The Court of the Gentiles, Discourse · Part 1 · Book 2 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V. The Theogonie of Hercules and Mars of Hebraick Derivation.
Hercules's origination Phenician or Hebraick. foreign from the Chaldee foreign Hera, a Princeſſe. foreign, q. foreign the glorie of Juno, or the great Hero: whence he was called alſo by the Phenicians Melcarthus, the King of the Citie. Hercules's Temple in the ſtraits, of Phenician origine; as it appears by the Rarities therein: Hercules called Ogmius, either from Og King of Baſan, or from foreign Agemi, ſtrangers. Hercules's character by Lucian: his expedition into Spain, and Gallia. The Phenician Hercules the ſame with Joſhua: which is proved 1. from the place of their Expedition; which was Arabia, called by the Grecians, India. 2. From the Identitie of the perſons they fought againſt. The Giants were the Cananites, and Typhō was Og of Baſan. 3. From their mode of fighting. 4. From the place where the battel was fought. Nyſſa the ſame with Syna, or Niſſi, Exod. 17.15. 5. From Typhon's Bed; which is the ſame with that of Og, Deut. 3.11. 6. From Hercules's name Melicarthus; which is proper to Joſhua, as alſo to Mars. foreign the ſame with Mars and Joſhua. The Phenician Hercules contemporary with Joſhua. The Theogonie of Mars, and his parallel with Joſhua, as alſo with Nimrod.
§ 1. Hercules origination Hebraick.HAving gone through the Genealogie of Saturne, Jupiter, Juno, Bacchus, &c. Apollo, with the ſeveral Attributes given to them, we now proceed to Hercules; whoſe name is by Fuller lib. 2. miſcel. S. cap. 7. derived from the Phenician or Hebrew foreign beholding all things: whence he makes Hercules to be the Sun, and ſo the ſame with Baal. Others, ſuppoſing Hercules to be the ſon of Juno, draw the origination of his name alſo from her; according to that of the Etymologist, foreign, Hercules, is ſo called, becauſe he was the glorie of Juno. Though I cannot miſlike this Etymon, yet I ſhall reduce it originally to a Phenician or Hebrew extract; making the Greek foreign the ſame with the Chaldee foreign Hera, or foreign Herin, as Eſa. 34.12. whence the Greek foreign, and the Latin Heroes received their derivation. The Hebrew foreign, which the Chaldees read foreign and foreign, and the Syrians foreign, coming from foreign albuit, ſignifies albatos; thence principes, primates, and Heroes, becauſe ſuch uſually wore white garments. So Eccleſ. 10.17. foreign, alſo Jer. 27.19. foreign Princes: and Jer. 39.6. foreign from foreign, the faem. foreign white: ſo Schindler. So that according to this Phenicîan or Chaldee origination, Hercules ſignifies the great Hero, or Prince. This alſo ſuits with Hercules's Phenician name Melicarthus, mentioned by Phylo Byblius out of Sanchoniathon, Euſeb. praepar. lib. 1. foreign, Of Demaruntes is begotten Melcarthus; who alſo is Hercules. Melcarthus, in the Phenician tongue, is Melec Kartha foreign the King of the Citie, i.e. (ſaies Bochart) of Tyre. Thence alſo the Amathuſians called Hercules foreign, i.e. King; as Heſychius: and others foreign, which anſwers to foreign, i.e Hero, or Prince, &c. Hercules's Temple at his pillars, of Phenician origine.Farther, that Hercules, both name and perſon, was originally, not of Greek, but of Phenician extract, is evident by the Places, Temples, Worſhip, and Rites conſecrated unto him. To begin with that ancient Temple dedicated to Hercules, in the place called Hercules's pillars, at the mouth of the Straits. It is evident, that Hercules was worſhipped here after Phenician Rites, as Appianus in Ibericis: Hercules's Temple, (ſaies he) which is at the Pillars, ſeems to me to have been built by the Phenicians; for he is worſhipped to this very day after a Phenician rite: neither is their God Theban, but Tyrian. Mela would have this Temple to belong to the Egyptian Hercules, but to be built by the Tyrians. But Bochart proves, that the Egyptian Hercules was the ſame with the Phenician. The Rarities in Hercules Temple.This Temple, dedicated to Hercules, was very famous for many Rarities, (which were moſtly fabulous) appendent and belonging thereto: as 1. that it was placed, as they anciently conceited, at the moſt extreme part of the world; whence Hercules's pillars had a ne plus ultra attributed to them. 2. This Temple is conceived to have been moſt ancient, and to have had its original ſtructure from the Phenicians, in their firſt navigations into thoſe parts, about Moſes and Joſhuah's time. 3. They ſay alſo, that the matter of the Wood continued after many ages incorrupt. 4. There were various Sculptures, which added value to that Temple, with many donaries, as the Hydras, Diomedes's horſes, Hercules's 12 labours cut in ſtone, Pygmalion's golden Olive. 5. They imagined alſo, that Hercules himſelf was hid in that Temple; and that by the preſence of that Deitie they were ſecured from all danger, as Bochart Can. lib. 1. cap. 34 fol. 676.
