where people used to exercise. The fifty heads related to the number of the
priests, who there resided; and who were esteemed as so many wild beasts
for their cruelty. Nonnus makes Jupiter kill Campe: but Diodorus Siculus
gives the honour to Dionusus; who is supposed to have slain this monster at
Zaborna in Libya; and to have raised over her, [Greek: choma pammegethes],
a vast mound of earth. This heap of soil was in reality a high place or
altar; which in after times was taken for a place of burial. These
inclosures grew by degrees into disrepute; and the history of them
obsolete. In consequence of which the [Greek: taphoi], or mounds, were
supposed to be the tombs of heroes. The Grecians, who took every history to
themselves, imagined, that their Jupiter and Dionusus, and their Hercules
had slain them. But what they took for tombs of enemies were in reality
altars to these very Gods; who were not confined to Greece, nor of Grecian
original. The Campanians in Italy were an antient Amonian colony; and they
were denominated from Campe or Campus, which was probably the first temple,
they erected. Stephanus Byzantinus shews, that there was of old such a
place: [Greek: Kampos--ktisma Kampanou]: but would insinuate that it took
its name from a person the head of the colony. Eustathius more truly makes
it give name to the people: though he is not sufficiently determinate.
[775][Greek: Kampanoi apo ton hupokathemenon ekei Kampon onomasthesan, e
apo Kampou poleos.] There were many of these Campi in Greece, which are
styled by Pausanias [Greek: hupaithra], in contradistinction to the
temples, which were covered. They are to be found in many parts of the
world, where the Amonian religion obtained, which was propagated much
farther than we are aware. In our island the exhibition of those manly
sports in vogue among country people is called Camping: and the inclosures
for that purpose, where they wrestle and contend, are called Camping
closes. There are many of them in Cambridgeshire, as well as in other parts
of the kingdom. In Germany we meet with the name of Kaempenfelt; in which
word there is no part derived from the Latin language: for the terms would
then be synonymous, and one of them redundant. Kaempenfelt was, I imagine,
an antient name for a field of sports, and exercise, like the gymnasium of
the Greeks: and a Camping place in Britain is of the like purport.
* * * * *
ANTIENT HEROES.
[Greek: Katholou de phasin (hoi Aiguptioi) tous Hellenas exidiazesthai
tous epiphanestatous Heroas te, kai Theous, eti de kai apoikias tas
par' heauton.] Diodorus Sicul. l. 1. p. 21.
It has been my uniform purpose, during the whole process, which I have made
in my system, to shew, that the Grecians formed Deities out of titles; and
that they often attributed to one person, what belonged to a people. And
when they had completed the history, they generally took the merit of it to
themselves. By means of this clue we may obtain an insight into some of the
most remote, and the most obscure parts of antiquity. For many and great
achievements have been attributed to heroes of the first ages, which it was
not possible for them singly to have performed. And these actions, though
in some degree diversified, and given to different personages, yet upon
examination will be found to relate to one people or family; and to be at
bottom one and the same history.
OSIRIS.
