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AN INQUIRY

into the Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and

Mythology.

BY R. P. KNIGHT.

PART VII. [Continued from No. L. p. 259.]

161. THE dog represented Mercury as the keeper of the boundary between life and death, or the guardian of the passage from the upper to the lower hemisphere; to signify the former of which, the face of Anubis was gilded, and to signify the latter, black. In the Greek and Roman statues of him, the wings and petasus, or cap, which he occasionally wears upon his head, seem to indicate the same difference of character; 2 similar caps being frequently upon the heads of figures of Vulcan, who was the personification of terrestrial fire: 3 whence he was fabled to have been thrown from heaven into the volcanic island of Lemnos, and to have been saved by the sea;* volcanos being supported by water. These caps, the form of which is derived from the egg,' and which are worn by the Dioscuri, as before observed, surmounted with asterisks, signify the hemispheres of the earth; and it is possible that the asterisks may, in this case, mean the morning and evening stars; but whence the cap became a distinction of rank, as it was among the Scythians, or a symbol of freedom and emancipation, as it was among the Greeks and Romans, is not easily ascertained.3

1 Hic horrendum attollens canis cervices arduas, ille superum commeator et inferum nunc atra nunc aurea facic sublimis. Apul. Metam. lib. xi.

2 See small brass coins of Metapontum, silver tetradrachms of Ænos, &c.

3 See coins of Lipari, Æsernia, &c.: also plate xlvii. of Vol. 1.

4 Iliad A. 593. and E. 395.

5 Του που το ημιτονον και αστηρ ὑπεράνω. Lucian. Dial. Deor. xxvi.

6 Πίλους τ' επιτιθεασιν αυτοίς, και επι τουτοις αστερας, αινισσομενοι την ημισφαι ρέων κατασκευήν. Sext. Empiric. xi. 37. ; see also Achill. Tat. Isagog. p. 127 b. and 130 c.

This cap was first given to Ulysses by Nicomachus, a painter of the age of Alexander the Great. Plin. xxxv. c. x.

7 Пhopoрixos. Scythians of rank. Lucian. Scyth.

8 See Tib. Hemsterhuis. Not. in Lucian. Dialog. Deor. xxvi.

VOL. XXVI.

Cl. Jl.

NO. LI.

C

162. The dog was the emblem of destruction as well as vigilance, and sacred to Mars as well as Mercury:' whence the ancient northern deity, Gamr, the devourer or engulpher, was represented under the form of this animal; which sometimes appears in the same character ou monuments of Grecian art.2 Both destruction and creation were, according to the religious philosophy of the ancients, merely dissolution and renovation; to which all sublunary bodies, even that of the Earth itself, were supposed to be periodically liable. Fire and water were held to be the great efficient principles of both; and as the spirit or vital principle of thought and mental perception was alone supposed to be imufortal and unchanged, the complete dissolution of the body, which it animated, was conceived to be the only means of its complete emancipation. Hence the Greeks, and all the Scythic and Celtic nations, burned the bodies of their dead, as the Hindoos do at this day; whilst the Ægyptians, among whom fuel was extremely scarce, embalmed them, in order that they might be preserved entire to the universal conflagration; till when the soul was supposed to migrate from one body to another. In this state those of the vulgar were deposited in subterraneous caverns, excavated with vast labor for the

. Phurnut. de Nat. Deor. c. xxi. 2 See coins of Phocæa, &c. 3 Αφθαρτους δε λεγουσι οὗτοι και οἱ ἄλλοι (Κελται) τας ψυχάς και τον κόσμον επι κρατήσειν δε ποτε και πυρ και ύδωρ. Strabo lib. iv. p. 197. See also Justin lib. ii. and Edda Myth. iv. and xlviii. Voluspa stroph. xlix. Vafthrud. xlvii. et seqq. The same opinion prevailed almost universally; see Plutarch. de Placit. Philos. lib. ii. c. xviii. Lucret. lib. v. ver. 92. Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. ii. Bagvat Geeta Lect. ix. And Brucker Hist. Crit. Philos. vol. i. p. 11. lib. i. Some indeed supe posed the world to be eternal in its present state. Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 10.

Θεοπομπος δε φησι κατα τους μαγους, ανα μέρος τρισχίλια έτη τον μιν κρατειν, τον δε κρατείσθαι των θεων, αλλα δε τρισχιλια μαχεσθαι και πολεμείν και αναλύειν τα του ἕτερου τον ἕτερον· τέλος δ' απολείπεσθαι (lege απολείσθαι) τον άδην, και τους μεν ανθρώ πους ευδαίμονας εσεσθαι, μήτε τροφής δεομένους, μητε σκιαν ποιούντας. Plutarch. de Is. et Osir. p. 370. Hence the period of 6,000 years so important in ecclesiastical history.

Ισασι δι και Έλληνες κατακλυσμῳ η πυρι την γην κατα περιόδους καθαιρομένην. Origen. contra Cels. lib. iv. s. 20.

