A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology Volume Ii Part 10

These descriptions are perhaps carried to a great excess; yet the history was founded in truth: and shews plainly what fearful impressions were left upon the minds of men from the barbarity of the first ages.

One of the princ.i.p.al places in Italy, where the Lamia seated themselves, was about Formiae; of which Horace takes notice in his Ode to aelius Lamia.

[661]aeli, vetusto n.o.bilis ab Lamo, &c.

Auth.o.r.e ab illo ducis originem, Qui Formiarum mnia dicitur Princeps, et innantem Maricae Littoribus tenuisse Lirim.

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

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

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

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

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

But nothing can shew more fully the power of antient harmony than the character given of the Sirens. Their cruelty the antients held in detestation; yet always speak feelingly of their music. They represent their songs as so fatally winning, that n.o.body could withstand their sweetness. All were soothed with it; though their life was the purchase of the gratification. The Scholiast upon Lycophron makes them the children of the muse [669]Terpsich.o.r.e. Nicander supposes their mother to have been Melpomene: others make her Calliope. The whole of this is merely an allegory; and means only that they were the daughters of harmony. Their efficacy is mentioned by [670]Apollonius Rhodius: and by the Author of the Orphic [671]Argonautica: but the account given by Homer is by far the most affecting.

[672]Se????a? e? p??t?? af??ea?, ?? ?a te pa?ta?

?????p??? ?e????s??, ?t?? sfea? e?saf??a?e?.

?st?? a?d?e?? pe?ase?, ?a? f?????? a???se?

Se??????, t? d' ??t? ????, ?a? ??p?a te??a ???ade ??st?sa?t? pa??stata?, ??de ?a???ta??

???a te Se????e? ?????? ?e????s?? a??d?, ?e??? e? ?e????? p???? t' af' ?ste?f?? ???

??d??? p???e???, pe?? de ????? f???????s??.

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

[673]Next where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas.

Their song is death, and makes destruction please.

Unblest the man, whom music makes to stray Near the curst coast, and listen to their lay.

No more that wretch shall view the joys of life, His blooming offspring, or his pleasing wife.

In verdant meads they sport, and wide around Lie human bones, that whiten all the ground: The ground polluted floats with human gore, And human carnage taints the dreadful sh.o.r.e.

Fly, fly the dangerous coast.

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

[674]S????a, ???? ?ata?asa, ?a? ?? ????? ????' e???sa.

?ata?asa is by some interpreted _malefica_: upon which the learned Hemsterhusius remarks very justly--?ata?asa cur Latine vertatur malefica non video. Si Grammaticis obtemperes, meretricem interpretabere: erat enim revera ??s??t?? ?a?? ?ta??a, ut Herac.l.i.tus pe?? ap??: c. 2. Scylla then, under which character we are here to understand the chief priestess of the place, was no other than a handsome island strumpet. Her name it seems betokened as much, and she did not belie it: ?? ????? ????' e???sa. We may from these data decipher the history of Scylla, as given by Tzetzes. ?? de p??t?? S????a ???? e?p?ep??? ??se?d??? de s????sa ape???????. _Scylla was originally a handsome wench: but being too free with seafaring people she made herself a beast_. She was, like the Sibyl of Campania, said by Stesichorus to have been the daughter of [675]Lamia. Hence we may learn, that all, who resided in the places, which I have been describing, were of the same religion, and of the same family; being the descendants of Ham, and chiefly by the collateral branches of Chus, and Canaan.

The like rites prevailed in Cyprus, which had in great measure been peopled by persons of these [676]families. One of their princ.i.p.al cities was Curium, which was denominated from [677]Curos, the Sun, the Deity, to whom it was sacred. In the perilous voyages of the antients nothing was more common than for strangers, whether s.h.i.+pwrecked, or otherwise distressed, to fly to the altar of the chief Deity, Te?? f?????, ?a? ?e????, _the G.o.d of charity and hospitality_, for his protection. This was fatal to those who were driven upon the western coast of Cyprus. The natives of Curium made it a rule to destroy all such, under an appearance of a religious rite.

