He was told to wash himself in the river Pactolus; he performed the
necessary ablution, and the very sands were turned into gold by the touch
of Midas. Divine honours were given to Silenus in Arcadia, and from him the
Fauns and Satyrs are often called Sileni.
The Satyrs, also gods of the Country, were considered as mischievous, and
inspired by their appearance, great fright in the shepherds--although they
bore with them a flute or tambourine, to make the nymphs dance, when they
inflamed their senses by the burning nature of their harmony, and the rapid
measure with which they trod to the music of these demi-gods.
[Illustration]
To them were offered the first fruits of everything, and they attended
chiefly upon Bacchus, rendering themselves conspicuous in his orgies, by
their riot and lasciviousness. It is said, that a Satyr was brought to
Sylla, as that general returned from Thessaly; the monster had been
surprised asleep in a cave; his voice was inarticulate, when brought into
the presence of the Roman {126} general, and Sylla was so disgusted with
the sight, that he ordered it instantly to be removed. The creature is said
to have answered the description which poets and painters have given of the
Satyrs.
Priapus was the most celebrated among them, as the the son of Venus, who
meeting Bacchus on his return from his Indian expedition, was enamoured of
him, and with the assistance of Juno, became the mother of Priapus. Juno
having vowed vengeance against the goddess of beauty, took that opportunity
to deform her son in all his limbs; notwithstanding which, as he grew up,
his inclinations and habits became so vicious, that he was known as the god
of lewdness. His festivals took place principally at Lampsacus, where they
consecrated the ass to him; and the people naturally indolent, gave
themselves up to every impurity during the celebration. When however his
worship was introduced into Rome, he became more the God of Orchards and
Gardens, than the patron of licentiousness. He was there crowned with the
leaves of the vine, and sometimes with laurel or rocket, the last of these
plants, which is said to raise the passions and excite love, being sacred
to him.
The Sylvans, were, like the Fauns and Satyrs, the guardian deities of the
woods and wild places of the earth.
Terminus was a somewhat curious divinity, presiding over bounds and limits,
and punishing all usurpation. His worship was first introduced by Numa
Pompilius, who persuaded his subjects that the limits of their lands and
states, were under the immediate inspection of heaven. His temple was on
the Tarpeian rock, and he was represented with a human head, though without
feet or arms, to intimate that he never moved, wherever he might be placed.
The people of the country assembled once a year with their families, and
crowned with garlands and flowers, the stones which divided their different
possessions. It is said that when Tarquin the proud, wished to build a
temple on the Tarpeian rock to Jupiter, the God Terminus refused to give
place, though the other gods resigned theirs with cheerfulness, and the
oracles declared from this, that the extent of the Empire should never be
lessened.
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