Universal mythology : an account of the most important mythological systems, and an inquiry into their origin and connexion; with remarks on the Koran and the Talmud

Front matter

Class J3L_M

TO THE

REV. WILLIAM CARUS M.A.,

Preface

There are few subjects which have either deserved or obtained so much attention as Mythology. The most eminent scholars, in all ages, have made it their study, and many profound and voluminous works have been the result. Of these some are devoted to the consideration of a single system ; and others are too scarce, and too expensive, to be within the reach of ordinary readers. The work of Creuzer, which, in spite of its defects, is by far the most valuable modern work on Mythology, is not translated, and besides occupies eight volumes.

The mythology of Greece has been almost exclusively studied ; and this, though neither the most important, nor the most interesting. The systems of the East, and of the North, of Egypt, and of China, would have illustrated the Greek and Roman fables, have cleared up their difficulties, and explained their allegories, if they did no more. But the truth is, that where these are studied, the theogony of the Greeks sinks into its proper place, and is considered but as a ramification of the great stream of fable. The chief end of studying mythology, should be, not to apply our knowledge merely to the solution of difficult passages in classical poetry, but to the moral and mental history of viii

PREFACE.

mankind. This object can only be accomplished by taking a general view of the subject, by examining all systems, by tracing their resemblances and their differences, by investigating the mode of their propagation, and the identity of their origin. This has been the object, which, as far as the limits of a small volume will allow, has been aimed at in the following pages. To what extent it has been obtained, is for the public to judge. Some extracts will be found from Fabers works, which, having been made some time ago, and the author no longer having the writings of that eminent scholar at hand, cannot be marked by references; those so circumstanced are few and small, and this opportunity is taken to notice them.

The whole section on Chaldean and Phoenician Mythology (Section III.) has been furnished by Mr. C. P. Harris, of Manchester, the greater part of whose life has been devoted to philological, and particularly oriental research. While acknowledging this, and many other obligations to that gentleman, the author congratulates himself on the great additional value thus conferred on his work.

It will be at once perceived that this volume is not intended to supersede any treatise on the Greek and Roman Mythology, but rather to supply a want that has long been felt, — to introduce, in fact, a more general and extensive knowledge of the interesting subject of Universal Mythology.

Colne, Lancashire.

November, 1837.

Section I. — EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

Chap. Page

II. Of Phta, and his Names or Attributes . 6

III. Of the Second Stage of the Egyptian Religion — Of

Osiris and Isis . . . . 8

IV. Of the Third Stage of Egyptian Mythology, the

Worship of Consecrated Animals . . 15 V. Of the Animal Divinities of Egypt, and the Fourth

Stage of Public Religion in that Country . 24 VI. Of Isis, and the Egyptian Deities typical of the

Moon .... 27 VII. Of the Worship of the Nile, and of the Names under

which it was revered 33 VIII. Of Typhon, his Wife Nephthys, and his Concubine

IX. Of Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus . . 41 X. Of the Cosmogony, and the Moral Philosophy of the

Ancient Egyptians . . .48

Section II.— HINDOO MYTHOLOGY

II. Of the Hindoo Triad, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva 57

III. Of the Sactis, or Pervading Energies of the Gods 65

IV. Of Celestial Spirits, and of Demons . .71 V. Of Ganesa, and the other Children of Mahadeva ;

and of Indra .... 77

VI. Of the Genii or Demigods subordinate to Indra . 84

VII. Of the Avatars, or Incarnations of Vishnu . 90

VIII. Of the Avatars, continued ... 97 IX. Of the Effects of the Hindoo Religion and Mythology 101

X

CONTENTS.

