All other Days the Furies quiet reft,
Only on Fifths the Perjur'd they moleft,
Revenging Oreus, Orcus the fure Bane
Of all that dare his Deity profane.

E. D:

Whence Agamemnon fwearing that he had never known Brifeis call'd the Furies to bear witness.

Εριννύες, αἳ θ' ὑπὸ γαῖαν

Ανθρώπες τίνννυται, ὅ, τις κ ̓ ἐπίορκον ομόσσῃ

Th' Infernal Furies I to witness call,

By whose Distractions perjur'd Villains fall.

E. D.

Tho' the Punishment here meant by Homer feems to have been inflicted after Death, becaufe he faith ὑπὸ γαῖαν ανθρώπες &c. or, the Men under the Earth; and that this is the meaning of that Place doth appear from another Oath in Homer, where the Infernal Gods are invok'd after this manner,

α) οἱ υπένερθε καμόντας

Ανθρώπες τίννυσθε ὅ, τις κ' ἐπίσκριν ὁμόσσι

-witnefs, ye Infernal Powers

Who Souls below torment for Breach of Oaths.

E. D.

Yet fome in that Place read nauóvres, and then the meaning of it will be, That the Souls of deceas'd Perfons are employ'd in torturing perjur'd Villains.

In fome Places, even infenfible Creatures were thought to take Revenge for this Crime; for, it was generally believ'd in Arcadia, that no Man could forfwear himself by the Waters of Styx, without undergoing fome fevere and remarkable Punithment: And it is reported of the fubterranean Cavern, facred to Palamon at Corinth, that no perjur'd Perfon could fo much as enter into it, without being made a memorable Example of Divine Juftice. In Sicily, at the Temple of the Palici, in the City Palice, there were certain Crateres, Fonts, or Lakes, (for fo fometimes they are call'd) named Delli, out of which there continually iffued Flames, and Balls of Fire, with boiling and ftinking Water; and thither People us'd to refort from all Quarters for the deciding of Controverfies: If any one fwore falfely near thefe Fonts, he was prefently ftruck either Blind, Lame, or Dead in the Place; or was fwallow'd up, and drowned in the Lakes. But of these, mention has been made before b.

Notwithstanding these, and other Inftauces of the Dixine Displeasure at this Crime, and the Scandal and Infamy of it, yet was it fo much practis'd by the Grecians, that they could never avoid the Imputation

Conf. præter Ariftotelem & Stephanum fupra laudatos, Diodorus Siculus, lib. xi. Macrobius Saturnal, lib. v. cap. xix.

of

of Treachery and Perfidiousness; infomuch that Graca Fides came to be proverbially applied to Men, that were wavering, inconftant, and unfit to be trusted, or relied upon; Plautus, in his Play call'd Afmaria, by Græca fide merçari, means to buy with ready Money, as tho' without that a Grecian was not to be meddled with; his Words are these,

Diem, aquam, Solem, Lunam, noctem, hæc argento non emo,
Cætera, qua
volumus uti, Græca mercamur fide.

I buy not Day, nor Water, nor the Night,
Nor will my Gold the Sun or Moon procure;
All other things, yet first I pay it down,
Right Grecian like, for Money I can have.

E. D.

Tully likewife, in his Oration for Flaccus, fpeaks after the fame manner, "That Nation (fays he) never made any confcience of obferving their "Oaths. And their own Country-man Euripides affirms no less:

Πίστὸν Ελλάς οἶδὲν ἀδέ

No Sparks of Honesty Greece ever had.

And Polybius yet more fully in the fixth Book of his Hiftory," Amongst "the Greeks, (fays he) if you lend only one Talent, and for fecurity "have Ten Bonds, with as many Seals, and double the number of "Witnesses, yet all these Obligations can scarce force them to be ho"neft." Yet Aufonius had a better Opinion of them, unless his Words were Irony and Ridicule, when he faid to Paulus,

Nobifcum invenies natevóta, fi libet uti.
Non Poena, fed Græca fide.-

At my House too, promife you'll honeft be,
A wanton Mufe's Trifles you may fee.

