PART XII

SCETTI CIS M. 52>
/fi’s fervent friendfhip to Patroclus. And no v;onder, when the Cynich , and Zeno the Cit- tiean, and Cleanthes, and Chryfippus fay, It is an Indifferent. Again, for a Man to lie with his Wife in publick, though weefteem it unfeemly, : yet Tome in the Indies do not fo, for they make no diftinftion of places therein ; as Crates^ the Philofopher , is alfo faid to have done. For Women to proftitute themfelves, with us, is didionefl:, and fbanleful, but with many of the j Egyptians honourable *, for it is faid, that thofe Who have layn with many Men, ufed to wear a Bracelet about their Ancles as a mark of Ho¬ nour. Moreover , amongft them, Virgins be¬ fore Marriage gain’d a Dowry by proftituting themfelves. The Stocks fay , That it is no lhame to cohabit with a common Woman, or to be maintained by what (he gets. To be ftig matized, with us, is Ihamcful and dilhonou- rable •, but many of the Egyptians and Sarrna- tians ftigmatiz’d their Children. For men 'to wear Ear-Rings is, with us , accounted fliarri- ful • but with fome Barbarians^ as with the Sy¬ rians^ it is a mark of Nobility ; , infomuch as fome extending this njark of Nobility, bore holes in the Nollrils of their Children, in which they hang Rings of Silver or Gold , w'hich none amongft us do. As neither to wear a Man¬ tle ftain’d and dy*d with FlovVers, for though the Perftans efteem this an Ornament, we think it undecent. When at a Feaft made by Dionyfius Tyrant of fuch a kind of Robe was offer¬ ed to Plato^ and to Arijlippus the Philofophers *, Plato refus’d, faying,
t
I win not with a Female Piohe myfelf difgrace^
Who am a Man^ and of a Manly Race.
But .Arifii'ppUs took it, with thefe words ;
If /he come pure^ a Bacchanalian Feafi
Never corrupts a modefi Woman's breajl.
Thus even of the wife Men, to fome it feemed Decent, to others Indecent, With ns it is Un¬ lawful to marry our Mother, or Sifter; but the Perfians ( and of them the Magi., who make greateft profeflion of Wifdom ) marry their Mothers, and the ^/Egyptians their Sifters, and all ; as the Poet,
Jove to his Wife and Sifer Juno, faid.
Zjtno the Cittiean faith. That it is not diflioneft, TO f/Lofiov
than if it were to rub any other part of the Bo¬ dy. Chryfippus f\t\ his Treaiife of Policy, aflerts, That the Father may lye with the Daughter , and the Mother with the Son, and the Brother with the Sifter. But Plato more univerfally faith. That all Wives ought to be in common. With *With Lierti- us it is deteftable, Zeno approves it ;
and we are informed that fome there are, who the Life of this Evil as a Good. To eat Man’s Flefti
logenes, with us is unlawful; whereas amongft the
bariam there are whole Nations which ufe it as a thing indifferent. What need we inftance Barbarians , when Tydeus himfelf is faid to have eaten the Brains of his Enemy ? and the Stoicks fay, it is not unfitting to eat not only the FI«lh
of other Men , but our own. Moreover to defile the Altar of God with Blood, with moft People , as with us , is held impious ; but the Lacedxmonians., zt the Altar oi Ortho- fia^ and Diana , whipp’d themfelves cruelly ,
To as much Blood run down upon the Altar of The Goddefs. Befides, fome lacrifice a Man to Saturn, as the Scythians do Strangers to Diana , but we, on the contrary, think the Temples are defiled with human Blood. With us, there is a Law for punifhment of Adulterers ; but fome hold, that CO lie with other Mens \\Tvcs, is a thing Indifferent: Even forac Philofophers fay, that, to lie with other Mens Wives, is Indiffe¬ rent. With us. Children arc bound by Law to take care for their Parents; the Scythians, when they exceed Threefcore years, cut their Throats,
And what wonder, when Saturn himfelf with a Sickle emafculated his Father ; Jupiter threw down Saturn into Tartarus ; Minerva joined with '
Jupiter, and Neptune, to fetter her Father ; Sa¬ turn devoured his own Children. Moreover,
Solon the Athenian made a Law concerning in- demnate perfons, whereby any Man was per¬ mitted to kill his Son j but with us, the Laws forbid to kill our Sons. The koman Lawgivers order the Children to be under the power of the Parents, and to be their Servants; and the Children not to be Maftersof their own Eftates, but the Parents, until they are manumitted af¬ ter the fame manner as purchafed Slaves. Others rejedthis Cuftom as Tyrannical. There is a Law to punifh Homicides, but Gladiators, when they kill a Man, are many times honoured for it. The Laws forbid to ftrike a free Perfon, but Wraftlers, beating Freemen, fomtimes kil¬ ling them, are rewarded with Honors and Gar¬ lands. The Law commands every Man to have but one Wife ; but amongft the Thracians and Getulians, a People of Lybia^ every one hath many. To lob is with us held unlawful and unjuft ; but with many of the Barbarians , not fo: On the contrary, the CiZ/aTm efteem it Ho¬ norable ; whereupon fuch as die in Robbing, they judge worthy of Honor. Ncflor in the Poet, after he had kindly received thofe who were with Telcmachus, fayes
— ^ - Do you uncertain Jlray
As Thieves ?
