Chap. 12. God with the Gift of Prophecy. This Oracle, when Agis King of Sparta endeavour'd to reduce the Spartans to their ancient Manner of Living, and put in force Lycurgus's old Laws, very much countenanced and encouraged his Undertaking, commanding the People to return to the former State of Equality. Again, when Cleomenes made the like Attempt, it gave the fame Advice, in this Manner, as my Author relates the Story: " About that Time, faith he, one of the Ephori "fleeping in Pafiphae's Temple dream'd a very furprizing Dream; for "he thought he faw the four Chairs remov'd, where the Ephori used "to fit and hear Caufes, and only one placed there; and whilft he "wonder'd, he heard a Voice out of the Temple, faying, This is the " beft for Sparta. Upon the Top of Citharon, a Mountain in Baotia, was a Cave call'd Spragidium, where many of the Inhabitants of that Country were infpir'd by the Nymphs call'd Sphragitides, and thence nam'd NuμgóAnalos, i. e. inffir'd by the Nymphs. Ulyffes had an Oracle among the Eurytanes, a Nation of Ætolia, as Ariftotle is faid to report by Tzetzes in his Comment upon Lycophron, who hath thefe Words concerning Ulysses: * Μάντιν ἢ νεκρον Εὐρυταν σέψει λεως, Etolian People the dead Prophet crown. Several other Oracles we read of in Authors, as that of Tirefias and Egeus, with others of less Repute, which for that Reason I fhall for bear to mention. H CHA P. XII. Of Theomancy. AVING given you an Account of the most celebrated Oracles in Greece, which make the firft and nobleft Species of Natural Divination, I come now to the fecond, call'd in Greek squartÉQ, which is a compound Word, confifting of two Parts, by which it is diftinguish'd from all other forts of Divination by the former (viz. Seds) it is diftinguished from Artificial Divination, which, tho' it may be faid to be given by the Gods, yet does not immediately proceed from them, being the Effect of Experience and Obfervation. By the latter (viz. Havaría) it is oppos'd to Oracular Divination; for tho' Marreia be a general Name, and fometimes fignifies any fort of Divination; yet it is also used in a more ftrict and limited Senfe, to denote thofe Predictions that are made by Men; and in this Acceptation it is oppos'd to Xpnouds, as the Scholiaft upon Sophocles has observ'd c. Thus much for the Name. As to the Thing, it is diftinguish'd from Oracular Divination (I mean, that which was deliver'd by Interpreters, as the Delphi, for in others the Difference is more evident) because that was confin'd ufually to a fixed and stated Time, and always to a certain Place; for the Pythia could not be infpir'd in any other Place but Apollo's Temple, and upon the facred Tripus; whereas the qμavers were free and unconfin'd, being able (after the offering of Sacrifices, and the Performance of the other ufual Rites) to prophesy at any Time, or in any Part of the World. As to the Manner of receiving the Divine Inspiration, that was not always different; for not only the Pythia, but the Sibyls alfo, with many others, were poffefs'd with Divine Fury, fwelling with Rage like Perfons diftracted, and befide themfelves, Virgil defcribes the Sibyl in this hideous Pofture: Cui talia fanti Ante fores fubito non vultus, non color unus, Thus at the Entrance fpake the facred Maid; H. H. Few that pretend to Infpiration, but raged after this manner, foaming and making a strange terrible Noife, gnafhing with their Teeth, fhivering and trembling, with other antick Motions: And therefore fome will have their Name (viz.uais) to be deriv'd àm` rõ μaíveo dai, i. e. from being mad. Other Customs there were common to them with the Pythia; I fhall only mention those about the Laurel, which was facred to Apollo, the God of Divination, being fprung from his beloved Daphne, and thought to conduce very much to Inspiration, and therefore call'd μavov qUTÒV, the Prophetick Plant: Whence Claudian faith of it, Venturi præfcia Laurus. The Laurel skill'd in Events. With this they us'd to crown their Heads. Thus Cassandra is defcrib'd by Euripides. And #fchylus fpeaks thus of her : d En, lib. vi. v. 47. Andromache, Agamemnone, v. 1273. Kal Καὶ σκήπτρα, και μαντεία τει δέρη σήφη. Her Hand a Laurel Scepter grafp'd, her Neck The