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lVI Y T

359

M Y U

oT ,h. "" nner in whieh my, hology , ro",s itS fuhjdl., and

of ,he method

,ha<

fh ould be ouferved in f1udyiog fable;

or ,he hiClor.y of ,he gods of an,iqui,y, we fhall here give,

hy ....ay of <xample, a eurJorr deferip,ioo of

Jroalru, and

its

inhabitants .

Parnalfus \Vas a

mounujn

of Phocis, thar had two

f"..lmmits. one of which w"s

called.T ilhor(us,

and

.he

o·

, her H yampeus . O,hers 'fay, ,ha< one of thefe hills was

namcd Helicon, and

,he

olher

Cytheron ; and

thH

an error

im:1gine, that Helicon was a mountain of Bre–

atia. However

tll;n

be, this double hill \Vas confecrated

to Apollo and , heM ufes, ....,ho ,here held ,hei, ufual refi·

denee:

Aeeordin~

fab le, ,hore h3d been a rcmark.ble

eomb,t on Ihis h,lI , bOlwecn H elieon . nd C y,heron

\Vhoever Oepl on P.,'n.(fus, .",heo he waked . heeame a

POct. Apollo h. d ,here a ,emple. T ht re alfo w.s the

fouo,ain CaClalia, iOlo whieh ApoJlo had melamorpl¡ofed

a oymph Ihal he loved, and h3d given 10 i,s waters ,he

power.of

maL:ing

¡ JI

who d rank of them poets . Al the

fool

P"n,(fus 1I0wed Ihe river

Hippoer~oe,

Ih" h.d

the fame vinue; and the fource of wh,eh w. s opened by .

nroke of the fool of ,he horfe P <gafus. T his river oou·

rifhed a

greal

cumber uf fwan1'

,bal

were,regardcd as

faered . P egafus wzs a winged horfe, ,ha, belonged 'o

A~0110,

and gra7:ed on Ibe rllmmil of Paroa(fus. He

fp.rang from Ihe blooe of Meduf. , when Perfee, CUI off her

he.d, whieh was plaeed among ,IIe (l a" . Sueh \Vas Ihe

delieiou. abode of ApoJlo, the fon of J upiter and L atona,

who was born, witb bis twin filler D iana, in the ifland

Delas. He killed the C yclops, who forgod the ,huoder·

boltswith whiehJupiter hadoverlhrowo his foolECeul.pius;

but for that preru:nption, he was forced to leave hcavcn,

.nd beeome ao inh.blt. n' of the eanh. H e guarded the

oxeo of Admetus ; he aided N eplune tobuild ,he walls of

Troy, and AJeoth,us io .farming Ihe labyrin'b. He kil·

led the dragan or ferpenl Python.

invenled

Mufi~k

aod phyfi ck ; aod was honoured as Ihe god of

P'l""

aod

p!>yfida~s .

H e was repref' OIed as a young man withoUI

a beard, his head furrqunded Wilh rays, and bearing

his haod a bow, or a l1'e. As Ihe aoeienlS denoted the

fun by the name of ApoJlo, Ihey fometimes reprcfenled

him aJro as feated in a chariot, drawn by l wo white bor–

fe., preceded by Aurora and Ihe n.. Vtnus: Phaelon hi.

fon, being defirous of eonduéling ,hefe ho,fes, was throwo

iotO Ihe fea. Apollo was . Ifo e. lled P haobu., <ritan,

and SOl. He is known 10 have had amou" with Arfi·

nae, Carycia, Mel(%ne, Cyrene, 1vl ri nlho, SinQpe, Cal·

liope, and o,hero ; by whom he had D elphe, N al«, Mi.

letus, A rabe, Garam;¡s, Sirus, L inus. Orpheus. ¡¡nd o·

ther ehildren . ije

ha~

peeuliar honou" paid him in the

J'y,hi.o game. al D.elpho. , aod in Ihe feeular games at

:Rome.

The Mufe. were Ihe eompanions of Apollo in his rural

abode. They we,e like\Vife e, Jlcd the ·Iearned fi() e" ;

as alfo the Camcenioo, Heliconian, Parnaffi"n , Aooian,

Píerian, Pegafian, Aganippiao, T befpirio, L ibelhri"n) and

Canalian finers. T hey" .re Ihe daughters of J l1riter

and Mnemofyne, and wcr. regarded as the godd<(f.. of

J'cíences ¡od 3rts in gt neral. T hcre wcre

nioc

of thefe

Ya c.

