Ne forte ex homine et veterino semine equorum
Confieri credas Centauros posse, nec esse.
(Never suppose that the Centaurs could be framed from man and the bestial seed of horses, and were not so framed). Clement of Alexandria, Coh. p. 51. Aristonymus the Ephesian begat with a she-ass, Fulvius Stella with a mare, the former a girl, the latter a boy. Plutarch, Parall. ch. 26.
[137] Leviticus, Ch. XX, 15-19., “And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death.” Comp. Philo, De specialibus legibus,—Works, edit. Mangey, Vol. II. p. 307.
[138] Plutarch, Bruta animalia ratione uti, (That brutes employ Reason), ch. X., ὁ Μενδήσιος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τράγος λέγεται πολλαῖς καὶ καλαῖς συνειργνυμένος γυναιξὶν οὐκ εἶναι μίγνυσθαι πρόθυμος· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς αἰγας ἐπτόηται μᾶλλον. (The Mendesian Goat in Egypt is said, though shut up with many beautiful women, not to be eager to have intercourse with them; but rather is he inflamed towards the she-goats). Yet this did sometimes happen; Herodotus, Hist. bk. II. ch. 46., Καλεῖται δὲ ὅ τε τράγος καὶ ὁ Πὰν Αἰγυπτιστὶ Μένδης· ἐγένετο δ’ἐν τῷ νομῷ τούτῳ ἐπ’ ἐμεῦ τοῦτο τὸ τέρας. γυναικὶ τράγος ἐμίσγετο ἀναφανδόν· τοῦτο ἐς ἐπίδεξιν ἀνθρώπων ἀπίκετο. (Now the goat and Pan are called in Egyptian Mendes; and there occurred in this district in my time the following marvel,—a he-goat had intercourse with a woman openly; and this came to be an example among men). Strabo. XVII. p. 802., Μένδης, ὅπου τὸν Πᾶνα τιμῶσι, καὶ ζωὸν τράγον· οἱ τράγοι ἐνταῦθα γυναιξὶ μίγνυνται. (Mendes, where they honour Pan, and a live goat; the he-goats there have intercourse with women). In a fragment (from Pindar) there given, we read:
ἔσχατον Νείλου κέρας αἰγιβάται
ὅθι τράγοι γυναιξὶ μίγνυνται.
(The furthest mouth of the Nile, where bucking he-goats conjoin with women). The Museum Herculanense actually preserves representations of the thing on Monuments. Plutarch, De solertia animalium (Of the Intelligence of Animals), ch. 49., relates a similar case even with crocodiles, which was said to have happened at Antaeopolis.
[139] Boettiger, “Sabina oder Morgenscenen in Putzzimmer einer Römerin,” (Sabina, or Morning Scenes at the Toilette of a Roman Lady), Bk. II. p. 454.
[140] Pliny, Hist. Nat. Bk. XXXIX. ch. 4., Anguis Aesculapius Epidauro Romam advectus est, vulgoque pascitur et in domibus. (The snake of Aesculapius was introduced from Epidaurus to Rome, and is very commonly kept there, even in houses). Martial, bk. VII. Epigr. 86., Si gelidum collo nectit Gracilla draconem. (If Gracilla twines a clammy snake round her neck). Comp. Lucian, Alexander, Works, Vol. IV. p. 259. Philostratus, Heroic. Bk. VIII. ch. 1.