DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9260#0217
18a P.OVIDII METAMOR-
and Neptune had a Right to name the City; that the
People and the Senate, being aflembled , decided in
favour of the Goddefs and this , he fays , was the
Circumitance that gave rife to the Fable. According
to fome Authors, that Fiction has no other Foundation
than the Change which Cranaiis made, in giving his
Capital the Name of Athens , after his Daughter,
inftead of that of Tofidonius'., the Name of Neptune,
which it had before: And as the Areopagus authorized
that Change , it was fabled that Neptune had been
overcome by the Judgment of the Gods.
The Jefuit, Father Tournemine, feems, to me, to
have comprehended the Senfe of this Fable the belt
of any one. In the Memoires de Trevoux, for the
Month of January .1708. he fays that the ancient
People of Attica^ the Pofterity of Ccthin, were fierce
and Savage, had no Habitations but Caves, and ap-
plyed themfelves to nothing but Hunting : That the
Pelasgians, becoming Matters of their Country, taught
them Navigation, and then made them Pirates. That
Cccrops,* originally from Sais in Egypt ^ conducted
a Colony into Attica aboliftied the barbarous
Manners and Cuftoms of that People > and fhewed them
how to cultivate the Earth and raife Olive Trees, for
which the Soil was found very proper: He alfo taught
them the Worfhip of Minerva , who was called
Athena, a Goddefs highly honoured at Saist and to
whom the Olive Tree was dedicated. The Athenians
afterwards regarded that Divinity as the Patronefs of
their City, which they called after her Name. Athens
became famous for the Excellency of its Oil; and the
Profit which the Inhabitants drew from it, made them
endeavour to wean the People from Piracy that they
might apply themfelves entirely to Agriculture and
Husbandry. To fucceed in it, they compofed a Fable
(the Way of propofing any thing to the People in
thofe Days) in which Neptune was faid to be over-
come by Minerva, who, even in the Judgment of the
Twelve great Gods, had found out fomething more
ufeful than He. That Fable was compofed in the
ancient Language of the Country , which was the
Phrygian, mixed with a great many Phoenician Words;
and as in thole Two Languages the fame Word figni-
fies either a Horfe or a Ship, Thofe who interpreted
the Fable , took that Word in the former fignifica-
tion and fpoke of a Horfe inftead of a Ship which
was the Emblem of the Fiction, whofe principal Defign
was to turn the People from Piracy. Without that
Mistake, adds the learned Jefuit , would they have
given the Name of Ippius to Neptune , and would
they have made a Horfeman of the God of the Sea ?
Thefe are Father Tourncmine's Sentiments ; but if
they arc not fatisfactory, we may fay, in a Word,
with Voflius, that the Fable had its beginning from
a Dispute between the Sailors who acknowledged
Neptune for their Chief, and the People who fol-
lowed the Senate,governed by Minerva. The People
prevailed, having the Areopagus on their Side, and
a Country Life was preferr'd to Piracy; which gave
Occallon to fay that Minerva had overcome Nep-
tune.
III. Arachne, for her part, draws in her Web
feveral Mctamorphofes of the Gods, which teaching
us nothing very particular, ought to be explained by
the Principle I am going to eftablifh, and which may
ferve as a Key to a Thoufand other Fictions of the
like nature.
