Classical Theology.—Xxxiii.

CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —XXXIII .

Loxnos ; SATUEV .-LT , SEPTEMBER 22 , isca .

IX . —OTAK-. A . ASTD XOYEMBER . The compilation of theogony and mythic history , very incorrectly called mythology , is evidently a mysterious religions anamorphosis of astronomical , biblical , and ancient history , constituting , by means of allegory and figurative languagethe laws ancl government of Pagan

, theology . Jupiter , in the form of a swan , is fabled , hy the sweetness of his singing , to have won ths lore of Lean , the queen of Laconia , ancl is said , as ive gather from Pindar , to have flown into her bosom and embraced her . Another form of the legend is that Leda , the wife of King

Tyndarus , when some months gone with child , was ravished , with the rapturous melody of an amorous swan , and through her longings , or imaginations , or hy a lusns natura } , unnaturally brought forth two eggs , —as ive gather from the famous mathematician and poet , Manilius Antiochensis ( I . Aslron . ) ; who was the first

, Eoman who wrote of astronomy . Ont of the first shell sprang Pollux and Helena , whom Leda hacl conceived of " divine seed , " and who were consequently immortal . Out of the other , as ive gather from Horace , ( Sat . I . ) , which she hacl conceived b y her husband the king of Laconiacame Castor and

Clytem-, nestra , who were therefore mortal , because they ivere begotten of a mortal father . Yet many , following the poets , believe , as in the Homeric hymn , Aibo- Kxpu nimirmn , Jbvis filii that Castor ancl Pollux were horn at the same

birth ; at any rate , they have been frequently called Tyndaridfc , as Helena is named Tyndaris from the same father , Tyndarus . Both of these demigods were among the four and fifty noble companions or Argonaut , so called from the shi p named after its builder , Argo ( of which body also ,

Hercules and Orpheus were members ) , who accompanied Jason to Colchis , to demand the golden fleece of King JEtes . Jason , on his voyage , visited Hypsiphile , Queen of Lemnos , who received him so graciously as to have twins by him . With the assistance of Medea , King JEtes ' daughter , who was deeply enamoured of this handsome

hero , and leader of heroes , he destroyed the guardian bulls , -whose feet were of brass , and whose breath flames of fii-e , ancl ivith them the furious soldiers that sprang from the dragon ' s teeth sown in the ground . Pinal ly , tiie Argonauts laid the watchful dragon itself asleep , obtained the fleece of gold , and lied by nig ht , taking Medea with them , whom Jason married , and not long afterwards divorced in favour of Creusa , the daughter of Creon , king

of Corinth . Influenced b y Medea ' s magical cures , the daughter of Pelias , Jason's uncle , had foolishly imagined that , by putting their old father to death and boiling him up again , he would be restored to youth as JEson , the father of Jason , had been under the hands of Medea . Tor this singular reason , Jason hated his wife , Medea ,

who , stung by revenge for his neglect , murdered thentwo children before his eyes . In the next place , she secured in a curiously small box , some very subtle fire , and had it conveyed to Creusa , who , on opening it , was not onl y burnt to death herself , but iu the flame which ensued , numbers of tho court , ancl the whole palace in

which they resided , were consumed . The inimitable sorceress then , by means of her enchantments , is said to have flown to Athens . Some others affirm that the repudiated wife was once more after this reconciled to husband Jason , King of Thessalia . Perhaps we ought to have mentioned that the ileece was the skin of a raw ., variousl y described , of a pearly white , of a golden

red , and of a purple colour . On the back of that ram Phryxus and his sister Helle , when in flight from the perfidious machinations of Ino , their step-mother , designed to cross the narrowest strait of the Pontus , now the Dardanelles . The rolling of the waves greatly affected and terrified Hello ; she grew faintlost her senses , and

, sank into the billowy deep , and from her is derived the name of Hellespont . Phryxus safely landed near Colchis , in Asia , where , being received by King JEtes with great honour and marked attention , lie sacrificed the ram to Jupiter , who afterward placed it amongst the constellationsand consecrated the ileece to "Marswho had it hung

, , up in a grove that ivas most sacred to him . The uncertain complexion of the woolly hide itself becomes here more ascertainable ; is ivas called Aurea Vellus , because it ivas of . 1 golden hue , but the Phryxean coat or Ileece of Phryxus , that is , the Yclhis Plrri / . veum , was its more correct Latin name . It was held to be sacred and

divine as a pledge and trophy of inestimable importance , bulls breathing lire from their nostrils , and an enormous ever-watching dragon , protected it from all too curious intrusion . These monsters , too , ivere sacred : in point of fact , the artistic representations of such , creatures were asserted to have dropped from the moon , or to have eome irom heaven , ancl were otherwise venerated as rcjiresentiug signs of the heavens . It has been further stated of Medea , that to check

pursuit of her father , she slew and divided , piecemeal , her brother Absyrtns , scattering his remains on the way—here a head , and there a limb , which , when his horrified and distracted father beheld , caused him to stop to gather them up . Thus the Argonauts were enabled to reach their ship , ancl return to their own country . \ Yhere , on her arrival M ' cdea restoredby her potent

enchant-, , ments , the old and impotent Icing JEson to strength and youthful vigour . Castor and Pollux on their way back from Colchis , joined by some of the crew of the Argo , made an attack upon the Athenians ancl recovered from Theseus their stolen sister Helena . The courtesy and clemency of the

victorious twins ivas so noble and humane after the conquest , that the Athenians styled thorn the " sons of Jupiter , " and raised altars to their memory , wheron wero first offered white lambs . After the death of Castor , as some say , through his being only of mortal origin , Pollux prayed to his father , the prince of the powers of "

the air , Jupiter , to renew his brother ' s life , and at the same time confer upon him an immortal existence . Jupiter granted the prayer of Pollux so liir as to allow him to share his immortality witli his brother Castor . Thence it came to be said , they have ever since lived and died by turns every other day , or , according to others , every other fortnight , - because , being two stars the one always rises , when theo ther sets .

" Sic fratrcm Pollux a-lfccrnn , morto rodemit , Itquo rcditqnc viam . "—Virg . AEii ., ii . " Thus Pollux , offering his alternate life , Could free his brother . Daily now they go By turns ascending high , Ly turns close-ending low . " In the forum of Eome there was a magnificent temple

dedicated to Castor and Pollux . Ii ; was believed that they had palpably and mainly assisted ihe ' tomans in their hazardous battle with the Latins , "riding on white horses , " ancl this belief was the express reason for the temple ' s foundation . "We will not venture to assert how long antecedent to this superhuman event Castor

met his death al ; the hand of Lincetis , which afterward gave rise to the Phrryic exercise in honour of Castor , at which young men , steel-clad and armed , performed certain evolutions , " called from his name , " Castor ' s . Dance . "