A complete dictionary of the Greek and Roman antiquities explaining the obscure places in classic authors and ancient historians relating to the religion, mythology, history, geography and chronology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their ... rites and customs, laws, polity, arts and engines of war : also an account of their navigations, arts and sciences and the inventors of them : with the lives and opinions of their philosophers / compiled originally in French ... by Monsieur Danet ; made English, with the addition of very useful mapps.

BACCHUS,

the Son of Jupiter and Semele, otherwise called Dionysius, from the Island Dia, now Naxus, after he had over-run all the East with his Army, subdued the greatest part of the Indies, and taught Men the use of Wine, was put by them into the Number of the Immortal Gods; but when the Thebans disputed his Dignity, publi∣shing that he was not the Son of Jupiter,

but of some Man who had left his Mother, he filled their Women with a divine Fury, so that they ran with their Hair flying about their Shoulders loose into Mount Cytheron, crying Evohe. Tiresias and Cadmus were by this Action convinced of his Divinity, and none but Pentheus opposed it, discoursing of the Superstition of the Orgiae, and labouring entirely to abolish them; at which the God being provoked, made him mad also, and drove him into Mount Cytheron, where he was torn in pieces by the Theban Women, who were before turned Furies, and took him for a Lion, and his Mother Agave was the Woman that cut off his Head, not know∣ing who he was.

The Tyrrhenians, famous Pirates in the Me∣diterranean Sea, as they were robbing upon the Coasts of the Aegaean Sea, met with Bac∣chus upon the Shore, and having taken him Captive, thought they had got a considerable Prize, whereupon they began to insult over him, and to offer him some Indignities; but the God seeing their ill Designs, changed them into Dolphins to punish them, as we learn from Philostratus in his Character of the Tyrrhenians.

Tzetzes thinks that Noab lived at the same time with the Bacchus of the Indians, and Osi∣ris of the Aegyptians, and that he had for his Servant, Mercurius Trismegistus, who was the first Inventer of Learning, and Arts, from the Instructions which he had received from Noah, who had preserved Arts, Learning, and Sciences, which had been invented, and exercised, during the 16 or 17 Ages which pre∣ceded the Deluge. The same Author says else∣where, that near the Mountains of India, are to be seen the Pillars of Bacchus, not of the Bacchus of Thebes in Greece, but of Aegypt, who found out the dressing of Vineyards, who bears the Name of Osiris, and is no other Person but Noah. Propé montes Indiae columnae quaedam constitutae sunt, columnae Dionysi, non The∣bani, sed Vini Inventoris.

Vossius shews us the Similitude there is be∣tween the History of Moses, and Fable of Bac∣chus.

Moses, says this learned Man, was born in Aegypt, and Orpheus in the Hymns attributed to him, testifies the same of Li∣ber or Bacchus, making him the Son of the Goddess Ists, and saying that he was born upon the Bank of the River Nyle, where Moses was exposed. His Nurses may also re∣present to us the Sister and Mother of Moses, to whom Pharaoh's Daughter entrusted Mo∣ses to be nursed.

Moses after his Birth was first exposed upon the Banks of Nile in a little Ark made of Bulrushes woven together. Pausanias al∣so relates that the Brasiatae in Laccdemonia in Greece, affirm that they took their Name from the little Boat, or Ship, wherein Bac∣chus being shut up, was cast upon their Coast, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Incolae ea sermontbus vulgarunt, quae neutiquam alii Graecorum Popu∣li confitentur; Semelem quidem Jovi Liberum pa∣trem peperisse, a Cadino vero deprehensam cum puero recens. Nato in arcam conjectam, eam ar∣ca••n aestu jactatam in fines suos ejectam.

The Name of Moses comes from his being taken out of the Waters, (Moses i. e. extra••tus) Orpheus in his Hymns, or in his Mysteries, gives to Bacchus the name of Moses, and calls him a Person born of the Waters, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

Moses had two Mothers, One that bore him, and another that adopted him, and educated and kept him in the Kings Palace 40 Years, and we know the Reason, why Bac∣chus was called. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Child of two Mothers, because Jupiter compleated what was wanting of his time.

Bacchus was educated in a Mountain of Arabia, called Nysa. Diodorus Siculus, and several others make mention of it, and we know, that Moses lived Forty Years in Ara∣bia before he returned into Aegypt to take upon him the Conduct and Government of the Children of Israel. Moses also is well known to have frequented Mount Sinai, which by a small Transposition of Letters, is Nysa, and 'tis possible that Mountain might have those two Names. Vossius also observes, that the Alexandrtan Chronicle speaking of Twelve famous Mountains uses these Words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Some say that Nysa was a City, which stood upon Mount Meros, which signifies in Greek, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Thigh, and from thence came the Fable of Jupiter's Thigh. Others think, that Nysa stood upon the side of a Mountain, which the Hebrews call, Jarkere har, crura Montis.

