Here, as at
Byblus, these rites resembled the Egyptian worship of Osiris so
closely that some people even identified the Adonis of Amathus with
Osiris.
But the great seat of the worship of Aphrodite and Adonis in Cyprus
was Paphos on the south-western side of the island. Among the petty
kingdoms into which Cyprus was divided from the earliest times until
the end of the fourth century before our era Paphos must have ranked
with the best. It is a land of hills and billowy ridges, diversified
by fields and vineyards and intersected by rivers, which in the
course of ages have carved for themselves beds of such tremendous
depth that travelling in the interior is difficult and tedious. The
lofty range of Mount Olympus (the modern Troodos), capped with snow
the greater part of the year, screens Paphos from the northerly and
easterly winds and cuts it off from the rest of the island. On the
slopes of the range the last pine-woods of Cyprus linger, sheltering
here and there monasteries in scenery not unworthy of the Apennines.
The old city of Paphos occupied the summit of a hill about a mile
from the sea; the newer city sprang up at the harbour some ten miles
off.
Pages:
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936