Anciently not only the People but even Kings them-
felves were very rude and unpoliflied. Hie want of
Education, and, much more, of the Principles of a
good Morality had made them equally ignorant and
fierce. When a King had demanded any Princefs in
Marriage and met with a Refufal, his immediate Re-
courfe was to Arms, to obtain her by Force. His
Standards and his Ships carried Figures which de-
clared their Mafter > and his Enfigns were either of
Beafts, or Birds, or elfe fome Monfter of a fantaftick
uncommon Form. This Obfervation has no need of
any proof we find thofe Reprefentations on Monu-
P.OVID'S METAMOR-
mention Medals, and on Coins. The Perfons who
defcrib'd Expeditions of that fort, inftead of faying
that fuch a Prince had carried away on board his Ship,
or taken by force of Arms fome Princefs whom he
loved, publifhed that he had changed himfelf into a
Bull, a Lyon, an Eagle, dec. If we alfo add that the
Kings in thofe Days were frequently called Jupiter,
Apollo, Neptune &c. and that the Priefts of thofe
Gods' very often fucceeded in their Gallantries by af-
fuming the Names of the Divinities whom they ferved,
we mail not be at much trouble to know what the
Poets mean in telling us of the Metamorphofes of the
Gods , and afcribing to them fo great a number of
Children. Palefatus (3) gives another Explication of
thefe Transformations, but, in the main, it does not
differ from what I havejuft faid. That Author prctendsv
that the Origine of them comes from the Figures or
different Animals which were engraved on the Coins
of thofe remote Ages , and that when Money was
given to gain or feduce a Miftrefs, it was afterwards
laid that the Lover himfelf had taken the Figure on
the Coin with which he had corrupted her.
IV. Amongft the Fables which Arachne and Mi*
nerva reprefent in their Works , that of Pygas gives
me Occafion to enlarge a little upon the Pygmies of
whom Hie was Queen. Homer is the firft who has
made mention of thofe little People. That Poet (4)
fpeaking of the Tumult and Noife which the Trojans
made when ready to give Battle , exprefles himfelf
thus: „ The Trojans advanced with a confufed Noife
„ and piercing Cries like Birds : And fuch as the
„ Cranes make under the Canopy of Heaven, when,
„ flying from the Winter and the Northern Rains,
„ they wing their Courfe with loud Cries towards the
„ Border of the Ocean, and carry Terror and Death to
,, the Pygmiesjupon whom they come foucing down from
„ the middle of the Air". Homer has been followed
by almoft all the other Poets , amongft whom it is
fufficient to mention Hefiod, Virgil, Ovid, Statius, and
Claudian. What is moft particular in this Fable, is
that the Hiftorians , Geographers and Naturalifts
fpeak of it as the Poets have done. Each of them has
endeavoured to find out the Country of the Pygmies,
and to give the Hiftory of it. Some, amongft whom
was Ariftotle, have placed them in (^Ethiopia} Pliny,
Solinus and Philoftratus, in India near the Source of
the Ganges j others , in fine , in Scythia on the
Banks of the ^Danube. All allow them but a Cubit
that is a Foot and a Half in Height, or thereabouts >
as if Nature, which preferves a Kind of Proportion
fo well contrived in all her Works, had contradicted
herfelf fo much upon this Occafion. All agree like-
wife that the Pygmies made War on the Cranes, de-'
ftroying their Eggs and their Young, and that they
had very often the Disadvantage in their Battles with
therri.
The Moderns have had very particular Notions
concerning the Pygmies. Olaus Magnus looks upon
the Samoyedes and the Laplanders to be the true Pyg-
mies of Homer. Gesner and feveral others think that
fome little Men who have been found in Lufatia
and Thuring gave rife to that Fable. Albert the
Great imagines that the Pygmies were the Monkeys
which were found in Africa, and which very much
relembled little Men. Paracelflis ranks them in the
Order of Nymphs, Sylphs and Salamanders. Bartho-
linus and the Jefuit Schottus embrace, upon this Sub-
ject, almoft all the Fables of the Ancients. But no
Man has had a more fingular Opinion concerning the
Pygmies than Vander Hart a learned German, who
has publifhed a pretty large Treatife upon that Sub-
ject; (j). If we believe him the Fable takes its Ori-
gine from a War between Two Cities in Greece, ^Pa-
ga and Gerania , whofe Names are fo like thole of
the Pygmies and the Cranes.
„ Homer, fays he, in alluding to that War carries
„ the
(3) De Incred. (4") Iliad. Lib III.