§. 2. Moreover, that Hercules was of Phenician or Hebrew original, will farther appear by what footſteps we find of him amongſt the old Gauls and Britains. Hercules called amongſt the Gauls, Ogmius.The Gauls termed Hercules, Ogmius: ſo Lucian in Hercul: foreign: the Celti (a Tribe of the Gauls) call Hercules in their mother-tongue, Ogmius. Some deduce this name Ogmius from Og King of Baſan, who was ſlain by Joſhua, the Phenician Hercules. See more of this §. 3.Thus Dickinſon Delphi Phoeniciz: cap. 4. But whence foreign? was it not from Og, the ſlain Giant? For as the Grecians called Apollo, from the ſlain Dolphin, foreign; ſo, peradventure, Hercules, or Joſhua, from ſlain Og, was called foreign Ogius: for I ſuſpect that foreign (either from a Celtick or Greek Epentheſis) was more lately foiſted in. For the Grecians oft inſert foreign in the middle of words, as Euſtathius in Il. 2. But Bochart (Can. lib. 1. cap. 42. fol. 737.) makes Ogmius to be a Phenician, or Hebrew appellation, the ſame with foreign agemi, i.e. in the Arabick, Barbarians, or ſtrangers; becauſe Hercules coming from Africa, or the Gades, after many unwearied labors and travels both by Sea and Land, at laſt arrived amongſt the Gauls. Hercules's character by Lucian.So much the picture of Hercules, related by Lucian in Hercul. gives us to underſtand; where he is deſcribed foreign &c. A decrepit old man, bald behind, with the remainder of his hair white; of a wrinkled skin, and ſwarthie, juſt like old Mariners. More touching this deſcription of Hercules, ſee in Bochart Can. lib. 1. cap. 42. fol. 737. and Dickinſ. Delph. Phoen. c. 4. As for the way, by which Hercules paſſed into Gallia, we find good conjectures thereof in Bochart, Can. lib. 1. cap. 41. Hercules his expedition into Gallia.The ſame Hercules (ſaies he) who fixed his foot in Spain, ſeems alſo to have invaded Gallia, not by the Pyrenaean mountains, which was too difficult a task, but by the Liguſtick Sea; by which the Rhodanians firſt, and after the Phocaeans, found paſſage into Gallia. As an inſtance hereof, take the ſharp battel fought betwixt Hercules and the Ligures, near the mouth of Rhodan; whereof not onelyonly the Poets, but alſo Hiſtorians and Aſtronomers make mention. Hercules might alſo paſſe from the Gades, through the Ocean, into Gallia. Yea the ſame Bochart proves alſo, that Hercules was in Britannie. So Can. lib. 1. cap. 39. Plinie lib. 7. c. 56. ſaies, that Midacritus was the firſt that brought Led from the Ilands Caſsiterides. For Midacritus we muſt read Melicartus, or Melcarthus, the Phenician Hercules in Sanchoniathon; to whom the Phenicians referred their Weſterne navigations. For Midacritus is a Greek name: now the Grecians knew nothing of the Ilands Caſſiterides, as Herodotus acknowledgeth. Who this Phenician Hercules, who viſited theſe Weſterne parts, was, and in what Age he lived, is diſputed by the Learned. Bochart in Phaleg lib. 3. cap. 7. tels us, that the Phenicians are thought to have ſailed into Spain, and even unto Gades, under Hercules the Tyrian commander; whom ſome make ſynchronous to Moſes: but I am deceived, if this expedition were not in that Age, wherein the Jews, being maſters of Canaan, forced the ancient inhabitants to wander elſewhere: ſo that as one part of them paſſed into Boeotia under Cadmus, ſo another into Africa and Spain, under Hercules. This is manifeſt by the two Tingitane (called Hercules's) pillars, which were to be ſeen with a Phenician inſcription; which taught, that thoſe pillars were erected, by thoſe who fled from the face of Joſhua, the ſon of Nave, the Robber, &c. Euſebius, in his Chronicon ad numerum 498. tels us, that foreign. Hercules, ſirnamed Diodas, was ſaid to be in Phenicia about this time. If ſo, he muſt then be contemporarie with Moſes: for the year 498. fals in with the 73 year of Moſes, as Bochart Can. praef. fol. 3.
