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Gl FT OF
MRS. KEITH FALKNER
IN MEMORY OF HER FATHER
HARRY MILL LANCASTER
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THE COUNCIL OF THE GOJJa.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
THOMAS BULFINCII,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
8 1963 £84-
866737
TO
HENRY WADSWORTJI LONGFELLOW,
HE POET ALIKE OF THE MANY AND OF THE YKVt
THIS ATTEMPT TO POPULARIZE
MYTHOLOGY.
AJTO EXTEND THE ENJOYMENT OF ELEGANT L1TEKATURE
IB BE8PECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
Other Works by tlje Author of this Volume,
THE AGE OF FABLE, or Beauties of Mythology, $3.00
THE AGE OF CHIVALRY, or Legends of King Ar
thur and the Knights of The Round Table, 3,00
LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE, or Romance of the
Middle Ages, 3 oo
SHAKSPEARE, Adapted for Reading Classes and the
Family Circle, ,, OQ
OREGON and ELDORADO, or the Romance of The
Rivers, 2<5Q
POETRY OF THE AGE OF FABLE, r^o
Sent by Mail post paid, on receipt of price by publishers.
PREFACE.
IP no other knowledge deserves to be called useful bet thai
wnich helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in
society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if
that which tends to make us happier and better can be called use
ful, then we claim that epithet for our subject. For Mythology
is the handmaid of literature ; and literature is one of the best
allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.
Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant litera
ture of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated.
When Byron calls Rome "the Xiobe of nations," or aays of
Venice, " She looks a Sea-CybeJe fresh from ocean," he calls up to
the mind of one familiar with our subject illustrations more vivid
and striking than the pencil could furnish, but which are lost to
the reader ignorant of mytho: ,n abounds in similar
allusions. The short poem " Comus " contains more than thirty
such, and the ode " On the Morning of the Nativity " half as many.
Through - Paradise Lost " they are scattered profusely. This is
one reason why we often hear persons by no means illiterate say
that they cannot enjoy Milton. But were these persons to add
to their more solid acquirements the easy learning of this little
volume, much of the poetry of Milton which has appeared to
them " harsh and crabbed" would be found u musical as is Apol
lo's lute." Our citations, taken from more than twenty-five poets,
frcm Spenser to Longfellow, will show how general has been th«
practice of borrowing illustrations from mythol< _-
The prose writers also avail themselves of the same source oi
4 PREFACE.
elegant and suggestiva illustration. One can hardly take up a
number of the Edinburgh or Quarterly Renew without meeting
with instances. In Macaulay's article on Milton there are
twenty such.
But how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn
it through the medium of the languages of Greece and Home ?
To devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to
false marvels and obsolete faiths, is not to be expected of the
general leader in a practical age like this. The time even of the
young is claimed by so many sciences of facts and things, that
little can be spared for set treatises on a science of mere fancy.
But may not the requisite knowledge of the subject be acquired
by reading the ancient poets in translations ? We reply, the field
is too extensive for a preparatory course ; and these very transla
tions require some previous knowledge of the subject to make
them intelligible. Let an)' one who doubts it read the first page
of the u ^Eneid," and see what he can make of " the hatred of
Juno," the "decree of the Parcse," the "judgment of Paris," and
the " honors of Ganymede," without this knowledge.
Shall we be told that answers to such queries may be found in
notes, or by a reference to the Classical Dictionary ? We reply, the
interruption of one's reading by either process is so annoying that
most readers prefer to let an allusion pass unapprehended rather
than submit to it. Moreover, such sources give us only the dry
facts without any of the charm of the original narrative ; and what
is a poetical myth when stripped of its poetry? The story of
Ceyx and Halcyone, which fills a chapter in our book, occupies but
eight lines in the best (Smith's) Classical Dictionary ; and so of
others.
Our book is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the
stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source
of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, accord
ing to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them
referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference.
Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxa
tion from study ; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet
by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of
PREFACE. 5
education. The index at the end will adapt it to the purposes of
reference, and make it a Classical Dictionary7 for the parlor.
Most of the classical legends in this book are derived from Ovid
and Virgil. They are not literally translated, for, in the author's
opinion, poetry translated into literal prose is very unattractive
reading. Neither are they in verse, as well for other reasons as
from a conviction that to translate faithfully under all the embar
rassments of rhyme and measure is impossible. The attempt has
been made to tell the stories in prose, preserving so much of the
poetry as resides in the thoughts and is separable from the lan
guage itself, and omitting those amplifications wliich are not suited
to the altered form.
The Northern mythological stories are copied with some abridg
ment from Mallet's Northern Antiquities. These chapters, with
those on Oriental and Egyptian mythology, seemed necessary to
complete the subject, though it is believed these topics have not
usually been presented in the same volume with the classical
Bibles.
The poetical citations so freely introduced are expected to
answer several valuable purposes. They will tend to fix in mem
ory the leading fact of each story, they will help to the attainment
of a correct pronunciation of the proper names, and they will
enrich the memory with many gems of poetry, some of them such
as are most frequently quoted or alluded to in reading and conver
sation.
Having chosen mythology as connected with literature for our
province, we have endeavored to omit nothing which the reader
of elegant literature is likely to find occasion for. Such stories
and parts of stories as are offensive to pure taste and good morals
are not given. But such stories are not often referred to, and if
they occasionally should be, the English reader need feel no mor
tification in confessing his ignorance of them.
Our book is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor foi
.he philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either
aex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made
by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which
occur in polite conversation.
1 *
6 PREFACE.
We trust our young readers will find it a source of entertain
ment ; those more advanced a useful companion in their reading
those who travel, and visit museums and galleries of art, an
interpreter of paintings and sculptures ; those who mingle in
cultivated society, a key to allusions which are occasionally made j
and last of all, those in advanced life, pleasure in retracing a path
of literature which leads them back to the days of their childhood^
and revives at every step the associations of the morning of life.
