losopher
may afford to despise. These legends of the birth, life, and death of
the Sun, present to us a form of society and a condition of thought
through which all mankind had to pass before the dawn of history. Yet
that state of things was as real as the time in which we live. They who
spoke the language of these early tales were men and women with joys and
sorrows not unlike our own. In the following verses of Martianus
Capella, the universal veneration for the Sun is clearly shown:

"Latium invokes thee, _Sol_, because thou alone art in honor,
_after the Father_, the centre of light; and they affirm that
thy sacred head bears a golden brightness in twelve rays,
because thou formest that number of months and that number of
hours. They say that thou guidest four winged steeds, because
thou alone rulest the chariot of the elements. For, dispelling
the darkness, thou revealest the shining heavens. Hence they
esteem thee, Phoebus, the discoverer of the secrets of the
future; or, because thou preventest nocturnal crimes. Egypt
worships thee as Serapis, and Memphis as Osiris. Thou art
worshiped by different rites as Mithra, Dis, and the cruel
Typhon. Thou art alone the beautiful Atys, and the fostering
son of the bent plough. Thou art the Ammon of arid Libya, and
the Adonis of Byblos. _Thus under a varied appellation the
whole world worship thee._ Hail! thou true image of the gods,
and of thy father's face! thou whose sacred name, surname, and
omen, three letters make to agree with the number 608.[507:2]
Grant us, oh Father, to reach the eternal intercourse of mind,
and to know the starry heaven under this sacred name. May the
great and universally adorable Father increase these his
favors."

FOOTNOTES:

[467:1] "In the _Vedas_, the _Sun_ has twenty different names, not pure
equivalents, but each term descriptive of the Sun in one of its aspects.
It is brilliant (Surya), the friend (Mitra), generous (Aryaman),
beneficent (Bhaga), that which nourishes (Pushna), the Creator
(Tvashtar), the master of the sky (Divaspati), and so on." (Rev. S.
Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 150.)

[467:2] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 267.

[468:1] Preface to "Tales of Anct. Greece."

[468:2] See Appendix B.

[469:1] Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. pp. 51-53.

[473:1] Mueller: Origin of Religions, pp. 264-268.

[473:2]