fame prophetick Plant with Garlands grac'd. Suv They, as we learn Where by onйeor he means a Staff of Laurel, which Prophets ufually carried in their Hands; it was called in Greek from Hefychius. It was alfo ufual to eat the whence Lycophron faith of Cassandra, Δαφνηφάγων φοιβαζεν εκ λαιμῶν ἔπαι The Mouth with Laurel Morfels often blefs'd, And the Sibyl in Tibullus fpeaks of it, as one of her greatest Privileges, placing it in the fame Rank with that of Virginity, a Thing held by her very facred, tho' not always obferv'd by other Prophets; for CafJandra was Agamemnon's Concubine; and tho' the Condition of a Captive might lay fome Force upon her, yet 'tis agreed by all, that Helenus married Andromache; and that blind Tirefias was led up and down by his Daughter Manto. But to return to the Sibyl, whofe Words in Tibullus are these : -Sic ufque facras innoxia laurus It was alfo cuftomary for Diviners to feed upon the nugarala mera (wwv uavninov, principal Parts of the prophetical Beafts; fuch were the Hearts of Crows, Vultures, and Moles; thinking that by these they became Partakers of the Souls of those Animals, which by a natural Attraction follow'd the Bodies, and by Confequence receiv'd the Influence of the God, who us'd to accompany the Souls. Thus we are inform'd by Porthyryf. Thus much of these Prophets in general; I fhall only add, that they, as alfo other Diviners, were maintain'd at Athens at the publick Charge, having their Diet allow'd in the Пgurareor, or Common Hall, as the Scholiaft upon Ariftophanes observes. Of the aes there were three forts among the Grecians, diftinguish'd by three diftinct manners of receiving the Divine Afflatus. One fort were poffefs'd with prophefying Demons, which lodged within them, and dictated what they fhould answer to thofe that enquired of them, or fpoke out of the Bellies or Breafts of the poffeffed Perfons, they all the while remaining fpeechlefs, and not fo much as moving their Tongues or Lips; or pronounced the Answer themselves, making use of the Members of the Damoniac. These were call'd AaiMovóanaloi, i. e. poffefs'd with Damons; and because the Spirits either lodg'd or spoke within their Bodies, they were also nam'd Eyfaspiμutor, e Caffandr. v. 6, Lib. II. de Abftinentia ab Animal. 301 (which Name was alfo attributed to the Demons) Eyfaς ειμάντεις, Στερνοávres, Eyfaseira, &c. This way of Prophefying was practis'd also in other Countries, and particularly amongst the Jews, as alfo Necromancy: For the Prophet Ifaiah denounced GOD's Judgments upon those that made use of either of them. His Words, as they are tranflated by the Seventy, run thus : Καὶ ἐὰν εἴπων πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ζητήσατε την έγρας ειμύθος, καὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ τ γῆς φωνῆντας, του κενολγέντας, οἱ ἐκ τ κοιλίας φωνέτιν· ἐκ ἔθνΘ πρὸς θεὸν αυτό ἐκζητήσει; η έκζ την ζώντων του νεκρός And if they fay unto you, Seek unto them whofe Speech is in their Belly, and thofe that fpeak out of the Earth, thofe that utter vain Words, that Speak out of their Belly: Shall not a Nation feek unto their God? Why do they enquire of the Dead concerning the Living? Thefe Diviners were alfo nam'd Eupuxaess, and topondeau, from Eurycles, the firft that practifed this Art at Athens, as the Scholiaft upon Ariftophanes hath inform'd us, at thefe Words, Μιμησάμενος τὴν Εὐρυκλέας μαντείαν καὶ διάνοιαν Εἰς ἀλλοτρίας γασέρας ενδός, κωμωδικὰ πολλὰ χίασθαι Like that fantastick Divination, Which Eurycles of old did first invent, To enter Bellies, and from thence pronounce H. H. They were also call'd Пves, and urino, from Пov, a prophefying Damon, as Hefychius and Suidas have told us. The fame is mention'd in the Ads of the Apoftlesi: εγένετο ἢ πορευομένων προς εἰς προσοχήν, παιδίσκω τινα ἔχεσαν τον άμα Πύθων Θ, ἀπαντῆναι ἡμῖν. Our Tranfators have rendred it thus: And it came to pass, as we went to Prayer, a certain Damfel poffefs'd with a Spirit of Divination met us. But the Margin reads Python, instead of Divination, which is a general Name, and may be us'd in that Place, as more intelligible by the common People. Plutarch, in his Treatife concerning the Ceffation of Oracles, faith, these familiar Spirits were anciently