Section III. — MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHALDJEANS OR BABYLONIANS, SYRIANS, PHOENICIANS, CANAANITES AND PERSIANS

Chap. Page I. Of Chaldsean or Babylonish Mythology . .105 II. Of the Assyrian, Armenian, and Syrian Mythology 116

III. Of the Phoenician Mythology . . 122

IV. Of the Persian Mythology . . .135

Section IV.— GREEK MYTHOLOGY

I. Introduction ....

II. Of the Theogony and Chief Gods of the Greeks

III. Of the subordinate Deities of Olympus

IV. Of the Goddesses of Olympus V. Minor Deities •

VI. Of Heaven and Hell ....

VII. Heroes .....

VIII. Heroic Expeditions ....

Section V.— ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

II. Of Oracles and Omens ... 207

Section VI.— BUDHUISM

I. Introduction . . . . .214

II. Introduction, continued . . . 217

III. Of Budhuism among the Burmese and Chinese . 222

IV. Of the Priests and Temples of the Budhuists 225 V. Of the Traditions and Festivals of the Budhuists 229

VI. Of the Jaiuas, Shikhs, and Worshippers of the Lama 232

Section VII.— CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

I. Introductory Chapter .... 236 II. Of the Religious Sects of the Chinese; and first, of

Confucius .... 239

III. Of the Sect of Lao Kung . . . 243

. 147

154 . 161

169 . 174

181 . 187

CONTENTS.

xi

Chap. Page

IV. Of the Sect of Fuh, or Budhuism . . 247 V. Of the Gods of the Chinese . . .251

VI. Of the Spirit and Practice ef the Chinese Religion 253

Section VIII.— MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY

II. Of the Mexican Gods ... 262

III. Of the Festivals and Sacrifices of the Gods . 267

IV. Of the Mexican belief in the Immortality of the Soul

and in Heaven .... 272

V. Of the Traditions of the Mexicans . . 274

Section IX. — NORTHERN AND ANCIENT ENGLISH MYTHOLOGY

I. Of the Northern Mythology and its Origin ; and of

II. Of the Supreme Being, of the Giants, and of the

Cieation of the Gods ... 280

III. Of the Creation of the World, and of Man . 282

IV. Of Heaven and Hell . . . 285 V. Of the Gods; and first, of Odin . . 288

VI. Of Thor and Balder ... 291

VII. Of the other Gods . . . .293

VIII. Of Loke and his Children ... 295 IX. Of the Horse and Ships of the Gods . . 299

X. Of Enchantments and Illusions . . 300

XI. Of the Twilight of the Gods, and the sequel of the

General Conflagration . . . 304

XII. Of the Peculiarities of the Saxon Worship . 307 XIII. Of the Effects of the Religion of Odin on the Minds

of its Votaries . . . .310

Section X.— MOHAMMEDANISM

I. Of the Birth and Education of Mohammed . 316 II. Of the Political Designs and Pretended Mission of

Mohammed . 322 xii CONTENTS.

Chap. Page

III. Of the Success of Mohammed, and his Reign 327

IV. Of the Conquests and Death of Mohammed . 333 V. Of the Arabian Religion before Mohammed 339

VI. Of the Koran .... 344

VII. Of Death, the Resurrection, and the Judgment . 350

VIII. Of Heaven and Hell ... 355

IX. Of the Mesra, or Night Journey to Heaven . 360

X. Of the Pilgrimage to Mecca . . 368

XI. Of Traditions preserved among the Mohammedans 373 XII. Of the Institutions of Islam ; their Spirit and Effect 379

Section XI.— THE TALMUD, AND THE TRADITIONS OF THE JEWS

I. Antediluvian Traditions . . . 385

II. Traditions concerning Moses . . 390

III. Traditions of Abraham and other Patriarchs . 394

IV. Traditions of Solomon ... 398 V. Of the State after Death . . .402

VI. Of the Rabbinical Heaven . . . 406

Section XII. —THE CONNEXION AND COMMON ORIGIN OF ALL SYSTEMS OF FALSE WORSHIP

II. Of Cosmogony .... 416

III. Of Cosmogony, continued . . . 422

IV. Of the Traditions respecting the Fall of Man 427 V. Of the Traditions concerning the Deluge . . 432

VI. Of the Traditions concerning Noah and his Sons 441

VII. Of the Fates, Fatalism, and Stoicism . . 448

VIII. On the Worship of the Serpent . . 455

IX. The Worship of the Sun . . .461

X. Historical Coincidences . . . 467

XI. Miscellaneous Coincidences . . . 473

XII. Conclusion. ..... 481

UNIVERSAL MYTHOLOGY.

