DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9260#0201
P.OVID'S METAMOR-
that was the reafon why it was faid that Ceres came
from Sicily to Athens. It was added that her Daugh-
ter had been taken away , becaufe Corn and Fruit,
which her Name fignifies, as I have already obferved,
had not been produced, for fome time , in lufticient
Quantity to furnifli Food for the People. It was alfo
further added that Pluto carried her down to Hell, be-
came the Grain and Fruit remained at that time, as
it were, buried in the Center of the Earth. At laft it
was faid that Jupiter had decided the Difference between
Ceres and Pluto , becaufe the Earth was then feen
cover'd again with new Crops. This was the Foun-
dation of chat Fable, and the Introduction of the My-
fteries of Ceres into Greece. Some famous Poet whole
Name is defaced in the XIV. Epoch of the Arundelian
Marbles, celebrated that Event in a Poem , as that
Epoch relates, and it is neceffary to obferve, i.That
this Poem , which, without doubt Ovid had feen, was
compofed Ten Years after the Arrival of Ceres. 2. That
the Author of the Chronicle of thofe Marbles , treats
the Rape of Proferpine, the Search which Ceres made
for her Daughter, and the other Circumftances which
have been thrown into that Event all as Fables: Which,
without doubt , is as much as to fay that the Poet,
whom we are fpeaking of in this Place, had extremely
disguifed the Hiftory oftheTranllation of the Worfhip
of Ceres into Attica. If, neverthelefs, there are learned
Men who are fond of fuftaining their Ceres, we may,
to fatisfy them, fuppofe that this Queen of Sicily having
loft her Daughter and going into Attica to look for her,
taught Triptolemus the Myfteries of Ifis, and that the
Greeks having, in procefs of Time, inrolled Ceres her
felf, in the Catalogue of their Divinities, her Worfliip
became confounded with that of Ifis.
m
F a b. VIII. and IX. Afcalaphus changed into an Owl, and the
Sirens into Birds.
166 P. OVIDII METAMOR-
Worfliip with which flie was adored a little time after
her Death. But, notwkhftanding thefe Authorities,
I am perfwaded that we mult not look in Greece for
any other Ceres than the Ifis of the Egyptians, nor any
other Myfteries than thofe of that Goddefs. It is too
well known, for any Doubt to be made of it, that al-
moft all the Grecian Gods and their Worfliip were
brought from the Eallern Countries , and principally
Egypt, along with thofe Colonies which peopled Greece
at different Times; and if there are any, whofe Trans-
migrations are certain, they are Bacchus or Oliris, and
Ceres or Ifis. Here then is what has given rile to the
prefent Fable. Greece was afllifted with a great Famine
in the Reign of Erechtheus, as we learn from Diodorus
Siculus (1 2). Ovid even gives a long and rineDefcrip-
tion of that Famine. The Athenians, whofe Country
was not very fertile, felt it more than their Neighbours,
and Erechthcus was obliged to fend to Egypt lor Conij
Thofe who went for it, brought home, along with the
Grain they had bought there, the Worfliip and Cere-
monies of that Divinity which prefided over Agriculture.
The Evil that the Athenians had fuffered by that
Famine, and the Dread they had of falling again under
the like Calamity, made them unanimoufly embrace
the Myfteries and Rites of a Goddefs, whom they be-
lieved able to protect them from it. Triptolemus em-
braced that Worfliip at the fame time in Eleufis s he
would even be the Firft Pncft, himfelf, of Ceres or
Ifis and, finding every thing in Abundance about him,
he took particular Care, in ailifting his Neighbours with
part of his Plenty, to teach them thofe Myfteries which
he himfelf had juft learned. Sicily had , fometime
before, received the Myfteries of that Divinity, and
(12) Lib. I.
THE ARGUMENT.
Ceres makes a fruitlefs Search for her Daughter over the whole Earth,
until
that was the reafon why it was faid that Ceres came
from Sicily to Athens. It was added that her Daugh-
ter had been taken away , becaufe Corn and Fruit,
which her Name fignifies, as I have already obferved,
had not been produced, for fome time , in lufticient
Quantity to furnifli Food for the People. It was alfo
further added that Pluto carried her down to Hell, be-
came the Grain and Fruit remained at that time, as
it were, buried in the Center of the Earth. At laft it
was faid that Jupiter had decided the Difference between
Ceres and Pluto , becaufe the Earth was then feen
cover'd again with new Crops. This was the Foun-
dation of chat Fable, and the Introduction of the My-
fteries of Ceres into Greece. Some famous Poet whole
Name is defaced in the XIV. Epoch of the Arundelian
Marbles, celebrated that Event in a Poem , as that
Epoch relates, and it is neceffary to obferve, i.That
this Poem , which, without doubt Ovid had feen, was
compofed Ten Years after the Arrival of Ceres. 2. That
the Author of the Chronicle of thofe Marbles , treats
the Rape of Proferpine, the Search which Ceres made
for her Daughter, and the other Circumftances which
have been thrown into that Event all as Fables: Which,
without doubt , is as much as to fay that the Poet,
whom we are fpeaking of in this Place, had extremely
disguifed the Hiftory oftheTranllation of the Worfhip
of Ceres into Attica. If, neverthelefs, there are learned
Men who are fond of fuftaining their Ceres, we may,
to fatisfy them, fuppofe that this Queen of Sicily having
loft her Daughter and going into Attica to look for her,
taught Triptolemus the Myfteries of Ifis, and that the
Greeks having, in procefs of Time, inrolled Ceres her
felf, in the Catalogue of their Divinities, her Worfliip
became confounded with that of Ifis.
m
F a b. VIII. and IX. Afcalaphus changed into an Owl, and the
Sirens into Birds.
166 P. OVIDII METAMOR-
Worfliip with which flie was adored a little time after
her Death. But, notwkhftanding thefe Authorities,
I am perfwaded that we mult not look in Greece for
any other Ceres than the Ifis of the Egyptians, nor any
other Myfteries than thofe of that Goddefs. It is too
well known, for any Doubt to be made of it, that al-
moft all the Grecian Gods and their Worfliip were
brought from the Eallern Countries , and principally
Egypt, along with thofe Colonies which peopled Greece
at different Times; and if there are any, whofe Trans-
migrations are certain, they are Bacchus or Oliris, and
Ceres or Ifis. Here then is what has given rile to the
prefent Fable. Greece was afllifted with a great Famine
in the Reign of Erechtheus, as we learn from Diodorus
Siculus (1 2). Ovid even gives a long and rineDefcrip-
tion of that Famine. The Athenians, whofe Country
was not very fertile, felt it more than their Neighbours,
and Erechthcus was obliged to fend to Egypt lor Conij
Thofe who went for it, brought home, along with the
Grain they had bought there, the Worfliip and Cere-
monies of that Divinity which prefided over Agriculture.
The Evil that the Athenians had fuffered by that
Famine, and the Dread they had of falling again under
the like Calamity, made them unanimoufly embrace
the Myfteries and Rites of a Goddefs, whom they be-
lieved able to protect them from it. Triptolemus em-
braced that Worfliip at the fame time in Eleufis s he
would even be the Firft Pncft, himfelf, of Ceres or
Ifis and, finding every thing in Abundance about him,
he took particular Care, in ailifting his Neighbours with
part of his Plenty, to teach them thofe Myfteries which
he himfelf had juft learned. Sicily had , fometime
before, received the Myfteries of that Divinity, and
(12) Lib. I.
THE ARGUMENT.
Ceres makes a fruitlefs Search for her Daughter over the whole Earth,
until