Shadows In A Timeless Myth Presents - Sibyls and Augurs Mythological Fortunetelling

 SIBYLS—AUGURS.

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Ques. Who were the Sibyls?


Ans. The Sibyllæ, or Sibyls, were certain females, supposed to be inspired by Heaven, who flourished at different times and in different parts of the world. According to the historian Varro, they were ten in number. The most celebrated was the Cumæan Sibyl, of whom the poets give the following account. Apollo sought the love of the young prophetess, and promised to give her whatever she should demand. The sibyl desired that she might live as many years as she had grains of sand in her hand; but as she forgot to ask for health and youthful bloom, this long life proved rather a burden than a benefit. She had rejected the suit of Apollo, and the god refused, therefore, to withdraw his gift or mitigate the severity of her lot. This sibyl had already lived seven hundred years when Æne´as came to Italy, and six centuries still remained of the time granted by Apollo. She accompanied Æne´as on his visit to the lower world. 

According to a well-known Roman legend, one of the sibyls came to the palace of the second Tarquin with nine volumes, which she offered to sell at a very high price. The king declined the offer; the sibyl immediately disappeared and burned three of the volumes. Returning soon after, she asked the same price for the remaining six books; and when Tarquin again refused to buy them, she burned three more, and still persisted in demanding the same sum of money for those that were left. This extraordinary conduct astonished the monarch, and with the advice of the Augurs he bought the books, upon which the sibyl disappeared and was never seen after. These books were preserved with great care, and were called the Sibylline Verses. A college of priests was appointed to take charge of them, and they were consulted with the greatest solemnity, whenever the state seemed to be in danger. When the Capitol was burned in the troubles raised by Sylla, the Sibylline Verses are said by some to have perished in the conflagration. It is believed, however, on good authority, that they were in existence as late as the fourth century, when they were destroyed by command of the Emperor Honorius. Various collections were afterwards made, which are generally admitted to be forgeries.


Different opinions have prevailed with regard to the prophecies of the sibyls, some of which, it is said, pointed clearly to the advent of a Redeemer, the time of his coming, and the submission of Rome to the new dispensation. It has been thought that these passages were invented by later Christian writers, but Bishop Horsley, a learned English divine, thinks it more reasonable to suppose that the sibylline books contained the records of prophecies which were granted in primitive times, to nations outside of the patriarchal and Jewish races. He cites in favor of this opinion, the fact that St. Justin, in his apology addressed to the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, appeals confidently to the sibylline prophecies, and at that time, about the middle of the second century, it was not possible that the Christians should have added anything to them. There are also passages in the fourth Eclogue of Virgil which prove that the expectation of a Saviour, and the belief that the time of his advent was approaching, existed even among the pagans.

Divination by Omens—The Augurs.

 

Ques. Who were the Augurs? 


Ans. They were priests whose office it was to observe and interpret omens. This science was derived from the ancient Etrurians. There were five principal classes of omens from which the Augurs were supposed to foretell future events, the good or ill success of an undertaking, etc. The first were drawn from the phenomena of nature, such as thunder, lightning, comets, etc. The second kind of omen was obtained by observing the cries and the flight of birds. In the third class we may place the appetite of the sacred chickens; when they did not eat, the omen was so bad that it was considered unlucky to give battle, or undertake anything of importance. It happened once that a Roman commander, (Claudius Pulcher,) when about to engage the fleet of the enemy, was warned by the Augurs that the sacred chickens would not eat. He replied, with very natural contempt, that if they would not eat, they might drink, and had them thrown into the sea. It is believed that the terrible defeat the Romans suffered on that day was owing, in great part, to the discouragement of the sailors, who supposed that their commander had forfeited the favor of the gods by this act of sacrilege.


Omens were drawn from the appearance of the entrails of animals offered in sacrifice, also from the meeting with quadrupeds in any unaccustomed place.


The fifth class of omens was taken from different casualties, such as spilling salt, stumbling on the threshold, sneezing, meeting a hare, wolf, fox, etc. Some of these last superstitions prevail, more or less, to the present day.

 Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Smiles & Good Fortune,
Teresa
************************************
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915


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Shadows In A Timeless Myth Presents - The Muses of Arts and Science

THE MUSES.

Ques. Who were the Muses?

Ans. They were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemo´syne, and were supposed to preside over the liberal arts and sciences.

Ques. How many Muses were there?