Section I. EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

One glance at the physical constitution of Egypt will lead us to expect that the moral phenomena of such a country must be interesting: the research amply justifies the expectation, and repays the labour. At the time when the earliest books with which we are acquainted were written, the Land of the Pharaohs had been many ages a mighty and highly-civilized empire ; since that period it has passed through many political, and many moral revolutions : has been alternately the first of the nations, and the last ; the wisest, and the most ignorant ; the most virtuous, and the most depraved. Yet, in whatever light Egypt be regarded, the remote antiquity into which its history extends, the character of mystery and romance which invests many portions of that history, and the fact that that country has been the cradle not only of art, but also of philosophy, make Egypt ever an interesting object for contemplation.

The earliest notices we have on this subject are, of course, to be found in the inspired books of scripture ; and though we find therein many testimonies as to the prosperity and power of that country, we have no light

B

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

thrown upon the system of religion prevailing therein. That Moses was learned in " all the wisdom of the Egyptians" we are told ; the attainments of Moses lead us to think highly of the people among whom he was educated, and the glances which we ohtain of Egyptian policy, in the course of the sacred writings, are calculated to impress us with as favourable an idea of their political wisdom. The remains of their works which have reached our time are of so stupendous an order, as to excite unqualified wonder; and their wealth, when their empire was flourishing, seems to have defied calculation. The philosophy, therefore, of a people in whose wisdom Moses was learned, and among whom the intellectual Greeks obtained their systems, cannot be otherwise than highly interesting. We are naturally inclined to expect much, and to look with reverence upon that which we find. There are causes, however, which render it difficult to gratify this curiosity with certainty, and, in many points, impossible to gratify it at all.

These causes are, first, the great unwillingness which the ancient Egyptian priests exhibited to spread their knowledge beyond the precincts of their own temples, which caused them to invent a system of hieroglyphics bearing a double or triple signification, in which hieroglyphics they wrote the doctrines of their philosophy, and the mysteries of their religion. The deciphering of these hieroglyphics has been attempted in all ages by the most learned men, but, to the present time, without much success. Dr. Young seems to have done more than ever has yet been done, and had every reason to be satisfied with the result. If the efforts of his followers are crowned with complete success, the Egyptian antiquities will be rescued from the uncertainty that has hitherto invested them.

In investigating such subjects as the present,

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

we must remember the distinction between mythology, religion, and philosophy, — a distinction not always borne in mind, and which, whenever overlooked, causes utter confusion, mingling the doctrines of religion, and the allegorized facts of philosophy, with the inventions of poetry, and out of the mixture attempting to make a regular system. The Egyptian priests, unwilling as they were to communicate even to foreign philosophers their own learning, were not likely to enlighten, on such subjects, the people around them. There were many secrets in their possession which they would divulge to no one, as it appears from the testimony of Herodotus, and others. There was very little they allowed to become common property : they spoke in parables to the multitude, and those parables were understood only by the initiated. It becomes necessary, therefore, when we examine the mythology of a people like this, to scrutinise the mass of fable lying before us, and ascertain what parts exhibit allegories of philosophy, what parts of history, what parts of religion, and what parts are merely the invention of poets. The best mode of doing this will be to compare the systems of others obtained from that which we study, with the original, and to notice the points in which they agree, and those in which they differ : it will generally be found that they coincide in the foundations, but that the superstructure is different, and the differences are usually in those fables which, being the invention of poetry, are adapted only to the country in which, and the people among whom, they took their rise. Continuing the comparison of these systems, we shall be able to distinguish between the remaining parts, and to see what allegories contain religious doctrine, and what serve to illustrate the philosophy of the times.

The origin of the Egyptian mythology will be treated

B 2

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

of when we come to investigate the origin of mythology generally. The early state of it is enveloped in great obscurity ; the appearance under which it pre - sents itself to us is so crowded with absurdities, and the reputation of its believers so high for wisdom, that we at once perceive how allegorical its general character must be ; — the secret writing, the mystery observed by the priesthood, confirm this, and the natural history of the country affords us a clue to a vast number of the allegories alluded to.

