Bacchantes. The festivals celebrated in his honour were marked by riot and licentious

ness.

CUPID.

Cupid was an allegorical representation of love. He is the son of Venus, with whose worship his temples and altars are confounded.' He is generally pourtrayed as a beautiful winged boy with a torch, and armed with a bow and arrow, and often with a bandage over his eyes. In ancient statues he is seen bestriding a lion, whose savage nature seems to be subdued by listening to the harmonious sounds of his lyre.

CYBELE.

Cybele was the wife of Saturn, and the mother

The poets distinguished two Cupids, one of whom was chaste, and presided over legitimate union; the other was the God of sensuality, and presided over the passions.

of the Gods, and on that account called Magna Mater, or great mother. She was likewise named Dindymene, Idæa, and Berecynthia, from the mountains where she was worshipped: Ops and Tellus by the Romans, and Rhea by the Greeks, because she was Goddess of the earth, from which so many things proceed. She is generally represented sitting, to denote the stability of the earth; bearing a drum, emblematical of the winds confined in the bowels of the earth; a crown of towers on her head, because she is said to be the first who fortified the walls of cities with towers; and a bunch of keys in her hand, to signify she locked up in her bosøm the seeds of every sort of fruit. The feasts of this Goddess were celebrated with drums and cymbals and dreadful cries. Her priests were seated on the ground when they sacrificed, and only the hearts of the victims were offered her. She had a temple at Rome, called Opertum,where men were never admitted.

AURORA.

The light which dawns upon the earth, before the Sun appears, was called Aurora; she was considered the daughter of that bright luminary, whose approach she announces, and had divine. honors paid to her.

BELLONA.

Bellona was the Goddess of war, and the sister and companion of Mars. She prepared his chariot and horses when he went to battle, which she is represented conducting with a whip in her hand, and dishevelled hair. She had a temple at Rome, and her priests offered her the sacrifice of the blood, which flowed from the wounds they inflicted on themselves.

Myth.

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LATONA.

Latona was the mother of Apollo and Diana. Juno was so jealous of her, that she cast her out of Heaven, and obliged Terra to take an oath, that she would not receive her.

She was however defeated in her vengeance, for the island of Delos, which was then covered with the sea, emerged from beneath the waves, and afforded her an asylum, where she gave birth to her two children Apollo and Diana.

THE GRACES.

The Graces were three in number, called Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne. The ancients were not agreed respecting their origin, but the most general opinion was, that they were the daughters of Venus and Bacchus. Their influ

ence was supposed to be universal, adding an attractive charm to beauty of every kind, and dispensing the power of pleasing, the gift of eloquence, and cheerfulness and serenity of mind; but their noblest attribute was that of presiding over deeds of friendship and gratitude, and all the social charities of life. They were represented as young virgins hand-in-hand, in transparent flowing garments. In some countries a fourth Grace was added, to whom the name of Pasithea was given, but they were then symbolised as the four Seasons.

THE MUSES.

The Muses, so called from a Greek word signifying to meditate, were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, the Goddess of memory. They were the companions of Apollo, presided at the feasts of the Gods, and were the