DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69192#0057
[ 5 J
every where d. At Carthage he was called Am-
mon ; in Egypt Serapis ; at Athens the Great
Jupiter was the Olympian Jupiter ; and at Rome
the Greatest Jupiter was the Capitoline.
This premised, we (hall proceed to the dif-
ferent characters under which Jupiter was repre-
sented among the Remans : these were chiefly as
follows.
The Capitoline Jupiter was the great
guardian of the Romans, who was, according to
a very early and strong notion among them, to
d There was scarce a town or hamlet in Italy that had not a
Jupiter of their own, with peculiar distindions. Thus, the
Jupiter Anxur, or of Terracina, is represented young and beard-
less, with rays round his head like Apollo, Mont. i. pl. as.
These local deities are very seldom described by the poets, who
seem to have made it a rule to follow the national ideas in repre-
senting a deity. What is here said is applicable to the other
deities, as Juno, Minerva, Apollo, Diana, and the rest 5 each of
whom had a great variety of names, according to the different
charaders ascribed to them. Thus, before the reformation, the
same absurdities were pradised in our country, as they still are
among the catholics. The virgin Mary had (a& she now has in
Italy) in every town, village, church, and chapel, statues with
disferent names and representations, according to the place she
was in, and the charader she bore. Though there was but one
virgin Mary, yet one figure of her was deemed more venerable
than another. Many devout people gave large presents to the
virgin at Winchester, who would have grudged the smallest’ of-
fering to the virgin of Walsingham. Thus the inhabitants of
Rome now go every year to pay their devotions to the statue' of
•^he virgin at Loretto, though they have other statues of her near
their own doors,
give
every where d. At Carthage he was called Am-
mon ; in Egypt Serapis ; at Athens the Great
Jupiter was the Olympian Jupiter ; and at Rome
the Greatest Jupiter was the Capitoline.
This premised, we (hall proceed to the dif-
ferent characters under which Jupiter was repre-
sented among the Remans : these were chiefly as
follows.
The Capitoline Jupiter was the great
guardian of the Romans, who was, according to
a very early and strong notion among them, to
d There was scarce a town or hamlet in Italy that had not a
Jupiter of their own, with peculiar distindions. Thus, the
Jupiter Anxur, or of Terracina, is represented young and beard-
less, with rays round his head like Apollo, Mont. i. pl. as.
These local deities are very seldom described by the poets, who
seem to have made it a rule to follow the national ideas in repre-
senting a deity. What is here said is applicable to the other
deities, as Juno, Minerva, Apollo, Diana, and the rest 5 each of
whom had a great variety of names, according to the different
charaders ascribed to them. Thus, before the reformation, the
same absurdities were pradised in our country, as they still are
among the catholics. The virgin Mary had (a& she now has in
Italy) in every town, village, church, and chapel, statues with
disferent names and representations, according to the place she
was in, and the charader she bore. Though there was but one
virgin Mary, yet one figure of her was deemed more venerable
than another. Many devout people gave large presents to the
virgin at Winchester, who would have grudged the smallest’ of-
fering to the virgin of Walsingham. Thus the inhabitants of
Rome now go every year to pay their devotions to the statue' of
•^he virgin at Loretto, though they have other statues of her near
their own doors,
give