If we consider the history of Osiris, he will appear a wonderful conqueror,
who travelled over the face of the whole [776]earth, winning new
territories, wherever he came; yet always to the advantage of those whom he
subdued. He is said to have been the son of Rhea: and his chief attendants
in his peregrinations were Pan, Anubis, Macedo, with Maro, a great planter
of vines; also Triptolemus much skilled in husbandry. The people of India
claimed Osiris, as their own; and maintained, that he was born at Nusa in
their [777]country. Others supposed his birth-place to have been at Nusa in
[778]Arabia, where he first planted the vine. Many make him a native of
Egypt: and mention the rout of his travels as commencing from that country
through Arabia, and Ethiopia; and then to India, and the regions of the
east. When he was arrived at the extremities of the ocean, he turned back,
and passed through the upper provinces of Asia, till he came to the
Hellespont, which he crossed. He then entered [779]Thrace, with the King of
which he had a severe encounter: yet he is said to have persevered in his
rout westward, till he arrived at the fountains of the Ister. He was also
in Italy, and Greece: from the former of which he expelled the giants near
Phlegra in Campania. He visited many places upon the ocean: and though he
is represented as at the head of an army; and his travels were attended
with military operations; yet he is at the same time described with the
Muses, and Sciences in his retinue. His march likewise was conducted with
songs, and dances, and the sound of every instrument of music. He built
cities in various parts; particularly [780]Hecatompulos, which he
denominated Theba, after the name of his mother. In every region, whither
he came, he is said to have instructed the people in [781]planting, and
sowing, and other useful arts. He particularly introduced the vine: and
where that was not adapted to the soil, he taught the natives the use of
ferment, and shewed them the way to make [782]wine of barley, little
inferior to the juice of the grape. He was esteemed a great blessing to the
Egyptians both as a [783]Lawgiver, and a King. He first built temples to
the Gods: and was reputed a general benefactor of [784]mankind. After many
years travel they represent him as returning to Egypt in great triumph,
where after his death he was enshrined as a Deity. His Taphos, or high
altar, was shewn in many places: in all which he in aftertimes was supposed
to have been buried. The people of Memphis shewed one of them; whereon was
a sacred pillar, containing a detail of his life, and great actions, to the
following purport. [785]_My father was Cronus, the youngest of all the
Gods. I am the king Osiris, who carried my arms over the face of the whole
earth, till I arrived at the uninhabited parts of India. From thence I
passed through the regions of the north to the fountain-head of the Ister.
I visited also other remote countries; nor stopped till I came to the
western ocean. I am the eldest son of Cronus; sprung from the genuine and
respectable race of_ ([Greek: Soos]) _Sous, and am related to the fountain
of day. There is not a nation upon earth, where I have not been; and to
whose good I have not contributed._
This is a very curious piece of antient history: and it will be found to be
in great measure true, if taken with this allowance, that what is here said
to have been achieved by one person, was the work of many. Osiris was a
title conferred upon more persons than one; by which means the history of
the first ages has been in some degree confounded. In this description the
Cuthites are alluded to, who carried on the expeditions here mentioned.
They were one branch of the posterity of Ham; who is here spoken of as the
eldest son of Cronus. How justly they conferred upon him this rank of
primogeniture, I will not determine. By [786]Cronus we are here to
understand the same person, as is also represented under the name of Soues.
This would be more truly expressed [Greek: Soon], Sooen; by which is meant
the Sun: All the Amonian families affected to be styled Heliadae, or the
offspring of the Sun: and under this title they alluded to their great
ancestor the father of all: as by Osiris they generally meant Ham. [Greek:
Soon], Sooen, is the same as [787]Zoon, and Zoan, the fountain of day. The
land of Zoan in Egypt was the nome of Heliopolis: and the city Zoan the
place of the Sun. The person then styled here Soues can be no other than the
great Patriarch under a title of the Sun. He is accordingly by Philo
Biblius called Ousoues in an extract from Sanchoniathon. He makes him indeed
reside, where Tyre was afterwards built; but supposes him to have lived at
a time, when there were great rains and storms; and to have been the first
constructor of a ship, and the first who ventured upon the [788]seas. In
respect to the travels of Osiris we shall find that the posterity of Ham
did traverse at different times the regions above-mentioned: and in many of
them took up their abode. They built the city Memphis in Egypt; also
Hecatompulos, which they denominated Theba, after the name of their reputed
mother. They also built Zoan, the city of the Sun.
Osiris is a title often conferred upon the great patriarch himself: and
there is no way to find out the person meant but by observing the history,
which is subjoined. When we read of Osiris being exposed in an ark, and
being afterward restored to day; of his planting the vine, and teaching
mankind agriculture; and inculcating religion, and justice; the person
alluded to stands too manifest to need any farther elucidation. And when it
is said of Osiris, that he went over most parts of the habitable globe, and
built cities in various regions; this too may be easily understood. It can
allude to nothing else, but a people called Osirians, who traversed the
regions mentioned. They were principally the Cuthites, who went abroad
under various denominations: and the histories of all the great heroes, and
heroines of the first ages will be found of the same purport, as the
foregoing. Osiris is supposed to have been succeeded in Egypt by Orus.
