CHAPTER III.

OF THE SACRIFICE OF PROMETHEUS.

Prometheus in the Division of the Sacrifice,
Intending to deceive great Jove the wise,
Stuff'd the Flesh in the large ox's Skin,
And bound the Entrails, with the Fat, within,
Next the white Bones, with artful Care, dispos'd,
And in the candid Fat from Sight enclos'd:
The Sire of Gods and Men, who saw the Cheat,
Thus spoke expressive of the dark Deceit.

In this Division how unjust the Parts,
O Japhet's Son, of Kings the first in Arts!
Reproachful spoke the God in Council wise,
To whom Prometheus full of Guile replys.

O Jove, the greatest of the Powrs Divine,
View the Division, and the Choice be thine.

Wily he spoke from a deceitful Mind;

Jove saw his Thoughts, nor to his Heart was blind;
The Lots survey'd, he with his Hands embrac'd
The Parts which were in the white Fat encas'd;
He saw the Bones, and Anger sat confess'd
Upon his Brow, for Anger seiz'd his Breast.
Hence to the Gods the od'rous Flames aspire
From the white Bones which feed the sacred Fire.
The cloud-compelling Jove by Japhet's Son
Enrag'd, to him in Words like these begun.

O! who in male Contrivance all transcend,
Thine Arts thou wilt not yet, obdurate, end.

THIS sacrifice of Prometheus is an allegory in which the body of the ox represents the world; the bones of the ox corresponding to the mineral or forbidden kingdom; the flesh of the animal representing the vegetable kingdom, and the fat corre

Theog.

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sponding with the fruits put forth by vegetation. The flesh of the animal is supported by, and attached to, its bones in the same way as vegetation is to the earth, and the flesh grows also by a process similar to that of the increase of vegetable substance. But the fat of the animal is as a fruit given off by the flesh, for the nourishment of the body, as we see, in the absence of food from without, the body is supported by its fat, or that store which the power presiding over the internal functions has laid up to supply the natural exigencies. Thus we observe that the bodies of very young children are excessively fat, which fatness disappears as the body grows. This however must not be confounded with that state of fatness in adult persons, called corpulency, which is a diseased condition: it refers only to those deposites of fat which exist in different parts of the bodies of healthy persons, who do not present the appearance of general fatness.

Now, as it was originally ordained that nothing should be sacrificed, or destroyed, for the support of the sacred fire, or the vital flame, except the pabulous matter sent forth by vegetation, and that man should not destroy, or in any way interfere with, the works of nature, so do we see in the allegory that offence was occasioned by the discovery of the bones amongst the fat: that being in allusion to the offensiveness of man's eating any mineral substance, or in any way making use of the matters of the earth.

This representation sets forth, that subsequently to the impious sacrifice of Prometheus, the tribes of earth continued to consume the bones by fire.

Thus man is represented as making use of mineral matter to feed the sacred fire, that is, the fire of life, or the vital flame, that fire which God, breathing into man's nostrils, kindled in his breast. This is strictly and beautifully correct; the substances which man receives into his body as nourishment, are subjected to the combustion, or consumption of the sacred fire, or the vital flame. The holy sacrifice signifies that sacrificed or destroyed for the support of the vital flame, there being originally no necessity for any other destruction; it being ordained that the sacrifice should consist only of the matter created for that purpose. But here man is represented as sacrificing or making use of the bones, which is an allegoric allusion to his eating mineral matter. Crude matter is taken directly from the earth for food, that is, to feed the sacred flame of life, which matter being unpurified by vegetation, that flame must burn with diminished splendour, and, continuing to be so fed, must ultimately expire. But which would continue to burn as long as supplied in the manner ordained by nature. That is, man continues in the immortal state, or lives continually in the condition of unfading youth, until nature's laws are violated. Hesiod relates that from the time when Prometheus introduced the practice of eating mineral matter, the power of inexhaustible fire was denied to the dwellers upon earth, that is, in plainer language, that the vital flame no longer continued to burn perpetually, but that in time it lost its strength and became extinct, by which is signified that man then became liable to death.

The body of the animal being taken for the simi

litude of the world, the destruction of its parts by common fire, is figuratively representative of man's sacrificing all the parts of the creation for the purposes of art. This picture is allegorically descriptive of the manner in which confusion, disease, and death were introduced into the world. It is merely an allegorical illustration, and does not signify that such sacrifice was in reality ever made.

Prometheus means wicked men, or deceitfully wise and cunning men, and is here made use of to represent all the men who transgressed after the manner described.

In these discourses on nature and art, it must be borne in mind that art commenced, and was long practiced, in wantonness; but that the destruction of the things of the creation, and the alterations in the conditions of nature which art occasioned, at length brought into existence the necessity of exercising the arts in order to supply the natural wants of man. It was then impious, without occasion, to deviate from nature's laws, and to interfere with her works, although she has since ordained that man should henceforth laboriously pursue the system he instituted for himself. Thus art subsequently became, as it were, a part of nature.

Our poet has now informed us that men have transgressed by interference with the terrestrial system. Hence we pass on to the consideration of the artificial use of fire.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE STOLEN FIRE, THE ALLEGORY OF PANDORA,

AND THE PUNISHMENT OF PROMETHEUS.

In wrath to him who daring rob'd the Skys,
Dread Ills the God prepar'd, unknown before,
And the stol'n Fire back to his Heav'n he bore;
But from Prometheus 'twas conceal'd in vain,
Which for the Use of Man he stole again,
And, artful in his Fraud, brought from Above,
At which enrag'd spoke cloud-compelling Jove..
Son of Japetus, o'er subtle, go,

And glory in thy artful Theft below;
Boast the celestial Fire by Stealth retriev❜d,
And triumph in almighty Jove deceiv'd;
But thou too late shalt find the Triumph vain,
And read thy Folly in succeeding Pain;
Posterity the sad Effects shall know,
When, in Pursuit of Joy, they grasp their Woe.
He spoke, and told to Mulciber his Will,
And, smiling, bade him his Commands fulfil;
To use his greatest Art, his nicest Care,
To frame a Creature exquisitely fair;
To let her first in Virgin Lustre shine,
In Form a Goddess, with a Bloom divine.
And golden Venus was to teach the Fair,
The Wiles of Love, and to improve her Air ;
And then, in aweful Majesty, to shed

A thousand graceful Charms around her Head.
Next Hermes, artful God, must form her Mind,
One Day to torture, and the next be kind,
With soothing Language, and the treach'rous Smile,
The Heart to purchase, and that Heart_beguile.
Jove gave the Mandate; and the Gods obey'd:
First Vulcan form'd of Earth the blushing Maid.
The Nymph, by Pallas, blue-ey'd Goddess, dress'd,
Bright shin'd improv'd beneath the candid Vest;