The permanency of those associations is beautifully expressed
in the well-known lines of Coleridge, in u The Piccolomini," Act
iL Scene 4
"The '.ntelligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humanities of old religion,
The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty
That had their haunt's in dale or piny mountain,
Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms and watery depths; all these have vanished*
They live no longer in the faith of reason;
But still the heart doth need a language; still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names;
Spirits or gods that used to share this earth
With man as with their friend ; and at this day
Tia Jupiter who brings whate'er is great,
Aad Venus who brings every thing that's (Mr."
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I. — Introduction •••••••• 11
II. — Prometheus and Pandora 24
III. — Apollo and Daphne — Pyramus and Thisbe —
Cephalus and Procris • . 34
IV. — Juno and her Rivals, lo and Callisto Diana
and Actseon — Latona and the Rustics. ... 46
V. — Phaeton 59
VI. — Midas — Eaucis and Philemon 69
VII. — Proserpine — Olaucus and Scylla 78
VHL — Pygmalion — Dryope — Venus and Adonis —
Apollo and Hyacinthus 91
IX. — Ceyx and Halcyone 100
X. — Vertumnus and Pomona — Iphis and Anax-
arete 109
XI. — Cupid and Psyche 115
XII. — Cadmus — The Myrmidons 129
XHI. — Nisus and Scylla — Echo and Narcife«*us — Clytie
— Hero and Leander 138
XIV. — Minerva and Arachne — Niobe. ...... 149
XV. — The Graese and Gorgons — Perseus and Me
dusa 161
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
XVI. — Monsters ; Giants — Sphinx — Pegasus and
Chimacra — Centaurs — Griffin — Pygmies. 17fl
XVII. —The Golden Fleece — Medea ....... 180
XVIII. — Meleager and Atalanta ......... 191
XIX. — Hercules — Hebe and Ganymede ..... 199
XX. — Theseus and Daedalus — Castor and Pollux —
Festivals and Games ......... 208
XXI. — Bacchus and Ariadne. .... ... 220
XXII. — The Rural Deities — The Dryads and Erisich-
thon — Rhcccus — The Water Deities — The
Camenoe — The Winds ........ 229
XXIH. — Achelous and Hercules — Admetus and Al-
cestis — Antigone, Penelope ...... 243
XXIV. — Orpheus and Eurydice — Aristaeus — Amphion
— Linus — Thamyris — Marsyas — Melam-
pus — Musseus ........... 254
XXV. — Arion — Tbycus — Simonides — Sappho. . . 266
XXVI. — Endymion — Orion — Aurora and Tithonus —
Acis and Galatea .......... 278
XXVII. — The Trojan War ........... 288
XXVIII. — The Fall of Troy — Return of the Greeks —
Orestes and Electra ......... 308
XXIX. — Adventures of Ulysses — The Lotus-eaters
— The Cyclopes — Circe — Sirens — Scylla
and Charybdis — Calypso ....... 319
XXX. — The Phseacians — Fate of the Suitors. ... 333
XXXI. — Adventures of ^Eneas — The Harpies — Dido
— Palinurus ........... 348
XXXII. — The Infernal Regions — The Sibyl ..... 356
XXXIII. — /Eneas in Italy — Camilla — Evander —
Nisus and Euryalus — Mezentius — Turnus. 369
CONTENTS. 9
CHAPTER PA.GB
XXXIV Pythagoras — Egyptian Deities — Oracles. 384
XXXV. — Origin of Mythology — Statues of Gods and
Goddesses — Poets of Mythology. . . . 400
XXXVI. — Monsters (modern) — The Phoenix — Basi
lisk — Unicorn — Salamander 413
XXXVII. — Eastern Mythology — Zoroaster— Hindu
Mythology — Castes — Buddha — The
Grand Lama — Prester John 423
XXXVIII. — Northern Mythology— Valhalla— The Val-
kyrior 430
XXXIX Thor's Visit to Jotunheim 447
XL. — The Death of Baldur — The Elves — Runio
Letters — Skalds — Iceland. .... 456
XLI The Druids — lona. . . 466
PBOTEEBTAL EXPBESSIONS, • • . , 477
, .410
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct
The so-called divinities of Olympus have not a single wor
shipper among living men. They belong now not to the
department of theology, but to those of literature and
taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue
to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest
productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to
pass into oblivion.
We propose to tell the stories relating to them which
have come down to us from the ancients, and which are
alluded to by modern poets, essayists, and orators. Our
readers may thus at the same time be entertained by the
most charming fictions which fancy has ever created, and
put in possession of information indispensable to every
one who would read with intelligence the elegant literature
of his own day.
In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary
to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of
the universe, which prevailed among the Greeks — the
people from whom the Romans, and other nations through
them, received their science and religion.
fill
12 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular
their own country occupying the middle of it, the central
point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods,
or Delphi, so famous for its oracle.
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west co
east, and divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they
called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine,
the only seas with which they were acquainted.
Around the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course
being from south to north on the western side of the earth,
and in a contrary direction on the eastern side. It flowed
in a steady, equable current, un vexed by storm or tempest.
The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters
from it.
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be
inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans^
dwelling in everlasting bliss and spring beyond the lofty
mountains whose caverns were supposed to send forth the
piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people
of Hellas, (Greece.) Their country was inaccessible by
land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age,
from toils and warfare. Moore has given us the " Song
of a Hyperborean," beginning
"I come from a land in the sun-bright deep,
Where golden gardens glow,
Where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep,
Their conch shells never blow."
