than when we merely attend to their literal meaning. Fabricius refers to Hyde *, as having been the possessor of a book which he had translated from the Persian, in which the History of Zoroaster was contained the subject of the book is said by him to have been, "De rebus iniquissimis temporibus mundi gestis." And from the 66 66 Ouphnekat," or most ancient wisdom of the Indians, literally translated into Latin by Anquetil du Perron, it appears that the words of the ancient Zoroaster were understood to relate to the day of judgment. What credit is to be given to these accounts I know not, but they may perhaps tend to incline us towards the supposition, that any references to things future contained in the few following fragments, ought rather to be understood literally than allegorically. We may not the less rightly thus interpret them, though the metaphysical subtilties of the Pythagorean school, or the later personification Hyde, p. 328. of the two antagonist principles, may appear to contradict such a supposition; because it is not improbable that these allegories were only a result of that obscurity which must have appeared to envelope any literal interpretation, when the reader was deprived of the knowledge of the events referred to. And thus the same description, which might present no difficulty to one instructed in the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures, may have appeared even to the wisest among the heathen, as beyond solution by any literal explanation. In the work of Plutarch (de Iside et Osiride) the following sentence occurs, at the conclusion of an account of the doctrines ascribed to Zoroaster. "A time predestined shall arrive, at “which Arimanius, the source of pestilence and 66 famine, shall, of necessity, be totally destroyed, "and disappear from among men, and the earth "becoming plain and equal, there shall be but "one life, one polity, and one language among mankind, blessed and liberated." “ Επεισι δε χρονος ειμαρμενος, εν ψ τον Αριμανιον λοιμον επαγοντα και λιμον, απο τουτων αναγκη φθαρηναι πανταπασι και αφανισθηναι της δε γης “ επιπεδου και ομαλης γενομενης, ενα βιον και μιαν Η πολιτείαν ανθρωπων και μακαριων και ομογλωσσων Η απολυτων γενεσθαι.” The few fragments under the name of "ora"cular magica," as edited by Opsopæus*, do not amount in all to more than eighty lines: there is, however, some evidence of that knowledge of a future judgment, and destruction by fire, the source of which, if it be not attributed to the Scriptures, must be traced to some extraneous prophecy, elsewhere preserved. In the fragments ascribed to Zoroaster by Patricius, the following line occurs: "The spirit of the spirit is the maker of the "world (reserved for fire)." σε Νου γαρ Νους εστιν ο κοσμου τεχνιτης πυριου.” As it seems probable that the sense of πυριού is to be understood without metaphor; so also, I imagine, must the word Tupivov, in the following sentence, be equally literal in sense : "Give up the soul (reserved for fire) to works of righteousness, "For you shall save the mortal body." « Εκτεινας πυρινον νουν, 66 Εργον επ ευσεβίης ρευστον γαρ σωμα σαώσεις.” *Parisiis, MDCVII. That the future judgment is alluded to in these instances, will appear the more probable from comparing them with a subsequent passage : "The heavenly arch appears no longer firm, "Nor shine the stars; the moon has hid her light, “ Ουτε γαρ ουράνιος κυπρος τοτε φαίνεται ογχος, It is evident that these lines can only have alluded to the destruction of the material earth; and those which follow appear to have the same reference: "When without form thou seest the sacred fire 66 Resplendent, crossing eagerly the depths "Of all the world, attend thou to the sound, “ Ηνίκα μεν βλεψης μορφής ανευ ιερον πυρ From the evidently literal acceptation of fire, or of lightning, in these passages, it is the less likely that a metaphorical sense ought to be affixed to the word where it again occurs; and in the literal acceptation, the following line also is equally significant, although, metaphorically, it hardly appears to have any meaning: “On all sides, for the disembodied soul, “ Παντοθεν απλαστῳ ψυχῃ πυρος ηνία τείνον.” The annexed fragment, preserved by Sinesius in which is evidently implied a knowledge of future retribution, may tend to strengthen our supposition, that a literal sense may be assumed for those which have preceded it. "Descend not to that world, intensely dark, 66 Where, ever faithless, the abyss is spread; "Where Hades dwells with darkness all around, 66 Μηδε κατω νευσης εις τον μελαναυγέα κόσμον, “ Ω βυθος αιεν απιστος υπεστρωται τε και Αιδης, In these last verses there is sufficient similarity to a passage of the book of Enoch, to show that one may have been the prototype of the other. At p. 68 of the translation, these words occur: "Then shall the Lord of spirits hasten to expel them from his presence. Their faces "shall be full of confusion, and their faces shall 66 Notæ in Orac. Magic. Opsopæi, p. 136. |