son. Copyright, 1890, by Little, Brown & Co.]

LUCIAN

Born at Samosata, Syria, about 120 A.D.; died about 200;
apprenticed to his maternal uncle, who was a sculptor, but
ran away in dislike of the art; becoming interested in the
Rhetoricians, began to write himself; his works, as
collected in English, comprize four volumes, among them
"Dialogues of the Gods," "Dialogues of the Dead," "Zeus, the
Tragedian," "The Ferryboat," and "Toxaris."[114]

I

A DESCENT TO THE UNKNOWN[115]

Dawn was approaching when we went down to the river to embark; he had
provided a boat, victims, hydromel, and all necessaries for our mystic
enterprise. We put all aboard, and then, Troubled at heart, with
welling tears, we went. For some distance we floated down stream,
until we entered the marshy lake in which the Euphrates disappears.
Beyond this we came to a desolate, wooded, sunless spot; there we
landed, Mithrobarzanes leading the way, and proceeded to dig a pit,
slay our sheep, and sprinkle their blood round the edge. Meanwhile the
Mage, with a lighted torch in his hand, abandoning his customary
whisper, shouted at the top of his voice an invocation to all spirits,
particularly the Poenae and Erinyes,

Hecate's dark might, and dread Persephone,

with a string of other names, outlandish, unintelligible, and
polysyllabic.

As he ended, there was a great commotion, earth was burst open by the
incantation, the barking of Cerberus was heard far off, and all was
overcast and lowering:

Quaked in his dark abyss the King of Shades;

for almost all was now unveiled to us, the lake, and Phlegethon, and
the abode of Pluto. Undeterred, we made our way down the chasm, and
came upon Rhadamanthus half dead with fear. Cerberus barked and looked
like getting up; but I quickly touched my lyre, and the first note
sufficed to lull him. Reaching the lake, we nearly missed our passage
for that time, the ferry-boat being already full; there was incessant
lamentation, and all the passengers had wounds upon them; mangled
legs, mangled heads, mangled everything; no doubt there was a war
going on. Nevertheless, when good Charon saw the lion's skin, taking
me for Heracles, he made room, was delighted to give me a passage, and
showed us our direction when we got off.

We were now in darkness; so Mithrobarzanes led the way, and I followed
holding on to him, until we reached a great meadow of asphodel, wh