Έσται γας εσται κείνος αιώνων χρόνος
όταν πυρος γέμοντα θησαυρον σχαση
χρυσωπος αιθηρ· ἡ δε βοσκηθείσα φλοξ
άπαντα τ' απιγεια και μεταρσια
φλέξει μανεισ' επαν δ' αρ ελλιπη το παν,
φρούδος μεν εσται κυματων ἅπας βυθος,
γη δενδρέων έρημος" ουδ' αηρ επι
πτερωτά φυλα βλαστάνει πυρούμενος
κάπειτα σώσει πανθ' ά προσθ' απωλεσε.

4 Herodot. lib. ii. 123.

Sophocl. in Grotii excerpt. p. 145.

purpose; while their kings erected, for their own bodies, those vast pyramidal monuments, (the symbols of that fire to which they were consigned) whose excessive strength and solidity were well calculated to secure them as long as the earth, upon which they stood, should be able to support them. The great pyramid, the only one that has been opened, was closed up with such extreme care and ingenuity, that it required years of labor and enormous expense to gratify the curiosity or disappoint the avarice of the Mohammedan prince who first laid open the central chamber where the body lay. The rest are still impenetrable, and will probably remain so, according to the intention of the builders, to the last syllable of recorded time.

163. The soul, that was to be finally emancipated by fire, was the divine emanation, the vital spark of heavenly flame, the principle of reason and perception, which was personified into the familiar dæmon or genius, supposed to have the direction of each individual, and to dispose him to good or evil, wisdom or folly, with all their respective consequences of prosperity or adversity. Heuce proceeded the notion, that all human actions depended immediately upon the gods; which forms the fundamental principle of morality both in the elegant and finished compositions of the most ancient Greek poets, and in the rude

Savary sur l'Egypte.

20 vous yag huur & sos. Menand. apud Plutarch. Qu. Platon..

Απαντι δαιμων ανδρι συμπαρίσταται,
ευθυς γενομένῳ μυσταγωγός του βίου
αγαθος· κακον γαρ δαιμον' ου νομιστέον

είναι, τον βιον βλαπτοντα χρηστον· παντα γαρ

δει αγαθόν είναι τον θεον. Menandr. Fragm. incerta. No. 205.

Plutarch, according to his own system, gives two genii to each individual, and quotes the authority of Empedocles against this passage of Menander; which seems, however, to contain the most ancient and orthodox opinion.

Αυτη τον αύτης δαιμον ανακαλουμενη. Sophocl. Trachin. 910.

Est deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo:
Impetus hic sacræ semina mentis habet.
Scit genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum,
Naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unum-
Quodque caput; vultu mutabilis, albus et ater.

Ovid. Fast. lib. vi. 5.

Horat. lib. ii. ep. ii. 187.

3. Ουτι μοι αιτιη εσσι, θεοι νυ μοι αίτιοι εισιν και εφώρμησαν πολεμον πολυδακρυν Αχαιων the polite old Priam to the blushing and beautiful Helen. Agamemnon excuses himself for having injured and insulted Achilles, by saying,

says

-Εγω δ' ουκ αιτιος ειμί,

αλλα Ζευς και Μοίρα, και περοφοι τις Εριννυς.

Pindar continually inculcates this doctrine.

Διος του νοος μεγας κυβερνα

Δαιμον' ανδρών φιλων. Pyth. ε. v. 164.

Ξενοφωντος ευθυνο Δαίμονος ούρον. Olymp. ιγ. v. 38.

strains of the northern Scalds for as the soul was supposed to be a part of the atherial substance of the Deity detached from the rest; and doomed, for some unknown causes, to remain during certain periods imprisoned in matter; all its impulses, not immediately derived from the material organs, were of course impulses of the Deity. As the principles of this system were explained in the mysteries, persons initiated were said to pass the rest of their time with the gods ;3 as it was by initiation that they acquired a knowledge of their affinity with the Deity; and learned to class themselves with the more exalted emanations, that flowed from the same source.

164. The corporeal residence of this divine particle or emanation, as well as of the grosser principle of vital heat and animal motion, was supposed to be the blood : whence, in Ulysses's

Εκ θεού δ' ανης σοφαίς ανθεί εσαει πραπίδεσσι. Olymp. ια. v. 10. · Αγαθοι δε

και σοφοί κατα Δαιμον' ανδρες

εγένοντο. Olymp. θ. v. 41.
Εκ θιων γαρ μαχαναι πα

σαι βρότεαις αρεταις

και σοφοι, και χερσι βια

ται, περίγλωσσοι τ' εφυν. Pyth. a. v. 79.

• See Eddas, and Bartholinus.

2

Μαρτυρεονται δε οἱ παλαιοί θεολογοι τε και μάντεις, ὡς δια τινας τιμωρίας ἡ ψυχα τῳ σωματι συνεζευκται, και καθαπερ εν σωματι τουτῳ τεθαπται. Philolaus Pythagoric. apud Clem. Alex. Strom. iii.

