places see particularly p. 191. c. why called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 169. why called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 179. p. 191 c. why ' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 180. Why appeased with the Sacrifice of a white Lamb upon the Ides of every Mouth p. 182. see Juno Jupiter a Name of the Universal Nature or of the Universal Efficient Cause in Conjunction with the Material p. 204 205. Why born at Crete p. 224 225. Juno the Atmosphere or the Airy Region p. 169. v. p. 175. sometimes taken for the Moon p. 181. The Quarrels between Her and Jupiter in the Poets Physiologically solved p. 182. why called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Homer p. 198. to 202. why said to be the Wife of Jupiter p. 201. 202. Isis the Mass of Earth and Water or the passive Principle of Nature p. 204. v. p. 273. to 275. Why worshiped in the form of an Ox. p. 273. L. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what and whence p. 55 56. Linus a Name of the Sun from p. 135 to 138. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Feast in honor of Minerva Vulcan and Prometheus what it meant from p. 229 to 235. Latona a Name of the Earth p. 261 262 263. M. Mola from the Hebrew Melach Sal p. 15 16. Mezentius from the Hebrew Maas sprevit p. 27 28. Musleman Fidelis Perfectus vox Turcica unde p. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 70. v. p. 109. Minos a Name of the supream Numen the same in signification with Prometheus and the Father of Deucalion as the other was see this largely insisted upon and Objections answered and the true Etymon of Minos assigned from p. 108 to 112. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mina Minerva 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 108 109. Minerva see Neptune her Aegis or Shield or Target the same with the Body of the Sun. p. 179. why called by Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 197 198. the same with the Aetherial or Subtle Matter of the Universe ib. see also p. 231 232 233 234. see Pallas Mulciber Melec Abir the same with Vulcan and the Sun. p. 173. Mythology of Antiquity to be Physiologically explained according to the Opinion of Praetextatus iâ— Macrobius p. 178. Maranatha whence so called p. 266. N. Nox from the Hebrew Nous Fugit p. 15. Noah see Ogyges and Inachus and Deucalion Neptune the watry Substance of the Universe p. 155 156. Why called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 157 158. The Contention between him and Minerva in Apollodorus explained and Objections answered from p. 155 to 161. Neith p. 276. O. Og Ochus Agag Ogyges from p. 29 to 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 31. 35. Ogyges and Noahs Flood the same p. 33 c. Ogyges and Inachus the same with one another and with Noah p. 34. Ogygus or Ogyges why said by Cedrenus to be of the Seed of Japheth p. 44 45. see Gyges v. p. 117 118. Orpheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Plato what p. 126 127 131. Orpheus the same with the Sun proved largely from p. 127 to 130. The Fables concerning him explained ib. and p. 138 139 140. v. p. 239 240 241. Oeager or Oeagrus the same with the Sun. p. 132 133. Oceanus whence so called p. 242. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what and whence p. 244. P. Pontifex whence p. 13 14. Pomerium what and why so called p. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 22. Proavus whence p. 24. Pignus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paena Pawn whence p. 25. Pario Partus whence p. 27. Prometheus the supream Nature and the same with the Sun amongst the antient Greeks proved largely from p. 56 to 63. see also from p. 229 to p. 235. see Pallas v. p. 248 249. Pyrrha the Fable of Deucalion and Pyrrha explained and a way found out to explain many other things in the Fabulous Antiquity that lie as yet undiscover'd from p. 63 to 65. Places dedicated to the service and honor of God were used to retain their Sanctity for a long time from p. 81 to 85. Priapus a Name of the Sun whence so called p. 164. Why painted and graven with a great Pudendum Why worshiped by the Sea-side and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Why Sacrificed to with an Ass Why said to be born at Lampsacum from p. 224 225. Pyracmion the same with the Sun. p. 172. Pan the Universal Nature p. 202. Proteus the Universal Nature in what sense p. 202 203 205. A confusion of the efficient and material Cause of the World. p. 272 273. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primus Existens in a Fragment of Orpheus p. 205. Priapus why feigned by some to be the Son of Bachus and Venus p. 225. a Port and a City so called from the Worship of Priapus in them p. 229. Pallas see Minerva born of Jupiters Head cleft in sunder by Vulcan or Prometheus the meaning of that Fable p. 236 237. Phosphorus see Titan Paean so Titan Pandora the same with our First Mother Eve the Fable concerning her explained p. 238 239. R. Romans a Colony from the East p. 12 13. Rex unde p. 14. Resh Gabbaci p. 15. Riseffendi Turcica vox unde p. 15. Rebis vox Arabica quid p. 15. Redhostire what and whence p. 17. Ruo whence p. 25. Rakia v. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Sacrifices of Animals before the Flood from p. 1. to p. 6. see also from p. 141 to 145. Sex. unde p. 14. Suffetes vox Punica quid p. 15. Stella qu. Sterula from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 85. Steropes the same with the Sun. p. 172. Sun The Sun according to the Antients the Fountain of Vitality the Author and Sourse of Animality or Life p. 60 c. and in many other places more particularly from p. 233 to 236 c. Why worshipped in the form of a Serpent p. 259. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Firmamentum Rakiah Expansum Vulgatus interpres notatus p. 245 246. Shamta what and whence p. 266. T. Tabanus whence p. 23. Turtur from the Hebrew Tor p. 80. Tubalcain not the same with Vulcan p. 163. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Stars or lucid Bodies of an Aetherial Consistence p. 183 to p. 185. Tartarus the situation and extent of it p. 189 190. Thetis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why so called p. 198. The Name of the Tohu or Universal material Nature p. 205 206. which is afterwards largely proved VVhy appropriated to the watery part of the Universe p. 275 276. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what p. 206. Tethys the same with Tohu or the Primigenial Mass p. 209 to 214. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what and whence so called p. 246 to 248. Titan for the Sun Astra Titania 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vapours and Exhalations The VVar betwixt the Titans and the Gods explained p. 248 to 253. Titan Hyperion Phosporus Paean Zeus all of them the same p. 258. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what p. 259. Themis why taken for the Earth p. 254 to 257. Titan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Moon p. 260. the Sun and all the Planets called by this Name p. 263 c. V. Venus whence p. 16. Victima whence p. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Name of the Sun. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Amphion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 131. see Titan. Vulcan whence so called p. 163 227. a Name of the Sun and some Fables concerning him explained from p. 163 to 167 VVhy said to be the Son of Jupiter and Juno p. 169. VVhy all VVorkmanship as well in VVood as Iron was by the Poets attributed to Vulcan p. 173 174. Arma Vulcania ib. Vulcan why made to wait at the Feast of the Gods. p. 175 176. VVhy called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and why 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 176 177. see also concerning the Lampadophoria from p. 229 to 235. see Pallas W. Water the first Principle of all things according to Thales Anaxagoras and others p. 222 c. Venus why said to be born of the spumâ— of the Sea and for that reason called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 why said by others to be born in an Island and thence called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 223 224. Z. