O M 
held it for a bad omen.” Omen was ufed in a ftill larger 
fenfe,tofignify an avgnry; as in the followingline of Tully: 
Sic aqailee c [arum fir mavit Jupiter omen ; “ Thus Jove con¬ 
firmed the bright omen of the eagle.” It was laftly ufed, 
in the moll generic fenfe of all, for a portent or prodigy; 
as in the third book of the iEneid, where a myrtle torn 
up by iEneas dropped blood. Upon this appearance, fays 
the hero, 
Mi hi frigidus horror 
Membra qualit, gelidij'que coil formidine fanguis. 
And the fame thing being repeated upon his breaking a 
branch from another tree, he prayed to the gods to avert 
the omen: 
Malta movens aninio Nymphas venerahar agrefies, 
(iradivmnque patrem, Geticis qui prajidet arvis, 
RiteJecundarent, vij'ns, omenque levarent. 
We {hall give Dryden’s verfion of the whole of this 
ominous adventure: 
Not far, a riling hillock Hood in view ; 
Sharp myrtles on the fides and corners grew. 
There, while I went to crop the fylvan fcenes. 
And lhade our altar with their leafy greens, 
I pull’d a plant (with horror I relate 
A prodigy fo ftrange, and full of fate) : 
The rooted fibres rofe; and, from the wound 
Black bloody drops diftill’d upon the ground. 
Mute and amaz’d, my hair with terror flood ; 
Fear Ihrunk my finews, and congeal’d my blood. 
Mann’d once again, another plant I try ; 
That other gulh’d with the fame fanguine dye. 
Then, fearing guilt for fome offence unknown, 
With prayers and vows the Dryads I atone. 
With all the fitters of the woods, and moft 
The god of arms, who rules the Thracian coaft : 
That they, or he, thefe omens would avert, 
Releafe our fears, and better figns impart. 
The portentous or fupernatural omens were either ex¬ 
ternal or internal. Of the former fort were thofe.lhowers 
of blood fo frequently occurring in the Roman hittory, 
which were much of the fame nature with this adventure 
of ASneas, which he calls monstra deum. Of the fe- 
cond fort were thofe fudden confternations, which, l'eizing 
upon men without any vifible caufe, were imputed to the 
agency of the god Pan, and hence called panic fears. But 
indeed there was hardly any thing, however trivial, from 
which the ancients did not draw omens. That it Ihould 
have been thought a direful omen when any thing befel 
the temples, altars, or ftatues, of the gods, need excite 
no wonder; but, that the meeting of a eunuch, a negro, 
a bitch with whelps, or a fnake lying in the road, fhould 
have been looked upon as portending badfortune, is a de¬ 
plorable inttance of human weaknefs, and of the perni¬ 
cious influence of fuperftition on the mind. 
It is more than probable, that this practice of making 
ordinary events ominous of good or bad fortune took its 
rife in Egypt, the parent-country of almott every fuper¬ 
dition of paganifm ; but wherever it may have arifen, it 
fpread itfelf over the whole inhabited globe; and at this 
day prevails, in a greater or lefs degree, among the vulgar 
of all nations. 
The belief in omens was particularly ftrong and gene¬ 
ral among the Greeks and Romans; and there is good 
reafon to believe, that even the moft celebrated philofo- 
phers among the former were nearly as much addifted to 
it as the moft ignorant and •fuperftitious of the-vulgar. 
If we lay afide that extreme fondnefs for difeovering fub- 
lime, enlightened, and myftical, meanings in the dodftrines 
of Pythagoras, and give proper weight, in eftimating the 
character of that philofopher, to the ignorance and credu¬ 
lity of the times in which he lived, and which muft have 
operated, in fome degree, upon his mind and opinions, 
perhaps-we fhall be difpofed to regard many of the fymbols 
(as they are called) which are aferibed to him, not as ein, 
Vol.XVII. No. 1191. 
