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Show NoTE XXII. 6• 5 Th fior of the ferpent acqu·m ·n g immortal life from the afs of renovated youth. e Y . k . t ldt· n Bacon's Works, Vol. V. P· 462. PORTLAND VASE. h · d · t on h1s bac , IS 0 1 ·Prometheus, w o carne 1 !i 'I fe a ferpent was wrapped round t le . L d 8 For a um ar purpo f l'f n-...:...J:. arto edtt. o.n · 177. ·t h temple o f 0 I. OrI Cun. , a s an emblem of the renewal o. 1 e )arge hieroglyphic e.gg m. e 1 V 1 II p 359 fcc. edit. On th1s ac- B t's Mytho ogy, 0 • • • • from a fiate of death. ryan JEr 1 . which feems to have been the ttendant on 'ICU a plus, count alfo the ferpent was an a . . Tl . ferpent fhcws this figure to be an h. 1 1 · figure of medtcme. us name of the lerog yp 1JC 1 fi . f the other compartment to be :w em-emblem, as the torch fhewed the centra gm; oex lain each other, one reprefenting blem, hence they agreeably correfpond, an p d h th r IMMORTAL LIFE. r.roR T.A L LII FE, a. n fi t e oo f e.u nmorta ll·ure lit do,•rn with herTeet towards the figure of I s ' . This emb ematiC gure h . . I 1 n fhc flretches forth her hancl, · b 1 1 ( ce towards t e tumc g 10n, Pluto, but, turnmg ac c ler a h' t . g ll.eps a!i well as . encourages him to · ld f h. lb w fupports IS to ter111 H ' , and taktng ho o. IS: o ' . I ;th wonderful incrcmlity brought to t•1C d both wl1!ch cncumflanccs are t 1US v. I b . . ;) v:ll1ce, . . h. hand u on her arm, as one walkmg tn . At the fame time the fpmt loufely lays IS p . . d .n. r ·I ' 1 1 ve. · of followwg h1s con UL.trCIS, \\ 11 .c tlle dark would JUturally do for the greatercertalllty be'ng turnod tow:ud the figure the cneral part of the fymbol of IJI,(MORTAL Ll EE~ I - of P~uto, {hews ~~at fhe is lea~ng th~~J~ntot~n :orr:~~n~e~~~s;omeda to defcend from In the Pamplult gardens at ome, fl. cr deus f rt her ll:ep a::d fhe lays her hand the rock takes hold of her elbow to nea Yo or uppo 0 ' . - . this fi crure. Admtr. Roman. Anttq. , loofcly on hts at m as 111 o 1- . n k as is agreed by moll of the writers who The fio-ure of PLUTO can not ue mtlla en, . . I 0 I e menti0O ned tht.s vart e; 111•S gn0 !1 ey b"na' r J and his having one foot buned 111 the eart 10, l d a· 0' 1l aV otes the !, llrte rna 1 monarc 11 . l-Ie is placed at the lowell: part of the group, an . ..r c I0 n bh ( ~n 0 I ·s hand and his ann upon his knee~ receives the flranger-fpmt Wit lus coht~ on 11 . . '. before obferved that when people think attentively they inqtufit1ve attentwn, 1t was o b 1 d 11 fl: tllel.rbodies in fome eafy auitnde, that more anunal power may e emp oye naturr.yre · {l · ov.1gan · .0 facult y. In this group of figures there IS great art 1ewn w gt 11 -~:1 0 th:f l~ll~~~:~ndina plain, viz. from earth to Elyfium, and yet all the figures are m J·,e eaa!1. ty on a I1 on. zonot aI one. Th'ts wonderfu· l deception is produ c0e d firll: by thf e · defcend-l 1 · fl f tl e m:mes or crho(tl.t ; rt.c com II y, b Yt he arm of the fitttn o•> fi 0' ure o0 unmorta mlifge beeomp go rat0 1f ed up to recoei. ve h'I I ll as h e defcends.' and bfl:l.v , by Pluto havmg one foot funk into the earth. . h fl: t There is et another figure which is concerned in conJu.'ttng .the m.a~~ s or g o o the realmsoyfP luto, an d t1u ° s •t s LOVE. He precn~ J ~, s the defccndtn .[::l>' fpmt on cxp:mded 0 1 1. 1 1 ·. ,· th hi. torch anJ turnin rr ba k his b:.:autifu l countenance bee wns , 1•10 .,.s, 1o 1ts um \o\1 s ' "' . · 1 d . 0 0 Th t' t G.)d of love w:.s of much hi gher dtgn tty than t 1e mo ern htm to advance. e an Jen ,. . 