SCYL′LA. A daughter of Nysus, who was changed into a lark for cutting
off a charmed lock of her father’s hair. See Nysus.
SEA, see Neptune.
SEASONS, see Vertumnus.
SEA-WEED, see Glaucus.
SEGES′TA. A rural divinity who protected corn during harvest-time.
SEM. The Egyptian Hercules.
SEM′ELE, the mother of Bacchus, was born in a miraculous manner after
Jupiter had visited her, at her special request, in all his terrible
splendour. She was deified after her death, and named Thyone.
SEMI-DEI were the demi-gods.
SEMO′NES. Roman gods of a class between the “immortal” and the
“mortal,” such as the Satyrs and Fauns.
SEPTE′RION. A festival held in honour of Apollo, at which the victory
of that god over the Python was grandly represented.
SERA′PIS. The Egyptian Jupiter, and generally considered to be the same
as Osiris. See Apis.
SERPENT. The Greeks and Romans considered the serpent as symbolical of
guardian spirits, and as such were often engraved on their altars. See
Æsculapius, Apollo, Chimera, Eurydice, and Medusa.
“Pleasing was his shape,
And lovely; never since of serpent kind,
Lovelier; not those that in Illyria changed
Hermione and Cadmus, or the god
In Epidaurus, nor to which transformed
Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline, was seen.”