§. 3. Hercules his parallel with Ioſhua.As for the many Fables touching Hercules his unwearied labors, and warlick atchievements, ſome conceive them to be traduced from Eſau; but others, on more probable conjectures, from Ioſhua his victorious exploits, &c. Thus Sandford de deſcenſu Chriſti l. 1. §. 20. Some one perhaps will wonder, ſeeing things are thus, how it comes to paſſe, that Joſhua found no favor among the Poets, who ſeem to be ſilent concerning him. But truly it proves quite otherwiſe: for they mention more of him than of any other, except Moſes: ſo that who their true Hercules was, who alſo their true Apollo was, will eaſily appear, when the true account of all thoſe things, which they ſo much ſing of the Giants wars, is brought to light. For its manifeſt, that the Poets drunk in almoſt all this whole Hiſtorie from the Hebrew monuments; and that the war undertaken (by Joſhua) againſt the Cananites, was the fountain, whence Greece ſucked in the moſt of thoſe things they fable of their Giants, overcome by the Gods. The Fables agree, that the Gods, which engaged againſt the Giants, i.e. Cananites, came up out of Egypt, and that they were twelve Tribes; alſo that they conſtituted Bacchus, i.e. Moſes, commander in chief of the whole Armie: but becauſe the main conduct and ſtreſſe of the war (after Moſes's death) was incumbent on Joſhua, therefore they attribute the chief management of the war unto him, under the diſguiſe of Hercules, &c. Hercules the ſame with Joſhua, as tis proved by many particulars.So Voſsius de Idololat. lib. 1. cap. 26. where he gives us a lively parallel betwixt Hercules and Joſhua, in theſe particulars. 1. The place of their expedition the ſame, viz. Arabia.1. Whereas tis ſaid that Hercules, as well as Bacchus, made an Expedition into India, hereby he proves muſt be meant Arabia: for the Greeks eſteemed all countreys beyond the mid-land Sea, as parts of India. His own words are theſe. For the expedition both of Liber and Hercules was undertaken in Arabia; which cannot be denied, when we have proved, that Liber was Moſes, and Hercules Ioſhuah &c. Thus alſo Sandford de deſcenſu Chriſti l. 1. §. 20. That under Hercules muſt be underſtood Joſhua, firſtly appears, by commemoraring that (which is the head of this affair) the Egyptian Hercules and Dionyſus, by common counſel and conſent, engaged againſt the Indians. That theſe Indians were the Cananites, we have already ſhewn. That this Dionyſus was Moſes, I hope none can further doubt. Muſt not this Hercules then be Ioſhua? truely the time exactly accordeth, according to Auſtin, who aſſignes to Hercules and Bacchus, their times betwixt the departure of the Iſraelites out of Egypt, and the death of Ioſhua, &c. 2. The perſons the ſame, namely Hercules was Joſhua, and Typhon Og.2. As for the perſons which engaged in this Expedition, Apollodorus biblioth. 1o. relates, that on the one ſide there were engaged Typhaeus, with the reſt of the Giants; and on the other part, Jupiter, with Hercules, and the reſt of the Gods. This oriental Hercules (ſaies Voſſius) for ſome Ages, more ancient than the Theban, was by his true name called Joſhua, who made war with the Cananites; amongſt whom were the ſons of Anak, and other Giants, as Numb. 13.29,34. But more particularly, the land of Baſan was called the land of the Giants, Deut. 3.13.as Deut. 3.13. amongſt whom Og was King, as v. 11. Now this Og is called by the Grecians, foreign, or