Classical Theology.—Xxi.

CLASSICAL THEOLOGY . —XXI .

LONDON , SATURDAY , JUNE 10 , 1800 .

VII . —VULCAN AND SEPTEMBER . POLYPHEMUS , Ave read , ivas the comelicst and strongest of all tlie one hundred Cyclops . In many ancient paintings tliis fine specimen of iEtnean or Gibt'Honian giantry—the " infernal kings " of Sicily—was represented not only with one eye centric in his forehead , but with tAvo other orbs in the place of eyes in general . Some have , doubtless on .

hearsay , asserted that ho ahvays slept with one eye open , the requirements of Morpheus being sufficiently filled liy the tivo others and others maintain that ho only possessed the one forehead eye . The rational explanation of the fable most probably is , that the barbarous chieftain kept himself informed of what was going on by a finished spy system ;

and like Argus , had many eyes or spies , which was only another way of saying the same thing . A picture obtained from llorciilaneum pourfcrays Polyphemus sitting upon a sea shore rock , with his mantle thrown over his knees , holding a ponderous lyre formed of the trunk of a tree naturally bifurcated , or divided into two prongs . His left hand is extended

to receive a missive brought to him by a little sea god or enpid , from his beautiful , disdainful , but adored Galatea , tho most lovely of the Nereids , of whom lie was madly enamoured , and to whom he paid his homage after his rude fashion ; for the inhuman giant was very susceptible it appears to the tender passion . The rude barbarian did not fail in due time to become agitated by the fierce hatred of jealousy ; and the poets tell of his murdering tlie shepherd Acis , his youthful , fairer , and more favoured rival , by hurling from a precipice

a huge rock upon him whilst dallying with his lovely mistress . We gain some first intimation of this act from a love ditty of the enormous and boastful suitor , Polyphemus Inhymnus , if we may so call it" Come , come , 0 lovely Galatea , come , 0 conic out of thy watery dwelling . "Thou art fairer than the white lilies : more rosy than

pomegranates : like polished amber is thy hair . " Raise thy sunny head—beauteous daughter of Nereus ! Thou art majestic as the tall cedar of Mons Ganrus . " Dost thou behold me ivifch disdain ? Oh . ' thou art pitiless —as the dark ocean ivith its crested host of raging waves . " Terrible thou art as the ivolf upon the fold , the bear to the robber of her young .

"Ply me no more lovely Nereid , thou knowest me not , therefore dost thou shun me , 0 honey of Hymettus . "I am the slave of thy charms , my sivect Galatea , my fragrant little nymph of the sea . " 0 be not insensible to the grandeur of my poiver ; the awful majesty of my Atlantian form . "Behold my sublime features — the dignity of my august bearing . Tell me , hath the great Jove a more exalted presence ?

" jSTay , beautiful Galatea , mine eye shall be thy mirror , it is shining for thee—it is a brilliant globe . "Proud am I of my one eye—' tis like the glorious sun which sees ei'cry thing—Sol , like mc , has only one eye . ' "Vast are my possessions—gold and silver and jewels—flocks and herds—grounds of delicious fruits . "Iivho hold the gods in derisionscorning the thunderbolts of

, , Jupiter , and the Thunderer whose bolts I have made—I , even I , tremble before thee . " Is it true , 0 thou daughter of rTereus , thou lovest another ? What shall I clo to convince thee of my love ? Thou lovest Acis ! Dost thou indeed ? Oh ! canst thou prefer the love of that youth to mine ?

" Test my affections—put my love to the trial . I rave , I mourn , I pine , I die to possess thee , my pearl of Ormus ! AVhat will my love not do ? Ah , Galatea , Galatea , I will tear ancl mangle the rival of my love . I am a lion of STemea . " Thy Acis ! thy Acis ! aye , limb from limb will I rend him ; I ivill have his heart torn from his living trunk ; I will wear it ; I will wear it ; as a trophy I ivill wear it . " Thou shalt be my wife . Cruel Galatea ! Lift up thy lovely face ; arise , arise ; come to me from thy water gem palace . " Thou art swift of foot ; like a roe thou canst speed : thou

canst fly like a dove—like the spirits of the air thou canst elude me . "Butas for Acis—ah hah ! The eagles and the young eagles shall feed on him ; the wolves and the vultures of Alala shall eat him . " Whether it was the charm of the poetic tropes which she

had inspired , the magnitude of his personal appearance , or tho " mirror-like eye" that most attracted the young ancl blooming " little nymph of tho sea , " is a perplexing question to enter into . The nymph however yielded , and there was a little Polyphemus , called Galatas , " after her name . The lovely Galatea herself was the intimate friend both of tho

equally lovely Scylla , the daughter of Phoreys—who was killed by Atlas the A . iisonian king in a naval engagementand of Charybdis , another we suppose equally elegant personage . Whatever the outward allurements of those two might have been as young girls in the undefiled purity of their sexthose poets and mythologists ivho sought the aid of

, ethics in their social reforms , represent thorn allegoricall y under a transformed and vitiated state—the cause and effect of depravity . Homer , in his poetic portrait of Scylla , has painted her a most beautiful woman from her breasts , her arms , and legs downwards ; but with six dogs' heads . Others again assert , that in her upper parts she displayed the

failproportions of a woman , but that tho rest of her body resembled a serpent and a wolf ; thus we soe her very nature is represented as being changed . Her poisoned bath will ty | iify philtres or love portions , and her headlong phmgc into the sea is significant of her being sunk in iniquit y . Scylh ' s fades ranis was Glaucus , so passionately beloved

by Circe , who could not bear that Scylla should be preferred before her and receive the embraces of her own charmer . Whereupon she impregnated with venomous herbs the fountain in which her rival used to bathe . The unsuspecting Scylla , according to custom , went into the water , and direful in tho extreme was the magical consequence : the white

pretty feet she was so vain of were turned into tho heads of dogs , her fair legs , upwards to her hips , were also transformed , she looked as if she was sitting on tivo dogs standing on their heads , more than standing herself . In horror and grief at the loss of her beaut y , she was no longer herself ; but how she gained the precipice on her barking and howling

feet , or at any rate rushed into the sea hard by , we are not informed , further than she cast herself headforemost therein , and was metamorphosed into a rock . This rock is still seen in the sea which separates Italy from Sicily , between the city of Messana , or Messina , aud Ehegium Juliuni , or Eeggio , in Calabria , otherwise Term eh Labour , almost an island in tho uttermost part of Italy , and still said to be infamous for the many shipwrecks it occasions there . Charybdis , like the daughter of Phoreys , also passed

through a transformation—that is , they turned her into the vast whirlpool in the same Sicilian sea , contiguous to Scylla , which draws into its circle , sucks down , and then throws up again whatsoever comes near it . Charybdis , it is said , became a very ravenous or luxurious woman , who , like Cacus , took a fancy to some of Hercules ' s fine oxen , and stole them or had

them by stealth driven away , for which act of theft and gormandizing Jupiter let fly a stroke of thunder at her head , and thereupon transformed her , as a warning to others of a similar gusto , into the ravenous gulf . Severely and sternly do these philosojihical fabulists represent to us that our voyage through this life without a o-ood

pilot or scriptural instruction to guide us , is eminentl y hazardous , uncertain , and perilous . Lust , like Scylla hidinoher amis pruriens , or bewitched feet , under the o-auds of her outside beauty , and prompt with supervenient aids , entangles the unwary passengers of both sexes , and excites and befools them . To tho same intent , gluttony is symbolized

by Charybdis as an insatiable vortex that swallows estates treasures , and whole families alive , still being unsatisfied . ' like the barren womb and the leech , still crying Give olve'