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Jupiter and Titan. Zoroaster whence so called p. 265. ERRATA Page 6. line 5. for sum read tum p. 25. l. 20 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 26. l. 7 r. comitio p. 33. l. 19. r. Ogyges p. 35. l. 10. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. l. 10. r. Dele of p. 64. l. 1. for Capius r. Lapis p. 67. l. 21. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 78. l. 12. r. so as p. 85. l. 10. r. Saros and in the Margin Hasar ib. l. 21. Adonai p. 89. l. 10. r. as a fifth and in the Margin r. Suasor 1. p. 90. in the Margin l. 1. r. so l. 8. r. that he p. 92. l. 8. r. no violent VVind p. 101. in the Margin l. 1. r. Jaiin l. 3. Jonah l. ult Bachus p. 132. in the Margin r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 132. l. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 136. in the Margin l. 3 4. Bellerophon l. ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 138. l. 17. r. at others l. 27. r. so this p. 142. l. 13. r. it depended p. 143. l. 9. r. rectangular l. ult r. are not to be heard p. 14. l. 2. for least r. less l. 22. r. Minervae p. 148. l. 26. r. this antient p. 158. l. 14. r. and she p. 203. l. 14. r. who that in the Margin ib. r. of the same c. p 264. l. 24. Dele of Other Errata there are and some of these of litâ—â—e consequence which are left to the correction of judicious Readers
reasonable Nature he gives Judgment in favour of Minerva or the Aetherial matter which is the great principle of Life and Vegetation in the Universe and which though in the productions of this lower World it make use of the Moist and Watry Substance as its Instrument in all its operations yet is that substance Phlegmy and unactive having nothing vital or operative in it self any otherwise than as it is actuated and impregnated by the fruitful and enlivening influences of the Aetherial or Heavenly matter and then he adds without any strict and sacred regard to truth but minding only to fill up the outward form and Schesmatism of the Fable that Neptune being angry at this determination overflow'd the Thriasian Field c. by which nothing else is meant than that Neptune or the Watry substance of the Universe does still continue though in an inferior and subservient way to be aiding and assisting to the Aetherial matter in all its Animal Vegetable or Mineral productions And this is the meaning of what the same Apollodorus tells us Biblioth l. 3. c. 13. in the beginning of the same Chapter that when this contention first arose between Neptune and Minerva Neptune making the first tryal of his skill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and striking with his Trident upon the middle of the Acropolis or highest eminence of the City of Athens he made that Water to gush out which continuing to after Generations was in the time of Apollodorus who was himself an Athenian called Erectheis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 terra because it was forced out of the Earth by the stroke of Neptunes Trident and this is nothing else but a Mythological description of the Eruption of Fountains and Rivers and other subterraneous Waters which being kept in without having any vent were Anciently looked upon as one of the causes of Earthquakes and thence Neptune had his A. Gell. Noct. Aâ—t l. 2. c. 28. Epithets of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Agellius Quaenam else causa videatur quamobrem terrae tremores fiant non modò his communibus hominum sensibus opinionibusque compertum non est sed nè inter Physicas quidem Philosophias satis constitit ventorum nè vi accidant specus hiatusque terrae subeuntium an aquarum subter in terrarum cavis undantium fluctibus pulsibusque ità uti videntur existimâsse antiquissimi Graecorum qui Neptunum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellaverunt But after Neptune had made this effort to obtain the Dominion of Athens then it came to Minerva's turn to shew what she could do and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apollod ib. taking Cecrops to witness of the feat she was about to perform produced that Olive-tree which to the time of Apollodorus remained in Pandrosium that is it was first necessary that Neptune or the Watry Element should moysten and prepare the Ground before Minerva or the Aetherial could impregnate it and make it Fruitful according to that passage of Moses in the Book of Genesis Gen. 2. 5 6. where such another Deluge as this of Cecrops that is not a wasting and destructive but a prolifick and impregnating Deluge is described and a Deluge not occasioned by Rain but by the Ebullition of subterraneous Waters And every Plant of the Field before it was in the Earth and every Herb of the Field before it grew for the Lord God had not caused it to Rain upon the Earth and there was not a Man to Till the Ground but there went up a mist from the Earth and Watred the whole Face of the Ground Furthermore though this Aetherial substance be the cause and principle of all manner of Fruitfulness and Plenty yet the Olive is here only instanced in as being so Fat and Rich a production that it is a fit emblem of Fruitfulness in the general considered or else the Olive being Anciently looked upon as a Symbol of Peace is fitly ascribed to Minerva or the Aetherial matter which being pure and simple and separated from the Vapours and Exhalations of this Atmosphere by which all Storms and Tempests are occasioned is the seat and region of rest and Peace as Homer describes the region upon the top of Olympus which was thought to carry its Head above the Clouds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. edyss Z. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither is it any wonder to hear Apollodorus speaking of this contention between Neptune and Minerva as if it had been a literal and real Emulation between Two Divine Persons and saying that the Olive-tree which Minerva upon that occasion had produced was even in his time to be seen in Pandrosium and that the Water which Neptunes Trident had at that time forced out of the Earth much after the same manner as the Rod of Moses is recorded in Sacred Story to have done out of the Rock continued still to be a Monument of what had happened even in his Days for nothing is more certain than that the Ancient Greeks as far off and farther than the time of Apollodorus did not understand their own Mythology which had been delivered down by Tradition to them from their Fathers which was the reason they understood many things in a literal and not unfrequently in an absurd and impossible sense which had a very natural and easie however Mystical and Hieroglyphick meaning and so Apollonius speaks of Orpheus his drawing Trees and Rivers after him which I have shewn plainly in what sense it is to be understood and that by the Antient Orpheus nothing but the Sun is or can possibly be conceived to be meant as of a thing that was really and literally performed and directs us to a place where some of those Trees were Anciently to be seen Apallon Argon l. 1. v. 26. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is also a Third reason of this sirname 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 given to Cecrops which the Ancients have mentioned but such a reason it is as I scarce thought worth setting down being manifestly nothing to the purpose and that is that being an Aegyptian born and coming afterwards into Greece he came by this means to be Master of Two Languages the Aegyptian and the Greek as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two Languages and Two Natures were the same Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Chron. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And to the same purpose Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suid. in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. eund etiam in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi alias quasdam causas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adducit sed meo judicio futiles inept as v. etiam de his omnibus Phavorin in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
