ened all
enjoyment, but also by their refining influence moderated the exciting
effects of wine.

Music, eloquence, poetry, and art, though the direct work of the Muses,
received at the hands of the Graces an additional touch of refinement and
beauty; for which reason they are always regarded as the friends of the
Muses, with whom they lived on Mount Olympus.

Their special function was to act, in conjunction with the Seasons, as
attendants upon Aphrodite, whom they adorned with wreaths of flowers, and
she emerges from their hands like the Queen of Spring, perfumed with the
odour of roses and violets, and all sweet-scented blossoms.

The Graces are frequently seen in attendance on other divinities; thus they
carry music for Apollo, myrtles for Aphrodite, &c., and frequently
accompany the Muses, Eros, or Dionysus.

HORAE (SEASONS).

Closely allied to the Graces were the Horae, or Seasons, who were also
represented as three beautiful maidens, daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their
names were Eunomia, Dice, and Irene.

It may appear strange that these divinities, presiding over the seasons,
should be but three in number, but this is quite in accordance with the
notions of the ancient Greeks, who only recognized spring, summer, and
autumn as seasons; nature being supposed to be wrapt in death or slumber,
during that cheerless and unproductive portion of the year which we call
winter. In some parts of Greece there were but two Horae, Thallo, goddess of
the bloom, and Carpo, of the corn and fruit-bearing season.

The Horae are always regarded as friendly towards mankind, and totally
devoid of guile or subtlety; they are represented as joyous, but gentle
maidens, crowned with flowers, and holding each other by the hand in a
round dance. When they are depicted separately as personifications of the
different seasons, the Hora {165} representing spring appears laden with
flowers, that of summer bears a sheaf of corn, whilst the personification
of autumn has her hands filled with clusters of grapes and other fruits.
They also appear in company with the Graces in the train of Aphrodite, and
are seen with Apollo and the Muses.

They are inseparably connected with all that is good and beautiful in
nature, and as the regular alternation of the seasons, like all her other
operations, demands the most perfect order and regularity, the Horae, being
the daughters of Themis, came to be regarded as the representatives of
order, and th