The Helladians were colonies of the race called Amo Man, or descendants of Ham, the son of Noah, and came from Egypt and Syria, but originally from Babylonia. They came under various titles, all taken from the reli gion which they professed. As soon as the Amonians were settled and incorporated with the natives, a long interval of darkness ensued. The very union produced a new language ; at least, the ancient Amonian became by degrees so modified and changed, that the terms of science and worship were no longer understood. Hence the titles of their gods were misapplied, and the whole of their theology grew more and more corrupted, so that very few traces of the original were to be discovered. In short, almost every term was misconstrued and abused. They therefore devoted themselves to an idle mythology; and there was nothing so contradictory and absurd, but was greedily admitted, if sanctified by tradition. The same idle zeal induced them to tincture the accounts which they gave of other countries with the same predo minant vanity, and made them attribute to their fathers the merit of many great performances to which they were utterly strangers, and supposed them to have founded cities in various parts of the world, where the name of Greece could not have been known—cities which were in being before Greece was a state. 'Wher ever they got footing, or even a transient acquaintance, they, in their descriptions, accommodated every thing to their own fine conceptions, and expressed all terms ac cording to their own mode of writing and pronunciation, in order that appearances might be in their favour.
The whole mythology of the Greeks,—their idolatrous rites, as well as their gods and heroes,—was originally imported from the East. Length of time had greatly impaired their true history, and their prejudices would not suffer them to retrieve it. At last, the obscurity WaS such, that they, in a great measure, lost sight of their origin, and were involved in mystery and fable. In order, therefore, to all ive at just conclusions respecting the origin of the ancient Pagap superstitions, we must have recourse to authors who derive their information YI.0111 other and more authentic sources ; such as Diodo rus, Strabo, Pausanias, the fathei s Theophilus, Tatianus, Athenagoras, Clemeps, Origen, Eusebitis, Theodoritus, Syncellus, Eustathius, and the compiler of the Chroni eon Paschae ; as also, Lucian of Samosata, Cyril of Je rusalem, Porphyry of Syria, Proclus of Lysia, Philo of Biblus, and others. These writers, although posterior to the Greekliterature, had access to better information upon this subject than any native Ilelladian. They had the archives of ancient tet»ples to which they could ap ply ; and had traditions more genuine than ever reached Greece. They appeal to authors far prior to any Hella dians; and their works are crowded with extracts from the most curious and most ancient histories.
The ancient history and mythology of Greece was partly transmitted by the common tradition of the natives, and partly preserved in those orig-inal Doric hymns, which were universally sung in their Prytaneia and tem ples. These were in the ancient Arnonian language, and said to have been introduced by Pagasus, Agyieus, and Olen. This last some represent as a Lycian, others
as an .Hyperborean, and by many he was esteemed an Egyptian. He was also reputed by some to be the inven. tor of verse, and the most ancient priest of Phoebus. These hynms grew, hy length of time, obsolete, and scarcely intelligible. They were, however, translated, or rather imitated, by Pamphos, Rhianus, Phemius, Ho mer, Bion, Proeonnesius, Onomacritus, and others.— Many of the sacred terms could not be understood nor interpreted; they were, however, retained with great reverence ; and many, which they did attempt to clecy pher, were misconstrued and misapplied. Upon this basis was the theology of Greece founded; front hence were the names of Gods taken ; and various departments attributed to the several deities. Every poet had some thing different in his theogony ; and every variety, how ever inconsistent, 1V3S admitted by the Greeks without the least hesitation. From these ancient hymns, and misconstrued terms, Pherecydes of Sa rus planned his hiatory of the gods, a work which, there is reason to think, was the source of much error.
Such were the principles which gave birth to the my thology of the Greeks; front whence their ancient his tory was, in a great pleasure, derived. As their tradi tions were obsolete, and filled with extraneous matter, it rendered it impossible for them to arrange properly the principal events of then country. They did not se parate and distinguish; but often took to themselves the merit of transactions which were of a prior (late, and of another clime. These they adopted and tnade their own. Hence, when they came to digest their history, it W3S all confused; and they were embarras-sed with numberless contradictions and absuldities, which it was impossible to retnedy. NVe have already alluded to another reason for the obscurity in the Grecian history, even after let ters had been introduced arnotag them. They had a childish antipathy to every foieign language ; and were equally prejudiced in favour of their own. This was at tended with the most fatal consequences. They were misled by the too great delicacy of then ear ; and could not bear any term which appeared to them to be barbar ous and uncouth. On this account, they either rejected foreign appellations, or so modelled and changed them, that they became in sound and meaning essentially dif ferent. And as they were attached to their own country and its customs, they presumed that every thing WIIS to be looked for among themselves. They did not consider, that the titles of their gods, the WITICS of cities, and their terms of worship, were imported ; that their anci ent hymns were grown obsolete ; and that time had wrought a great eliattge. They explained every thing by the language in use, without the least retrospect or allowance ; and all nan es and titles from other countries were liable to the same rule. If the name was dissonant and disagreeable to their ear, it was rejected as barba rous; but if it was at all similar in sound to any word in their language, they changed it to that word ; though the word were of Syriac. original, or introduced horn Egypt or Babylonia.