Ans. They were nine in number, and each presided over some particular department of literature, art or science. Their names were:

Calli´ope, who was the Muse of epic poetry, she holds in her hand a roll of parchment, or a trumpet.

Clio presided over history. She holds a half opened scroll.

Melpo´mene was the Muse of tragedy. She leans on a club, and holds a tragic mask.

Euter´pe was the patroness of music. She holds two flutes.

Er´ato inspired those who wrote of love. She plays on a nine-stringed lyre.

Terpsich´ore presided over choral dance and song. She appears dancing, and holds a seven-stringed lyre.

Ura´nia, the Muse of astronomy, holds a globe, and traces mathematical figures with a wand.

Thalia, the Muse of comedy, holds in one hand a comic mask, in the other a crooked staff.

Polyhym´nia presided over eloquence. She holds her fore-finger to her lips, or carries a scroll.

The Muses are sometimes represented as crowned with palms, and seated in the shade of an arbor, playing upon different instruments; or again, as dancing in a circle with joined hands, while Apollo is seated in their midst.

Ques. How have some writers accounted for the number of Muses?

Ans. They say that in ancient times there were but three Muses. The citizens of Sicyon employed three sculptors to execute statues of these goddesses, promising to choose from among the nine images, those which they should consider the most beautiful. When the statues were finished, they were found to be so skillfully wrought, that it was impossible to make a choice. They were all placed in the temple, and the poet Hesiod afterwards assigned them names and attributes.

Ques. What punishment did the Muses inflict on the nine daughters of Pierus, king of Æmathia?

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Ans. These maidens challenged the Muses to a contest in music; they were defeated and transformed into magpies by the indignant goddesses. Tham´yris, a musician of Thrace, was struck blind for the same offense.

Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Smiles & Good Reading,
Teresa
************************************
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915


Download your complimentary Shadows In A Timeless Myth short story and musical jigsaw puzzle of the cover of Shadows In A Timeless Myth.

Shadows In A Timeless Myth Presents - The Silver Age of Mythology

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The Silver Age was far inferior to that of gold; but virtue still dwelt on earth, and the Immortals had not altogether departed from the abodes of men. Jupiter then divided the year into seasons, shortened the winter days, and let loose the northern blasts, so that men were obliged to build dwellings, and cultivate the ungrateful soil.

Their first habitations were caves and grottoes, leafy coverts of the forest, or huts rudely constructed of the trunks of trees and interwoven boughs.

The Brazen Age came next; men grew fierce and warlike, but were not as yet altogether impious.
The Iron Age gave birth to all the calamities that afflict mankind. Avarice and violence reigned supreme; men were not satisfied to till the earth, but dug into its hidden mines, and drew thence gold and iron, potent instruments of ill to man.

The same poet says:

“Then land-marks limited to each his right;  

For all before was common as the light.  

Nor was the ground alone required to bear  

Her annual income to the crooked share,  

But greedy mortals, rummaging her store,  

Digged from her entrails first the precious ore 

(Which next to hell the prudent gods had laid,) 

And that alluring ill to sight displayed.  

Thus cursed steel, and more accursed gold,  

Gave mischief birth, and made that mischief bold: 

And double death did wretched man invade,  

By steel assaulted, and by gold betrayed.”  

Dryden’s Ovid.

Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Smiles & Good Reading,
Teresa
************************************
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915

Download your complimentary Shadows In A Timeless Myth short story and musical jigsaw puzzle of the cover of Shadows In A Timeless Myth.

Shadows In A Timeless Myth Presents - The Golden Age of Mythology

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Ques. What is Mythology?

Ans. This word is derived from the Greek, Mythos, a myth or fable, and logos, a discourse. A myth is, properly speaking, an allegory or fable invented to convey some important moral or religious truth, or illustrate some operation of nature. Mythology includes also the historical myths, or the narratives of gods, demigods, and heroes, which were current among the heathen in ancient times.

Ques. Why is it necessary to become acquainted with these fables?

Ans. Because ancient literature and art cannot be fully understood or appreciated without some knowledge of Mythology. It was mingled with every theme of the classic poet, and inspired the highest skill of the painter and sculptor.

These subjects keep their place to some extent in modern art, and mythological allusions are so frequent in our literature that an acquaintance with classic fable is considered a necessary part of a liberal education.

Ques. Did all the heathen nations worship the same deities?

