273 



JUPITER. 



tlinu on out- side, ami the children of Saturn and the 

 liunilretl-liaiult il iriantson the other. (See Iti-iurrus.') 

 The theatre ot kittle was ilie liills of Olympus ami 

 < )thrys. From the latter fought the Titans, from the 

 Conner the new gods. At length the latter conquered, 

 ami the Tilans were hurried down to Tartarus. 

 Jupiter, having now obtained full possession of the 

 sovereignty, shared his father's kingdom by lot with 

 his brothers ; he himself receiving the heaven and 

 the earth, Neptune the kingdom of the sea, and Pluto 

 i he infernal regions. But fearful monsters threatened 

 the new gods with destruction. Terra, angry that 

 his childr.-n, the Titans, should be kept imprisoned 

 in the depths of Tartarus, gave birth to the dreadful 

 giants who rebelled against the new gods. These 

 were conquered by the aid of Hercules. But Terra, 

 still retaining her anger, bore to Tartarus, Typhoeus 

 (Typhaon, Typhon), the most frightful of ail the 

 monsters, whom Jupiter conquered with the greatest 

 difficulty. According to some, Jupiter pursued him 

 with his lightnings and sickle, until, at length, on a 

 hill called Casius, they joined battle. Typhoeus 

 wound about Jupiter with his dragon folds, flung him 

 upon the ground, and with his own sickle cut out the 

 tendons of his hands and feet, dragged him into the 

 Corcyrean cavern, and stationed a dragon to keep 

 watch over him, But Mercury and yEgipan (a son 

 of Jupiter and JEgu, Pan's wife, or a foster brother 

 of Jupiter) freed Jupiter by stealth from the dragon, 

 cured him, and set him upon a winged chariot, from 

 which he hurled his lightnings down upon Typhoeus. 

 At Nisusand upon Haemus, they fought with each 

 other ; but at length Jupiter gained the victory, and 

 crushed the bleeding monster beneath JStna, or the 

 island Pithecusa. 



Jupiter now found himself in quiet possession of 

 the sovereignty, which was solemnly surrendered to 

 him by the other gods, to each one of whom he 

 therefore gave a reward. From this time he was 

 king of the gods an idea which seems to have 

 originated when Greece had as yet only her smaller 

 kings. And even as these often chose from among 

 themselves a universal king or governor, who should 

 hold the first rank (as, for example, Agamemnon in 

 the Trojan war), so, also, according to the represen- 

 tations of the poets, did the gods. They chose Jupiter 

 their king and leader : he had therefore the right, on 

 important occasions, to assemble them in his palace. 

 In the Trojan war, he forbade the deities from taking 

 further part in it, and threatened to hurl any trans- 

 gressor of his command down to Tartarus. The 

 king Jupiter is formed, by Homer, after the exact 

 fashion of the Grecian kings of the period, and his 

 whole character is painted in exact accordance with 

 the characters of the old Greek heroes rude, wild, 

 and passionate. A scourge is even ascribed to him, 

 with which, as king, he may administer chastisement. 

 This idea was borrowed from the Egyptians, amongst 

 whom the scourge was an emblem of kingly power. 

 As ruler of the earth, Jupiter particularly directed 

 his attention to the race of men, which he extermi- 

 nated, because it liad become corrupted and vicious, 

 and then created another and better from the trees. 

 He caused Prometheus, who had stolen fire from 

 heaven for men, to be bound by Vulcan on the Col- 

 chian Caucasus, whilst his liver was to be ever preyed 

 on by a vulture. He killed Esculapius with his 

 lightnings, because, by his arts of healing, he had 

 unpeopled the realm of Pluto ; and when Phoebus, 

 to avenge his son, slew the Cyclops who had forged 

 his lightnings, he banished him a long time from 

 heaven to earth. He punished with death Salmoneus, 

 who imitated his thunder; Idas, who wished to slay' 

 Pollux ; Capaneus, who was the first to scale the 

 walls of Thebes; and afterwards, also, the Curetes, 



who, at the persuasion of Juno, had concealed tha 

 young Kpaj'lius, and the Achaian river-god .&sopii&, 

 who hud endeavoured to regain his daughter, whom 

 Jupiter had carried oft'. He went through the world, 

 punishing the wirked, and rewarding the good. His 

 peculiar servants were the Horae and Mercury. 

