god, whose horns resemble the rays of the sun, and the horns of the moon: the redness of his face is like the splendour of the sky; and the spotted skin that he wears, is an image of the starry firmament. In his lower parts he is shagged and deformed, which represents the shrubs and wild beasts, and the trees of the earth below: his goats' feet signify the solidity of the earth; and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the seven planets. He has a sheep-hook, crooked at the top, in his hand, which signifies the turning of the year into itself. The nymphs dance to the music of the pipe; which instrument Pan first invented. You will wonder when you hear the relation which the poets give to this pipe, namely, as oft as Pan blows it, the dugs of the sheep are filled with milk: for he is the god of the shepherds and hunters, the captain of the nymphs, the president of the mountains and of a country life, and the guardian of the flocks that graze upon the mountains: "Pan curat oves, oviumque magistros." Virg. Ecl. 2. Pan loves the shepherds, and their flocks he feeds. He The nymph Echo fell in love with him, and brought him a daughter named Iringes, who gave Medea the medicines with which he charmed Jason. could not but please Dryope, to gain whom, he laid aside his divinity and became a shepherd. But he did not court the nymph Syrinx with so much success for she ran away to avoid her lover; till coming to a river (where her flight was stopped,) she prayed the Naiades, the nymphs of the waters, because she could not escape her pursuer, to change her into a bundle of reeds, just as Pan was laying hold of her, who therefore caught the reeds in his arms instead of her. The winds moving these reeds backward and forward occasioned mournful but musical sounds, which Pan perceiving, he cut them down, and made of them reeden pipes: "Dumque ibi suspirat, motos in arundine ventos He sighs, his sighs the tossing reeds return With was; and Syrinx from his mistress nam'd. But Lucretius ascribes the invention of these pipes not to Pan, but to some countrymen, who had observed, on another occasion, the whistling of the wind through reeds: -"Zephyri cava per calamorum sibila primum: Tibia quas fundit digitis pulsata canentum: Avia per nemora ac sylvas saltusque reperta, Per loca pastorum deserta atque otia Dia." Lucr. 1. 5. In the sacrifices of this god, they offered to him milk and honey in a shepherd's bottle. He was more especially worshipped in Arcadia, for which reason he is so often called Pan, Deus Arcadiæ. Some derive from him Hispania, Spain, formerly called Iberia; for he lived there, when he returned from the Indian war, to which he went with Bacchus and the Satyrs. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. From what does Pan derive his name? What was he called by the Latins, and under what title was he worshipped at Rome? What is the origin of Pan? How is he represented? What is the origin of the phrase "panic-struck?" What does the image of Pan signify? What instruments did he invent, and what occurs when he blows his pipe? What does Lucretius say of the invention of the pipes? What were used in the sacrifices of Pan? Whence is he derived? CHAPTER XII. SILVANUS AND SILENUS. ALTHOUGH many writers confound Silvanus the Fauni, Satyri, and Sileni, with Pan, yet, as others distinguish them, we shall treat of them separately, and begin with Silvanus. Silvanus, who is placed next to Pan, with the feet of a goat, and the face of a man, of little stature. He holds cypress in his hand stretched out. He is so called from silve, the woods; for he presides over them. He loved the boy Cyparissus, who had a tame deer, in which he took great pleasure. Silvanus by chance killed it; upon which the youth died for grief. Therefore Silvanus changed him into a cypress-tree, and carried a branch of it always in his hand, in memory of his loss. Silenus follows next, with a flat nose, bald head, large ears, and a small flat body; he derives his name from his jocular temper, because he perpetually jests upon the people. He sits upon a saddle backed ass but when he walks, he leans upon a staff. He was foster-father to Bacchus his master, and his perpetual companion, and consequently was almost always drunk, as we find him described in the sixth Eclogue of Virgil. The cup which he and Bacchus used, was called Cantharus; and a staff with which he supported himself, Ferula: this he zsed when he was so drunk, as it often happened hat he could not sit, but fell from his ass. The Satyrs were not only constant companions of Silenus, but were assistants to him; they held him in great esteem, and honoured him as their father ; and when they became old, they were called Sileni $00. And concerning Silenus' ass, they say, that he was translated into heaven, and placed among the stars; because in the giant's war, Silenus rode on him, and helped Jupiter very much. * When Silenus was asked, "What was the best hing that could befall man?" he, after long silence, answered, "It is best for all never to be born, but being born, to die very quickly." Which expression Pliny reports nearly in the same words: There have been many who have judged it happy never to have been born, or to die immediately after one's birth. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. How is Silvanus represented? From what is his name derived? • Why is he represented with a branch of cypress in his hand? How is Silenus represented? What are his cap and staff called? Who were his companions? What became of his ass? What was the decision of Silenus with respect to the best thing that can befall man? *Rogatus quidnam, esset hominibus optimum: respondit om nibus esse optimum non nasci, et natos quam citissime inteire Plut in Consolatione Apol. + Multi extitere qui non nasci, optimum censerunt, aut quam citissime aboleri. In Prefat. 1, 7 CHAPTER XIII. THE SATYRS, FAUNS, PRIAPUS, ARISTAUS TERMINUS. BEHOLD! Those are Satyrs who dance under the shade of that tall and spreading oak, they have heads armed with horns, goat's feet and legs, crooked hands, and tails not much shorter than horses' tails. There is no animal in nature more libidinous than these gods. Their * name itself shows their nature. The Fauns, whom you see joined with the Satyrs, differ from them in the name only; at least they are not unlike them in their looks: for they have hoofs and horns, and are crowned with the branches of the pine. When they meet drunken persons, they stupify them with their looks alone. The boors of the country call them the "rural gods;" and pay them the more respect because they are armed with horns and nails, and painted in terrible shapes. Faunus, or Fatuellus, was the son of Picus, king of the Latins. He married his own sister, whose name was Fauna or Fatuella: he consecrated and made her priestess; after which she had the gift of prophecy. History likewise tells us that this Faunus was the father and prince of the other Fauns and Satyrs. His name was given him from his skill in prophecying; and thence also fatus signifies both persons that speak rashly and inconsiderately, and enthusiasts; because they who prophecy, deliver the mind and will of another, and speak things which themselves, many times, do not understand. Priapus, painted with a sickle in his hand, was the son of Venus and Bacchus, born at Lampsacus; from whence he was banished, till by the oracle's Satyrus derivatur axo ens culus a veretro. Euseb. Præp. Evan. |