Hippolyto Joseph Da Costa

The Dionysian Artificers

This essay, published in 1820, was an attempt to prove that modern Freemasonry derived from ancient Greek philosophical and religious ideas. Hippolyto da Costa (1774-1823), was a Brazilian journalist, author, Freemason and world traveller. He was imprisoned for being a Freemason by the Inquisition in Portugal in 1802; he escaped in 1805.