of Paris; so that she should have the apple to whom Paris should adjudge it. The goddesses consent, and call for Paris, who was then feeding sheep upon a mountain. They tell him their business, and court his favour with great promises: Juno promised to reward him with power, Pallas with wisdom, and Venus promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. He pronounced Venus the fairest, and assigned to her the apple of gold. Venus did not break her promise to Paris; for in a little time Paris was owned to be king Priam's son, and sailed into Greece with a great fleet, under the colour of an embassy, to fetch away Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world, who was betrothed to Menelaus, king of Sparta, and lived in his house. When he came, Menelaus was from home, and, in his absence, Paris carried away Helena to Troy. Menelaus demanded her, but Paris refused to send her back; and this occasioned that fatal war between the Greeks and Trojans, in which Troy, the metropolis of all Asia, was taken and burnt, in the year of the world 2871. There were killed eight hundred sixty-eight thousand of the Grecians; among whom Achilles, one of their generals, lost his life by the treachery of Paris himself.

There were slain six hundred and seventy-six thousand of the Trojans, from the beginning of the war to the taking of the city, among whom Paris himself was killed by Pyrrhus or Philoctetes; and his brother Hector, the pillar of his country, was killed by Achilles. When the city was taken and burnt, king Priamus, the father of Paris and Hector, at once lost all his children, his queen Hecuba, his kingdom and his life. Helena, after Paris was killed, married his brother Deiphobus: yet she at length betrayed the castle to the Grecians, and admitted Menelaus into her chamber to kill Deiphobus: by which, it is said, she was reconciled to the favour of

Menelaus again. These things, however, belong rather to history than to fable.

QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.

What happened to Pygmalion?

Can you give in short the story of Pyramus and Thisoe?
Give the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes.

Give an abridged account of the fates of Paris and Helena.

SEC. 4.-THE COMPANIONS OF VENUS; VIZ. HYMENEUS, THE CUPIDS, THE GRACES, ADONIS.

The first of Venus' companions was the god Hymenæus. He presided over marriage, and was the protector of young unmarried women. He was the son of Bacchus and Venus Urania, born in Attica, where he used to rescue virgins carried away by thieves, and restore them to their parents. He was of a very fair complexion; crowned with the amaracus or sweet marjoram, and sometimes with roses; in one hand he carried a torch, in the other a veil of flame colour, to représent the blushes of a virgin. Newly married women offered sacrifices to him, as they did also to the goddess Concordia.

Cupid was the next of Venus' companions. He is called the god of love, and many different parents are ascribed to him, because there were many Cupids. Plato says he was born of Penia, the goddess of poverty, by Poros, the son of Counsel and Plenty. Hesiod relates, that he was born of Chaos and Terra. Sappho derives him from Venus and Coelum. Alcæus says he was the son of Lite and Zephyrus. Simonides attributes him to Mars and Venus; and Alcmæon, to Zephyrus and Flora. But whatever parents Cupid had, this is plain, he always accompanies Venus, either as a son

or a servant.

The poets speak of two Cupids. One of which is an ingenious youth, the son of Venus and Jupiter, a celestial deity; the other the son of Erebus and Nox,

[Hell and Night,] a vulgar god, whose companions are drunkenness, sorrow, enmity, contention, and such kind of plagues. One of these Cupids is called Eros, and the other Anteros; both of them are boys, and naked, and winged, and blind, and armed with a bow and arrows and a torch. They have two darts of different natures; a golden dart which procures love, and a leaden dart which causes hatred. Anteros is also the god who avenges slighted love.

Although this be the youngest of all the celestial gods, yet his power is so great, that he is esteemed the strongest, for he subdues them all. Without his assistance, his mother Venus is weak, and can do nothing, as she herself confesses in Virgil.

"Nate, meæ vires, mea magna potentia, solus." En. 4.

Thou art my strength, O son, and power alone.

He is naked because the lover has nothing of his own, but deprives himself of all that he has, for his mistress' sake.

Cupid is a boy, because he is void of judgment. His chariot is drawn by lions, for the rage and fierceness of no creature is greater than the extravagance and madness of violent love. He is blind, because a lover does not see the faults of his beloved object, nor consider in his mind the mischief proceeding from that passion. He is winged, because nothing flies swifter than love, for he who loves today, may hate to-morrow. Lastly, he is armed with arrows, because he strikes afar off.

The Graces called *Charites, were three sisters, the daughters of Jupiter and Eurynome, or Eunomia, as Orpheus says, or rather, as others say, the daughter of Bacchus and Venus. The first was

called *Aglaia, from her cheerfulness, her beauty, or her worth; because kindness ought to be performed freely and generously. The second, Thalia, from her perpetual verdure; because kindness ought never to die, but to remain fresh always in the receiver's memory. The third, Euphrosyne, from her cheerfulness; because we ought to be free and cheerful, as well in doing as in receiving a kindness.

These sisters were painted naked, or in transparent and loose garments, young and merry, with hands joined. One was turned from the beholder, as if she was going from him; the other two turned their faces, as if they were coming to him; by which we understand, that when one kindness is done, thanks are twice due; once when received, and again when it is repaid. The Graces are naked, because kindnesses ought to be done in sincerity and candour, and without disguise. They are young, because the memory of kindness received ought never to grow old. They are virgins, because kindness ought to be pure, without expectation of requital. Their hands are joined, because one good turn requires another; there ought to be a perpetual intercourse of kindness and assistance among friends.

Adonis was the son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, and Myrrha. As he was very handsome, Venus took great delight in him, and loved his company. When he hunted, a boar gored him with his tusks, and killed him. Venus bewailed his death with much sorrow and concern, and changed his blood, which was shed on the ground, into the flower anemone, which ever since has retained the colour of blood. While she flew to assist him, being led by his dying voice, a thorn ran into her foot, and the

Ayala id est, splendor, honestas, vel dignitas.

tarala (nam Jaλía est Musæ nomen) id est, veriditas et einnitas ή αλλω vireo.

Euppoovn, id est, lætitia et urbanitas. Vide Hesiod, in Theog!

blood that came thence fell on the rose, which before was white, but thereby made red.

Venus besought of, and obtained from Jupiter, that he should return to life for six months in every year; so that Adonis revives and dies in incessant succession. In Greece, Phoenicia, and some other countries, festivals were appointed expressive of this circumstance: the solemnity continued several days; the first part being spent in lamentations for his loss, and the second in joy for his restoration.

QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.

Who was Hymenæus, and of whom was he the protector?
Whose son was he, and how was he represented?

Who was Cupid, and whose son was he said to be?

How many Cupids do the poets describe, and how are they represented?

What is his character with regard to power?

Why is he represented naked?

How is his chariot drawn?

Why is he represented blind, winged, and armed with arrows? Who were the Graces, and what were their names?

How are they represented in paintings?

Why are they said to be ever young, naked, and with their hands joined?

Who was Adonis? what was the cause and consequences of his death?

CHAPTER X.

LATONA.

LATONA was the daughter of Phoebe, by Cæus the Titan. So great was her beauty, that Jupiter fell in love with her, which excited the jealousy of Juno, who caused her to be cast out of heaven to the earth; not contented with this, she obliged Terra, by an oath, not to give her a habitation, and besides she set the serpent Python upon her, to per