E. D.

The Theffalians in particular were infamous for this Vice; whence, as Zenodotus hath inform'd us, by çoσaλwv vóμioμa, is meant Fraud and Deceit; and the other Proverb, viz. Orlanŵ cóproua, feems to have had its rife from the treacherous and double Dealing of the Theffalians with their Confederates; a memorable Instance of which we have in the Peloponnefian War, where in the midft of a Battle they turn'd Sides, and deferting the Athenians, went over to the Lacedæmonians: which reafon feems more probable than that mention'd by Zenodotus, viz. Their folemn Vow of an Hecatomb, of Men, made every Year to Apollo, without any Defign of ever paying it; which they did in imitation of their Fore-father Theffalus, who made fuch a Vow to Apollo, but, confidering how impious and unpleafing to the God it was like to be, neglected the Performance of it. The Locrians were no less infamous on the fame account, whence thofe proverbial Sayings, Λοκροὶ τὰς συνθή κας, and Λοκρών σύνθημα, do ufually denote fraudulent Perfons and Practices, as we learn from Zenodotus. And the Lacedæmonians, as they were the most renown'd of all the Grecians for their Valour, Tempe

S 2

rance,

rance, and other Virtues, fo were the most scandalous for their Treachery, and Contempt of Oaths; whence they are by Lycophron e call'd Aiuuno, which the Scholiaft upon that Place expounds, YSTAL nai Jónsor, i. e. liars and deceitful; and by Euripides,

Σπάρτης ένοικοι δόλια βολεύματα

Spartans, fam'd ever for bafe Treacheries.

Ariftophanes fpeaks yet more fully, when he tells us, they neither accounted Altars, Promifes, nor Oaths facred. His words are thefe,

Οἴσιν ἔτε βωμοί δ'τε πίσις, εθ ̓ ὅρκος μου ει

Who neither Altars, Oaths, nor Trust revere.

And that this was no Calumny may farther appear from the Aphorifm of Lyfander, one of their most eminent Generals, Eaатāv Xpù raïdās μὲν αςραγαλοις, πολεμίες δὲ ὅρκοις, Boys, faid he, are to be deceivd with Dice, but Enemies with Oaths. Tho' others will have this to be the Saying of Dionyfius the Tyrant. However that be, 'tis certain the Lacedæmonians, tho' perhaps more juft and punctual in private Affairs, had very small regard for Oaths in publick Bufinefs. Their great Agefilaus feems to have thought it but a weak Obligation, whenever it ftood in competition with the Publick Good, that great Mark, to which they thought all their Actions were to be directed, infomuch that, as Plutarch affirms, to ferve their Country was the Principle and Spring of all their Actions; nor did they account any thing juft or unjust, by any Measures but that.

The Athenians feem to have had a greater regard for Honefty, as may appear from the Story of Themistocles in Plutarch; for he telling the People had form'd a Defign, which, if accomplish'd, would be very advantageous to the Common-wealth, but might not, at this time, be communicated to the whole Affembly; they order'd him to impart it to Ariftides in private; who, having heard the Matter, came and reported to the People, that it was indeed a very beneficial Contrivance, but withal the moft unjust in the World; whereupon they immediately commanded Themistocles to defift from his Intention. Diogenian, in his Book of Collections, tells us, that Arlinds paprus was taken for a fincere and uncorrupt Witness; as alfo Arlin istis for a true, honest, and untainted Faith: And, tho' fome would have this Proverb taken from the Goddess Fides, who had a Temple at Athens, mention'd by Plautus ; and others, not from the Manners of the People, but the Nature of their Soil, which was fo unfruitful that it brought forth just as much as was fown, and no more; whence Attica fides is applied to any Man that restores all that he was entrusted with; yet Velleius Paterculus affures us, it was taken from their Faithfulness, and unfhaken Loyalty to the Romans; whence Attica fides is by Flaccus i call'd certa by Horace impelluta; and by Silius Pura. Notwithstanding this, their Honefty was not fo firm, but that it might Alex. ab Alex. lib. v. cap. X. i Argon, lib. iv. k lib. iii.

a Andromach. v. 445.

• Caffandr. v. 1124. Vita Agefilai. 8 In Aulul. Qd. xvi, Bell. Punic. lib, xiii.

Hiftor. lib. i.

fome

fometimes be fhaken by the alluring and fpecious Temptation of the Publick Good. I will conclude this Chapter with an Inftance of this, taken out of Plutarch m, which is the more remarkable, and more clearly evidences the Difpofition and Temper of that State, because it was approv'd by the Confent of the People, and put in Execution by Ariftides, a Man of greater renown for Juftice and upright Dealing, than any that City ever brought forth. He, when the Grecians (after they had utterly routed all the Remainders of Xerxes's numerous Army) defign'd a common Invafion upon Perfia, took a folemn Oath in the Name of the Athenians, to obferve the League; but afterwards, when things where brought to fuch a pafs, as conftrain'd them to govern with a stronger Hand than was confiftent with it, advis'd them to throw the Perjury upon him, and manage Affairs, as their Convenience required. Upon the whole Matter, Theophraftus tells us (faith Plutarch) that this Perfon was in his own private Affairs, and those of his Pellow-Citizens, nicely juft, but in publick Matters did many things according to the State and Condition of his Country, for whofe fake he frequently committed Acts of Injuftice. Then he adds, that it was reported of him, that to one who was in debate, Whether he should convey a certain Treasure from Delos to Athens, contrary to the League, at the Perfuafion of the Samians, he fhould fay, That the thing was not just, but expedient.

