The Pantheon representing the fabulous histories of the heathen gods and most illustrious heroes in a short, plain and familiar method by way of dialogue / written Fra. Pomey.

PART III. (Book 3)

Of the Gods of the Sea. (Book 3)

CHAP. I.

SECT. I.

Neptune. His Name and Descent.

P.

THIS is a glorious and beautiful Scene. Are those the Gods of the Waters? Are these the Marine Gods, whose numerous Companies are carried all over the liquid Plains of the Sea in Shells.

M.

Those are the Gods, the Presidents, the Princes of the vast Finny Regions, and the Moderators of the flowing Waves.

P.

And who is that King with black Hair,* 1.1 and blue Eyes, who holds a Scepter in his Hand like a Fork with three Trines,* 1.2 and is so beautifully arrayed in Garments of Azure? He appears handsomely in his Chariot, and is sur∣rounded

with a great Guard of Fishes or Men, I cannot tell which; for their upper Part has the shape of a Man, but their lower part the shape of a Fish.

M.

It is Neptune; whose Name is derived by the change of a few Letters from Nubendo, says Varro; quod mare terras obnubat; because the Sea encompasses, embraces, and as it were, covers the Land. Or, as others believe, he is so called from the AEgyptian Word (Nephthen) which signifies the Coasts and Promontories, and other Parts of the Earth which are wash∣ed by the Waters. So that Tully (in lib. 2. de Nat. Deor.) who derives Neptune à Nando, is either mistaken, or the place (as Lipsius thinks) is corrupt. Bochart.

It is Neptune, I say, the Governour of the Sea, the Father of the Rivers and the Fountains, and the Son of Saturn by Ops. His Mother preserved him from the devouring Jaws of Sa∣turn (who, as we remarked above, Eat up all the Male Children that were born to him) by by giving Saturn a young Foal to eat, in his stead. In Greek he is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; quia 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, vinculum pedibus injicit; he binds our feet from walking upon the Waters. Plut. in Cra••.

When he came to Age, Saturn's Kingdom was divided by Lot, and the Maritim parts fell to him. He and Apollo, by Iupiter's Command, served Laomedon, in building the Walls of Troy; because he and some other Gods had plotted against Iupiter. Then he took Am∣phitrite to Wife (so called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, quòd mare terram circumterat, because

the Sea beats upon the Land all about;) He was repulsed by her a great while, but at last by the assistance of a Dolphin, and by the power of Flattery, he gained her. To recompense which kindness, the Dolphin was exalted to the Stars and made a Constellation. Nep∣tune had two other Wives besides, Salacia, so named from Salum, the Sea, or the salt water towards the lower part and bottom of the Sea, as S. Austin explains the word. (De Ci∣vit D.) And Venilia, from veniendo; because the Sea goes and comes with the Tide; it ebbs and flows by turns.

SECT. II.

Actions of Neptune.

IT is said that he produced a Horse in Attica,* 1.3 out of the ground, by striking it with his Trident.

—magno percussa tellure tridenti Vir. Georg. 1. With his huge Trident having thumpt the Ground.

whence he is called Hippius; and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; and is esteemed the President over the Horse-Races: At his Altar in the Cirque of Rome,* 1.4 Games were instituted, in which they repre∣sented the ancient Romans, by violence carry∣ing away the Sabine Virgins. His Altar was under ground, and he was sacrifice I unto by the name of Consus, à Consilio dando, the God of Counsel: which for the most part ought to be given privately;* 1.5 and therefore the God Consus was worshipped in an obscure and pri∣vate place. The solemn Games Consualia, which were Celebrated in the month of March,

were in the honour of this God, or Neptune, who was called by this name. At the same time the Horses left working, and the Mules were adorned with Garlands of Flowers.

Hence also it comes that the Chariot (as you see) of Neptune is drawn by Hippocampi, or Sea-Horses, as well as sometimes by Dolphins. Those Sea-Horses had the Tails of Fishes, and only two Feet; which were like the two fore∣feet of a Horse; as Statius describes them, (Theb. l. 2.)

Illic AEgeo Neptunus gurgite fessos In portum deducit equ••s: prior haurit habenas Ungula, postremi solvuntur in aequora pisces. God Neptune's Steeds to rest are set up here, In the AEgean Gulf, whose fore parts harness bear, Their hinder parts Fish shap'd.

Therefore Virgil calls them, two-footed Horses, (Bipedes) in Georg. lib. 4.

