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Myths about the Roman God Silenus
But whatever be the fate of
these different accounts, Silenus is said to have been
preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one
for such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to
wine. He however distinguished himself greatly in the war
with the giants, by appearing in the conflict on an ass,
whose braying threw them into confusion; for which reason,
or because, when Bacchus engaged the Indians, their
elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass, it
was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation.
The historian tells us that Silenus was the first of all
the kings that reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not
known, it being beyond the memory of mortals: it is likewise
said that he was a Phrygian, who lived in the reign of
Midas, and that the shepherds having caught him, by putting
wine into the fountain he used to drink of, brought him to
Midas, who gave him his long ears; a fable intended to
intimate that this extraordinary loan signified the faculty
of receiving universal intelligence. Virgil makes Silenus
deliver a very serious and excellent discourse concerning
the creation of the world, when he was scarcely recovered
from a fit of drunkenness, which renders it probable that
the sort of drunkenness with which Silenus is charged, had
something in it mysterious, and approaching to inspiration.
He is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed,
with a flat nose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is
usually exhibited as over-laden with wine, and seated on a
saddled ass, upon which he supports himself with a long
staff in the one hand, and in the other carries a cantharus
or jug, with the handle almost worn out with frequent use.
Myths about the Roman God Silenus
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