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Proters, the son of Oceanus, a god of the sea, could foretell future events, and change himself into any shape.

The infernal deities were Pluto and his consort Proserpine, Plutus, Charon, the Furies, Fates, and the three judges, Minos, Æacus, and Rhadamanthus.

§ Pluto, who exercised dominion over hell, was the brother of Jupiter. The goddesses all refusing to marry him on account of his deformity and gloomy disposition, he seized Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, in Sicily, opened a passage through the earth, carried her to his residence, married, and made her queen of hell. No temples were raised to his honour.

He is represented seated on a throne of sulphur, from beneath which flow the rivers Lethe, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Acheron. His countenance is stern; on his head is a radiated crown; in one hand a sceptre with two teeth, called a bident, and in the other, two keys.

Plutus, an infernal deity, was the god of riches. He was lame, blind, injudicious, and timorous.

Charon was the ferryman of hell, an old man with white hair, a long beard and garments, deformed with filth, in speech morose, and ill-tempered. Every ghost paid a small brass coin for his fare.

None could enter Charon's boat without a regular burial; without this, they wandered a hundred years, amidst the mud and slime of the shore. By him departed souls were ferried over the four rivers of hell, and carried to Pluto's palace.

The Furies were three in number, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megara. They have the faces of women, their looks are full of terror, they hold lighted torches in their hands, and snakes lash their necks and shoulders. Their office is to observe and punish the crimes of bad men, and torment the consciences of secret offenders.

The Fates were three daughters of Jupiter by Themis. Their names were Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. They decided on the fortunes of mankind. Clotho drew the thread of life, Lachesis turned the wheel, and Atropos cut it with her scissors.

Minos, acus, and Rhadamanthus, were the three judges of the souls of the dead. They assigned various punishments to the wicked, adapted to their crimes; to the good they gave a place in the delightful realms of Elysium.

There were many other divinities of various characters and descriptions: as, Cupid, the god of love; the Muses, who presided over poetry, music, dancing, and the liberal arts; the Graces, &c.

§ Cupid, representing the passion of love, was a beautiful winged boy, with a bow and arrows, and often with a bandage over his eyes. Sometimes he is bestriding the back of a lion, playing on a lyre; sometimes he appears mounted on a dolphin; at others, breaking the winged thunderbolt of Jove, or amusing himself with childish diver

sions.

The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter by Mnemosyne. They were nine in number viz.

1st. Calliope, who presides over eloquence and heroic or epic poetry, such as Homer's Iliad.

2d. Clio, who presides over history.

3d. Erato, the muse of elegiac or lyric poetry.

4th. Euterpe, presiding over music.

5th. Melpomene, the inventress and muse of tragedy. 6th. Polyhymnia, the muse of singing and rhetoric.

7th. Terpsichore, who presides over dancing.

8th. Thalia, the muse of pastoral or comic poetry.

9th. Urania, who presides over hymns and sacred subjects, and is the muse of astronomy.

The Graces were the daughters of Bacchus and Venus, and three in number. They were supposed to give to beauty its attractions, and to render even homeliness pleasing.

They are usually represented as young and blooming virgins, fightly clad, and holding each other by the hand, to show the mutual affection that subsisted between them.

Besides these, there were rural deities, as Pan, Sylvanus, Priapus, Aristaus, Terminus, and others. There were also the Sirens, Gorgons, Harpies, Dryads, Naiads, Nereids, Tritons, Lares, Penates, Fauns, Satyrs, Pales, and a vast number of Nymphs.

Pan was the principal among the inferior deities, and was the god of hunters, shepherds, and country people generally.

Sylvanus was next to Pan, and presided over woods. Priapus presided over gardens. Aristaus invented the art of extracting oil from olives, and found the use of honey. Terminus was considered as watching over the boundaries of lands.

The Sirens were three fabulous persons, who were said to have the faces of women, and the lower parts of their bodies like fish. They had such melodious voices, that mariners were often allured by them to their own destruction.

The Gorgons, three sisters, had the power of transforming those into stones who looked at them.

The Harpies are said to have been winged monsters which had the face of a woman, the body and wings of a vulture, claws on the hands and feet, and the ears of a bear.

The Dryads were nymphs who presided over the woods.
The Naiads were nymphs of springs and fountains.

The Nereids were nymphs of the sea, and daughters of Nereus and Doris.

The Tritons were sea gods, with their upper parts like a man, and their lower parts resembling a fish.

The Lares and Penates were inferior deities who presided over houses and families.

The Fauns and Satyrs were rural demi-gods, the one attending on Pan, and the other on Bacchus.

Pales was the goddess of shepherds and pastures.

The Nymphs were celestial and terrestrial; the former guided the

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