, 
 and by announcing the most awful doctrines of devotion, as mystically 
 veiled under these incongruous personifications. The explanation, being 
 confined in the first instance to themselves, and to such as they initiated, 
 was probably lucrative, and at all events productive of increased venera- 
 tion for their sacred character. We have few or no records older than 
 those which are left upon the walls of Thebes ; and the progress they 
 announce in the religion and priestly dominion, no less than in the arts of 
 •iEgypt, induces us to believe that the mystic system arose there at a 
 period long anterior to its propagation in the less civilized states of 
 Greece and Asia. Thus, while the people were left in the unrestrained 
 licence of the vulgar and sensual mythology, their superiors were gratified 
 by a more intellectual application of it to the abstract objects of a more 
 refined adoration. In a monarchical government, with a strong and 
 established hierarchy, the demand thus created by the wealthier classes 
 for imitative art would naturally be directed by the guardians and inter- 
 preters of such mysteries. This symbolical style was accordingly that of 
 ^Egyptian sculpture at a very early period, and religious enigmas as well 
 
 vol. n. g 
 
xxii 
 
 ^Egyptians. as phonetic characters, were elaborately carved on their monuments of gra- 
 nite, or other durable materials. Hut the abstractions of the understand- 
 ing, or the manual dexterity of the scribe, are but feebly operative o' 1 the 
 feelings of men ; and the art which was confined to such objects, or directed 
 by such motives, with considerable dexterity of execution and ingenuity of 
 invention, never in subsequent ages appears to have deviated into the less 
 philosophical but more attractive quality of impassioned representation. 
 
 Phamicmn art. 27. We know however but little of the character of Sidonian or 
 Phoenician art till a later period ; and we cannot ascertain the degree in 
 which it influenced that of Greece. It probably supplied little beyond the 
 simpler processes of preparing and manufacturing the requisite substances. 
 Of these the early introduction of the manufactory of bronze and brass by 
 using the alloy of tin or zinc with copper was, perhaps, the most important. 
 Brass was probably the hardest, and the most useful material employed by 
 the antients whether for offensive or defensive weapons, or for the purposes 
 of peaceful workmanship, till they had learnt in subsequent times to temper 
 steel without destroying its malleability. The Phoenicians supplied the tin ; 
 and Herodotus records their trade with the Cassiterides, which we almost 
 know to have been Scilly and Cornwall ; a fact as curious as it seems 
 authentic, though almost irreconcileable with the little knowledge of 
 Britain remaining to the antients in periods much later and more civilized. 
 The proportion of the tin used in bronze was about 12 per cent., or 12 
 parts of tin combined with 88 of copper ; and the same proportion was 
 found by experiments made by Sir Humphrey Davy on some bronze nails 
 brought by Sir William Gell from the treasury of Atreus at Mycena:, and 
 on a helmet brought from Olympia by Mr. Morritt, which having been 
 presented by him to Mr. Knight, is now in the British Museum. This 
 helmet bears a remarkable inscription recording it as a trophy taken 
 from the Corinthians, in characters which indicate an antiquity more 
 remote than the year 500 A. C. The same proportions too have been 
 found in brass coins of later ages. The art of forming these useful 
 alloys was probably acquired by the Greeks from their intercourse with 
 the Phoenicians, from whom they continued to derive the materials of 
 which they were compounded ; they had themselves no direct communi- 
 cation with Britain, till Greece and Britain alike were provinces of the 
 all absorbing empire of the Romans. 
 
XXlll 
 
 28. From the oblivion into which time and conquest have plunged the Phoenician 
 
 Colonies. 
 
 early history and civilization of Sidon as well as of Tyre, and her colony 
 of Carthage, it is impossible now to ascertain in what degree the arts, 
 which were cultivated there at this early period, resembled those which 
 subsequently arose in Greece. The earliest traditions and the most 
 antient historians record the establishment of Phoenician colonies on 
 various islands and shores of the iEgaian sea ; and it was from these that 
 in all probability the Greeks more immediately derived the art of ex- 
 pressing sounds by writing in an alphabet like their own. To these also 
 may perhaps be traced the introduction of some of their earliest mysteries, 
 and the worship of their oldest Hercules in the island of Thasos. This 
 early intercourse supplied their less civilized people with many legendary 
 fables and mythological superstitions, in addition to those, which their 
 own poets had brought with them from Thrace and Asia Minor, or had 
 fabricated at home. But in Phoenicia also we find the traces of the early 
 elementary worship in the little that is left of their idolatrous mythology. 
 Their Hercules was still the sun; the Sidonian Astarte was the moon ; 
 and we recognize in their personifications the objects of an earlier super- 
 stition. The Greeks of Homer's age had far more intercourse with Sidon 
 than with /Egypt ; and we suspect that the mystic theology of iEgypt, as 
 well as the early invention of letters, came to them thus partially transfused 
 through the medium of Phoenicia. 
 
 29. Not only the art of alphabetical writing in a more complicated and Mystic 
 primitive form, but also a symbolical and mystic theology had been framed Relision ' 
 in jEgypt, and transmitted through the sacred colleges of their priests, 
 
 the great depositaries of their science and philosophy, as well as of their 
 literature and religion, at a period of remote antiquity, of which we 
 possess no other contemporary record. Under an hereditary and despotic 
 monarchy, and a powerful hierarchy, their civil and religious institu- 
 tions had produced an early refinement in social life, which, notwith- 
 standing their jealousy of foreign intercourse, gradually influenced the 
 surrounding nations. We find in the sacred Scriptures, a record of the 
 trade which they carried on through the caravans of the Arab and 
 Midianite merchants, as well as proofs of their maritime commerce with 
 Tyre and Sidon. In every country, when commerce and civilization 
 began to acquire their natural importance, the rude and barbarous rituals 
 
xxiv 
 
 Mystic and symbols of the early idolatry would either disgust their more refined 
 Religion. ,, - Ia , > ,« - j 
 
 votaries by their absurdity and extravagance, or would require the inge- 
 nuity of a symbolical interpretation. This resource was already familiar 
 to iEgypt, and the more philosophic and mystic religion contrived by her 
 priesthood was easily borrowed and applied to their own systems by the 
 nations with whom they had any intercourse. From their unsocial insti- 
 tutions, and the mysticism of their sacred fraternities, the iEgyptian 
 priests were not then so communicative as they afterwards became, under 
 foreign rulers and in the decline of their order ; but enough was known 
 to occasion a general similarity in many of the most usual symbols in 
 their method of typifying. To account for this, we need only repeat, 
 that probably the earliest idols of all nations had already a reference to 
 the same objects of worship, i. e. to the sun, the moon, and the visible 
 elements of nature under human or animal forms. The mystic religion 
 of iEgypt had been further advanced to the contemplation of the divine 
 power, wisdom, and beneficence, together with their effects in the destruc- 
 tion, preservation, and creation of organized matter; of which also the 
 passive attributes were traced in similar abstractions. From such simi- 
 larity of origin, and through such extensive and vague generalities, we 
 can easily account for the facility with which in every country the same 
 system was applied to the interpretation of a cognate idolatry. This, 
 which was national in iEgypt, and became so in other monarchical and 
 hierarchal states, was local in Greece ; and was adopted by local bodies 
 of priests in different mystic temples by the Selli, the Cabeiri and Eumol- 
 pidse, at Podona, Samothrace or Eleusis, as in others less generally cele- 
 brated, or sooner destroyed. In each of these the priesthood applied 
 what they knew or acquired of iEgyptian lore, to the explanation of then- 
 native rituals, or of those which they readily borrowed from their neigh- 
 bours. This intercommunity of idols is notorious in the whole intercourse 
 of the antient pagan nations : the Greeks found their gods in the temples 
 of every country they visited, and the Romans admitted all with equal 
 indifference. All in truth were from the same origin, and were easily 
 susceptible of the same mode of interpretation. 
 Intercourse 30. From the time of Solon, and from a still earlier period, the atten- 
 Greece and tion of the Greeks was continually fixed on the learning and manners of 
 iEgypt. Their artists studied in their own native schools ; but their 
 
XXV 
 
 historians travelled in search of the most antient records j and their Intercourse 
 
 , I j i i .1 j between 
 
 natural and moral philosophers went to be initiated in the doctrines of Greece and 
 
 the sacred colleges of Memphis and Heliopolis. We trace the influence /E ° yP '' 
 of this intercourse ill the progress of their sciences and in every branch of 
 their philosophy. The initiated mystics no doubt adopted many ^Egyptian 
 symbols, and the iEgyptian interpretation of many of their own, and hence 
 probably arose the notion that their artists had borrowed many of their 
 forms from 2Egypt, when in fact they had only borrowed the learning 
 that supplied them with a plausible and ingenious solution. In the 
 progress of learning and refinement thus acquired the arts no doubt 
 partook; and symbols were introduced in coins and in other public 
 works, when they had become sacred and intelligible in the acceptation 
 of their country. Still the native art retained its original and popular 
 character, and the enigmatical abstraction was never with them the 
 primary consideration. In religion and science on the contrary we trace 
 the influence of the iEgyptian system through every subsequent a?ra of the 
 pagan world, till the complete destruction of the Roman empire. From 
 the time of Cambyses, when their mythology and literature expired with 
 the priests who taught them, the Greeks, and subsequently the Romans, 
 have furnished us with such uncertain and inconsistent explanations of 
 the antient rituals, as were gleaned from the subjugated colleges of their 
 own later times : and finally, when the purer doctrines of Christianity 
 began to threaten the subversion of their pagan shrines, the ingenuity of 
 imperial philosophers called in the aid of the old mystic system to 
 counteract its effects, by affording if possible a rational explanation of the 
 horrors and abominations of polytheism through the doctrines of the Isiac 
 and Eleusinian mysteries, and the reveries of the later Platonists. 
 
 31. In thus deriving the invention and origin of the mystic and sym- Derivation of 
 bolical religion of the antient world from the ^Egyptians, we think our ml'sjmWs" 0 " 
 view is confirmed, whether we consider it with reference to the time or 
 to the places at which it is known to have prevailed. Though it was 
 perhaps locally traceable amongst the maritime states of the Mediter- 
 ranean, it was not generally popular in Greece at the time of Homer, 
 whose mythology is of a ruder stamp. But as the unsocial jealousy of 
 the ^Egyptians was relaxed ; and Greek historians and philosophers were 
 admitted into ^Egypt, the system was propagated not only in the antient 
 
XXVI 
 
 Derivation of mysteries of Samothrace anil Eleusis, but in the esoteric doctrines of the 
 Symbol™ 6 " Lyceum and Academy ; and its symbols became every day more numerous 
 and enigmatical. A still farther extension of them took place, when a 
 Greek dynasty was established in JSgypt i and they were almost univer- 
 sally received when the Roman empire included within its ample bounds 
 almost all the civilized world. Considering the prevalence of the mystic 
 theology geographically, from the long civilization and extended com- 
 merce of /Egypt we might expect some of its more popular symbols to 
 have been exported to distant regions ; and accordingly we find traces of 
 them in countries very remote ; but they are more numerous and more 
 analogous to each other, as we approach more nearly to the seat of the 
 parent superstition, and in exact proportion to the progressive intercourse 
 which each nation held with iEgypt. They are most abundant in the 
 maritime states of the Mediterranean in early ages, and less so in the more 
 remote and inland districts of Europe and Asia, in some of which the few 
 analogous symbols which were known, may almost be ascribed to mere 
 coincidence, when we consider also the natural associations which may 
 have suggested the allusions. 
 Indian art. 32. In the remote country of India a similar religion has prevailed ; 
 
 but as its pretensions to great antiquity, though undoubted, have not been 
 ascertained in detail as to the periods of its progressive establishment, we 
 cannot satisfactorily reason from its monuments. That many of these are 
 far more modern than they were once supposed to be, we are assured by 
 the enquiries of recent travellers, especially by Bishop Heber. It is 
 impossible therefore to prove how far their system was influenced by their 
 intercourse with iEgypt in later times ; but in the earlier ages a great and 
 direct communication between them is not very probable. The resem- 
 blance of their symbols accordingly seem to us accidental, as their style 
 of art is dissimilar. In their wild mythology, with its many headed and 
 multiform divinities, we recognize the work of a priesthood embodying the 
 metaphysical dreams of the understanding in monstrous forms calculated 
 to enthral the imagination of their votaries, and support their own profit- 
 able ascendancy ; and here also their ingenuity had devised a symbolical 
 solution of the enigmatical forms which it had invented. It is not extra- 
 ordinary that some of these, abundant as they are, should be coincident 
 witli similar representations in iEgypt or in Greece. It is not extraordinary 
 
xxvii 
 
 that some should have been mutually adopted or exchanged in the early Indian ait. 
 and wandering intercourse, which occasionally no doubt prevailed, though 
 unnoticed and unrecorded, between the eastern and the western nations, 
 and that this interchange should have increased as their intercourse became 
 more frequent ; but beyond this we have hitherto traced but little resem- 
 blance in their superstitions/ and none worth attention in their style of art. 
 
 S3. In the Grecian states, which thus adopted and applied the mystic 
 and symbolical religion of -(Egypt to the recognized objects of their own 
 idolatry, the style and mode of representing them were essentially altered. 
 The difference has been remarked, and its causes explained, by the obser- 
 vant acuteness of M. Champollion, in the Precis du Systeme Hieroglyphique 
 (Chap. x. Sec. 130.) and we annex the passage at length in a note, d which 
 alike illustrates and confirms the conclusions we have drawn. 
 
 34. We have also thought it not difficult to trace in the infancy as well Early sculp- 
 • , V P n . , , „ , . tureofGreect 
 
 as in the progress or Grecian sculpture the consequences of their peculiar 
 
 and national institutions. Their mythology was essentially popular ; and 
 it was to the imagination and influence of their early poets, and above all 
 to the celebrity of Homer, that their art was indebted for its character. 
 While the stiff forms of ^Egyptian deities were transmitted from generation 
 to generation in immoveable and unchanged attitudes, at most only varied 
 by some added symbol, or by the progress of improvement in manual dex- 
 terity, the ruder attempts of Grecian artists, though they perhaps display 
 
 " There are some Egyptian figures of Typhon, which look like the monsters of China; but the 
 design and execution of others are totally dissimilar from those of the east. 
 
 11 " Le prineipe des arts limitation ne fut point en Egypte celut qui en Grece presida a leur 
 extreme develop pement : ces arts n'avaient point pour but special la representation des belles formes 
 de la. nature; ils ne tendoient qu'a l'expression d'un certain ordre d'idees, et devoient settlement 
 perpetuer non le souvenir des formes, mais celui meme des personnes et des choses. L'fnorme 
 Colosse comme le plus petit arnulette (-toicnt des signes fixes d'une id6e ; quelque ftnie on quelque 
 grossiere que fut leur execution, le but 6toit atteint, la perfection des formes dans le signe n'etant 
 ahsolument que tres secondare. Mais en Grece la forme fut tout: on cultivoit Tart, pour Tart 
 lui meine. En Egypte il ne fut qu'un moyen puissant de peindre la penscc, &c. — Cctte union intime 
 des beaux arts avec le systeme graphique Egyptieti nous explique sans effort les causes de l'&at de 
 simplicity naive dans lequel la peinture et la sculpture persisterent toujours en Egypte," &c— 
 pp. 430. 431. 432. 2d. Edition. 
 
 We are aware that the subsequent researches of M. Champollion into the monuments of ^gypt 
 might have inclined him to modify the opinion which he has here expressed, as they have led his 
 learned colleague, Professor Rosellini, to the conviction that the existing statues and sculptures of 
 /Egyptian monarchs are actual resemblances of the personages whom they represent. But in 
 referring to the acknowledged characteristics of Egyptian art, and the peculiarities to which their 
 origin has been generally ascribed, we may be allowed to adopt the received opinion upon a question 
 which is merely incidental to, and illustrative of, our present enquiry into the origin and progress 
 of Grecian sculpture. 
 
XXVI 11 
 
 Early sculp- little knowledge of design or proportion, frequently aim at expressing 
 ture of Greece. , . . n , , 
 
 real or transient action m attitudes, which evince their early and accurate 
 
 habit of observation directed to natural effects. Their figures are in 
 motion and evidently studied from the life. It is true that the dates of 
 their early works, except perhaps those of their coins, can seldom be 
 authenticated, but on them the composition is often very remarkable. 
 There is a very antieut small silver coin of Argos with the wolf, the well 
 known symbol of the city, on the stamped side.' The figure is very 
 rude, and the limbs are clumsy and ill formed, but the slinking and 
 stealthy pace natural to the animal is clearly represented. In like 
 manner their bulls are spurning the ground and lowering their horns, 
 their horses prancing or galloping, their gods tossing the spear, or wield- 
 ing the thunder, and their heroes in the conflict of war or of their games, 
 in compositions of rude and imperfect execution, but of which the design 
 and invention at least are perfectly true to nature. Is it possible to remark 
 this striking peculiarity without attributing it in some degree to their early 
 and universal familiarity with the Iliad and Odyssey ? In these poems all 
 is life and animation ; men think and act and move before the eye in 
 descriptions more graphic, more correct, and more precise than any 
 perhaps which the chisel or the pencil have ever transmitted to us ; and 
 the actions of animals, as well as the appearances of the material universe, 
 are described in casual allusions or in illustrative siniilies, but always 
 with the strict truth of actual observation/ Their gods have human 
 forms exalted into strength, grace, or dignity, by the veiy nature of such 
 a fiction. These poems, as we know, were sung or recited at their public 
 games, and in the halls of their warrior chiefs ; every ear was open, and 
 every heart responded to their impression. The mythology, such as it 
 was, was national; and the sculptor had to represent objects thus made 
 familiar to every mind. The poetry, which imparted to the mind of 
 Phidias the majesty of the Olympian Jove, had previously, we doubt not, 
 improved his predecessors with acquirements less exalted, but at all 
 events with observation and design. In a series of antient coins it is 
 delightful to trace their progress ; for as the subjects were appropriated 
 
 1 The early coins of Acanthus, Posidonia, and of other cities are equally illustrative of this 
 peculiarity. 
 
 ' See the description of the dog holding the kid between its fore paws, enamelled on the golden 
 ntpovn of Ulysses, as related by himself to Penelope. Od. xix. 226-230. 
 
xxix 
 
 to peculiar cities, these remained much the same ; whilst the gradually Early sculp- 
 
 ■ i i "ii p j . . ... ture of Greece, 
 
 acquired skill ot their artists varied the expression, and improved the 
 
 manual execution to a degree, which, in works on a small scale, ap- 
 proaches nearer to perfection than can be well conceived by those, to whom 
 such studies are not familiar. Still, beautiful as they are, the original 
 conceptions are nearly the same as they were in the infancy of their nation. 
 
 35. The heads and likenesses of their deities appear, from the nature Traditional 
 of the associations with which such objects are connected, to have been l0rmS ' 
 more sacred from innovation in early times, and in later ages also to have 
 
 been less varied than other subjects by new inventions. It is difficult to 
 account for the archaic air of the heads of the statues s found in the temple, 
 whether of Minerva or of Jupiter Panhellenius, at Jigiua, which are in a 
 style so much at variance with the more perfect and animated representa- 
 tion of the figures, but by supposing that the faces were traditional, and 
 appropriate to subjects, on which the artist was not allowed to innovate. 
 We trace something of a similar principle in the series of Athenian and 
 other medals, where the early rudeness of the heads by no means indicates 
 invariably the antiquity of the coin on which they are represented : but 
 only that such representation was a received form, transmitted from age to 
 age on account of the reverence attached to its sacred character. Artists 
 succeeded gradually in refining and beautifying even these traditional 
 faces ; but they were never perhaps entirely allowed to innovate upon 
 the character affixed to them by the religious prejudices of the people. 
 
 36. Such innovation was indeed less required, after the skill and imagi- 
 nation of Phidias and his contemporaries had out of these materials 
 embodied the standard forms of majesty and beauty best adapted to their 
 mythology. The subsequent adherence to these known resemblances 
 had always this additional advantage, that it gave to their ideal figures 
 all the authority of historical portraits ; and the compositions, in which 
 such were represented, required none of the awkward expedients, which 
 have been in earlier as in later times adopted, to render them intelligible. 
 Definite ideas and familiar forms were annexed to the representation of 
 divine interpositions so frequent in the epic songs of their poets ; and the 
 artist who transferred these to marble, possessed in them a language that 
 was universally understood. 
 
 * Now in the collection of the King of Bavaria at Munich. 
 
XXX 
 
 Advantage 37- We point out this advantage the more readily, because it has 
 
 resulting from 
 
 conventional been perhaps too much neglected in our own more modern schools of art. 
 
 forms. 
 
 Partly from legends, and partly from the popularity of some of their early 
 representations, a similar kind of conventional portraiture was adopted in 
 the paintings and decorations of the catholic churches for the different 
 characters displayed in sacred compositions. At least the h genius of 
 Raphael, of Michael Angelo, and of Lionardo da Vinci, stamped a value 
 on many of these, which seems to have restrained within certain bounds 
 the invention of their less gifted successors. We think it would be easy to 
 select from Italian paintings such types of all the principal characters 
 which are suited to sculpture, as might at once be recognized, from the 
 familiarity with which they have been contemplated in well known works. 
 Such forms are still introduced with propriety in our funeral monuments 
 and ornamental tablets ; and the adoption of such standards for delineating 
 individual likeness would be attended with these advantages : all inappro- 
 priate intrusion of heathen associations would be avoided, and without 
 detracting from beauty of design, the scriptural subject represented would 
 at once be understood. A distinguished modern artist, Thorwaldsen, hi 
 his models for the ornaments of the Lutheran church of Copenhagen, has 
 shewn that this may be successfully effected. We always regret amongst 
 our own students that misplaced reverence for classical antiquity, which 
 in the latitude of protestant invention, sometimes leaves us in doubt 
 whether St. Peter or St. Paul may not turn out to be only Cynic philoso- 
 phers, or whether St. John may not have been originally intended for 
 Apollo. 
 
 Real superio- 38. We have already endeavoured, in the Preliminary Dissertation to 
 
 rity of Grecian _ 4 _ , i • i 
 
 art. our former volume, to sketch in a general manner the technical progress 
 
 of the art, from the earliest efforts of the Grecian chisel, through the 
 
 breathing forms of Phidias and Lysippus, and the derivative schools of 
 
 the Rhodians and of Rome, till it sunk into barbaric feebleness and 
 
 ostentation. This art was long marked only by a variety of excellence at 
 
 once so transcendent and so peculiar, that perhaps a degree of bigotry 
 
 has been excited, and has at times prevailed in the criticisms of modern 
 
 b See the success of this principle in Italian poetry, particularly in what is now called the 
 Romantic .School. Bello, Boiariio, Bcnii, and Ariosto, all, with some few exceptions, imitated the 
 same pictures, till the gallery was completed by the last ; who moreover frequently imitates his own, 
 rarely deviating from his original outline. 
 
xxxi 
 
 connoisseurs, and among professors of the art itself, not always indicating Real sunerio- 
 
 11 ii o i . " l y °f Owdan 
 
 a real knowledge of the points in which its superiority consists. Simplicity, art. 
 
 grace, dignity, and ideal beauty, with many similar terms of admiration, 
 are profusely scattered in the descriptions of antient works of art by 
 travelling virtuosi and foreign academicians, without exciting very definite 
 ideas in the reader, and sometimes misleading the student into unques- 
 tionable absurdity. Still we think that the superiority proclaimed is real, 
 and that much of it in those instances where it is most acknowledged and 
 most characteristic, arose from the very principles on which Grecian art 
 commenced. Their sculptors, as we have endeavoured to shew, were 
 led at once to the imitation of nature, and guided in their selection by 
 the imagination of their poets. In studying only to express with force 
 and truth the action or passion which their fancy conceived, they were 
 unfettered by the conventional technicality of assumed graces of attitude, 
 and beauties of form, for which they had probably no rules, and yet have 
 left so many models. In representing action, emotion, contemplation, or 
 repose, observation alone seems gradually to have led them to select such 
 attitudes as might most perfectly correspond to the leading idea, and to 
 impress it alike on every limb ; as well as to adopt such forms from nature, 
 as were found to possess the character and attributes which they were 
 anxious to express. We think that this complete unity of intention, and 
 the directness with which the means of art are applied to the production 
 of the desired effect, constitute what is most properly termed, simplicity. 
 This it is which enhances greatly the intensity of expression, differing 
 entirely from that spurious simplicity, which professional pedantry pro- 
 duces, and ignorance extols ; and which is in truth merely the absence of 
 all expression combined with bald and meagre execution. 
 
 39. It is then to this immediate and simple adaptation of the resources Truth of cha- 
 of sculpture to its ends, and to their arrangement in producing one single ' 
 forcible and homogeneous impression, that we ascribe the charm of that 
 ailorrit or natural conception and execution, which characterize even the 
 highest and most perfect specimens of art ; and which, regardless of all such 
 grace or dignity of attitude, as is incompatible with the simple and powerful 
 delineation of the intended action or expression, impart to their figures an 
 air of occupation, and at the same time of unconsciousness of exhibition, 
 which are in themselves among the most effective causes of their power. 
 
XXXII 
 
 Truth of oha- We notice this the more readily, because the admission of a different 
 
 racter. 
 
 principle in much more recent sculpture has led to a false taste, and has 
 principally contributed to disfigure some of the most conspicuous monu- 
 ments of modern times. In many of the antient statues which adorned 
 the stoas and forums of the Greeks and Romans, it is impossible not to 
 have remarked the calm stillness, abstraction, and repose of their seated 
 consuls and philosophers ; or, if the idea has been to represent them as 
 addressing the multitude below, the hitentness, directness, and animation 
 of the address. We take well known instances out of hundreds that are 
 equally applicable, in citing the sitting statues of two philosophers in the 
 Museum of the Vatican, or the benevolent and earnest attitude of the 
 equestrian figure of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitol. In the former there 
 is not the slightest appearance of consciousness of the gazing spectator ; 
 in the other the emperor is addressing the passing soldier or subject, 
 without the least indication of self exhibition. 1 Where a contrary prin- 
 ciple has prevailed, whether in antient or in modern art, it has been 
 uniformly destructive of its proposed effect. The theatric graces of 
 representation have been substituted for innate dignity, and alike in 
 marbles and in men indicate an apparent desire and doubt of approba- 
 tion, which is incompatible with that character. 
 Representa- 40. In the representation of deities intended to be the objects of 
 
 tion of deities. , , , 
 
 actual adoration in their temples a certain air 01 consciousness was of 
 course indispensable. Of these the natural expression would be that 
 of awful or benevolent attention, or of dignified assent to the suppliant 
 votary. Such have been accordingly their usual characteristics ; and we 
 may yet see in well known compositions, how simply and yet how forcibly 
 the mind of Phidias embodied these ideas in some of his most elaborate 
 works. The effect of them on the believing idolater must have been 
 powerful beyond our present conception, though perhaps not always 
 more so than that of the stiff or monstrous forms, which, assisted by the 
 legends of the priests, claimed his reverence and enthralled his imagina- 
 tion at Samos, Ephesus or Eleusis. But these were long adored, like 
 
 1 The seated figure of Mars in the Lodovisi (now the Piombino) Gallery, will at once occur to 
 those who have seen and recollect it. The expression and animation thus attained constitutes 
 indeed the principal merit of the statue of Marcus Aurelius, the execution being in many respects 
 defective. It is however generally known, and illustrates forcibly the principle of which we think 
 it characteristic. 
 
xxxiii 
 
 many a sightless Madonna of later times, on principles of general super- Representa- 
 tion of deities. 
 
 stition, quite independent both of rational feeling and of the resources of 
 imitative art. 
 
 41. The same striking excellence of style in this respect pervades all Distinction be- 
 
 tween natural 
 
 the finer works of the early Greek artists. Their groups and their single and theatric ex- 
 pression. 
 
 figures, animated as they appear to be by internal emotion, never seem 
 made for the purpose of being looked at. We have only to compare the 
 joyous revels of their fauns, or the frantic dances of their Bacchanals, 
 with corresponding representations in our operas, or by the artists who 
 have studied modern theatric graces, to feel the superior conceptions 
 of the former, which may be traced in many other compositions of less 
 striking character. The well known and deservedly admired V enus dei 
 Medici furnishes we think a most complete exemplification of the effects 
 of antient taste, and at the same time reminds us of modern devia- 
 tion from its principles. Who has ever contemplated that matchless form 
 without feeling the delicacy, the purity and the dignity of the sustained 
 repose and perfect unconsciousness pervading the attitude and expression 
 alike in eveiy limb. The lower arms and hands however were, as is well 
 known, restored by Bernini ; and in the mincing coquettish play of the 
 fingers he thought, no doubt, that he added character and grace to the 
 statue ; while in fact that slight addition is so discordant from the 
 delightful conception of every other part of the figure, that untutored 
 observers, not aware of the cause, but who dare to feel and avow dissent 
 from the indiscriminating language of established panegyric, have re- 
 peatedly expressed dissatisfaction and disgust at the meretricious action 
 in a goddess, which is entirely owing to Bernini's application of the 
 practised graces of the courtezan, to the breathing simplicity and loveli- 
 ness of the queen of Paphos and Cythera. 
 
 42. A similar effect to a certain degree will always be produced, as Technical 
 technical rules become established in art, or as artificial manners are intro- RuIeS ' 
 duced into society. We have already noticed the advantage which early 
 
 art possessed in selecting and representing unfettered nature and natural 
 passions and actions directly and distinctly, in forms the most appropriate, 
 as they occurred at once to the artist's observation. The talents of Phidias 
 and his contemporaries carried this to the highest state of refinement j 
 and the consequence inevitably followed i what the genius of his age 
 vol. n. k 
 
xxxiv 
 
 Technical produced became from its excellence the model of the ages that suc- 
 Rules. 
 
 eeeded. As models are multiplied by progressive skill, general rules are 
 established with reference only to such models, and the range of art is 
 limited. In applying rules to practice, their display becomes a display of 
 skill and knowledge ; and such qualifications are always too highly appre- 
 ciated and too much admired not to be sometimes exhibited at the expence 
 of true feeling. Their acquirement is also much more attainable than 
 the higher but less obtrusive qualities of genius and judgment. Now the 
 mere observance of a rule, unconnected with the feeling which led to its 
 establishment, will of itself give to a statue something of that air apprete, 
 that appearance of exhibition, which we have ventured to reprove. It will 
 of course be indicated more and more in the progress of the art, and will 
 accelerate its decline, as the admiration of technical skill obliterates gra- 
 dually the perception of natural representation, except when genius rises to 
 vindicate itself, and by breaking through such trammels shews their nar- 
 rowness and futility. Much of this tendency will we think be apparent 
 to those, who compare the bold and free designs of Phidias even with 
 those of the practised schools, which subsequently arose under the 
 empires of Macedon and Rome. 
 Effect of con- 43. In still later times not only the style of art, but that of living 
 
 venti on al man- 
 ners on art. manners also, became conventional ; and the outward expressions of 
 
 passion and of sentiment were regulated by the ceremonial of society. 
 This is so readily acquired, that its influence invariably increases, till its 
 operose and cumbrous ritual destroys itself by its own impracticable com- 
 plexity. Nevertheless it is always popular and admired while it lasts, 
 and art has thus another obstacle to contend with. Let the pictured and 
 sculptured warriors of Louis XlVth, and the periwigged and furbelowed 
 heroes and matrons of Racine bear testimony to its failure. A still clearer 
 conception of the relative value of conventional and direct representation 
 may be attained, by merely imagining the manner in which a painter 
 would embody some actual or historical event, and comparing it with 
 that in which it is most successfully and impressively exhibited on the 
 stage. Conceive for instance the trial of Katharine of Arragon, and then 
 contemplate in Harlow's picture the same characters in the portraits of 
 our best actors, designed by one of our most ingenious and excellent 
 artists ; and we at once perceive the difference produced by the 
 
XXXV 
 
 substitution even of the finest conventional and traditional forms for the Effect of con. 
 
 . volitional man- 
 
 general and universal language of nature and reality. And yet this is the on on art. 
 
 manner in which kings and warriors have been desirous of transmitting 
 
 their memories to posterity; and the effect of it is visible in half the 
 
 public squares and palaces of Europe. 
 
 44. The grace and dignity then, which are supposed to characterize Ideal beauty of 
 
 the Greeks. 
 
 the antieut sculpture of Greece, consist only in truth and propriety of 
 expression, and not in technical or conventional attitudes ; and their ideal 
 beauty will be found in the happy selection of real forms expressive of 
 gentle and amiable qualities, when such are the objects of representation. 
 Nor ought we to overlook another result of the system thus pursued, 
 since we possess in our National Museum a powerful illustration of its 
 effect. Let any one, however unaccustomed to the contemplation of 
 antient art, look once more at the frieze of Phidias, where each mutilated 
 figure still conveys the definite idea of the action which the sculptor 
 intended to express, and the life and motion of the procession represented 
 arrest the most negligent observer. We have often heard such admirers 
 remark how much the spectator forgets that it is not entire ; so easily 
 does the mind supply the parts that are deficient. And yet when we 
 examine it in detail, how many and how important are the mutilations ! 
 But notwithstanding all that has been lost, that which remains is so 
 completely indicative of the general design, that the feeling is unim- 
 paired, and, as long as a limb is left, each ideal figure seems to remain 
 before us. The same simplicity and energy of effect are still apparent in 
 the Theseus, and in many of the other fragments, and in some of these 
 the more so, because they are not dependent on the details of the execu- 
 tion. The sculpture is indeed unequal and in many instances defective ; 
 the surface in all of them is more or less corroded and defaced ; but the 
 masterly design remains, and will bear triumphant witness to the principle 
 on which its efficiency depends. 
 
 45. For the acquisition of a perfect knowledge of the human form in Their study of 
 all its varieties of action, the antients possessed advantages in their social tm'e.' and 
 institutions which we have already noticed, and which have been often 
 
 alluded to and appreciated by artists. Their baths, their stadia, their 
 games, their habits of life, and their genial climate afforded opportunities 
 of observation, which the improvement and reserve of modern manners 
 
XXXVI 
 
 Their study of have withdrawn. The effect on art has been injurious, though from 
 truth and na- ...... « T 
 
 ture. higher and nobler considerations it is impossible to regret the cause. 
 
 Now the learning thus attained from observing living forms in natural 
 action was very different from the mere science of anatomy, or that of the 
 practised attitudes of models in an academy. By such studies certainly 
 much knowledge of the human structure, and correctness of design may 
 be obtained; but in the palaestra and in the field, the knowledge and 
 power of delineation acquired would at least be equal, and would also be 
 subordinate to the expression of the action. Accordingly we find such 
 qualities in their productions ; and where we find them they rivet the 
 attention on the work ; while in ours they too frequently recall it to admi- 
 ration of the talent and learning of the artist. Wherever this is the effect 
 the admiration is less justly due. In the finer arts, as well as in oratory 
 and in poetry, the object is to strike the imagination, or to move the 
 passions ; we feel their magic influence when we are delighted, persuaded, 
 or convinced ; but we feel it not when we admire or criticise the author ; 
 and as often as we hear " this is a clever design," or " that was a most 
 eloquent period," we invariably discover that the merit is of a subordinate 
 and secondary class. 
 
 Drapery and 46. Such are then some of the causes of that superiority which most 
 writers have ascribed to the higher works of the Grecian school ; and 
 which we have endeavoured to vindicate as real. There are others, which 
 perhaps depend in some degree on imaginary associations. The form of 
 their drapery for instance recalls that which is familiar to the mind of the 
 classical student, and is yet undegraded by the uses of daily life. Perhaps 
 also from the greater simplicity of its structure, and the ease with which 
 it is arranged in folds, it is at once better adapted for representation, and 
 more easily detached in appearance from the figure, which it partially 
 conceals, than the fashions to which we have been since accustomed. 
 Effect of paint- 47- Other causes, equally contributing to the pre-eminence of Grecian 
 ture. SCUI) sculpture over that of more recent times, may be traced to the lower 
 estimation in which the sister art of painting remained in antiquity, and 
 the greater influence which it acquired in later ages. Sculpture was first 
 invented, and statues and models of some sort were familiar to men, 
 before painting had attained the power of producing any better repre- 
 sentation of form than the monochrome delineations of red or black 
 
xxxvii 
 
 figures still extant on ^Egyptian walls and Greek vases. In the infancy Effect of paint- 
 
 c - . . , . ing on sculp- 
 
 ot tlieir own art, and in trying to approach the effect of visible nature, the tare. 
 
 early sculptors without scruple availed themselves of every device to give 
 increased resemblance to their imperfect models. They coloured parts of 
 their works in basso rilievo, both on their walls and tablets of terra 
 cotta, and by such means strove to give relief to, and heighten the effect 
 of a complex and crowded composition ill adapted in other respects to the 
 resources of their art. In like manner the eyes hair and drapery of their 
 statues, so embarrassing at all times to those whose models are formed 
 of one uniform material, were often supplied with colour, or attached 
 in separate appended pieces of metal or gems, as may be seen in the 
 marbles from jEgina; and in some of the specimens of our former volume. 
 Such continued to be their practice in their finer works of bronze, and the 
 still more elaborate monuments of gold and ivory ; but in marble at least 
 the attention of the statuaries was gradually confined to forms alone, and 
 they invented such as detached these necessary parts from the body, and 
 compensated by the increased relief of light and shade for the absence of 
 colour. We may observe this contrivance in the sharpness and projection 
 of the eyebrows and lips, as well as in the arrangement of the hair, and 
 the folds of the garments ; and thus a style of representation prevailed, 
 primarily and peculiarly appropriate to the purposes of sculpture. The 
 sister art of painting long wanted both implements and skill to develope 
 her magic power ; but she appears in her compositions to have borrowed 
 the design, and followed in the footsteps of her rival. As her power 
 increased it would be possible perhaps to trace her influence, as early as 
 the refined periods of the Macedonian and Roman empires, in the manage- 
 ment of works in relief, where figures and groups are raised on tablets of 
 the same material. 
 
 48. At the best period of sculpture, or at least in the best specimens of Decline of art. 
 that period) the objects represented are nearly on the same plane or on a 
 second plane only slightly receding from the first. They are in less 
 crowded groups, generally in single rows of figures, and little attempt 
 is made to indicate more distant objects. This gradual refinement had 
 been the result of experience and improvement in art ; for the arrange- 
 ment was more complicated in some of their early and coloured com- 
 positions; but it became obvious that from the very uniform nature of 
 
 1 
 
xxxviii 
 
 Decline of art. their materials such attempts could hardly ever be successful. It was 
 not, possible to produce the effect of distance by the mere diminution of 
 size or difference of relief, when the colour remained the same, and was 
 throughout equally bright and prominent. The painter on the other hand 
 had at command the resources of his pallet, and by light, shadow, and 
 colour judiciously graduated, could relieve what seemed crowded, and 
 detach what should be brought forward. But in process of time as painting 
 became more popular, we sometimes detect in sculpture a fruitless attempt 
 to imitate its effects ; and, at least in some of the later Roman specimens, 
 the figures are more crowded and the details more complicated ; a triple 
 distance is sometimes attempted, with a more minute delineation of objects 
 in the back-ground, inevitably creating indistinctness and confusion. Mere 
 love of novelty and enterprize will account for some of these corruptions 
 in a declining art ; but it is probable that the productions of the pencil 
 had assisted in stimulating sculptors to this unprofitable emulation. In 
 antient art it is only perhaps apparent in their works in relief, and not in 
 the attitudes and accessories of their statues. As far as we can judge 
 from the paintings which are left to us, the same forms and drapery were 
 retained in these, which had been originally selected for the chisel, so that 
 many of their pictures are little more than coloured bassi rilievi. 
 
 Revival of 49. It is in comparing the antient specimens with those produced since 
 
 sculpture. 
 
 the revival of the art in modern Italy, that the later predominance ot 
 painting becomes more conspicuous ; we observe it in the style which was 
 formed in Tuscany, and which became the model for the rest of Europe 
 after the fifteenth century. In the provinces of the Roman empire long 
 over-run by the barbarians of the north, the arts of design sunk into mere 
 mechanical trades, which except from churchmen and monks had little 
 encouragement, and deserved none. They were never entirely discon- 
 tinued, and in the decreasing limits of the eastern empire, or in the 
 sanctuaries of Gothic devotion, workmen (who deserve no better name) 
 were always found able with more or less dexterity to daub portraits of 
 the Madonna on gilded boards, to carve hideous monsters in stone or mar- 
 ble, or to decorate niches in a monastic building with saints in mosaic. 
 Monasteries at least were somewhat more secure and tranquil than the 
 rest of the world ; and thither the arts fled for refuge : artists became 
 monks, ami monks became artists. Their studies produced nothing more 
 
xxxix 
 
 really worthy of attention than the illuminations of their manuscript books, Revival of 
 . , sculpture, 
 
 which are, as is well known, often designed and executed with great dex- 
 terity and precision. Well wrought ornaments of gold and silver also 
 retained their value, and for these a demand was created by the barbaric 
 luxury of the nobles, as well as by the growing wealth of the ecclesiastics. 
 These were necessarily on a small scale, and though they contributed to 
 improve their manual dexterity and neatness, they exhibited but little 
 knowledge of form or breadth of design. Thus among the monkish calli- 
 graphs, and the orefici of Sienna, Pisa and Florence, the arts of painting 
 and sculpture first awoke from their long lethargy, and retained in the style 
 of each the traces of their origin. The compositions adopted in the minute 
 designs of the illuminators retained their hardness stiffness and formality, 
 when transferred to pannels or models on a larger scale ; but the details 
 were elaborately and minutely expressed. These excellences with increas- 
 ing freedom and improvement constantly though still timidly advancing, 
 reached their most refined perfection in the pictures of Lionardo da 
 Vinci, and in the finished bronzes of Benvenuto Cellini. Greater atten- 
 tion had now been paid to the relics of antient sculpture, but the design 
 adopted from it by the painter was common to the sister art ; and in the 
 beautifully wrought bronze gates of Pisani and Ghiberti at the baptistery of 
 Florence the tablets are in fact pictures admirably executed in bronze. 
 The genius and enthusiasm of Michael Angelo created a revolution in 
 both branches of the art. He studied the heroic and colossal forms 
 of antiquity, as his predecessors had studied their minuter ornaments. 
 Learned in anatomy, he displayed his learning perhaps too much in the 
 exaggerated exhibition of the muscular structure, and in the contorted 
 attitudes of his figures ; but he at once shewed the feebleness and in- 
 accuracy of the style, with which his own contrasted. The bold outline 
 and broad execution of his frescoes superseded the meagre but finished 
 minuteness of the earlier school, and he earned the manner so justly 
 admired in these into his sculpture, where it was assuredly less appro- 
 priate. It was his effort, and continued to be that of his successors, to 
 give to sculpture some of the attractive and picturesque character which 
 in their paintings had become so deservedly popular. A great similarity 
 of composition took place, and generally to the disadvantage of the sculp- 
 tor. It is impossible not to be struck with this peculiarity in the works of 
 
xl 
 
 Revival of the Italian school from the time of the cinque cento, as it is called, to that 
 
 sculpture. 
 
 of Bernini: their design in the hair, drapery, attitudes, and composition 
 of their groups are such as are admired in painting, but are often ill 
 adapted to marble or to bronze. Genius, such as they undoubtedly pos- 
 sessed, never even in its aberrations works quite in vain ; and with much 
 that is admirable, whilst attempting what is impracticable, they have 
 produced effects, which a more timid and even a better regulated mode 
 of study might have failed to attain. Among the productions of Michael 
 Angelo the sitting figure of Lorenzo dei Medici (the Duke of Urbino) has 
 all the merit which genius could give to such a system. It is rather a 
 picture in marble than a statue ; but so instinct with life, so full of 
 imagination, so broad and shadowy and impressive, that like a poetic 
 vision of romance, it captivates the coldest judgment, and disarms the 
 pedantry of classical criticism. Other instances of similar nature will 
 occur, but they are the characteristics of a maimer, which we at once 
 perceive to be distinct from that of antiquity. The style, of which we 
 have given specimens in this and the preceding volume, was attained, not 
 by the study of painting or of models ; but by that of nature and of life, 
 exalted by genius, and refined by judgment in selecting and adopting 
 materials appropriate to its own purposes. Equal perfection can never be 
 acquired by mere imitation; but must be reached by applying to the 
 same sources, and treading in the same paths. Modern times have 
 undoubtedly withdrawn much of the opportunity and encouragement 
 which attended the earlier efforts of the art ; but the genius of our own 
 Flaxman, and the revival of a more correct taste both in England and in 
 Italy have in a great measure reclaimed it from the false light by which 
 it had been led astray ; and we recognize in our contemporary works a 
 recurrence to sounder and purer principles. We have always to remember 
 that though the servile copyist of the antient artists can only attain to 
 feebleness and insipidity, the deviation from their principles will infallibly 
 lead him into absurdity and extravagance. 
 
xli 
 
 50. Having in the foregoing observations endeavoured to justify the Principle of 
 
 arrangement in 
 
 claim we venture to make on the attention of the public for the monu- this volume, 
 ments of an art so intimately connected with the religion and history of the 
 antient world, and the intellectual superiority of Greece, we proceed to 
 state the more immediate object of our present work, and the principles by 
 which we have been guided in its arrangement. For obvious reasons we 
 have been induced to retain in the successive series of our additional 
 specimens the chronological order, which had been adopted in our former 
 volume by Mr. Knight. We have indeed the advantage of his highly 
 valued authority for many of our decisions, as we have extracted much 
 that will be found most interesting in our illustrations from the unfinished 
 papers left by him, and placed in the hands of the Society by the liberality 
 of his brother. We have also availed ourselves of the acute and valuable 
 observations of one of our most distinguished members, the Professor of 
 Sculpture in the Royal Academy ; to whose zeal and exertions we are 
 deeply indebted : since his practical success, however universally acknow- 
 ledged, is not more conspicuous, than the theoretical taste and judgment 
 by which it has been acquired. 
 
 51. Even with such assistance, and with all that we have been able to Epochs of 
 
 . antient art. 
 
 derive from other sources, we are aware ot the uncertainty of attempting 
 to ascertain the exact age of a statue from internal evidence alone, when 
 Ave have not the testimony of antient writers for our guide. Beside the 
 fallibility of criticism, where the data are necessarily more or less conjec- 
 tural, there is another great and almost insurmountable difficulty in the 
 execution of such a task. The works of antient sculpture in our galleries 
 are for the most part copies executed in some later age from earlier and 
 more celebrated compositions. When we have ascertained from records 
 the date of the original, we have classed the specimen in the same period; 
 but without such knowledge, and when the style of execution is found at 
 variance with that of the original design, their manifest inconsistency 
 baffles all the ingenuity of criticism. We are not inclined to dogmatize 
 on this hackneyed and uncertain topic, but we submit the reasons which 
 occur to us to the judgment and indulgence of the reader; as those 
 vol. ii. m 
 
xlii 
 
 Epochs of who are best acquainted with the subject are precisely those who are most 
 
 antient art. 
 
 aware of its difficulty, 
 ^syptian Spe- 52. Our series begins with the colossal head called that of Memnon, now 
 in the British Museum. In this and in the contemporary statue of black 
 granite discovered by Mr. Salt, and now in the same collection, we have 
 undoubted works of ^Egyptian art, as it existed under the conquering 
 dynasty of the Theban kings 3 j anterior to the date of our oldest historical 
 records. There is a sweetness of expression and truth in the head, 
 together with a sharpness and precision in the execution, and a breadth 
 and simplicity throughout the whole, which admirably correspond with 
 the observations in our former volume on the peculiar characteristics of 
 the ^Egyptian style of sculpture. The walls of the palaces or temples at 
 Carnac and Luxor, and the tombs of Biban el Moluc are covered with 
 paintings and works in relief now well known to the literary world, far 
 superior in many respects to any of those later compositions, by which 
 modern criticism has too indiscriminately characterized the national style 
 of iEgypt. The artists of Thebes evidently possessed no inconsiderable 
 knowledge of basso rilievo ; and both in their monochrome paintings, and 
 in such reliefs, they display an intelligence as to general form, and in the 
 articulation of the joints and muscles not always discoverable in their 
 detached statues. A freer spirit of invention and design pervades these 
 compositions ; the figures are not represented by mere traditional or con- 
 ventional forms, but in historical action ; with an attempt, however 
 inadequate, to exhibit an imitation of actual life. In the lions brought by 
 Lord Prudhoe from Nubia, one of which is represented in our second 
 plate, we have a specimen no less surprizing of their skill in pourtraying 
 animals with a truth of character, to which we have already called the 
 attention of the reader. No considerable specimens of an earlier date 
 have been sufficiently authenticated to enable us to trace the steps, by 
 which they attained to this comparative excellence, from whence their 
 later monuments attest the progressive decline. The power of the 
 hierarchal colleges, which arose under the protection, and flourished 
 under the establishment of the monarchy, seems subsequently to have 
 also engrossed the patronage, and controlled the application of the 
 fine arts, which consequently became from this period more and more 
 
 1 Cham pollion Prms du Systemc Hieroglyph. Chap. 9, pp. 285 et seq. 2d. Edition. 
 
xliii 
 
 mechanical. The deities, whose forms were most probably at all times jEgyptianSpe- 
 
 1 r i*i i i cimens. 
 
 lett more exclusively to the selection of the priesthood, were transmitted 
 with rigid accuracy to posterity in the same unchangeable manner; and 
 the embalmed bodies of the dead became the principal, if not the only 
 model, from which sculpture was permitted to pourtray the living figures 
 of human beings. The same characteristic style, with more or less 
 dexterity of execution, always faithful to established models, and always 
 independent of actual nature, distinguishes their works in every sub- 
 sequent period of their history. At all times probably they were 
 allowed a freer scope in the representation of brute animals, and were 
 furnished with better models; for these have been often pourtrayed in 
 iEgypt with a truth and vivacity not found in the delineation of higher 
 subjects ; as the human figures are much more feebly studied, and are 
 generally clad in drapery. A well known passage in Herodotus describes 
 the original .(Egyptians as a race of negroes, black and woolly haired ; 
 but no trace of the Lybian physiognomy appears in their portraits, though 
 the fulness and breadth of the lips and nose has by some writers been 
 appealed to as confirming his account. The more certain evidence of all 
 the most antient mummies hitherto discovered contradicts the supposition ; 
 and the inference from the paintings still extant on the walls of their 
 tombs and temples is equally decisive against it. In these the colour of 
 the royal warriors and of the native soldiers is invariably represented in 
 vermilion. The female figures, and those of the Asiatic or European races 
 are executed in a sort of pale yellow colour ; while the African tribes with 
 woolly hair and most characteristic features are painted black. The 
 ^Egyptians appear to have been a darker people than the adjoining 
 inhabitants of Syria ; perhaps the suggestion mentioned in our note k may 
 be thought to account for this apparent discrepancy. 
 
 53. We have stated in our former volume that the sculpture of Etruria Etruscans, 
 is not distinguishable from that of early Greece. The prosecution of 
 recent discoveries in Tuscany, and the valuable remains of antient art 
 which have been found in Tarquinii, Ca;re, Vulci, Volterra, and indeed 
 in almost all the old Etruscan cities, confirm us in that opinion. The 
 
 * It has been conjectured that Herodotus wrote the passage in\«yxpw "tu ouk ouXoT P i X t c " black 
 and not woolly haired," that the negative o « K , beginning with the same letters as the next word, had 
 escaped the transcribers of our MSS., and that the notice of such a peculiarity of features is more 
 likely to have been remarked by him than that of the common reading. Euterpe. 104. 
 
xliv 
 
 Etruscans. Tyrrhenians or Etruscans, whoever they were, either brought with them, 
 or adopted the arts of the Greeks ; and the numerous monuments, which 
 have recently been brought to light are, as Mr. Millingen has justly 
 observed, similar in every essential point to those of Sicily, Magna Grtecia, 
 and the mother country. In their tombs, and in excavations made on the 
 site of their antient cities, we every where find, as in the south of Italy, 
 vases with pahpographic Greek characters, Greek deities, and the heroes 
 of Grecian mythology. So true is the observation of Justin, " non pariim, 
 sed universam fere Italiam (Grjeci) occupaverant." The inscriptions them- 
 selves indicate foreign origin, for though the zEolic dialect was apparently 
 that which prevailed in the earlier colonies of Italy, and amongst its 
 various tribes, they are often in the Ionian or earliest Attic language. 
 Their native arts were either too rude to require attention, or were formed 
 in obvious imitation of these better models ; their style was adopted in 
 the infancy of Grecian sculpture, partook of its progress, and was extin- 
 guished by the ascendancy of Home, before it had attained the maturity 
 of perfection. The works of Tuscan artists (signa Tuscanica) were of a 
 more archaic mould than those which abounded in Greece when con- 
 quered by the Roman arms ; but the distinction was local, which is 
 recorded as national by the Latin writers ; and the Etrurian school was 
 only a branch of the early Grecian sculpture, for it resembled those of its 
 contemporary artists at Sicyon and iEgina. Peculiarities of costume, 1 or 
 of mythology will probably be found, and some have been noticed in our 
 former volume {Plates 4 and 19) ; but if we class these with Tuscan 
 monuments, we must allow Rubens, Holbein and Vandyke to rank as 
 English painters for a similar reason. The date at which the arts of 
 Greece were imported into Etruria is lost in the uncertainty of tradition. 
 The colony brought by Demaratus from Corinth to Tarquinii in the 
 6th century A. C. is recorded with much appearance of truth; as the 
 emigrants were not only received into the city, but attained high and 
 important situations in the confederacy of the Tuscan state. Pliny men- 
 tions two Grecian artists, Euchir and Eugramma, as companions of this 
 Corinthian expedition. But though a marble statue of Euchir the son of 
 Eubulis an Athenian was shewn to Pausanias in a temple of Mercury at 
 
 ' Such peculiarities are observed amongst the bronzes found at Herculaneum, representations of 
 which are given in the volumes of " Bronze d'Ercolano," published at Naples in 1767 and 1771. 
 
xlv 
 
 Pheneos in Arcadia, the two names implying good work, and good painting, Etruscans, 
 appear apocryphal, as we find on so many of the vases which have been 
 lately discovered, inscriptions recording that one artist had the merit"' of 
 making the vase, and another that of delineating the figures on it : whence 
 we may presume that the two names were devised with a view to these 
 two branches of art. 
 
 54. The difficulties, which have attended on all attempts at classing Early Greek 
 these and other monuments of antient sculpture by a supposed progress in 
 style, have been found insuperable. Each artist may be supposed to 
 have had at first his own peculiar mode of treating a subject, and as one 
 succeeded better than another, his manner for a short space of time may 
 have prevailed within certain limits ; and the obscurity which envelopes 
 the history of a period so remote, and of regions then so little celebrated, 
 cannot be dispelled by the few specimens of imperfect art, which time or 
 accident have only left in mutilated existence. We can seldom ascertain 
 their real date, though we may class such works, as they have often been 
 classed, by some common attribute of imperfection : but when we recollect 
 the state of society at that time, the predatory habits of the antient colo- 
 nists, and the want of communication between small and inland tribes, 
 though of kindred origin, or even of the same nation, it will be as easy to 
 account for their occasional discrepancy, as to trace in their rudeness a 
 general resemblance. We noticed in our former Dissertation such pecu- 
 liarities as antient writers have recorded of archaic art, as far as well 
 authenticated specimens and models enabled us to illustrate them j but 
 in works of contemporary artists, and even in those of a single sculptor a 
 difference of design, as well as of performance must have prevailed, accord- 
 ing to the diversity of materials on which their ingenuity was employed. 
 We should expect to find that as the difficulty of execution was increased, 
 their efforts would be more timid ; that their sculptures in wood or in 
 terra cotta would be both freer and more accurate than those in ham- 
 mered bronze or marble, if such were attempted ; and that considerable 
 skill in tracing outlines on vases of clay would not necessarily imply an 
 equal power in carving tablets, and still less in forming statues. In such 
 times a genius, whose celebrity perhaps extended only to a district of 
 
 " nveON EI10IE2EN EnlKTETOS ErPALZE. See Aretaologia,Vol. 23, Catalogue of Vases, Sic. 
 No. 572, and many other similar inscriptions. 
 
 vol. ii. n 
 
xlvi 
 
 Early Greek small extent, might be making short misshapen monsters with enough of 
 
 art. 
 
 the human form to let them pass for gods and heroes, while another at no 
 great distance produced long and stiff deities equally celebrated, and 
 equally injurious to the imaginary prototypes. The same country produced 
 works of great dissimilarity, as may be seen on the carved frieze of the 
 temple at Selinus, casts from which are now in the British Museum. This 
 difference should induce us to hesitate in inferring distinctions in dates, 
 which even at a later period were evidently not general, and which further 
 observation and discoveries might prove to be unfounded. 
 A. C. 600— 55. Such must necessarily have been the variable and imperfect nature 
 of sculpture in its infancy among small and independent communities, 
 professing a similar polytheism, and scattered over Greece, Italy, Asia 
 Minor, and the intervening islands and adjacent coasts of the Mediterra- 
 nean and iEgtean seas. Some very antient forms of their deities attained 
 prescriptive reverence, and the Conical Juno of Samos, the Diana Multi- 
 mamma of the Ephesians, the Apollo Didyma?us of the Branchida. 1 , and 
 the mystic Ceres of Eleusis were adopted or devised by a local hierarchy, 
 and remained unchanged. Their temples, like those of Dodona, Samo- 
 thrace, and even Delos, Delphi and Olympia, were at first only the 
 central resorts of small and separate federations ; and their influence was 
 limited and local. The art had broken its trammels, and schools of great 
 eminence had arisen in Greece, before the increasing celebrity of the 
 Pythian, Olympic and Delian festivals assembled distant and indepen- 
 dent nations to witness the progress of sculpture, adopt its lessons, and 
 emulate its triumphs. These arose at first from the successful studies of 
 the early artists of Sicyon and iEgina. In those cities, and in others 
 which contributed to the systematic improvement of art in Greece, me- 
 
 Working in chanical dexterity was previously acquired in the manufacturing of metals 
 
 metals. 
 
 for humbler purposes ; and the labours of the artizan gave rise to the 
 establishment of sculpture there ; as in more recent times those of the 
 orefici of Tuscany led to its revival, and fixed its seat, at Pisa and at 
 Florence. The Cretan statuaries Diprenus and Scyllis, who first gave cele- 
 brity to marble sculpture, carried it to Sicyon, where metallurgy already 
 flourished : for graven and molten images as well as those of wood had 
 long been known and executed. Where such materials abounded, and 
 metals were refined, the establishments began, whose humble origin was 
 
xlvii 
 
 forgotten in their subsequent renown. " Diu fuit (Sicyon) officinaruin Working in 
 
 metals. 
 
 omnium metallorum patria ;" in other places the progress was the same, 
 " Antiquissima a;ris gloria Deliaco fuit, mercatus in Delo coneelebrante 
 toto orbe, et ideo cura officinis, tricliniorum pedibus fulcrisque. Ibi prima 
 nobilitas a;ris. Pervenit deinde ad defim simulacra, effigiesque hominum, 
 et aliorum animalium. Px'oxima laus iEginetico fuit ; insula ipsa nec ses 
 gignens, sed officinarum temperature nobilitata." (Plinii N. H. 1. 34. s. 2.) 
 In better times the bronze of Delos was the material used by Myron, and 
 that of JJgina by his rival Polycletus ; but the brass candelabra of iEgina 
 continued to maintain their renown as well as the bronze claws of the 
 Triclinia for Delos. With these manufactures originated in their pro- 
 gress what may with some propriety be termed a style of art. It began 
 in the admiration of individual excellence, and the adoption of that course 
 of study and practice which had produced it in the master. The pecu- 
 liarities of a painter, a statuary or a writer, which are not imitated, 
 constitute what is properly called his manner ; those, which are adopted 
 and approved, determine the style of his school ; and possibly of his 
 country and his age, according to the degree of his celebrity. 
 
 56. Authentic specimens of the early period, to which we allude, Earliest Greek 
 are seldom if ever to be found ; and we have no distinct knowledge of the speame ° s ' 
 differences which must have prevailed in the various schools that began to 
 acquire celebrity about the 59th Olympiad. From that time however we 
 may observe, though in imperfect examples, the germ of those principles 
 which were developed in a succeeding age. Their artists had recognized 
 and established the proportions and principal divisions of the human 
 figure ; this was soon followed by an extension of the masses, and the 
 insertion of the muscles ; a more accurate union of the adjacent members 
 was observed ; and much attention given to the termination of the bones, 
 as well as a more natural indication of their appearance. There was 
 indeed as yet no attempt at beauty; and their drawing, though more 
 correct, was still hard, angular, and restricted, in statues, relievi, and 
 monochrome vases, whether of clay, bronze or marble. Some specimens, 
 given in our former volume, may be referred to as copies from more Select Spec, 
 important works of this early period ; and we are also inclined to assign 4,°7, ia, Sc.' 65 
 to it a statue of Mars in Homeric armour given in Plate 4 of this 
 volume. A similar figure which had been found at Todi, the antient 
 
xlviii 
 
 Earliest Greek Tuder, in the ruins of that Etruscan city, is in the Ducal collection at 
 specimens. _ ¥•*»«■•■ 
 
 Florence ; and, like other monuments hitherto discovered in Etruria, it is 
 
 not distinguishable from the contemporary works of Grecian fabric. Both 
 
 are of very primitive and antient execution ; for the bronze is in solid 
 
 masses, not cast in a mould, but hammered into shape, and welded or 
 
 rivetted together ; after which the surface has been elaborately carved, 
 
 and worked over with the graving tool. Such were the antient G/pv^larz, 
 
 mentioned by Herodotus, and such the Jupiter of Learchus described by 
 
 Pausanias, and in our former Dissertation. 
 
 Embossed or 57- In large works of costly materials the method of hammering thicker 
 
 plated work. 
 
 or thinner plates on a nucleus of wood was soon adopted, and long con- 
 tinued; and an ^Egyptian specimen so formed was given in our former 
 volume. A quantity of valuable bronze might thus be saved, and in gold 
 or silver the device was still more indispensable. The process was well 
 known to the sacred writers of the Hebrews," and is repeatedly noticed 
 by them in their denunciations against the idolatry of Assyria and Babylon. 
 The colossal golden image which Nebuchadnezzar set up, and those which 
 are described by Diodorus Siculus" were gigantic models of wood overlaid 
 with plates of gold. Plates of silver from the mines of Tartessus p in Spain, 
 (Tarshish) were a common article of Sidonian commerce at this time. 
 Toreutic art. 58. Such plates of metal shaped by the hammer, and then chased over 
 on a model formed of coarser materials, are used for some of the most 
 beautiful of the relicts of antiquity, in this style of work which is called 
 ro^jTixri by the Greek writers and is the opus coelatum of the Latin. The 
 Greek name was derived from the embossed vases and cups to which the 
 form was first given by the rossc or turning lathe, and worked out by the 
 hammer and graving tool, as we learn from the allusion of Horace,' 1 and 
 the repeated mention of ro^u(tarx in the authors cited in our note. The 
 Roman word ccelare (from xoiXov, or coshim,) was properly applied to 
 embossments in raised relief ; it is used by Pliny and others in describing 
 statues, and rilievi in marble ; but primarily ylvipuv, and sculpture 
 
 ■ Isaiah xli. v. 7, cb. xliv. v. 10. ch. xlvi. v. 6. Jeremiah, ch. x. v. 30. Habak. ch. ii. v. \9. 
 
 ° " Diodorus Siculus." r P ia ayaXfiara xp" aia ^upjjXara. Lib. ii. p. 123. Wesseling. The statue of 
 Jupiter or Belus was a colossus of 40 feet in height. 
 ' " Tartessus." Isaiah. 
 
 ' Male tornatos incudi redder* versus (Horace de Arte Poet.) See also Cicero, Euripides, Plutarch 
 and AthenreoB, cited by Stephanus, Thesau. in voce Topnyw. 
 
xlix 
 
 designated the execution of the chisel, the opus incisum of the Latin Toreutic art. 
 authors. 
 
 59. The invention or introduction of casting statues of bronze in a A. c. 560. 
 mould of clay is ascribed by Pausanias r to Rh&cus and Theodoras, the 
 
 artists of Samos who built the temple of Juno in that island, and were con- 
 temporary with Polycrates.* Such molten images of gold are mentioned 
 at a far earlier period by the writer of the Pentateuch ; L and the practice 
 was possibly derived or improved from that of the ^Egyptians. It seems 
 to have been unknown to Homer; and the hammer was accordingly in 
 his time the characteristic implement of Vulcan and his celestial artificers. 
 
 60. In masses of solid brass, as well as in the ^Egyptian blocks of 
 granite and basalt, the material itself was too hard and unmanageable to 
 admit of all the nicer indications of muscular details, and undulating 
 draperies, even though the greatest patience and labour were employed 
 in the execution of them. They are consequently omitted or but slightly 
 expressed ; but the general form is often well marked and rounded, and the 
 surface soft and fleshy, by which an appearance of breadth and simplicity is 
 produced, originating perhaps in necessity, but conducive to perfection] 
 even when the necessity was obviated. We may observe in the small statue 
 of Mars, which is represented in Plate IV., that the limbs are smooth, round, 
 and accurately proportioned ; though the muscles and joints are but slightly 
 and imperfectly indicated : the features are sharp and regular, but devoid 
 of expression • the surface and pattern of the armour and drapery are 
 minutely and elaborately engraven on the brass, but without any attempt 
 to represent the irregular forms or deep folds, which characterize such 
 objects in reality, and which are found in the works of more recent and 
 perfect sculpture. Such a style belonged to a period of the art, when 
 the rising schools had in a great degree fixed a standard of proportion, 
 and arrived at considerable accuracy of delineation, with some knowledge 
 of the details of execution, when the material admitted of its display : in 
 proof of which we may still refer to Etruria for specimens of contemporary 
 Grecian art. So many of these have been discovered in the excavations 
 
 r Pausanias in Arcad. cap. 14, sec. 5. 
 
 ' They are mentioned by Pliny {Hist. Nat. lib. xxxv. cap. 43,) as inventors also of fictile works 
 or baited clay. They probably invented the process of making it fire-proof and fit for moulds in 
 casting metals. 
 
 1 Deutcron. cb. ix. v. 12. 
 
 vol. II. O 
 
I 
 
 A. c. 560. recently undertaken in various parts of that country, that through the 
 learned illustrations of the Chevalier Bronsted, the treatises of Mr. Mil- 
 lingen, and the correspondence of the Archaeological Institute of Rome, 
 they are already familiar to most of our antiquaries. They were almost 
 universally of Greek fabric, their inscriptions in the antient Ionian and 
 even Attic dialect, their subjects Athenian games, or taken from Grecian 
 mythology. Many were of early date, if we may infer such a conclusion 
 from the form of the language and letters used in the inscriptions, and 
 the coincident peculiarities observable in the designs traced upon them. 
 The figures are often accurately drawn, though the articulation of the 
 joints and muscles is rather indicated than expressed. The limbs, 
 especially the lower, are sometimes long and attenuated, but more com- 
 monly overcharged and swollen, like those on some of the Selinuntine 
 marbles, though not in the same degree. The heads are peculiar in 
 having the long half closed eyes, (the o^arx (iqrjHorx of Diodorus Siculus 
 referred to in our former Dissertation, vol. i. Sect. 26.) the features 
 excessively sharp and angular, the corners of the mouth drawn upwards, 
 and the beards prominent and peaked, like that of a head from Selinus, 
 a cast from which is in the collection of the British Museum. The 
 heads of Minerva often repeated resemble those on the early coins of 
 Attica, when the school of Athens was the rival, as it afterwards became 
 the successor of that of zEgina. The figures, whether of gods or mortals, 
 are generally clad in drapery, of which not only the folds and colour, but 
 the material, and frequently, as in the bronze Mars of our plate, the pattern 
 are minutely detailed. These very curious relics of antiquity are sufficiently 
 interesting to deserve much more extensive discussion ; but we have only 
 referred to them as illustrative of the style of art which prevailed in Greece 
 as well as in Etruria, when the schools of iEgina and of Athens had 
 attained some celebrity. 
 
 /Eginetan 61. A more advanced state of the art, as it was practised at iEgina, pro- 
 
 school. 
 
 duced the marbles discovered by Mr. Cockerell and his companions amongst 
 the ruins of the temple of Jupiter or Minerva in that island : they are now 
 in the possession of the King of Bavaria ; and they form a treasure alike 
 important to the student and historian of sculpture. The reader may best 
 learn, in the very learned and able memoir of Mr. Cockerell himself, the 
 details of this discovery, which furnished satisfactory specimens of the 
 
li 
 
 general style of invention and execution at a time not much anterior to ^Eginotan 
 
 school. 
 
 the Persian invasion of Greece. We find in the statue of Minerva, and in 
 the heads of the combatants that surrounded her, traditional compositions!, 
 and features which superstition had consecrated, or respect for earlier mas- 
 ters had preserved unaltered in the progress of improvement ; but suck 
 improvement is abundantly attested by the spirit of the attitudes, the 
 increased accuracy of the anatomy, and the skill and facility displayed 
 both in the design and execution of the figures. In the heads the cha- 
 racteristics of an archaic style prevail ; the eyes are protruded, and full in 
 the profile, the mouths a little open, with terminations inclining upwards, 
 giving the effect of a smile to the faces, with whatever incongruity results 
 from such an expression; the chins are long and pointed, and the hair 
 arranged in regular and crisped locks ; detached curls of lead or bronze 
 appear to have been hung on the perforated helmet of Minerva, and other 
 ornaments of a similar material on her /Egis ; expedients which still shew 
 the immaturity of the art at the time of their construction. Sound 
 principles however had been adopted ; for a striking attention to truth 
 and nature is observable in the bodies limbs and attitudes of the fighting 
 and dying warriors who are here represented. But one peculiar deficiency 
 occurs in them ; for though the forms and collocation of the limbs and 
 muscles are faithful and accurate, they are the same in the recumbent as 
 in the upright figures, and do not yield, as in nature, to pressure on the 
 ground. The collapsing of the body by its own weight, and the con- 
 sequent flattening of its under surface were probably niceties, which, 
 though recognized, were not yet within the power of the sculptors. It 
 remained for Phidias and his rivals, to shew in statues like those of the 
 reputed Ilissus and Theseus of the Parthenon, how successfully this last 
 difficulty might be conquered. 
 
 f>2. From the degree of eminence to which sculpture had thus attained 
 its progress was rapid and certain. After the transient disasters, and 
 triumphant repulse of the Persian invasion, the public mind of Greece 
 was alive to enthusiasm and glory ; and many of her states, especially that 
 of Athens, flourished in wealth and commercial prosperity. The artists of 
 that city, stimulated by the influx of genius which presided alike over every 
 branch of their political and literary institutions, kept pace with the spirit 
 of the time ; but the resources and importance of yEgina were gradually 
 
lii 
 
 jEginetan declining, and finally sunk before the pre-eminence of her rival. The 
 short history of her prosperity and destruction is soon told. The island 
 had been subject to Epidaurus ; the successful assertion of its indepen- 
 dence, and the advantage of an insular situation raised it into commercial 
 importance. The coinage of iEgina with the device of a tortoise, and 
 incuse on the reverse, still found abundantly in every part of Greece, was 
 the most current money of account, till the active working of the silver 
 mines in Attica supplanted it by the currency of Athens. 
 
 03. The maritime preponderance of this insular state was for a con- 
 siderable period maintained in a struggle with Athens, which was only 
 suspended by the Persian invasion ; but although the extraordinary exer- 
 tions to which Athens was stimulated by this event finally deprived ^Egina 
 of the high rank and power which it had enjoyed for many years, it was 
 not till under the administration of Pericles that its ruin was consummated 
 by the final expulsion of the inhabitants ; after which the schools as well 
 as the power of Athens were left in undisputed pre-eminence. 
 
 A. C. 500. 04. Sicyon and other cities of Greece and Ionia continued to produce 
 
 artists equally emulous of celebrity ; and we are assured by the concurrent 
 testimony of historians, that their progress in design and execution con- 
 sisted in an increased facility, a greater freedom and boldness, and a 
 departure from a certain rigidity, hardness and formality, which had 
 •marked the more timid and minute treatment of the earlier sculptors. 
 Such a progress would naturally take place, and might be presumed, 
 even were we without direct evidence of the fact ; for it has been 
 invariably observed, wherever the arts have been cultivated with success. 
 This distinction furnishes a presumptive ground for estimating the relative 
 antiquity of existing specimens, which we could not otherwise ascertain ; 
 and on this principle, in the description of Plate XII. in our first volume, 
 we gave our reasons for attributing an early date to the original composi- 
 tion, of which the figure there represented is a Roman copy, and which 
 we considered to be the colossal statue executed by the elder Canachus, 
 about the period of the 70th Olympiad, for the Milesian temple of the 
 .Didymtean Apollo. 
 
 65. The statue of Apollo given in Plate V. exhibits in the full and some- 
 what swollen proportions of the lower limbs, as well as in the treatment of 
 the veins and muscles, and in a certain simplicity and squareness of design 
 
and attitude, the characteristics of the same early period of the art. The A. c. 500. 
 head however displays much more beauty, and is of a model frequently 
 repeated on some antient medals, but not that, which, after the time of 
 Scopas and Praxiteles, was commonly assigned to the youthful son of 
 Latona. The features here represented were probably those of the 
 Apollo xakXtTixvoi;, which Onatas of /Egina, who nourished between the 
 76th and 80th Olympiads, executed in brass for the people of Pergamus. A. C. 476— 
 It displayed, as Professor Muller has shewn in his History of the Dorians, 
 Book it. c. 8, Sect. 17-, " great beauty of form, and a more youthful 
 appearance than was usual in statues of Apollo at that time;" " the 
 union of strength and beauty was conspicuous in it ;" and the subsequent 
 remarks on the style of features which was adopted in place of the ruder 
 head of Canachus are singularly exemplified in that now under our con- 
 sideration. " The coins," he says, " and single heads of Apollo, which 
 must be referred to this period, do not indeed preserve the features 
 ascribed to the work of Canachus ; but still are quite different from the 
 most celebrated of the statues now extant," having broader cheeks, a 
 shorter and thicker nose ; in a word the outlines are what the antients 
 term quadrate or square." These characteristics justify the place assigned 
 to our specimen ; and we give it as an example of the style which pre- 
 vailed under the later masters of the iEginetan school, anterior to the 
 perfection which that of Athens attained under Phidias and his disciples. 
 The Discobolus of Myro, which we have given in our first volume, was a 
 subsequent link in the same series. 
 
 66. The progress made during the era of the schools preceding that of Predecessors 
 Phidias and his competitors may be thus appreciated. Correctness of ofPhi<ii!,s ' 
 design, and discrimination in the proportions, as well as in anatomical 
 details, were gradually established, when practice and ingenuity had pre- 
 pared the means of representing them. The difficulty of execution in 
 such materials as bronze and marble had not been so far overcome, as to 
 extend that power to the expression of transient emotion in the features, 
 
 " The early form of the head of Apollo, probably from the statue of Onatas, appears on old 
 medals of Macedonia. The more beautiful head on many later Greek medals seems to have been 
 adopted from the age of Praxiteles. The Rhodian coins have one that is peculiar, with a nose some- 
 what aquiline, most likely from the celebrated colossus. The head of the Belvidere Apollo, which 
 is also that of our plate of Apollo with Hyacinthus in Plate LI. of this volume, is only found on 
 later medals and of Roman time. Its date is uncertain, though certainly posterior to those we have 
 enumerated. 
 
 vol. n. „ 
 
liv 
 
 Predecessors or the minor indications of temporary action in the body; but the collo- 
 
 of Phidias. 
 
 cation of the limbs and larger muscles were more and more correctly 
 ascertained ; and in displaying this knowledge they treated them with 
 even more prominence and distinctness than what is observable in the 
 real forms of nature. The rigidity thus produced, with the grave tran- 
 quillity of the countenance, attended with great precision and exactness, 
 and a breadth of execution, occasioned probably by the supposed imprac- 
 ticability of executing the minute details, constitute the elements of that 
 Severe Style associated in our historical recollections with an epoch 
 of Grecian glory, which the imagination of poets and historians have 
 invested with an ideal and almost super-human dignity. It has been 
 represented as partaking of the character of the time, and as having 
 originated in a loftiness of conception and a purity of manners, which we 
 should wish to consider as realities, if such visions did not vanish with the 
 dreams of youth. The phenomena of art do not justify the conclusion : 
 for unconnected with moral character, these were the same at Sybaris and 
 Syracuse, as at Argos or at Athens ; and strictly analogous to what the 
 revival of painting exhibited in Italy, before its perfection was attained by 
 Raffaclle. This severity of style, however praised in subsequent ages, 
 was so little appreciated in its own, that every artist of eminence in 
 succession was anxious to escape from it. " Quis enim eorum, qui 
 haec minora animadvertunt, non intelligit, Canachi signa rigidiora esse, 
 quam ut imitentur veritatem? Calamidis dura ilia quidem sed tamen 
 molliora quam Canachi. Nondum Myronis satis ad veritatem adducta, 
 verum qua? non dubites pulchra dicere. Pulchriora etiam Polycleti, et 
 jam plane perfecta, ut mihi quidem videri solent." Cicero, in Bruto. 18. 
 The statue of Apollo nodXitinvoQ by Onatas marked one of the steps of 
 this constant progression towards excellence ; it was attained at last, and 
 we see in the works of Phidias and his successors what may justly be 
 termed the chaste and perfect Style of Sculpture. 
 
 A. C. 444— 67. In the marbles of the Parthenon, which have been brought to 
 432. ( ^ s 
 
 England by the Earl of Elgin, we possess indisputable specimens of the 
 
 style of design and execution which prevailed at Athens when Pericles 
 
 administered the affairs of the republic, and Phidias directed the public 
 
 works. We attempted in a former part of this Dissertation to point out 
 
 some of the principles, on which so much of the effect was attained, 
 
It 
 
 which is displayed in these invaluable relics of the finest period of anti- A. C. 444— 
 
 432. 
 
 quity. Perhaps we may be allowed to say, that of all human productions 
 they approach nearest to ideal perfection, with the least appearance of 
 technical study. The general character and expression observable in the 
 larger detached figures of the pediment, and particularly in those which 
 are called Theseus and Ilissus, are marked and decided ; and on a closer 
 examination we perceive that the very minute observation of details in no 
 degree weakens or disturbs the general impression made at once upon 
 our minds. We are delighted with the knowledge thus exhibited, but 
 not confused, nor is our attention diverted by its display. Such is, and 
 ever will be, the golden period of imitative art, when its possessors 
 have attained the talent of harmonizing and blending subordinate details 
 in one general effect, and before they aim at the more equivocal 
 advantage of acquiring such effect by the sacrifice of them. The ex- 
 traordinary combination of genius and skill displayed in these monu- 
 ments of the best period of Attic sculpture, though not immediately con- 
 nected with our present publication, induces us to dwell for a moment on 
 the mode of execution, which appears to have been practised in their 
 production. The instruments which their sculptors employed were pro- Process of 
 
 » i_i f 1 i working in 
 
 bably not veiy different from those which are used in the present day; but marble, 
 instead of the merely mechanical method of working out the general form 
 by the points now in use into a mere copy of the master's model, it appears, 
 from the preserved surface of their finer works, that they have been for- 
 warded by clawed tools of different degrees of closeness, such as are still 
 employed in Italy, and there called gradini, by which they were prepared 
 for the chisel. In this process the handling was more immediately guided 
 by the mind of the master, and expressed more forcibly his intention and 
 conception : we trace it in almost every uncorroded part of the sculpture 
 from the Parthenon. A similar mode of preparation carried to a great 
 degree of nicety is observable in the unfinished statue of Dirce by Canova, 
 now in the King's collection ; in Michael Angelo's Lorenzo dei Medici ; 
 and in his splendid unfinished rilievo of the Virgin with the Infant Saviour 
 and St. John, given to the Royal Academy by the late Sir George Beau- 
 mont. We trace the marks of the chisel also over the surface produced 
 by the gradini, and the rasp was apparently used, but always with a 
 rotatory motion where the surface admitted of it, removing the rigidity of 
 
Ivi 
 
 Process of the minor subdivisions, and giving that equal and granulated appearance 
 
 working in . 
 
 marble. to the flesh most nearly assimilated to nature. The draperies, when 
 
 generally worked out by the chisel, were usually finished with rasps of 
 graduated fineness ; but in close texture, and in the tunics of the female 
 groups in this collection they are finished by the chisel alone, without 
 rasping, and owe to this circumstance much of the lightness and freshness 
 observable in the execution. 
 
 School of 6S- Such perfection was the natural result of well directed study, when 
 
 Phidias. ... 
 
 artists of genius, animated by the poets, had attained increased power 
 over their materials, and when instructed by the works of the more antient 
 masters, they retained what was excellent or admired in these, and added 
 new beauties of their own. The marble in their hands became more plastic, 
 and the bronze more ductile. The hair, massed and yet discriminated in 
 their representation of it, made nearer approaches to its true appearance, 
 and the drapery of their statues flowed in freer and more ample folds ; 
 the precision and accuracy of muscular structure were retained, but the 
 outlines were better and more completely filled, and the undulating fleshy 
 integuments of the surface were more elegantly and more perfectly 
 expressed. A power had also been acquired, and was never more 
 successfully applied, of representing not only beauty but character and 
 expression, as well as action and repose. Their subjects were selected 
 with wonderful judgment and discrimination, ennobled and guided by the 
 heroic poetry of " the olden time," and applied by kindred genius. There 
 still, however, remained a certain degree of veneration for the earlier and 
 severer style, which produced, when the artists approached most nearly 
 to the study of individual and actual nature, that slight dissimilarity of 
 ideal effect, which seems to exalt them above it ; and to have animated 
 in their works, as with Promethean life, a superior race of beings. It was 
 from this happy era, that their works became standards ; and that their 
 human, heroic, or deified subjects assumed in succession a recognized 
 and characteristic type more definite and delicate than the mere addition 
 of accessaries, or coarser delineation of sex and character, employed to 
 mark such distinctions by the older schools, could confer. 
 Praxiteles. 69. We have already in our former Dissertation described the nature 
 
 and the progress of the change, which appears from this time gradually 
 to have taken place in sculpture, till the pre-eminence of Praxiteles 
 
Ivii 
 
 furnished a new standard of ideal excellence to the students of his time, Praxiteles, 
 and perfected a most seductive style of representation, which became for 
 a long period the object of universal emulation. We have arranged in 
 the succession of our plates, from Plate XI. to Plate XIX. such specimens 
 as appear to us to be originals of this celebrated period, or to be copied 
 from others that belonged to it. Pliny furnishes the names of many 
 artists who rendered it illustrious, and we have recorded these in our 
 former Dissertation ; but few of them, except that of Scopas, are con- 
 nected with works still extant. He was probably the sculptor of the 
 original group of Niobe and her children, which has sometimes been 
 ascribed to Praxiteles; but as we observed in our former volume, the 
 style of it is different from that which has been usually attributed to the 
 works of the latter master. As Scopas is placed by Pliny amongst the Scopas. 
 artists who flourished in the 87th Olympiad, and the same miter adds 
 that he was employed on the celebrated Tomb of Mausolus, who died 
 in the second year of the 100th Olympiad, the length of this period 
 leaves us in some doubt either of the correctness of the date, or of the 
 identity of the individual. 1 The remains of marbles, the decorations of the 
 Mausoleum, still exist, though strangely misapplied, on the spot where it 
 once stood. They were seen by Mr. Morritt in 1795 in the modern 
 citadel of Boudroun, which was then garrisoned by Turkish janissaries. 
 These interesting relics consist of a few tablets, the broken remnants of a 
 frieze, on a scale nearly the same as that of the Parthenon, representing 
 fighting Amazons and Grecian warriors. They have been employed as 
 materials, in building the walls of the modern fortress, not however by 
 the barbarity of the Turks, for it was a work of the Genoese in the middle 
 age. Some of the slabs are reversed, and some have the carved surface 
 built into the wall. Mr. Morritt had noted them as better preserved and 
 less mutilated than most of those brought over from the Athenian temple, 
 equal to them in execution, and in design less massive, and of a softer and 
 more flowing character, consequently of a later date. 
 