E N. 473 
bracing and concealing his peculiar doftrines, but as in¬ 
culcating an ominous obfervance of the things to which 
they relate. Certainly feveral of the following fymbols 
wear greatly this appearance : “ Adore the found of a 
whifpering wind. Stir not the fire with a fword. Turn 
afide from an edged tool. Pafs not over a balance. Set¬ 
ting out on a journey, turn not back, for the furies will 
return with you. Breed nothing that has crooked talons. 
Receive not a fwallow into your houfe. Look not in a 
mirror by the light of a candle. At a facrifice pare not 
your nails. Eat not the heart or brain. Tafte not that 
which hath fallen from the table. Break not bread. Sleep 
not at noon. When it thunders, touch the earth. Pluck 
not a crown. Roaft not that which has been boiled. 
Sail not on the ground. Plant not a palm. Breed a cock, 
but do not facrifice it, for it is facred to the fun and moon. 
Plant mallows in thy garden, but eat them not. Abftain 
from beans.” 
Among the Greeks there were many omens connected 
with their facrifices. If the beaft, intended for this pur- 
pofe, efcaped the ftroke, leaped up after it was given, did 
not fall flat on the ground, or kicked and damped, after 
its fall ; or if it did not bleed freely, or appeared to ex¬ 
pire with pain or difficulty ; thefe were conlidered as un¬ 
lucky omens. It was alfo deemed unlucky, if the viffiin 
went unwillingly to the altar ; and every method, likely 
to anfwer the purpofe, was followed, in order that it might 
be induced to nod its head, which was regarded as a token 
of aflent; when this could be effected by no other means, 
it was cuftomary to pour water i».to its ear. The wagging 
of its tail, interpreted as another mark of aflent, was al¬ 
ways regarded as a lucky omen. Omens were drawn from 
every part of the vi&im, but efpecially from the liver; 
next to the liver, the heart was moft obferved ; if this 
were final], or wrinkled, or if it palpitated much, it was 
unlucky; and, if the vi£tim proved to be deftitute of a 
heart, it was a moft deadly omen. After the heart, omens 
were drawn from the gall, the lungs, the fpleen, and the 
membranes in which the bowels were enclofed. But 
omens were drawn, not only from the vidfims themfelves, 
but alfo from the things that were made life of at facri¬ 
fices ; if the flames immediately caught, and confirmed the 
vidfim, it was a good fign ; and, in order to fecure this, 
dry flicks were always prepared. The nature of the flame 
was alfo regarded ; if it was bright and pure, without: 
noiie or fmoke, and if it did not go out till the vidfim was- 
entirely confirmed, the omen was propitious. 
But the principal and moft numerous omens of the 
Greeks were drawn from birds; and this fpecies of divi¬ 
nation arrived at fuclr perfedtion, and gained fo much 
credit, that other kinds were palled by or little regarded, 
if not confirmed by it. 
Birds were confidered as fortunate or unfortunate, ei¬ 
ther from their own nature, or according to the place and 
manner of their appearance ; hence the fame birds, at dif¬ 
ferent times, were fuppofed to foretel different and con¬ 
trary events. If a flock of birds of different kinds came 
flying about any man, it was an excellent omen. The 
eagle was particularly obferved for the purpofe of drawing 
omens ; when it was obferved to be brifk and lively, and 
elpecially if, during its fportivenefs, it flew from the 
right hand to the left, it was one of the beft omens which 
the gods could give. Refpedting vultures, there are dif¬ 
ferent opinions, both among the Greek and Roman au¬ 
thors ; by fome they are reprefented as birds of lucky 
omen, while Ariftotle and Pliny reckon them among the 
unlucky birds. If the hawk was feen feizingand devour¬ 
ing her prey, it portended death ; but, if the prey efcaped, 
deliverance from danger was portended. Swallows, 
wherever and under whatever circumftances they were 
feen, were unlucky birds; before the defeat of Pyrrhus 
and Antony, they appeared on the tent of the former and 
the fhip of the latter; and, by difpiriting their minds, pro- 
bably prepared the way for their fubfequent difafters. In 
eyery part of Greece except Athens, owls were regarded 
6 E as< 
