276 ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL HEATHEN GODS. 



necessary to preserve a knowledge of the gods and goddesses 

 worshipped by the Greeks and Romans, as they are much 

 spoken of in the finest writings of antiquity, and are still 

 frequently mentioned both in poetry and in prose. The 

 most ancient of their gods were Cha'os, and his son Er'e- 

 bus ; or confusion, and darkness. Saturn, one of their de- 

 scendants, is the same as Time : his reign is called the 

 Golden Age ; and it is said, that the earth then produced 

 corn and fruits without labour, and justice prevailed among 

 all mankind. Saturn was deposed by his son Jupiter, called 

 also Jove; who then divided his father's power between 

 himself and his two brothers, Neptune and Pluto. Jupiter 

 was to reign over heaven ; and he was said to hold his court, 

 or council of the gods, on the top of Olym'pus, a mountain 

 in Thes'saly. He is called by tlie ancient poets, the king 

 of gods and men ; and the eagle is represented as being the 

 bearer of his thunderbolts. Neptune, the god of the sea, is 

 represented with a trident, or fork with three teeth in his 

 hand instead of a sceptre. He was drawn in his chariot by 

 sea-horses, with his son Triton blowing a trumpet made of a 

 shell, and dolphins playing round him. 



The dominions of Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, 

 were divided into two parts, called Tar'tarus and Elys'ium. 

 Tartarus was the place where the souls of the wicked were 

 punished, and Elysium was the scene of perpetual happiness 

 allotted to the good. The passage from the earth to these 

 regions was across the river A'cheron, over which the de- 

 parted spirits were conveyed by an old boatman, named 

 Cha'ron ; and the further bank was also guarded by a dog 

 with three heads, named Cer'berus. There were two re- 

 markable rivers of Tartarus : one named Styx, which the 

 gods used to swear by when they intended to make their 

 oath very solemn ; and another named Le'the, which caused 

 whoever bathed in it to forget every thing that was past. 

 Mars, the son of Jupiter, was the god of war. ApoPlo, like- 

 wise the son of Jupiter, was the god of music, poetry, and 

 medicine. He is also represented as driving the chariot of 

 the sun, drawn by four horses abreast ; or rather, he is the 

 sun itself. As a mark of affection, he intrusted this chariot 

 one day to his son Phaeton ; who was killed by being thrown 

 out of it, but not till after he had set a part of the earth on 

 fir©. Apollo is called also Phcebus, and Hype'rion ; and is 



