ADONIS

In Mythology. A beautiful youth, son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild boar, to the great regret of the godde . It is, also, the name of a river of Phoenicia, on the banks of which Adonis, or Thammuz, as he is called in the East, was supposed to have been killed. At certain seasons of the year this river acquires a high red colour, by the rains washing up particles of red earth. The ancient poets ascribed this to a sympathy in the river for the death of Adonis. This season was observed as a festival in the adjacent country. Facciolati, Lexicon; Calmet, Diclionnaire de la Bible, art. Thammux.) Milton has beautifully alluded to these circumstances: — " ■ Thammuz came next behind. Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured The Syrian damsels to lament his fate In am'rous ditties all a summer's day: While smooth Adonis from his native rock Ran purple to the sea; supposed with blood Of Thammuz yearly wounded." Parad. Lost, I. Y. U5. [s. 28]