This bushy thyme and dewy roses Are sacred to the immortal maids Who dwell where Hippocrene discloses Her fount, 'mid Heliconian shades. But, Pythian Apollo! thou Hast laurel with its dark green leaves, For Delphi's rock, to grace thy brow, Of it, to thee, a tribute gives. Then on this altar, will I lay A tender kid, with budding horns, Who crops the lowest waving spray, Which yonder lofty pine adorns. And here are a few simple and pretty lines, inscribed by Anyte on a statue of Venus by the sea-shore: Κυπριδος ὁυτος ὁ χωρος. κ. τ. λ. This spot is Aphrodite's, and around The gentle waves subdue their whitening crests, Approaching it from ocean's farthest bound To give a friendly welcome to the guests Who tempt their bosom: while the neighboring sea Gazes upon that statue reverently. When the Greeks or Romans laid aside their arms, they would frequently dedicate them to some deity, and suspend them in his temple, with an appropriate inscription. Thus, Horace: Nunc arma defunctumque bello Barbiton hic paries habebit Lævum marinæ qui veneris latus Custodit. And when any offering of this kind was made to one of the innumerable gods of the Greeks, it appears to have been accompanied by a few dedicatory lines. There is, of course, great sameness in such compositions, and, in fact, they generally consist merely of an enumeration of the articles offered, and the name of the devotee, but we will select two or three on different subjects. Here is one, by Simonides, on a spear dedicated to Jupiter: Ὁυτω τοι, μελια ταναα, ποτι κιονα μακρον Ἡσω, Πανομφαιω Ζηνι μενους' ἱερα· Ηδη γαρ χαλκος τε γερων, αυτη τε τετρυσαι Πυκνα κραδαινομενα δηιω εν Πολεμω. Or thus, This trusty ashen spear we 'll hang above; 'Tis sacred now to Panomphœan Jove. The arm is old which once its terrors tossed, And sent it quivering through the serried host. The following inscription is said to be by Plato. It was affixed to a mirror which the celebrated Laïs, in her old age, dedicated to Venus: Ἡ σοβαρον γελασασα. κ. τ. λ. I, Laïs, who, in Beauty's chain, Held Greece a captive, and for whom So many lovers sighed in vain, Enchanted by my youthful bloom; Subdued by age, this mirror true, Cythera! thus I give to thee; For what I _am_ I will not view. And what I _was_, I ne'er can be. When a Grecian maiden arrived at womanhood, it was usual for her to dedicate some toy of her childhood to Venus, in token of her having abandoned her youthful occupations and amusements. Here is an inscription, by Callimachus, designed for an occasion of this kind. It is both graceful and elegant, yet is deficient in the simplicity which is the usual charm of these compositions among the Greeks. It is addressed to Venus Zephyritis: Κογχος εγω Ζεφυριτι. κ. τ. λ.