The library of historic characters and famous events of all nations and all ages; . N the earliest pages of history, myth andlegend are inextricably mingled withthe record of fact. What the imagina-tion of poets, often working grotesquely,had conceived as a fitting union of hea-ven and earth, was prefixed to the recordsof state, generally kept by priests. Al-though modern research has almost ex-punged the name of Semiramis from the history of Assyria,her fabulous career has so long occupied a prominent place inthe accounts of Asiatic civilization that it seems necessary torecount what was beli
The library of historic characters and famous events of all nations and all ages; . N the earliest pages of history, myth andlegend are inextricably mingled withthe record of fact. What the imagina-tion of poets, often working grotesquely,had conceived as a fitting union of hea-ven and earth, was prefixed to the recordsof state, generally kept by priests. Al-though modern research has almost ex-punged the name of Semiramis from the history of Assyria,her fabulous career has so long occupied a prominent place inthe accounts of Asiatic civilization that it seems necessary torecount what was believed concerning this prototype of illus-trious female sovereigns. Nor need we hesitate to give themyth in all its extravagance, as related by the classical histo-rians, who blindly accepted the statements given by Ctesias,the Greek physician of Artaxerxes, in his History of Persia,and more improbable stories of professed romancists. Semiramis was the daughter of Derceto of Ascalon, saidto be a goddess, who, though revered for her chastity, hadyielded to the passionate love of a
Size: 1353px × 1847px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecthistory, bookyear1902
