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There was a terrible earthquake, with a wonderful
eruption of water, at Celaenae, a city of Phrygia, that
swallowed up a great many houses, people and all. Midas
upon this consults the oracle, which gave him for answer,
that if he would cast into that gulf the most precious
thing that he had in the world, the earth should close
again. Whereupon he threw in a mass of gold and silver;
but never the better. This put it in the head of Anchurus,
the son of Midas, to consider, that the most precious thing
in Nature is the life and soul of a man; so that he went
presently and embraced his father and his wife Timothea,
mounted his horse, and leaped into the abyss. The earth
closed upon it, and Midas raised a golden altar in the
place, laid his hand upon it, and dedicated it TO JUPITER IDAEUS. This altar becomes stone at that time of
the year when it was usual to have these eruptions; and
after that season was over, it is turned to gold again.—
My author is Callisthenes, in his Second Book of Transformations.
The River Tiber, in its course over the Forum, opened
a huge cavity in the ground, so that a great many houses
were buried in it. This was looked upon as a judgment
upon the place, from Jupiter Tarsius; who, as the oracle
told them, was not to be appeased without throwing into it
what they held most valuable. So they threw a quantity
of gold and silver into it. But Curtius, one of the bravest
young men they had, gave a better guess at the mind of
the oracle; and reflecting upon it, that the life of a man
was much more excellent than treasure, took his horse and
plunged himself into the gulf, and so redeemed his
country.—Aristides, in the Fortieth Book of his Italian
History.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 5.
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