132 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



first book, traces him to Ckus, and 

 describes him coming to Libanus, and 

 there planting the vine ; and out of that 

 circumstance arose the association of 

 the grape and the god. But though the 

 Romans brought him down to their 

 own level, their poets wore not ignorant 

 of his true history, for Virgil (Georgic 

 I. 6) assigns to him the conduct of the 

 year, and joins him with Ceres, calling 



Euripides, in "Helena," makes the' 

 second Antistrophe (1476) address 

 Helena as having neglected to pay 

 due honours to the " powers divine," 



for, " with the ivy twine, green 



wreathing round the Thyrsus drest,'' 

 and " streaming to the winds the 

 Bacchic hair," she had yielded to her 

 own vanity, instead of bowing at the 

 shrine of Ceres. Indeed, the old 



them both the bright luminaries of the 

 world — 



" Bacchus, and fostering Ceres,powers divine ! 

 Who gave us corn for meat, for water 

 wine." 



Now, the ivy common in Greece has 

 golden berries, and these were conve- 

 nient decorations for the places in which 

 Bacchic feats were celebrated, and 

 everything of a wild, luxuriant, defiant 

 character came to be associated with 

 Bacchus in one way or another. Thus 



Greeks twined the ivy about most of 

 their fancies, and the Romans garlanded 

 their heads and their cups with it, while 

 they steeped myrtle-boughs in the wine 

 to give it an aromatic flavour. To fol- 

 low this out would just require one to 

 occupy the whole of this number of the 

 "Floral World ;" but let me beg you 

 to call to mind how Shakspere uses it 

 as an emblem of constancy : — 



'\Tlie female ivy so 

 Enrings the barky fingers of the elm." 



