Bulfinchs Mythology | Page 9

by six virgin priestesses called
Vestals, flamed in her temple. As the safety of the city was held to be
connected with its conservation, the neglect of the virgins, if they let it
go out, was severely punished, and the fire was rekindled from the rays
of the sun.
Liber is the Latin name of Bacchus; and Mulciber of Vulcan.
Janus was the porter of heaven. He opens the year, the first month
being named after him. He is the guardian deity of gates, on which
account he is commonly represented with two heads, because every
door looks two ways. His temples at Rome were numerous. In war time

the gates of the principal one were always open. In peace they were
closed; but they were shut only once between the reign of Numa and
that of Augustus.
The Penates were the gods who were supposed to attend to the welfare
and prosperity of the family. Their name is derived from Penus, the
pantry, which was sacred to them. Every master of a family was the
priest to the Penates of his own house.
The Lares, or Lars, were also household gods, but differed from the
Penates in being regarded as the deified spirits of mortals. The family
Lars were held to be the souls of the ancestors, who watched over and
protected their descendants. The words Lemur and Larva more nearly
correspond to our word Ghost.
The Romans believed that every man had his Genius, and every woman
her Juno: that is, a spirit who had given them being, and was regarded
as their protector through life. On their birthdays men made offerings to
their Genius, women to their Juno.
A modern poet thus alludes to some of the Roman gods:
"Pomona loves the orchard, And Liber loves the vine, And Pales loves
the straw-built shed Warm with the breath of kine; And Venus loves
the whisper Of plighted youth and maid, In April's ivory moonlight,
Beneath the chestnut shade."
--Macaulay, "Prophecy of Capys."
N.B.--It is to be observed that in proper names the final e and es are to
be sounded. Thus Cybele and Penates are words of three syllables. But
Proserpine and Thebes are exceptions, and to be pronounced as English
words. In the Index at the close of the volume we shall mark the
accented syllable in all words which appear to require it.

CHAPTER II
PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA
The creation of the world is a problem naturally fitted to excite the
liveliest interest of man, its inhabitant. The ancient pagans, not having
the information on the subject which we derive from the pages of
Scripture, had their own way of telling the story, which is as follows:
Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one
aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos--a confused and shapeless
mass, nothing but dead weight, in which, however, slumbered the seeds
of things. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together; so the earth
was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent.
God and Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this discord,
separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being
the lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight
and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water took the
lowest place, and buoyed up the earth.
Here some god--it is not known which--gave his good offices in
arranging and disposing the earth. He appointed rivers and bays their
places, raised mountains, scooped out valleys, distributed woods,
fountains, fertile fields, and stony plains. The air being cleared, the
stars began to appear, fishes took possession of the sea, birds of the air,
and four-footed beasts of the land.
But a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made. It is not known

whether the creator made him of divine materials, or whether in the
earth, so lately separated from heaven, there lurked still some heavenly
seeds. Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with
water, made man in the image of the gods. He gave him an upright
stature, so that while all other animals turn their faces downward, and
look to the earth, he raises his to heaven, and gazes on the stars.
Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited the
earth before the creation of man. To him and his brother Epimetheus
was committed the office of making man, and providing him and all
other animals with the faculties necessary for their preservation.
Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was to overlook his
work, when it was done. Epimetheus accordingly proceeded to bestow
upon the different animals the various gifts of courage, strength,
swiftness, sagacity; wings