 70. We return from our digression to notice in this period the result Praxiteles, 
 of an improved process of execution, attained while every branch of sculp- 
 ture was rapidly reaching the highest degree of facility and perfection. 
 
 ' Sillig, the learned author of the Catalogits Artifieum Drestla 1 et Lipase, 1827, considers this 
 artist to have flourished between the 97th and 107th Olympiads, that is between 388 and 351 B. C. 
 
 q 
 
Iviii 
 
 Praxiteles. A still closer resemblance to actual life was soon observed in the repre- 
 sentation of feminine and very youthful forms ; and in these the appear* 
 ance of real, and even of individual nature, becomes their most fascinating 
 charm. In sterner features, and where they aimed at energy of character 
 and a stronger expression, they exercised a power acquired by observation 
 with more questionable advantage. They had learned to soften or to sacrifice 
 the accurate but minute detail of subordinate parts in producing a desired 
 and general effect, escaping from rather than encountering the difficulty 
 which even genius must have felt, but which genius had enabled Phidias 
 and their bolder predecessors more directly to surmount. Greater delicacy 
 of execution and more diversified expression became objects of emulation, 
 and the standard forms of sculpture were more minutely discriminated in 
 their various subdivisions. Thus art became more technical, perhaps 
 more perfect, though it lost some of the simplicity of truth and vigour of 
 representation, in attaining consummate grace, elegance and variety. 
 
 Innovation on 71. The statues of deities in the most antient schools of art were 
 
 schools. almost invariably clad in drapery ; even Mercury and Apollo are clothed 
 
 in raiment on the old Greek vases, as are also the Etrurian Jupiter and 
 the hideous divinities of Selinus. This probably arose as much from the 
 difficulty of designing and executing the naked form, as from veneration 
 for their sacred and divine character. The gods of Olympus were in the 
 time of Phidias partly stripped of their accoutrements ; but the goddesses 
 were not, we believe, unveiled till the daring innovation of Praxiteles. The 
 universal applause which followed his attempt at embodying in his Cnidian 
 statue whatever genius could conceive of female beauty, exalted to divinity 
 by tenderness, delicacy, and expression, condemned the goddess to per- 
 petual exposure. We venture to class with his works two statues of the 
 same deity, one in the gallery of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn, and 
 the other in that of Earl de Grey at Newby, which was placed there 
 by the late Mr. Weddell. From their close resemblance to each other, 
 and to the celebrated Medicean V enus at Florence, we should conclude 
 that all were copies, or at least studied from some favourite and highly 
 celebrated composition of antiquity. It is not improbable that the well 
 known production of Praxiteles may have been the prototype of them all. 
 
 A. C. 360. The V enus of Cnidos was naked as if just risen from the bath ; and she held 
 in her hand a garment over a vase supposed to contain perfumes. The 
 
lix 
 
 figure and attitude have been transmitted to us, though very inadequately, Praxiteles, 
 on a medal of Caracalla and Plautilla, once and perhaps still in the 
 royal collection at Paris. On the obverse side it has the heads of the 
 Emperor and Empress with their names and style in Greek characters, 
 and on the reverse the figure of Venus, with the legend KNIA1QN. The 
 two statues of which we give engravings, Plates XI. XII. and XIII. 
 have each of them a vase at the feet, not exactly alike ; and that of the 
 Newby Venus has been converted into a pedestal by an Italian restorer. 
 On the vase at Woburn the mantle still remains. The arms of both these, 
 as well as the lower part of those of the Venus at Florence, had been 
 broken off and lost. The restoration of the Newby statue was copied 
 from the rifacciamento of Bernini in the latter, but we doubt its propriety. 
 And as the position of the body and lower limbs, which are genuine in all 
 the extant statues, bears the strongest resemblance to that on the Cnidian 
 medal, the slight variation in the elevation of the arm, in a bad specimen 
 of declining art on a small scale, and so late as the reign of Caracalla, 
 would not deter «s from concluding that these statues were closely 
 studied, if not copied, from the most fascinating masterpiece of antiquity. 
 We have pointed out the impropriety of the modern restoration in 
 the Venus of the Medici, and the effect which results from it is thus 
 accounted for. 
 
 72. From the celebrated works executed during these brilliant periods Ideal Nature, 
 we inherit most of the standard models" of ideal character, by which 
 antient art has been so eminently distinguished. Phidias had transmitted to 
 posterity with the impress of his mighty mind the majesty of the Olympian 
 Jupiter, and the severe and lofty beauty of the tutelary goddess of Athens ; 
 and it was the boast of Praxiteles and his contemporaries to have given 
 improved expression to the form and features of the youthful Apollo, 
 new charms to the Venus, and a discriminate and graceful character to 
 
 " In the subsequent attempt to class and describe generally some of the objects selected and 
 treated by the antient masters we allude only to the general style of the design, aware of the 
 diversity of individual treatment, and of the limited application of even the best rules, which though 
 drawn from the best models, will often rather fetter and impede than promote the progress of art. 
 We all know how precisely the technical proportions of different bodies of architecture have been 
 assigned. But every traveller knows also that no two temples are found entirely similar, or with 
 columns exactly alike in their proportions. The deviation is not indeed without its limit, but there 
 is always left a power of adapting established laws to the desired effect ; and an analogous freedom 
 was exercised in sculpture. Quidlibet audendi semper fuit «;qua potestas. 
 
lx 
 
 Ideal Nature, the Cupids, Mercuries and Fauns, which with the young Bacchus, and 
 many similar personifications, bear the stamp of this later era. A recog- 
 nized division of style was appropriated to each, as models accumulated 
 and became the standard tests of succeeding competitors. After Phidias the 
 sculptured forms of deities partook of ideal nature, the minuter parts were 
 more generalized, the veins were no longer marked, and a style of design 
 was attempted, which seemed to embody the powers and energies without 
 the imperfections of humanity. The androgynous characters of the mytho- 
 logic Apollo and Bacchus supplied to the imagination forms of the most 
 exquisite beauty and grace ; whilst the youthful ease and intellectual 
 superiority of the Delphic god were as distinctly marked both in the 
 features and in the form, as the dignified sensuality and joyous luxury which 
 characterize the patron of the vine. The general form of Hercules at 
 different periods of his supposed life was gradually but systematically 
 developed. The broad and prominent brow, the short curled locks, the 
 head round and comparatively* small, the firm and solid features, with 
 the inflexibility of the neck, the ample and powerful breast, the massive 
 shoulders, the clean but very muscular limbs, whether displayed in action, 
 or stationary in firm repose, alike combine in the imaginary character, to 
 which alone such attributes are appropriate. In the ideal figure of 
 Mercury, whom the legendary poetry substituted for the venerable and 
 bearded Hermes of the antient vases, a head of great beauty, with sharp 
 and well defined features, close curly hair resembling the class of the 
 Athleta?, but with a narrower and less marked forehead, is placed on a 
 body of which the arched and ample breast, the narrow hips, and light but 
 sinewy limbs proclaim the indefatigable activity of the son of Maia, as 
 clearly as the winged petasus and sandals, his general, although not 
 necessary accoutrements. A certain degree of refinement in the details, 
 and the graduated undulation of the smaller parts, which exalt the ideal 
 form of deities, distinguish the messenger of Jove from the young sublunary 
 heroes and pancratiasts. 
 
 Heroes. 73. These also constituted distinct classes. That of heroes can no where 
 
 1 Pliny, lib. xxxiv. xix. 4, tells us that Lysippus reduced the size of the head in the proportions of 
 his figures, but this was general, and his figures were also longer and more meagre, " Corpora 
 graeiliora siccioraque," a sort of elegance attempted in painting by Parmigianino. We often find 
 small heads on much older statues, especially in athletic forms, of which indeed it may be more 
 properly said, that the limbs and figure are large, than that the head is small. 
 
bri 
 
 be better exemplified than in the noble recumbent figure called Theseus Heroes, 
 in the Elgin collection. With a form indicating great activity and strength 
 the position implies repose, and the expression the necessity of repose. 
 The corrosion of the marble has obliterated most of the superficial details, 
 but in those remaining about the abdomen we see a finished exactness and 
 minute attention characteristic of the earlier schools ; while the treatment 
 of the back and shoulders, especially near the supporting arm, is of great 
 breadth and boldness of design, combining truth with a grandeur of form, 
 equal if not superior to that of any existing statue. From this and from 
 similar works a mode of general representation was adopted, which exhi- 
 bited an ideal class of heroes as exalted above the powers, but not above 
 the passions and sufferings of human nature. The parts more immediately 
 indicating the action or qualities appropriate to the character pourtrayed 
 were prominently marked, and were allowed to absorb the minutia; of 
 form, as the art proceeded in improvement. We may have observed this 
 characteristic in the statues of Hercules, and it prevails very generally in 
 others of the heroic class. 
 
 74. We have another division in that of the Athletro, first occasioned Athletic, 
 by the very early custom of commemorating the victors at the national 
 games by erecting their statues at Olympia and at Delphi. In some of 
 these imaginary portraits, which are still preserved in our galleries, the 
 
 head is at times beautifully treated," and the form is selected with exqui- 
 site judgment, displaying a prominent but compact forehead, clear well 
 defined and handsome features, but no exalted or heroic expression. The 
 head is round, and the hair closely arranged over the small well set and 
 crisped ears, in a manner not less characteristic of strength and activity, 
 than are the squareness and firmness of the body, the strongly marked 
 divisions of the muscles in well defined masses, the compression of the 
 abdomen, the absence of all unnecessary flesh, and the cleanly marked 
 articulation of the joints and bones. In all these the actual forms of 
 nature are selected, and the character of the statue is preserved by a 
 more minute resemblance to individual nature than in those of deified 
 heroes. 
 
 75. The attendants of Bacchus, the Satyrs and Panisci, had long afforded Satyrs, 
 a variety of combinations to the early masters, and to the designers of the 
 
 1 See the Discobolus of Myron, vol. i. Plate XXIX., am! the Head of an Athlete, vol. ii. Plate XVIII. 
 
Ixii 
 
 Satyrs. old Dionysiac vases : but it was about the time of Praxiteles that the 
 
 forms were adopted which under these names and under the Latin appella- 
 tion of Fauns, are now commonly found in our collections of antient statues. 
 They resemble each other in having the same playful and wild graceful- 
 ness, transient expression, and hilarity approaching to beauty. In the 
 progress of refinement these figures succeeded to the old equine Satyrs 
 with horses' tails, and to the cloven- footed goat-faced progeny of Pan; 
 but they retained much of animal character indicated in the shape of the 
 ear and other appendages, as well as in the countenance. The round 
 and healthy fulness of the muscles is knotty and tendinous in the body 
 and limbs. The body is not compressed, but with somewhat of a Bac- 
 chanalian protuberance ; the hair and features knobby, and the termina- 
 tions sharp and angular. With such forms, and an expression of joyous 
 gaiety carried to the verge of extravagance, there is no degradation into 
 mere vulgarity of caricature ; and the unerring taste, that avoided with 
 such temptations a debasement apparently inevitable, was never more 
 eminently conspicuous/ 
 
 School of 76- The exquisite style, thus systematized in marble, was destined soon 
 
 to be transferred to bronze, and was further and more boldly developed 
 by the genius and practical skill of Lysippus. Its general character, 
 before the innovation introduced by him, may be traced to the works and 
 principles of the school of Praxiteles. We possess statues copied from 
 those of Praxiteles himself, if not actually his own, though we cannot 
 ascertain decisively the time or correctness of their execution ; but the 
 small statue of Apollo Sauroctonos, now in the Vatican, has with great 
 appearance of reason been considered an original work of his hand. The 
 Apollo of Florence, commonly known as the Apollino, is referred to the 
 same period; and the beautiful statue of Cupid bending his bow, now in 
 the British Museum, and of which many duplicates are extant, was pro- 
 bably a copy of that which occasioned the story of Phryne's successful 
 stratagem against the sculptor. We have given our reasons for ascribing 
 the original of the Medicean Venus, and of similar figures to the same 
 master. The tranquil serenity of expression, and the ease and elegance 
 
 1 An admirable statue now in the Capitoiine Museum at Rome represents an old woman drunk 
 and scolding, of exquisite energy and execution. (The work is mentioned by Pliny, vetulam 
 quandam ebriosam &c.) Nothing can more entirely illustrate the mode of treatment adopted by the 
 antients in preserving the full force of expression and at the same time the dignity of the art. 
 
Ixiii 
 
 of the compositions in all these is very striking ; but in the treatment of School of 
 
 , Praxiteles. 
 
 the subjects there is little or none of that'' ideal grace of form, where 
 under well denned general masses the details are left to be supplied by the 
 excited imagination of the spectator. On the contrary, whilst all the parts 
 are kept in just subordination to each other, they are marked with the most 
 scrupulous fidelity, and are not above, but strictly true to nature ; and at 
 the same time they are selected with such admirable judgment, com- 
 bined together with such perfect harmony and propriety, and animated 
 with such truth of expression, that the fascination is complete. The Venus 
 seems inspired with the very soul of tenderness and softness, chastened 
 by all the quiet purity and inborn modesty which add dignity to attrac- 
 tion. It is obvious that in these subjects the closest approach to real 
 nature would only enhance their impression ; and the improvements made 
 by the school in masterly facility of execution first rendered such resem- 
 blance attainable about the time of Praxiteles. This probably gave rise 
 to the selection of naked forms for his deities, who had already lost in the 
 imagination of their more philosophical votaries much of the pious venera- 
 tion paid to the well clad idols of the former age. 
 
 77- There are other peculiarities of treatment in statues which we may 
 suppose to have belonged to the same period. In those of older schools 
 we can generally trace on the surface, where it happens to be well 
 preserved, the marks of the chisel. In these, however, such marks can- 
 not usually be distinguished, though there are exceptions, but in general 
 the rasp seems to have been more freely used. The hair of the Venus of 
 the Medici has apparently been gilded, a circumstance that would rather 
 have preserved than concealed the effects of the chisel, had they not been 
 intentionally removed. Notwithstanding the introduction of the Chrysele- 
 phantine style by Phidias, and the temptation to imitate its effect by 
 cheaper substitutes, we do not find that gilding was usual in the marbles 
 
 " What has heen called ideal grace or beauty has been sometimes the result of a mode of repre- 
 sentation, in which by the intentional absence of small detail, general form only was given, and the 
 rest left to be supplied by the imagination. It is seen in the style of early art, while the true 
 execution of details was a real difficulty. Such figures were assuredly not nature, but when all 
 that was expressed was. highly conceived and true in execution, they seemed above nature and not 
 deficient. In the works of Praxiteles and his school ideal beauty is only selection of natural forms, 
 combined in one harmonious whole, though seldom if ever found all united in the most favoured 
 individual. In any other sense, ideal beauty will we think be found a visionary standard, set up 
 generally as an apology for failure in representing reality. 
 
Ixiv 
 
 School of and bronzes of the Grecian masters; and we suspect that they were more 
 es. f re q uen tly indebted for such misapplied splendor to the bad taste of then- 
 possessors at a later period. Statues of gold and of gilded bronze are 
 mentioned in the time of Hadrian ; and Pliny, xxxiv. 19. 6. says that a 
 statue of Alexander by Lysippus, was covered with gold by order of Nero. 
 " Dein cum pretio perisset gratia artis, detractum est aurora.* The gold 
 was however still perceptible " cicatricibus operis atque concisuris," after 
 this second operation of the imperial connoisseur. 
 A. c. 330. 78. We have elsewhere explained the nature of the revolution which 
 
 Lysippus. the success of Lysippus produced in Grecian sculpture. His celebrated 
 boast, (ibid.) that he represented men not as others did, "quales essent," 
 but " quales viderentur esse," implies in the obvious meaning of the words, 
 that he sacrificed upon principle, truth of design to eifect. The facility 
 with which he produced this effect, and the fertility and extent of his 
 genius, eclipsed the fame of his predecessors, but they probably hastened 
 the decline of art, in winch his was the last illustrious and distinguished 
 name : for the highest merit of the artists who succeeded him was the skill 
 with which they imitated his perfections and approached his excellence. 
 
 79. Lysippus carried the art of casting works in bronze to a perfection 
 hitherto unattained ; and it continued to flourish in Macedonia and Epirus. 
 From the latter country we have many specimens chiefly selected from the 
 collections of the late Mr. Knight and Mr. Hawkins ; and to the same 
 school we refer those lately brought to England by the Chevalier Bronsted 
 and known as the bronzes of Siris. These last beautiful specimens of 
 toreutic art were shoulder plates of highly enriched armour, each bearing 
 an embossed group of a warrior engaged in single combat with an amazon. 
 They were accidentally discovered by digging in the field on which Pyrrhus 
 gained his first victory over the Roman forces, near the banks of the Siris. 
 According to the narrative of Plutarch, the armour of the king was a part 
 of the spoil of that eventful day ; and at all events little doubt can remain 
 that the fragments which were found belonged to armour similarly en- 
 riched, and worn by some distinguished Epirotic leader. No coins shew 
 more exquisite perfection of execution than those of Epirus under the 
 reign of Pyrrhus ; and no where have the arts cultivated at his court been 
 more successfully- displayed than in these interesting relics. They are most 
 remarkable for the degree of elegance and refinement in which they were 
 
Ixv 
 
 conceived and finished, rivalling on a small scale whatever lias been left Lysippus. 
 of elaborate art whether in medals or cameos. These merits were per- 
 ceptible under every disadvantage of partial decay, mutilation and corrosion. 
 
 80. The bronzes found at Paramythia, a modern town in Epirus, not Bronzes of 
 
 Paramythia. 
 
 far from the site of the oracle of Dodona, have been frequently alluded 
 to in this work. Specimens of some of them were given in our first 
 volume, and others will form part of the present publication. The infor- 
 mation which we are enabled to communicate respecting them is chiefly 
 derived from the papers of the late Mr. Knight, and from our associate, 
 Mr. Hawkins. The discovery took place partly in the year 1792 and 
 partly in 1796: of the nineteen objects which are still preserved, all of 
 very great merit, and all nearly of the same school and the same period, 
 the greater part were rescued from the hands of a copper-smith at 
 Joannina, who had bought them for the value of the metal. A Greek 
 merchant of that place, who had observed similar objects in the museum 
 of a collector at Moscow, saw them there, and conceiving that they would 
 prove a source of profitable speculation, purchased a portion of them, 
 which, according to the information furnished to Mr. Knight, were bought 
 at St. Petersburg!* by the Empress Catherine. Her death occurring before 
 the transfer, and her successor declining to complete the purchase, they 
 were jointly taken and divided by one of the family of Czernicheff, and 
 M. de Wierislowsky of Warsaw, whose share was afterwards bought by 
 Mr. Knight, and is now with the rest of his bronzes in the British Museum. 
 This latter gentleman had been apprised of the importance of the dis- 
 covery by having met with and purchased one found with them, the 
 property of a Greek dealer at Smyrna, and brought to England by another 
 Greek, (Thomas Amaxari) Dragoman to the Turkish Ambassador in 
 London. Two others were given also to Mr. Knight by the Earl of 
 Aberdeen; and Mr. Hawkins is in possession of two which he obtained 
 at Joannina. The following detailed notice of the several objects of this 
 discovery, and of the manner in which they are disposed of, will not be 
 without interest. Those which were purchased by M. de Czernicheff are 
 i. A figure of Jupiter, similar in size to that engraved in Plate XXXII. 
 of our first volume, but of a harder and more antient style of work. ii. A 
 naked Faun of the same size and manner, with a crisped beard, goat's ears 
 and dewlaps, standing on tiptoe, and stretching his arms over his head as if 
 
 VOL. IL S 
 
Ixvi 
 
 Bronzes of recently awakened, a work exquisitely finished and preserved, iii. A 
 
 l'uruinythia. 
 
 naked Cupid, rather smaller and of less antient aud less valuable work, but 
 still very good. iv. A triple figure of Diana, or Hecate, half the size of 
 the Cupid, and of inferior execution, v. A draped female figure, eighteen 
 inches in height, with a diadem, probably a Juno, entire and in perfect 
 preservation, of a good period, but inferior in elegance and delicacy to 
 the Dionc, engraved in our present volume. Those which Mr. Knight 
 purchased from M. de Wierislowsky, are, vi. The Jupiter, engraved in 
 vol. i. Plate XXXII. vii. The androgynous Apollo, vol. i. Plates XLIII. 
 and XLIV. viii. The Serapis, vol. i. Plate LXIII. ix. The Dioscuros, 
 vol. ii. Plate XXII. x. The Dione, vol. ii. Plate XXIII. xi. A Venus 
 drawing on her sandal, mutilated, xii. A Ram bearing Ulysses from the 
 cave of the Cyclops, two inches and a half long. xiii. A full face of Apollo 
 or the Sun, in relief on a circular disk with luxuriant hair flowing back 
 over a fillet: this and the last work are of a rather coarser style. That 
 which Mr. Knight had already acquired in England was xiv. The Jupiter, 
 engraved in vol. i. Plates LII. and LIII. The two presented to Mr. Knight 
 by the Earl of Aberdeen are, xv. The fragment of an arm, seven inches 
 and a half long, from the shoulder, entire except the third finger of the 
 hand, equal in excellence to any extant work. xvi. The foot and fetlock 
 of a Bull. The two in possession of Mr. Hawkins are, xvii. The bronze 
 tablet representing Venus and Adonis, engraved in vol. ii. Plate XX. 
 xviii. The Mercury, vol. ii. Plate XXI. To which is to be added the 
 naked figure of a Hercules of the same size with No. v. but of coarser 
 work, which had also been sent to Russia. Of all discoveries which have 
 occurred in our time, few, if any, have been of more importance to the 
 elucidation of antient art. 
 
 81. These figures are in general finished in the same style with silver 
 eyes, and seem to have been accompanied with accessary attributes of the 
 same material, such as pateras, sceptres of deities, thunderbolts of Jupiter, 
 the caduceus of Mercury, and the club and lion's skin of Hercules. The 
 barbarians who destroyed them, insensible of the value of the workmanship, 
 understood at least that of the materials, and in their thirst for plunder, 
 broke off the heads or arms to which the silver emblems were attached. 
 Few were found without such mutilation ; but the bronze was thrown 
 aside ; and the great number discovered in one spot induces a conjecture 
 
Ixvii 
 
 that the destruction was occasioned rather by some rude act of military Bronzes of 
 violence or of civil commotion, than by accident or neglect. It is not aramy '" !l 
 improbable that this took place during the ravages committed by the 
 Romans immediately after the conquest of Macedonia, when seventy cities A. c. 167. 
 oi Epirus were delivered up to plunder at the same moment on a pre- 
 concerted signal. The inhabitants suffered more severely than their gods, 
 for 150,000 Epirots, in profound peace, sanctioned by antient treaties, and 
 cemented by national friendship and benefits, as well as by mutual intimacy, 
 became the victims of their own hospitality, and were sold as slaves. Such 
 were the military republicans of Rome ; but as their taste for plunder became 
 more refined, they filled the city with Greek sculpture and the spoil of more 
 civilized communities. 
 
 82. The disturbances of Greece and Macedonia under the successors Rhodian 
 of Alexander suspended the encouragement of art in those countries, and 
 transferred it to the more powerful patronage of the dynasties of Syria and 
 iEgypt. The situation and power of Rhodes produced artists of yet higher 
 merit and worthy of a better time. Chares of Lindus, a scholar of Lysippus, 
 
 there erected the Colossus ; and the Laocoon, and the Toro Farnese at 
 Naples, still maintain the fame of the Rhodian school. These treasures 
 were carried thence to Rome the common receptacle of the plunder of the 
 civilized world. The style of work which they present seems to be of an 
 age posterior to Lysippus, and offers no peculiarities which are not com- 
 mon to those of contemporary artists in other places ; though they are of 
 high excellence and distinguished character in execution. 
 
 83. Specimens of Grecian art under the Ptolemies are afforded in the ptolemiear, 
 female heads given in Plates XXXIX. XL. and XLI. and the supposed * g °' 
 portrait of Augustus, in basalt, Plate XL VI. is a production of the same 
 school. 
 
 84. The art of sculpture in Rome was always exotic. The fictile gods Roman art. 
 of her early worship, manufactured by Tuscan hands, had supplied the 
 republic with objects of superstitious veneration. After the subjugation of 
 Greece the chef d'ceuvres of art were coveted by ambition or luxury ; the 
 fabrication of statues was encouraged by Roman rulers, and delegated to 
 Grecian slaves. Copies of celebrated works were multiplied ; and several 
 
 of these exhibit great power of execution ; but in original monuments, 
 when not studied from Grecian models, the style that prevailed under the 
 
Ixviii 
 
 Roman art. Roman empire is manifestly distinct from that of Greece. The busts and 
 medals of the Imperial families are generally finished in the manner of a 
 miniature, the details beautifully expressed, and the likenesses elaborately 
 preserved ; but they are far inferior in breadth and energy to the portraits 
 of Greece, or to those of the Macedonian dynasties. They bear to these 
 the same relation which the finished portraits of Vandyke do to the mas- 
 terly delineations of Titian and Morone. Under Hadrian, and for a short 
 period, the purer Greek schools became objects of emulation ; and works 
 were executed that sometimes recal their manner. The merit of these 
 productions will be recognized in the specimens which we have given : 
 but in the following period, though the magnificence displayed in costly ma- 
 terials continued to excite wonder and admiration, and to flatter the vanity 
 of the rulers of the world, taste and genius became alike extinct with the 
 spirit that produced them, and with the art which they had encouraged. 
 
PLATE I. 
 
 This very remarkable specimen of ^Egyptian sculpture, in what we 
 may call its most flourishing period, was found within the ruins of a 
 building commonly called the Memnonion, in that part of Thebes 
 which is situated on the left bank of the Nile. It has been frequently 
 noticed and admired from the time of Norden to the present day : but 
 we are not aware that sufficient justice had been done to it, as a work 
 of art, by the engraver before the execution of the plate now given. 
 The sitting statue of which it formed a part would if erect have 
 been about twenty-five feet in height. This and another of the same 
 size and character had been placed, one on each side of the prin- 
 cipal staircase leading to the grand hall of the temple. The building 
 itself as appears from the inscriptions on its walls, and on all the 
 statues with which it was adorned, was erected by Rameses the great, 
 the Sesostris of Herodotus. The precise period of the reign of this 
 monarch is still uncertain : one of the more recent inquirers into 
 hieroglyphical monuments, Mr. Wilkinson, is of opinion that he was 
 the last king but one of the eighteenth dynasty and that he reigned 
 between 1355 and 1289 B. C. : Rosellini, the companion of Cham- 
 pollion, places him the last but three of the same dynasty, and 
 between 1565 and 1499 B. C. 
 
 The head is generally known by the name of " The Young Mem- 
 non;" but we have no authority for giving to it a title, which it owes 
 to its youthful appearance and to the spot in which it was found. 
 
 VOL 11. JJ 
 
2 
 
 The British Museum is indebted for the possession of this monu- 
 ment to the joint exertions and liberality of Mr. Salt, late His Majesty's 
 Consul General in /Egypt, Mr. Lewis Burckhardt, the African traveller, 
 and Mr. Belzoni. 
 
PLATE II. 
 
 W e refer the reader to our prefatory remarks for the details of the 
 situation, in which this colossal figure of a lion with another of the 
 same size and similar execution, was found by Lord Prudhoe in 
 the year f 829, by whom they were brought to England, and have 
 since been presented to the National Gallery. The inscriptions upon 
 the two bear the name of Amenoph the third, who, according to the 
 latest interpretations of ^Egyptian hieroglyphics, ascended the throne 
 of ./Egypt and its dependent states, in the latter half of the first century 
 after the Exodus of the Israelites. 
 
 When discovered by Lord Prudhoe these noble works were in the 
 highest preservation, and nearly as perfect, as when they came from 
 the hands of the sculptor. They were broken by the persons who 
 conducted their removal, and we believe intentionally, in order to 
 facilitate their conveyance to the bank of the Nile. 
 
 As works of -art they display not only wonderful skill in producing 
 a soft and undulating surface on a very hard and intractable material, 
 but surprising knowledge of the animal structure, especially in the 
 position and termination of the bones. At the time in which these 
 lions, and the subject of our preceding plate were executed, sculpture 
 undoubtedly promised a perfection of excellence, which in jEgypt it 
 was not destined to attain; and the truth, feeling, and grandeur dis- 
 played in this specimen make us deeply regret the trammels by which 
 the artists of that country were afterwards confined. 
 
PLATE III. 
 
 The specimen of very antient Grecian sculpture, represented in this 
 Plate, still exists in its original situation over the massive gateway of 
 Mycenae, carved in the same primitive lime-stone of which the walls 
 of the city are built. It has been already noticed in Sect. 30. of the 
 preliminary dissertation to our former volume, and in Sect. 23. of the 
 prefatory remarks to the present volume. 
 
 The Plate, which is engraved from a drawing made on the spot by 
 Mr. Hawkins, one of our associates, on a larger scale than any with 
 which we are acquainted, conveys a very correct and adequate idea of 
 the low relief and peculiar style of the original. The skill displayed 
 in working the stone is the more remarkable, as the singular base and 
 capital, the inverted proportions of the column which tapers from 
 above, and the position of the two lions resembling heraldic sup- 
 porters, indicate a period very remote from the cultivated times of 
 Greece. 
 
 Pausanias, in his short notice of this monument, says that it was 
 attributed, together with the walls of Tiryns, to the Cyclops : and 
 from the application of the epithet xuxXaxiet to the city of Mycenae by 
 Euripides, Iph. in Aul. 265., we may conclude that this tradition 
 was current in Greece at least six centuries earlier. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
PLATE IV, 
 
 This very antient figure of Mars in the armour of Homeric times 
 was brought to England in 1813 by Major Blagrave, and purchased 
 by Mr. Knight. It bears a very striking and close resemblance to one 
 found at Todi, antiently Tuder, in Umbria, which is now in the Grand 
 Ducal Gallery at Florence, and is represented in Plate XXI. of Italia 
 davanti i Romani, and Hope's Costumes of the Antients, pi. 34. We 
 have, however, minutely examined the figure, of which we now give the 
 engraving, without being able to detect any indication, either in the 
 style or the manner of the work, or, in what it would be still more 
 difficult to fabricate, the slight effects of time appearing on the surface 
 of the metal, which would justify us in rejecting it as spurious. We 
 consider it as a duplicate, and, if the other engravings are correct, a 
 little varied from the Florence Mars, but witli apparent claims to equal 
 antiquity. The following description and explanation of the figure 
 and armour were prepared by Mr. Knight. 
 
 " A Mars of very antient and highly wrought sculpture in Homeric 
 armour, quite complete and entire, one foot high to the top ol the 
 crest, and the surface perfectly preserved, with the broad shield on 
 the left arm, and the remains of the sword elevated in the right hand. 
 The helmet is of the most antient form, leaving the face bare, with 
 only a bar extending half way down the nose. Over the ears are two 
 ipzXoi, and on the top of the head on each side of the crest are 
 
8 
 
 also two, placed as Damm has described them in the Homeric helmet. 
 The crest of horse-hair rises an inch and a half above the casque, 
 nods over the forehead, and hangs down the back quite to the loins. 
 The helmet is ornamented as upon the most antient coin of Athens ; 
 and the cuirass is covered with scales representing probably plates of 
 metal fixed upon leather. On each shoulder is an ornamented plate 
 uniting upon the breast, which seem to be the Sap^xoc yuctXa ; below, 
 girded round the loins, over the cuirass, is the zone of polished 
 metal, with short skirts imitating leather stamped and fringed, from 
 beneath which and the cuirass hangs the fringe of the (iirpa ; and 
 under all, behind and on each side, are folds of what appears to be 
 a shirt of fine linen embroidered at the edge, and composed of narrow 
 strips sewn together, according to the primitive mode of weaving by 
 hand without a loom. Similar folds hang over the cuirass at the 
 neck, and appear from under it at the shoulders : but the arms, thighs 
 and feet are bare, though the greaves, xv-ri(tihc, which cover the fore 
 part of the legs, extend from the ancles considerably above the knees. 
 They are richly ornamented on the edges and on the sides, as is also 
 the shield, which is circular, and about four inches and a half in 
 diameter. The whole figure is solid, and appears not to have been 
 cast in a mould, but to be an cpyov o<$vp(kcixov, or hammered work, 
 which was afterwards finished by the tool of the engraver. Upon the 
 left yuaXov, or shoulder plate, are remains of silver, apparently part of 
 something which was attached to it, perhaps the TzXapav or belt of 
 the shield, which passed round the neck ; and at the back of the 
 figure there is a remarkable projection from the top of the cuirass 
 immediately under the nape of the neck, the purpose of which seems 
 
to have been to prevent the belt from slipping up in action, whilst the 
 long and large crest hanging down the back may have contributed to 
 keep it flat upon the shoulders." 
 
 The features and expression, or rather the want of expression in the 
 countenance, correspond with the archaic style of the rest of the figure, 
 and have been already adverted to in our dissertations on the early 
 periods of Grecian art. 
 
PLATE V. 
 
 This fine statue of the primitive athletic Apollo was obtained for 
 the British Museum from the collection which the Comte de Choiseul 
 Gouffier formed during his embassy at Constantinople. It is quite 
 entire, except the hands and lower arms ; the head is uninjured, nor 
 even the nose broken, and the polish of the Parian marble is scarcely 
 injured. The veins are strongly marked, which in figures ol deities 
 indicates, as we have before had occasion to observe, an early stage of 
 the art ; and the muscles of the limbs and body are full and prominent, 
 after the antient manner of representation already noticed in our pre- 
 liminary discourse ; but the proportions are rather suited to the 
 patron of pugilism (II. ¥. 660.) than to the leader of a celestial 
 orchestra. The right arm might have rested on a quiver, the left 
 seems to have held a bow, which has been in contact with the leg on 
 that side. The head is unusually small, but as the proportion of all 
 the other parts to each other is elegantly just, this was probably an 
 intentional and prescribed peculiarity, the effect of which is increased 
 by the somewhat exaggerated expression of muscular strength and 
 vigour in the rest of the composition. The simple arrangement of 
 the hair and of curls over the forehead corresponds with the square- 
 ness and very antient style of the figure. The beauty of the head is 
 considerably advanced beyond that of the goddess and warriors of the 
 
I '2 
 
 jEgina marbles, or of the Apollo given in Plate XII. of our former 
 volume. In our prefatory remarks we have ascribed this statue to the 
 period of art, when Onatas first gave beauty to the form of the son of 
 Latona in his temple at Pergamus. 
 
PLATE VI. 
 
 This very old Etruscan stand of a mirror is, as far as our observation 
 has extended, die only very early specimen of art, not ^Egyptian, in 
 which the monkey is introduced as a sacred symbol. It is proved to 
 be Etruscan by the pointed shoes or sandals, and to be of the highest 
 antiquity, not only by the style of the work, but also by the contexture 
 of the garment, composed of narrow strips of cloth sewn together. The 
 introduction at so early a period of animals not indigenous, as accessory 
 symbols, is very remarkable, as we can scarcely suppose any commerce 
 to have then existed between Italy and yEgypt, and still less between 
 Italy and India or Tartary ; and we know of no other countries in 
 which this animal was deemed sacred or symbolical. The deity 
 represented is probably Juno. For a further explanation of this figure 
 see " Inquiry into Symbolical Language," &c. Sect. 178. 
 
PLATES VII and VIII. 
 
 This fine statue, together with another somewhat resembling it, 
 also in the collection of the Earl of Egremont, at Petworth, but of 
 inferior execution, is believed to have been brought to England from 
 the Barberini Palace at Rome. The head, which is not of the same 
 block of marble, is, however, of the same character with the rest of 
 the statue ; but the left arm from the elbow and the right foot from 
 under the drapery are modern restorations. 
 
 From the style of composition and the excellence of execution, we 
 are induced to assign to it a place amongst the early but finished 
 works of the Grecian school, or at least to consider it as a most suc- 
 cessful imitation of the best period of the art. 
 
 There is a masculine dignity of representation and expression en- 
 nobling the accurate delineation of individual form, and at the same 
 time an unconscious repose in the attitude, finely illustrative of the 
 best principles of antient composition. The advanced age of the 
 original is marked in the flattened muscles of the body and limbs, as 
 well as in the wrinkled brow, without defacing the grandeur of the 
 forms, which had once shewn the grace and vigour of manhood. So 
 few of the antient statues of individuals have come down to us with 
 inscriptions, which are at all to be depended on, that we can seldom 
 hope to ascertain satisfactorily the personages they are meant to repre- 
 sent ; neither in this instance can we trace a decided likeness to any 
 
16 
 
 known original. Such statues were publicly erected in honour of 
 distinguished statesmen, poets, orators and philosophers, as well in 
 the temples and prytaneia, as in the stoas and agoras of Grecian cities, 
 and formed the greatest reward of public service or well earned distinc- 
 tion. Greece still abounded in such monuments at the time when 
 Pausanias explored that country. The seated figure here given is pro- 
 bably that of a philosopher or legislator ; for the heads of the poets 
 are usually distinguished by the diadema or sacred fillet of Apollo, 
 and orators and warriors are represented as standing, when not grouped 
 with other figures. 
 
PLATE IX. 
 
 The importance of this beautiful specimen to the illustration of 
 the arts, history and mythology of Athens, designed by her greatest 
 artist at the period of her greatest power and celebrity, induces us to 
 give an additional plate of Mr. Hope's statue already described in 
 our former volume, Plate XXV. The worship and name of Athena 
 were, by the concurrence of aritient tradition, imported to the shores of 
 Greece from Sais in ./Egypt, by Cecrops the founder of her favourite 
 city. According to Plato she was the goddess Neith, Nr[i$, of the 
 iEgyptians, of which name Athena was possibly only a metonymy ; 
 she was there the goddess representing the starry firmament of heaven ; 
 and by no very unnatural abstraction the emblem probably of divine 
 wisdom. Various forms of her personification will be found in Mr. 
 Salt's valuable Essay on the Phonetic System of the Hieroglyphics,' 
 Plate III. p. 64. In every place of her worship, as it emanated from 
 Athens, or was connected with that city, we may trace its foreign and 
 even African origin. Amongst the Pelasgic and Ionian worshippers 
 of Jove she was admitted to a high rank in the synod of Olympus, 
 and was mythologically identified with goddesses of very different 
 attributes, the local deities of the indigenous Grecian tribes, such as 
 the Pallas or the goddess of war at Argos, the Alea of Tegea, and 
 
 " In some of these which are from Phils, the serpent and disk are on the head of the goddess ; 
 but there is little resemblance to the Minerva of Greece. 
 
18 
 
 the Onga of Thebes ; as she was afterwards with the Minerva, MsvepFa 
 or Monitress, of the Etrurian or Latian religion. b 
 
 In the present composition, which in the dissertation to our former 
 volume, Sect. 74., we have presumed to be one of the numerous copies 
 of the celebrated statue of Phidias, we recognize the well known symbols 
 of the Athenian goddess in the sphinx surmounting the helmet, and in 
 the aegis and Medusa which protect the breast. We need not advert 
 to the ^Egyptian origin of the sphinx, interwoven by subsequent 
 Greek authors into the mythology of Bceotia. The andro-sphinxes of 
 Herodotus, 0 erected before the temple of Neith at Sais, sufficiently 
 point out the connection with her worship. The meaning of the 
 symbol is still one of the unexplained mysteries of ^Egyptian lore. 
 
 The origin of the aegis is involved in equal obscurity, but it bears 
 an important part in the Homeric poems. The ruler of the gods, it is 
 said by Agamemnon, A. 167- will shake his epeptvrp/ aiyion in anger at 
 the perjuries of the Trojan race. 
 
 Apollo also in the Iliad, 0. 308., bears the 
 
 eaytia favgiv, 
 JsivrfV, n(nzioaonav, asineexc, \v apa. ^aXxeuc 
 ' HtpaiOTOC An Sqxs ^op'fijizva.1 zc <psJ3sv avSpav 
 with which Jupiter had invested him for the defence of Hector. 
 
 The aegis of Minerva, J. 204. is iuoacLvosooa. ; in 0. 401. it is also 
 2ptep&aXsri, lfv twos Aioc faftrqai xzpzuvoc. 
 and in E. 738. the goddess throws on her shoulders 
 
 " On a Greek vase lately discovered in Etruria, the name of this goddess is written ENEPEA, 
 and has been interpreted by Mr. Millingen to mean the Despoiler, from tvapa, and to be the 
 primitive form of the Latin Minerva. 
 Melpomene, s. 175. 
 
19 
 
 ctiyiSa hoaavoseaay, 
 
 Ev $ Epic, ev S Ahcq, ev k xpvoeaaa Iaxx 
 
 Ev Se tc ropyeiYi xstpaXii oeivoio it&kasov, 
 
 Aeiviq re, SfispSvri re, Aioo zepac myioyoio . 
 Stephanus derives the name from Aiosa, " ex eo quod ventorum 
 turbines et procellas efficiat," (Thes. ad voc. Aiyic,) and Heyne says, 
 Vol. 4. not. on II. B. 148. " Scilicet ml, tziooav, et cuyic, cognata 
 fuere, unde et ipsum nomen agidis quam Jupiter vibrat, ductum esse 
 arbitror ; quod seriores a capra fano r^c Aiyacj repetiere." Eustathius, 
 in his commentary on II. A. 170. fs:pc(ivriv AiyiiaJ conceives it to have 
 signified a black and stormy cloud, and as such to have been the 
 appropriate armour of the god of thunder and of the goddess of the 
 firmament. 
 
 More recent authors, as Heyne observes, ascribe to the aegis a dif- 
 ferent legend and signification. Deriving the name from Ail, a goat, 
 they have engrafted on it many a story of the skin of the goat Amal- 
 thaea, the supposed nurse of the Cretan Jupiter, and out of it have 
 framed the dap^l peculiar to his daughter. In its simplest and earliest 
 form we again trace it, by means of the father of Grecian history, to 
 Africa. He tells us that in Libya, on the banks of the lake Tritonis, 
 Minerva was adored in conjunction with Neptune, who was himself, 
 as the same author informs us, a Libyan deity ; and that " The Greeks 
 borrowed from the Libyan women the vestment and aegis of her statues, 
 except that the vestments of these women were of skin, and the fringes 
 which surround their a;gis were not serpents but small thongs of leather. 
 In every other respect the form is the same, and the name itself testifies 
 
20 
 
 that this garment came from Libya, for the Libyan women gird 
 round their vestment dressed goat-skins, fringed and dyed red witli 
 the epsvhSavov,' K [a plant classed by Theophrastus, lib. i., among the 
 Acanthi) " and from these goat-skins the Greeks have given it the 
 name of vEgis." In a head of Minerva, given in a subsequent part 
 of this volume, Plate XLVII., we find this primitive aegis represented 
 not with serpents, but with a fringe apparently of leather which bears 
 a resemblance to them ; and in this humbler form tire shaggy edges 
 of Jove's thunder-cloud, the original aegis apttgiiaozia, were transferred 
 to the breast-plate of Minerva. The Tritonian goddess appears to 
 be the same divinity as that which the ^Egyptians worshipped at Sais 
 under the name of Neith, and which had probably at a still earlier period 
 been transported to Athens, where the legend of her contest and joint 
 partnership with Neptune was commemorated in the Erectheum and 
 on the pediment of the Parthenon : as one of these deities represented, 
 in the African mythology, the personification of the ocean, and the 
 other that of the firmament, they held in the divine synod of the 
 Greeks, a rank subordinate only to that of the Thunderer himself. 
 
 The story of Medusa and her sisters, though unnoticed by Homer, 
 was apparently an Argive legend, connected as it is with Perseus and 
 the family of Acrisius, the early or fabulous (bunders of the dynasty of 
 Argos ; but the scene is also laid in Africa. The name Mrfimoa., the 
 queen or ruler, was apparently an epithet of Minerva, or of the Pallas 
 of Argos. The Gorgon of the Iliad is always an object of the deepest 
 horror. Besides the passages already quoted, the Fogya fiXoaupaxic 
 icivov fcf/.0{tzvri accompanied by flight and terror, is on the shield of 
 Agamemnon, A. 36. Hector has o^mxci To^youc, 0. 349. ; and in 
 
'21 
 
 the Odyssey, A. 633., Ulysses describes himself as being seized with 
 fear, lest Proserpine should send from Hades Toqysmy xe<px\i/p/ fcivoio 
 xeXagou, to punish his intrusion into the precincts of the dead. The 
 sisters, however, of the Argive or African legend were afterwards 
 amalgamated into one ; and the head of Medusa, who was unrivalled 
 for the beauty of her hair, and had profaned the temple of Minerva by 
 her commerce with Neptune, became invested with the snaky horrors 
 and petrifying powers of the Gorgon, and was added as an ornament 
 to the breast-plate of the goddess. The early representation of the 
 exploit of Perseus on the temple at Selinus gives her a hideous and 
 extravagant form : but in an intaglio belonging to Mr. Knight, and 
 mentioned by him in a note, Sect. 179. of his Inquiry, the head of the 
 mild and beautiful Gorgon is seen on the shield of Perseus, while he 
 holds that of the Medusa in his hand. There is, indeed, hardly a 
 form of horror, or of beauty in which the Gorgon Medusa has not 
 been exhibited. See also Plate XLIV. of this volume. 
 
 Some have supposed this symbol to be a personification of the 
 moon, accompanied at times with the destroying, and again with the 
 beneficent or productive attributes. That this or similar meanings 
 were affixed to such symbols by later artists and by philosophical 
 expositors of the earlier superstitions, might be conceded, but they are 
 inconsistent with the simpler tales of antiquity. The Gorgon of 
 Homer has no more connection with the moon, than the Medusa and 
 her two sisters in the legend of Perseus. But in the symbol, as well 
 as in the deity we trace the constant progress of polytheism adopting 
 fables from every local source, and compounding fictions out of incom- 
 patible elements. 
 
PLATE X. 
 
 The statue of a wounded Amazon here represented, which was 
 found in Rome, is now in the collection of the Marquis of Lansdown. 
 The wound and the drops of blood that issue from it are indicated 
 below the right breast, and the expression of faintness and dejection 
 in the features, which are very beautiful, is perhaps more strongly 
 perceived in the marble than could be represented on the reduced 
 scale of the drawing from which our plate is taken. Both the design 
 and execution are of the highest character, and the finished and grace- 
 ful drapery is not less perfect than the softness and undulation of the 
 forms which it leaves uncovered. 
 
 The combats of the Amazons long continued to be a favourite sub- 
 ject with the sculptors of antiquity, and there are few legends which 
 have furnished them with works more pleasing or better deserving of 
 admiration. Pliny informs us, lib. xxxiv. c. 8. that there were live 
 figures of Amazons in the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the rival works 
 of five eminent Grecian sculptors ; and Mr. Knight, in his Inquiry, 
 Sect. 50. suggests that the subject of our engraving was probably an 
 antient copy from one of these. It is difficult to trace the origin of 
 this romantic legend. In sculpture at least, the peculiarity, which 
 was ascribed to their figure in the fictions of early writers, and apparently 
 derived from the name 'Afixlav, is never exhibited ; and the bosom, 
 supposed to be mutilated for the sake of using the bow with more effect, 
 
<i4 
 
 is represented in the natural form. Probably in the songs of the ruder 
 warriors of the Pelasgic Greeks the same imagination which converted 
 the Thessalian horsemen into Centaurs, had metamorphosed into 
 female warriors some Asiatic tribe, whose loose or flowing dress and 
 lighter missile weapons suggested the fable. They are described by 
 Homer and Herodotus as inhabitants of the inland district of Asia on 
 the banks of the Sangarius. In what manner and at what time their 
 legendary history was blended with that of Theseus and of Troy can 
 no longer be ascertained, but it arose in the earliest dawn of Grecian 
 fable. Whether founded on the real existence of some hostile and 
 warlike tribe in that part of Asia, or on the misinterpretation of 
 mythological figures, the various stories recorded of their appearance 
 might be derived in some measure from that of the costume which 
 prevailed in Asia among the Phrygians and Syrians ; and the effeminate 
 votaries of the Great Goddess, the Idad Dactyli and the priests of 
 Cybele, might suggest the idea of women whose breasts had been 
 deprived of their natural form. From such accidental sources and 
 obscure legends romance takes its rise, and becomes afterwards em- 
 bodied into history; in Greece, it furnished the poet and the sculptor 
 with these beautiful ideal figures of female heroines so universally and 
 deservedly popular as to be found on many of the finest monuments 
 of antiquity, and to have suggested the subject of competition to her 
 most eminent artists. 
 
 This statue has suffered apparently from fire, and both the legs and 
 parts of the arms have been restored. 
 
PLATES XI and XII. 
 
 The beautiful but mutilated statue represented in these plates, and 
 those which are given in the three which follow them, will be at 
 once recognized as copies, with more or less variations, of the cele- 
 brated statue ol Praxiteles at Cnidos. Of this work, so often repeated 
 by the antients, no repetition perhaps has been found in such perfect 
 preservation as the Venus dei Medici at Florence : though, as we have 
 already suggested in the Prefatory Essay, the attitude and action of the 
 goddess were misconceived by Bernini, when he attempted to restore 
 them : and from his example other restorers have adopted a similar 
 error. (See Plates XIII. XIV. and XV.) The vase, and the vestment 
 or drapery which lies over it in the fragment here produced from the 
 Duke of Bedford's gallery at Woburn, ought of themselves to have 
 been sufficient to suggest the composition of the original ; but we also 
 find it indicated, however imperfectly, on a medallion of Caracalla, in 
 the royal collection of medals in Paris : an engraving of which may be 
 seen in Haym's Tesoro Britannico, and in the first volume of Visconti's 
 Museo Pio Clementino. On the obverse of the medallion arc the 
 heads of Caracalla and Plautilla with the legend m. ayp. aktoninos. and 
 #otab. nAAYTiAAA. On the reverse is the figure of Venus with the 
 legend kniaiqn. The slight variations in the shape and decoration of 
 the vase, and the introduction of other accessary differences, leave the 
 design of the original attitude much the same, and confirm us in our 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 II 
 
26 
 
 conjecture that in the restoration of the arms and hands the com- 
 position has suffered from the ignorance of modern restorers. We 
 may, therefore, safely conclude that we have in the specimens before 
 us very close imitations at least, of the most celebrated work of 
 Praxiteles, and their beautiful execution would lead us to believe that 
 they were produced at the same early period ; for few statues remain 
 to us of a higher and more perfect style of sculpture, or more charac- 
 teristic of the peculiar excellences of his school. 
 
PLATE XIII. 
 
 This statue is at Newby Park, in Yorkshire, in the gallery of Lord 
 Grantham. In a recent publication on statuary and sculpture, we are 
 told that both arms and the right leg from the knee are modern; and 
 the head also which had been lost, is replaced by a beautiful head of 
 a Pudicitia of a suitable size ; the veiled part having been worked to 
 the resemblance of hair by the sculptor Pacili. This is fully borne 
 out by the appearance of the statue. The right arm, which is restored 
 from above the armlet, is placed too high, for the purpose of conceal- 
 ing the junction, and has a bad effect in the compression and diminu- 
 tion of the shoulder. The left arm is restored from the elbow, and 
 the arrangement of the two arms is evidently copied from Bernini's 
 restoration of the Medicean statue. In both these statues it is pro- 
 bable that the hands held the garment designed by Praxiteles, and in 
 this, as in the last specimen, the pedestal by the side of the goddess 
 appears originally to have been a long slender vase, though richly 
 ornamented with a scroll work of leaves and flowers. These appear 
 on the back of the pedestal, where it is undoubtedly antique, but 
 all that is so, terminates in a line with the toes of the left foot. A 
 part of the back has also been restored ; but with the exceptions we 
 have noticed, the statue is genuine, and in the highest state of preser- 
 vation. The marble is of a beautiful yellow tone without spot or 
 blemish, retaining its original surface, and finished in a style of singular 
 
28 
 
 excellence. According to Mr. Dallaway this fine fragment had re- 
 mained for a long time in the vaults of the Barberini Palace at Rome, 
 from whence it was purchased by Mr. G. Hamilton about the year 
 1765, who exchanged it with Pacili. Mr. Jenkins soon after gave 
 Pacili one thousand Roman scudi for it, and sold it to the late 
 Mr.Weddell. 
 
PLATES XIV and XV. 
 
 This beautiful little statue of Venus in Parian marble was discovered 
 by Mr. Gavin Hamilton in an antient bath at Ostia in the year 1775- 
 It was restored, as Mr. Knight was informed, by Nollekens, under the 
 direction of the late Mr. Townley ; but in the description of the collec- 
 tion of antient marbles in the British Museum it is said that the arms, 
 the disposition of which is perhaps not correct, were restored at the 
 suggestion of Mr. Gavin Hamilton, who conceived that the left hand 
 originally held a mirror. The head has been broken off and rejoined. 
 Some parts of it, and particularly the face, have been damaged. The 
 nose is modern. 
 
 This statue is one of the most exquisite specimens of Grecian art 
 and elegance, which have escaped the ravages of bigotry and barbarism. 
 The surface, wherever it is sufficiently preserved, retains the traces of 
 the chisel employed with such taste and skill, as to express the appear- 
 ance of living flesh more truly than can be attained by the most 
 laborious polishing, as may be seen in the muscles of the back, 
 hips and loins, which are in the highest preservation. A projection 
 observable on the right of the chin has suggested the probability that 
 in the perfect figure the right hand, or something held in it, perhaps 
 a dove which the goddess was caressing, was in contact with that side 
 ol the face. The style of the work, as well as the choice of the 
 subject are of the school of Praxiteles. The successful genius of this 
 
 TOL. II. i 
 
30 
 
 sculptor, as we have elsewhere observed, first unveiled the goddess ; 
 and she never again recovered her drapery till the art lost the power 
 of representing her native charms. They have seldom been so beau- 
 tifully pourtrayed as in this little relic of the decoration of a Roman 
 bath ; but the work is Grecian, nor does the conjecture deserve atten- 
 tion, which ascribes to this statue the character of the Roman J Angerona. 
 
 J Quie, digito ad OS adinoto, silentium denuntiat. Macrob. Saturn, lib. iii. cap. ix. The finger 
 here was never on the mouth, and we know nothing of the form of Angerona; but it is not 
 probable that she would be thus represented, " undo et intecto corpora," like Venus. 
 
PLATE XVI. 
 
 Few remaining examples of antient art, of the class to which this 
 monument belongs, claim greater attention either for chasteness of 
 composition or beauty of execution. Thougli now transformed into 
 a vase, according to the taste which prevailed in Rome about the 
 middle of the last century, we may believe it to have been originally 
 a IIepiOTQ(uov encircling the mouth of a well. Decorative works of 
 this description were not uncommon amongst the Greeks and Romans ; 
 they were placed in the atria of their houses, or in their villas and 
 gardens, and, from the peculiar sanctity in which water, as a primary 
 symbol, was held, they frequently became objects of considerable luxury 
 and expense. 
 
 The subject of our marble is well known from the publications of 
 Visconti to be the introduction of Paris to Helen by Venus, who is 
 accompanied by the three muses, Polyhymnia, Erato and Euterpe, 
 designated by their usual attributes. The goddess and the Spartan 
 princess are seated on the same throne, and Paris is conducted into 
 their presence by Love. Helen evidently exhibits reluctance to quit 
 her husband and her country, but she is persuaded by the influence of 
 Venus. All authorities agree in the mythos of Venus having accom- 
 panied Paris from Phrygia to Sparta, to perform the promise she had 
 made, in order to engage his judgment in her favour ; and the conduct 
 of Helen is invariably represented as the effect of an irresistible destiny. 
 
32 
 
 In the Odyssey [J. 261.) she is described as reminding Menelaus, 
 after their return to Sparta, of the divine importunities to which she 
 had yielded. 
 
 arriv oe (tereorevov, rp/ A^oohrt( 
 ore (I -qyaye xeioe tpik?[C nno xa.ro\ihoi airic, 
 IJonScc r £(triv voo-piozajievri, SaXaitov re xooiv re, 
 Ou reu Seuo(Aevov, our no tppevac, oure ri eiooc. 
 
 In a bas-relief published by Winckelman, and described in his 
 Monumenti Inediti, p. 127, tteiln forms part of a group represent- 
 ing the same subject, and serves to illustrate that which is before us. 
 We need not refer to the frequent introduction of the muses, as y ^(Kicli, 
 or the deities who presided over the nuptial contracts, with which the 
 arts and poetry of the Greeks abound. The well known Aldobrandini 
 marriage, and the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, are sufficient for our 
 purpose. 
 
 The head of the goddess is covered with a veil, and she is clothed 
 in a long and ample tunic fastened by a zone. On the head of Paris 
 is the Phrygian bonnet, and he is habited simply in the chlamys, 
 which attached by a clasp to the right shoulder falls gracefully behind 
 him. 
 
PLATE XVII. 
 
 The distinction of accessary attributes could only authorize us to 
 assign heads of this class either to the Phrygian Atys, Adonis, or Paris, 
 without affording us a more precise criterion by which to discriminate 
 between them ; lor the effeminate features, and the cap or Phrygian 
 mitra are common to all. It is singular that so many representations 
 of heads with similar characters should be found in modern collec- 
 tions, since statues of none of those mythical personages are noticed 
 by Pausanias as extant in Greece; and Pliny describes one only of 
 Paris by Euphranor, 1. xxxiv. 19. 16. in which the Romans thought 
 that they could discover at once the judge of the goddesses, the lover 
 of Helen, and the slayer of Achilles. We do not, however, in the head 
 before us recognize any of those characteristics. The cast of melancholy 
 in the countenance is more indicative of Atys or Adonis. The mytho- 
 logy of these was entirely oriental, and, as we have noticed, was sym- 
 bolical of the sun's annual ascension and declension. The same story 
 was told in jEgypt of the death and revival of Osiris. It travelled 
 with the mystic religion into Greece, where in one temple at least the 
 Argive matrons mourned for Adonis as the Syrians for " Thammuz 
 yearly wounded." Atys also had a shrine at Dyme in Achaia, where 
 he was associated with Rhea or Dindymene, and Pausanias, vii. 17- 
 gives the strange fables told of his birth and life in two wild versions, 
 one of which was current in Greece, and the other at Pesinus in Phrygia. 
 
 vol.. „. k 
 
34 
 
 This head, probably part of a statue, was found at Rome, in the 
 Villa Palombara. Its admirable and delicate softness both of design 
 and execution, the purity of the taste, and the finished skill and breadth 
 of the details, would induce us to assign it to the time of Praxiteles, 
 or of the school which he established. 
 
PLATE XVIII. 
 
 To this exquisite specimen of Grecian style and beauty, though we 
 have no accessary symbols to guide us, we are inclined to ascribe the 
 character of a youthful athleta or victor at the public games. Such 
 votive figures were common in the temples on the Isthmus, and at 
 Nemea, Delphi and Olympia ; and a sort of generic character was 
 formed, of which the recognized examples will, we think, on com- 
 parison, give weight to our conjecture. We have alluded to this in 
 our Prefatory Essay, but no where has it been displayed with more 
 admirable beauty than in the marble, now first given to the public. 
 This head, the fragment of some undiscovered statue, was found at 
 Ostia, and is now in the possession of Mr. Rogers, who purchased 
 it in Rome. A small splinter from the tip of the nose and chin has 
 slightly injured it, but the surface of every other part is entire and un- 
 corroded ; and, with the breathing mouth and lips, presents an example 
 of the purest and highest style of Grecian workmanship. Without ideal 
 exaltation or heroic character, we have here a personification of youth, 
 vigour and activity, with features of consummate beauty, alike removed 
 from affected refinement and vulgarity. Such were the imaginary forms 
 that animated Grecian sculpture in the brightest era of the art. 
 
PLATE XIX. 
 
 The singular beauty and merit of all that is really antient in this 
 fine statue have induced us to give it a place in our collection, and to 
 assign it to the most flourishing period of Grecian art, notwithstanding 
 the severe mutilation which it has undergone. Of the head, which 
 had been broken off, the crest of the helmet, and the heads of the 
 griffins that surmount it, have been restored, as well as the right brow, 
 the nose, mouth and chin, and the lower part of the neck and throat. 
 We are not, however, on this account inclined to reject it as not 
 belonging to the statue. The right arm from below the shoulder, 
 and the club, as far as the calf of the right leg, against which it rests, 
 are modern; and the front of the thigh and upper part of the right 
 leg with the knee, as well as the left knee, have been inserted by a 
 restorer. The surface of the whole has been much rubbed down, 
 having apparently suffered greatly from corrosion, the marks of which 
 are still visible on the feet. The lower part of the club, which rested 
 against the figure, and appears to have been an original accessary to 
 the composition, has probably determined those who found it, to give 
 it the character of Theseus ; and the head, armed with a casque and 
 surmounted with the griffins of Minerva, would, if undoubtedly original, 
 add still greater plausibility to the conjecture. The forms are of the 
 finest kind, and justest proportion, combining strength and activity 
 with considerable grace. 
 
 The statue was brought to England from Rome by the late Mr. Blundell. 
 
y 4y 
 
PLATE XX. 
 
 This beautiful specimen of the toreutic art, one of the most perfect, 
 and in some respects the most interesting of the antient bronzes dis- 
 covered at Paramythia in Epirus, was brought to this country in the 
 year 1798 by Mr. Hawkins. 
 
 In the female figure of this exquisite group we can hardly fail to 
 recognize the goddess of Paphos, with her winged attendants Pothos 
 and Himeros. The person intended by the male figure is more 
 uncertain. Of the various opinions which have been entertained on 
 this question we shall notice only two : that which supposes the com- 
 position to represent the mystical union of Venus and Adonis, and 
 that which refers it to the meeting of Venus and Anchises in the 
 recesses of Ida. The pointed bonnet, the flowing and highly orna- 
 mented drapery, and the anaxyrides, might be equally applied to the 
 royal hunter of Cyprus or to the shepherd prince of Troy ; the rocks 
 also which form the scenery would suit either supposition ; but the 
 dog is that of a shepherd, and not of the chase. 
 
 Though in the classical authors of Greece, prior to the Macedonian 
 conquest, we find no allusion to the united worship of Venus and 
 Adonis, its existence at an early period is proved from Pausanias/ who 
 makes mention of an antient temple sacred to them at Amathus in 
 
 ' Earc Ajia9ov£ ev Kvjrpip no\i£- AfWicSoc; ev ftvry mi AfaoSiriis kpov taTiv apxaiov. Bceot. c. 41. 
 
40 
 
 Cyprus. In the fifteenth Idyll of Theocritus, 8 the description of 
 Venus and Adonis reposing on two adjoining seats, with the young 
 loves hovering over them, is beautifully applicable to the monument 
 before us : nor are the allusions by Plautus' and Ovid' to the same 
 subject unworthy of notice. 
 
 On the other hand it is proper to consider that Epirus, the country 
 in which this precious relic of Grecian art was found, was supposed 
 to have received a colony from Troy : and that as antient monuments 
 most frequently refer to the mythology peculiarly received in the 
 places which produced them, Anchises was very likely to have been 
 chosen as the hero of an Epirote composition. In proof of the pre- 
 valence of Trojan traditions in Epirus, we may remark that there was 
 a town in that province which was supposed to have received its 
 name, Ilium or Troja, from the colony of Helenus : k that at Actium 
 there was a temple of Venus said to have been founded by vEneas, 
 who received heroic honours in a sanctuary at Ambracia, and that 
 Anchises was reported to have died at an Epirote harbour, which re- 
 tained his name. 1 
 
 1 oi OE re Ktapoi VWpwuruvTtu Epwrec, 
 
 Ofot (ZfJtWlfJEC E<J)l £oU( i-rj e;n CEvSfimP. 
 
 Effrpwrdi cXlva rtfi AcoviSi rift Ka\tp aWa' 
 
 Tav jifv Kvirpir BVU, ruv d' !> podi>nu^v£ Atfwvic. 
 
 * Die milii, numqua tu vidisti tabulam pictam in pariete, 
 
 TJbi aquila Ganyniedem raperet, aut ubi Venus Adoneum. in Menaich. Act 1, Sc. 2. 
 
 ceelo praefertur Adonis. 
 
 Hunt- tenet : huic comes est : assuetaque semper in umbra 
 Indulgere sibi, formainque augere eolendo. Metam. X. 1. 532. 
 
 * Tpo'ia BoTi.Kat ttoXic tv Keorpip n/c Xwovidc. Stephan. in Tpo'ia. Tab. Peutinger. 
 
 Segm. V. 
 
 1 Dionjs. Hal. 1. i. c. 50, 51. 
 
41 
 
 The mythos of Venus and Anchises is alluded to in the Theogonia,™ 
 which, although rejected by the Boeotians as a composition of Hesiod," 
 was undoubtedly a very antient poem. It forms also the leading inci- 
 dent in the Homeric hymn to Venus, which, of whatever degree of 
 antiquity it may be, was probably founded upon traditions of remote 
 origin. In this poem Venus introduces herself to Anchises as a mortal 
 nymph, the daughter of Otreus. Mr. Millingen, in treating of the mon- 
 ument before us, remarks that it may refer to the very moment when 
 Venus discovers herself to the hero as the goddess of beauty." 
 
 It formed in all probability part of a highly ornamented votive 
 mirror, destined, perhaps, to be placed in the hand of some statue of 
 Venus. 
 
 The plate of metal, which is extremely thin, has been in some 
 places strengthened with tin ; and with the exception of a few minute 
 pieces, which having been much damaged were restored with wax by 
 Mr. Flaxman, the work is entire, to the edge of the composition. 
 
 ■ kwfmv ap tTiKTtv t varetbavos K.v9ipua t 
 Ayx«rp >ipt»'i piysiCT tfiuTip 0(\orj/r£, 
 
 iV KI>pV(f>y(TL IToXvirTVVOV uXlJEfffflJJ. Tllf'OgOII. V. 1008. 
 
 0 Pausan. Bceot. c. 31. 
 
 '' Antient Unedited Monuments and Statues, Busts, &e. p. 21. 
 
PLATE XXI. 
 
 We are indebted also to Mr. Hawkins for this figure of Mercury, 
 which was part of the great discovery at Paramythia, and was pre- 
 sented to him at loannina. As a work of art, it is, perhaps, equal to 
 any of those which were found on that occasion, as well as one of the 
 most perfect ; the figure is entire, but the base or seat, and its accessary 
 emblems were restored by Mr. Flaxman from a composition alluded 
 to by Mr. Knight in his Inquiry into the Symbolical Language, &c. 
 Sect. 159. 
 
 The treatment of the hair and muscles is sharp and precise, though 
 perhaps somewhat hard ; the body is more robust, and larger in 
 proportion to the limbs, than is generally found in the statues of the 
 Cyllenian god ; the head is beautifully characterized, and the combined 
 forms of strength and activity denote the indefatigable celerity of the 
 messenger of Jove. Though seated there is no lassitude in the posi- 
 tion ; and the spirit of the general conception, as well as the skill and 
 truth of representation, combined with the style of execution, would 
 lead us to class it with the works of the school of Myron or Polycletus, 
 the predecessors of Lysippus. 
 
PLATE XXII. 
 
 The bronze statue represented in this plate was one of those found 
 at Paramythia and acquired by Mr. Knight from Russia. The egg- 
 shaped cap, which has been surmounted by the asterisk, and the locks 
 of Jupiter rising from the forehead, characterize one of the sons of 
 Leda. He appears from the attitude to be holding the bridle of his 
 horse, with perhaps the spear in the other hand ; but, as no parallel 
 composition has come to our knowledge with its accompaniments 
 complete, we cannot be certain of the artist's intention. The lower 
 part of the right leg with the foot is wanting, but all the rest is in the 
 most perfect preservation, with its original polish, and in the highest 
 style of Grecian art, though not of the most elaborate finish. The 
 character of the countenance and disposition of the hair, as well as the 
 general attitude and action, are grand, dignified, and graceful, and the 
 veins and muscles are accurately relieved on a soft and fleshy surface ; 
 but the whole is more lank and bony, and the extremities are less 
 perfectly detailed than is common in works of a similar degree of 
 merit. The style of execution is that which, from the time of 
 Lysippus, prevailed under the Macedonian kings ; and the anomaly 
 in the want of finish and proportion may be perhaps accounted for by 
 supposing that this, like many other bronzes of similar dimensions, 
 was an imitation of a more antient composition. 
 
 N 
 
PLATE XXIII. 
 
 The left arm of this figure from the elbow, as well as the piece of 
 drapery attached to it which reaches to the feet, is an antient restora- 
 tion made in a coarser metal, and by a very inferior artist. The right 
 arm with the sceptre and the golden disk of Jove held in the left hand 
 have been recently restored from a similar composition in relief on a 
 silver fragment of rude workmanship, but undoubted antiquity. Part of 
 the drapery on which the disk rests has been restored in the drawing. 
 All the rest is in perfect preservation and of the finest sculpture. The 
 eyes are of silver, looking upwards with a degree of expression, which 
 it has been impossible to preserve in the engraving ; the lleshy surface 
 and transparent drapery are exquisite specimens of skilful execution. 
 
 The goddess here represented was probably Dione, the associate 1 ' 
 of Jupiter in the temple of Dodona, the female Dis or Jove, the Hera 
 of the mystic grove, whose Latin name of Juno differed only from 
 Dione by a dialectic change. The sceptre and golden disk were also 
 attributes of Ceres and of her prototype Isis, as well as of Dione : and 
 on the head of Isis a bird is sometimes seated, as in this monument, 
 apparently in the act of incubation. The mystic wife of the god of 
 Dodona, in her sovereign character of the queen of heaven, combined 
 the attributes of various divinities. The bird of Dione was generally 
 
 1 2uwoo£ rw Ait npoaaTztfaixQri Kai i) AtWWJ. Strabo, lib. vii. p. 329. Many of the coins of 
 Epirus boar tbc beads of these two divinities placed together in profile. 
 
48 
 
 the dove,' a symbol which seems to have had some connection with 
 the story told by Herodotus of the two black pigeons, who went from 
 Thebes in vEgypt and founded the oracles of Libya and Dodona. 
 Venus, who according to one antient legend, was the daughter of 
 Jupiter and Dione, inherited the doves of her mother, and the title of 
 Dion;iea. k But in the present monument the bent beak of the bird, if 
 not occasioned by carelessness or accident, may be that of the Numidian 
 hen or Meleagris, 1 a bird sacred to several deities. 
 
 1 " Ipse Dionsa monstravit Apollo cokimba." Stat. Sylv. III. 5. 80. 
 
 " Dilectas Veneri, notasquc ab lionore Diones (columbas)." Sil. Ital. iv. 106. 
 * II. E. 370 et seq. 1 Atlienieus, lib. xiv. c. /I, and not. Schweigb. 
 
$ 
 
PLATE XXIV. 
 
 In the memorandum descriptive of this bronze statue, which was 
 deposited with it by Mr. Knight in the British Museum, it is stated to 
 be one of those found at Paramythia in 1792 ; but in the list of the 
 monuments discovered there, of which we have given a transcript, 
 and in the account of their distribution, drawn up from the original 
 papers of Mr. Knight himself, it is not mentioned. As we know not 
 from whom it was procured by the distinguished owner, we are com- 
 pelled to leave the circumstance of its discovery in that doubt which 
 such an inconsistency has thrown over it. The eyes are of silver, as 
 well as the buttons that hold the inner robe together upon the arms, 
 and the clasps and buckles of the sandals, which, however, have been 
 picked out for the sake of the metal. The same material has proba- 
 bly been used for the cups or vases held in the hands, and may have 
 occasroned the mutilation of the statue. 
 
 Mr. Knight supposed it to represent Ganymede : to us, we confess, 
 it appears to be a personification of less dignity than that which 
 belongs to the cup-bearer of Olympus, and to be the copy of a Greek, 
 or perhaps Etruscan original made at a late period. The hair, dra- 
 pery and workmanship, though well and skilfully executed, have a 
 character decidedly of the Roman period of art. There is also a defect, 
 more considerable than accident would enable us to account for, in the 
 right shoulder, and in the awkward junction of the right arm to the 
 
50 
 
 body. This is depressed below the corresponding muscles of the left, 
 though the action indicated would require a contrary arrangement. 
 
 The representations of Ganymede, as of other deified mortals, are 
 usually naked, and accompanied by the eagle. This statue, with the 
 succinct drapery and uplifted hand, seems rather that of a ministering 
 mortal, bearing, perhaps, an ewer and patera, with perfumes for the 
 baths, or oil for the palaestra. The head, partly from the arrange- 
 ment of the hair, is too large, but the surface is well preserved, and 
 the lower limbs are of better and more perfect anatomy, than the 
 defects which we have pointed out would have induced us to expect. 
 The drapery is beautifully finished, and affords a good specimen of 
 the style of execution, which characterized the period when mecha- 
 nical dexterity survived the higher qualifications of the art. The face 
 is not remarkable either for beauty or expression. 
 
PLATE XXV. 
 
 This plate was transferred to the society of Dilettanti from a work 
 undertaken, but not persevered in, by a society of Engravers. Although 
 Bacchanalian processions are amongst the most common subjects of 
 antient sculpture, works in relief of such merit and preservation as 
 that which is here represented are very scarce. The figures are about 
 two feet high ; the composition seems to be entire, and to have been 
 intended for a tablet. 
 
PLATE XXVI. 
 
 This plate gives us the form of a young Faun in the garment more 
 especially worn by the followers of Bacchus, and appropriate to the 
 character of these semicapri. The nebris, or skin of a young deer,'" 
 is thrown over his shoulder, which was worn, as we learn from Demos- 
 thenes, in the mystic rites of Bacchus, and the god himself is described 
 as clad in it," veJSpifoxexXoc;. 
 
 The arms from the elbows, and both the legs from a little below 
 the knees were restored by Algardi, in deference to whose name in 
 art, though little deserved, the late Mr. Townley allowed them to 
 remain, though well aware of the fact that they were inconsistent with 
 the original design of the figure. The left hand appears, indeed, to 
 have held the pedum, or short crook, a fragment of which is still left 
 on the upper and original part of the arm, against which it rests ; the 
 right arm with the pipe is purely conjectural, and accords ill with 
 the high mirth and excitation of the laughing features. The strain 
 and tension of all the muscles round the knees prove that the figure 
 was represented on tiptoe, looking eagerly at some agreeable object, 
 which would account for the momentary attitude, and expression 
 given to the countenance. These are conceived with perfect truth, 
 
 'H ce TarvpiKii tffOjjc, pcf3pl£. Jul. Pollux, lil). iv. c. 18, s. 118. 
 
 Demosthenes, Vlfpi Srsc&avov. e. 79- Nej3pt£«»' tat Kpangpt&tv Kul taOatpotv rou<: rsAoii/ievowc. 
 " Epigram. Gree. T. ii. p. 517- 
 
 VOL. II. 1' 
 
54 
 
 and executed in a highly finished style, the surface in the unrestored 
 parts being in excellent preservation. The base, and upright stay 
 which supports the statue are, as well as the other parts mentioned, 
 the work of Algardi. The figure was long in the Palazzo Macarani 
 at Rome, and was procured from thence for Mr. Townley. 
 
*1 
 
PLATE XXVII. 
 
 This statue of Pan in Parian marble is at Holkham, and forms the 
 principal ornament of that gallery, rich as it is in works of the highest 
 merit. It would claim, indeed, a distinguished place in any collec- 
 tion, and even by the side of the Barberini Faun, or the Laocoon. 
 Like these it remains perfect from the chisel of the master, the traces 
 of which are still distinctly exhibited in every part of the well preserved 
 surface. The statue is entire and unbroken, except the hands, which 
 have been restored, improperly, we think, on comparing the engraving 
 of a small antient seal belonging to the late Mrs. Damer, which has 
 here been added to the support of the figure. In this composition of 
 genuine antiquity the character and expression are much more con- 
 sistent and appropriate. When Mr. Brettingham brought the subject 
 of the present plate from Italy, it had probably been recently dis- 
 covered, and was consequently little known ; for had it acquired the 
 reputation and celebrity due to its merit, no influence could at that 
 time have procured permission for its removal. Placed at present at 
 a distance from London, though in a distinguished collection, it has 
 been too little noticed ; for few monuments in Italy itself would afford 
 the artist more valuable instruction. 
 
 The association of the goat with the worship of Pan was derived 
 from the Mendesian temples of --Egypt, where the goat itself was wor- 
 shipped, and where Pan was sometimes represented in the human form 
 
56 
 
 but with goat's legs, not, as Herodotus tells us, because this was believed 
 to be his actual form, but for reasons of a mystic nature, which the 
 historian therefore abstained from divulging." The Greeks, however, 
 represented Pan with none but the slightest indications of the caprine 
 nature. On the autonomous coins of Arcadia he appears as a young 
 man seated upon a rock, resting one hand on his pedum or crooked 
 staff, and with the syrinx beside him. Several other monuments 
 might be cited, on which Pan has a similar personification, with the 
 same or similar adjuncts. A goat-like countenance, or a budding 
 pair of horns or tail, seem to have been the beginning of that transition 
 into the more complete mixture of the man and goat, by which Pan 
 was sometimes represented in later times. In the present example he 
 is crowned with pine, and a panther's skin is knotted over his breast. 
 
 Hcrodot. II. 46. 
 
PLATE XXVIII. 
 
 This beautiful figure is a fine specimen of the art in the best times 
 of Magna Gracia. It was presented by Joachim, King of Naples, in 
 the year 1815, to the Duke of Bedford as the produce of one of the 
 excavations made at Pompeii ; but though now presenting the appear- 
 ance of a terminal statue, its lower part is evidently a modern addi- 
 tion, and it was probably, when perfect, standing on tip-toe. The 
 head, which had been broken off and replaced, is most exquisitely 
 worked ; the expression of the face, which still preserves the original 
 polish, is highly animated ; the features, and more especially the lips, 
 seem to be actually in motion ; and the tufted goat's-hair appears as 
 if tossed about by the spontaneous action of the head ; the horns, 
 teeth and dewlaps are of silver, as well as the eyes, of which the 
 pupils are excavated, but without the appearance of having been filled 
 up with gems, or other similar materials. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
PLATE XXIX. 
 
 This fine bronze, from the Townley collection, has already been 
 published in Part III. of " the Antient Marbles of the British Museum." 
 It was found amongst the ruins of an antient temple at Gebail, for- 
 merly Byblos, on the coast of Phoenicia. 
 
 Hercules is here represented as having obtained the golden fruit of 
 the Hesperides, which he bears in his hand ; the guardian serpent or 
 dragon hangs dead on the tree behind him. Few works of art have 
 more grandeur of design, or knowledge of execution, than this small 
 statue. The features of the head differ in some degree from those 
 usually given to the god in Grecian sculpture, but they resemble those 
 seen on some of the coins of Tyre. 
 
PLATE XXX. 
 
 i 
 
 This noble head of one of the Homeric heroes lias also been pub- 
 lished in " the Aritient Marbles of the British Museum" since the 
 engraving for this work was completed. It was found by Mr. Gavin 
 Hamilton in the year 1771 among the ruins of Hadrian's villa. The 
 nose, and lobe of the left ear, a small fragment of each lip, and a tuft 
 of hair on the crown of the head, are modern restorations. The 
 fragment probably belonged to a statue which, as the head does not 
 convey the character usually attributed to Ajax, Achilles, Agamemnon, 
 Ulysses, or Menelaus, may have been intended perhaps for Diomed. 
 The style of sculpture is excellent ; and the free, sketchy, and yet 
 scientific treatment of the hair and beard, induce us to place it amongst 
 the finest monuments of the Macedonian age. The successful manner 
 in which the accessary parts are detached from the features and fleshy 
 surface, and the deficiency of colour supplied by form, deserve the 
 attention of the artist and student. 
 
 VOL, II. 
 
PLATES XXXI and XXXII. 
 
 This small bronze statue of Hercules was procured by our associate, 
 Colonel Leake, at Vrakhori in iEtolia, whither it had been brought 
 from Vlokho, a modern village at no great distance, on the site of 
 Thermus, the principal city of the jEtolian league. As the formation 
 of this confederacy was subsequent to the death of Alexander, and its 
 dissolution was effected by the peace made with the Romans, after the 
 surrender of Ambracia to the Consul Fulvius, A. C. 188, our speci- 
 men may with probability be assigned to the interval between those 
 two periods ; a conjecture with which its style and execution suffi- 
 ciently correspond. That jEtolia possessed many such works of art 
 is clear from Polybius, who, in relating the capture of Thermus by 
 Philip, son of Demetrius, King of Macedonia, states that the temple 
 of Apollo in that city contained above two thousand statues. 
 
 There was no subject more frequently repeated in Greek sculpture, 
 particularly after the time of Alexander, than that of Hercules in- 
 dulging himself after his labours : nor was there any which seems to 
 have elicited from the invention of artists a greater variety of design. 
 Small statues of bronze are extant, in some of which we find the com- 
 mon representation of Hercules leaning on his club with an expres- 
 sion of fatigue, or standing in a natural attitude, bearing a cup instead 
 of a club or sword, while others exhibit him crowned with the vine- 
 leaf, as in the present instance, and in attitudes indicating various 
 
64 
 
 degrees of the unsteadiness of intoxication. This condition of the 
 demi-god, which artists may have found favourable to an exhibition of 
 their skill in anatomy, and in the play of limbs and muscles, was un- 
 doubtedly intended in the small statue under consideration ; at the same 
 time that the noble features of the demi-god who had achieved so 
 many great actions may still be distinguished. 
 
 Its dimensions are nearly the same as those of the greater part of the 
 bronzes found in the neighbouring province of Epirus ; and it has un- 
 dergone a similar mutilation : the broken arm and hand held probably 
 the lion's skin and bowl, or some such appropriate attribute in silver. 
 
PLATE XXXIII. 
 
 This figure of Hercules was found in the year 1818 at Bavay, in 
 French Flanders. It soon after came into the possession of Mr. E. 
 Drummond Hay, who has recently presented it to the British Museum. 
 The character of the god is well expressed by the thickness of the 
 neck, and the breadth of the chest ; and the details of the body are 
 well developed. But the head is too narrow for the rest of the statue, 
 the thighs are short, and the limbs do not display that prominence of 
 muscle, which is generally perceived in representations of the son of 
 Alcmena, the victor of a thousand monsters. The right hand holds 
 the handle of a club or sword, the former of which was the most usual 
 weapon of the demi-god, though he is represented also with the latter 
 in some antient monuments ; Apollodorus describes him as thus 
 armed when advancing in the shades below against the phantom of 
 Medusa. The left arm appears to have been wrenched off, and some 
 minute traces ol a silver lion s skin have been observed on the back of 
 the left shoulder. The eyes are of silver. The base is a modern 
 addition. 
 
 This statue was highly esteemed by the late Mr. Knight, who 
 selected it for this publication. 
 
 s 
 
M B A ■ | . 
 
PLATE XXXIV. 
 
 This head has been supposed by some antiquaries to represent 
 Atys, in consequence of the Phrygian cap which it bears. The 
 breasts of a female are, however, clearly distinguishable ; and the 
 short sword below leaves no reason to doubt that the artist intended to 
 exhibit the costume and attitude of an amazon. 
 
 The composition and form are agreeable, but the execution is 
 coarse. The eyes, which are of silver, are well preserved. The 
 figure probably served as an ornament to a tripod. 
 
PLATE XXXV. 
 