Whoever laid their hands upon the altar of Apollo, were cast down the precipice, upon which it stood. [678]????? est?? a??a, af' ?? ??pt??s? t???

??ae???? t?? ??? t?? ?p???????. Strabo speaks of the practice, as if it subsisted in his time. A like custom prevailed at the Tauric Chersonesus, as we are informed by Herodotus. [679]T???s? e? t? ?a??e?? t??? te ?a??????, ?a? t??? a? ?a?s? ??????? epa?a??e?ta?, t??p? t???de.

?ata??ae??? ??pa?? pa???s? t?? ?efa???. ?? e? d? ?e???s?, ?? t? s?a ap?

t?? ?????? d???e??s? ?at?? ep? ?a? ?????? ?d??ta? t? ????. ?t?. _The people of this place wors.h.i.+p the virgin G.o.ddess Artemis: at whose shrine they sacrifice all persons, who have the misfortune to be s.h.i.+pwrecked upon their coast: and all the Grecians, that they can lay hold of, when they are at any time thither driven. All these they without any ceremony brain with a club. Though others say, that they shove them off headlong from a high precipice: for their temple is founded upon a cliff._

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

[680]Jam primum saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupem, Disjectae procul ut moles, desertaque montis Stat domus, et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinam.

Hic spelunca fuit, vasto submota recessu, Semihominis Caci, facies quam dira tegebat, Solis inaccessum radiis: semperque recenti Caede tepebat humus; foribusque affixa superbis Ora virum tristi pendebant pallida tabo.

Huic monstro Vulca.n.u.s erat pater.

Livy mentions Cacus as a shepherd, and a person of great strength, and violence. [681]Pastor, accola ejus loci, Cacus, ferox viribus. He is mentioned also by Plutarch, who styles him Caccus, ?a????. [682]??? e? ?a?

?fa?st?? pa?da ??a??? ?a???? ?st????s? p?? ?a? f???a? af?e?a? d?a t??

st?at?? e?? ?e??sa?. As there were both priests, and priestesses, in temples of this sort, persons styled both Lami, and Lamiae; so we read both of a Cacus, and a Caca. The latter was supposed to have been a G.o.ddess, who was made a Deity for having betrayed her brother to Hercules. [683]Colitur et Caca, quae Herculi fecit indicium boum; divinitatem consecuta, quia perdidit fratrem. In short, under the characters of Caca, and Cacus, we have a history of Cacusian priests, who seem to have been a set of people devoted to rapine and murder.

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

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

Milton supposes the river to have been named from the Greek word ????t??: but the reverse is the truth. From the baleful river and temple Co-cutus came the Greek terms ????t??, and ?????. Acheron, another infernal river, was properly a temple of Achor, the ?e?? ap????? of Egypt, Palestine, and Cyrene. It was a temple of the Sun, called Achor-On: and it gave name to the river, on whose banks it stood. Hence like Cocutus it was looked upon as a melancholy stream, and by the Poet Theocritus styled [685]??e???ta p???st????, _the river of lamentations_. Aristophanes speaks of an eminence of this name, and calls it [686]??e???t??? s??pe??? ??at?sta???, _the rock of Acheron, dropping blood_.

OF

MEED OR ????S,

AND THE

G.o.dDESS HIPPA.

