This perhaps is the meaning of this fable: Prometheus, whose name is derived from a word denoting foresight and providence, was a very prudent person; and because he reduced men, who before were rude and savage, to the precepts of humanity, he was feigned thence to have made men out of dirt and because he was diligent in observing the motions of the stars from the mountain Caucasus, therefore they said that he was chained there. To which they added, that he stole fire from the gods, because he invented the way of striking fire by means of the flint; or was the first that discovered the nature of lightning. And lastly, because he applied his mind to study with great care and solicitude, therefore they imagined an eagle preying upon his liver continually. We have said that Prometheus was the father of Deucalion, who was king of Thessaly. During his reign, there was so great a deluge, that the whole earth was overflowed by it, and all mankind entirely destroyed, excepting only Deucalion and Pyrrha his wife, who were carried in a ship upon the mountain Parnassus; and when the waters were abated, they consulted the oracle of Themis, to know by what means mankind should again be restored. The oracle answered that mankind would be restored if they cast the bones of their great mother behind them. By great mother the oracle meant the earth; and by her bones, the stones; therefore casting the stones behind their back, a prodigious miracle enSued; for those stones that were thrown by Deucalion became men, and those that were thrown by Pyrrha became women. "Saxa Missa viri manibus faciem traxere verilem; ↑ Aro rus apopestis, id est, providentia. Pausan. in Eliac. Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum; Et documenta damus, qua simus origine nati." Ov. Met. 1. And of the stones Those thrown by th' man the form of men endue; Our actions our original explain. The occasion of which fable was this: Deucalion and his wife were very pious, and by the example of their lives, and the sanctity of their manners, they softened the men and women, who before were fierce and hard like stones, into such gentleness and mildness, that they observed the rules of civil society and good behaviour. Atlas, king of Mauritania, the son of Japetus, and brother of Prometheus, is represented as sustaining the heavens on his shoulders. He was forewarned by an oracle that he would be almost ruined by one of the sons of Jupiter, and therefore resolved to give entertainment to no stranger at all. At last Perseus, who was begotten by Jupiter, travelled by chance through Atlas' dominions, and designed, in civility, to visit him. But the king excluded him the court, which inhumanity provoked him so much, that putting his shield before the eyes of Atlas, and showing him the head of Medusa, he turned him into the mountain of his own name; which is of so great height that it is believed to touch the heavens. Virgil makes mention of him in the fourth book of his Æneid. "Jamque volans apicem et latera ardua cernit Atlantis duri, cœlumque vertice fulcit: Atlantis, cinctum assidue cui nubibus atris Piniferum caput, et vento pulsatur et imbri: Now sees the top of Atlas as he flies, Atlas, whose head with piny forests crown'd The reason why the poets feigned that Atlas sustained the heavens on his shoulders, was this: Atlas was a very famous astronomer, and the first person who understood and taught the doctrine of the sphere; and on the same account the poets tell us, that his daughters were turned into stars. By his wife Pelione he had seven daughters, whose names were Electra, Halcyone, Celano, Maia, Asterope, Taygete, and Merope; and they were called by one common name, Pleiades; and by his wife Æthra he had seven other daughters, whose names were Ambrosia, Euloria, Pasithoe, Coronis, Plexaris, Pytho, and Tyche; and these were called by one common name, Hyades, from a word which in the Greek language signifies "to rain," because, when they rise or set, they are supposed to cause great rain; and therefore the Latins called them Sucule, that is, "swine," because the continual rain that they cause makes the roads so muddy, that they seem to delight in dirt, like swine. Others derive their name from Hyas, their brother, who was devoured by a lion: his sisters were so immoderately afflicted and grieved at his death, that Jupiter in compassion changed them into seven stars, which appear in the head of Taurus. And they are justly called Hyades, because showers of tears flow from their eyes to this day. The Pleiades derive their name from a Greek word signifying "sailing." From whence these stars rise, they portend good weather to navigators. * AT T ve, id est, pluere. "Navita quas Hyades Graius ab imbre vocat." From rain the sailors call them Hyades. † Are Te was a navigando, commodum enim tempus navi. gationi ostendunt. Because they rise in the *spring time, the Romans call them Virgilia. Yet others think that they are called Pleiades from their number, since they never appear single, but altogether, except Merope, who is scarcely ever seen; for she is ashamed that she married Sisyphus, a mortal man, when all the rest of the sisters married gods: others call this obscure star Electra, because she held her hand before her eyes, and would not look upon the destruction of Troy. The Hyades were placed among the stars because they bewailed immoderately the death of their brother Hyas; and the Pleiades were translated into heaven, because they incessantly lamented the hard fate of their father Atlas, who was converted into a mountain. But let us speak a little about their uncle Hesperus. Hesperus was the brother of Atlas, and because he lived some time in Italy, that country was called anciently Hespera from him. He frequently went up to the top of the mountain Atlas to view the stars. At last he went up and came down from the mountain no more. This made the people imagine that he was carried up into heaven; upon which they worshipped him as a god, and called a very bright star from his name Hesperus, Hesper, Hesperugo, Vesper and Vesperugo, which is called the evening star, when it sets after the sun; but when it rises before the sun, it is called parogos [Phosphorus] or Lucifer; that is the morning star. Further, this Hesperus had three daughters, Egle, Prethusa, and Hesperethusa; who in general were called the Hesperides. It was said, that in their gardens, trees were planted that bore golden fruit; and that these trees were guarded by a watchful dragon, which Hercules killed, and then carried away the golden apples. * Virgiliæ dictæ a verno tempore quod exoriuntur. + Quasi waves, hoc est, plures, quod numquam singulæ appareant, sed omnes simul. Hence the phrase, *to give some of the apples of the Hesperides; that is, to give a great and splendid gift. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. Who was Prometheus? What did he bring from heaven? What did Jupiter do in consequence? How did Jupiter punish Prometheus? Why did he set him at liberty? From what is the name of Prometheus derived, and what is the meaning of the fable? What is the story of Deucalion? How is Atlas represented, and how was he changed into a mountain? Why has Atlas the world on his shoulders? From what do the Hyades derive their name? What is said of Hesperus? CHAPTER VI. ORPHEUS AND AMPHION. ACHILLES. ORPHEUS and Amphion are drawn in the same manner, and almost in the same colours, because they both excelled in the same art, namely, in music; in which they were so skilful, that by playing on the harp they moved not only men, but beasts, and the very stones themselves. Orpheus, the son of Apollo by Calliope the Muse, with the harp that he received from his father, played and sang so sweetly, that he tamed wild beasts, stayed the course of rivers, and made whole woods follow him. He descended with the same harp into hell, to recover, from Pluto and Proserpine, his wife Eurydice, who had been killed by a serpent, when she fled from the violence of Aristæus. Here he so * Μήλα Εσπεριδών δώρησαι, id est, mala Hesperidum largiri, |