Jacob Bryant

“ Can we believe that they would give as a proper name to one place, what was in a manner common to all; and choose for a characteristic what was so general and indeterminate? It is not to be supposed. Every symbol, and representation relates to the worship of the country: and all history shews that such places were sacred, and set apart for the adoration of fire, and the Deity of that element, called Ista, and Esta. [692] Ista-char, or Esta-char is the place or temple of Ista or Esta; who was the Hestia, Ἑστια, of the Greeks, and Vesta of the Romans. ”

“ Among the Greeks is contained a great treasure of knowledge. It is a rich mine; which as yet has not been worked far beneath the surface. The ore lies deep, and cannot be obtained without much industry and labour. The Helladians had the best opportunities to have afforded us information about the antiquities of their country: of their negligence, and of their mistakes I have spoken; yet with a proper clue they may still be read to great advantage. To say the truth, there is scarce an author of them all, from whom some good may not be derived. ”

“ Indeed they did not chuse to distinguish, but adopted all for their own; taking the merit of every antient transaction to themselves. No people had a greater love for science, nor displayed a more refined taste in composition. Their study was ever to please, and to raise admiration. Hence they always aimed at the marvellous, which they dressed up in a most winning manner: at the same time they betrayed a seeming veneration for antiquity. ”

“ Better days may perhaps come; when the Greek language will be in greater repute, and its beauties more admired. As I am principally indebted to the Grecians for intelligence, I have in some respects adhered to their orthography, and have rendered antient terms as they were expressed by them. Indeed I do not see, why we should not render all names of Grecian original, as they were exhibited by that people, instead of taking our mode of pronunciation from the Romans. ”

“ Cadmus. Let us for a while grant it; and inquire what was the progress. They had the use of them so far as to put an inscription on the pediment of a temple, or upon a pillar; or to scrawl a man's name upon a tile or an oyster-shell, when they wanted to banish or poison him. Such scanty knowledge, and so base materials, go but a little way towards science. What history was there of Corinth, or of Sparta? What annals were there of Argos, or Messena; of Elis, or the cities of Achaia? None: not even of [522] Athens. There are not the least grounds to surmise that any single record existed. ”

“ My purpose has been throughout to give a new turn to antient history, and to place it upon a surer foundation. The mythology of Greece is a vast assemblage of obscure traditions, which have been transmitted from the earliest times. ”

“ I have mentioned that the nations of the east acknowledged originally but one Deity, the Sun: but when they came to give the titles of Orus, Osiris, and Cham, to some of the heads of their family; they too in time were looked up to as Gods, and severally worshipped as the Sun. This was practised by the Egyptians: but this nation being much addicted to refinement in their worship, made many subtile distinctions: and supposing that there were certain emanations of divinity, they affected to particularize each by some title; and to worship the Deity by his attributes. ”

“ One great mistake frequently prevails among people who deal in these researches, which must be carefully avoided. We should never make use of a language which is modern, or comparatively modern, to deduce the etymology of antient and primitive terms. Pezron applies to the modern Teutonic, which he styles the Celtic, and says, was the language of Jupiter. But who was Jupiter, and what has the modern Celtic to do with the history of Egypt or Chaldea? ”

“ What has been wanting in the natives of Greece, has been greatly supplied by writers of that nation from other countries, who lived in after-times. Of these the principal have been mentioned; and many others might be added, who were men of integrity and learning. They were fond of knowledge, and obtained a deep insight into antiquity: and, what is of the greatest consequence, they were attached to the truth. They may sometimes have been mistaken in their judgment: they may also have been deceived: but still truth was the scope at which they aimed. ”

“ The Deity, which they originally worshipped, was the Sun. But they soon conferred his titles upon some of their ancestors: whence arose a mixed worship. They particularly deified the great Patriarch, who was the head of their line; and worshipped him as the fountain of light: making the Sun only an emblem of his influence and power. They called him Bal, and Baal: and there were others of their ancestry joined with him, whom they styled the Baalim. Chus was one of these: and this idolatry began among his sons. ”

“ The Egyptian and Asiatic Greeks had some imperfect traditions about Ham, and Chus: the latter of which they esteemed Bacchus. And as the term Ampelus did not primarily relate to the vine, but was a sacred name transferred from the Deity, they had some notion of this circumstance: but as it was their custom out of every title to form a new personage, they have supposed Ampelus to have been a youth of great beauty, and one whom Bacchus particularly favoured. ”

“ And here it is proper to take notice of a circumstance of which I must continually put the reader in mind, as it is of great consequence towards decyphering the mythology of antient times. The Grecians often mistook the place of worship for the Deity worshipped: so that the names of many Gods are, in reality, the names of temples where they were adored. Artemis was Ar-Temis, the city of Themis, or Thamis; the Thamuz of Sidon and Egypt. This the Greeks expressed Αρτεμις; and made it the name of a Goddess. Kir-On was the city and temple of the Sun, in Cyprus and other places. ”

“ Most of these were either of Egypt or Asia. They had a real taste for antiquity; and lived at a time when some insight could be obtained: for till the Roman Empire was fully established, and every province in a state of tranquillity, little light could be procured from those countries, whence the mythology of Greece was derived. The native Helladians were very limited in their knowledge. They had taken in the gross whatever was handed down by tradition; and assumed to themselves every history, which was imported. They moreover held every nation but their own as barbarous ”

“ There is likewise a great correspondence to be observed in terms of science; and in the titles, which were of old bestowed upon magistrates and rulers. The same observation may be extended even to plants, and minerals, as well as to animals; especially to those which were esteemed at all sacred. Their names seem to be composed of the same, or similar elements; and bear a manifest relation to the religion in use among the Amonians, and to the Deity which they adored. This deity was the Sun: and most of the antient names will be found to be an assemblage of titles, bestowed upon that luminary. ”