One of the most antient Deities of the Amonians was named Meed, or Meet; by which was signified divine wisdom. It was rendered by the Grecians ??t?? in the masculine: but seems to have been a feminine Deity; and represented under the symbol of a beautiful female countenance surrounded with serpents. The author of the Orphic Poetry makes Metis the origin of all [687]things: which Proclus expresses [688]t?? d?????????? a?t?a?: and supposes this personage to be the same as Phanes, and Dionusus, from whom all things proceeded. By Timotheus Chronographus, in his account of the creation, this divinity was described as that vivifying light, which first broke forth upon the infant world, and produced life and motion. His notion is said to have been borrowed from Orpheus: ?f?ase de (? [689] ??fe??) ?t?

t? f?? ???a? t?? a??e?a ef?t?se pasa? t?? ?t?s??? e?p??, e?e??? e??a? t?

f?? t? ???a? t?? a??e?a t? p??e???e???, t? ?pe?tat?? pa?t??, ?? ???a ?

a?t?? ??fe?? a???sa? e? ?a?te?a? e?e?pe ????S, ?pe? ????e?eta? ?????, FOS, ?O??????. ??pe? e? t? a?t?? e??ese? ta?ta? ta? t?e?? ?e?a? t?? ???at??

d??ae?? ?a? e??a? d??a??, ?a? ?? ??at?? t??t?? Te??, ?? ??de?? ???. The account is remarkable. Hippa was another G.o.ddess, of the like antiquity, and equally obsolete. Some traces however are to be still found in the Orphic verses above-mentioned, by which we may discover her original character and department. She is there represented as the nurse of [690]Dionusus, and seems to have been the same as Cybele, who was wors.h.i.+pped in the mountains of [691]Phrygia, and by the Lydians upon Tmolus. She is said to have been the soul of the [692]world: and the person who received and fostered Dionusus, when he came from the thigh of his father. This history relates to his second birth, when he returned to a second state of childhood. Dionusus was the chief G.o.d of the Gentile world, and wors.h.i.+pped under various t.i.tles; which at length came to be looked upon as different Deities. Most of these secondary Divinities had the t.i.tle of Hippius, and Hippia: and as they had female attendants in their temples, these too had the name of Hippai. What may have been the original of the term Hippa, and Hippus, will be matter of future disquisition. Thus much is certain, that the Greeks, who were but little acquainted with the purport of their antient theology, uniformly referred it to [693]horses. Hence it was often prefixed to the names of G.o.ds, and of G.o.ddesses, when it had no relation to their department; and seemed inconsistent with their character.

We have not only an account of ???? ?pp???, Mars the horseman; but of Poseidon Hippius, though a G.o.d of the sea. He is accordingly complimented upon this t.i.tle by the Poet Aristophanes.

[694]?pp?' ??a? ??se?d??, ?

?a??????t?? ?pp?? ?t?p??

?a? ??eet?s?? ??da?e?.

Ceres had the t.i.tle of Hippia: and the G.o.ddess of wisdom, Minerva, had the same. We read also of Juno Hippia, who at Olympia partook of joint rites and wors.h.i.+p, with those equestrian Deities Neptune, and Mars. Pausanias mentions [695]??se?d???? ?pp???, a? ??a? ?pp??? ???: and hard-by t? e?

??e?? ?pp???, t? de ????a? ?pp??? ???. In Arcadia, and Elis, the most antient rites were preserved: and the Grecians might have known, that the terms Hippa and Hippia were of foreign purport from the other t.i.tles given to Juno at Olympia. For they sacrificed here to [696]Amonian Juno, and to Juno Paramonian; which were also t.i.tles of Hermes. Hippa was a sacred Egyptian term, and as such was conferred upon Arsinoe, the wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus: for the princes of Egypt always a.s.sumed to themselves sacred appellations. [697]?pp?a ??s????, ? t?? F??ade?f?? ????. As the Grecians did not inquire into the hidden purport of antient names, they have continually misrepresented the histories of which they treated. As Ceres was styled Hippa, they have imagined her to have been turned into a [698]mare: and Hippius Poseidon was in like manner changed to a horse, and supposed in that shape to have had an intimate acquaintance with the G.o.ddess. Of this Ovid takes notice.

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

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

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

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

[702]?a? e? ??e??? ??e?' a?????t???? ?p?????.

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