 This plate presents to us two views of a Bacchic mask or larva 
 most exquisitely wrought in brass, and perfectly preserved, with its 
 original polish on a surface, which has taken such a deep green tinge, 
 that it almost resembles malachite. It was found in a stone coffin within a 
 tumulus or barrow near Nimeguen, in the year 167-1 ; and a bad print 
 and very inaccurate description were given of it in Cuper's Harpo- 
 crates ; he having only seen a drawing of it, after the original had 
 been carried away by the French, then in possession of the city, 
 through whom it passed into the Jesuit's College at Lyons, where the 
 late Mr. Roger Wilbraham obtained it on the dissolution of that society, 
 and afterwards ceded it, with several other precious articles of the 
 same kind, to the late proprietor, Mr. Payne Knight. It is perforated 
 vertically, and appears to have been the nut to the hilt of a sword or 
 dagger, perhaps of some Batavian chief who had served under the 
 Roman emperors, and whose features are probably blended with those 
 of the deity ; so aquiline a nose never being given, we believe, to a 
 supernatural or ideal personage, unless taken from individual nature. 
 The character and expression of the countenance are also very un- 
 usual, and would have been more suited to a Mars covered with a 
 helmet, than to a Bacchus decked with wreaths, fillets, and garlands 
 of ivy ; but these leave no doubt concerning the deity intended by the 
 artist. 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
PLATE XXXVI. 
 
 This statue of Diana is, we presume, a copy of one of the most 
 beautiful works of the school of Lysippus which we possess. 
 
 The right arm of the statue has been broken above and below the 
 elbow ; the head and both the lower arms are also modern restora- 
 tions : hence the original action of the figure is doubtful ; but as the 
 limbs and easy graceful attitude of the whole do not indicate any violent 
 action, past or intended, we conceive that in the original statue the 
 fore arm was not so much thrown back, but was holding up a torch. 
 We might then perceive in it a copy of the celebrated statue of Diana 
 which the Carthaginians had plundered from Segeste, and which was 
 restored to that city by Publius Scipio Africanus at the close of the 
 second Punic war, when, as Cicero p tells us, it was replaced in its 
 antient seat, summa cum gratulatione civium et laetitia, who, in grati- 
 tude to their benefactor, caused to be engraved on the pedestal, P. Afri- 
 canus Carthagine capta restituit. 
 
 The Diana of Segeste, which was of brass, was of heroic, perhaps 
 colossal, size, and clothed in the stola ; but notwithstanding its mag- 
 nitude the age and appearance were those of a virgin. The quiver 
 was suspended from the shoulder, the left hand held the bow and the 
 right hand a burning torch. The history of that monument subsequent 
 
 ' In Verr. lib. iv. 33, 34. 
 
7 'I 
 
 to its being plundered by the sacrilegious hands of Verres is unknown 
 to us. 
 
 The trunk of this statue is separated from the lower portion of the 
 figure ; the union being concealed under the folds of the peplum. 
 There is great reason to believe that it was originally so executed, the 
 parts being counter-sunk. Instances of statues not colossal being 
 formed of two or more blocks are exceedingly rare ; but that of the 
 Townleian Venus in the British Museum, and the Venus of Melos at 
 Paris, present us examples of this mode of execution. 
 
PLATE XXXVII. 
 
 This statue, of heroic size, is amongst the most important remains 
 of antient sculpture in marble ever brought to England, whether for 
 the excellency of the work, or the integrity of the preservation. The 
 right hand, indeed, with the right leg from above the knee, and the 
 left leg from a little below it, are restorations ; and the trunk of the 
 palm tree has been added. The left hand broken off has been re- 
 joined ; but all the rest is entire, except a very small portion of the tip 
 of the nose, which has been well restored. The antient polish is 
 entire and unstained ; and the tint of the marble is of a beautiful 
 mellow white, verging towards a waxy tone. 
 
 In the absence of any accompanying symbols, our late associate. 
 Mr. Knight, has attributed to the figure the character of a Mercury; 
 though the antiquaries of Rome, from the resemblance of the statue to 
 another in the same collection with a boar's head by its side, have 
 assigned it to Meleager. 
 
 There is a general air of repose and lassitude in the gesture, with 
 which the gentle inclination of the head, and grave tranquillity of the 
 features correspond, and which is unlike the usual character of the 
 immortal and indefatigable messenger of Jove ; nor are the proportions 
 exactly those under which he is commonly personified. Still the 
 elevated and ideal expression of the head seem to denote a hero rather 
 
 YOI. II. u 
 
74 
 
 than a victor at the public games. Dignified repose, after successful 
 exertion, seems to us to be the idea which the artist has here so beau- 
 tifully embodied. 
 
PLATE XXXVIII. 
 
 The late Mr. Weddell procured this statue of Minerva from Mr. 
 Nollekens. It was brought by that artist from Rome : having suf- 
 fered in many parts from fractures and corrosion it has been much 
 restored, but we know not whether by Nollekens himself, or by some 
 Roman practitioner. The head, if not antient, is at least well imitated; 
 the nose, and tip of the helmet are slightly damaged ; it is also un- 
 usually small in proportion to the figure, and having been separated 
 from it, there is at least a doubt if it ever belonged to the original 
 composition. The neck, in more pieces than one, is much worse 
 in execution, and clearly modern, as are also the left arm from the 
 elbow, and the right, which has been broken, from the shoulder. 
 The beautiful figure and drapery have been exquisitely wrought, and 
 entitle it to a place in our selection. The edges of the folds, especially 
 those of the peplum, have been shattered by time or violence, and in 
 trying to work out the splintered parts the restorer has flattened some 
 of them, and given a heaviness to their appearance, which did not 
 belong to the original design. 
 
 The aegis on the breast is remarkable, being little more than a broad 
 leathern belt with curling edges or thongs in the form of snakes, and a 
 small head of the placid Medusa in the centre. The marble seems to 
 be Parian, or at least not of Italy, and the style that of the later period 
 of Greece. 
 
PLATE XXXIX. 
 
 This beautiful head formed part of the collection of the late Mr. 
 George Baldwin, many years Consul in jEgypt. 
 
 It has all the characters of the Ptolemaic school of Greek art, and, 
 except the tip of the nose, is in a perfect state of preservation. 
 
 The face is probably an idealized portrait of one of the ^Egyptian 
 or Syrian queens ; and, from the flattened crown of the head, and the 
 unfinished state of the hair and hinder part of the neck, we are inclined 
 to suppose that it originally bore a veil of thin metal, either gold or 
 gilt bronze, and that the female who is pourtrayed by it was repre- 
 sented, as is often seen on the medals of the Ptolemaic and Seleucian 
 dynasties, in the character of Juno or Venus. 
 
 No marks of corrosion are visible on the surface of the marble. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
PLATES XL and XLI. 
 
 This fine Greek bust also belonged to the late Mr. Baldwin, and 
 lias furnished a print and a description in the lithographic numbers 
 representing his museum ; the name of Cleopatra is, however, there 
 given to it erroneously, since a comparison with the medals of the 
 Ptolemaic dynasty will leave no doubt of its being the head of Arsinoe ; 
 and we may refer particularly, for establishing this point, to the tail- 
 piece to the present volume from the British Museum, which exhibits 
 a very close resemblance in the dress, as well as in the features : it is 
 to be observed that the whole back part of the head is wanting ; yet 
 that tiie deficiency is evidently not in consequence of any fracture, bat 
 was originally supplied by a separate piece fitted on, and closely 
 cemented: a reference to the medal seems at once to explain the 
 object of this contrivance ; a veil of the form and proportion there 
 given being precisely calculated to supply what is wanting in the 
 marble, and as there are sockets for the insertion of jewels in the tiara, 
 and for ear-rings in the ears, it is quite in accordance with the same 
 system of decoration, to suppose some more precious or differently 
 coloured substance (as oriental alabaster, or some of the African mar- 
 bles, or even metal) to have been made use of to represent the veil ; 
 such a practice not being repugnant to the taste of the best ages of 
 Grecian art, to which this work unquestionably belongs, and, although 
 found at Alexandria, has no admixture whatever of the ^Egyptian 
 
80 
 
 manner : the style of sculpture is broad and grand ; and the execution 
 of the face and throat remarkably fleshy : it is also in good condition, 
 and, like that given in the preceding plate, has no other part restored 
 excepting the tip of the nose. 
 
 It was purchased by the present proprietor at Mr. Baldwin's sale in 
 1828. 
 
PLATE XLH. 
 
 This colossal head of Hercules, which was presented to the British 
 Museum by the late Sir William Hamilton, has been already pub- 
 lished and illustrated in the first part of the description of the collec- 
 tion of antient marbles in that Institution. We have given a plate of 
 it ni this work, as it presents one of the best specimens which we 
 possess of the bold and grand character which the antients, in the 
 best time of the art, gave to their ideal Hercules ; in whom; more than 
 in any other subject of sculpture, the sublimity of the god was com- 
 bined with the vigour and endurance of man. 
 
 v 
 
1 
 
PLATE XLIII. 
 
 Montfaucon considered this statue to be that of Angerona, the 
 Roman goddess of silence ; but the work appears to us to be decidedly 
 Greek, and the head-dress is similar to those found on many Sicilian 
 coins of an early period : the figure is entire, and in perfect preser- 
 vation. Its attitude and expression induce us to consider it as a 
 representation of Mnemosyne. Pliny mentions a distinguished picture 
 of that goddess by Simonides, a Greek artist ; and it appears from a 
 passage in Athenaeus, II. 3, that she was commonly worshipped in con- 
 junction with the Muses ; but we do not recollect any account of the 
 form or symbols by which her characteristic attributes were expressed. 
 A statue of Mnemosyne is also mentioned by Pausanias, I. 2, together 
 with those of the Peeonian Minerva, Jupiter, the Muses, and Apollo, 
 in a shrine of Bacchus (/cknofisvoc, in one of the sToai near the Cera- 
 micus, where the Athenians were initiated in the minor mysteries of 
 Ceres and Dionysus. 
 
PLATE XLIV. 
 
 It might at first sight appear difficult to decide whether to give to 
 this head the name of Perseus or Minerva. The helmet in the form 
 of a Medusa mask is equally applicable to either ; and the features of 
 Perseus have always something in them rather bordering on the femi- 
 nine form, as those also of the daughter of Jove partake of the mas- 
 culine. But the light and fluttering hair, and an indication of the 
 petasus on the right side of the head, induce us to regard it as a Perseus ; 
 and an unique medal of jEgse in Cilicia, belonging to the collection 
 ol Dr. Hunter, and now in the Glasgow Museum, (Nummi vett. 
 1782 Tab. 3. IX.) presents on the reverse a head with the Medusa 
 mask similarly placed, though with the additional symbol of a bird's 
 head on the top of it, and a harpa at the back. This last symbol is 
 decidedly indicative of the head on the medal being intended for that 
 of Perseus, whilst the obverse of the same coin presents a galeated 
 head of Minerva, with the inscription AJrEAlQN. 
 
 The monument here represented seems to have formed part of an 
 alto-rilievo on a disk of about ten inches in diameter, perhaps the 
 umbo of a votive shield. 
 
 It is of very elegant Greek workmanship ; and having been found 
 in Rome towards the end of the last century, was for many years in 
 the possession of Canova, who gave it to its present proprietor, in tes- 
 timony of his regard, and as the best specimen of Greek art which had 
 been found m Rome during his time. 
 
 VOL. II. Z 
 
Plate XLf 
 
PLATE XLV. 
 
 We have deemed it necessary to give a better and more perfect 
 representation of this fine statue, after the strictures with which we 
 thought it our duty to accompany the plate of the same subject in our 
 former volume. The excellence of the original well entitles it to the 
 most accurate delineation which we have been able to procure ; and 
 from the rarity of such compositions we wish to call to it the atten- 
 tion of the public. It represents the Apollo Citharaedus, the god 
 of the lyre, and patron of the muses ; and in this character especially 
 we find that he was commonly exhibited with long and flowing dra- 
 pery. Statues of this class were far less numerous than those which 
 represent the same deity as a naked youth, with more or less of the 
 androgynous character of the Didymaean worship. One of the earliest 
 is perhaps that of bronze, which Pliny mentions as the work of Pytha- 
 goras of Leontium, who was the successful rival of Myron, and who, 
 according to the historian, first expressed in adequate execution the 
 veins sinews and hair of his figures, which Myron had neglected. 
 This statue, which was erected at Thebes, obtained, as he informs us, 
 lor the god the surname of Dicaeus, or the just ; a fugitive citizen 
 having, during the pillage of that city by Alexander's soldiers, con- 
 cealed his treasure in the bosom of Apollo's robe, where it was 
 faithfully preserved during the plunder of his neighbours. Pliny, 
 lib. xxxiv. s. 8. 
 
88 
 
 A marble statue in the portico of Octavia at Rome represented the 
 same subject. It was the work of Timarchides, who flourished about 
 the 155th Olympiad. 
 
 Our statue was brought to England from that city by the late Earl 
 of Egremont. 
 
PLATE XL VI. 
 
 The resemblance of the bust given in this plate to the well known 
 medals of Augustus is so remarkable, that we have had no hesitation 
 in giving to it the same appellation which it has always borne since it 
 was found near Canopus in vEgypt about 1780, when it came into 
 the possession of the late Mr. Baldwin. The form of the head, the 
 growth and disposition of the hair, and the long slender throat, are 
 particularly observable among the peculiarities which authenticate the 
 portrait ; as a work of art, it lias an appearance of hardness, and 
 almost stiffness of character arising from the exquisite finish bestowed 
 upon it, and from the high polish given to the surface, which no softer 
 substance would have received. It is a hard and compact basalt, of 
 an uniform dark-green colour, rarely employed in Greek or Roman 
 sculpture ; and no other specimen we believe of an antique portrait- 
 bust in the same material is now known to exist : it is in a high state 
 of preservation, no portion of the face has been injured or restored, 
 and the only deficiencies throughout are a small fracture upon the top 
 of each ear, and the corners broken away from the chest, where it was 
 brought square to the pedestal or term. These have been made good 
 in plaster. 
 
 vol. n. 
 
PLATE XLVII. 
 
 This bust of the placid Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and 
 patroness of science and literature, is of an excellent quality of art, 
 though evidently of the Roman school, under the Caesars. Without 
 the grandeur of the older Grecian style, it is exquisitely finished : and 
 such is the delicacy of expression in the almost living lips, that no 
 engraver could adequately pourtray it. The eyes are of silver, as is 
 usual in highly wrought works of this size; and the features and 
 surface, which are perfectly preserved, are soft and fleshy, to a degree 
 that is surprizing in such a hard material. It has been the ornament 
 of some sacred table, on which similar small busts of deities were 
 placed, and one of these tables is preserved entire in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 The rams's heads on the vizor of the helmet are, we believe, unex- 
 ampled on any other head of Minerva, and refer probably to some 
 peculiarity in the local worship of the goddess in the place where the 
 bust was dedicated. The lacinije of the goatskin, the original deco- 
 ration of the aegis of Minerva, which was afterwards replaced by a 
 fringe of serpents, are here represented : and on the surface of the 
 goatskin, scales or plates of metal are fixed to defend the breast ; the 
 head of Medusa unites it on the bosom. 
 
PLATE XLVIII. 
 
 This elegant little statue of Minerva may be regarded as one of the 
 Lares or household divinities of the Romans. From its graceful 
 composition, the disposition of the drapery, the delicacy of its forms, 
 and its careful execution, it might be ranked with the productions of 
 the school of Lysippus ; there are however some peculiarities in 
 the treatment, which indicate a later age, and which induce us to 
 consider it as the work of some Grecian sculptor of the Augustan 
 period. 
 
 The eyes, in imitation of the practice of earlier times, were of 
 silver, and some remains of them still exist. The goddess is clothed 
 in a long tunic and pallium, with the aegis over her breast and shoulders ; 
 her right arm is extended, and the hand is open, as if holding a patera ; 
 but no indications of such an accessory are now perceptible. The 
 left hand evidently supported a spear. The pedestal is antient, and 
 the whole is in good preservation. 
 
 VOL. 11. 
 
 B B 
 
PLATE XLIX. 
 
 The loose neglected hair, growing over the forehead, and the 
 ferocious, yet majestic melancholy, expressed in the countenance of 
 this fine portrait, induce us to believe, that it was that of some bar- 
 barian Chieftain or King, who was a captive at Rome. We might 
 conjecture it to be Decebaius the Dacian, who graced the triumph of 
 Trajan, or Arminius the German patriot, who defeated Varus, and 
 yielded only to Germanicus ; but the monuments of Rome prove that 
 the Dacians wore their beards at full length ; and from Tacitus, we learn 
 that it was a religious observance of the young Germans to allow the 
 beard and hair to grow until they had slain an enemy, when their 
 vow being accomplished, the beard was shorn, the hair partly cut off', 
 and the rest tied up in a knot." The Gauls wore their hair over the 
 forehead in the manner of this portrait; but the custom of the British, 
 according to Caesar, was more precisely that which is here indicated, 
 " CapiUo sunt promisso, atque omni parte corporis rasa, prater caput 
 et labrum superius." Possibly therefore we have here a head of 
 Caractacus; lor Tacitus has attested the high esteem, in which the 
 character of Caractacus was held by the Romans,' as well as the 
 triumphal honours which Octavius Scapula received, when the British 
 prince was conducted to Rome." 
 
 ' Tacit, de Mor. Germ. 31. 
 
 • No Romse quidem ignobile Caractaci nomen erat. Et Cresar, dum suum decus extollit, 
 addidit gloriam victo. Tacit. Annal. XII. 36. 
 
 ■ Neque minus id clarmn, quam cum Syphacem P. Scipio, Peisen L. Paullus, et si qui alii 
 vinctos reges populo Romano ostendere. Tacit Annal. XII. 38. 
 
PLATE L. 
 
 An account and explanation of this symbolical composition of 
 Bacchus and Ampelus, are given in Sect. 106 of Mr. Knight's Inquiry 
 into the Symbolical Language of Antient Art and Mythology which 
 had been prepared as a Preliminary Dissertation to this Volume. It 
 only remains to be observed, that though the head is unquestionably 
 its own, part of the neck, and the right arm have been restored; 
 that the rest, except some of the fingers, is entire and well preserved : 
 and that the style of the sculpture is admirably adapted to the sub- 
 ject; the androgynous character being equally preserved throughout in 
 body limb and feature ; the proportions are most elegant ; the attitude 
 and gesture, natural, easy, and graceful. The propriety of the 
 restoration of the arm may be a matter of doubt ; for we have not seen 
 any similar composition in gem, coin, small brass, or painted vase ; 
 the only true sources for the restoration of mutilated marbles. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
f 
 
PLATE LI. 
 
 The subject of this fine group of Apollo and Hyacinthus is well 
 known from the story in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. [1.x. 162, &c.) 
 The hand of Hyacinthus holding the quoit, being antient, precludes 
 all doubt concerning it. The arms of the Apollo are restored ; the 
 right from the shoulder, and the left from the elbow : a part of the 
 nose also is modern, as well as some connecting pieces, which have 
 been inserted in the left leg, and also in the arms of Hyacinthus ; but 
 all the rest is well preserved; the heads have never been broken 
 ofl ; the composition is of heroic size, and of the highest merit : the 
 mixture of ease grace and dignity in the attitude, and of majesty and 
 anxiety for the impending fate of his favourite, in the countenance of 
 Apollo, are exquisitely expressed, and were the perpetual theme of 
 admiration of Canova, while the group remained in Rome. 
 
 This monument was found in the excavations made in Hadrian's 
 Villa near Tivoli, from which circumstance, combined with the 
 peculiarities of the style of sculpture, and the character of the head 
 of the principal statue, which bears more resemblance to the Apollo 
 Belvedere, than to the earlier heads of that deity, represented on the 
 antient coins of Greece, we are inclined to consider it as a work 
 executed for that Imperial patron of the fine arts. 
 
1 
 
PLATE ML 
 
 We recognize in the well known features of this beautiful head 
 the portrait often repeated of the celebrated favourite of Hadrian, in 
 whose villa it was found, as well as the group last described. The 
 statues of Antinous are valuable, not only for their intrinsic beauty, 
 but because we are certain of the period when they were executed ; 
 they thus enable us to ascertain the style which prevailed at the time, 
 and to trace it in other statues, whose age without such information, 
 might seem disputable. However beautiful, it was a borrowed and 
 imitative style, depending more on the softness and flowing smooth- 
 ness of the detail, than on the spirit of the design, or the characteristic 
 energy of execution. The artists possessed sufficient skill for the 
 occasional and happy imitation of more perfect models ; but this was 
 accompanied by a more studied display of technical grace, than was 
 consistent with the unconstrained variety and simplicity of nature. 
 There is, we think, something of affected elegance, and of precise 
 but timid execution, in the works of this period, from which even 
 this successful specimen is not entirely exempt. 
 
 VUL. D. 
 
PLATE LIII. 
 
 As the lower parts of the arms, with the hands holding the symbols 
 in the male figure, and also the hands o( the female, have been restored 
 in this fine group, it is difficult to ascertain precisely the subject, any 
 further than that the male is decidedly Bacchus. The female, on 
 whom his left arm rests, is supposed, by Viscouti, on the authority 
 of some Roman medals, to represent Hope : but the composition is 
 in a much earlier style than that of the Bacchus, and seems to have 
 been borrowed from some other statue, anterior to the representation 
 of any such personified abstraction as Hope, whose conjunction with 
 Bacchus, though an allegory prevalent under the Roman Emperors, 
 was little known to the Greeks. We are more disposed therefore to 
 believe, that the supporting figure is from a very antient statue of Ceres, 
 characterized perhaps, by a lotus flower, poppy, or ears of corn in the 
 right hand. The composition and execution of the whole are excel- 
 lent. We have given a fair and correct representation of the group, 
 with an indication of the modern restorations ; and have only to 
 observe that, the two figures being of one piece of marble, there can 
 be no doubt concerning their original union in one composition ; that 
 though the head has been broken off, and some fractures in the neck, 
 as well as in the nose and upper hp restored, it is unquestionably 
 genuine, and that till separated by violence, it was of one piece with 
 the rest. 
 
PLATE LIV. 
 
 It is uncertain where this statue, which now graces the collection 
 at Holkham, was discovered ; but from the similarity of its style and 
 treatment to those of several female statues of the same character, 
 which are undisputed productions of the age of Hadrian, we may 
 without hesitation attribute it to that epoch ; it was perhaps one of 
 those numerous works which adorned the villa of that Emperor. 
 
 The figure is habited in a loose tunic of fine drapery, which, from 
 its damp appearance, is calculated to display the beautiful forms 
 beneath. The head is of an agreeable character, but without any 
 such distinctive peculiarities as may lead us to consider that it was 
 the sculptor's intention to convey more than the idea of a Nymph, or 
 some personage of that character. 
 
 The whole is of excellent workmanship and entire, with the 
 exception of the right hand and the hydria or vase in the left, which 
 were restored by Cavaceppi. 
 
PLATE LV. 
 
 This figure of a Paniscus, Faun, or Satyr, of the size of small life, 
 is entire, except the ridge of the nose, some connecting pieces in the 
 legs, of no importance, and the right arm with the pedum, which has 
 been restored from a little below the shoulder, in a manner probably 
 very different from the original ; as it places in his hand the pedum, 
 which was the staff of Pan himself. The antient surface remains 
 unbroken and unstained, so as to exhibit the sculpture, which is very 
 good, in the state in which it came from the hands of the artist ; a 
 rare and inestimable merit: for in a stattie, as in a picture, the last 
 touches express the taste and feeling of the master; but when the 
 surface has been corroded, and the polish scoured, all these delicacies 
 of art, which distinguished the original from the copy, are obliterated 
 and lost. 
 
PLATE LVI. 
 
 This statue representing most probably a Roman Emperor in the 
 habit of Pontifex Maximus, from its style and execution, and from the 
 peculiarities of its costume, may be presumed to belong to the second 
 century of our aera. 
 
 The head which is perfect, and has never been separated from the 
 trunk, bears a strong resemblance to the portraits of Marcus Aurelius. 
 The right arm is restored from two inches above the elbow, as is also 
 the left arm from about the same distance below it. The right leg is 
 also restored about two inches below the tunic, the left about four 
 inches from the same. 
 
PLATE LVII. 
 
 We do not publish these two busts, one of a female Faun, and the 
 other of Mercury, as exquisite specimens of antient art, but as curious 
 combinations of distinct symbols : that of the Faun being placed in the 
 flower of the lotus, and the head of the Mercury having the mixed 
 character of Bacchus, and the wreath of ivy, in addition to its own 
 winged petasus. Both are of good Roman sculpture. Of the Faun, 
 the eyes, teeth and characteristic dewlaps, are in silver. The goat's 
 ears and thick shaggy goat-like hair are in perfect preservation ; the 
 Mercury or Bacchus has silver eyes, and lips that have been enamelled. 
 The pedestals are modern. 
 
 Combinations of various symbolical attributes in one figure were 
 frequently produced by the later Greek artists, who flourished in the 
 time of the Roman empire. The Pantheistic statues are all of this 
 period ; and in Herculaneum and Pompeii many specimens have been 
 discovered of small bronzes with complicated symbols, like those here 
 brought together. 
 
 Loops on the head of each of these busts indicate their having been 
 designed for weights. 
 
PLATE LVIII. 
 
 The original of this small bronze statue of Ceres, with a cow on her 
 lap, forms one of the numerous remains of antient art collected by 
 Horace Earl of Orford, at Strawberry Hill. The goddess holds a 
 patera with ears of corn in her right hand, and a cup or vase in her 
 left. The silver eyes are still preserved, and give a stern fixed 
 expression to the countenance. As a specimen of art this bronze is 
 not of great merit ; but the combination of the animal with Ceres is 
 not frequent: and it had been selected for this work by the late 
 Mr. Knight, who treats of it at large in Sect. 36, of his inquiry into 
 the symbolical language of antient art and mythology. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
INQUIRY 
 
 THE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE 
 
 ANCIENT ART AND MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 R. P. KNIGHT. 
 
The following Essay was written by the learned author for the purpose of being published as the 
 Preliminary Dissertation to the present volume; but circumstances having occurred to prevent the 
 publication of the volume till a period much later than was originally contemplated, the author judged 
 it expedient to print bis views on the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology for the 
 information of a select circle of his private friends : a few years afterwards he was induced to allow of 
 its being reprinted in four or live successive numbers of the Classical Journal ; and the Society of 
 Dilettanti has from that period ceased to consider the Essay as especially belonging to the work for 
 which it was originally written : and that which appears at the head of this volume has been substituted 
 for it. 
 
 Whilst however this volume has been going through the press, the Society have received from 
 various quarters suggestions that it might be advisable to revise their decision on this subject; and it 
 has been finally resolved that the Essay, in the same form in which it first appeared from the hands 
 of the author, should be reprinted as a part of the present work. 
 
 In taking this step they think it but due to the memory of this distinguished member of their 
 Societv. to state their conviction that if his life bad been longer spared to the learned world, and be had 
 possessed the advantage of seeing the various ancient monuments in bronze, in terra cotta vases and 
 even in medals which have been brought to light within the last ten years, he would probably have 
 found reason to modify many of the opinions contained in these pages. But however imperfect in 
 this respect the Essay may appear to many of its readers, it is acknowledged by all who have had 
 access to it, to contain so much erudition, and such strong proofs of the author's deep and recondite 
 knowledge of the philosophy and mythology of Greece, that it well deserves a place which will ensure 
 to it a permanent existence in the best public and private libraries of this country and of the 
 Continent, and thus make it accessible to all who may wish to consult it. 
 
 As frequent references are made in the notes appended to this Essay to coins or other remains of 
 antiquity in the author's cabinet, it is important that the reader should be aware that all these objects 
 are now in the British Museum, to which establishment they were bequeathed by the will of 
 Mr. R. P. Knight. 
 
AN 
 
 INQUIRY 
 
 INTO 
 
 THE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE 
 
 OF 
 
 ANCIENT ART AND MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 BY 
 
 R. P. KNIGHT, 
 
 1818. 
 
 REPRINTED BY 
 
 THE SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. SICOl, FALL MALI., 
 FOR PAYNE AND FOSS. 
 1835. 
 
AN INQUIRY, 
 
 L As all the most interesting and important subjects of ancient art are taken from the religious 
 or poetical mythology of the times ; a general analysis of the principles and progress of that 
 mythology will afford a more complete, as well as more concise, explanation of particular monu- 
 mentsi than can be conveyed in separate dissertations annexed to each. 
 
 2. The primitive religion of the Greeks, like that of all other nations not enlightened by Revelation, 
 appears to have been elementary; and to have consisted in an indistinct worship of the sun, the 
 moon, the stars, the earth, and the waters, 1 or rather to the spirits supposed to preside over those 
 bodies, and to direct their motions and regulate their modes of existence. Every river, spring, or 
 mountain, had its local genius or peculiar deity ; and as men naturally endeavour to obtain the 
 favor of their gods, by such means as they feel best adapted to win their own, the first worship 
 consisted in offering to them certain portions of whatever they held to be most valuable. At. the 
 same time that the regular motions of the heavenly bodies, the stated returns of summer and winter, 
 of day and night, with all the admirable order of the universe, taught them to believe in the existence 
 and agency of such superior powers ; the irregular and destructive efforts of nature, such as lightning 
 and tempests, inundations and earthquakes, persuaded them that these mighty beings had passions 
 and affections similar to their own, and only differed in possessing greater strength, power, and 
 intelligence. 
 
 3. In every stage of society men naturally love the marvellous ; but in the early stages, a certain 
 portion of it is absolutely necessary to make any narration sufficiently interesting to attract attention, 
 or obtain an audience : whence the actions of gods are intermixed with those of men in the earliest 
 traditions or histories of all nations ; and poetical fable occupied the place of historical truth in their 
 accounts of the transactions of war and policy, as well as in those of the revolutions of nature and 
 origin of things. Each had produced some renowned warriors, whose mighty achievements had been 
 assisted by the favor, or obstructed by the anger of the gods ; and each had some popular tales 
 concerning the means by which those gods had constructed the universe, and the principles upon 
 which they continued to govern it: whence the Greeks and Romans found a Hercules in every 
 country which they visited, as well as in their own ; and the adventures of some such hero supply the 
 first materials for history, as a cosmogony or theogony exhibits the first system of philosophv, in 
 every nation. 
 
 4. As the maintenance of order and subordination among men required the authority of a supreme 
 magistrate, the continuation and general predominance of order and regularity in the universe would 
 naturally suggest the idea of a supreme God, to whose sovereign control all the rest were subject ; 
 and this ineffable personage the primitive Greeks appear to have called by a name expressive of the 
 sentiment, which the contemplation of his great characteristic attribute naturally inspired, Zevq, 
 
 1 *oivo>rrai fiot al nyiwroi rwv avBpuwatv nuv ittp, rnv 'EAAaSa tovtqvs povovQ tftouc nyuaQm, ov^ip wv koWoi tu,v fiapfiapmv, 
 ftAiaV) km mXqi>qt>, koi ym», KUi uar/iu, Km ovpavox: Platan, in Cratyl, 
 
2 
 
 Acevc, or Deus, signifying, according to the most probable etymology, reverential fear or awe.* 
 Their poets, however, soon debased his dignity, and made him the subject of as many wild and 
 extravagant fables, as any of his subject progeny ; which fables became a part of their religion, 
 though never seriously believed by any but the lowest of the vulgar. 
 
 5. Such appear to be the general principles and outlines of the popular faith, not only among the 
 Greeks, but among all other primitive nations, not favored by the lights of Revelation : for though 
 the superiority and subsequent universality of the Greek language, and the more exalted genius and 
 refined taste of the early Greek poets, have preserved the knowledge of their sacred mythology more 
 entire ; we find traces of the same simple principles and fanciful superstructures, from the shores of 
 the Baltic to the banks of the Ganges : and there can be little doubt, that the voluminous poetical 
 cosmogonies still extant among the Hindoos, and the fragments preserved of those of the Scandi- 
 navians, may afford us very competent ideas of the style and subjects of those ponderous compilations 
 in verse, which constituted the mystic lore of the ancient priests of Persia, 3 Germany, 1 Spain, 5 Gaul, 
 and Britain j and which in the two latter countries were so extensive, that the education of a Druid 
 sometimes required twenty years. e From the specimens above mentioned, we may, nevertheless, 
 easily console ourselves for the loss of all of them, as poetical compositions ; whatever might have 
 been their value in other respects. 
 
 6. But besides this vulgar religion, or popular mythology, there existed, in the more civilized 
 countries of Greece, Asia, and Egypt, a secret or mystic system, preserved, generally by an hereditary 
 priesthood, in temples of long-established sanctity ; and only revealed, under the most solemn vows 
 of secrecy, to persons who had previously proved themselves to be worthy of the important trust. 
 Such were the mysteries of Eleusis, in Attica; which being so near to the most polished, powerful, 
 and learned city of Greece, became more celebrated and more known than any others ; and are, 
 therefore, the most proper for a particular investigation, which may lead to a general knowledge of all. 
 
 7. These mysteries were under the guardianship of Ceres and Proserpine ; and were called teXetui, 
 endings or finishes; because no person could be perfect that had not been initiated, either into them, 
 or some others. They were divided into two stages or degrees; the first or lesser of which was a 
 kind of holy purification, to prepare the mind for the divine truths, which were to be revealed to it 
 in the second or greater.' From one to five years of probation were required between them ; and at 
 the end of it, the initiate, on being found worthy, was admitted into the inmost recesses of the 
 temple, and made acquainted with the first principles of religion ; 3 the knoivledge of the God of 
 nature; the first, the supreme, the intellectual;' 3 by which men had been reclaimed from rudeness and 
 barbarism, to elegance and refinement; and been taught not only to live with more comfort, but to die 
 with belter hopes. 1 " 
 
 8. When Greece lost her liberty, the periods of probation were dispensed with in favor of her 
 acknowledged sovereigns : 11 but, nevertheless, so sacred and awful was this subject, that even in the 
 lowest stage of her servitude and depression, the Emperor Nero did not dare to compel the priests 
 to initiate him, on account of the murder of his mother. 12 To divulge any thing thus learnt was 
 
 1 ITopa rim St urn Anic \tyirat (!, Ziuc). Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. 2. 
 
 The letter Z was, as is well known, no other than AS, or SA, expressed by one character; and in the refinement of the 
 language, and variation of dialects, the S was frequently dropped, as appears from the very ancient medals of Zancle, in Sicily, 
 inscribed AANKAE. 
 
 In the genuine parts of the Iliad and Odjssey, there is nn instance of u vowel rontinuing short before AEOS, AEINOS, 
 AEIAQ. &Cf so that the initial was originally a double consonant, probably AS; which at first became AA, and afterwards A, 
 though the metre of the ol.l bards has preserved the double time in the utterance. 
 
 ! Vicics centum millia versuum a Zoroastre condita. HermippUi upud PUn. lib. xxx. c. I. 
 
 * Celebrant (Gcrmani) carminihus antiquis, quod unum anud illos inemoria- et anna] i tun genus, Tuistonem dcum terra editum 
 et fiUum Mannum originem gentis ronditoresque. Tacit, de M. G. c. 2. 
 
 5 Tnc n-nAninc fii'ij/iiic ixouai (tov P $ov\oi) tu avyypa/i^aTa nai iroojuarn, km vofiovQ tppiTpov$ ^a KI <T X iXnuir itiov, (Lc $atn. Strab. 
 lib. iii. p. 139. 
 
 6 Magnum ibi numerum versuum ediscere dicuntur: itaqoe nonnulli annos vicenos in disciplina permanent; neque fas esse 
 existimant ea litteris man dare. Cass, de B. G. Jib. ri. 
 
 * Muimpta St giro TtWol tov mtmVO, Av^lTpt KM Kopy, ra pUKpa km ra ptyaXa. km tart tu fuxpa wmrip irpoKaBapmc km 
 itptitryvtvatq tiov ptyaXwv. Scholiast, in Aristoph. 
 
 ' Salmas. not. in /El. Spartan. Hist. p. 1 1G. IYIeurs. Eleusin. c. viii. &c. 
 
 * uiv TfAoc tmiv i'i rou wpwrtiv, tttu Kvptou, km voip-oii yvuiaiQ. Plutarch de Is. et Osir. 
 
 10 Mihi cum multa eximia divinaque videntur Athena? tute peperisse— rum nihil melius illis mysteriis, quibus ex agresti 
 immanique vita exculti, ad humanitatem mitigatt sumus : iuitiaque, ut appellantur, ita revera principia vita: cognovimus : neque 
 unlum cum Irctitia vivendi rationem accepimus, sed etiam cum spe meliori moriendi. Ciceron. de Leg. 1. i. c. 24. 
 
 km pnv a tiov nAXtLiv okolhc, o! Truflouot woAAouc, Aeyoirtc ouStv ouSauT, t v SiaXvBtvri kokov, ovSt Aurrupou iimv, atSa in Kutam 
 at mammy 6 lrarptar: Xoyoc, Km to pvtrrtKa rrupjioXn tiov ivtpt rov Atovvoov opyiaapiov, a avviapiv aXAijAoic n't koiviovovvtis. Plutarch, 
 de Consol. " Plutarch, in Demetr. " Sueton. in Neron. c. 34. 
 
3 
 
 everywhere considered as the extreme of wickedness and impiety; and at Athens was punished with 
 death ; 13 on which account Alcibiades was condemned, together with many other illustrious citizens, 
 whose loss contributed greatly to the ruin of that republic, and the subversion of its empire." 
 
 9. Hence it is extremely difficult to obtain any accurate information concerning any of the mystic 
 doctrines : all the early writers turning away from the mention of them with a sort of religious 
 horror ; lj and those of later times, who have pretended to explain them, being to be read with much 
 caution ; as their assertions are generally founded on conjecture, and oftentimes warped by prej udices 
 in favor of their own particular systems and opinions in religion and philosophy. Little more direct 
 information is, indeed, to be obtained from ancient writers, than that contained in the above cited 
 passages ; from which we only learn that more pure, exalted, and philosophical doctrines concerning 
 the nature of the Deity, and the future state of man, were taught, than those which were derived 
 from the popular religion. 
 
 10. From other passages, however, we learn that these doctrines were conveyed under allegories 
 and symbols ; u and that the completely initiated were called inspectors whence we may reasonably 
 infer that the last stage of initiation consisted in an explanation and exposition of those allegorical 
 tales and symbolical forms, under which they were veiled. " All that can be said concerning the 
 gods," says Strabo, " must be by the exposition of old opinions and fables; it being the custom of 
 the ancients to wrap up in enigma and fable their thoughts and discourses concerning nature ; which 
 are not therefore easily explained." 1 " " In all initiations and mysteries," says Proclus, " the gods 
 exhibit themselves under many forms, and with a frequent change of shape ; sometimes as light, 
 defined to no particular figure ; sometimes in a human form ; and sometimes in that of some other 
 creature."" The wars of the Giants and Titans ; the battle of the Python against Apollo ; the flight 
 of Bacchus, and wandering of Ceres, are ranked, by Plutarch, with the ^Egyptian tales concerning 
 Osiris and Typhon, as having the same meaning as the other modes of concealment employed in the 
 mystic religion. 2 " 
 
 11. The remote antiquity of this mode of conveying knowledge by symbols, and its long-established 
 appropriation to religious subjects, had given it a character of sanctity unknown to any other mode 
 of writing; and it seems to have been a very generally received opinion, among the more discreet 
 Heathens, that divine truth was better adapted to the weakness of human intellect, when veiled under 
 symbols, and wrapt in fable and enigma, than when exhibited in the undisguised simplicity of 
 genuine wisdom, or pure philosophy. 21 
 
 12. The art of conveying ideas to the sight has passed through four different stages in its progress 
 to perfection. In the first, the objects and events meant to be signified, were simply represented: 
 in the second, some particular characteristic quality of the individual was employed to express a 
 general quality or abstract idea ; as a horse for swiftness, a dog for vigilance, or a hare for fecundity; 
 in the third, signs of convention were contrived to represent ideas ; as is now practised by the 
 Chinese : and, in the fourth, similar signs of convention were adopted to represent the different 
 modifications of tone in the voice ; and its various divisions, by articulation, into distinct portions or 
 syllables. This is what we call alphabetic writing ; which is much more clear and simple than any 
 other; the modifications of tone by the organs of the mouth, being much less various, and more 
 distinct, than the modifications of ideas by the operations of the mind. The second, however, 
 which, from its use among the ^Egyptians, has been denominated the hieroglyphical mode of writing, 
 was every where employed to convey or conceal the dogmas of religion ; and we shall find that the 
 
 11 Andocid. orat. de myst. Sam. Petit, in leg. Attic, p. 33. " Thucyd. lib. vi. 60. 61. viii. 45. 46, &c. 
 
 ls T* aXXa jisv tvarofia kkctSui, kuQ' Hpncorov, fori yap pvtrriKioTipa. Plutarch. Symp, 1. ii. <]. 3. 
 
 /Esehylus narrowly escaped lieing torn to pieces on the stage for bringing out something supposed to be mystic ; and saved 
 himself hy proving that he bad never been initiated. Clem. Ales. Strom, ii. Aristot. Nicom. Eth. 1. iii. c. 1. 
 
 16 Optjuxoi Sto aiipfioXuiv, TlvBayopuoi Sia unovuiv ra Btia fqWHt (ftquvot. Prod, in Thcol. Plat. I. i. c. 4. 
 
 ho koi ra pvarripia iv aXXnyopiaic Xiynat 7rpoi; n.Tr\i|£ii; Km •ppiwtjv, luoirfp I* anoriy m ItNcn. Demetr. Pbaler. de 
 
 Eloc. s. 100. 
 
 17 Eiroirrai. All that is left in ancient authors concerning the ceremonies of initiation, txc. has been diligently collected and 
 arranged hy Meursius in his Eleusinia. 
 
 18 Ilac o" 6 irtpt riuii diuiv Xuyw; ap\aiai; iEetu£(i C<iK"C kui pvBum;, aivirroitivwv TO)v TraXmuiv, «c ti\ou (I'voiac ip ucriKac; -mpi tiuv 
 ■npayptnhiv, nat TrpotmOitTbiv ait roif Xo-yoic row pvOiw' ottoith fttV aw ra aiviypara Xvnv anpifiuic, nu pn?t<n: lib. x. p. 474. 
 
 ls Eu fnraat yap tovtou; ai 0foi 7roXXnc ptv lavruiv -npoTiwauai pofiijmi;, itoXXh ?E rr\}ifiiiTa ctiiXXitTrovTtt; tpaivavrai' Kin Tort fttv 
 aTVTTuirav avrtiiv it/)oJ3e/3Xi[7-<u ^iuCi tote Si lie avOphiirov papiprjv fo\ijfia7-i<rjin'Oi' I Ton St tic aXXnmi; iwn' 7TpotXj|Xnr)i)C. Eic tijv 
 TTohr. nXar. p. 380. 
 
 ™ Ta yap lYyaiiTiKii nai Tirnmna —up 'KAX>|Tf i' iiSopti'd, k«i Kjidi'uii rui-ir ut)ia/i<n wpti^nr, mh l]v6iuvoc ai'Tira^ei^ irpni; AmAXwvn, 
 •f-vyai Tt Aioi/uoou KM irAavm ADpippoi;, ovStv a7roXji7roum raw OaipittKtov KBi TvfWtWV, aXXwv ti, Jiw TOtn* tttaiiv aviSqv p.u9a- 
 Xoyovpivwv (UKJVUV" liaa ti fiuariKiiic i(fJO(C 7r£piKaXu7rr(i/in»a kui TiXfTtiit:, apptp-a ciarrwfrrai kui nflfara 7r/)OC Tone iroXXout;, 6/ioiov 
 <X« \oyov. Plutarch, de Is. ct Osir. 51 Maxim. Tyr. Dissert, x. s. 4, 
 
4 
 
 same symbols were employed to express the same ideas in almost every country of the northern 
 hemisphere. 
 
 13. In examining these symbols in the remains of ancient art, which have escaped the barbarism 
 and bigotry of the middle ages, we may sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between those 
 compositions which are mere efforts of taste and fancy, and those which were emblems of what were 
 thought divine truths : but, nevertheless, this difficulty is not so great, as it, at first view, appears to 
 be : for there is such an obvious analogy and connection between the different emblematical 
 monuments, not only of the same, but of different and remote countries, that, when properly 
 arranged, and brought under one point of view, they, in a great degree, explain themselves by 
 mutually explaining each other. There is one class, too, the most numerous and important of all, 
 which must have been designed and executed under the sanction of public authority ; and therefore 
 whatever meaning they contain, must have been the meaning of nations, and not the caprice of 
 individuals. 
 
 14. This is the class of coins, the devices upon which were always held so strictly sacred, that the 
 most proud and powerful monarchs never ventured to put their portraits upon them until the 
 practice of deifying sovereigns had enrolled them among the gods. Neither the kings of Persia, 
 Macedonia, or Epirus, nor even the tyrants of Sicily ever took this liberty; the first portraits, that 
 we find upon money, being those of the Egyptian and Syrian dynasties of Macedonian princes, 
 whom the flattery of their subjects had raised to divine honours. The artists had indeed before 
 found a way of gratifying the vanity of their patrons without offending their piety, which was by 
 mixing their features with those of the deity, whose image was to be impressed; an artifice which 
 seems to have been practised in the coins of several of the Macedonian kings, previous to the 
 custom of putting their portraits upon them. ? " 
 
 15. It is, in a great degree, owing to the sanctity of the devices that such numbers of very ancient 
 coins have been preserved fresh and entire: for it was owing to this that they were put into tombs, 
 with vases and other sacred symbols, and not, as Lucian has ludicrously supposed, that the dead 
 might have the means of paying for their passage over the Styx : the whole fiction of Charon and 
 his boat being of late date, and posterior to many tombs, in which coins have been found. 
 
 16. The first species of money that was circulated by tale, and not by weight, of which we have 
 any account, consisted of spikes, or small obelisks of brass or iron ; which were, as we shall show, 
 symbols of great sanctity and high antiquity. Six of them being as many as the hand could 
 conveniently grasp, the words obolus and drachma, signifying .spike and handful, continued, after 
 the invention of coining, to be employed in expressing the respective value of two pieces of money, 
 the one of which was worth six of the other. 23 In Greece and Macedonia, and, probably, wherever 
 the Macedonians extended their conquests, the numerary division seems to have regulated the scale 
 of coinage ; but, in Sicily and Italy, the mode of reckoning by weight, or according to the lesser 
 talent and its subdivisions," 4 universally prevailed. Which mode was in use among the Asiatic 
 colonies, prior to their subjection to the Athenians or Macedonians, or which is the most ancient, 
 we have not been able to discover. Probably, however, it was that by weight, the only one which 
 appears to have been known to the Homeric Greeks; the other may have been introduced by the 
 Dorians. 
 
 If. By opening the tombs, which the ancients held sacred, and exploring the foundations of 
 ruined cities, where money was concealed, modern cabinets have been enriched with more complete 
 series of coins than could have been collected in any period of antiquity. We can thus bring 
 under one point of view the whole progress of the art from its infancy to its decline, and compare 
 the various religious symbols which have been employed in ages and countries remote from each 
 other. These symbols have the great advantage over those preserved in other branches of sculpture, 
 that they have never been mutilated or restored ; and also that they exhibit two compositions 
 together, one on each side of the coin, which mutually serve to explain each other, and thus enable 
 us to read the symbolical or mystical writing with more certainty than we are enabled to do in any 
 other monuments. It is principally, therefore, under their guidance that we shall endeavour to 
 
 H See those of Archelaus, Amyntas, Alexander II. Perdiccas, Philip, Alexander the Great, Philip Aridreus, and Seleucus I. 
 in all which the different characters and features, respectively given to the different heads of Hercules, seem meant to express 
 those of the respective princes. For the frequency of this practice in private families among the Romans, see Statii Sylv. 1. V. 
 
 i. 831—4. 
 
 " To fiivroi Tt.'v <>|3tA(Di< ovo;ia, ol piv dri iroAoi /3ou5ropoic o/3(Xoic fXpuiTd irfiac rat; auoi)3ac, Sn> to inro Ty Spaici 7rAi?(Joc tSomi 
 Ka^finOai £pnvj<il. to ?i ono/iaTa, not rmi vofita^aTOq Koran-fooiTOi;, Et£ tt\v VW \pnav tvtfittviv lie ttjf Xptlat; tijc iraXoioc- Poll. lib. 
 ix. c. vi. s. 77. see also Eustath. in II. p. 136. Ed. Rom. 
 
 » See Bentley on the Epistles of Phnlaris, &c. 
 
s 
 
 explore the vast and confused labyrinths of poetical and allegorical fable; and to separate as 
 accurately as we can, the theology from the mythology of the ancients : by which means alone we 
 can obtain a competent knowledge of the mystic, or, as it was otherwise called, the Orphic faith,-"' 
 and explain the general style and language of symbolical art in which it was conveyed. 
 
 18. Ceres and Bacchus/ 6 called, in ./Egypt, Isis and Osiris, and, in Syria, Venus and Adonis, 
 were the deities, in whose names, and under whose protection, persons were most commonly 
 instructed in this faith. 1 ' 7 The word Bacchus or Iacchus is a title derived from the exclamations 
 uttered in the festivals of this god; 5 " whose other Latin name Liber is also a title signifying the 
 same attribute as the Greek epithet AY2I02 or AY2QIV, which will be hereafter explained. But, 
 from whence the more common Greek name AI0NY202 is derived, or what it signifies, is not so 
 easy to determine, or even to conjecture with any reasonable probability. The first part of it appears 
 to be from AEY2, AI02, or A12, the ancient name of the supreme universal god; but whether the 
 remainder is significant of the place, from which this deity came into Greece, or of some attribute 
 belonging to him, we cannot pretend to say ; and the conjectures of etymologists, both ancient antl 
 modern, concerning it are not worthy of notice. 29 An ingenious writer in the Asiatic Researches 
 derives the whole name from a Sanscrit title of an Oriental demi-god and as Ausonius says it was 
 Indian, 51 this derivation appears more probable than most others of the kind. 
 
 19. At Sicyon, in the Peloponnesus, he was worshipped under another title, which we shall not 
 venture to explain, any further than that it implies his having the peculiar supcrintendance and 
 direction of the characteristics of the female sex. y - At Lampsacus too, on the Hellespont, he was 
 venerated under a symbolical form adapted to a similar office; though with a title of a different 
 signification, Priapus, which will be hereafter explained." 
 
 20. According to Herodotus, the name Dionysus or Bacchus, with the varioiis obscene and extra- 
 vagant rites that distinguished his worship, was communicated to the Greeks by Melampus; r>4 who 
 appears to have florisbed about four generations before the Trojan war;' 1 ' and who is said to have 
 received his knowledge of the subject from Cadmus and the Phoenicians, who settled in Boeotia. 36 
 The whole history, however, of this Phoenician colony is extremely questionable; and we shall show r 
 in the sequel that the name Cadmus was probably a corruption of a mystic title of the deity. The 
 Cadmeii, a people occupying Thebes, are mentioned in the Iliad; 37 and Ino or Leucothoe, a 
 daughter of Cadmus, is mentioned as a sea-goddess in the Odyssey ; M but no notice is taken in 
 either poem of his being a Phoenician ; nor is it distinctly explained whether the poet understood 
 him to have been a man or a god; though the former is most probable, as his daughter is said to 
 have been born mortal. 
 
 M Pausan. 1. i. c. 38. 
 
 56 U\n<tiOv WM>£ eoti Ai|^i|T/ioc" oyaKpara St avri) te km if irnir;, Kai Srtca t\wv IoK\Of ■ Pansan. in All. C. ii. 5. 4. 
 
 w Ttfv ftiv yap OaipiSo? teAeti]i; ry Ami'utruu ti)v out-iju fivm, tiji> laiSui; ry tijc Ajipijiyiix; ii/1010 tut nv vTtnp\uv, tmv pVOfMTWIi 
 
 fiavov ryqXXa-y/xtvwv. Diodor. Sic. lib, i. p. 104. Ed. Weasel. 
 
 Otriptv Afoyunni* ,„,„, \ t y 0 vaiv (Aiyvirnoi). Herodot. lib. ii. e. 42. 
 
 O fiaKttp, iionr n<r>ipt<<Ji' 
 
 rt ti Marpoc ptyaXat; 
 opyia KnpiAnc Oipiartvtuv, 
 
 K >ao V te ari^avwOut, 
 
 Cuowaov dtpnwti. , Eurip. Bac. v. 73. 
 
 M They are in fact the same name in different dialects, the ancient verb FAXQ, in Laconian BAXfl, having become by the 
 accession of the augment FJ FAXES, v. m\«. 
 
 M See Macrob. 1. i. c. 18. Bryant on Ancient Mythology. 30 Vol. iii. p. 304. 
 
 31 Epigr. xxx. Ogygia nic Bacchinu vocat, 
 
 Osirin iEgyptus putat; 
 Mjsi Phanacen nominant; 
 Dionyaum liuli exislimant, &c. 
 
 " Aiovuow St ifSn mww rov XOIPOtAAHN- Sucvuvioi tqvtov irpoaKvvovnv, twi r«w yvvatKtimv Thawte tov AlOVUOOV paptwv. 
 Clem. Alex. Cohort, p. 3.3. 
 
 33 Ti/iaTat Si irupa Aa/ii£a.Ki|iii)ic •'• UpiaTro^, u outoc t»v Tni Aioi'unji e£ iiriOcrov KaXoufitvas oiiTiuc, rlic Optapjias kui &tQvpafifioc. 
 
 Athena?. Deipnos. lib. i. p. 30. 6. 
 
 31 'EAAjjii yup Ci| MeAq/ittoifc eoti i'j iK'tyfapivoij rim Aiovvaav to te ovvopa, Kai ri|if Buaxifv, not Tifv iro/iTrrjv too ^qAAdlj. lib. ii. c. 49. 
 
 ai Odyss. O. 2*6. et aeqq. 
 
 38 UvBiaOai St pat Sokeei uaAnrra MeAohttouc ra TEpi TOT Aiovvaav iropa KaS/iou tc rou Tvpiou, Kai ruiv truv avn v ek *oiuiki|c; 
 airtnopivwv ic ti)k vvv (joivniiv xaXiopivitv x b 'Ptv- Herodot, ii, 49. 
 " E. 807. M E. 334. 
 
 c 
 
6 
 
 21. General tradition has attributed the introduction of the mystic religion into Greece, to Orpheus, 
 a Thracian; 39 who, if he ever lived at all, lived probably about the same time with Melampus, or a 
 little earlier. 40 The traditions concerning him are, however, extremely vague and uncertain; and 
 the most learned and sagacious of the Greeks is said to have denied that such a person had ever 
 existed : 41 but, nevertheless, we learn from the very high authority of Strabo that the Greek music 
 was all Thracian or Asiatic;"" and, from the unquestionable testimony of the Iliad, that the very 
 ancient poet Thamyris was of that country j 43 to which tradition has also attributed the other old 
 sacerdotal bards, Musams and Eumolpus. 14 
 
 22. As there is no mention, however, of any of the mystic deities ; nor of any of the rites with 
 which they were worshipped, in any of the genuine parts either of the Iliad or Odyssey, nor any 
 trace of the symbolical style in any of the works of art described in them ; nor of allegory or enigma 
 in the fables, which adorn them; we may fairly presume that both the rites of initiation and the 
 worship of Bacchus, are of a later period, and were not generally known to the Greeks till after the 
 composition of those poems. The Orphic hymns, too, which appear to have been invocations or 
 litanies used in the mysteries,* 5 are proved, both by the language and the matter, to be of a date 
 long subsequent to the Homeric times ; there being in all of them abbreviations and modes of speech 
 not then known ; and the form of worshipping or glorifying the deity by repeating adulatory titles 
 not being then in use, though afterwards common.** 
 
 23. In /Egypt, nevertheless, and all over Asia, the mystic and symbolical worship appears to have 
 been of immemorial antiquity. The women of the former country carried images of Osiris, in their 
 sacred processions, with a moveable phallus of disproportionate magnitude, the reason for which 
 Herodotus does not think proper to relate, because it belonged to the mystic religion.' 17 Hiodonis 
 Siculus, however, who lived in a more communicative age, informs us that it signified the generative 
 attribute,' 1 " and Plutarch that the Egyptian statues of Osiris had the phallus to signify his procreative 
 and prolific power; 41 ' the extension of which through the three elements of air, earth, and water, 
 they expressed by another kind of statue, which was occasionally carried in procession, having a triple 
 symbol of the same attribute. 30 The Greeks usually represented the phallus alone, as a distinct 
 symbol, the meaning of which seems to have been among the last discoveries revealed to the 
 initiated. M It was the same, in emblematical writing, as the Orphic epithet n AFTENETQP, universal 
 generator ; in which sense it is still employed by the Hindoos. 5 - It has also been observed among 
 the idols of the native Americans, 53 and ancient Scandinavians; 54 nor do we think the conjecture of 
 an ingenious writer improbable, who supposes that the may-pole was a symbol of the same meaning ; 
 and the first of May a great phallic festival both among the ancient Britons and Hindoos ; it being 
 still celebrated with nearly the same rites in both countries. 55 The Greeks changed, as usual, the 
 personified attribute into a distinct deity called Priapus, whose universality was, however, acknow- 
 ledged to the latest periods of heathenism. 56 
 
 24. In this universal character, he is celebrated by the Greek poets under the title of Love or 
 Attraction, the first principle of animation; the father of gods and men; and the regulator and 
 disposer of all things. ' 7 He is said to pervade the universe with the motion of his wings, bringing 
 
 '* 'I'iwi tt/imtov Opijiia, ran YaypOU, piT<itm\aapivo\t th Trap' AiyliTTTloti;, 'EXXqffl ueraSowCU puartMHO. EllSeb. Prffip, Kvang. lib. i. C.6. 
 
 Opiptuf ptv yap teXh-qc & r)piv narjgdEj 0ovuv r'airf xtoflai. Aristoph. Borpn X . V. 1032. 
 'An-atra yap i) Trap' 'EAAijtri 8to\oyia riic OpfiiK?rc tan pvoTayuytac; firyoi-of. Proclus in TheoL Pkt. fib. i. c. 5. 
 TtAfTijv ayouatv (Aiyiwrrm) ava wav froc 'Ekot-jc, Opfta e$iot row 8pfm KaraarijoaofJa! rip nXimv \tyovTt?. Pausan. in Cor. 
 
 c. xxx. s. 2. 
 
 *" According to the Parian or Amndelian marble, the Eleusinian mysteries were introduced l~> r i years before the Trojan war ; 
 but Plutarch attributes their introduction to Knmolpus. de Exit 
 
 " Orpheum poctam docct Acistoteles nuliquam fuisse. Cie. de. N. D. lib. i. c. 28. The passage is not in the works of Aristotle 
 now extant ■ Lib. x. p. 471. « H B. 595. « Plutarch, de Exfl. 
 
 ** 'Ooric St ijSij rtXeni* EArnum k&v, n ra KuAouut i>a Oafmca tTrtXtZaro, oiSiu 6 Xtyhi. Pausan. in Attic, c. xxxvii. a. 3. 
 
 • — — rrrifyavnut; aravSn air aurau (rou Ktaoov) irotiiaBai, w$ <cat trrtpavusaaaBai (i\ov, tf-vpvovvrai; xai rue (irwvu^ioc tou fltoi, 
 q rata A on irn c- Arrian. lib. v. 
 
 * 7 Aion S( puZov T( i^ii to aiSaiot; Kai Ktvttt povvov rou aia/iarac, tart Aoyoe irtpi atirav ifpoc Xtyopt vog. lib. ii. C. 88. 
 
 • Lib. L c. 88. 
 
 " IIni'rn\OD ?i kdi ai'0piinra;in/ii^ni> Offipienc oyn\pa ritxi-ftiiirrir, i£opf}taZni> ti ( i diSoiiji, cia to yovtpov km Tpotptpav. de Is. et Oalr. 
 M AyaXpu irptitiBivTat, urn Trtpufuponniv, nil to mSaiov TpnrXaaiov tartv. Ibid. p. 365. 
 
 ;l Post tot su.spiria r|)opturuni, fotnrii siiioiiaikim linjruii*, siimilae.hrum menibri virilis revelatur. Tertull. adv. Valentiniaiios. 
 
 ** Sonnerat Voyage aux Indes. 43 Lafitau Mceurs des Sauvages. vol. i. p. 150. 
 
 » 01. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. ii. c. v. p. 165, 192, 194, and 305. 
 
 " Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. vi. p. 87—94. 
 
 - PRIErO PANTIIEO. Titul. ant. in Gruter. vol. i. p. 95. No. I. 
 
 " See Aristoph. OpvS. 693. et seqq. ed. Brunk. Hesiod, Theogon. 1 16. Parmenid. apud Stob. lib. i. c. 10. Orph, Hymn. 
 
pure light • and /hence to he culled the splendid, the self-illumined, the ruling Priapus ; M light (icing 
 considered, in this primitive philosophy, as the great nutritive principle of all things. 59 Wings are 
 attributed to him as the emblems of spontaneous motion ; and he is said to have sprung from the 
 egg of night, because the egg was the ancient symbol of organic matter in its inert state ; or, as 
 Plutarch calls it, the material of generation, 60 containing the seeds and germs of life and motion 
 without being actually possessed of either. It was, therefore, carried in procession at the celebration 
 of the mysteries, for which reason, Plutarch, in the passage above cited, declines entering into a 
 more particular disquisition concerning its nature; the Platonic Interlocutor, in the Dialogue, 
 observing, that though a small question, it comprehended a very great one, concerning the generation 
 of the world itself, known to those who understood the Orphic and sacred language the egg being 
 consecrated, in the Bacchic mysteries, as the image of that, which generated and contained ail tilings 
 in itself. 61 
 
 25. As organic substance was represented by the symbol of the egg; so the principle of life, by 
 which it was called into action, was represented by that of the serpent; which having the property 
 of casting its skin, and apparently renewing its youth, was naturally adopted for that purpose. We 
 sometimes find it coiled round the egg, to express the incubation of the vital spirit; and it is not 
 only the constant attendant upon the guardian deities of health, '''' but occasionally employed as an 
 accessary symbol to almost every other god, 68 to signify the general attribute of immortality. For 
 this reason it served as a general sign of consecration j 6 * and not only the deified heroes of the 
 Greeks, such as Cecrops and Erichthonius, but the virgin Mother of the Scythians, and the con- 
 secrated Pounder of the Japanese, were represented terminating in serpents."'' Both the Scythians 
 and Parthians, too, carried the image of a serpent or dragon, upon the point of a spear, for their 
 military standard;* as the Tartar princes of China still continue to do; whence we find this figure 
 perpetually represented on their stuffs and porcelaine, as well as upon those of the Japanese. The 
 inhabitants ot Norway and Sweden continued to pay divine honours to serpents down to the sixteenth 
 century ;*' and almost all the Runic inscriptions, found upon tombs, are engraved upon the 
 sculptured forms of them ; 6S the emblems of that immortality, to which the deceased were thus 
 consecrated. Macha Alia, the god of life and death among the Tartars, has serpents entwined round 
 his limbs and body to express the first attribute, and human skulls and scalps on his head, and at 
 his girdle, to express the second. " Ll The jugglers and divines also, of North America, make them- 
 selves girdles and chaplets of serpents, which they have the art to tame and familiarise; 70 and, in 
 the great temple of Mexico, the captives taken in war, and sacrificed to the sun, had each a wooden 
 collar in the shape of a serpent put round his neck while the priest performed the horrid rites. 71 In 
 the kingdom of Jidda, about the fourth degree of latitude, on the western coast of Africa, one of 
 
 M - WVfufatt ip>">C - 
 
 Wavry civijai: m-fpuyiiiv pnrait; koto noapov, 
 
 Xapirpov a-yiuii faa; liyi'ov' aif oil ai ttanlTO KMCA1|0M0i 
 
 rjgj npiinrov avoKra, mi auravy,, OUttHPOv. Orph. Hymn. V. v. 5. 
 
 yiviOXa, ti\v yovv iraitra jiooxa vtrav tji\oya 
 
 wtmaV tmnemc£U» SopbocL (Ed. Tyr, 1437. 
 ** "YXij rrje yiviatwQ. Sympos. lib. ii. q. 3. 
 
 " Ec tiro it tiXitE nyjo/3Xiuia Ttpi rou uou not ri?c opviOor, imoTtpov yivotrO vponpov auruiit. «U SuAXac 6 trnipof, ttWWV, on piKpi,i 
 
 irpo{3\i)paTi, KtiBoTtip Opyavpf, piya koi jjapv aaXtvapiv to irtpi rou KOtrpov tijc yivtaftuij, a7rrJ7opt vac. neiaiii fymOUl TOV OpipiKOv 
 
 Kai hpov Xoyov, 6f ouk Opvtfloc povav to ItfOV airofaivn irptafivTipov, aXXa not avXXajiiuv aitaaav outiji Tt|u kwmrtmv iipav Trpirrjiuytvuav 
 
 avaTiOtim' koi t aXXa ptv tvaropa KHoHat (tad' 'HpoSoToip), tori yap pvariKuiTipa. iiOfv ouk airo Tpoirou rote iripi tov Aiovvaov 
 
 opytaapotc, wc pipopa tov Ta iravra ytvvivvroi; Km Wfp«x oln " 0 ^ ■* "uriu, OTtyKatJaJOicn-ni.— tvi\ta6at Soypaatv Op^UHMC it Hu6ayapucoiQ 
 koi tu tvov, -ap^v liyovptvote; yM'fafiuc, o^oiriouirtfai. Plutarch. Sympos. 1. ii. q. Hi. S. 1. 
 
 aa SptiKOvTa aiirni (ri|j A o-i;Xr|Trti|i) ira/norium, Sri opotov ti ravrif Traaxouaiv ol VpinptVOi ry utrptXB, koto to o'tovu avavia%itv m riitv 
 vaawv, koi aTroSitttrfJoi ™ ynpai;. Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. xxxiH. 
 
 " Uap irnvri twv vapiZapivusv trap' ijpiv 8cwv otpig aupfioXov ptya Kni pvrmipiov avaypatjtiTat. Justin. Martyr. Apol. ii. p. 70. 
 
 M Pinge duos angues, pueri, sacerest locus. Pecs, Sat. i. 
 
 u hhSoXoyova-i SkiiAoi yiryntjj trap' ovtoi? yivwQai jrapfifvoi.' raurijit 8' i\tiv to ptv avui ptprj too awparot; pi\P' HJC i^iuitijf yvvatntta, 
 
 tu St KdTon-tpa t\iSf7|c' TauTJi St Aia fuytvra ytwijoai muSa Skuc*i(v ovopa. Diodor. Sic. ii. 43. Ksetopfer, Hist, of Japan, b. ii.p. 145. 
 86 Arrian. in Prtcf. p. SO. Luctan. de Hist, conscrib. p. 39. 
 
 67 Serpetltea ut sacros colebant ; — ledium servatores at que penates existimantes ; — reliquiae tamen tinjUB supcrstitione CultUTffi 
 
 innonnylUa seeretis aolitudinum aedib usque perseverant; sicuti in septentrionalibus regnis Norvegia: ac Vermelandia;. Ol. 
 Magn. de Gent. Septent. Hist. Epit. L iii. 
 
 " 01. VarelH Hunagr. Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. No. iii. c. 1. 
 
 63 Voyage en Siberie par 1'Abbe Chappe d'Auteroche, pi. xviii. The figure in brass is in the collection of Mr. Knight. 
 " Lafitau Mccurs des Sauvages, t. i. p. 253. » Acosta's History of the Indies, p. 382. 
 
8 
 
 these reptiles was lately, and perhaps is still, worshipped as the symbol of the Deity; 7 - and when 
 Alexander entered India, Tuxilus, a powerful prince of the country, showed him a serpent of 
 enormous size, which he nourished with great care, and revered as the image of the god, whom the 
 Greek writers, from the similitude of his attributes, call Dionysus or Bacchus." The Epidaurians 
 kept one in the same manner to represent iEsculapins ; 7t as did likewise the Athenians, in their 
 celebrated temple of Minerva, to signify the guardian or preserving deity of the Acropolis. 75 The 
 Hindoo women still carry the lingam, or consecrated symbol of the generative attribute of the Deity, 
 in solemn procession between two serpents;"' and, in the sacred casket, which held the egg and 
 phallus in the mystic processions of the Greeks, was also a serpent." Over the porticoes of all the 
 ancient ^Egyptian temples, the winged disc of the sun is placed between two hooded snakes, 
 signifying that luminary placed between its two great attributes of motion and life. The same 
 combination of symbols, to express the same attributes, is observable upon the coins of the 
 Phoenicians and Carthaginians ; 7B and appears to have been anciently employed by the Druids of 
 Britain and Gaul, as it still is by the idolaters of China. 70 The Scandinavian goddess Isa or Disa 
 was sometimes represented between two serpents ; 8n and a similar mode of canonization is employed 
 in the apotheosis of Cleopatra, as expressed on her coins. Water-snakes, too, are held sacred among 
 the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands;"' and, in the mysteries of Jupiter Sebazius, the initiated 
 were consecrated by having a snake put down their bosoms."* 
 
 26. The sort of serpent most commonly employed, both by the ^Egyptians, Phoenicians, and 
 Hindoos, is the hooded snake : but the Greeks frequently use a composite or ideal figure ; sometimes 
 with a radiated head, and sometimes with the crest or comb of a cock; 83 accessary symbols, which 
 will be hereafter further noticed. The mystical serpent of the Hindoos, too, is generally represented 
 with five heads, to signify, perhaps, the five senses : but still it is the hooded snake, which we believe 
 lo be a native of India, and consequently to have been originally employed as a religious symbol 
 in that country ; from whence the /Egyptians and Phoenicians probably borrowed it, and transmitted 
 it to the Greeks and Romans ; upon whose bracelets, and other symbolical ornaments, we frequently 
 find it. 
 
 27- Not only the property of casting the skin, and acquiring a periodical renovation of youth, but 
 also that of pertinaciously retaining life even in amputated parts, may have recommended animals 
 of the serpent kind as symbols of health and immortality, though noxious and deadly in themselves. 
 Among plants, the olive seems to have been thought to possess the same property in a similar 
 degree ;** and therefore was probably adopted to express the same attribute. At Athens it was 
 particularly consecrated to Minerva; but the statue of Jupiter at Olympia was crowned with it; e: ' 
 and it is also observable on the heads of Apollo, Hercules, Cybele, and other deities ; 8S the preserving 
 power, or attribute of immortality, being, in some mode or other, common to every personification 
 of the divine nature. The victors in the Olympic games were also crowned with branches of the 
 oleaster or wild olive; 87 the trunk of which, hung round with the arms of the vanquished in war, 
 was the trophy of victory consecrated to the immortal glory of the conquerors : 88 for as it was a 
 religious, as well as military symbol, it was contrary to the laws of war, acknowledged among the 
 Greeks, to take it down, when it had been once duly erected. 
 
 28. Among the sacred animals of the ^Egyptians, the bull, worshipped under the titles of Mnevis 
 
 " Hist. gen. des Voyages, 1. iv. p. 305. 7> Max. Tyr. Dissert, viii. c. 6. » Liv. Hist. lib. xi. epitom. 
 
 rs Herodot. lih. viii. 11. Sonnerat Voyage aux hides, t. i. p. 253. 
 
 " See the cista.- mystica on the nwnmi cistophori of the Greek cities of Asia, which are extremely common, and to be found 
 in all cabinets and hooks of ancient coins. 
 
 78 Medailles de Dutens, p. 1. Mils. Hunter, tab. 15. fig. v. and viii. 
 
 71 See Stukeley's Abury ; the original name of which temple, he observes, was tbe snake's head : and it is remarkable the 
 remains of a similar circle of stones in Bceotia bad the same name in the time of Pausanias. 
 
 Kara St tjjp tc VXtoavra tvOtiav ik 8tj/W AiOoic x<"P lov irfpfixo^tyov Xoyamv O0hu C kuXouhiv of 9u/3aioi Kf^ioAm'. Pausan. 
 
 " Ol. Rudbecfc. Atlant. pt. iii. c. 1. p. 25., and pt. ii. p. 343. fig. A., and p. 510. 
 ■' Missionaries' first Voyage, p. 238. 
 
 M Arnob. lib. v. p. 171. Clem. Alex. Cohort, ad Gentes, p. 14. Jul. Finnic, c. 27. 
 
 "* See La Cbaussc Mus. Rom. vol. ii. tab. xiii. and xiv. The radiated serpent is common on gems. 
 
 M Virgil Georgic. ii. v. 30. and 181. 
 
 Ek-/3AnOTHi>fi St /laXiara ra iXaiva, koi apya uttfuva - KU tipyaapiva TroXAnmc tav (KunSa Aam3ai.y, k-ni e^y towov voripav, iicnrtp ijSij 
 tic (rrpo^iuc "jc flu P"C f(3A ot m]cr(, koi q kuAociou TrAii-flifou tmirn TiBaaa tig iri,\ov. Theophrast. Hist. Plant, lib. v. c. ix. 
 as 2.Tt$avac Si twiKtiTai of rij K^nAy fit fttfiriptvoi; iktuat; kAiuvq;. Pausan. in Eliac. 1. c. xi. s. 1. 
 " See coins of Rhegium, Macedonia, Aradus, Tyre, &c. 
 » KorwMi mjwy Aristoph. Plut. 586. ' " Ibid. 943. 
 
g 
 
 and Apis, is one of the most distinguished. The Greeks called him Epaphus, 89 and we find his 
 image, in various actions and attitudes, upon an immense number of their coins, as well as upon 
 some of those of the Phoenicians, and also upon other religious monuments of almost all nations, 
 The species of bull most commonly employed is the urus or wild bull, the strongest animal known 
 in those climates, which are too cold for the propagation of the elephant'; 5 *" a creature not known in 
 Europe, nor even in the northern or western parts of Asia, till Alexander's expedition into India, 
 though ivory was familiarly known even in the Homeric times. 91 To express the attribute strength, 
 in symbolical writing, the figure of the strongest animal would naturally be adopted : wherefore this 
 emblem, generally considered, explains itself, though, like all others of the kind, it was modified 
 and applied in various ways. The mystic Bacchus, or generative power, was represented under this 
 form, not only upon the coins hut in the temples of the Greeks : w sometimes simply as a bull ; at 
 others, with a human face ; and, at others, entirely human except the horns or ears. 93 The age, 
 too, is varied ; the bull being in some instances quite old, and in others quite young; and the 
 humanised head being sometimes bearded, 91 and sometimes not. 
 
 29. The Mnevis of the ^Egyptians was held by some to be the mystic father of Apis; 93 and as the 
 one has the disc upon his head, and was kept in the City of the Sun, while the other is distinguished 
 by the crescent, 9 " it is probable that the one was the emblem of the divine power acting through the 
 sun ; and the other, of it acting through the moon, or (what was the same) through the sun by 
 night. Apis, however, held the highest, rank, he being exalted by the superstition of that superstitious 
 people into something more than a mere symbol, and supposed to be a sort of incarnation of the 
 Deity in a particular animal, revealed to them at his birth by certain external marks, which 
 announced his having been miraculously conceived by means of a ray from Heaven. 97 Hence, 
 when found, he was received by the whole nation with every possible testimony of joy and 
 gratulatiou, and treated in a manner worthy of the exalted character bestowed on him ;™ which was 
 that of the terrestrial image or representative of Osiris ; 99 in whose statues the remains of the animal 
 symbol may be traced. 1 " 0 
 
 30. Their neighbours the Arabs appear to have worshipped their god under the same image, though 
 their religion was more simple and pure than that of any Heathen nation of antiquity, except the 
 Persians, and perhaps the Scythians. They acknowledged only the male and female, or active and 
 passive powers of creation; the former of whom they called Urotal ; m a name, which evidently 
 alludes to the urus. Herodotus calls him Bacchus, as he does the female deity, celestial Venus; by 
 which he means no more than that they were personifications of the attributes, which the Greeks 
 worshipped under those titles. 
 
 31. The Chinese have still a temple called the Palace of the horned Bull ; 1M and the same symbol 
 is worshipped in Japan, and all over Hmdostan. m ' In the extremity of the West it was, also, once 
 treated with equal honour; the Cimbrians having carried a brazen bull with them, as the image of 
 their god, when they overran Spain and Gaul ; 1M and the name of the god Thor, the Jupiter of the 
 
 " '0 S( Attic «ira mv 'EAXii.kui- yXmaaav tar, Eira^nc. Herodot. 1. ii. c. 153. 
 
 Eira^ou, w Aioc yivtOXov, 
 ixaXta iKoA«ro. Eurip. Phrenis. 688. 
 
 w CiFsar. do Ii. G. lib. vi. 
 
 »' PaiiGart. lib. i. c. 12. Tins proves that the coins with an elephant's skin on the head, are of Alexander II., king of Epirus, 
 son of Pyrrhus. 
 
 " Tavpy, i. e. Aiovuay. Lycophr. 209. 
 
 Taupopopipov Atovvaov iroiou<m> ayaXpara waXXai tiiiv 'EXAijuiut' 1 oi 8' HAddiy yuiiaiicic nai irapaKaXavaiv tv\opt vat, woSi J3oettt 
 mi' Bfov tXBuv irpoc rmrac- A/iynoie 8e BovynnK AiOmhTOC HrtKAl|V urn. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. 
 Ev h Ku&Ki!- ko( Tavpn/iriftipiiQ i&pvTat (6 Ainvvrrnq.) Athen. Deipnos. lib. x\. p. 47(i. 
 
 " Bronzi d'Ercolano, t. i. tav. i. Coins of Camerina, and plate ii. of the 1st volume of " the Select Specimens." 
 a ' Coins of Lampsacus, Naxus, and plates xvi. and \x\ix. of vol. i. 
 
 M 'O 8( tv 'HXiottoXh Tpiipopivoe 0du C , 6v Mvtvtv KaXovatv, (OoipiSoe 8t lipov, ivtot Si KM tov Attioc waripa Wfugmm) pi\as fori, 
 km caiTtpat; t\n n/inc ptTa tov Attiv. Plutarch, de Is. et Oair. 
 " See Tab. Isiac. &c 
 
 w 'O Sf Aitte outoc, Ii E7ra^oc, yiverai pooxos is fiooq, i,Tiq ouKen oil) Tt ytvirat ft yaartpa aXXov jiaXXiaOai ymXSV. Aryunrioi £i 
 Xiyovm rrtAac art ti)v /3oifv sk tou ovpavou Karta\uv, Kai ptv tK toutov tikthv tov Attiv. Herodot. lib. iii. c. 28. 
 
 * lb. c. 27. 
 
 » Ev 8f Mtft+B rp^ptaBai tov Awn; fiSwXow ovra rtj t BCUVOV (rou OuipiSoc) ^ux»C- Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. 
 
 IM See plate ii. vol. i- of " the Select Specimens," where the horns of the bull arc signified in the disposition of the hair. rou 
 
 AwtSuq, iii: jotii' ii uutiic km OtftpqN -Strab. 1. svii. 
 
 Aiowihtoi' 8e Qituv ftovvov koi t«v Qvpaviqv rrfmvrai uvai. — — nvvopaZovoi oc tov fUV Atavvaov OvporaX. Herodot. lib. iii. c. S. 
 1M Hist. gen. des Voyages, t. vi. p. 452. 105 Recherches sur les Arts de la Greee, &c. 
 
 Plutarch, in Mario. 
 
 u 
 
II) 
 
 ancient Scandinavians, signifying in their language a bull ; as it does likewise in the Ciialdee. 1 "' 
 In the great metropolitan temple of the ancient northern hierarchy at Upsal, in Sweden, this god 
 was represented with the head of a hull upon his breast; 106 and on an ancient Phoenician coin, we 
 find a figure exactly resembling the Jupiter of the Greeks, with the same head on his chair, and the 
 words Baal Thurz, in Phoenician characters, on the exergue. 1 " 7 In many Greek, and in some 
 /Egyptian monuments, the hull is represented in an attitude of attack, as if striking at something 
 with his horns j 10B and at Meaco in Japan, the creation of the world, or organization of matter, is 
 represented by the Deity nnder the image or symbol of a bull breaking the shell of an egg with his 
 horns, and animating the contents of it with his breath; 1 " 9 which probably explains the meaning of 
 this attribute in the Greek and /Egyptian monuments ; the practice of putting part of a composition 
 for the whole being common in symbolical writing. 110 
 
 32. In most of the Greek and Roman statues of the bull, that we have seen, whether in the 
 character of Mnevis or Apis, of both which many are extant of a small size in bronze, there is a 
 hole upon the top of the head between the horns, where the disc or crescent, probably of some other 
 material, was fixed: 111 for as the mystical or symbolical was engrafted upon the old elementary 
 worship, there is always a link of connexion remaining between them. The Bacchus of the Greeks, 
 as well as the Osiris of the Egyptians, comprehended the whole creative or generative power, and is 
 therefore represented in a great variety of forms, and under a great variety of symbols, signifying his 
 subordinate attributes. 
 
 33. Of these the goat is one that most frequently occurs ; and as this animal has always been 
 distinguished for its lubricity, it probably represents the attribute directed to the propagation of 
 organized being in general. 11 - The choral odes sung in honour of Bacchus were called TPATOIAIAI, 
 or goat-songs ; and a goat was the symbolical prize given on the occasion ; it being one of the 
 forms under which the god himself had appeared. 113 The fauns and satyrs, the attendants and 
 ministers of Bacchus, were the same symbol more or less humanised; and appear to have been 
 peculiar to the Greeks, Romans, and Etruscans : for though the goat was among the sacred animals 
 of the ^Egyptians, and honoured with singular rites of worship at Mendes, we do not find any traces 
 of these mixed beings in the remains of their art, nor in those of any other ancient nations of the 
 East; though the Mendesian rites were admirably adapted to produce them in nature, had it been 
 possible for them to exist ; m and the god Pan was there represented under such a form. 115 
 
 34. But notwithstanding that this first-begotten Love, or mystic Bacchus, was called the Eather 
 of gods and men, and the Creator of all things, he was not the primary personification of the divine 
 nature ; KpovoQ or Ze v£, the unknown Father, being every where reverenced as the supreme and 
 almighty. In the poetical mythology, these titles are applied to distinct personages, the one called 
 the Eather, and the other the Son : but in the mystic theology, they seem to have signified only one 
 being — the being that fills eternity and infinity. 11 " The ancient theologists appear to have known 
 that we can form no distinct or positive idea of infinity, whether of power, space, or time; it being 
 fleeting and fugitive, and eluding the understanding by a continued and boundless progression. 
 The only notion that we have of it, arises from the multiplication or division of finite things; which 
 suggest the vague abstract notion, expressed by the word infinity, merely from a power, which we 
 feel in ourselves, of still multiplying and dividing without end. Hence they adored the Infinite 
 Being through personified attributes, signifying the various modes of exerting his almighty power; 
 the most general, beneficial, and energetic of which being that universal principle of desire, or 
 
 In the Phoenician it signified a cow. 
 OOF yap ol *oiv 1 «c np> /Jow KaXovatv. Plutarch, in Sylla, c. 17. 
 
 '« 01. Rudbeck. Atlantic, pt. ii. c. 5. p. 300. fig. 28., and p. 321, 338 and 9. 
 
 107 Medailles de Dutens, p. 1. The coin, still better preserved, is in the cabinet of Mr. Knight. 
 
 See coins of Thorium, Syracuse, Tauromenium, Attabyrium, Magnesia, Sec, and Denon Egypt e, pi. exxxii. No. I, 
 ™ Memorable Embassy to the Emperor of Japan, p. 288. " D See coins of Acanthus, Maronea, Eretria, Sec. 
 
 '" Five are in the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight, one of which ha.s the disc remaining. 
 
 MfTaEu St ti<3v Kipnuv ii toii i)Aiou kukA(1£ pipip ijfii l'UC tiTttTTi \puaitit;. trrrt Se i'j jilsvi; ouk opllii, a\\' hi yavvaoi Kdpii'q. Herodot. 
 
 ii. 132. 111 See Diodor. Sic. L i. c. 88. 
 