whom I have more than once affirmed to be the same with the Sun is called by this Name E meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan. And so also in Sophocles out of whom this citation is produced by N. Comes N. C. Myth L. 2. c. 4. p. 150. though he do's not make this use of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And not only the Sun was called Titan but the Stars likewise by the Latin Poets are sometimes called Astra Titania as in that of Virgil in the sixth of his Aeâ—eid Principio caelum terras camposque liquentes Lucentemque Globum Lunae Titaniaque Astra Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscet The reason of which was either that the fluid Matter of the Aether of which the Sun and Stars consist was once jumbled together with the rest of the Chaos and was separated from it which was as it were its Birth out of the Womb of the Chaos or the Tohu or else that they seem all of them as often as they Emerge above our Horizon to rise out of the Earth or Sea as if they sprang from thence as Flowers do out of a Bed or from their several Principles and Seeds and as often as they set and were submerst again under it this was looked upon by the Ancients as their return to their Mother there being according to them but one enlightned Hemisphere as hath been already declared to suck her Breasts of Consolation and to refresh and cool themselves in the Bath of the Ocean after the Fatigue of a long and toilsom Journey Neither can there be any other reason but this assigned why the Earth should be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Greek Poets as well as the Sun was called Titan and the Stars Titania for certainly the Sun and Stars and the Earth any otherwise than some such way as this are not any whit of kin to one another and yet this is the Name of the Earth in the Etymologer who hath these remarkable words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that some called the whole Earth by this Name and some only the single Province of Attica both of which were in the right for the whole Mass of Earth and Water and Aether mingled together was called Thoth or Tohu and this was the true Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is not the single Province of Attica as the Etymologer himself understood his own words but the Ancient Earth or Primigenial Mass which was the Cabbalistical or Traditionary signification of Attica and Attici as hath been already frequently declared though the latter Greeks themselves did not understand it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when it is the Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Earth either signifies that the Earth was a part of the Tohu or Vniversal Mass as indeed it is the most confused and Heterogeneous part of it Tohu and Bohu being Names in Hebrew that seem to signifie disorder and confusion or that the Earth was the Mother of the Titans which is the same thing by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing else being meant but those Winds and Vapours which are exhaled from the Earth or the Tohu or being kept up and pent in subterraneous Caverns are the natural causes of Earthquakes and Volcano's and such like Eruptions of subterraneous Vapours so the word is explained by Eustathius upon Homer with whom the Author of the Allegories upon Hesiod agrees Alleg. in Hesiod p. 244. Ed. Heins in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is they are called Titans for as much as they dispense and are the Authors and Occasions of Damage and Detriment to Men for by Earthquakes Houses are overturned and the Earth is broken up or cleft in sunder and Men are overwhelmed and immerst in Waters and many other Calamities there are that happen upon the same account and as I have said formerly of Juno that the reason of the many Quarrels that happen between her and Jupiter in the Poets is to be taken without all question from the Phisiology or natural Philosophy of the Ancients Juno being the Air or Atmosphere or the Region of Storms and Tempests by which Jupiter or the pure Aether is troubled and disturbed the same is true likewise of the Wars betwixt the Titans or the Giants that is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sons of the Earth and the Gods for by the Gods was meant as hath been already observed from Plato and Macrobius the Sun and Stars the pure Aether and all sorts of Aetherial Concretions which Aether by the Titans that is by Storms and Tempests is as it were assaulted and invaded and a War seems to be threatned against the Sun and the Stars themselves to which purpose it is remarkable what the Etymologer saith in the words immediately following those I have last produced out of him I will repeat those words again that you may see the connexion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that the Earth was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Titanus one of the Titans who of all the number was the only Person that did not make War against the Gods which though it be plainly false and clean contrary to the truth yet by what we may learn from this place what I have said already may be confirmed It is false that the Earth was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Titanus for by Titanus or Titan as hath been shewed already was meant the Sun and he was so called from the Tohu or the Earth not the Earth so called from him the reason of which hath been already explained and whereas I have said that the Earth in a Mythological way may be said so often to be the Mother of Titan or the Sun as often as he Emerges above the sensible Horizon and seems as it were to be renewed and born again this seems to be confirmed by a Passage of Aeschylus concerning Prometheus who is the Eschyl ed. Stanl p. 26. same with Titan or the Sun in his Prometheus Vinctus which I will here produce it is Prometheus himself that speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is thus rendred by the Learned Interpreter Sed mihi mater non semel tantum Themis Quae terra multarum appellationum una forma Vt res eventura esset praedixerat Where if we refer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non semel tantum to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mater the sense is according to what I have said that Prometheus or Titan was born of the Earth more than once and so he must needs if he be born every day but if we refer those words to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or praedixerat then it bears clear another sense which I need not explain and to any Man that understands the Greek Language and
