Falkener, Edward: Ephesus and the temple of Diana (London, 1862)

THE CONTENTS OF THE TEMPLE. 293

the human form. He then rose suddenly, and
went to purify himself by washing in the sea,
plunging his head seven times in the water, in
accordance with the doctrine of Pythagoras, who
teaches that number to be the most suitable for
religious actions : then full of joy and hope, he
made the following prayer to the goddess, his
eyes suffused with tears:—'Queen of heaven!
whosoever thou art! whether thou be the beneficent
Ceres, mother of corn, who, in the effects of joy
which thou feltest for the recovery of thy daughter,
relieved men from the ancient diet of acorns, which
they had in common with wild beasts, giving them
a more gentle nourishment: thou who hast chosen
thine abode in the fields of Eleusis; whether thou
be the heavenly Venus, who in the beginning of
the world having created love, united the two
sexes, and perpetuated the human species; and
who art adored in the sea-girt Temple of Paphos !
whether thou art the sister of Apollo, who by the
assistance which thou givest to pregnant women,
hast caused so many people to enter the world;
and who art adored in the magnificent Temple of
Ephesus ! . . . . Thou! whosoever thou art! who
art the second light in the universe, and by thy
moist rays nourishest plants, and diffusest thy
light sufficiently, according as thou approachest
or recedest from the sun. Great goddess! under
whatever name, under whatever form, and by