 113 Apollodor. Biblioth. 1. hi. C. 4. s. 3. "' rWuitt rpayoq ifuayiro avatjiavcov. Herodot. ii. 46. 
 
 m I'paifiavai te Sij WM -yAu-^Kii'iri ol fyiiypatyot nai (ii nynA/inroTroioi tou Havoc ToIyaX/in, KaTamp 'EAAijvec, aiyon poaiinrov KOI 
 Tpnyoik-fAfa. Ibid. 
 
 111 'OpifQ rov iiipov toi'S* awnpov tuuipa 
 
 nat yqy iript* i\ovt irypatg IV aynaAaiC ; 
 
 roiirov vopiZf Zt\va, tov S" ijyov Gtov. Eurip. apud. Heraclid. Pontic, p. 441. eti. Gale. 
 
 Kpnvov St k*ni Xpovou \tyirat (u Zinc) Sojkuiv f£ aiuivoc aripfiovoc tic ete/jov aiuva. Pseudo-Aristob lie Mundo, c. 7. This 
 treatise is the work of some professed rhetorician of later times, wiio has given the common opinions of his age in the common 
 language of a common dec! aimer ; and by a strange inconsistency, attributed them to the deep, abstruse, condensed Stagirite. 
 
11 
 
 mutual attraction, which leads to universal harmony, and mutual co-operation, it naturally held the 
 first rank among them. " The self-created mind of the eternal Father," says the Orphic poet, 
 " spread the heavy bond of Love through all things, that they might endure for ever;" 117 which 
 heavy bond of love is no other than the El'SiS nPSiTOTONOS or mystic Bacchus ; to whom the 
 celebration of the mysteries was therefore dedicated. 
 
 35. But the mysteries were also dedicated to the female or passive powers of production supposed 
 to be inherent in matter. 118 Those of Eleusis were under the protection of Ceres, called by the 
 Greeks AHMHTHP ; that is, Mother Earth ;"» and, though the meaning of her Latin name be not 
 quite so obvious, it is in reality the same ; the Roman C being originally the same letter, both in 
 figure and power, as the Greek T ; 1W which was often employed as a mere guttural aspirate, espe- 
 cially in the old iEolic dialect, from which the Latin is principally derived. The hissing termination, 
 too, in the S belonged to the same: wherefore the word, which the Attics and Ionians wrote EPA, 
 EPE, or 'HPH, would naturally be written TEPE2 by the old Colics ; the Greeks always accommo- 
 dating their orthography to their pronunciation ; and not, like the English and French, encumbering 
 their words with a number of useless letters. 
 
 36. Ceres, however, was not a personification of the brute matter which composed the earth, but 
 of the passive productive principle supposed to pervade it ; 1S1 which, joined to the active, was held 
 to be the cause of the organization and animation of its substance ; from whence arose her other 
 Greek name AH£2, (he Inventress. She is mentioned by Virgil, as the Wife of the omnipotent 
 Father, iEther or Jupiter; 1 -- and therefore the same with Juno; who is usually honored with that 
 title ; and whose Greek name 'HPH signifies, as before observed, precisely the same. 1 "' The Latin 
 name IUNO is derived from the Greek name AIJ2NH, the female ZEY2 or AI2 ; the Etruscan, 
 through which the Latin received much of its orthography, having no D nor O in its alphabet. 
 The ancient Germans worshipped the same goddess under the name of Hertha; 1 * 4 the form and 
 meaning of which still remain in our word, Earth. Her fecundation by the descent of the active 
 spirit, as described in the passage of Virgil before cited, is most distinctly represented in an ancient 
 bronze at Strawberry Hill. As the personified principle of the productive power of the Earth, she 
 naturally became the patroness of agriculture ; and thus the inventress and tutelar deity of legislation 
 and social order, which first arose out of the division, appropriation, and cultivation of the soil. 
 
 3/. The Greek title seems originally to have had a more general signification : for without the 
 aspirate (which was anciently added and omitted almost arbitrarily) it becomes EPE ; and, by an 
 abbreviation very common in the Greek tongue, PE or PEE; which, pronounced with the broad 
 termination of some dialects, become PEA ; and with the hissing one of others, PES or RES ; a 
 word retained in the Latin, signifying properly matter, and figuratively, every quality and modifi- 
 cation that can belong to it. The Greek has no word of such comprehensive meaning; the old 
 general term being, in the refinement of their language, rendered more specific, and appropriated to 
 that principal mass of matter, which forms the terraqueous globe; and which the Latins also 
 expressed by the same word united to the Greek article tt) tpa — TERRA. 
 
 38. The ancient word, with its original meaning, was however retained by the Greeks in the 
 personification of it : Rhea, the first of the goddesses, signifying universal matter, and being thence 
 
 Epya voijaa^ yap ttdt/ukoc vooc ouroytviflXoc; 
 tlaaiv iVMnritpiv Siapov iriptfipiOii ipurrac 
 
 Gtypa tii Travra pivtt yjmvav trr; <mtpavTov epatra. Fragm. Orphic. No. xxxviii. ed. Gesn. 
 A fragment of Empedocles preserved by Athenagoras may serve as a comment upon these Orphic verses. Speaking of the 
 dements which, compose the world, he enumerates, 
 
 Ilvp nat ii^wp Kai yma, xai tjipoQ ijiriou i"/o£, 
 km (JjiAti; (lira raitnv. 
 
 "' 'H yap iAij Xoyov i X ti irpoc to ytvoutva ftqrpOC (fit <pn<» IlXaTUtv) «U 1*101) V«C uXtj h irav e£ ou auaraatv nu ylvvuiptvav. 
 Plutarch. Symposiac. lib. ii. qu. 3. 
 
 "' — Tairrnv TrapairXnaimc Aijpijr/ia KaXnx; iipax u piraTiBtioiK, Si a tov Xpovov, tdc At&w? - to yap waXaiov ovofiaKeaOat, y ij v 
 
 (itirtpu. Diodor. Sic. lib. i. s. 12. 
 
 Mtjmp fityiorii Saipavhiv OXvpirtwv 
 
 vpiuTii, r>i ptXati'a. Solon, in Brunck. Analect. vol. i. xxiv. 
 
 Ail/ii|TTjp irapa to y <i Kat to p ijt ij p, y ij p<tTi,p. Etymol. Magn. See also Lucret. lih. v. v. 796. 
 "° See Senalus-eonsultum Marcianum, and the coins of Gda, Agrigentum, and Rhegium. 
 m Oliicium commune Ceres et Terra tuentur ; 
 
 Htec praebet causam fmgibus, ilia locum. Ovid. Fast. lib. i. v. 61 It. 
 ,al Turn paler omnipotent, fccundis imbribu.s /Ether 
 
 Conjugis in premium hrtii' descend it, et omnes 
 Magnus alit, tnagno comroixtus oorpore, fetus. Georg. ii. 324. 
 ™ Tti piv timv ii 'Hpn. Plutarch, apud Euseb. Pnep. Evang. lib. iii. c. i. '* Tacit, de Mor. Germanor. 
 
12 
 
 said, in the figurative language of the poets, to be the mother of Jupiter, who was begotten upon 
 her by Time. In the same figurative language, Time is said to be the son of OvpavoQ, or Heaven ; 
 that is, of the supreme termination and boundary, which appears to have been originally called 
 koiXov, the hollow or vault ; which the Latins retained in their word CCELUM, sometimes employed 
 to signify the pervading Spirit, that fills and animates it. Hence Varro savs that Caelum and Terra ; 
 that is, universal mind and productive body ; were the great gods of the Samothracian mysteries ; 
 and the same as the Serapis and Isis of the later ./Egyptians ; the Taautes and Astarte of the 
 Phoenicians; and the Saturn and Ops of the Latians.'"'' 1 The licentious imaginations of the poets 
 gave a progenitor even to the personification of the supreme boundary ovpavoz; which progenitor 
 they called AKMQN, the indefatigable a title by which they seem to have meant perpetual 
 motion, the primary attribute of the primary Being. 1 * 
 
 39. The allegory of Kpovof or Saturn devouring his own children seems to allude to the rapid 
 succession of creation and destruction before the world had acquired a permanent constitution ; after 
 which Time only swallowed the stone: that is, exerted its destroying influence upon brute matter; 
 the generative spirit, or vital principle of order and renovation, being beyond its reach. In con- 
 junction with the Earth, he is said to have cut oil' the genitals of his father, Heaven; 1 '' 11 an allegory, 
 which evidently signifies that Time, in operating upon Matter, exhausted the generative powers of 
 Heaven; so that no new beings were created. 
 
 40. The notion of the supreme Being having parents, though employed by the poets to embellish 
 their wild theogonies, seems to have arisen from the excessive refinement of metaphysical theology : 
 a Being purely mental and absolutely immaterial, having no sensible quality, such as form, con- 
 sistence, or extension, can only exist, according to our limited notions of existence, in the modes of 
 his own action, or as a mere abstract principle of motion. These modes of action, being turned 
 into eternal attributes, and personified into distinct personages, Time and Matter, the means of their 
 existing, might, upon the same principle of personification, be turned into the parents of the Being 
 to which they belong. Such refinement may, perhaps, seem inconsistent with the simplicity of the 
 early ages : but we shall find, by tracing them to their source, that many of the gross fictions, which 
 exercised the credulity of the vulgar Heathens, sprang from abstruse philosophy conveyed in figu- 
 rative and mysterious expressions. 
 
 41. The elements Eire and Water were supposed to be those, in which the active and passive 
 productive powers of the universe respectively existed; 1 -' 9 since nothing appeared to be produced 
 without them ; and wherever they were joined there was production of some sort, either vegetable 
 or animal. Hence they were employed as the primary symbols of these powers on numberless 
 occasions. Among the Romans, a part of the ceremony of marriage consisted in the bride's touching 
 them, as a form of consecration to the duties of that state of life, upon which she was entering; 130 
 Their sentence of banishment, too, was an interdiction from fire and water; which implied an 
 exclusion from any participation in those elements, to which all organised and animated beings 
 owed their existence. Noma is said to have consecrated the perpetual fire, as the first of all things, 
 and the soul of matter; which, without it, is motionless and dead.''' 1 Fires of the same kind were, 
 for the same reasons, preserved in most of the principal temples both Greek and Barbarian ; there 
 being scarcely a country in the world, where some traces of the adoration paid to it are not to be 
 found. 13S The prytaneia of the Greek cities, in which the supreme councils were usually held, and 
 the public treasures kept, were so called from the sacred fires always preserved in them. Even 
 common fires were reputed holy by them ; and therefore carefully preserved from all contagion of 
 
 De Lingua l.atin.i, lib. iv. a. 10. "* Aso/inToc, aKa/iiui; aKpiuv, &c. 
 
 "r See Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. 1. 158 Hesiod. Theog. 160. 
 
 la Qnippe ubi temperiem smnpsere humorque calonjue, 
 
 Concipiunt: et ah bis oriuntur cuncta duobus. Ovid. Met. t. 4-30. 
 
 govim-ami ptv OVV Ttt £uJa, ra te a\\a 7raiTo, Kai 6 avdpitiTVOK;, otto Suoiv' Stafapoiv piv Tijv Svvapiu, OVftfopOiV St Hf* JfptptV' 
 
 wwmc \tyu mu iSaroe- Efippocrafc Duet. i. 4. 
 
 Tii fiiv yap irup Swarm iravra Sia Trairoe Kivqirai, to Si iiSwp iravra Sia iratTOQ fJpEi/mt. — to ptv wv irup sat to udiiip avrapxia tort 
 waat Sia irniroc (C to fafaatev WW to tkamarov iumvrusq. Hippocrat. Dia?t. i. 4. 
 
 Enpra £c ayOpwrou i^n\i|, wvpof koi u?aroc BVy^pijmv t^owm, poipav ct^iotoc mmptMW- lb, s. 8. 
 
 Touto irai'ra Cia wavTOq Kvjitpi-q, khi TaSt kui iKiiva, oeiSekote arpffiiZov (to imp). Ib. s. 11. 
 
 1M iia ti tijv yapovpivnv airrfaOtu irupoq km vSarog ttXtVOXiat; woTtpav tovtqiv <uc IV aroi\noiq Km ap\aiq, to appiv tart, to Si 
 flilXo" Ml to ua> ap\ag Kivnaiwq (viijoi, to Sf iiwonnpti-ov xat vXjjc Swapti: Plutarch. Qu. Rom. sub. init. 
 
 131 'Qc "P\1>' iiravrWV rn &' aWa tijc v\ijq finpia, BippoTJiTUt; E7r<A«7rou(TTic, apyu Ktiptva MU l'ttipmc eqikoto, WOvd tiji> irupoc 
 
 Stwafitv itwjpr"- Plutarch, in Nuraa. 
 
 135 Iluct. Demonsti. Evang. Praep. iv. c. 5. Lafitau Mccura des Sauvages, t. i. p. 153. 
 
13 
 
 impiety. After the battle of Platiea, they extinguished all that remained in the countries which had 
 been occupied by the Persians, and rekindled them, according to the direction of the Oracle, with 
 consecrated fire from the altar at Delphi. 1 " A similar prejudice still prevails among the native 
 Irish ; who annually extinguish their fires, and rekindle them from a sacred bonfire.' 31 Perpetual 
 lamps are kept burning in the inmost recesses of all the great pagodas in India ; the Hindoos holding 
 fire to be the essence of all active power in nature. At Sais in -/Egypt, there was an annual religious 
 festival called the Burning of Lamps ;' 3 " and lamps were frequently employed as symbols upon coins 
 by the Greeks ; 13 " who also kept them burning in tombs, and sometimes swore by them, as by known 
 emblems of the Deity. 137 The torch held erect, as it was by the statue of Bacchus at Eleusis, 138 and 
 as it is by other figures of him still extant, means life; while its being reversed, as it frequently is 
 upon sepulchral urns and other monuments of the kind, invariably signifies death or extinction. 139 
 
 42. Though water was thought to be the principle of the passive, as fire was of the active power; 
 yet, both being esteemed unproductive when separate,' 40 both were occasionally considered as united 
 in each. Hence Vesta, whose symbol was fire, was held to be, equally with Ceres, a personification 
 of the Earth; 141 or rather of the genial heat, which pervades it, to which its productive powers were 
 supposed to be owing; wherefore her temple at Rome was of a circular form, having the sacred fire 
 in the centre, but no statue. 11 " She was celebrated by the poets, as the daughter of Rhea, the sister 
 of Jupiter and Juno, and the first of the goddesses.'" As the principle of universal order, she 
 presided over the prytaneia or magisterial seats ; and was therefore the same as Themis, the direct 
 personification of that attribute, and the guardian of all assemblies, both public and private, both of 
 men and gods: 11 " 1 whence all legislation was derived from Ceres, a more general personification 
 including the same powers. The universal mother of the Phrygians and Syrians, called by the 
 Greeks Cybele, because represented under a globular or square form, 1 ' 15 was the same more general 
 personification worshipped with different rites, and exhibited under different symbols, according to 
 the different dispositions and ideas of different nations. She was afterwards represented under the 
 form of a large handsome woman, with her head crowned with turrets; and very generally adopted 
 as the local tutelar deity of particular cities : but we have never seen any figure of this kind, which 
 was not proved, by the style of composition and workmanship, to be either posterior, or very little 
 anterior, to the Macedonian conquest. 1411 
 
 43. The characteristic attribute of the passive generative power was expressed in symbolical 
 writing, by different enigmatical representations of the most distinctive characteristic of the sex; 
 such as the shell, called the Concha Veneris, 147 the Fig-leaf, 1, 18 Barley Corn, 14 ' 1 or the letter Delta j 150 
 all which occur very frequently, upon coins, and other ancient monuments, in this sense. The same 
 
 <" Plutarch, in Ariatid. Collect. Hibern. No. v. p. 6i. 
 
 w Aux"°koiij. Heroilot. lib. ii. 62. See coins of Amphipolis, Alexander the Great, &c. 
 
 ,s? Au^yt, at yap iraptauaa rpiq tupoatv HonicAtiQ, 
 
 'H£«v.- Asclepiadi Epigr. xxv. in lirunck. Analect. vol. i. p. 2I(S. 
 
 138 Pausan. in 1. c. 
 
 m See Portland vase, &c. Polymers infer* his own uppi-oitdiiii^ dcalh from seeing; in a vision 
 Conjugis Argiar lacera cum lampudc moestum 
 Effigiem. Stat. Theb. xi. 142. 
 
 lw To irvp x'up'F SypornroC arpnipov tori uni K'ipov, ro St i/Swp avtu to ipporomc uyovov nai apyov. Plutarch. Qu. Rom. sub init. 
 '" 'EnaTipa 8' (ij Aijfiijnip Km i) 'Ecrna) MMii ov\ inpa rijc yj\i; UVOL Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. 28. 
 Vesta eadem est qua.' Terra; subest vigil ignis utrique. Ovid. Fast. lib. vi. v. 2G1. 
 Nec tu aEud Vestam, qu.un vivam intellige flammam. Ibid. v. 291. 
 1,1 Ovid. ibid. The temple is still extant, converted into a church; and the ruins of another mare elegant one, called the 
 Sibyl's temple, at Tivoli. 
 
 rinl Ptoe, a Tt flpuTovem \t\oyxac, 'Earn, 
 Zi]vnc iiifiarnv naoiyviiTa km !ip<i8pnvuv 'H/mg, 
 
 aya£ojuviH wphiTav Otuiv. Pindar. Nem. xi. 
 
 Km rata, ttiWiuv tivnpaTtov papipti pta. /Eschyl. Prom. Vinct. 209. 
 ,U 'H Ai)/ii)Tt)p iroXtwc tmi KarapKTtKV, oiovu ij yij. ijBtv KtU irvpyo-papnu hvtov ypafyovat. \tytrat Sf koi Ku/3fAu awo row Kvjjticov 
 ax>n' aT <'^ KaTa ymperptav >') yv- Lex. Antiq. Prat;, in Herm. Gramm. 
 
 " s It h most frequent on the coins of the Asiatic colonies; hut all that we have seen with it are of late date, 
 w August, de Civ. Dei lib. vi. c. 9. 
 
 Ktki; yvvtUKtioi:' <i tarn; tui^WJiuc am pvarinuii; uirtiv, popioy yvvaimtov. Clem. Alexand. Cohort, p. 19, 
 
 "» Plutarch, de la. et Osir. p. 365. 
 
 * Km f, (5m 0 f,a£) r» Kara roue wpiKovt; mSotov, 6 Kpi0>,v tmvo, K0 (C bpotav Xoyov naXioav. Eustath. in Homer, p. 134. 
 
 TW aarptwv yivae- SfXiji/p mipTaa\ti- Clem. Alex. Cohort, s. iii. 
 
 Shell-fish in general were also thought to sympathise with the Moon. 
 
 110 AtXra. ro rnapTOv rjTOi\itov' oiipatvti kui tu ytriKUKStOV aioOlOV. Suidas, 
 
14 
 
 attribute, personified as the goddess of love or desire, is visually represented under the voluptuous 
 form of a beautiful woman, frequently distinguished by one ot these symbols, and called Venus, 
 Cypris, or Aphrodite, names of rather uncertain etymology. 131 She is said to be the daughter of 
 Jupiter and Dione; that is, of the male and female personifications of the all-pervading spirit of the 
 universe; Dione being, as before explained, the female AI2 or ZEY2, and therefore associated with 
 him in the most ancient oracular temple of Greece at Dodona. 158 No other genealogy appears to 
 have been known in the Homeric times; though a different one is employed to account for the 
 name of Aphrodite in the theogony attributed to Hesiod. 
 
 44. The FspervKXtdes or TevcuBai were the original and appropriate ministers and companions of 
 Venus; 1 " who was however afterwards attended by the Graces, the proper and original attendants 
 of Juno :''' 4 but as both these goddesses were occasionally united and represented in one image, 1 ™ 
 the personifications of their respective subordinate attributes might naturally be changed. Other 
 attributes were on other occasions added j whence the symbolical statue of Venus at Papbos had a 
 beard, and other appearances of virility j 1 ^ which seems to have been the most ancient mode of 
 representing the celestial, as distinguished from the popular goddess of that name; the one being a 
 personification of a general procreative power, and the other only of animal desire or concupiscence. 
 The refinement of Grecian art, however, when advanced to maturity, contrived more elegant modes 
 of distinguishing them ; and, in a celebrated work of Phidias, we find the former represented with 
 her foot upon a tortoise, and in a no less celebrated one of Scopas, the latter sitting upon a goat. 137 
 The tortoise, being an androgynous animal, was aptly chosen as a symbol of the double power ; and 
 the goat was equally appropriate to what was meant to be expressed in the other. 
 
 45. The same attribute was on other occasions signified by the dove or pigeon, 138 by the sparrow, 1 ^' 
 ' and perhaps by the polypus ; which often appears upon coins with the head of the goddess, and 
 
 which was accounted an aphrodisiac ; 160 though it is likewise of the androgynous class. The fig was 
 a still more common symbol ; the statues of Priapus being made ot the tree, 161 ami the fruit being 
 carried with the phallus in the ancient processions in honor uf Bacchus and still continuing, 
 among the common people of Italy, to be an emblem of what it anciently meant : whence we often 
 see portraits of persons of that country painted with it in one hand, to signify their orthodox devotion 
 to the fair sex."^ Hence, also, arose the Italian expression far la fica; which was done by putting 
 the thumb between the middle and fore fingers, as it appears in many priapic ornaments now extant ; 
 or by putting the finger or the thumb into the corner of the mouth, and drawing it down ; of which 
 there is a representation in a small priapic figure of exquisite sculpture engraved among the antiquities 
 of Herculaneum.' si 
 
 w The lirst may be from the verb BEINE1N; Suidas explaining BE! NO IS or BIN02 to be the name of a goddess; and the 
 name VENUS only differs from it in a well-known variation of dialect. 
 
 The second may he from Kwoiropic, i. e. mwv jropi potion, though the theogonists derive it from the island of Cyprus. Schol. 
 Vet. in II. e. 458. Hesiod. Theogon. 
 
 The third is commonly derived from aoipoe the foam of the sea, from which she is fabled to have sprung: but the name 
 appears to be older than the fable, and may have been received from some other language. 
 
 '" Sui'i'aoe r ( |i An irfwf8ti\(fij km j) Atwvu. Strtbo lib. viii. p. 50(3. Pausan. lib. i. c. i. s. 4. 
 
 IM H. S. 267. 
 
 To Se ayaXpa tejc 'Hpnc; fwt Bpamv Kaftpvi piyiBn piya, \pvaav ptv Km tXupaiTni;, rioAiiKXf itou Si tpyov' -irian Se of OTtfaVOf 
 ^npirac tVHV MU 'ilpni; nrttpyuofiivat:, Kai nov \iipwv, tij fltV ica/wrou tyiptt pome, ri) S( tnafnTpov. To pev DM* (c Tijr' polar (airo- 
 pifrorfpoc yap tarty !> \<iyo<;) atj>[io6ii< pat. Pausan. in Cor. c. 17. a. 4. 
 
 m Stiavov St ap\atov naXavatv A^ipoSirnc 'Hpoc- Fausan. in Lacon. c. 13. s. 6. 
 
 ,ss Signum ctiiim ejus (Veneris) est Cypri barbatum corpore, sed veste muliebri, cum sceptro et statura viri. Maerob. lib. iii. p. 74. 
 
 w Tin- fU* W T, t i yni|> xuXovaiv oupaviav' (Afpawoc Si itrri KtU -^pvaov, Tixyn *£tSiou, ri t # St trtpn' 7ro2i (iri \(Xiui'rjc (iijiilKi 
 
 Km — nyoAiin AflipoEiTuc \aAk-onv I7n rpnyi^ KaoVa< \«Ak'i|i. Smji™ tiwth ipyov, AflipoSiTiju Ef nai'Stjuiav ovop.aZ.avoC ra Se IWI x(Atyi'i) 
 Tt Km ic rOV rpo70i' wapiijpi Tine 8cXovaiv dKn^fii'. Pausan. Eliac. it. c. 25. s, 2. 
 
 1M 'EXAiiVff vopi£ovatv Upov A^poSirrji; Sojoi' tivat Tt|H wipimipav, sal ruv SpaKOirn tijc Aflijuac, Kai tov aopana tov AjroXAuuOf, 
 
 Km tov Kuva ri|c AprepiSoc. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. 
 
 ,M 'H Se oTpouOoc avaniiTai ptv ry A^jpoSiry Sin to wo\vyovov, iti Se Kai Btppav tic p'Sie - <[i ei( \oyty xai ij iripiartpa oiKiiovrai n 
 
 Ton fivtiav A>Ppii?tTij. Eustath. in Homer, p. ~~li. nrpmiflouc i'| 7rnAXj| jiei 1 itriiiric; o\HJTiKrine mSf" Tcpi/'iKXqc Se tic nai tooc 
 
 tpipayaiTag ouruv, naraipapovc Xi^ti wpas ra (if AfipoSirt|t> yivtnQat. Id. in Od. A. p. 1411. 1. 10. 
 
 |W Athente. Deipnos. lib. ii. c. 23. M Horat, Sat. L i. Sat. viii. v. 1. 
 
 H iroTpioc Tdii/ Aioi'iwmii' iopTi) to ffnXcuoi' tmfijrfro Cij;iiin™r- kiu t\tijiii\i\ tititfiopivi; otvmi nut i-Xiiparic 1 , lira rpayav tic: tlXwi', 
 oXXnc ia\acu>v appt\i>v lykoXouOfi Kopi^uiv, fin warn Se ii ^nXAoe. Plutarch, irjpi '1'iAujrA. i). 
 
 163 See portrait of Tassoni prefixed to the 4to. edition of the Secchia Rapita, &c 
 '** Bronzi, tab. xciv. 
 
 It is to these obscene gestures that the expression? of Jigging »nd l/it tug t//r thumb, whicli Shakspenre probably took from 
 translations of Italian novels, seem to allude; see 1 Henry IV. act v. se. 3.; and Romeo and Juliet, act i. sc. 1. Another old 
 writer, who probably understood Italian, calls the latter giving the fitiOl and, according to its ancient meaning, it might very 
 naturally be employed as a silent reproach of effeminacy- 
 
15 
 
 46. The key, which is still worn, with the priapic hand, as an amulet, by the women of Italy, 
 appears to have been an emblem of similar meaning, as the equivocal use of the name of it, in the 
 language of that country, implies. Of the same kind, too, appears to have been the cross in the 
 form of the letter T, attached to a circle, which many of the figures of ^Egyptian deities both male 
 and female carry in the left hand, and by which the Syrians, Phoenicians, and other inhabitants of 
 Asia, represented the planet Venus, worshipped by them as the natural emblem or image of that 
 goddess."" 5 The cross in this form is sometimes observable on coins ; and several of them were 
 found in a temple of Serapis, demolished at the general destruction of those edifices by the emperor 
 Theodosius ; and were said, by the Christian antiquaries of that time, to signify the future life. 1 ' 6 
 In solemn sacrifices all the Lapland idols were marked with it from the blood of the victims ; 167 and it 
 occurs on many Runic monuments found in Sweden and Denmark, which are of an age long anterior 
 to the approach of Christianity to those countries ; and, probably, to its appearance in the world. 1BS 
 On some of the early coins of the Phoenicians, we find it attached to a chaplet of beads placed in a 
 circle; so as to form a complete rosary; such as the lamas of Thibet and China, the Hindoos, and 
 the Roman Catholics, now tell over while they pray. 1CT 
 
 47. Beads were anciently used to reckon time; and a circle, being a line without termination, 
 was the natural emblem of its perpetual continuity; whence we often find circles of beads upon the 
 heads of deities, and enclosing the sacred symbols, upon coins, and other monuments. 170 Perforated 
 beads are also frequently found in tombs, both in the northern and southern parts of Europe and 
 Asia, which are fragments of the chaplets of consecration buried with the deceased. The simple 
 diadem or fillet, worn round the head as a mark of sovereignty, had a similar meaning; and was 
 originally confined to the statues of deities and deified personages, as we find it upon the most 
 ancient coins. Chryses, the priest of Apollo, in the Iliad, brings the diadem or sacred fillet of the 
 god upon his sceptre, as the most imposing and inviolable emblem of sanctity: but no mention is 
 made of its being worn by kings in either of the Homeric poems ; nor of any other ensign of temporal 
 power and command, except the royal staff or sceptre. 
 
 48. The myrtle was a symbol both ol Venus and Neptune, the male and female personifications 
 of the productive powers of the waters, which appears to have been occasionally employed in the 
 same sense as the fig and fig-leaf; 171 but upon what account, it is not easy to guess. Grains of 
 barley may have been adopted from the stimulating and intoxicating quality of the liquor extracted 
 from them ; 17 - or, more probably, from a fancied resemblance to the object, which is much heightened 
 in the representations of them upon some coins, where they are employed as accessary symbols in 
 the same manner as fig-leaves are upon others. 173 Barley was also thrown upon the altar with salt, 
 the symbol of the preserving power, at the beginning of every sacrifice, and thence denominated 
 ov\oxvrai.' n The thighs of the victim, too, were sacrificed in preference to every other part, on 
 account of the generative attribute; of which they were supposed to be the seat i m whence, probably, 
 arose the fable of Bacchus being nourished and matured in the thigh of Jupiter. 
 
 49. Instead of beads, wreaths of foliage, generally of laurel, olive, myrtle, ivy, or oak, appear 
 upon coins ; sometimes encircling the symbolical figures, and sometimes as chaplets on their heads 
 All these were sacred to some particular personifications of the deity, and significant of some 
 particular attributes, and, in general, all evergreens were dionysiac plants: 176 that is, symbols of the 
 generative power, signifying perpetuity of youth and vigour; as the circles of beads and diadems 
 signified perpetuity of existence. Hence the crowns of laurel, olive, Sec. with which the victors in 
 
 l(i Procli Paraphr. Ptolem. lib. ii. p. 97. See also Mich. Ang. De la Chausse, Part n. No. xxxvi. fol. 62. ami Jablonski 
 Panth. /Egypt, lib. ii. c. m s. (i. 
 
 IW Suidas in v. i-nupoc. '« Sheffer. Lapponic. c. x. p. 112. 
 
 IM Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. 11. c. xi. p. 662. and p. 111. c. i. s. 111. Ol. Varelii Scandagr. Runic. Borlase Hist, of Corn- 
 wall, p. 106. 
 
 m Pellerin. Villes. T. iii. pi. exxii. fig. 4. Archfeol. Vol. xiv. pi. 2. Nichoff. s. is. Maurice Indian Antiquities Vol v 
 l7 " See coins of Syracuse. Lydia. 
 
 171 See coins of Syracuse, Marseilles, &c. Schol. in Aristoph. Lysistr. 6-17. 
 
 Mif)(p/iTj""«Tfti to flpiou irOTiirpat; km tituijoic (lege yivvi\ms vel KWptc) wavriov, koi SokU y«wi|rtx^l /io/ii,,) tijv tbvaiv Httavat 
 Plutarch de Is. et Osir. p. 305. 
 
 *• Oivip S' DC npiOtwv Trcwauifiivy Sin xptmyrar ah yap a<ft itm iv £Mp9 apwtXai. I lerodot. dc /Egypt lib. ii. s. 77. 
 
 173 See coins of Gela, Leoiuitim, Selinus ; and Eustath. p. 1400. 28. 
 l7< Eustath. in II. A. p. 132 and 3. and in p. 1400. 28. 
 
 '" s Tour jinpouc, n nptOV, wAokoutouv, iZatpovvrtg mro toiv aXXaiv tov K<-iou pipiov, Sin to avvrtXnv toiq £iuoic Of fiaSian- tc 
 kui fic yivimv tij irpniait tou rnrtpfiaTnc. Eustath. p. 13 k 
 
 "* <t»loiv (u MtyaaOivni?) u/ii'ijrof (nui TDu diniwmi, SdKi'uiTdc TiK/mpia, TT)» aypiav apirtXat; — nat kittoi', ko.i tafvjVi 
 
 tat fivpptvnv, Kat irvKov, irai uXXhtuiv aiSaXvv. Strabo lib. xv. p. 711. 
 
16 
 
 the Roman triumphs and Grecian games were honored, may properly be considered as emblems of 
 consecrat ion to immortality, and not as mere transitory murks of occasional distinction. In the same 
 sense, they were worn in all sacrifices and feasts in honor of the gods; whence we find it observed 
 by one of the guests at an entertainment of this kind, that the host, by giving crowns of flowers 
 instead of laurel, not only introduced an innovation, but made the wearing of them a matter of luxury 
 instead of devotion. 177 It was also customary, when any poems sacred to the deity, such as those 
 of a dramatic kind, were recited at private tables, for the person reciting to hold a branch of myrtle 
 or laurel in his hand, 178 to signify that he was performing an act of devotion, as well as of amusement. 
 
 50. The Scandinavian goddess Frcya had, like the Paphian Venus, the characteristics of both 
 sexes; 179 and it seems probable that the fable of the Amazons arose from some symbolical com- 
 position ; upon which the Greek poets engrafted, as they usually did, a variety of amusing fictions. 
 The two passages in the Iliad, in which they are slightly mentioned, appear to us to be interpo- 
 lations ; 1B0 and of the tales which have been circulated in later times concerning them, there is no 
 trace in either of the Homeric poems, though so intimately connected with the subjects of both. 
 There were five figures of Amazons in the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the rival works of five of the 
 most eminent Greek sculptors ; 181 and notwithstanding the contradictory stories of their having 
 placed the ancient statue of the goddess, and been suppliants at her altar, 1 "'- we suspect that they 
 were among her symbolical attendants; or personifications of her stihordinate attributes. ■ In the 
 great sculptured caverns of the island of Elephanta near Bombay, there is a figure, evidently 
 symbolical, with a large prominent female breast on the left side, and none on the right; a peculiarity, 
 which is said to have distinguished the Amazons, and given them their Greek name ; the growth of 
 the right breast having been artificially prevented, that they might have the free use of that arm in 
 war. This figure has four arms j and, of those on the right side, one holds up a serpent, and the 
 other rests upon the head of a bull; while, of those on the left, one holds up a small buckler, and 
 the other, something which cannot be ascertained. 1 " 3 It is probable that, by giving the full 
 prominent form of the female breast on one side, and the flat form of the male on the other, the 
 artist meant to express the union of the two sexes in this emblematical composition ; which seems to 
 have represented some great deity of the people, who wrought these stupendous caverns ; and which, 
 probably, furnished the Greeks with their first notion of an Amazon. Hippocrates however states 
 that the right breast of the Sarmatian women was destroyed in their infancy, to qualify them for 
 war, in which they served on horseback ; and none was qualified to be a wife, till she had slain three 
 enemies. 1 " 1 This might have been the foundation of some of the fables concerning a nation of 
 female warriors. The fine figure, nevertheless, of an Amazon in Lansdownc House, probably an 
 ancient copy of one of those above mentioned, shows that the deformity of the one breast was 
 avoided by their great artists, though the androgynous character is strongly marked throughout, in 
 the countenance, limbs, and body. On gems, figures of Amazons, overcome by Hercules, Theseus, 
 or Achilles, are frequent; hut we have never observed any such compositions upon coins. 
 
 51. This character of the double sex, or active and passive powers combined, seems to have been 
 sometimes signified by the large aquatic snail or buccinum ; an androgynous animal, which we often 
 find on the mystic monuments of the Greeks, 1 "' and of which the shell is represented radiated in the 
 hands of several Hindoo idols, 1 "" to signify fire and water, the principles from which this double 
 power in nature sprang. The tortoise is, however, a more frequent symbol of this attribute ; though 
 it might also have signified another: for, like the serpent, it is extremely tenacious of life ; every 
 limb and muscle retaining its sensibility long after its separation from the body. 1Hr It might, there- 
 fore, have meant immortality, as well as the double sex: and we accordingly find it placed under 
 the feet of many deities, such as Apollo, Mercury, and Venus ; iaa and also serving as a foundation 
 or support to tripods, pateras, and other symbolical utensils employed in religious rites. Hence, in 
 the figurative language of the poets and theologists, it might have been properly called the support 
 of (he Deih/ ; a mode of expression, which probably gave rise to the absurd fable of the world being 
 
 177 Toi> rn-t^avnv 48tWK WOVUV, ova tvoifittai;. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. viti. probl. xx. 
 
 Aristoph. Neph. 1864, et Schol. 171 Mallet Hist. <lu Danemarc. In trod, c. vii. p. 116. 
 
 1M T. 188 and 9, and Z. 186. ul Pb'n. lib. xxxiv. c. viii. lm Pausan. lib. iv. c. 31. and lib. vii. c. 2. 
 
 IW Niebuhr Voyages, T. ii. tab. vi. IS1 nipi atp. k. t. A. s. xliii. 
 
 ,M See silver coins of Panormus and Scgesta, and brass of Agrigentum in Sicily. 
 
 "* Sec Sonnerat's, and other collections of Hindoo Idols. Ifl7 /Elian, de Nat. Animal, lib. iv. c. xxviii. 
 
 1B " TV H>«mi< a *ii3iac A^poSiri)u Eiroiijot xA"W warovrnv, IHKOVpUtt NpjjloXov, raiQ yvvtuZi, tat ramntf. Plutarch. Conj. 
 Priap. 138. 
 
 The reason assigned is to serve the purpose of the author's own moral argument ; and is contradicted by the other instances 
 of the use of the symbol. 
 
17 
 
 supported on the back of a tortoise ; which is still current among the Chinese and Hindoos, and to 
 be traced even among the savages of North America. 18 '- 1 The Chinese have, indeed, combined the 
 tortoise with a sort of flying serpent or dragon; and thus made a composite symbol expressive of 
 many attributes. 190 
 
 52. At Momernphis in iEgypt, a sacred cow was the symbol of Venus, 191 as the sacred bull Mnevis 
 and Apis were of the male personifications at Heliopolis and Memphis. The Phoenicians employed 
 the same emblem : 19 - whence the Cadmeians are said to have been conducted to the place of their 
 settlement in Bccotia by a cow; which pointed out the spot for building the Cadmeiou or citadel of 
 Thebes, by lying down to rest upon it. l9:i This cow was probably no other than the symbolical image 
 of their deity, which was borne before them, till fixed in the place chosen for their residence; to 
 which it gave the name of Thebes ; Thebah in the Syrian language signifying a cow. 19i Hence we 
 may perceive the origin of the fable of Bacchus being born at Thebes : for that city, being called by 
 the same name as the symbol of nature, was easily confounded with it by the poets and mycologists ; 
 by which means the generator Bacchus, the first- begotten Love, and primary emanation of the all- 
 pervading Spirit, became a deified mortal, the son of a Cadmeian damsel. 
 
 53. The cow is still revered as a sacred symbol of the deity, by the inhabitants of the gold-coast 
 of Africa ; 1S5 and more particularly by the Hindoos ; among whom there is scarcely a temple without 
 the image of one ; and where the attribute expressed by it so far corresponds with that of the Grecian 
 goddess Venus, as to be reputed the mother of the God of Love. It is also frequently found upon 
 ancient Greek coins ; 19G though we do not find that any public worship was ever paid it by that 
 people : but it appears to have been held sacred by all the African tribes adjoining ./Egypt, as far 
 as the Tritonian Lake; 197 among whom the Greek colonies of Barce and Cyrene were settled at an 
 early period. In the Scandinavian mythology, t] le sun was tabled to recruit his strength during 
 winter by sucking the white cow Adumbla, the symbol of the productive power of the earth, said to 
 have been the primary result of warmth operating upon ice, which the ancient nations of the north 
 held to be the source of all organised being, 198 On the Greek coins, the cow is most commonly 
 represented suckling a calf or young bull; 199 who is the mystic god Epaphus, the Apis of the 
 ^Egyptians, fabled by the Greeks to have been the son of Jupiter and Io. so ° 
 
 54. As men improved in the practice of the imitative arts, they gradually changed the animal, for 
 the human form; preserving still the characteristic features, which marked its symbolical meaning. 
 Of this, the most ancient specimens now extant are the heads of Venus or Isis, (for they were in 
 many respects the same personification,) 201 upon the capitals of one of the temples of Phila:, an 
 island in the Nile between iEgypt and ^Ethiopia : and in these we find the horns and ears of the 
 cow joined to the beautiful features of a woman in the prime of life. 502 In the same manner the 
 Greek sculptors of the finest ages of the art represented Io r 03 who was the same goddess confounded 
 with an historical or poetical personage by the licentious imaginations of the Greek mythologists ; 
 as we shall further show in the sequel. Her name seems to have come from the north; there being 
 no obvious etymology for it in the Greek tongue : but, in the ancient Gothic and Scandinavian, Io 
 and Gio signified the earth ; as Isi and Isa signified ice, or water in its primordial state ; and both 
 were equally titles of the goddess, that represented the productive and nutritive power of the 
 earth; and, therefore, may afford a more probable etymology for the name Isis, than any 
 that has hitherto been given. 30 * The god or goddess of Nature is however called Isa in the 
 
 "* Lafitau Mtnurs <les Sauvages, t. i. p. 99. '*> Kircher. China Mustrata, p. 187. col. 2. 
 
 111 01 S( MtaptptptTut tiju AtfipoSirijv Ttfiuiai, Km rptfnai OijAko flowc itpa, KaOawtp ni Mc/ifa 6 Awt<;, iv 'UXlOV Sf ttoA« o MfflMC- 
 
 Strabo. lib. xvii. p. 803. See also eund. p. 807. and /Elian, de Anim. lib. x. e. 27. 
 IW Porphyr. de Abstinen. lib. ii. pp. 120. 212. 
 
 ™ Pausan. lib. is. C. 12. Schol. in Aristoph. Barpa\. 1256. Ovid. Metumorph. lib. iii. in ink. 
 
 9ij/3a yap ij fiovs kotq Supnuf. Schol. in Lycopbr. v. I20G. See also Etymol. Magn. 
 ,,s Hist. gen. des Voyages, t. iii. p. 392. See those of Dyrrachium, Corcyra, &c. 
 
 Mi\pi tijc TpiTOiwSoc Xipvnc an' Aiyvmav vapaSit; fiat Kpioipayai kui yaXai^OTrorai Aljivtg' xai BiiXiiuv r; flown on ti yiuopivoi, 
 Cioti Trcp au$t Ai-Yiiirrioi, km uc ov Tpupovrtt;. Herodot. lib. iv. c. 18(3. 
 
 158 Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. 11. c. v. p. 235-253. &c. vi. p. 455. 
 
 1,1 See those of Dyrrachium nnd Parium. ** Euripid. PhcenUa, (i88. cd. Porson. 
 
 'H yap laic ioti fOV to rijc /puaiaic flijAu, xat Siktikov annaa? ycvtoi<a$, khQo TiQi,vn kui irny&\ijc into tov nXarwvac, wo fit 
 tiov iroXXwv pvpitavvnoc KtuXnTm, Sta to navac vwo tov Xoyov rpciropivii poptparj Six^Ou, «u (Sine. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 372. 
 Isis junctii religione celebi'iittir, qua? est vel terra, vel natura rerum Soli subjacens. Macrob. Sat. 1. c. xx. 
 ™ Norden's /Egypt. 
 
 301 To yap tijc Iaioc ayaXpa, tOV 7111/aiitijioi', (iovKtpuv tori, xarairip 'EXXi|i'(f nj* low ypafavat. Herodot. lib. ii. 41. 
 
 s " Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. 1. c. xviii. et xx. p. 854. p. 11. c. v. p. 208-214, 340, et 451. 
 Edda Snorron. Myth. iv. 
 
18 
 
 Sanscrit j* 05 and many of Hie ^Egyptian symbols appear to be Indian ; but, on the other hand, it seems 
 equally probable that much of the Hindoo mythology, and, as we suspect, all their knowledge oi" 
 alphabetic writing, as well as the use of money, came from the Greeks through the Bactrian and 
 Parthian empires; the sovereigns of both which appear to have employed the Grecian letters and 
 language in all their public acts." 110 
 
 55. The ^Egyptians, in their hymns to Osiris, invoked that god, as the being who dwelt concealed 
 in the embraces of the San ; W7 and several of the ancient Greek writers speak of the great luminary 
 itself as the generator and nonrisher of all things, the ruler of the world, the first of the deities, and 
 the supreme Lord of all mutable or perishable being."™ Not that they, any more than the Egyptians, 
 deified the Sun considered merely as a mass of luminous or fervid matter ; but as the centre or body, 
 from which the pervading Spirit, the original producer of order, fertility, and organisation, amidst 
 the inert confusion of space and matter, still continued to emanate through the system, to preserve 
 the mighty structure which it had formed.-" 9 This primitive pervading Spirit is said to have made 
 the Sun to guard and govern all things ; w ° it being thought the instrumental cause, through which 
 the powers of reproduction, implanted in matter, continued to exist: for, without a continued 
 emanation from the active principle of generation, the passive, which was derived from it, would of 
 itself become exhausted. 
 
 56. This continued emanation, the Greeks personified into two distinct personages; the one 
 representing celestial love, or attraction ; and the other, animal love, or desire : to which the 
 ^Egyptians added a third, by personifying separately the great fountain of attraction, from which 
 both were derived. All the three were, however, but one ; the distinctions arising merely out of the 
 metaphysical subtilty of the theologists, and the licentious allegories of the poets ; which have a 
 nearer resemblance to each other, than is generally imagined. 
 
 57. This productive a^thcrial spirit being expanded through the whole universe, every part was in 
 some degree impregnated with it ; and therefore every part was, in some measure, the seat of the 
 Deity; whence local gods and goddesses were every where worshipped, and consequently multiplied 
 without end. " Thousands of the immortal progeny of Jupiter," says Hesiod, £C inhabit the fertile 
 earth, as guardians to mortal men."* 11 An adequate knowledge, either of the number or attributes 
 of these, the Greeks never presumed to think attainable ; but modestly contented themselves with 
 revering and invoking them whenever they felt or wanted their assistance. 212 If a shipwrecked 
 mariner were cast upon an unknown shore, he immediately offered up his prayers to the gods of the 
 country, whoever they were ; 213 and joined the inhabitants in whatever modes of worship they 
 employed to propitiate them concluding that all expressions of gratitude and submission must be 
 pleasing to the Deity; and as for other expressions, he was not acquainted with them ; cursing, or 
 invoking the divine wrath to avenge the quarrels of men, being unknown to the public worship of 
 the ancients. The Athenians, indeed, in the fury of their resentment for the insult offered to the 
 
 301 Sacontah. There were two goddesses of the name of Isis worshipped in Greece, the one Pelasgian and the other 
 ^Egyptian, heiore the Pantheic Isis of the latter ages. 
 
 Eartv IoiSdc npivi)' iiu r>|* fin IliXaayiav, np> St kiyvxttav outuji' nrovnpatavaiV Km Sua Su/iajriSoc, iv Kai^i,. kuXovuivou to 
 irtpov. Fatisan. in Cor. c. iv. s. 7. 
 
 ** OI Si tc Tqv IipEikhv «nrA<oiT(C (papTiiov ipaaw 'EAAipHKUin roue Ii'Eouc ayuiyipa <t\\a avraWaaaiaBai, vauiapa Si ouk tmmaaOm, 
 Km raura yjivaaii te a^Bnvov KM TrapnvTot; a<jnm. Pausan. in Lacon. c. xii. s. 3. 
 
 ™ 7 Ev Si raic fepoic vpvots TOW OatpiSoi; avaKaXaviTat tov (v raie aytaXaic KpintTo/iivov row i'iAiou. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. 
 'HXtt nayyiviTop. Orph. Fragm. 7. 28. 
 rijv yaw iravra (SoaKnvaav ipXoya 
 
 atSitaff anoKroc $W Sophocl. CEd. Tyr. v. 1424. 
 
 ou, rov vavrmv 6W 
 
 Btov wpopov ahav. Sophocl. (Ed. Tyr. v. 674. 
 
 row xvpiov koi tyiftova tijc (jiyaTTjc mmac ihraaw Plutarch. Quiest. Rom. 
 
 » See Plutarch. Qu. Rom. p. 138. it Fragm. Orphic. 
 
 3 " Km fvW oiirot. iTivb, KiXtvvi Si waatu OKUrouv. Fragm. Orphic. No. xxv. cd. Gesn. 
 
 111 Tpic yap pvptat HOW itri jfiow JrouAiij3onffip 
 
 AOavarOi Z»voc, 0uAaKfC Ovnrmv cvflpunruw. 
 
 Epya k. vf- v. 252. See bIbo Max. Tyr. Diss. xiv. B . 8. 
 115 Otov vopiZi kbi aifiov, Knrt' St jjij, 
 
 irXttny yap ovSiv aXXo th £ijt(iv fX"^' 
 
 f( T cirri v, it T ouk imiv p>i fiovXou paBuv, 
 
 i'oq ovra rowrow MM napttirr nu aifiov. Philemon. Fragm. incert. No. 5. 
 T( t tvnv b flloc, ou fiiApc ™ pavBavitv, 
 
 ort f /3£<c raw ou BiXovra pavBavuv BiXwv. Menandr. Fragm. incerta. No. 246. 
 
19 
 
 mysteries, commanded the priestess to curse Alcibiades : but she had the spirit to refuse • saying, 
 that she was the priestess of prayers, and not of curses.™ 
 
 58. The same liberal and humane spirit still prevails among those nations whose religion is 
 founded in the same principles. " The Siamese," says a traveller of the seventeenth century, 
 " shun disputes, and believe that almost all religions are good." 316 When the ambassador of Lewis 
 XIV. asked their king, in his master's name, to embrace Christianity, he replied, that it was strange 
 that the king of France should interest himself so much in an affair which concerned only God ; 
 whilst He, whom it did concern, seemed to leave it wholly to our discretion. Had it been agreeable 
 to the Creator that all nations should have had the same form of worship, would it not have been as 
 easy to his Omnipotence to have created all men with the same sentiments and dispositions ; and to 
 have inspired them with the same notions of the true Religion, as to endow them with such different 
 tempers and inclinations ? Ought they not rather to believe that the true God has as much pleasure in 
 being honored by a variety of forms and ceremonies, as in being praised and glorified by a number of 
 different creatures? Or why should that beauty and variety, so admirable in the natural order of 
 things, be less admirable, or less worthy of the wisdom of God, in the supernatural? 9 " 
 
 59. The Hindoos profess exactly the same opinion. " They would readily admit the truth of the 
 Gospel," says a very learned writer, long resident among them, " but they contend that it is 
 perfectly consistent with their Sastras. The Deity, they say, has appeared innumerable times in 
 many parts of this world, and of all worlds, for the salvation of his creatures : and though we adore 
 him in one appearance, and they in others; yet we adore, they say, the same God; to whom our 
 several worships, though different in form, are equally acceptable, if they be sincere in substance." 8,8 
 
 b'O. The Chinese sacrifice to the spirits of the air, the mountains, and the rivers ; while the emperor 
 himself sacrifices to the sovereign Lord of Heaven ; to whom these spirits are subordinate, and from 
 whom they are derived. 21 * The sectaries of Foe have, indeed, surcharged this primitive elementary 
 worship with some of the allegorical fables of their neighbours ; but still as their creed, like that of 
 the Greeks and Romans, remains undefined, it admits of no dogmatical theology, and, of course, of 
 no persecution for opinion. Obscene and sanguinary rites have, indeed, been wisely proscribed on 
 many occasions ; but still as actions, and not as opi7iions.-~° Atheism is said to have been punished 
 with death at Athens : but, nevertheless, it may be reasonably doubted, whether the atheism, against 
 which the citizens of that republic expressed such fury, consisted in a denial of the existence of the 
 gods : for Diagoras, who was obliged to fly for this crime, was accused of revealing and calumniating 
 the doctrines taught in the mysteries ; MI and, from the opinions ascribed to Socrates, there is reason 
 to believe that his offence was of the same kind, though he had not been initiated. 
 
 61. These two were the only martyrs to religion among the ancient Greeks, except such as were 
 punished for actively violating or insulting the mysteries ; the only part of their worship which seems 
 to have possessed any energy : for, as to the popular deities, they were publicly ridiculed and 
 censured with impunity, by those who dared not utter a word against the very populace that 
 worshipped them;"* and, as to forms and ceremonies of devotion, they were held to be no otherwise 
 important, than as they constituted a part of the civil government of the state ; the Pythian priestess 
 having pronounced from the tripod, that whoever performed the rites of his religion according to the 
 laws of his country, performed them in a manner pleasing to the Deity r- 7 ' Hence the Romans made 
 no alterations in the religious institutions of any of the conquered countries ; hut allowed the 
 inhabitants to be as absurd and extravagant as they pleased ; and even to enforce their absurdities 
 and extravagancies, wherever they had any pre-existing laws in their favor. An ^Egyptian magistrate 
 would put one of his fellow-subjects to death for killing a cat or a monkey and though the 
 religious fanaticism of the Jews was too sanguinary and violent to he left entirely free from restraint, 
 a chief of the synagogue could order any one of his congregation to be whipped for neglecting or 
 violating any part of the Mosaic Ritual.* 5 
 
 62. The principle of the system of emanations was, that all things were of one substance ; from 
 which they were fashioned, and into which they were again dissolved, by the operation of one plastic 
 
 511 OuS' aWoti; cxapuaBai iicyii£(Tni roue; iipuq {tuiv Pkj/iniiiii'). itrijvtOii ynvv A^iji'ijrri i) hptta fttf OtXiiauoa wiTupaaaatim t-ijj 
 AiXki^icicjj, run oiifieu KlAmuvroc' Ifi) yup, tl'\i(Ci "<' miWhihh;, r.pan ytyoi'iviu. 1'1ii(;|[tIi. Qll. Rom. 
 
 5,6 Journal tin Voyage de Siam. " 7 Voyage de Siam, lib. v. 
 
 2,11 Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 274. 2 '" Du Halde, vol. i. p. 32. 
 
 ™ See the proceedings against the Bacchanalians at Home. Li v. His. xxxix. 9. 
 
 Ainyopac Afirjuomc ')!', nXXo tomtov ii;o(>T(i|(rn/iEiioi' ra wap' AOqvaioic pvmtipia, TtTifiinpriKari. Talian. ad. Gnec. 
 » See the Prometheus of yEschylus, and the Plutus and Frogs of Aristophanes, which are full of blasphemies ; the former 
 serious, and the latter comic, or rather farcical. 
 
 m Xenoph. Memorab. lib. 1. c. iii. s. i. "* Tertullian. Apol. c. xxiv. ■** See Acta Apost. 
 
20 
 
 spirit universally diffused and expanded.** The liberal and candid polytheist of ancient Greece and 
 Rome thought, like the modern Hindoo, that all rites of worship and forms of devotion were directed 
 to the same end; though in different modes, and through different channels. " Even they who 
 worship other gods," says the incarnate Deity in an ancient Indian poem, " worship me although 
 they know it not."" 7 
 
 63. By this universal expansion of the creative Spirit, every production of earth, water, and air, 
 participated in its essence ; which was continually emanating from, and reverting back to its source 
 in various modes and degrees of progression and regression, like water to and from the ocean. 
 Hence not only men, but all animals, and even vegetables, were supposed to be impregnated with 
 some particles of the Divine nature ; from which their various qualities and dispositions, as well as 
 their powers of propagation, were thought to be derived. These appeared to be so many different 
 emanations of the Divine power operating in different modes and degrees, according to the nature of 
 the substances with which they were combined : whence the characteristic properties of particular 
 animals and plants were regarded, not only as symbolical representations, but as actual emanations 
 of the supreme Being, consubstantial with his essence, and participating in his attributes. 128 For 
 this reason, the symbols were treated with greater respect and veneration, than if they had been 
 merely signs and characters of convention ; and, in some countries, were even substituted as objects 
 of adoration, instead of the deity, whose attributes they were meant to signify. 
 
 64. Such seems to have been the case in iEgypt ; where various kinds of animals, and even plants, 
 received divine honors; concerning which, much has been written, both in ancient and modern 
 times, but very little discovered. The Egyptians themselves would never reveal any thing concerning 
 them, as long as they had any thing to reveal, unless under the usual ties of secrecy; wherefore 
 Herodotus, who was initiated, and consequently understood them, declines entering into the subject, 
 and apologises for the little which the general plan of his work has obliged him to say.* 29 In the 
 time of Diodorus Siculus the priests pretended to have some secret concerning them ; m but they 
 probably pretended to more science than they really possessed, in this, as well as in other instances : 
 for Strabo, who was contemporary with Diodorus, and much superior to him in learning, judgment, 
 and sagacity, says that they were mere sacrifices without any knowledge of their ancient philosophy 
 and religion. 1 ' 31 The symbolical characters, called Hieroglyphics, continued to be esteemed more 
 holy and venerable than the conventional signs for sounds : but, though they pretended to read, and 
 even to write them, 232 the different explanations which they gave to different travellers, induce us to 
 suspect that it was all imposture ; and that the knowledge of the ancient hieroglyphics, and 
 consequently of the symbolical meaning of the sacred animals, perished with their Hierarchy under 
 the Persian and Macedonian kings. We may indeed safely conclude, that all which they told of the 
 extensive conquests and immense empire of Sesostris, &c, was entirely fiction ; since Palestine must 
 from its situation have been among the first of those acquisitions; and yet it is evident from the 
 sacred writings, that at no time, from their emigration to their captivity, were the ancient Hebrews 
 subject to the kings of iEgypt; whose vast resources were not derived from foreign conquests, 
 
 158 Tiuv Sij irpwTwv /pi\oao<pnaavTijiv, lit irAtiorM rat; iv uAiji; hSei )ti>t'i>v i|ii|Oij(Taip apyai; itMU ttuvtwv' i£ oil yap lariv inravra to 
 oif n, Kat nil yiyvirai TtptoTOV, Kat nc <i tfiOitpiTai rtXcvTatov, tijc piv ovaiat; viru/uvovaiK, rote Se waOWi >nr<i/3nAAoua->rc, toiftij 
 aroi^itov Kai rniirtjv tijv apx'iv tyavtv uvat Tfiv Ovtwv' MR Sin tOvto, ovtc ytyvtatlat <iu0tu (huitiii, oute airoWvoQai, cue ™jc roKiLTiic 
 
 •pvnttm: on triaZofuvtig. Aristot. Metapliys. A. /itt^. c. iii. 
 
 vow St r<c (iirtiiv firm, KaOawtp tV toiq £woic koi fp tpvaci, tov atriov Kat tov KOa/wv Kat tijc raZitiii; irornjc. Ibid. 
 np\n(OC ftiv ovv tic Aoyoc Kat irarptoc tart iratrtv avOfiunrtHs, die ek Otnii ra iraira Kai Sio Oiov >)piv avviari]Kiv' ouStum Of tj> unit- avrii 
 mft' inunji' oum/Jirijc, tfiiipivOuaa riic ek rovrou aiurij/iiuc' Sco tidi Tiuy jraAoctiii' fiirfii> Ttvic TTpoit\Oiinav, oTt Tavra ectti nnvra SfftHl 
 
 7tAhj, k. t. A. Pseud. Aristot. de Mundo. e. vi. 
 
 Principio cceluin ac terras, camposque liquentes, 
 Lucentemque globum hunm, Titaniaque astra, 
 Spirit us in t us alit; rotamque inl'usa per arrus 
 Mens ngitat mulem, et magno se corpore miscet. 
 [nde hominum pecudumque genus, vitseque volantum, 
 Et qua? marmorco I'ert monstra sub irquore pontus. 
 
 Virgil. ^Eneid. vi. 724. 
 See also Plutarch, in Rom. p. 7G. & Cicer. de Divinat. lib. ii. c. 40. 
 
 Bagvatgeetn. 
 ™ Proclua in TheoL lib. i. p. 56 & 7. 
 
 ™ TW Se i'ivwv avHTXU ra Ipa (Qnpta) it XrfOtfU, KaTa/3nuji' av rqi Aoyi,i <e ra 6W irpi^uarn, ra tyw Qtvyhi paXtara amiyttoBaf rn 
 Se Kai itpqat txvTiuv E7rii/-atianc, avayxatq KaTaXapfiavoptvOQ KTOV. Herodot. 1. ii. s. C5. 
 
 230 01 fttv ovv Uptif avmv (rwv iijwmwi] airoppxp-ov ti Soypa xtpi rovrw t)(pvntv. lib. i. p. 9G. ed. Wess. 
 531 Strabo lib. xvii. p. 80C. 
 
 ™ Sec the curious inscription in honor of Ptolemy V. published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1803. 
 
21 
 
 but from a river, soil, and climate, which enabled the labor of few to find food for many, and which con- 
 sequently left an immense surplus of productive labor at the disposal of the state or of its master.* 38 
 
 65. As early as the second century of Christianity, we find that an entirely new system had been 
 adopted by the ./Egyptian priesthood, partly drawn from the writings of Plato and other Greek and 
 oriental sophists, and partly invented among themselves. This they contrived to impose, in many 
 instances, upon Plutarch, Apuleius, and Macrobius, as their ancient creed; and to this Iamblichus 
 attempted to adapt their ancient allegories, and Hermapion and Horapollo, their symbolical 
 sculptures; all which they very readily explain, though their explanations are wholly inconsistent 
 with those given to Herodotus, Diodorus, and Germanicus; which are also equally inconsistent with 
 each other. That the ancient system should have been lost, is not to be wondered at, when we 
 consider the many revolutions and calamities, which the country suffered during the long period 
 that elapsed from the conquest of it by Cambyses, to that by Augustus. Two mighty monarchs of 
 Persia employed the power of that vast empire to destroy their temples and extinguish their religion ; 
 and though the mild and steady government of the first Ptolemies afforded them some relief, yet, by 
 introducing a new language, with new principles of science and new modes of worship, it tended 
 perhaps to obliterate the ancient learning of ./Egypt, as much as either the bigotry of their prede- 
 cessors, or the tyranny of their successors. 
 
 66. It is probable, that in JEgypt, as in other countries, zeal and knowledge subsisted in inverse 
 proportions to each other : wherefore those animals and plants, which the learned respected as 
 symbols of Divine Providence acting in particular directions, because they appeared to be impreg- 
 nated with particular emanations, or endowed with particular properties, might be worshipped with 
 blind adoration by the vulgar, as the real images of the gods. The cruel persecutions of Cambyses 
 and Ochus must necessarily have swept otf a large proportion of the former class : whence this blind 
 adoration probably became general ; different cities and districts adopting different ;mimals for their 
 tutelar deities, in the same manner as those of modem Europe put themselves under the protection 
 of different saints ; or those of China under that of particular subordinate spirits, supposed to act as 
 mediators and advocates with the supreme God. 83 * 
 
 67- From the system of emanations, came the opinion, so prevalent among the ancients, that 
 future events might be predicted by observing the instinctive motions of animals, and more especially 
 those of birds ; which, being often inexplicable from any known principles of mental operation, were 
 supposed to proceed from the immediate impulse of the Deity. The skill, foresight, and contrivance, 
 which many of them display in placing and constructing their nests is wholly unaccountable; and 
 others seem to possess a really prophetic spirit, owing to the extreme sensibility of their organs, 
 which enables them to perceive variations in the state of the atmosphere, preceding a change of 
 weather, long before they are perceptible to us.* 85 The art of interpreting their various flights and 
 actions, seems to have been in repute during the Homeric times ; but to have given way, by degrees, 
 to the oracular temples ; which naturally acquired pre-eminence by affording a permanent establish- 
 ment, and a more lucrative trade, to the interpreters and deliverers of predictions. 
 
 68. The same ancient system, that produced augury, produced oracles : for the human soul, as 
 an emanation of the Divine Mind, was thought by many to be in its nature prophetic ; but to be 
 blunted and obscured by the opaque incumbrance of the body; through which it, however, pierced 
 in fits of ecstacy and enthusiasm ; such as were felt by the Pythian priestesses and inspired votaries 
 of Bacchus.'-' 30 Hence proceeded the affected madness and assumed extravagance of those votaries ; 
 and also the sanctity attributed to wine ; which, being the means of their inspiration, was supposed 
 to be the medium of their communion with the deity; to whom it was accordingly poured out upon 
 all solemn occasions, as the pledge of union and bond of faith ; whence treaties of alliance and other 
 public covenants were anciently called libations.* 57 Even drinking it to intoxication, was in some 
 cases an act of devotion r SB and the vine was a favorite symbol of the deity, which seems to have 
 
 «* See Herodot. lib. ii. c. 15. «" Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 48. 
 
 ■as Virgil. Georgic. i. 4)5. Ammian. Marc ell in, lib. xxi. c. i. 
 ac Plutarch, de Orac. Defect, p. 432. 
 
 To -yap (iaK\iuaifiov, 
 Kni to ^lai'iwSfCi fiavTiw TroAAtji* i\ti. — 
 'Orav yap d Oiog n$ to aiofi iABjf iroXuc, 
 Aiyav to fiiWov tovc /itjjpi'DTac jrntEf. 
 
 *» SnONAAI. D. 8. &c. 
 
 » g (0 M fl Dlvoc m 0aX«. C koi woprf.W r«e fm fir. Sia fan* wvmiv&u Shu wnXa^aMw* rac f fir, few X <V>» 
 
 rivXiZnvro HU aimnnV rouro yap am to Satra BaXnaV to St fitBvuv, ipnow AptOTOTtXiw, to /uro to Ouuv but, v xpiaOai. Seleuc. 
 
 aptid Athena*, Deipnos. lib. ii. c. J. 
 
 Htvftv 8* 61C fitffav avca/iou TrptTTOV iXtyl (u IlXortov), jtAjjv tv T01£ tonrnif, tou koi tov otvov Sovroc dtau. Dio". Lacrt. lib. iii. S. 39. 
 
 G 
 
22 
 
 been generally employed to signify the generative or preserving attribute; 189 intoxicating liquors 
 being stimulative, and therefore held to be aphrodisiac. The vase is often employed in its stead, to 
 express the same idea, and is usually accompanied by the same accessary symbols. 3 ' 10 
 
 69. It was for the same reason, probably, that the poppy was consecrated to Ceres, and her statues 
 crowned with it;-" and that Venus was represented holding the cone of it in one hand, while the 
 other held an apple, and the tto\o£ or niodius decorated her head:' 4 - for the juice of the poppy is 
 stimulative and intoxicating to a certain degree, though narcotic when taken to excess. 
 
 /O. By yielding themselves to the guidance of wild imagination, and wholly renouncing common 
 sense, which evidently acted by means of corporeal organs, men hoped to give the celestial faculties 
 of the soul entire liberty, and thus to penetrate the darkness of futurity ; in which they often believed 
 themselves successful, by mistaking the disorderly wanderings of a distempered mind, for the ecstatic 
 effusions of supernatural perception. This sort of prophetic enthusiasm was sometimes produced, or 
 at least supposed to be produced, by certain intoxicating exhalations from the earth; as was the 
 case at Delphi ; where the design of setting up an oracle was first suggested by the goats being 
 observed to skip about and perform various extravagant gesticulations, as often as they approached 
 a certain fissure in the rock. 243 It is said to have been founded by some Hyperboreans ; and 
 principally by the bard Olen, a priest and prophet of Apollo : 2 "" but women had officiated there as 
 far back as any certain traditions could be traced; 215 they having, probably, been preferred on 
 account of the natural weakness of the sex, which rendered them more susceptible of enthusiastic 
 delirium; to promote which, all the rites practised before the responses were given, particularly 
 tended. 
 
 71. The inspiring exhalation was at. first attributed to the Earth only; then to the Earth in con- 
 junction with Neptune or the Sea; and lastly to Apollo or the Sun."'" 1 These were, however, only 
 different modifications of one cause, always held to be unalterably the same, though supposed to act, 
 at different times, in different ways and by different means. This cause was Jupiter, the all- 
 pervading spirit of the universe, who bad the title of All -prophetic, 217 because the other deities 
 presiding over oracular temples were merely personifications of his particular modes of action.* 18 
 The Pelasgian, or rather Druidical oracle of Dodona, the most ancient known, immediately belonged 
 to him ; the responses having been originally delivered by certain priests, who pretended that they 
 received them from the oaks of the sacred grove ; 21 '' which, being the largest and strongest vegetable 
 productions of the North, were employed by the Celtic nations as symbols of the supreme God ;' i '" 
 whose primary emanation, or operative Spirit, seems to have been signified by the misletoe which 
 
 133 See coins of Mai'onea, Soli, Nnsus, &c. 3,0 See coins of Thebes, Ilaliartus, llipponium, &c. 
 
 Ml Cereale papaver. Virg. See coins of Selcucus IV. 
 
 M1 To fitv ci] ayaXpa { A ijifitit it in 1 Kiilhifitvuv Kava\m; HtKvwviat; eiroiijrrf v. ir(7roii|rni S' m \puoo» te MU iXtfavfOC ipipouau 
 
 itti tjj KEifiaAy ttoXoi; tiuv \fipan- St e^ei ry piv /iiiKuiva, Ti) tripif fiifXov. Pausan. in Cor. C. X. S. 4. 
 
 Figures holding the poppy in one hand 1 and the patera in the other, are upon the medals of Tarentum ami Locrj in Italy. 
 The laurel was also supposed to have a .stimulative ami intoxicating quality, and therefore the proper symbol for the god of 
 poetry and prophecy. 11 Su^i'tf tvtpytt n-poc rove tvBovotaafioui;. So^ukAijc' 
 
 AlMpVIIV QnfblV flCOlTl 7Tp(E TO OTO/ia. 
 
 bafimjayw QoijiaZiv a Xatpwv "ira. Schol. in Hcsiod. Theogon. v. '30. 
 Plutarch, de Orac. Defect, p. 434. 
 a " Pausan. lib. x. c. v. 1,1 Ibid. 
 
 Pausan. lib. x. 5,7 navou^tuoc. 
 
 *■ See Pindar. Olynrp. viii. 58. Lucan has expressed this ancient mystic dogma in the language of the Stoics; and modified 
 it to their system, according to the usual practice of the Syncretic sects. 
 
 Foraiin terris inscrt.t regendis 
 Aere Iibratum vacuo qam sustinet orhem, 
 Totius pars magna Jovis Cirrh&a per antra 
 Exit, et anhcrio trahitur connexa Tonanti. 
 Hoc ubi virgiuet) concept um est pectore iiumen, 
 Humanam feriens animam sonat, oraquc vatis 
 Solvit. Pharsal. lib. v. ver. 93. 
 
 See also Ainmian. Marcellm. lib. xxi. c. 1. 
 
 « s '/.,„ ava, AujSujvoif, UtXaayim, rijAoflt vaiuv, 
 
 dhiSut'i)? jieSk.H' S^"T\E^^l^pou , n/(ifi( ?! SeAAoi 
 
 2oi vaiaua vwofirral, awTnwoSec, Jft^UUmtt. Iliad, fl. V. 233. 
 Sophocles has only commented upon Homer. 
 
 'A ridv opeiiuv Kai xapotKocrw tyio 
 
 Smauv enXSwv aXaoc utnrfptpf/Ofapi 
 
 ripoc riic TTiirpijiat mi 7roX»yAuirTCTdt> Spvoc- Trach. 11G8. 
 ,s ° Maxim. Tyr. Dissert, viii. s. 8. 
 
23 
 
 grew from its bark; and, as it were, emanated from its substance; whence probably came the 
 sanctity attributed to that plant. 
 
 72. Such symbols seem once to have been in general use ; for among the vulgar, the great 
 preservers of ancient customs, they continued to be so down to the latest periods of Heathenism. 
 " The shepherd," says Maximus Tyrius, " honors Pan by consecrating to him the high fir, and deep 
 cavern, as the husbandman does Bacchus by sticking up the rude trunk of a tree."* 51 Art and 
 refinement gradually humanised these primitive emblems, as well as others; but their original 
 meaning was still preserved in the crowns of oak and fir, which distinguished the statues of Jupiter 
 and Pan, in the same manner as those of other symbolical plants did those of other person ifications. 2 " 
 
 73. The sanctity, so generally attributed to groves by the barbarians of the North, seems to have 
 been imperfectly transmitted from them to the Greeks : for the poets, as Strabo observes, call any 
 sacred place a grove, though entirely destitute of trees ; 353 so that they must have alluded to these 
 obsolete symbols and modes of worship. The 2EAA0I, the priests of Dodona, mentioned in the 
 Iliad, had disappeared, and been replaced by women long before the time of Herodotus, who relates 
 some absurd tales, which he heard in iEgypt, concerning their having come from that country." 51 
 The more prompt sensibility of the female sex was more susceptible of enthusiastic emotions, and 
 consequently better adapted to the prophetic office, which was to express inspiration rather than 
 convey meaning. 
 
 74. Considering the general state of reserve and restraint in which the Grecian women lived, it is 
 astonishing to what an excess of extravagance their religious enthusiasm was carried on certain 
 occasions; particularly in celebrating the orgies of Bacchus. The gravest matrons and proudest 
 princesses suddenly laid aside their decency and their dignity, and ran screaming among the woods 
 and mountains, fantastically dressed or half-naked, with their hair dishevelled and interwoven with 
 ivy or vine, and sometimes with living serpents." 5 ' In this manner they frequently worked themselves 
 tip to such a pitch of savage ferocity, as not only to feed upon raw flesh,*"' but even to tear living 
 animals to pieces with their teeth, and eat them warm and palpitating.? 57 
 
 75. The enthusiasm of the Greeks was, however, generally of the gay and festive kind; which 
 almost all their religious rites tended to promote."'" Music and wine always accompanied devotion, 
 as tending to exhilarate men's minds, and assimilate them with the Deity; to imitate whom, was to 
 feast and rejoice ; to cultivate the elegant and useful arts ; and thereby to give and receive 
 happiness.* 59 Such were most of the religions of antiquity, which were not, like the ^Egyptian and 
 Druidical, darkened by the gloom of a jealous hierarchy, which was to be supported by inspiring 
 terror rather than by conciliating affection. Hence it was of old observed, that the Egyptian 
 temples were Jilted with lamentations and those of the Greeks with dances;-"" the sacrifices of the 
 former being chiefly expiatory, as appears from the imprecations on the head of the victim ; K1 and 
 those of the latter almost always propitiatory or gratulatory.- 0 - Wine, which was so much employed 
 in the sacred rites of the Greeks, was held in abomination by the Egyptians ; who gave way to none 
 of those ecstatic raptures of devotion ; which produced Bacchanalian phrenzy and oracular pro- 
 phecy r 03 but which also produced Greek poetry, the parent of all that is sublime and elegant in the 
 works ot man. The poetry of Delphi and Dodona does not seem, indeed, to have merited this 
 character : but the sacerdotal bards of the first ages appear to have been the polishers and methodisers 
 
 »' See ibid. p. 79; also Plin. lib. ii. c. 1., and Tacit, de M. Germ. Even as late as the eighth century of Christianity, it was 
 enacted by Luitprand, king of the Lombards, that whoever paid any adoration or performed any incantation to a tree should be 
 punished by fine. Paul. Diacon. de Leg. Longobard. 
 
 See heads of Jupiter and Dodona on the coins of Pyrrhus. 
 
 OJ Si 7roiijTai Koafiovaiv, a\ai) k-aXnuiTEC ra itfia itoitu Kqv y i£iAn. Strab. 1. ix. p. 599. cd. Oxon. 
 M1 Lib. ii. 54. &c. His story of the pigeons probably arose from the mystic dove on the head of Dione, the goddess of Dodona. 
 *» Plutarch, in Alexandr. ^ Apollon. Rhod. lib. i. 636., and Schol. 
 
 m7 Jul. Finnic, c. 14. Clement. Alex. Cohort.]). 11. Arnob. lib. v. 
 
 Ml[ Ttjlliiaa flfOll?, Kf>aTI)tTltV 
 
 Ejfflpiuu; ijuroi irrova\ai$, 
 AAA' ivxatc, fliouc <nptZov- 
 
 S',f&( F tua/uptav, u> m Eurip. Electra. 193. 
 
 s " Strabo. lib. x. p. 476. 
 
 ' lt ° /Egyptiaca unminnm folia plena plangoribns, Grffica plerumque choreis. Apul. de Geuio. Socrat. 
 *' Herodot. lib. ii. 39. 
 
 203 Expiatory -sacrifices were occasionally performed by individuals, but seem not to have formed any part of the established 
 worship among the Greeks; hence we usually find them mentioned with contempt. See Plat, de Repub. lib. ii. p. 595. E. ed. 
 Fic. 1620. 
 
 345 Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 353. 
 
24 
 
 of that language, whose copiousness, harmony, and flexibility, afforded an adequate vehicle for the 
 unparalleled effusions of taste and genius, which followed. 
 
 76". Oracles had great influence over the public counsels of the different states of Greece and Asia 
 during a long time ; and as they were rarely consulted without a present, the most celebrated of 
 them acquired immense wealth. That of Delphi was so rich, when plundered by the Phocians, that 
 it enabled them to support an army of twenty thousand mercenaries upon double pay during nine 
 years, besides supplying the great sums employed in bribing the principal states of Greece Lo support 
 or permit their sacrilege. 16 * Too great eagerness to amass wealth was, however, the cause of their 
 falling into discredit; it having been discovered that, on many occasions, those were most favored, 
 who paid best;" 6 ' and, in the time of Philip, the Pythian priestess being observed to be as much 
 under the influence of Macedonian gold, as any of his pensioned orators." 06 
 
 77- The Romans, whose religion, as well as language, was a corruption of the Greek, though 
 immediately derived from the Etruscans, revived the ancient mode of divination by the flights of 
 birds, and the motions and appearances of animals offered in sacrifice; but though supported by a 
 college of augurs chosen from the most eminent and experienced men in the republic, it fell into 
 disregard, as the steady light of human science arose to show its fallacy, Another mode, however, 
 of exploring future events arose at the same time; and, as it was founded upon extreme refinement 
 of false philosophy, it tor a long time triumphed over the common sense of mankind, even during the 
 most enlightened ages. This was judicial astrology; a most abject species of practical superstition, 
 arising out of something extremely like theoretical atheism. 
 
 78. The great active principle of the universe, though personified by the poets, and dressed out 
 with all the variable attributes of human nature, was supposed by the mystic theologists to act by the 
 permanent laws of pre-established rule; and not by the fluctuating impulses of any thing analogous 
 to the human will; the very exertion of which appeared to them to imply a sort of mutability of 
 intention, that could only arise from new ideas or new sentiments, both equally incompatible with a 
 mind infinite in its powers of action and perception: for, to such a mind, those events which 
 happened yesterday, and those which are to happen during the immeasurable flux of time, are 
 equally present, and its will is necessarily that which is, because all that is arose from its will. The 
 act that gave existence, gave all the consequences and effects of existence, which are therefore all 
 equally dependent upon the first cause ; and, how remote soever from it, still connected with it by a 
 regular and indissoluble chain of gradation : so that the movements of the great luminaries of heaven, 
 and those of the smallest reptiles that elude the sight, have some mutual relation to each other, as 
 being alike integral parts of one great whole. 
 
 79. As the general movement of this great whole was supposed to be derived from the first divine 
 impulse, which it received when constructed ; so the particular movements of each subordinate part 
 were supposed to be derived from the first impulse, which that particular part received, when put 
 into motion by some more principal one. Of course the actions and fortunes of individual men were 
 thought to depend upon the first impulse, which each received upon entering the world : for, as 
 every subsequent event was produced by some preceding one, all were really produced by the first. 
 The moment therefore of every man's birth being supposed to determine every circumstance of his 
 life, it was only necessary to find out in what mode the celestial bodies, supposed to be the primary 
 wheels of the universal machine, operated at that moment, in order to discover all that would happen 
 to him afterwards. 
 
 80. The regularity of the risings and settings of the fixed stars, though it announced the changes 
 of the seasons, and the orderly variations of nature, could not be adapted to the capricious mutability 
 of human actions, fortunes, and adventures : wherefore the astrologers had recourse to the planets ; 
 whose more complicated revolutions offered more varied and more extended combinations. Their 
 different returns to certain points of the zodiac; their relative positions, and conjunctions with each 
 other; and the particular character and aspect of each, were supposed to influence the affairs of 
 men ; whence daring impostors presumed to foretell, not only the destinies of individuals ; but also 
 the rise and fall of empires, and the fate of the world itself.^ 7 
 
 81. This mode of prediction seems to have been originally ChaUkean ; and to have been brought 
 from Babylon by the Greeks together with the little astronomy that they knew r" 3 but the Chalda;ans 
 
 •* Diodor. Sic. lib. xvi. s. 37. et seq. 
 
 T11 nawmnv yap irav <pi\apyvpov 71110c. Sophocl. Anligon. v. 1171. 
 See alsn Herodot. lib. vi. 
 
 s6e See Demostb. Philip. &c. M? Sec Bailly Discoura hot 1'AstroIogie. 
 
 s(« Herodot. 1. ii. C. 109. noXor fUV yap, nai yvwpova, nai ra SuuiSfKo pipia rtjc >5/iEp>)C napa Ba|3u\(i)i'iiuu tpaQav at EXXijuic. 
 
25 
 
 continued to be the great practitioners of it; and by exciting the hopes of aspiring individuals, or 
 the fears of jealous tyrants, contrived to make themselves of mischievous importance in the Roman 
 empire;- 69 the principles of their pretended science being sufficiently specious to obtain credit, when 
 every other of the kind had been exploded. The Greeks do not seem ever to have paid much 
 attention to it; nor, indeed, to any mode of prediction after the decline of their oracles:"™ neither 
 is it ever mentioned among the superstitions of the ancient ^Egyptians, though their creed certainly 
 admitted the principle upon which it is founded.*" It is said to have been believed by only a certain 
 sect among the Chaldaeans the general system of whose religion seems to have been the same as 
 that of most other nations of the northern hemisphere; and to have taught the existence of an 
 universal pervading Spirit, whose subordinate emanations diffused themselves through the world,-" 
 and presented themselves in different places, ranks, and offices, to the adoration of men ; who, by 
 their mediation, were enabled to approach the otherwise inaccessible light of the supreme and 
 ineffable First Cause. 87 * 
 
 82. Like the Greeks, they personified these subordinate emanations, and gave them names 
 expressing their different offices and attributes ; such as Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Gabriel, &c. ; 
 which the Jews having adopted during the captivity, and afterwards engrafted upon the Mosaic 
 system, they have still retained their primitive sanctity, and are solemnly invoked in many parts of 
 Europe by persons, who would think themselves guilty of the most flagitious impiety, if they invoked 
 the same personifications by their Greek or Latin titles of Mars, Mercury, Hermes, or Apollo. The 
 generative or creative attribute seems to have held the highest rank ; but it was not adopted with the 
 others by the Jews : for as the true Creator had condescended to become their national and peculiar 
 God, they naturally abhorred all pretenders to his high office. 
 