—magnum qui piscibus aequor, Et juncto bipedum curru metitur equorum. —Through vast Seas he glides, Drawn by a Team half Fish half Horse he rides.

Statius hath this description of the motion of them, in Achill. 1.

—triplici telo jubet ire jugales. Illi spumiferos glomerant à pectore fluctus, Ponè natant, delentque pedum vestigia, caudâ. Shaking his Trident urges on his Steeds, Who with two Feet beat from their brawny breasts The foaming billows; but their hinder parts Swim,* 1.6 and so smooth again the curling Surge.

Therefore it is Neptunes Office, to govern the Horses by Land,* 1.7 and the Ships by Sea: and

without doubt, whenever he rides upon the waters, he makes the weather fair. Virg. Aen. 1.

—Tumida aequora placat, Collectasque fugat nubes, solemque reducit. —aequora postquam Prospiciens Genitor, coeloque invectus aperto, Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo. Subsidunt undae, tumidumque sub axe tonanti Sternitur aequor aquis, fugiunt vasto aethere nimbi. —He calms the Sea, then clears The Sky from Clouds, the Sun again appears. So did his presence calm the troubled Main. Then through clear Skies Neptune with gentle Rein Wheels his swift Chariot, and well-manag'd Horse. Under his thundring Ax swoln Billows ly, And stormy Clouds forsake the clearing Sky.

SECT. III.

Sons of Neptune.

THE most remarkable of his Children, were Phorcus or Phorcys, and Proteus.

Phorcus was his Son by the Nymph Thesea:* 1.8 He was vanquished by Atlas, and drowned in in the Sea; his surviving Friends said that he was made a Sea God, and therefore they wor∣shipped him. We read of another Phorcus, who had three Daughters, who had but one Eye between them all, which they all could use. When any one of them desired to see any thing, she fixed the Eye in her Forehead, in the same manner as you fix a Diamond in a Ring; when she had used it, she pulled the Eye out again that her Sisters might have it: thus they all used it as there was occasion. Palaeph in Fab.

Proteus, his other Son, was the Keeper of the Phocae,* 1.9 or Sea-Calves; his Mother was the Nymph Phoenice.* 1.10 He could Convert himself into all sorts of shapes: sometimes he could flow like the Water, and sometimes burn like Fire; sometimes he was a Fish, a Bird, a Lion, or whatsoever he pleased: Nor was this wonderful power enjoyed by Proteus alone. For Vertumnus, one of the Gods of the Ro∣mans, had it: his name from Vertendo shews it, as we observed before in the Story of Pomona. And from this God Vertumnus comes that common Latin Expression, Bene or Male Ver∣tat; may it succeed well or ill: because it is the business of the God Vertumnus, rebus ad opinata revertentibus praeesse, says Donatus upon Terence, to preside over the turn of things, which happen according to expectation•• tho oftentimes what we think good, is really bad in the Conclusion; as that Sword was, which Dido received from Aeneas, with which she after∣wards killed her self. This is, male vertisse. Upon which says Virgil Aen. 4.

—ensemque recludit Dardanium non hos quaesitum munus in usus. —The Trojan Sword unsheath'd, A gift by him not to this use bequeath'd.

Neptune endued Periclimenus Nestor's Brother, with the same power, who was afterwards killed by Hercules in the shape of a Fly; for when he fought against Neleus, a Fly tor∣mented him and stung him violently; when Pallas discovered to Hercules that this Fly was Periclimenus, he killed him. Hom. Od. l. 11.

Neptune gave the same power to Metra, Mestra or Mestre, the Daughter of Erisichthon; she obtained this reward from him, because he had debauched her: by which power she was enabled to succour her Father's insatiable Hunger. (Ovid. Met. l. 8.)

Nuno equa, nunc ales, modo bos, modo cervus abibat, Praebebatque avido non just a alimenta parenti. Now Hart-like, now a Cow, a Bird, a Mare: And fed his hunger with ill-pu••chas'd Fare.

For the same cause Caenis, a Virgin of Thes∣saly, obtained the same, or rather a greater power from Neptune. For he gave her power to change her Sex, and made her invulner∣able; she therefore turned her self into a Man, and was called Caeneus: She fought against the Cen••aurs, till they overwhelmed her with a vast load of Trees, and buried her alive. After which, she was turned into a Bird of her own name. Ovid. Met. l. 12.

CHAP. II.

Triton, a••d the other Marine Gods.

