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PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA.

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EOLUS had shut up the winds in their ada mantine prison; the night was calm and serene, and Perseus being delivered from the attacks of the athletic and inhospitable sovereign of Mauritania, slept in peace and security. All nature seemed to repose in silence, till the morning star, the brilliant Lucifer, arose, and shedding a mild and silvery light on the leafy couch of the shepherd and the agricultor, gently invited them to begin their labour. Perseus still slumbered; but no sooner had Aurora' opened the shining barriers of the East, and announced the coming of the god of day, than he awoke refreshed and invigorated; then seizing his arms, and mounting the winged Pegasus, he pursued his way through immeasur able fields of ether, leaving behind him in his rapid flight, cities, nations, and people, without number.

Alighting at length in the dominions of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, Perseus beheld the daughter of that prince, the beautiful Andromeda, chained to a rock, and on the point of being devoured by a sea-monster which Neptune had sent to ravage the country and destroy the inhabitants, as a punishment for the vanity of the Queen Cassiopeia, who had boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereides.

Cepheus having consulted the oracle of JupiterAmmon on the means of preserving the rest of his people, had been informed that Neptune could only be appeased by the sacrifice of his daughter to this destructive monster.

Perseus, transported with rage, and animated by love, engaged to save the wretched princess, on condition that she should be given to him in marriage; and the proposal, as we may well imagine, was joyfully accepted.

The sea now became extremely turbulent, and the rising billows, boiling and foaming in an extraordinary manner, announced the approach of the terrific animal. No sooner however had he made his appearance, than Perseus set before him the appalling head, and he instantly shared the fate of the cruel Atlas. Some writers pretend that he was killed by the falx adamantina, or

herpe; that is to say, the crooked sword of diamond which the hero had received from the hands of Vulcan.

Perseus now flew to release Andromeda from her chains, first laying the head of Medusa on the bended stalks of a marine plant, which grew near the rock to which the princess was fastened. The plant immediately became hard as marble, and assumed a beautiful red colour, which the Nereides perceiving, gathered some of the seeds, and sowed them in the bottom of the ocean. From these seeds sprang large branches and trees of a substance called coral," which the ancients believed to be soft and flexible while in the sea, and to harden when exposed to the air. Modern discoveries have, however, proved this to be an erroneous opinion.

Observations. In a small temple of Isis, existing in the ancient city of Pompeia, has been found a fine antique sculpture representing Perseus and Andromeda; the former has the Gorgon's head in one of his hands.

In the museum of General Walmoden, at Hanover, are two fine antique statues of Perseus and Andromeda, which in 1765 were dug from among

the ruins of the amphitheatre Castrense at Rome. The figures are large as life.

A fine basso relievo in the Capitol exhibits this subject. Another on a sarcophagus in the Palazzo Chigi. The Museum Pio-Clementino (in the Vatican) contains one of superior beauty, which represents Perseus advancing with joyful looks to liberate the chained Andromeda. Her demeanour is peculiarly graceful, and she is covered with a peplum (a sort of mantle) forming an elegant drapery. Perseus extends one of his hands to the princess, and with the other is hiding the Gorgon's head. He has wings on his head and feet.

A painting representing this subject has been taken from Herculaneum, and there exists a very fine one by Angelica Mongez, which represents Perseus bearing Andromeda, whom he has just released from the chains that bound her to the rock, to her father. The beautiful Andromeda having swooned at the sight of the monster, appears in a state of insensibility, and the expres sion marked in the countenance of her father is very striking.

In an apartment of the Florentine Gallery, called the Tuscan School, is a good painting on

this subject; and in another part of that fine museum is a picture by Pietro di Cosimo, master of Andrea del Sarto, which exhibits Cepheus receiving his daughter from the hands of Per

seus.

There is a picture belonging to the Nazoni family, which exhibits Pegasus and his groomnymphs, all engaged in their respective occupations. One is stooping to bathe his feet, another is caressing and sprinkling him with a perfumed water, and a third stands near him with a vase in her hand. They are all crowned with aquatic plants.

Notes.-1 Eolus. This was the great spirit the sovereign of the winds, which he kept shut up in caverns, or let loose to desolate the earth, according to the will of Jupiter. Some authors place his caverns in Eolia or Eolis; others say that they were in Thrace; and others find them in the largest of the Lipari islands, which, as they tell us, were from these denominated the Eolides, or Eolian isles. Ancient poets personified the winds, and ancient artists exhibited these personifications; few, however, of these are now to be seen. Sculptured representations of the four cardinal winds were found about 200 years ago, in digging to lay the foundation of the church of St.

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