 83. At Babylon, as in other countries, this attribute was divided into two distinct personifications, 
 the one male, and the other female, called Beel and Mylitta by the Assyrians, and Zevq and Atyfjodiri) by 
 the Greeks : 970 but, as the latter people subdivided their personified attributes and emanations much 
 more than any other, the titles of their deities cannot be supposed to express the precise meaning of 
 those of Assyria. Beel, or as the Greeks write it B>]\o£, was certainly the same title differently 
 pronounced, as the Baal of the Phcenicians, which signified lord or master ; and Mylitta seems to 
 have been in all respects the same as the Venus of the Greeks ; she having been honored with rites 
 equally characteristic and appropriate. The Babylonian women of every rank and condition held it 
 to be an indispensable duty of religion to prostitute themselves, once in their lives, in her temple, to 
 any stranger who came and offered money; which, whether little or much, was accepted and applied 
 to sacred purposes. Numbers of these devotees were always in waiting, and the stranger had the 
 liberty of choosing whichever he liked, as they stood in rows in the temple ; no refusal being allowed.^ 
 
 84. A similar custom prevailed in Cyprus,"" and probably in many other countries; it being, as 
 Herodotus observes, the practice of all mankind, except the Greeks and ./Egyptians, to take such 
 liberties with their temples, which, they concluded, must be pleasing to the Deity, as birds and 
 animals, acting under the guidance of instinct, or by the immediate impulse of Heaven, did the 
 same." 8 The exceptions he might safely have omitted, at least as far as relates to the Greeks : for 
 there were a thousand sacred prostitutes kept in each of the celebrated temples of Venus at Eryx and 
 Corinth; who, according to all accounts, were extremely expert and assiduous in attending to the 
 duties of their profession f 9 and it is not likely that the temple, which they served, should be the 
 only place exempted from being the scene of them. Dionysius of Halicarnassus claims the same 
 exception in favor of the Romans; but, as we suspect, equally without reason: for Juvenal, who 
 lived only a century later, when the same religon, and nearly the same manners prevailed, seems to 
 consider every temple in Rome as a kind of licensed brothel." 8 " 
 
 ,ea Genus hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus fallax. See Tacit. Ann. lib. ii. c. 32. lib. _xii. c. 52. and Hist. lib. i. c. 22. ; 
 also Tim. lib. sxx. c. i. *» Pindar. Olymp. xii. 10. "» Herodot. lib. ii. 82. 
 
 171 IlpaoTroiovvTai St nviQ {twv XaAca;c.ii<) yi ytOXtaXuynv, ovc ov KaTaci\t>vTai ol irtpoi. Strabo. lib. xvi. p. 762. 
 53 Fons omnium spirituum, Dens Supremos, cujus essentia™ per universum mundum tanqmtm animam diffinam esse, &e. 
 i&c. — non Chaldica tantum et /Egyptus, sed universus fere gentOismus Vetustissimua credidit. Iirucker. Hist. Cvit. Plnlus. lib. 
 ii. c. 2. s. 18. See also Euseb. Pra;p. Evang. lib. iv. c. 5. 
 
 271 Summum univer.si regem in luce inaccessibiii babitare, nee adiri posse nisi mediantibus BpirjtHlUS mcdiatoribiiK, universi fere 
 Oricntis dogma fuit. Brucker. ibid. 
 
 *» Herodot. lib. i. "» Ibid. Ibid. c. 199. ^ B Lib. ii. G4. 
 
 «• Strabo, lib. viii. p. 378. Diodor. Sic. lib. iv. Philodemi Epigr. in Brunck. Analcct. vol. ii. p. 85. 
 ™ Nuper enim, ut repeto, faiium Isidis et Ganymeden 
 
 Pads, et advect;r secrela palalia matris, 
 Et Cererem (nam quo non prostat femina templo?) 
 Notior Aufidio mccelius cek-brare solebas. Sat. ix. 22. 
 
 H 
 
85. While the temples of the Hindoos possessed their establishments, most of them hud bands of 
 consecrated prostitutes, called the Women of the Idol, selected in their infancy by the Braniins for 
 the beauty of their persons, and trained up with every elegant accomplishment that could render 
 them attractive, and ensure success in the profession ; which tltey exercised at once for the pleasure 
 and profit of the priesthood. They were never allowed to desert the temple; and the offspring of 
 their promiscuous embraces were, if males, consecrated to the service of the deity in the ceremonies 
 of his worship; and, if females, educated in the profession of their mothers.'^ 81 
 
 86. Night being the appropriate season for these mysteries, and being also supposed to have some 
 genial and nutritive influence in itself,- 8 - was personified, as the source of all things, the passive 
 productive principle of the universe, 283 which the ^Egyptians called by a name, that signified Night. eM 
 Hesiod says, that the nights belong to the blessed gods ; it being then that dreams descend from 
 Heaven to forewarn and instruct men. 185 Hence night is called svipoovij, good or benevolent, by the 
 ancient poets; and to perform any unseemly act or gesture in the face of night, as well as in the 
 face of the sun, was accounted a heinous offence. 886 This may seem, indeed, a contradiction to their 
 practice : but it must be remembered that a free communication between the sexes was never 
 reckoned criminal by the ancients, unless when injurious to the peace or pride of families ; and as to 
 the foul and unnatural debaucheries imputed to the Bacchanalian societies suppressed by the 
 Romans, they were either mere calumnies, or abuses introduced by private persons, and never 
 countenanced by public authority in any part of the world. Had the Christian societies sunk under 
 the first storms of persecution, posterity would have believed them guilty of similar crimes ; ot which 
 they were equally accused by witnesses more numerous and not less credible."" 7 We do, indeed, 
 sometimes find indications of unnatural lusts in ancient sculptures: but they were undoubtedly the 
 works of private caprice; or similar compositions would have been found upon coins; which they 
 never are, except upon the Spinthria; of Tiberius, which were merely tickets of admission to the 
 scenes of his private amusement. Such preposterous appetites, though but too observable in all the 
 later ages of Greece, appear to have been wholly unknown to the simplicity of the early times ; they 
 never being once noticed either in the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the genuine poem of Hesiod ; for as to 
 the lines in the former poem alluding to the rape of Ganymede, they are manifestly spurious. 583 
 
 8/. The Greeks personified night under the title of AUTO, or Latona, and BAYBSi ; tiie one 
 signifying oblivion, and the other sleep, or quietude r 89 both of which were meant to express the 
 unmoved tranquillity prevailing through the infinite variety of unknown darkness, that preceded the 
 Creation, or first emanation of light. Hence she was said to have been the first wife of Jupiter," 90 
 the mother of Apollo and Diana, or the Sun and Moon, and the nurse of the Earth and the stars. 89 ' 
 The Egyptians differed a little from the Greeks, and supposed her to be the nurse and grandmother 
 of Horus and Bubastis, their Apollo and Diana;" 93 in which they agreed more exactly with the 
 ancient naturalists, who held that heat was nourished by the humidity of night. 393 Her symbol was 
 the Mygale, or Mus Araneus, anciently supposed to be blind ;- w but she is usually represented, upon 
 the monuments of ancient art, under the form of a large and comely woman, with a veil upon her 
 
 ■" Maurice Antiq. Ind. vol. i. pt. i. p. 341. 
 
 A devout Mohammedan, who in the ixth. century travelled through India, solemnly thanks the Almighty that he and his 
 nation were delivered from the errors of infidelity, and unstained by the horrible enormities of so criminal a system of superstition. 
 
 The devout Hramin might, perhaps, have offered up more acceptable thanks, that he and Ail natiun were free from the errors 
 of a sanguinary fanaticism, and unstained by the more horrible enormities of massacre, pillage, and persecution ; which had been 
 consecrated by the religion of Mohammed ; and which every where attended the progress of his followers, spreading slavery, 
 misery, darkness, and desolation, over the finest regions of the earth ; of which the then happy Indians soon after felt the dire 
 effects : — effects, which, whether considered as moral, religious, or political evils, are of a magnitude and atrocity, which make 
 all the licentious abuses of luxury, veiled by hypocrisy, appear trilling indeed! 
 
 *» Diodor. Sic. 1. i. c. vii. 
 
 an Nut yivtaiq ravrwv i)v khi Kuwpiv taXtovfm. Orph. Hymn. ii. l J. 
 
 *" Advp or AIJiup, called Athorh still in the Coptic. Jablouski Panth. Mgypk lib. i. c. i. s. 7. 
 
 184 HtUKtyMW toi mnc taamv. Hesiod. Epy. 7ii0. 
 
 r" Hesiod. Epy. 727. 
 
 S1 " Liv. His. L xxxix. c. 9. &c. Mosheim, Gibbon, &c. 
 • E E. 265, &c. Y. 230, &c. 
 
 385 Nk£ St, rj AqTWj Aijflw rig ovaa run tic inrvov rptTrapivwv. Plutarch, apud Euseb. Prsep. Evang. lib. iii. c. i. 
 (iavfta- KMpigo. 0<ra/3£»' KodfvSuw. Hesych. It is the same word as tavtiv, in a different dialect. 
 » OdysB. A. 679. 
 
 m BAYBQ' n&qvn Anpirrprtc- Hesych. 
 
 Q vuE fitXatva gpvvtMV (HTTpi.iv rpoj*. Euripid. Electra. 51, 
 
 "» Herodot. lib. ii. 106. 
 
 ■*■ Omnium autem physicorum aasertione constat calorem humore nutriri. Macrob. Sat. i. c. 23. 
 w Plutarch. Symposiac. lib. iv. q. v. p. 670. Anton. Liberal, cap. xxvhi. 
 
37 
 
 head.* 93 This veil, in painting, was always black ; and in gems, the artists generally avail themselves 
 of a dark-coloured vein in the stone to express it; it being the same as that which was usually thrown 
 over the symbol of the generative attribute, to signify the nutritive power of Night, fostering the 
 productive power of the pervading Spirit; whence Priapus is called, by the poets, black-cloaked™ 
 The veil is often stellated, or marked with asterisks," 37 and is occasionally given to all the personifi- 
 cations of the generative attribute, whether male or female ;* ya and likewise to portraits of persons 
 consecrated, or represented in a sacred or sacerdotal character, which, in such cases, it invariably 
 signifies." 99 
 
 88. The /Egyptian Horus is said to have been the son of Osiris and Isis, and to have been born 
 while both his parents were in the womb of their mother Rhea; J "° a fable which means no more than 
 that the active and passive powers of production joined in the general concretion of substance, and 
 caused the separation or delivery of the elements from each other: for the name of Apollo is evidently 
 a title derived from a Greek verb, signifying to deliver from ^ and it is probable that Horus (or 
 whatever was the ./Egyptian name of tins deity) had a similar meaning, it being manifestly intended 
 to signify a personified mode of action of Osiris; 303 in the same manner as Liber, the corresponding 
 title in the Latin tongue, signified a personified mode of action of the generator Bacchus.' 5 " 3 His 
 statue at Coptos had the symbol of the generative attribute in his hand, said to be taken from Tvphon, 
 the destroying power ; :iiu and there arc small statues of him now extant, holding the circle and cross, 
 which seems to have been the symbol meant. Typhon is said to have struck out and swallowed one 
 of his eyes whence the itinerant priests and priestesses of the ./Egyptian religion, under the Roman 
 emperors, always appeared with this deformity :' ! "" but the meaning of the fable cannot now be 
 ascertained, any more than that of the single lock of hair, worn on the right side of the head, both 
 by Horus and his priests. 
 
 89. According to Manethos, the ^Egyptians called the loadstone, the bone of Osiris : M7 by which 
 it should seem that he represented the attractive principle ; which is by no means incompatible with 
 bis character of separator and deliverer of the elements ; for this separation was supposed to be 
 produced by attraction. The Sim, according to the ancient system, learnt by Pythagoras from the 
 Orphic, and other mystic traditions, being placed in the centre of the universe, with the planets 
 moving round, 308 was, by its attractive force, the cause of all union and harmony in the whole, and, 
 by the emanation of its beams, the cause of all motion and activity in the parts. This system, so 
 remote from all that is taught by common sense and observation, but now so fully proved to be true, 
 was taught secretly by Pythagoras ; who was rather the founder of a religious order for the purposes 
 of ambition, than of a philosophical sect for the extension of science. After a premature discovery 
 
 ™ See medals of the Brcttii, Siciliola?, King Pyrrhus, &c. 
 
 The animal symbol rarely occurs; but upon a beautifully-engraved gem, belonging to Mr. Payne knight, is the head of a 
 Boar, the symbol of Mais the destroyer, joined to the head of a Ram, the symbol of Bacchus or Amnion the generator ; upon 
 which repose a Dog, the symbol of Mercury, or presiding Mind; and upon the back of the dog is the Mygale, the symbol of 
 Latona, or Night. 
 
 MiXayxXawoi Tt Tlpiniroi. Moscli. Epitaph. Bion 27. ^ See medals of Syracuse. 
 
 MB See heads of Venus on die gold coins of Tarentimi, silver of Corinth — of Bacchus on those of Lampsacus, &c. 
 
 See medals of Julius Ciesitr, Livia, the Queens of Syria and <4£gypt, bust of Marcus Aurclius in the Townlcy collection, &c. 
 
 300 'TI /iiv yap, £Ti tuiv Otiuu iv yaarpi tijc 'Pfap on-cuy, e£ ImSo? jcat OoiptSut; ytva/iivif ytvtais AiruAAiui'of, &c. Plutarch, de Is. 
 et Osir. p. 3TJ. We only quote Plutarch's facts, his explanations and etymologies being ol'leuer from the School of Plato, than 
 from ancient iEgypt. 
 
 301 AiroXr™, anciently written AFIOAYFO. 
 
 3 ™ Eoti ff oiiroq (12/ini;) !i mptyttut; mapnq, oiiti fiOri/jnc uiraXXanupivotj irnurairaiii', outi ytvtaiw£. Plutarch, de Is. et 
 
 Osir. p. 371. 
 
 Plutarch, in this explanation, has only mistaken the effect for the cause. 
 
 303 The Latin adjective liber comes from the Greek verb AYFG; by a well-known variation of dialect, from the Y to the I, 
 and from the F to the B. 
 
 3H Ev Koittiu to ayaXpa tou 'Qpisu (v htpn \eipt Tu^turo? uicota naTi\it. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 373. 
 
 *• Km Xcyovatv fin tov 'Qpov wv piv HraroEt, vvv 6" l&Xtm Kartwuv !> Tvpiov tov o-fOaXpov. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. ib. 
 
 m Lusca sacerdos, Juv. A bronze bead of an Agyrtes, with this deformity, belongs to Mr. P. knight. 
 
 *" En tt,v oiSijpiTiv XSov, (WTfW 'Gpou, (.KaXovatv)— tag loroptt Mnwfloc Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 376. 
 
 308 Evavrihig o'l iripi Tijv ItoAmiii, KoAoiifttt'oi ?c TlvOuyopnot, Xtyavaiv' mi yap tou piaov irvp (ivai ijiaai, tiju Si ff» tv rUV atrrpbtv 
 outran kkkAiu ^tpaptvijv iripi to piaov, vvkto ti Km yptpuv iroifiu. Aristot. de CceL lib. ii. C. 13. 
 
 The author of the trifling book on the tenets of the Philosophers, falsely attributed to Plutarch, understands the central fire, 
 round which the Earth and planets were supposed to move, not to be the Sun ; in which he has been followed by Adam Smith 
 and others: hut Aristotle clearly understands it to be the Sun, or he could not suppose it to he the cause of day and night; 
 neither could the Pythagoreans have been so ignorant as to attribute that cause to any other fire. This system is alluded to in 
 an Orphic Fragment : To b" awtipiaiov koto kdjcXov Arpvrw? itjiopttro. Fragni. No. xxxiii. ed. Gesner ; and by Galen : 'HpaKAetSiie 
 & Kin ol Ilvdayopttoi tKwnw tiuv aoripwv KOapov itval I'omCouai, -j-rju Ttapi\oi'Tu nu uiOipu w ri[i BWUptf atpi. ravra 8) ra Cuyparu 
 tv £l/IO!f Ofjr/jn.-(J»- ijilpiriOril Aiyminf, Hist. Pllil, C. xiii. 
 
'28 
 
 had caused the ruin of him and his society, Philolaua, one of his disciples, published this part of his 
 doctrines, and Aristarchus of Samos openly attempted to prove the truth of it;* 09 for which he was 
 censured by Cleanthes, as being guilty of impiety:'" 0 but speculative theories were never thought 
 impious by the Greeks, unless they tended to reveal the mystic doctrines, or disprove the existence 
 of a Deity. That of Aristarchus could not have been of the latter class, and therefore must have 
 been of the former; though his accuser could not specify it without participating in the imputed 
 criminality. The crimes of Socrates and Diagoras appear to have been, as before observed, of the 
 same kind : whence Aristophanes represents them attributing the order and variety of the universe 
 to circular motion, called AIN02 ; and then humorously introduces Strepsiades mistaking this Dinos 
 for a new god, who had expelled Jupiter. 31 ' Among the symbols carried in the mystic processions 
 was a wheel ; 3 '" which is also represented on coins,' 113 probably to signify the same meaning as was 
 expressed by this word. 
 
 90. The great system to which it alluded was, however, rather believed than known ; it having been 
 derived from ancient tradition, and not discovered by study and observation. It was therefore 
 supported by no proof; nor had it any other credit than what it derived from the mystic veneration 
 paid to a vague notion, in some degree connected with religion, but still not sufficiently so to become 
 an article of faith, even in the lax and comprehensive creed of Polytheism. Common observation 
 might have produced the idea of a central cause of motion in the universe, and of a circular distri- 
 bution of its parts ; which might have led some more acute and discerning minds to imagine a solar 
 system, without their having been led to it by any accurate or regular progress of discovery ; and this 
 we conceive to be a more easy and natural way of accounting for it, than supposing it to be a wreck 
 or fragment of more universal science that had once existed among some lost and unknown people. 314 
 
 91. Of this central cause, and circular distribution, the primitive temples, of which we almost every 
 where find vestiges, appear to have been emblems : for they universally consist of circles of rude 
 stones ; in the centre of which seems to have been the symbol of the deity. Such were the pyrajtheia 
 of the Persians, 315 the Celtic temples of the North, and the most ancient recorded of the Greeks ; one 
 of which, built by Adrastus, a generation before the Trojan war, remained at Sicyon in the time of 
 Pausanias. 3 "' It seems that most of the places of worship known in the Homeric times were of this 
 kind; for though temples and even statues are mentioned in Troy, the places of worship of the 
 Greeks consisted generally of an area and altar only. 317 
 
 92. The Persians, who were the primitists, or puritans of Heathenism, thought it impious or 
 foolish to employ any more complicated structures in the service of the Deity; 318 whence they 
 destroyed with unrelenting bigotry, the magnificent temples of Mgypt and Greece. 319 Their places 
 of worship were circles of stones, in the centre of which they kindled the sacred fire, the only symbol 
 of their god : for they abhorred statues, as well as temples and altars thinking it unworthy of the 
 majesty of the Deity to be represented by any definite form, or to be circumscribed in any determi- 
 nate space. The universe was his temple, and the all-pervading element of fire his only representa- 
 tive; whence their most solemn act of devotion was, kindling an immense fire on the top of a high 
 mountain, and offering up, in it, quantities of milk, honey, wine, oil, and all kinds of perfumes ; as 
 Mithradates did, with great expense and magnificence, according to the rites of his Persian ancestors, 
 when about to engage in his second war with the Romans ; the event of which was to make him lord 
 of all, or of nothing. 32 ' 
 
 93. These offerings were made to the all-pervading Spirit of the universe, (which Herodotus calls 
 by the Greek name of Jupiter), and to his subordinate emanations, diffused through the Sun and 
 Moon, and the terrestrial elements, fire, air, earth, and water. They afterwards learned of the 
 Syrians to worship their Astarte, or celestial Venus; 3 - 8 and by degrees adopted other superstitions 
 from the Phoenicians and other neighbouring nations; who probably furnished them with the 
 symbolical figures observable in the ruins of Persepolis, and the devices of their coins. We must 
 not, however, as Hyde and Anquetil have done, confound the Persians of the first with those of the 
 
 *» Dutens Dccouvertes attributes aux Modernes ; and authorities there cited. 
 
 ™ Plutarch, de Fac. in orbe Lunas, p. 922^. The words of Plutarch are here decisive of the sense of those of Aristotle 
 above cited. Apiarap X oc tfiro, Sttv KXiavBi, tov Sa^ov no^Eiae wpoKaAdofla. roue 'EXAquac, wc Kivouvra rov KOapav r„v f<mav, 
 !iti tpawoptva vw&ty avvp tweiparo, fuvfiv tov avpavov {nroTidtpivOQ- ttiXtrrtaOat St Kara \otov kukAou n,v V ]v, OfUt K<u wtpt tov 
 ail-lie a£oi>n MVQVftmitt. 
 
 «' Nub. 826. m Epiphan. p. 1092. 
 
 3,J See medals of Phlisus, Cyrene, Luceria, Vetulonia, &c. 
 
 ,u See Bailly Hist, de I'Astronomie Ancienne. sls Pausan. lib. vii. c. xxii. and lib. ix. 
 
 "» Ibid. p. 747. W T lf i(voc m Puisne. 3,6 Herodot. lib. i. 131. '» lb. 
 
 ™ Strabo, lib. xv. p. 732, &c. Appian. de Bello Mithrad. c. 66, 
 
 3 - Herodot. I. i. 131. 
 
29 
 
 second dynasty, that succeeded the Parthians ; nor place any reliance on the pretended Zendavesta, 
 which the latter produced as the work of Zoroaster; but winch is in reality nothing more than the 
 ritual of the modern Guehers or Parsees. That it should have imposed upon Mr. Gibbon, is 
 astonishing; as it is manifestly a compilation of no earlier date than the eighth or ninth century of 
 Christianity, and probably much later. 
 
 94. The Greeks seem originally to have performed their acts of devotion to the authorial Spirit upon 
 high mountains; from which new titles, and consequently new personifications, were derived; such 
 as those of Olympian, Dodonaean, Ida;an, and Casian Jupiter. 31 - 3 They were also long without 
 statues ; 521 which were always considered, by the learned among them, as mere symbols, or the 
 invention of human error to console human weakness/ 1 - 5 Numa, who was deeply skilled in mystic 
 lore, forbade the Romans to represent the gods under any forms either of men or beasts; 3 "" and they 
 adhered to his instructions during the first hundred and seventy years of the republic : :!S7 nor had the 
 Germans, even in the age of Tacitus, renounced their primitive prejudices, or adopted any of the 
 refinements of their neighbours on this subject. 
 
 95. In some instances, the circular area above mentioned is inclosed in a square one; and we are 
 told that a square stone was the primitive symbol of several deities, more especially of the celestial 
 Venus, or passive productive power, both among the ancient Greeks and ancient Arabians. 31 " 1 Upon 
 most of the very early Greek coins, too, we find an inverse or indented square, sometimes divided 
 into four, and sometimes into a greater number of compartments; and latterly, with merely the 
 symbol of the deity forming the device, in the centre. Antiquaries have supposed tins incuse to be 
 merely the impression of something put under the coin to make it receive the stroke of the die more 
 steadily ; 5t9 hut in all that we have seen of this kind, amounting to some hundreds, the coin has been 
 driven into the die, and not struck with it, and the incuse impression been made cither before or after 
 the other, the edges of it being always beaten in or out. Similar impressions also occur on some of 
 the little ./Egyptian amulets of paste, found in mummies, which were never struck, or marked with 
 any impression on the reverse. 
 
 96. In these square areas, upon different coins almost every different symbol of the deity Is to be 
 found : whence, probably, the goddess represented by this form, acquired the singular titles of the 
 Place of the Gods/' 30 and the mundane House of Horn*. 33 ' These titles are both ^Egyptian : but the 
 latter is signified very clearly upon Greek coins, by an asterisk placed in the centre of an incuse 
 square S 33 * for the asterisk being composed of obelisks, or rays diverging from a globe or common 
 centre, was the natural representation of the Sun; and precisely the same as the radiated head of 
 Apollo, except that, in the latter, the globe or centre was humanised. Upon the ancient medals of 
 Corinth and Cnossus, the square is a little varied, by having the angles drawn out and inverted 
 particularly upon those of the latter city, which show a progressive variation of this form from a few 
 simple lines, which, becoming more complicated and inverted, produce at length the celebrated 
 Labyrinth 334 which Daedalus is said by the nrythologists to have built for Minos, as a prison to 
 confine a monster begotten upon his wife Pasiphae, by a bull, and therefore called the Minotaur. 
 Pasiphae is said to have been the daughter of the Sun; and her name, signifying all-splendid, is 
 evidently an ancient epithet of that luminary. The bull is said to have been sent by Neptune, or the 
 
 ra See Maxim. Tjt. Dissert, viii. JJ ' Pausan. lib. vii. c. xxii. 
 
 3 " SuirfOi Sf ttoXXoi KopSin irXaii(Ufi(uoi, 
 
 'iSpvauniaOa, irjipartiiv irojiatf.v^iji' 
 
 evuv ayaXpar' <k Ai6<m> rt K at £v\tov. Sophocl. apud Justin. Martyr. Cohort, ad Gent. p. 10. 
 There is another line, hut it is a seholion on the preceding one. Sec Toup. Emend, in Suid. vol. ii. p. 5!iG. The whole may 
 possibly he the production of at« Alexandrine Jew. 
 124 Plutarch, in Numa. 3 " Varro apud Augustin. de Civ. Dei. lih. iv. e. \i. 
 
 m Maxim. Tyr. Dissert, xxxviil. Clem. Alex. Prntrept. 
 
 'Eori|Kacn Sf. tyyvTara tiiv ayaXprnoi; TiTjiiryaii'ui XiOai TpttiKOvra /iaXtara apSftav. tuvtovi; aijlovntv at 'Vapni;, iiincrrqi Otov Ttvos nvofia 
 nrtXiyovTtr, to §e (ti waXaiorfpn nat rati; iraatv 'EXXijiti nunc 6itav avrt (ryaAuaTiuii tt\ov apyut XiOtn. Pausan. in Achaic. C. XXU. s. 3. 
 
 Taurue yap (tijc AtppaSirns) axw mpaytovov Kara ravra Kat rot? 'Epuaif, to Ct nrtypapfia myMtmi tiju Ovpavtav AfpoStnpi 
 Ttiiv saXaupii'dJi' Moipaji' tii'di jrpE<xf3in-(iri|i'. Pausan. in Att. c. XIX. S. 2. 
 
 319 Abbe Barthclemi Memoires de 1'Acadcmie des Inscr. t. xxiv. p. 38. D'Ancarville Recherches sur les Arts, lib. i. 
 c. iv. p. 412. 
 
 ™ Aio nut Tin' Svpiav ArapyaTiiv tokov (litiiv KaXovatv, Kat Ttfv law ol Aryuirritu, &f naXXtuv (liiuv iSiortjrac ntpu\tivaas~ Siraplic. 
 in Aristot. lib. iv. Atiscult. Phys. p. 150. ed. Aid. Hence Plutarch says that Osiris was the beginning, Isis the receptacle, and 
 Horus the completion. De Is. et Osir. p. 374. 
 
 331 'H £' Itric lartv ute Kat MovB, km TrnXii' Adopt, Kat MifJiKp npoaaytipivauat' StyMUKWA ^ £ T 'i' fttv irpiurqi rani ovopurtiiv, jUqrbM 
 rip 8f StvTtpy, oueoii 'Cpou nwpiov- Plutarch, ibid. 
 
 331 See small brass coins of Syracuse, which are very common. 
 
 ™ See Mus. Hunterian. pi 20. m Ibid, pi la. 
 
30 
 
 Sea;'" and the title which distinguished title offspring is, in an ancient inscription, applied to Attis, 
 the Phrygian Bacchus : whence the meaning of the whole allegory distinctly appears ; the Minotaur 
 being only the ancient symbol of the bull, partly humanised ,; to whom Minos may have sacrificed 
 his tributary slaves, or, more probably, employed them in the service of the deity. 
 
 9/. In the centre of one of the more simple and primitive labyrinths on the Grecian coins above 
 cited, is the head of a bull j 337 and in others of a more recent style, the more complicated labyrinth 
 is round. 888 On some of those of Gamarina in Sicily, the head of the god, more humanised than the 
 Minotaur, yet still with the horns and features of the bull, is represented in the centre of an indented 
 scroll,* 19 which other coins show to have been meant to represent the waters, by a transverse section 
 of waves.-""" 1 On the coins, too, of Magnesia upon the Meander, the figure of Apollo is represented 
 as leaning upon the tripod, and standing upon some crossed and inverted square lines, similar to the 
 primitive form of the labyrinth on the coins of Corinth above cited/'" These have been supposed to 
 signify the river Meander: but they more probably signify the waters in general; as we find similar 
 crossed and inverted lines upon coins struck in Sicily, both Greek and Punic ;' |L ' and also upon rings 
 and fibulae, which are frequently adorned with symbolical devices, meant to serve as amulets or 
 charms. The bull however, both in its natural form, and humanised in various degrees, so as in 
 some instances to leave only the horns of the animal symbol, is perpetually employed upon coins to 
 signify particular rivers or streams ; which being all derived from the Bacchus Hyes, as the Nile was 
 from Osiris, were all represented under the same form. 913 
 
 98. It appears, therefore, that the asterisk, bull, or Minotaur, in the centre of the square or 
 labyrinth, equally mean the same as the Indian lingam — that is, the male personification of the 
 productive attribute placed in the female, or heat acting upon humidity. Sometimes the bull is 
 placed between two dolphins, 3 "'* and sometimes upon a dolphin or other fish j 3 *? and in other instances 
 the goat or the ram occupy the same situation which are all different modes of expressing different 
 modifications of the same meaning in symbolical or mystical writing. The female personifications 
 frequently occupy the same place ; in which case the male personification is always upon the reverse 
 of the coin, of which numerous instances occur in those of Syracuse, Naples, Tarentum, and other 
 cities. 
 
 99. Ariadne, the fabled wife of Bacchus, is a personage concerning whom there has been more 
 confusion of history and allegory than concerning almost any other. Neither she, nor Bacchus, nor 
 Theseus, appear to have been known to the author of the Iliad ; the lines concerning them all three 
 being manifestly spurious : but in the Odyssey, she is said to have been the daughter of Minos, and 
 to have been carried away from Crete by Theseus to Athens, where she was killed by Diana — that 
 is, died suddenly, before he enjoyed her. 117 Such appears to have been the plain sense of the 
 passage, according to its true and original reading : but Theseus having become a deified and sym- 
 bolical personage, in a manner hereafter to be explained, Ariadne became so likewise; and was 
 therefore fabled to have been deserted by him in the island of Naxus ; where Bacchus found and 
 married her ; in consequence of which she became the female personification of the attribute which 
 he represented; and as such constantly appears in the symbolical monuments of art, with all the 
 accessary and characteristic emblems. Some pious heathen, too, made a bungling alteration, and 
 still more bungling interpolation, in the passage of the Odyssey, to reconcile historical tradition with 
 religious mythology. 348 
 
 100. In many instances, the two personifications are united in one ; and Bacchus, who on other 
 occasions is represented as a bearded venerable figure, 3 * 9 appears with the limbs, features, and 
 character of a beautiful young woman j 3 * 0 sometimes distinguished by the sprouting horns of the 
 bull,' 31 and sometimes without any other distinction than the crown or garland of vine or ivy. 35 - Such 
 
 ns Apollodor. lib. iii. c. i. s. 3. =« ATTIDI MINOTAURO. Gruter. vol. i. p. xxviii. No. 6. 
 
 137 In the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. 538 In the same. Also in the British Museum. 
 
 » Mua. Hunter, tab. 14. No. ix. 5 '° lb. tab. 56. No. iii. Ml lb. tab. 35. No. is. 
 
 3,3 See a specimen of them on the reverse of a small coin, Mits. Hunter, tab. 67. No. v. 
 
 50 See cuius tif Catania, Sclimis, Clcla, Hybaris, &C. 3,1 See brass coins of Syracuse. 
 
 Mi On a gold coin of Eretria in the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. Hence the curious hymn or invocation of the women of 
 Elis (O Bacchus :— E\n B' tivrwc, 6 u/ii'oc (twv HAfnuv ■yuiiuo.-riJi') " EXOtiu '\pw, Aidi'uoe, a\iav tc MOOT ayvtiv, OV¥ \«piTi!Taw |( vuuv 
 re,. /3of<y ttoS, duwv." EiTa &C nrqtovmv " A?ie raupt." Plutarch. Qurest. Gricc. p. 299. 
 
 :t ' 6 On gold coins of yEga? ami Claznmcnu?, in the same collection. M; A. 320. 
 
 319 Ea^i for (ktii (which is preserved in some Mss. and Scholia), and by adding the following tine, v. 321; a most manifest 
 interpolation. 
 
 "* Sec silver coins of Naxus, and pi. xvi. and xxxix. of vol, i. nf the Select Specimens. 
 
 " M See coins of Cumarimi, &c. 341 See gold coinB of Lampsacus in Mus. Hunter., and silver of Maronea. 
 
 331 See gold medals of Lampsacus, brass ditto of Rhodes, ami pi. xxxix. of vol. i. of the Select Specimens. 
 
31 
 
 were the Phrygian Attis, and Syrian Adonis; whose history, like that of Bacchus, is disguised by 
 poetical and allegorical fable; but who, as usually represented in monuments of ancient art, are 
 androgynous personifications of the same attribute,'™ accompanied, in different instances, by different 
 accessary symbols. Considered as the pervading and fertilizing spirit of the waters, Bacchus differs 
 irom Neptune in being a general emanation, instead of a local division, of the productive power j 354 
 and also in being a personification derived from a more refined and philosophical system of religion, 
 engrafted upon the old elementary worship, to which Neptune belonged. 
 
 101. It is observed by Dionysius the geographer, that Bacchus was worshipped with peculiar zeal 
 and devotion by the ancient inhabitants of some of the smaller British islands ;■'" where the women, 
 crowned with icy, celebrated his clamorous nocturnal, rites upon the shores of the Northern Ocean, in 
 the same manner as the Thracians did upon the banks of the Apsinthus, or the Indians upon those of 
 the Ganges. In Stukeley's Itinerary is the ground plan of an ancient Celtic or Scandinavian temple, 
 found in Zealand, consisting of a circle of rude stones within a square : and it is probable that many 
 others of these circles were originally enclosed in square areas. Stonehenge is the most important 
 monument of this kind now extant; and from a passage of Hecatams, preserved by Diodorus Sieulus, 
 it seems to have been not wholly unknown to that ancient historian; who might have collected some 
 vague accounts of the British islands from the Phoenician and Carthaginian merchants who traded 
 there for tin. " The Hyperboreans," says he, " inhabit an island, beyond Gaul, in which Apollo is 
 worshipped in a circular temple considerable for its size and riches." 356 This island can be no other 
 than Britain ; in which we know of no traces of any other circular temple, which could have appeared 
 considerable to a Greek or Phoenician of that age. That the account should be imperfect and obscure 
 is not surprising; since even the most inquisitive and credulous travellers among the Greeks could 
 scarcely obtain sufficient information concerning the British islands to satisfy them of their existence. 3 -" 
 A temple of the same form was situated upon Mount Zilmissus in Thrace, and dedicated to the Sun 
 under the title of Bacchus Sebazius ; Ji,B and another is mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius, which was 
 dedicated to Mars upon an island in the Euxinc Sea near the coast of the Amazons. 359 
 
 102. The large obelisks of stone found in many parts of the North, such as those at Rudstone and 
 near Boroughbridge in Yorkshire, belonged to the same religion : obelisks, as Pliny observes, being 
 sacred to the Sun ; whose rays they signified both by their form and name. 3611 They were therefore 
 the emblems of light, the primary and essential emanation of the Deity; whence radiating the head, 
 or surrounding it with a diadem of small obelisks, was a mode of consecration or deification, which 
 flattery often employed in the portraits both of the Macedonian kings and Roman emperors. 361 The 
 mystagogues and poets expressed the same meaning by the epithet AYKEI02 or AYKAI02 ; which is 
 occasionally applied to almost every personification of the Deity, and more especially to Apollo ; who 
 is likewise called AYKHTENETHS, or as contracted AYKHFENI12 j 86 * which mycologists have 
 explained by an absurd fable of his having been born in Lyeia ; whereas it signifies the Author or 
 Generator of Light ; being derived from AYKH otherwise AYK02, of which the Latin word LUX is 
 a contraction. 
 
 103. The Latin titles LUCETIUS and DIES PITER applied to Jupiter are expressive of the same 
 attribute ; the one signifying luminous, and the oilier the Fa/her of Dan, which the Cretans called by 
 
 553 kpfanpoi yap oi flfoi (rioffJiSmu nat iiouutroc) tdc vypag koi yovipov xvpiot Sokouoiv apxts fvai. Plutarch. Symposiac. 
 
 lib. v. qu. 3. 
 
 ITon-HcW Si ttrrtv v uiripyaartKr) iv ry yy, nat mpi ti\v yijv, vypnu Svvapit;. Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. C. iv. 
 
 li4 Oti S' oi' (tovov tov Oivuu Aioi'utth', aXXa Km thuijc; vypm; ijinirnnt; EAAijvec iiyavvrai Ki'pioi' not a(i\iiyoi', <i/jmi HtSapoc paprvg 
 
 ■mu. k. t. A. Plutarch, de la. et Ostir. 
 
 3 " &fX' ^ E > <"1 0 «>Sii)ij tTtpoc wopoc, iv6a yvvalm^ 
 
 AvSpwv avTiwipndtv ayavwv Aftvnatiiv 
 Opvvfitvai TlXfoval Kara vopov Upa BaK^i, 
 Srdin/in'ai maaoiti fiiXiipipuXXoin Mi/ju/i/joif, 
 
 E,vvv\iai' iraru-jTji; ?( XtytiMpiwr upvuTttt ifX'l* K - T - ^- V. 570. 
 What islands are meant is uncertain; but probably the Hebrides or Orcades. 
 
 5415 'Exaraioc kbi rivtg tripui ifuiaiv, iv tuiq ai'Tiiripav Ti>t; K(Atiki|c tottuic Kara tov waavov ttvai vnami ovk tXarrui rtK 
 
 SittAinc, tnrap\tiv ?i Kara tiju I'ljaai' rtfitva$ rt A7rrjAAriii'QC iityaXowpiirtt:, Kai vanv n^iuAo-yoi' avaOiinum woAAaic 
 
 KiKiiuiniiiivn', rripaipotiSii n.i a^ii/iim. Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. c. 47. cd. Wessehug. The whole passage is extremely eurious. 
 
 357 Ovrt frjiroifc <"Sn Kaamrtpicatj eouanc, EK riuu o Kaaarrtpos i,fttv <jioiTa. Hcrodot. lib. ill. 115. 
 
 Macrob. Sat. i. c. 18. Argonaut, lib. ii. 1169. 
 
 3M Lib. xxxvi. L 14-. 
 
 to if/wc ytwotttf ifrri nyHtm', Plutarch. Q. II. 
 aSl See Plin. Panegyr. a. lii. and the coins of Antiochus IV. and VI. of Syria, Philip IV. of Macedonia, several of the 
 PliilciiMCs, Augustus, &c. 
 365 a A. 101. SchoL Didym. et Ven. Heraclid. Pont. p. 417. ed. Gale. 
 
32 
 
 the name of the Supreme God.'"" In symbolical writing the same meaning was signified by the 
 appropriate emblems in various countries; whence the ZEY2 MEIAIXI02 at Sicyon, and the 
 Apollo Carinas at Megara in Attica were represented by stones of the above-mentioned form f 6 * as 
 was also the Apollo Agyieus in various places j 3 " 5 and both Apollo and Diana by simple columns 
 pointed at the top; or, as the symbol began to be humanised, with the addition of a head, hands, 
 and feet. 368 On a Lapland drum the goddess Isa or Disa is represented by a pyramid surmounted 
 with the emblem so frequently observed in the hands of the ./Egyptian deities; 3 " and the pyramid 
 has likewise been observed among the religious symbols of the savages of North America. 368 The 
 most sacred idol, too, of the Hindoos in the great temple of Jaggernaut, in the province of Orissa, is 
 a pyramidal stone j 589 and the altar in the temple of Mexico, upon which human victims were 
 sacrificed to the deity of the Sun, was a pointed pyramid, on which the unhappy captive was 
 extended upon his back, in order to have his heart taken out by the priest. 370 
 
 104. The spires and pinnacles, with which our old churches are decorated, come from these 
 ancient symbols ; and the weathercocks, with which they are surmounted, though now only employed 
 to show the direction of the wind, were originally emblems of the Sun : for the cock is the natural 
 herald of the day ; and therefore sacred to the fountain of light:"' In the symbolical writing of the 
 Chinese, the Sun is still represented by a cock in a circle ; 372 and a modern Parsec would suffer death 
 rather than be guilty of the crime of killing one. 373 It appears on many ancient coins, with some 
 symbol of the passive productive power on the reverse ; 37t and in other instances it is united with 
 priapic and other emblems and devices, signifying different attributes combined, 3 ™ 
 
 105. The ^Egyptians, among whom the obelisk and pyramid were most frequently employed, held 
 that there were two opposite powers in the world perpetually acting against each other; the one 
 generating and the other destroying ; the former of whom they called Osiris, and the latter Typhon. 
 By the contention of these two, that mixture of good and evil, of procreation and dissolution, which 
 was thought to constitute the harmony of the world, was supposed to be produced f 6 and the notion 
 of such a necessary mixture, or reciprocal operation, was, according to Plutarch, of immemorial 
 (intit/ui/i/, derived from the earliest iheologists and legislators, not only in traditions and reports, but 
 a/so in mysteries and sacred rites both Greek and liarbarian.' 77 Fire was held to be the efficient 
 principle of both ; and, according to some of the later /Egyptians, that aetherial lire supposed to be 
 concentred in the Sun : but Plutarch controverts this opinion, and asserts that Typhon, the evil or 
 destroying power, was a terrestrial or material fire, essentially different from the a;therial ; although 
 he, as well as other Greek writers, admits him to have been the brother of Osiris, equally sprung 
 
 Macrob. Sat. i. c. 15. Cretenscs Am np< 'iptpuv vocant. 
 
 Eon Se Zeuc MeiAi\(OCi koi ApTfptc uvo/iaZoilivii riarpuio, aw TiX v V TTtironifii va avctpttf irvpa/uct S' 6 MeiAi^iac, I) & tuovt [OTtv 
 tutaaji&nf. Pausan. in Cor. c. 9. b. 6. 
 
 AlOot; tt ape \< ifi fi'<>c Tu/vmirai; d^rmo ov pEyoAijc" Tnvrnv AwoAAiiii'o ovopa^nvm Kapivov. 1(1. in Att. C. 44. S. 3. 
 
 Mi Ayoifuc. £f <oti mii' i r itc oi;u Airyiui>, oil ftrrotri Trpo ruv Ovpiiiv. ioiouc ce t/iaaiv avrovc filial AttoXAiiii>i)c' E* Aloi'iioou' oi Sf apfyaiv. 
 A-yu«ut;, o Trpa Tiiiv ouAidju dvpwv K(iH>oiiSijc k'laii', It/iop AiroAAdii'Oc, Kat avroc 8io$. Suidas in voce Ayuiat, Vide et Sellol. in 
 
 Arisloph. Vesp. 870. et Schol. in Eurip. Phceniss. 684 ct Eustatli. in Horn. p. 1GC. lib. 22. 
 
 sw 'On /in irpoaiiiiroi/ ouri[i nai iroSfc Holy aKpot Kat \itpi$, to Aoijtoi> Y a ^ ,i <i , kioui iotiv fii:aafi[i>oii" i\ii £i iwi ry Kt^oAy xpavot;, 
 \oy\ilv ?f n> rate \ipat Km to^ov. Pausan. in Lacon. c. 19. a. 2. 
 
 ** Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. 11. c. v. p. 277. and c. si. p. 2G1. 
 
 3IB Lafitau Mii^urs des Sauvagcs. t. i. p. 146 and 8. 
 
 Hamilton's Travels in India. 3 ?° Acosta's History of the Indies, p. 382. 
 
 * ;i 'HAiou ci Upon fyaatv itwii Tov opvSa, Kat ayytXttv aviivai /kAAowoc tou ijAiou. Pausan. in El. prior, c. 25. 5. 
 
 #* Pour pciuilre le Soleil, ils (les Chinois) mettcnt un Coq dans un Ccrcle. Du Haldc vol. ii. p. 252. 
 
 375 Hyde de Relig. vet. Persarum. 3 "' See coins of Himera, Snmotlirace, Suessa, &c. 3 " 5 lb. and Selinu*. 
 
 nAX' fori tic mi yxp a at?, iott t\nv Ka\wt;. Eurip. apud P )u tare h. de Is. et Osir. 
 
 6 fitv avOpiiiiriuv Km Oituv ytvirtop, 
 il $' irfpujioXuvt; may <i vac vortavt; 
 5rapuSfE;cwifi/Tj rik-rti fluaTouf, 
 TUCttt Si fivpav, <jiv\a ri flijpuiv' 
 V-ym 8' owtaia ra ficv ik yam? 
 
 /3Auorowa youijc He OVpavtOV 
 
 iroXov ijASe ttoXiv. k. t. A. Ejusd. in Grotii excerpt, p. 417. 
 
 S77 AlO koi jrop7r«Aaioi; nirnj KarEioiii ik OttiXoytov KUt vupuOirwv <i e Troiirrac Km ^lAotfo^ouc So^o, Ti|ii apxfiv aSttnroTov ixouaa, tijv 
 Si jtiotiii laxopav Kai Suai^aXtivrov, odk hi Aoyoic fiovm; ouSi iv ^ijfuuc, aAXa tv ti rfAtraif, iu ti fluniaic Kat Bapfiapoi? Kat 'EAAijm 
 jToAAnsou irtpttptpniuvtiv, k. t. X. de Is. et Osir. p. 369. 
 
 ytviaBat, mi^tyjivat, ruuro. UTroXEir&m, puwunvat, hoKp&nvat, twuto. Hippocrat. Aimr. lib. i. s. G. 
 
33 
 
 from KPONOS and PEA, or Time and Matter."" In this however, as in other instances, he was 
 seduced, partly by his own prejudices, and partly by the new system of the ^Egyptian Platonics; 
 according to which there was an original evil principle in nature, co-eternal with the good, and acting 
 in perpetual opposition to it. 
 
 106. This opinion owes its origin to a false notion, which we are apt to form, of good and evil, by 
 considering them as self-existing inherent properties, instead of relative modifications dependent 
 upon circumstances, causes, and events : but, though patronised by very learned and distinguished 
 individuals, it does not appear ever to have formed a part of the religious system of any people or 
 established sect. The beautiful allegory of the two casks in the Iliad, makes Jupiter the distributor 
 of both good and evil f° which Hesiod also deduces from the same god. 3B0 The statue of Olympian 
 Jupiter at Mcgara, begun by Phidias and Theocosmus, but never finished, the work having been 
 interrupted by the Peloponnesian war, had the Seasons and Fates over his head, to show, as 
 Pausanias says, that the former were regulated by him, and the latter obedient to his will. 381 In the 
 citadel of Argos was preserved an ancient statue of him in wood, said to have belonged to king 
 Priam, which had three eyes (as the Scandinavian deity Thor sometimes had), 38 " to show the triple 
 extent of his power and providence, over Heaven, Earth, and Hell ; 3B:i and, in the Orphic hymns or 
 mystic invocations, he is addressed as the giver of life, and the destroyer. 38 * 
 
 107. The third eye of this ancient, statue was in the forehead; and it seems that the Hindoos have 
 a symbolical figure of the same kind t 385 whence we may venture to infer that the Cyclops, concerning 
 whom there are so many inconsistent fables, owed their fictitious being to some such enigmatical 
 compositions. According to the ancient theogony attributed to Hesiod, they were the sons of Heaven 
 and Earth, and brothers of Saturn or Time ; m signifying, according to the Scholiast, the circular 
 or central powers/" 7 the principles of the general motion of the universe above noticed. The Cyclops 
 of the Odyssey is a totally different personage : but as he is said to be the son of Neptune or the 
 Sea, it is probable that he equally sprang from some emblematical figure, or allegorical tale. Whether 
 the poet meant him to be a giant of a one-eyed race, or to have lost bis other eye by accident, is 
 uncertain ; but the former is most probable, or he would have told what the accident was. — In an 
 ancient piece of sculpture, however, found in Sicily, the artist has supposed the latter, as have also 
 some learned moderns. 3811 
 
 108. The /Egyptians represented Typhon by the Hippopotamos, the most fierce and savage animal 
 known to them ; and, upon his back they put a hawk fighting with a serpent, to signify the direction 
 ot his power ; for the hawk was the emblem of power, 389 as the serpent was of life ; whence it was 
 employed as the symbol of Osiris, as well as of Typhon. 3 ' 10 Among the Greeks it was sacred to 
 Apollo ; i91 but we do not recollect to have seen it on any monuments of their art, though other birds 
 of prey, such as the eagle and cormorant, frequently occur. 393 The eagle is sometimes represented 
 fighting with a serpent, and sometimes destroying a hare; 3113 which, being the most prolific of all 
 quadrupeds, was probably the emblem of fertility. ** In these compositions the eagle must have 
 represented the destroying attribute; but, when alone, it probably meant the same as the ^Egyptian 
 hawk : whence it was the usual symbol of the supreme God, in whom the Greeks united the three 
 great attributes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The ancient Scandinavians placed it 
 upon the head of their god Thor, as they did the bull upon his breast, 39S to signify the same union of 
 attributes 5 which we sometimes find in subordinate personifications among the Greeks. On the 
 ancient Phoenician coins above cited, an eagle perches on the sceptre, and the head of a bull projects 
 
 *^ Plutarch, p. 355. Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 13. J "' Q. 527. 390 Epy. 6. 
 
 581 Pausan. in Attic, e. 40. 3. 383 01 Rudbeck. Atlant. p. ii. c. v. p. 518. 
 
 183 Ziu<: Zoavov, Svo fitv, y irt^VKtv, i\ov o$8a\fu>vs, rptrov St iiri tod fitriuirou* toutou TO* Ala ITpia/i<|> jaoW ttitttt ri[. Aao/itSnurnc 
 
 7rtt7yi<|i<ii'. Pausan. Cor. l\ fii. s. 5. 
 351 Hymn, lxxii. eif. Gcsner. 
 
 381 Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 248. SM V. 139, Ike. 
 
 387 KfKAtt'Trnc me ijhiikXiihuj ? n r'ijii 1 f. Sehol. vet. ibid. 
 
 Tlie two lines 114-5 in the text, containing the etymology of the name, appear to be spurious; the licentious extended form 
 Ihc being incompatible with the language of the old poets. 
 383 See Houel Voyage en Sidle, pi. exxxvii., el. Damm. Lex. 
 
 180 En ' Epfiovwa^tt Of TiKpuivoc aya^pa SuKWOutHV i7T7roi' Trorajiioi'' Erp' nil (itjiiintv hpa£ oijiu pn\fifiivoi;' Ti(i /iiii (7r7TC|i roc Tu^iaii'a 
 Stucvuvrfc, !■<(. St Ifpnici Suva/iiu nai a PX nv. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 371. fol. 
 
 m Vpa^ovai <tai UptUtt row Btov tovtov (Oatpw) ToAAnKif. Ibid. Ml Aristoph. Opvi9. v. 516. 
 
 3S5 The latter on the coins of Agvigeiitum, aa the symhol of Hercules : the former, as the symbol of Jupiter, is the most common 
 of all devices. 
 
 383 See coins of Chalcis in Eubeea, of Elis, Agrigentum, Croto, &c. 
 
 3,1 See coins of Messena, Rliegium, &c. It was also deemed aphrodisiac and androgynous. See Philostrat. Imag. 
 338 Ol. Rudbeck. Atlantic, p. ii. c. v. p. 300. and 821. 
 
from the chair of a sitting figure of Jupiter, similar in all respects to that on the coins of the 
 Macedonian kings supposed to be copied from the statue by Phidias at Olvmpia, the composition of 
 which appears to lie of earlier date. 
 
 10i). In the Bacehas of Euripides, the chorus invoke their inspiring god to appear under (he form 
 of a hull, a many- headed serpent, or a flaming lion ;° m and we sometimes find the lion among the, 
 accessary symbols of Bacchus ; though it is most commonly the emblem of Hercules or Apollo ; it 
 being the natural representative of the destroying attribute. Hence it is found upon the sepulchral 
 monuments of almost all nations both of Europe and Asia ; even in the coldest regions, at a vast 
 distance from the countries in which the animal is capable of existing in its wild state. 99 " Not only 
 the tombs but likewise the other sacred edifices and utensils of the Greeks, Romans, Chinese and 
 Tartars, are adorned with it ; and in Thibet there is no religious structure without a lion's head at 
 every angle having hells pendent from the lower jaw, though there is no contiguous country that can 
 Supply the living model. 393 
 
 110. Sometimes the lion is represented killing some other symbolical animal such as the bull, the 
 horse, or the deer; and these compositions occur not only upon the coins and other sacred monu- 
 ments of the Greeks and Phoenicians f' 9 but upon those of the Persians, 10 " and the Tartar tribes of 
 Upper Asia ;' M)1 in all which they express different modifications of the ancient mystic dogma above 
 mentioned concerning the adverse efforts of the two great attributes of procreation and destruction. 
 
 111. The horse was sacred to Neptune and the Rivers ;' ww and employed as a general symbol of 
 the waters, on account of a supposed affinity, which we do not find that modern naturalists have 
 observed.™ Hence came the composition, so frequent upon the Carthaginian coins, of the horse 
 with the asterisk of the Sun, or the winged disc and hooded snakes, over his back j' 10 "' and also the 
 use made of him as an emblematical device on the medals of many Greek cities. 44 ' 5 In some instances 
 the body of the animal terminates in plumes ; m6 and in others has only wings, so as to form the 
 Pegasus, fabled by the later Greek poets to have been ridden by Bellerophon, but only known to the 
 ancient theogonists as the bearer of Aurora and of the thunder and lightning to Jupiter f? an allegory 
 of winch the meaning is obvious. The Centaur appears to have been the same symbol partly 
 humanised ; whence the fable of these fictitious beings having been begotten upon a cloud appears 
 to be an allegory of the same kind. 408 In the ancient bronze engraved in plate lxxv. of volume i. of 
 the Select Specimens, a figure of one is represented hearing the Cornucopia? between Hercules and 
 /Esculapius, the powers of destruction and preservation ; so that it here manifestly represents the 
 generative or productive attribute. A symbolical figure similar to that of the Centaur occurs among 
 the hieroglyphieal sculptures of the magnificent temple of Isis at Tentyris in iEgypt ; K0 and also one 
 of the Pegasus or the winged horse :*° nor docs the winged bull, the cherub of the Hebrews, appear 
 to be any other than an ^Egyptian symbol, of which a prototype is preserved in the ruins of 
 
 'I'di'rjfli, ravpo^, ij TTi/Xv^fiavoc y iSfii 1 
 $paKuiv t tj irvpitpXtybiv 
 
 6p.»8« W. V. 1015. 
 
 (m^iiXkc fet !i ijiavijc Op^ucoc). Prod, apud Eschenb. Epig. p. 77. 
 357 Hist, gen. ilea Voyages, t. v. p. 458. Embassy to Tibet, p. 268. Houel Voyage en Sicile. 
 "■ Embassy to Tibet, p. 288. 
 
 m See the coins of Acanthus and Vclia; anil also those of some unknown city of Phoenicia. Houel Voyage en Sicile, 
 pi. xxxv. and vi. 
 
 JM Ruins of Persepolis by Le Bruyn. vol. ii. pi. CXXvL 
 
 401 On old brass coins in the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. On a small silver coin of Acanthus in the same cabinet, where 
 there was not room for the lion on the back of the hull, as in the larger, the hull has the face of a lion. 
 4M Virgil Georg. i. 12. and iii. 122. Iliad. <l>. 1132. 
 
 403 "I'lAuAourpoii £01011, ii iitttoc, Kin tjuXuepoi; Km \<npti Xtifibmi koi tXem. Arislnt. apud Kustath. in Horn, p. 888. 1. 51). 
 401 See Mus. Hunter. Ge.sncr. &c. ; the cuius being exti-cniciy common. 
 m Cyrcnc, Syracuse, Maronca, Ery three in Beeotia, &c. &C 
 *** As on those of Lampsacus. 
 *" 7 Lycophr. Alcxandr. 17. 
 
 Ziii'oc 6 tv Sbipaat vaict 
 Bpovryv rt "Smpmtpi te fytpav An /niTiotvrt. Heeiod, Theogon. v. 285. 
 The history of Bellerophon is fully related in the Iliad (Z. 155. &c); but of his riding a flying horse, the old poet 
 knew nothing. 
 
 40S According to another fable preserved by Nonnus, they were begotten by Jupiter on the Earth, in an unsuccessful attempt 
 upon the chastity of Venus, 
 
 On n<ir*,oje room) tjXOot' t<; tftepov, ?jc X a l" v £ <""JG 
 
 KfvraupiiHc iifivTivau, |3aX(ue mrnpov av\aa yauy;. Dionvsiac. lib. xxxii 1. 23. 
 4M Denon. pi exxxii. n. 2. «• lb. pi. exxxi. n. 3. 
 
35 
 
 Hermontis.*" The disguised indications, too, of wings and horns on each side of the conic or 
 pyramidal cap of Osiris are evident traces of the animal symbol of the winged bull. 412 
 
 112. On the very ancient coins found near the banks of the Strymon in Thrace, and falsely 
 attributed to the island of Lesbos, the equine symbol appears entirely humanised, except the feet, 
 which are terminated in the hoofs of a horse: but on others, apparently of the same date and 
 country, the Centaur is represented in the same action ; namely, that of embracing a large and 
 comely woman. In a small bronze of very ancient sculpture, the same priapic personage appears, 
 differing a little in his composition ; he having the tail and ears, as well as the feet of a horse, joined 
 to a human body, together with a goat's beard ;' U3 and in the Dionysiacs of Nonnus we find such 
 figures described under the title of Satyrs ; which all other writers speak of as a mixture of the goat 
 and man. These, he says, were of the race of the Centaurs; with whom they made a part of the 
 retinue of Bacchus in his Indian expedition ' and they were probably the original Satyrs derived 
 from Saturn, who is fabled to have appeared under the form of a horse in his addresses to Philyra 
 the daughter of the Ocean and who, having been the chief deity of the Carthaginians, is probably 
 the personage represented by that animal on their coins. 415 That these equine Satyrs should have 
 been introduced among the attendants of Bacchus, either in poetry or sculpture, is perfectly natural ; 
 as they were personifications of the generative or productive attribute equally with the UevitriBQi, or 
 those of a caprine form ; wherefore we find three of them on the handle of the very ancient Dionysiac 
 patera terminating in his symbol of the Minotaur in the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. In the 
 sculptures, however, they are invariably without horns ; whereas Nonnus calls them KEpaevriQ and 
 £UK£;jf(£[£ .- but the authority of this turgid and bombastic compiler of fables and allegories is not 
 great. The Saturn of the Romans, and probably of the Phcenicians, seems to have been the perso- 
 nification of an attribute totally different from that of the Kpovo<j of the Greeks, and to have derived 
 his Latin name from Sator, the sower or planter ; which accords with the character of Pan, Silenus, 
 or Sylvamis, with which that of Neptune, or humidity, is combined. Hence, on the coins of Naxus 
 in Sicily, we find the figure usually called Silenus with the tail and ears of a horse, sometimes priapic, 
 and sometimes with the priapic term of the Pelasgian Mercury as an adjunct, and always with the 
 head of Bacchus on the reverse. Hence the equine and caprine Satyrs, Fauns, and UavtrrKoi, seem 
 to have had nearly the same meaning, and to have respectively differed in different stages and styles 
 of allegorical composition only by having more or less of the animal symbol mixed with the human 
 forms, as the taurine figures of Bacchus and the Rivers have more or less of the original bull. 
 Where the legs and horns of the goat are retained, they are usually called Satyrs ; and where only 
 the ears and tail, Fauns ; and, as this distinction appears to have been observed by the best Latin 
 writers, we see no reason to depart from it, or to suppose, with some modern antiquaries, that 
 Lucretius and Horace did not apply properly the terms of their own language to the symbols of their 
 own religion." 7 The baldness always imputed to Silenus is perhaps best explained by the quotation 
 below.'' 111 
 
 113. In the Orphic hymns we find a goddess Tttttci celebrated as the nurse of the generator Bacchus, 
 and the soul of the world ; iia and, in a cave of Phigalca in Arcadia, the daughter of Ceres by Neptune 
 was represented with the head of a horse, having serpents and other animals upon it, and holding 
 
 *" Denon. pi. exxix. n. 2. t13 See pi. ii. vol. i. of the Select Specimens. 
 
 ,1S Inaccurately described in the Iiecherches sur les Arts tie la Grece. in note. vol. i. p. 184. ; M. D'tlancarville having been 
 misled by bis system into a supposition that the animal parts arc those of a bull. The figure is now in (lie cabinet of Mr. Knight. 
 '" Lib. xiii. and xiv. 
 
 *U Talis et ipse jubam eervicc etVundit equina 
 
 ConjugL advenlu perni\ Saiurnus, ct altum 
 Pelion hinnilu Alliens iniplevit acuto. 
 
 Virg. Georg. iii. 92. 
 
 110 These are probably I he personages represented on the Thraciati or Macedonian coins above cited ; but the Saturn of both 
 seems to have answered rather to the Neptune of the Greeks, than to the personification of Time, commonly called KPONOS or 
 Saturn. The figure represented mounted upon a winged horse terminating in a fish, and riding upon the waters, with a bow in 
 his hand, is probably the same personage. Sec Med. Phen. de Dutens. pi. i. i'. i. The coin is better preserved in the cabinet 
 of Mr. Knight. 
 
 ]l? Bassirilievi <li Roma, vol. ii. p. 149. not. 14. 
 
 118 'Onotroi ^aXnk/ioi yivovrai, ovroi S/) tpXiyparuSuG turf xai tv ry Kf^aXfl avrthif aua r( \ayvtoj kAuueojiekoi' MU Bif>iiatvOfitvoi- ru 
 <p\eyua, wpomrnnov irpo^ rr/v imhppiSa xaiti ruw rpi\oiv rac oifac, koi tupiovatv at i-pi^fc- 01 St mvuux"! Sin rouro nu yivovrai 
 tfiaXaKpot, tin niptiiiv ou yatrttl KtWfMC "r\"pi' «• Itippoerut. de N. P. s. xviii. six. •I'Xtypa is not to be understood here, as 
 
 translated, piluilti, phlegm, or morbid rheum, but animal elscus or gluten, the material of organisation. 
 
 The bald Jupiter, Ztu? ^aW/ioc, of the Argives, mentioned by Clemens (Cohort, s. ii. p. 33. ed. Potter.) seems to have 
 signified the same. 
 
 Hymn, xlviii., and Fragm. No. xliii. 
 
36 
 
 Upon one hand ;i dolphin, and upon the other u dove;* 3 " the meaning of which symbols, Pausanias 
 observes, were evident to every learned and intelligent man ; though he does not choose to relate it, 
 any more than the name of this goddess j* 1 they being both probably mystic. The title '11111102 or 
 "JIIIJIA was applied to several deities; 4 " and occasionally even to living sovereigns, whom flattery 
 had decked out with divine attributes; as appears in the instance of Arsinoe the wife of Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus, who was honored with it. 1 *' One of the most solemn forms of adjuration in use among 
 the ancient inhabitants of Sweden and Norway was by the shoulder of the horse ;**» and when 
 Tyndarus engaged the suitors of Helen to defend and avenge her, he is said to have made them 
 swear upon the testicles of the same animal. ' m 
 
 1 14. In an ancient piece of marble sculpture in relief, Jupiter is represented reposing upon the 
 back of a Centaur, who carries a deer in his hand ; by which singular composition is signified, not 
 Jupiter going to hunt, as antiquaries have supposed j** 6 but the all-pervading Spirit, or supreme 
 active principle incumbent upon the waters, and producing fertility ; or whatever property or modifi- 
 cation of properties the deer was meant to signify. Diana, of whom it was a symbol, was in the 
 original planetary and elementary worship, the Moon ; but in the mystic religion, she appears to 
 have been a personification of the all-pervading Spirit acting through the Moon upon the Earth and 
 the waters. Hence she comprehended almost every other female personification, and has innumerable 
 titles and symbols expressive of almost every attribute, whether of creation, preservation, or destruc- 
 tion ; as appears from the Pantheic figures of her ; such as she was worshipped in the celebrated 
 temple of Ephesus, of which many are extant. Among the principal of these symbols is the deer, 
 which also appears among the accessary symbols of Bacchus ; and which is sometimes blended into 
 one figure with the goat, so as to form a composite fictitious animal called a Tragelephus ; of which 
 there are several examples now extant.'" 7 The very ancient colossal statue of the androgynous 
 Apollo near Miletus, of which there is an engraving from an ancient copy in the Select Specimens, 
 pi xii. carried a deer in the right hand, and on a very early gold coin probably of Ephesus a male 
 beardless head is represented with the horns of the same animal j** 8 whence we suspect that the 
 metamorphose of Acta;on, like many other similar fables, arose from some such symbolical com- 
 position. 
 
 115. It is probable therefore that the lion devouring the horse, represents the diurnal heat of the 
 Sun exhaling the waters; and devouring the deer, the same heat withering and putrefying the 
 productions of the earth; both of which, though immediately destructive, are preparatory to repro- 
 duction: for the same fervent rays which scorch and wither, clothe the earth with verdure, and 
 mature all its fruits. As they dry up the waters in one season, so they return them in another, 
 causing fermentation and putrefaction, which make one generation of plants and animals the means 
 of producing another in regular and unceasing progression ; and thus constitute that varied yet 
 uniform harmony in the succession of causes and effects, which is the principle of general order and 
 economy in the operations of nature. The same meaning was signified by a composition more 
 celebrated in poetry, though less frequent in art, of Hercules destroying a Centaur; who is some- 
 times distinguished, as in the ancient coins above cited, by the pointed goat's beard. 
 
 116. This universal harmony is rep resented, on the frieze of the temple of Apollo Didymasus near 
 Miletus, by the lyre supported by two symbolical figures composed of the mixed forms and features 
 of the goat and the lion, each of which rests one of its fore feet upon it.'- 9 The poets expressed the 
 
 410 T(x#1i"" St iiiro tik &i)f»)TfiaQ («c Tfiu nooEiSiuvoc) oi 4>tya\ng £wKV ou\ 'nnroi; aXAa Ti}v AeoTrotvav iTTOvo/ia^o/itiuii' \ma 
 ApKuStuv. Pausan. Arcait. c. xlii. s. 2. 
 
 To re cnrriXmoi' vounrui tiivtu 'upnv Aiinijrpoc, km ic avro ayaX/in avaQtwat SiiXou' jriJroiijfiOni St oiirw aipioi to ayaX/ia' KaOiZioQut 
 tttv nrt irtrpif, yvvatKi ?e (oikh'm tq qXXq jrAipp KityaXiiV Kf^nXiji' St UH nopiiv n\fv iwirov, km SpaKuvrw rt KM aXXwy diiptuv HKOufG 
 nyiocriir i$ |M an v ry Ktjakff \irwv <?( ivtciSvTo k<ii ok/iouc Tout iraCHf' SfXfie Sf twi tijc \ei/ioe iju aurji, Trtpiartptt St jj opvig tWt ry irtptf. 
 Pausan. Arc ad. c. xlii. s. 3. 
 
 *" Tije Sf AKriruivijc to avofw (Ceito tc roue ajt\t?ipout; ypnijiuv. Pausan. in Aread. e. xxxvii. 3. C, 
 
 "* Near tlie Academic in Attica was an altar IIncrfi3wi<or 'Imnov, vm A&V'nc 'in-n-mc- Pausan. in Attic, c. sxx. s. 4. 
 
 rioaeiSiwi'oc'lTTiou fc „ l 'H^ ac Koii''linn<i<; jji.iu.oi ry ftsv Apimc '\Tnrto\', rp £f A&pwc 'hrwwt (ic/ior. Pausan. Eliae. i.e. XV. a. 4. 
 
 Kilt AOiU'i'C jio'poc tariv 'Yytlag- tijvS' 'iwiriai' Atfijvai' ovapa^ovai, km Aioviiaoi- MtA7rl>/zf vov, km kiaoov rof aurov Qcov. Pausan. 
 
 in Attic, c. xxxi. s. 3. 
 
 Hesycli. in v. '1*-™. ,!1 Mallet. Introd. a 1'Hist. dc Danemarc. 
 
 ,a Pausan. in Lacon. c. xx. s. 9. " fl Winkelman Monument. Antic, ined. No. ii. 
 
 " : Tun-yiXu^wi' tipoTopai iktvwm: were among the ornaments of the magnificent hearse, in which the body of Alexander the 
 Great was conveyed from Babylon to Alexandria (Diodor. Sic. 1. xviii. 26. ed. Wesseling.) ; where it was deposited in a shrine 
 or coffin of solid gold ; which having been melted down and carried away during the troubles by which Ptolemy IX. was expelled, 
 a glass one was substituted and exhibited in its place in the time of Strabo. See Geogr. 1. xvii. p. 79-k 
 
 158 In the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. 
 
 ** See Ionian Antiquities published by the Society of Dilettanti, vol. i. c. iii, pi. ix. 
 
37 
 
 same meaning in their allegorical tales of the loves of Mars and Venus ; from which sprang the 
 goddess Harmony, 430 represented by the lyre -, 431 which, according to the ^Egyptians, was strung by 
 Mercury with the sinews of Typhon. 432 
 
 117- The fable of Ceres and Proserpine is the same allegory inverted: for Proserpine or ntp^oveta, 
 who, as her name indicates, was the goddess of Destruction, is fabled to have sprung from Jupiter 
 and Ceres, the most general personifications of the creative powers. Hence she is called Kopq, the 
 daughter ; as being the universal daughter, or general secondary principle : for though properly the 
 goddess of Destruction, she is frequently distinguished by the title SflTEIPA, 433 Saviour; and 
 represented with ears of corn upon her head, as the goddess of Fertility. She was, in reality, the 
 personification of the heat or fire supposed to pervade the earth, which was held to be at once the 
 cause and effect of fertility and destruction, as being at once the cause and effect of fermentation ; 
 from which both proceed. 134 The mystic concealment of her operation was expressed by the black 
 veil or bandage upon her head j 435 which was sometimes dotted with asterisks ; whilst the hair, which 
 it enveloped, was made to imitate flames.* 36 
 
 118. The Nephthe or Nephthus of the ^Egyptians, and the Libitina, or goddess of Death of the 
 Romans, were the same personage : and yet, with both these people, she was the same as Venus 
 and Libera, the goddess of Generation. 437 Isis was also the same, except that, by the later iEgvptians, 
 the personification was still more generalised, so as to comprehend universal nature ; whence Apuleius 
 invokes her by the name of Eleusinian Ceres, Celestial Venus, and Proserpine; and she answers him 
 by a general explanation of these titles. " I am," says she, " Nature, the parent of things, the 
 sovereign of the elements, the primary progeny of time, the most exalted of the deities, the first of 
 the heavenly gods and goddesses, the queen of the shades, the uniform countenance ; who dispose 
 with my nod the luminous heights of heaven, the salubrious breezes of the sea, and the mournful 
 silence of the dead; whose single deity the whole world venerates in many forms, with various rites, 
 and many names. The ^Egyptians skilled in ancient lore worship me with proper ceremonies ; and 
 call me by my true name, Queen lsis." 438 
 
 119. This universal character of the goddess appears, however, to have been subsequent to the 
 Macedonian conquest; when a new modification of the ancient systems of religion and philosophy 
 took place at Alexandria, and spread itself gradually over the world. The statues of this Isis are of 
 a composition and form quite different from those of the ancient ./Egyptian goddess; and all that 
 we have seen are of Greek or Roman sculpture. The original ^Egyptian figure of Isis is merely the 
 animal symbol of the cow humanised, with the addition of the serpent, disc, or some other accessary 
 emblem : but the Greek and Roman figures of her are infinitely varied, to signify by various symbols 
 the various attributes of universal Nature. 439 In this character she is confounded with the personifi- 
 cations of Fortune and Victory, which are in reality no other than those of Providence, and therefore 
 
 Ek S' A^poSiTi,c koi Aptioc 'Ap/ioviav yiyovivai puQoXoyouvrai. Plutarch, lie Is. et Osir. p. 370. 
 
 tyXiytt pi irEpijBoijrot avrtaZuiv. Sophoel. CEd. TjT. V. 190. 
 This unarmed Mars is the plague : wherefore that god must have heen considered as the Destroyer in general, not as the god 
 of War in particular.— vkowu St rov Apij, xaOa-atp tv irivaxi x<"**¥ Tiff "vrtKupivriv « Stapirpaa t V Epwn x^P"" i\ovr a . Plutarch. 
 Amator. p. 757. 
 
 Hu appaZirai Zijudc (dhSijc AiroAAiuv, 
 vatrav apxnv sat rtAoe trvXXafiwV 
 
 EX" & \apirpov irXrinrpov, ijAiou faoc- Scythin. apud Phttarch. de Pyth, Orac. p. 402. 
 ™ Km rov 'Epn W fivOoXoyovvtv, E&Xovra tou Tu$ui/o C ra umpa, X op&a 1C xPlvoBai, MaatovrtQ w C ro wav i Xoyo? Smppoooptvoc, 
 aupfywvov i£ tvjvpQuivuiv pipu>v E7roii(a(, Kat ri t u ^DapriKTiv ouk curwXfaiv, aXX' avtirXiipwai, Suvop.v. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir, p. 373. 
 
 *" See coins of Agathocles, Sic. 
 
 Ziuij Kat Bavaroe; pouvr) 0i'i|roif TroXvpuxBots, 
 
 *Ep£TE#oi'na' ^fpiic yap an, Kat ttqitq Qovtvac Orph. Hym. xxix. 
 
 up.wp.tv appt,T<,v hpvta <^tpr^<f,ovi K . Meleagr. Epigr. cxix. in Brunck. Anal. 
 "* See silver coins of Syracuse, &c. 
 
 •» Plutarch in Nm 
 
 indein l' rt; 
 
 ovopaZovi, 
 'err. A. ii. 
 , Luci, pre 
 
 I dispen 
 A polk, 
 
 The Egyptian figure 
 
occasionally decked with all the attributes of universal Power.* 40 The figures of Victory have 
 frequently the antenna or sail-yard of a ship in one hand, and the chaplet or crown of immortality 
 in the other;'" and those of Fortune, the rudder of a ship in one hand, and the cornucopia? in the 
 other, with the modius or polos on her head ; 142 which ornaments Bnpalus of Chios is said to have 
 first given her in a statue made for the Smyrnreans about the sixtieth Olympiad ;'" J but both have 
 occasionally Isiac and other symbols. 444 
 
 120. The allegorical tales of the loves and misfortunes of Isis and Osiris are an exact counterpart 
 of those of Venus and Adonis j** 5 which signify the alternate exertion of the generative and destruc- 
 tive attributes. Adonis or Adonai was an oriental title of the Sun, signifying Lord ; and the boar, 
 supposed to have killed him, was the emblem of Winter ;** during which the productive powers of 
 nature being suspended, Venus was said to lament the loss of Adonis until he was again restored to 
 life: whence both the Syrian and Argive women annually mourned his death, and celebrated his 
 resurrection;" 7 and the mysteries of Venus and Adonis at Byblus in Syria were held in similar 
 estimation with those of Ceres and Bacchus at Eleusis, and Isis and Osiris in VEgypt. 448 Adonis was 
 said to pass six months with Proserpine, and six with Venus whence, some learned persons have 
 conjectured that the allegory was invented near the pole : where the sun disappears during so long a 
 time t 450 but it may signify merely the decrease and increase of the productive powers of nature as 
 the sun retires and advances.* 51 The Vistnoo or Jaggernaut of the Hindoos is equally said to lie in a 
 dormant state during the four rainy months of that climate : m and the Osiris of the Egyptians was 
 supposed to be dead or absent forty days in each year, during which the people lamented his loss, as 
 the Syrians did that of Adonis, 453 and the Scandinavians that of Frey ; though at Upsal, the great 
 metropolis of their worship, the sun never continues any one day entirely below the horizon. 4 ' 4 The 
 story of the Phoenix ; or, as that fabulous bird was called in the north, of the Fanina, appears to 
 have been an allegory of the same kind, as was also the Phrygian tale concerning Cybele and Attis ; 
 though variously distinguished by the fictions of poets and mythographers. 455 
 
 121. On some of the very ancient Greek coins of Acanthus in Macedonia we find a lion killing a 
 boar; 456 and in other monuments a dead boar appears carried in solemn procession; 457 by both 
 which was probably meant the triumph of Adonis in the destruction of his enemy at the return of 
 spring. A young pig was also the victim offered preparatory to initiation into the Eleusiniau 
 mysteries, 1011 which seems to have been intended to express a similar compliment to the Sun. The 
 Phrygian Attis, like the Syrian Adonis, was fabled to have been killed by a boar; or, according to 
 
 /IJTOITU 0 ma i iiiimim-, n-nmrfyiiu, 
 Tuxi artv, i'tfi«C 8' tapiv iiriyiypafipivoi. 
 Tu\i) tcvfitpvi; 7roiT-i(' raur>)i> Ml (ppivai; 
 An, Kai wpovotav, Tifv Stop, kaAfd' pomiv, 
 
 Ei fjij tic uXAcuf avoftamv \mpii kivwc- Mennndr. Fragm. p. 182. ed. Leclerc. 
 Eyw fUV OUV YlivSapov to te aXXa nnOopai rj (jiSi), Kai Motpuiv ti tivai piav rtfv Tv\i/v, Kat !nrtp Tac aSiA^nc Ti ta\v(ii: Pausali. 
 
 in Achaie. c. xxvi. s. 3. 
 
 *" See medals, in gold, of Alexander the Great, &c. *** Bronzi d'Ercolano. torn. ii. tav. xxviii. 
 
 Ilpuroc Cf, i'uv OtOB, ijtoii|uuto m toic t7ridiii 'O/iij/ioc Tu^lC pJUffUff irratnaaTO 8( tv i/ivi^ Tiy EC Tijf Ari/iirrpa. (Vide v, 417. 
 
 et seq.) koi Tu\i|i' wi; Qke«i'uu koi raur>|i> jroiSa ouaav (i. e, Nvp^v UiaavmSa.) iripa ct £?j|Aiu(rtii itvctv trt, iuc ij 0«i£ itrriv 
 
 owti) /is-yiorn Ofdiip ii' rots ofOjiiiiTrii'otc Tpnypaat, Kai tttW wapi^rat ttXiiotjiv. Bou7raAoc St — S/iufii'aioic ayaXpa ipya%o)itvoQ 
 
 TuxifC irpajroc firoinofi', m¥ "rpiv, ttoXov ti tyivaav tin ry k-E^aAy, Kai ry iTipq \f'pt to KaXovptvov A/iaAOjiaf Ktnac liro 'EAXijuuiv. 
 
 ytn & nu woripov Dnmapoc aAAa te ec tov Ti/\jh', WM o«j koi QtpanXtv aviKaXtatv avniv. I'ausan. in Me s sen. c. xxx. 8. 3 
 
 et 4. I'indar. in Fragm. 
 
 411 Bron/.i d'Ercolano. torn. ii. tav. xxvi. Medals of Leucadia. 
 
 " ! Oaiptv ovra koi Acwuiv iipov Kara puariKiiv Biunpaatav. Suiilas in voce Sia.yvivp.utv. 
 
 «• Hesych. in v. Macrob. Sat. i. c. xxi. tow 8' AoWv ou X ' irtpov, aXXa Atovvaov itvai vopfovat. Plutarch. Sympos. 
 Kb. iv. qu. v. 
 
 " ? Lucian. de Dca Syria, s. 8. Puusan. Corinth, c. xx. s. 5. ** Lucian. ib. s. 6. 
 
 AE-yown 8( wepi rav AoMVtOOft on nal awoOavuiv, i% fiitvat; (7roiijOEW tv ayKoAaic A^poSiTuf, Jimrt/) sai lu ro<c aysaXaic Tqr; 
 ri[/><TE<fioi>i|!7- Sehol. in Theocrit. Idyll. 111. 
 — 01. Rudbcck. Atlantic. No. ii. c. iii. p. 34. Bailly Hist, de l'Astronomie Ancienne. 
 
 <l>pvycc OE tov ft oi' otofitvoi JfflflMVQC naBtvSnv, Qfpovc &' typj)yopivat, rort piv kotivv ao-^ouf, tote 8' avtyipait?, jiaK\tvovrtq 
 □urr|i TiXnvat. Ha^AttyOMC Bi k'liT-aemrflnf Kilt KitOiipyvvaSai ^upinvai;, i[/ioe Si HMtaftu Kai avaXvioBut, ^OffKOWti Pllltnreh. de Is. 
 
 et Osir. Ut lacrymare cultricee Veneris sa:pe spectantur in solleninibus Adnnidis sacris, quod simulacrum aliquod esse frugutn 
 adukarum rcli^iones niyntieti' doccnt. Am. M.ireellin. lib. xix. c. i. 
 
 « Holwell, Part ii. p. 125. « Theophil. ad Autolyc. lib. i. p. 75. 
 
 *** 01. Rudbeck. Atlantic, p. ii. c. v. p. 153. 
 
 m See 01. Rudbeck, p. ii. e. iii. et v. Nonni Dionys. M. 396. 
 
 450 Pelerin. vol. i. pi. xxx. No. 17. 
 
 On a marble fragment In relief in the Townley collection. 
 Aristoph. Ei/itju. 374. 
 
39 
 
 another tradition, by Mars in the shape of that animal j 459 and his death and resurrection were 
 annually celebrated in the same manner.' 1 * The beauty of his person, and the style of his dress, 
 caused his statues to be confounded with those of Paris, who appears also to have been canonised; 
 and it is probable that a symbolical composition representing him in the act of fructifying nature, 
 attended by Power and Wisdom, gave rise to the story of the Trojan prince's adjudging the prize of 
 beauty between the three contending goddesses ; a story, which appears to have been wholly unknown 
 to the ancient poets, who have celebrated the events of the war supposed to have arisen from it. The 
 fable of Ganymede, the cup-bearer of Jupiter, seems to have arisen from some symbolical composition 
 of the same kind, at first misunderstood, and afterwards misrepresented in poetical fiction : for the 
 lines in the Iliad alluding to it, are, as before observed, spurious ; and according to Pindar, the most 
 orthodox perhaps of all the poets, Ganymede was not the son of Laomedon, but a mighty genius or 
 deity who regulated or caused the overflowings of the Nile by the motion of his feet." 11 His being, 
 therefore, the cup-bearer of Jupiter means no more than that he was the distributor of the waters 
 between heaven and earth, and consequently a distinct personification of that attribute of the supreme 
 God, which is otherwise signified by the epithet Phivius. Hence he is only another modification of 
 the same personification, as Attis, Adonis, and Bacchus ; who are all occasionally represented holding 
 the cup or patera; which is also given, with the comucopiee, to their subordinate emanations, the 
 local genii j of which many small figures in brass are now extant. 
 
 122. In the poetical tales of the ancient Scandinavians, Frey, the deity of the Sun, was fabled to 
 have been killed by a boar; which was therefore annually offered to him at the great feast of Juul, 
 celebrated during the winter solstice. 4 '''- Boars of paste were also served on their tables during that 
 feast; which, being kept, till the following spring, were then beaten to pieces and mixed with the 
 seeds to be sown and with the food of the cattle and hinds employed in tilling the ground. w Among 
 the ^Egyptians likewise, those who could not afford to sacrifice real pigs, had images of them in 
 paste served up at the feasts of Bacchus and Osiris ;" ;i which seem, like the feasts of Adonis in Syria, 
 and the Juul in Sweden, to have been expiatory solemnities meant to honor and conciliate the pro- 
 ductive power of the Sun by the symbolical destruction of the adverse or inert power. From an 
 ancient fragment preserved by Plutarch, it seems that Mars, considered as the destroyer, was repre- 
 sented by a boar among the Greeks ; w,i and on coins we find him wearing the boar's, as Hercules 
 wears the lion's skin ; Wfi in both of which instances the old animal symbol is humanised, as almost 
 all the animal symbols gradually were by the refinement of Grecian art. 
 