TRiton was the Son of Neptune by Amphi∣trite.* 1.11 He was his Father's Companion, and Trumpeter.* 1.12 Down to his Navel he re∣sembles a Man; but his other part is like a Fish.* 1.13 His two Feet are like the fore-Feet of a Horse: his Tail is cleft,* 1.14 and crooked, like a half Moon, and his Hair resembles Wild Parsly.

Two Princes of Parnassus (Virgil and Ovid) give these descriptions of him. Vir. Aen. 10.

Hunc vehit immanis Triton, & caerula concha Exterrens freta: cui laterum tenus hispida nanti, Frons hominem praefert, in pristim desinit alv••••. Spurnea semifero sub pectore murmurat unda. This mighty Triton bore, frighting the Tides With his shrill Trump, his Face and hairy Sides Above presents a Man, a Whale the rest, And foamy Waves resound beneath his Breast.

The other in Metam. lib. 1.

Caeruleum Tritona vocat, conchaque sonanti Inspirare jubet, fluctusque & flumina signo Iam revocare dato. Cava buccina sumitur illi Tortilis in latum, qua turbine crescit ab imo Buccina, quae medio concepit ubi aëra ponto, Littora voce replet sub utroque jacentia Phoebo. Old Triton rising from the deep, he spies Whose shoulders rob'd with native purple rise, And bids him his loud sounding shell inspire, And give the Floods a signal to retire. He his wreath'd Trumpet takes (as giv'n in charge) That from the turning bottom grows more large: This when the Namen o'er the Ocean sounds, The East and West from shore to shore abounds.

Oc••anus,* 1.15 another of the Sea-Gods, was the Son of Coelum and Vesta; who by the Antients was called the Father not only of all the Ri∣vers,* 1.16 but of the Animals,* 1.17 and of the very Gods themselves; for they imagined, that all the things in Nature took their beginning from him. It is said, he begot of his Wife Tethys three thousand Sons. The most eminent where∣of were

Nereus,* 1.18 who was nursed and educated by the Waves, and afterwards dwelt in the Aegean Sea,* 1.19 and became a famous Prophesier. He begot 50 Daughters by his Wife Doris,* 1.20 which Nymphs were called after their Fathers name, Nereides.

Palaemon, and his Mother Ino, for this rea∣son were made Sea-Deities. Ino's Husband Athamas was distracted, and tore his Son Le∣archus into pieces, and dashed him against the Wall; Ino saw this, and feared lest the same fate should come upon her self, and her other Son Melicerta; wherefore she took her Son, and with him threw her self into the Sea; where they were made Sea-Deities, nothing perished in the Waters but their Names, for their former Names were lost in the Waves, and they found new ones: She was called Leucothea and he Palaemon by the Greeks, and Portumnus by the Latins.

Glaucus, the Fisherman, became a Sea God by a more pleasant way. For when he pulled the Fish which he had caught, out of his Nets, and laid them on the shore, he observed, that by touching a certain Herb, the Fish recove∣red their strength and leapt again in the Wa∣ter. He wondred at so strange an Effect, and had a desire to tast this Herb; when he had tasted it, he followed his Fish, and leaping in∣to the Water, became a God of the Sea. Ovid. Metam. l. 13. Strabo.

To these we may add the Story of Canopus, a God of the Aegyptians; who by the help of Water gained a memorable Victory over the God of the Chaldeans, when these two

Nations contended about the Power and Supe∣riority of their Gods, the Priests consented to bring the two Gods together, that they might decide their Controversie, the Chaldaeans brought the God Ignis (Fire) and the Aegyptians brought Canopus; they set the two Gods near one ano∣ther to Fight: Canopus's Belly was a great Pitcher, filled with water, and full of holes, but so stopped with Wax, that no body could discern them. When the Fight began, Fire the God of the Chaldaeans melted the Wax which stopped the holes; so that Canopus with rage and violence assaulted him with streams of water, and totally extinguished, vanquished and overcame him. Ruffin. l. 11. c. 26.

CHAP. III.

SECT. I.

The Monsters of the Sea. The Syrens.

THERE were three Syrens, whose Pa∣rentage is uncertain,* 1.21 (tho' some say that they were the Off-spring of Achelous the River,* 1.22 and Melpomene the Muse) they had the Faces of Women, but the Bodies of flying Fish; they dwelt near the Promontory Peloris in Sicily (now called Capo di Faro) or in the Islands called Sirenussae,* 1.23 which are situated in the ex∣tream parts of Italy, according to Strabo. Where, with the sweetness of their Singing, they drew all the Men to them, that sailed by those Coasts: and when by their Charms

they brought upon them a deep sleep, they drown'd them in the Sea,* 1.24 and afterwards took them out, and devoured them. Their names were Parthenope (who died at Naples, for which reason that City was formerly called Parthe∣nope) Ligea and Leu••osia.

