labour in vain; when one hand destroys what the other has wrought. Orion, when young, was a constant companion of Diana: but because his love to the goddess exceeded the bounds of modesty, or because, as some say, he extolled the strength of his own body, and boasted that he could outrun and subdue the wildest and fiercest beasts, his arrogance grievously displeased the Earth; therefore she sent a scorpion, which killed him. He was afterward carried to the heavens, and there made a constellation; which is thought to predict foul weather when it does not appear, and fair when it is visible; whence the poets call him *tempestuous, or stormy Orion. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. From what did Ulysses derive his name? How did he excuse himself from going to the Trojan war, and how was the artifice detected? What exploits did he perform at Troy? What was the contention between him and Ajax, and what was the consequence of it? What acts did he perform during his return? What happened to him in Ithaca? What is said of Penelope, and whence is the origin of the phrase, "To weave Penelope's web?" What is said of Orion? What does the constellation predict? CHAPTER VIII. OSIRIS, APIS, SERAPIS. OSIRIS, Apis, and Serapis, are three different names of one and the same god. Osiris was the * Nimbosus Orion. Virg. Æn. nam opiwy significat turbo moveo, unde etiam ipse nomen sumpsisse a nonnullis judicatur. son of Jupiter, by Niobe, the daughter of Phoroneus; and was king of the Argives many years. He was stirred up, by the desire of glory, to leave his kingdom to his brother Ægialus, and to sail into Egypt, to seek a new name and new kingdoms. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by his arms, as obliged to him by his courtesies and kindness. After this he married Io, the daughter of Inachus, whom Jupiter formerly turned into a cow; but, when by her distraction she was driven into Egypt, her former shape was again restored, and she married Osiris, and instructed the Egyptians in letters. Therefore, both she and her husband attained to divine honours, and were thought immortal by that people. But Osiris showed that he was mortal; for he was killed by his brother Typhon. Io (afterward called Isis) sought him a great while; and when she had found him at last in a chest, she laid him in a monument in an island near to Memphis, which island is encompassed by that sad and fatal lake, the Styx. And because when she sought him she had used dogs, who by their excellent virtue of smelling might discover where he was hidden, thence the ancient custom came, that dogs went first in an anniversary procession in honour of Isis. And the people carefully and religiously worshipped a god with a dog's head, called Anubis; which god the poets commonly call *Barker, "a god kalf a dog, a dog half a man.” He is also called Hermanubis; because his sagacity is so great that some think him to be the same with Mercury. But let us return to Osiris and Isis. After the body of Osiris was interred, there appeared to the Egyptians a stately, beautiful ox; the Egyptians thought that it was Osiris, therefore * Latratorem, semicanem Deum, Virg. Æn. 8. they worshipped it, and called it Apis, which in the Egyptian language signifies an "ox." But be cause the body, after his death, was found shut up in a *chest, he was afterward, from this called Sorapis, and by the change of a letter Serapis ; as we shall see more clearly and particularly by and by, when I have observed what Plutarch says, that Osiris was thought to be the Sun. His name comes from os, which in the Egyptian language signifies 'much,” and iris, an "eye;" and his image was a sceptre, in which was placed an eye. So that Osiris signifies the same as πολυοφθαλμος [polyophthalmos,]"many-eyed," which agrees very well to the Sun, who seems to have as many eyes as he has rays, by which he sees, and makes all things visible. 66 Some say that Isis is Pallas, others Terra, others Ceres, and many the Moon; for she is painted sometimes horned, as the moon appears in the increase, and wears black garments; because the moon shines in the night. In the right hand she held a cymbal, and in her left a bucket. Her head was crowned with the feathers of a vulture; for among the Egyptians that bird is sacred to Juno; and therefore they adorned the tops of their porches with the feathers of a vulture. The priests of Isis, called after her own name Isiaci, abstained from the flesh of swine and sheep, and they used no salt to their meat. They shaved their heads, they wore paper shoes, and a linen vest, because Isis first taught the use of flax; and hence she is called Linigera, and also Inachis, from Inachus, her father. By the name of Isis, is usually understood "wisdom" and accordingly, upon the pavement of the temple, there was this inscription: * Zopos significat arcam, in qua inventum est illius corpus inclusum *"I am every thing that hath been, and is, and shall be; nor hath any mortal opened my veil." By the means of this Isis, Iphis, a young virgin of Crete, the daughter of Lygdus and Telethusa, was changed into a man. For when Lygdus went a journey, he enjoined his wife, who was then pregnant, if she brought a daughter, that she should not educate her, but leave her exposed in the fields to perish by want. Telethusa brought forth a daughter, but was very unwilling to lose her child; therefore she dressed it in a boy's habit, and called it Iphis, which is a common name to boys and girls. The father returned from his journey, and believed both his wife and his daughter, who personated a son: and as soon as she was marriageable, her father, who still thought that she was a man, married her to the beautiful Ianthe. As they went to the temple to celebrate the marriage, the mother was much concerned, and begged the favourable assistance of Isis, who heard her prayers, and changed Iphis into a most beautiful young man. Now let us come to Serapis and Apis again. Though Serapis was the god of the Egyptians, yet he was worshipped in Greece, especially at Athens, and also at Rome. Among the different nations he had different names: for he was called sometimes Jupiter Ammon, sometimes Pluto, Bacchus, Esculapius, and sometimes Osiris. His name was reckoned abominable by the Grecians; fo all names of seven letters, raypaμμara [heptagrammata] are by them esteemed infamous. Some say that Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, procured the effigies of him at Pontus, from the king of Sinope, and * Εγω ειμι παν το γεγονός και ον, και εσομένον και το εμον πεπλον είδεις των θνητων απεκάλυψεν. Εgo sum quicquid fuit est erit; nec meum quisquam motalium peplum retexit. Plut in Iside. † Ovid. Met. 9. Pausan. in Attic.' dedicated a magnificent temple to him at Alexandria. Eusebius calls him the "Prince of evil demons:" a flasket was placed upon his head and near him lay a creature with three heads; a dog's on the right side, a wolf's on the left, and a lion's head in the middle a snake with his fold encompassed them, whose head hung down upon the god's right hand, with which he bridled the terrible monster. Apis was king of the Argivi, and being transported thence into Egypt, he became Serapis, or the greatest of all the gods of Egypt. After the death of Serapis, the ox that we mentioned a little before, succeeded in his place. *Pliny describes the form and quality of this ox, thus: An ox, in Egypt, is worshipped as a god: they call him Apis. He is thus marked: there is a white shining spot upon his right side, horns like the moon in its increase, and a nose under its tongue, which they call cantharus. His body, says Herodotus, was all black in his forehead he had a white square shining figure; the effigies of an eagle in his back; and beside the cantharus in his mouth, he had hair of two sorts in his tail. But Pliny goes on: if he lives beyond an appointed period of time, they drown him in the priests' fountain; then the priests shave their heads, mourn and lament, and seek another to substitute in his room. When they have found one, he is brought by the priests to Memphis. He hath two chapels or chambers, which are the oracles of the people; in one of them he foretels good, in the other evil. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What was Osiris; whom did he marry; and what is told of his wife? What was lo afterwards called, and why did dogs go first in the procession devoted to her? *Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. 8. c. 40. |