the Greek sophist and rhetorician, says, "the inhabitants
of India had a tradition that Bacchus was born at _Nisa_, and was
brought up in a _cave_ on Mount Meros."

_AEsculapius_, who was the son of God by the virgin Coronis, was left
exposed, when an infant, on a mountain, where he was found and cared for
by a _goatherd_.[156:6]

_Romulus_, who was the son of God by the virgin Rhea-Sylvia, was left
exposed, when an infant, on the banks of the river Tiber, where he was
found and cared for by a _shepherd_.[156:7]

_Adonis_, the "Lord" and "Saviour," was placed in a _cave_ shortly after
his birth.[156:8]

_Apollo_ (Phoibos), son of the Almighty Zeus, was born in a cave at
early dawn.[156:9]

_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, was born in a _cave or grotto_,[156:10]
at early dawn.

_Hermes_, the son of God by the mortal _Maia_, was born early in the
morning, in _a cave or grotto_ of the Kyllemian hill.[156:11]

_Attys_, the god of the Phrygians,[156:12] was born in a _cave_ or
grotto.[156:13]

The _object_ is the same in all of these stories, however they may
differ in detail, which is to place the heaven-born infant in the most
humiliating position in infancy.

We have seen it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Jesus
"there was a _great light_ in the cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and
the midwife could not bear it." This feature is also represented in
early Christian art. "Early Christian painters have represented the
infant Jesus as welcoming three Kings of the East, _and shining as
brilliantly as if covered with phosphuretted oil_."[157:1] In all
pictures of the Nativity, the light is made to arise from the body of
the infant, and the father and mother are often depicted with glories
round their heads. This too was a part of the old mythos, as we shall
now see.

The moment _Crishna_ was born, his mother became beautiful, and her form
brilliant. The whole cave was splendidly illuminated, being filled with
a _heavenly light_, and the countenances of his father and his mother
emitted rays of glory.[157:2]

So likewise, it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Buddha,
"the Saviour of the World," which, according to one account, took place
in an _inn_, "_a divine light diffused around his person_," so that "the
Blessed One" was "heralded into the world by a supernatural
light."[157:3]

When _Bacchus_ was born, a _bright light_ shone round him,[157:4] so
that, "_there was a brilliant light i