GRICE E CABEO: SPIRITO SULFUREO

 The Eoman Neptunus, then, and the Greek  Poseidon, are two distinct deities ; and the first  remarkable point of difference between them,  with the exception of their names, is, that while  the former is a true sea-god, the latter, as Mi .  Gladstone well observes, ^ has in him nothing of  an elemental deity.’ The name Neptune is  ‘ connected with many words that mean to bathe  or swim ’ ; ^ and so Col. Kobertson says of the  Nith, a Gaelic river name in Ayr and Dumfries :  ^ This river name comes from the designation of  the god of the waters called Neithe^ of which this  one is a slight contraction. It is most probable  the Cimbri, as well as the Gael, knew of the   ^ Cox, Manual of Mythology, 195. .   C     18    poseidOjst.    water-god “ Neitlie,” and also named a river after  him ; and Mr. Fergusson, in his work on Eiver  Names?” refers to a representation found in  Tuscany of Neptune? and that the name written  over the figure was Nethun?” and gives as to  this name the following extract : “ There can he  little doubt that ndhw means water? in the  Tuscan language.” The river Nethan^ in Strath-  clyde, Lanark, is undoubtedly from the same  source, namely, from Neith-an, meaning Neithe’s  river.’ ^ So, again, in the Hellenic mythology,  Nereus, eldest son of Pontos, the Deep, is the true  sea-god of Homer, who gave to the element of  water that name of nero, in the popular speech  of the Greeks, which it still retains.’ ^ Thus  their names are illustrative of the characters of  Neptune and Nereus, as the true Latin and Greek  sea-gods. And in the Hellenic mythology, be-  sides Pontos and N&eus, there is also the deep-  flowing' 6keanos, sire of rivers, inland seas, and  fountains.® There was, therefore, no gap in the  Greek Pantheon which required to he filled by  another sea-god, and on all these veritable  marine deities Poseidon violently obtruded bim-   ' GratJic Topography of Scotland, 144.   ® Gladstone, Juv. Mun. 243. ® II. xxi. 195.     poseidCj^ the builder.    19    self, a circumstance which makes his position  with respect to them somewhat anomalous.  PoseidOn, lord of the horse, seems also to be  connected, if not identical, with the Latin deity  Consus, who, by the later Eomans, was identified  with Neptiinus, although originally quite distinct  from the sea-god. Consus, an obscure divinity,  was regarded as the god of council^ secret  deliberations, and mysteries; and also as the  patron of horsemanship. In his festival the  Consualia, horses and mules were freed from  labour and crowned with flowers. Mr. Cox is  inclined to connect the name with the Hindu  Granesa, ^ the lord of life and of the reproductive  powers of nature;’ ^ but this is purely conjectural.  Consus also curiously corresponds with Khons or  Chons, who, in the Egyptian Pantlieon, appears  as the son of Amen-Ea, and the third person in  the triad of Thebes, and whose name signifies  Huntsman. Thus Khons, Consus, and Poseidon  are alike associated with the horse ; whilst the  attribute of mysterious wisdom which clmrac-  terizes Consus, distinguishes Poseidon in a similar   ^ Mythology of the Aryan Nations, i. 347, note.    THE LATm GOD CONSUS.    69    manner ; a fact not at once apparent in the  Hellenic Mythology, because this phase of  Poseidon’s character is much overshadowed by  the attributes of several of the Aryan divinities.  Thus wisdom generally is a special characteristic  of Zeus,^ of Apollon,^ or of Helios the Sun,^ who  sees and knows all things. But the wisdom of  these beings only represents the knowledge  derived from ocular observation, which is  perfectly distinct from the knowledge of mys-  terious religious secrets or other occult matters,  and therefore they do not, in reality, trench on  the character of Poseidon in this particular, but  only appear to do so. In a remarkable passage  in the Iliad, Poseidon claims to be wiser than  Apollon, who does not deny the assertion, and in  every way confesses his inferiority; while the  Subordinate (Hypodmos) of Poseidon, Proteus  the Aigyptian,^ is possessed of unerring know-  ledge and prophetic powers. We may fairly  assume that the master was as wise as the  servant ; indeed he is expressly represented as  gifted with prophetic powers,® and it would seem   ' II. xiii. 355. “ Horn. Hymn to Hermfis, 635.   » II. iii. 277; Od, viii. 302.   < XXL 440. * Od. iv. 386. * II. xx. 293.     70    poseibOi^.    not improbable tbat, although the Egyptians did  not admit Poseidon eo nomine among the number  of their divinitiesj* yet that, under the name of  Khons, he obtained a place in their Pantheon ;  as we shall find reason to believe that his worship  prevailed amongst all the branches of the Hamitic  Family, although he was known amongst them  by different names. Census, moreover, is re-  garded as a god of the lower world, or Chthonian  divinity — another circumstance which connects  him with Poseidon, whose character becomes  more and more Chthonian the farther his cultus  is traced into the East, where also his phase as  lord of knowledge and wisdom appears more  manifestly. The name Census well preserves  both this idea and his connection with the horse ;  and it may be remarked, that the titles of the  more mysterious divinities are generally found  to he manifold in meaning. Census in Italy,  like Poseidon in Grreece, is finally regarded as a  marine deity, because his worship has been brought  into the country from beyond the sea.    ^ Herod, ii, 43.