call'd bo'puxes, and only To Saves in latter Ages: "It is abfurd (faith he) and childish to fuppofe, that God him"felf, like the Ey fase So, which were formerly call'd Eupuis, but "are now named Sves, fhould enter into the Bodies of Prophets, "and make use of their Mouths and Voices, in pronouncing their "Answers. As to the Original of this Name (Python) there are various Conjectures; the moft probable of which feems to be, that it was taken from Apollo Pythius, who was thought to prefide over all forts of Divination, and afterwards appropriated by Cuftom to this Species; for fo we find a great many Words of a general Signification, in time, made peculiar to fome one Part of what they fignified before. To give one Inftance: Túegvv, by the ancient Greeks was apply'd to all Kings, as well the juft and merciful, as the cruel, and whom we now call Tyrannical; but in more modern Ages was appropriated to that latter h B Cap. viii. v. 19. Vefpis. Cap. xvi. v. 16. fort, Chap. 12. fort, and became a Name of the greatest Ignominy and Deteftation. On the contrary, Words of a narrow and limited Senfe have fometimes paffed their Bounds, and taken upon them a more general and unconfined one: fo Mavría, which at firft fignified only that fort of Prophefying which was infpired with Rage and Fury; being derived (as Plato and others after him will have it) anò T8 μalves, from being mad; and by Homer in that Senfe oppos'd to fome other Ways of Divination, as that by Dreams and Entrails came at length to be a general Name for all forts of Divination. The fecond fort of Θεομάντεις were call'd Ενθεσιαςαί, Ενθεκτικοί, and Odai, being fuch as pretended to what we also call Enthufiafm and different from the former, who contain'd within them the Deity himself; whereas these were only govern'd, acted, or infpir'd by him, and inftructed in the Knowledge of what was to happen. Of this fort were Orpheus, Amphion, Mufæus, and several of the Sibyls. A third fort were the Exsanol, or those that were caft into Trances or Ecftafies, in which they lay like Men dead, or afleep, depriv'd of all Senfe or Motion, but after some Time (it may be Days, or Months, or Years, for Epimenides the Cretan is reported to have lain in this Pofture LXXV Years) returning to themselves, gave ftrange Relations of what they had seen and heard. For it was a vulgar Opinion, that Man's Soul might leave the Body, wander up and down the World, vifit the Place of the Deceased, and the heavenly Regions, and, by converfing with the Gods and Heroes, be inftructed in things neceffary for the Conduct of human Life. Plato, in the tenth Book of his Politicks, fpeaks of one Pamphilus, a Phærean, that lay ten Days amongst the Carcaffes of flain Men, and afterwards being taken up, and placed upon the Funeral Pile to be burn'd, returned to Life, and related what Places he had feen in Heaven, Earth and Hell, and what was done there, to the Astonishment of all that heard him. And Plutarch, in his Difcourfe concerning Socrates's Damon, faith, it was reported of the Soul of Hermodorus the Clazomenian, that for several Nights and Days it would leave his Body, travel over many Countries, and return after it had view'd Things, and difcours'd with Perfons at a great Distance; till at last, by the Treachery of a Woman, his Body was deliver'd to his Enemies, who burn'd the Houfe while the Inhabitant was abroad. Several other Stories of the 'fame Nature are recorded in Hiftory; which whether true or falfe, it matters not much, fince they were believ'd, and receiv'd as fuch. Hither may alfo be reduc'd another fort of Divination. It was commonly believ'd, that the Souls of dying Men, being then in a manner loos'd from the Body, could foresee future Events. Whence Hector is introduc'd by Homer, foretelling to Achilles the Authors and Place of his Death. In Imitation of whom Virgil brings in Orodes foretelling the Death of Mezentius m. I will only mention one Example more, which is related by Cicero", concerning Calanus the Indian Philofopher, who being afk'd by Alexander, whether he had a mind to speak any thing before his Death, reply'd, Optime, propediem te videbo : Yes I Iliad, á. Iliad, x. v. 355. m Æneid. X. 739. De divinat. lib, ii. fhall |