all the rest to correct the Hebrew from the Seventy but the Seventy from the Hebrew Wherefore instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Og and Gog and Agag are the same and so Num. 24. 7. where it is in the Hebrew vejarim meagag malco His King shall be higher then Agag There the Seventy render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Kingdom of Gog shall be exalted where though they appear to have followed another reading then the Hebrew Copies do at present and a reading certainly much inferiour to it or rather directly opposite to the sense of the place yet thus much is certain that what the Hebrew calls Agag they have rendred by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking no notice of the Guttural as in the instances already produced Haman the Agagite is as much as Haman that was descended of Agag not that Agag who together with his whole Family and consequently his posterity too was destroyed and cut off by Saul and Samuel but some other and I chuse to Interpret it of this Antidiluvian Agag or Ogyges and that this is spoken of him to make him appear the more Illustrious that so his fall in the sequel of the Story might be the more remarkable and signal and if you say that he also perished together with all his Family and dependents in the Floud and therefore could leave no posterity behind him I grant upon supposition that he is not the same person with Noah that this is very true but yet the Greeks had a Tradition among them which without question they received from the East that Ogyges escaped in the Deluge that happened in his time for so Africanus in Eusebius speaking of that Ogyges or as he calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whom the first deluge took Euseb praep evang l. 10. its name saith that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saved when others generally perished in the waters so that by this Tradition he is confounded with Noah who did really make his escape but there is a Testimony of Cedrenus which makes him to have perished and this depended upon a Tradition that made Ogyges to be a distinct person from Noah who was saved by all which it appears that the History concerning him is as I have already said and proved very obscure confused and uncertain partly by the corruption of the Tradition it self to which all Antiquity is unavoidably subject and partly by the mistakes and Anachronismes of the Greeks the causes of which I have already partly represented the words of Cedrenus are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in the time of Moses there was a certain great or Gigantick man of the seed of Japheth who being a native of Attica reigned over it for the space of thirty and two Years his name was Ogygus and in his time happened that Floud which was peculiar to Attica in which himself perished and all that province was drowned in which words there is nothing at all true as I think I have already made it appear by discovering the grounds of the mistakes in them but only that there was such a man as Ogygus or Ogyges that he was a great or Gigantick person and that a great Floud happened in his time only when he saith that this Gigantick Ogygus was of the seed of Japheth there seems in this also as well as in what hath been said concerning his being King of Attica and co-temporary with Moses to be a stricture of truth in the corruption it self for in the first place the Scripture speaking of the men that lived before the Floud saith expresly that there were Gyants in those days Gen. 6. 4. and again in the Relation of the lewdness of those times which drew down the Deluge afterwards upon them it saith that the Sons of God saw the Daughters of Men lb. v. 2. that they were fair in the Hebrew it is chi toboth hennab that they were goodly or had a goodly aspect and the sense would have been the same if it had said chi japhoth hennah that they were fair as our Translation renders it wherefore since by the Sons of God are understood the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sons of the Great men or Princes of those times who did what they pleased without Controll as some of the Ancient Interpreters have rendred it Ogyges at this rate will be a Prince descended of one of those Japhoth those fair ones to whom the Sons of God went in and begat Sons and Daughters upon them and this is all that was at the bottom of that mistake of the Greeks that Ogygus was descended of the Family of Japheth to confirm which yet further it is to be observed that Scripture stories delivered down by Tradition in the East from thence yet were not always delivered in Scripture words but only in words of a like signification or words relating to the circumstances of the Story as I have elsewhere observed out Discourse of the Tetragrammaton and also in that of the Messias c. 1. of Bochartus who took his hint from sanchuniathon that Sarah in the Eastern Tradition was called Annobret because she was past the time of Child-bearing and Isaac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Jachid because he was the only Son and the like so that Japhoth being perfectly synonymous to Toboth and indeed more properly signifying beauty then the other here is all that can be desired to make it at least a tollerable conjecture Again as from Agag is Ogyges so from Gog by the Elision of the Guttural is Gyges both of them the same person as I will now prove and as Cedrenus saith of Ogygus that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great or Gigantick person so Ovid represents the Ancient Gyges for there were several afterwards of the name in his fourth De Tristibus Eleg. 7. Credam prius ora Medusae Gorgonis anguineis cincta fuisse comis Et canes utero sub virginis esse Chimaeram A truce quae flammis separet angue leam Quadrupedesque◠homines cum pectore pectora junctos Tergeminumque virum tergeminumque canem Sphingaque harpyias serpentipedesque Gigantes Centimanumque Gygen semibovemque virum Haec ego cuncta prius quà m te carissime credam Mutatum curam deposuisse mei Where though he reckons all these as so many impossibilities and figments of Antiquity yet there is no question but in all or most of them there was a ground of v. Pale phat in opusculo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truth though miserably adulterated and disguised by the vanity or ignorance of the Greeks particularly as to Gyges when he calls him Centimanum hundred handed it may very well be Interpreted of the extent of his power or the fierceness and violence of his Reign and what he adds afterwards in the next words semibovemque virum halfe man half Ox may refer to the brutish and
Seventy have done but only by the Preposition in which would indeed have made the place absurd as if the Tent of Abraham wherein he and his numerous Family had their Habitation were pitched in the hollow of a Tree Elan in Chalday is rendred by the Rabbinical Interpreters themselves by Arbor and the same without question is the signification of Elon in Hebrew not for any Tree in general but more especially the Oak under which as being the tallest thickest most spreading and most durable and lasting Tree of any other the Ancients seem most frequently to have performed their Religious Acts of Sacrifice Incense and Adoration as Pliny speaking expresly of the Druids who derived it without question from some other people more Ancient than themselves sayes L. 16. c. 44. Roborum eligunt lucos nec ulla sacra sine eâ fronde conficiunt and from thence the Luci in Latin had their name à lucendo from the Light and Blaze which the Sacrifices afforded Elon therefore is from El Deus as much as to say the Tree of God as Alah which is rendred by execratus est juravit adjuravit is from the same root and is as much as to Swear by God and to call down the Divine Vengeance in Case of Perjury and false Swearing and hence it is that the Oak among the Greeks and Romans was arbor Jovi sacra Dedicated and devoted to the Service of God as the Holly seems to have been of later times and from thence it had its name Alah Elah being nownes are also rendred by Quercus and from the latter in the Plural is found Elim which differs but very little in sound from Elohim and does very strongly patronize this conjecture being as much as to say sacra arbor and the confounding of these three following wordstogether and mistaking the one for the other El and Elon and heljon which is the Name of God in the Story of Melchisedeck gave