In Greece and Italy 283 



The intoxication induced by honey was in many in- 

 stances considered a divine frenzy, and it was through 

 eating honey that the powers of prophecy were obtained 

 by the Fates, as Homer, in his " Hymn to Mercury,;' 

 tells us. 



Apollo is addressing Mercury and telling him of the 

 three Fates : — 



" From these I have learned trne 

 Vaticinations of remotest things. 



My father cared not. Whilst they search out dooms, 

 They sit apart and feed on honey-combs." 



They, having eaten the fresh honey, grow 



" Drunk with divine enthusiasm, and utter 

 With earnest willingness the truth they know, 

 But, if deprived of that sweet food, they mutter 

 All plausible delusions ; — these to you 

 I give ; — if you inquire, they will not stutter ; 

 Delight your own soul with them ; — any man 

 You would instruct may profit if he can." 



This divine madness seizing the fates through the honey 

 of the bee recalls to mind the Hebrew prophetess Deborah. 



In this connection bees, like birds, were augurs of good 

 or ill fortune in the old days of Greece and Italy, and had 

 power to foretell what was about to happen. 



A wsarm of bees settling on a house foretold a conflagra- 

 tion, which recalls the sacrifices considered necessary by 

 the ancient Hindus when a man's house was made the 

 resting-place of a swarm of bees. 



A swarm of bees sometimes foretold misfortune, as in 

 the case of the defeat of Scipio when engaged in war with 

 Hannibal. Livy the historian describes in a graphic 

 manner Hannibal's influence over his troops gained by 

 great promises of what he would give them if they won, 



