"of a melancholy signification, suitable to the ideas we have "of those infernal regions. Ulysses arrives at this place, where "he calls up the shades of the dead, in the space of one day; "from whence we may conjecture, that he means a place that "lies between Cumae and Baiae, near the lake Avernus in "Italy; which, as Strabo remarks, is the scene of the necro"mancy of Homer, according to the opinion of antiquity. He "further adds, that there really are such rivers as Homer men❝tions, though not placed in their true situation; according to "the liberty allowed to poetry. Others write, that the Cim"merii once inhabited Italy, and that the famous cave of Pausi"lypo was begun by them about the time of the Trojan wars: "Here they offered sacrifice to the Manes, which might give "occasion to Homer's fiction. The Grecians, who inhabited "these places after the Cimmerians, converted these dark habi"tations into stoves, baths, etc. "Silius Italicus writes, that the Lucrine lake was antiently "called Cocytus, lib. XII. "Ast hic Lucrino mansisse vocabula quondam "Cocyti memorat. "It is also probable, that Acheron was the antient name of "Avernus, because Acherusia, a large water near Cumae, flows "into it by concealed passages. Silius Italicus informs us, that "Avernus was also called Styx. 66 "Ille olim populis dictum Styga, nomine verso, Stagna inter celebrem nunc mitia monstrat Avernum.” "Here Hannibal offered sacrifice to the Manes, as it is recorded "by Livy; and Tully affirms it from an antient Poet, from "whom he quotes the following fragment: "Inde in viciniâ nostrâ Averni lacus "Unde animae excitantur obscurâ umbrâ, VER. 125-126. "Tunc sic orsa loqui vates: Sate sanguine Divum, "Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averni," etc. "Omnia proclivia sunt; facilè descenditur: itaque quam"vis podagricus esset, momento temporis pervenit ad januam "Ditis." Seneca, Apoth. Claudii. VER. 140-144. "Non antè datur telluris operta subire, "Auricomos quâm quis decerpserit arbore foetus; "Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus * Mercury by his Caduceus opens and shuts the gates of hell; and therefore very properly puts a bough or twig into Ulysses's hand, when he was going into those regions. The power of the Divine Rod was grown into a proverb amongst the Romans, as appears from Cicero: "Quod si omnia nobis, quae ad victum cultumque pertinent, quasi Virgulâ Divinâ (ut aiunt) suppe"ditantur," Offic. lib. I.-The most antient histories, sacred and profane, give us sufficient testimonies of the use of the Virga, on solemn occasions. 66 VER. 182-188. "Advolvunt ingentes montibus ornos. * The discovery of the Golden Bough, at the same time that Aeneas was seeking for timber in the woods for the funeral of Nisenus, is artfully interwoven. VER. 203, 204. "Gemina super arbore sidunt, "Discolor unde auri per ramos ✶ aura refulsit." * Ruaeus explains the word Aura by Fulgor. So, possibly, Horace's "Tua nè retardet Lib. II. Od. viii. 24. VER. 212-216. "Aura maritos." "Nec minus interea Misenum in litore Teucri "Flebant, *' et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant. 66 Principio pinguem taedis et robore secto "Ingentem struxere pyram: cui frondibus atris *' The solemn funeral of Misenus prepares the mind for the descent into hell; and Virgil likewise takes this opportunity of celebrating so remarkable a promontory near his favourite city, Naples, 66 66 *2 Ovid alludes to the same custom, when he says: "Funeris ara mihi ferali cincta cupressu "Convenit." De Trist. lib. III. El. penult. + Dr. Middleton says (Mon. p. 86.), “that it was customary among the Romans, when any great man died, to have a cypress tree placed on each side of his door; and when the body "was carried out, these were carried after him in the funeral procession. Hence Horace's; "Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens "Ulla brevem dominum sequetur." Lib. II. Od. xiv. 24. VER. 237-242. "+Spelunca alta fuit, vastoque immanis hiatu, (Unde locum Graii dixerunt nomine Avernum.)” +Virgil calls it Spelunca here, and Antrum, 268 posth. He describes it as near the lake of Avernus (238, etc.), with a wide opening (237 et 262), covered with dark woods (238;) and a dark passage afterwards, 270-272. "Ad Avernales scopulos et opaca Sibyllae "Antra." Stat. Sylv. V. iii. 173, “ Penitus via longa patescat "Manibus egregiis. Eat," etc. Ib. III. iii. 28. Statius mentions Baiae, the Tecta Sibyllae, and Misenus's Promontory