THE ARGUMENT. Cymodocea declares to her father her desire of embracing the Christian religion that she may become the wife of Eudorus. Irresolution of Demodocus. They hear of the arrival of Hierocles in Achaia. Astarte attacks Eudorus and is vanquished by the Angel of holy love. Demodocus consents to give his daughter to Eudorus that she may avoid the persecutions of Hierocles. Jealousy of Hierocles. Enumeration of the Christians. Hierocles accuses Eudorus before Dioclesian. Cymodocea and Demodocus depart for Lacedæmonia. BOOK XIII. ALREADY was the priest of Homer about to offer a libation to the sun as he rose from the bosom of the waters. He saluted that star which enlightens the traveller's path, and touching with one hand the earth, yet wet with dew, he prepared to quit the mansion of Lasthenes. Suddenly Cymodocea, trembling with fear and love, presents herself before her father. She throws herself into the arms of the venerable old man. Demodocus had observed the frequent agitation of his daughter, and more than suspected its cause. But as he knew not that the son of Lasthenes experienced the same affection for his daughter he endeavoured to console Cymodocea. "My daughter," he says, "what divinity affects thee? Thou weepest, thou whose age ought to exhibit only the smiles of innocence! What secret pain has insinuated itself into thy bosom? O my child, have recourse to the altars of the protecting gods, to the company of sages, who will communicate to thy soul its original tranquillity. The temple of the Lacinian Juno is open on every side, and yet the winds disturb not the ashes upon its altar: so ought thy heart to be: though the breathings of passion may penetrate into thy bosom, yet ought they never to ruffle the peace of so sacred a sanctuary." "Father of Cymodocea," answers the young Messenian," thou knowest not our happiness! Eudorus loves thy daughter; he wishes, he says, to suspend at my door the crowns and the torch of Hymen."* "God of delightful fictions," exclaimed Demodocus, "dost thou not abuse me? May I believe thee, my daughter? Or has truth ceased to guard thy lips? But why am I surprized to find thee beloved by a hero? Thou mightest dispute the prize of beauty with the nymphs of Menalus; and Mercury would have chosen thee upon mount Chelydora. Tell me then, in what manner the Arcadian hunter made thee acquainted with his love?" "Last night,” replied Cymodocea, " I felt desirous to sing to the Muses, to dispel a restlessness that preyed upon my heart. Eudorus, like one of those splendid dreams that issue from the ivory gate of Elysium,t encountered me in the * See a description of the ceremonies of a Grecian marriage in Travels of Anach. vol. iv, p. 252 et seq. "Sunt geminæ Somni portæ ; quarum altera fertur Cornea; quâ veris facilis datur exitus umbris: shade. He took my hand, and said: "Virgin, I would that the children of thy children should sit for seven generations upon the knees of Demodocus." But all this he said to me in his Christian language, far better than I can relate it to you. He shewed me an image, the emblem of his God: a God who loves those that weep, and who comforts those that are unhappy. My father, this God has charmed me; we have no divinity among us so kind and so beneficent. I must begin to learn and to practice the religion of the Christians; for the son of Lasthenes will receive me upon no other terms.' As when the cloudless Boreas, and the misty wind of the south dispute the empire of the seas, the sailors exhaust their strength in endeavouring to present the sails obliquely to the tempest: so Demodocus yields to, and resists the conflicting sentiments which agitate his bosom. He reflects with joy, that Cymodocea will now deposit upon the altar of Hymen, the fillet of the vestal;* that Altera condenti perfecta nitens elephanto; Eneid, lib. vi, 893. "Two gates the silent courts of sleep adorn, That of pale ivory, this of lucid horn. * The vestals were virgins consecrated to the goddess Ves |