Hercules was a famous hero, who performed wonderful exploits, by his bodily strength alone.
Neptune was the god of the sea. His father, Saturn, ate him up, when a baby—but he was afterwards brought to life, and received his empire from his brother Jupiter.
Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. She was said to be born of Jupiter’s brain. A famous temple was erected to this goddess at Athens, by Pericles, about four hundred and fifty years before Christ. The chief circumstances of her history were beautifully represented in sculpture around this temple. The edifice still remains, though in ruins, a splendid monument of the genius of the ancient Greeks.
RUINS OF THE PARTHENON AT ATHENS.
This is a very brief sketch of some of the deities belonging to the ancient Grecian mythology. For nearly two thousand years this prevailed in Greece, and it was afterwards adopted by the Romans, who added many gods to suit themselves. It became the Roman religion, and was inculcated through that vast empire. It was not till about three hundred and twenty years after Christ, that the Christian religion was adopted, as the religion of the Roman government.
