cially when heard in the distance, makes melody to the attentive ear. The rivulet is also the favourite haunt of the poet; its quiet murmur induces calmness over the spirit, and puts the mind into a frame adapted for the reception of poetic images.1 Hence it has been said, by him who, like the early bards of Greece, was one of Nature's own poets, that The Muse nae poet ever fand her Till by himsel he learned to wander, We are therefore inclined to regard as correct the theory which sees in the Muses original nymphs of the springs, to whom the poets ascribed their inspiration.2 pai. Hora. (Seasons or Hours.) When in the Ilias Héra and Athéna drive out of Olympos in the chariot of the former goddess, to share in the conflict of the Achæans and the Trojans, the gates of heaven, which the Horæ keep, whose charge is to open and close the dense cloud, creak spontaneously to let them pass. On the return of these goddesses, at the mandate of Zeus, the Hora unyoke their steeds, fasten them in their stalls, and lay up the chariot. They are also mentioned by Poseidón1 as bringing round the period at which he and Apolló were to be paid their wages by Laomedón. 6 Hésiod says that the Hora were the daughters of Zeus and Themis, and he names them Eunomié (Order), Diké (Justice), and Eiréné (Peace), who, he adds, watch over (wpevovσi) the works of mortal men. In another place he says, that Diké is a virgin revered by the gods of Olympos; and that when any one acts unjustly, she sits by her father Zeus, and complains of the iniquity of man's mind, "that the people may suffer for the transgressions of their kings." By an unknown poet" the Horæ are called the daughters of Kronos (Time ?), and by late poets they were named the children of the year, and their number was increased to twelve. Some made them seven or ten in number.9 The Horæ seem to have been originally regarded as the presidents of the three seasons into which the ancient Greeks divided Such sights as youthful poets dream On summer-eves by haunted stream.-Milton. 2 See Hermann, De Musis fluvialibus Epicharmi et Eumeli (Opusc. ii. 288) and Buttmann, Mytholog. i. 273 seq. Creuzer first advanced this theory. 3 Il. v. 749; viii. 393. 6 "Epy. 256. 4 Пl. xxi. 450. 5 Theog. 903. Ap. Stobæum: see the lines in Lobeck, p. 600. the year. As the day was similarly divided,2 they came to be regarded as presiding over its parts also; and when it was further subdivided into hours, these minor parts were placed under their charge and named from them.3 Order and regularity being their prevailing attributes, the transition was easy from the natural to the moral world; and the guardian goddesses of the seasons were regarded as presiding over law, justice, and peace, the great producers of order and harmony among men. It is possible however, but not agreeable. to analogy, that the reverse was the case, and that the transition was from moral to physical ideas. 4 By Pindar the Horæ are named, in their moral capacity, the bestowers of wealth,- -a poetic clothing, one might say, of the homely maxim 'honesty is the best policy,'-for peace, order, and honesty are what most surely contribute to its acquisition. The Athenians worshipped two Horæ, named Thalló (Bloom-giver) and Karpó (Fructifier), viewing them as physical beings. By the poets they were frequently confounded with the Charites, and regarded as the bestowers of beauty." 5 Homer calls the Hora, 1. Gold-filleted. The epithets in the Orphic hymns are chiefly derived from the flowers which they produce; such as, 2. Flower-full; 3. Odour-full; etc. Χάριτες. (Gratia. Graces.) The Charites or Graces, like the Muses and other sistergoddesses, are spoken of by Homer in the plural, and their number is indefinite. They are graceful and beautiful themselves, and the bestowers of all grace and beauty both on persons and things. They wove the robe of Aphrodíté; the beauty of the two attendants of Nausikaa 10 was given them by the Charites; and the ringlets of the beautiful Euphorbos are compared" to those of these lovely goddesses. Aphrodité 12 joins in their dance; and in the song of Démodokos, they wash and 2 Il. xxi. 111. See Welcker, Tril. 500 note. 3 Quint. Smyr. ii. 595. 