A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology Volume Ii Part 8

??d?? ?e s?t?fa??, a??a ??? ???e?t?.

Virgil says of the same person,

[548]Ipse arduus, altaque pulsat sidera.

As these buildings were oftentimes light-houses, and had in their upper story one round cas.e.m.e.nt, Argolici clype, aut Phbeae lampadis instar, by which they afforded light in the night-season; the Greeks made this a characteristic of the people. They supposed this aperture to have been an eye, which was fiery, and glaring, and placed in the middle of their foreheads. Hence Callimachus describes them as a monstrous race:

[549]a??a ?e???a, ????s?? ?sse???s?? e????ta? pas? d' ?p' ?f???

Faea ????????a sa?e? ?sa tet?a?e??.

The Grecians have so confounded the Cyclopian Deity with his votaries, that it is difficult to speak precisely of either. They sometimes mention him as a single person; the same as Nilus of Egypt, who was esteemed the father of the G.o.ds. At other times they introduce a plurality, whom they still represent as of the highest antiquity, and make the brethren of Cronus: [550]?????pe?--?? ade?f?? ?sa? t?? ??????, t?? pat??? t?? ????. Proclus in Photius informs us, that, according to the antient mythology of the Auctores Cyclici, the giants with an hundred hands, and the Cyclopes, were the first born of the [551]Earth and Clus. But in these histories every degree of relation has been founded upon idle surmises: and is uniformly to be set aside. The Cyclopian Deity was [552]Oura.n.u.s, and the Cyclopians were his priests and votaries: some of whom had divine honours paid to them, and were esteemed as G.o.ds. Upon the Isthmus of Corinth was an antient temple; which seems to have been little more than a taf?? or high altar, where offerings were made to the Cyclopian [553]Deities. People of this family settled upon the southern coast of Sicily at Camarina; which some have supposed to have been the Hupereia of Homer, where the Pheacians once resided.

[554]?? p??? e? p?t' e?a??? e? e??????? ?pe?e??, ????? ?????p?? a?d??? ?pe?????e??t??.

But there is no reason to think, that the city Hupereia was in Sicily; or that the Pheacians came from that country. The notion arose from a common mistake. All the Greek and Roman Poets, and even Strabo, with other respectable writers, have taken it for granted, that the Cyclopians of Homer were near aetna in Sicily. Others except to their being near aetna; and insist, that they were in the vicinity of Eryx upon the opposite part of the island. But Homer does not once mention the island during his whole account of the Cyclopes: nor does Ulysses arrive in Sicily, till after many subsequent adventures. That there were Cyclopians near aetna is certain: but those mentioned by Homer were of another country, and are represented as natives of the continent though his account is very indeterminate and obscure. There were probably people of this family in many parts of Sicily, especially about the city Camarina. They seem to have been of the Anakim race, and wors.h.i.+ppers of the Sun. Hence they were styled Camarin, and their chief city Camarina, which was so called from a city of the same name in [555]Chaldea, the Ur of the Scriptures. Polyphemus is mentioned as a musician and a shepherd; but of a savage and brutal disposition: which character arose from the cruel rites practised by the Cyclopians. According to [556]Bacchylides it was said, that Galatus, Illyrius, and Celtus were the sons of Polyphemus. By this was certainly signified, that the Galatae, Illyrii, and Celtae, were of Cyclopian original, and of the Anakim race; all equally Amonians. Lycophron mentions the cave of this personage, by which was meant an antient temple; and he calls it [557]????????? ste?a?

?a?????: _the habitation of Charon, a personage with one eye_. But here, as I have often observed, the place is mistaken for a person; the temple for the Deity. Charon was the very place; the antient temple of the Sun. It was therefore styled Char-On from the G.o.d, who was there wors.h.i.+pped; and after the Egyptian custom an eye was engraved over its portal. These temples were sometimes called Charis, [558]?a???; which is a compound of Char-Is, and signifies a prutaneion, or place sacred to Hephastus. As the rites of fire were once almost universally practised, there were many places of this name, especially in [559]Parthia, Babylonia, and Phrygia. The Grecians rendered Char-Is by ?a???, a term in their own language, which signified grace and elegance. And nothing witnesses their attachment to antient terms more than their continually introducing them, though they were strangers to their true meaning. The Arimaspians were Hyperborean Cyclopians; and had temples named Charis, or Charisia, in the top of which were preserved a perpetual fire. They were of the same family as those of [560]Sicily, and had the same rites; and particularly wors.h.i.+pped the Ophite Deity under the name of [561]Opis. Aristeas Proconnesius wrote their history; and among other things mentioned that they had but one eye, which was placed in their graceful forehead.