foreign; which words being derived from foreign, to kindle or burne, have the ſame import with Og; which comes from foreign i.e. burnt. So that Typho is the ſame with Og. Thus Voſſius. Quid enim Hog Hebraeis ſignificat? ustulatum ſcilicet: & quid Typhaeus Graecis, annon pariter ac penitus idem? Tuphein enim Heſychio eſt choris phlogos Kapnon aneinai; item phlegeſthai, kaieſihai. At verò Poetae Typhaeum, nomine ardentem cùm primùm repraeſentaſſent: nihil illis deinde in promptu magis, (nomini omen ut reſponderet) quàm eum etiam introducere ardentem corpore & percuſſum fulminc, ex acie denique fugientem. Sandford de deſcenſu Chriſti l. 1. §. 20.The ſame is mentioned by Sandford, (from whom Voſſius ſeems to have borrowed this, as many other of his choicer notions) de deſcenſu Chriſti l. 1. §. 20. We ſee that the war of Hercules againſt the Giants, and that of Ioſhua againſt the Cananites, exactly agree both in time, and place, and mode of fighting. Let us now conſider the enemies, whereof Typhoeus was the prince; who, that he was the ſame with Og of Baſan, I am convinced by many indubitable arguments; the chief whereof is taken from his bed. For Homer (Iliad. ….) tels us, that the chief of the Giants had his Bed foreign in Arimis: which exactly anſwers to that of the ſacred Scripture, Deut. 3.11. For onelyonly Og King of Baſan remained of the remnant of the Giants; behold his Bedſted was a Bedſted of Iron: is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubîts the breadth of it, &c.
Tis poſſible, that Hercules, from this name Og, was by the Phenicians firſt, and then by the old Gauls ſtiled Ogmius; as Lucian in Hercul. The Celti call Hercules Ogmius, as before. §. 1. 3. Their mode of fighting the ſame, as Joſ. 10.11.3. Hercules ſeems parallel with Ioſhua in the mode of fighting, and victorie. Tis ſaid of Hercules, that whilſt he was fighting with the Giants; Jupiter rained down ſtones, &c. This anſwers exactly to the ſtorie of Ioſhua his ſtrenuous atchievement, and God's raining down ſtones, by which he ſlew a great part of the Giants, Ioſh. 10.11. The Lord caſt down great ſtones from heaven upon them, unto Azekah, and they died, &c. Thus Sandford deſcenſu Chriſti l. 1. §. 20. Nonniſi à Jehoſchuba lapidibus è coelo cadentibus adjuto, ortum habere potuiſſe de Hercule fabulam, qua is ſimiliter adjutus dicitur à Poetis. Sandford deſc. l. 1. §. 20.whence had Homer the Tradition of this horrible Earthquake, thundering, and lightning (in the Giants war?) It may be he had it from the thing it ſelf: for this fight in Baſan (mentioned Joſh. 10.11.) was of all moſt formidable, both by reaſon of the immenſe preparation, as alſo from the horrid Judgement of God, which in that day he moſt powerfully ſhowered down on his moſt fierce Adverſaries: although we want not probabilitie, that the Poets here mixed ſtories, which in the ſacred Scriptures are diſtinct, and ſo drew to this ſtorie (Joſh. 10.11.) like paſſages; ſuch as we find in Davids Pſalmes, as, Pſ. 77.18. The voice of thy thunder was in Heaven the lightnings lightned the world, the Earth trembled and ſhook, &c. Thus likewiſe Dickinſon (who follows Sandford herein, as in many other like Parallels) Delphi Phoeniciz. cap. 4. Moreover as Joſhua, (Joſh. 10.11.) So Hercules alſo was aided by ſtones ſent from Heaven: whence, I ſuppoſe, he received the name Saxanus; the origination whereof Lillius Gyraldus, (in Hercule) confeſſeth he was ignorant.