($) HermanniVander Hart dttetla Mytbologia Grit*
curnm de Pygtrneis. Lipjits 1714.
and Neptune had a Right to name the City; that the
People and the Senate, being aflembled , decided in
favour of the Goddefs and this , he fays , was the
Circumitance that gave rife to the Fable. According
to fome Authors, that Fiction has no other Foundation
than the Change which Cranaiis made, in giving his
Capital the Name of Athens , after his Daughter,
inftead of that of Tofidonius'., the Name of Neptune,
which it had before: And as the Areopagus authorized
that Change , it was fabled that Neptune had been
overcome by the Judgment of the Gods.
The Jefuit, Father Tournemine, feems, to me, to
have comprehended the Senfe of this Fable the belt
of any one. In the Memoires de Trevoux, for the
Month of January .1708. he fays that the ancient
People of Attica^ the Pofterity of Ccthin, were fierce
and Savage, had no Habitations but Caves, and ap-
plyed themfelves to nothing but Hunting : That the
Pelasgians, becoming Matters of their Country, taught
them Navigation, and then made them Pirates. That
Cccrops,* originally from Sais in Egypt ^ conducted
a Colony into Attica aboliftied the barbarous
Manners and Cuftoms of that People > and fhewed them
how to cultivate the Earth and raife Olive Trees, for
which the Soil was found very proper: He alfo taught
them the Worfhip of Minerva , who was called
Athena, a Goddefs highly honoured at Saist and to
whom the Olive Tree was dedicated. The Athenians
afterwards regarded that Divinity as the Patronefs of
their City, which they called after her Name. Athens
became famous for the Excellency of its Oil; and the
Profit which the Inhabitants drew from it, made them
endeavour to wean the People from Piracy that they
might apply themfelves entirely to Agriculture and
Husbandry. To fucceed in it, they compofed a Fable
(the Way of propofing any thing to the People in
thofe Days) in which Neptune was faid to be over-
come by Minerva, who, even in the Judgment of the
Twelve great Gods, had found out fomething more
ufeful than He. That Fable was compofed in the
ancient Language of the Country , which was the
Phrygian, mixed with a great many Phoenician Words;
and as in thole Two Languages the fame Word figni-
fies either a Horfe or a Ship, Thofe who interpreted
the Fable , took that Word in the former fignifica-
tion and fpoke of a Horfe inftead of a Ship which
was the Emblem of the Fiction, whofe principal Defign
was to turn the People from Piracy. Without that
Mistake, adds the learned Jefuit , would they have
given the Name of Ippius to Neptune , and would
they have made a Horfeman of the God of the Sea ?
Thefe are Father Tourncmine's Sentiments ; but if
they arc not fatisfactory, we may fay, in a Word,
with Voflius, that the Fable had its beginning from
a Dispute between the Sailors who acknowledged
Neptune for their Chief, and the People who fol-
lowed the Senate,governed by Minerva. The People
prevailed, having the Areopagus on their Side, and
a Country Life was preferr'd to Piracy; which gave
Occallon to fay that Minerva had overcome Nep-
tune.
III. Arachne, for her part, draws in her Web
feveral Mctamorphofes of the Gods, which teaching
us nothing very particular, ought to be explained by
the Principle I am going to eftablifh, and which may
ferve as a Key to a Thoufand other Fictions of the
like nature.
