er the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pom{=o}na makes
one of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans
esteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which
traffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of
representations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers
on his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other.
Pom{=o}na has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her
left. Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to
make her speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn
from Ovid that this goddess was of that class which they anciently
called Hamadryads.

Both these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by the
Romans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though it
assume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no
time so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the
fruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say
that Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his
people the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the
manner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is
reported to have married Pom{=o}na. Some think he was called Vertumnus,
from turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber.

CHAPTER VI.

_Goddesses of the Woods._

DIANA, daughter of Jupiter and Lat{=o}na, and sister of Apollo, was born
in the island of Delos. She had a threefold divinity, being styled
Di{=a}na on earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hec{)a}te, or
Proserpine, in hell. The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse,
another of a woman, and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Di{=a}na, Luna,
and Hec{)a}te, three distinguished goddesses.

Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more
known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting.
The Di{=a}na Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently
represented as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind,
notwithstanding its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition.
She is tall of stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is
something manly. Her feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with
a sort of buskin, which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has
a quiver on her shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more
usually he