 Ganymede, who took the place of Hebe, was cnp- 

 In-arer to him and the other gods. His palace is on 

 Olympus. Themis or Dikfc sits on a throne beside 

 him . 1 lis fu-bt wife was Metis, a daughter of Oceaiuis, 

 the wisest of all the deities. But when Uranus and 

 Terra foretold to him that she would bear a child who 

 should deprive him of his sovereignty, he devoured 

 her during her pregnancy ; and thence it came to 

 pass that Minerva, some time after, was born from 

 his head. His second wife was Themis, a daughter of 

 Uranus and Terra, who bore him the Horse and Par- 

 cae. His third wife was Juno. Among the goddesses, 

 he a,lso loved Dione, a daughter of JSther and Terra, 

 and was by her the father of Aphrodite. At a later 

 period, Mnemosyne, daughter of Uranns and Terra, 

 bore him the nine Muses, he having spent nine nights 

 in her embraces; Ceres, his sister, became by him 

 the mother of Proserpine ; Eurynome, daughter of 

 Oceanus and Thetis, became mother of the Graces; 

 Latona, daughter of a Titan and Phoebe, mother of 

 Apollo and Diana. Among his mortal mistresses 

 were Danae, daughter of Acrisius, and mother of 

 Perseus ; Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus, the first one 

 among mortals whom Jupiter loved, mother of Argus, 

 the third king of Argos ; Maia, daughter of Atlas, 

 and mother of Mercury ; her sister Taygete, mother 

 of Lacedseinon, and the third sister Electra, mother 

 of Dardanus ; besides these were Semele, daughter 

 of Cadmus, and mother of Bacchus; Europa, daughter 

 of Phoenix or Agenor, and sister of Cadmus, moth- 

 er of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus; Callisto, 

 daughter of Lycaon or Nycteus, mother of Areas ; 

 lo, daughter of Inachus or Argus Panoptes, mother 

 of Epaphus ; Leda, daughter of the ^Etolian king 

 Thestius or Glaucus, mother of Helen and Pollux; 

 JSgina, daughter of the river-god -flSsopus and mother 

 of ^Eacus ; Antiope, daughter of Nycteus, and 

 mother of Amphion and Zethus; Elara, daughter of 

 Orchomenus, and mother of the giant Tityos. The 

 The last of his mistresses was the beautiful Alcmene, 

 the mother of Hercules. The Nymphs are also 

 regarded as the daughters of Jupiter. At a later 

 period, by his rape of the beautiful Ganymede, he 

 gave the Greeks the first example of the love of 

 boys. 



Jupiter had many oracles in Greece; for instance, 

 at Dodona, at Olympia, although the latter after a 

 short time ceased, and one in a holy grotto on mount 

 Ida in Crete. His most famous temple in Greece was 

 that of Olympia or Pisa. He was also especially 

 honoured at Dodona in Epirus, on mount Casius in 

 Egypt, in the city Nemea in Argolis, on JEtna, on 

 mount Athos and Dictae, and many other places. In 

 this way we have many of the surnames of Jupiter 

 explained. By the Romans he is called Fereirius, 

 Elicius, Stator, Capitolinus, and the like. His most 

 usual attribute is the thunder-bolt, which he either 

 holds himself in his hand, or which the eagle bear? 

 at his side. He is always attended by the eagle and 

 sometimes by the beautiful Ganymede. He is usually 

 represented with a crown and sceptre. His counte- 

 nance displays seriousness and majesty, mingled with 

 benevolence and serenity. Of the statues of Jupiter, 

 we have received but a few from antiquity, and none 

 of the first rank. By far the most beautiful repre- 

 sentations of him are found upon gems, which present 

 to us the king of the gods in the different scenes of 

 his history ; sometimes only the bust, sometimes the 

 whole figure ; sometimes alone, at others grouped 