4. In the place of the Battel which was near Nyſſa in Arabia.4. There is alſo a very great agreement 'twixt Joſhua and Hercules as to the place where this battel was fought. 'Tis confeſſed that ſome make this place, where Hercules thus contended with the Giants, to be in Narbonne, between Maſſilia and the mouth of Rhodan; other in Pallene; others in Arcadia; But Voſſius (de Idololatr. lib. 1. cap. 26.) gives us a more probable conjecture, that this place, where Hercules and the Giant Typho fought, was in Arabia near Nyſſa and Serbonis; Hic nobis peropportunè ſuccurret Apollonius: Typhaon fulmine percuſſus, & ardens, ad Nyſſaeos montes venit, ibique videri deſiit. Hoc teſtimonio confect, res eſt. Eſt enim hic Serbonidis lacus in confinio Aegypti, Nyſa autem in Arabia Sandford Deſcenſ. l. 1. §. 20.This may be proved out of Apollonius in foreign
—foreign
foreign, &c. He (i.e. Typhoeus) came thus to the mountains and Nyſseian field; where alſo he lies overwhelmed under the water of Serbonis &c. That by Nyſſa here is to be underſtood a mountain of Arabia, the Scholiaſt acknowledgeth: which mountain Nyſſa or Nyſa ſome conceive to be the ſame with mount Syna, different only by a tranſpoſition of letters: Exod. 17.15.others take it to be the ſame with the mount Nyſa, ſacred to Bacchus or Moſes, who was called foreign the God of Nyſa, from Exod. 17.15. Jehovah Niſsi, the Lord is my banner, as before chap. 3. §. 5. of Bacchus.
'Tis true, ſome Mythologiſts place this Nyſſa, near which Hercules overcame the Giant Typhon, in India; but 'tis evident that the ancient Grecians ment thereby no other than Arabia; for they ſtiled all the Oriental parts beyond the midland Sea, by this name of India: as it appears by that of Ovid de Arte amandi.
Andromedam Perſeus nigris portavit ab Indis.
Whereas Perſeus brought not his wife Andromeda from India but from Joppa, a town of Phoenicia as Strabo l. 1. foreign. So Dickins. Delp. c. 4. and Voſſius as before.
As for Serbonis, the other place near which the Giant Typho, was overcome by Hercules; Ptolemaeus tels us, that Serbonis was betwixt Egypt and Paleſtine; and according to Plutarch (in the life of Antonius) the Egyptians call the Marſhes of Serbonis the exſpirations of Typho. Quin, & mihi penitiſſime perſuaſum eſt, fabulam iſtam de Typhone in lacu ſerbonidis pridem ſubmerſo non aliunde confictam fuiſſe quam ex Jobi 26.5. Gigantes ge munt ſub aquos. Dickins. Delph. Phaen. c. 2.And whereas 'tis ſaid by Apollonius, that Typhon lies overwhelmed under the water of Serbonis; this fable ſome conceive to be drawn from Job 26.5. where that which is rendred by us: dead things, are formed under the waters, is tranſlated by others: The Giants grone under the waters. Whence it evidently appears that Hercules's deſtruction of Typho near to Nyſſa and Serbonis; relates to the deſtruction of Og, and the other Cananitiſh Gians, by Joſhua and the Iſraelites in their paſſage to Canaan. 5. The bed of Typho the ſame with that of Og Deut. 3.11.5. Whereas 'tis ſaid Deut. 3.11. that Og king of Baſan had a bedſted of iron &c. a learned man has thought that the memorie of this iron bedſted remain'd amongſt the Gentiles. So Homer Iliad. …. ſpeaking of Jupiters ſtriking down this Giant Typho by his thunder-bolt, addes foreign. In Aromaea, where they ſay Typho's bed remains.
This is thus expreſſed by Virgil,
—Durumque Cubile
Inarimes, Jovis imperiis impoſta Typhoeo.