occasion to the Fable that Mankind whom the Scripture truly asserts to have been first made and brought into being by God had their first Original from the heart of Oaks cleft in sunder according to that passage in the Anthology which I have already pointed at and will now cite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Juvenal speaks also to the same purpose Quippe aliter tunc or be novo caeloque recenti Vivebant bomines qui rupto robore nati Compositique luto nullos habuere parentes Where when he says that they were luto compositi the Original of this is well enough known and hath been already accounted for and for the other though perfect nonsense and plainly inconsistent with what follows that they were luto compositi yet thus they received it from Graecia mendax the great depraver of all History and who was her self as often deceived as she imposed upon others as in this and other instances which I have produced to conclude this matter from the Hebrew Elon or Elan by the Addition of a b or g as from the Latin uro is bustum is the common Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Aeolick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latin glans signifying an Acorn or the Fruit of the Oak Thirdly As a third observable from these words of the Scholiast upon Homer or of Thrasybulus from whom he borrows them it is to be observed that he also takes notice of the Dove or Pigeon which was so remarkable a circumstance in the History of the Flood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that by the Oracle or indication of a Dove he setled a Colony and together with those others that had escaped the Deluge took up his Habitation in a certain place which from Jupiter and Dodona one of the Sea Nymphs or one of the Daughters of Oceanus he called Dodona now this Oracle of the Dove is nothing else but that Noah made use of this Animal to know whether or no and when and how far the Waters were abated first he sent out a Raven from which he had no intelligence because it returned no more for it is said that it went forth to and fro until the Waters were dried up from off the Earth Gen. 8. 7. not but that the Waters must at that time be supposed to have been actually abated unless we should suppose this Raven to have been always upon the Wing for so many days together which is utterly impossible and absurd to imagine but it is the Nature of this Bird to Perch and Roost upon the tops of Trees which by this Story it is plain began in some places to discover themselves above the Waters but this Doves and Pigeons will not do and therefore to know whether the Waters were any where so abated as that the dry Land began to appear the Dove was a more proper Messenger than the Raven wherefore it is said v. 8 9. that he sent forth a Dove from him to see if the Waters were abated from off the face of the Ground but the Dove found no rest for the sole of her Foot and she returned unto him into the Ark and v. 10 11. and he stayed yet other seven days and again he sent forth the Dove out of the Ark and the Dove came into him in the Evening and lo in her mouth was an Olive-leafe pluckt off so Noah knew that the Waters were abated from off the Earth because the Olive was a Tree of no considerable height and the Dove a sort of Bird that is not found to Perch or rest it self upon any sort of Tree from which two things compared together he guessed that the Ground was somewhere dry Lastly v. 12. He stayed yet other seven days and sent forth the Dove which returned not again unto him any more by which Noah understood now that the Ground was dry as before and that the Dove had not only a place for the sole of her Foot but also met with Food and subsistence abroad and therefore it is immediately subjoyned v. 13. That Noah removed the covering of the Ark and behold the face of the Ground was dry and this I think does as plainly confirm and explain the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Oracle of Deucalions Dove which taught him when and where to come out of his Ark and betake himself again to the dry Land as it is possible for any two agreeing Stories in Antiquity to explain confirm or vindicate one another But Fourthly The fourth thing to be observed from these words is that Deucalion called this place where he and the rest that had escaped came out of the Ark and as it seems pitched a Tent and took their Abode at least for some certain time in it by the Name of Dodona which Dodona if we can give a clear and intelligible account who or what it was or why so called this will give new light to the Story of Deucalion and may perhaps confirm what I have now so often asserted
in its most Ancient and proper sense is indifferent to any as appears by the compounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all which words that part of the composition which is taken from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is indifferent to any kind of Tree whatsoever but it is to be interpreted of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Interpretation of the Hebrew Alah or Elon and is as much as to say the Tree of God or the Oak under which the most Ancient of the Patriarchs were used to pitch their Tents and though I am not solicitous whether this prophetick Ministry of Deucalion be in the reality of the thing placed before or after the Floud knowing how subject and prone the Greeks are in matters of so remote Antiquity to mistakes and Anachronisms concerning them and though it may be said that all the taller and more spreading sort of Trees were destroyed and rooted up by the violence of the Waters which in a great measure I acknowledge to be true yet it may be considered on the side of the Scholiast that there are some exceptions of necessity to be admitted from what hath been said above concerning the Ravens not returning to the Ark that the Oak by reason of its natural firmness and large spreading Root was perhaps the fittest to withstand the force of this universal deluge that the pressure of the Water was lateral and in a manner equal on all sides as Mr. Boyle hath observed and proved in his Hydrostaticks of common Waters not determined any whither in a certain Stream or Channel so that this may seem rather to have served to uphold and keep stedfast the Trees which it met with than to have destroyed or thrown them down were it not that by the continual poaching and soaking of the Water into the Earth their Roots would be so loosened as that then their own weight or preponderancy one way more than the other may be thought sufficient to overturn them and throw them down But to this it may be Answered supposing so violent a Wind to be added to this cause that the Roots of a Tree may be very much loosened and weakened before this effect will follow that in such tall and massy Trees they usually descend deeper than any Rain Water can reach so as to poach or loosen the Earth to any considerable degree that it is not unreasonable to believe that the Earth at some considerable depth might be rather hardened and rendred more close and firm by the weight of the incumbent Waters than any way sok'd or loosened by it as fresh Water is sometimes found at the bottom of the Sea the reason of which our ingenious Mr. Hook in his Micrography imputes to this that by reason of the great weight of the superincumbent Water the Salt particles are squeezed upwards and the pure aqueous parts are brought so close together that they cannot receive or imbibe into themselves the Saline any longer and if this be the case of Water it self a thing so fluid and so porous as that is it must be much more true of the Earth which by reason of its comparative solidity is more susceptible of such a pressure than any Water can be and in experience it appears that places which are known to have been recovered out of the Water such as a great part