The Remains of Hesiod the Ascræan, Including the Shield of Hercules: Translated into English rhyme and blank verse; with a dissertation on the life and æra, the poems and mythology of Hesiod, and copious notes.Hesiod
General
The Remains of Hesiod the Ascræan, Including the Shield of Hercules: Translated into English rhyme and blank verse; with a dissertation on the life and æra, the poems and mythology of Hesiod, and copious notes.
Hesiod
Heracles (Greek mythological character) -- Poetry; Hesiod -- Translations into English
[198] _Jupiter th’ all-wise._] In the Orphic fragments both Jove and
Bacchus are identified with the Sun: which is described as the source
of all things. Hammon, the African Jupiter, is mentioned by Lucan; who
specifies his having horns. These were the lunar crescent of Apis or
Osiris, the Arkite god. The patriarch, his son Ham, and his grandson
Chus, are reciprocally mixed with each other; in the same manner as the
ark and the dove: the moon, the sun, and the typical serpent, are often
mixed and confounded in this hieroglyphical mythology.
[199] _To his own son he should bow down his strength._] Although the
Romans made a distinction between Janus and Saturn they were two titles
of one and the same person. The former had the remarkable characteristic
of being the author of time, and the god of the new year: the latter also
was looked upon as the author of time, and held in his hand a serpent,
whose tail was in his mouth and formed a circle: by which emblem was
denoted the renovation of the year. On their coins they were equally
represented with keys in their hand and a ship near them. Janus was
described with two faces: the one that of an aged man; the other that of
a youthful personage. Saturn as of an uncommon age with hair white like
snow: but they had a notion that he would return to infancy. He is also
said to have destroyed all things: which however were restored with vast
increase. BRYANT.
The faces of Janus, supposed to look to the time past and that which is
to come, evidently regard the æra before the flood and that after it:
and the aged and youthful visage represent the old world and the new.
The keys may allude to the shutting up the productions of the earth,
and again opening them. The ship is the ark. The story of Saturn and
the infant Jupiter involves similar allusions. The old god devouring
his children significantly points to the destruction of the human race.
Saturn and Jupiter seem only separate personifications of the double
visage of Janus: and the infant Jupiter personifies the second infancy
of Saturn. The new order of things which took place on the renovation
of nature is typified in the dethronement of the aged monarch by his
youthful son.
[200]
_To succeeding times_
_A monument._]
The stone, which Saturn was supposed to have swallowed instead of a
child, stood according to Pausanias at Delphi: it was esteemed very
sacred, and used to have libations of wine poured upon it daily: and upon
festivals was otherwise honoured. The purport of the above history I take
to have been this. It was for a long time the custom to offer children
at the altar of Saturn: but in process of time they removed it, and in
its form erected a stone pillar, before which they made their vows, and
offered sacrifices of another nature. BRYANT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account