1-1· {i d TheoO' Cn id. He was the Gdt th:.tt came out of th~ great c.gg . . o. nt gh~ ~ ~ e 10_ • • b. v. Pc xx. B rya:lt ,s M yt h 0 1• V 0 1• II . p • 3415 • ) and 1s. t..1I.J r t 0 potids the ke)0S o. f the otL {:o d earth. As he therefore led the way into ti11S lt ic-, he ft:l:'ms to C~olfillllte a Jll.y, ,a, an .. ' . \V k . \' I I .P . r roper cmhkm for le::ding the way to a f~lturc Ide. S ~ c J.bcoil:,; or s. 0 • • ~ 568. and \'ol. Ill. p. 5R2. Q~larto edtt. ·. NoTE XXII. PORTLAND VASE. 57 The introduCtion of love into this part of the myfl:eries requires a little further explanation. The Pfyche of the lEgyptians was one of their moll favourite emblems, andreprefcnted the foul, or a future life; it was originally no other than the aurelia, or butterfly, but in after times was reprefented by a lovely female child with the beautiful wings of that infcCl:. The !lurelia, after its firfl: flage as an eruca or caterpillar, lies for a feafon in a manner dead, c.nd is inclofed in a fort of coffin, in this flate of d:ukncfs it remains all the winte r, but at the return of fpring it burll:s its bonds and comes out with new life, and in the moll: bt:autiful attire. The .!Egyptians thought this a very proper piBure of the foul of man, and of the immortality to which it afpired. But as this was :-dl owing to divine Love, 01. which ERos was an emblem, we find this perfon frequently introduced as a concomitant of the foul in general or Pfyche. (Bryant's Mythol. Vol. II. p. 386.) ERos, or divine Love, is for the fame reafon a proper attendant on th~ manes or foul after death, anJ much contributes to tell tht: fl:ory, that is, 10 !hew that a foul or ma-ne!> 1s clefignecl by the defcending figure. From this figure of Love M. fJ'HanCaiville imagines that Orpheus and Eurydice are typified under the figure of the manes and immo1 tal life as above defcribed. It may be fufficic:nt to anfwer, tirll:, th:Jt Orpheus is always reprefentecl with a lyre, of which there arc prints of four dilferent gems in 'Spence·s Polymetis, and Virgil Co defcribes him, lEn. VI. cythara fretus. Ancl fecondly, that it is abfurd to fuppofe that Eurydice was fondling and playing with a fcrpent that had Jlain her. Add to this that Lo\·e feems to have been an inhabitant of the infernal regions, as exhibited in the myll:eries, for Claudian, who treats mMe openly of the Elcufinian myll:erics, when they were held in lefs veneration, ~nvokcs the deities to difclofe to him their fecrcts, and amongfr other things by what ·torch Love foftcns Pluto. Dii, quibus in numerum, &c. Vos mihi facrarum penetralia pandite rerum, Et vell:ri fecreta poli., qua lampade Ditem Flexit Amor. In this compartment there are two trees, whofe branches fpread over the figures, -one of them has fmoother leaves like fome evergreens, and might thence be fuppofed to l1ave fome allulion to immortality, but -they may perhap~ have been dcfigned only as ornaments, or to relieve the figures, or becaufe it was in groves, where thcfe myl'lerirs were originally celebrated. Thus Homer fpeaks of the woods of Proferpine, and mentions many trees in Tartarus, as prefenting their fruits to Tantalus; Virgil fpeaks of the pleafant groves of Elyfium; and in Spence's Polymetis there are prints of two antient gems, one of Orpheus charming Cerberus v. ith his lyre, and the other of Hercules binding him in a cord, each of them £landing by a tree. Polymct. p. 284. As however thefe trees have all different foliage fo clearly marked by the artill, they may have had fpec1fic meanings in the exhibitions of the myll:eries, which have not reached pol!erity, of this kind feem to have been the tree of knowledge of good ancl evil, and the tree of I ife, in facrcd writ, both which mufl: h:we been emblematic or all~gorical. The .mafks • li |