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of
Ocean, dwelt a people happy and virtuous as the Hyper
boreans. They were named the ^Ethiopians. The gods
favored them so highly that they were wont to leave at
times their Olympian abodes, and go to share their sacri
fices and banquets
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 13
On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of
Ocean, lay a happy place named the Elysian Plain, whither
mortals favored by the gods were transported without
tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss. This
happy region was also called the " Fortunate Fields," and
the " Isles of the Blessed."
We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew
little of any real people except those to the east and south
of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterra
nean. Their imagination meantime peopled the western
portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses ;
while they placed around the disk of the earth, which they
probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying
the peculiar favor of the gods, and blessed with happiness
and longevity.
The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to
rise out of the Ocean, on the eastern side, and to drive
through the air, giving light to gods and men. The stars
also, except those forming the Wain or Bear, and others
near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean.
There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which con
veyed him round by the northern part of the earth, back
to his place of rising in the east. Milton alludes to this
in his " Comus."
"Now the gilded car of day
His golden axle doth allay.
In the steep Atlantic stream,
And the slope Sun his upward beam
Shoots against the di.sky pole,
Pacing towards the other goal
Of his chamber in the east."
The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olym
pus, in Thessaly. A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses
2
14 STORIES Ot GODS AND HEROES.
named the Seasons, opened to permit the passage of the,
Celestials to earth, and to receive them on their return,
The gods had their separate dwellings ; but all, when sum
moned, repaired to the palace of Jupiter, as did also those
deities whose usual abode was the earth, the waters, or the
underworld. It was also in the great hall of the palace
of the Olympian king that the gods feasted each day on
ambrosia and nectar, their food and drink, the latter being
handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe. Here they
conversed of the affairs of heaven and earth ; and as they
quaffed their nectar, Apollo, the god of music, delighted
them with the tones of his lyre, to which the Muses sang
in responsive strains. When the sun was set, the gods
retired to sleep in their respective dwellings.
The following lines from the Odyssey will show how
Homer conceived of Olympus : —
" So saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed,
Rose to Olympus, the reputed seat
Eternal of the gods, which never storms
Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm
The expanse and cloudless shines with purest day.
There the inhabitants divine rejoice
Forever." Cowper.
The robes and other parts of the dress of the goddesses
were woven by Minerva and the Graces, and every thing
of a more solid nature was formed of the various metals.
Vulcan was architect, smith, armorer, chariot builder, and
artist of all work in Olympus. He built of brass the
houses of the gods ; he made for them the golden shoes
with which they trod the air or the water, and moved
from place to place with the speed of the wind, or even of
thought. He also shod with brass the celestial steeds
which whirled the chariots of the gods through the air, or
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 15
along the surface of the sea. He was able to bestow on
his workmanship self-motion, so that the tripods (chairs
and tables) could move of themselves in and out of the
celestial hall. He even endowed with intelligence the
golden handmaidens whom he made to wait on himself.
Jupiter, or Jove, (Zeus,*) though called the father of gode
and men, had himself a beginning. Saturn (Cronos)
was his father, and Rhea (Ops) his mother. Saturn and
Rhea were of the race of Titans, who were the children
of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos, of which
we shall give a further account in our next chapter.
There is another cosmogony, or account of the creation,
according to which Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first
of beings. Love (Eros) issued from the egg of Night,
which floated on Chaos. By his arrows and torch he
pierced and vivified all things, producing life and joy.
Saturn and Rhea were not the only Titans. There
were others, whose names were Oceanus, Hyperion, lape-
tus, and Ophion, males ; and Themis, Mnemosyne, Eu-
rynome, females. They are spoken of as the elder gods,
whose dominion was afterwards transferred to others.
Saturn yielded to Jupiter, Oceanus to Neptune, Hyperion
to Apollo. Hyperion was the father of the Sun, Moon,
and Dawn. He is therefore the original sun-god, and ia
painted with the splendor and beauty which were after
wards bestowed on Apollo.
" Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself." Shakspeare.
Ophion and Eurynome ruled over Olympus till they
were dethroned by Saturn and Rhea. Milton alludes to
them in Paradise Lost. He says the heathens seem to
have had some knowledge of the temptation and fall of man,
* The names include'* in parentheses are the Greek, the others being
the Roman or Latin names.
16 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
"And fabled how the serpent, whom they called
Ophion, with Eurynome, (the wide-
Encroaching Eve perhaps,) had first the rule
Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven.
The representations given of Saturn are not very con
sistent ; for on the one hand his reign is said to have been
the golden age of innocence and purity, and on the other
he is described as a monster who devoured his own chil
dren.* Jupiter, however, escaped this fate, and when
grown up espoused Metis, (Prudence,) who administered a
draught to Saturn which caused him to disgorge his children.
Jupiter, with his brothers and sisters, now rebelled against
their father Saturn, and his brothers the Titans ; van
quished them, and imprisoned some of them in Tartarus,
inflicting other penalties on others. Atlas was condemned
to bear up the heavens on his shoulders.
On the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter with his broth
ers Neptune (Poseidon) and Pluto (Dis) divided his do
minions. Jupiter's portion was the heavens, Neptune's
the ocean, and Pluto's the realms of the dead. Earth
and Olympus were common property. Jupiter was king
of gods and men. The thunder was his weapon, and he
bore a shield called ^Egis, made for him by Vulcan. Th«
eagle was his favorite bird, and bore his thunderbolts.
Juno (Hera) was the wife of Jupiter, and queen of the
gods. Iris, the goddess -of the rainbow, was her attendant
and messenger. The peacock was her favorite bird.