Plutarch speaks of the Banishment of Bac∣chus, which is apparently the Flight of Moses into Arabia, after he had slain an Aegyptian, who was about to kill an innocent Israelite.

But the Poet Nonnus, who has written the Fable of Bacchus at large, speaks plainly of the Flight of Bacchus towards the Red Sea, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. He could not have spoken any thing more positive, nor more exactly like the History of Moses, stripped and freed from the Disguise of the Fable of Bacchus.

Moses had many Battles in Arabia, and gained glorious Victories, also Diodorus Siculus relates out of the Poet Antimachus,

how Bacchus found a Potent Enemy there, which was Lycurgus King of Arabia, who had resolved to destroy him, and all his Menades, or Bacchae.

The Army of Bacchus, which over-run all Arabia with him, was made up of Men and Women, according to Diodorus Siculus. We know also, that Moses passed through all the Deserts of Arabia, with an Army of 600000 fighting Men, but it was followed with a much greater Number of Women and Children.

Orpheus in his Hymns, Euripides in his Bacchae, and Sophocles in certain Verses set down by Strado, say, that Bacchus had upon his Forehead the Horns of a Bull 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which agrees with the Horns of Light, i. e. those luminous Rays which came from the Face of Moses, when he re∣turned from Conversing with the Ora∣cle of God. The Hebrews give this Ray of Light, the name of an Horn, Koren, whence comes the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, of the Greeks, and the Cor∣nu of the Latins; to which agrees the Latin Translation, quod cornuta esset facies Mosis.

Moses struck the Rock which his Rod, and there came out a Stream of Living Water; now Euripides in his Bacchae, says as much of a Baccha that followed Bacchus; Thyrsum autem quaedam arripiens percussit Pe∣tram, aquae processri humor.

One of the most faithful Servants of Mo∣ses, is Celeb, who gave such illustrious Proofs of his Courage and Fidelity, when he went to observe and discover the promi∣sed Land, and brought back with the other Spies, that famous bunch of Grapes: In like manner the Poets make a Dog to have been the Companion of Baccbus, the He∣brew word Celeb signifying a Dog. Nonnus relates the Discourse of Bacchus, when he translated his Dog to the Stars, and made a Constellation of it, called Maera or the Little Dog, which contributes to the ripe∣ning of the Grapes.

Orpheus gives Bacchus the Title of a Law-giver, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, attributing to him a dou∣ble Law, as if he alluded to the Two Ta∣bles of the Law of Moses, or to Deuteronomy which is one of the Books of Moses. Lastly, Vossius observes that 'tis absolutely neces∣sary, to distinguish between the Bacchus of the Indians, and Bacchus of Aegypt and Ara∣bia, which is Moses, and acknowledges that these are, as it were the two Originals, from which the Greeks have taken the Co∣py of their Bacchus of Thebes, who is much later than that of Aegypt, as this Posterior to that of the Indies.

Eusebius has observed that Osiris is the same with Bacchus, as well as Diodorus Siculus, who tells us, that Cadmus made the Bastard Son of his Daughter Semele to pass for the Son of Ju∣piter, and for another Ofiris, and how Orpheus brought all the Worship of Ofiris, or Dionysius, and Bacchus into Greece.

The same Authors relate elsewhere, that Cadmus was obliged by the Commands of his Father Agenor, King of Phaenicia, to go and find out Europa his Sister, stolen away by Jupiter, and not finding her, he staid in Boeotia, where he built the City of Thebes, and that Semele conceived by Jupiter and had Bacchus by him; but Eusebius tells us at the same time, that the Greeks had done nothing but copied out the Actions of other Nations more ancient than themselves; and Diodorus Siculus owns in the same Place that there was another Bacchus more an∣cient, named SABAZIUS, the Son of Jupiter and Proserpina, whose Mysteries were celebrated in the Night.

This BACCHUS SABAZIUS was a Phoenician, and one of the Gods Cabiri, according to the Scholiast of Apollonius of Rhodes. Quidam ferunt Cabiros prius fuisse duos, seniorem quidem Jovem, & Bacchum, Ju∣niorem. We have proved that Noah was the first to whom the Assyrians or Babilonians applyed the History or Fable of Bac∣chus.