of Holland and the Fenny parts of England are are usually plain and flat because of this pressure of the Water which was once equal and of long continuance over the whole surface and this made Antiquity believe that Aegypt it self as large a Tract of Ground as it is was once recovered out of the Water or at least was forsaken by it because of its flat and equal Soil not that I believe the force of any Floud to be such as that it shall turn a Mountainous Country into a plain but it is sufficient in general to observe from what hath been said that in so great a pressure of Waters the Earth at least at some considerable depth would rather be hardened than any way loosned by it and perhaps in such prodigious showers as those were by which the universal Deluge was occasioned descending with a violence so great and so equal together it might so compress and harden the Earth in some places where no subterraneous Ebullitions met with the Rain that descended from above which they neither did nor could do equally in all places that the Waters might not perhaps penetrate so farr as in showers that are more gentle if they be but constant and of long continuance To all which it is to be added that it is certain that Noah pitched his first Tent there where the Ark it self rested and where he came out of it when the Waters were asswaged and this was upon the Mountains of Ararat upon the top of which the Waters could not have any thing near so much force as in the Plains underneath where there was a so much greater weight of superincumbent Waters besides that it was so much the longer before these places were overflown and in proportion to their height they were so much the sooner dry than other places neither could the Waters fall with so great force upon them as upon the plain and level Country because their journy of descent is comparatively so small which the longer it is so much the greater is the weight of the descending body so that if what I have offered above concerning the Waters hardening rather than softening the Earth may be admitted it will hold also here though in a less proportion and if it will not as I think there is no reason why it should be rejected then whatever force there was in the Waters on the Level for the destruction and overthrow of all Trees or other obstacles that they met with in their way was for the reasons just now mentioned infinitely less upon the tops of Mountains besides that when it said Gen. 8. 1. That God made a Wind to pass upon the Earth and the Waters asswaged this Wind as it must be acknowledged by its determination one way to have destroyed the equality of the lateral pressure of the Waters and as such to have been a natural cause of overturning every thing that came in its way so it had probably but little force upon the tops of Mountains the Wind it self being occasioned by those Watery exhalations which were first exhaled from the top of the watry surface and by consequence made the depth less to the Fathom of the Mountains themselves and left that Wind less force to act upon them for the Floud never rose higher than Fifteen Cubits above the tops of the highest Mountains and it is probable did not continue long at that high Water mark so that that which was a prodigious Deluge in respect of the whole Earth was little more than an ordinary Floud in respect of the highest Mountains and particularly those of
of Water and great Rains descended from above as also great Rivers or currents from the higher Grounds and the Sea overflowed its banks till all things were covered and immerst in Water and all that Generation was destroyed The same character of a Good and Virtuous person which Ovid and Lucian have given of Deucalion is likewise allow'd him by Apollonius the writer of the Argonauticks who gives him the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and says other things concerning him which do sufficiently show that Epithet to have been his due l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where wen he says that Deucalion was the first that built Cities and Temples and that he was the first Monarch this must be understood of the Period after the Floud for there were Kings and Cities and the true God to say nothing of Idolatry was Worshipped by Adam by Cain and Abel by Seth and Enos and others before it but all that Period though it were not utterly forgotten by the Greeks yet it shall be very clear before I have done that they had but a very obscure remembrance of it Plato in his description of the many Flouds which from time to time were supposed by the Greeks Anciently to have happened affirms every Floud to have wiped away the memory of all things that were before it there being only left a few v. Plat. in Critiâ p. 1100 1101. in l. 3. de leg statimi ab initio Euseb ex Platone praep Evang l. 12. c. 15. Mountainous and Barbarous People ignorant of all things even before the Floud and so taken up with the cares and the necessities of life after it that they had no time to look back into former Ages nor any means to preserve those few Traditions which were left among them and this he makes to be the reason why Arts and Sciences had made so small a progress in his time and why the History of former Ages extended to no higher Antiquity than it did but herein was Plato manifestly deceived that he did not perceive at this rate if only the Inhabitants of Mountains or those that could get thither upon the surprise of a Floud coming upon them escaped that very many Species of Animals must have perished being bred and overtaken by the Floud in the Plains below so that unless we suppose the Earth after every Deluge to have been so prolifick that it could produce all the several species anew which yet as absurd as it is I perceive Plato sometimes to have done and then there would be no need to salve the credit of an universal Deluge for any to be saved upon the tops of Mountains since mankind and all other Species might by this expedient be repaired without it there is no other way to Salve it but by supposing such an Ark or Ship as the Scripture and from thence several profane Authors have done whether some of each Species might betake themselves and be reserved for the replenishing a new World and therefore when Lucian who speaks expresly of the Ark and of all the several Species entring into it speaks afterwards of a Tradition as if Men in the time of Deucalions Floud had saved themselves upon the tops of Mountains and upon the top Branches of the tallest Trees where if they could be saved from the Deluge they would have been sure to have starved with hunger he subjoyns immediately 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ib. p. 899. these things are altogether incredible to me But yet notwithstanding thus much of Plato is agreeable to truth that after any such universal Deluge and by consequence after that of Noah too partly for want of any standing Monuments to preserve Tradition and partly by reason those that escaped must needs be wholly taken up in the cares and necessary incumbrances of Life which must needs lie heavy upon them where there are so few though in a world well Peopled there are many that have plenty and ease that the memory of the Antidiluvian persons and things must be almost utterly extinct and that the Tradition concerning them must needs be very uncertain and obscure and therefore it is no wonder to find Deucalion that is indeed Noah though Apollonius speaks of him as a Native of Thessaly according to the usual vanity of the Greeks who ascribed all these things to themselves represented as the first person that built Cities and Altars the first head of civil society and inventour of Political Administration that is he was the first that was so after the Floud of which Period the Greeks had a more certain and particular knowledge than of that before it though at other times we find some little sparks and strictures among them even of the Antidiluvian interval likewise Further though Plato were mistaken as to the manner of the preservation of Mankind from the Floud and though he is very uncertain as to the number of those universal Flouds that had hapened before his time for one while he says accoâ—dâ—ng to Antient Tradition according to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Leg. l. 3. init 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that many such universal calamities had happened to mankind by Deluges and Plagues wherein a very small and inconsiderable remnant escaped to repair the loss and propagate themselves to after Ages another while he is very particular and precise in the business and tells us Deucalions was the Fourth such universal Deluge that had happened 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Critiâ p. 1102. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being Three other fatal Deluges before that of Deucalion And at others he seems inclinable to believe that Mankind and the World had no beginning at all so that these things might very well have happened though at a good distance from one another yet a prodigious number of times for so he speaks in the Person of an Athenian whom he introduces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. b. De Leg. p. 875. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that it becomes every Man to know that either Mankind had never any beginning nor shall have end or at least that its Original is at so vast a distance that it is impossible to trace it to its first beginning Yet notwithstanding all this strange variety there is in the midest of it still a constant acknowledgment of such a thing as an universal Deluge and that not founded only upon Fancy or Opinion or Philosophical conjecture but upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon Ancient Tradition which if you compare with these Two things First the improbability if not utter impossibility of Plato's expedient to Salve and account for the reparation of Mankind and of all other Animals after such an universal Deluge and Secondly if you consider that even in Plato himself there is no Historical certainty no particular account of any universal Deluge
with a fresh and Strugling Light according as the Tallow ascending too powerfully into the Wick is too hard for the Aetherial matter or as that Aetherial matter very nigh extinguisht and expelled returns with new force and by attenuating and rarifying that Floud of moysture turns it into nourishment and fewel for the Flame instead of destroying and oppressing it as before At other times those Ancient Writers assigned the Original of all things as well Gods as Men and all other Animated concretions and substances whatever not to the Chaos at large but to the Moist and Watery part of it as the Scripture makes the first separation of the disordered and confused parts of the Mass and the first vital impressions communicated to the matter to have happened from the Spirit v. Intell. Syst p. 123 124. of Gods moving upon the face of the Waters whence Thales and after him Anaxagoras derived their opinion who affirmed the first principle of all things to have been Water Animated and Enlivened by a Mind or Soul running through and coextended to it and to this we must refer that Verse of Homer which hath been already produced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Upon which place the Scholiast makes this observation that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father of the Gods. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because some Physiologers have represented Water as the First Element from which the other Three were derived whence Pindar said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Water was the best as being the First of all things This was the true reason why Venus who is by the Greeks upon that account called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was supposed to be born of the Spume of the Sea for by Venus nothing else was meant but the prolifick Life and Power of the Universe which by these Antient Physiologers was supposed to arise out of the Watery substance or the Fluid matter which they looked upon to be the first source and principle of Generation and Vegetation in the World and so also Priapus whose excessive great Pudendum was but an Emblem of the plastick Virtue or Generative power of Nature was not only worshipped in Fields and Gardens whence I have conjectured his Etymology to be pri ab the Father of Fruits as all the productions of Nature may in some sense be called which I take to be much more Natural than those Etymologies which the Scholiast upon Theocritus hath presented us withal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both which are manifestly very frigid and farfecht Interpretations but also in Ports and by the Sea side whence by the Greek Epigrammatists he had the Epithets given him of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and v. Dempster in Rosin l. 2. c. 20. ut Voss de Idolol l. 2. c. 7. Nat. Com. l. 5. c. 20. p. 521. fuit Portus Priapi nomine propè Dardaniam urbs ad mare sita quibus in locis eximiè Priapus celebratur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the like examples of which have been collected out of the Anthology by Dempster upon Rosinus which was but another Hieroglyphick adumbration of this Ancient Tradition that all things did at first arise and spring from the Water Further yet Venus who at some times was said to be born out of the Water and for that reason was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was at others affirmed to have been born at Cyprus and from thence had the Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Jupiter was fabled to be born at Crete and Apollo at Delos all Three of them Islands encompassed by and as it were rising out of the Water which was but another Emblematical representation of the same thing that Venus or the prolifick Nature was born of the Moist and Watery Substance or that all things sprang from thence and that Apollo and Jupiter by both of which the Sun is understood or the Aetherial matter of the Heavens were made what they are by the separation of those subtle particles of which they consist from the Moist and Watery Substance of the Abyss or Chaos which was overwhelmed with Waters and for the same reason Priapus whom I have affirmed to be another Emblem of the Prolifick power of Nature and thence it was that an Ass was used to be Sacrificed to him as being furnished with Genitals of a more than ordinary size was said to have been born at Lampsacus or Lampsacum on the bank of the Hellespont and by the Waters side but for Priapus being the Son of Bacchus and Venus which is another thing that Nat. Com. ubi suprà Alii Priapum Bachi Veneris filium fuisse crediderunt quia vinum propter calorem excitet libidinem is Fabled concerning him nothing else is meant by it but that Concupisence is provoked by Wine This notion seems somewhat to be favoured by Macrobius though the sense of his words be not altogether the same where speaking of Apollo and Diana who were both of them by the Poets feigned to be born at Delos he says proptereà in insulâ Macrob. Saturn l. 1. c. 17. dicuntur nati quod ex mari nobis oriri videntur that is Apollo and Diana or the Sun and Moon are therefore said to have been born in an Island because they seem to sense to rise out of the Sea but as for what follows though it be ingenious Macrob. ubi suprà yet I cannot altogether acquiesce in it Haec insula ideo Delos vocatur quia ortus quasi partus luminum omnia facit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est aperta clarescere much less can Lloyd Lex Georg. Poet. p. 354. 2. in voce I satisfie my self with the reason given by others that Delos was Sic dicta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod cùm antà mari tecta esset Latonae locum ad pariendum quaerenti repentè se ostenderit nor with Bochartus his account neither who would have it be from the Syriack Dachal Timor for this far fetcht reason because there is a Poet that tells us though that Poet himself or at least the person whom he represents were mightily mistaken that Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor But the true meaning of Delos is this Delos is truly and properly the Sun it self for this is properly the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek it is titio torris lampas to which sort of things the Sun and Moon by reason of their bright and shining Nature were Anciently compared and like to this it is that the Sun Moon and Stars in the first of Genesis are called Meoroth Luminaria or Lucernae Lights or Lamps as the same word is plainly used Exod. 25. 6. and c. 35. 8. they being compared metaphorically to Candles or Lamps because of their shining and enlightning Nature and from hence it
