Sibyls
Plato speaks of only one (the Erythraean); Martian
Capella says there were two, the Erythraean and the Phrygian; the former being the famous “Cumaean Sibyl;” Solinus and
Jackson, in his Chronologic Antiquities, maintains, on the
authority of AElian, that there were four—the Erythraean, the Samian, the Egyptian, and the Sardian; Varro
tells us there were ten, viz. the Cumaean (who sold the books to
Tarquin), the Delphic, Egyptian, Erythraean, Hellespontine, Libyan,
Persian, Phrygian, Samian, and Tiburtine.
The name of the Cumaean sibyl was Amalthaea.
“How know we but that she may be an eleventh Sibyl or a second
Cassandra?” —Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel, iii. 16.
Sibyls.
The mediaeval monks reckoned twelve Sibyls, and gave to each a
separate prophecy and distinct emblem:
(1) The Libyan Sibyl: “The day shall come when men shall see
the King of all living things.” Emblem, a lighted taper.
(2) The Samian Sibyl: “The Rich One shall be born of a pure
virgin.” Emblem, a rose.
(3) The Cuman Sibyl: “Jesus Christ shall come from heaven,
and live and reign in poverty on earth.” Emblem, a crown.
(4) The Cumean Sibyl: “God shall be born of a pure virgin,
and hold converse with sinners.” Emblem, a cradle.
(5) The Erythraean Sibyl: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, the
Saviour.” Emblem, a horn.
(6) The Persian. Sibyl: “Satan shall be overcome by a true
prophet.” Emblem, a dragon under the Sibyl's feet, and a
lantern.
(7) The Tiourtine Sibyl: “The Highest shall descend from
heaven, and a virgin be shown in the valleys of the deserts.”
Emblem, a dove.
(8) The Delphic Sibyl: “The Prophet born of the virgin shall
be crowned with thorns.” Emblem, a crown of thorns.
(9) The Phrygian Sibyl: “Our Lord shall rise again.” Emblem, a banner and a cross.
(10) The European Sibyl: “A virgin and her Son shall flee
into Egypt.” Emblem, a sword.
(11) The Agrippine Sibyl: “Jesus Christ shall be outraged and
scourged.” Emblem, a whip.
(12) The Hellespontic Sibyl: “Jesus Christ shall suffer shame
upon the cross.” Emblem, a cross.
This list of prophecies is of the sixteenth century, and is
manifestly a clumsy forgery or mere monkish legend. (See below, Sibylline Verses.)
The most famous of the ten sibyls
was Amalthaea, of Cumae in AEolia, who offered her nine books to
Tarquin the Proud. The offer being rejected, she burnt three of them;
and after the lapse of twelve months, offered the remaining six at the
same price. Again being refused, she burnt three more, and after a
similar interval asked the same price for the remaining three. The sum
demanded was now given, and Amalthaea never appeared again. (Livy.)
Sibyl.
The Cumaean sibyl was the conductor of Virgil to the infernal
regions. (Æneid, vi.) Sibyl. A fortune-teller.
“How they will fare it needs a sibyl to say.” —The Times.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Sibyls from Infoplease:
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