CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Heaven and the Earth). Chronos, foreboding 

 destruction to himself from his own children, 

 swallowed them as soon as they were born. How- 

 ever, his wife Rhea contrived to conceal the 

 birth of Jupiter, who grew to manhood, when he 

 by stratagem induced his father to disgorge the 

 five previous children Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Nep- 

 tune, and Pluto. Jupiter now determined to 

 wrest the power from Chronos, and his brothers, 

 the Titans ; and a long and desperate struggle 

 took place, in which the thunderbolts of Jupiter 

 at length prevailed ; and Chronos, with the other 

 Titans, were irrevocably imprisoned in Tartarus. 

 Chronos, usually identified with the Italian god 

 Saturn, was considered as the god of Time, and 

 was represented under the figure of an old man, 

 holding a scythe in one hand, and a serpent, with 

 its tail in its mouth, in the other. Jupiter is 

 always represented as seated on a throne, with 

 thunderbolts in his right hand, and an eagle by 

 his side. 



(2.) Poseidon or Neptune, the Earth-shaker 



and Ruler of the Sea, was second only to Jupiter in 

 power. He is represented as a half-nude man, 

 drawn in a chariot over the sea by water-horses, 

 having a crown on his head and a trident in his 

 hand. 



(3.) Apollo, son of Jupiter, the god of Prophecy, 

 Music, and Song, is represented as a handsome 

 young man, with a lyre and a bow, and is very 

 generally identified with the Sun. In the idea of 

 Apollo, his worship, and his oracles, the brightest 

 characteristics of the Greek mind are reflected. 



(4.) Hephtestus or Vulcan was the god of Fire, 

 and a great artificer in metals. Volcanoes were 

 his workshops. 



(5.) Ares or Mars, the god of War, delighted 

 in the din of battle, the slaughter of men, and 

 the destruction of towns. 



(6.) Hermes or Mercury, the god of Eloquence, 

 the messenger of the gods, the inventor of the 

 lyre, which he transferred to Apollo, and the 

 patron of knavery, is characterised by sandals 

 with wings, which carried him rapidly over sea 



Mercury presenting a Soul to Pluto. 



and land ; a wand called caduceus, which he 

 bore as herald ; and a travelling-cap, which in 

 later times was furnished with two wings. 



(7.) Hera or Juno, the wife of Jupiter, a beau- 



Minerva. 



Diana. 



tiful but unamiable goddess, quarrelled much with 

 her husband, and persecuted his children. Her 

 characteristics are a diadem, veil, sceptre, and 

 peacock. 



(8.) Athena, Pallas, or Minerva, the goddess of 



84 



Juno. 



Wisdom and War, is the type of composed, 

 majestic, and unrelenting force. She is said to 

 have issued in full armour from the head of 

 Jupiter, and to have been inaccessible to feminine 

 sympathies. She was worshipped in all parts of 

 Greece, but was especially the tutelar divinity of 

 the city of Athens, and the soil of Attica. 



(9.) Artemis or Diana, the twin-sister of Apollo, 

 and goddess of Hunting, is, like him, armed with 

 a bow and arrows. Unlike him, she was ever 

 unmoved by love. As Apollo had charge of the 

 sun, so had Diana of the moon. 



(10.) Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of Love 

 and Beauty, is generally represented with her son 

 Eros or Cupid. The principal seats of her wor- 

 ship were the islands of Cyprus and Cythera. 



(i I.) Hestia or Vesta, the goddess of the Hearth, 

 or rather of the fire burning there, was a chaste 

 and home-keeping maiden divinity, believed to 

 dwell in the inner part of every house. It was 

 on the hearth that refugees, entering a house, 

 implored protection of the inhabitants ; and every 

 town had a sacred hearth, where the goddess had 

 her especial sanctuary, and where she protected 

 suppliants. When a colony was sent out, the 

 emigrants took fire from their native town, to 

 kindle that on the hearth of their new home. 



(12.) Demeter or Ceres, the goddess of Agri- 

 culture, acquired much importance in Greece, and 

 was worshipped with great splendour by the 

 Athenians. 





