1 he followed her to the entrance of the infernal regions, where the melody of his voice so charmed Pluto, that he obtained her restoration, on condition that he did not look behind him till he returned on earth. But the impatience of Orpheus being unable to submit to this painful restraint, he turned his eyes, and his beloved Eurydice vanished from his embrace. ESCULAPIUS. Esculapius was the son of Apollo, and the God of Physic; he is represented with a crown of laurels, and knots in the staff he leans on, to signify the difficulties in the study of Physic. It was said that he was destroyed by Jupiter with a thunderbolt, because Pluto complained that his art diminished the subjects of his empire. He was worshipped at Rome, where a serpent was consecrated to him. PROMETHEUS. Prometheus was the son of Iapetus, from whom the Greeks boast their descent. Seeing Jupiter had created man, he endeavoured to imitate him, by forming statues of clay; and ac-quired such perfection in this art, that they appeared almost animated. Minerva telling him, that they wanted only heavenly fire to give them life, the ambitious Prometheus conceived the idea of stealing it, and lighted a flambeau at the rays of the sun. As soon he had communicated this celestial flame to his statues they rivalled the productions of Jupiter. This God, to punish his presumption, ordered Vulcan to bind him to Mount Caucasus, where a vulture con'tinually preyed upon his liver, which was perpetually renewed. Not appeased by this vengeance,, Jupiter summoned the beautiful Pandora to his presence. Pandora, which signifies all gifts, had been formed by the other Gods; who, jealous that Jupiter should alone possess the power of creating man, united their talents to produce a per fect woman; each bestowing on her some rare endowment. Jupiter desired her to carry a box to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, which contained every species of evil. As soon as he had opened it these escaped, and spread over all the earth; Hope alone, the last resource of unhappy mortals, remained at the bottom of the box. ACHILLES. Achilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis. He was esteemed an invincible warrior, and the Oracles had predicted that Troy could not be taken without his aid. Thetis plunged him into the Styx, to render him invulnerable, and when the armies assembled to besiege Troy she privately sent him to the court of Lycomedes, disguised in a female dress. Ulysses discovered this artifice, and engaged him to embark in this expedition; and Vulcan, at the intreaties of Thetis, furnished him with armour. He killed Hector, son of Priam, King of Troy, and perished himself by the hand of Paris, who shot him in the heel, by which Thetis held him when she plunged him in the Styx; the only part in which he was vulnerable. ULYSSES. Ulysses, the son of Laertes, was one of the most distinguished heroes at the siege of Troy, by whose wisdom and stratagem the city was delivered into the power of the Greeks. After this war he was driven by contrary winds into different ports, and by various accidents prevented reaching his native country for a space of ten years. Penelope, his wife, during this long absence was an example of virtue and prudence; no intreaties could prevail on her to violate the promise of constancy she had made to Ulysses.. When she was urged, by her relations and suitors, to accept a future husband, and found she could no longer defer her election, she requested to finish a task of needle-work, which she had allotted herself. The event depending on its completion, she undid by night what she had accomplished during the day; by this delay she gained time till the return of Ulysses, who put all her suitors to death. REFLECTIONS. In perusing these exploits of the Heroes of the Fabulous Times, abounding with the marvellous and absurd, we are as much amused with the fanciful embellishments of fiction, as astonished at the miracles that undaunted courage and unwearied perseverance could achieve:-Jason trusting his adventurous bark |