128 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
It was their business to promote the growth of vegetables, to gladdén men 
and gods with the fruits of the year, and to guard the gates of Olympos, in 
front of which they collected or dispelled the fleecy clouds. They were 
also charged with the education of Hera and Aphrodite, whose companions 
they remained. On the front of a tomb erected to the Nasoes they are 
represented in the form of beautiful maidens, and as presiding over the 
Seasons, each one accompanied, however, by a male figure (pl. 29, jig. 18). 
The companions of Spring, Summer, and Autumn are handsome youths, 
one of whom carries a goat, the others fruits; but Winter is accompanied 
by an aged man with a long beard, and a tunic reaching to his ankles. His 
head is warmly clad, and he carries a stalk of corn and a goose. The attri- 
butes which distinguish the Hore or Seasons were all taken from the 
productions of the year. 
9. Taz CuHarires, on GRACES. 
_ The Cuartres (Graces) were at first the same with the Hors, but ata 
later period were supposed to be their sisters. They were daughters of 
Zeus and Eurynome, or, according to some authors, of Aphrodite. They 
bestowed every grace, beauty, and charm of manners upon their favorites. 
While they remained the sisters of the Hore, they dispensed their charms 
principally on the seasons and inanimate nature. As nymphs, however, 
they bestowed their graces upon the higher goddesses, Hera, Artemis, and 
Aphrodite, whose beauty alone had been an imperfect qualification in the 
absence of amiability and elegance. Their functions subsequently passed 
over to intellectual beauty, and entered into the arts and sciences and all 
forms of human cultivation. 
In early times different opinions prevailed with regard to their names 
and number ; but later three were especially recognised, Huphrosyne (Joy), 
Aglaia (Splendor), and Thalia (The Blooming). They were represented 
as young virgins, at first dressed, afterwards naked, and nearly always in a 
group, their arms entwined, their hands holding fruits, flowers, &c., and 
their heads gracefully inclined in different directions. On a circular glass 
plate (pl. 29, jig. 12), which seems to have formed the bottom of a goblet, 
we see them decorated with bracelets and anklets. Two of them hold a 
fillet or bandage, and near each stands a flower. The accompanying names 
vary from those we have given, though the half Greek and half Latin 
inscriptions may seem to confirm the above conjecture: Pete (drink ye), 
LZesete (enjoy life), multis annis vivatis (may you live many years). A 
group much resembling this (pl. 28, fig. 20) exhibits the Graces with flowers 
in their hands. By some writers it is affirmed that at a later period Peztho 
(Persuasion) was added to the Graces; and in jig. 19 she appears with 
them, the whole group being girded with the zone of beauty. Peitho was 
taken into the service of Aphrodite, and received the office of opening the 
mouths of bashful lovers and inspiring them with eloquent language in 
which to express their feelings and attachment. 
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