That their Charms might be easilier recei∣ved, and make the greater impression on the minds of the hearers; they used musical In∣struments with their Voices: and adapted the Matter of their Songs to the temper and in∣clinations of the hearers.* 1.25 With some Songs they inticed the Ambitious, with others the Voluptuous, and with other Songs they drew on the Covetous to their destruction. Ovid says of these Syrens, De Arte Amand. lib. 3.

Monstra Maris Syrenes erant, quae voce canora Quaslibet admissas detinure rates. Syrens were once Sea Monsters, mere decoys Trapanning Seamen with their tuneful voice.

P.

What then? Could no Passengers ever escape this Plague?

M.

History mentions two only who escaped, Ulysses and Orpheus••* 1.26 The first was forewarn∣ed of the danger of their Charming Voices by Circe: wherefore he stopped the Ears of his Companions with Wax, and was fast bound himself to the Mast of the Ship: by which means he safely passed the fatal Coasts. But Orpheus overcame them in their own Art,* 1.27 and evaded the temptations of their murdering Mu∣sick by playing upon his Harp, and singing the praises of the Gods so well, that he outdid the Syrens. The Fates had ordained, that the

Syrens should live till some body who passed by heard them sing, and yet escaped alive: when therefore they saw themselves overcome, they grew desperate, and precipitated themselves into the Sea•• and were turned into Stones. Some write, that they were formerly Virgins, Proserpina's Companions; they sought every where for her when she was stoln away by Pluto, and when they could not find her, they were so grieved, that they cast themselves in∣to the Sea, and from that time were changed into Sea-Monsters.* 1.28 Others add, that by Iuno's persuasion they contended in Musick with the Muses, who overcame them, and to punish their rashness, cut off their Wings; with which they afterwads made for themselves Garlands.

P.

What did the Poets signifie by this Fiction?

M.

That the minds of Men,* 1.29 as Cicero says, are deposed from their proper Seats and States, by the allurements of pleasure. It corrupts them. There is not a more deadly plague in nature to mankind than it. Whoever addicts him∣self altogether to pleasure, loses his Reason, and is ruined; and he that desires to decline its Charms, must stop his Ears, and not hear∣ken to them; but must hearken to the Musick of Orpheus, and observe the Precepts and In∣structions of the Wise.

Now turn your Eyes to those other two Monsters, who are called

SECT. II.

Scylla and Charybdis.

THE description of Scylla is very various, for some say that she was a most beauti∣ful Woman from the Breasts downward,* 1.30 but she had six Dog's heads. Again, others say that in her upper parts she resembled a Woman, in her lower a Serpent and a Wolf. But whatever her Picture was,* 1.31 every body says that she was the Daughter of Phorcus, and Glaucus's Mistress; Circe passionately loved Glaucus, and could not bear that Scylla was preferred before her by Glaucus:* 1.32 wherefore she poisoned with venemous Herbs those Waters, in which Scylla used to wash her self: Scylla was igno∣rant of it, and according to her custom, went into the Fountain, and when she saw that the lower part of her Body was turned into the head of a Dog: being extremely grieved that she had lost her beauty, she cast her self head long into the Sea, where she was turned into a Rock, infamous for the many Shipwrecks which happen there: which Rock is still seen in the Sea which divides Italy from Sicily between Messina a City of Sicily, and Rhegiam (now called Reggio) in Calabria. This Rock is said to be surrounded with Dogs and Wolves; who devour the persons who are cast away there. But by this is meant only, that when the Waves by a violent Storm are dashed against this great Rock, the noise a little resembles the barking of Dogs and the howling of Wolves.

P.

You said, that Scylla was the Daughter of Phorcus. But, was not she rather the Daughter of Nisus King of Megara?

M.

No, that Scylla* 1.33 was another Woman: for Scylla the Daughter of King Nisus, was in love with Minos who besieged her Father in the City Megara: She betrayed both her Father and her Country to him, by cutting off the Fatal lock of purple Hair, in which were contained her Father's and her Country's safe∣ty, and sent it to the besieger. Minos gained the City by it, but detested Scyllas's perfidi∣ousness, and hated her: She could not bear this misfortune, but was changed into a Lark. Nisus her Father was likewise changed into a Spar-hawk, which is called after his name Ni∣sus: which, as if he still sought to punish his Daughters great baseness, still pursues the Lark with fury to devour her, Virg. Georg. 5.

