: in the world, he answered, "To know one's self." This perhaps was the occasion of the advice written on the front of Apollo's temple, to those that were about to enter, "Know thyself." Γνώθι σεαυτόν. When Solon visited Croesus, king of Lydia, the king showed his vast treasures to him, and asked him whether he knew a man happier than he : "Yes," says Solon, "I know Tellus, a very poor, but a very virtuous man, at Athens, who lives in a little tenement, and he is more happy than your majesty for neither can those things make us happy, which are subject to the changes of the times; nor is any one to be thought truly happy till he dies." It is said, when king Croesus was afterward taken prisoner by Cyrus, and laid upon the pile to be burnt, he remembered this saying of Solon, and often repeated his name; so that Cyrus asked why he cried out Solon, and who the god was whose assistance he begged. Croesus said, "I now find by experience that to be true, which he told me ;" and he then related the story. Cyrus, on hearing it, was so touched with the vicissitude of human affairs, that he preserved Croesus from the fire, and ever after had him in great honour. Chilo had this saying continually in his mouth : "Ne quid nimium cupias," "Desire nothing too Yet when his son had got the victory at the Olympic games, the good man died with joy, and all Greece honoured his funeral. much." Bias, a man no less famous for learning than nobility, preserved his citizens a long time. And when at last, says Cicero, his country Priene was taken, and the rest of the inhabitants, in their escape, carried away with them as much of their goods as they could; one advised him to do the same, but he made answer. Ego vero facio, nam omnia mea mecum porto." "It is what I do aheady; for all things that are mine I carry about me." He often said, "Amicos ita amare opertere, ut aliquando essent osuri, "That friends should remember so to love one another, as persons who sometimes hate one another." A sentiment very unworthy of a wise and good man. Of the rest, nothing extraordinary is reported, QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What is the origin of the name Apollo? Why was he called Cynthius, Delius, and Delphinius ? When did the oracle become dumb? Why was he called Didymæus and Nomius? Why was he styled Pæan? On what account was he named Phoebus and Pythius} Who were the seven wise men of Greece? On what account was Thales celebrated? For what is Solon celebrated? What was the famous saying of Chilo? Why is Bias reckoned among the seven wise men? SEC. 4.-THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE FABLE APOLLO MEANS THE SUN. Every one agrees, that by Apollo the Sun is to be understood; for the four chief properties ascribed to Apollo, were the arts of prophesying, of healing, of darting, and of music; of all which we may find, in the sun, a lively representation and image. It may be observed that Apollo's skill in music seems to agree with the nature of the sun, which, being placed in the midst of the planets, makes with them a kind of harmony, and as it were, a concert : and because the sun is thus placed the middlemost of the seven planets, the poets assert, that the instrument which Apollo plays on, is a harp with seven strings. was Besides, from the things sacrificed to Apollo, it appears that he was the Sun: the first of these the olive, the fruit of which cannot be nourished in places distant from it. 2. The laurel, a tree always flourishing, never old, and conducing to divination; and therefore the poets are crowned with laurel. 3. Among animals, swans were offered to him; because, as was observed before, they have from Apollo, a faculty of divination; for they, foreseeing the happiness in death, die singing and pleased. 4. Griffins also, and crows, were sacred to him for the same reason; and the hawk, which has eyes as bright and piercing as the sun; the cock, which foretells his rising, and the grasshopper, a singing creature : hence it was a custom among the Athenians, to fasten golden grasshoppers to their hair, in honour of Apollo. And especially, if we derive the name of Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana, from the Greek Azváva [lanthano, to lie hid] it will signify, that before the birth of Apollo and Diana, that is, before the production of the sun and moon, all things lay involved in darkness; from which these two glorious luminaries afterward proceeded, as out of the womb of a mother. But notwithstanding all this, several poetical fables have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. And of those therefore it is necessary to treat apart. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What were the chief properties of Apollo? Why does Apollo's skill in music agree with the nature of the sun? How is it inferred that he was the sun from the things sacrificed to him? What is inferred from the name Latona, mother of Apollo and Diana? 1 CHAPTER III. SEC. 1.—THE SUN. HIS GENEALOGY, NAMES, AND ACTIONS. THIS glorious sun, which illustrates all things with his light, is called Sol, as Cicero says, either because he is the only star that is of that apparent magnitude; or because, when he rises, he puts out all the other stars, and only appears himself. Vel quia Solus ex omnibus sideribus tantus est ; vel quia cum exortus est, obscuratis omnibus, Solus appareat. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 2. 3. Although the poets have said, that there were five Sols; yet, whatever they delivered concerning each of them severally, they commonly apply to one, who was the son of Hyperion, and nephew to Æther, begotten of an unknown mother. The Persians call the sun Mithra, accounting him the greatest of their gods, and worship him in a cave. Hatue has the head of a lion, on which a turban called tiara, is placed; it is clothed with Persian attire, and holds with both hands a mad bull by the horns. Those that desired to become his priests, and understand his mysteries, did first undergo a great many hardships before they could attain to the honour of that employment. It was not lawful for the kings of Persia to drink immoderately, but upon that day in which the sacrifices were offered to Mithra. The Egyptians called the sun Horus; whence those parts into which the sun divides the day, are called hora, hours. They represented his power by a sceptre, on the top of which an eye was placed; by which they signified that the sun sees every thing, and that all things are seen by his means. These hora were thought to be the daughters of Sol and Chronis, who early in the morning prepare the chariot and the horses for their father, and open the gates of the day. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What is Cicero's opinion with regard to Sol, and to whom does the name apply? What is said of the Persians with regard to the sun? What was necessary to be done by those who would become the priests of the sun? What name did the Egyptians give to the sun, and how did they represent his power? Who were the "hore," and what was their business? SEC. 2.-OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. The seven wonders of the world: 1. The Colossus at Rhodes, a statue of the sun, seventy cubits high, placed across the mouth of the harbour; a man could not grasp his thumb with both his arms. Its legs were stretched out to such a distance, that a large ship under sail might easily pass into the port between them. It was twelve years making, and cost three hundred *talents It stood fifty years, and at last was thrown dow an earthquake. And from this Colossus the people of Rhodes were named Colossenses; and now every statue of an unusual magnitude is called Colossus. 2. The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, a work of the greatest magnificence; which the ancients greatly admired. Two hundred and twenty years were spent in finishing it, though all Asia was employed. It was supported by one hundred and twenty-seven pillars sixty feet high, each of which was raised by as many kings. Of these pillars thirty-seven were engraven. The image of the goddess was made of ebony, as we learn from history. 3. The Mausoleum, or sepulchre of Mausolus, * A Rhodian talent is worth 3221. 18s. 4d. English. + Plin. 1. 7. c. 38. & l. 16. c. 40. |