Where, what Homer expreſſeth in two words foreign Virgil, upon a miſtake, joins in one Inarimes, yet ſo as we may ſafely conclude he means the ſame. Sive autem Typhonis nomen ſpectes, ſive hiſtoriam vix, ovum O vo ſimilius invenias, quàm Typhoni Ogum. Dickins. Delph. Phoen. c. 2.Farther that this foreign Arima, where Homer and Virgil place Typhon's bed, is the ſame with Syria is evident from that of Strabo l. 13. foreign, by the Arimi they underſtand the Syrians who are now called Arami: rightly indeed; for Aram the Son of Sem, was the father of the Syrians; whence Syria was alſo called foreign Aram, and the Syrians Arimeans; as Strabo l. 16. foreign. Graeci ferè per omnia Hebraizantes, Typhonem non modo foreign Gigantem feruntſed & — tene broſa in Tartara mittunt. Dick. c. 1.Of this ſee more Dickinſon Delphi Phaeniciz. cap. 2. where he proves that Og and Typhon are the ſame. 1. From their names. Typhon comes from foreign to burne; which anſwers to foreign Og burned. 2. Og was the Head of the Giants, who fighting againſt the Lord, were deſtroyed, yea caſt down to Hell; which is thence ſtiled Prov. 21.16. foreign the Congregation of the Giants. Hence the Grecians fabled, that Typhon was not only foreign a Giant that fought againſt the Gods, but alſo by them caſt into Tartar, there to burne for ever. That by the Giants war, we are to underſtand, that of Og and the reſt of the Cananites, ſee B. 3. C. 8. §. 1. Dick. c. 1. Hereby we may gather that Typho anſwers to Og; who was ſlain in Aramaea or Syria by Joſhua. Verè locum ſignaverat Homerus ein Arimois, quod Virgilius cùm non intellexiſſet, uno verbo Inarimes reddidit: Errore manifeſto. Diſerte enim princeps ille Poetarum Arimos notat, quos in Syria collocat Poſſidonius, cui Strabo aſtipulatur tous Surous Arimous dechontas, &c. Sand. Deſc. l. 1. §. 20.So Voſſius de Idololat lib. 1. cap. 26. where he concludes: Theſe things ſufficiently ſhew, that Hercules's battel againſt the Giants, and Typho was committed in Arabia and Syria in which places they fought againſt the Canaenites, and Og King of Baſan, as Moſes teacheth. Neither does the Age of Hercules and Joſhua differ: only we may not underſtand the Theban but the oriental Hercules hereby; whom we may call the Egyptian Hercules, becauſe he (i.e. Joſhua) was borne in Egypt; alſo the Indian i.e. the Arabian, Hercules; becauſe he performed his great atchievements here; alſo the Tyrian or Phenician Hercules; becauſe the Tyrians transferred the things done by this Joſhua, to their Hercules.
§. 4. Hercules name Melicarthus proper to Joſhua.6. The Identitie betwixt Hercules and Joſhua, may be concluded from the name Melicartus, given to Hercules by Sanchoniathon, Euſeb. praep. li. 1. foreign Melicarthus, who alſo is Hercules. Melicarthus is either the ſame with the Phenician foreign Melec Kartha, which ſignifies King of the Citie: or elſe with foreign Melec arits, the terrible or ſtrong King: for from foreign arits ſtrong or terrible, by an eaſie tranſpoſition, came the Greek foreign the name which the Egyptians give unto Mars, who in theſe oriental parts paſſed for the ſame with Hercules. Melicarthus the ſame with MarsSo Voſsius de Idololatr. lib. 1. cap. 22. where, having given the firſt Etymon of Melicarthus, from foreign, he addes, but 'tis lawful to affirme that the laſt part of the word is the ſame with foreign. For Mars and Hercules were promiſcuouſly uſed in thoſe oriental parts. Now foreign with the Egyptians was Mars, and of the ſame original with foreign; namely from foreign arits, which, by the trajection of t, makes Artis or foreign; and hence by the rejection of foreign came foreign. Now the Heb: foreign arits ſignifies a terrible, and (foreign) a valiant man, or warrier. This is the proper character of Joſhua, who was contemporary to, and, I preſume, the ſame with the Phenician Hercules. And indeed this Age, wherein Hercules is ſaid to live, afforded no one comparable to Joſhua for warlike atchievements.
