branches, or arms, gave rise to the fable of the sea monster AEgeon, whom
Ovid represents as supporting himself upon the whales of the ocean.

[220]Balaenarumque prementem
AEgaeona suis immania terga lacertis.

The Scholiast upon Lycophron informs us farther, that the river had three
names; and imagines that upon this account it was called Triton.
[221][Greek: Triton ho Neilos, hoti tris metonomasthe; proteron gar Okeanos
an ekaleito, deuteron Aetos;--to de Neilos neon esti.] I shall not at
present controvert his etymology. Let it suffice, that we are assured, both
by this author and by others, that the Nile was called Oceanus: and what is
alluded to by Pherecydes is certainly a large map or chart. The robe of
which he speaks was indeed a Pharos, [Greek: Pharos]; but a Pharus of a
different nature from that which he describes. It was a building, a temple,
which was not constructed by the Deity, but dedicated to him. It was one of
those towers of which I have before treated; in which were described upon
the walls, and otherwise delineated, [Greek: Ogenos kai Ogenou domata], the
course of the Gehon, or Nile; and the towns and houses upon that river.

I imagine that the shield of Achilles, in Homer, was copied from something
of this sort which the poet had seen in Egypt: for Homer is continually
alluding to the customs, as well as to the history, of that kingdom. And,
it is evident, that what he describes on the central part of the shield, is
a map of the earth, and of the celestial appearances.

[222][Greek: En men Gaian eteux', en d' Ouranon, en de thalassan.]
[Greek: En d' etithei POTAMOIO mega sthenos OKEANOIO.]

The antients loved to wrap up every thing in mystery and fable: they have
therefore described Hercules, also, with a robe of this sort:

[223][Greek: Poikilon heima pheron, tupon Aitheros, eikona Kosmou:]

_He was invested with a robe, which was a type of the heavens, and a
representation of the whole world._

The garment of Thetis, which the poets mention as given her upon her
supposed marriage with Peleus, was a Pharos of the same kind as that
described above. We may learn, from Catullus, who copied the story, that
the whole alluded to an historical picture preserved in some tower; and
that it referred to matters of great antiquity, though applied by the
Greeks to later times, and ascribed to people of their own nation.

[224]Pulvinar vero Divae geniale locatur
Sedibus in me