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who, next to Jupiter, excelled most in the faculty of infpiring predictions, and who had a celebrated temple at Delos, the reputed place of his birth; of Trophonius, Amphiaraus, and other men, who after death were tranflated to the gods.

The terms employed by the Greeks”, to defcribe perfons infpired, poffeffed, and

They are called SioCognos, Efchyl. Agamemnon, v. 1149. Strabo, lib. xii. p. 535. D. ed. Paris. 1620. p. 809, ed. Amftelodami, 1707. Jónalo, Plutarch, de Herodot. malignitate, p. 855. - δαιμονιζομενοι, (which fhews that the gods by whom thefe perfons were poffeffed were demons) Plutarch. Sympof. lib. vii. quæft. 5. prop. fin. Vide Plutarch. de Fluviis, p. 1159, ποιεῖ δὲ πρὸς τὰς δαιμονιζομένας. Lucian describes them by a fimilar word, Tas Sapecvwlas, Philopfeudes, p. 337. v. 2. ed. Amftelodami. Concerning an exorcift it is there faid, avvel tov daínova, abigit dæmonem, P. 338*--Eupuxλra, from Euricles, fee He

• It may be worth while to inquire in what fenfe demon is ufed in this Dialogue of Lucian. Ion, after he had given an account of the perfon who caft out demons, adds, that he himself had feen one (that is, a demon) fo ejected. Many others as well as you, faid Eucrates, have met with demons

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difordered in their understandings, ferve to

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fhew, that the fpirits by whom these fons were thought to be actuated, were not fallen angels, but the gods the Heathens worshipped; particularly fuch as

fychius, Suidas, or Vandale de Idolat. p. 648, 649. wúłwves, Schol. in Aristophan. Vesp. 1014. P. 314. ed. Kufter. Plutarch de Orac. defect. p.. 414. E. Differt. on Miracles, p. 275. Porbóalos or Qabórαulo, Plutarch. in Pompeio, & Herodot. lib. iv. p. 229. c. 13.—and vuμÞóλnπlo,, Plato in Phæd. p. 1216. E. & p. 1218. F.

(daipos.) I have a thousand times feen fuch things. In proof of this affertion, he affures the company, that he and his family had often seen the statue of Pelichus defcending from his pedestal, and walking round the house, p. 338, 339. In the sequel of the dialogue, Eucrates, who had been defending the doctrine of apparitions, fays, We have been endea vouring to perfuade Tychiades, (who fuftains the character of of an unbeliever in these points,) that there are demons, (daípovás rivas elvas,) and that the phantafms and fouls of the dead wander upon the earth, and appear to whom they please, p. 346. To confirm this sentiment, Diognotus, the Pythagorean, bids Tychiades go to Corinth, where he might fee the very houfe from which he himself had expelled the demon (ro Jaiova) that disturbed it, which was the ghost of a dead man, P. 348. Nor doth it appear, that the word demon, is in any part of the Dialogue, applied to any other than human spirits. The demoniacs therefore, of whom he speaks in this Dialogue, must be poffeffed by fuch fpirits. He uses demon in the fame fenfe on other occafions. Εασον ἀναπαύσασθαι τις Toï managíru daicovas. Sine quiefcant defuncti manes. De Luctu, tom. ii. p. 307. In his Charon, five Contemplantes, v. 1.

were of human origin, or mere fictions of the imagination. This obfervation holds true also with respect to the terms employed to defcribe the fame perfons by the Latins. We are indeed expressly informed by Hippocrates, that the Greeks referred poffeffion to their gods, particularly the mother of the gods, Neptune, Mars, Apollo, Hecate, and

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They are called by the Latins, Lymphatici, Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. xxv. c. 5. p. 386, ed. Harduin. These answer to the uμoana of the Greeks. Veteres Græci Nympham dicebant, quam nos mutatione unius literæ Lympham, hoc eft, aquam, Calopin. Dictionar.-Bacchantes. Bacchæ bacchanti fi velis advorfarier, ex infanâ infaniorem facies. Plaut Amphit. A&t. ii. sc. 2. v. 71 See Herodot. lib. iv. c. 79. & Curtius, viii. 33.-Some perfons are defcribed by Pliny, (Nat. Hift. lib. xxx. c. 10. fect. 24.) as agitated a nocturnis diis, Faunifque. The Fauni were the gods of the

358, he introduces Mercury as informing Charon, that men believed, that the souls of the departed feasted upon the libations and sacrifices that were offered them; which is what he elsewhere, as well as others, affirms concerning demons. Πεπιςεύκασι δ ̓ ἦν τὰς ψυχὰς ἀναπεμπομένας. κ. τ. λ. Compare his Menippus feu Necyomantia, p. 328, 329.

the

the heroes, who were all human spirits. The defign of his treatise on the

b

Epilepsy is to fhew, that this disorder was neither more divine, nor facred than other disorders; in oppofition to priests, magicians, and impoftors, who referred it more immediately to the gods, and undertook to cure it by expiations and charms. And we are certain, that amongst the Latins, the fpirits that actuated the Cerriti and Larvati (who most exactly answered to the demoniacs of the New Teftament) were no other than deified human ghosts .

fields, and fprang from Faunus, the father of Latinus. Concerning the Cerriti and Larvati, see below, note (d).

a Vide p. 303. Oper. ed. Foefii, Genev. 1657. This paffage will be cited below, ch. ii. fect. 3.

N° 3•

310.

• Περί Ιηρης νοσο.

Vide Hippocrat. Oper. p. 301, 302, 303, 307,

d The Cerriti and Larvati. The Cerriti derived their names from Ceres, the daughter of Saturn. In Cereris facris furore corripiebantur.

Such

Such were the fentiments of the Heathens concerning poffeffing demons in

Et ficut à Baccho Bacchantem dicimus, fic a Cerere Cerritum. Calepini Dictionar.

As to the Larvati, lar aut lars eft Hetrufca vox. It fignifies a prince, or a lord; which laft word is fuppofed to be derived from lar. See Ainsworth and Littleton on this word. It was applied not only to their domeftic, but also to their celestial gods, the dii majorum gentium, who were all natives of this lower world; and answers to the word dapur. Quos Græci daíμovas, noftri, opinor, Lares. Cicer. in Timao 3. That the demons of the Greeks were deified men and women, we have fhewn elfewhere. Arnobius, fays, Varro nunc antiquorum fententias fequens larvas effe dicit lares, quafi quofdam genios & functorum animas mortuorum. Adv. Gentes, lib. iii. p. 124. A laribus larvæ. Larvæ gentibus erant mortuoruu animæ, quas aliter umbras vocabant. Vide Littleton.

The ghofts of the deceased were distinguished by different names, according to their different difpofitions and functions. The larvæ were confidered as mifchievous fpirits. What Apuleius fays on this fubject, in his book, De Deo Socratis, is as follows: Secundo fignatu fpecies dæmonum animus humanus, exutus & liber ftipendiis vitæ, corpore fuo abjuratis. Hunc vetere Latinâ

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