“ Colonies always went out under the patronage and title of some Deity. This conducting-God was in after-times supposed to have been the real leader.
Sometimes the whole merit of a transaction was imputed to this Deity solely; who was represented under the character of Perseus, Dionusus, or Hercules. Hence, instead of one person, we must put a people; and the history will be found consonant to the truth.
As the Grecians made themselves principals in many great occurrences which were of another country, we must look abroad for the original, both of their rites and mythology ”

“ This mode of worship among the Atlantian betrays a great antiquity; as the temple seems to have been merely a vast hollow in the side of the mountain; and to have had in it neither image, nor pillar, nor stone, nor any material object of adoration: [673] Εστι δε Ατλας ορος κοιλον, επιεικως ὑψηλον.—Τουτο Λιβυων και ἱερον, και θεος, και ὁρκος, και αγαλμα. This Atlas (of which I have been speaking) is a mountain with a cavity, and of a tolerable height, which the natives esteem both as a temple and a Deity: and it is the great object by which they swear; and to which they pay their devotions. ”

“ When a gradual darkness has been overspreading the world, it requires as much time to emerge from the cloud, as there passed when we were sinking into it: so that they who come later may enjoy a greater portion of light, than those who preceded them by ages. ”

“ We find the whole, like a grotesque picture, blazoned high, and glaring with colours, and filled with groups of fantastic imagery, such as we see upon an Indian screen; where the eye is painfully amused; but whence little can be obtained, which is satisfactory, and of service. We must, however, make this distinction, that in the allegorical representations of Greece, there was always a covert meaning, though it may have escaped our discernment. ”

“ And though the nations, who preserved memorials of the Deluge, have not perhaps stated accurately the time of that event; yet it will be found the grand epocha, to which they referred; the highest point to which they could ascend. This was esteemed the renewal of the world; the new birth of mankind; and the ultimate of Gentile history. Some traces may perhaps be discernable in their rites and mysteries of the antediluvian system: but those very few, and hardly perceptible. ”

“ If we once know that what the Greeks, in their mythology, styled a wolf, was the Sun; that by a dog was meant a prince, or Deity; that by bees was signified an order of priests; these terms, however misapplied, can no more mislead us in writing, than their resemblances in sculpture would a native of Egypt, if they were used for emblems on stone.
Thus much I have been obliged to premise: as our knowledge must come through the hands of the [564] Grecians. ”

“ The antient Cuthites, and the Persians after them, had a great veneration for fountains and streams; which also prevailed among other nations, so as to have been at one time almost universal. Of this regard among the Persians Herodotus takes notice: [576] Σεβονται ποταμους των παντων μαλιστα: Of all things in nature they reverence rivers most. But if these rivers were attended with any nitrous or saline quality, or with any fiery eruption, they were adjudged to be still more sacred, and ever distinguished with some title of the Deity. The natives of Egypt had the like veneration. ”

“ Bryant could make of this science is apparent in every part of his work: he derives from it the greatest and only light which can be cast upon some of his inquiries, and that in a way that will draw the admiration of those who have a proper acquaintance with the subject; that is, such as have a knowledge of the Oriental languages sufficient to enable them to trace them through the Greek, Latin, and other tongues, as they relate to the names of things, which in almost every country carry evidence of their being derived from the East; from whence it is certain mankind themselves are derived. ”

“ The cause of this absurd notion arose from hence: every sacred animal in Egypt was distinguished by some title of the Deity. But the Greeks never considered whether the term was to be taken in its primary, or in its secondary acceptation; whence they referred the history to an animal, when it related to the God from whom the animal was denominated. Λυκος, Lucos, was, as I have shewn, the name of the Sun: hence, wherever this term occurs in composition, there will be commonly found some reference to that Deity, or to his substitute Apollo. ”

“ OF GREECE.
We must never deduce the etymology of an Egyptian or oriental term from the Greek language. Eustathius well observes, Ει βαρβαρον το ονομα ου χρη ζητειν Ἑλληνικην ετυμολογιαν αυτου.
We should recur to the Doric manner of expression, as being nearest to the original.
The Greeks adopted all foreign history: and supposed it to have been of their own country.
They mistook temples for Deities, and places for persons.
They changed every foreign term to something similar in their own language; to something similar in sound, however remote in meaning; being led solely by the ear. ”

“ The antient name of Latian Jupiter was P'ur, by length of time changed to Puer. He was the Deity of fire; and his ministers were styled Pueri: and because many of them were handsome youths selected for that office, Puer came at length to signify any young person. Some of the Romans would explain this title away, as if it referred to Jupiter's childhood: but the history of the place will shew that it had no such relation. It was a proper name, and retained particularly among the people of Præneste. They had undoubtedly been addicted to the rites of fire ”

“ This superstitious practice is observed by shutting themselves up fourteen or fifteen days in a place where no light enters. The only nourishment they take is a little bread and water at sun-set. During this retreat they employ their time in repeating incessantly, with a strong guttural voice, the word Hou, by which they denote one of the attributes of the Deity. These continual cries, and the agitations of the body with which they were attended, naturally unhinge the whole frame. When by fasting and darkness the brain is distempered, they fancy they see spectres and hear voices. ”

“ The first inhabitants of the country, called afterwards Hellas, were the sons of Javan; who seem to have degenerated very early, and to have become truly barbarous. Hence the best historians of Greece confess, that their ancestors were not the first inhabitants; but that it was before their arrival in the possession of a people, whom they style [519] Βαρβαροι, or Barbarians. The Helladians were colonies of another family: and introduced themselves somewhat later. They were of the race which I term Amonian; and came from Egypt and Syria: but originally from Babylonia. ”