118 MYTHOLOGY the god of war, and before a battle and after a victory he received large sacrifices of human beings. It is said that he was represented as a bull, or had the head of one ; and as Adar, to whom the Babylonians gave the form of a bull, was the spirit of Saturn, it is probable that Moloch also was connected with that planet. Astarte, the divinity of Sidon, who as goddess of war held a spear and was represented in Carthage as riding on a lion, bore some rela- tion to the moon, and was called the horned Astarte (Ashteroth Karnaim in the Scriptu- ral form), probably in reference to the horns of the moon on her head. She was the god- dess of fire, and human sacrifices were made to her. She represented chastity; to serve her was to subdue all passion ; and emascula- tion and other self-mutilations were highly pleasing to her. The attributes of both Baal and Moloch were united in Melkart, " king of the city,"'whom the inhabitants of Tyre con- sidered their special patron. The Greeks called him Melicertes, and identified him with Her- cules. By his great strength and power he turned evil into good, brought life out of de- struction, pulled back the sun to the earth at the time of the solstices, lessened excessive heat and cold, and rectified the evil signs of the zodiac. In Phoenician legends he conquers the savage races of distant coasts, founds the ancient settlements on the Mediterranean, and plants the rocks at the strait of Gibraltar, the end of the world, as landmarks of the ex- tent of his journeyings. As goddess of the moon Astarte was brought into connection with Melkart, the god of the sun, becoming his spouse, assuming the name of Milkath, and changing from the severe and cruel goddess of war and chastity into a gentle patron of love and fruitfulness. Under the names of Dido and Anna the two sides of her worship reappear especially in Carthage. As Dido she was the wandering goddess of the moon, paral- lel to Europa, and possessed the attributes of Astarte only. Melkart finding and espousing her, she changed into Anna, the graceful. In like manner Astarte became an Asherah, and Artemis or Athena an Atargatis. The people of Byblos worshipped an addon (lord) Tammuz, who is generally identified with the Greek Adonis. The Phosnicians combined the deities of their cities into a sort of system, forming a circle of seven gods, called Kabirim (Cabiri), the powerful or the great, and children of Sydyk, the just. Among these gods were Khusor or Vulcan, the worker of iron; the female Khusarthis, or Thuro, the law, whom the Greeks call Harmonia, and who in many respects resembles Astarte ; and Baal-Melkart, the patron of Tyre. An eighth god of this series seems to have been Esmun, " the eighth," who appears as a saving and pardoning di- vinity, and somewhat like the Thoth of the Egyptians and Hermes of the Greeks. The images of these eight patron gods were often carved on the bows of Phoenician vessels. Next to the Kabirim were demons, and by degrees was formed a system of divinities of three times seven, or, with Esmun, 22 gods, arranged according to the Phoenician alphabet, and often put into fanciful relations to each other. The mythological conceptions entering into the religious systems of other races of the East will be found treated in the articles BUDDHISM; INDIA, RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS LITERATURE OF ; KORAN ; ZEND AVESTA ; and ZOROASTER. The principal divinities of the ancient Greeks and Romans are treated under their own titles ; but the prominence of these in modern culture calls for a synthetical survey of the entire theogony and body of myths, and also for the characteristic features of the wor- ship. Numerous systems of classification have been devised, but the most serviceable for or- dinary purposes is a simple grouping accord- ing to the abodes and the spheres of activity attributed to the principal gods and godlike beings. The divinities of heaven are Uranus, Zeus, Hera, Helios, Selene, Eos, Iris, and JSolus; of the water, Poseidon, Amphitrite, tritons, sirens, Nereids, naiads, Scylla, and Charybdis; of the earth, Ge or Gsea and Rhea; of the fields, woods, and gardens, Demeter, Pan, Faunus, Terminus, Flora, Pomona, Pales, Vertumnus, and nymphs ; of the house and domestic life, Hestia, lares, and penates; of time, the Horse and Cronos ; of the arts, trades, and sciences, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, Arte- mis, Hermes, and the muses ; of love and joy, Aphrodite, Eros, the Graces, Hebe, Ganymede, Dionysus, satyrs, and Silenus; of health, vEs- culapius and Hygiea ; of war and peace, Ares, Bellona, Eris, and Janus; of fate, justice, and retribution, Fatum, Nemesis, Ate, Moirse or the Fates, Themis, Erinnyes or Eumenidae, Harpies, Thanatos, and genii; and of the lower or in- fernal world, Pluto, Persephone, Grseee, Gor- gons, Manes, Nyx, and Hypnus. Exclusively Roman divinities among these are Janus, Faunus, Terminus, Vertumnus, Pales, Flora, genii, lares, penates, and manes. In adopting the Greek mythology the Romans transferred to it the names of their own divinities and their own legends, or gave to the Greek names a Latinized form. Thus Cronos they called Saturnus ; Uranus, Coelus ; Gsea, Terra ; Helios, Sol ; Zeus, Jupiter ; Poseidon, Neptunus ; Ares, Mars ; Hephaestus, Vulcanus ; Hermes, Mercu- rius; Hera, Juno; Athena, Minerva; Artemis, Diana ; Aphrodite, Venus ; Eros, Amor ; Hestia, Vesta; Demeter, Ceres; Dionysus, Bacchus; Persephone, Proserpina; Selene, Luna; Eos, Aurora ; Hypnus, Somnus ; and the Moires, Parcse ; and these Latin names have prevailed in modern literature. The Greeks considered their gods as possessed of human form, some- times rather gigantic and superhuman, and of great beauty. They needed to eat and drink and sleep. They were subject to suffering, for they could be wounded, and though called blessed they were not free from sorrows and tribulations. They were holy and just, but