[562]?f?a??? d' ??' ??ast?? e?e? ?a??e?t? et?p?.

How could the front of a Cyclopian, one of the most hideous monsters that ever poetic fancy framed, be styled graceful? The whole is a mistake of terms: and what this writer had misapplied, related to Charis, a tower; and the eye was the cas.e.m.e.nt in the top of the edifice, where a light, and fire were kept up. What confirmed the mistake was the representation of an eye, which, as I have mentioned, was often engraved over the entrance of these temples. The chief Deity of Egypt was frequently represented under the symbol of an eye, [563]and a sceptre. I have observed, that Orion was supposed to have had three fathers, merely because a tower, sacred to him in Sicily, and called Tor-Pator, was altered to ???pat??; which change seemed to countenance such an opinion. The Cyclopians were of the same region in that island; and their towers had undoubtedly the same name: for the Cyclopians were styled [564]???t?pate?e?, and were supposed to have been three in number. Some such mistake was made about the towers styled Charis: whence the Grecians formed their notion of the Graces. As Charis was a tower sacred to fire; some of the Poets have supposed a nymph of that name, who was beloved by Vulcan. Homer speaks of her as his wife: [565]?a???--?a??, ?? ?p??e pe?????t?? ?f????e??. But Nonnus makes her his mistress; and says, that he turned her out of doors for her jealousy.

[566]?? de d??? ed???e ?a??? ??????a ??f??.

The Graces were said to be related to the Sun who was in reality the same as Vulcan. The Sun among the people of the east was called Hares, and with a guttural, Chares: and his temple was styled Tor-Chares. But as Tor-Pator was changed to Tripator; so Tor-Chares was rendered Trichares, which the Greeks expressed ????a???; and from thence formed a notion of three Graces.

Cicero says, that they were the daughters of night, and Erebus: but Antimachus, more agreeably to this etymology, maintained, that they were the offspring of the Sun and light; [567]?????? ?a? ????? ???ate?a?. These seeming contradictions are not difficult to be reconciled.

The Amonians, wherever they settled, were celebrated for their superiority in science; and particularly for their skill in building. Of this family were Trophonius, and his brother Agamedes, who are represented as very great in the profession. They were truly wonderful, says [568]Pausanias, for the temples, which they erected to the G.o.ds; and for the stately edifices, which they built for men. They were the architects, who contrived the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the treasury constructed to Urius. They were, I make no doubt, some of those, who were styled Cyclopians; as the people under this appellation were far the most eminent in this way. When the Sibyl in Virgil shews aeneas the place of torment in the shades below, and leads him through many melancholy recesses, we find that the whole was separated from the regions of bliss by a wall built by the Cyclopians. The Sibyl accordingly at their exit tells him,

[569]Cyclopum educta caminis Mnia conspicio.

From hence we find that they were the reputed builders of the infernal mansions; which notion arose from the real buildings, which they erected.

For all the ideas of the antients about the infernal regions, and the torments of h.e.l.l, were taken from the temples in each country; and from the rites and inquisition practised in them. But the Cyclopians were not merely imaginary operators. They founded several cities in Greece; and constructed many temples to the G.o.ds, which were of old in high repute. They were so much esteemed for their skill, that, as the Scholiast upon Statius observes, every thing great and n.o.ble was looked upon as Cyclopian: [570]quicquid magnitudine sua n.o.bile est, Cyclopum manu dicitur fabricatum.

Nor was this a fiction, as may be surmised; for they were in great measure the real architects. And if, in the room of those portentous beings the Cyclopes, ?????pe?, we subst.i.tute a colony of people called Cyclopians, we shall find the whole to be true, which is attributed to them; and a new field of history will be opened, that was before unknown. They were, undoubtedly, a part of the people styled Academians, who resided in Attica; where they founded the Academia, and Ceramicus, and introduced human sacrifices. Hence we are informed, that the Athenians, in the time of a plague, sacrificed three virgin daughters of Hyacinthus at the tomb Geraestus, the [571]Cyclops. But Geraestus was not a person, but a place.

Ge?a?st?? is a small variation for Ker-Astus; and signifies the temple of Astus the G.o.d of fire. It was certainly the antient name of the place where these sacrifices were exhibited: and the Taphos was a Cyclopian altar, upon which they were performed. The Cyclopians are said to have built the antient city Mycene, which Hercules in Seneca threatens to ruin.

