Classical Theology.—Vii.

CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —VII .

~— LONDON , SATURDAY , FEDTtUAKY 2-3 , I 860 .

CERES AND AUGUST—( CONTINUED . ) SERVIUS , Macrobius , and many modern , as well as ancient authors , are inclined to derive the name of " Satunnns" ( the primitive pronunciation of " Saturnus" ) from satio , sowing , and sator , a sowar . This etymological research was intended to prove that ho was the god of husbandly , the first tiller of the

ground , or instructor ofthe art of agriculture in Italy ; philologists may even go a step further and trace his patronymics to Sator ; ( a saturando , quasi saluret populus annona quod ipsa saturelor annis quos ipse , devoraf ) ( Gio . ii , de Nat ) . Be that as it may , Apollodorus just now is more didactically suited to our purpose : he has , together with Ovid , expounded

the emblematic meaning of the sicklo ivith which Saturn is usually depicted ; it is an implement of harvest , ancl serves man in reaping and sheafing . This sickle ivas cast into Sicily , as if thrown from some planet , and , according to the fable , fell within a town called Trepanum , since named Trapaniin honour of this sicklewhich ivas said to be the same

, , which Ceres obtained from Vulcan , and bestowed on the Titans ivhen she taught them the Agrarian mysteries . Sicily ivas esteemed so productive in corn and pasture , that the poet ' s imaginations for that reason doubtless represented thc sickle to have been found there .

Ceres was the daughter of Saturn , and thc Titans ivere the sons of Saturn , the eldest son of Genius . Ceres , ivith her other sisters , conspired to dispossess their brother of his right of heirship to their father ' s kingdom . Thereupon , when Titan saw their fixed confederacy , abetted by his mother thc elder Vesta , so powerfully in favour of Saturn , he determined

voluntarily to relinquish all claims of primogeniture , provided his brother ivould agree to tho infanticide of all his male issue ; so that at the termination ofthe allotted period for the falling of his star in its solar principality he should come " to enjoy his own again . " To this proposition Saturn willingly consentedaud most faithfully adhered , even to tho

, letter of it , by swallowing Ms offspring ( the vernal and brumal , months ) , ivhether lie liked them or not—with a true and honourable gusto—as fast as they ivere born . There ivere no seasons , ages , or times left extant . This theoretically implies Saturn , as Time , emerging out of Chaos . It is not to bethought that Ops ivould countenance this plan for disposing of

her infant sons . No ; ive are all aware that at tho birth of the twins , Jupiter and Juno , she sent Saturn a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes , which the old fool devoured with , as much relish as if it had been actually a prime young baby ; meanwhile Jupiter was conveyed to Mount Ida , and there

concealed . There was a custom with the priestesses and priests of Cybele at her sacrifices , to beat drums , timbrels , and cymbals , and to sound other loud toned instruments , shouting out frantic choruses ; these , with other discords , hindered the cries of the young god from reaching the ears of his affectionate papa . JRhea also succeeded in saving her sonsNeptune and Plutofrom their father ' s ravenous maw .

, , To revenge the perfidy ( as he conceived ) of Saturn , Titan called her stalwart progeny to the field , and brought a host of giants against his brother : having after a long warfare mode both him . and Ops prisoners , lie had them bound and shut up in the infernal regions , ivhere they remained captive some few years . This proceeding was tho cause of the

tremendous Titanic war , in which trees and rocks were hurled unto the heavens , and vast mountains heaped up or overturned by thunderbolts , when all the gods , we are told , contended and fought together , some on Jupiter ' s side , and some on the part of Titan , who , moreover , was backed by the Aloidfo ancl the demons of hell . It was Jove's turn now to be the

conqueror : he drove his enemies out of his bright domains , ancl the giants and their allies into the place of darkness , and set his suffering parents again at liberty ; but deposed his father from the throne soon " after , and banished him his

kingdom , because he hacl sought to take away his life , or rather to have forced him into a like exile , consequent on a prediction , ancient at his time , and fulfilled in his being thus overthrown by his son . These astrotheological events must have preceded and followed the diluvian epoch , ancl have embraced an earlier and

a later theogonic dynasty , in ivhieh . latter Apollo became the sun god . It ivill be further seen that , as among the Greeks , Eomans , and Africans , so among other nations a similar substitution of names with a change of deities occurred ; for instance , amongst the Egyptians the god of the sun acquired the appellation of Horns ; with the Phoenicians , Adonis ; with

the Persians , Mithras ; lie was thc Hercules of the Tyrians , the Dionysius of the Indians , the Nomius of the Arcadians , and as Pythius , Sol , and Phoebus , became well known , ancl his worship spread over the universal world . Before the lig ht of Christianity shone upon the earth , there was no hindrance to idol homage , save by the prophets ( who were

stoned to death or took refuge in flight ) , ancl in the precepts of Freemasonry , by which the knowledge of the true God was preserved . It is very strange , observes a famous writer ( Munst . 2 , Gosm . ) that in the long course of seven hundred years , the temple of Janus should only have been thrice closed from the

time of ISTunia Pompilius ; once by the consul Marcus Attilius ; then by the consul Titus Manlius ; and again after the battle of Actium . The first of these two illustrious Roman magistrates was , we acknowledge , of a disposition conspicuously noble—the other , of a temper too rigidly austere to please us , even if freed from its trait of evident selfishness in . its discip linarianism . Marcus Attilius Regulus , let us remember , having more than once vanquished the Carthagians , by them at last taken captive , ivas sent to Rome to treat

for an . exchange of prisoners . Tho patriotic soldier used his utmost eloquence to dissuade his countrymen from accepting the profferred terms ; and then , mindful of his parole , returned to Carthage and certain death rather than forfeit his word to the Carthagians , notwithstanding they were his and Rome ' s unsparing enemies . On the other hand ,

Torquatus ( Titus Manlius ) , who gained likewise the name of hnperiosus , gave rise to the saying " Manliana , etiicta , " in . consequence of beheading his son for engaging in battle , against his command , although successfully . * To award praise ivhere praise is due , and to show how singular a contrast may exist in the same man as a son and

as a father—Cicero , { De Off . iii ., 31 ) ,, and Livy ( vii . 4 ) record of Titus Manlius , that when Lucius his father was accused of cruelty to his soldiers by Pomponius the tribune , and also for detaining his son against his slaves , Titus , a few days before his father ' s citation , entered the mansion of Pomponiusand compelled the tribune , under the peril of death

, , to bind himself by an oath that he ivould drop all further proceedings against his father . This act of filial affection was so highly esteemed , that young Manlius was raised to the office of a military tribune in the same year . The sun was the great object of devotion with the inhabitants of the Isle of Rhodes ; but ( excepting in May ) Sol , or

more properly the solar deity Apollo , received more reverence than the other celestial presidents of tiie months , but never acquired such constant devotion as was paid to Janus and Jupiter . Numa ' s temple of Janus represented him . symbolically , as ive have described ; namely , the twelve winclows for the natural day ; the four sides for the weeks the

; four doors for the seasons ; the twelve altars for the months ; and the image of the god himself as tho entire year . A statue and fane of Janus Quadrifrons , a very antique structure of its sort , is still to be seen at Rome ; it was discovered