|
This, as I have said, was what astonished me the most, of all the
things that were actually to be seen about the temple. The next
greatest marvel was the island called Chemmis. This island lies in
the middle of a broad and deep lake close by the temple, and the
natives declare that it floats. For my own part I did not see it
float, or even move; and I wondered greatly, when they told me
concerning it, whether there be really such a thing as a floating
island. It has a grand temple of Apollo built upon it, in which are
three distinct altars. Palm trees grow on it in great abundance, and
many other trees, some of which bear fruit, while others are barren.
The Egyptians tell the following story in connection with this
island, to explain the way in which it first came to float: "In
former times, when the isle was still fixed and motionless, Latona,
one of the eight gods of the first order, who dwelt in the city of
Buto, where now she has her oracle, received Apollo as a sacred
charge from Isis, and saved him by hiding him in what is now called
the floating island. Typhon meanwhile was searching everywhere in
hopes of finding the child of Osiris." (According to the
Egyptians, Apollo and Diana are the children of Bacchus and Isis,
while Latona is their nurse and their preserver. They call Apollo,
in their language, Horus; Ceres they call Isis; Diana,
Bubastis. From this Egyptian tradition, and from no other, it must
have been that Aeschylus, the son of Euphorion, took the idea,
which is found in none of the earlier poets, of making Diana the
daughter of Ceres.) The island, therefore, in consequence of this
event, was first made to float. Such at least is the account which
the Egyptians give.
|
|