But if to Rob had been diftionorable^ he would not have entertained Perfons, that might be faf- peded for Thieves, v/ith fo much Humanity,
Befides, to fteal, is, with us , unjuft and unlaw¬ ful ; but thofe who fay Mercury is a Thievifh God, do not conceive it unjuft ; for how can a God be wicked ? Some alfo fay, That the La- cedeemonians punifh’d Thieves, not for Stealing, but for being Takeri. A Coward that throws away his Shield, is in many Countries punilhed by Law, ( whence the Lacedaemonian Woman giving her a Son a Shield, faid to him, * Thou ^Either Bring Son, or thi, , or upon this,-) bat MiloAu, brags , that he had thrown away his Shield, and run jjome dead away, writing of himfelf in his Poems thus : upon it.
Some
SCEPTICISM.
^2.8
y
S.omts Sa/an doth perkops hrmfdf addrn Novp with the Shield whtcb once by me was horn ynd left behind ( though fore againf my will )
To five my life - -
The Amnz.ons malm their Male-Children, that they might not be fit tor War, and they them- lelves underwent all Military Bufinefs *, whereas v;c think the contrary to be the beft order. The Mother of the Gods admits Eunuchs, which a God would never do , it it were ill by nature, not to he pcrfedly viiile. Thus concerning tilings jufi: and unjult, and virility, there is great difligrecment.
Likewiie • concerningDevotion,and the Gods, there is iTntchCoatroverrie:,the greater part hold, that there are Gods'-, but fome, that there are none, as the Followers of Dingorus the ATtlian , and Ibeodona^ and Critias the Athenian. Of thole who affirm there are Gods, fome worfhip the Gods of their Country, others thofe which the Seds of Dogmatiffs have framed as, Ari- Jlotla held God .to be incorporeal, the boundure ot Heaven ^ tl\e . Stoicks., a Spirit , penetrating even through things horrible to behold ; Epicu- >'My, of humane Form; Xenophanes.^ an impaf- fible Sphere- fome, that he is provident over .our Affairs-, others, that he is not provident over them ; For that which is bleffed and incor¬ ruptible, faith Epicurus^ neither hath any trouble itfelf , nor caufeth any to others. Whence alfo, of thofe according to life, fome fay , that there is one God ^ others, that there are many, and of different forms ; fo as they run into the opinions of the Egyptians ^ who conceived the Gods to be faced like Dogs, and formed like Haw'ks, and Oxen, and Crocodiles, and what not. Whence alfo there hapned a great dif¬ ference as to Sacrifices, and the worfhip of the Gods. Things that are facred in fome Temples, are profane in others ^ whereas this could not be, if there were any thing facred or prophane j ,in its own nature. For example. None facri- -fice a Swine -to Serapis., but to Hercules and rAEf- culapius they facrifice them. ’Tis unlawful to fa- cvificc a Sheep to /y?5, but to her who is called the Moth' r of the Gods, and toother Gods, tliey are iscrificed. To Saturn they ficrifice a man, which to mod is im]>ious. In Alexandria they facrifice a C.ir. to Hero, a Moth to Thetis.^ which amorrgfl'us none do. To Neptune a Horfd is facrifiGed,but to Apollo the Didymean efpecial- . iy, this, Creature is abominable. To facrifice -Goats to Diana is pious, but not to iA-fculapius,
: Many others. might be alledged, which, for bre- ^vicy I o.tnit. Now if there were any Sacrifice - pious or impious in its own nature, all porfons would hare the fame opinion of ir.
. Liketo thefe.we fhall find the things that con- Icetn the , diet of men, as to worfhip of the iGods.. A Jew ov an Egyptian. ?nt It will dye, A ;ofhi3* -rather than eat Swine’s fiefh •, a tybian thinks • 'Oft to eat t!ie fiefh of Sheep ^ fome
Sj/^ians^ that of a Pidgeon ; others, of i iiofrr Vidims -, in fome Temples, it is lawful to eat • Filb-, in others unlawful. Of thefe who a- 1 mongft the Egyptians were thought to be wife, fome conceived it abominable to eat the head ^‘f.a Creature; others, the fhoulder ; others.