the god of the lower or "infernal" regions, and hence also the god of
the dead. One of the most glorious and beautiful of the gods was
Apollo, god of the sun, of medicine, music, poetry, and all fine arts.

Bright-hair'd Apollo!--thou who ever art
A blessing to the world--whose mighty heart
Forever pours out love, and light, and life;
Thou, at whose glance, all things of earth are rife
With happiness.
PIKE.

[Illustration: A ROMAN AUGUR.]

Another of the famous divinities of the ancients was Venus, the
goddess of beauty and love. According to some of the myths she was the
daughter of Jupiter. Others say that she sprang from the foam of the
sea.

These and countless other imaginary beings were believed in as deities
under the religious system of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and every
unusual or striking event was thought to be caused by some god or
goddess.

The will of the gods, it was supposed, was made known to men in
different ways--by dreams, by the flight of birds, or by a direct
message from Olympus. Very often it was learned by consulting seers,
augurs or soothsayers. These were persons believed to have the power
of prophecy. There was a famous temple of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece,
where a priestess called Pyth'i-a gave answers, or oracles, to those
who came to consult her. The name oracle was also applied to the place