their names better, when they are thus joined together in two verses: "Calliope, Polymneia, Erato, Clio, atque Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Urania." 1. 4. ep. 1. The most remarkable of the names which are common to them all are: Heliconides, or Heliconiades, from the mountain Helicon, in Boeotia. Parnassides, from the mountain Parnassus, in Phocis, which has two heads, where, if any person slept, he presently became a poet. It was anciently called Larnassus, from Larnace, the ark of Deucalion, which rested here, and was named Parnassus after the flood, from an inhabitant of this mountain, so called. Citherides, or Citheriades, from the mountain Citheron, where they dwelt. Aonides, from the country Aonia. Pierides, or Pieriæ, fom the mountain Pierus, or Pieria, in Thrace; or from the daughters of Pierius and Anippe, who, daring to contend with the Muses, were changed into pies. Pegasides and Hippocrenides, from the famous fountain Helicon, which by the Greeks is called *Hippocrene, and by the Latins, †Caballinus, both which words signify the horse's fountain: it was also named Pegaseius, from Pegasus, the winged horse, which by striking a stone in this place with his foot, opened the fountain, and the waters became vocal. Aganippides, or Aganippeæ, from the fountain Aganippe. Castalides, from the fountain Castalius, at the foot of Parnassus. Some write, that there were but three in the beginning; because sound, out of which all singing is formed, is naturally threefold: either made by the voice alone; or by blowing, as in pipes, or by striking, as in citherns or drums. Or it may be, because there are three tones of the voice, or other instruments, the bass, the tenor, and the treble. Or, lastly, because all the sciences are distributed into three general parts; philosophy, rhetoric, and mathematics; and each of these parts is subdivided into three other parts; philosophy into logic, ethics, and physics; rhetoric into the demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial kind: mathematics into music, geometry, and arithmetic and hence it came to pass, that they reckoned not only Three Muses, but Nine. : Others give a different reason why they are Nine. When the citizens of Sicyon appointed three skilful artificers to make the statues of the Three Muses, promising to choose those three statues out of the nine which they liked best, they were all so well made that they could not tell which to prefer; so that they bought them all, and placed them in the temples and Hesiod afterward assigned to them the names mentioned above. Some affirm that they were virgins, and others deny it, who reckon up their children. Let no person, however, despise the Muses, unless he design to bring destruction upon himself by the example of Thamyras or Thamyris; who, being conceited of his beauty and skill in singing, presumed to challenge the Muses to sing, upon condition, that if he was overcome, they should punish him as they pleased. And after he was overcome, he was deprived at once both of his harp and his eyes. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. Who are the Muses, and how are they dressed? What is their employment? Over what do they preside? Who were their parents, and why are they called daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne? Why were they formerly called Mosæ ? How were the Muses represented on Pyrrhus' ring From what were their names derived? How did Calliope derive her name? Who was Clio? What does Erato derive her name from? Why is Thalia so called? What are the peculiar excellencies of Melpomene and Terpaishore? In what does Euterpe excel? From what does Polyhymnia derive her name? Why was Urania so named? Repeat the distich of Bahusias.. Give some account of the names common to all the Muses. How many Muses were there at first, and how were the three converted into Nine? What other reason is given? What should the example of Thamyris teach? CHAPTER X. THEMIS, ASTRÆA, NEMESIS, ARE three goddesses, who contrive and consult together on affairs of great moment. Themis, the first of them, is the daughter of Cœ-lum and Terra. According to the *signification of her name, her office is to instruct mankind to do things honest, just, and right. Therefore her images were brought and placed before those who were about to speak to the people, that they might be admonished thereby to say nothing in public but what was just and righteous. Some say she spoke oracles at Delphi, before Apollo; though Homer says, that she served Apollo with nectar and. ambrosia. There was another Themis, of whom Justice, Law, * enim significat fas. and Peace, are said to be born. Hesiod, by way of eminence, calls her modest, because she was ashamed to say any thing that was done against right and equity. Eusebius calls her Carmenta; *because by her verse and precepts she directs every one to that which is just. But here he means a different Carmenta, who was the mother of Evander, otherwise called Themis Nicostrata, a prophetical lady. She was worshipped by the Romans, because she prophecied; and was called Carmenta, either from the verse in which she uttered her predictions, or from the madness which seemed to possess her when she prophecied. To this lady an altar was dedicated hear the gate Carmentalis, by the Capitol; and a temple was also built to her honour upon this occasion: When the senate forbade the married women the use of litters or sedans, they combined together, and resolved that they would never bring children, unless their husbands rescinded that edict they kept to this agreement with so much resolution, that the senate was obliged to change their sentence, and yield to the women's will, and allow them all sedans and chariots again. And when their wives conceived and brought forth fine children, they erected a temple in honour of Carmenta. Astræa, the daughter of Aurora and Astræus the Titan, (or, as others say, the daughter of Jupiter and Themis,) was esteemed the princess of Justice. The poets feign, that in the Golden Age she descended from heaven to the earth; and being offended at last by the wickedness of mankind, she returned to heaven again, after all the gods had gone before her. She is many times directly called by the name of Justitia; as particularly by Virgil. And when she had returned to heaven again, she was placed where we now see the constellation Virgo. * Quod carminibus edictisque suis præcipiat unicuique quod justum est. Eusub. Præp. Evang. 1. 3. The parents of Nemesis were Jupiter and Necessity; or, according to others, Nox and Oceanus. She was the goddess that rewarded virtue, and punished vice and she taught men their duty, so that she received her name *from the distribution that she made to every body. Jupiter deceived her, as the story says, in the shape of a goose; and that she brought forth an egg, which she gave to a shepherd whom she met, to be carried to Leda. Leda laid up the egg in a box, and Helena was soon after produced of that egg. But others give us quite different accounts of the matter. The Romans cer tainly sacrificed to this goddess, when they went to war; whereby they signified that they never took up arms unless in a just cause. She is called by another name, Adrastæa, from Adrastus, king of the Argives, who first built an altar to her; or, perhaps from the difficulty of escaping from her: because no guilty person can flee from the punishment due to his crime, though Justice sometimes overtakes him late. She has indeed wings, but does not always use them; but then the slower her foot is, the harder is her hand: "Ad scelerum pœnas ultrix venit ira tonantis, Vengeance divine to punish sin moves slow, Rhamnusia is another name of this goddess; from Rhamnus, a town in Attica, where she had a temple, in which there was a statue of her made of one stone, ten cubits high; she held the bough of an apple-tree in her hand, and had a crown upon her * AWO TY EXCOTHEW μnows, a distributione quæ unicuique sit. Plato de Legibus Dial. Ab a non et didarna fugio, quod videlicet nemo nocensus effugere queat pœnam suit sceleribus debitam. 1 |