in number, Αγλαία, Εὐφροσύνη, and lovely Θαλία ; Splendour,' 'Gaiety,' 'Bloom.' 41, 42. Therapnaeus is here equivalent to 'Laconian,' the epithet being derived from 'Therapnae,' a town on the Eurotas, a little to the south of Sparta. The person alluded to is Hyacinthus, a beautiful youth of Amyclae1, beloved by Apollo, by whom he was slain accidentally with a quoit 2, or, according to other accounts, the fatal discus was directed by the breath of jealous Zephyrus 3. He was buried beneath the base of the statue of Amyclaean Apollo 4, with whom he shared the honours of the great national festival of the Hyacinthia ». A flower sprung from his blood, on whose petals words of lamentation were inscribed 6. Ovid tells the tale at full length in Met. 10. 162, seqq. The same flower is said by the same poet (Met. 13. 396) to have sprung from the blood of Ajax. Some botanists imagine that they have detected these marks on a species of dark purple Iris, which they have named the 'Delphinium Ajacis;' others believe the 'Lilium Martagon floribus reflexis' to be the flower in question. Remark that Ovid terms Hyacinthus 'Amyclides,' from ' Amyclae;' and Oebalides,' from a mythic hero 'Oebalus,' after whom Laconia was named 'Oebalia.' But 'Oebalidae,' (Fast. 5. 705) are Castor and Pollux; 'Oebalis Nympha' (Her. 16. 126) is Helen; 'Oebalides matres' (Fast. 3.230) are the Sabine women, because the Sabines pretended to deduce their origin from the Spartans. 42, 43. Narcissus of Thespiae, a town in Boeotia, near the foot of Mount Helicon, was the son of Liriope and the river Cephisus; he beheld his image in a fountain, became enamoured of his own beauty, and pining away, fell a sacrifice to his hopeless love. The Nymphs prepared a bier and reared a pyre, but when they came to bear his body forth found nothing but a flower. 1 Palaephat. 47, Claud. R. P. 2. 133. Amyclae was on the right bank of the Eurotas, nearly opposite to Therapnae. 2 Apollod. 1. 3, 3; 3. 10, 3. Nonnus 10. 253; 29. 95. + Pausan. 3. 18, 91, Polyb. 5. 19. 5 The student will find some ingenious speculations on the Hyacinthia in Muller's Dorians, I. p. 373 of English Translation. There is also an essay on Hyacinthus by Heyne in his Antiquarische Aufsatze, P. 1. Hence called & yрañïà váкiveos (the inscribed hyacinthus'), by Theocrit. 10. 28. 'Iamque rogum, quassasque faces, feretrumque parabant: Nusquam corpus erat: croceum pro corpore florem Inveniunt, foliis medium cingentibus albis.' The flower in question is easily recognised as the common "Narcissus poeticus' of our gardens. The story is told at great length by Ovid, Met. 3. 339, seqq. Pausanias gives two versions of the tale, 9. 31. 45. The loves of Crocus and the Nymph 'Smilax,' (Bindweed,) who were both turned into flowers, are alluded to in a cursory manner by Ovid, Met. 4. 283 'Et Crocon in parvos versum cum Smilace flores Atys or Attis, the beloved of the Phrygian Cybele, was, as we read in Met. 10. 103, metamorphosed into a pine. 'Et succincta comas, hirsutaque vertice pinus, Exuit hac hominem, truncoque induruit illo.' In the passage before us, however, Ovid follows a different form of the legend, which has been preserved by Arnobius ; according to which, the pomegranate tree and the violet sprung from his blood, shed on two different occasions. Cinyra creatum. Adonis (see above, p. 135), from whose blood the anemone was produced. Ov. Met. 10. 734 'nec plena longior hora Facta mora est, quum flos de sanguine concolor ortus; 47. Coronis 'posuit pro floribus' (G.). 51. Oleae 'flos non copiam tantum olei, sed omnino nitidissimum annum portendebat, ut et flos abundans amygdali.' (G.) who refers to Virg. G. 1. 187 Contemplator item, quum se nux plurima silvis 52. Pomaque. 'Sensus; pomorum proventus, copia, pendet a tempore quo florent' (G.). 54. Advena Nile, 'quia ex alia terra decurrit' (G.). Compare note, p. 250. Lentes...tuae. Egypt was peculiarly celebrated for the excellence of its pulse, to which frequent allusions are made by the poets, e. g. Virg. G. 1. 228 'Si vero viciamque seres, vilemque phaselum, and Martial. Ep. 13. 9 'Accipe Niliacum, Pelusiaca munera, lentem.' 55, 56. Vina...florent. The 'flos vini' was a technical term for a sort of light scum which collected on the surface. Pliny H. N. 14. 21 'Flos vini candidus probatur: rubens triste signum est, s non is vini colos sit.' So Columell. 12. 30 'Si vinum florere incipiet, saepius curare oportebit.' 