----[572]quid moror? majus mihi Bellum Mycenis restat, ut Cyclopea Eversa manibus mnia nostris concidant.

Nonnus speaks of the city in the same light:

[573]Steat? te????e?t? pe????s?e?ta ??????, ?????p?? ?a???ess?.

The gate of the city, and the chief tower were particularly ascribed to them: [574]?????p?? de ?a? ta?ta e??a e??a? ?e???s??. _These too are represented as the work of the Cyclopians_. They likewise built Argos; which is mentioned by Thyestes in Seneca as a wonderful performance.

[575]Cyclopum sacras Turres, labore majus humano decus.

All these poetical histories were founded in original truths. Some of them built Hermione, one of the most antient cities in Greece. The tradition was, that it was built by [576]Hermion the son of Europs, or Europis, a descendant of Phoroneus, and Niobe; and was inhabited by Dorians, who came from Argos: in which history is more than at first appears. The city stood near a stagnant lake, and a deep cavern; where was supposed to be the most compendious pa.s.sage to the shades below: [577]t?? e?? ?d?? ?ataas??

s??t???. The lake was called the pool of Acherusia; near to which and the yawning cavern the Cyclopians chose to take up their habitation. They are said to have built [578]Tiryns; the walls of which were esteemed no less a wonder than the [579]pyramids of Egypt. They must have resided at Nauplia in Argolis; a place in situation not unlike Hermione above-mentioned. Near this city were caverns in the earth, and subterraneous pa.s.sages, consisting of [580]labyrinths cut in the rock, like the syringes in Upper Egypt, and the maze at the lake Maeris: and these too were reputed the work of Cyclopians. Pausanias thinks very truly, that the Nauplians were from Egypt. [581]?sa? de ?? ?a?p??e??, e?? d??e??, ????pt??? ta pa?a??te?a.

_The Nauplians seem to me to have been a colony from Egypt in the more early times_. He supposes that they were some of those emigrants, who came over with Danaus. The nature of the works, which the Cyclopians executed, and the lake, which they named Acherusia, shew plainly the part of the world from whence they came. The next city to Nauplia was Trzen, where Orus was said to have once reigned, from whom the country was called Oraia: but Pausanias very justly thinks, that it was an Egyptian history; and that the region was denominated from [582]Orus of Egypt, whose wors.h.i.+p undoubtedly had been here introduced. So that every circ.u.mstance witnesses the country, from whence the Cyclopians came. Hence when [583]Euripides speaks of the walls of antient Mycene, as built by the Cyclopians after the Phenician rule and method: the Phenicians alluded to were the F?????e? of Egypt, to which country they are primarily to be referred. Those who built Tiryns are represented as seven in number; and the whole is described by Strabo in the following manner. [584]??????? ???t???? ???sas?a? d??e?

????t??, ?a? te???sa? d?a ?????p??? ??? ?pta e? e??a?, ?a?e?s?a? de Gaste???e??a?, t?ef?e???? e? t?? te????. _Prtus seems to have been the first who made use of Tiryns as an harbour; which place he walled round by the a.s.sistance of the Cyclopians. They were seven in number, styled Gastrocheirs; and lived by their labour._ Hesychius in some degree reverses this strange name, and says, that they were called ???e????aste?e?. The Grecians continually mistook places for persons, as I have shewn. These seven Cyclopes were, I make no doubt, seven Cyclopian towers built by the people, of whom I have been treating. Some of them stood towards the harbour to afford light to s.h.i.+ps, when they approached in the night. They were sacred to Aster, or [585]Astarte; and styled Astro-caer, and Caer-Aster; out of which the Greeks formed Gast???e??, and ???e????ast??; a strange medley made up of hands, and bellies. Strabo in particular having converted these building's into so many masons, adds, [586]Gaste???e??a?, t?ef?e???? e? t?? te????. _They were honest bellyhanded men, industrious people, who got their livelihood by their art_. These towers were erected likewise for Purait, or Puratheia, where the rites of fire were performed: but Purait, or Puraitus, the Greeks changed to ????t??; and gave out that the towers were built for [587]Prtus, whom they made a king of that country.

I imagine, that not only the common idea of the Cyclopians was taken from towers and edifices; but that the term ??????, and ?????p??, Cuclops, and Cuclopis, signified a building or temple; and from thence the people had their name. They were of the same family as the Cadmians, and Phnices; and as the Hivites, or Ophites who came from Egypt, and settled near Liba.n.u.s and Baal Hermon, upon the confines of Canaan. They wors.h.i.+pped the Sun under the symbol of a serpent: hence they were styled in different parts, where they in time settled, Europians, Oropians, Anopians, Inopians, Asopians, Elopians; all which names relate to the wors.h.i.+p of the Pytho Ops, or Opis.

