Volume Ii Part 11 (1/2)

[703]F???? ?a? ????? ?????s??e?, e?et' e?e????, ??et' ep' ?f??s? ?e???t?da? et?efe? ?ppa?, ???e?? ?p' e??t? ?e?a?e??? ?d?t???.

These Hippai, misconstrued mares, were priestesses of the G.o.ddess Hippa, who was of old wors.h.i.+pped in Thessaly, and Thrace, and in many different regions. They chanted hymns in her temples, and performed the rites of fire: but the wors.h.i.+p growing obsolete, the very terms were at last mistaken. How far this wors.h.i.+p once prevailed may be known from the many places denominated from Hippa. It was a t.i.tle of Apollo, or the Sun, and often compounded Hippa On, and contracted Hippon: of which name places occur in Africa near Carthage[704]. ?te d? ???ta p???? e?ta??a ?a? ?? d??

?pp??e?. Argos was of old called Hippeion; not from the animal ?pp??, but [705]ap? ?pp?? t?? ?a?a??, _from Hippa the daughter of Danaus_. That is from a priestess, who founded there a temple, and introduced the rites of the G.o.ddess whom she served. As it was a t.i.tle of the Sun, it was sometimes expressed in the masculine gender Hippos: and Pausanias takes notice of a most curious, and remarkable piece of antiquity, though he almost ruins the purport of it by referring it to an horse. It stood near mount Taygetus in Laconia, and was called the monument of Hippos. The author tells us, [706]_that at particular intervals from this monument stood seven pillars, ?ata t??p?? ??a? a??a???, placed_, says he, _as I imagine, according to some antient rule and method; which pillars were supposed to represent the seven planets_. If then these exterior stones related to the [707]seven erratic bodies in our sphere, the central monument of Hippos must necessarily have been designed for the Sun. And however rude the whole may possibly have appeared, it is the most antient representation upon record, and consequently the most curious, of the planetary system.

It is from hence, I think, manifest, that the t.i.tles Hippa, and Hippos, related to the luminary Osiris; and betokened some particular department of that Deity, who was the same as Dionusus. He was undoubtedly wors.h.i.+pped under this appellation in various regions: hence we read of Hippici Montes in Colchis: ?pp?? ??? in Lycia: ?pp?? a??a in Libya: ?pp?? ???? in Egypt: and a town Hippos in Arabia Felix. There occur also in composition[708], Hippon, Hipporum, Hippouris, Hippana, Hipponesus, Hippocrene. This last was a sacred fountain, denominated from the G.o.d of light, who was the patron of verse, and science: but by the Greeks it was referred to an animal, and supposed to have been produced by the hoof of an horse. The rites of Dionusus Hippius were carried into Thrace, where the horses of Diomedes were said to have been fed with human flesh. Deianira is introduced by Ovid, as asking Hercules, if he did not well remember this practice.

[709]Non tibi succurrit crudi Diomedis imago, Efferus humana qui dape pavit equos?

Abderus, the founder of Abdera, is supposed to have been a victim to these animals: of which Scymnus Chius gives the following account.

[710]??? d' ep? ?a?att? ?e?e??? est?? p????

?d??', ap' ?d???? e? ???ase??, ??? ?a? ?t?sa?t?? p??te??? a?t??? ?? d??e?

?p? t?? ????d??? ?ste??? ?e???t????

?pp?? f?a???a?.

These horses, ?e???t????, which fed upon the flesh of strangers, were the priests of Hippa, and of Dionusus, styled Hippus, or more properly Hippius.

They seem to have resided in an island, and probably in the Thracian Chersonese: which they denominated [711]Diu-Medes, or the island of the Egyptian Deity Medes. From hence the Grecian Poets have formed a personage Diomedes, whom they have made king of the country. There were opposite to Apulia islands of the same name, where similar rites prevailed. The priests were here Cycneans, and described as a species of swans, who were kind to people of their own race, but cruel to [712]strangers. A Diomedes is supposed to have been a king in these parts, and to have given name to these islands. It is said by Scymnus Chios above, that Abderus, who was devoured by the horses of Diomedes in Thrace, built the city, which bore his name. The Grecians continually supposed the personage, in whose honour a city was built, to have been the founder. I have mentioned, that Abderus signifies the place of Abdir, which is a contraction of Abadir, the serpent Deity Ad-Ur, or Adorus. And it is plain from many pa.s.sages in antient writers, that human sacrifices were common at his shrine; and particularly those of infants. By Abdera being a victim to the horses of Diomedes is meant that the natives of that place, which stood in the vicinity of the Chersonesus, were obliged to submit to the cruel rites of the Diomedean [713]priests. The very name must have come from them; for they wors.h.i.+pped the Deity under the t.i.tles of Meed, Hippa, and Abadir; and various other appellations.

There is an account given by [714]Palaephatus of one Metra, who in the more authentic ma.n.u.scripts is called ??st?a, Meestra. It is said of her, that she could change herself into various forms, particularly e? ????? ?e?es?a?

???, ?a? a???? ???a, ?a? ???e??, _that she would instead of a young woman appear an ox, or a cow; or else be in the shape of a dog, or of a bird_.