Treating the Egyptian mythology in this light, and bearing in mind the distinction we have already noticed, it will appear that the groundwork of their theology was a belief in one Gocl, counteracted, however, in many of his operations by a personified principle of evil. The rest seems to be mere figure, sometimes astronomical, sometimes historical, sometimes metaphysical. The Supreme Being appears to have been anciently recognised under the name Phtah ; the sun was his symbol, and with that luminary the Deity himself is made often to correspond. There appears, however, a deeper meaning than this, for we are told by the Greeks that Phtah was the element of fire, pervading all things, and causing by its insensible or sensible operation all visible changes. Now, of this element (fire, or caloric,) the sun is an active agent, and is, of course, very likely to be confounded with it. But the symbol, in popular worship, is ever apt to be -taken instead of the thing signified ; and when the lofty symbol gives place to a lower, popular opinion still goes with it, till, at last, we can hardly be surprised to find leeks and onions, dogs and crocodiles, among the ranks of divinities.

Tin; earliest personification which appears, and begins the work of polytheism, is called Athor. This divinity was the goddess Night, — not that night which

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

results from the diurnal revolution of the earth, but the thick darkness spread over the universe previous to creation. This night, animated by the breath of Phtah, was the origin of all things, and was w r hat Damascius meant, w r hen, speaking of the Egyptian mythology, he said, " They established as the first principle that darkness which, the human mind is unable to comprehend, and which they celebrate three times in their sacred hymns." It was not until some time after the establishment of this goddess that allegory began to crowd upon the system, but it appeared at last ; and this divinity, the mother of all, the origin of every thing that is, could not be left untouched. Adventures were soon found, and fitted to the personified night, and the priests, aware that the minds of the unenlightened required sensible objects, proposed to their veneration the moon. It seems that when, at first, this was done, it was only as a type of night — an emblem of the deity — who, out of darkness, had formed the visible creation; but with whatever view it was done, the effect w T as, that the image superseded the deity, the people addressed their prayers, and raised their temples, to the moon.

The next step w r as, when the physical circumstances of the night were made into fabulous adventures, and the name Athor was bestowed on that period of the year when the sun, having passed the equator, remains in the southern hemisphere, the days are short, and the night is long. Plutarch, in his treatise Of Isis and Osiris, remarks, " In the month of Athyr the Egyptians say that Osiris (the sun) is dead : then the nights become longer, the darkness increases, and the force of the light diminishes. The priests on this occasion perform mournful ceremonies : they expose to the people a gilded ox covered with a black veil, in token of the grief of the goddess Isis ; for in Egypt the

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

ox is the symbol of Osiris, and of the earth." The unity of this fable with the cosmogony of other people, we shall have, by-ancl-by, occasion to notice. But though the goddess Athor might be as purely emblamatical as figures of vice and virtue in the present day, the people were far from taking her existence in such a point of view. Temples were built and cities founded in her honour, and the name Athar-beki, the city of Athor, occurs three times on the map of ancient Egypt.

Chapter II. Of Phta And His Names, Or Attributes

Ex nihilO) nihil Jit : certainly out of darkness could not come light, without some cause ; but out of darkness did the Eternal mind draw the universe, and place every part thereof in that beautiful order which we behold. To this presiding spirit was given the name Phta, to whose being no commencement was assigned, and no termination expected. Manethon, speaking of the dynasties by which Egypt was successively governed, says that Phta was the first king, and after him reigned the sun, by which we are merely to understand that Phta was lord and ruler before all time. It was, however, literally understood by the people generally, and the prayer pronounced by the priests, at the death of each individual, tended not a little to confirm their opinion. This prayer ran thus : — "0 sun, and ye other gods who bestow life on man, receive me : restore me to the eternal gods, that I may dwell with them." — (Porphyry, lib. iv.) The l ather of Spirits, as Phta was called, created by an emanation from his own essence every intelligence, so

OF PHTA AND HIS NAMES.

that the soul of man had been, in the belief of the Egyptians, a part of the deity, and should be such again after death. That this mighty and invisible spirit, the Creator and disposer of all things, was only worshipped by the priests, is very evident from the fact that, at Memphis only was there a temple raised to his honour, and even then the people in general had not a correct idea of what kind of deity he was; for Suidas says, "the inhabitants of Memphis adored Yulcan, under the name of Phta/' The attributes of the deity were then personified, and two in particular must be mentioned; his wisdom was figured forth under the name of a goddess called Neith, and his goodness under that of a god, Cneph. In fact, Phta, Phtah, or Phtha, — for it is spelt all ways, — appears to have been himself not so much the Supreme Being, as a personification of his power, and hence is really the same as Neith and Cneph ; nor must the difference of sex be a drawback, since the Egyptians, pursuing their allegory, described the creating power of the deity as possessing two sexes: and the beetle was considered so sacred among the ancient Egyptians, because they deemed that insect an hermaphrodite, and so a representative of Phtah.