 123. From this symbolical use of the boar to represent the destroying, or rather the anti-genera- 
 tive attribute, probably arose the abhorrence of swine's flesh ; which prevailed universally among the 
 iEgyptians and Jews ; and partially in other countries, particularly in Pontus ; where the temple of 
 Venus at Coniana was kept so strictly pure from the pollution of such enemies, that a pig was never 
 admitted into the city. 467 The /Egyptians arc said also to have signified the inert power of Typhon 
 by an ass but among the ancient inhabitants of Italy, and probably among the Greeks, this animal 
 appears to have been a symbol of an opposite kind;'"" and is therefore perpetually found in the 
 retinue of Bacchus : the dismemberment of whom by the Titans, w r as an allegory of the same kind as 
 the death of Adonis and Attis by the boar, and the dismemberment of Osiris by Typhon : m whence 
 his festivals were in the spring; 171 and at Athens, as well as in iEgypt, Syria, and Phrygia, the 
 A DANISM 02 mi EYPE2I2, or death and resurrection, were celebrated, the one with lamentation, 
 and the other with rejoicing. 172 
 
 *" WW avoq tiKavi fiop^Tjf 
 
 Api|c KHfiyiiioo!']' Hiti'uriirjjo/jov wv iuWiiiv 
 
 ZnXapaws «hMi» aSiwmS. ifaam*. Nonni Dionys. lib. xii. 809. 
 
 «*> Strabo. lib. x. p. 323. Julian. Orat. v. p. 316. 
 
 • Toil VaWftqShtti yap avruv iipaaav al wipi (llvSapoii, UaTOvropymov cif Spiavro, aij,' ov rr|c WqOTMg WV irnciov toy vn\av 
 
 Wiafffivpm. SchoL in Arat Phanom. v. 282. 
 
 ,ei OI. Rudbeck. part i. c. v. viii. and s. part ii. c. v. ,M Ibid, and fig, i. p. 229. 
 
 id Herod ot. ii. it. Macro!). Sat. i. c. xx. Of the same kind are the small votive boWB ill brass; of which, several have been 
 fiiund : and one of extreme beauty is in the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. 
 4U Tvtjtkoe yap, <u 7UV1111CE5, ouS* bpuiv Apijc 
 
 Suos irpnauiriji mtvra rvpfiaKu nana. Amator. p. 757. 
 166 See brass coins of Rome, common in aD collections. ,c? Strabo. lib. xii. p. 575. 
 
 * to jElian. de Arum, lib. x. c. xxviii. Juvenal. Sat. xi. 96. Colum. x. 314. 
 
 *~ a Ta yap Si| irtpi toy Atovuaov /ti^ufldi/iti'n irrrflri roi> cta/itXirrpiiv, Kat ra TiravOW itt' tOITtni roA/nj^nro, ytvaapivwY ti roll *OWO* 
 KoXaauq (te toutoju delend.) k-oi KEpubi'iuofie, Qvefptvoe ftrn iiv8oc tic thy iraXtyy tviaiav. Plutarch, de Cam. Orat. i. p. 996. 
 
 Ouk qtto TpOTroii nuOtiXuytwai r n v Ompico? ^vyi\v aiiiov aval Kat utydaprov, ru ce oiupii TrrAAavic Ciamnjii Kai afaviZtiv toy Tubulin. 
 
 Id. de Is. et Osir. 
 
 ,r ' r)pi t t7TEp\o/iifi[i ftpopua \lf>tt- Ariflt. Nubes. 310. 171 Demosth. moi Snip. p. 568. Jul. Finnic, p. I t. ed. Ouz. 
 
40 
 
 124. The stories of Prometheus were equally allegorical : for Prometheus was only a title of the 
 Sun expressing providence,* 3 or foresight : wherefore his being bound in the extremities of the earth, 
 signified originally no more than the restriction of the power of the sun during the winter months; 
 though it has been variously embellished and corrupted by the poets ; partly, perhaps, from sym- 
 bolical compositions ill understood : for the vulture might have been naturally employed as an 
 emblem of the destroying power. Another emblem of this power, much distinguished in the ancient 
 Scandinavian mythology, was the wolf; who in the last day was expected to devour the sun : m and 
 among the symbolical ornaments of a ruined mystic temple at Puzzuoli, we find a wolf devouring 
 grapes; which) being the fruit peculiarly consecrated to Bacchus, are not unfrequently employed to 
 signify that god. Lycopolis in ^Egypt takes its name from the sacred wolf kept there f' J and upon 
 the coins of Carthaia in the island of Ceos, the fore part of this animal appears surrounded with 
 diverging rays, as the centre of an asterisk." 0 
 
 125. As putrefaction was the most general means of natural destruction or dissolution, the same 
 spirit of superstition, which turned every other operation of nature into an object of devotion, conse- 
 crated it to the personification of the destroying power: whence, in the mysteries and other sacred 
 rites belonging to the generative attributes, every thing putrid, or that had a tendency to putridity, 
 was carefully avoided ; and so strict were the ^Egyptian priests upon this point, that they wore no 
 garments made of any animal substance ; but circumcised themselves, and shaved their whole bodies 
 even to their eye-brows, lest they should unknowingly harbour any filth, excrement, or vermin 
 supposed to be bred from putrefaction.' 177 The common fly being, in its first stage of existence, a 
 principal agent in dissolving and dissipating all prutrescent bodies, it was adopted as an emblem of 
 the Deitv to represent the destroying attribute: whence the Baal-Zebub, or Jupiter Fly of the 
 Phoenicians, when admitted into the creed of the Jews, received the rank and office of prince of the 
 devils. The symbol was humanised at an early period, probably by the Phoenicians themselves ; and 
 thus formed into one of those fantastic compositions, which ignorant antiquaries have taken for wild 
 efforts of disordered imagination, instead of regular productions of systematic art. 473 
 
 126. Bacchus frequently appears accompanied by leopards ;' T9 which in some instances are 
 employed in devouring clusters of grapes, and in others drinking the liquor pressed from them; 
 though they are in reality incapable of feeding upon that or any other kind of fruit. On a very 
 ancient coin of Acanthus, too, the leopard is represented, instead of the lion, destroying the bull :~ mo 
 wherefore we have no doubt that in the Bacchic processions, it means the destroyer accompanying 
 the generator ; and contributing, by different means, to the same end. In some instances his chariot 
 is drawn by two leopards, and in others by a leopard and a goat coupled together : ia> which are all 
 different means of signifying different modes and combinations of the same ideas. In the British 
 Museum is a group in marble of three figures, the middle one a human form growing out of a vine, 
 with leaves and clusters of grapes growing out of its body. On one side is an androgynous figure 
 representing the Mises or Bacchus okJuji/c; and on the other a leopard, with a garland of ivy round 
 its neck, leaping up and devouring the grapes, which spring from the body of the personified vine; 
 the hands of which are employed in receiving another cluster from the Bacchus. This composition 
 represents the vine between the creating and destroying attributes of the Deity ; the one giving it 
 fruit, and the other devouring it when given. The poets conveyed the same meaning in the allego- 
 rical tales of the Loves of Bacchus and Ampelus ; who, as the name indicates, was only the vine 
 personified. 
 
 127. The Chimera, of which so many whimsical interpretations have been given by the commen- 
 tators on the Iliad, seems to have been an emblematical composition of the same class, veiled, as 
 usual, under historical fable to conceal its meaning from the vulgar. It was composed of the forms 
 of the goat, the lion, and the serpent ; the symbols of the generator, destroyer, and preserver united 
 
 * Pindar. Olymp. Z. 81. 
 
 * 7 ' Lupus devorabit 
 
 Seculorum patrem. Edda Siemondi. lhi. 
 See also Mallet Introd. a I'Hist. de Danemarc. c. vi. 
 
 * :l Macrob. Sat. i. c. ivii. The wolf is also the device on those of Argos. 
 
 l " Eo&irra St tpopiovat ni iiptic \lvtt)V fUnnf*, *at UTmSij/iara jiufiXtva. Herodot. lib. ii. S. 37. Ta Tt atSota mpiTafivovrai 
 
 KIlfhplllTljTOt; £II>(K(1>. Ibtd. 
 
 Oi S( I'fpftc ZvptviTai nav to awpa Sia rpirifc ij^tpuc, tin /iute #£)eip, prrn aXXo puaapov iirjSii' ^ii'ip-ai aijii Btpairivouat 
 Tovcfcovc. Ibid. 
 
 ™ See Winkebian Mon. ant. ined. No. 13; and Hist, des Arts, Liv. hi. c. ii. p. 143. 
 ■ «* These are frequently ealled tigers: hut the first tiger seen by the Remans, perhaps even by the Greeks, was presented by 
 the ambassadors of India to Augustus, while settling the affairs of Asia, in the year of Rome 734. Dion. Cass. Hist. lib. liv. s. 9. 
 
 **> In the cabinet of Mr. Knight. * See medal of Maronea. Gesner. tab. xlitf. fig. 26. 
 
4\ 
 
 and animated by fire, the essential principle of all the three. The old poet, had probably seen such a 
 figure in Asia; but knowing nothing of mystic lore, which does not appear to have reached Greece 
 or her colonies in his time, received whatever was told him concerning it. In later times, however, 
 it must have been a well-known sacred symbol ; or it would not have been employed as a device 
 upon coins. 
 
 128. The fable of Apollo destroying the serpent Python, seems equally to have originated from the 
 symbolical language of imitative art; the title Apollo signifying, according to the etymology already 
 given, the destroyer as well as the deliverer : for, as the ancients supposed destruction to be merely 
 dissolution, as creation was merely formation, the power which delivered the particles of matter from 
 the bonds of attraction, and broke the fe&fiov -tpififjiQq epmros, was in fact the destroyer. Hence the 
 verb AYS2 or AYMI, from which it is derived, means both to free and to destroy.' 133 Pliny mentions 
 a statue of Apollo by Praxiteles, much celebrated in his time, called 2AYP0KT0I\0:*V' RJ the lizard- 
 killer, of which several copies are now extant. 48 * The lizard, being supposed to exist upon the dews 
 and moisture of the earth, was employed as the symbol of humidity; so that the god destroying it, 
 signifies the same as the lion devouring the horse, and Hercules killing the centaur ; that is, the sun 
 exhaling the waters. When destroying the serpent, he only signifies a different application of the 
 same power to the extinction of life ; whence he is called IIYOIOS, 4 " 5 or the putrifier, from the verb 
 T1Y0S2. The title 2MIN9EY2 too, supposing it to mean, according to the generally received inter- 
 pretation, mouse-killer, was expressive of another application of the same attribute : for the mouse 
 was a priapic animal and is frequently employed as such in monuments of ancient art. 4 " 7 The 
 statue, likewise, which Pausanias mentions of Apollo with his foot upon the head of a bull, is an 
 emblem of similar meaning. 4BR 
 
 129. The offensive weapons of this deity, which are the symbols of the means by which he exerted 
 his characteristic attribute, are the bow and arrows, signifying the emission of his rays ; of which the 
 arrow or dart, the fcXog or ofieXoe;, was, as before observed, the appropriate emblem. Hence he is 
 called A$HTOPj 'EKATOS and 'EKATHB0A02 ; and also, XPY2AS2P and XPYSAOPOi:; which 
 have a similar signification ; the first syllable expressing the golden colour of rays, and the others 
 their erect position : for aop does not signify merely a sword, as a certain writer, upon the authority 
 of common Latin versions and school Lexicons, has supposed ; but any thing that is held up ; it being 
 the substantive of the verb attpco. 
 
 130. Hercules destroying the hydra, signifies exactly the same as Apollo destroying the serpent 
 and the lizard ; m the water-snake comprehending both symbols ; and the ancient Phoenician Hercules 
 being merely the lion humanised. The knowledge of him appears to have come into Europe by the 
 way of Thrace ; he having been worshipped in the island of Thasus, by the Phoenician colony settled 
 there, five generations before the birth of the Thcban hero ; 4W who was distinguished by the same title 
 that he obtained in Greece ; and whose romantic adventures have been confounded with the allegorical 
 fables related of him. In the Homeric times, he appears to have been utterly unknown to the Greeks, 
 the Hercules of the Iliad and Odyssey being a mere man, pre-eminently distinguished indeed for 
 strength and valour, but exempt from none of the laws of mortality.' 191 His original symbolical arms, 
 with which he appears on the most ancient medals of Thasus, were the same as those of Apollo ; m 
 and his Greek name, which, according to the most probable etymology signifies the glorifier of the 
 earth, is peculiarly applicable to the Sun. The Romans held him to be the same as Mars j* 98 who 
 was sometimes represented under the same form, and considered as the same deity as Apollo ;* 9 * and 
 in some instances we find him destroying the vine instead of the serpent, 195 the deer, the centaur, or 
 
 « See Iliad A. 20, 8c I. 25. m Lib. xxxiv. c. xix. 10. 
 
 * Sec Winkehnan Mon. ant. ined. pi. xL 
 
 *" riuflioc otto too TTvdftv, id est owruv. Macrob. Sat. i. c. xvii. 
 *• /Elian. Mist. Anhn. lib. xii. c. 10. 
 
 It was the device upon the coins of Argos, (Jul. Poll. onom. ix. vi. 86.) probably before the adoption of the wolf, which is 
 on most of those now extant. A small one, however, in gold, with the mouse, is in the cabinet of Mr. P. Knight. 
 
 488 Km AiroXXuii' xaXnau^ yv/ivOQ csOiitoc' KOI irfpc[i iroSi firi upavtov 0j|3ijKf /3onc. Pausan. Achaic. c. XX. a. 2. 
 
 481 T([i uev 'HXiqi tov 'HpasXia puQuXoyavow tuiSpupfuou ovinripnraXitv. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 367. 
 Heroilot. lib. ii. c. 4-1. 
 
 Iliad S. 117. Odyss. A. KOO. The three following lines, alluding to his deification, have long been discovered to be 
 interpolated. 
 
 ™ Strabo, lib. xv. p. 688. Athens, lib. xii. p. 512. The club was given him by the Epic poets, who made the mixed tables 
 of the Theban hero .and personified attribute the subjects of their poems. 
 183 Varro apud Macrob. Sat. iii. c. 12. 
 
 *" Etc fttv Airrovg !> AjtoXAmii'' fa Se 'ilpnf h A/iijc yiyovV fiio Si tori a/apaTf/ntrv Sui-Miic- ovkOvv J> ri 'Hpa km j'] Ajjrm cua 
 
 nat piac Oiov Trpoayyapiai. Plutarch, apud Euseb. PriBpi Evang. lib. iii. C. i. 
 « Mus. Florent. in gemni, T. i. pL xcii. 9. 
 
 31 
 
42 
 
 the hull; hy all which the same meaning, a little differently modified, is conveyed: but the more 
 common representation of him destroying the lion is not so easily explained ; and it is probable that 
 the traditional history of the deilied hero has, in this instance as well as some others, been blended 
 with the allegorical fables of the personified attribute : for we have never seen any composition of 
 this kind upon any monument of remote antiquity.' 1 '-** 
 
 131. Upon the pillars which existed in the time of Herodotus in different parts of Asia, and which 
 were attributed by the Egyptians to Sesostris, and by others to Memnon, was engraved the figure of 
 a man holding a spear in his right hand and a bow in his left; to which was added, upon some 
 of them, ywaiKQQ atdoia, said by the Egyptians to have been meant as a memorial of the cowardice 
 and effeminacy of the inhabitants, whom their monarch had subdued. ' " 7 The whole composition was 
 however, probably, symbolical ; signifying the active power of destruction, and passive power of 
 generation; whose co-operation and conjunction are signified in so many various ways in the 
 emblematical monuments of ancient art. The figure holding the spear and the bow is evidently the 
 same as appears upon the ancient Persian coins called Darics, and upon those of some Asiatic cities, 
 in the Persian dress ; but which, upon those of others, appears with the same arms, and in the same 
 attitude, with the lion's skin upon its head. 498 This attitude is that of kneeling upon one knee ; 
 which is that of the Phoenician Hercules upon the coins of Thasus above cited ; wherefore we have 
 no doubt that he was the personage meant to be represented ; as he continued to be afterwards upon 
 the Bactrian and Parthian coins. The Hindoos have still a corresponding deity, whom they call 
 Ram; and the modern Persians a fabulous hero called Rustam, whose exploits are in many respects 
 similar to those of Hercules, and to whom they attribute all the stupendous remains of ancient art 
 found in their country. 
 
 132. It was observed, by the founders of the mystic system, that the destructive power of the Sun 
 was exerted most by day, and the generative by night : for it was by day that it dried up the waters 
 and produced disease and putrefaction; and by night that it returned the exhalations in dews 
 tempered with the genial heat that had been transfused into the atmosphere. Hence, when they 
 personified the attributes, they worshipped the one as the diurnal and the other as the nocturnal sun ; 
 calling the one Apollo, and the other Dionysus or Bacchus ; VJ9 both of which were anciently observed 
 to be the same god ; whence, in a verse of Euripides, they are addressed as one, the names being 
 used as epithets. 500 The oracle at Delphi was also supposed to belong to both equally j 501 or, accord- 
 ing to the expression of a Latin poet, to the united and mixed deity of both.*'- 
 
 133. This mixed deity appears to have been represented in the person of the Apollo Didyma;us ; 
 who was worshipped in another celebrated oracular temple near Miletus ; and whose symbolical 
 image seems to be exhibited in plates xii. xliii. and xliv. of volume i. of the Select Specimens ; and in 
 different compositions on different coins of the Macedonian kings ; sometimes sitting on the prow of 
 a ship, as lord of the waters, or Bacchus Hyes;™ sometimes on the cortina, the veiled cone or egg; 
 and sometimes leaning upon a tripod ; but always in an androgynous form, with the limbs, tresses, 
 and features of a woman; and holding the bow or arrow, or both, in his hands. 50 * The double 
 
 ,M The earliest coins which we have seen with this device are those of Syracuse, Tarentum, ant! Heraclea in Italy; all of the 
 finest time of the art, and little anterior to the Macedonian conquest. On the more ancient medals of Selinus, Hercules is 
 destroying the bull, as the lion or leopard is on those of Acanthus ; and his destroying a centaur signifies exactly the same as a 
 lion destroying a horse ; the symbols being merely humanised. 
 
 Herodot. lib. ii. 102 and 106. « See coins of Mallus in Cilicia, and Soli in Cyprus in the Hunter Collection. 
 
 ,as In sacris cnim hrcc religiosi arcani observatio tenetur, lit Sol, cum in supero, id est in diurno Hemisphierio est, Apollo 
 vocitetur; cum in infero, id est nocturno, Dionysus, qui et Liber pater habeatur. Macrob. Sat. i. c. IS. Hence Sophocles calls 
 Bacchus 
 
 llvp wi'invriov Jpfnffmi aartpuiv, apud Eustath. p. Sli. in fine, 
 and he bad temples dedicated to him under correspondent titles. Ecn-i piv Atovvaov vaos NvctjAiou. Pausan. in Att. c. 40. s. 5. 
 
 Ispov Amnxrov Aa^wnjpoc ecrra/ emK\i)aiv. Paus. Acli. c. 27. s. 2. Hence too the corresponding deity among the /Egyptians 
 
 was lord of the Inferi. ApxiryirEunv St tuiv kqt<o AiyvTrrtot Xiyouoi Ai^iif^a koi Aiouuctou. Herodot. lib. ii. 123. Aristoteles, qui 
 theologumena scripsit, Apollinem et Liberum patrem unum eundemque deuni esse, cum multis argumentis asserat. Macrob. 
 Sat. i. c. 18. 
 
 *" AtOTTOTa ^lAticn^i't, IW^j, Uutav, AiroXXov tu\vpi. Apud. eund. 
 
 «i Tow Atovvaov, 4 twv At\$uv ovStv ijttoi. r, r, v AttoAXiuwi ptrtmv. Plutarch. « apud Delph. p. 388. 
 
 Mons Pho?bo Bromioque sacer; cui numine mixto 
 
 Delphica Thebana? referunt tricterica Baceha\ Lucan. Phars. v. 73. 
 ™ ( EAAqyfc) KQirou Atovviov, 'Ytjv, Jic icvpiov nfC vypaQ <pvoiwg, ovx inpi.v ovtotov OaipiSog ( K aXovai). Plutarch, de Is. et Osir 
 
 p. 364. 
 
 ™ See medals of Antigonus, Antiochus I., Seleucus II. and III., and other kings of Syria ; and also of Magnesia ad Mjeandrum, 
 and ad Sipyhim. 
 
 The beautiful figure engraved on plates xliii. and xbv. of vol. i. of the Select Specimens is the most exquisite example of this 
 androgynous Apollo. 
 
43 
 
 attribute, though not the double sex, is also frequently signified in figures of Hercules ; either by the 
 cup or cornucopia: held in his hand, or by the chaplet of poplar or some other symbolical plant, worn 
 upon his head J whilst the club or lion's skin indicates the adverse power. 
 
 134. In the refinement of art, the forms of the lion and goat were blended into one fictitious animal 
 to represent the same meaning, instances of which occur upon the medals of Capua, Panticapajum, 
 and Antiochus VI. king of Syria, as well as on the frieze of the temple of Apollo Didymajus before 
 mentioned. In the former, too, the destroying attribute is further signified by the point of a spear 
 held in the mouth of the monster ; and the productive, by the ear of com under its feet. 505 In the 
 latter, the result of both is shown by the lyre, the symbol of universal harmony, which is supported 
 between them ; and which is occasionally given to Hercules, as well as to Apollo. The two-faced 
 figure of Janus seems to have been a composite symbol of the same kind, and to have derived the 
 name from I no or \amv, an ancient mystic title of Bacchus. The earliest specimens of it extant are 
 on the coins of Lanipsacus and Tenedos, some of which cannot be later than the sixth century before 
 the Christian sera ; and in later coins of the former city, heads of Bacchus of the usual form and 
 character occupy its place. 
 
 135. The mythological personages Castor and Pollux, who lived and died alternately, were the 
 same as Bacchus and Apollo : whence they were pre-eminently distinguished by the title of the 
 great gods in some places ; though, in others, confounded with the canonised or deified mortals, the 
 brothers of Helen.™ Their fabulous birth from the egg, the form of which is retained in the caps 
 usually worn by them, is a remnant of the ancient mystic allegory, upon which the more recent 
 poetical tales have been engrafted ; whilst the two asterisks, and the two human heads, one directed 
 upwards and the other downwards, by which they are occasionally represented, more distinctly point 
 out their symbolical meaning,™ which was the alternate appearance of the sun in the upper and 
 lower hemispheres. This meaning, being a part of what was revealed in the mysteries, is probably 
 the reason why Apuleius mentions the seeing the sun at midnight among the circumstances of initia- 
 tion, which he has obscurely and renigmatically related. 508 
 
 136. As the appearance of the one necessarily implied the cessation of the other, the tomb of 
 Bacchus was shown at Delos near to the statue of Apollo ; and one of these mystic tombs, in the 
 form of a large chest of porphyry, adorned with goats, leopards, and other symbolical figures, is still 
 extant in a chin ch at Rome. The mystic cistae, which were carried in procession occasionally, and 
 in which some emblem of the generative or preserving attribute was generally kept, appear to have 
 been merely models or portable representations of these tombs, and to have had exactly the same 
 signification. By the mycologists, Bacchus is said to have terminated his expedition in the extrem- 
 ities of the East ; and Hercules, in the extremities of the West ; which means no more than that the 
 nocturnal sun finishes its progress, when it mounts above the surrounding ocean in the East ; and the 
 diurnal, when it passes the same boundary of the two hemispheres in the West. 
 
 137. The Iatter's being represented by the lion, explains the reason why the spouts of fountains 
 were always made to imitate lions' heads ; which Plutarch supposes to have been, because the Nile 
 overflowed when the sun was in the sign of the Lion : s0 » but the same fashion prevails as universally 
 in Tibet as ever it did in iEgypt, Greece, or Italy ; though neither the Grand Lama nor any of his 
 subjects know anything of the Nile or its overflowings ; and the signs of the zodiac were taken from 
 the mystic symbols ; and not, as some learned authors have supposed, the mystic symbols from the 
 signs of the zodiac. The emblematical meaning, which certain animals were employed to signify, was 
 only some particular property generalised ; and, therefore, might easily be invented or discovered by 
 the natural operation of the mind : but the collections of stars, named after certain animals, have no 
 resemblance whatever to those animals ; which are therefore merely signs of convention adopted to 
 distinguish certain portions of the heavens, which were probably consecrated to those particular 
 personified attributes, which they respectively represented. That they had only begun to be so 
 named in the time of Homer, and that not on account of any real or supposed resemblance, we have 
 the testimony of a passage in the description of the shield of Achilles, in which the polar constellation 
 is said to be called the Bear or otherwise the Waggon-™ objects so different that it is impossible 
 that one and the same thing should be even imagined to resemble both. We may therefore rank 
 
 sos Numm. Pembrok. tab. v. fig. 12. 
 
 808 Pausan. in Att. xxxi. I.; and in Lacon. xvi. 3. They were also called ANAKES or Kings, and more commonly AIOEKOYPOI 
 
 or Sons of Jupiter, as being pre-eminently such. To ran. Jr. w ,. ■ Upov Avaraov mXtrre' Avn« c yap avroi nap' 'EXXqiwv 
 
 ekoAovvto. Schol in Lucian. Timon. a. 10.; and Pausan. in Corinth, xxxvi. 6. 
 
 !0 ' See medals of Istrus, which arc very common. ™ Metamorph. lib. xi. 
 
 "* Kptivat St koi Karaxaaparn ™r Xinvrajv i^iaai xpovvavc, art NhXoc iiraytt vtav oSiep raie Aryiorrnuu apoapan;, ,'iAicu toi, Xroera 
 irapootuovroc Symposiac. lib. iv. p. 670. 510 U. S. 487. 
 
44 
 
 Plutarch's explanation with other talcs of the later ^Egyptian priests; and conclude that the real 
 intention of these symbols was to signify that the water, which they conveyed, was the gift of the 
 diurnal sun, because separated from the salt of the sea, and distributed over the earth by exhalation. 
 Perhaps Hercules being crowned with the foliage of the white poplar, an aquatic tree, may have had 
 a similar meaning : which is at least more probable than that assigned by Scrvius and Macrobius. 611 
 
 138. Humidity in general, and particularly the Nile, was called by the Egyptians the de/luxion of 
 Osiris^* who was with them the God of the Waters, in the same sense as Bacchus was among the 
 Greeks I s13 whence all rivers, when personified, were represented under the form of the bull; or at 
 least, with some of the characteristic features of that animal. Ml In the religion of the Hindoos this 
 article of ancient faith, like most others, is still retained; as appears from the title, Daughter of the 
 Sun, given to the sacred river Yamuna. Mj The God of Destruction is also mounted on a white bull, 
 the sacred symbol of the opposite attribute, to show the union and co-operation of both. 5 " 1 The 
 same meaning is more distinctly represented in an ancient Greek fragment of bronze, by a lion 
 trampling upon the head of a bull, while a double phallus appears behind them, and shows the 
 result. 517 The title SQTHP KOSMOY upon the composite priapic figure published by La Chausse is 
 well known ; 51fl and it is probable that the ithyphallic ceremonies, which the gross flattery of the 
 degenerate Greeks sometimes employed to honor the Macedonian princes, 519 had the same meaning 
 as this title of Saviour, which was frequently conferred upon, or assumed by them. 5 "" It was also 
 occasionally applied to most of the deities who had double attributes, or were personifications of both 
 powers ; as to Hercules, Bacchus, Diana, &C.' 1 - 1 
 
 139. Diana was, as before observed, originally and properly the Moon ; by means of which the 
 Sun was supposed to impregnate the air, and scatter the principles of generation both active and 
 passive over the earth : whence, like the Bacchus Bl^viic and Apollo SiovfiaioQ, she was both male and 
 female,''"- both heat and humidity; for the warmth of the Moon was supposed to be moistening, as 
 that of the Sun was drying.''" 3 She was called the Mother of the World j 5 ** and the Daughter, as well 
 as the Sister of the Sun j 5 * 5 because the productive powers with which she impregnated the former, 
 together with the light by which she was illumined, were supposed to be derived from the latter. By 
 attracting or heaving the waters of the ocean, she naturally appeared to he the sovereign of humidity ; 
 and by seeming to operate so powerfully upon the constitutions of women, she equally appeared to 
 be the patroness and regulatress of nutrition and passive generation : whence she is said to have 
 received her nymphs, or subordinate personifications, from the ocean ; 526 and is often represented by 
 the symbol of the sea-crab ; Si7 an animal that has the property of spontaneously detaching from its 
 own body any limb, that has been hurt or mutilated, and re-producing another in its place. As the 
 heat of the Sun animated the seminal particles of terrestrial matter, so was the humidity of the Moon 
 
 511 In ^En. viii. 276. Saturn, lib. iii. c. 12. 
 
 "* Ov povav tov NkXoip, aX\a irau iiypov airXiuc OatptSoQ awopponv vaXouori- (o< AiyuirTtoi). Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 365. 
 tls Ot St aotp lurepni Ttav hpttuv, ov povov tov NtiXtiv Oaifitv k-uXourriii, ouSi TvfttVa rr/v BaXaaaav' aAXa Ompiii ptv airXiuf tiwaoav 
 rtlV bypQTtHOV apYV* W Svvaptv, atnav VWOWt KM (rntppaTOZ OVOUUt M|Il£ovr«C< Tvtjiuiva it wav to aujyiijpoii KM irvptuSig not 
 
 ^Ipavrueovj iiXwe km -roXtpwv tu (rfporifn. Ibid. p. 361'. 
 
 On pnvov St tuu aivov Aioi'Ucroi', oXXa KM mKnjo iiypat: QuaiMr; 'EAXtji'EC liyouirm KVfMOV Kat ap^'iyov. Ibid. 
 
 011 Horat. lib. iv. od. xiv. 25. et Schol. Vet. in loc. Rivera appear thus personified on the coins of many Greek cities of Sicily 
 and Italy. 
 
 8,1 Sir W. Jones in the Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 29. 
 5,9 Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. i. pt. i. p. 261. 
 W On a handle of a vase in the cabinet of Mr. Knight. 
 JIEt Mus. Rom. s. vfi. pi. i. vol. ii. 
 
 S1S Oi Aflifunmi (fify/nrii {tov Ai|UijTf>tni') ov ftovav Qvptwvri$, KM irrf tpavovvrtg, kbi mvo\oovvTte:, a\\a not irpoaoSta Kat x°P° l Kat 
 iflnifnXX'u piT op\>iirtia£ tijc <[>£i[C airt\VTU!V aTfTtjp, Athen. lib. vi. C. IS. 
 
 610 Ibid. c. 16. 
 
 u ' En St 'HAiac tiruwptav ix^v, Stump S< mwu km 'HptucX^c. Pausan. in Arcnd. c. xxxi. s. 4b Id. in Lacon. c xxu. 9. 
 See also coins of Thasus, Maronea, Agafhoeles, ivc. 
 
 >a O i/rru nfV Oaipicoc Bvvaptv tv tij S(Xi|i'i| TiDtvrai (lege TtOtfit fat) t<\v \aiv ounu yivtaiv ouaav avvttvat Xtyovat. tio xai pijTipa 
 Tiji. iJtXjji'tji' tod toapov KtiXuvm, <at tpvatv t\ttv np<m'o0i|Xuv titovrat, n-Xiipuupei'iji' iWo ijAiau, KM KVtaKOpt vi)v, avrqv St iraXiv tig tov 
 
 aipa rpmuimpi ytmnfrutac np\ n c> >•«' KaTatnTiipovaav. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 368. 
 123 Calor solis arcfacit, hmaris hiunectat. Macrob. Sat. vii. c. xvi. 
 
 Tiji' IttV yap nfAiji'i|]' yovt/tav to ^dif koi vypmratov ixavaai; ivpivit koi ■yoi'aic Suidfi'i Kat tpvrhiv ttvat fiXaarqatat. Plutarch. 
 
 de Is. et Osir. p. 367. 
 
 151 Plutarch, in 1. c. p. 368. 
 
 H 12 XtiTttpoZuivov Otiyarip 
 
 At\tov SiXavom. Eurip. Phcen. 178. 
 Ourwc Aiit\iiX<ic "tit oi tpvoiKwTipot. 'HaioSos' Si tjiijiriv (irfX^rji' ijXtov uvai Ttjv ir(Xt|i»ii'. Schol. in loc. 
 1J1 yEschyl. Promelh. Vinct. 138. Callimach. Hymn, in Dian. 13. Catullus in Gellium. 84-. 
 "J See coins of the Rrcttii in Italy, Himera in Sicily, &c. 
 
45 
 
 supposed to nourish and mature them ; m and as her orbit was held to be the boundary that separated 
 the celestial from the terrestrial world,* 9 she was the mediatress between bothj the primary subject 
 of the one, and sovereign of the other, who tempered the subtilty of Eetherial spirit to the grossness 
 of earthly matter, so as to make them harmonise and unite. 530 
 
 140. The Greeks attributed to her the powers of destruction as well as nutrition ; humidity, as well 
 as heat, contributing to putrefaction : whence sudden death was supposed to proceed from Diana as 
 well as from Apollo ; who was both the sender of disease, and the inventor of cure : for disease is the 
 father of medicine, as Apollo was fabled to be of iEsculapiua. The rays of the Moon were thought 
 relaxing, even to inanimate bodies, by means of their humidity : whence wood cut at the full of the 
 moon was rejected by builders as improper for use. 531 The Ilithyiee, supposed to preside over child- 
 birth, were only personifications of this property, 83 * which seemed to facilitate delivery by slackening 
 the powers of resistance and obstruction; and hence the crescent was universally worn as an amulet 
 by women j as it still continues to be in the southern parts of Italy ; and Juno Lucina, and Diana, 
 were the same goddess, equally personifications of the Moon. 585 
 
 141. The Egyptians represented the Moon under the symbol of a cat; probably on account of 
 that animal's power of seeing in the night; and also, perhaps, on account of its fecundity; which 
 seems to have induced the Hindoos to adopt the rabbit as the symbol of the same deified planet. 634 
 As the arch or bend of the mystical instrument, borne by Isis and called a sistrum, represented the 
 lunar orbit, the cat occupied the centre of it; while the rattles below represented the terrestrial 
 elements j 533 of which there are sometimes four, but more frequently only three in the instances now 
 extant : for the ancient Egyptians, or at least some of them, appear to have known that water and 
 air are but one substance. S3fi 
 
 142. The statues of Diana are always clothed, and she had the attribute of perpetual virginity ; to 
 which her common Greek name APTEMI2 seems to allude : but the Latin name appears to be a 
 contraction of DIV1ANA, the feminine, according to the old Etruscan idiom, of DIVCJS, or 
 AIFOS;' , ' ? and therefore signifying the Goddess, or general female personification of the Divine 
 nature, which the Moon was probably held to be in the ancient planetary worship, which preceded 
 the symbolical. As her titles and attributes were innumerable, she was represented under an 
 infinite variety of forms, and with an infinite variety of symbols; sometimes with three bodies, each 
 holding appropriate emblems, 533 to signify the triple extension of her power, in heaven, on earth, and 
 under the earth ; and sometimes with phallic radii enveloping a female form, to show the universal 
 generative attribute both active and passive. 533 The figures of her, as she was worshipped at Ephesus, 
 seem to have consisted of an assemblage of almost every symbol, attached to the old humanised 
 column, so as to form a composition purely emblematical ; H0 and it seems that the ancient 
 
 J2fi Duobus his reguntur omnia terrena, calore quidem soils per diem, humore vero lunas per noctem. Nam ut calore 
 
 solis animantur semina, ita Iuna; humorc nutriuntur, penes ipsam enim et corporum omnium ratio esse dicitur et potestas. 
 Schol. Vet. in Horat. Cann. Sec. 
 
 Luna alif ostrea; et iniplet echinos, muribus fibras, 
 
 Et pecui addit. Lucil. apud Aul. Gelt I. xx. c. 8. 
 
 155 laBpaq yap jotiv oSai'aafoc; km ytviaiwc 6 Tfpi tijv oeXiji.jiii Spopoq. Ocell. Lucan. de Universo, c. ii. s. £. 
 
 Airo yap T17C ojArji'iasijc aipaipai;, ffli taxaritv piv tuiv nar' uupaiw rtacXw, wpaiTiiv cf tuiv TTpoq I'lpaij, avaypaipnvaw o't ippovTtarat 
 rim piriiopuiv, avj)i yijc E^amc u t"ip iruvry ratitiq iipOaatv. Pillion, de Somn. vol. i. p. 641. Oper. 
 
 M ° HXioc Si, KQ/iSmc i\uiv Svvapiv, (uarrfp alpa tat irvivpa SiaTrtpirei nat SiaaxeSaviwiD ($ taurou OcppoTijra KOI ^hif" yij Si nat 
 SaXaaoy y/jtjtoi Kara tpvaiv 6 Koapos, baa nuiXia Ml kvotu Zuiuv' o*Ai]i'ij St ljAiau pira^v nai yi)$, itnrtp k-opSiac nai koiAioe imap, if rt 
 paXBatov a\Xa anXay\vov, ryxapO% ti\v t avuiOfv aXiav fvravOa Siawtpirii, nai roc ivrtvOtv avaflvpiaom; Wt^iU HM Ml xaBapau 
 XtTZTvvovva trspi tuiiT!)v avaciSwaiv. Plutarch, lie Facie in Orbc LunsBj p. 928. 
 
 531 riviroi £t k-oi Trjpi ro aipu^a Toiy awpaTUiv (in£i|Aoc '] tijc tnAijfTjc Svvapic' tuiv ri yap £v\uiv to Tfpvoptva rait; iruvaiXiivoti; 
 tnroj3aXAov<nti o't tcktovis, uig airaAo KOI pvSavra ra^fiuc oi vypari]Ta. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. iii. tJU. It). 
 
 ™ — 'Q9iv olpai Kat ritv Aprtptv, A.O\tUXV nai EtXttOvtav, ovk ovaav tTtpav i| rt|v oeXiiuijv, bivapaadai. Ibid. 
 
 533 Tu Lucina dolentibus 
 
 Juno dicta puerperis : 
 Tu potens Trivia, et notho es 
 Dicta lumine Luna. Catull. xxxlv. VS. 
 
 ™ Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. i. p. 513. See fabulous reasons assigned for the /Egyptian symbol. Dctnetr. Phaler. s. 158. 
 
 "> Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 376. 
 
 M 'H yap vypa fvoir;, ap\<] Kai yiviats ovaa WttmtV op^ijc, ra wpwra rpia awpara, yijv, acpa nat irvp ettoihti. Plutarcll. dc Is. 
 
 et OBir. p. 3C5. 
 
 6sr Varr. de Ling. Lat. lib. iv. p. 20. ed. Bipont. 1788. Lanzi Saggio cli Lingua Etrusca, vol. ii. p. 194, 
 
 See La Chausse Mus. Rom. vol. i. s. ii. tab. 20, &c. These figures are said to have been first made by Alcamenes, about 
 the Ixxxiv. Olympiad. 
 
 A\napivw Si (tput contii) Trpuiror ayaXpara EiOTijf; Tpta iTtoij\at irpuai\upiva aAXi/Xuic, i)v AOiji'oim naXouaiv iirrxvpytciuv. Pausan. 
 
 in Corinth, c. x.\x. s. 2. 
 
 *" See Duane's coins of the SelcuchW, tab. xiv. fig. I and 2. 5,0 See De la Chausse Mus. Horn. vol. i. s. ii. tab. xviii. 
 
 H 
 
46 
 
 inhabitants of the north of Europe represented their goddess Isa as nearly in the same manner as 
 their rude and feeble efforts in art could accomplish; she having the many breasts to signify the 
 nutritive attribute; and being surrounded by deer's horns instead of the animals themselves, which 
 accompany the Ephesian statues. 5 * 1 In sacrificing, too, the reindeer to her, it was their custom to 
 hang the testicles round the neck of the figure, 54 * probably for the same purpose as the phallic radii, 
 above mentioned, were employed to serve. 
 
 143. Brimo, the Tauric and Scythic Diana, was the destroyer i 648 whence she was appeased with 
 human victims and other bloody rites; 3 " as was also Bacchus the devourer ;" k ' who seems to have 
 been a male personification of the same attribute, called by a general title which confounds him with 
 another personification of a directly opposite kind. It was at the altar of Brimo, called at Sparta 
 ApTEf<i£ opBta or oqQuhjm, that the Lacedamionian boys voluntarily stood to be whipped until their 
 lives were sometimes endangered j 546 and it was during the festival of Bacchus at Alea, that the 
 Arcadian women annually underwent a similar penance, first imposed by the Delphic oracle ; but 
 probably less rigidly inforced. 517 Both appear to have been substitutions for human sacrifices j** 8 
 which the stern hierarchies of the North frequently performed ; and to which the Greeks and Romans 
 resorted upon great and awful occasions ; when real danger had excited imaginary fear-f 8 * 8 It is 
 probable, therefore, that drawing blood, though in ever so small a quantity, was necessary to 
 complete the rite : for blood being thought to contain the principles of life, the smallest effusion of it 
 at the altar might seem a complete sacrifice, by being a libation of the soul ; the only part of the 
 victim which the purest believers of antiquity supposed the Deity to require/'" In other respects, 
 the form and nature of these rites prove them to have been expiatory ; which scarcely any of the 
 religious ceremonies of the Greeks or Romans were. 
 
 144. It is in the character of the destroying attribute, that Diana is called TAYPOIIOAA, and 
 BOQiN EAATEIA, in allusion to her being borne or drawn by bulls, like the Destroyer among the 
 Hindoos before mentioned ; and it is probable that some such symbolical composition gave rise to 
 the fable of Jupiter and Europa; for it appears that in Phoenicia, Europa and Astarte were only 
 different titles for the same personage, who was the deity of the Moon j 551 comprehending both the 
 Diana and celestial Venus of the Greeks : whence the latter was occasionally represented armed like 
 the former ; 3J ~ and also distinguished by epithets, which can be properly applied only to the planet, 
 and which arc certainly derived from the primitive planetary worship. 333 Upon the celebrated ark or 
 box of Cypselus, Diana was represented winged, and holding a lion in one hand and a leopard in the 
 other; 5 * 1 to signify the destroying attribute, instead of the usual symbols of the bow and arrow; and 
 in an ancient temple near the mouth of the Alphcus she was represented riding on a gryphon ; 555 an 
 emblematical monster composed of the united forms of the lion and eagle, the symbols of destruction 
 and dominion. 556 As acting under the earth, she was the same as Proserpine; except that the latter 
 has no reference to the Moon ; but was a personification of the same attributes operating in the 
 terrestrial elements only. 
 
 145. In the simplicity of the primitive religion, Pluto and Proserpine were considered merely as the 
 deities of death presiding over the infernal regions ; and, being thought wholly inflexible and inexorable, 
 
 ! " 01. Rudbeck. Atknt. vol. ii. pp. 212 and 291. fig. 30 and 31. and p. 277. fig. G. 
 *» Ibid. p. 212. fig. 31. and p. 292. 
 
 *■ 'Bpiiiaj Tptfiop$o$. Lycophr. Cassandra, v. 1176. 
 
 Bpt/iu) i) aim) 'Emitt)' Kat it XUpatfmxi B^iiici Xiycrat' Somi oe ii outti etvat 'Ek'OTij Kat Ylipafpovii. Tzetz. Schol. in eund. 
 
 M ' Sec Joli.m. Meurs. Gra'C. Feriata. Sjiafiaartyoiaif. 
 
 ' M Atovvaq wpnSiifi et wptiary. See Porphyr. 7rt/>i otto^ijc, 1. ii. s. 55. Plutarch, in Tlicmistoc. s. 13. 
 s ' 6 Plutarch, in Lycurg. et bacon. Institut. 
 
 517 Kat tiv AlOVUSOU ry iopry, Kara pavrtvpa m AtXipuiv, puariyovvTat yvvatKic, Kal)a Kat oi HirapTtaTtiiv njiij(3o! irapa ry OpOta. 
 
 Pausan. in Arcad. c. 23. 
 
 W9 Quaptvav St, ovriva <• kXii/jik; ujri,\((/i|.jaii£, AuKOupyoe pirtjiaXiv ec rag E7R toh; !'/ii/|3(»c; pamtyn£. Pausan. in LaCOTi. 
 
 c 1G. 7. 
 
 H9 Plutarch, in Themistocl. s. 13. Liv. Hist, xxxix. s. 19. 
 510 Strabo. lib. kv. p. 733. 
 
 ii! Ei>i Se Km aWo ipov tr Qotvuty fitya, m Si&uvkk evouiR) &c /ttv avroi Xeyownj Avmpmt am' ttaraprnv 3 eyai ooraw BtAjjvoDjv 
 ifiptvat' rlif St pot tic tiiiv tpiun- inriiyttrn, Eh/wt'IC iti t<ic KaSpav nStX^Eijc- Lucian. dc Syra Dea. s. 4. 
 
 m AviXBavat ?i ic roii AKpoKopwSov, vaoc Mm A(/ipo£(7-ijc - ayakpara Sf, oijtij te wtrXiapivti, km 'HAioe, Kat Ep<oc t\uv to^ov. 
 Pausan. in Corinth, c. 4. s. 7. 
 
 Also at Cythera, in the most holy temple of Urania, which was the most ancient temple of Venus. Id. in Lacon. c. 23. s. 1. 
 
 Noctivigila, noutiluca, &c. Plaut. Curcul. act. i. ac. iii. v. 40. Horat. lib. iv. od. 6. 
 !,< ApTipuj ?t, MW oiSa fif Iitiji Xoyif, WTipvyar; t\ouaa lortv lirt rtiiv wptiiv, koi ry p[v oti,ttf BSTtJpl JrnpSaXiii, to Si trepp rav \tlpuiv 
 Xwvra. Pausan. in Eliac. i. c. 19. s. 1. 
 
 MS Strabo. lib. viii. p. 313. Aprtpis avwpcpopfvn iirt ypviros, a very celebrated picture of Arcgon of Corinth. 
 »• See coins of Teios, &c. in the Hunter collection. 
 
47 
 
 were neither honored with any rites of worship, nor addressed in any forms of supplication : 557 but 
 in the mystic system they acquired a more general character; and became personifications of the 
 active and passive modifications of the pervading Spirit concentrated in the earth. Pluto was repre- 
 sented with the ku\o£ or modius on his head, like Venus and Isis ; and, in the character of Serapis, 
 with the patera of libation, as distributor of the waters, in one hand, and the cornucopia;, signifying 
 its result, in the other. 5 * 8 His name Pluto or Piutus signifies the same as this latter symbol ; and 
 appears to have arisen from the mystic worship ; his ancient title having been AIAH2 or AFIAH2, 
 signifying the Invisible, which the Attics corrupted to Hades. Whether the title Serapis, which 
 appears to be Egyptian, meant a more general personification, or precisely the same, is difficult to 
 ascertain; ancient authority rather favoring the latter supposition; 533 at the same time that there 
 appears to be some difference in the figures of them now extant; those of Pluto having the hair 
 hanging down in large masses over the neck and forehead, and differing only in the front curls from 
 that of the celestial Jupiter ; while Serapis has, in some instances, long hair formally turned back and 
 disposed in ringlets hanging down upon his breast and shoulders like that of women. His whole 
 person too is always enveloped in drapery reaching to his feet; wherefore he is probably meant to 
 comprehend the attributes of both sexes ; and to be a general personification, not unlike that of the 
 Paphian Venus with the beard, before mentioned ; from which it was perhaps partly taken ; m there 
 being no mention made of any such deity in iEgypt prior to the Macedonian conquest; and his 
 worship having been communicated to the Greeks by the Ptolemies; whose magnificence in con- 
 structing and adorning his temple at Alexandria was only surpassed by that of the Roman emperors 
 in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. 561 
 
 146". The mystic symbol called a modius or no\oQ, which is upon the heads of Pluto, Serapis, 
 Venus, and Fortune or Isis, appears to be no other than the bell or seed-vessel of the lotus or water- 
 lily, the nymphaia nelumbo of Linnaeus. This plant, which appears to be a native of the eastern 
 parts of Asia, and is not now found in iEgypt, 66 " grows in the water; and amidst its broad leaves, 
 which float upon the surface, puts forth a large white flower; the base and centre of which is shaped 
 like a bell or inverted cone, and punctuated on the top with little cells or cavities, in which the seeds 
 grow. The orifices of these cells being too small to let them drop out when ripe, they shoot forth 
 into new plants in the places where they were formed ; the bulb of the vessel serving as a matrice to 
 nourish them until they acquire a degree of magnitude sufficient to burst it open and release them- 
 selves; when they sink to the bottom, or take root wherever the current happens to deposit them. 
 Being, therefore, of a nature thus reproductive in itself, and, as it were, of a viviparous species among 
 plants, the nelumbo was naturally adopted as the symbol of the productive power of the waters, upon 
 which the active Spirit of the Creator operated in spreading life and vegetation over the earth. It 
 also appeared to have a peculiar sympathy with the Sun, the great fountain of life and motion, by 
 rising above the waters as it rose above the horizon, and sinking under them as it retired below.^P 
 Accordingly we find it employed in every part of the Northern hemisphere, where symbolical worship 
 either does or ever did prevail. The sacred images of the Tartars, Japanese, and Indians, are almost 
 all placed upon itj 58 * and it is still sacred both in Tibet and China. 566 The upper part of the base of 
 the lingam also consists of the flower of it blended with the more distinctive characteristic of the female 
 sex; in which that of the male is placed, in order to complete this mystic symbol of the ancient 
 religion of the Bramins ; Wti who, in their sacred writings speak of the Creator Brama sitting upon his 
 lotus throne. 6 ® 
 
 147. On the Isiac table, the figures of Isis are represented holding the stem of this plant, 
 surmounted by the seed-vessel, in one hand, and the circle and cross, before explained, in the other; 
 and in a temple, delineated upon the same mystic table, are columns exactly resembling the plant, 
 which Isis holds in her hand, except that the stem is made proportionately large, to give that stability, 
 which is requisite to support a roof and entablature. Columns and capitals of the same kind are still 
 
 "» Iliad. I. 158. They arc invoked indeed II. I. 565. and Od. K. 534. ; but only as the deities of Death. 
 M * In a small silver figure belonging to Mr. P. Knight. 
 
 tsa Ou yap af&ov aval Zapamv ij tov UXovruva $um. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. vol. vii. p. 427. Reiske. 
 
 160 nAoTTODtn & tampi (A^poStnjv) koi yeawrv vyowov' Sioti mi apptva soi otjksa t\t: opyava. tovttiv yap \iyo\totv apupuv ytvanus 
 Traan^, Km awn t>i$ tiaQvog mt avti} Xeyovmv auritv appiva' ra Se sa™, OiiXunv. TrXarrovat Of auri)v km tijinnrov. SuidilS in AijipoS. 
 
 ^LapamSot; BOTtV icpov, bv hSlfftOOl Tap" llroXiuatov Oiav laqyayuvTO' Aiy mrriaig St hpa SapalrtaOCj tjf i^avEoraT-ou piv tartv 
 AXtZavSpivatv, apxatorarov Se iv Min<pii. Pausan. in Att. c. 18. s. 4. 
 
 661 Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xxii. c. 16. Ma Embassy to China, vol. ii. p. 391. 
 
 183 Theophrast. Hist. Plant, lib. iv. c. 10. SCj See Kcempfer, D'Auteroche, Sonnerat, and the Asiatic Researches. 
 
 S6S Embassy to Tibet, p. 143. Sir G. Staunton's Embassy to China, p. 391. vol ii. 
 
 Sonnerat Voyage aux hides, &c. 
 * Bagvat Geeta, p, 91. See also the figure of hid by Sir William Jones, in .the Asiatic Ilesearch.es, vol. i. p. 243. 
 
48 
 
 existing in great numbers among the ruins of Thebes in iEgypt ; and more particularly among those 
 on the island of Philae on the borders of /Ethiopia ; which was anciently held so sacred that none but 
 priests were permitted to go upon it. 11 "" These are probably the most ancient monuments of art now 
 extant; at least, if we except some of the neighbouring temples of Thebes ; both haying been certainly 
 erected when that city was the seat of wealth and empire ; as it seems to have been, even proverbially, 
 in the time of the Trojan war. M9 How long it had then been so, we can form no conjecture ; but that 
 it soon after declined, there can be little doubt; for, when the Greeks, in the reign of Psammetichus 
 (generally computed to have been about 530 years after, but probably more) became personally 
 acquainted with /Egypt,'' 7 ' 1 Memphis had been for many ages its capital, and Thebes was in a manner 
 deserted. 
 
 148. We may therefore reasonably infer that the greatest part of the superb edifices now remaining 
 were executed or at least begun before the Homeric or even Trojan times, many of them being such 
 as could not have been finished but in a long course of years, even supposing the wealth and resources 
 of the ancient kings of iEgypt to have equalled that of the greatest of the Roman emperors. The 
 completion of Trajan's column in three years has been justly deemed a very extraordinary effort ; as 
 there could not have been less than three hundred sculptors employed : and yet at Thebes the ruins 
 of which, according to Strabo, extended ten miles on both sides of the Nile, Ml we find whole temples 
 and obelisks of enormous magnitude covered with figures carved out of the hard and brittle granite 
 of the Libyan mountains, instead of the soft and yielding marbles of Faros and Carrara. To judge, 
 too, of the mode and degree of their finish by those on the obelisk of Ramcses, once a part of them, 
 1ml now lying in fragments at Rome, they are far more elaborate! y wrought than those of Trajan's pillar/"" 
 
 149. The age of Ramcses is as uncertain as all other very ancient dates : but he has been generally 
 supposed by modern chronologers to be the same person as Sesostris, and to have reigned at Thebes 
 about fifteen hundred years before the Christian aera, or about three hundred before the siege of Troy. 
 They are, however, too apt to confound personages for the purpose of contracting dates ; which being 
 merely conjectural in events of this remote antiquity, every new system-builder endeavours to adapt 
 them to his own prejudices ; and, as it has been the fashion, in modern times, to reduce as much as 
 possible the limits of ancient history, whole reigns and even dynasties have been annihilated with the 
 dash of a pen, notwithstanding the obstinate evidence of those stupendous monuments of art and 
 labor, which still stand up in their defence. 573 
 
 150. From the state in which the inhabitants have been found in most newly-discovered countries, 
 we know how slow and difficult the invention of even the commonest implements of art is ; and how 
 reluctantly men arc dragged into those habits of industry, which even the first stages of culture 
 require. iEgypt, too, being periodically overflowed, much more art and industry were required even 
 to render it constantly habitable and capable of cultivation, than would be employed in cultivating a 
 country not liable to inundations. Repositories must have been formed, and places of safety built, 
 both for men and cattle; the adjoining deserts of Libya affording neither food nor shelter for either. 
 Before this could have been done, not only the arts and implements necessary to do it must have been 
 invented, but the rights of property in some degree defined and ascertained ; which they could only 
 be in a regular government, the slow result of the jarring interests and passions of men ; who, having 
 long struggled with each other, acquiesce at length in the sacrifice of some part of their natural 
 liberty in order to enjoy the rest with security. Such a government, formed upon a very complicated 
 and artificial plan, does iEgypt appear to have possessed even in the days of Abraham, not five 
 hundred years after the period generally allowed for the universal deluge. Yet iEgypt was a new 
 country, gained gradually from the sea by the accumulation of the mud and sand annually brought 
 down in the waters of the Nile; and slowly transformed, by the regularly progressive operation of 
 time and labor, from an uninhabitable salt-marsh to the most salubrious and fertile spot in the 
 universe. m 
 
 •* Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 25. ed. Weae. JM See II. I. v. 381. 
 
 *™ Upturn? (u "t'ap/iijTiKoc) Ttov Kur' Aiyitnroi' fiaaikiuiv artwE; rot? aWiitt; tBvioi ra Kara ri]v aWtjv \aipav tptropta. This prince 
 
 was the fifth before Amasis who died in the 2nd year of the Ixiiird. Olympiad] in which Cambyses invaded /Egypt. Diodor. Sic 
 lib. i. p. 78 and 9. 
 
 1J1 Kai WV Btunnmu 8" rov ptyiOovt: atiTijc etti ayCoi|KO]>Ta arattavg to fiiino?. lib. xvii. p. 816. 
 
 1,1 Figures in relief, finished in tile same style, are upon the granite sarcophagus in the liritisli Museum : it is equal to that of 
 the finest gems, and must have been done with similar instruments. 
 
 6,-3 Wat-burton has humourously introduced one of these chronologers proving that William ilie Conqueror and William the 
 Hid. were one and the same person. Div. Leg. 
 
 1,1 Km yap ouTOf an ^iipunpnc o tojtoc tpaivtrat yiyvoptvos, km Traaa t) \iiipa tou irorapav Trpoo-\h>ais ouaa too NeiAov' Sm Sf to 
 Kara pmpov tipaivopfviiiv twv i\wv, tovs JtAijctioii Hgpuafaftu, to tou \povou /ii|koc n^yprrui tijk ap\rp). tyaivtrai S' auv KM ra 
 oropara rwro rXoM Lvoq tov KavwfiiKov, \itpoirouira kqi ov rov worapov ovra. Aristot. Meteor, lib. i. C, 14-. 
 
49 
 
 151. This great transformation took place, in all the lower regions, after the genealogical records 
 of the hereditary priests of Amnion at Thebes had commenced ; and, of course, after the civil and 
 religious constitution of the government had been formed. It was the custom for every one of these 
 priests to erect a colossal statue of himself, in wood — of which there were three hundred and forty-five 
 shown to Hecataius and Herodotus ; 575 so that, according to the /Egyptian computation of three 
 generations to a century, 576 which, considering the health and longevity of that people, 577 is by no 
 means unreasonable, this institution must have lasted between eleven and twelve thousand years, 
 from the times of the first king, Menes, under whom all the country below Lake Mceris was a bog, 578 
 to that of the Persian invasion, when it was the garden of the world. This is a period sufficient, but 
 not more than sufficient, for the accomplishment of such vast revolutions, both natural and artificial ; 
 and, as it is supported by such credible testimony, there does not appear to he any solid room for 
 suspecting it to have been less : for, as to the modern systems of chronology, deduced from doubtful 
 passages of Scripture, and genealogies, of which a great part were probably lost during the captivity 
 of the Jews, they bear nothing of the authority of the sacred sources from which they have been 
 drawn. Neither let it be imagined that either Herodotus, or the priest who informed him, could have 
 confounded symbolical figures with portraits : for all the ancient artists, even those of ^Egypt, were 
 so accurate in discriminating between ideal and real characters, that the difference is at once 
 discernible by any experienced observer, even in the wrecks and fragments of their works that are 
 now extant. 
 
 152. But, remote as the antiquity of these Egyptian remains seems to be, the symbols which adorn 
 them appear not to have been invented by that, but to have been copied from those of some other 
 people, who dwelt on the other side of the Erythraean Ocean. Both the nelumbo, and the hooded 
 snake, which are among those most frequently repeated, and most accurately represented upon all 
 their sacred monuments, are, as before observed, natives of the East; and upon the very ancient 
 Egyptian temple, near Girge, figures have been observed exactly resembling those of the Indian 
 deities, Jaggernaut, Gonnes, and Vishnoo. The Egyptian architecture appears, however, to have 
 been original and indigenous ; and in this art only the Greeks seem to have borrowed from them ; the 
 different orders being only different modifications of the symbolical columns which the /Egyptians 
 formed in imitation of the nelumbo plant. 
 
 153. The earliest capital seems to have been the bell, or seed-vessel, simply copied, without any 
 alteration except a little expansion at bottom, to give it stability.* 79 The leaves of some other 
 plant were then added to it, and varied in different capitals, according to the different meanings 
 intended to be signified by these accessary symbols. 580 The Greeks decorated it in the same manner, 
 with the foliage of various plants, sometimes of the acanthus, and sometimes of the aquatic kind; 581 
 which are, however, generally so transformed by their excessive attention to elegance, that it is difficult 
 to ascertain them. The most usual seems to be the /Egyptian acacia, which was probably adopted 
 as a mystic symbol for the same reasons as the olive ; it being equally remarkable for its powers of 
 reproduction.'' 8 '' Theophrastus mentions a large wood of it in the Thebais; where the olive will not 
 grow; 585 so that we may reasonably suppose it to have been employed by the /Egyptians in the same 
 symbolical sense. From them the Greeks seem to have borrowed it about the time of the Macedonian 
 conquest ; it not occurring in any of their buildings of a much earlier date : and as for the story of 
 the Corinthian architect, who is said to have invented this kind of capital from observing a thorn 
 growing round a basket, it deserves no credit, being fully contradicted by the buildings still remaining 
 in Upper /Egypt. 581 
 
 154. The Doric column, which appears to have been the only one known to the very ancient 
 Greeks, was equally derived from the nelumbo ; its capital being the same seed-vessel pressed flat, as 
 it appears when withered and dry ; the only state, probably, in which it had been seen in Europe. 
 
 W Herodot. lib. ii. s. 143. '» Tivtat yap rpttg avSput- wnrow trto tan. Ibid. s. 143. 
 
 177 Etai fitv yap Km aAAiuc AfyVHTUM pira Ai/3uof ilyiijpHjniTiJt itoitojk avdpVTMV, riuu iipttov (f/iDi SxcMtv) lit/tKa, un ov piraWaaaofai 
 at iupat. Ib. s. 77. 
 
 !rs En-i roVTOV, tt\j)v rou eij/3ai«:ou VOflOV, iraaav Atyvirrof final tXoe" Kat outijc ttvat ouSiv inrtptx<»> IV* vuv tVtpOt XtpvtK T 1Q 
 Moipioc tOVTOV' tf niv avairXovc airo OaXaaaijtj farm ijjijpciuv tan ava tov wiyrapov. Ib. 8. 4. 
 
 W Denon. pi. Ix. 12. M ° Ibid. pi. lix. and Ix. 
 
 161 See ib. pi. lix. 1. 2. and 3. and \x. 1. 2. 3., &c; where the originals from which the Greeks took their Corinthian capitals 
 plainly appear. It might have been more properly called the /Egyptian order, as far at least as relates to the form and decora- 
 tion of the capitals. 
 
 ™ Martin in Virg. Georg. ii. 119. "» Htpi $utiuv. 
 
 *" If the choragie monument of Lysicrates was really erected in the time of the Lysicrates to whom it is attributed, it must be 
 of about the hundred and eleventh Olympiad, or three hundred and thirty years hefore the Christian tera; which is earlier than 
 any other specimen of Corinthian architecture known. 
 
56 
 
 The flutes in the shaft were inside to hold spears and staves ; whence a spear-holder is spoken of, in 
 the Odyssey, as part of a column i 685 the triglyphs and blocks of the cornice were also derived from 
 Utility; they having been intended to represent the projecting ends of the beams and rafters which 
 formed the roof. 
 
 155. The Ionic capital has no bell, but volutes formed in imitation of sea-shells, which have the 
 same symbolical meaning. To them is frequently added the ornament which architects call a honey- 
 suckle ; but which seems to be meant lor the young petals of the same flower viewed horizontally, 
 before they are opened or expanded. Another ornament is also introduced in this capital, which 
 they call eggs and anchors ; but which is, in fact, composed of eggs and spear-heads, the symbols of 
 passive generative, and active destructive power ; or, in the language of mythology, of Venus and 
 Mars. 
 
 156'. These are, in reality, all the Greek orders, which are respectively distinguished by the 
 symbolical ornaments being placed upwards, downwards, or sideways- .- wherefore, to invent a new 
 order is as much impossible as to invent an attitude or position, which shall incline to neither of the 
 three. As for the orders called Tuscan and Composite, the one is that in which there is no ornament 
 whatsoever, and the other that in which various ornaments are placed in different directions ; so that 
 the one is in reality no order, and the other a combination of several. 
 
 15/. The columns being thus sacred symbols, the temples themselves, of which they always formed 
 the principal part, were emblems of the Deity, signifying generally the passive productive power; 
 whence IlEPIKIONIO^, surrounded with columns, is among the Orphic or mystic epithets of Bacchus, 
 in bis character of god of the waters ; 3S " and his statue in that situation had the same meaning as the 
 Indian lingam, the bull in the labyrinth, and other symbolical compositions of the same kind before 
 cited. A variety of accessary symbols were almost always added, to enrich the sacred edifices; the 
 /Egyptians covering the walls of the cells and the shafts of the columns with them ; while the Greeks, 
 always studious of elegance, employed them to decorate their entablatures, pediments, doors, and 
 pavements. The extremities of the roofs were almost always adorned with a sort of scroll of raised 
 curves,'' 87 the meaning of which would not be easily discovered, were it not employed on coins 
 evidently to represent water; not as a symbol, but as the rude effort of infant art, feebly attempting 
 to imitate wavcs. S8a 
 
 158. The most obvious, and consequently the most ancient symbol of the productive power of the 
 waters, was a fish ; which we accordingly find the universal symbol upon many of the earliest coins ; 
 almost every symbol of the male or active power, both of generation and destruction, being 
 occasionally placed upon it; and Dirceto, the goddess of the Phoenicians, being represented by the 
 head and body of a woman, terminating below in a fish i m but on the Phoenician as well as Greek 
 coins now extant, the personage is of the other sex ; and in plate 1. of vol. i. of the Select Specimens, 
 is engraved a beautiful figure of the mystic Cupid, or first- begotten Love, terminating in an aquatic 
 plant; which, affording more elegance and variety of form, was employed to signify the same 
 meaning ; that is, the Spirit upon the waters ; which is otherwise expressed by a similar and more 
 common mixed figure, called a Triton, terminating in a fish, instead of an aquatic plant. The head 
 of Proserpine appears, in numberless instances, surrounded by dolphins and upon the very ancient 
 medals of Side in Painphylia, the pomegranate, the fruit peculiarly consecrated to her, is borne upon 
 the back of one. 591 By prevailing upon her to eat of it, Pluto is said to have procured her stay 
 during half the year in the infernal regions; and a part of the Greek ceremony of marriage still 
 consists, in many places, in the bride's treading upon a pomegranate. The flower of it is also 
 occasionally employed as an ornament upon the diadems of both Hercules and Bacchus ; and 
 likewise forms the device of the Rhodian medals ; on some of which we have seen distinctly repre- 
 sented an ear of barley springing from one side of it, and the bulb of the lotus, or nelumbo, from the 
 other. It therefore holds the place of the male, or active generative attribute; and accordingly we 
 find it on a bronze fragment published by Caylus, as the result of the union of the bull and lion, 
 exactly as the more distinct symbol of the phallus is in a similar fragment above cited. 5M The 
 pomegranate, therefore, in the hand of Proserpine or Juno, signifies the same as the circle and cross, 
 
 «• Od. A. 128. lM Orph. Hymn. xlvi. 
 
 "> See Stuart's Athens, vol. i. c. iv. pi. iii. See coins of Tarentum, Camerina, &c. 
 
 ** Af|)k'(TOve Sf iiSni; tv •Poa-inij [Orjijmi/jTji', Httt/iu £fi>oi>* lifiiaiij /ttv yvvif' to Hi okouov (*: fUipuiv fc WCpOff TroSuf t\Buog ouprj 
 oirortcvtrm- i, 8e tv r? l PV iroXfi ira™ ywn Wit Lucian. de Syr. Dea. b. 14. 
 See coins of Syracuse, Motya, &c. 
 «* Mus. Hunter, tab. 49. fig. iii. &c. 
 
 ™ Recucil d'Antiquitt's, Sc. vol. vii. pi. Ixiii, fig. 1. 2. and 3. 
 
 The buffs head is, indeed, here half humanised, having only (he horns and ears of the animal; while in the more ancient 
 fragment above cited both symbols are unmetamorphosed. 
 
51 
 
 before explained, in the hand of Isis ; which is the reason why Pausanias declines giving any 
 explanation of it, lest it should lead him to divulge any of the mystic secrets of his religion. 393 The 
 cone of the pine, with which the thyrsus of Bacchus is always surmounted, and which is employed in 
 various compositions, is probably a symbol of similar import, and meaning the same, in the hand of 
 Ariadne and her attendants, as the above-mentioned emblems do in those of Juno, Proserpine, 
 and Isis. 
 
 159. Upon coins, Diana is often accompanied by a dog, 551 esteemed to be the most sagacious and 
 vigilant of animals ; ,,,J and therefore employed by the /Egyptians as the symbol of Hermes, Mercury, 
 or Anubis ; who was the conductor of the soul from one habitation to another ; and consequently the 
 same, in some respects, as Bruno, Hecate, or Diana, the destroyer. 396 In monuments of Grecian art, 
 the cock is his most frequent symbol ; and in a small figure of brass, we have observed him sitting on 
 a rock, with a cock on his right side, the goat on his left, and the tortoise at his feet. The ram, 
 however, is more commonly employed to accompany him, and in some instances he appears sitting 
 upon it: 597 wherefore it is probable that both these animals signified nearly the same; or, at most, 
 only different modifications of the influence of the nocturnal sun, as the cock did that of the diurnal. 
 Hence Mercury appears to have been a personification of the power arising from both ; and we 
 accordingly find that the old Pekisgian Mercury, so generally worshipped at Athens, 598 was a priapic 
 figure,'™ and probably the same personage as the Celtic Mercury, who was the principal deity of the 
 ancient Gauls j 600 who do not, however, appear to have had any statues of him till they received them 
 from the Greeks and Romans. 
 
 160. In these, one hand always holds a purse, to signify that productive attribute, which is 
 peculiarly the result of mental skill and sagacity," 1 " while the other holds the caduceus ; a symbol 
 composed of the staff or sceptre of dominion between two serpents, the emblems of life or preserva- 
 tion, and therefore signifying his power over it. Hence it was always borne by heralds; oi whom 
 Mercury, as the messenger of the gods, was the patron, and whose office was to proclaim peace, and 
 denounce war; of both which it might be considered as the symbol : for the staff or spear, signifying 
 power in general," 0 - was employed by the Greeks and Romans to represent Juno"** and Mars; 611 * and 
 received divine honors all over the North, as well as the battle-axe and sword ; by the latter of which 
 the God of War, the supreme deity of those fierce nations, was signified : Mj whence, to swear by the 
 shoulder of the horse and the edge of the sword, was the most solemn and inviolable of oaths j" 06 and 
 deciding civil dissensions or personal disputes by duel, was considered as appealing directly and 
 immediately to the Deity. The ordeal, or trial by fire and water, which seems once to have prevailed 
 in Greece and Italy ,' ior as well as Germany and the North, is derived from the same source; it being 
 
 1B To Sf ayaX/ia ti K Hpa C WWI flpovou k-nflip-ai, piyiQtt pcya, xpwov mi- km tXiflmiTOC, noAiikXarou S( tpyov cttktti St o'i OTtfaVOf 
 XapiTac i\wv Kai 'Upac tirupyaapivag' kqi tqji> \upwv, Ttf fUV napirov <pipu poiaq, ti) Of TKifTrrpov' ra fin- ouv tf tiji 1 paiav {awopp^rtpuq 
 yap lariv ij Xiijik;) wjuuNn pot. Corinth, c. xvii. s. 4. 
 
 3W See coins of Syracuse, &c. 
 
 *" On yap tov nvva Kvpiiuc 'Epfiqv Xiyot'atv (oi Aiyi/nrioi) aXAo rou £iuou to ^iiAarrojoii, Kai to aypvTTvov, nai to iptXoaoipov. 
 
 Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. vol. vii. p. 399. Reiske. 
 
 **" ToiViji' f\nv Boicfi jrap' Aiyum-ioic m* Sui'nuii' 1 Avovjiic, olav ij 'Ekotij irop' 'EAAjjiw, jfiaVWt wi/ upon k-ni OAtyflHOC* ItA&i 
 
 p. 453. Reiske. 
 
 ■* Particularly in an intaglio of exquisite work, in the collection of the Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 !W AOqvoiwv yap to a\i)pa to rtipcrywov forty in ruic 'Eppaig, sat 7rapa rovnm fMUaftgmn* oi uXX™. Paiisan. 10 Mess. c. XXXUl. 
 sra Tou Si 'Epuiai ra ayaXpara opOa [\nv to aiSoia irouuirtc, one aw Aiyvirruiv ptpaOr}Kaai, a\X airo lUXaaybtv. Heroilot. U. 61. 
 Too 'Epuou St to ayaXua, 6v at ravro (KuXXi?wu) wtpmavs atfiavaiv, opSav eot.v oiSoioif nrt tou fiaBpov. Pausan. in Eliac. ii. c. 
 
 *» Ceesar. de B. G. lib. vi. p. 222. ed Elz. 1670. 
 
 601 Occulte Mercurio aupplicabat (Julianus) quern mundi velociorcm sensum esse, mo turn mentium suscirantem, theulogia? 
 prodidere doctrines; Ammian. MarceHin. lib. xvi. c. 5. 
 
 M] Hence the expressions, at0iwnv Sopi, to govern, and venire sub hasta, to be sold as a slave. 
 
 803 'H/joc Sj ifpov to Bopu vtvofUmat, tat t«iv ayaXparhiv tWfC IWJjOi&rBi ra vXu<na, km Kopinc ij 0WC IWWfWWu' to yap Sopu 
 Kovptv tk-aAouu oi jtoXoioi. Plutarch. Quart Rom. p. 149. 
 
 *" Ev St Frryta Sopv k-ufliS/tuutvov Apta irpoaayopcvuv. Plutarch, in Romulo. s. 29. 
 
 Ms Ab Oligine rerum pro diis immortalibus vetercs hastas coluerc: ail eujus religiouis memoriam adhuc deoruin simulachris 
 hasta? adduntur. Justin. Hist. lib. xliii. c. 3. Sec also Herodot. lib. iv. c. 62. Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xm c. 12. and lib. xxxi. 
 Lucian. Scyth. p. 864. Prisei Frag, in excerp. Legat. 
 
 — Mallet Introd. a 1'Hist. de Danemarc, c. tx. 
 
 •W Huiv S" fTDipoi teal pvSpouc alpttv \fpoiv 
 
 Hat Tnip Sftpmnr. Sophocl. Antig. 270. 
 
 Sunitue Dcum, sancti custos Soraetis Apollo, 
 Queni priiui cohrnus, cui pitieus ardor acervo 
 Pascitur; et medium freti pietatc per ignem 
 Cultores multa premimus vestigia prima. JEn. xi. 785. 
 
52 
 
 only an appeal to the essence, instead of tlie symbol, of the Divine nature. The custom of swearing 
 by the implements of war as divine emblems, appears likewise to have prevailed among the Greeks ; 
 whence /Eschylus introduces the heroes of the Thebaid taking their military oath of fidelity to each 
 other upon the point of a spear or sword. 60 " 
 
 161. The dog represented Mercury as the keeper of the boundary between life and death, or the 
 guardian of the passage from the upper to the lower hemisphere ; to signify the former of which, the 
 face of Anubis was gilded, and to signify the latter, black. 61,9 In the Greek and Roman statues of 
 him, the wings and petasus, or cap, which he occasionally wears upon his head, seem to indicate the 
 same difference of character similar caps being frequently upon the heads of figures of Vulcan, 
 who was the personification of terrestrial fire: 011 whence he was fabled to have been thrown from 
 heaven into the volcanic island of Lemnos, and to have been saved by the sea; 612 volcano's being 
 supported by water. These caps, the form of which is derived from the egg, t1u and which are worn 
 by the Dioscuri, as before observed, surmounted with asterisks, signify the hemispheres of the 
 earth ; 6,+ and it is possible that the asterisks may, in this case, mean the morning and evening stars j 
 but whence the cap became a distinction of rank, as it was among the Scythians, S1& or a symbol of 
 freedom and emancipation, as it was among the Greeks and Romans, is not easily ascertained. 
 
 162. The dog was the emblem of destruction as well as vigilance, and sacred to Mars as well as 
 Mercury : ei7 whence the ancient northern deity, Gamr, the devourer or engulpher, was represented 
 under the form of this animal ; which sometimes appears in the same character on monuments of 
 Grecian art." 1 " Both destruction and creation were, according to the religious philosophy of the 
 ancients, merely dissolution and renovation ; to which all sublunary bodies, even that of the Earth 
 itself, were supposed to be periodically liable. 8 ' 9 Fire and water were held to be the great efficient 
 principles of both ; and as the spirit or vital principle of thought and mental perception was alone 
 supposed to be immortal and unchanged, the complete dissolution of the body, which it animated, 
 was conceived to be the only means of its complete emancipation. Hence the Greeks, and all the 
 Scythic and Celtic nations, burned the bodies of their dead, as the Hindoos do at this day ; whilst the 
 Egyptians, among whom fuel was extremely scarce, embalmed them, in order that they might be 
 preserved entire to the universal conflagration ; till when the soul was supposed to migrate from one 
 body to another.'™ In this state those of the vulgar were deposited in subterraneous caverns, 
 excavated with vast labor for the purpose ; while their kings erected, for their own bodies, those vast 
 pyramidal monuments, (the symbols of that fire to which they were consigned) whose excessive 
 
 *■ Opvwn J uxpt*. Sept. ap. Theb. V. 535. 
 
 f ™ Hie horrenduni attollens eanis cervices arduas, ille superum commeator et inferum nunc arra nunc aurea facie sublimis. 
 Apul. Metam. lib. xi. p. 373. ed. Delph. 
 
 *"' See small brats coins of Metapontum, silver tetradrachms of JEnoB, &c. 
 ■>' See coins of Lipari, ^sernia, &c: also plate xlvii. of vol. i. 
 
 Iliad A. 593. and S. 395. 
 811 Ton tuov to ftfitrouov kcu aariip SwwoMh Lucian, Dial. Deor. xxvi. 
 
 IliAofc t ttmBuuntt avrois, MU *Wt tovtoiq aartpag, aiviaaopivoi r)|iP i)piaipaipiuiQ Karaomuiju. Sext, Empiric. XI. 37. See also 
 
 Acfcffl. Tat. Iaagog. p. 127 b. and 130 c. 
 
 This cap was first given to Ulysses by Nicomachus, a painter of the age of Alexander the Great. Plin. xxxv. c. xxxvi. 22. 
 
 6li YliXofyoptKoi. Scythians of rank. Lucian. Scytli. s. 1. 
 
 6lS See Tib. Hcmsterhuis. Not. in Lucian. Dialog. Deor. xxvi. s. 1. 
 
 ov Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. xxi. «' B See coins of Phocssa, &c 
 
 "* AtpQaprovg Si Xtyovat Kai airrot Kai o! aXXoi (KfXroi) toc 4>v\oq koi tov naapaV C7T iKpuTtjan v St won Kai mp Kai iiSwp. Strabo. 
 
 lib. iv. p. 197. See also Justin, lib. ii. and Ed da Myth. iv. and xlviii. Voluspa stroph. xlix. Vafthrud. xlvii. et seqq. The 
 same opinion prevailed almost universally ; see Plutarch, de Placit. Philos. lib. ii. c. xviii. Lucret. lib. v. ver. 92. Cic. de Nat. 
 Deor. lib. ii. Bagvat Geeta Lect. is. And Brueker Hist. Crit. Philos. vol. i. p. 11. lib. i. Some indeed supposed the world to 
 be eternal in its present state. Diodor. Sic, lib. i. p. 10. 
 
 Gioirapirot: & #noi vara rouf payov$, ava pipo? Tpia\tXia frtj tov p uparttv, tov St KparitaOat tojv Pttnn, aXXa Si Tpio-^iAta fta\(aBai 
 Kai woXifittv KtU avaXvtiv ra tou iripttv tov irtpoV TiXot; o" tnro\ujria6ai (lege awoXatxOai) tov aSijv, Kai rove "(V avBpiuwov^ ivSaipovac 
 (oto8at, pwi Tpofw StopivovQ, fiirrf maav wotovvra^. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 370. Hence the period of 6,000 years so 
 important in ccclefiaf tic;d history. 
 
 loam & tat 'EXAqvtc KOrmXvafMf ij Tivpi ti|v -yi,u rara ire/iioSouc KaOaipopiv^v. Origen. contra Cels. lib. iv. s. 20. 
 
 Earni yap irrrat kcivoc aiuiviiiv xpovoc 
 
 iiTav wvpoQ yipovra dt\aavpov a\amj 
 
 XpVOtnrOf atliiip- n <Sj fioOKi)Btiaa <j,Xo% 
 
 awavra r airtytia KM ptrapata 
 
 ^Xf£fi pavtta' iwav 6' ap (AXi7ry to irav, 
 
 QpavSo? fUV tarat Kvparwv airaq fivOo^, 
 
 yt] SivSptwv tpnflOC' ovS' atip iTt 
 
 WTfpwra ^Ml fiXarrravit wvpovfitvoc 
 
 KawriTa timau wttvff a irpo-rf)' awwXiai. Sophocl. in Grotii. excerpt, p. 145. 
 K " Herodot. lib. ii. 123. 
 
53 
 
 strength and solidity were well calculated to secure them as long as the earth, upon which they 
 stood, should be able to support them. The great pyramid, the only one that has been opened, was 
 closed up with such extreme care and ingenuity, that it required years of labor and enormous expense 
 to gratify the curiosity or disappoint the avarice of the Mohammedan prince who tirst laid open the 
 central chamber where the body lay."' 1 The rest are still impenetrable, and will probably remain so, 
 according to the intention of the builders, to the last syllable of recorded time. 
 
 16'3. The soul, that was to be finally emancipated by fire, was the divine emanation, the vital 
 spark of heavenly (lame, the principle of reason and perception, which was personified into the 
 familiar daemon or genius, supposed to have the direction of each individual, and to dispose him to 
 good or evil, wisdom or folly, with all their respective consequences of prosperity or adversity. m 
 Hence proceeded the notion, that all human actions depended immediately upon the gods; which 
 forms the fundamental principle of morality both in the elegant and finished compositions of the most 
 ancient Greek poets,"-" and in the rude strains of the northern Scalds i m for as the soul was supposed 
 to be a part of the letherial substance of the Deity detached from the rest ; and doomed, for some 
 unknown causes, to remain during certain periods imprisoned in matter; all its impulses, not 
 immediately derived from the material organs, were of course impulses of the Deity, 6 ^ As the 
 principles of this system were explained in the mysteries, persons initiated were said to pass the rest 
 of their time with the gods it being by initiation that they acquired a knowledge of their affinity 
 with the Deity; and learned to class themselves with the more exalted emanations, that flowed from 
 the same source. 
 
 811 Suvary sur 1'Egypt. 
 
 *° 'O wow C yap tipw 6 flfoc- Menand. apud Plutarch. Qu. Platon. p. 999. 
 Attoiti Satpmv avc/n ii-pTiaptaTaTnt, 
 ti'fliiC -y!t'0/IH'(|i piitrru-ywyoi; ton f3iou* 
 nyaflof' Kotow yap Saipow' on I'opirrrEow 
 mat, tou /3iou fiXnm-awa XfiVTVf WW« yap 
 Su ayaBav uvai row flfow. Menandr. Fragm. incerta. No. 205. 
 Plutarch, according to his own system, gives two genii to each individual, and quotes the anlhovitv of Empedocles against this 
 passage of Menander; which seems, however, to contain the most ancient and orthodox opinion. 
 Aurij row aiirijf e-mpnv uynnXuvpi i'ij. Sophin'l Trachin. 910. 
 
 Est deus in nobis; agilante culeschnus illo: 
 
 Impetus hie sacra 1 semina mentis hahet. Ovid. Fast. lib. vi. 5, 
 Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum, 
 Natural deus hiimana 1 , rnorlalis in unum- 
 
 Quodque caput; vultu nuttabilis, alhus et ater. Horat. lib. ii. ep. ii. 187. 
 811 Outi poi oinii toot, flioi im pot atrtot ttaiv 
 
 Ot pOl l<ptoppi}ltaV ir«Xc/lMl< TT'lAtiiW/JUl' A \_HIU>|1 — II. F. 16+. 
 
 says the polite old Priam to the blushing and beautiful Helen. Agamemnon excuses himself for having injured and insulted 
 Achilles, by saying, 
 
 a\\a Ztvc Kat Moipn, Ml T|tpo r OiTic SfXWVC D. T. 8fi. 
 Pindar continually inculcates this doctrine. 
 