Cicero mentions five several Bacchus's. Dio∣nysios maltos habemus, primum à Jove & Proser∣pinâ Natum; secundum Nilo, qui Nysam dicitur interemisse; tertium Caprio patre, eumque Re∣gem Asiae praefuisse dicunt, cui Sabazia sunt in∣stituta; quartum Jove & Lunâ, cut sacra Or∣phica putantur confici; quintum Niso natum & Thione, à quo Trieterides constitutae putantur. De Natur. Deor. lib. III. 'Tis not easy to distinguish all these Bacchus's. Diodorus Si∣culus makes but one of the first and third of Cicero, saying, that Sabazius was the Son of Jupiter and Proserpina; the Fourth is the same with that of the Greeks; He that reign∣ed in Asia, may well be that of the Ass••rians. Cicero had no Knowledge of the Bacchus of the Arabians, which they call URO∣TAL.

Diodorus Siculus distinguishes between se∣veral Bacchus's, but allows the greatest An∣tiquity to him of the Indies, where Wine was first found out. Nonnulli tres diversis temporibus extitisse asserunt, & sua cuique faci∣nora attribuunt; inter quos omnium vetustissimus natione Indus sit. Hic quod sponte ob benigni tatem Aeris, & solis temperiem regio illa vi∣tium fertilus est, primus racemos torcularibus pressit, & emolumenta vini observavit. Hic ille Bacchus aiunt, arma per universum orbem

circumtulit, & vineas conserendi rationem edo∣cuit. 'Tis hard not to acknowledge, that this is the History of Noah, who planted a Vineyard in Armenia, which may pass for one part of the Indies, for some give the Name of Indies to all the Eastern Pro∣vinces. Diodorus says, that Bacchus is said to be born twice, because the Vine was be∣fore the Deluge of Deucalion, and grew a∣gain after the Deluge, when all thought it was dead.

Philostratus assures us, that the Indians held that their Bacchus came to them out of Assyria, wherefore the first Bacchus was the Assyrian, and so can be no other than Noah.

The Lybians according to Diodorus, had also their Bacchus the Son of Jupiter Ammon, and Amalthea, whom they also paint with Horns. They maintain that he was much more ancient than the Aegyptian or Graecian, although Diodorus owns, that the Graecian, though the last swallowed up all the rest, so that their Antiquity was then almost for∣gotten.

The Romans never knew any but the Bac∣chus of Greece, the Memory of all the rest being quite lost through their very great Antiquity.

Posthumius the Dictator vowed, and built a Temple to Liber and Libera.

Nonnus thinks that the several Names of Bacchus are for the most part the Names of the true God, which the Impiety of Idolaters attributed to their false Gods. Dionysius may come from Jehova Nissi, that is to say, Dominus veaeillum m••••m. IACCHUS may come likewise from Jehova or Jao, for so the Greeks sometime pronounce Jehova. ADONEUS plainly comes from Ado∣nas. ELELEUS comes from El, Elohim, that is to say Deus Deorum. HYES comes from hu es, i. e. ipse ignis. ATTES comes from atta cs, i. e. tu ignis, for Bacchus was born according to the Fable among the Fires of the Thunder of his Father Jupi∣ter. Bacchus is often represented by the Poets under the Form of a Bull, because God is often called in Scripture, Abbir, which signifies the Strong, and a Bull. EVO∣HE is a Term, which the Scripture uses in speaking of Drunkards. Cui vae, tui evohe, iis qui vino immorantur. BASSAREUS comes from Batsar, which signifies, to gather the Vintage. DITHYRAMBUS comes from the Syriack, dithert abban, which is the same with 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 i. e. who hath Two Fathers. IACCHUS come from the Syriack Janko or Jacco, which is the same with Puer La∣ctens, and such is Bacchus often represented. 'Tis feigned that he was born of Jupiter's Thigh, because 'tis a Phrase used among the Hebrews to express ordinary Generation. Nasci de faemore Patris. If some say he was, born upon the Mountain Merus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, 'tis because the word signifies a Thigh, or rather because the Hebrew Tongue calls those parts of Mountains, J•••••••• Jarkete, Thighs, which we call the Sides. If Bacchus has been called BRISAEUS, and BRESSAEUS, it comes from the Syriack bres ••cubsa, that is to say, lacus mellis, for all the Ancients have made Bacchus the Inventor of Honey. As to the name LIBER, Bochart beiieves, that it is an Imitation of the Hebrew Word Her, hurim, which signifies Noble and Free Persons, as in Ecclesiastes, Filius Hurim, is the same with Filius Heroum.