Much of the soul they talk, but all awry, , And in themselves seek wisdom ; and to themselves All glory arrogate,—to God give none.' In Homer's time the manners were rude and coarse ; in subsequent centuries, immorality and vice grew. The R.omans copied the Greeks in religion and manners, though Cato the Censor warned his countrymen against Greeks as the parents of every vice. For two centuries before the birth of Christ, immorality and infidelity greatly increased. From the time of Augustus superstition began to reappear, chiefly in the form of wild oriental rites. Hainan sacrificei were offered as late as the reign of Augustus ; slavery was universal ; in the public shows gladia tors appeared,—sometimes more than 20,000 inen perished in these exhibitions in one month. Both Greek and Roman authors complained that the characters of the people were as grossly corrupt as that of the deities they worshipped.
It wa.s from Chaldsea that the germs of Greek art and of much of the Greek pantheon and mythology originally came. Columnar architec ture reached its fint and highest development in Babylonia. The lions of Mykeuie are distinctly Assyrian in character ; and the Greek Herakles; with his twelve labours, finds his prototype in the hero of the great Chaldman epic.
Grecian mythology is largely mixed up with the mythology of India.
Yenta or Dharmaraja is the Grecian Pluto.
Vaitarini of the Hindu pantheon has its supposed ana logue in tho river Styx.
C/erberus has corresponding dogs. Durga is tho analogue of Juno. Narada, god of musie,—Mereury. Krishna,—Apollo.
Bhawani,—Venus.
Kali or Durga,—Proserp.ine. Agni,—Vulcan, fire, ignis.
Swahal wife of Agtu,—Vesta. Aswini-Kumara,—Castor and Polln..-2.
Aruna,—Aurora.
Ata Deva,—Diana.
Kuvera,—Plutus, god of riches. Indra,–;-,Tupiter, god of the firmament.
Varuna,—Neptune, god of the water. Prithivi,—Cybele, goddess of earth.
Viswakarma,—Vulcan, architect of the gods. Kartikeya or Skanda,—Mars, god of war. Kama,—Cupid, Eros, god of love: Surya or Arka,—Sol, the sun.
Hanuman, the monkey god, son of Pavana,—Pan. Eama,—the Grecian 'Nonplus.
Heracula, an Indian dcity,—Hercules. Aswiculapa,—Esculapius, Genii. Vaya,—Zolus.
Sri, Lakshmi,—Ceres.
Anna-Purna,—Anna perenna.
The Greek Charites must be compared with the Sanskrit Harits, the coursers of the sun ; and both received their name from a root, Ghar, to shine or glisten. Zeus seems to 'be the Sanskrit Dyans, and Erinys is Saranyu.
Scythian coins exhibit Greek and Hindu divini ties, and those under the Yu"-chi have an image of Siva and the Nandi bull. The affinity between the Greeks and the Hindus was so great as regards the languages, literature, and religion, that the process of giving and receiving must have been reciprocal. Varaha Mihira, in his Brihat Sanhita astronomy, says the Greeks indeed are foreigners, but with them this science is in a flourishing state.' We find that the later Greek physicians availed themselves of the Hindu medical works.
The Takshaks and Nagas were the tree and serpent worshippers, whose rites and objects of adoration have impressed themselves deeply on the architecture and sculptures of India. The names were applied in a confnsed manner to different races of Scythic Gaz. ; Tod's Rajasthan ; Prinsep's Antiquities by Thomas ; Smith's Biog. Diet. ; Ed. Ferrier's Journal ; General Cunningham, Anc. Geog. of India; Calcutta Review, No. 109 ; Malcolm's Persia ; Weber, Hist. Ind. Lit. ; Wilson in J. R. A. Soc. xii., 1850 ; Milner's Seven Churches of Asia ; the Rev. J. Murray Mitchell, Letter to Indian Youth ; Burnes.