Ans. The mythology of different nations varied as to the names and attributes of their divinities. There are, nevertheless, so many points of resemblance, that it is believed by many that the principal mythical systems had one common origin. To trace these analogies, and the developments which gave rise to so great a diversity, is the province of comparative mythology.

Ques. In what important point do all these systems agree?

Ans. In the rite of sacrifice. We meet everywhere the same offerings: flowers, first fruits, libations of milk, honey, and wine; also sacrifices of animals, which were either partaken of by the votaries or consumed as holocausts upon the altar.

This mode of worship varied but little in ceremonial, and the sacrifices of the different heathen nations resembled, in their exterior form, those offered to the true God by the ancient patriarchs. The idea of propitiating the deity in such a manner seems to have been universal both in the old and the new world, and we are forced to believe that it was drawn from a common fount of primeval tradition.

Ques. How did the belief in the heathen deities originate?

Ans. When the early traditions of the human race became corrupt, the sublime idea of one God, self-existent and eternal, was lost or obscured. We find it, though vaguely perhaps, in the character and attributes of certain divinities, as the Zeus (Jupiter) of the Greek, and the Alfâdur of Scandinavian mythology. There are passages in the early Greek poets which show clearly a belief in the unity of God. In the verses attributed to the mythic poet Orpheus, and generally known as Orphic Remains, we find the following:

“One self-existent lives; created things Arise from him; and He is all in all. No mortal sight may see Him, yet Himself Sees all that live; 

* * * * * * 

For He alone All heavenly is, and all terrestrial things Are wrought by Him. First, midst and last he holds With His omniscient grasp.”

 

The same idea is expressed in the verses of the poet Aratus, quoted by St. Paul in his address to the Athenians on the Hill of Mars.

Instead of ministering spirits obeying the will  of the Supreme Being, and communicating that will to man, there arose a number of inferior deities, each exercising some peculiar and partial sovereignty. The god whom the warrior invoked in battle was powerless to bless the field he cultivated in time of peace; the power of Jupiter was worshipped in the rolling thunder; but when the earth trembled or fiery torrents burst from the mountain top, the wrath of Pluto must be appeased, and sacrifices were offered to the infernal powers. The strife and turbulence of nature were attributed to the gods, who became in some manner identified with the elements they were supposed to govern.

The honors paid to the memory of departed heroes assumed, in the course of time, the character of religious worship. Hence arose a class of demigods, whose real achievements, transmitted by popular tradition and embellished by the poets, became altogether legendary and mythical.

Ques. Were the Greek and Roman mythologies the same?

Ans. They were, to a great extent. The ancient Latins had, undoubtedly, their own gods and their peculiar superstitions, but they do not appear to have had any regular mythology. When the Romans received the arts and sciences from the Greeks, they adopted, also, their divinities and their entire system of religion.




They shared a tradition, which seems to have been universal, of a time of primeval innocence, when man dwelt in a peaceful world, ignorant alike of sorrow and of sin. This was the Golden Age. Avarice and discord were unknown; men had not learned to slay animals for food, nor had the earth been disturbed by the plough. Neither the labors of the husbandman, nor the merchant’s traffic disturbed the joyous leisure of that happy time; no ships ploughed the seas, and the glittering steel rested harmless in the mine. Ovid thus describes the days of innocence:

“The Golden Age was first, when man, yet new,  

No rule but uncorrupted reason knew,  

And, with a native bent did good pursue.  

Unforced by punishment, unawed by fear, 

His words were simple, and his soul sincere; 

Needless was written law where none oppressed;  

The law of man was written in his breast:  

No suppliant crowds before the judge appeared,  

No court erected yet, nor cause was heard, 

But all was safe; for conscience was their guard.

  *   *   *   *   *   *   * 

No walls were yet, nor fence, nor moat, nor mound,  

Nor drum was heard, nor trumpet’s angry sound,  

Nor swords were forged; but, void of care and crime,  

The soft creation slept away their time.”

What does this have to do with my new historical fantasy Shadows In A Timeless Myth?  The myths, legends, fairytales, history and folklore that I've loved from childhood inspired the creation of my two main characters and the inspiration for their adventures. 

Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Smiles & Good Reading
Teresa
************************************
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank and independent. W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915

Download your complimentary Shadows In A Timeless Myth short story and musical jigsaw puzzle of the cover of Shadows In A Timeless Myth.