 Am>c toi wooe /!f7dC Kvjitpvq 
 Aaipov avSpwv fiXwv. Pyth. i. V. 164. 
 XtvOjmrroQ fvQvvt Aaipownc ovpav. Olymp. iy. v. 38. 
 Ek Btnv E' ni'Tjp antjiatc av&ti taati wpitwiSiamv. Olymp. in. v. 10. 
 AyaBoi & 
 
 ryroovro. Olymp. 9. v. 41. 
 E« fcW yap p aX av*i TO- 
 ™< /3poTfa< e apntug- 
 koi grofhM, KUt X tp<n (3«- 
 Toi, irtpiyXuaaoi r' f^uw. Pyth. a. v. 79. 
 (M See Eddas, and liartbolinus. 
 
 6u MapTvpcavrai ?! oi iruXuioi (JeoAo-yoi tf Kat pavrftf, lic Sio Tivar; rt/IVfXflf a ifiaya Ti[> auipan cnjwt^fuKroi, Kat aiStanp tV auuait 
 
 rouT, t . Tiflairrai. Philolaus Pythagoric. apud Clem. Alex. Strom, iii. 
 
 At $' airi)XXay pivot yivtoimc ^i/\ai, KOt aypXaZovaai to Aoiirow airo iruipnroc, nlnv fXivBipat irapwav afitptvat, Zmpovtf titriw 
 WffpMM' tTri^tXtic, Kaff UatnZov. lit yap aSAip-ac KOTakvoavrac aOKijdiw inru yijpuie, on rcAia)? oiroXtiirf t to i/uXonpav Kat 
 tyiXoatupaTOV, aXX iripovQ aanauvrag optovrtc tjSovTat, koi jrapaKoAoum Kat avpirapaBiouoiv' tivrtiic oi irnravpwat rm jripi row |3uw 
 aywvtiiv, Si apiri/v 'pu^g yiwaptwoi Safpui'tf, on Trni'Tf A<uc UTipttZ,uvat ra itnavBa, nat Xoyout; koi tnrovCag, aXAa rott; iwi rauro 
 yiipvaZopivou; TtXo/; ivptvttc ovtiq, koi evpipiXoTtptmpivoi wpog rnw optrtjw cyKfXitiourai uai avvt^nppiuatv, oral) lyyiic ijEij tijc fXjrifiof 
 aptXXiufiivaui; xai i^awoi'roc bptiimv. Interloc Pyllmgoric. in Plutarch. Dialog, de Socrat. Daemon, p. 593. 
 
 Koi pijw a Ttuv aXAdJw OCOVHCl o' WttBaVOt xoXXtivg, Xcyowrfc ("C ouSiw onSapy rqj SiaXufltwrt kokov ovSi Xviriipov tartt; oiSa on 
 KtuXiifi at moTtviiv 6 wttrpme X070C, koi ra pveriKa avpjioXa rmv iript rof Aiowdoow opytaapiuv, a avvtapiv uXXtiXoic ot KOiuiuwoi/wrfc. 
 Plutarch, ad Uxor. Consol. p. 611. 
 
 m 'QfnrEn Se XtytreU Kara twv fUfUmpAVtOV, (L c aXflfliuc TOT Aoiirow ^povov ptra Otiuv Stayouaa (i'i ipu\''-) Plat on. Phicd. p. 61. 
 
 P 
 
54 
 
 164. The corporeal resilience of this divine particle or emanation, as well as of the grosser principle 
 of vital heat, and animal motion, was supposed to he the blood: 6 " whence, in Ulysses's evocation of 
 the Dead, the shades are spoken of as void of all perception of corporeal objects until they had 
 tasted the blood of the victims"-" which he had offered; by means of which their faculties were 
 replenished by a re-union with that principle of vitality from which they had been separated : for, 
 according to this ancient system, there were two souls, the one the principle of thought and percep- 
 tion, called N002, and <i>PHN ; and the other the mere power of animal motion and sensation, called 
 M'YXH j 6 * 9 both of which were allowed to remain entire, in the shades, in the person of Tiresias 
 only. 630 The prophetess of Apollo at Argos, in like manner, became possessed of the knowledge of 
 futurity by tasting the blood of a lamb offered in sacrifice j^ 1 and it seems probable that the sanctity 
 anciently attributed to red or purple color, arose from its similitude to that of blood; it having been 
 customary, in early times, not only to paint the faces of the statues of the deities with vermilion ; but 
 also the bodies of the Roman Consuls and Dictators/' 1 - during the sacred ceremony of the triumph ; 
 from which ancient, custom the imperial purple of later ages is derived. 
 
 165. It was, perhaps, in allusion to the emancipation and purification of the soul, that Bacchus is 
 called AIKNITH2 j 638 a metaphorical title taken from the winnow, which purified the corn from the 
 dust and chaff, as fire was supposed to purify the authorial .soul from all gross and terrestrial matter. 
 Hence this instrument is called by Virgil ike mystic winnow of Bacchus y 584 and hence we rind the 
 symbols both of the destroying and generative attributes upon tombs, signifying the separation and 
 regeneration of the soul performed by the same power. Those of the latter are, in many instances, 
 represented by very obscene and licentious actions, even upon sepulchral monuments; as appears 
 from many now extant, particularly one lately in the Farnese palace at Rome. The Canobus of the 
 ./Egyptians appears to have been a personification of the same attribute as the Bacchus AIKNITHS 
 of the Greeks : for be was represented by the filtering- vase, which is still employed to purify and 
 render potable the waters of the Nile ; and these waters, as before observed, were called the definition 
 of Osiris, of whom the soul was supposed to be an emanation. The means, therefore, by which they 
 were purified from all grosser matter, might properly be employed as the symbol of that power, 
 which separated the aatherial from the terrestrial soul, and purified it from all the pollutions and 
 incumbrances of corporeal substance. The absurd talc of Canobus being the deified pilot of Menelaus 
 is an invention of the later Greeks, unworthy of any serious notice. 
 
 166. The rite of Baptism in fire and water, so generally practised among almost all nations of 
 antiquity, seems to have been a mystic representation of this purification and regeneration of the soul 
 after death. It was performed by jumping three times through the flame of a sacred fire, and being 
 sprinkled with water from a branch of laurel j 68 * or else by being bedewed with the vapor from a sacred 
 
 057 To ouin t-1,1 iiT'flpi.m,! irXtinrov £»u/3aXA(Tni ui/ioc rrvviaW DW4I Si Xiyavat, to Trav. Ilippocrat. lie Morbis, lib. i. 3. XXIX. 
 Ti'iuiJii yap i'| rou oi<0ji(U7rov irE^UKft' iv ry Amy KoiAiy K«pC»|(;,) ko< «PX 11 T 1G oAAijg ^u\1C- rpcpirai St ovti oitioiaiv, ourt 
 
 TtOTiiiaiv awn tijc vii&uoc, aXXa Kodupy koi iftuiTOiiSitt wcniuuaty, T/fyovuiy ftc Trie SiaKpiam^ Ton alfiaro^. Hippocrat. de Corde, S. viii. 
 To fitV a'tpa KVHdJTnriji' rwx cu UfUV t\ov Swa/iiv, iifia nai 8ipf)ov fori ical iiypov. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. viii. qu. 10. 
 Nullius carnis sanguincm comedi'lis, nam annua omnia carnis est sanguis ejus. Levit. c. svii. v. 14-. ed Cleric. 
 
 Od. A. 152 et seq. 
 m Nouw fitv evi i£uxV> t™X1 v ^ fvi atofinTi apyif, 
 
 HiJiac lyKOTfOiint irari|p av?pwv Tt Btlov Tl. 
 
 Orphic. Atoott. No. xxiv. ed. Gesner. 
 Secundum banc philoaophiam, ^-u\n anima est, qua vivunt, spirant, aluntur tc iu^u\u. vovq mena eat, divinius quiddam, 
 quibusdam animabus superadditum, sive iiulitum, a Deo. Gesner. Not. in eund. 
 
 «" O^mou Tf.pwwo 
 
 Mm ■-mi; aAaou, tov ft <;,„! ,-t i n n , „ , KM* 
 Ti,i xat Ttfli'tiiiiTi vnov wnpi l\tpai^ovua. 
 Hi,, iriirvva&ai. Odyss. K. v. 408. 
 a ' Pausan. in Corinth, c. xxiv. I. 
 
 « Toyy yap l£av<9t< to piXBivov, y ra waXaia raw ayaXparwv lyiiZov. Plutarch, tv l\.mm.. Sec also Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. XstfB. 
 c. xxxvi (vu.) ; and Winkelman. Hist, des Arts, hv. i. c. ii. a. 2. 
 
 Hnumerat auctores Verrius, quibus credere sit necesse, Jovis ipsius simidachri faciem diebus featis minio illini aolitam, 
 triiimphantiimque corpora: sic C'amillum triumphasse. Plin. ut supra. 
 
 633 Orph. Hymn. xlv. The Xmvov, however, was the mystic sieve in which Bacchus was cradled; from which the title may 
 have been derived, though the form of it implies an active rather than a paasive sense. See Hesych. in voc. 
 
 Mystica vanntis Iacchi. Georg. 1. 166. Osiris has the winnow in one hand, and the hook of attraction in the other ; which 
 are more distinctly expressed in the large bronze figure of him engraved in pi. ii. of vol. i. of the Select Specimens, than in any 
 other that we know. Even in the enmmon small figures it is strange that it should ever have been taken for a whip; though it 
 might reasonably have been taken for a flail, had the ancients used such an instrument in thrashing corn. 
 635 Certe ego transilui nositas ter in ordine flammas ; 
 
 Virgaque roratas laurea misit aquas. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. lib. iv. ver. 727. 
 
brand, taken flaming from the altar ami (lipped in water. 688 The exile at his return, and the bride at 
 her marriage, went through ceremonies of this kind to signify their purification and regeneration for 
 a new life f* and they appear to have been commonly practised as modes of expiation or extenuation 
 for private or secret offences. 6,53 A solemn ablution, too, always preceded initiation into the 
 -^Egyptian and Eleusinian mysteries and when a Jewish proselyte was admitted, he was baptised 
 in the presence of three witnesses, after being circumcised, but before he was allowed to make the 
 oblation by which he professed himself a subject of the true God. As this ceremony was supposed 
 to wash off all stains of idolatry, the person baptised was said to be regenerated, and animated with 
 a new soul; to preserve which in purity, he abandoned every former connexion of country, relation, 
 or friend/"' 
 
 167- Baptism or purification by fire, is still in use among the Hindoos, as it was among the earliest 
 Romans and also among the native Irish ; men, women, and children, and even cattle, in Ireland, 
 leaping over, or passing through the sacred bonfires annually kindled in honor of Baal an ancient 
 title of the Sun, which seems to have prevailed in the Northern as well as Eastern dialects : whence 
 arose the compound titles of the Scandinavian deities, Baldur, Habaldur, &c. expressing different 
 personified attributes. 6 13 This rite was probably the abomination, so severely reprobated by the 
 sacred historians of the Jews, of parents making their sons and daughters pass through the fire : for, 
 in India, it is still performed by mothers passing through the flames with their children in their 
 arms; 6 * 4 and though commentators have construed the expression in the Bible to mean the burning 
 them alive, as offerings to Baal Moloch, it is more consonant to reason, as well as to history, to 
 suppose that it alluded to this more innocent mode of purilication and consecration to the Deity, 
 which continued in use among the ancient inhabitants of Italy to the later periods of Heathenism; 
 when it was performed exactly as it is now in Ireland, and held to be a holy and mystic means of 
 communion with the great active principle of the universe. 645 
 
 168. It must, however, be admitted that the Carthaginians and other nations of antiquity did 
 occasionally sacrifice their children to their gods, in the most cruel and barbarous manner; and, 
 indeed, there is scarcely any people whose history does not afford some instances of such abominable 
 rites. Even the patriarch Abraham, when ordered to sacrifice his only son, does not appear to have 
 been surprised or startled at it, or to have conceived the slightest suspicion that it might have been 
 the contrivance of an evil being to seduce him : neither could Jephtha have had any notion that such 
 sacrifices were odious or even unacceptable to the Deity, or he would not have considered his daughter 
 as included in his general vow, or imagined that a breach of it in such an instance could be a greater 
 crime than fulfilling it. Another mode of mystic purification by baptism was the Tauroboliuin, 
 ./Egobolium, or Criobolium of the Mithriac rites ; which preceded Christianity but a short time in the 
 Roman empire, and spread and flourished witli it. The catechumen was placed in a pit covered with 
 perforated boards; upon which the victim, whether a bull, a goat, or a ram, was sacrificed so as to 
 bathe him in the blood which flowed from it. To this the compositions, so frequent in the sculptures 
 of the third and fourth centuries, of Mithras the Persian Mediator, or his female personification a 
 
 0,4 Eoti St (xEf>v4) uSdip fic u airi/3a7iTov SaXav tic tou /3<u,iou Xa^auouric, t$ ou ttjv Ouoiav tmnXmw' Kai tout V rtptpOtVOVrtC 
 rovg va/ioiTac >'ry ■'<£"■'- Alh:rn. lib. ix. p. '10!). 
 
 ■» Ovid. Fast. lilt. iv. v. 792. et Cnippin. Not. in eund. To imp nuBatpet km to uStop ayviKu, 8u St mBapav nai iyvijv Sinptixm 
 tj,v yawBntmv. Plutarch. Qua;at. Rum. i. 
 
 BovAopivq St quto adavnTOv iroiijrrai, rnc Mlmt « ™P mtttOu to ppfpoc, TTtpippu rar Ov-jrac rapjeaf nurou. Apollodor. 
 
 Bibliotli. lib. i. c. v. s. 1. 
 
 «* Ovid. ib. lib. v. 783. 1,5 Apuleii Metamorph. lib. xi. p. 255. Diodor. Sic, lib. t. 53. 
 
 8,0 Marsham Canon Chronic, s. ix. p. 192. 
 
 °" riupk-aiac irpo tiuv mmvvv ytvtrrQa, urtXtucrnc (6 PiupiAuc) t£ayu tov Atiuu rac -pXaya^ {nrtpQpuiaKavra ti K ufficucffwf rwy m^ioriui. 
 
 tvtk-o. Dionys. Hal. A. R. 1. lxxxviii. 
 
 Collectan. de reb. Hibernic. No. v. p. G4-. 60 Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. p. ii. C. v. p. MO. 
 
 "** Ayeen Altbery, and Man Hit's Antiquities of India, vol. v. p. 1075. 
 •* Moxque per mdentes stipnla' crepitanti.* acervos 
 
 Trajicias celeri strcnua membra pede. 
 Exposilus mos est: moris niihi restat origo. 
 
 Turba facit dubium; eu'ptaque nostra tenet. 
 Omnia pui'gnt cilax iiitti.s, vitmnHjUe metallic 
 Excoquit: idcirco cum duce purgat oves. 
 An, quia cunctarum contraria semina rerum 
 
 Sunt duo, discordes ignis et unda dt-i ; 
 Junxerunt elementa patres: aptumque putariml 
 
 Ignibus, ct sparsi tangere corpus aqua? 
 An, quod in his vita; caussa est; hrcc perdidit exul: 
 
 His nova fit conjux : ba?c duo magna plltant? Ovid. Fast. lib. iv. 781. 
 
56 
 
 winged Victory, sacrificing a bull, seem to allude but all that wc have seen are of late date, except 
 a single instance of the Criobolium or Victory sacrificing a ram, on a gold coin of Abydos, in the 
 cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight, which appears anterior to the Macedonian conquest. 
 
 169. The celestial or retherial soul was represented in symbolical writing by the butterfly; an 
 insect which first appears from the egg in the shape of a grub, crawling upon the earth, and feeding 
 upon the leaves of plants. In this state it was aptly made an emblem of man in his earthly form ; 
 when the a^therial vigor and activity of the celestial soul, the divuice ■partirula mentis, was clogged 
 and encumbered with the material body. In its next state, the grub becoming a chrysalis appeared, 
 by its stillness, torpor, and insensibility, a natural image of death, or the intermediate state between 
 the cessation of the vital functions of the body, and the emancipation of the soul in the funeral pile : 
 and the butterfly breaking from this torpid chrysalis, and mounting in the air, afforded a no less 
 natural image of the celestial soul bursting from the restraints of matter, and mixing again with its 
 native aether. Like other animal symbols, it was by degrees melted into the human form ; the original 
 wings only being retained, to mark its meaning. So elegant an allegory would naturally be a favorite 
 subject of art among a refined and ingenious people ; and it accordingly appears to have been more 
 diversified and repeated by the Greek sculptors, than almost any other, which the system of emana- 
 tions, so favorable to art, could afford. Being, however, a subject more applicable and interesting to 
 individuals than communities, there is no trace of it upon any coin, though it so constantly occurs 
 upon gems. 
 
 1/0. The fate of the terrestrial soul, the regions to which it retired at the dissolution of the body, 
 and the degree of sensibility which it continued to enjoy, are subjects of much obscurity, and seem 
 to have belonged to the poetry, rather than to the religion, of the ancients. In the Odyssey it is 
 allowed a mere miserable existence in the darkness of the polar regions, without any reward for virtue 
 or punishment for vice; the punishments described being evidently allegorical, and perhaps of a 
 different, though not inferior author. The mystic system does not appear to have been then known 
 to the Greeks, who catched glimmering lights and made up incoherent fables from various sources. 
 Pindar, who is more systematic and consistent in his mythology than any other poet, speaks distinctly 
 of rewards and punishments ; the latter of which he places in the central cavities of the earth, and the 
 former in the remote islands of the ocean, on the other side of the globe; to which none were 
 admitted, but souls that had transmigrated three times into different bodies, and lived piously in 
 each ; after which they were to enjoy undisturbed happiness in this state of ultimate bliss, under the 
 mild rule of Rhadamauthus, the associate of KP0N02 or Time. 647 A similar region of bliss in the 
 extremities of the earth is spoken of in the Odyssey ; but not as the retreat of the dead, but a country 
 which Menelaus was to visit while living. 1 ' 18 Virgil has made up an incoherent mixture of fable and 
 allegory, by bringing the regions of recompense, as well as those of punishment, into the centre of the 
 earth; and then giving them the retherial light of the celestial luminaries, 649 without which even his 
 powers of description could not have embellished them to suit their purpose. He has, also, after 
 Plato, 6 - 51 ' joined Tartarus to them, though it was not part of the regions regularly allotted to the dead 
 by the ancient Greek mythologists ; but a distinct and separate world beyond chaos, as far from earth, 
 as earth from heaven. ,;M According to another poetical fiction, the higher parts of the sublunary 
 regions were appropriated to the future residence of the souls of the great and good, who alone 
 seemed deserving of immortality. 652 
 
 1/1. Opinions so vague and fluctuating had of course but little energy; and accordingly we never 
 find either the hope of reward, or the fear of punishment after death, seriously employed by the 
 Greek and Roman moralists as reasonable motives for human actions ; or considered any otherwise 
 than as matters of pleasing speculation or flattering error. 6M Among the barbarians of the North, 
 
 ** a See Bassircl. ili Iloma, lav. fviii-lx. &c. 
 W Olymp. ii. 108-123. 8cc. 
 
 TWi St Xapvti w pivo C athov r av tvOah vvxra kar.,.. Id. apud Plutarch, de Cons, ad Apoll. p. 120. Pind. inter fragm. 
 e threnis. i. in ed. Heyn. 
 
 648 Odyss. A. 568. *• Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt. JEn. vi. 641. Pheed. p. 83. 
 
 Ml n EP T,v x <"°c Mi^fpoio. Ilesiod. Theog. v. 8H. 
 
 Toaaov iviptf <u£tt», 6aov ovpavog far otto yaoK. Homer. Ill 6. 16. 
 Milton's Hell is taken from the Tartarus of Hesiod, or whoever was the author of the Theogony which bears his name. His 
 descriptions of Chaos are also drawn from the same source. 
 651 Qua riiger astrifcris conncctitur axihus aer, 
 
 (iuodque patct terms inter lunfeque meatus, 
 
 Semidei manes habitant, quos ignea virtus 
 
 Innocuos vita 1 palienlcs Li'lheris iini 
 
 Fecit, et ietertios auimani conlegit in orbes. Lucan. Pharsal. ijt. 5. 
 Juvenal. Sat. ii. 149. Lucan. Phara. i. 458. 
 
57 
 
 however, the case was very different. They all implicitly believed that their valor in this life was to 
 be rewarded in the next, with what they conceived to be the most exquisite of all possible enjoyments. 
 Every morning they were to right a great and promiscuous battle ; after which Odin was to restore the 
 killed and wounded to their former strength and vigor, and provide a sumptuous entertainment for 
 them in his hall, where they were to feed upon the flesh of a wild boar, and drink mead and ale out 
 of the skulls of their enemies till night, when they were to go to bed with beautiful women. 654 
 Mankind in general in all stages of society arc apt to fashion their belief to their dispositions, and 
 thus to make their religion a stimulus instead of a enrb to their passions. 
 
 172. As fire was supposed to be the medium through which the soul passed from one state to 
 another, Mercury the conductor was nearly related to Vulcan, the general personification of that 
 element. The /Egyptians called him his son j 653 and the Greeks, in some instances, represented him 
 not only with the same cap, but also with the same features ; so that they are only to be distinguished 
 by the adscititious symbols. 656 He has also, for the same reason, a near affinity with Hercules con- 
 sidered as the personification of the diurnal sun : wherefore they were not only worshipped together 
 in the same temple, 5 - 17 but blended into the same figure, called a Hermheracles from its having the 
 characteristic forms or symbols of both mixed.' 158 
 
 173. As the operations of both art and nature were supposed to be equally carried on by means of 
 fire, Vulcan is spoken of by the poets, sometimes as the husband of Grace or Elegance, 5 ' 9 and some- 
 times of Venus or Nature;" 65 * the first of which appears to have been his character in the primary, 
 and the second in the mystic or philosophical religion of the Greeks i for the whole of the song of 
 Demodocus in the Odyssey, here alluded to, is an interpolation of a much later date and the story, 
 which it contains, of Vulcan detecting Mars and Venus, and confining them in invisible chains, 
 evidently a mystic allegory, signifying the active and passive powers of destruction and generation 
 fixed in their mutual operation by the invisible exertions of the universal agent, fire. It was probably 
 composed as a hymn to Vulcan, and inserted by some rhapsodist, who did not understand the 
 character ot the Homeric language, with which the Attic contraction 'HXtoc for HtAfoc is utterly 
 incompatible. 
 
 1/4. The ./Egyptian worship, being under the direction of a permanent Hierarchy, was more fixed 
 and systematic than that of the Greeks ; though, owing to its early subversion, we have less knowledge 
 ot it. Hence the different personifications of fire were by them more accurately discriminated ; Phthas, 
 whom the Greeks call Hephaistus, and the Latins Vulcan, being the primitive universal element, or 
 principle of life and motion in matter ; Auubis, whom they called Hermes and Mercury, the Minister 
 of Fate; and Thoth, whom they called by the same titles, the parent of Arts and Sciences. Phthas 
 was said to he the father of all their Cabiri or chief gods ; 55 - and bis name signified the Ordinator or 
 lleguta/or, as it does still in the modern Coptic. His statues were represented lame, to signify that 
 fire acts not alone, but requires the sustenance of some extraneous matter ; 5 ' J "' and he was fabled by 
 the Greek mycologists to have delivered Minerva from the head of Jupiter; that is, to have been the 
 means by which the wisdom of the omnipotent Father, the pure emanation of the Divine Mind, was 
 brought into action. 
 
 1/5. This pure emanation, which the ^Egyptians called Neith,'"" 1 was considered as the goddess 
 both of Force and Wisdom, the first in rank of the secondary deities, 565 and the only one endowed 
 with all the attributes of the supreme Father i 666 for as wisdom is the most exalted quality of the 
 mind, and the Divine Mind the perfection of wisdom, all its attributes are the attributes of wisdom ; 
 under whose direction its power is always exerted. Force and wisdom, therefore, when considered 
 as attributes of the Deity, are the same ; and Bellona and Minerva are but different titles for one 
 personification. Both the Greeks and ./Egyptians considered her as male and female; 067 and upon 
 
 w ' Mallet Introd. fi l'Hist. de Daneinair. 
 6SS Syneell. Chron. p. 124. 
 
 See coins of /Esernia, Lipara, &c. 
 6!; 'llpai;Afoue Sf KOii'Of Km E^fiou ir/iot; ri,i aracii|P vao?. Puus. 
 
 Cicer. ad Attic, lib. i. ep. x. Clv 11. 2. 382. 
 
 640 Odysa. 6. 266. Odysa. G. 266-869. 
 
 «* Herodot. lib. iii. 37. 
 
 «b Jablonski Panth. ^Egypt. lib. i. c. U. a. 11 et 13. 
 
 Ml Ot tijc iroXitiii; 9coc upx'tyc iotiv, Atyvmmrt )iiv Towiifia Ni)(G, 'EAAijviori de, cug 6 tKavunt Aoyoe, kOriva. Platon. Tim. p. 474. 
 c(i Proximo illi t;itm;ii necupavit 
 
 Pallas honores. Horat. lib. i. Ode xii. 
 
 654 E7Tf[ (UtlVlf Zmc Toye OuyuTiptuu 
 
 Awnev AQavaiq iroTpoji'o WOVTa fi/jitrOai. 
 
 Callimach. U« W. riK FlaXA. v. 132. 
 M " Apm\v fiiv Kai fliiXuc Orpli. Hymn. xxxi. ti C Aflijv. Jablonski Panth. /Egypt, lib. i. c. iii. s. 6. 
 
 Q 
 
Be 
 
 monuments of art still extant, or accurately recorded, she is represented with almost every symbol of 
 almost every attribute, whether of creation, preservation, or destruction. 668 
 
 l/b\ Before the human form was adopted, her proper symbol was the owl; a bird which seems to 
 surpass all other creatures in aeuteness and refinement of organic perception ; its eye being calculated 
 to discern objects, which to all others are enveloped in darkness; its ear to hear sounds distinctly, 
 when no other can perceive them at all ; and its nostrils to discriminate effluvia with such nicety, that 
 it has been deemed prophetic from discovering the putridity of death, even in the first stages of 
 disease. 669 On some very ancient Phoenician coins, we find the owl with the hook of attraction and 
 winnow of separation under its wing to show the dominion of Divine Wisdom over both; while on 
 the reverse is represented the result of this dominion, in the symbolical composition of a male figure 
 holding a how in his hand, sitting upon the back of a winged horse terminating in the tail of a 
 dolphin ; beneath which are waves and another fish." 7 " A similar meaning was veiled under the fable 
 of Minerva's putting the bridle into the mouth of Pegasus," 71 or Divine Wisdom controlling and 
 regulating the waters when endued with motion. 
 
 1/7- The /Egyptians are said to have represented the pervading Spirit or ruling providence of the 
 Deity by the black beetle, which frequents the shores of the Mediterranean sea," 7 " and which some 
 have supposed to be an emblem of the Sun. 673 It occurs very frequently upon Phoenician, Greek, 
 and Etruscan, as well as Egyptian sculptures ; and is sometimes with the owl, and sometimes with 
 the head of Minerva, upon the small brass coins of Athens. It is of the androgynous class, and lays 
 its eggs in a ball of dung or other fermentable matter, which it had previously collected, and roiled 
 backwards and forwards upon the sand of the sea, until it acquired the proper form and consistency; 
 after which it buries it in the sand, where the joint operation of heat and moisture matures and 
 vivifies the germs into new insects. 674 As a symbol, therefore, of the Deity, it might naturally have 
 been employed to signify the attribute of Divine Wisdom, or ruling Providence, which directs, 
 regulates, and employs the productive powers of nature. 
 
 178. When the animal symbols were changed for the human, Minerva was represented under the 
 form of a robust female figure, with a severe, but elegant and intelligent countenance, and armed 
 with a helmet, shield, and breast-plate, the emblems of preservation; and most frequently with a 
 spear, the emblem, as well as the instrument of destruction. The helmet is usually decorated with 
 some animal symbol ; such as the owl, the serpent, the rain, the gryphon, or the sphinx ; which is a 
 species of gryphon, having the head of the female personification, instead of that of the eagle, upon 
 the body of the lion. Another kind of gryphon, not unfrequent upon the helmets of Minerva, is 
 composed of the eagle and horse, u7S signifying the dominion of water instead of fire : whence came the 
 symbol of the flying horse, already noticed. In other instances the female head and breast of the 
 sphinx are joined to the body of a horse; which, in these compositions is always male, as well as that 
 of the lion in the sphinx ; so as to comprehend the attributes of both sexes." 76 In the stand of a mirror 
 of very ancient sculpture belonging to Mr. Payne Knight is a figure of Isis upon the back of a monkey 
 with a sphinx on each side of her head, and another in her hand, the tail of which terminates in a 
 phallus ; so that it is a compound symbol of the same kind as the chimasra and others before noticed. 
 The monkey very rarely occurs in Greek sculptures, but was a sacred animal among the Egyptians, 
 as it still continues to be in some parts of Tartary and India; but on account of what real or 
 imaginary property is now uncertain. 
 
 1/9- The aegis or breast-plate of Minerva is, as the name indicates, the goat-skin, the symbol of 
 the productive power, fabled to have been taken from the goat which suckled Jupiter; that is, from 
 the great nutritive principle of nature. It is always surrounded with serpents, and generally covered 
 
 " a The celebrated statue of tier at Alliens |jy Phidias held a spear, near which was a serpent. Pausan. in Att. xxiv. a. 7. A 
 sacred serpent was also kept in her great temple in the Acropolis. Aristoph. Lvsistrat. v. 758. 
 Kat Afrjicic (uyitX/ttt; nrin}aiatv Kat toitiiv '\yttiat;. Pausan. in Attic. C. xxiii. - . 5. 
 See also medals of Alliens, in which almost every symbol occasionally accompanies the owl. 
 
 ■ Of this w e have known instances, in which the nocturnal clamors of the screech-owl have really foretold death, according to 
 the vulgar notion. 
 
 «* See Dutens Medailles Phenic. pL i. v. i. f Pausan. in Corinth, c. iv. s. 1. 
 
 Horapoll. L i. c. x. ■?» Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 380. 
 
 To 2f icavdaphiv yivoc OWE i\itv 9i)\itav, apptvar; h irnvroc atjitivat tov yovov Stf tijv inpaipoiroiovptvuv vXijv, ijh KvXlvSouaw 
 avnpaow (udotiiTic, wowip SoKit tov aupavav 6 l£C Tovvavriov iriptarpiifitiv, avroc "7TO Svapwv twi rac nvnroAac tytpojitvot;. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Tov h VjXiutr riji Kavtiapy (airtixaZav o! Acyuimor) iiriiiti jtvuAorfpEc ik rfjc |3o(inc ovflou tr^i^ia 7rAa<Ta^(voc, avrnrpoaunroc kvXivCu- 
 fynat Kai t^apuvov fUV iiwo ytjc' Oartpav li tdu trovg rpj]pa to Jmon tovto inrcp -yuc OiairaaOai, mrtppatvciv Tt tic riju aipntpav Kat 
 ytwqv, Km S'i\uv navOapnv fuj yu'Eir0<M. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. v. c. iv. 
 See medals ofVelia, &c. 
 
 a ' s Hence the avSpoaftyytf ofllerodotus, lib. ii. 175. 
 
80 
 
 with plumages and in the centre of it is the Gorgo or Medusa, which appears to have been a symbol 
 of the Moon/ 7 ' exhibited sometimes with the character and expression of the destroying, and some- 
 times with those of the generative or preserving attribute; the former of which is expressed by the 
 title of Gorgo, and the latter by that of Medusa. 6 ™ It is sometimes represented with serpents, and 
 sometimes with fish, in the hair ; and occasionally with almost every symbol of the passive generative 
 or productive power ; it being the female personification of the Disk, by which almost all the nations 
 ot antiquity represented the Sun; 6 " and this female personification was the symbol of the Moon. 
 Among the Romans, the golden bulla or disk was worn by the young men, and the crescent by the 
 women, as it still is in the South of Italy ; and it seems that the same symbolical amulets were in use 
 among the ancient inhabitants of the British islands ; several of both having been found made of thin 
 beaten gold both in England and Ireland; which were evidently intended to be hung round the 
 neck. 690 Each symbol, too, occasionally appears worn in like manner upon the figures of Juno or 
 Ceres, which cannot always be discriminated ; and the Disk between horns, which seem to form a 
 crescent, is likewise upon the heads of Isis and Osiris, as well as upon those of their animal symbols, 
 the cow and bull. 681 
 
 180. The tegis employed occasionally by Jupiter, Minerva, and Apollo, in the Iliad, seems to have 
 been something very different from the symbolical breast-plate or thorax, which appears in monuments 
 of art now extant ; it being borne and not worn ; and used to excite courage or instil fear, and not 
 for defence. ww The name JEgh, however, still seems to imply that it is derived from the same source 
 and composed of the same material ; though instead of serpents, or other symbolical ornaments, it 
 appears to have been decorated with golden tassels or knobs banging loosely from it ; the shaking 
 and rattling of which produced the effects above mentioned. ,m Vulcan is said to have made it for 
 Jupiter j 684 and to have furnished it with all those terrific attributes, which became so splendid and 
 magnificent when personified in poetry. 
 
 181. Stripped, however, of all this splendor and magnificence, it was probably nothing more than 
 a symbolical instrument, signifying originally the motion of the elements, like the sistruimof Isis, the 
 cymbals of Cybele, 685 the bells of Bacchus, &c. ; whence Jupiter is said to have overcome the Titans 
 with his aegis, as Isis drove away Typhon with her sistruin ; 686 and the ringing of bells and clatter of 
 
 S77 Tcp-yoiKi)!. Ti)v atXttvnv Sta ro iv avnj irpoahiirov. Orph. in Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. v. p. 676. oil. Oxon. 
 
 Ki TOPrO is said to have been a barbarian title of Minerva, as BENAEIA anil A1KTYNNA were of Diana. Pahepluit. fab. 
 xxxii. MEAOYEA is the participle of the verb MEAQ to govern or take care of. In a beautiful intaglio, the work of Anteros, 
 belonging to Mr. Payne Knight, Perseus sustains the Medusa in his hand, while the Ciorgo occupies the centre of a shield, on 
 which he rests his harpe. 
 
 "■' Sec authorities before cited. 
 
 nmoi/ic aiiiuvai rov 'HAf-OV* ayaX/ia ce 'HAiou riumwitoi' Sirrnoc /3pa\uc ""™p paKpov Ki'Xou. Max. Tjt. Dissert, viii. s. 8. 
 080 One three inches in diameter, found in the Isle of Man, is in the collection of Mr. Payne Knight, and another, found in 
 Lancashire, in that of the late C. Townley, Esq. 
 
 ™ Metii£n Se twu Kiptwv, d tov jjXieju kvkXoq ftffUfOtfUVQt extort yivaia^- cart Si ,', (ioVQ owe opUn, a\X iv yavvaai winfvi). Herodot. 
 
 lib. ii. 133. 
 
 fes Meto Se -yWonric Aflni.1, 
 
 AiyiS* t\nua tpiripov 
 
 Sui- ry TTHi^HiairoDon oiEnnuro Xaoe Anaiiuf, 
 Orp-ovava ift'iu* tip Se aOivnc wpalv iKarrrou 
 KnpStp, oXXi)ktoi> woXtpguv, T)Si paXioSat. B. 446. 
 Zinc Se aftv Kpoi'iSiK, tyiZvyoe, aiflfpi vauov, 
 Avtoq f-jriaatiiiaiv ipipvnv Atyica irncri, 
 Tijs 8' aTrarrje kotioiv. A. 166. 
 
 See also O. 308 and 318. 
 
 AtytS 1 i\oua tpmpov, ayrjpaov, aOavarrjv ti 
 
 Tij f Uarov Bnaavm Tray xpvaiiH wptOavro, 
 
 IlavT-fC tiijrAiKtfc- iKaTopfioioz S( (Kam-of. B. 447. 
 
 °" E\e 0' ttiyt?a Ooupiv 
 
 Afivt)t<, a/ifiSaaiiav, apiwpnrt, iji> apa yaXavc 
 'H^nnrrot; A« Suh -jtapripn-nt (e ^oi> avSpwv. O. 308. 
 Apft S' ap' utpoioiv [iaXtT m-yiSa (Wrrai'aEaoai; 
 Afiviji', ijii jrtpi piv wavry rpo/Sof lorE^acuro' 
 Ev S' Epic, tv 8" AXihj, iv Se Kpvoiaoa Iukt," 
 
 Ell Si TC PopyiOJ KErJiaXl) SflUOlO JTfXliJpOU, 
 
 A(lvi7 te o-ijipSi'ii te, Aiot; Ttpac aiyfoYoia. E. 738. 
 *" 2oi fitv Karapxat, Marip, vapa 
 
 MtyaXoi popjioi wpfiaXw. Pindar, ap. Strab. lib. x. p. 469. 
 6a " Tov yap Tv T uiva r aat roif auarpaiq awoTpiirttv urn awOKpoviaOat, SijXoijitic, uri tije; fyOopai; CTUi-ffouoijc kqi tmai,„ : , avOis 
 avaXnti rtjv fvau; kqi ouicttiioi Sia tijc muijanuc ij ytvtutc Plutarcb. dc Is. et Osir. p. ^"6. 
 
60 
 
 metals were almost universally employed as a mean of consecration, and a charm against the 
 destroying and inert powers. 6 " 7 Even the Jews welcomed the new Moon with such noises ; c,m which 
 the simplicity of the early ages employed almost everywhere to relieve her during eclipses, supposed 
 then to be morbid affections brought on by the influence of an adverse power. The title Priapus, by 
 which the generative attribute is distinguished, seems to be merely a corruption of BPIA1IYOS, 
 clamorous; the B and n being commutable letters, and epithets of similar meaning being continually 
 applied both to Jupiter and Bacchus by the poets. 6 " 1 * Many priapic figures, too, still extant, have 
 bells attached to them; 0 ' 10 as the symbolical statues and temples of the Hindoos have ; and to wear 
 them was a part of the worship of Bacchus among the Greeks; 691 whence we sometimes find them of 
 extremely small size, evidently meant to be worn as amulets with the phalli, lunula;, &c. The chief 
 priests of the ^Egyptians, and also the high priest of the Jews, hung them, as sacred emblems, to 
 their sacerdotal garments f H and the Braniins still continue to ring a small bell at the intervals of their 
 prayers, ablutions, and other acts of mystic devotion. The Lacedaemonians beat upon a brass vessel 
 or pan, on the death of their kings ; 69: ' and we still retain the custom of tolling a bell on such occasions ; 
 though the reason of it is not generally known, any more than that of other remnants of ancient 
 superstitions still existing. 691 
 
 182. An opinion very generally prevailed among the ancients, that all the constituent parts of the 
 great machine of the universe were mutually dependent upon each other; and that the luminaries of 
 heaven, while they contributed to fecundate and organise terrestrial matter, were in their turn 
 nourished and sustained by exhalations drawn from the humidity of the earth and its atmosphere. 
 Hence the /Egyptians placed the personifications of the Sun and Moon in boats while the Greeks, 
 among whom the horse was a symbol of humidity, placed them in chariots, drawn sometimes by two, 
 sometimes by three, and sometimes by four of these animals; which is the reason of the number of 
 Biga;, Triga?, and Quadriga?, which we find upon coins : for they could not have had any reference 
 to the public games, as has been supposed ; a great part of them having been struck by states, which, 
 not being of Hellenic origin, had never the privilege of entering the lists on those occasions. The 
 vehicle itself appears likewise to have been a symbol of the passive generative power, or the means 
 by which the emanations of the Sun acted ; whence the Delphians called Venus by the singular title 
 ol The Chariot;"'" 3 but the same meaning is more frequently expressed by the figure called a Victory 
 accompanying ; .and by the fish, or some other symbol of the waters under it. In some instances we 
 have observed composite symbols signifying both attributes in this situation; such as the lion 
 destroying the bull, or the Scylla ; vST which is a combination of emblems of the same kind as those 
 which compose the sphinx and chimera, and has no resemblance whatever to the fabulous monster 
 described in the Odyssey. 
 
 183. Almost every other symbol is occasionally employed as an accessary to the chariot, and 
 among them the thunderbolt; which is sometimes borne by Minerva and other deities, as well as by 
 Jupiter ; and is still oftener represented alone upon coins ; it having been an emblem, not merely of 
 the destroying attribute, but of the Divine nature in general: whence the Arcadians sacrificed to 
 thunder, lightning, and tempest; 698 and the incarnate Deity, in an ancient Indian poem, says, " I am 
 
 the thunderbolt."' — " I am the fire residing in the bodies of all things which have life." oW In the 
 
 South-Eastern parts of Europe, which frequently suffer from drought, thunder is esteemed a grateful 
 rather than terrific sound, because it is almost always accompanied with rain ; which scarcely ever 
 
 <W Schol. in Tlieocrit. Idyl. ii. 36. 
 
 Temessraque concrepat isra, 
 
 Et rogat ut tectis exeat umbra suis. Ovid. Fast. lib. v. 441. 
 Nunier. c. x. v. 10. °* s Such as tptfiptuiTijr:, tptySoi-Troi;, /^ju/imc, ™ Bron/i d'Errolano, t. vi. tav. xcviii. 
 
 * AtovvtrtaKov St — — — toi.c /WiXeuc Kw%i,>vo<popna6ai, tat TVfnrax'tZtaBai nara rac 3if£oSou<.-. Megasthcn. apud Strab. lib. 
 xt. p. 712. 
 
 631 Plutarch. Symjiuaiac. lib. iv. qa. v. Esod. c. Jtxviii. m Schol. in Theocrit. 1. c. 
 
 " It is said," says the Golden Legend by Wynkyn de Worde, " the evil spirytes that ben in the regyon of th' ayre doubte 
 moche when they here the belles rongen: and this is the cause why the belles ben rongen when it thotidreth, and wben grcte 
 tempeste and outrages of wether happen, to the end that the fcindes and wycked spirytea ahold be abashed and dee, and cease 
 of the movying of the tempeste." p. 90. 
 
 EfcUrn fifv ynp (th tyunpaTti) ije ipatpnv (iKonay y/iXkuii ii Tit'ipoi' irtijiivyi. Lucian. PlnlopS. 15. 
 
 6,1 'HXioi' St km aiAi]i'i|u ou\ iippaaiv aWa rrXftuic o\ijfin»i xptii^tuoue TrfpiTrAfiu ait, aiviTTopivot riji> atfi' iiypou Tpotpi)v outw km 
 
 ytvtatv. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 364. 
 
 ,s4 Ovtc AiXtfovs >\ty\it XupuuiTac, iiTt tijv Atppii?.iT>iv dppa KaXnvatv. Plutarch. Alnator. p. 769. 
 
 e97 See coins of Agi'igentum, Ileraclea in Italy, Allifa, &c. 
 
 m Km Bvovatv aarpanitg auTatit, km fluiXW, km ^pavrmg. Pausan. in Arcatl. c. xxiat. 
 •» Bngvat Geela, p. 86 and 1 13. 
 
 Ai i']/((te/jm -J^x/ii jrup Hat. I'hurnut. de Nat. Dcor. c. ii. 
 
61 
 
 falls there without it. 71X1 This rain, descending from ignited clouds, was supposed to be impregnated 
 with electric or eetherial fire, and therefore to be more nutritive and prolific than any other water : 701 
 whence the thunderbolt was employed as the emblem of fecundation and nutrition, as well as of 
 destruction. The coruscations which accompany its explosions being thought to resemble the glim- 
 mering flashes which proceed from burning sulphur ; and the smell of the fixed air arising from 
 objects stricken by it being the same as that which arises from the mineral, men were led to believe 
 that its fires were of a sulphurous nature :™ wherefore the flames of sulphur were employed in all 
 lustrations, purifications, &c., 7()3 as having an affinity with divine or Eetherial fire ; to which its name 
 in the Greek language has been supposed to refer. 701 To represent the thunderbolt, the ancient 
 artists joined two obelisks pointing contrary ways from one centre, with spikes or arrows diverging 
 from them; thus signifying its luminous essence and destructive power. Wings were sometimes 
 added, to signify its swiftness and activity; and the obelisks were twisted into spiral forms, to show 
 the whirl in the air caused by the vacuum proceeding from the explosion ; the origin of which, as 
 well as the productive attribute, was signified by the aquatic plants, from which they sprang. 705 
 
 184. After the conquests of Alexander had opened a communication with India, Minerva was 
 frequently represented with the elephant's skin upon her head instead of the helmet;™ the elephant 
 having been, from time immemorial, the symbol of divine wisdom among the Gentoos ; whose god 
 Gonnis or Pollear is represented by a figure of this animal half humanised ; which the Macha Alia, 
 or god of destruction of the Tartars, is usually seen trampling upon. 707 On some of the coins of the 
 Seleucida?, the elephant is represented with the horns of the bull ; sometimes drawing the chariot of 
 Miner va, in her character of Bellona; and at others bearing a torch, the emblem of the universal 
 agent fire, in his proboscis, and the cornucopia;, the result of its exertion under the direction of Divine 
 Wisdom, in his tail. 
 
 185. The ram has been already noticed as the symbol of Mercury; but at Sais in iEgypt, it 
 seems to have represented some attribute of Minerva; 700 upon a small bust of whom, belonging to 
 Mr. Payne Knight, it supplies the ornament for the visor of the helmet, as the sphinx does that of the 
 crest; the whole composition showing the passive and active powers of generation and destruction, 
 as attributes of Divine Wisdom. In another small bronze of very ancient workmanship, which has 
 been the handle of a vase, rams are placed at the feet, and lions at the head, of an androgynous figure 
 of Bacchus, which still more distinctly shows their meaning; and in the ancient metropolitan temple 
 ol the North, at Upsal in Sweden, the great Scandinavian goddess Isa was represented riding upon a 
 ram, with an owl in her hand. 709 Among the ^Egyptians, however, Amnion was the deity most com- 
 monly represented under this symbol ; which was usually half humanised, as it appears in pi, i. vol. i. 
 of the Select Specimens ; in which form he was worshipped in the celebrated oracular temple in 
 Libya, as well as in that of Thebes ; 710 and was the father of that Bacchus who is equally represented 
 with the ram's horns, but young and beardless. 
 
 186. Amnion, according to some accounts, corresponded with the Jupiter, 711 and according to 
 others, with the Pan 713 of the Greeks ; and probably he was something between both, like the 
 
 700 Grateful as thunder in summer, is a simile of Tasso's; who, not with standing his frequent and close imitations of tho 
 ancients, has copied nature more accurately than any Epic pout except Homer. 
 
 Tu S atrrpairaia run uSantV tuaASn unAouaiu of yiupyoi, xai vopi^ovut. tchq fipovraic iroAAnmi; uSwp iruiiEiiTnjrj-tt yavi/iov' 
 
 aiTta St ij mc BippoT^Toc avaiitfa. to apativiov irup «xpt\iuq kq( Aetttotiit-i Oau/iaoroi' c<m. Plutarch. Symposiae. lib. iv. qu. 
 
 2. pp. G64-5. 
 
 A$hk ap-fT[ra Kipavvav, 
 
 &tivv St $\ol upro 0 (£t ou taioptvoia. Iliad 9. 135-137. 
 703 Cuperent lustrari, si qua darentur 
 
 Sulphura cum tsedis, et si foret humida laurus. Juvenal. Sat. ii. v. 157. 
 !M Oi/ioi icot to Otiou wvo/iaaOat ry o^oiorip-i t, K ooynfc, W ra iraio/uva rof C mpavvois a<pt>,nw. Plutarch. Symposiae. lib. iv. qu. 2. 
 
 p. 665. 
 
 *™ See coins of Syracuse, Seleueia, Alexander I. king of Epirus, Elis, &c. Upon some of the most ancient of the latter, 
 however, it is more simply composed of flames only, diverging both ways. 
 ;o * Sec coins of Alexander II. king of Epirus, and some of the Ptolemies, 
 w See coins of Seleucus I. Antiochus VI. &c. 
 
 **• 1Wau St tou vopov /Jt-yicn-!, ttoAic Sale n|C iroAtwc 6iqq ap\vyoc fonir, AlyvTrriori ptvTovvo/ia NtjiS, 'EXA^ioti 
 
 St, iuc 6 »«viuv Xo T oe, ABnva. Piston. Timaj. Serr. vol. iii. p. 21. 
 Tipuai Shitoi TrpopaTov Kai 0i,/3afrai. Strahon. lib. xvii. p. 812. 
 ™ Ol. Rudheck. Atlant. vol. ii. p. 209. fig. B. 
 
 An-o tovtov (pimrpirwoii TUiyaXfia tov Aioc woitvm Aiyvimof alto St Ai-yu7ZTU.ii; A/ojiuixrjf, toirrfc Atyvwrtuiv rt koi Aidiowwv 
 niroiKOI, koi ifihivnv ptTaZv aptjuiTtpmv iiofitZovTig. Herodot. lib. jj. c. 42. 
 '" Appouv yap AiyiraTJoi xaXtovai tuv Aid. Ibid. 
 
 ™ Tov TTpbirav diou {Aunvv) t v travri tov airrov von&ovat. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 354. 
 
Lycnsan Pan, the most ancient and revered deity of the Arcadians, the most ancient people of 
 Greece. 713 His title was employed by the /Egyptians as a common form of appellation towards each 
 other, as well as of solemn invocation to the Deity, in the same manner as we employ the title of 
 Lord, and the French that of Seigneur; and it appears to have been occasionally compounded with 
 other words, and applied to other deities. 711 According to Jablonski, who explains it from the modern 
 Coptic, it signified precisely the same as the epithet Lyc;ean, that is lack!, or productive of light. 71 " 
 It may therefore have been applied with equal propriety to either Jupiter or Pan ; the one being the 
 luminous aetherial spirit considered abstractedly, and the other, as diffused through the mass of 
 universal matter. Hence Pan is called, in the Orphic Hymns, Jupiter the mover of all things, and 
 described as harmonising them by the music of his pipe. 7115 He is also called the pervader of the ski/ 717 
 and of the sen 716 to signify the principle of order diffused through heaven and earth; and the 
 Arcadians called him the Lord of matter, 7 ™ which title is expressed in the Latin name Sylvanus; 
 SYLVA, 'YAFA. and 'YAH, being the same word written according to the different modes of 
 pronouncing of different dialects. In a choral ode of Sophocles, he is addressed bv the title of 
 Author and director of the dances of the gods;™ as being the author and disposer of the regular 
 motions of the universe, of which these divine dances were symbols. 7 - 1 According to Pindar, this 
 Arcadian Pan was the associate or husband of Rhea, 7 - 2 and consequently the same as Saturn, with 
 whom he seems to be confounded in the ancient coins above cited (s. 112.) ; some of them having the 
 half-hninanised horse, and others the figure commonly called Silenus, which is no other than Pan, in 
 the same attitudes with the same female. 
 
 IS/. Among the Greeks all dancing was of the mimetic kind : wherefore Aristotle classes it with 
 poetry, music, and painting, as being equally an imitative art : 7 "" and Lucian calls it a science of 
 imitation and exhibition, which explained the. conceptions of the mind, and certified to the organs of 
 sense things naturally beyond their reach. 72 * To such a degree of refinement was it carried, that 
 Athenams speaks of a Pythagorean, who could display the whole system of his sect in such gesticula- 
 tions, more clearly and strongly than a professed rhetorician could in words ; 7 °' for the truth of which, 
 however, we do not vouch, the attempt being sufficient. Dancing was also a part of the ceremonial 
 in all mystic rites -J" 6 whence it was held in such high esteem, that the philosopher Socrates, and the 
 poet Sophocles, both persons of exemplary gravity, and the latter of high political rank and dignity, 
 condescended to cultivate it as an useful and respectable accomplishment. 7 '-''' The author of the 
 Homeric Hymn to Apollo, describes that God accompanying his lyre with the dance, joined by other 
 deities j 718 and a Corinthian poet, cited by Athensus, introduces the Father of gods and men employed 
 in the same exercise. 7 " 9 The ancient Indians, too, paid their devotions to the Sun by a dance imitative 
 of his motions, which they performed every morning and evening, and which was their only act of 
 
 Ante Jovem genitum terras habuisse feruntur 
 
 Arcades: ct Luna gens priur ilia fuit. Oviil. Fast. lib. ii. v. 2S9. 
 Tlicy were of the Pelasgian nice, and being in possession of a poor and mountainous country, tlicy kept it, whilst the more 
 fertile parts of Greece were continually changing inhabitants. Tlmcyd. lib. i. c. ii. Herodot. lib. i. s. 116. Pausan. tn Arcad. 
 c. i. Their being anterior to Jupiter and the Moon, means no more than that they were anterior to the established religion, by 
 which the divine pcrsonilications were ascertained, anil made distinct objects of worship. 
 
 r " Sir ( vht vat Kai 'lipa rt Apptiivtq, Kat Ylapaftpiuvi. 'Ep/lou 3t [7ni>Xt|cric MID a Ilapappw. Pausan. ill Eh'aC. I. C. XV. S. 7. 
 Efcarmoc 9t ii Aj3cii/jiri|C ^jijiti rourc|i MB 7rpoe aXAijXouc Ti|) pij/ian \pijaOai roue AiyuTTTioue, utov nva wponKaXuivrat' BpOOTtXlfriKm' 
 yap cwat nil* Qtavnv, Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 35>t. 
 
 Mr. Bryant says, that this was calling each other Ammonians, Pref. p, 7. 
 ;,[ Panth. jEgypt. lib. ii. c. ii. a. 12. 
 
 ■ Zoic !i Kcpatmic- Hymn. x. ver. 12. 
 
 Zinc M re ttqitiiiv eerri (Jfoe, wavrwv rr Kfpaoriic 
 Tlviv/iaat OVpU,tm, ipiuvatat rt afpti/jiKTol^. 
 
 Fragm. No. xxviii. ver. 13. ed. Gean. 
 J " AieEPOOAArKTOS. Orph. Hymn. v. " a 'AAlIlAArKTOS. Sopbocl. Aj. 703. 
 
 7V ' Toi' {i\j)<; KUpum. Macrob. Sat. i. c. xxii. 
 
 ™* io irav, itav, ('Ai7rAnyt.Ti KuXXai'iuc \(om)Knfirov 
 
 TriTpatuc nrr« EtipnEur; ijiat'iiff, til 
 Bnuv xopOTtot ava%, h«{ pot 
 
 vvaia RMHH op\i)par ouroSarj £wt*V tai^tje. SopllOCL lit supra. 
 W 'H 701/11 \optta Ttov aaripaiv, koi 1) irpoQ roue uir\avit£ tuiv rXoWtHi ctu^ttXoku, mu tvpv8/io$ ovtuiv noivuivia, nm ivtoktoq 
 apftovta, tik TTpwru-foviiv o/»\i]ot(«c SuyfiaTa tori. Lucian. de Saltatione. c. vii. 
 Schol. in Pind. Pyth. iii. 138. »» Poetic, c. i. 
 
 ;a * Mi//i|tikii tic i<mv mantfuf, k-ai Seitruu, xat tuiv f vvon%tvTwv i$ayoptVTiKi\, koi tuiv atyavtuv OOf tttXtfrtKlf. Lucian. de Saltat. 
 c. xxxvi. 
 
 7 - s Deipnos. lib. i. c. jtvii. 
 
 716 TiXcruii ap^atav OVMflMV, um» tvpuv, aviv opx>l<tt«>c. Lucian. ut supra. 
 
 w Athente. ib, 718 Ver. la-t-^OG. ~" Athena?, ut supra, c. xix. 
 
63 
 
 worship." 0 Among the Greeks the Cnossian dunces were peculiarly sacred to Jupiter, as the Nysian 
 were to Bacchus, both of which were under the direction of Pan; 731 who, being the principle of 
 universal order, partook of the nature of all the other gods; they being personifications of particular 
 modes of acting of the great all-ruling principle, and he of his general law of pre-established 
 harmony; whence, upon an ancient earthen vase of Greek workmanship, he is represented playing 
 upon a pipe, between two figures, the one male and the other female; over the latter of which is 
 written N00S2, and over the former AAK02 ; whilst he himself is distinguished by the title 
 M0AK02 s so that this composition explicitly shows him in the character of universal harmony, 
 resulting from mind and strength ; these titles being, in the ancient dialect of Magna Gra?cia, where 
 the vase was found, the same as N0Y2, AAKII, and MOAIIH, in ordinary Greek. The ancient 
 dancing, however, which held so high a rank among liberal and sacred arts, was entirely imitative ; 
 and esteemed honorable or otherwise, in proportion to the dignity or indignity of what it was meant 
 to express. The highest was that which exhibited military exercises and exploits with the most 
 perfect skill, grace, and agility; excellence in which was often honored by a statue in some dis- 
 tinguished attitude ; 73 * and we strongly suspect, that the figure commonly called " The fighting 
 Gladiator," is one of them ; there being a very decided character of individuality both in the form 
 and features ; and it would scarcely have been quite naked, had it represented any event of history. 
 
 188. Pan, like other mystic deities, was wholly unknown to the first race of poets ; there being no 
 mention of him in either the Iliad, or the Odyssey, or in the genuine poem of Hesiod ; and the myco- 
 logists of later times having made him a son of Mercury by Penelope, the wife of Ulysses ; a fiction, 
 perhaps, best accounted for by the conjecture of Herodotus, that the terrestrial genealogies of the 
 mystic deities, Pan, Bacchus, and Hercules, are mere fables, bearing date from the supposed time of 
 their becoming objects of public worship. 733 Both in Greece and /Egypt, Pan was commonly repre- 
 sented under the symbolical form of the goat half humanised ; 734 from which are derived his subordi- 
 nate ministers or personified emanations, called Satyrs, Fauns, Tituri, ITANISKOI, &c. ; who, as well 
 as their parent, where wholly unknown to the ancient poets. Neither do they appear to have been 
 known in -ffigypt, though a late traveller was so singularly fortunate as to find a mask of a Caprine 
 Satyr upon an ancient ^Egyptian lyre represented in the ancient paintings of the Thebaid ; in a form, 
 indeed, so unlike that of any ancient people, and so like to a Welsh or Irish harp, that we cannot but 
 suspect it to be merely an embellishment of an idea that he carried out with him. 735 M. Denon, in 
 his more accurate and extensive survey of the same ruins, found nothing of the kind. 
 
 189. The Nymphs, however, the corresponding emanations of the passive productive power of the 
 universe, had been long known : for whether considered as the daughters of the Ocean or of Jupiter, 7 * 1 
 their parent had long been enrolled among the personages of the vulgar mythology. Upon monuments 
 of ancient art, they are usually represented with the Fauns and Satyrs, frequently in attitudes very 
 licentious and indecent: but in the Homeric times, they seem to have been considered as guardian 
 spirits or local deities of the springs, the vallies, and the mountains ;™ 7 the companions of the river 
 gods, who were the male progeny of the Ocean ; 731t though the mystic system, as before observed, 
 allowed them a more exalted genealogy. 
 
 190. Pan is sometimes represented ready to execute his characteristic office, and sometimes 
 exhibiting the result of it; in the former of which, all the muscles of his face and body appear 
 strained and contracted; and in the latter, fallen and dilated; while in both the phallus is of dispro- 
 portionate magnitude, to signify that it represented the predominant attribute. 13 '' In one instance, he 
 appears pouring water upon it, 740 but more commonly standing near water, and accompanied by 
 aquatic fowls ; in which character he is confounded with Priapus, to whom geese were particularly 
 
 750 Lucian. de Saltat. c. xvii. Sophocl. in Ajac. 694. >" Athen. Deipnos. lib. xiv. c. xxvi. ed. Schweig. 
 
 «■ AijXa pot ui> yiyovc on itmpov WTiflovro ol 'EXX^vtc tovtwv to. ovvopaTtt, T| ra ran oAAfuu 8twV tar aii St ittv9ovto xpoi-ou, 
 otto tovtov ytvtr)\ayiovat avTtwv tijv ytwnv. Herodot. lib. ii. B. 14G. 
 
 Tpafyavoi te Sij KCU ykwjfovat oi Ztuypaijioi km al ayaXparoTroiot tov riavoc Tiii-ynA^n, MUUlip 'BXXffMff, aiyuffpoiTfiiTrov UU 
 rpayooiuAia- ovri toioutov voiu^ovrit; nvai fllv, aXX upoiov roiai aWoiai Qiowf tiTtv Se n'ufKa roiourov ypatynvm mnrOV, on put 
 
 tm-t \syuv. Herodot. ii. 46. 
 
 W See print from Mr. Bruce's drawing, in Dr. Burney's History of Music. 
 
 730 Genitor Nympbarum Oceanus. Catull. Carm. 88. in Gellium. See also Callimacb. Hymn, ad Dial., v. 13., and 
 
 /Eschyl. Prometh, in Vinci. 
 
 Nu^ot optoTiaEff, Kovpai Aioc aiyio^oio. II. Z. 420. 
 Hvpipatov, af t\ova optuv ametva Kapnva, 
 Kai jriryoe varafuav, xai Trttata 7roijj(ira. Odyss. Z. 123. 
 OuSe fiaOvppiiTao piya dflit'of QmbMMO, 
 ES ou -nip irovrec irtrrapm, km waaa OaXaaan, 
 Kai iraaai Kpifvat, kiu ippttara paKpa vaovaiv. II. *. 195. 
 :3S The figures are frequent in collections of small bronzes. Bronzi d'Ercolauo, lav. xciii. 
 
sacred.™ Swans, too, frequently occur as emblems of the waters upon coins ; and sometimes with 
 the head of Apollo on the reverse ; 74 * when there may be some allusion to the ancient notion of their 
 singing; a notion which seems to have arisen from the noises which they make in the high latitudes 
 of the North, prior to their departure at the approach of winter. 743 The pedum, or pastoral hook, the 
 symbol of attraction, and the pipe, the symbol of harmony, are frequently placed near him, to signify 
 the means and effect of his operation.' 
 
 191. Though the Greek writers call the deity who was represented by the sacred goat at Mendes, 
 Pan, he more exactly answers to Priapus, or the generative attribute considered abstractedly; 7 " 
 which was usually represented in Mgypt, as well as in Greece, by the phallus only. 745 This deity was 
 honored with a place in most of their temples, 7 * 6 as the lingam is in those of the Hindoos ; and all 
 the hereditary priests were initiated or consecrated to him, before they assumed the sacerdotal 
 office ; 747 for he was considered as a sort of accessary attribute to all the other divine personifica- 
 tions, the great end and purpose of whose existence was generation or production. A part of the 
 worship offered both to the goat Mendes, and the bull Apis, consisted in the women tendering their 
 persons to him. 7411 An attempt seems to have been made, in early times, to introduce similar acts of 
 devotion in Italy; for when the oracle of Juno was consulted upon the long-continued barrenness of 
 the Roman matrons, its answer was, " Iliadas matres caper hirtus inito :" but these mystic refinements 
 not being understood by that rude people, they could think of no other way of fulfilling the mandate, 
 than sacrificing a goat, and applying the skin, cut into thongs, to the backs of the women. 
 
 Jussid sua terga marine 
 
 I'ellibus exsectis percutienda dabant; 
 
 which, however, had the desired effect : 
 
 Virquc pater subito, nuptaque mater crat. 7 " 
 
 At Mendes female goats were also held sacred, as symbols of the passive generative attribute; 750 and 
 on Grecian monuments of art, we often find caprine satyrs of that sex. The fable of Jupiter having 
 been suckled by a goat, probably arose from some emblematical composition ; the true explanation 
 of which was only known to the initiated. Such was the Juno Sospita of Lanuvium, near Rome, 
 whose goat-skin dress signified the same as her title ; and who, on a votive car of very ancient 
 Etruscan work found near Perugia, appears exactly in the form described by Cicero, as the associate 
 of Hercules dressed in the lion's skin, or the Destroyer. 751 
 
 192. The Greeks frequently combined the symbolical animals, especially in engravings upon gems ; 
 where we often find the forms of the ram, goat, horse, cock, and various others, blended into one, so 
 as to form Pantheic compositions, signifying the various attributes and modes of action of the Deity.' 32 
 Cupid is sometimes represented wielding the mask of Pan, and sometimes playing upon a lyre, while 
 sitting upon the back of a lion j™ 3 devices of which the enigmatical meaning has been already 
 sufficiently explained in the explanations of the component parts. The Hindoos, and other nations 
 of the eastern parts of Asia, expressed similar combinations of attributes by symbols loosely connected, 
 and figures unskilfully composed of many heads, legs, arms, &c. ; which appear from the epithets 
 hundred-headed, hundred- handed, &c., so frequent in the old Greek poets, to have been not wholly 
 unknown to them ; though the objects to which they are applied prove that their ideas were taken 
 from figures which they did not understand, and which they therefore exaggerated into fabulous 
 
 Hi pctronii Satyric. exxxvi-vii. See coins of Clazoraena; in Pellerin, and Mus. Hunter. 
 
 ■• 3 Ol. Rudbcck. Atlant. p. ii. c. v. p. 249. 01. Magn. lib. ix. c. xv. 
 
 JH Tov Se rpayav airtQiuaav (Aiyuirnoi) KaQawip koi irapa toic 'EAAtjiti j-(ruii?<rff<u \tyovai row Upicmov, Sta to yivviyrtKOv /lopiou. 
 Diodor. Sic. lib. i. s. 88. 
 W" Ibid. lib. iv. s. 6. I* Ibid. 
 
 » Touc « ifpeif tovq TrapaXafiovrag ffnrpOMC ttpwrwac Ai-yirjrrov, TWTQ T V 8i<V irpiurou /iwwflai. Ibid. lib. i. S. 88. 
 7™ M!i>Si)Ta wapa Kpypt'ov BaXaaaag, ia\arov 
 
 NjiAov stpac, atytjSaTat 60i rpayai ytiva&t fiiayavrat. Pindar, apud Strabon. xvii. p. 802. 
 Twain rpayog tptuytra uvatyavlav- tovto f? £7riS(i£iv avOpwiriov oirfwro. Herodot. lib. ii. s. 46. 
 
 Ev Si TtUC irpoupDfiivaiq TentpaKOvB' dfUpate fiovov upwaiv avrov {tov Aim') at yvvaiKic, Kara irpoowov lara/uvui, KM SfiKvuouni 
 avaavpaficvat ra iavrwv yivvrrrvca popla' rov # aXXov xpovov kvavra tit:w\vptvov lariv ttq oipix avraq ljpXfo9m WW» fey. 
 Diodor. Sic. lib. i. s. 85. 
 
 W Ovid. Fast. ii. 448. 
 
 W Ar/n ?■( Kat rpayav Hnr&IMW (npoioiy.) Strabon. lib. xvii. p. 812. 
 
 2i|3ovTo< & iraurac roue atyaq ol MmSijmoi, koi paWov roue tpmvn$ riav fltjXicjv. Herodot. lib. ii. a. 46. 
 
 Cum pelle caprina, cum hutft, cum scutulo, cum calceolis rcpandis. De N. I). lib. i. s. xxix. 
 ; " They are common, and to be found in all collections of gems ; but never upon coins. 
 ; " See Mus. Plorent. gemm. 
 
65 
 
 monsters, the enemies or arbitrators of their own gods. 7 ' 11 Such symbolical figures may, perhaps, 
 have been worshipped in the western parts of Asia, when the Greeks first settled there; of which the 
 Diana of Ephesus appears to have been a remain : for both her temple and that of the Apollo 
 Dldymseus were long anterior to the Ionic emigration ; 753 though the composite images of the latter, 
 which now exist, are, as before observed, among the most refined productions of Grecian taste and 
 elegance. A Pantheic bust of this kind is engraved in plates lv. and Ivi. of vol. i. of the Select 
 Specimens, having the dewlaps of a goat, the ears of a bull, and the claws of a crab placed as horns 
 upon his head. The hair appears wet; and out of the temples spring fish, while the whole of the 
 face and breast is covered with foliage that seems to grow from the flesh ; signifying the result of this 
 combination of attributes in fertilising and organising matter. The Bacchus AENAPITHS, and 
 Neptune QYTAAMIOS, 756 the one the principle of vegetation in trees, and the other in plants, were 
 probably represented by composite symbolical images of this kind. 
 
 193. A female Pantheic figure in silver, with the borders of the drapery plated with gold, and the 
 whole finished in a manner surpassing almost any thing extant, was among the things found at Macon 
 on the Saone, in the year 1764, and published by Count Caylus. 757 It represents Cybele, the universal 
 mother, with the mural crown on her head, and the wings of pervasion growing from her shoulders, 
 mixing the productive elements of heat and moisture, by making a libation upon the flames of an altar 
 from a golden patera, with the usual knob in the centre of it, representing, probably, the lingam. 
 On each side of her head is one of the Dioscuri, signifying the alternate influence of the diurnal and 
 nocturnal sun ; and, upon a crescent supported by the tips of her wings, are the seven planets, each 
 signified by a bust of its presiding deity resting upon a globe, and placed in the order of the days of 
 the week named after them. In her left hand she holds two cornucopias, to signify the result of her 
 Operation on the two hemispheres of the Earth ; and upon them arc the busts of Apollo and Diana, 
 the presiding deities of those hemispheres, with a golden disk, intersected by two transverse lines, such 
 as is observable on other pieces of ancient art, and such as the barbarians of the North employed to 
 represent the solar year, divided into four parts, 7 ' 8 at the back of each. 
 
 194. How the days of the week came to be called by the names of the planets, or why the planets 
 were thus placed in an order so different from that of nature, and even from that in which any theorist 
 ever has placed them, is difficult to conjecture. The earliest notice of it in any ancient writing now 
 extant, is in the work of an historian of the beginning of the third century of Christianity; 759 who 
 says that it was unknown to the Greeks, and borrowed by the Romans from other nations, who divided 
 the planets on this occasion by a sort of musical scale, beginning with Saturn, the most remote from 
 the centre, and then passing over two to the Sun, and two more to the Moon, and so on, till the 
 arrangement of the week was complete as at present, only beginning with the day which now stands 
 last. Other explanations are given, both by the same and by later writers ; but as they appear to us 
 to be still more remote from probability, it will be sufficient to refer to them, without entering into 
 further details. 7 ^ Perhaps the difficulty has arisen from a confusion between the deities and the 
 planets ; the ancient nations of the North having consecrated each day of the week to some principal 
 personage of their mythology, and called it after his name, beginning with Lok or Saturn, and ending 
 with Freia or Venus: whence, when these, or the corresponding names in other languages, were 
 applied both to the planets and to the days of the week consecrated to them, the ancient mvthological 
 order of the titles was retained, though the ideas expressed by them were no longer religious, but 
 astronomical. Perhaps, too, it may be accounted for from the Ptolemaic system ; according to which 
 the order of the planets was, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon : for if the 
 natural day consisted of twenty-four hours, and each hour was under the influence of a planet in 
 succession, and the first hour of Saturday be sacred to Saturn, the eighth, fifteenth, and twenty-second, 
 will be so likewise; so that the twenty-third will belong to Jupiter, the twenty- fourth to Mars, and 
 
 n* II. A. 402. Pindar. Pyth. i. 31., viii. 20. 
 
 From the publication of Denon of tlie sculptures remaining in Upper /Egypt, it seems that such figures had a place in the 
 ancient religious mylholugy of that country. 
 
 ? " To St Upov to iv AiSvfiotQ rov KnaWiuvaq, MR to juaiTifov iotiu apyaiarcpav ij Kara rijv luivtov frraik-ijiriu - jroXX^, oij TrpiajiuTtpa 
 iti ij Kara Iiot'nc to tg tiju hpriptv ti|u E^Jiaiaii, Pausan. Achaic. c. ii. s. 4. 
 
 " sS Apijiunpot yap oi Ami nic uypae MU ynvtfinv Kvptoi SoKOvatv apx<IQ HVOt* MM IlomSwvi 7f •PvTaXpn,, Atovvay St AiviptTy, TravTig, 
 wc ittoc (i7Ti!iJ, 'EWiivhj Ovovaiv. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. v. qu. 111. 
 
 w T. vii. pi. lxxi. 
 
 He says that the figure had been gilt all over : but he is mistaken ; no part of it having been gilt, but several plated, all which 
 remain entire, with the gold upon them. It is now, with most of the other small figures in silver, found with it, in the cabinet of 
 Mr. Knight. 
 
 <«• Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. vol. i. p. 90., and vol. ii. p. 212. fig. 4., and p. KSl and 2. 
 W The part of Plutarch's Symposiacs, in which it was discussed, is unfortunately lost. 
 ? M Cass. Dion. lib. xxxvii. p. 37. Hyde de Reltg. vet. Persar. c. v. ad fin. 
 
 S 
 
66 
 
 the first hour of the next day to the Sun. In the same manner, the first hour of the ensuing day will 
 belong to the Moon, and so on through the week, according to the seemingly capricious order in 
 which all nations, using the hebdomadal computation of time, have placed them. 
 
 195. The Disa or Isa of the North was represented by a conic figure enveloped in a net, similar to 
 the cortina of Apollo on the medals of Cos, Chersonesus in Crete, Naples in Italy, and the Syrian 
 kings ; but instead of having the serpent coiled round it, as in the first, or some symbol or figure of 
 Apollo placed upon it, as in the rest, it is terminated in a human head. 701 This goddess is unques- 
 tionably the Isis whom the ancient Sucvi, according to Tacitus, worshipped f a for the initial letter of 
 the first name appears to be an article or prefix joined to it; and the ^Egyptian Isis was occasionally 
 represented enveloped in a net, exactly as the Scandinavian goddess was at Upsal. 7fi:1 This goddess 
 is delineated on the sacred drums of the Laplanders, accompanied by a child, similar to the Horns of 
 the .^Egyptians, who so often appears in the lap of Isis on the religious monuments of that people.™ 1 
 The ancient Muscovites also worshipped a sacred group, composed of an old woman with one male 
 child in her lap and another standing by her, which probably represented Isis and her offspring. 
 They had likewise another idol, called the golden heifer, which seems to have been the animal 
 symbol of the same personage. 7 "'* 
 
 196. Common observation would teach the inhabitants of polar climates that the primitive state of 
 water was ice ; the name of which, in all the northern dialects, has so near an affinity with that of the 
 goddess, that there can be no doubt of their having been originally the same, though it is equally a 
 title of the corresponding personification in the East Indies. The conic form also unquestionably 
 means the egg; there being in the Albani collection a statue of Apollo sitting upon a great number 
 of eggs, with a serpent coiled round them, exactly as he is upon the veiled cone or cortina, round 
 which the serpent is occasionally coiled, upon the coins above cited. A conic pile of eggs is also 
 placed by the statue of him, draped, as he appears on a silver tetradrachm of Lampsacus,™ engraved 
 in pi. lxii. of vol. i. of the Select Specimens. 
 
 197- Stones of a similar conic form arc represented upon the colonial medals of Tyre, and called 
 ambrosial stones; from which, probably, came the ambcrics, so frequent all over the northern 
 hemisphere. These, from the remains still extant, appear to have been composed of one of these 
 cones let into the ground, with another stone placed upon the point of it, and so nicely balanced, that 
 the wind could move it, though so ponderous that no human force, unaided by machinery, can 
 displace it : whence they are now called logging- rocks; and pendre stones, 7 " 7 as they were anciently 
 tiring stones, and stones of God ;™ titles, which differ but little in meaning from that on the Tyrian 
 coins. Damascius saw several of them in the neighbourhood of Heliopolis or Baalheck, in Syria; 
 particularly one which was then moved by the wind ; 7f ' 9 and they are equally found in the western 
 extremities of Europe, and the eastern extremities of Asia, in Britain and in China. 770 Probably the 
 stone which the patriarch Jacob anointed with oil, according to a mode of worship once generally 
 practised, 771 as it still is by the Hindoos, was of this kind. 77 ' : Such immense masses being moved by 
 causes seeming so inadequate, must naturally have conveyed the idea of spontaneous motion to 
 ignorant observers, and persuaded them that they were animated by an emanation of the vital Spirit : 
 whence they were consulted as oracles, the responses of which could always be easily obtained by 
 interpreting the different oscillatory movements into nods of approbation and dissent. The figures of 
 the Apollo Didymams, on the Syrian coins above-mentioned, are placed sitting upon the point of the 
 cone, where the more rude and primitive symbol of the logging rock is found poised; and we are 
 told, in a passage before cited, that the oracle of this god near Miletus existed before the emigration 
 of the Ionian colonies ; that is, more than eleven hundred years before the Christian sera : wherefore 
 we are persuaded that it was originally nothing more than one of these fiairvXia or symbolical groups ; 
 which the luxury of wealth and refinement of art gradually changed into a most magnificent temple 
 and most elegant statue. 
 
 198. There were anciently other sacred piles of stones, equally or perhaps more frequent all over 
 
 » Ol. Rudbcck. Atlant. vol. ii. c. v. p. 219. 763 De M. G. c. ix. 
 
 r« Isiac Table, and Ol. Rudbeck. ib. p. 209 and 210. lb. p. 280. 
 
 ?*> Ib. c. vi. p. 512 and 513. 
 
 ■ m In the cabinet of Mr. Payne Knight. 
 
 ■ ® Norden's Cornwall, p. 79. 
 
 ? M Aifloi (fii^x 01 et fiamXta. Pseudo-Sanchon. Fragm. apud Euseb. Tbc last title seems to be a corruption of the scriptural 
 name Bethel. 
 
 t« EiSdi- TW fianvXov Sin tov mpoq Kivoupivov. In Vita hsidori apud Phot. Biblioth. Cod. 84& p. 10(51. 
 tt° Nordcn. ib. Kircheri China ill Ultra to. p. 270. 
 
 n< Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. vii. p. 713. Arnob. lib. i. Herodian. in Macrino. 
 
 rr> Cleric. Comm. in Genes, c. xxviii. v. 22. 
 
the North, called by the Greeks AO*OI 'EPMAIOI or hillocks of Mercury;™ of whom they were 
 probably the original symbols. They were placed by the sides, or in the points of intersection, of 
 roads ; where every traveller that passed, threw a stone upon them in honor of Mercury, the guardian 
 of all ways or general conductor; 771 and there can be no doubt that many of the ancient crosses 
 observable in such situations were erected upon them ; their pyramidal form affording a commodious 
 base, and the substituting a new object being the most obvious and usual remedy for such kinds of 
 superstition. The figures of this god sitting upon fragments of rock or piles of stone, one of which 
 has been already cited, are probably more elegant and refined modes of signifying the same ideas. 
 
 199. The old Pelasgian Mercury of the Athenians consisted, as before observed, of a human head 
 placed upon an inverted obelisk with a phallus ; of which several are extant ; as also of a female 
 draped figure terminating below in the same square form. These seem to be of the Venus Architis, 
 or primitive Venus; of whom there was a statue in wood at Delos, supposed to be the work of 
 Daedalus and another in a temple upon Mount Libanus, of which Macrobius's description exactly 
 corresponds with the figures now extant; of which one is given in plate lviii. of vol. i. of the Select 
 Specimens. " Her appearance," he says, " was melancholy, her head covered, and her face 
 sustained by her left hand, which was concealed under her garment." 776 Some of these figures have 
 the mystic title A2I1A2IA upon them, signifying perhaps the welcome or gratulation to the returning 
 spring : for they evidently represent nature in winter, still sustained by the inverted obelisk, the 
 emanation of the sun pointed downwards ; but having all her powers enveloped in gloom and 
 sadness. Some of these figures were probably, like the Paphian Venus, androgynous; whence arose 
 the Hermaphrodite; afterwards represented under more elegant forms, accounted for as usual by 
 poetical fables. Occasionally the attribute seems to be signified by the cap and wings of Mercury. 
 
 200. The symbol of the ram was, it seems, explained in the Eleusinian mysteries ; 777 and the nature 
 and history of the Pelasgian Mercury in those of Samothrace ;" B the device on whose coins, is his 
 emblem either of the ram or the cock ; 77a and where he was distinguished by the mystic title Casmilus 
 or Cadmilus ; T8I) of which, probably, the Latin word Camillus, and the Greek name of the fabulous 
 hero Cadmus are equally abbreviations :™ for the stories of this hero being married to Harmony, the 
 daughter of Mars and Venus; and of both him and his wife being turned into serpents, are clearly 
 allegorical ; and it is more probable that the colony which occupied Thebes, were called Cadmcians 
 from the title of their deity than from the name of their chief. 
 
 201. The iEgyptian Mercury carried a branch of palm in his hand, which his priests also wore in 
 their sandals, 78 * probably as a badge of their consecration to immortality : for this tree is mentioned 
 in the Orphic poems as proverbial for longevity ; and was the only one known to the ancients, which 
 never changed its leaves ; all other evergreens shedding them, though not regularly nor all at once. 783 
 It has also the property of flourishing in the most parched and dry situations, where no other large 
 trees will grow; and therefore might naturally have been adopted as a vegetable symbol of the sun ; 
 whence it frequently accompanies the horse on the coins of Carthage : 7M and in the Corinthian 
 Sacristy in the temple at Delphi was a bronze palm-tree with frogs and water-snakes round its root, 
 signifying the sun fed by humidity . 7as The pillars in many ancient iEgyptian temples represent palm- 
 trees with their brandies lopped off ; and it is probable that the palm-trees in the temple of Solomon 
 were pillars of the same form ; 786 that prince having admitted many prophane symbols among the 
 
 ;ri ■ «t<P iro^oc, i>Bi 'Ep^aiot Aof> c tanv. Odyss. IT. 471. This line, however, together with those adjoining 4GS-7;i, 
 
 though ancient, is proved to he an interpolation of much later date than the rest of the poem, by the word 'Epfiatoc formed from 
 the contracted 'Eppac for 'Ep/inac, unknown to the Homeric tongue. 
 Antliol. lib. iv. Epigr. 12. Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. 
 
 77S Km AtjAioic A^poSirrjc tartv an pcya £oavov (i-f^i"! AaiSnAoo) raTfiin St avrt iroStuu tc TiTpaywvov axil"'- P&US. in Breot. C. 
 XL s. 3. 
 
 770 Capite ohnupto, specie tristi, faciem manu Isev.i intra amictum sustinens. Sat. i. c. xxi. 
 777 Pausan. in Corinth. 779 Herodot. lib. ii. c. li. 
 
 7! " Mus. Hunter, tab. xlvi. fig. 21. et nummul. argent, ined. apud It. P. Knight, Londini. 
 
 r * > Muouvrai St tv ry SapotipaKy toic Ka/Stipoic, iuk Mvaatas ip>)at km ra ovo/iara. Teaaapic Se ticri row apiO/iav, A$i£poc, A&OKOMBj 
 Afrosfpaoc. A£upac ftiv Ouv itmv ij Aijpijrijp- AZtOKipaa St ij UfpaHfiovti' AEinvE/xTfif Se 1) 'ASijc. <> St TrpoariOtptvoi; rnapTUf Kaa^iXuc 
 
 6 E/ijUiic Efn-'i'j &g iaropfi AiovuuoSwpoc- Schol. in Apoll. Rhod. lib. i. v. 917. 
 Of Sf rpooTtWam km rtraprov KaSpiAov. itm S' ovtqq !i 'Epujjc. Ibid. 
 
 Lycophron. v. 1G2. KoS/itAoc 6 "Ejtymc Bouarutiuc. Schol. in eund. et Kara Atywmqv KnSiiou. Ib. in v, 219. 
 761 Apuleii Metum. lib. ii. p. 39. et lib. xi. p. 2+1 et 246. 
 
 7" 'O 8e 4>oii»£ ovOiv avofiaXXwv «■>' ovtdu rui> fvoptvuv, j3t0a<u<; aei^uXXoc lot,, km touto to xparac avrau p«.W„ viiic 
 ttg UT)(ypig tntvouctiovau Plutarch. Sympos. lib. viii. probl, 4. 
 **» See Gesner. tab. Ixsxiv. fig. 40 and 42. 
 