Vulcan, (Hephoestos,) the celestial artist, was the son
of Jupiter and Juno. He was born lame, and his mother
* This inconsistency arises from considering the Saturn of the Ro
mans the same with the Grecian deity Cronos, (Time,) which, as it
brings an end to all things which have had a beginning, may be said
to devour its own olfspring.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 17
was so displeased at the sight of him that she ilung him
out of heaven. Other accounts say that Jupiter kicked
him out for taking part with his mother, in a quarrel
which occurred between them. Vulcan's lameness, ac
cording to this account, was the consequence of his fall.
Fie was a whole day falling, and at last alighted in the
Island of Lemnos, which was thenceforth sacred to him.
Milton alludes to this story in Paradise Lost, Book I.
" From morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day ; and with the setting sun
Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star,
On Lemnos, the JEgean isle."
Mars, (Ares,) the god of war, was the son of Jupiter
and Juno.
Phoebus Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy, and mu
sic, was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of
Diana, (Artemis.) He was god of the sun, as Diana,
his sister, was the goddess of the moon.
Venus, (Aphrodite,) the goddess of love and beauty,
vas the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Others say that
Venus sprang from the foam of the sea. The zephyr
tvafted her along the waves to the Isle of Cyprus, where
she was received and attired by the Seasons, and then led
to the assembly of the gods. All were charmed with her
beauty, and each one demanded her for his wife. Jupiter
gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for the service he had
rendered in forging thunderbolts. So the most beautiful
of the goddesses became the wife of the most ill-favored
of the gods. Venus possessed an embroidered girdle
called Cestus, which had the power of inspiring love.
Her favorite birds were swans and doves, and the plant*
sacred to her were the rose and the myrtle.
2*
18 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
Cupid, (Eros,) the god of love, was the son of Venus
He was her constant companion ; and, armed with bov»
and arrows, he shot the darts of desire into the bosoms of
both gods and men. There was a deity named Anteros,
who was sometimes represented as the avenger of slighted
love, and sometimes as the symbol of reciprocal affection.
The following legend is told of him : —
Venus, complaining to Themis that her son Eros con
tinued always a child, was told by her that it was because
he was solitary, and that if he had a brother he would
grow apace. Anteros was soon afterwards born, and Eros
immediately was seen to increase rapidly in size and
strength.
Minerva, (Pallas, Athene,) the goddess of wisdom, was
the offspring of Jupiter, without a mother. She sprang
forth from his head, completely armed. Her favorite bird
was the owl, and the plant sacred to her the olive.
Byron, in " Childe Harold," alludes to the birth of Mi
nerva, thus : —
" Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be,
And Freedom find no champion and no child,
Such as Columbia saw arise, when she
Sprang forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled ?
Or must such minds be nourished in the wild,
Deep in the unpruned forest, 'midst the roar
Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled
On infant Washington ? Has earth no more
Such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such shore ? "
Mercury (Hermes) was the son of Jupiter and Maia.
He presided over commerce, wrestling, and other gymnas
tic exercises, even over thieving, and every thing, in short,
which required skill and dexterity. Pie was the messen
ger of Jupiter, and wore a winged cap and winged shoes
STORIES OF (TODS AND HEROES. I
He bore in his hand a rod entwined with two serpents,
called the Caduceus.
Mercury is said to have invented the lyre. He found,
one day, a tortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes
in the opposite edges of it, and drew cords of linen
through them, and the instrument was complete. The
cords were nine, in honor of the nine Muses. Mercury
gave the lyre to Apollo, and received from him in ex
change the caduceus.*
Ceres (Demeter) was the daughter of Saturn and
Rhea. She had a daughter named Proserpine, (Per
sephone,) who became the wife of Pluto, and queen of the
realms of the dead. Ceres presided over agriculture.
Bacchus, (Dionysus,) the god of wine, was the son of
Jupiter and Semele. He represents not only the intoxi
cating power of wine, but its social and beneficent influ
ences likewise, so that he is viewed as the promoter of
civilization, and a lawgiver and lover of peace.
The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemos
yne, (Memory.) They presided over song, and prompted
the memory. They were nine in number, to each of
whom was assigned the presidence over some particular
department of literature, art, or science. Calliope was
the muse of epic poetry, Clio of history, Euterpe of lyric
poetry, Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of choral
dance and song, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of
Sfl 3red poetry, Urania of astronomy, Thalia of comedy.
* From this origin of the instrument, the word "shell" is often
ised as synonymous with "lyre," and figuratively for music and po
etry. Ihus Gray, in his ode on the " Progress of Poesy," says, —
" 0 Sovereign of the willing soul,
Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,
Enchanting shell ! the sullen Cares
And frantic Passions hear thy soft control
20 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
The Graces were goddesses presiding orer the ban
quet, the dance, and all social enjoyments and elegant
arts. They were three in number. Their names were
Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia.
Spenser describes the office of the Graces thus : —
" These three on men all gracious gifts bestow
Which deck the body or adorn the mind,
To make them lovely or well-favored show ;
As comely carriage, entertainment kind,
Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind,
And all the complements of courtesy ;
They teach us how to each degree and kind
We should ourselves demean, to low, to high,
To friends, to foes ; which skill men call Civility."
The Fates were also three — Clotho, Lachesis, and Atro-
pos. Their office was to spin the thread of human des
tiny, and they were armed with shears, with which they
cut it off when they pleased. They were the daughters of
Themis, (Law,) who sits by Jove on his throne to give
him counsel.
The Erinnyes, or Furies, were three goddesses who pun
ished by their secret stings the crimes of those who es
caped or defied public justice. The heads of the Furies
were wreathed with serpents, and their whole appearance
was terrific and appalling. Their names were Alecto,
Tisiphone, and Megoera. They were also called Eu-
menides.
