CHAP. CV.

coryla'ce/e. QUE'RC’US.

1723

acquainted the inhabitants that Jupiter had consecrated the ground, whichwould in future give oracles. All the trees in the grove became endowed withthe gift of prophecy ; and the sacred oaks, not only spoke and delivered oracleswhile in a living state, but, when some of them were cut down to build theship Argo the beams and mast of that ship frequently spoke, and warnedthe Argonauts of approaching calamities. (See Horn. Odys., xiv.; Lucan, vi.427.; Apoll., book i., &c.) After giving the account above related, Herodotusadds what he calls the explanation of it. He says that some Phoenicianmerchants carried off an Egyptian priestess from Thebes into Greece, whereshe took up her residence in the Forest of Dodona, and erected there, at thefoot of an old oak, a small temple in honour of Jupiter, whose priestess shehad been at Thebes. The town and temple of Dodona are said by others tohave been built by Deucalion, immediately after the great flood, when, in grati-tude for his preservation, he raised a temple to Jupiter, and consecrated theoak grove to his honour. This grove, or rather forest, extended from Dodonato Chaonia, a mountainous district of Epirus, so called from Cliaon, son ofPriam, who was accidentally killed there by his brother Helenus. The forestwas, from this, sometimes called the Chaonian Forest; and Jupiter, Chaonianfather. (See Virgil, Ovid, &c.) The oracle of Dodona was not only the mostcelebrated, but the richest, in Greece, from the offerings made by those who cameto it, to enquire into futurity. The prophecies were first delivered by doves,which were always kept in the temple, in memory of the fabulous origin assignedto the oracle : but, afterwards,the answers were deliveredby the priestesses; or,according to Suidas, Homer, and others, by the oaks themselves; hollow trees,no doubt, being chosen, in which a priest might conceal himself. During theThracian war, a deputation of Boeotians consulting the oracle, the priestesstold them that, “ if they would meet with success, they must be guilty of animpious action : ” when, in order to fulfil the oracle, they seized her, andburnt her alive. After this, the Dodonian oracles were always delivered tothe Boeotians by men. The oracular powers of the Dodonian oaks are fre-quently alluded to, not only by the Greek and Latin poets, but by those ofmodern times. Cowper says, addressing the Yardley Oak, —

-“ Oh ! couldst thou speak

As in Dodona once thy kindred treesOracular, I would not curious askThe future, best unknown ; but, at thy mouthInquisitive, the less ambiguous past!

By thee I might correct, erroneous oft,

The clock of history ; facts and eventsTiming more punctual, unrecorded factsRecovering; and misstated, setting right.”

And Wordsworth, in his lines addressed to a Spanish oak, celebrated ashaving been the place of meeting of the ancient lawgivers of Biscay, exclaims,—

“ Oak of Guernica! tree of holier powerThan that which in Dodona did enshrine(So faith too fondly deem’d) a voice divine,

Heard from the depths of its aerial bower,

How canst thou flourish at this blighting hour?

Stroke merciful and welcome would that beWhich would extend thy branches on the ground,

If never more within their shady roundThose lofty-minded lawgivers shall meet,

Peasant and lord, in their appointed seat;

Guardians of Biscay’s ancient liberty.”

Milo of Croton was a celebrated athlete, whose strength and voracitywere so great, that it was said he could carry a bullock on his shoulders, killit with a blow of his fist, and afterwards eat it up in one day. In his old age,Milo attempted to tear an old oak up by the roots; but the trunk split, andthe cleft part uniting, his hands became locked in the body of the tree; and,being unable to extricate himself, he was devoured by wild beasts. ( OvidMet., xv.; Strab., xvi.; Pans., vi. c. 11., &c.)

The oak was considered by the ancients as the emblem of hospitality; be-cause, when Jupiter and Mercury were travelling in disguise, and arrived at