7. foreign the ſame with Mars and Joſhua.7. Yea the Greek foreign, the name of Hercules, gives us farther conjectures, that he was amongſt the Phenicians the ſame with Mars the God of Battel, and both the ſame originally with Joſhua. For foreign (as before) is the ſame with foreign Hera's Glorie, or fame. Now foreign is either (by an uſual tranſpoſition of letters) the ſame with foreign, Mars's name, from foreign arits or aris (for the Greeks and Latins write foreign by S.) terrible or valiant; or elſe with the Chaldee foreign herin and the Syriack foreign Harin, which ſignifies Princes or Heroes ſo Eccleſ. 10.17. foreign ſons of Princes as Jer. 27.19. foreign; whence the Greek foreign Heroes. Hence we find both theſe joyned together by Heſychius, in his character of the Perſian Princes or Heroes: foreign, the Artaei, or Martial Commanders, are called by the Perſians, Heroes. foreign from foreign, the name of Mars and Hercules, ſignifies a great and terrible Champion. So Herodot. l. 6. tels us, that according to the Greek tongue, foreign, Artoxerxes is a great warrier: from foreign, which denotes a terrible and valiant warrier. And then, whereas Heſychius ſaies, that theſe Artaei, or warriers, were by the Perſians ſtiled foreign; this is the ſame with the Chaldee foreign Herin, Princes, Nobles, Heroes, eas before. So that whether we derive Hercules from one or t'other, it comes all to the ſame; namely, that he was the ſame with Mars, a terrible champion or Hero; which anſwers exactly to Joſhua's character, who was the moſt renowned Champion of his Age, wherein Hercules was ſuppoſed to live. 8. That the ancient Hercules was a Phenician, and the ſame originally with Joſhua.8. That the moſt ancient Hercules was not a Grecian, but a Tyrian, or Phenician Hero, and the ſame with Joſhua, may be concluded by what we find of him in Lucian, Euſebius, and others. Firſt, that the moſt ancient Hercules was not a Grecian but Tyrian, is evident by what is delivered concerning him in Lucian, of the Syrian Goddeſſe. That Temple (ſaies he) of Hercules, which is at Tyre, belongs not to the Theban Hercules, which the Greeks ſo much extol; but him that I ſpeak of is more ancient, ſtiled foreign the Tyrian Hercules. Thus Lucian: who cals Hercules foreign, whence foreign, and both from foreign Herin, princes, Heroes, &c. as before. 9. Hercules contemporary with Joſhua.9. That this Phenician Hercules was the ſame with Joſhua, Voſsius (de Idolol. lib. 1. cap. 26.) proves, as by many other arguments, ſo eſpecially from their parallel as to the time, and age, wherein they lived. Fuit Hercules ille Aegyptius, Poſſevino teſte, ad annos circiter 200 ante Alexandrum, quod Joſuae temporibus aptè convenit. Dickinſ. Delph. c. 4.His words are theſe: Yea that this Hercules lived in the ſame Age with Ioſhua, is the opinion of the Ancients: as Euſebius, in Chronicis. For num. 142. he brings in Moſes enjoying the bleſſed Viſion of God on Mount Sina: and 5. years before, namely num. 137. you find, that Hercules, ſirnamed Deſanaus, was greatly famous in Phenicia. Thus Voſsius. Deſanaus.This name Deſanaus, given to Hercules, ſome make to be derived from foreign Daſchen, fat and ſtrong, whence Pſal. 22.30. Pſ. 22.30.foreign the fat or ſtrong of the Earth, i.e. the potent, or mighty of the earth: which appellation exactly ſuits with Hercules, (who was ſtiled potens) as alſo with Joſhua. Hence alſo Hercules is fabled to be fellow ſoldier with Bacchus; and together with him to appear at the mountain Nyſa againſt the Giants: which exactly anſwers to Joſhua's accompanying of Moſes, whom many of the Poets called Bacchus, as before chap. 3. §. 3. Laſtly, whereas ſome make Hercules to be the ſame with Samſon, Voſsius de Idololat. lib. 1. cap. 22. refutes this; by ſhewing, that the Phenician Hercules lived about the ſame time that Moſes was preſent with God in the Mount, according to Euſebius; and therefore he cannot be the ſame with Samſon, whoſe Age ſuits better with the Theban Hercules. Thus much for Hercules his genealogie from, and paritie with, Ioſhua, &c.
§. 5. Mars his Theogonie.Having done with Hercules, we ſhall adde a little more touching Mars, who amongſt the Phenicians was the ſame with Hercules, and ſo originally Ioſhua; as it may farther appear both from his Names and Attributes.