After Orus came Thoules; who was succeeded by [789]Sesostris.
PERSEUS.
Perseus was one of the most antient heroes in the mythology of Greece: the
merit of whose supposed achievements the Helladians took to themselves; and
gave out that he was a native of Argos. He travelled to the temple of
[790]Ammon; and from thence traversed the whole extent of Africa. He
subdued the [791]Gorgons, who lived in Mauritania, and at Tartessus in
Boetica; and defeated the Ethiopians upon the western ocean, and the
nations about mount _Atlas_: which [792]mountain he only and Hercules are
said to have passed. Being arrived at the extremity of the continent, he
found means to pass over, and to get possession of all the western islands.
He warred in the East; where he freed [793]Andromeda, the daughter of
Cepheus king of the eastern Ethiopia, who was exposed to a sea-monster.
Some imagine this to have happened at [794]Joppa in Palestine, where the
[795]bones of this monster of an extraordinary size are supposed to have
been for a long time preserved. He is said to have built [796]Tarsus in
Cilicia, reputed the most antient city in the world; and to have planted
the peach tree at [797]Memphis. The Persians were supposed to have been his
descendants. He travelled through Asia Minor, to the country of the
[798]Hyperboreans upon the Ister, and the lake Maeotis; and from thence
descended to Greece. Here he built Mycene, and Tiryns, said by many to have
been the work of the Cyclopians. He established a seminary at Helicon: and
was the founder of those families, which were styled Dorian, and Herculean.
It is a doubt among writers, whether he came into Italy. Some of his family
were there; who defeated the giant race in Campania, and who afterwards
built Argiletum, and Ardea in Latium. Virgil supposes it to have been
effected by Danae, the mother of this Hero:
[799]Ardea ---- quam dicitur olim
Acrisioneis Danaee fundasse colonis.
But [800]Servius says, that Perseus himself in his childhood was driven to
the coast of Daunia. He is represented as the ancestor of the Grecian
Hercules, supposed to have been born at Thebes in Boeotia. In reality
neither [801]Hercules, nor Perseus, was of Grecian original;
notwithstanding the genealogies framed in that country. The history of the
latter came apparently from Egypt, as we may learn from Diodorus[802]:
[Greek: Phasi de kai ton Persea gegonenai kat' Aigupton.] Herodotus more
truly represents him as an [803]Assyrian; by which is meant a Babylonian:
and agreeably to this he is said to have married [804]Asterie, the daughter
of Belus, the same as Astaroth and Astarte of Canaan; by whom he had a
daughter Hecate. This, though taken from an idle system of theology, yet
plainly shews, that the history of Perseus had been greatly misapplied and
lowered, by being inserted among the fables of Greece. Writers speak of him
as a great [805]Astronomer, and a person of uncommon knowledge. He
instructed mariners to direct their way in the sea by the lights of heaven;
and particularly by the polar constellation. This he first observed, and
gave it the name of Helice. Though he was represented as a Babylonian; yet
he resided in Egypt, and is said to have reigned at Memphis. To say the
truth, he was worshipped at that place: for Perseus was a title of the
Deity; [806][Greek: Perseus, ho Helios]; _Perseus was no other than the
Sun_, the chief God of the Gentile world. On this account he had a temple
of great repute at [807]Chemmis, as well as at Memphis, and in other parts
of Egypt. Upon the Heracleotic branch of the Nile, near the sea, was a
celebrated watch-tower, denominated from him. His true name was Perez, or
Parez, rendered Peresis, Perses, and Perseus: and in the account given of
this personage we have the history of the Peresians, Parrhasians, and
Perezites, in their several peregrinations; who were no other than the
Heliadae, and Osirians abovementioned. It is a mixed history, in which their
forefathers are alluded to; particularly their great progenitor, the father
of mankind. He was supposed to have had a renewal of life: they therefore
described Perseus as inclosed in an [808]ark, and exposed in a state of
childhood upon the waters, after having been conceived in a shower of gold.
