In the Tartarian regions there is a place supposed to abound with all kinds of pleasures and delights, called Elysium, because thither the souls of good men are conveyed after being freed from the body. This is the heathen paradise, consisting of pleasant plains, the most verdant fields, the shadiest groves, and the finest and most temperate air that can be found. After the souls of the pious have spent many ages in these Elysian fields, they drink the water of the river Lethe, which makes them forget all things past; and then they return to the world and pass into new bodies. The Pagan deities have ambrosia for their food, and nectar for their drink, both of which have the property of giving immortality to those who partake of them. The festivals of the heathens were many, as almost every deity was allowed sacred honours. In sacrificing, the animals offered to the celestial deities were white, and those to the infernal gods were black. To Jupiter a white ox was sacrificed; to Neptune, Mars, and Apollo a bull, ram, and boar; to Ceres, milk, honey, and a sow-pig were offered; to Æsculapius, goats and poultry; to the Lares, a cock; to the Sun, a horse; to Juno, a she-lamb; to Venus, a dove; to Diana, a crow; to Pan and Minerva, she-goats; and to the Fauns, kids. The fir and vine were sacred to Bacchus, the cypress to Pluto, the cedar to the Furies, the ash to Mars, the oak to Jove, the laurel to Apollo, the myrtle to Venus, the olive to Minerva, the poplar to Hercules, the pine to Cybele, and the rose to Venus. CHAPTER XI. Achilles's Mother--Prediction concerning the taking of Troy--Bravery, Armour, Love, and Death of Achilles--Acrisius's Daughter--Danae and her son Perseus--Ardea changed into a Bird--Pluto's Invisible Helmet--Minerva's Buckler--Mercury's Wings--Medusa deprived of Life--Sea Monster--A Gorgon's Head and its Virtues--Stheno and Euryale not subject to Old Age or Death--Minerva's Revenge against Medusa--Serpents in Africa and Pegasus produced by Medusa's Blood--Tales by the Daughters of Minyas--Punishment by Bacchus--The Search of Cadmus for his sister Europa--Halcyon's Sorrow--Transmigration--Strength and Exploits of Hercules--Love Potion--Hymen--Jason's Adventures--Power and Cruelty of Medea--How a Favourable Wind was procured--Manner in which Orion came into Existence--False Swearer punished--Palladium--The Life and Deeds of Paris--Golden Apple--Marriage of Peleus and Thetis--Impiety of Pentheus--Rhea and her Sons--Scylla turned into a Sea Monster.