y the story of the apple adjudged by Paris to
Venus, it is necessary to notice what happened at the marriage of
Peleus and Thetis. At the celebration of the nuptials, all the gods
and goddesses were present except the goddess of discord, who,
exasperated at not being invited, threw into the assembly a golden
apple with the inscription, "Detur Pulchriori." At first all the
female deities asserted their right to the apple; but subsequently it
was claimed by Juno, Minerva, and Venus only. These three agreed to
refer the matter to Jupiter. But the sovereign of Olympus, knowing
that it could not justly be given to Juno, and dreading the effects of
her anger were it awarded to either of the other goddesses, advised
them to plead their cause before Paris. The decision of Paris, and the
serious results thereof; are already known.

Pentheus foolishly refused to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus. To
complete his impiety, the Theban king sent his servants to bring the
god in chains before him. Assuming the appearance of one of his
attendants, Bacchus allowed himself to be taken prisoner, and to be
carried into the presence of the king, to whom, under the character of
Ac[oe]tes, he related the transformation of the Tuscan sailors.
Despising the narrative, Pentheus ordered him to be put to death.
Loaded with fetters, the attendants of that prince shut him up in
prison, from which he miraculously escaped. Pentheus then went out to
see the Bacchanals, and to learn their mysteries; but, approaching too
near, he was torn in pieces.

Quirinus, son of Rhea Sylvia, sometimes called Ilia, a vestal virgin,
the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa, was the twin brother of
Remus. This princess, to extenuate her guilt, and to give divinity to
her sons, declared that Mars, the god of war, was their father.
Amulius, who had dispossessed his brother Numitor, killed the sons of
the latter, and made Rhea a vestal, and, to secure the crown to
himself and his descendants, ordered his niece to be burnt alive, and
her infants thrown into the Tiber. The river at that time being
swollen above its banks, the persons appointed to dispose of the
children could not reach the main current. The cradle in which the
twins were exposed floated to a place of safety on dry ground; and the
infants were suckled by a wolf until found by Faustulus, the king's
shepherd, who carried them to his house, where they were brought up as
his own children. Their youthful y