She is represented as the daughter of Eresicthon: and these uncommon properties are mentioned by Ovid[715], who sets them off with much embellishment. The story at bottom is very plain. Egypt, the land of the Mizraim, was by the Greeks often styled [716]Mestra and [717]Mestraia: and by the person here called Mestra we are certainly to understand a woman of that country. She was sometimes mentioned simply as a Cahen, or priestess, which the Grecians have rendered ???a, a dog. Women in this sacred capacity attended at the shrine of Apis, and Mneuis; and of the sacred heifer at Onuphis. Some of them in different countries were styled Cygneans, and also Peleiadae, of whom the princ.i.p.al were the women at [718]Dodona. Many of them were priestesses of Hippa, and upon that account styled Hippai, as I have shewn. Hence the mythologists under the character of Meestra have represented an Egyptian priestess, who could a.s.sume many departments, which were misconstrued different shapes. She could become, if we may credit Ovid,

Nunc equa, nunc ales, modo bos.

or according to Palaephatus, ???, ???a, ?a? ???e??: _a cow, a dog, and a bird_. The whole of this related to the particular service of the priestess; and to the emblem under which the Deity was wors.h.i.+pped.

RITES

OF

DAMATER, OR CERES.

I shall now proceed to the rites of Ceres: and the general character of this G.o.ddess is so innocent, and rural, that one would imagine nothing cruel could proceed from her shrine. But there was a time, when some of her temples were as much dreaded, as those of Scylla, and the Cyclops. They were courts of justice; whence she is often spoken of as a lawgiver.

[719]Prima Ceres unco terram dimovit aratro, Prima dedit leges.

She is joined by Cicero with Libera, and they are styled the Deities, [720]a quibus initia vitae, atque victus, _legum, morum_, mansuetudinis, humanitatis, exempla hominibus, et civitatibus data, ac dispert.i.ta esse dicantur. The Deity, to whom she was a subst.i.tute, was El, the Sun. He was primarily wors.h.i.+pped in these temples: and I have shewn, that they were from Achor denominated Acherontian; also temples of Ops, and Oupis, the great serpent G.o.d. Hence it is said by Hesychius, that Acheron, and Ops, and h.e.l.le, and [721]Gerys, and Terra, and Demeter, were the same. ?

[722]??e??, ?a? Op??, ?a? ????, ?a? G????, ?a? G?, ?a? ???t??, [723]t?

a?t?. Ceres was the Deity of fire: hence at Cnidus she was called ???a, [724]Cura, a t.i.tle of the Sun. Her Roman name Ceres, expressed by Hesychius Gerys, was by the Dorians more properly rendered [725]Garys. It was originally a name of a city, called ?a???: for many of the Deities were erroneously called by the names of the places where they were wors.h.i.+pped.

Charis is Char-Is, the [726]city of fire; the place where Orus and Hephastus were wors.h.i.+pped. Hence as a personage she is made the wife of [727]Vulcan, on account of her relation to fire. Her t.i.tle of Damater was equally foreign to Greece; and came from Babylonia, and the east. It may after this seem extraordinary, that she should ever be esteemed the G.o.ddess of corn. This notion arose in part from the Grecians not understanding their own theology: which bad originally, became continually more depraved, through their ignorance. The towers of Ceres were P'urtain, or ???ta?e?a; so called from the fires, which were perpetually there preserved. The Grecians interpreted this p???? tae???; and rendered, what was a temple of Orus, a granary of corn. In consequence of this, though they did not abolish the antient usage of the place, they made it a repository of grain, from whence they gave largesses to the people upon any act of merit.

[728]??p?? ?? pa?' ????a????, e? ? ????a? s?t?se?? t??? d??s????

e?e??eta?? ed?d??t?? ??e? ?a? ???ta?e??? e?a?e?t?, ????e? p???tae????

p???? ?a? ? s?t??? In early times the corn there deposited seems to have been for the priests and [729]diviners. But this was only a secondary use, to which these places were adapted. They were properly sacred towers, where a perpetual fire was preserved. Pausanias takes notice of such a one in Arcadia. [730]???t???, ?a? ????? ?e???, p?? de e?ta??a ?a???s?, p????e???

f???t?da, ? ?a?? sf?s?? ap?ses?e?. He mentions a like circ.u.mstance at the Prutaneion in Elis[731]: ?st? de ? ?st?a tef?a? ?a? a?t? pep???e??, ?a?

ep' a?t?? p?? a?a pasa? te ?e?a?, ?a? e? pas? ???t? ?sa?t?? ?a?eta?.

Attica at first was divided into separate and independent hamlets: each of which had its own Prutaneion, and Archon. These Archons were priests of the [732]Prutaneia; and were denominated from their office. Archon is the same as Orchon, and like Chon-Or signifies the G.o.d of light, and fire; from which t.i.tle the priests had their name. In Babylonia, and Chaldea, they were called Urchani.

As in these temples there was always a [733]light, and a fire burning on the hearth, some of the Grecians have varied in their etymology, and have derived the name from p??, Pur. Suidas supposes it to have been originally called ????? tae???. [734]???ta?e???, p???? tae???, e??a ?? asest?? p??.

The Scholiast upon Thucydides speaks to the same purpose. [735]????? de fas??, ?t? t? ???ta?e??? p???? ?? tae???, e??a ?? asest?? p??. _Others tell us, that the Prutaneion was of old called Puros Tameion, from p??, pur: because it was the repository of a perpetual fire_. It was sacred to Hestia, the Vesta of the Romans; which was only another t.i.tle for Damater: and the sacred hearth had the same name. [736]?st?a? d' a? ?????tata ?a????? t?? e? ???ta?e??, ef' ?? t? p?? t? asest?? a?apteta?. I have mentioned, that these places were temples, and at the same time courts of justice: hence we find, that in the Prutaneion at Athens, the laws of Solon were [737]engraved. These laws were described upon wooden cylinders: some of which remained to the time of [738]Plutarch.