What may be the precise etymology of the term ??????, Cuclops, I cannot presume to determine. Cuclops, as a personage, was said to have been the son of [588]Oura.n.u.s and the earth: which Oura.n.u.s among the Amonians was often styled Cl, or Clus; and was wors.h.i.+pped under the forementioned emblem of a serpent. Hence the temple of the Deity may have been originally called Cu-Cl-Ops, Domus Cli Pythonis; and the priests and people Cucelopians. But whatever may have been the purport of the name, the history of these personages is sufficiently determinate.

There was a place in Thrace called [589]Cuclops, where some of the Cyclopian race had settled; for many of the Amonians came hither. Hence Thrace seems at one time to have been the seat of science: and the Athenians acknowledged, that they borrowed largely from them. The natives were very famous; particularly the Pierians for their music, the Peonians for pharmacy, and the Edonians for their rites and wors.h.i.+p. Those, who went under the name of Cyclopes, probably introduced architecture; for which art they seem to have been every where noted. There was a fountain in these parts, of which Aristotle takes notice, as of a wonderful nature. [590]??

de ??????? t??? T?a?? ?????d??? est??, ?d?? e???, ? t? e? ??e? ?a?a???, ?a? d?afa?e?, ?a? t??? a????? ?????? ?ta? de p?? t? ???? e? a?t??, pa?a???a d?af?e??eta?. _In the region of the Cyclopians of Thrace is a fountain, clear to the eye, and pure, and in no wise differing from common water: of which, however, if an animal drinks, it is immediately poisoned_.

There is another account given by Theopompus; who speaks of the people by the name of the Chropes, which is a contraction for Charopes. He says, that even going into the water was fatal. [591]Te?p?p?? ?st??e? ?????? e? ?????

t?? T?a???, e? ?? t??? ???sae???? pa?a???a eta??a.s.se??. _Theopompus mentions a fountain among the Charopes of Thrace, in which, if a person attempts to bathe, he immediately loses his life._ I have taken notice of this history, because we find, that the persons who are called [592]Cuclopes by one writer, are styled Char-opes by another, and very justly: for the terms are nearly of the same purport. The Charopes were denominated from a temple, and place called Char-Ops, or Char-Opis, locus Dei Pythonis: and the Cyclopes were, as I have before supposed, denominated from Cu-Coel-Ops, or Cu-Coel-Opis, the temple of the same Deity. They were both equally named from the Ophite G.o.d, the great object of their adoration, and from the temple where he was wors.h.i.+pped.

The head of Medusa in Argolis is said to have been the work of the [593]Cyclopians. This seems to have been an antient hieroglyphical representation upon the temple of Caphisus. It was usual with the Egyptians, and other Amonians, to describe, upon the Architrave of their temples, some emblem of the Deity, who there presided. This representation was often an eagle, or vulture; a wolf, or a lion; also an heart, or an eye. The last, as I have shewn, was common to the temples of [594]Osiris, and was intended to signify the superintendency of Providence, from whom nothing was hid. Among others the serpent was esteemed a most salutary emblem: and they made use of it to signify superior skill and knowledge. A beautiful female countenance, surrounded with an a.s.semblage of serpents, was made to denote divine wisdom, which they styled Meed, and Meet, the ??t?? of the Greeks. Under this characteristic they represented an heavenly personage, and joined her with Eros, or divine love: and by these two they supposed that the present mundane system was produced. Orpheus speaks of this Deity in the masculine gender:

[595]?a? ??t??, p??t?? ?e?et??, ?a? ???? p???te?p??.

On this account many antient temples were ornamented with this curious hieroglyphic: and among others the temple of Caphisus [596]in Argolis.

Caphisus is a compound of Caph-Isis, which signifies Petra Isidis, and relates to the same Deity as Metis. For we must not regard s.e.xes, nor difference of appellations, when we treat of antient Deities.

[597]??s?? e? ?a? ????? ef??, p??eat??e ??t?.

[598]?a?t?f???, ?e?et?? pa?t??, p??????e ?a???.

I have taken notice that the Cyclopians of Thrace were styled Charopes; which name they must have received from their rites, and place of wors.h.i.+p.