Αἱ δ' απηλλαγμεναι γενέσεως ψυχαι, και σχολαζουσαι τολοιπον απο σώματος, οἷον ελευθεραί παμπαν αφιεμεναι, δαιμονες εισιν ανθρώπων επιμελείς, καθ' Ησιοδον. ὡς γαρ αθλητας καταλύσαντας ασκησιν ύπο γηρως, ου τελέως απολείπει το φιλοτιμον και φιλοσω ματον, αλλ' έτερους ασκουντας δρωντες ἡδονται, και παρακαλουσι και συμπαραθεουσι· οὕτως οἱ πεπαυμένοι των περι τον βιον αγώνων, δι' αρετήν ψυχης γενομενοι δαίμονες, οι παντελως ατιμάζουσι τα ενταύθα, και λόγους και σπουδας, αλλά τοις επι ταυτο γυμ ναζομενοις τέλος ευμένεις οντες, και συμφιλοτιμούμενοι προς την αρετην εγκελεύονται και συνεξόρμωσιν, όταν εγγυς ηδη της ελπίδος αμιλλωμένους και ψαύοντας ὁρωσιν. Interloc. Pythagoric. in Plutarch. Dialog. de Socrat. Dæmon.

Και μην ά των αλλων ακούεις, οἱ πείθουσι πολλους, λέγοντες ὡς οὐδεν ουδαμη τῳ διαλυ θεντι κακον ουδε λυπηρον εστιν, οίδα ότι κωλύει σε πιστεύειν ὁ πατριος λόγος, και τα μυστικά συμβολα των περί τον Διονυσον οργιασμων, ὁ συνισμεν αλληλοις οἱ κοινωνουντες. Plutarch. ad Uxor. consol.

3 Ώσπερ δε λέγεται κατά των μεμνημένων, ὡς αληθως τον λοιπον χρονον μετα θεων διαγουσα (ἡ ψυχη). Platon. Phæd. p. 61.

4 Το αίμα των ανθρώπῳ πλείστον συμβάλλεται μέρος συνέσιος εγιοι δε λεγουσι, το παν. Hippocrat. de Morbis, lib. i. s. xxviii.

Γνωμη γαρ ἡ του ανθρωπου πέφυκεν εν τη λαιη κοιλίη (της καρδίης,) και άρχει της άλλης ψυχης. τρέφεται δε ούτε σιτιοισιν, ούτε ποτοισιν απο της νηδύος, αλλα καθαρη και φωτοείδει περιουσιη, γεγονυιη εκ της διακρισιος του αίματος. Hippocrat. de Corde, s. viii.

Το μεν αίμα κυριωτάτην των εν ύμιν εχον δυμαμιν, ἅμα και θερμόν εστι και ύγρον. Plutarch. Sympos. lib. viii. c. 10.

Nullius carnis sanguinem comedetis, nam anima omuis carnis est sanguis ejus. Levit. c. xvii. v. 14. ed. Cleric.

evocation of the Dead, the shades are spoken of as void of all perception of corporeal objects until they had tasted the blood of the victims which he had offered; by means of which their faculties were replenished by a re-union with that principle of vitality from which they had been separated: for, according to this ancient system, there were two souls, the one the principle of thought and perception, called NOOZ, and PHN; and the other the mere power of animal motion and sensation, called TXH; both of which were allowed to remain entire, in the shades, in the person of Tiresias only. The prophetess of Argos, in like manner, became possessed of the knowledge of futurity by tasting the blood of a lamb offered in sacrifice; and it seems probable that the sanctity anciently attributed to red or purple color, arose from its similitude to that of blood; as it had been customary, in early times, not only to paint the faces of the statues of the deities with vermilion, but also the bodies of the Roman Consuls and Dictators, during the sacred ceremony of the triumph; from which ancient custom the imperial purple of later ages is derived.

165. It was, perhaps, in allusion to the emancipation and purification of the soul, that Bacchus is called AIKNITHE,6 a metaphorical title taken from the winnow, which purified the corn from the dust and chaff, as fire was supposed to purify the ætherial soul from all gross and terrestrial matter. Hence this instrument is called by Virgil the mystic winnow of Bac

2

1 Od. A. 152 et seq.
Νουν μεν εν ψυχη, ψυχην δ' εν σωματι αργώ,
Ημας εγκατέθηκε πατηρ ανδρών τε θεών τε.

Orphic. A. No. xxiv. ed. Gesner. Secundum hanc philosophiam, ux anima est, qua vivunt, spirant, aluntur ra uxia. vous mens est, divinius quiddam, quibusdam animabus superadditum, sive inditum, a Deo. Gesner. Not. in eund.

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4 Pausan. lib. ii. c. iii. and iv.

Odyss. K. v. 492.

5 Ταχυ γαρ εξανθει το μιλθινον, ώ τα παλαια των αγαλματων εχρίζον. Plutarch. Puuaix. See also Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. c. vii.; and Winkelman. Hist. des Arts, liv. i. c. ii.

Enumerat auctores Verrius, quibus credere sit necesse, Jovis ipsius simulachri faciem diebus festis minio illini solitam, triumphantumque corpora: sic Camillum triumphasse. Plin. ibid.

6 Orph. Hymn. xlv. The Axvov, however, was the mystic sieve in which Bacchus was cradled; from which the title may have been derived, though the form of it implies an active rather than a passive sense. See Hesych. in voc.

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