rosus,
Abydenus, and Polyhistor, there is an account of one _Oannes_, a
fish-god, who rendered great service to mankind.[82:5] This being is
said to have _come out of_ the Erythraean Sea.[82:6] This is evidently
_the Sun rising out of the sea_, as it apparently does, in the
East.[82:7]

Prof. Goldzhier, speaking of Oannes, says:

"That this founder of civilization has a _Solar character_,
like similar heroes in all other nations, is shown . . . in
the words of Berosus, who says: '_During the day-time_ Oannes
held intercourse with man, _but when the Sun set_, Oannes
fell into the sea, where he used to pass the night.' Here,
evidently, only the _Sun_ can be meant, who, in the evening,
dips into the sea, and comes forth again in the morning, and
passes the day on the dry land in the company of men."[82:8]

_Dagon_ was sometimes represented as _a man emerging from a fish's
mouth_, and sometimes as half-man and half-fish.[82:9] It was believed
that he came _in a ship_, and taught the people. Ancient history abounds
with such mythological personages.[82:10] There was also a _Durga_, a
fish deity, among the _Hindoos_, represented as _a full grown man
emerging from a fish's mouth_[82:9] The Philistines worshiped Dagon,
and in Babylonian Mythology _Odakon_ is applied to a fish-like being,
who _rose from the waters of the Red Sea_ as one of the benefactors of
men.[83:1]

On the coins of Ascalon, where she was held in great honor, the goddess
Derceto or Atergatis is represented as a woman with her lower
extremities like a fish. This is Semiramis, who appeared at _Joppa_ as a
mermaid. She is simply a personification of the _Moon_, who follows the
course of the _Sun_. At times she manifests herself to the eyes of men,
at others she seeks concealment in the Western flood.[83:2]

The Sun-god Phoibos traverses the sea in the form of a fish, and imparts
lessons of wisdom and goodness when he has come forth from the green
depths. All these powers or qualities are shared by Proteus in Hellenic
story, as well as by the fish-god, Dagon or Oannes.[83:3]

In the Iliad and Odyssey, Atlas is brought into close connection with
Helios, the bright god, the Latin Sol, and our Sun. In these poems he
rises every morning from a beautiful lake by the deep-flowing stream of
Ocean, and having accomplished his journey across the heavens, plunges
again into the Western waters.[83:4]

The ancient Mexicans and