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PALES——PALL A.
45J
ing his feigned madness. Accordingly, he is said to have conspired with Diomedes and drowned him whilst engaged in fishing; or (according to another account) they persuaded him to enter a well, in which treasure was said to be concealed, and then overwhelmed him with stones. According to others, Agamemnon also hated him as head of the peace party among the Greeks. He accordingly got Odysseus and Diomedes to conceal in his tent a letter purporting to be written by Priam, as well as some money, and then accuse him as a traitor; whereupon he was stoned to death by the people. His brother (Eax informed his father of the sad event by writing the news on an oar and throwing it into the sea, upon which he took a terrible vengeance on the returning Greeks (see nauplius, 2). Palamedes was considered by the Greeks as the inventor of the alphabet and of lighthouses ; also of measures and weights, and of dice and draughts and the discus.
Pales. The Italian goddess of shepherds. Her festival, the Pdlllia or Pdrtlia, held on April 21st, was properly a herdsmen's festival to promote the fruitfulness of the flocks and to purify the sacred groves and fountains from all unintentional injury or pollution caused by the herds. It was deemed the anniversary of the founding of Home, the former abode of shepherds. Accordingly it was celebrated at Rome, as in the villages, by the whole of the inhabitants, with the ancient rites of a shepherds' festival. It was customary to purify house, steading, and sheep with sulphur, and, as a special means of expiation, to offer incense, together with a mixture of the blood of the October horse (sec mars), the ashes of the unborn calf which was burned at the feast of Tellus, and bean-straw which was obtained from the Vestals. When these solemn purifications were over, the cheerful part of the festival began. Bonfires were made of straw and hay; the shepherds leaped across them thrice; cakes of millet were also offered to the goddess; and the festival was concluded by a feast in the open air. After the 2nd century of our era the festival was combined with that of Dea Roma, and was celebrated as her birthday with festal processions and Circensian games, which continued till the 5th century.
Palici. Two spirits worshipped in the the neighbourhood of Mount Etna in Sicily, as benevolent deities and protectors of agriculture. They are sometimes described ab sons of Adranus, a native hero honoured
through the whole of Sicily; sometimes, of Hephaestus and the Nymph /Etna; sometimes, of Zeus and Thalia, a daughter of Hephaestus, who concealed herself in the earth from fear of Hera's jealousy, whereupon two hot sulphur springs burst out of the ground. Beside these springs solemn oaths were taken, especially in legal proceedings, the swearer, who must have previously kept himself from all defilement, touching the brink; if the oath were false, blinding or instantaneous death followed. According to another account, a tablet inscribed with the oath was thrown into the water, and swam on the surface if the oath were true, but sank in the contrary case, while flames devoured the perjurer. The neighbouring sanctuary of the Palici served as an oracle and also as a shelter for fugitive slaves. [Diodorus Siculus, xi 89,]
Palllla. A feast among the Romans held ill honour of the goddess Pales (g.y.).
A ROMAN I.ADY WEARINC THK PALLA.
Statue of the younger Agrippina, wife of Claudius and
mother of Nero (Naples Museum).
Palla. A Roman mantle worn by women, consisting of a square piece of cloth, which
