to have been men, and make inferences from the
circumstances of their history, to declare explicitly which they mean; and
to give good reasons for their determination. It is said of Jupiter, that
he was the son of Saturn; and that he carried away Europa, before the
arrival of Cadmus. He had afterwards an amour with Semele, the supposed
daughter of Cadmus: and they mention his having a like intimacy with
Alcmena an age or two later. After this he got acquainted with Leda, the
wife of Tyndarus: and he had children at the siege of Troy. If we may
believe the poets, and all our intelligence comes originally from the
poets, Jupiter was personally interested in that war. But this interval
contains little less than two hundred years. These therefore could not be
the actions of one man: on which account I want to know, why Sir Isaac
Newton [402]in his chronological interpretations chooses to be determined
by the story of Jupiter and Europa, rather than by that of Jupiter and
Leda. The learned [403]Pezron has pitched upon a Jupiter above one thousand
years earlier, who was in like manner the son of Saturn. But Saturn,
according to some of the best mythologists, was but four generations
inclusive before the aera of Troy. Latinus, the son of Faunus, was alive
some years after that city had been taken; when AEneas was supposed to have
arrived in Italy. The poet tells us, [404]Fauno Picus pater: isque parentem
Te, Saturne, refert; Tu sanguinis ultimus auctor. The series amounts only
to four, Latinus, Faunus, Picus, Saturn. What authority has Pezron for the
anticipation of which he is guilty in determining the reign of Jupiter? and
how can he reconcile these contradictory histories? He ought to have given
some good reason for setting aside the more common and accepted accounts;
and placing these events so [405]early. Shall we suppose with the critics
and commentators that this was a prior Jupiter? If it were a different
person, the circumstances of his life should be different: but the person,
of whom he treats, is in all respects similar to the Jupiter of Greece and
Rome. He has a father Saturn; and his mother was Rhea. He was nursed in
Crete; and had wars with the Titans. He dethrones his father, who flies to
Italy; where he introduces an age of gold. The mythology concerning him we
find to be in all respects uniform. It is therefore to little purpose to
substitute another person of the same name by way of reconciling matters,
unless