Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Anc^
of Athens in all else , reserved for themselves the conduct and celebration of the mysteries . The iEneid , says Bishop Warburton , being understood to be in the style of ancient legislation , it would be hard to think that so great a master in his art as Virgil should overlook a doctrine which was in a great measure the foundation of > and certainly so great a support of , ancient polities / viz ., a future state of rewards and punishments ; andaccordingly he has given us a complete system of it in his account of the descent of ^ neas to the shades , which is no
other than a representation of his initiation into the mysteries . Virgil intended to represent in the person of ^ 3 Eneas a perfect lawgiver ; and as initiation was what sanctifi . ed the character and ennobled the office , Virgil initiates his hero . Otjier reports for his initiation , according to Virgil ' s idea , may have been the important instructions which he received concerning his office ; the custom of
seeking support and inspiration from the god who presided over the mysteries ; the circumstances in which the poet had placed unsettled in Ms afi ^ irs /^ among the advantages of initiation , the advice and directioii of the oracle was one of the niogt valued ) r- ^ the seeming gillnsipn to his initiation in the speech of Anchises to him in the preceding book-
—. " Gens dura atque aspera cultu Debelianda tibi Latio est . Ditis tamen ante Infernas accede domos Turn genus omne tuurn , et quas dentur nioenia disces . *" Ms " . v . 729 , etseg
and , probably , as a principal reason , that Augustus Csesar , of whom ^ Bneas was the type , had been initiated into tlie Eleusinian mysteries . For these reasons Virgil was induced to represent his hero as being , in the course of his adventures , initiated into the mysteries . The chief guide or conductor of iEneas is the Sibyl , who sustains two principal and distinct parts ; viz ., that of the inspired priestess ,
to pronounce the edicts of the oracle ( whose relation to the mysteries is spoken of above ) , and that of the hierophant to conduct the aspirant through the whole celebration ; for the aspirants had a guide or conductor , called the hierophant , mystagogue , or hierew , indifferently of sex , whose duty it was so instruct him in the preparatory ceremonies , and to lead him through , and explain to him , all the spectacles and representations of the mysteries . Hence Virgil calls
the Sibyl " magna sacerdos" and " docta comes f words of equivalent signification ; and this because the mysteries of Ceres were always celebrated in Home by female ministers ; And a & the female hierophant , as well as the male , was devoted to a single life , so also was thfc Curasean Sibyl , whom he calls casta Sibylla . " * " In Latium you will have to subdue a hardy , roughly trained race . But first visit the infernal abode of Pluto—then shalt thou hear of all thy descendants , and what walls are assigned to ^ hee for an fcabitj ^ ion "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Anc^
of Athens in all else , reserved for themselves the conduct and celebration of the mysteries . The iEneid , says Bishop Warburton , being understood to be in the style of ancient legislation , it would be hard to think that so great a master in his art as Virgil should overlook a doctrine which was in a great measure the foundation of > and certainly so great a support of , ancient polities / viz ., a future state of rewards and punishments ; andaccordingly he has given us a complete system of it in his account of the descent of ^ neas to the shades , which is no
other than a representation of his initiation into the mysteries . Virgil intended to represent in the person of ^ 3 Eneas a perfect lawgiver ; and as initiation was what sanctifi . ed the character and ennobled the office , Virgil initiates his hero . Otjier reports for his initiation , according to Virgil ' s idea , may have been the important instructions which he received concerning his office ; the custom of
seeking support and inspiration from the god who presided over the mysteries ; the circumstances in which the poet had placed unsettled in Ms afi ^ irs /^ among the advantages of initiation , the advice and directioii of the oracle was one of the niogt valued ) r- ^ the seeming gillnsipn to his initiation in the speech of Anchises to him in the preceding book-
—. " Gens dura atque aspera cultu Debelianda tibi Latio est . Ditis tamen ante Infernas accede domos Turn genus omne tuurn , et quas dentur nioenia disces . *" Ms " . v . 729 , etseg
and , probably , as a principal reason , that Augustus Csesar , of whom ^ Bneas was the type , had been initiated into tlie Eleusinian mysteries . For these reasons Virgil was induced to represent his hero as being , in the course of his adventures , initiated into the mysteries . The chief guide or conductor of iEneas is the Sibyl , who sustains two principal and distinct parts ; viz ., that of the inspired priestess ,
to pronounce the edicts of the oracle ( whose relation to the mysteries is spoken of above ) , and that of the hierophant to conduct the aspirant through the whole celebration ; for the aspirants had a guide or conductor , called the hierophant , mystagogue , or hierew , indifferently of sex , whose duty it was so instruct him in the preparatory ceremonies , and to lead him through , and explain to him , all the spectacles and representations of the mysteries . Hence Virgil calls
the Sibyl " magna sacerdos" and " docta comes f words of equivalent signification ; and this because the mysteries of Ceres were always celebrated in Home by female ministers ; And a & the female hierophant , as well as the male , was devoted to a single life , so also was thfc Curasean Sibyl , whom he calls casta Sibylla . " * " In Latium you will have to subdue a hardy , roughly trained race . But first visit the infernal abode of Pluto—then shalt thou hear of all thy descendants , and what walls are assigned to ^ hee for an fcabitj ^ ion "