shores a hundred years, and then are carried over. But first they pay Charon his fare, which is at least a halfpenny. P. Those three or four rivers (if my eyes do not deceive me) must be passed over by the dead, must they not? M. Yes the first of them is Acheron, bwhich receives them when they come first. This Acheron was the son of Terra or Ceres, born in a cave, and conceived without a father; and because he could not endure light, che ran down into hell and was changed into a river, whose waters are extremely bitter. The second is Styx, which is a lake rather than a river, dand was formerly the daughter of Oceanus, and the mother of the goddess Victoria, by Acheron. When Victoria was on Jupiter's side, in his war against the Giants, she obtained this prerogative for her mother, that no oath that was sworn among the gods by her name, should ever be violated: for if any of the gods broke an oath sworn by Styx, they were banished from the nectar and the table of the gods a year and nine days. This is the Stygian Lake, by which swhen the gods swore, they observed their oath with the utmost scrupulousness. The third river, Cocytus, flows out of Styx with a lamentable groaning noise, and imitates the howling, and increases the exclamations of the damned. Next comes Phlegethon or Puriphlegeton, so called because it swells with waves of fire, and all its streams are flames. When the souls of the dead have passed over these four rivers, they are afterward carried to the palace of Virg. Æn. 6. ↑ Dii cujus jurare timent et fallere numen. The sacred stream which heaven's imperial state A Péyw ardeo, quod undis intumeat ignis flammeosque fluctus evolvat. Pluto, where the gate is guarded by Cerberus, a dog with three heads, whose body is covered in a terrible manner with snakes, instead of hair. This dog is the porter of hell, abegotten of Echidna, by the giant Typhon, and is described by Virgil and by Horace. But from him let us pass to the prince and princess of hell, Pluto and Proserpine. CHAPTER III. THIS is Pluto, the king of hell, begotten of Saturn and Ops, and the brother of Jupiter and Neptune. He had these infernal dominions allotted to him, not only because in that division of his father's kingdom mentioned before, the western parts fell to his lot; but also, as, some say, because the invention of burying, and of honouring the dead with funeral obsequies, proceeded from him for the same reason he is thought to exercise a sovereignty over the dead. Look upon him: he aits on a throne covered with darkness, and discover, if a Hesiod. in Theog. b Cerberus hæc ingens latratu regna trifauci Stretch'd in his kennel, monstrous Cerb'rus round Janitor aulæ Cerberus; quamvis furiale centum Hell's grisly porter let you pass, En. 6. 1. 3. od. 11. d Diodor. Sicul. 4. Bibl. e Idem apud Lil. Gyr. Eurip. in Phoen. you can, his habit, and the ensign of his majesty more narrowly. P. I see him, though in the midst of so much darkness; and can distinguish him easily ahe holds a key in his hand, instead of a sceptre, and is crowned with ebony. M. Sometimes I have also seen him crowned with a diadem; and sometimes with the flowers of narcissus, or white daffodils, and sometimes with cypress leaves; because those plants greatly please him, and especially the narcissus, because he stole away Proserpine when she gathered that flower, as I shall show presently. Very often a drod is put into his hand in the place of a sceptre, with which he guides the dead to hell: and sometimes he wears a head-piece, which makes him finvisible. His chariot and horses are of a black colour, and when he carried away Proserpine, he rode in his chariot. But if you would know what the key signifies which he has in his hand, the answer is plain, that when once the dead are received into his kingdom, the gates are locked against them, and there is no regress thence into this life again. P. Why is he called Pluto ? M. I will tell you that, and also the meaning of the rest of his names. His Greek name iPlouton or Pluto, as well as his Latin name Dis, signifies wealth. The reason why he is so called, is, because all our wealth comes from the lowest and most inward bowels of the earth; and be h f Hom. Iliad 5. Hygen. As Facilis descensus Averni : Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis ; Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras, Hoc opus, hic labor est. To th' shades you go, a downhill easy way; But to return, and re-enjoy the day, That is a work, a labour. Пaros, divitiæ. Virg. Æn. 6. cause, as Cicero writes, "all the natural powers and faculties of the earth are under his direction; for all things proceed from the earth, and go thither again. The name "Ads [Hades] by which he is called among the Greeks, signifies dark, gloomy and melancholy; or else, as others guess, invisible; because he sits in darkness and obscurity: his habitation is melancholy and lonesome, and he seldom appears to open view. He is likewise called Agesilaus, because he leads people to the infernal regions; and sometimes “Agelastus, because it was never known that Pluto laughed. His name Februus, comes from the old word februo, to purge by sacrifice, because purgations and lustrations were used at funerals: whence the month of 'February receives also its appellation; at which time especially, the sacrifices called Februa were offered by the Romans to this god. He is also called Orcus, or Urgus, and Ouragus, as some say, because he excites and hastens people to their ruin and death: but others think that he is so named, because, like one that brings up the rear of an army, he attends at the last moments of men's lives. We find him sometimes called ¡Quietus, because by death he brings rest to all men. He is called Summanus, that is, the chief kof all the infernal deities; the principal governor of all the ghosts and departed spirits. The thunder that happens in the night is attributed to him: whence he is commonly e Ab a Terrena vis omnis ac natura ipsi dicata credebatur, Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2. b"Adns dades, id est, triste, tenebrosum. c Aut quasi dóparos, quod videri minimè possit, aut ab & privante, et εἰδεῖν videre. Socr. ap. Plut. Phurnut. Gaza. ap. Lil. Gyr. 4 Παρά τὸ ἄγειν τες λαβς, à ducendis populis ad inferos. ɑ non, et yɛλów rideo, quod sine risu sit. f Ovid. Fast. 2. g Orcus quasi Urgus et Ouragus ab urgendo, quod homines urgeat in interitum. Cic. in Verrem. 6. Η Ουραγός, eum significat qui agmen claudit; simili modo Pluto postremum humanæ vitæ actum excipit. Guth. 1. 1. c. 4. de Jur. Man. i Quod morte quietem cunctis afferat. Festus. orum manium. Aug. de Civ. Dei. 1. 4. X K Quasi sunmus De styled also, the Infernal Jupiter, the Stygian Jupiter, the Third Jupiter; as Neptune is the Second Jupiter. P. What was the office and power of Pluto ? M. If you do not fully understand that, from what has been said already, the Fates will tell you that he presides over life and death; that he not only governs the departed spirits below, but also can lengthen or shorten the lives of men here on earth, as he thinks fit. 1040 CHAPTER IV. PLUTUS. THOUGH Plutus be not an infernal god, I join him to Pluto, because their names and office are very like and agreeable; therefore I will take this occasion to say something of him; for they are both of them gods of riches, which are the root of all evil, and which Nature, our common parent, hath placed near hell; and, indeed, there is not a nearer way to hell than to hunt greedily after riches. This Plutus was the son of Jason, or Jasius, by Ceres he was blind and lame, injudicious, and mighty timorous. And truly these infirmities are justly ascribed to him; for, if he was not blind and injudicious, he would never pass over good men, and heap his treasures upon the bad. He is lame, because great estates come slowly. He is fearful and timorous; because rich men watch their treasures with a great deal of fear and care. Arbiter, umbrarumque potens, cui nostra laborant Claud. de Rap. Pros. Great prince o' th' gloomy regions of the dead, b Hesiod. in Theog. |
