Infernal Deities.
PLUTO--HADES.
_Ques._ Who was Pluto?
_Ans._ He was the son of Saturn and Ops, and the brother of Jupiter
and Neptune. In the division of his father's kingdom, the infernal
regions were allotted to him, and he is therefore called the king of
Hell.
_Ques._ How is Pluto represented?
_Ans._ He is seated on a throne in the midst of clouds and darkness;
he wears a crown of ebony, and holds a key in his hand instead of a
sceptre.
_Ques._ What does the key signify?
_Ans._ It seems to imply, that when once the dead are received into
Pluto's kingdom, the gates are locked upon them and there is no
escape.
_Ques._ What does Pluto's name signify?
_Ans._ The Greek name Pluto, and the Latin word Dis, signify wealth,
because this god is supposed to control the hidden treasures of the
earth. The thunder that happens in the night time is attributed to
Pluto, and he is often styled the Infernal Jupiter.
_Ques._ Was Pluto the same as Plutus?
_Ans._ No; Plutus was the god of riches, and was supposed to be the
son of Jason and Ceres. He is described as being blind and lame,
injudicious, and timorous.
_Ques._ What does this mean?
_Ans._ Plutus is blind and injudicious, because he passes over the
virtuous to heap riches on the wicked; he is lame because riches come
slowly, and timorous, because the rich watch their treasures with
great fear and anxiety.
_Ques._ To whom was Pluto married?
_Ans._ As we have learned before, Pluto was married to Proser´pine,
daughter of Ceres.
HELL.
_Ques._ How was Hell described?
_Ans._ The entrance to the infernal regions was by a wide, dark cave,
through which the departed souls were obliged to pass; they next came
to a gloomy grove, and a black lake, called Avernus; this was overhung
with such poisonous vapors that no birds could fly over it. The
ferryman, Charon, was always waiting on the shore to carry the dead to
the other side of the lake. The ghosts of those who had not been
buried with funeral rites, were obliged to wander for a hundred years
by the gloomy waters of Avernus, before Charon could carry them to the
other side. This superstition made the ancients very careful about
burying their dead.
_Ques._ What do you say of the rivers of Hell?
_Ans._ The Styx was the most remarkable. When any of the gods swore by
the Styx, the oath was sacred; if any deity was guilty of breaking
such an oath, he was deprived of nectar, and excluded from the table
of the gods for a year and nine days. Lethe was also a river of Hell;
the name means oblivion; it is so called, because when the dead drank
of its waters, they forgot all that had passed upon this earth.
_Ques._ What monster kept the gate of Pluto's palace?
_Ans._ Cer´berus; a three-headed dog, whose body was clothed with
snakes instead of hair.
FATES--FURIES.
_Ques._ Who were the Fates?
_Ans._ They were three sisters, the daughters of Chaos, who were
appointed to watch over the thread of human life. Their names were,
Clotho, Lach´esis and At´ropos; Clotho drew the thread between her
fingers; Lach´esis turned the wheel, and, at the appointed moment,
At´ropos cut the thread with her scissors.
_Ques._ Who were the Furies?
_Ans._ They were three sisters, Alec´to, Tisi´phone, and Megæ´ra. They
are called by the poets the Daughters of Night; their office was to
torment the wicked during life and after death.
_Ques._ How were they represented?
_Ans._ As hideous women with terrible countenances; they had twining
serpents instead of hair, and carried snaky whips and lighted torches
in their hands. They were often called by the Greeks Eumen´ides.
_Ques._ Of what were the Furies an emblem?
_Ans._ Of the evil passions of men, and the remorse which torments the
wicked. When the ancients said of a man, that the Furies had taken up
their abode with him, they meant that the remembrance of his crimes
did not leave him any repose.
JUDGES OF THE DEAD.
Punishments inflicted on the Condemned.
_Ques._ Besides Pluto, who were appointed judges of the dead?
_Ans._ Minos, Rhadamanthus and Æ´acus. These were princes, who
governed so justly during life, that the fate of the dead was
entrusted to them.
_Ques._ What offices were assigned to each?
_Ans._ Rhadamanthus judged the Asiatics, Æ´acus the Europeans; and
when a very difficult case arose it was referred to Minos.
_Ques._ Who were the most famous among the condemned?
_Ans._ The giants whom Jupiter conquered. Typhon was the most
enormous; when he was overthrown, Jupiter was obliged to lay the
whole Island of Sicily upon him to keep him down. Briareus was
another giant, remarkable for having fifty heads and a hundred hands.
According to the ancient poets, he is imprisoned under Mount Etna, and
whenever he tries to move he causes terrible eruptions of the volcano.
Tityus was still more cruelly punished. He was chained to the ground
in the infernal regions, and such was his stature, that he covered
nine acres. A frightful vulture fed continually upon his liver, which
grew as fast as it was consumed, that his punishment might be eternal.
_Ques._ Who was Ixion?
_Ans._ He was the son of Phlegyas, or, according to some, of Mars. He
boasted falsely that he had gained the affections of Juno. For this
insolence Jupiter cast him down into hell, where he was fastened to a
wheel which revolved continually.
_Ques._ Who was Sis´yphus?
_Ans._ He was a famous robber who was slain by Theseus. In hell, he
was obliged to roll a huge stone up a steep mountain. When it touched
the top it rolled down again, so that he was tormented with unceasing
toil.
_Ques._ Who was Tan´talus?
_Ans._ He was the son of Jupiter. He invited the gods to a feast, at
which he served up the flesh of his son Pelops to try their divinity.
In hell he is tormented by continual hunger and thirst. He stands up
to his lips in a cool fountain, whose waters recede whenever he
attempts to drink. Branches laden with tempting fruit hang over him,
but they are carried out of reach by a sudden gust of wind whenever he
attempts to pluck them.
_Ques._ Who were the Beli´des?
_Ans._ They were fifty maidens, daughters of Dan´aus and
grand-daughter of King Belus, from whom they are called. They all
murdered their husbands on the wedding night, for which crime they are
obliged to draw water from a deep well until they have filled an
immense sieve. Their labor is therefore perpetual.
_Ques._ Who was Salmo´neus?
_Ans._ Salmo´neus was king of Elis, and was cast into hell for
imitating Jupiter's thunder.
_Ques._ What became of the souls of good men?
_Ans._ After being purified from whatever slight offences they had
committed in life, they were conducted to a place abounding in
delights, called Elysium. When they had passed many ages in this
blissful abode they returned to earth, but before doing so, they drank
of the river Lethe, that they might forget the happiness they had
enjoyed.