The Greeks seem to have considered Neith the same with their Minerva, and give us an inscription on the gate of her temple : "I am that which is, which shall be, which has been : no mortal has lifted up my veil/' Now, this is attributed also to Isis, and we shall see reason, by-and-by, to suppose Neith and Isis the same, yet, singularly enough, we find Neith now a god, now a goddess. Thus much is certain, that in whatever light Neith be taken, Neith and Phta may be shown to be one divinity. The same may be observed of Cneph, by which name was worshipped the goodness of God. The emblem of Cneph was a particular kind

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

of serpent, called after him, and not venomous; this serpent also revered, as itself a kind of divinity, and not unfrequently denominated Good Genius. The worship of these attributes of the Deity was too recondite to be popular, and accordingly it gradually disappeared. We have seen a temple to Phta : there was one in the Saitic prefecture, dedicated to Neith, and one in the isle of Elephantis to Cneph ; and further than this we hear of none. The worship of symbols soon became general ; the sun was regarded by the people as the chief god : the objects of religious worship were greatly multiplied, and for ages prior to Herodotus the whole land was sunk in gross idolatry.

Chapter III. Of The Second Stage Of The Egyptian Religion

OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

When Diodorus Siculus wished to give, in a few words, an outline of Egyptian worship, he says, " Contemplating the arch of heaven raised above their heads, and admiring the marvellous order which reigned in the universe, they regarded the sun and the moon as eternal gods, and worshipped them with a particular worship." We have already seen the sun first the emblem, then the son of the Supreme Being ; once established as an existing god, it became necessary to make a type of him. This was soon done, and the type deified as before. The sun and the moon were culled the king and queen of heaven, and by the people worshipped, not as types or emblems of Phta, but as self-existing deities. The sun was called Phre,

OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

and it was a daughter of one of his high priests to whom Joseph the patriarch was married. The elements, day and night, the sun and moon, the earth and the sea, — were all severally personified and invested with the attributes of divinity ; hut the vulgar only deemed them gods : the initiated knew that they existed as such only allegorically ; such persons worshipped only the power that made and preserved all things.

But to return to Phre, or the sun. The Egyptian astronomers were well acquainted with the phenomena respecting him. Setting forth these in the usual figurative manner, they gave him the symbolical name of Osiris, and the astronomical changes that affect the t luminary were related as adventures of the god. Here, then, we have a third being, or rather a third step in the history of the same worship, and we shall see the same connexion as we descend in the scale.

We shall now attend to the fable of Osiris, premising that the name was not in use till 320 years after the departure of the Israelites, previously to which period he had been called Phre. Plutarch, in his treatise " Of Isis and Osiris," gives a long account, from which we may collect that, in the beginning, Osiris reigned over Egypt : he ruled with great success, and was universally beloved ; nor did he confine to that country his benefits, but travelled over all the world to improve the condition of mankind. While absent, Isis, his wife, so governed Egypt, that his absence was scarcely felt. Typhon, his brother, who both envied and hated him, was long unable to dethrone Osiris ; but at last, while the latter was in Ethiopia, Typhon organized a conspiracy of seventy-two members, and, on the return of Osiris, managed to overpower him. Having joined, with his seventy-two companions, the feast which was

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

being celebrated in honour of the kings return, he caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had been made exactly to fit the size of Osiris, and declared that he would give the chest to whosoever could get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no sooner was Osiris in it, than Typhon and his companions closed the lid, and flung the chest into the Nile. The chest floated down the Nile, and through the Tanitic branch into the Mediterranean. This was, say they, on the 17th day of the month Athor. No sooner was Osiris dead, than sorrow and wailing prevailed throughout Egypt. Isis, her hair shorn, clothed in black, and beating her breast, sought diligently for the body of her husband. At length she found the chest on the coast of Phoenicia, and brought it back to Egypt, where, to preserve it more securely, she concealed it in a wood, but the usurper finding it there, cut the body into fourteen pieces, and scattered them hither and thither. Isis had another search, in which she was not quite so fortunate as in the last ; she found thirteen pieces, the fishes of the Nile having eaten the other : this was replaced by sycamore wood, and the body was again complete.

