|
The Greeks regard Hercules, Bacchus, and Pan as the youngest of
the gods. With the Egyptians, contrariwise, Pan is exceedingly
ancient, and belongs to those whom they call "the eight gods," who
existed before the rest. Hercules is one of the gods of the second
order, who are known as "the twelve"; and Bacchus belongs to the
gods of the third order, whom the twelve produced. I have already
mentioned how many years intervened according to the Egyptians between
the birth of Hercules and the reign of Amasis. From Pan to this
period they count a still longer time; and even from Bacchus, who is
the youngest of the three, they reckon fifteen thousand years to the
reign of that king. In these matters they say they cannot be
mistaken, as they have always kept count of the years, and noted them
in their registers. But from the present day to the time of Bacchus,
the reputed son of Semele, daughter of Cadmus, is a period of not
more than sixteen hundred years; to that of Hercules, son of
Alcmena, is about nine hundred; while to the time of Pan, son of
Penelope (Pan, according to the Greeks, was her child by
Mercury), is a shorter space than to the Trojan war, eight hundred
years or thereabouts.
|
|