Charybdis, is a vast Whirlpool, in the same Sicilian Sea, over against Scylla, which absorps whatever comes within its Vortex, and Vomits it up again. Both these Monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, are described in Virgil, thus. Aen. lib. 3.

Dextrum Scylla latus: laevum implacata Cha∣rybdis Obsidet, atque imo barathri ter gurgite vastos Sorbet in abruptum fluctus, rursusque sub auras Erigit alternos, & sydera verberat undâ. At Scyllam caecis cohibet speluncae latebris Ora exertantem, & naves in saxa trahentem. Prima hominis facies, & pulchro pectore Virgo Pube tenus: postrema immani corpore pistrix, Delphinum caudas uter commissa luporum.

Scylla the right, Charybdis the left side Inexorable guards: the swelling Tide She at three soops doth from Hells bottom drain. Disgorging it against the Sky again, That Heavens bright Flames are storm'd with briny Waves. But Scylla lurks, hid in obscuring Caves, And sinks in rocky Mouths up Ships distrest; A Female, with a comely Virgins Breast, Down to the middle; but beneath, a Whales Body, with Wolvish Wombs, and Dolphins Tails.

They say that this Charybdis was formerly a very ravenous Woman; who was thunder∣strook by Iupiter, and turned into this Gulph, because she stole Hercules's Oxen.

P.

What do these Fables of Scylla and Cha∣rybdis represent to us?

M.

They represent to us Lust and Glut∣tony, monstrous Vices, which render our Voy∣age through this World extremely hazardous and perilous. Lust, like Scylla, engages un∣wary Passengers by the beauty and pomp of her outside, and when they are entangled in her snares she tortures, vexes, torments and disquiets them with a rage and fury which ex∣ceeds the madness of Dogs or the rapacity of Wolves. Gluttony is a Charybdis, a Gulph, a Whirlpool, that is insatiable. It buries Families alive, and devou••s Estates, and consumes Lands and Treasures, and sucks up all things. They are Neighbouring Vices, and like Scylla and Charybdis, are but little distant from each other; nay they are seldom separate, but act with united Forces. For you will not easily

find a Man, who is greatly addicted to the luxury of eating and drinking; who is not also a slave to the luxury of Concupiscence: and besmeared with the sordid filth of base Pleasures, and wholly given up to the most vile and impu∣dent Lusts.

But it is now time to consider the place in which the wicked are tormented eternally; or rather to cast down our Eyes, upon it, in the lower Apartment of this Pantheon: where the Infernal Gods, are painted. We will take only a transitory view of this Scene, since it will be very unpleasant to stay long in so doleful, so sad a place.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Lucian. in sacrif.
• * 1.2

  Cic. 1. de nat. Phurn.
• * 1.3

  Soph. in Oedip.
• * 1.4

  Pind. Od. 1 Isthm. Var. apud Lil. Dion. Halic. l. 2. Serv. Aen. 8.
• * 1.5

  Plut. in Romul. Dion. Hal. 1.
• * 1.6

  Homer. in hymn.
• * 1.7

  Sil. l. 1.
• * 1.8

  Var. ap. Nat. Co.
• * 1.9

  Tzetzchil. 2. hist. 44.
• * 1.10

  Ovid. Met. 8.
• * 1.11

  Hesiod. i•• Theog.
• * 1.12

  Stat. 6. Theb.
• * 1.13

  Virg. 6. Aen. 1.
• * 1.14

  Apol. 4. Argon.
• * 1.15

  Hesiod. in Theog.
• * 1.16

  Orph. in hymn.
• * 1.17

  Hesiod. ibid.
• * 1.18

  Horat. 1. Carm.
• * 1.19

  Eurip. in Iphig.
• * 1.20

  A••ol. 4. Doris.
• * 1.21

  Nica••d. Met. 3.
• * 1.22

  Ovid. Met. 3.
• * 1.23

  Strab. l. 5.
• * 1.24

  Strab. l. 1.
• * 1.25

  Homer. Odyss.
• * 1.26

  Hom. Od. 1.
• * 1.27

  Apol. 4. Argon.
• * 1.28

  Paus. in Boeot.
• * 1.29

  Parad. 1. de senect. &c.
• * 1.30

  Homer. Odyss.
• * 1.31

  Apoll. 4. Argon.
• * 1.32

  Myro Prian. l. 3. rer. Mes∣sen.
• * 1.33

  Scylla Nisi filia. Paus. in Attic.