The Temple of the Muses

as if of an Alcmene; of Jupiter original: "Jupyn," a Dutch diminutive or variation for Jupiter. under the guise of her husband; (a) of a Leda, deceived in a cunning way by that same God (b). All this was still not enough to ignite the foul fire of love: they also fabricated that these women or maidens and their offspring were placed among the number of the Divinities, to make the reward of this indulgence all the more pleasant. That was the reason why a Castor and Pollux were given a place in the Heavens under the constellation of the Twins The constellation Gemini. (c); and why that Io, dishonored by Jupiter, was honored as a Goddess in Egypt under the name of Isis (d). It could hardly be otherwise, but that these so-desired rewards must produce a fertile harvest of shameful love-passions. Why should a youth in Terence Publius Terentius Afer, a Roman playwright whose comedies often dealt with moral dilemmas., when he sees in a painting Jupiter, the great Jupiter, who makes the Heavens tremble with his thunder, descending into the lap of Danaë in the form of a golden rain; why, I say, should he, a mere mortal original: menschje, literally "little human," suggesting the insignificance of man compared to a god., as he says, not be allowed to follow that behavior, and satisfy his lust in a violent manner? Plato in his Euthyphro brings forward a similar example of a youth who, having murdered his Father, brought in for his defense and excuse that this was permitted to him, and that he had followed the example of Saturn, who ate his children. Another reasons in the same way in Philostratus (e); indeed, how foul an influence the fabulous descriptions, which the Poets gave of the Gods and their deeds, had made upon the minds of men, and how ready they were to commit that which, according to those descriptions, must necessarily be pleasing to them, is evident from the shameful customs and ceremonies which took place in the Festivals of Bacchus, Ceres, and Flora. In short, where such sentiments regarding the Deity were taught and accepted, as the mythological writings provide us, there must also be—as indeed there was—a general corruption of life; and, since we have seen before that the Philosophers were not able to diminish the people’s respect for those writings, nor to instill in them better sentiments which agreed with the nature of the Deity, and to stem the tide of unrestraint, so we see also from this how necessary it was that the light of a purer revelation should arise, which would no longer leave men in uncertainty regarding the nature of the Deity; and where He was described to them in such a way that nothing absurd appears in it, but where everything the thought—

(a) Page 62.
(b) Page 75.
(c) Page 75.
(d) Page 26.
(e) Life of Apollonius, Book V. chapter 50.