Mythology and Fables Explained by History

PREFACE.

...Greece. The Phoenicians and the Egyptians, who had cultivated the Arts and Sciences since the earliest centuries, had written the History of their Religion; nothing is more famous in Antiquity than the books that Mercury Trismegistus A legendary figure, often viewed as a combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, credited with authoring sacred texts on philosophy and religion. had composed on this subject. It is true that the language in which they were written was a sacred language, understood only by the priests; but can we not suppose that the leaders of the Colonies who went to seek settlements in the islands of the Mediterranean, the Archipelago, and in Greece, brought with them some of these priests to take care of matters concerning Religion? And is it not likely that these priests instructed the Greeks when they received the worship of the Gods whom these foreigners had come to establish in their country?

One will not deny this supposition, since it is agreed that Inachus A mythological figure traditionally considered the first King of Argos and a leader of an early colony from Egypt., who led the first Colony into Greece, communicated the use of this sacred language—that is to say, the hieroglyphs original: "Hiéroglyphes"; the symbolic writing system of ancient Egypt, here suggested to be the "sacred language" used by priests. which served to express it. Long before the arrival of this Colony, the Egyptians had already begun to instruct the Greeks on matters of Religion.

"The Pelasgians The name used by classical Greek writers to refer to the indigenous populations who inhabited the Greek mainland and islands before the arrival of the Hellenes (Greeks)., who must be placed among the oldest inhabitants of Greece, honored," says Herodotus An ancient Greek historian known as the "Father of History," writing in the 5th century BCE., "gods of whom they had no knowledge, offering them prayers and sacrifices in general. As they finally wanted to know their names, they consulted the Oracle of Dodona The oldest and most prestigious oracle in ancient Greece, located in Epirus and dedicated to Zeus., the only one that then existed in Greece, where they learned them from the foreigners who served there."

Now the Oracle of