terminated on all sides by an Angle or an Edge and so also Acumen has not only its proper and first Sense to signifie a material Edge or sharpness but also its Metaphorical or Derivative to denote the intellectual quickness or sharpness of the Mind by which it do's as it were cut its way through the greatest difficulties and abstrucsities of Nature and overtake by a swift an easie and a steady slight those Things and Notions that are the most coy and loath to be discovered or that escape and baffle the pursuit of common Apprehensions by too great distance or too nimble flight Lastly To shew the Analogy of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this sense which I have explained it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the same way of derivation is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as to say the Region of Rain whence also Orion was feighned to have his Name as being the cause of Tempests and particularly of great Flouds and Inundations which by the Poets was variously signified under the covert of Fables and thence also the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Julius Pollux are the same with what Physicians and Anatomists otherwise call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this Etymology to any Man that shall consider it is certainly preferrable to any other that hath hitherto been started as may be seen by comparing the Etymologies of St. Ambrose Aristotle and Philo which may be found in any Lexicon together with this not that I would confine the signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Region of the Atmosphere within which compass the Clouds and Rain are contained but it is enough that the most remote Antiquity looked upon the Clouds as at a far greater distance than we do and therefore the Psalmist makes the Clouds to be as it were the more peculiar and Beatifical Seat of him who is Omnipresent which is otherwise usually confined to the highest and most exalted Regions of the Aether when he affirms of God as he do's sometimes that he maketh the Clouds his Chariot and that he rideth upon the Wings of the Wind or else it might happen that the whole Aether might be call'd by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the Ancient Mortals that first call'd it by this Name did not understand the Philosophy of Exhalations but thought all Rain was dispensed from the Treasury of Waters above the Firmament as it is called in the First of Genesis not according to the truth and reality of Things but according to vulgar Opinion with which the Language of the Scripture though of divine Inspiration do's not disdain sometimes in pity to human Infirmity to comply as where it intimates the Earth to stand still the Moon to be a great Light and the â—â—ixt Stars comparatively little but if we Translate the Hebrew Rakiah not by Firmamentum as the vulgar Latin hath done by a false Translation of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Region of the Stars but only by expansum a seeming empty space in which we walk and breath in this sublunary Region it will not imply that there is indeed any such celestial Treasury of Water beyond the Atmosphere or the Region of the Clouds This Notion of Thetis being nothing else but the Tohu or Vniversal Mass besides what hath been already produced to that purpose will receive further confirmation by reflecting a little upon the meaning and derivation of these three words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Titan and Tithonus I begin with the First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word which occurs in Homer Il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 747. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the Old Scholiast interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so also Eustathius upon the same place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are to understand a certain sort of Oyster for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the Earth and Shell Fish by reason of the hardness of that Shell wherewith they are incompassed are of a more earthy Nature than any other sort of Fish a a a so Suidas expresly interprets it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever but it had been better to derive it from a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its double capacity as it signifies both a Earth and a Water because by reason of the hardness of their Shell and the softness or fluidity of their inward Pulp and Substance and of their living in and being nourish'd by the Water they are of a middle Nature betwixt these two which was the Case of the Tohu or Primigenial Mass called by Hesychius with a very little alteration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so he expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a sort of Oyster or Shell Fish and it is also the Slime or Dirt which Rivers in their Course throw off upon their Banks which is as exactly as can be the signification of the Hebrew Tohu which was a thin substance of Earth and Water together and this is a further confirmation that by Tethys in the Mythology of the Ancients the Vniversal or Primigenial Mass was denoted and likewise explains the reason of those Expositions which we find in Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and presently after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they taking their signification from the Tohu or Primigenial Mass which was the Mother or Grandmother and First Parent of all Things and an Aunt is so like a Mother so nearly related by Blood and usually by Affection and by all Offices of Parental kindness that it is no wonder to find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so very little different in their Signification and the same may be said of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are all of them owing to the same Root the Earth or Globe of Earth and Water in which all sublunary Animals are bred and nourish'd being truly stiled the Nurse as well as Parent of all her productions and the Analogy of Tithene comes nigh to that of Tithonus of which I shall speak in the third place But Secondly The word Titan also being from the same Root of Thoth or Tohu is another confirmation of the truth of what I have said concerning Thetis that by her was signified the Tohu or the Vniversal and Primigenial Mass for all these Names being probably derived from the same Root and answering so well as they do in their History to the same Etymology give natural strength and confirmation to each other Titan signifies properly a Son of the Earth or of the Tohu and so the Sun is called in the first place according to that of Ovid in his Metamorphoses Nnllus adhuc mundo praebebat lumina Titan. And in Juvenal Prometheus