dom and justice, that it was stiled the Golden

Age.

DIVISION OF MYTHOLOGY.

Pagan Mythology may be divided into nine parts:

1. The celestial Gods and Goddesses.

2. The inferior Gods and Goddesses.

3. The marine and river Gods and Goddesses.

4. The terrestrial Gods and Goddesses.

5. The infernal Gods and Goddesses.

6. The virtues and vices.

7. The heroes or demi-gods.

8. The Theban and Trojan wars.

9. Games, Temples, Oracles and Sybils.

CELESTIAL GODS AND GODDESSES.

These were called the supreme Gods, or Gods of the nations, and were considered as known

and revered by all mankind. They formed the Privy Council of Jupiter, presided over the 12 signs of the Zodiac, and the 12 months of the year, and were supposed to be more particularly employed in the government of mankind. They were 12 in number:-6 Gods, viz. Jupiter, Neptune, Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Vulcan; and 6 Goddesses, viz. Juno, Ceres, Minerva, Vesta, Diana, and Venus.

JUPITER.

Jupiter was the son of Saturn and Cybele. He was stiled the sovereign of Gods and the king of men. The appellations, that were bestowed upon him, mark the high consideration in which he was held, and the universal dominion he possessed. He was called Optimus Maximus, or the best and greatest; All-powerful; Diespater, the father of day; Fluvius, as commanding the rain; and the Thunderer, as master of the thunder and lightning. After having wrested the

empire of the world from Saturn his father, as we have already seen, he retained the celestial regions for himself, assigned the dominion of the seas to Neptune, and allotted the infernal regions to Pluto. He afterwards finally subdued the Titans, who attempted to besiege him in Mount Olympus, and precipitated them to the lowest depths of Tartarus. He then devoted himself to the government of his empire and the happiness of mankind. As every nation had a different Jupiter, his history is wrapped in obscurity and contradiction. He is sometimes described as the principle of all justice and virtue, and often as the weakest and most criminal of men. He was worshipped as Jupiter Ammon in Lybia, as Jupiter Serapis in Egypt, and Jupiter Belus in Assyria. His worship was the most solemn of any paid to the Heathen Deities, and was diversified according to the attributes he was distinguished by, and the nations who adored him. The victims most commonly sacrificed on his altars were goats, sheep, and white bulls with gilded horns. The oak

and olive were consecrated to him, and he had three celebrated Oracles, that of Dodona, of Trophonius, and of Ammon in Lybia. He is generally represented under the figure of a majestic man, with a venerable beard, seated on a throne, holding a thunderbolt in his right hand, and in his left a sceptre of cypress, emblematical of the durability of his empire. The Titans are seen trampled under his feet, and an eagle, with extended wings, is placed at the foot of his throne.

NEPTUNE.

Neptune was the son of Saturn and Cybele, and the brother of Jupiter. In the division of his father's kingdom, the dominion of the seas fell to his share. He presided over ships and maritime affairs, and had the power of subduing the stormy waves, or raising the most violent tempests. Besides the name of Neptune, the Greeks gave him that of Poseidon, and the Romans, that

of Consus, the God of Counsel. The games which were celebrated to his honor were called Consualia; and horses and mules, which were consecrated to him, were crowned with garlands of flowers, and enjoyed a cessation from labor. Neptune is generally represented in a vast shell, with his wife, Amphitrite, by his side, drawn by sea horses: sea nymphs are seen playing round his car, and Tritons and Proteus sounding their trumpets of shells.

1

MERCURY.

Mercury was the son of Jupiter and Maia, and the ambassador and principal minister of the Gods. He negociated peace, inspired the ir public harangues, presided over commerce, and the arts and sciences. It was supposed, that he alone had the power of separating the soul from the body, and influencing the transmigration of souls. He was named Mercury, from Mercatura, commerce; Hermes, as the inventor of eloquence;