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be feasted with the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

212 Of great Seleucia.

The sir name of Seleucia was given to the kings of Babylon; Seleucia, one of the generals of Alexander, founder of the Syro-Macedonian empire, before Christ, 301. Babylon, a celebrated city, the capital of the Assyrian empire, on the banks of the Euphrates. It had one hundred brazen gates; and its walls, which were cemented with bitumen, and greatly enlarged and embellished by the activity of Semiramis, measured four hundred and eighty stadia in circumference, fifty cubits in thickness, and two hundred in height. It was taken by Cyrus, B. C. 530, after he had drained the waters of the Euphrates into a new channel, and marched his troops by night into the town, through the dried bed; and it is said, that the fate of the extensive capital was unknown to the inhabitants of the distant suburbs, until late in the evening. Babylon became famous for the death of Alexander, and for the new empire which was afterwards established there under the Seleucidae.

214 Dwelt in Tellassar

The children of Eden, which were in Tellassar. Isa. xxxvii. 12.

223 Southward through Eden went a river large,

Orontes, a riyer of Syria, rising in Cœlosyria, and falling after a rapid and troubled course, into the Mediterranean, below Antioch. According to Strabo, who mentions some fabulous accounts

N

266

concerning it, the Orontes disappeared under ground for the space of five miles.

Hesperion Fables true. See 568, Book III. while universal Pan

The god of shepherds, hunters, and rural sports; and the inventor of musical pipes; he was honored in Arcadia, and the Romans celebrated a festival in commemoration of him every year in the month of February, under the title of Lupercus. 267 Knit with the Graces

They were the daughters of Bacchus and Venus. Their names Agalia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne. They were supposed to have the power of dispensing to mankind, not only a good grace, gaiety and equality of temper, but also of liberality, eloquence, and wisdom; their names are made use of in all languages to express both favours and gratitude.

269 Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowers Proserpine, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter; she made Sicily the place of her residence, and delighted herself with the beautiful views, the flowery meadows, and limpid streams which surrounded the plains of Enna.

270

271

From this solitary retreat Pluto carried her away into the infernal regions, of which she became the queen. by gloomy Dis

A title of Pluto, god of the infernal regions. which cost Ceres all that pain

The mother of Proserpine, and goddess of corn and harvests. When Ceres was informed of the

loss of her daughter, and that Pluto had taken

her off, she demanded of Jupiter her restoration. His endeavours to soften her by representing Pluto as a powerful god to become her son-in-law proved fruitless, and the restoration was granted, provided that Proserpine had not eaten anything in the kingdom of Pluto; but she had gathered a pomegranate as she walked over the Elysian fields, which Asealaphus, who had seen her, discovered to make his court to Pluto. The grief of Ceres for the loss of her daughter was so great, that Jupiter granted Proserpine to pass six months with her mother, and the rest of the year with Pluto.

273 Of Daphne

This

Of whom Apollo became enamoured. passion had been raised by Cupid, with whom Apollo (proud of the conquest over the serpent Python) had disputed the power of his darts. Daphne fearful of being pursued by Apollo, entreated the assistance of the gods, who changed her into a laurel, with the leaves of which he crowned his head, and ordered the tree to be sacred to his divinity.

Orontes explained in line 223

274 Castalian spring,

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The fountain Pirene was sacred to the Muses, and according to some, the horse Pegasus was then drinking some of its waters, when Bellerophon took it to go on and conquer the Chimera. nor that Nyseian isle

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Nisros an island in the Egean sea, west of Rhodes, Neptune was worshipped there.

276 Girt with the river Triton,

276

A lake and river of Africa, near which Minerva had a temple.

where old Cham,

Whom Gentiles Ammon call and Lybian Jove,

Ammon or Hammon; Jupiter, who was worshipped in Lybia. He appeared in the form of a ram to Bacchus, who with his army suffered the greatest extremities for want of water, in the deserts of Africa, and showed him a fountain. Upon this Bacchus erected a temple to his father, under the name of Jupiter Ammon. The oracle of Ammon was consulted by Hercules, Perseus, and others; but when it pronounced Alexander to be the son of Jupiter, such flattery destroyed its long established reputation, and in the age of Plutarch it was scarcely known.

277 Hid Amalthea

A daughter of Melissus, king of Crete, who fed Jupiter with goats' milk; hence some authors have called her a goat, and that Jupiter to reward her kindness, placed her in heaven as a constellation, and gave one of her horns to the nymphs who had the care of his infant years. This horn was called the horn of plenty, and had the power to give the nymphs whatever they desired. 279 Young Bacchus

Ovid says that he was brought up by his aunt Ino, and afterward entrusted to the care of the nymphs of Nysa: Bacchus is the Osiris of the Egyptians, and his history is drawn from the Egyptian traditions concerning that ancient king.

279

He assisted the gods in their wars against the giants. His expedition into the east is celebrated; and marched at the head of an army composed of men as well as women, all inspired with divine fury, and armed with thyrsuses, cymbals, and other musical instruments. The leader was drawn in a chariot by a lion and a tiger, and was accompanied by Pan, Silenus, and all the satyrs. His conquests were easy and without bloodshed; the people easily submitted, and gratefully elevated to the rank of a god the hero who taught them the use of the vine, the cultivation of the earth, and the manner of making honey.

from his step dame Rhea's eye;

A goddess, daughter of Coelus and Terna, and wife of Saturn. According to Diodorus, she was the daughter of a Lydian prince; and as soon as born she was exposed on a mountain, and was preserved and suckled by some beasts of the forest, and received the name of Cybele, from the mountain where her life had been preserved. 280 Nor where Abassin kings their issue guard,

The monarchs of Abyssinia claim descent from Menilek, the son of Solomon. The crown is hereditary in this family, but elective as to the person. A peculiar custom formerly prevailed of confining all the princes of the blood royal in a palace on a high hill during their lives, or till they were called to the throne; but this practice, it appears, has now fallen into disuse.

201 Mount Amara,

Or Amhara, one of the lofty mountains in Abyssinia. The lake Dembea is the largest ex

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