5 Paus. ix. 35, 2. son named Karpos. Theocr. i. 150. Nonn. ut sup. One of the Hora was said to 4 Ol. xiii. 6 (9) seq. have borne to Zephyros a Mosch. ii. 160. Apoll. Rh. ap. Athen. vii. 283. 1 1. χρυσάμπυκες : 2. πολυάνθεμοι : 3. πολύοδμοι. 8 The Greek Toλùs and the Germanic voll, full, are plainly the same word, and used alike in composition. The former is placed at the beginning, the latter at the end of the compound. 9 Il. v. 338, and that of Dionysos, Apoll. Rh. iv. 425. 10 Od. vi. 18. 11 Il. xvii. 51. 12 Od. xviii. 194. anoint her, when filled with shame she flies to Paphós.1 Yet though they seem to have been particularly attached to the goddess of love, the queen of heaven had authority over them ;2 and she promises Pasithea, one of the youngest of the Graces, for a wife to Sleep, in return for his aid in deceiving Zeus. By later writers she is even said to be their mother.3 The Homéridian hymn to Artemis describes that goddess as going to the great house' of her brother at Delphi, and regulating the dance of the Muses and the Graces. Ac Zeus, says Hésiod,* was by Eurynomé, the daughter of Ocean, the father of the 'three fair-cheeked Charites' Aglaïé (Splendour), Euphrosyné (Joy), and lovely Thalié (Pleasure). 'From their eyes,' continues the poet, as they gazed, distilled care-dispelling love; and they looked lovely from beneath their brows.' cording to Antimachos,5 the Charites were the daughters of Helios and Æglé (Splendour); while according to others their parents were Dionýsos and Aphrodité. Hermésianax' made Peithó (Persuasion) one of their number; in Nonnos their names are Pasithea, Peithó and Aglaïé.8 Orchomenos in Bœótia was the chief seat of the worship of these goddesses. Its introduction was ascribed to Eteoklés, the son of the river Képhissos. They were three in number, but it was not known what names he had given them. The Lacedæmonians worshipped but two, whom they named Kléta (Renowned) and Phaënna (Bright).10 The Athenians originally adored the same number, under the names of Hégemoné (Leader) and Auxo (Increaser).11 The Charites were at all times in the creed of Greece the goddesses presiding over social enjoyments, the banquet, the dance, and all that tended to inspire gaiety and cheerfulness.12 They are represented as three beautiful sisters, dancing together: sometimes they are naked, sometimes clad. The Charites had the epithets common to goddesses. The Eileithyiæ, whose office it was to preside over the births of mankind, are in the Ilias 13 called the daughters of Héra. In 13 1 Od. viii. 364. See also the beautiful fragment of the Kypria. Athén. xv. 2 Il. xiv. 267. 682. 3 Nonn. xxxi. 184. Eudocia, 430. 5 Paus. ix. 35, 5. 8 Dionys. xxiv. 263. 4 Theog. 907. 7 Paus. ut supra. Paus. ut sup. Hesiod, ap. Theocr. xvi. 104. 10 Paus. ut sup. and iii. 18, 6. 13 Il. xi. 270. Paus. i. 44, 3. occurs in the singular. 6 Serv. En. i. 720. the Odyssey1 and in Hesiod2 their number is reduced to one. We also meet with but one Eileithyia in Pindar, and the subsequent poets in general. There was a cave at the river Amnisos, near Gortyna in Krété, sacred to Eileithyia, who according to the tradition of the country was born there. Eileithyia was worshipped at Délos, where a hymn, ascribed to the ancient Lykian poet O'lén, was sung in her honour, in which she was said to be the mother of Love." She had also a temple at Athens. 