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anger begets revenge, covetousness provokes us to get immoderate wealth by right or wrong, and lust persuades us to pursue our pleasures at any rate. Indeed some add a fourth Fury, called Lisso; that is, rage and madness; but she is easily reduced to the other three : as also Erinnys, a name common to them all.

P. What is the office of the Furies?

M. They are appointed to observe and punish the crimes of ill men, and to torment the consciences of secret offenders; whence they are commonly also entitled the goddesses, the discoverers and revengers of evil actions. They punish and torment the wicked, by frightening and following them with burning torches. You see the picture of them there, and you will find them beautifully described in the twelfth book of Virgil's Eneid.

P. What did the poets intend by these Furies ?

M. Only, says Cicero, that they, who have done any wicked and unlawful thing, are tormented and affrighted, not with the blows and the burning torches of the Furies, as it is in the fable, but with the stings of their own evil consciences: For, dsays he, every own fraud, and his own terror, bring him the greater vexation: every one's own wickedness torments and en

one's

a Eurip, in Hercule furente. b Deæ speculatrices et vin

dices Facinorum.

c Dicuntur geminæ pestes, cognomine Diræ,

Quas et Tartaream Nox intempesta Megæram
Uno eodemque tulit partu, paribusque revinxit
Serpentum spiris, ventosasque addidit alas.
Deep in the dismal regions void of light,
Two daughters at a birth were born to Night:
These their brown mother, brooding on her care,
Endu'd with windy wings to fleet in air;

With serpents girt alike, and crown'd with hissing hair;
In heav'n the Dire call'd.

}

Sua enim quemque fraus et suus terror maximè vexat : suum quemque scelus exagitat, amentiaque afficit: suæ mala cogitationes conscientiæque animi terrent. He sunt impiis assiduæ domesticæ Furiæ, quæ dies noctesque panas à sceleribus repetunt. Or. pro Roscio Am.

rages him his own evil thoughts and the lashes of his conscience affright him. These are constant and domestic Furies to the wicked, that night and day exact the punishment which their crime deserves.

149

CHAPTER VIII.

NIGHT, DEATH, SLEEP.

P. You mentioned just now Nox and Erebus. Are they of the number of the gods?

M. Yes; Nox is, of all the gods, the most ancient : she was the sister of Erebus, and the daughter of the first Chaos; and of these two, Nox and Erebus, Mors [Death] was born. She is represented as a skeleton, dressed usually with a speckled garment and black wings but there are no temples nor sacrifices, nor priests consecrated to Mors; because she is a goddess whom no aprayers can move, or sacrifices pacify.

Somnus [Sleep] is the brother of Death, and the also hath wings, like her. Iris, who was sent by Juno to the palace of this god, mentions the great benefits that he bestows on mankind; such as, quiet of mind, tranquillity, freedom from care, and refreshment of the spirits, by which men are enabled to proceed in their labours. In this palace there are two gates out of which

a Horat. 2. Sermonum. Iliad 14. Virg. Æn. 5.

b Orph. in Hymn.

d Somne, quies rerum, placidissime Somne Deorum, Pax animi, quem cura fugit, qui corpora duris Fessa ministeriis mulces reparasque labori.

c Hom.

Ov. Met. 11.

Thou rest o' th' world, Sleep, the most peaceful god,
Who driv'st care from the mind, and dost unload
The tired limbs of all their weariness,
And for new toil the body dost refresh.

e Sunt gemine Somni porte, quarum altera fertur
Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris :
Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto;
Sed falsa ad cælum mittunt insomnia manes.

Virg. Æn. 6

dreams pass and repass: one of these gates was made of clear ivory, through which false dreams pass; the other was made of transparent horn, and through that gate true visions come to men. Morpheus, the servant of Somnus, who can put on any shape or figure, presents these dreams to those who sleep; and these dreams were brought from a great spreading elm in hell, under whose shade they usually sit.

CHAPTER IX.

THE JUDGES OF HELL, MINOS, RHADAMANTHUS, AND EACUS.

