Menelaus was not to die, but to be sent directly to the Elysian Plain.* The suitors after death, conducted by Mercury, passed the ocean, the white rock, the gates of the sun, and the country of dreams; and at last arrived in the Asphodel meadow; where, notwithstanding their infamous conduct, they met all the heroes, with whom Ulysses had conversed.+ Other particulars of infernal topography may be seen in the tenth Odyssey. (508)

Among their superstitious notions which abound in Hesiod, sneezing was reckoned a good omen;‡ and incantations, a styptic for a wound.§

It is very observable, that there is no such deity as Cupid, the son of Venus, nor Fortune, mentioned by Homer; nor, I think, by Hesiod. Love|| occurs once in Hesiod, among the primeval causes of things, but without the usual attributes of Cupid. He seems to be of a later date, as many other heathen fictions were. Fortune¶ is to be met with only once; and that in the first hymn to Pallas, (5) and there it signifies success.

but sometimes they are synonymous, at others distinguished; as ει πλούτου θυμος εελδεται εν φρεσι σησι.—Works and Days, 381. δε εν φρεσι θυμος-ένι φρεσι θυμον έχοντες ηλoς εν φρεσι, where geves signifies the bosom. In the same sense it is said of Vulcan's automatons, TÃs Ev μLev VOOS Eσti μela Ogeorv.—II. xviii. 419: and es gava Ovpos ayegon.—Od. v. 458. See also II. xvi. 481. * Od. iv. 565. ↑ Od, xxiv. 1. ‡ Od. xvii. 540. § Od. xix. 457. || Egus. ན། T:/7•

We have several examples of private prayer. Penelope, mourning for the absence of Telemachus, having bathed, and changed her dress, ascended her chamber, with her maids, put the sacred cakes or flour into a basket, and prayed to Minerva. Again; she sat up in her bed, and after relieving her mind by tears, she prayed to Diana.* Telemachus, in his perplexity, withdrew to the shore, washed his hands in the sea, and prayed to Minerva.+ Ulysses, also, retired to a place sheltered from the wind, washed his hands, and prayed to all the gods.

On the whole, their religion was distinguished by purity and truth, elegance and sentiment, when contrasted with the cruel and licentious superstitions of later times, and more polished nations. If we except the sacrifice of twelve young Trojans at the funeral pile of Patroclus, there is no mention of human victims, that I recollect; and this, with the outrage committed on the corpse of Hector,§ is reprobated by Homer, who indeed always expresses his disgust at the savage and unrelenting temper of his hero. The story of Iphigenia is a fiction of later times.

* Od. iv. 759 : xx. 59. † Od. ii. 260. Od. xii. 334-338. § II. xxiii. 24-175.

148

SECTION V.

PRIVATE LIFE AND MANNERS.

THE habits and arts of domestic life and civil society are so much diversified, and so little connected, that it is not easy to find a clew to guide one through the labyrinth. Mine shall be the progress of man from his birth to his burial. I shall then subjoin an account of such customs or inventions, as may not have found a place in this detail.

In the hymn to Apollo we have the following account of child-birth. (18-115) When labour pains seized Latona, she threw her arms round a palmtree, and rested her knees on the soft grass: the ground smiled beneath, and Apollo sprang to light. All the goddesses shouted aloud: they bathed him in clear water; and swaddled him in a fine, new white cloth, with a golden band. In another place,* the birth of a child is described by falling between

* II. xix. 110.

his mother's feet. The same expression occurs in Scripture " -“ Her young one, that cometh out from between her feet."* Apollo was not suckled by his mother, but fed by Themis with nectar and ambrosia; and in general it appears, that children were sometimes nursed by hirelings or slaves, as Ulysses was.+ Cradles, I believe, are never mentioned.

The name was given by the parents, sometimes by the mother alone. In the case of Arnæus, perhaps the father was not to be found. He was better known by the name Irus, given him by the young men.§ Euryclea the nurse, or Anticlea, the mother of Ulysses, placed Telemachus on his grandfather's knees, and asked him to give the name: and he desired the father and mother to give him one, which he recommended.|| Leah and Rachel gave names to all their sons. In this, as in many other cases, that occur in Scripture, they were influenced by some circumstance relating to the birth of the child, or to the parents. In like manner, Hector called his son Scamandrius; but the people, Astyanax, in honour of his father.* The names of the Grecian heroes were only titles or historical appellations, which seem to have superseded those given by their parents. This is not so observable among the Trojans, though Priam is a remarkable instance to the contrary, having two such appellations, Podarces for his fleetness,

* Deut. xxviii. 57.

Od. xix. 482. Od. xviii. 5. § Od. xviii. 5, 6. || Od. xix. 402. ¶ Gen. xxix. 32: xxx. 23. * II. vi. 402.

and Priam as a ransomed captive. This was not the case in earlier times with the first colonizers of Greece; but the practice, once commenced, seems to have continued among the Greeks, even in the days of Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles, Demosthenes, and Sophocles. The same custom obtained very generally among the Hebrews. Of this kind are Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.* We are told, that it prevails among some barbarous people in Africa; thus a child is called Karfa, to replace, being born after the death of his brother. The Shoshonee Indians give names to their children, but afterwards adopt others, in consequence of some exploit, or other trait of character; and again superadd others according to circumstances; and the same practice exists among the people of Barbary.

Andromache, on her way to the Scaan gate, was attended by a nurse, carrying her child.† Hector took him from the nurse, and after fondling and blessing him, placed him in the bosom of his mother. These endearments, on the part of the father, are often mentioned by Homer. From infancy to puberty, there is little recorded, or worthy to be recorded in the life of man; nor do I recollect any thing relative to the treatment or education of children, during this period, except the speech of Phoenix to Achilles. He reminds him of his care of him in

* 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4; and 2 Kings xxiv. 17. † II. vi. 399. II. ix. 481.