Bochart thinks that the name both of Persis and Perseus was from [Hebrew:
PRS], Paras, an Horse: because the Persians were celebrated horsemen, and
took great delight in that animal. But it must be considered that the name
is very antient, and prior to this use of horses. P'aras, P'arez, and
P'erez, however diversified, signify the Sun; and are of the same analogy
as P'ur, P'urrhos, P'oros, which betoken fire. Every animal, which was in
any degree appropriated to a Deity, was called by some sacred [809]title.
Hence an horse was called P'arez: and the same name, but without the
prefix, was given to a lion by many nations in the east. It was at first
only a mark of reference, and betokened a solar animal, specifying the
particular Deity to whom it was sacred. There were many nations, which were
distinguished in the same manner; some of whom the Greeks styled
Parrhasians. Hence the antient Arcadians, those Selenitae, who were
undoubtedly an Amonian colony, had this appellation. A people in Elis had
the same. The Poets described the constellation of Helice, or the Bear, by
the title of Parrhasis, Arctos, and Parrhasis Ursa. This asterism was
confessedly first taken notice of by Perez or Perseus, by which is meant
the Persians.
[810] Versaque ab axe suo Parrhasis Arctos erat.
In the east, where the worship of Arez greatly prevailed, there were to be
found many nations called after this manner. Part of Media, according to
[811]Polybius, had the name of Parrhasia. There were also Parrhasii and
Parrhasini in [812]Sogdiana; and [813]the like near Caucasus: also a town
named [814]Parasinum in the Tauric Chersonesus. The people styled
[815]Parrhasians in Greece were the same as the Dorians and Heraclidae; all
alike Cuthites, as were the antient Persians. Hence it is truly said by
Plato, that the Heraclidae in Greece, and the Achaemenidae among the Persians
were of the same stock: [816][Greek: To de Herakleous te genos kai to
Achaimeneous eis Persea ton Dios anapheretai.] On this account
[817]Herodotus makes Xerxes claim kindred with the Argives of Greece, as
being equally of the posterity of Perses, the same as Perseus, the Sun:
under which character the Persians described the patriarch, from whom they
were descended. Perseus was the same as Mithras, whose sacred cavern was
styled Perseuem.
[818]Phoebe parens--seu te roseum Titana vocari
Gentis Achaemeniae ritu; seu praestat Osirin
Frugiferum; seu Persei sub rupibus antri
Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mithram.
OF MYRINA,
AND THE
AMAZONIANS OF LIBYA.
From a notion that the Amazons were a community of women, historians have
represented the chief personage of their nation as a [819]female. She is
mentioned by some as having flourished long before the aera of [820]Troy:
and it is by others said more precisely, that she lived in the time of
Orus, the son of Isis and Osiris. This removes her history far back; so as
to make it coeval with the first annals of time. Her dominions lay in the
most western parts of [821]Africa, at the extremity of Atlas; where the
mountain terminated in the ocean, to which it gave name. This country was
called Mauritania; and was supposed to have been possessed by the Atlantes
and Gorgons. The Grecian writers, who did not know that the same family
went under different titles, have often made the same nation at variance
with itself. And as they imagined every migration to have been a warlike
expedition, they have represented Myrina as making great conquests; and
what is extraordinary, going over the same ground, only in a retrograde
direction, which Osiris had just passed before. Her first engagement was
with the Atlantes of Cercene: against whom she marched with an army of
30,000 foot, and 2,000 horse; whom she completely armed with the skins of
serpents. Having defeated the Atlantes, she marched against the Gorgons,
whom she likewise [822]conquered; and proceeding forward, subdued the
greater part of Africa, till she arrived at the borders of Egypt. Having
entered into an alliance with Orus, she passed the Nile, and invaded the
Arabians, whom she defeated. She then conquered the Syrians, and Cilicians,
and all the nations about Mount Taurus; till she arrived at Phrygia, and
the regions about the river Caicus. Here she built many cities,
particularly Cuma, Pitane, and Priene. She also got possession of several
islands; and among others, of Lesbos and Samothracia, in which last she
founded an asylum. After these transactions, Myrina, accompanied with
Mopsus the diviner, made an expedition into Thrace, which was the ultimate
of her progress; for she was supposed to have been here slain. According to
Homer she died in Phrygia: for he takes notice of her tomb in the plains of
Troas; and represents it as a notable performance.