Nemesis was also an avenging goddess. She represents
the righteous anger of the gods, particularly towards the
proud and insolent.
Pan was the god of flocks and shepherds. His favorite
residence was in Arcadia.
The Satyrs were deitiu.s of the woods and fields. They
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 21
were conceived to be covered with bristly hair, their heads
decorated with short, sprouting horns, and their feet like
goats' feet.
Momus was the god of laughter, and Plutus the god of
wealth.
ROMAN DIVINITIES.
The preceding are Grecian divinities, though received
also by the Romans. Those which follow are peculiar to
Roman mythology.
Saturn \vas an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted
to identify him with the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled
that after his dethronement by Jupiter, he fled to Italy,
where he reigned during what was called the Golden Age.
In memory of his beneficent dominion, the feast of Sat
urnalia was held every year in the winter season. Then
all public business was suspended, declarations of war and
criminal executions were postponed, friends made presents
to one another, and the slaves were indulged with great
liberties. A feast was given them at which they sat at
table, while their masters served them, to show the natu
ral equality of men, and that all things belonged equally
to all, in the reign of Saturn.
Faunus,* the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the
god of fields and shepherds, and also as a prophetic god.
His name in the plural, Fauns, expressed a class of game
some deities, like the Satyrs of the Creeks.
Quirinus was a war god, said to be no other than Rom
ulus, the founder of Rome, exalted after his death to a
place among the gods.
Bellona, a war goddess.
Terminus, the god of landmarks. His statue was •
» There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona Dea.
22 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
rude stone or post, set in the ground to mark the bounda
ries of fields.
Pales, the goddess presiding over cattle and pastures.
Pomona presided over fruit trees.
Flora, the goddess of flowers.
Lucina, the goddess of childbirth.
Vesta (the Hestia of the Greeks) was a deity presiding
over the public and private hearth. A sacred fire, tended
by six virgin priestesses called Vestals, flamed in her tem
ple. As the safety of the city was held to be connected
with its conservation, the neglect of the virgins, if they
let it go out, was severely punished, and the fire was re
kindled from the rays of the sun.
Liber is the Latin name of Bacchus ; and Mulciber ol
Vulcan.
Janus was the porter of heaven. He opens the year,
the first month being named after him. He is the guar
dian deity of gates, on which account he is commonly rep
resented with two heads, because every door looks two
ways. His temples at Rome were numerous. In war
time the gates of the principal one were always open.
In peace they were closed ; but they were shut only once
between the reign of Numa and that of Augustus.
The Penates were the gods who were supposed to at
tend to the welfare and prosperity of the family. Their
name is derived from Penus, the pantry, which was sacred
to them. Every master of a family was the priest to the
Penates of his own house.
The Lares, or Lars, were also household gods, but dif
fered from the Penates in being regarded as the deified
spirits of mortals. The family Lars were held to be the
souls of the ancestors, who watched over and protected
their descendants. The words Lemur and Larva more
uearly correspond to our word Ghost.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 28
The Romans believed that every man had his Genius,
and every woman her Juno ; that is, a spirit who had given
them being, and was regarded as their protector through
life. On their birthdays men made offerings to their
Geni'is, women to their Juno.
A modern poet thus alludes to some of the Roman
gods : —
" Pomona loves the orchard,
And Liber loves the vine,
And Pales loves the straw-built shed
Warm with the breath of kine ;
And Venus loves the whibper
Of plighted youth and maid,
In April's ivory moonlight,
Beneath the chestnut shade."
Macaulay, " Prophecy of Capys."
N. B. — It is to be observed that in proper names the
final e and es are to be sounded. Thus Cybele and Pena
tes are words of three syllables. But Proserpine and
Thebes are exceptions, and to be pronounced as English
words. In the In lex at the close of the volume, we shall
mark the accented syllable, in all words which appear tc
require it
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Deucalion and Pyrrha.
CHAPTER II.
PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA.
THE creation of the world is a problem raturally fitted
to excite the liveliest interest of man, its inhabitant. The
ancient pagans, not having the information on the subject
which we derive from the pages of Scripture, had fheii
own way of telling the story, which is a? follows :
Before earth, and sea, and heaven were created, all
things wore one aspect, to which we give the name of
Chaos — a confused and shapeless mass, nothing but dead
weight, in which, however, slumbered the seeds of things
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 25
Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together; so the
earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was
not transparent. God and Nature at last interposed, and
put an end to this discord, separating earth from sea, and
heaven from both. The fiery part, being the lightest,
sprang up, and formed the skies ; the air was next in
weight and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below
and the water took the lowest place, and buoyed up the
earth.
Here some god — it is not known which — gave his good
offices in arranging and disposing the earth. He appoint
ed rivers and bays their places, raised mountains, scooped
out valleys, distributed woods, fountains, fertile fielu^ ^J
stony plains. The air being cleared, the stars began to
appear, fishes took possession of the sea, birds of the air,
and four-footed beasts of the land.
But a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made.
It is not known whether the Creator made him of divine
materials, or whether in the earth, so lately separated from
heaven, there lurked still some heavenly seeds. Prome
theus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with
water, made man in the image of the gods. He gave him
an upright stature, so that while all other animals turn
their faces downward, and look to the earth, he raises his
to heaven, and gazes on the stars.
Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who
inhabited the earth before the creation of man. To him
and his brother Epimethcus was committed the office of
making man, and providing him and all other animals
with the faculties necessary for their preservation. Epi-
metheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was to
overlook his work, when it was done. Epimetheus accord-
togly proceeded to bestow upon the different animals the
3
26 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
various gifts of courage, strength, swiftness, sagacity ; wings
to one, claws to another, a shelly covering to a third, etc,
But when man came to be provided for, who was to be su
perior to all other animals, Epimetheus had been so prod
igal of his resources that he had nothing left to bestow
upon hira. In his perplexity he resorted to his brother
Prometheus, who, with the aid of Minerva, went up to
Leaven, and lighted his torch at the chariot of the sun, and
brought down lire to man. With this gift man was more
than a match for all other animals. It enabled him to
make weapons wherewith to subdue them ; tools with
which to cultivate the earth ; to warm his dwelling, so as
to be comparatively independent of climate ; and finally to
introduce the arts and to coin money, the means of trade
and commerce.
Woman was not yet made. The story (absurd enough!)
is, that Jupiter made her, and sent her to Prometheus and
his brother, to punish them for their presumption in steal
ing fire from heaven; and man, for accepting the gift.
The first woman was named Pandora. She was made in
heaven, every god contributing something to perfect her.
Venus gave her beauty, Mercury persuasion, Apollo mu
sic, etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed to earth, and
presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her, though
cautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his
gifts. Epimetheus had in his house a jar, in which were
kept certain noxious articles, for which, in fitting man for
his new abode, he had had no occasion. Pandora was
seized with an eager curiosity to know what this jar con
tained ; and one day she slipped off the cover and looked
in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude of plagues for
hapless man, — such as gout, rheumatism, and colic for his
body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind, — and
scattered themselves far and wide- Pandora hastened to
-^
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 27
replace the lid ; but. alas ! the whole contents of the jar had
escaped, one thing only excepted, which lay at the bottom,
and that was hope. So we see at this day, whatever evila
are abroad, hope never entirely leaves us ; and while we
have that, no amount of other ills can make us completely
wretched.
Another story is, that Pandora was sent in good faith,
by Jupiter, to bless man; that she was furnished with a
box, containing her marriage presents, into which every
god had put some blessing. She opened the box incau
tiously, and the blessings all escaped, hope only excepted.
This story seems more probable than the former ; for how
could Jf)pe, so precious a jewel as it is, have been kept in
a jar full of all manner of evils, as in the former state
ment ?
The world being thus furnished with inhabitants, the
first age was an age of innocence and happiness, called
the Golden Age. Truth and right prevailed, though not
enforced by law, nor was there any magistrate to threaten
or punish. The forest had not yet been robbed of its
trees to furnish timbers for vessels, nor had men built for
tifications round their towns. There were no such things
as swords, spears, or helmets. The earth brought forth all
things necessary for man, without his labor in ploughing
or sowing. Perpetual spring reigned, flower* sprang up
without seed, the rivers flowed with milk and wine, and
yellow honey distilled from the oaks.
Then succeeded the Silcer Age, inferior to the golden,
but better than that of brass. Jupiter shortened the
spring, and divided the year into seasons. Then, first,
men had to endure the extremes of heat and cold, and
houses became necessary. Caves were the first dwellings,
and leafy coverts of the woods, and huts woven of twigs.
Crops would no longer grow without planting. Th«
28 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
farmer was obliged to sow the seed, and the toiling ox to
draw the plough.
Next came the Brazen Age, more savage of temper,
and readier to the strife of arms, yet not altogether wicked.
The hardest and worst was the Iron Age. Crime burst
in like a flood ; modesty, truth, and honor fled. In their
places came fraud and cunning, violence, and the wicked
love of gain. Then seamen spread sails to the wind, and
the trees were torn from the mountains to serve for keels
to ships, and vex the face of ocean. The earth, which
till now had been cultivated in common, began to be di
vided off into possessions. Men were not satisfied with
what the surface produced, but must dig into its bowels,
and draw forth from thence the ores of metals. Mis
chievous iron, and more mischievous gold, were produced.
AYar sprang up, using both as weapons ; the guest was not
safe in his friend's house ; and sons-in-law and fathers-in-
law, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, could not
trust one another. Sons wished their fathers dead, that
they might come to the inheritance ; family love lay pros
trate. The earth was wet with slaughter, and the gods
abandoned it, one by one, till Astrcea * alone was left, and
finally she also took her departure.
* The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving earth, she was
placed among the stars, where she became the constellation Virgo —
the Virgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother of Astrxa. She in
represented as holding aloft a pair of scales, in which she weighs the
claims of opposing parties.
It was a favorite idea of the old poets, that these goddesses would
one day return, and bring back the Golden Age. Even in a Christian
Hymn, the Messiah of Pope, this idea occurs.
" All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail,
Returning Justice lift aloft her scale,
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend."
See, also, Milton's Hymn to the Nativity, stanzas xiv. and XT
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 29
Jupiter, seeing this state of things, burned with anger
He summoned the gods to council. They obeyed the call,
and took the road to the palace of heaven. The road,
which any one may see in a clear night, stretches across
the face of the sky, and is called the Milky Way. Along
the road stand the palaces of the illustrious gods ; the com
mon people of the skies live apart, on either side. Jupi
ter addressed the assembly. He set forth the frightful
condition of things on the earth, and closed by announcing
his intention to destroy the whole of its inhabitants, and
provide a new race, unlike the first, who would be more
worthy of life, and much better worshippers of the gods.