NEAR the three Furies and the three Fates, byou see the three judges of hell, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Eacus, who are believed to be judges of the souls of the dead; because they exercised the offices of judges in Crete,with the greatest prudence,discretion, and justice. The first two were the sons of Jupiter by Europa: the last was the son of Jupiter by Egina. When all the subjects of queen Ægina were swept away in a plague, beside Eacus, he begged of his father, that he would repair the race of mankind, which was almost extinct; and Jupiter heard his prayer, and turned ca great multitude of ants, which crept about a hollow old oak, into men, who afterward were called Myrmidones, from μúpun [murmex], which word signifies an ant.

These three had their particular province assigned by Pluto, in this manner: Rhadamanthus was appointed to judge the Asiatics, and acus the Europeans, each holding a staff in his hand; but Minos holds a golden sceptre

Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn;
Of polish'd iv'ry this, that of transparent horn;
True visions through transparent horn arise;
Through polish'd iv'ry pass deluding lies.

a Ovid. Met. 11. Virg. Æn. 6. Met. 7. Plato in Georg.

↳ Hom. Odyss. 2.

cOvid.

and sits alone, and oversees the judgments of Rhadamanthus and acus; and if in their courts there arose a case that was ambiguous and difficult, then Minos used to take the cognizance thereof, and decide it. aCicero adds to these a fourth judge, Triptolemus; but we have already discoursed of him in his proper place.

CHAPTER X.

SECT. 1.- -THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE CON-
DEMNED IN HELL.

FROM the Judges let us proceed to the Criminals, whom you see represented there in horrid colours. It will be enough if we take notice of the most celebrated of them, and show their crimes, and the punishments which were therefore inflicted on them.

SECT. 2.- -THE GIANTS.

THESE Giants were the sons of Terra (the earth) when she was impregnated with the blood of Calum, which flowed from that dishonourable wound given him by his son Saturn. They are all very high in stature, with horrible dragons' feet; their looks and their bodies are altogether full of terror. Their impudence was so great, that they strove to depose Jupiter from the possession of heaven; and when they engaged with the celestial gods, they dheaped up mountains upon moun-tains, and thence darted trees, set on fire, against the gods and heaven. They hurled also prodigious massy stones and solid rocks, some of which falling upon the earth again, became mountains; others fell into the sea, and became islands. This fbattle was fought upon the Phlegrean plains, near the borders of Campania,

a Tusc. Quæst. 1. 1. 12. d Ovid. Met. 1.

b Hesiod. in Theog. c Hom. Odyss.

e Duris Samius.

f Nat. Comes. 1.6.

which country is called Phlegra, from péyw [phlego} uro, for it abounds in subterraneous fires, and hot baths flowing continually. The Giants were beaten, and all cut off, either by Jupiter's thunder, Apollo's arrows, or by the arms of the rest of the gods. And some say, that out of the blood of the slain, which was spilled upon the earth, serpents and such envenomed and pernicious animals were produced. The most eminent of those Giants were,

Typhous, or Typhon, the son of Juno, conceived by her without a father. So vast was his magnitude, that he touched the east with one hand, and the west with the other, and the heavens with the crown of his head. A hundred dragon's heads grew from his shoulders; his body was covered with feathers, scales, rugged hair, and adders; from the ends of his fingers snakes issued, and his two feet had the shape and folds of a serpent's body; his eyes sparkled with fire, and his mouth belched out flames. He was at last overcome, and thrown down; and, lest he should rise again, the whole island of Sicily was laid upon him. This island was also called Trinacria, because it bears the shape of a triangle, in the corners of which are the three proinontories, Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybæus; Pelorus was placed on his right hand, Pachynus on his left, and Lilybæus lay upon his legs.

Egeon was another prodigious and cruel giant : Vir

b

a Hom. Hymn. in Apollin.

Nititur ille quidem, pugnatque resurgere sæpe;
Dextra sed Ausonio manus est subjecta Peloro ;
Lava, Pachyne, tibi; Lilybæó crura premuntur ;
Pragravat Etna caput.

He struggles oft, and oft attempts to rise :
But on his right hand vast Pelorus lies;

On's left Pachynus; Lilybæus spreads

Ovid. Met. 5:

O'er his huge thighs and Etna keeps his heads.

:

Egeon qualis, centum cui brachia dicunt,
Centensaque manus, quinquaginta oribus ignem
Pectoribusque arsisse: Jovis cum fulmina contra
Tot paribus streperet clypeis, tot stringeret enses.

En. 10.

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