In.

N°. 8",

mufe, ;

whom Ihey a!lribu:eJ , l . lO CEo, hi fiory,

", .'\1)

Melpomene, tragedy,

lo T halia, eomedy,

E u·

terpe. llutcs and Q[her pncum::ttic inllrur.lcnts of muficJc..

5·

' o Terpfi eh or c, 'hc'barp ond ,he

d..

occ,

E"IQ,

the Iyre and the lute,

tO Calliope, heroie verfe,

U raOltl . altronomy, and 9 . to Polyhymnia,

rh~rcric

and

<loqueoee. TI,e·Cro ces alfo fome,imes qui tted Venus ' o

p.y ,heir eourt

A pollo.

Sueh was the idea ,hey enlen.ined of Parnafrus and i"

¡nhabitants.

Th~re

is DO cJ.\Jubt but that. under theCt: fa–

blllous repr<-fentations, theCt

rC'nliLI~

imagcs, \Vere con.

ccaled alle20rlc and moral mcanings ; nor can it be dt:nied

but that their met hod of cu!ti\'ati ng the arts aod fcie ncei ,

this

maon~r

of cxpreffing their Ideas, was

ingenioú¡

anJ ple.f,ng as it i. ·poffiule tO imagi ne. Every olher

fubjté! tha< paganifm embraeed , ir treated with the fame

geOlu., and in a manner eqpally ple. fing; and ,hough ,hu

,,.hgion was altoge,her falladou., y.. we mul! alJow th...

it \Vas extremel y welJ clleulated to promot" Ihe pOrl'C

arts,

thore refincd, noble, graceful. brilltaot

image~t

by Ihofe eharming fu bjeéls, which i, eoo(!antly prefeoted,

and whieh il CI,]I otr<" 'o Ihe poel, painter, feu lplOr, .na

Ivery other

artill o

BUI Ihis was 00'

power fuffi eieml y Clrong 'o fecu re

paganifm a¡¡ainCl Ihat vioifli tude, tliat decli ne and difrok '

lion , whieh 6nally a!leed, all Ihe produélion, of tll i.

world. Thi, religión, which hJd fu blil ed n: ar fi . e

,boufand year., · alld almoH from Ihe origin of the hu o,""

raee, graduaJly declined in proponion as lhe lighlS of

ChriClianity and philofophy illumined ,he mind. of m, n·

kind. For Ihough ,he p' gan relis ioo, and the fabl.. on

IVhieh.il

was fou oded, were ple. fi ng and favou rauleto lhe

polite arlS , they were not howcver caleulated 10 fatisr,.

Ihe minds of philofophers, nor 10 promole the re. 1 goo/l

of mankind

by Cecurine their tempolal and etcrnal

har"

pinefs.

is even fu rpnling thu (o grcat a gtDIUSas the

emperor Julian {hould aucmpt tO n!vive the emb! rs

p. ganifm, whieh infenfil,]y decl ined, aod h3d reeeiv:d a

monal blo", al the begillnmg of the foun h c:mll ry by

Ihe emperor Con(lan\ine the grea.t. J olian emploi'eJ

.11

the relourees of his imtlgin;u ion,

his eloquence, of his

powcr, and even of his own fa t,,1 cxamplc, to revi ve it;

but in vain. T he faud period of pdgaOlfm

WdS

arri ved,

and oOlhing eould fave i, rrom denruél,on. The (U " OUI

Theodo(ju,.

tO:

whom l>igou ed prie(ts and hinorians have

ani, ned lhe name of Greilt. totally overt llrew

toward

the c10fe of the

f.me

century, deClroy,d thofe tcmple.

and alt." whieh yet fu bfiCled , difperfed its eollrge., and

eXl('rOlin;\tcd its priells . From lha t dire epoch, l10lh lng

of paganirro has remained, except fome ruins d,fpcrred in

Iht remote parts of theeanh. and amonC?t:ople wrelched

and almoN unknowD; wbere this religion, once fo lJou–

rinlíng and univerfal, is now dcgenerated iDtO grofs and

dif~uUfu l

idolatry.

MYUR US, in medicine, an erithet for a forl of fi nking

pulle, whcn the fecond Cl ruke i. lefs Ihan ,he fi rH, the

Ihi rd than the feeoqd, and lo on.

4 X.