together. Sylv. V. iii. 173-See ib. IV. iii. 24 et 133. Ovid's description of the Cave of Sleep (Met. XI. 592.), is much more like what they call the Sibyl's Grot at present, than this opening described by Virgil. Quaer. Where that place Tacitus speaks of?" Nero, ut "erat incredibilium cupitor, effodere proxima Averno juga "connixus est; manentque vestigia irritae spei." Annal. lib. XV. The entrance is more distinctly marked in Silius Italicus, lib. XIII. Scipio goes to Autonoë the priestess of Apollo: she tells him what sacrifices he is to prepare bids him come with them just after midnight, "ad fauces vicini Averni," the "turbida "portae ostia Tartareae;" and promises to meet him there, and call forth the Sibyl. When he comes, he finds Autonoë within the cave. She performs part of the sacrifice. Scipio sees into hell; and talks with Appius: the Sibyl comes, and tastes the blood; and Autonoë goes away. The Sibyl foretells his future actions; describes hell to him; enables him to know the persons that taste the blood, and points out others to him. The Sibyl returns to the shades, and Scipio to his companions, lin. ult. 1 VER. 243-247. "Quatuor hic primum nigrantes terga juvencos Ignibus imponit sacris libamina prima, "Voce vocans ** Hecaten, caeloque Ereboque potentem." * See Mr. Pope's account of the antient sacrifices, in his Remarks on the Odyssey: B. XIV. ver. 469, and other places of Homer. ** Hecate and Diana are the same Deity; not Proserpina, as Ruaeus thinks; which immediately appears by ver. 251. And Statius, in his Balneum Etrusci, Sylv. I. 5. expressly calls Diana by the name Hecate. "Hîc velox Hecate velit et deprensa lavari:" alluding to the story of Actaeon.. VER. 249-251. "Ipse atri velleris agnam "Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori "Ense ferit; sterilemque tibi, Proserpina, vaccam." *Silius Italicus, on the like occasion, makes this sacrifice to Alecto and Megaera. "Inde tibi, Alecto; tibi, nunquam laeta Megaera," etc. VER. 285-289. Lib. III. Multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum, “Centauri in foribus stabulant, † Scyllaeque biformes; "Et centum geminus Briareus, ac Bellua Lernae "Horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera: "Gorgones, Harpyiaeque, et forma tricorporis umbrae." + The word Scyllae is sometimes used for any thing of a con fused and imaginary make.-Lucretius speaks of them in the same manner: "Centauros itaque, et Scyllarum membra videmus, IV. 737. that is, we make these odd mixtures of animals in our own fancy. He speaks of them again, V. 876-892. VER. 298, 299. "Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat "Terribili squalore Charon." * Mr. Holdsworth here refers to Note the first, Book XI. of Mr. Pope's edition of Homer's Odyssey. Where Mr. Pope says; 66 I will take this opportunity briefly to mention the original of all these fictions of infernal rivers, judges, etc. spoken of by Homer, and repeated and enlarged by Virgil. They are of Aegyptian extract, as Mr. Sandys (that faithful traveller, and judicious poet) observes, speaking of the mummies of Memphis,' p. 134. "These ceremonies performed, they laid the corpse in a boat "to be wafted over Acherusia, a lake on the south of Mem"phis, by one only person, whom they called Charon; which gave Orpheus the invention of his infernal ferryman; an ill"favoured slovenly fellow, as Virgil describes him, Aen. VI. "About this lake stood the shady temple of Hecate, with the ports of Cocytus and Oblivion, separated by bars of brass, "the original of like fables. When landed on the other side, "the bodies were brought before certain judges; if convinced "of an evil life, they were deprived of burial; if otherwise, they suffered them to be interred."- -This explication shews the foundation of those antient fables of Charon, Rhadamanthus, etc. and also that the poets had a regard to truth in their inventions, and grounded even their fables upon some remarkable customs, which grew obscure and absurd only because the memory of the customs to which they allude is lost to posterity. 66 VER. 378, 379. "Tua finitimi longè latèque per urbes, 66 Prodigiis acti caelestibus, ossa piabunt." Markland, in his notes on Statius, taking occasion to quote these two verses, attacks them in the following furious manner-" Qui locus, nisi omnia me fallunt, insigni absurdi"tate foetus est. Si enim Finitimi, quomodo Longe lateque 66 per urbes? idem ac si dixisset, Finitimi longinque piabunt |