So saying he took a thunderbolt, and was about to launch
it at the world, and destroy it by burning ; but recollecting
the danger that such a conflagration might set heaven
itself on fire, he changed his plan, and resolved to drown
it. The north wind, which scatters the clouds, was chained
up ; the south was sent out, and soon covered all the face
of heaven with a cloak of pitchy darkness. The clouds,
driven together, resound with a crash ; torrents of rain
fall ; the crops are laid low ; the year's labor of the hus
bandman perishes in an hour. Jupiter, not satisfied with
his own waters, calls on his brother Neptune to aid him
with his. He lets loose the rivers, and pours them over
the land. At the same time, he heaves the land with an
earthquake, and brings in the reflux of the ocean over the
shores. Flocks, herds, men, and houses are swept away,
and temples, with their sacred enclosures, profaned. If
any edifice remained standing, it was overwhelmed, and
its turrets lay hid beneath the waves. Now all was sea,
sea without shore. Here and there an individual re
mained on a projecting hill-top, and a few, in boats, pulled
the oar where they had lately driven the plough. The
3*
50 STORIES OP GODS AND HEKOES.
fishes s\\ im among the tree-tops ; the anchor is let down
into a garden. Where the graceful lambs played but now,
unwieldy sea calves gambol. The wolf swims among the
sheep, the yellow lions and tigers struggle in the water.
The strength of the wild boar serves him not, nor hia
swiftness the stag. The birds fall with weary wing into
the water, having found no land for a resting-place,
Those living beings whom the water spared fell a prey
to Lunger.
Parnassus alone, of all the mountains, overtopped the
waves ; and there Deucalion, and his wife Pyrrha, of the
race of Prometheus, found refuge — he a just man, and
she a faithful worshipper of the gods. Jupiter, when he
saw none left alive but this pair, and remembered their
harmless lives and pious demeanor, ordered the north
winds to drive away the clouds, and disclose the skies to
earth, and earth to the skies. Neptune also directed
Triton to blow on his shell, and sound a retreat to the
waters. The waters obeyed, and the sea returned to its
shores, and the rivers to their channels. Then Deucalion
thus addressed Pyrrha : " O wife, only surviving woman,
joined to me first by the ties of kindred and marriage,
and now by a common danger, would that we possessed
the power of our ancestor Prometheus, and could renew
the race as he at first made it ! But as we cannot, let us
seek yonder temple, and inquire of the gods what remains
for us to do." They entered the temple, deformed as it
was with slime, and approached the altar, where no fire
burned. There they fell prostrate on the earth, and
prayed the goddess to inform them how they might re
trieve their miserable affairs. The oracle answered,
'* Depart, from the temple with head veiled and garments
inbound, and cast behind you the bones of your mother."
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 31
They heard the words with astonishment. Pyrrha first
broke silence : " We cannot obey ; we dare not profane
the remains of our parents." They sought the thickest
Bhudes of the wood, and revolved the oracle in their
minds. At length Deucalion spoke : "Either my sagacity
deceives me, or the command is one we may obey without
impiety. The earth is the great parent of all ; the stones
are her bones ; these we may cast behind us ; and I think
this is what the oracle means. At least, it will do no
harm to try." They veiled their faces, unbound their
garments, and picked up stones, and cast them behind
them. The stones (wonderful to relate) began to grow
soft, and assume shape. *By degrees, they put on a rude
resemblance to the human form, like a block half finished
in the hands of the sculptor. The moisture and slime
that were about them became flesh ; the stony part became
bones ; the veins remained veins, retaining their name,
only changing their use. Those thrown by the hand of
the man became men, and those by the woman became
women. It was a hard race, and well adapted to labor,
as we find ourselves to be at this day, giving plain indica
tions of our origin.
The comparison of Eve to Pandora is too obvious to
have escaped Milton, who introduces it in Book IV. of
Paradise Lost: —
" More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods
Endowed with all their gifts ; and 0, too like
In sad event, when to the unwiser son
Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she insnared
Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged
On hire who had stole Jove's authentic fire."
Prometheus and Epimetheus were sons of lapetus,
which Milton changes to Japhet.
32 STORIES OF GODS AND HEKOES.
Prometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets
He is represented as the friend of mankind, who inter
posed in their behalf when Jove was incensed against
them, and who t .aught them Civilization and the arts.
But as, in so doing, he transgressed the will of Jupiter, he
drew down on himself the anger of the ruler of gods and
men, Jupiter had him chained to a rock on Mount Cau
casus, where a vulture preyed on his liver, which was
renewed as fast as devoured. This state of torment might
have been brought to an end at any time by Prometheus,
if he had been willing to submit to his oppressor ; for he
possessed a secret which involved the stability of Jove's
throne, and if he would have revealed it, he might have
been at once taken into favor. But that he disdained to
do. He has therefore become the symbol of magnani
mous endurance of unmerited suffering, and strength of
will resisting oppression.
Byron and Shelley have both treated this theme. The
following are Byron's lines : —
" Titan ! to whose immortal eyes
The sufferings of mortality,
Seen in their sad reality,
Were not as things that gods despise ,
What was thy pity's recompense ?
A silent suffering, and intense ;
The rock, the vulture, and the chain ;
All that the proud can feel of pain ;
The agony they do not show ,
The suffocating sense of woe.
14 Thy godlike crime was to he kind ;
To render with thy precepts less
The sum of human wretchedness,
And strengthen man with his own mind.
And, baffled as thou wert from high.
Still, in thy patient energy
STORIES OF GODS AND IIEHOES. 33
In the endurance and repulse
Of thine impenetrable spirit,
Which earth and heaven could not convulse,
A mighty lesson we inherit."
Byron also employs the same allusion, in his ode tc
Napoleon Bonaparte: —
•' Or, like the thief of fire from heaven,
Wilt Ihou withstand the shock ?
And share with him — the unforgiven —
His vulture and his rock » "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Apollo and Python
CHAPTER III.
APOLLO AND DAPHNE — PYRAMUS AND THISBE--
CEPHALUS AND PKOCRIS.