I

CHAP. VII.

Of the Grecian Divination, and Oracles in general.

T was a received Opinion in all Ages, that the Gods were wont to converse familiarly with fome Men, whom they endow'd with extraordinary Powers, and admitted to the Knowledge of their Counsels and Denigns. Thele are by the Greeks call'd μάντεις, and μαντικὴ is a general Name for all forts of Divination, and fignifies the knowledge of Things obfcure, or future, which cannot be attain'd by any ordinary or natural Means. It is divided by Plato ", (who is follow'd herein by Ariftotle, Plutarch and Cicero) into two Species, one of which is call'd Texv, afisar, and naturalis, i. e. unartificial, or natural Divination, as not being attain'd by any Rules, Precepts, or Obfervations, but infpir'd into the Diviner, without his taking any farther Care about it, than to purify and prepare himself to receive the Divine Afflatus. With this fort were all thofe endued, who deliver'd Oracles, and foretold future Events by Infpiration, without obferving external Signs or Accidents: Such were the Sibyls, and other Enthufiafts. Some there are that reduce Divination by Dreams under this Species, because in them Revelations were made without any Pains or Art of the Dreamers; but herein lies the mistake of this Argument, that not the Dreamers, but the Interpreters of Dreams Vit. Ariftidis.. " Phado.

S 3

were

were the Diviners; and that their Skill was the Effect of Art and Obfervation, is evident from the many Books written upon that Subject, and the various Signs deliver'd in them to make Conjectures by; in like manner, it was not fo much the Bufinefs of an Augur to fee the Birds of Divination, which might cafually happen to any rude and unskilful Perfon; but after he had feen them, to interpret what was portended by them.

Thefe, therefore, with others of the like Nature, are to be referr'd to the fecond Species of Divination, call'd Texvx, or Artificial, becaufe it was not obtain'd by immediate Inspiration, but was the Effect of Experience and Obfervation; as Sooth-faying: Or depended chiefly upon human Art, Invention, or Impofition; which nevertheless was not fuppos'd to be altogether deftitute of Divine Direction and Concurrence; fuch was Divination by Lots.

I fhall begin with the firft fort of Divination, as having a more immediate Dependance on the Gods; and firft, with the nobleft part of it, I mean Oracles, which are call'd in Greek xpnopol, Xenμwdixe Xenoμῳδήματα, μαντεύματα,θεοπρόπια,) θεσπισμα α, θέσφαλα,&c. The Interpreters, or Revealers of Oracles, xenoμonózou, &c. The Confulters, Dearpool, &c. The Places, in which they were deliver'd, xpnorigia θεοπρόποι, parreia, &c. Some of which Names were also applied to other forts of Divination.

1

Of all the forts of Divination Oracles had always the greatest Repute, as being thought to proceed in a more immediate manner from the Gods; whereas others were deliver'd by Men, and had a greater Dependance on them, who might either out of Ignorance, Miftake, or out of Fear, Hopes, or other unlawful and bafe Ends, conceal, or betray the Truth; whereas they thought the Gods, who were neither obnoxious to the Anger, nor ftood in need of the Rewards, nor car'd for the Promises of Mortals, could not be prevail'd upon to do either of them. Upon this Account, Oracles obtain'd fo great Credit and Efteem, that in all Doubts and Difputes their Determinations were held facred and inviolable: Whence Strabo • reports, vaft numbers flock'd to them, to be refolv'd in all manner of Doubts, and ask Counfel about the management of their Affairs; infomuch, that no Business of great Confequence and Moment was undertaken, fcarce any Peace concluded, any War wag'd, any new Form of Government instituted, or new Laws enacted, without the Advice and Approbation of an Oracle : Craefus before he durft venture to declare War against the Perfians, confulted not only all the most famous Oracles in Greece, but fent Ambaffadors as far as Libya to ask Advice of Jupiter Hammon. Minos the Grecian Law-giver, convers'd with Jupiter, and receiv'd Inftructions from him, how he might new model his Government. Lycurgus alfo made frequent Vifits to the Delphian Apollo, and receiv'd from him that Platform, which afterwards he communicated to the Lacedæmonians. Nor does it matter whether these things were really true or not, fince 'tis certain they were believed to be fo; for hence appears what great Efteem Oracles were in, at leaft among the Vulgar fort, when Lawgivers, and Men of the greateft Authority were forc'd Strabo loc. cit.

lib. xvi.

P Herodot. lib. i.

to