< Page:Essays of Francis Bacon 1908 Scott.djvu
This page has been validated.

OF PROPHECIES

165

XXXV. Of Prophecies.[1]

I mean not to speak of divine prophecies; nor of heathen oracles; nor of natural predictions; but only of prophecies that have been of certain memory, and from hidden causes. Saith the Pythonissa[2] to Saul, To-morrow thou and thy son shall be with me. Homer hath these verses:

At domus Æneæ cunctis dominabitur oris,
Et nati natorum, et qui naseentur ab illis.[3]

A prophecy, as it seems, of the Roman empire. Seneca the tragedian hath these verses:

———Venient annis
Sæcula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vineula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat Tellus, Tiphysque[4] novos
Detegat orbes; nec sit terris
Ultima Thule.[5]

  1. ↑ There is no Latin translation of this Essay. S.
  2. ↑ Pythonissa. Pythoness. Apollo slew the python, the serpent or dragon, whence he was called Pythia. A pythoness was the priestess of Apollo at his temple at Delphi, who gave oracular answers; hence, any woman supposed to have the gift of divination. Saul consulted the witch of En-dor, who said to him: "Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." I. Samuel xxviii. 19.
  3. ↑ The house of Aeneas shall rule over all shores, and his children's children, and those who shall be born of them. Not Homer, but Vergil. Aeneidos Liber III. 97–98.
  4. ↑ Tiphys was the pilot of the Argo. Thule was an island in the extreme north of Europe, according to some authorities, Iceland, according to others, Mainland, the largest of the Shetland Islands.
  5. ↑ There shall come an age in ripe years when Ocean shall loose his chains, and a vast continent shall be laid open, and Tiphys shall discover new worlds, and Thule shall not be earth's bound. Seneca. Medea, last words of the Chorus at end of Act ii.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.