ame
nature. It was probably a temple, and its environs; where a society of
priests resided, who were maintained by the public; and who worshipped the
Deity under the semblance of a serpent. Tityus must be ranked among the
monsters of this class. He is by the Poets represented as a stupendous
being, an earthborn giant:

[307]Terrae omniparentis alumnum,
---- per tota novem cui jugera corpus
Porrigitur.

By which is meant, that he was a tower, erected upon a conical mount of
earth, which stood in an inclosure of nine acres. He is said to have a
vulture preying upon his heart, or liver; immortale jecur tondens. The
whole of which history is borrowed from Homer, who mentions two vultures
engaged in tormenting him.

[308][Greek: Kai Tituon eidon Gaies erikudeos huion,]
[Greek: Keimenon en dapedoi; hod' ep' ennea keito pelethra;]
[Greek: Gupe de min hekaterthe paremenoi epar ekeiron,]
[Greek: Dertron eso dunontes, hod' ouk apamuneto chersi.]

The same story is told of Prometheus, who is said to have been exposed upon
Mount Caucasus, near Colchis; with this variation, that an eagle is placed
over him, preying upon his heart. These strange histories are undoubtedly
taken from the symbols and devices which were carved upon the front of the
antient Amonian temples; and especially those of Egypt. The eagle and the
vulture were the insignia of that country: whence it was called Ai-Gupt,
and [309]Aetia, from Ait and Gupt, which signified an eagle and vulture.
Ait was properly a title of the Deity, and signified heat: and the heart,
the centre of vital heat, was among the Egyptians styled [310]Ait: hence we
are told by [311]Orus Apollo, that a heart over burning coals was an emblem
of Egypt. The Amonians dealt much in hieroglyphical representations. Nonnus
mentions one of this sort, which seems to have been a curious emblem of the
Sun. It was engraved upon a jasper, and worn for a bracelet. Two serpents
entwined together, with their heads different ways, were depicted in a
semicircular manner round the extreme part of the gem. At the top between
their heads was an eagle; and beneath a sacred carriage, called Cemus.

[312][Greek: Aietos en chruseios, hate platun eera temnon,]
[Greek: Orthos, echidnaion didumon messegu karenon,]
[Greek: Hupsiphanes pterugon pisuron tetrazugi kemoi.]
[Greek: Tei men xanthos iaspis epetreche.]

The history of Tityus, Prometheus, and many other poetical personages, was