Temples were ultimately raised wherever a limb of Osiris was found, and one of surpassing magnificence at Philce, where the body was finally placed. The story has a curious episode. When Isis was seeking the chest, she was materially assisted by Anubis, the son of Osiris and Nephthys. Nephthys was the wife and twin-sister of Typhon, as Isis was of Osiris, and Anubis was the fruit rather of a mistake than an infidelity, he was represented with a dog's head, and somewhat of a dogs nature, but he was wise and good like his father. The search for the chest or coffin was long in vain, and this was owing to a singular proof of the divine nature of Osiris. The chest was driven by

OF OSIRIS AND ISIS.

the waves on the coast of Phoenicia, as has been already mentioned, and there entangled among the shrubs. One of these, affected by the divine nature of Osiris, grew so enormously as to enclose the chest in its trunk, and the king Malkandros passing by, saw the huge trunk, ordered it to be cut down, and made it a pillar in his palace. Anubis, and certain consecrated birds, informed Isis of this fact, who, in a slave's habit, went, goddess as she was, and sat down by the fountain before the walls of Byblos. The maidens of the queen found her here, and entering into conversation with them, she bound up their hair. When they went back to the palace, exquisite odours filled the atmosphere : then they told of the stranger who had bound up their tresses. The queen sent for the stranger, and invited her in ; and as she had a newly-born son, she laid him in the arms of Isis, and the goddess became his nurse. Isis gave him not the breast, but put her finger into the infant's mouth, and at night, when all slept, then she laid him on the fire, and purified him from earthly dross in the glowing flames. The boy grew wonderfully, but the queen watched one night, and saw the ordeal : — she shrieked aloud. — Isis appeared in her own celestial shape, amidst thunder and lightning, so terribly beautiful, that Maneros, the eldest son of the king, perished for fear. She gave to the queen the child, and laid her own hand on the pillar wherein was the chest of Osiris : the sides of the pillar fell asunder, and the chest appeared; the pillar remained to the king, but the goddess carried off the chest, on which she gave her tears full course.

The death of Osiris did not long remain unavenged, for though, during all this time, Typhon had been undisputed monarch in Egypt, he had not slain Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, who had been concealed

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

from his anger in the city of Butis. Horus became strong, and, leaving his concealment, proclaimed war upon his fathers murderer, and vanquished him in a series of battles. The result of that war was, that Typhon was delivered up, bound, to Isis by Horus. Isis, prevailed upon by his prayers and promises, set him at liberty; whereupon Horus indignantly tore from Isis the crown, and the head and horns of an ox immediately appeared on the once lovely goddess ; this was the work of Hermes, or Thoth, of whom we shall, before long, have occasion to speak. Horus had now a second war to wage, in which he was again successful ; he slew Typhon, and threw him into the lake Sirbon.

This will be easily perceived to be a fable of a mixed nature, partly astronomical, and partly historical ; it is, however, only with the astronomical part that we are at present concerned. Osiris is a type of the sun (and it may as well be noticed that he is represented as such with one eye and a sceptre), and this will sufficiently explain his diff using his favours all over the world, though his beneficence is more particularly experienced in Egypt. That the absence of the sun is compensated by the light of the moon, will explain the next fact, and the journeys of Osiris into other countries do but exhibit an allegorical picture of the change in the seasons. Ethiopia is to the south-west of Egypt, and his return from that country not unaptly represents the passage of the sun from the tropic of Capricorn towards the equator. At this period the south wind, here figured by Typhon, prevails, and it usually blows occasionally for about seventy- two days, which number is fixed on as that of the conspirators. This wind is called Typhon, or rather personified in him, on account of its noxious effects : were it to continue, it would drive back the clouds which cause the