PAGANISM. 133 



was the goddess of wisdom ; Diana was the goddess of hunting, and 

 of chastity ; and Aphrodite, (or Venus), sprung from the foam of 

 the sea, was the goddess of love and beauty. 



Of the select deities, Saturn, already mentioned, was the god of 

 time ; and Janus, his brother, presided over the year. Pluto, we 

 have already mentioned as the brother of Jupiter; and Bacchus, the 

 god of wine, as Jupiter's son. Sol, is but another name, or form, 

 of Apollo, or the sun ; as Luna is of Diana, or the moon. Rhea or 

 Cybele, has been mentioned as the wife of Saturn, who reigned with 

 him in the golden age ; and Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana, 

 is reckoned by some as one of the select deities, though others men- 

 tion Genius in her stead. 



Hebe was the goddess of youth, and originally Jupiter's cup- 

 bearer; and Proserpina, who was carried away by Pluto, became 

 the queen of Hades. Of the Muses, Clio, Calliope, Erato, Thalia, 

 Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, and Urania, who 

 collectively presided over the liberal arts ; of the Graces, Aglaia, 

 Thalia, and Euphrosyne ; of the Infernal Judges, Minos, Rhada- 

 manthos, and jflEacus ; of the Gorgons, Medusa, Stheno, and Eury- 

 ale ; the Furies, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera ; the Fates, Clotho, 

 Lachesis, and Atropos ; of the Rural Deities, Pan, Silenns, the 

 Fauns, and Satyrs, Flora, Pomona, the Naiads, Limnads, Oreads, 

 and Dryads ; of the Marine Deities, Nereus, Proteus, Triton, and 

 the Nereids and Sirens ; of the Winds, ^Eolus, Boreas, Eurus, 

 Notus, and Zephyrus ; and of various other deities, demigods, and 

 heroes, we have no farther room here to speak. The Naiads, we 

 can barely remark, were nymphs of the rivers, brooks, and foun- 

 tains ; the Limnads, of lakes, and pools ; the Oreads were nymphs 

 of the mountains ; and the Dryads were nymphs inhabiting forests 

 and trees. 



4. The Hindoo Mythology, is a kind of Pantheism, regarding 

 the Universe as God, or rather as the animate body of which God 

 is the soul. The doctrine of transmigration probably originated in 

 India, and is the continual key to its complicated system of deities 

 and incarnations. The sacred books of the Hindoos, are the four 

 Vedas or Vedus, containing prayers and precepts ; six jQngas, 

 which are commentaries on the Vedas ; four Upavedas, relating to 

 sciences and arts ; and lastly the Upangas, consisting of the Puranas, 

 the Derma-Shastras, and the Dersanas, partly mythical and partly 

 philosophical. To the Derma-Shastras belong the ordinances of 

 Menou, containing a code of laws and customs, with a poetical ac- 

 count of the gods and of the creation. All these sacred books 

 collectively are called the Shastra or Shasters. The original God, 

 called Brahm, or Brahmatma, according to Menou, first created the 

 waters ; from which sprang a golden egg, blazing like a thousand 

 suns ; and from this egg was born Brahma, self-existing, floating on 

 a lotus leaf. Others say that Brahma sprang from Narayana, or 

 the spirit moving on the waters. Brahma is generally regarded as 

 the creator of the visible world, and another of the Vedas ; but as 

 now in a state of retirement or rest. His wife Seraswatee, Saras- 

 wati, or Brahmini, is regarded as the patroness of learning. 



M 



