In the earlier part of the history of nations, Mythology has always been
found to exist; imaginary beings have been adored, and a system of worship
established, which, though imperfect in itself, was satisfactory to those,
who, looking beyond the abstract circumstance of its idolatry, discovered
the grand truth, that however rude, and however barbarous the people, there
was a principle evidently acknowledged in their actions, of the necessity
of a supreme being; and a feeling, of which they could not dispossess
themselves, that a divine being watched over, and was the rewarder of their
good, or the punisher of their evil deeds.
The priests of Phoenicia and Egypt were the origin of the elements of this
profane faith, and through their means, its transmission may be traced to
the Greeks, who, after adopting, purified, or at least assisted in greatly
refining it, before its reception by the Romans who multiplied their Gods
in about the same degree that their vices increased; while their armies,
which overran the {2} world, doubtless gave to the Scandanavians and the
Gauls their ideas of the faith of Odin; and the fables of the Hindoos, and
those of the American people, must be ascribed to the same source.
It has been with many an endeavour to trace, in the mythologies of various
nations, a resemblance to the more holy histories of our own faith; and
they assert that, in many of the fables with which we are familiar, are to
be traced the types or symbols of part of that revelation which is the
ground-work of our own belief. But this is, at best, so vague and shadowy,
that its inculcators get lost in their own inventions, and their followers
scarcely comprehend the assertions they are called on implicitly to
believe. With this we have nothing to do; the object of the present work
being the endeavour to offer a brief and succinct history of those Gods
whose adventures have created most interest, and by means of them to give
an additional zest to the perusal of the great poets and writers of
antiquity, whose works are either founded on these actual adventures, or
abound with allusions to them, and without the knowledge of which, it may
be asserted, that the mind is scarcely able to do justice to them any more
than to modern writers, since the works of the latter teem with images
drawn from classical subjects. Nor indeed is this to be wondered at, when
we consider the various subjects connected with fable; and in this view of
our subject we are borne out by a distinguished writer in the following
elegant remarks:
"Men of a phlegmatic disposition," observes Dr. Turner, "or of a censorious
temper, never cease to rail against the delightful fictions with which
Homer and Hesiod, and their poetical imitators, have enriched and
embellished their works; but although these fictions did not contain many
useful instructions, and important truths, would there be any reason to
attack and destroy a system, which peoples and animates nature, and which
makes a solemn temple of the vast universe? These flowers, whose varied and
shining beauty you so much admire, are the tears of Aurora. It is the
breath of Zephyrus which gently agitates the leaves. The soft murmurings of
the waters are the sighs of the Naiades. A god impels the wind; a god pours
out the rivers; grapes are the gift of Bacchus; Ceres presides over the
harvest; orchards are the care of Pomona. Does a shepherd sound his reed on
the summit of a mountain, it is Pan, who with his pastoral pipe returns the
amorous lay. {3}
"When the sportsman's horn rouses the attentive ear, it is Diana, armed
with her bow and quiver, and more nimble than the stag that she pursues,
who takes the diversion of the chase. The sun is a god, who, riding in a
car of fire, diffuses his light through the world; the stars are so many
divinities, who measure with their golden beams the regular progress of
time; the moon presides over the silence of night, and consoles the world
for the absence of her brother. Neptune reigns in the sea, surrounded by
the Naiades, who dance to the joyous shells of the Tritons. In the highest
heaven is seated Jupiter, master and father of men and gods. Under his feet
roll the thunders, in the caverns of Etna, forged by the Cyclops; his smile
rejoices nature; and his nods shakes the foundation of Olympus. Surrounding
the throne of their sovereign, the other divinities quaff nectar, from a
cup presented them by the young and beautiful Hebe. In the middle of the
great circle shines, with distinguished lustre, the unrivalled beauty of
Venus, alone adorned with a splendid girdle in which the Graces for ever
play, and in her hand is a smiling boy whose power is universally
acknowledged by heaven and earth. Sweet illusions of the fancy! pleasing
errors of the mind! what objects of pity are those cold and insensible
hearts who have never felt your charms! and what objects of pity and
indignation those fierce and savage spirits, who would destroy a world that
has so long been the treasury of the arts! a world, imaginary indeed, but
delightful, and whose ideal pleasures are so well fitted to compensate for
the real troubles and miseries of the world in which we live."
If we turn to a still higher authority (and we acknowledge that the subject
has been treated of so often and in so masterly a style by men of whom the
world was scarcely worthy, that we are willing rather to present their
mature opinions, than to obtrude our own) we shall find that Lord Bacon
treats upon the subject in a manner which maintains his high character as a
profound thinker. "I am not ignorant," he says, "how uncertain fiction is,
and how liable to be wrested to this or that sense, nor how prevalent wit
and discourse are, so as ingeniously to apply such meanings as were not
thought of originally; but let not the follies and license of a few lessen
the esteem due to parables; for that would be profane and bold, since
religion delights in such veils and shadows: but, reflecting on human
wisdom, I ingenuously confess my real opinion is, that {4} mystery and
allegory were from the original intended in many fables of the ancient
poets, this appears apt and conspicuous to me; whether ravished with a
veneration for antiquity, or because I find such coherence in the
similitude with the things signified, in the very texture of the fable, and
in the propriety of the names which are given to the persons or actors in
the fables; and no man can positively deny that this was the sense proposed
from the beginning, and industriously veiled in this manner.... No one
should be moved, if he sometimes finds any addition for the sake of
history, or by way of embellishment; or if chronology should happen to be
confounded, or if part of one fable should be transferred to another, and a
new allegory introduced: for these were all necessary, and to be expected,
seeing they are the inventions of men of different ages, and who writ to
different ends; some with a view to the nature of things and others to
civil affairs. We have another sign, and that no small one, of this hidden
sense which we have been speaking of, which is that some of these fables
are in the narration so foolish and absurd, that they seem to claim a
parable at a distance. Such as are probable may be feigned for amusement,
and in imitation of history; but where no such designs appear, but they
seem to be what none would imagine or relate, they must be calculated for
other uses. What has a great weight with me is, that many of these fables
seem not to be invented by those who have related them, Homer, Hesiod, and
other writers; for were they the fictions of that age and of those who
delivered them down to us, nothing great and exalted, according to my
opinion, could be expected from such an origin; but if any one will
deliberate on this subject attentively, these will appear to be delivered
and related as what were before believed and received, and not as tales
then first invented and communicated; besides, as they are told in
different manners, by authors of almost the same times, they are easily
perceived to be common, and derived from old tradition, and are various
only from the additional embellishments diverse writers have bestowed on
them.... The wisdom of the ancients was either great or happy, great if
these figures were the fruits of their industry; and happy if they looked
no further, that they have afforded matter and occasion so worthy of
contemplation."
* * * * *
{5}