34

Religious Oustoms.

[Book I.

year at the fountains of Arethusa, and they sacrificed black bulls to Pluto at the fountain of Cyane. Wells were sometimes dedicated to partlculardeities, as the oracular fountain mentioned by Pausanias , near the sea atPatra, which still remains nearly as he described it; and having been re-de dicated to a Christian saint, “is still a sacred well.” Divination bywater, was practised at this well. A mirror was suspended by a thread,having its polished ßurface upwards, and while floating on the water,presages were drawn from the images reflected.

Polynices, in CEdipus Coloneus, swears “ by our native fountains andour kindred gods.” Antigone , when about to be sacrificed, appeals to the“ fountains of Dirce , and the grove of Thebe.” Ajax before he slewhimself, called on the sun, the soil of Salamis, and “ye fountains andrivers here.” Trag, of Sophocles lit. trans. 1837.

“ At Peneus’ formt Aristeus stood and bowed with woe,

Breathed his deep munnurs to the nymph below : Georgics L. iv, 365.

Cyrene! thou whom these fair springs revere.”

The fountain of Aponeus, (now Albano) the birth place of Livy, wasan oracular one. That of Pirene at Corinth, was sacred to the muses.Eneas invoked “ living fountains” among other “ Ethereal Gods .” Andold Latinus

“ Sought the shades renowned for propheey,

Which near Albuneas’ sulphureous fountain lie.” En. vii, 124.

Cicero says, the Roman priests and augurs, in their prayers, called onthe names of rivers, brooks, and springs.

Vessels of water were carried by the Egyptian priests in their sacredprocessions, to denote the great blessings derived from it, and that it wasthe beginning of all things. Vitruvius says they were accustomed toplace a vase of it in their temples with great devotion, and prostratingthemselves on the earth, returned thanks to the divine goodness for its pro-tection. Book viii, Proem. In the celebration of the Eleusinian myste-ries, those who entered the temple, washed their hands in holy water, andon the ninth and last day of the fe3tival, vessels of water were offeredwith great ceremonies, and accompanied with mystical expressions to theGods . Those who were initiated were prohibited from ever sitting onthe cover of a well. Sojourners among the Greeks carried in the religiousprocessions, small vessels formed in the shape of boats ; and their daugh-ters water pots with umbrellas. Rob. Ant. Greece . Plutarch says,“fishes were not eaten of old, from reverence of springs.”

Among the ancient Peruvians, certain Indians were appointed to sacri-fice “to fountains, springs, and rivers.” Pur. Pil. 1076. Holy water wasplaced near the altars of the Mexicans. Ibid, 987. Tlaloc was their God of water; on fulfilling particular vows they bathed in the sacred pondTezcapan. The water of the fountain Toxpalatl was drank only at themost solemn feasts : no one was allowed to taste it at any other time. Cla-vigero, Lon. 1786, vol. i, 251 and 265. The Fontinalia of the Romans,were religious festivals, held in October, in honor of the Nymphs of Wellsand fountains; part of the ceremonies consisted in throwing nosegays intofountains, and decorating the curbs of wells with wreaths of flowers.

The Jews had a religious festival in connection with water, the originof which is not clearly ascertained. It was kept on the last day of thefeast of tabernacles, when they drew water with great ceremony fromthe pool of Siloah and conveyed it to the temple. a It is supposed, the Sa-

“Uni. Hist, i, 607.