1. As for the Greek name foreign, it may fetch its Etymon either from foreign Aris, terrible and ſtrong; or from foreign harin, princes, heroes; as in the foregoing Section. Heinſius deduceth foreign from foreign, the Sun; which the Greeks worſhipt alſo under the name of Mars. The Latin Mars might be derived from foreign by the appoſition of M: but Glaſſius Gram. S. lib. 4. Tract. 3. obſer. 5. derives Mars from foreign he rebelled, and ſo we may look on him as the ſame with Nimrod. Voſſius fetcheth it rather from foreign Marats, pollere, to be ſtrong, &c. Whence alſo Mars was called by ſome foreign. So Julian the Apoſtate, in his oration of the Sun, ſpeaks thus: It is lawful yet to draw forth ſomewhat from the Theologie of the Phenicians. Thoſe who inhabit Edeſsa, a place from all eternity ſacred to the Sun, give him two Aſſeſſors, Monimus and Azizus. Which Jamblichus thus interprets, as Monimus is Mercurie, ſo Azizus Mars, &c. foreign ſeems apparently but a derivative from the Syriack and Arabick foreign Aziz, which ſignifies ſtrong. So Pſal. 24.8. Pſ. 24.8.foreign Iehovah Hizzuz, the Lord ſtrong: whence Mars was ſtiled by the Phenicians foreign Hizzuz. The ſame name alſo was given him by the ancient Gauls, as it appears in the Hiſtorie of the old Gauls, by Antonius Goſſeninus lib. 1. cap. 28. alſo by Bochart Can. lib. 1. cap. 42. Heſus properly ſignifies ſtrong or mighty; as foreign Hizzuz amongſt the Hebrews, and foreign aziz with the Chaldees, &c.
Mars his parallel with Joſhua.2. As for the Genealogie, and Attributes of Mars, ſome make him to be the ſame with Hercules, and ſo, by conſequence, parallel unto Joſhuah. So Voſſius de Idololat. lib. 1. cap. 22. tels us, that Melichartus, Hercules's name, may be derived from Melec-Artes; for Mars and Hercules paſſed promiſcuouſly, amongſt the Orientals, for one and the ſame God. If ſo, then Mars, as well as Hercules, runs parallel with Joſhua. This ſeems to agree with what Diodorus lib. 5. ſpeaks of Mars: foreign. The Mythologiſts report, that Mars was the firſt who furniſhed armature, and ſoldiers with Armes, and brought in the mode of fighting by ſignes given; and deſtroyed all thoſe who would not believe the Gods. I am not ignorant, that Voſſius (de Idololatr. lib. 1. cap. 16.) refers this deſcription of Mars to Nimrod, whom they make to be the firſt Inventor of Armes, and military Affairs: but there are ſome things that may incline us rather to believe, that Joſhua gave the original Idea to this Oriental Tradition touching Mars. As 1. Diodorus tels us, that this Mars deſtroyed ſuch as diſbelieved or diſobeyed the Gods: which cannot properly be referred to Nimrod, who was the firſt that taught men to diſbelieve and diſobey the Gods; but it may be very appoſitely applied unto Joſhua, who was zealous and bold in deſtroying the unbelieving and diſobedient, both Iews and Cananites, &c. 2. Whereas he tels us, that the Mythologiſts ſay, Mars was the firſt that invented militarie weapons and affairs, &c. This may as well refer to Joſhua, as to Nimrod. For albeit Nimrod began wars in Aſia the greater, or Babylon; yet we find no conſiderable wars amongſt the Cananites, or Phenicians, till Ioſhua's time; who by reaſon of his great militarie Exploits and victories, might well be reputed the God of War, Mars, or Hercules. 3. That which may adde to this parallelizing of Mars with Ioſhua is, that the Mythologiſts (whom Diodorus here brings in as the Authors of this deſcription) found abundant more matter and reaſon to reduce the ſtories they had received by Tradition touching Ioſhua, unto Mars, than thoſe of Nimrod. For the ſtories of Ioſhua were then, when Mythologie began to creep into the world, very freſh and pregnant, &c. 4. We have proved before, out of the conceſſions of Voſſius himſelf, that Mars was the ſame with Hercules, and therefore with Ioſhua.
3. Mars's his parallel with Nimrod.Yet we need not reject, but may alſo allow, without any contradiction, a parallel betwixt Mars and Nimrod: as 1. Nimrod was called by his ſubjects, Belus. So Servius on Virg. Aen. 1. ſaies, that Belus was the firſt that reigned in the Aſſyrian Monarchie. Mars alſo had the ſame title given to him; whence ſome derive bellum war, from Belus, Mars's name. 2. Nimrod is ſaid to be a mighty hunter, i.e. Warrier, Gen. 10.8. ſo Mars. See more of this parallel betwixt Nimrod and Mars, in Voſſius, de Idololatr. lib. 1. cap. 16.