6 Eileithyia was called,' 1. Labour-aiding; 2. Gentle-minded, etc. It is not by any means an improbable supposition, that Eileithyia was originally a moon goddess. Hence, if this was also the original character of Artemis, the identification of them was easy. The moon was believed by the ancients to have great influence over growth in general;10 and as moreover a woman's time was reckoned by moons, it was natural to conceive that the moon-goddess presided over the birth of children. Moipal. (Parcæ, Fata. Fates.) In the Ilias, with the exception of one passage," the Mora is spoken of in the singular number and as a person, almost exactly as we use the word Fate. But in the Odyssey this word is used as a common substantive, followed by a genitive of the person, and signifying Decree. The Theogony of Hesiod limits the Moræ, like so many other goddesses, to three, and gives them Zeus and Themis for their parents.12 In an interpolated passage of that poem they are 1 Od. xix. 188. 2 Theog. 922. 3 Ol. vi. 42 (72), Nem. vii. 1. 5 Paus. i. 18, 5; viii. 21, 3; ix. 27, 2. 6 Isæos, Περὶ τοῦ Δικαιογ. Κλήρ. 8. * 1. μογοστόκος: 2. πραΰμητις, 4 Od. ut supra. 8 Mild as any maid Full of sweet hope her [Lucina's] brow seemed, and her eyes 9 Welcker (Kret. Kol. pp. 11, 19) derives her name from eλn, light, and Oów, to move rapidly: but see above, p. 121. 10 "Crescente luna frumenta grandescunt." Plin. Nat. Hist. xviii. 30; see also ii. 99, x. 54, and elsewhere. Varro de R. R. i. 7. Plut. de Is. et Os. 41. Qu. Rom. 77. Eudocia, 11. Lucil. ap. Gell. xx. 8. Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 30. Fulgent. ii. 19. "The moon is believed by the Hindú naturalists to have a powerful effect on vegetation, especially on certain plants." Wilford in Asiat. Res. iii. 385, 4to edit. 11 Il. xx. 49. 12 Theog. 904. Some critics regard this passage as an interpolation; probably because the Horæ have just been given as childen of Zeus by Themis, and analogy would seem to assign only one set of children to one mother. If they are right the Fates are unnoticed in the Theogony. 3 classed among the children of Night. Empedoklés2 said that they were the offspring of Kronos and Eurynomé, and Plato terms them the daughters of Necessity. Their names in Hésiod are Klóthó (Spinster), Lachesis (Allotter), and Atropos (Unchangeable); but he does not speak of their spinning the destinies of men. This office of theirs is however noticed both in the Ilias and the Odyssey. In the former it is said1 by Héra of Achilleus, that the gods will protect him that day, but that hereafter he will suffer what Esa [a name synonymous with Mora] span with her thread for him when his mother brought him forth;' and in the latter,5 Alkinoös says of Odysseus, that he will hereafter suffer' what Æsa and the heavy Kataklóthes span with the thread for him when his mother brought him forth.' It is probable that Homer, in accordance with the sublime fiction in the Theogony, regarded the Moræ as the offspring of Zeus and Law, for in him they are but the ministers of Zeus, in whose hands are the issues of all things. Eschylos' makes even Zeus himself subject to the Moræ, whose decrees none could escape. 6 The poets styled the Moræ, 1. Unerring; 2. Severe-minded, etc. Mora probably comes from μeipw, and Esa from daíw, both signifying to divide. It is a very remarkable coincidence, that the Norns, the Destinies of Scandinavian theology, should also be spinsters, and three in number. Perhaps however a reference of both to time, with its three portions, may explain this coincidence. Kipes. (Mortes.) The Kéres are personifications of violent deaths.10 The word Kér is used by Homer in the singular and in the plural number, and both as a proper and as a common noun, but much more frequently as the former. When a common noun, it seems to be equivalent to fate. Achilleus says, that his mother gave him the 1 Theog. 217. 3 Rep. x. 617. 2 See above, p. 62. 5 Od. vii. 197. Buttmann, following the Scholia, Eustath. and Hesychius, would read κατὰ κλῶθες, instead of κατακλῶθες. Nitzsch defends the common reading. 6 See Nitzsch on Od. iii. 236. 8 1. ἀπλανέες: 2. βαρύφρονες. ↑ Prom. 515. See also Hérod. i. 91. 9 The Norns are named Urdur, Verdandi, and Skuld (Past, Present, Future). Plato (l.c.) introduces the Mæræ singing тà yeyevóta, tà Ŏvta, tà μéλλovтa, “quo nullus mihi succurrit auctor," says Lobeck, Aglaoph. 970. 10 Пl. xi. 332; xii. 326. See Wolf on Il. i. 97; ii. 302. Nitzsch on Od. iii. 236. Paus. v. 19, 6, |