Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus say the same. Lucian. de Dea Syr. § 2. παρα Ενα δὲν θεοὶ δὲ κάρτα αὐτοῖσι ἐμφανίες. ἱδρῶς γὰρ δὴ ὦν (φίσι τὰ ξόανα, και κινέεται καὶ χρησμηγορέει και βοὴ δὲ πολλάκις ἐγέ νετο ἐν τῷ ναῷ, κλεισθέντος τὸ ἱρῶ, καὶ πολλοὶ ἤκουσαν. Sunt autem presentes valde iis Dii. Sudant enim apud illos simu lacra, et morentur, atque edunt oracula. Clamor etiam sæpe in æde multis exaudientibus ortus, cum clausum esset templum. They had a statue of Apollo, differing from the Grecian images of that god in two things, he was represented with a beard, and he was clothed; and he delivered his oracles thus: Μανήϊα πολλὰ μὲν παρ ̓ Ἕλλησι, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρ' Αἰγυπτίοισι. τὰ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Λιβύη, καὶ ἐν τῇδε Ασίη πολλὰ ἐσι. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἔτε ἱρέων ἄνευ ετε προφηλέων φθέγονται. ὅδε δὲ αὐτός τε κινέεται, καὶ τὴν μανληίην ἐς τέλος αὐταργέει. τρόπος δὲ αὐτῆς τοιόσδε. εὖτ ̓ ἂν ἐθέλησι χρησμηΓορέειν, ἐν τῇ ἕδρα πρῶτα κινέεται. οἱ δέ μιν ἰρίες αὐτίκα αείρουσι. ἦν δὲ μὴ ἀείρωσι, ὁ δὲ ιδρώει, καὶ ἐς μέσον ἔτι κινέεται. εὖτ ̓ ἂν δὲ ὑποδύντες φέρωσι, ἄγει σφέας, πάλη περιδινέων, και ἐς ἄλλον ἐξ ἑτέρα μεταπηδέων. τέλος ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς ἀλιάσας, ἐπερέται μια περὶ ἁπάντων πρηΓμάτων· ὁ δὲ ἤν τι μὴ θέλη ποιέεσθαι, ὀπίσω ἀναχωρέει. ἦν δέ τι ἐπαινέη, ἄγει ἐς τὸ πρέσω τὰς προσφέροντας, ἵκωσπερ ηνιοχέων. ὕτω μὲν συναγείρεσι τὰ θέσφαλα, και ἔτε ἱρὸν πρῆγμα ὐδὲν, ἔτε ἴδιον τότε ἄνευ ποιέουσι. λέγει δὲ καὶ τῶ ἔτεις πέρι, καὶ τῶν ὀρέων αυτ8 πασέων, και οκότε ἐκ ἔσονται. λέγει δὲ και το Σημείο πέρι, κότε χρή μὲν διαδημέειν, τὴν εἶπον ἀποδημίην. Ἐρέω δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἐμεῦ παρεόντος ἔπρηξε, οἱ μέν μιν ιρέες αείροντες ἔφερον, ὁ δὲ τὰς μὲν ἐν γῇ κάτω ἔλιπε, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ μένος ἐφο ρέετο. Oracula apud Graecos multa, multa apud Egy tios. Verum etiam in Libya et in Asia multa sunt. Sed alia non sine sacerdotibus vel prophetis respondent: at hic movetur ipse, et divinationem ad finem usque solus perducit. Modus hic est. Cum vult reddere oraculum, in sede primum sua movetur. Sacerdotes vero ipsum continuo tollunt. tollunt. Si vero non tollant, ille sudat, et versus medium adhuc movetur. Cum vero subeuntes onus ipsum ferunt, agit illos usquequaque in orbem, et in alium ex alio transilit. Tandem obsistens sacerdotum princeps interrogat illum de rebus omnibus. Isque si nolit fieri, retrocedit; si vero probet, antrorsum agit suos bajulos, tanquam habonis auriga. Ita colligunt oracula, & neque rem sacram allan neque privatam sine hoc faciunt. Prædicit etiam de anno omnibusque illius tempestatibus, et quando non futuræ sint: item prædicit de signo, quando eam, quam dicebam modo, profectionem suscipiat. Narrabo etiam aliud, quod, me præsente, egit. Sacerdotes sublatum ferebant. At ipse illos humi reliquit, sublimis ipse solus ferebatur. Ib. § 36, 37. This author says here that he saw the image suspended and moving along in the air, upon which La Croze and Guietus observe that he is a liar. They did not consider that feats as surprising as this have been performed by machinery assisted with legerdemain; and that Christian monks, as well as Pagan priests, have been eminent in such arts. We are obliged to the writer for not omitting a remarkable circumstance, that the image was adorned with a fine robe; the eloak was not put on for nothing, and served in all probability to conceal some knavery. The tricks of the Egyptian priests were not to be compared to this; their little gods, when they were carried in procession, did not sweat, like these statues, but only made the porter sweat : -sic • Ciccro mentions the old story of the wooden lituus of Romulus, which was not consumed in a fire, and treats it as a fable, De Divin. at and vet it might possibly be true; for incombustible wood has -sic numina Memphis In vulgus proferre solet: penetralibus exit Testatus sudore Deum. Claudian iv. Cons. Hon. 569. Observe that this statue did not speak, and that when the writer says λέγει ἔτεις πέρι, he only means that it indicated or declared. From his account we may collect, that when any question was put to it, if it retired and drew back, that was as much as to say, No: if it advanced, the meaning was, Yes. We have accounts very like this, from other authors, of other statues and oracles. Diodorus Sic. xvii. says of Jupiter Ammon: Τὸ δὲ τῇ Θεῖ ξόανον—τὴν μαντείαν ίδιαζουσαν παντελῶς ποιεῖται. ἐπί νεώς ᾗ περιφέρεται χρυσῆς ὑπὸ ἱερέων ὀγδοήκοντα. ὗτοι δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων φέροντες τὸν θεὸν, προάγουσιν αυτ τομάτως ὅπε τότ' ἄν ἄγοι το το θε8 νεῦμα τὴν πορείαν. Simulacrum Dei-peculiari novoque plane vaticinandi genere oracula edit. In aurea enim navi a sacerdotibus octoginta circumfertur; qui humeris Deum gestantes eo tendunt quo forte fortuna Dei nutus eos agit. Compare with this Q. Curtius iv. 7. Macrobius, i. 23. says, Hujus [Heliopolitani] templi religio etiam divinatione præpollet, quæ ad Apollinis potestatem refertur, qui idem atque Sol est. Vehitur enim simulacrum Dei Heliopolitani ferculo, -et subeunt plerumque provincia proceres, raso capite, longi temporis castimonia puri; ferunturque divino spiritu, non suo arbitrio, sed quo Deus propellit vehentes: ut videmus apud Antium promoveri simulacra Fortunarum ad danda responsa. Strabo says from Callisthenes, that Ammon delivered his answers, ἢ διὰ λόγων, ἀλλὰ νεύματα xas ouμbónous to wréor. non verbis, sed, ut plurimum, nutu et signis. See Van Dale De Orac. p. 210. who pro duces duces these passages of Diodorus, Macrobius, and Strabo, and adds some from other authors." The writer de Dea Syria tells us that the beasts which were kept in this sacred place lost their natural fierceness. Ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐλῇ ἄφελοι νέμονται βόες μεγάλοι, καὶ ἵπποι, καὶ ἀετοὶ, καὶ ἄρκτοι, και λέοντες, καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἐδαμᾷ σίνονται, ἀλλὰ πάνες ἱροί τέ εἰσι, xerzchbees. In aula soluti pascuntur boves magni, et equi, et aquile, et ursi, et leones, qui nequaquam nocent hominibus, sed sacri omnes sunt, et mansueti. § 41. The city and temple also, as he informs us, swarmed with Galli, or castrated priests, who perhaps performed the same operation upon these wild beasts, which they had performed upon themselves; and this, together with due correction administered from time to time, and a good education, and seeing much company, and proper food, and a full belly, and three meals a day, would make these lions and bears as tame as lambs. The μtyano Bots were probably oxen, who grow to a much larger size than bulls; and a bull is a surly animal, with whom it is hard to cultivate any friendship. Van Dale observes from Theophrastus, that cedar, and those sorts of wood which contain an oily moisture, will have a dew upon them in damp weather, and that statues made of them will sweat, which passed for a prodigy with silly people. He mentions this, as illustrating what is said in the book De Dea Syria concerning sweating images: but I rather think that the priests there had some surer contrivance to bring about this miracle, and could make their images sweat when they thought it proper. The book De Dea Syria is very entertaining, and composed elegantly, and in the Ionic dialect: the author seems to have been a pagan who gave credit to prodigies prodigies, oracles, and the power of the gods, which was not Lucian's case. If Lucian wrote it, to whom it is ascribed, one might suspect that, as he proposed to follow Herodotus in style and manner, so he affected to imitate him in gravely relating marvellous and strange things. But if this were his design, it was of too refined a nature, and by the seriousness which runs through the whole composition, the jest has been hitherto lost. Lucian, Ver. Hist. ii. 31. banters Herodotus as a liar, though unjustly, I think; for in this charming historian there are some marks of credulity, but none of dishonesty. Whosoever made the book, and with whatsoever intent, his narration seems to be historically true, and much of it is confirmed by other writers. We are informed by Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. iii. 501. that Jurieu,.in his History of the Jewish Rites and doctrines, has concluded that Lucian was not the author of this treatise, because it is written in the Ionic dialect. The argument proves nothing, for Lucian was an ingenious monkey, who could imitate what he would, and throw himself into all shapes; and he might affect this sweetly flowing style, for several reasons, or out of mere fancy; and Arrian, as Fabricius observes, wrote his Indica in this dialect, though he composed his other works in the Attic diction. I have not Jurieu's book to consult, and perhaps it is not worth the seeking. Jurieu made a figure in his time, and had more zeal than discretion. He wrote some tracts of devotion, and he was remarkable for two things; first, for misinterpreting the Apocalypse, and thence foretelling what never came to pass; secondly, for publishing idle stories against Grotius, and other learned men, in a book called L'Esprit de Monsieur Arnauld, The book at first had a run, for censure VOL I. H is |