 ^ Tqv t£ vypuiv yvi£aro rpcupiiv tov jjXiuv km yivwv km uvaOvpiaaiv i> Si^ioupyac. Plutarch, de metro mm utente Pyth. dialng. 
 p. 400. 
 
 ^ See Pococke's Travels, vol. L p. 217. 
 
GS 
 
 ornaments of his sacred edifice. The palm-tree at Delos, sacred to Apollo and Diana, is mentioned 
 in the Odyssey ; 7W and it seems probable that the games and other exercises performed in honor of 
 those deities, in which the palm, the laurel, and other symbolical plants were the distinctions of 
 victory, were originally mystic representations of the attributes and modes of action of the divine 
 nature. Such the dances unquestionably were : for when performed in honor of the gods, they con- 
 sisted chiefly of imitative exhibitions of the symbolical figures under which they were represented by 
 the artists. 7 "" Simple mimicry seems also to have formed a part of the very ancient games celebrated 
 by the Ionians at Delos ; m from which, probably, came dramatic poetry ; the old comedy principally 
 consisting of imitations, not only of individual men, but of the animals employed as symbols of the 
 Deity. 790 Of this kind are the comedies of the birds, the frogs, the wasps, &c. ; the choral parts of 
 which were recited by persons who were disguised in imitation of those different animals, and who 
 mimicked their notes while chanting or singing the parts™' From a passage of iEschylus, preserved 
 by Strabo, it appears that similar imitations were practised in the mystic ceremonies,™ which may 
 have been a reason for their gradual disuse upon all common occasions. 
 
 20-2. The symbolical meaning of the olive, the lir, and the apples, the honorary rewards in the 
 Olympic, Isthmian, and Pythian games, has been already noticed ; and the parsley, which formed the 
 crown of the Roman victors, was equally a mvstic plant ; it being represented on coins in the same 
 manner as the fig-leaf, and with the same signification, 7 '-" probably on account of a peculiar influence, 
 which it is still supposed to have upon the female constitution. This connexion of the games with the 
 m}Stic worship was probably one cause of the momentous importance attached to success in them ; 
 which is frequently spoken of by persons of the highest rank, as the most splendid object of human 
 ambition ; 714 and we accordingly find the proud city of Syracuse bribing a citizen of Caulonia to 
 renounce his own country and proclaim himself of theirs, that they might have the glory of a prize 
 which he had obtained. 71 '-' When Exa;netus of Agrigentum won the race in the ninety-first Olympiad, 
 he was escorted into his native city by three hundred chariots ; 736 and Theagenes the Thasian, the 
 Achilles of his age, who long possessed unrivalled superiority in all exercises of bodily strength and 
 agility, so as to have been crowned fourteen hundred times, was canonised as a hero or demigod, had 
 statues erected to him in various parts of Greece, and received divine worship; which he further 
 proved himself worthy of, by miraculous favors obtained at his altars. Euthymus too, who was 
 equally eminent as a boxer, having won a great number of prizes, and contended once even against 
 Theagenes with doubtful success, was rewarded with equal or even greater honors : for he was deified 
 by command of the oracle even before his death ; 737 being thus elevated to a rank, which fear has often 
 prostituted to power; but which unawed respect gave to merit in this instance only: and it is 
 peculiarly degrading to popular favor and flattery that in this instance it should have been given not 
 to the labors of a statesman or the wisdom of a legislator, but to the dexterity of a boxer. 
 
 203. This custom of canonising or deifying men seems to have arisen from that general source of 
 ancient rites and opinions, the system of emanations; according to which all were supposed to 
 partake of the divine essence, but not in an equal degree : whence, while a few simple rites, faintly 
 expressive of religious veneration, were performed in honor of all the dead, 758 a direct and explicit 
 worship was paid to the shades of certain individuals renowned for either great virtues or great vices, 
 which, if equally energetic, equally dazzle and overawe the gaping multitude. 7 ° y Every thing being 
 
 m Z. 162. 
 
 'H yap op\t)aii; ek te Kivijaiwv not a\(ati,>v irui'turiiKi i' $o/iac l"v aw roc Kiv<i\oaq ovapaL,ovai, oxt!"* Ta * f "X^**W Kal 
 
 Smflmei.;, tic ac •jitpopivat tiXiut-uktiv al mtmKt orav AttuXXuivoCi 1 llaifoc, V Ttvog haK\<K, <r\ina SiaOsvrtc (in tod auipartic 
 ypo^iKui? tou: iiSiaiv tmfiifwrw. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. ix. probl. 15. 
 <™ T\avTu>v E' avBphiwuiv ^uvac km KpififiaXiatrrvv 
 
 Ml/Xflofloi laaaiv' £mr| St kiv auroq iKaarot 
 QBtyycaBai. Homer. Hymn, in Apoll. 162. 
 
 » See Aristoph. 'Imr. 520, fee. 
 
 Ejusd. Barpo X . 209. 
 7" i^aAfioc 8' akakaZef 
 
 TavpntpBnyytii o' inrojitjKfiJi'Tai woflti' 
 cK afavovc fofiipiot fiipot' 
 rupwaviii o VX W ' 
 
 <„a0' iiJToyuou fipovrw, ipiptTat J3upuj-ap|3)ic- /Eschyl. Edon. apuil Strab. lib. x. p. 471. 
 *° 2i\<vov. to yuvmxHov. Hesych. W Sophocl. Electr. Platon. Polit. lib. v. p. +19. 
 
 to* Pauaan. in Eliac. post. c. iii. , •"*" Diodor. Sic. lib. xiii. c. lxxxii. 
 
 W Plin. lib. vii. C. xlvii. Odyss, A. Lucian. ntpi irtvlf. s. 9. 
 
 BaXiis, UuQayDpaq, nXnnun, ui Etohkoi Aatpovac inrapxttv ovami; ijsvx'xaQ- tivm & kdi 'llpcunc rag Ktx w P La t ttva S i/^ac tww 
 auiparwv, Kat ayadovc fUK, raq ayaBaf kokouc St, rac «auAa C - Plutarch, de Placit. Philos. lib. i. c. viil. 
 ol yap HptDic k-avoui', 
 
 'ile 'pui', Lroipot /inXXoi', >j tvipytrtiv. Menandr. ex /Equal. Fragm. 
 
69 
 
 derived, according to this system, from the deity, the commanding talents and splendid qualities of 
 particular persons were naturally supposed to proceed from particular emanations ; whence such 
 persons were, even while living, honored with divine titles expressive of those particular attributes of 
 the deity, with which they seemed to be peculiarly favored." 00 Such titles were, however, in many 
 instances given soon after birth; children being named after the divine personifications, as a sort of 
 consecration to their protection. The founder of the Persian monarchy was called by a name, which 
 in their language signified the sun ; a01 and there is no doubt that many of the ancient kings of MgypX 
 had names of the same kind; 003 which have helped to confound history with allegory; though the 
 ^Egyptians, prior to their subjection to the Macedonians, never worshipped them, nor any heroes or 
 canonised mortals whatsoever. 603 
 
 204. " During the Pagan state of the Irish," says a learned antiquary of that country, " every child 
 at his birth received a name generally from some imaginary divinity; under whose protection it was 
 supposed to be: but this name was seldom retained longer than the state of infancy; from which 
 period it was generally changed for others arising from some perfection or imperfection of the body; 
 the disposition or quality of the mind; achievements in war or the chace; the place of birth, 
 residence, &C." 804 When these descriptive titles exactly accorded with those previously imposed, 
 and derived from the personified attributes of the deity, both were naturally confounded; and the 
 limited excellences of man thus occasionally placed in the same rank with the boundless perfections 
 of God. The same custom still prevails among the Hindoos, who when a child is ten days old give 
 him the name of one of their deities ; to whose favor they think by this mean to recommend him f 05 
 whence the same medley of historical tradition and physical allegory fills up their popular creed, as 
 filled that of the Greeks and other nations. The ancient theism of the North seems also to have been 
 corrupted by the conqueror Odin assuming the title of the supreme God, and giving those of other 
 subordinate attributes to his children and captains ; 8M which are, however, all occasionally applied to 
 him : B0T for the Scandinavians, like the Greeks, seem sometimes to have joined, and sometimes to have 
 separated the personifications ; so that they sometimes worshipped several gods, and sometimes only 
 one god with several names. 
 
 205. Historical tradition has transmitted to us accounts of several ancient kings, who bore the 
 Greek name of Jupiter ; B0B which signifying Awe or Terror, would naturally be assumed by tyrants, 
 who wished to inspire such sentiments. The ancient Bacchus was said to have been the son of 
 Jupiter by Ceres or Proserpine ; W ' J that is, in plain language, the result of the aithcrial Spirit operating 
 
 fB ° fv avSpiiiv, Iv {ttitw ytvor;' <n 
 
 H"ii; ri irvtoftiv 
 parpoQ apijioTipot. 
 Smpyei 8t waaa tiKptpiva 
 
 fM-friKc Pindar. Nrm. (i. v. i. 
 
 501 Kr>< nfltrai to ovopa aurov (Kvpov) aira tov ijXiou. Ctea. Pcraic. 
 Kvpov yap KtiXttv Ile/iiTuc rov fjXiQv. Plutarch, in Artax. 
 Tov yap itXioii hi i\i:i-mii. Ki'/joi' Xcyovm. Ilesych. 
 
 ^ Sec Jablunsk. Penth. Atgypt. 
 
 "° No/«?ou« g" wv Ai-ywmot ouS' ^puoi ouBtv. Herodot. lib. ii. s. 50. See also s. 142 and 3. 
 
 Collectan. Hibern. No. xi. p. 259. 
 °" s Soiinerat Voyage aux Indes. t. i. p. 84-. 
 
 Mallet Introd. a I'Hist de Dane marc. 
 M7 Orfinus ego nunc noininor [ 
 
 Tggut moilo nominabar ; 
 
 Vocabar Tltundus ante id, 
 
 Vacat et Skiljingus, 
 
 f 'nfodiis et Iloopta-tyr 
 
 Uaiitus vl la/ctis inter Deos, 
 
 Ossier et Suafner ; 
 
 Quos puta factoa esse 
 
 Onmea ex una mt: Grimnismal Edd. Sajrnond, p. til. 
 
 ™ IlniTae fitv aw KttTaptUfiiiaaaQat nut TrjioOvfiiitifvTt aTropov, tin-omit (JtAciuiri ytviuDin k-trt rpnijiiivoi TTupn atjutri Ato. Pausan. in 
 Messen. c. xxxiii. s. 2. 
 
 909 t, m tov Otav {rov btawaov) « A<o C not A^p-^poq rficyuOtvra, huaivaodwai. Diodor. Sic. lib. iii. p. Us. 
 A0i|umoi biawoov tov Aioc koi Kopijc aifiauatv' aWav rovrov AlOPVOOV' MH ii laK^C « (WOrWOQ rouTt[i ti { i biovvaip, ot>X' 
 (hfiauf, n-gSmu. Arrian. lib. ii. An Attic writer during the independence of the Republic, would nut bave dared to say so 
 
 MvOoXoyovai Si Tii'to km irtpov Atovuaov yiyavival, wo\v roic \povoit: TrpoTtpovvra toutoii. ipaai yap ft Aloe KOI rirpa , c^oi'j|c 
 Aiovuaov yivtaOat, tov irrro Tivhiv ^.ajia^iov ovopoi^opivov' oil tjjv ti yiviaiv tat rni; (Wiac Kai n/inc vvKTipivat; Kai Kpvipiai; irapunayovai 
 Sia Tqv ato\vvriv tiiv ix rijc mn'ovmac ttranuXuvb'vvmiv. Diodor. Sic. lib. iv. p. 148. 
 
 20/3/3ciuf yap Kat wv in iroXAoi rove BflKX?*^ xaXouai, ™i ravtiiv aiptaat ttjv fu>vi\v Iitov upyiaZuiat r(,i Btif. Plutarell. Symp. 
 
 lib. iv. p. 671. qu. vi. 
 
 T 
 
7<> 
 
 upon the Earth, or its pervading Heat : but a. real or fictitious hero, having been honored with his 
 name in the Cadmeian colony of Thebes, was by degrees confounded with him in the popular mytho- 
 logy; and fabled to have been raised up by Jupiter to replace him after he had been slain by the 
 Titans ; a '° as Attis and Adonis were by the boar, and Osiris by Typhon ; symbolical tales which have 
 been already noticed. The mystic deity was however duly distinguished as an object of public 
 worship in the temples : where he was associated by the Greeks with Ceres and Proserpine, 811 and by 
 the Romans with Ceres and Libera, (who was their Proserpine,) the reason for which, as the Stoic 
 interlocutor observes in Cicero's Dialogues on the Nature of the Gods, was explained in the 
 Mysteries. 01 3 
 
 '206. The sons of Tyndarus were by the same means confounded with the ancient personifications 
 of the diurnal and nocturnal sun, or of the morning and evening star ; a,s the symbols of whose 
 attributes, the two oval or conic caps, were interpreted to signify their birth from Leda's egg, a fable 
 ingrafted upon the old allegory subsequent to the Homeric times; the four lines alluding to the 
 deification of the brothers of Helen in the Odyssey being undoubtedly spurious, though extremely 
 beautiful." 11 Perseus is probably an entirely fictitious and allegorical personage; for there is no 
 mention of him in either of the Homeric poems ; and his name is a title of the sun, 815 and his image 
 the composite symbol of the gryphon humanised. Theseus appears likewise to be a personage who 
 started into being between the respective ages of the two Homeric poems : there being no mention of 
 him in the genuine parts of the Iliad, though the Athenian genealogy is minutely detailed; 818 and he 
 being only once slightly mentioned as the lover of Ariadne in the genuine parts of the Odyssey." 17 
 He seems, in reality, to be the Athenian personification of Hercules ; he having the same symbols of 
 the club and lion's skin ; and similar actions and adventures being attributed to him, many of which 
 are manifestly allegorical ; such as his conflict with the Minotaur, with the Centaurs, and with the 
 Amazons. 
 
 20/. This confusion of personages, arising from a confusion of names, was facilitated in its progress 
 by the belief that the universal generative principle, or its subordinate emanations, might act in such 
 a manner as that a female of the human species might be impregnated without the co-operation of a 
 male; 818 and as this notion was extremely useful and convenient in concealing the frailties of women, 
 quieting the jealousies of husbands, protecting the honor of families, and guarding with religious awe 
 the power of bold usurpers, it was naturally cherished and promoted with much favor and industry. 
 Men supposed to be produced in this supernatural way, would of course advance into life with strong 
 confidence and high expectations; which generally realise their own views, when supported by 
 even common courage and ability. Such were the founders of almost all the families distinguished 
 in mythology; whose names being, like all other ancient names, descriptive titles, were equally 
 applicable to the personified attributes of the deity: whence both became blended together; and 
 historical so mixed with allegorical fable, that it is impossible in many instances to distinguish or 
 separate them. The actions of kings and conquerors were attributed to personages purely symbolical ; 
 and the qualities of these bestowed in return upon frail and perishable mortals. Even the double or 
 ambiguous sex was attributed to deified heroes; Cecrops being fabled to have been both man and 
 woman ; 819 and the rough Hercules and furious Achilles were represented with the features and habits 
 of the softer sex, to conceal the mystic meaning of which the fables of Omphale and lole, and the 
 daughters of Lycomedes, were invented ; of which there is not a trace in the Homeric poems. 
 
 208. When the Greeks made expeditions into distant countries, whether for plunder, trade, or 
 conquest, and there found deified heroes with titles corresponding either in sound or sense to their 
 
 H1 ° Hctj yap pivtMVt vtav Atovvaov atttiv, 
 
 Tauporputr jiiiiTjjiii irnXmymEOc ^muvaov, 
 AtvtifiopDV Znypijoc i\iov wvOav iiiptfiiduiv Zeuc, 
 
 'Oii tiki rh/'ij^ui'jifi cpaniii'Titii Aiuc fui'p. Dionysiac. lib. v. v. 563. 
 
 nl Kai 7tA>|(tiui< vaoc tori Aiiujji-poc- ayaX^am Si avrij rt km ?'i iraic, k<u SqSa f^iut- laux°C- Pausan. in Attic, c. ii. s. 4. 
 
 H wav y av m rijv D^M&nXovc AnpiFpav, Km Kopijn, km rov Imryov tov fOarmm """"G viroXafioifta: Clem. Alex, in Protrep. 
 p. 18. ta Lib. iii. s. 21. 
 
 W Km roue TWBnp.Sac St $ a a> r n v tu,v &io<jkov P w V Sogav mX&O iraXtv (lege waXm) vopiZo^vwv 6tw>. Sext. Empir. lib. 
 ix. s. 37. 
 
 Oil. A. 300-4. XtXoyx 00 ' "*<> betrays the interpolator, the adjective having been written with the digamma. 
 B ' Uspoiuq ii I'jAioc tart. Schol in Lycophr. v. 17. 
 
 Sil B. 546-50. Several of these lines seem to have been interpolated in compliment to the Athenians. 
 
 ■1? A. 321. 
 
 "* OvBtv 010/ini tiitvov, it ftti rAjata$M> l> 8tor, ivwtfi avBpwiroc, nAXa ertpaic r«T(u htyatt; ci irtpiuv BU ifjauatat rptvtt, km 
 ■''TrmrffiTrXnai {hiartpa<; yoviK to Qvurov. Plutarch. Symposiac. lib. viii. probl. I. 
 
 Justin, lib. ii. e. vi. Sutdas. in Ktvpoir. Euseb. ct Hieron. in Chronic. Plutarch, tie sera numin. vindicta. Eustath. in 
 Dionys. Diotlor. Sic. lib. i. c. xxviii. 
 
own, they without further inquiry concluded them to be the same ; and adopted all the legendary 
 tales which they found with them : whence their own mythology, both religious and historical, was 
 gradually spread out into an unwieldy mass of incoherent fictions and traditions, which no powers of 
 ingenuity or extent of learning could analyse or comprehend. The heroes of the Iliad were, at a very 
 early period, so much the objects of public admiration, partly through the greatness of the war, the 
 only one carried on jointly by all the States of Greece prior to the Macedonian usurpation, and partly 
 through the refulgent splendor of the mighty genius by which it had been celebrated; that the 
 proudest princes were ambitious of deducing their genealogies from them, and the most powerful 
 nations were vain of any traces of connexion with them. Many such claims and pretensions were of 
 course fabricated, which were as easily asserted as denied ; and as men have a natural partiality for 
 affirmatives, and nearly as strong a predilection for that which exercises their credulity, as for that 
 which gratifies their vanity, we may conclude that the asscrtors generally prevailed. Their tales were 
 also rendered plausible, in many instances, by the various traditions then circulated concerning the 
 subsequent fortunes and adventures of those heroes; some of whom were said to have been cast away 
 in their return ; and others expelled by usurpers, who had taken advantage of their long absence ; so 
 that a wandering life supported by piracy and plunder became the (ate of many. fiao Inferences were 
 likewise drawn from the slenderest traces of verbal analogies, and the general similarity of religious 
 rites; which, as they co-operated in proving what men were predisposed to believe, were admitted 
 without suspicion or critical examination. 
 
 209. But what contributed most of all towards peopling the coasts and islands both of the 
 Mediterranean and adjoining ocean, with illustrious fugitives of that memorable period, was the 
 practice of ancient navigators in giving the names of their gods and heroes to the lands which they 
 discovered, in the same manner as the moderns do those of their saints and martyrs : for in those 
 early ages every name thus given became the subject of a fable, because the name continued when 
 those who gave it were forgotten. In modern times every navigator keeps a journal ; which, if it 
 contains any new or important information, is printed and made public; so that, when a succeeding 
 navigator finds any traces of European language or manners in a remote country, he knows from 
 whence they came : but, had there been no narratives left by the first modern discoverers, and 
 subsequent adventurers had found the name of St. Francis or St. Anthony with some faint traces of 
 Christianity in any of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, they might have concluded, or at least conjec- 
 tured, that those saints had actually been there : whence the first convent of monks, that arose in a 
 colony, would soon make out a complete history of their arrival and abode there ; the hardships which 
 they endured, the miracles which they wrought, and the relics which they left for the edification of 
 the faithful and the emolument of their teachers. 
 
 210. As the heroes of the Iliad were as familiar to the Greek navigators, as the saints of the 
 Calendar were to the Spanish and Portuguese, and treated by them with the same sort of respect and 
 veneration ; there can be little doubt that they left the same sort of memorials of them, wherever they 
 made discoveries or piratical settlements ; which memorials, being afterwards found among barbarous 
 nations by succeeding navigators, when the discoverers were forgotten and the settlers vanished; they 
 concluded that those heroes had actually been there : and as the works of the Greek poets, by the 
 general diffusion of the Greek language after the Macedonian conquest, became universally known 
 and admired, those nations themselves eagerly co-operated in the deception, by ingrafting the Greek 
 fables upon their own, and by greedily catching at any links of affinity which might connect them with 
 a people, from whom all that was excellent in art, literature, and society, seemed to be derived. 
 
 211. Hence, in almost every country bordering upon the Mediterranean Sea, and even in some 
 upon the Atlantic Ocean, traces were to he found of the navigations and adventures of Ulysses, 
 Menelaus, iEneas, or some other wandering chieftain of that age; by which means such darkness 
 and confusion have been spread over their history, that an ingenious writer, not usually given to 
 doubt, has lately questioned their existence; not recollecting that he might upon the same grounds 
 have questioned the existence of the Apostles, and thus undermined the very fabric which he professed 
 to support : for by quoting, as of equal authority, all the histories which have been written concern- 
 ing them in various parts of Christendom during seventeen hundred years, he would have produced a 
 medley of inconsistent facts, which, taken collectively, would have startled even his own well- 
 disciplined faith. 881 Yet this is what he calls a fair mode of analysing ancient prophane history; and, 
 
 **> Strabon. lib. iii. p. 150. 
 
 m Metrodorus of Lnnipsacus anciently turned both the Homeric poems into Allegory ; and the Christian divines of the third 
 and fourth centuries did the same by the historical books of the New Testament; aB their predecessors the eclectic Jews bad 
 before done by those of the Old. 
 
 Metrodorus and his followers, however, never denied nor even questioned the general fact of the siege of Troy, (as they have 
 
n 
 
 indeed, it is much Fairer than that which lie has practised : for not content with quoting Homer and 
 TzetzeSj as of equal authority, he has entirely rejected the testimony of Tlmcydides in his account of 
 I he ancient population of Greece; and received in its stead that of Cedrenus, Syncellus, and the other 
 monkish writers of the lower ages, who compiled the Paschal and Nuremherg Chronicles. It is rather 
 hard upon our countrymen Chaucer and Lydgate to he excluded ; as the latter would have furnished 
 an account of the good king Priam's founding a chauntry in Troy to sing requiems for the soul of his 
 pious son Hector, with many other curious particulars equally unknown to the antiquaries of Athens 
 and Alexandria, though full as authentic as those which he has collected with so much labor from the 
 Byzantine luminaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries." 22 
 
 212. A conclusion directly contrary to that of this ingenious gentleman was drawn by several 
 learned writers of antiquity, from the confusion in which the traditions of early times were involved : 
 instead of turning history into mythology, they turned mythology into history; and inferred that, 
 because some of the objects of public worship had been mortal men, they had all been equally so; for 
 which purpose, they rejected the authority of the mysteries ; where the various gradations of gods, 
 dajmons, and heroes, with all the metaphysical distinctions of emanated, personified, and canonised 
 beings, were taught ; 31U and instead of them, brought out the old allegorical genealogies in a new dress, 
 under pretence of their having been transcribed from authentic historical monuments of extreme 
 antiquity found in some remote country. 
 
 213. Euhemerus, a Mcsscnian employed under Cassander king of Macedonia, seems to have been 
 the first who attempted this kind of fraud. Having been sent into the Eastern Ocean with some 
 commission, he pretended to have found engraven upon a column in an ancient temple in the island 
 of Panchrea, a genealogical account of a family, that had once reigned there; in which were 
 comprised the principal deities then worshipped by the Greeks. 821 The theory, which he formed 
 from this pretended discovery, was soon after attempted to be more fully established by a Phoenician 
 history, said to have been compiled many centuries before by one Sanchoniathon from the records of 
 Thoth and Amnion ; but never brought to light until Philo of Byblos published it in Greek with a 
 procem of his own ; in which he asserted that the mysteries had been contrived merely to disguise the 
 tales of his pretended Phoenician history, 11 ^ notwithstanding that a great part of these tales are 
 evidently nothing more than the old mystic allegories copied with little variation from the theogonies 
 of the Greek poets, in which they had before been corrupted and obscured. 
 
 214. A fragment of this work having been preserved by Euscbius, many learned persons among the 
 modems have quoted it with implicit confidence, as a valuable and authentic record of very ancient 
 history ; while others have as confidently rejected it, as a bungling fraud imposed upon the public by 
 Philo of Byblos, in order to support a system, or procure money from the founders of the Alexandrian 
 Library ; who paid such extravagant prices for old books, or for (what served equally well to furnish 
 their shelves) new books with old titles. Among the ancients there seems to have been but one 
 opinion concerning it ! for, except Porphyry, no heathen writer has deigned to mention it; so con- 
 temptible a performance, as the fragment extant proves it to have been, seeming to them unworthy of 
 being rescued from oblivion even by an epithet of scorn or sentence of reprobation. The early 
 Christian writers, however, took it under their protection, because it favored that system, which by 
 degrading the old, facilitated the progress of the new religion : but in whatever else these writers may 
 have excelled, they certainly had no claim to excellence in either moral sincerity or critical sagacity; 
 and none less than Euscbius ; who, though his authority has lately been preferred to that of Tlmcy- 
 dides and Xenophon, was so differently thought of by ecclesiastical writers of the immediately 
 subsequent ages, that he is one of those, by whose example they justified the practice of holy 
 
 been mis-stated to have done) any more than Tatian and Origen did the incarnation of their Redeemer, or Aristcas and Philo the 
 
 passage <>f the Red Sea. 
 
 Tasso in his later days declared the whole of his Jerusalem Delivered to be an allegory ; but without, however, questioning the 
 historical truth of the crusades. 
 
 — Sec Bryant on Ancient Mythology. 
 
 * a Mtpi (IW o»v rw pwrtKUtv, tv olg toc ptyivrat; t/i$a<mc <=ai Staifiaat^ Xajitiv ioti tit? mpi Satpovuv aX^tmc, tvvropa pot kuuOuj, 
 kuO' 'UpoBorov. Plutarch, de Orac. Defect, p. 417, 
 6J ' Euscb. Fricp. Evang. lib. ii. c. ii. 
 
 — MtyaXai ptv Ti(i aOt V Xt V ^WmSac tnwvovrac, iW&PmZmtl ra fltm, Xcutirpav St rote Ev^ptpov tov Mtaanviov frvoKiepcc 
 vnppvnw SiSovrae, «C "vroc avr.yp^a ewBuc airt-TTOV nu avmaptrov ftl>0i>XoyuV, «RrOV aQtor^a mnniutavwn r nC pumpmqc, 
 touc vopiKoptvouQ Qiavc irai/rac 6uaAu>c ciaypaiphiv tic Ovapara cn-paTtrynJv Ml vavapxtov Ml fWAtw, u{ Sij TraXai 7 E 70 norm v. tv St 
 Omym W<W»«« XPVffWC avaytypapptvwv, tig outi /3«p/3apoc ouStic, ourf 'EXX«V, aXXa povoc EuijfHpoc, ic tova, itXtvaaq tlq roue 
 piftapoQl yuc yryovorac, pi,h oirac n<r¥x<"°"c Km Tp^uAtouc, (vrtru X ij«i. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 359. 
 
 *» AAA' ol ptv i-twrnroi run itpoXoywv, ra ptv ytyovorn irpaypara tE opxiC awtTttp^avro, aXXqyapiae Kat puOouc ntivonaavris, nat 
 roic iraBupaat avyytvtiav irXaaapivat, pvarnpta KanarnaaV Kai voXvv auroif mnyov rwjiov, pi, paSiaie riva avvopav 
 
 ra KaT a\i\6ttav ytvoptva. Philon. Bybl. apui! Euseh. Prwp. Evang. lib. i. c. is. 
 
73 
 
 lying,"" or asserting that which they knew to he false in support of that which they believed to he 
 true. 
 
 215. Among the numberless forgeries of greater moment which this practice poured upon the 
 world, is one in favor of this system, written in the form of a letter from Alexander the Great to his 
 mother, informing her that an Egyptian priest named Leo had secretly told him that all the gods 
 were deified mortals. Both the style and matter of it are below criticism; it being in every respect 
 one of the most bungling counterfeits ever issued from that great manufactory of falsehoods, which 
 was carried on under the avowed patronage of the leading members of the Church, during the 
 second, third, and fourth centuries." Jablonski only wasted his erudition in exposing it though 
 Warburton, whose multifarious reading never gave him any of the tact or taste of a scholar, has 
 employed all his acuteness and all his virulence in its defence.™' 
 
 218. The facility and rapidity, with which deifications were multiplied under the Macedonian and 
 Roman empires, gave considerable credit to the system of Euhemerus ; and brought proportionate 
 disgrace on religion in general. The many worthless tyrants, whom their own preposterous pride or 
 the abject servility of their subjects exalted into gods, would naturally be pleased to hear that the 
 universally recognised objects of public worship had no better title to the homage and devotion of 
 mankind than they themselves had ; and when an universal despot could enjoy the honors of a god, 
 at the same time that consciousness of his crimes prevented him from daring to enter a mystic temple, 
 it is natural that he should prefer that system of religion, which decorated him with its highest honors, 
 to that which excluded him from its only solemn rites. 050 
 
 217. This system had also another great advantage : for as all persons acquainted with the mystic 
 doctrines were strictly bound to secrecy, they could not of course engage in any controversy on the 
 subject ; otherwise they might have appealed to the testimony of the poets themselves, the great cor- 
 rupters and disguisers of their religion ; who, nevertheless, upon all great and solemn occasions, such 
 as public adjurations and invocations, resort to its first principles, and introduce no fabulous or 
 historical personages : not that they understood the mystic doctrines, or meant to reveal them ; but 
 because they followed the ordinary practice of the earliest times ; which in matters of such solemn 
 importance was too firmly established to he altered. When Agamemnon calls upon the gods to attest 
 and confirm his treaty with Priam, he gives a complete abstract of the old elementary system, upon 
 which the mystic was founded ; naming first the awful and venerable Father of all ; then the Sun, who 
 superintends and regulates the Universe, and lastly the subordinate diffusions of the great active Spirit, 
 that pervade the waters, the earth, and the regions under the earth.** 1 The invocation of the Athenian 
 women, who are introduced by Aristophanes celebrating the secret rites of Ceres, and Proserpine, is 
 to the same effect, only adapted to the more complicated and philosophical refinements of the mystic 
 worship. First they call upon Jupiter, or the supreme all-ruling Spirit; then upon the golden-lyred 
 Apollo, or the Sun, the harmoniser and regulator of the world, the centre and instrument of his power; 
 then upon Almighty Pallas, or the pure emanation of his wisdom ; then upon Diana or nature, the 
 many-named daughter of Latona or night ; then upon Neptune, or the emanation of the pervading 
 Spirit, that animates the waters; and lastly upon the Nymphs or subordinate generative ministers of 
 both sea and land!" 1 Other invocations to the same purport are to be found in many of the choral 
 odes both tragic and comic ; though the order, in which the personifications are introduced is often 
 varied, to prevent the mystic allusions from being too easily discernible. The principles of theology 
 appear to have been kept equally pure from the superstructures of mythology in the forms of judicial 
 adjuration ; Draco having enacted that all solemn depositions should he under the sanction of Jupiter, 
 Neptune, and Minerva; 003 whilst in later times Ceres was joined to the two former instead of 
 Minerva. 011 
 
 218. The great Pantheic temples exhibited a similar progression or graduation of personified 
 attributes and emanations in the statues and symbols which decorated them. Many of these existed 
 in various parts of the Macedonian and Roman empires ; but none are now so well known as that of 
 Hierapolis, or the holy city in Syria, concerning which we have a particular treatise falsely attributed 
 to Lucian. It was called the temple of the Syrian goddess Astarte ; who was precisely the same as 
 the Cybele, or universal mother, of the Phrygians ; whose attributes have been already explained, and 
 may be found more regularly detailed in a speech of Mopsus in the Argonaut.cs of Apollonius 
 Rhodiiis. 00: ' " She was," as Appian observes, " by some called Juno, by others Venus, and by 
 
 Pro libro adv. Jovinian. Hieronym. ibid. Clirysostoni. dc Sacerdot. 
 
 Prokgom. a 16. It is alluded to in ttie Apology of Athenagoras, and therefore of the second century. 
 
 Div. Leg. voL i. p. 213. See Sueton. in Ner. »' H. r. 276, &c. 
 
 ™ Grtrao^. 315, Sic. *>> Schol. Ven. in II. O. 3G. 
 
 M1 Demoathen. tin Tino*par. apud eutid. MJ Lib. i. 10*Jfa'. 
 
?4 
 
 others held to be Nature, or the cause which produced the beginnings and seeds of things from 
 Humidity;" 886 so that she comprehended in one personification both these goddesses; who were 
 accordingly sometimes blended in one symbolical figure by the very ancient Greek artists."' 7 
 
 219. Her statue at Hierapolis was variously composed; so as to signify many attributes like those 
 of the Ephesian Diana, Berecynthian Mother, and others of the kind,** 3 It was placed in the interior 
 part of the temple, accessible only to priests of the higher order; and near it, was the statue of the 
 corresponding male personification, called by the Greek writers Jupiter; which was borne by bulls, 
 as that of the goddess was by lions, 839 to signify that the active power or ietherial spirit is sustained by 
 its own strength alone ; while the passive or terrestrial requires the aid of previous destruction. The 
 minotaur or sphinx, before explained, are only more compendious ways of representing these com- 
 posite symbols. 
 
 220. Between them was a third figure with a golden dove on its head, which the Syrians did not 
 choose to explain, or call by any name ; but which some supposed to be Bacchus, Others Deucalion, 
 and others Semi ram is. 11 10 It must, therefore, have been an androgynous figure ; and most probably 
 signified the first- begotten Love, or plastic emanation, which proceeded from both and was eonsub- 
 stantial with both ; whence he was called by the Persians, who seem to have adopted him from the 
 Syrians, Mithras, signifying the Mediator." 11 The doubt expressed concerning the sex, proves that the 
 body of the figure was covered, as well as the features effeminate ; and it is peculiarly remarkable that 
 such a figure as this with a golden dove on its head should have been taken for Deucalion ; of whom 
 corresponding ideas must of course have been entertained : whence we are led to suspect that the 
 fabulous histories of this personage are not derived from any vague traditions of the universal deluge ; 
 but from some symbolical composition of the plastic spirit upon the waters, which was signified in so 
 many various ways in the emblematical language of ancient art. The infant Perseus floating in an ark 
 or box with his mother, is probably from a composition of the same kind ; Isis and Horus being 
 represented enclosed in this manner on the mystic or Isiac hands j 842 and the ^Egyptians, as before 
 observed, representing the Sun in a boat instead of a chariot ; from which boat being carried in pro- 
 cession upon men's shoulders, as it often appears in their sculptures, and being ornamented with 
 symbols of Ammon taken from the ram, probably arose the fable of the Argonautic expedition ; of 
 which there is not a trace in the genuine parts of either of the Homeric poems." 13 The Colchians 
 indeed were supposed to be a colony of ./Egyptians, 014 and it is possible that there might be so much 
 truth in tlie story, as that a party of Greek pirates carried off a golden figure of the symbol of their 
 god : but bad it been an expedition of any splendor or importance, it certainly would have been 
 noticed in the repeated mention that is made of the heroes said to have been concerned in it. 
 
 221. The supreme Triad, thus represented at Hierapolis, assumed different forms and names in 
 different mystic temples. In that of Samothrace it appeared in three celebrated statues of Scopas, 
 called Venus, Pothos, and Phaethon, 8 * or Nature, Attraction, and Light ; a "' and at Upsal in Sweden, 
 by three figures equally symbolical, called Odin, Freia, and Thor; the first of which comprehended 
 the attributes of Jupiter and Mars, the second those of Juno and Venus, and the third those of 
 Hercules and Bacchus, together with the thunder of Jupiter : for Thor, as mediator between heaven 
 and earth, had the general command of the terrestrial atmosphere. 847 Among the Chinese sects, which 
 
 « O; pt» AfpoStrvv, ol fit 'Hpav, ol 8( ro C apx"? <""P/mt<i iraatv t£ vypuv napa^pvaav atrtav K at vo^Zovaiv. de Bello 
 
 Partli. Plutarch describes her in the same words, in Crasao, p. 271. 
 
 *" goavnv npx<ut>v kuXovui (Aacmvit) A^quoVtic 'HpaQ. Pausan. in Lacon. c. siii. Tiju 'Hpau iKttvot {Tvpptivot} Kvirpav KaXnvat. 
 Strabon. lib. v. p. 241. 
 
 Ex*' St n km A0.|i.aii,c, sat A$>poS<rijc, sat 2iA,,i.airjc, trai 'Ptijc, *<"■ ApnpiBoi, *at Nyitmoc. «<» Moipcmv. Luciaa. de 
 
 D. Sy. b. 32. 
 
 m> ap<pu tZ,nvraC aXXa tuv fuv 'Hptjv XtovriQ ipoptovoiv, a St ravpolalv npiKt™. Ib. s. 31. 
 
 Atovrfc ptv foptown, koi rupiravov tx«. km «" ry stoiaAy Trvpyofopm, wow 'Pn|v AuSoi iroaovai. Ib. s. 15. 
 Kat Sura to ptv tou Atac ayaXpa, tc Ala Traira opg, (cat a^aXnv, km upara, Kai iSpijv' Kat piv ovSt tBiXwv oXXwq Eucaofic. 
 Ib. S. 81. 
 
 It WW therefore the same figure an that on the Phoenician medal with the bull's head on the chair ; and which is repeated with 
 slight variations on the silver coins of Alexander the Great, Seleueus I., Antiochus IV., &c. 
 
 wo ou8( ri ovvopa .S.ov auT V i&tvro, aXX ougt yivioiaq avrov irepi, tat f.Sioc Xtyovau KUl fin ol /HV tf AwvvaoV aXkoi St tc 
 
 AtiiKoAlwva - oi Sf ft 2,tptpupiv ayovat. Ib. s. 33. 
 
 «' Mtuop y o^otv roi. MtOpiv HMU* Sio Kat MtQpw Tlipaai rov ptMrw ovopatouai. Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. p. 3C9. 
 
 "» La Chausse Mus. Rom. vol. ii. pi. 11 and 13. 
 
 "» The four lines in Odvss. M. 69-72. are manifestly interpolated. 
 
 •m Herodot. lib. ii. c. civ. Plin. lib. xxxvi. c. iv. 7. 
 
 «« rjo6V>c. desire. *at6W la an Homeric title of the Sun, signifying splendid or luminous ; but afterwards personified by the 
 mycologists into a son of Apollo. 
 
 W Mullet Hist. deDanemarc. Introd. c. vii. p. 1 15. Thor bore the club of Hercules; but like Bacchus he was the God of the 
 
 seasons, and his chariot was drawn by goats. Ibid, ct Oda Tlirymi Edd. xxi. Ol. Itudbcck. tab. x. fig. 28. 
 
75 
 
 have retained or adopted the symbolical worship, a triple personification of one godhead is compre- 
 hended in the goddess Pussa, whom they represent sitting upon the lotus, called, in that country, Lien, 
 and with many arms, carrying different symbols, to signify the various operations of universal nature! 
 A similar union of attributes was expressed in the Scandinavian goddess Isa or Disa; who in one of 
 her personifications appeared riding upon a ram accompanied with music, to signify, like Pan, the 
 principle of universal harmony; and, in another, upon a goat, with a quiver of arrows at her back 
 and ears of corn in her hand, to signify her dominion over generation, vegetation, and destruction » 
 Even in the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean, which appear to have been peopled from the Malay 
 shores, the supreme deities are God the Father, God the Son, and the Bird or Spirit , subordinate to 
 whom arc an endless tribe of local deities and genii attending to every individual." 
 
 222. The Egyptians are said to have signified their divine Triad by a simple triangle;™ which 
 sometimes appears upon Greek monuments but the most ancient form of this more concise and 
 comprehensive symbol, appears to he that of the three lines, or three human legs springing from a 
 central disk or circle, which has been called a Trinacria, and supposed to allude to the island of Sicily • 
 but winch is of Asiatic origin ; its earliest appearance being upon the very ancient coins of Aspcndus 
 m Pamphyha; sometimes alone in the square incuse; and sometimes upon the body of the eagle or 
 back of the lion.'" The tripod, however, was more generally employed for this purpose ; and is found 
 composed in an endless variety of ways, according to the various attributes meant to be specifically 
 expressed. On the coins of Menecratia in Phrygia it is represented between two asterisks, with a 
 serpent wreathed round a battle-axe inserted into it, as an accessary symbol signifying preservation 
 and destruction."" In the ceremonial of worship, the number three was employed with mystic 
 solemnity;"' and in the emblematical hands above alluded to, which seem to have been boine upon 
 the point of a staff or sceptre in the Isiac processions, the thumb and two fore-fingers are held up to 
 signify the three primary and general personifications, while the peculiar attributes of each are 
 indicated by the various accessary symbols. 
 
 223. A bird was probably chosen for the emblem of the third person to signify incubation, by 
 which was figuratively expressed the fructification of inert matter, caused by the vital spirit moving 
 upon the waters. When represented under a human form, and without the emblem, it has generally 
 wings, as in the figures of Mithras; and, in some instances, the priapic cap or Egyptian mitre upon 
 its head, with the hook or attractor in one hand, and the winnow or separator in the other.'" The 
 dove would naturally be selected in the East in preference to every other species of bird, on account 
 of its domestic familiarity with man ; it usually lodging under the same roof with him, and being 
 employed as bis messenger from one remote place to another. Birds of this kind were also remarkable 
 for the care of their offspring, and for a sort of conjugal attachment and fidelity to each other; as 
 likewise for the peculiar fervency of their sexual desires ; whence they were sacred to Venus, and 
 emblems of love.™ On the same account they were said by the poets to carry ambrosia from the 
 ocean to Jupiter :~ for, being the symbols of love or attraction, they were the symbols of that power 
 winch bore the finer exhalations, the immortal and celestial infusions called ambrosia, with which 
 water the prolific element of the earth had been impregnated, back to their original source, that they 
 might be again absorbed in the great abyss of the divine essence. Birds, however, of two distinct 
 kinds appear in the attitude of incubation on the heads of the Egyptian Isis ; and in a beautiful figure 
 in brass belonging to Mr. Payne Knight, a bird appears in the same posture on the head of a Grecian 
 deity ; which by the style of work must be much anterior to the adoption of any thing Egyptian into 
 the religion of Greece. It was found in Epirus with other articles, where the 2YNNA0S, or female 
 personification of the supreme God, Jupiter of Dodona, was Dione; who appears to have been the 
 Juno- Venus, or composite personage above mentioned. In this figure she seems to have been repre- 
 sented with the diadem and sceptre of the former, the dove of the latter, and the golden disk of Ceres • 
 which three last symbols were also those of the Egyptian Isis. The dove, being thus common to the 
 
 » Ol. Rudbeck. Atlant. vol. ii. p. 209 and 10. m Missionaries First Voyage, p. 3t!. 
 
 » „ mmm cm, tuv a,„ apoc oo«„t, ,pp m , J, ),x„ f: ,„„ S( „ f ^ v „ m Q 
 
 apx'tv, raj* & t«y i c faro&xw, rw 8t 'Opov, iuc ajrortAfffua. Plutarch, de la. et Osir. p. 373. 
 °" Particularly on the coina of the Colonies in Magna Grfecia. 
 
 See Mua. Hunter, tab. vii. No. 15. 
 A similar old coin with the symbol on the back of a lion is in the cabinet of Mr. Kniuht 
 =" Brass coin in the cabinet of Mr. Knight. 
 
 M ' ttpoc rac a^icrdoe ram xpa-ntua r v ap&py rourq.. Ariatot. dc CreL lib. i. c. i. 
 
 " Sc ° P1 >»"'™ «*» »f Mehta- m /Elian, dc Animal, lib. iii. c. Of. and v. and lib. iv. c. ii. 
 
 * Odyss. M. 62-63. Mocro apud Allien. Deipuos. lib. xt. p. 491. 
 
 Toa ptv apa rnnpaivtc in Eafl( ¥ rpaQov avrp v , 
 
 ApPponlnv ainptouooi air' Qsiaaolo puauv. 
 
principal goddess both of Dodona and Mgypt, may account for the confused story told by Herodotus, 
 of two pigeons, or priestesses called pigeons, going from Thebes in ./Egypt, and founding the oracles 
 of Dodona and Libya." 3 " Like others of the kind, it was contrived to veil the mystic meaning of 
 symbolical figures, and evade further questions. The beak of the bird, however, in the figure in 
 question, is too much bent for any of the dove kind ; and is more like that of a cuckoo ; which was 
 the symbol on the sceptre of the Argive Juno in ivory and gold by Polyeletus, which held a pome- 
 granate in the other hand ^ but what it meant is vain to conjecture. Another bird, much celebrated 
 by the Greek poets as a magical charm or philtre, under the name of Iunx, afl0 appears by the descrip- 
 tion of Aristotle 1 "'' to be the larger spotted woodpecker; which, however, we have never observed in 
 any monuments of ancient art; nor do we know of any natural properties belonging to it that could 
 have authorised its use. It seems to be the Picas of the Italians, which was sacred to Mars. 062 
 
 224. After the supreme Triad, which occupied the adytum of the temple at Hierapolis, came the 
 personifications of their various attributes and emanations ; which are called after the names of the 
 corresponding Grecian deities ; and among which was an ancient statue of Apollo clothed and 
 bearded, contrary to the usual mode of representing him. 868 In the vestibule were two phalli of 
 enormous magnitude j 884 upon one of which a person resided during seven days twice in each year to 
 communicate with the gods, 865 and pray for the prosperity of Syria; and in the court were kept the 
 sacred or symbolical animals ; such as bulls, horses, lions, bears, eagles, &c. Bft ' In an adjoining pond 
 were the sacred fish, some of which were tame and of great size ; and about the temple were an 
 immense number of statues of heroes, priests, kings, and other deified persons, who had either been 
 benefactors to it, or, from their general celebrity, thought worthy to be ranked with them. Among 
 the former were many of the Macedonian princes, and among the latter several of the heroes and 
 heroines of the Iliad, such as Achilles, Hector. Helen, Hecuba, Andromache, &c. 8S7 
 
 225. The most common mode of signifying deification in a portrait was by representing the figure 
 naked, or with the simple chlamys or mantle given to the statues of the gods. The head, too, was 
 sometimes radiated; or the bust placed upon some sacred and appropriate symbol; such as the 
 cornucopiaV"* the flower of the lotus, BM or the inverted obelisk ; which last mode was by far the most 
 frequent; the greatest part of the busts now extant of eminent Grecian statesmen, poets, and philo- 
 sophers, having been thus represented ; though many of them are of persons who were never canonised 
 by any public decree : for, in the loose and indeterminate system of ancient faith, every individual 
 could consecrate in his own family the object of his admiration, gratitude, or esteem, and address him 
 with whatever rites of devotion he thought proper, provided he did nothing contrary to the peace and 
 order of society, or in open violation of the established forms of worship. This consecration, however, 
 was not properly deification, but what the Roman Catholic Church still practises under the title of 
 canonisation ; the object of it having been considered, according to the modern acceptation of the 
 words, rather as a saint than a god ; wherefore a deified or canonised Roman emperor was not called 
 Deus, but Divus ; a title which the early Christians equally bestowed on the canonised champions of 
 their faith. 
 
 226. Among the rites and customs of the temple at Hierapolis, that of the priests castrating them- 
 selves, and assuming the manners and attire of women, is one of the most unaccountable. The 
 legendary tale of Combabus adduced by the author of the treatise ascribed to Lucian, certainly does 
 not give a true explanation of it ; but was probably invented, like others of the kind, to conceal rather 
 than developc : for the same custom prevailed in Phrygia among the priests of Cybele and Atys, who 
 bad no such story to account for it. Perhaps it might have arisen from a notion of making them- 
 selves emblems of the deity by acquiring an androgynous appearance; and perhaps, as PhurnutLis 
 
 «■ Lib. ii. c. liv. &c. ■ Pausan. in Corinth, c. xvii. 
 
 *» Pindar. Pyth. iv. 380. Nem. iv. v. 55. Thcocrit. Pharmac. * Hist. Anim. lib. ii. c. xii. 
 
 * 5 'Qp,invT<" S( ek tjiq Sd0ii.tic ol UiKivTivoL, SpVKoXairrov n)v oSov vynoapt vov roie apx^H-aic, a^' ov k<u rouvoua- lltKOv yap TOV 
 opvtv rourov ouofmSouai, jcai voufovaiv Aptoc "po*. Strab. lib. V. p. 240. 
 
 Kioto! Emvov AiroXAwwoe, owe o'tov H00U iroitiaOai. u't fitv yap oXAm 7rai>T(C AiroXXiova vtov Tt iiynvrat, K ai WpuOnp^V TOfttRNn' 
 
 patnmi St ovrOi AiroXAwwoc ytntVtm toavov SuKwoum. iv Si wu aXAo r V afenpy AttoXXwv! tcMvovpytowti' novvoi AiroXXuva 
 
 Aum Kou/ifouTi. Lucian. dc D. Sy. s. 35. 
 
 Similar fibres of Ajiollu are upon some of the very early coins of Syracuse and Rliegium. 
 
 ™ According to the present reading, 800 ells high ; probably 30. 
 
 ** Ol lilV ttoXXoi VQjllZawn, an tyau towi Btotai OUiXtH, nai ayada ttootj Supip ainti. Ib. S. 28. 
 
 686 En Sf ry auXy octroi viuourai jioig uiyaXoi, xai imroi, koi arrat, Km aptroi, wit XtOVTIf ' nai nuOpuwouc outa/in atvovrat, aAAa 
 vavrtc ipm Tt nil Kai x«f»o>i6W- l0 - s - +!• 
 
 *» This temple having been in an alluvial country near the Euphrates, it is probable that most of the marble statues which 
 adorned it still exist under the accumulated soil. 
 Of which there are many instances in gems. 
 
 Mi Sec the beautiful marble bust called Clytia in the British Museum. 
 
77 
 
 conjectures, from some allegorical fiction; such as those of the castration of Heaven by Time, of 
 Time by Jupiter," 70 &c. It is possible, likewise, that they might have thought a deprivation of virility 
 an incentive to that spiritual enthusiasm, to which women were observed to be more liable than men ; 
 and to which all sensual indulgence, particularly that of the sexes, was held to be peculiarly adverse : 
 whence strict abstinence from the pleasures of both the bed and table was required preparatory to the 
 performance of several religious rites, though all abstinence was contrary to the general festive 
 character of the Greek worship. The Pythian priestesses in particular fasted very rigidly before they 
 mounted the tripod, from which their predictions were uttered; and both they and the Sibyls were 
 always virgins; such alone being qualified for the sacred office of transmitting divine inspiration. 
 The ancient German prophetesses, too, who exercised such unlimited control over a people that 
 would submit to no human authority, were equally virgins consecrated to the Deity, like the Roman 
 Vestals; or chosen from the rest of the species by some manifest signs of his predilection. 871 
 Perpetual virginity was also the attribute of many of the ancient goddesses; and, what may seem 
 extraordinary, of some who had proved themselves prolific. Minerva, though pre-eminently distin- 
 guished by the title of the virgin,"" is said to have had children by the Sun, called Corybantes ; who 
 appear to have been a kind of priests of that god, canonised for their knowledge j and, therefore, 
 fabled to have been his children by Divine Wisdom." 73 Diana, who was equally famed for her virginal 
 purity, has the title of mother in an ancient inscription;" 7 * and Juno is said to have renewed her 
 virginity every year, by bathing in a certain fountain in the Peloponnesus, the reason of which was 
 explained in the Argive mysteries ; B7i in which the initiated were probably informed that this was an 
 ancient figurative mode of signifying the fertilising quality of those waters, which renewed and re-in- 
 tegrated annually the productive powers of the earth. This figurative or mystic renovation of virginity 
 seems to be signified in the Orphic hymns by the epithet IIOAYI1APGENOS ; B76 which, though 
 applied to a male personification, may equally signify the complete restoration of the procreative 
 organs of the universe after each periodical effort of nature. 
 
 227. Upon this principle, the placing figures upon some kinds of fish appears to have been an 
 ancient mode of consecration and apotheosis, to veil which under the usual covering of fable, the tales 
 of Arion, Taras, &c. were probably invented. Fish were the natural emblems of the productive power 
 of the waters ; they being more prolific than any other class of animals, or even vegetables, that we 
 know. The species consecrated to the Syrian goddess seems to have been the Scarus, celebrated 
 for its tameness 077 and lubricity ; in which last it held the same rank among fish, as the goat did 
 among quadrupeds. 8,3 Sacred eels were kept in the fountain of Arethusa : S79 but the dolphin was 
 the common symbol of the Greeks, as the thunny was of the Phoenicians ; both being gregarious 
 fish, and remarkable for intelligence and sagacity j 8 " 0 and therefore probably signifying other 
 attributes combined with the generative. The thunny is also the symbol upon all the very ancient 
 gold coins struck by the Greeks, in which it almost invariably serves as the base or substratum for 
 some other symbolical figure to rest upon ; 881 water being the general means, by which all the other 
 powers of nature act. 
 
 228. The remarkable concurrence of the allegories, symbols, and titles of ancient mythology in 
 favor of the mystic system of emanations, is alone sufficient to prove the falsity of the hypotheses 
 founded upon Euhemerus's narrative ; and the accurate and extensive researches of modern travellers 
 into the ancient religions and traditions of the East, prove that the narrative itself was entirely 
 fiction ; no trace of such an island as Panchaea, or of any of the historical records or memorials 
 which he pretended to have met with there, being now to be found. On the contrary, the extreme 
 
 » De Nat. Deor. c. vi. p. 147. 
 See Tacit, de M. G. 
 
 B ™ TlapBtvuv, vooc 1,1- tv rp a^owaXa, riapflivou A6,,vac Sehol. in Demosth. Oral, in Androt. 
 575 Strabon. lib. x. p. 472. 
 * 7 * Gruter. Thesaur. xli. 5. 
 
 EiTQuOa mil H^fiv fjiaaiv Apyttoi Kara irae Xovpcvuv rtapOtvov yiviadai' oOroe jiti 1 Si| atftioiv ;k teAh-ijc, f)V ayovai tij Hpg, \oyoc 
 ruiv aTTOpiiTiiv tnTiv. Pau^m. in Corinth, c. XXxviii. 
 
 * Hymn. li. 
 
 " Xenoplum. Anab. 
 
 jElian. de Animal, lib. i. c. ii. 
 
 Plutarch, de Solert. Animal, ji. 976. 
 esa .^Elian. de Animal, lib. i. c. JtviiL Plutarch, de Solert. Animal, p. 979. 
 
 *" Six are in the cabinet of Mr. Knight, in which it is respectively placed under the triton of Corcyra, the lion of Cyzicus, 
 the goat of JEgie, the ram of Clazomenai, the hull of Samos, and the gryphon of Teios. For the form and size of these 
 coins see Mils. Hunt. tab. Hi. fig. 1. They are probably the Homeric talents Stamped] and may be considered as the 
 first money. 
 
78 
 
 antiquity and universal reception of the system of emanations, over all those vast countries which 
 lie between the Arctic and Pacific oceans, have been fully and clearly demonstrated. According 
 to the Hindoos, with whose modification of it we are best acquainted, the supreme ineffable God, 
 called Brame, or the great one, first produced Brama the creator, who is represented with four 
 heads corresponding with the four elements ; and from whom proceeded Vishnoo the preserver 
 and Shiven the destroyer; who is also the regenerator: for, according to the Indian philosophy, 
 nothing is destroyed or annihilated, but only transmuted; so that the destruction of one thing is 
 still the generation of another. Hence Shiven, while he rides upon an eagle, the symbol of the 
 destroying attribute, has the lingam, the more explicit symbol of generation, always consecrated in 
 his temples. These three deities were still only one in essence ; and were anciently worshipped 
 collectively under the title of Trimourti ; though the followers of the two latter now constitute 
 two opposite and hostile sects; which, nevertheless, join on some occasions in the worship of the 
 universal Triad. 881 
 
 229. This triform division of the personified attributes or modes of action of one first cause, seems 
 to have been the first departure from simple theism, and the foundation of religious mythology in 
 every part of the earth. To trace its origin to patriarchal traditions, or seek for it in the philosophy 
 of any particular people, will only lead to frivolous conjecture, or to fraud and forgery; which have 
 been abundantly employed upon this subject : nor have repeated detection and exposure either damped 
 the ardor or abashed the effrontery of those, who still find them convenient to support their theories 
 and opinions.™' Its real source is in the human mind itself; whose feeble and inadequate attempts 
 to form an idea of one universal first cause would naturally end in generalising and classing the par- 
 ticular ideas derived from the senses, and thus forming distinct, thoiigh indefinite notions of certain 
 attributes or modes of action ; of which the generic divisions are universally three ; such as goodness, 
 wisdom, and power; creation, preservation, and destruction; potential, instrumental, and efficient, 
 Sec. &e. Hence almost every nation of the world, that has deviated from the rude simplicity of 
 primitive Theism, has had its Trinity in Unity; which, when not limited and ascertained by divine 
 revelation, branched out, by the natural subdivision of collective and indefinite ideas, into the endless 
 and intricate personifications of particular subordinate attributes, which have afforded such abundant 
 materials for the elegant fictions both of poetry and art. 
 
 230. The similitude of these allegorical and symbolical fictions with each other, in every part of the 
 world, is no proof of their having been derived, any more than the primitive notions which they 
 signify, from any one particular people; for as the organs of sense and the principles of intellect 
 are the same in all mankind, they would all naturally form similar ideas from similar objects; and 
 employ similar signs to express them, so long as natural and not conventional signs were used. 
 Wolves, lions, and panthers, are equally beasts of prey in all countries ; and would naturally be 
 employed as symbols of destruction, wherever they were known : nor would the bull and cow be 
 less obvious emblems of creative force and nutrition ; when it was found that the one might be 
 employed in tilling the earth, and the other in constantly supplying the most salubrious and nutri- 
 tious food. The characteristic qualities of the egg, the serpent, the goat, &c. are no less obvious ; 
 and as observation would naturally become more extensive, as intellect became more active, new 
 symbols would everywhere be adopted, and new combinations of them be invented in proportion 
 as they were wanted. 
 
 231. The only certain proof of plagiary or borrowing is where the animal or vegetable productions 
 
 of one climate are employed as symbols by the inhabitants of another; as the lion is in Tibet; and 
 as the lotus and hooded snake were in /Egypt ; which make it probable that the religious symbols of 
 both those countries came originally from the Hindoos. As commercial communications, however, 
 became more free and intimate, particular symbols might have been adopted from one people by 
 another without any common origin or even connexion of general principles; though, between iEgypt 
 and Hindostan the general similarity is too great in points remote from common usage, to have been 
 spontaneous or accidental. One ot the most remarkable is the hereditary division into casts derived 
 from the metempsychosis ; which was a fundamental article of faith with both ; as also with the 
 ancient Gauls, Britons, and many other nations. The Hindoo casts rank according to the number of 
 transmigrations which the soul is supposed to have undergone, and its consequent proximity to, or 
 distance from re-absorption into the divine essence, or intellectual abyss, from which it sprang: and 
 in no instance in the history of man, has the craft of imposture, or the insolence of usurpation, 
 
 >li= Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. IT, ad fin. 
 
 683 See Sibylline verses, oracles, &c. forged by the Alexandrian Jews and Platonic Christians, but quoted as authentic by 
 Mr, Brvant, on Ancient Mythology ; and Mr, Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. 
 
79 
 
 placed one class of human beings so far above another, as the sacred Bramins, whose souls are 
 approaching to a re-union with their source, are above the wretched outcasts, who are without any 
 rank in the hierarchy; and are therefore supposed to have all the long, humiliating, and painful 
 transmigrations yet before them. Should the most respectable and opulent of these degraded mortals 
 happen to touch the poorest, and, in other respects, most worthless persons of exalted religious rank, 
 the offence, in some of the Hindoo governments, would he punished with death : even to let his 
 shadow reach him, is to defile and insult him ; and as the respective distinctions are in both hereditary, 
 the soul being supposed to descend into one class for punishment and ascend into the other for 
 reward, the misery of degradation is without hope even in posterity; the wretched parents having 
 nothing to bequeath to their unfortunate offspring that is not tainted with everlasting infamy and 
 humiliation. Loss of cast is therefore the most dreadful punishment that a Hindoo can suffer; as it 
 affects both his body and his soul, extends beyond the grave, and reduces both him and his posterity 
 for ever to a situation below that of a brute. 
 
 232. Had this powerful engine of influence been employed in favor of pure morality and efficient 
 virtue, the Hindoos might have been the most virtuous and happy of the human race ; but the 
 ambition of a hierarchy has, as usual, employed it to serve its own particular interests, instead of 
 those of the community in general : whence to taste of the flesh of a cow, or to be placed with certain 
 ceremonies upon the back of a bull, though unwillingly and by constraint, are crimes by which the 
 most virtuous of men is irrevocably subjected to it, while the worst excesses of cruelty, fraud, perjury, 
 and peculation leave no stains nor pollutions whatsoever. The future rewards, also, held out by their 
 religion, are not to any social or practical virtues, but to severe penances, operose ceremonies, and 
 above all to profuse donations to the priesthood. The Bramins have even gone so far as to sell future 
 happiness by retail ; and to publish a tariff of the different prices, at which certain periods of residence 
 in their paradise, or regions of bliss, are to be obtained between the different transmigrations of the 
 soul. 884 The Hindoos are of course a faithless and fraudulent, though in general a mild and submis- 
 sive race : for the same system which represses active virtue, represses aspiring hope; and by fixing 
 each individual immovably in his station, renders him almost as much a machine as the implement 
 which he employs. Hence, like the ancient ./Egyptians, they have been eminently successful in all 
 works of art, that require only methodical labor and manual dexterity, but have never produced any 
 thing in painting, sculpture or architecture that discovers the smallest trace or symptom of those 
 powers of the mind, which wc call taste and genius ; and of which the most early and imperfect works 
 of the Greeks always show some dawning. Should the pious labors of our missionaries succeed in 
 diffusing among them a more pure and more moral, but less uniform and less energetic system of 
 religion, they may improve and exalt the characters of individual men ; but they will for ever destroy 
 the repose and tranquillity of the mass. The lights of European literature and philosophy will break 
 in with the lights of the gospel; the spirit of controversy will accompany the spirit of devotion; and 
 it will soon be found that men, who have learned to think themselves equal in the sight of God, will 
 assert their equality in the estimation of men. It requires therefore no spirit of prophecy, nor even 
 any extraordinary degree of political sagacity, to fix the date of the fall of European domination in 
 the East from the prevalence of European religion. 
 
 233. From the specimens that have appeared in European languages, the poetry of the Hindoos 
 seems to be in the same style as their art; and to consist of gigantic, gloomy, and operose fictions, 
 destitute of all those graces which distinguish the religious and poetical fables of the Greeks. Never- 
 theless the structure of their mythology is full as favorable to both ; being equally abundant and 
 more systematic in its emanations and personifications. After the supreme Triad, they suppose an 
 immense host of inferior spirits to have been produced ; part of whom afterwards rebelling under their 
 chiefs Moisasoor and Ithaabon, the material world was prepared for their prison and place of purga- 
 tion ; in which they were to pass through eighty-nine transmigrations prior to their restoration. 
 During this time they were exposed to the machinations of their former leaders ; who endeavour to 
 make them violate the laws of the Omnipotent, and thus relapse into hopeless perdition, or lose their 
 cast, and have all the tedious and painful transmigrations already past to go through again; to 
 prevent which, their more dutiful brethren, the emanations that remained faithful to the Omnipotent, 
 were allowed to comfort, cherish, and assist them in their passage; and that all might have equal 
 opportunities of redeeming themselves, the divine personages of the great Triad had at different times 
 become incarnate in different forms, and in different countries, to the inhabitants of which they had 
 given different laws and instructions suitable to their respective climates and circumstances ; so that 
 
 Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. v. 
 
80 
 
 each religion may be good without being exclusively so ; the goodness of the deity naturally allowing 
 many roads to the same end, 
 
 234. These incarnations, which form the principal subjects of sculpture in all the temples of India, 
 Tibet, Tartary, and China, are above all others calculated to call forth the ideal perfections of the art, 
 by expanding and exalting the imagination of the artist, and exciting his ambition to surpass the 
 simple imitation of ordinary forms in order to produce a model of excellence worthy to be the 
 corporeal habitation of the Deity : but this, no nation of the East, nor indeed of the Earth, except 
 the Greeks and those who copied them, ever attempted. Let the precious wrecks and fragments, 
 therefore, of the art and genius of that wonderful people be collected with care and preserved with 
 reverence, as examples of what man is capable of under peculiar circumstances ; which, as they have 
 never occurred but once, may never occur again ! 
 
ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS, 
 
 filth Numerals referring to the Sections, 
 
 Abraham, 1 63 
 Abstinence, 226 
 Acacia, 153 
 Acanthus, 153 
 Acmon, 38 
 Acteon, 114 
 Adjuration, 217 
 Adonis, 18, 19, 100, 120 
 -Egia, 179, 180 
 jEgobolium, 168 
 ^Egyptians, (j-i, ;s, 150 
 .-Escubipius, 140 
 AFIAHS, 145 
 Alexander, (Letter of) 215 
 Allegory, 10, 11, 205 
 Amazons, 50 
 Ambcrics, 197 
 Ambrosia, 223 
 Ambrosial stones, 197 
 Amnion, 151, 185, 186 
 Ampdus, 126 
 Anchor, 155 
 Androgynous, 207 
 Angels, 82 
 
 Animals, (sacred) 64, GG, 224 
 Antenna, 119 
 Anuhis, 161, 174 
 Apis, 29, 53 
 A*HTOP, 12!) 
 Aphrodite, 13 
 Apollo, 88, 128, 132, 224 
 Arabians, 30 
 Architis, 199 
 Argonaut ics, 220 
 AriadnC', 99 
 Arion, 227 
 Ark, 220 
 Arrow, 129 
 APTEM1S, 142 
 ASnASIA, 199 
 Ass, 123 
 
 Astarte, 38, 218, 219 
 Asterisk, 96, 161 
 Astrology, 79, 80 
 Atheism, 60 
 Attis, 96, 97, 100, 120 
 Attraction, 24, 89, 90 
 Attributes, (personified) 40 
 Augury, 67, 76, 77 
 Aurora, 1 1 1 
 Axe, 160, 222 
 
 Baal, 83, 125, 167 
 Babylon, 83 
 Bacchanals, ?4 
 Bacchus, 10, 18, 19, 52, 100, 126, 132, 
 
 136, 143, 185, 188, 205 
 BAITYAIA, 197 
 
 Baldness, 112 
 Baldur, 167 
 Baptism, 16C 
 Barley, 43, 43 
 BAYBQ, 87 
 Beads, 47 
 Beetle, 1 77 
 Bell 181 
 Bellona, IjB 
 Bi?Xoc, 83 
 Bird, 223 
 Blood, 143, 164 
 Boar, 120, 121, 122 
 Boat, 182, 220 
 Bow, 129 
 Brama, 228 
 Brame, 228 
 Bramin, 232 
 Bridle, 17G 
 Brimo, 113, 159 
 Bryant, 211, 229 
 Bubostis, 87 
 Buccinum, 51 
 
 Bull, 28, 31, 138, 144, 158, 219 
 Bulla, 179 
 Burial, 162 
 Burning, 1G2 
 Butterfly, 169 
 
 Cadmcians, 52, 200 
 Cadmus, 20, 200 
 Caduceus, 1G0 
 Calf, 53 
 Camillus, 200 
 Canobus, 165 
 
 Canonisation, 203, 224, 225 
 Cap, 161 
 
 Capitals, 153, 154, 155 
 
 Carthaginians, 1GS 
 
 Cosmilus, 200 
 
 Cast, (Indian) 231 
 
 Castor, 135 
 
 Castration, 226 
 
 Cat, 141 
 
 Ce crops, 25, 207 
 
 Centaur, 111 
 
 Ceres, IB, 35, 117, 205 
 
 Chaldreans, 81 
 
 Chaplet, 47 
 
 Chariot, 182 
 Charon, 15 
 Chemb, 111 
 Chimajra, 127 
 Chinese, 31, 60 
 X0IP0*AAH2, 19 
 XPY2AQP, 129 
 Circle, 91 
 Ciata, 25, 136 
 
 Cock, 104, 159, 200 
 Ctelum, 38 
 Coins, 14, 17 
 Columns, 11 7, 152 
 Comedy, 201 
 Composite order, 1 5G 
 Cone, 195 
 
 Consecration, 25, 225 
 Corinthian order, 153 
 Cornucopia;, 133, 184, 225 
 Cortina, 133 
 Cory ban tea, 22 G 
 Cosmogony, 3, 4, 5 
 Cow, 52, 53, 195 
 Crab-fish, 139 
 Crescent, 32, 1 10, 179 
 Criobolium, 168 
 Cross, 16, 97, 158, 198 
 Crown, 102 
 Cuckoo, 223 
 Cursing, 57 
 Cybele, 42, 120, 193 
 Cyclops, 107 
 Cymbals, 181 
 Cypris, 43 
 
 Dtemon, 1G3 
 Dancing, 1S6, 187, 201 
 Danes, 131 
 Deer, 110, 114, 115 
 
 Deiricatiun, 203, 20!, 20/, 21G, 224, 227 
 
 Delphi, 70, 76, 132 
 
 Delta, 43 
 
 Demigods, 207 
 
 Demodocus'a song, 1/3 
 
 AENAPITHS, 192 
 
 Derceto, 158 
 
 Destruction, 162 
 
 Deucalion, 220 
 
 Deus, 4 
 
 Diadem, A"J 
 
 Diagoras, GO 
 
 Diana, 111, 139, 142, 144 
 Didymreus, 133, 197 
 Dicspiter, 103 
 A1NOS, 89 
 Dione, 3G, 43, 223 
 A10NY20S, 18 
 Dioscuri, 135, 206 
 A14-YH2, 100 
 Disa,25, 103, 142, 195 
 Disk, 32, 179 
 Diurnal Sun, 132 
 Dodona, 43, 71, 223 
 Dog, 159, 161 
 Dolphin, 98, 113, 227 
 Doric order, 154 
 Dove, 45, 113, 220, 223 
 
82 
 
 Druids, 5 
 Duel, ICO 
 
 Eagle, 108, 222, 228 
 Eel, 227 
 
 Egg, 24, 31, 135, 155, 19G 
 'EKATONTAKAPANOS, 192 
 'EKATOrXElPOS, 193 
 EAATEIPA BOON, Ml 
 Elementary Worship, 1, 2 
 Elephant, 28, 184 
 Eleusinian Mysteries, 7 
 Emanations, G3 
 Epaphus, 28, 52, 53 
 EPE, 37 
 Erichthonius, 25 
 'EPMAIOI AO'I'OI, 198 
 B r ar gre cn a, 48 
 
 Euhemcrism and Euhemerus, 212, 213, 
 
 228 
 Eumolpus, 21 
 Eunipa, I I I 
 Expiation, [49 
 
 Fables, 39, 208, 211 
 Fanina, 120 
 Fasting, 22G 
 Fates, 106 
 Fauns, 33, 112, 188 
 Fig, 45 
 Fig-leaf, 43 
 Fillet, 47 
 Fir, 72, 158 
 
 Fire, 41, 117, 162, 172, 184 
 Fish, 98, 158, 224, 227 
 Fly, 125 
 
 Forgeries, 215, 229 
 Fortuna, 119 
 Frey, 120, 122 
 Freya, 50, 194, 221 
 Frogs, 201 
 
 Gabriel, 82 
 Games, 201, 202 
 Gamr, 1G2 
 Ganymede, 121 
 TENETYAAIiES, 41 
 Genius, 1(13 
 Germans, 5 
 Gianta, 10 
 Gio, 54 
 
 Goat, 33, 44, 116, 134, 159, 188, 191,221 
 
 Gonnis, 184 
 
 Good and Evil, 10G 
 
 Goose, 190 
 
 Gorgo, 1>9 
 
 Graces, 44, 1?3 
 
 Greeks, 61, 62 
 
 Groves, 73 
 
 Gryphon, 144, 176 
 
 Habaldur, 167 
 Hades, 145 
 Hand, (Priapic) 46 
 Happy Islands, 1 7* 1 
 Hare, 108 
 Harmony.llG, 200 
 Hawk, 108 
 Hecate, 159 
 Herald, 1G0 
 
 Hercules, 3, 1 15, 130, 133, 136, 188 
 
 Hermaphrodite, 199 
 
 Hermheraclcs, 172 
 
 Heroes, 207, 208, 210 
 
 Hertha, 36 
 
 Hicrapolis, 219, 224 
 
 Hieroglyphics, 12, 64, 66 
 
 High places, 94 
 
 Hindoos, 5, 59, 85, 233, 234 
 
 Hindostan, :il 
 Hippopotamos, 10S 
 Homer, 22, 208 
 Honeysuckle, 155 
 Hook, l/G, 191) 
 Horse, 111, 115, 201 
 Horus, 88, 195, 220 
 Hydra, 130 
 Hyes, 133 
 Hymns, 22 
 
 Jaggemaut, 103, 120 
 Iao, 134 
 Japon, 31 
 Ice, 53, 19G 
 Jephtha, 1G8 
 Jews, Gl 
 Ilithyiffi, 140 
 Incarnations, 233, 234 
 Incubation, 223 
 Infinity, 34 
 Initiation, 163 
 Ino, 20 
 
 Invocations, 217 
 
 Io, 54 
 
 Ionic order, 155 
 
 'inn a, 'inniA/mnios, 113 
 
 Isa, Isi, 54, 195, 221 
 
 Isis, 18, 38, 54, 118, 119, 195, 220 
 
 Ithyphallics, 138, 142 
 
 Juno, 36, 223, sospita, 191 
 
 Jupiter, 71, 114, 205, 219, 223 
 
 lunx, 223 
 
 Juul, 122 
 
 Key, 46 
 KOPH, 117 
 KPONOS, 34, 39, 170 
 
 Labyrinth, 9G, 97 
 
 Latona, 87 
 
 Laurel, 49 
 
 Leopard, 12G 
 
 Leucothea, 20 
 
 Libations, 68 
 
 Liber, 18 
 
 Libera, 118, 205 
 
 Libitina, 118 
 
 Light, 24 
 
 A1KN1TH2, 165 
 
 Lingam, !)8, 191, 228 
 
 Lion, 109, 110, 115, 116, 1S4, 137, 158, 
 
 185, 219 
 Lizard, 128 
 Loadstone, 89 
 Local Deities, 57 
 Logging Rocks, 197 
 Lok, 194 
 
 Lotus, 14G, 221, 231 
 AO*OI 'EPMAIOI, 198 
 Love, 24, 34, 56, 220 
 Lucetius, 103 
 Lucina, 140 
 AYKEfOS, 102, 186 
 AYSiOS AYSQN, 18 
 Lux, 102, 
 Lyre, 116 
 
 Macha alls, 25, 184 
 Mars, 11G, 122 
 Marvellous, (love of the) 3 
 May-pole, 23 
 Mediator, 220 
 Medusa, 179 
 Melampus, 20 
 Mendes, 191 
 
 Mercury, 159, 1?2, 198, 199,201 
 Metempsycliosis, 231 
 
 Michael, 82 
 
 Migration, 208, 211 
 
 Mimickry, 201 
 
 Minerva, 174, 175, 184, 185 
 
 Minotaur, 96, 219 
 
 Mises, 126 
 
 Misletoe, 71 
 
 Mithras, 220 
 
 Mithraic rites, 168 
 
 Mnevis, 29 
 
 Modius, G9, 119, 14G 
 
 Moisasoor, 233 
 
 Moloch, 1G7 
 
 Money, 14, 1G 
 
 Monkey, 178 
 
 Moon, 139, 179 
 
 Mouse, 128 
 
 Musrcus, 21 
 
 Music, 75 
 
 Mygale, 87 
 
 Mybtta, 83, 85 
 
 Myrtle, 48 
 
 Mysteries, 6, 9 
 
 Mythology, 3, 4, 5 
 
 Names, 203, 204, 209 
 Neith, 175 
 Nelumbo, I4G, 152 
 Nepthe, 118 
 Neptune, 100 
 Net, 195 
 Night, 8G 
 
 Nocturnal Sun, 132, 136 
 NOOS, 164 
 Nymphs, 189 
 
 Oak, 71 
 
 Obelisk, 102, 225 
 Ocean, 189 
 Odin, 171, 221 
 Oil, 197 
 Olen, 70 
 Olive, 27 
 QMH2TH2, 143 
 Ops, 38 
 Oracles, 68, 76 
 Ordeal, 160 
 
 Orders of architecture, 153 
 Orpheus, 21 
 
 Osiris, 10, IS, 19, 29, 55, 105, 111 
 OYPANOS, S8 
 Owl, 176, 185 
 
 Palm-tree, 201 
 
 Pallas, birth of, 174 
 
 Pan, 33, 112, 18G, 187, 188, 190, 191 
 
 Panchtea, 228 
 
 HANISKOI, 188 
 
 Pantheic figures, 192, 193— temples, 218 
 
 Paphian, 50 
 
 Paris, 121 
 
 Parsley, 202 
 
 Pasiphae, 9G 
 
 Pedum, 190 
 
 Pegasus, 111, 17<! 
 
 Penance, 143 
 
 Persecution, GO, 61 
 
 Perseus, 206, 220 
 
 Persians, 5, 92, 93 
 
 Personification, 10 
 
 Petasus, 161 
 
 Phiiethon, 221 
 
 Phallus, 23, 158, 191, 224 
 
 Philte, 54, 147 
 
 Philyra, 112 
 
 Phoenix, 120 
 
 *PHN, 1G4 
 
 Phthas, 174 
 
 *YTAAM10S, 192 
 
83 
 
 Picus, 223 
 Pillars, 181 
 Pinccone, 153 
 Pipe, 190 
 Planets, 193 
 Pluto, 1-15 
 Pluvius, 121 
 Poetry, 75 
 Pollux, 135 
 
 nOAOS, 119, 145, 146 
 I10AYriAP9EN0S, 226 
 Polypus, 45 
 Polytheism, 57 
 Pomegranate, 158, 223 
 Poplar, 133, 137 
 Pothos, 221 
 Poppy, 69 
 
 Priapus, 19, 23, 181, 190 
 
 Prom el he us, 124 
 
 Proserpine, 117, 145, 205 
 
 Prostitution, 83, 85 
 
 Prytaneia, 4 1 
 
 *YXH, 164 
 
 Psyche, 169 
 
 Purple, 164 
 
 Purse, 160 
 
 Pussa, 221 
 
 Putrefaction, 125 
 
 Pyrcetheia, !ll 
 
 Pyramid, 103, 162 
 
 Py tii agora s, 89 
 
 Pytho nYGIOS, 10, 128 
 
 Rabbit, 141 
 
 Radiation, 102, 225 
 
 Ram, 131, 159, 1B5, 200, 221 
 
 Raphael, S2 
 
 'PEA, 37 
 
 Red, 164 
 
 Regeneration, 166 
 
 Renovation, 162 
 
 RES, 37 
 
 Rewards, 1/0 
 
 Rhaabon, 233 
 
 Rhadamanthus, 1 70 
 
 Rivers, 97, 138, 189 
 
 Romans, 61, 62 
 
 Rudder, 119 
 
 Rustam, 131 
 
 Samuthracian Mysteries, 200 
 Saiicliuinathon, 123, 214 
 Saturn, 38, 39, 112, 186 
 Satyrs, 33 
 
 Sat yrs, (equine and caprine) 112, 188, 191 
 
 2AYP0KT0N0S, 128 
 Scandinavia, 5, 31 
 Scarus, 227 
 Scylla, 182 
 Seasons, 106 
 Scmirntnis, 220 
 Serapis, 38, 145 
 Serpent, 25 
 Sesostris, 131 
 Shell, 43, 51 
 Shiven, 228 
 Siamese, 58 
 Silenus, 112, 186 
 Sistrum, 141, 181 
 SM1N0EYS, 128 
 Snail, 51 
 
 Snake, (hooded) 26, 152 
 
 Snake, (water) 201 
 
 Solar system, 89, 90 
 
 Socrates, 60 
 
 2QTHP, 138 
 
 2QTEIPA, 117 
 
 Soul, 163, 170 
 
 Sparrow, 15 
 
 Spear, 134, 155, 160 
 
 Sphins, 178, 219 
 
 Spires, 101 
 
 Square, 95 
 
 Statues, 91 
 
 Stonelicnge, 101 
 
 Sulpliur, 183 
 
 Sun, 55, 122 
 
 Swan, 190 
 
 Swine, 123 
 
 Sword, 1G0 
 
 Sylvanus, 1 12, 186 
 
 Symbolical writing, 13 
 
 Symbols, 10, 1 1, 63, 142, 230 
 
 Taautes, 38 
 Taras, 227 
 Tartarus, 170 
 Taurobolium, 168 
 TAYPOnOAA, 144 
 Temples, (symbolical) 157 
 TERRA, 37 
 Thamyris, 21 
 
 Thebes, (Egyptian) M7, 151 (Bosotian) 
 
 52 
 
 Themis, 42 
 Theogony, 3 
 Theseus, 99, 206 
 Thigh, 48 
 
 Thor, 31, 106, 108, 221 
 Thoth, 174 
 
 Three, 222 
 Thunderbolt, 183 
 Thunny, 227 
 Titans, 123 
 Titles, 204 
 Tityri, 188 
 Tombs, 136 
 Torch, 41, 184 
 Tortoise, i t, 51, 159 
 Tragclaphus, 114 
 Transmigration, 1 "0 
 Triad, 56, 142, 221, 229 
 Triangle, 222 
 Trin acria, 222 
 Trimourti, 228 
 Tripod, 222 
 Triton, 158 
 Triumph, 161 
 Tuscan order, 156 
 Tyndarus, 113, 206 
 Typhon, 10, 105 
 
 Vase, 68 
 
 Veil, 87, 117, 196 
 
 Venus, 18, 43, 4G, 69, 116, 120, 173, 
 
 199, 221 
 Vesta, 42 
 
 Victims, (human) 143 
 Victory, 1 19, 168, 182 
 Vine, 68, 126 
 Virginity, 226 
 Vistnoo, 120, 228 
 Uriel, 82 
 Urotalt, 30 
 Vulcan, 161, 172, 173 
 Vulture, 12) 
 
 Water, 41 
 Waves, 157 
 Weathercock, 104 
 Week, 191 
 Wheel, 89, 90 
 Wings, 24 
 Winnow, 1G5, 176 
 Wolf, 124 
 
 Worship, (principles of) 75 
 Wreaths, 49 
 
 Writings, (stages and modes of) 12 
 
 Year, (solar) 193 
 
 Zebub, (Baal) 125 
 Zen da vesta, 93 
 ZEYS, 4, 34 
 Zodiac, 137 
 
 P. S. The Author takes this opportunity of correcting an error, into which he and others of the 
 Committee of Publication were led by a most respectable and lamented Member, in attributing the 
 Formation of the Petworth Collection of Marbles to the Duke of Somerset aided by Mr. Brettingham ; 
 whereas the country owes it entirely to the taste and magnificence of the late and present Earls of 
 Egremonl. See Explanation of pi. lxxii. and lxxiii. of the first Volume of " Select Specimens, &c." 
 
LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM NICOL, 51, PALL MALL.