[823][Greek: Esti de tis proparoithe poleos aipeia kolone,]
[Greek: En pedioi apaneuthe, peridromos entha kai entha;]
[Greek: Ten etoi andres Batieian kikleskousin,]
[Greek: Athanatoi de te sema poluskarthmoio Murines.]
The tomb of this heroine was in reality a sacred mound, or high altar; and
Myrina a Gentile divinity. In her supposed conquests we may in great
measure see the history of Osiris, and Perseus, reversed, and in some
degree abridged; yet not so far varied, but that the purport may be plainly
discerned. Indeed there is no other way to obtain the hidden meaning, but
by collating the different histories, and bringing them in one view under
the eye of the reader.
HERCULES.
Similar to the foregoing are the expeditions of Hercules, and the conquests
which he is supposed to have performed. After many exploits in Greece, the
reputed place of his nativity, he travelled as far as mount Caucasus near
Colchis, to free Prometheus, who was there exposed to an eagle or vulture.
Upon the Thermodon he engaged with the Amazons, whom he utterly defeated;
and then passed over into Thrace. Upon his return into Greece he was
ordered to make an expedition into Iberia, a region in the farthest part of
Spain; where Chrusaor, a prince of great wealth, resided. Hercules accepts
of the commission; but, I know not for what reason, goes first to Crete,
and from thence to [824]Libya; and what is extraordinary, proceeds to
Egypt. This makes the plan of his supposed rout somewhat irregular and
unaccountable. After some time spent in these parts, he builds the city
Hecatompulos, said before to have been built by Osiris: and then traverses
the whole of Africa westward, till he arrives at the Fretum Gaditanum. Here
he erects two pillars; which being finished, he at last enters Iberia. He
defeats the sons of Chrusaor, who were in arms to oppose him; and bestows
their kingdom upon others. He likewise seizes upon the oxen of Geryon. He
then marches into the country of the Celtae, and [825]founds the city
Corunna, and likewise [826]Alesia in Gaul. He afterwards fights with the
giants Albion and Bergion near Arelate, in the plain styled Campus
Lapideus; where are the salt waters of Salona. He then passes the
[827]Alpes; and upon the banks of the Eridanus encounters a person of
shepherd race; whom he kills, and seizes his [828]golden flocks. In his way
homeward he visits Hetruria, and arrives at the mountain Palatinus upon the
Tiber. From thence he goes to the maritime part of Campania, about Cuma,
Heraclea, and the lake Aornon. Not far from hence was an adust and fiery
region; supposed to have been the celebrated Phlegra, where the giants
warred against heaven: in which war Hercules is said to have [829]assisted.
Here was an antient oracular temple; and hard by the mountain Vesuvius,
which in those days flamed violently, though it did not for many ages
afterwards. During his residence here he visited the hot fountains near
Misenus and Dicaearchea; and made a large causeway, called in aftertimes Via
Herculanea, and Agger Puteolanus. After having visited the Locrians, and
the people of Rhegium, he crossed the sea to Sicily; which sea he swam
over, holding by the horn of an ox. At his arrival some warm springs burst
forth miraculously, to give him an opportunity of bathing. Here he boxed
with Eryx; defeated the Sicani; and performed many other exploits. What is
remarkable, having in Spain seized upon the cattle of Geryon, he is said to
have made them travel over the Pyrenean mountains, and afterwards over the
Alpes, into Italy; and from thence cross the sea into Sicily; and being now
about to leave that island, he swims with them again to Rhegium: and
ranging up the coast of the Adriatic, passes round to Illyria, from thence
to Epirus; and so descends to Greece. The whole of these travels is said to
have been completed in ten years.