Anciently not only the People but even Kings them-
felves were very rude and unpoliflied. Hie want of
Education, and, much more, of the Principles of a
good Morality had made them equally ignorant and
fierce. When a King had demanded any Princefs in
Marriage and met with a Refufal, his immediate Re-
courfe was to Arms, to obtain her by Force. His
Standards and his Ships carried Figures which de-
clared their Mafter > and his Enfigns were either of
Beafts, or Birds, or elfe fome Monfter of a fantaftick
uncommon Form. This Obfervation has no need of
any proof we find thofe Reprefentations on Monu-
P.OVID'S METAMOR-
mention Medals, and on Coins. The Perfons who
defcrib'd Expeditions of that fort, inftead of faying
that fuch a Prince had carried away on board his Ship,
or taken by force of Arms fome Princefs whom he
loved, publifhed that he had changed himfelf into a
Bull, a Lyon, an Eagle, dec. If we alfo add that the
Kings in thofe Days were frequently called Jupiter,
Apollo, Neptune &c. and that the Priefts of thofe
Gods' very often fucceeded in their Gallantries by af-
fuming the Names of the Divinities whom they ferved,
we mail not be at much trouble to know what the
Poets mean in telling us of the Metamorphofes of the
Gods , and afcribing to them fo great a number of
Children. Palefatus (3) gives another Explication of
thefe Transformations, but, in the main, it does not
differ from what I havejuft faid. That Author prctendsv
that the Origine of them comes from the Figures or
different Animals which were engraved on the Coins
of thofe remote Ages , and that when Money was
given to gain or feduce a Miftrefs, it was afterwards
laid that the Lover himfelf had taken the Figure on
the Coin with which he had corrupted her.
IV. Amongft the Fables which Arachne and Mi*
nerva reprefent in their Works , that of Pygas gives
me Occafion to enlarge a little upon the Pygmies of
whom Hie was Queen. Homer is the firft who has
made mention of thofe little People. That Poet (4)
fpeaking of the Tumult and Noife which the Trojans
made when ready to give Battle , exprefles himfelf
thus: „ The Trojans advanced with a confufed Noife
„ and piercing Cries like Birds : And fuch as the
„ Cranes make under the Canopy of Heaven, when,
„ flying from the Winter and the Northern Rains,
„ they wing their Courfe with loud Cries towards the
„ Border of the Ocean, and carry Terror and Death to
,, the Pygmiesjupon whom they come foucing down from
„ the middle of the Air". Homer has been followed
by almoft all the other Poets , amongft whom it is
fufficient to mention Hefiod, Virgil, Ovid, Statius, and
Claudian. What is moft particular in this Fable, is
that the Hiftorians , Geographers and Naturalifts
fpeak of it as the Poets have done. Each of them has
endeavoured to find out the Country of the Pygmies,
and to give the Hiftory of it. Some, amongft whom
was Ariftotle, have placed them in (^Ethiopia} Pliny,
Solinus and Philoftratus, in India near the Source of
the Ganges j others , in fine , in Scythia on the
Banks of the ^Danube. All allow them but a Cubit
that is a Foot and a Half in Height, or thereabouts >
as if Nature, which preferves a Kind of Proportion
fo well contrived in all her Works, had contradicted
herfelf fo much upon this Occafion. All agree like-
wife that the Pygmies made War on the Cranes, de-'
ftroying their Eggs and their Young, and that they
had very often the Disadvantage in their Battles with
therri.
The Moderns have had very particular Notions
concerning the Pygmies. Olaus Magnus looks upon
the Samoyedes and the Laplanders to be the true Pyg-
mies of Homer. Gesner and feveral others think that
fome little Men who have been found in Lufatia
and Thuring gave rife to that Fable. Albert the
Great imagines that the Pygmies were the Monkeys
which were found in Africa, and which very much
relembled little Men. Paracelflis ranks them in the
Order of Nymphs, Sylphs and Salamanders. Bartho-
linus and the Jefuit Schottus embrace, upon this Sub-
ject, almoft all the Fables of the Ancients. But no
Man has had a more fingular Opinion concerning the
Pygmies than Vander Hart a learned German, who
has publifhed a pretty large Treatife upon that Sub-
ject; (j). If we believe him the Fable takes its Ori-
gine from a War between Two Cities in Greece, ^Pa-
ga and Gerania , whofe Names are fo like thole of
the Pygmies and the Cranes.
„ Homer, fays he, in alluding to that War carries
„ the
(3) De Incred. (4") Iliad. Lib III.
($) HermanniVander Hart dttetla Mytbologia Grit*
curnm de Pygtrneis. Lipjits 1714.