Char-Opis signifies the temple of the Python, or serpent: and we find that it was situated near a poisonous pool. It was sacred to the Sun: and there were many temples of this name in [599]Egypt, and other countries. The Sun was called Arez; and the lion, which was an emblem of the Sun, had the same denomination: and there is reason to think, that the device upon Charopian temples was sometimes a lion. Homer, undoubtedly, had seen the fierce figure of this animal upon some sacred portal in Egypt; to which he often alludes, when he speaks of a Charopian lion.

[600]???t??t', a???te??? te S?e?, ?a??p?? te ?e??te?.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Pl. IX._ MEDUSA.

From a Gem in the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough]

The devices upon temples were often esteemed as talismans, and supposed to have an hidden and salutary influence, by which the building was preserved.

In the temple of Minerva, at Tegea, was some sculpture of Medusa, which the G.o.ddess was said to have given, [601]a?a??t?? e? t?? pa?ta ?????? e??a?

(t?? p????); _to preserve the city from ever being taken in war_. It was probably from this opinion, that the [602]Athenians had the head of Medusa represented upon the walls of their acropolis: and it was the insigne of many cities, as we may find from antient coins. The notion of the Cyclopes framing the thunder and lightning for Jupiter arose chiefly from the Cyclopians engraving hieroglyphics of this sort upon the temples of the Deity. Hence they were represented as persons,

[603]?? ???? ???t?? t' ed?sa?, te??a? te ?e?a????.

The Poets considered them merely in the capacity of blacksmiths, and condemned them to the anvil. This arose from the chief Cyclopian Deity being called Acmon, and Pyracmon. He was wors.h.i.+pped under the former t.i.tle in Phrygia; where was a city and district called Acmonia, mentioned by Alexander [604]Polyhistor. The Amazonians paid the like reverence: and there was a sacred grove called Acmonium upon the [605]Thermodon, which was held in great repute. He was by some looked upon as the offspring of heaven; by others wors.h.i.+pped as Oura.n.u.s, and Clus, the heaven itself; and Acmonides was supposed to have been his [606]son, whom some of the mythologists made the ruling spirit of the earth. Hence Simmias Rhodius introduces Divine Love displaying his influence, and saying, that he produced Acmonides, that mighty monarch of the earth, and at the same time founded the sea. [607]?e?sse e t?? Ga? te a??ste???? ??a?t' ?????da?, ta? ??a ?' ?d?asa?ta.

Acmon seems to have been wors.h.i.+pped of old at Tiryns, that antient city of Greece, whose towers were said to have been built by the Cyclopians. For Acmon was the Cyclopian Deity; and is represented by Callimachus as the tutelary G.o.d of the place, though the pa.s.sage has been otherwise interpreted.

[608]????? ?a? ae? ????????? ????

?st??e p?? p??e??.

The term has commonly been looked upon as an adjective; and the pa.s.sage has been rendered Talis Tirynthius indefessus, which is scarce sense.

Callimachus was very knowing in mythology, and is here speaking of the Cyclopian G.o.d Acmon, whom he makes the ?e?? p??p??a???, or guardian Deity of the place. It was the same G.o.d, that was afterwards called Hercules, and particularly styled Tirynthius, to whom Callimachus here alludes, under a more antient name.

As the Cyclopians were great artists, they probably were famous for works in bra.s.s, and iron: and that circ.u.mstance in their history may have been founded in truth. The Idaei Dactyli were Cyclopians: and they are said to have first forged metals, and to have reduced them to common [609]use; the knowledge of which art they obtained from the fusion of minerals at the burning of mount [610]Ida. Whether this was an eruption of fire from the internal part of the mountain, or only a fire kindled among the forests, which crowned its summit, cannot be determined. It was an event of antient date; and admitted, as a remarkable epocha, in the most early series of chronology. From this event the Curetes, and Corybantes, who were the same as the [611]Idaei Dactyli, are supposed to have learned the mystery of fusing and forging metals. From them it was propagated to many countries westward, particularly to the Pangaean mountains, and the region Curetis, where the Cyclopians dwelt in Thrace: also to the region Trinacia and Leontina, near aetna, which they occupied in Sicily.

Thus have I endeavoured to shew the true history [612]and antiquity of this people: and we may learn from their works, [613]that there was a time, when they were held in high estimation. They were denominated from their wors.h.i.+p: and their chief Deity among other t.i.tles was styled Acmon, and Pyracmon. They seem to have been great in many sciences: but the term Acmon signifying among the Greeks an anvil, the Poets have limited them to one base department, and considered them as so many blacksmiths. And as they resided near aetna, they have made the burning mountain their forge:

[614]Ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro, Brontesque, Steropesque, et nudus membra Pyracmon.