Where Servius: "DEO, fecundum eos, qui dicunt atriufque fexus participationem habere numina: nam ait Calvus:

Pollentemque deum Venerem, &c."

1 believe Spenfer had this place of Servius in his mind.

Herodotus, I. 105. having faid that a few Scythians fpoiled the temple of Coeleftial Venus, [ Ουρανίης Αφροδίτης] adds, that for their impiety, the Gon purifhed them: ἐνέσκηψε Ὁ ΘΕΟΣ θήλειαν νόσον. But Gronovius is of opinion that ὁ Θεὸς here means numen, τὸ Θεῖον, without any particular reference to Venus. See his note. Mother of laughter: Qiquids. Homer.

CANTO XI. 9.

not if a hundred tongues to tell,

And hundred mouths, and voice of brass I had. From Virgil, Æn. VI. 625. who imitates Homer.

STANZ. XIII.

Spenfer in this Canto enumerates the Sea Gods, and defcendants from Neptune; and amongst

them names

Aftræus, that did fhame

Himfelf with inceft of his kin unken'd.

Compare Spenfer's catalogue with Natalis Comes, II. 8. where you may find the story of Aftræus. have met with two others of that name; one, a fon of Terra and Tartarus, who was one of the Giants, mentioned by Hyginus; the other, a son of Silenus, in Nonnus Dionyf. And a third, the fon of Crius and Eurubie, is found in Hefiod and Apollodorus.

STANZ. XVIH.

Speaking of the fons of Oceanus and Tethys :

Of all which, Nereus, th' eldest and the beft, Did firft proceed, than which none more upright, Ne more fincere in word and deed profeft;

Most void of guile, moft free from foul defpight, Doing himfelf, and teaching others to do, right.

From Hefiod, EOY. 233.

Νηρέα τ' αψευδέα καὶ ἀληθέα γείνατο Πόντο,
Πρεσβύτατον παίδων· αυταρ καλέεσι Γέροντα,
Ούνεκα νημερλής τε καὶ ἤπιΘ, ἐδὲ θεμισέων.
Λήθεται, ἀλλὰ δίκαια καὶ ἤπια δήνεα οἶδεν.

Nereumque alienum a mendacio, et veracem genuit Pontus,
Maximum natu filiorum: fed vocant Senem,

Eò quod verus atque placidus: nec juris et æqui
Oblivifcitur, fed jufta et moderata judicia novit.

Nereus is called the aged in Homer, Hefiod, Efchylus, Virgil, Ovid, the Poet called Orpheus,

and

and Paufanias Lacon. Euftathius on Homer, Il. A. 250. p. 116. Ed. Rom. Iséov öri wohiav ära i μύθο λέγει τὴν γραίαν, καθά και τον Νηρέα γέροντα. Servius on Virgil, Georg. IV. 403. Fere omnes Dii marini fenes funt, albent enim eorum capita fpumis aquarum. We may also observe, that paus means either an old woman, or froth, fcum. Ariftophanes plays upon the word, Plut. 1205.

STAN Z. XIX.

-When Paris brought his famous prize,
The fair Tindarid [Tyndarid] lafs, he him foretold
That her all Greece with many a champion bold
Should fetch again.

He speaks of Nereus. From Horace, L. I, Od. xv. I
Paftor cum traberet, &c.

STANZ. XX.

Long Rhodanus, whofe fource fprings from the fkie.

Διϊπελής.

STANZ.

XXI.

Great Ganges, and immortal Euphrates,
Deep Indus, and Mæander intricate,
Slow Peneus, and tempeftuous Phafides,
Swift Rhene, and Alpheus still immaculate,
Oraxes, feared for great Cyrus' fate.

He makes the fecond fyllable in Euphrates.fhort,

and gives him the pompous epithet immortal, which, after all, is but a botch. Slow is no epithet for Peneus. He is called Theffalus torrens, by Seneca, Herc. Fur. 288. By Phasides I suppose he means Phafis, who is called μέγας, τραχύς, Bía, divness, rapidus. Instead of Oraxes, it ought to be, as a friend also conjectured,

Araxes, feared for great Cyrus' fate.

For Cyrus croffed the river Araxes to fight the Maffagetæ, of whom Tomyris was queen. The battle was fought near the river, and Cyrus was there worsted, and flain. So fays Herodotus, I. 201, &c.

STANZ. XXV.

Speaking of a River-God:

And his beard all gray,

Dewed with filver drops, that trickled down alway.

Sophocles, Trachin. 14. of Achelous,

ἐκ δὲ δασκία γενειάδα

Κρανοὶ διεῤῥαίνοντο κρηναίο ποτά.

Ovid, Faft. I. 375. of Proteus ;

Oraque cærulea tollens rorantia barba.

Statius, Theb. IX. 414. of Ifinenus :

tumido de gurgite furgit

Spumofum attollens apicem, lapfuque fonoro

Pecora cæruleæ rivis manantia barbæ.

Claudian,

Claudian, Conf. Pr. et Ol. 222. of the Tiber:
Diftillant per pectus aquæ: frons hifpida manat
Imbribus: in liquidos fontes fe barba repellit.
Sidonius, Carm. II. 335. of the fame.

Dat fonitum mento unda cadens, licet hifpida fetis
Suppofitis multum fedaret barba fragorem.

Like as the mother of the Gods, they fay
In her great iron chariot wonts to ride,
When to Jove's palace fhe doth take her way;
Old Cybele, array'd with pompous pride,
Wearing a diadem embattled wide

Speaking of a River Goddess :

Under the which her feet appeared plain,
Her filver feet.

αργυρόπεζα.

STANZ.

XLVIII, &c.

The Nereids, according to Spenfer, are,

Amphitrite, Agave, Actea, [it fhould be Ataa] Autonoë, Alimeda, [it fhould be Halimede] Cymothoë, Cymodoce,

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