30. MINERVA. FAST. III. 809. MINERVA, who shared the triple temple of the Capitol with Jupiter and Juno, seems to have been an Etrurian deity 2, although Varro 3 asserts that she was of Sabine origin. The name, derived from the same root with 'mens,' indicates that she was the Goddess of Reason. Hence the old verb 'promenervare' in the songs of the Salii, signifying 'to advise,' 'to warn,' and the phrases 'facere aliquid pingui Minerva, invita Minerva, crassa Minerva,' in which Minerva denotes the intellectual powers bestowed by nature, as Cicero explains, De Off. 1.31 'Nihil decet invita, ut aiunt, Minerva, id est, adversante et repugnante natura.’ Compare also Cic. Ep. Fam. 12. 25, where he puns on the expression, 'Quinquatribus, frequenti senatu, causam tuam egi 1 Val. Max. 2. 1, 2, August. De Civ. Dei. 4. 10. The name 2 For the proofs of this see Muller, Die Etrusker, 3. 3, 2. occurs upon Etruscan 'paterae,' under the forms Menerfa;'' Menfra;' 4 Mnfra.' 3 L. L. 5. 10. non invita Minerva. Etenim eo ipse die senatus decrevit ut Minerva nostra, custos urbis, quam turbo deiecerat, restitueretur.' and Hor. A. P. 385 'Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva.' In Hor. S. 2. 2, 3 'Rusticus abnormis sapiens crassaque Minerva,' 'Crassa Minerva,' means good coarse common sense. Minerva was mistress of the Inventive Faculty also, and thus exercised control over literature and science in general. Mechanics and artists of every description, musicians, poets, schoolmasters, physicians, all paid homage to her as their patroness, and she was believed to take peculiar interest in spinning and weaving, the most ancient and honourable of female occupations. The first temple of Minerva was that upon the Capitol, there was another upon the Aventine 1, and a third near the Coelian, in which she was worshipped as 'Minerva Capta2, an epithet said to have been applied when her statue was transported from Falerii, after the capture of that city by Camillus. Her great festival was called the 'Quinquatrus,' or 'Quinquatria.' It commenced on XIV. Kal. Apr. (19th March), and ended XI. Kal. Apr. (23rd March). On all the days, except the first, there were gladiatorial exhibitions, and on the last a ceremony was performed, called the 'Tubilustrium,' or purification of trumpets, the invention of wind instruments being attributed to the goddess. Ov. Fast. 3. 849 'Summa dies e quinque tubas lustrare canoras Admonet, et forti sacrificare deae.' Another 'Tubilustrium' was held on IX. Kal. Jun. (24th May,) in honour of Vulcan, the fabricator of the instrument. Fast. 5, 725 1 Ov. Fast. 6. 727, Fest. in verb 'Scribas.' 2 Ov. Fast. 3. 835, where several explanations of the epithet 'Capta are proposed. 'Proxima Vulcani lux est: Tubilustria dicunt, A second festival of Minerva, the 'Quinquatrus Minusculae,' or 'Quinquatria Minora,' fell upon the Ides of June, and was observed with great pomp by the Tibicines or flute players. Ov. Fast. 6. 651 'Et iam Quinquatrus iubeor narrare minores, Nunc ades O! coeptis, flava Minerva, meis. Quid sibi personae, quid stola longa, volunt?' Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 'Quinquatrus Minusculae dictae Iuniae Idus ab similitudine Maiorum, quod tibicines tum feriati vagantur per urbem et conveniunt ab aedem Minervae,' and Festus, 'Minusculae Quinquatrus appellabantur Idus Iuniae, quod is dies festus erat tibicinum, qui Minervam colebant. Quinquatrus proprie dies festus erat Minervae, Martio Mense.' With regard to the Tibicines, see note, p. 142. Observe that the later Romans identified Minerva with Pallas Athene, both being Goddesses of Wisdom, and invested the former with all the attributes of her Grecian sister. 1. Vna dies media est, &c. The 'Quinquatria' began on XIV. Kal. Apr. (19th March), the Liberalia,' which immediately preceded it in the Calendar, on XVI. Kal. Apr. (17th March.) 2. Nomina, &c. The Quinquatria continued for five days; but Ovid was mistaken in supposing that the festival received its name from this circumstance, because, properly speaking, the first day only was sacred to the goddess, and was called 'Quinquatrus,' because it fell on the fifth day after the Ides,' such being the real meaning of the word. In like manner, the inhabitants of Tusculum used the forms 1 Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 'Dies Tubilustrium appellatur, quod eo die in atro sutorio sacrorum tubae lustrantur,' and Festus Tubicines etiam ii appellantur, qui sacerdotes, viri speciosi, publice sacra faciunt tubarum lustrandarum gratia,' and Paulus Tubilustria dies appellabant, in quibus agna tubas lustrabant.' T |