Adventure and adventurers > New Cyropaedia, or The travels of Cyrus

THE TRAVELS OF CYRUS. 281
Ofiris. ’Tis a pleafureto fee the traces of thofe great
I truths in all nations: Voachfafe to unfold to me
your antient traditions.
I Solon, reply'd Pythagoras, acquainted me with your
I departure for this Ifland. I was going to Croton,
j, but I have put off my voyage, to have the pleafure
of feeing a Hero, whofe birth and conquefts have
been foretold by the Oracles of almoft all nations.
I will conceal nothing from you of the myfteries gf
wifdom, becaufe I know that you will one day be
i' the Lawgiver of Jjia, as well as its Conqueror.
After this they fat down near a flatiie of Minos,
\ in the midft of the facredwood, & the Philofopher
rehears'd to them all the mythology of the firft Greeks,
( making ufe of the poetick ftyle of Orpheus, which
by its paintings and images render’d fenfible the
if fublimeft truths.
(h) In the Golden age, the inhabitants of the earth
i liv’d in a perfeft innocence. Such as are the£7y/*»»
Fields for Heroes, fuch was then the happy abode
, of men. The intemperances of the air, & the war
| of the elements, were unknown. The north winds
were not yet come forth from their deep grotto’s:
. The Zephyrs only enliven’d all things with their
■ foft & gentle breezes. Neither the fcorching heats
of fummer, nor the feverities of winter, were ever
felt. The fpring,crown’d with flowers, & the autumn,
loaded with fruits,reigned together. Death, difeafes
& crimes durft not approach thofe happy *places.
Sometimes thefe firft men, repofing themfelves
in odoriferous groves, upon the ever-verdant turf,
tafted all the pureft pleafu,res of friendihip. Some¬
times they fat at the table of the Gods, and were
feafted with Netftar atyi Ambrofia; at other times
Jupiter, attended by all the Divinities, rideing on his
S s winged
(b) See the pifc, pag. ij, 8*c.