king of Caria, *built by his queen Artemisia, of the purest marble; and yet the workmanship of it was much more valuable than the marble. It was from north to south sixty-three feet long, almost four hundred and eleven feet in compass, and twenty-five cubits (that is, about thirty-five feet) high, surrounded with thirty-six columns, which were beautified in a wonderful manner. From this Mausoleum all other sumptuous sepulchres are called by the same name. 4. A statue of Jupiter, in the temple of the city of +Olympia, carved with the greatest art by Phidias, out of ivory, and made of a prodigious size. 5. The walls of Babylon (the metropolis of Chaldea,) built by queen Semiramis; their circumference was sixty miles, and their breadth fifty feet, so that six chariots might conveniently pass upon them in a row. 6. The pyramids of Egypt; three of which, remarkable for their height, still remain. The first has a square basis, and is one hundred and fortythree feet long, and one thousand feet high; it is made of great stones, the least of which is thirty feet thick; and three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed in building it, for the space of twenty years. The other two, which are somewhat smaller, attract the admiration of all spectators. In these pyramids, it is reported, the bodies of the kings of Egypt lie interred. 7. The palace of Cyrus, king of the Medes, made by Menon, with no less prodigality than art; for he cemented the stones with gold. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What is the first of the seven wonders of the world; how is it described, and what name did the inhabitants of Rhodes de rive from it. Describe the second of the wonders of the world? Plin. l. 36. c. 5. + Phil. 1. 36. c. 3. Plin. l. 6. c. 26. Plin 1. 36. c. 13. Belo. 1. 2. c. 32. §Calepin. V. Miraculum. Which was the third, and what technical term owes its origin to it? Which was the fourth? Describe the fifth? Give some account of the sixth? Which was the seventh? SEC. 3. THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN The most celebrated of Sol's children was Phæton, who gave the poets an excellent opportunity of showing their ingenuity by the following action. Epaphus, one of the sons of Jupiter, quarrelled with Phæton, and said that though he called himself the son of Apollo, he was not. This slander so provoked Phaton, that by Clymene, his mother's advice, he went to the royal palace of the Sun, to bring thence some indubitable marks of his nativity. The sun received him kindly, and owned him as his son; and, to take away all occasion of doubting hereafter, he gave him liberty to ask any thing, swearing by the Stygian lake, an oath which none of the gods dare violate, that he would not deny him. Photon then desired leave to govern his father's chariot for one day. This was the occasion of great grief to his father, who endeavoured to persuade him not to persist in his project, which no mortal was capable of executing. Phæton, however, pressed -him to keep his promise, and perform what he had sworn by the river Styx. The father was forced -to comply with his son's rashness: he directed him how to guide the horses, and especially advised him to observe the middle path. Phaeton was transported with joy, mounted his chariot, and taking the reins, began to drive the horses; which, finding him unable to govern them, ran away, and set on fire both the heaven and the earth. Jupiter, to put an end to the conflagration, struck him out of the chariot with thunder, and cast him headlong into the river Po. His sisters, Lampethusa, Lampetia, and Pha ethusa, lamenting his death, incessantly, upon the banks of that river, were turned, by the pity of the gods, into poplars, from that time weeping amber instead of tears. This forms a subject of one of the most beautiful passages in Ovid.—Met. 2. Circe, the most skilful of all sorceresses, poisoned her husband, a king of the Sarmatians; for which she was banished by her subjects, and flying into Italy, fixed her seat on the promontory Circæum, where she fell in love with Glaucus, a sea god, who at the same time loved Scylla: Circe turned her into a sea monster, by poisoning the water in which she used to wash. She entertained Ulysses, who was driven hither by the violence of storms, with great civility; and restored his companions, whom, according to her usual custom, she had changed into hogs, bears, wolves, and the like beasts, unto their former shapes. Pasipha, the wife of Minos, king of Crete, loved an officer named Taurus, hence the fable of her attachment to a bull, and of her giving birth to a monster, half man and half beast, called Mino-Taurus, or, Minotaur. The Minotaur was shut up in a labyrinth, which Dædalus made by the order of king Minos. This labyrinth was a place diversified with very many windings and turnings, and cross paths, running into one another ;-see Theseus. Dædalus was all excellent artificer of Athens, and, as it is said, invented the ax, the saw, the plummet, the augur, and glue; he also first contrived masts and yards for ships; besides, he carved statues so admirably that they not only seemed alive, but could never stand still in one place; nay, would fly away unless they were chained. This Daedalus, together with Icarus, his son, was shut up by Minos in the labyrinth which he had made, because he had assisted Pasiphæ in her intrigues, and finding no way to escape, he made wings for himself and his son, with wax and the feathers of birds: fastening these wings to their shoulders, Dædalus flew out of Crete into Sicily, but Icarus in his flight, neglecting his father's advice, observed not his due course, and out of juvenile wantonness flew higher than he ought; upon which the wax was melted by the sun, the wings broke in pieces, and he fell into the sea, which is since, according to Ovid, named the Icarian sea, from him. "Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis.”—Trist. 1. To these children of the sun, we may add his niece and his nephew Byblis and Caunus. Byblis was in love with Caunus, and followed him so long to no purpose, that at last, being quite oppressed with sorrow and labour, she sat down under a tree, and shed such a quantity of tears, that she was converted into a fountain. "Sic lachrymis consumpta suis Phœbeia Byblis Ov. Met. 9. Thus the Phobian Byblis, spent in tears, QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What is said of Phaton, one of the children of the sun? Who were his sisters, and what happened to them? Who was Circe, and what is related of her? Who was Pasirhe, and how is the fable of the Monitaur explained? Who was Dædalus, and what circumstances are related of him? Who were the niece and nephew of Sol? CHAPTER IV. SEC. 1-MERCURY. HIS IMAGE, BIRTH, QUALITIES AND OFFICES. Mercury is represented with a cheerful countenance and lively eyes; having wings fixed to his hat and his shoes, and a rod in his hand, which is winged, and bound about by two serpents. His face is partly black and dark, and partly clear and bright, because sometimes he converses with the celestial, and sometimes with the infernal gods. He wears winged shoes, which are called Talaria, and wings are also fastened to his hat, which is called Petasus, because, since he is the messenger of the gods, he ought not only to run, but to fly. His wings are emblematical of the wings which language gives to the thoughts of men. His character, as the swift messenger of the gods, is thus referred to by Homer : -The god who mounts the winged winds His parents were Jupiter, and Maia, the daughter of Atlas; and for that reason, they used to offer sacrifices to him in the month of May. They say that Juno was his nurse, and once when he took his milk too greedily, it ran out of his mouth upon the heavens, and made that white stream which they call "The Milky-way." He had many offices. 1. The first and principal was to carry the commands of Jupiter; whence he |