Neptūnus

, a god, son of Saturn and Ops, and brother to Jupiter, Pluto, and Juno. He was devoured by his father the day of his birth, and again restored to life by means of Metis, who gave Saturn a certain potion. Pausanias says that his mother concealed him in a sheepfold in Arcadia, and that she imposed upon her husband, telling him that she had brought a colt into the world, which was instantly devoured by Saturn. Neptune shared with his brothers the empire of Saturn, and received as his portion the kingdom of the sea. This, however, did not seem equivalent to the empire of heaven and earth, which Jupiter had claimed, therefore he conspired to dethrone him, with the rest of the gods. The conspiracy was discovered, and Jupiter condemned Neptune to build the walls of Troy. See: Laomedon . and they celebrated their isthmian games and Consualia with the greatest solemnity. He was generally represented sitting in a chariot made of a shell, and drawn by sea-horses or dolphins. Sometimes he is drawn by winged horses, and holds his trident in his hand, and stands up as his chariot flies over the surface of the sea. Homer represents him as i uing from the sea, and in three steps cro ing the whole horizon. The mountains and the forests, says the poet, trembled as he walked; the whales, and all the fishes of the sea, appear round him, and even the sea herself seems to feel the presence of her god. The ancients generally sacrificed a bull and a horse on his altars, and the Roman soothsayers always offered to him the gall of the victims, which in taste resembles the bitterne of the sea water. The amours of Neptune are numerous. He obtained, by means of a dolphin, the favours of A mph i trite, who had made a vow of perpetual celibacy, and he placed among the constellations the fish which had persuaded the godde to become his wife. He also married Venilia and Salacia, which are only the names of A mph i trite according to some authors, who observed that the former word is derived from venire , alluding to the continual motion of the sea. Salacia is derived from Salum , which signifies the sea, and is applicable to A mph i trite. Neptune became a horse to enjoy the company of Ceres. See: Arion . To deceive Theophane, he changed himself into a ram. See: Theophane . He a umed the form of the river Enipeus, to gain the confidence of Tyro the daughter of Salmoneus, by whom he had Pelias and Neleus. He was also father of Phorcus and Polyp hem us by Thoo a; of Lycus, Nycteus, and Euphemus by Celeno; of Chryses by Chrysogenia; of Ancæus by Astypalea; of Bœotus and Helen by Antiope; of Leuconoe by Them is to; of Agenor and Bellerophon by Eurynome the daughter of Nysus; of Antas by Alcyone the daughter of Atlas; of Abas by Arethusa; of Actor and Dictys by Agemede the daughter of Augias; of Megareus by Œnope daughter of Epopeus; of Cycnus by Harpalyce; of Taras, Otus, Ephialtes, Dorus, Alesus, . The word Neptunus is often used metaphorically by the poets, to signify sea water . In the Consualia of the Romans, horses were led through the streets finely equipped and crowned with garlands, as the god in whose honour the festivals were instituted had produced the horse, an animal so beneficial for the use of mankind. Pausanias , bks. 1, 2, . — Homer , Iliad , bk. 7 , . — Varro , de Lingua Latina , bk. 4 .— Cicero , de Natura Deorum , bk. 2 , ch. 26 ; bk. 2 , ch. 25 .— Hesiod , Theogony .— Virgil , Æneid , bk. 1 , li. 12 , . ; bks. 2, 3, . — Apollo dor us , bks. 1, 2, . — Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 6 , li. 117 , . — Hero dot us , bk. 2 , ch. 50 ; bk. 4 , ch. 188 .— Macrobius , Saturnalia , bk. 1 , ch. 17 .— Augustine , City of God , bk. 18 .— Plutarch , Them is toc les .— Hyginus , fable 157.— Euripi des , Phœnician Women .— Flaccus. — A poll on i us Rhodius.