THE slime with which the earth was covered by the
waters of the flood produced an excessive fertility, which
called forth every variety of production, both bad and
good. Among the rest, Python, an enormous serpent, crept
forth, the terror of the people, and lurked in the raves of
Mount Parnassus. Apollo slew him with his arrows —
weapons which he had not before used against any but
feeble animals, hares, wild goats, and such game. In
STORIES OF GODS AND
commemoration of this illustrious conquest he instituted the
Pythian games, in which the victor in feats of strength,
swiftness of foot, or in the chariot race, was crowned with
a wreath of beech leaves ; for the laurel was not yet
adopted by Apollo as his own tree.
The famous statue of Apollo called the Belvedere rep
resents the god after this victory over the serpent Python,
To this Byron alludes in his Childe Harold, iv. 161 : —
" The lord of the unerring bow,
The god of life, and poetry, and light,
The Sun, in human limbs arrayed, and brow
All radiant from his triumph in the fight.
The shaft has just been shot ; the arrow bright
With an immortal's vengeance ; in his eye
And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might,
And majesty flash their full lightnings by,
Developing in that one glance the Deity."
APOLLO AND DAPHNE.
Daphne was Apollo's first love. It was not brought
about by accident, but by the malice of Cupid. Apollo
saw the boy playing with his bow and arrows ; and being
himself elated with his recent victory over Python, he said
to him, " What have you to do with warlike weapons,
saucy boy ? Leave them for hands worthy of them. Behold
the conquest I have won by means of them over the vaet
serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of
the plain ! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle
up your flames, as you call them, where you will, but pre
sume not to meddle with my weapons."
Venus's boy heard these words, and rejoined, " Your
arrows n\ay strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall
strike you."\ So saying, he took his stand on a rock of
36 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Parnassus, and drew from his quiver two arrows of differ
ent workmanship, one to excite love, the other to repel
it. The former was of gold and sharp pointed, the lattei
blunt and tipped with lead. With the leaden shaft he
struck the^nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river go<l
Peneus, and with the golden one Apollo, through the Eeaft.
Forthwith the god was seized with love for the maiden,
and she abhorred the thought of loving. Her delight was
in woodland sports and in the spoils of the chase. Many
lovers sought her, but she spurned them all, ranging the
woods, and taking no thought of Cupid nor of Hymen,
Her father often said to her, " Daughter, you owe me a
son-in-law ; you owe me grandchildren." She, hating the
thought of marriage as a crime, with her beautiful face
tinged all over with blushes, threw her arms around her
father's neck, and said, " Dearest father, grant me this
favor, that I may always remain unmarried, like Diana."
He consented, but at the same time said, " Your own face
will forbid it."
Apollo loved her, and longed to obtain her ; and he who
gives oracles to all the world was not wise enough to look
into his own fortunes. He saw her hair flung loose over
her shoulders, and said, "If so charming in disorder,
what would it be if arranged ? " He saw her eyes bright
as stars ; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only
eeeing them. He admired her hands and arms, naked to
the shoulder, and whatever was hidden from view he
imagined more beautiful still. He followed her ; she fled,
swifter than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his
entreaties. " Stay," said he, " daughter of Peneus ; I am
not a foe. Do not fly me as a lamb flies the wolf, or a
dove the hawk. It is for love I pursue you. You make
me miserable, for fear you should fall and hurt- yourself on
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 37
ues, and I should be the cause,- Pray run slower,
and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peas
ant. Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and
Ttuedos, and know all things, present and future. I am
the god of song and the lyre. My arrows fly true to the
mark ; but alas ! an arrow more fatal than mine has
pierced my heart ! I am the god of medicine, and know
the virtues of all healing plants. Alas ! I suffer a mal
ady that no balm can cure ! "
The nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half
uttered. And even as she fled sh" charmed him. The wind
blew her garments, and her r jound hair streamed loose
behind her. The god grew .mpatient to find his wooingg
thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the
race. It was like a hound pursuing a hare, with open
jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts for
ward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew the god and
the virgin — he on the wings of love, and she on those of
fear. The pursuer is the more rapid, however, and gains
upon her, and his panting breath blows upon her hair.
Her strength begins to fail, and, ready to sink, she calls
upon her father, the river god : " Helpjne, Peneus ! open
the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has
brought me into this danger ! " Scarcely had she spoken,
when a stiffness seized all her limbs ; her bosom began to
be enclosed in a tender bark ; her hair became leaves ;
her arms became branches ; her foot stuck fast in the
ground, as a root ; her face became a tree-top, retaining
nothing of its former self but its beauty. Apollo stood
amazed. He touched the stem, and felt the flesh tremble
under the new bark. He embraced the branches, and
lavished kisses on the wood. The branches shrank from
his lips. " Since you cannot be my wife," said he, " you
4
03 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown
I will decorate with you my harp and my quiver ; and
when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal
pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for
their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall
be always green, and your leaf know no decay." The
nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed its head
in grateful acknowledgment.
That Apollo should be the god both of music and po
etry will not appear strange, but that medicine should
also be assigned to his p ^vince, may. The poet Arm
strong, himself a physician, t.ius accounts for it: —
" Music exalts each joy, allays each grief,
Expels diseases, softens every pain ;
And hence the wise of ancient days adored •
One power of physic, melody, and song."
The story of Apollo and Daphne is often alluded to by
the poets. Waller applies it to the case of one whose
amatory verses, though they did not soften the heart of
his mistress, yet won for the poet wide-spread fame.
" Yet what he sung in his immortal strain,
Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain.
All but the nymph that should redress his wrong,
Attend his passion and approve his song.
Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise,
He caught at love and filled his arms with bays."
The following stanza from Shelley's Adonais alludei
to Byron's early quarrel with the reviewers : —
" The herded wolves, bold only to pursue ;
The obscene ravens, clamorous o'er the dead ;
The vultures, to the conqueror's banner true,
Who feed where Desolation first has fed.
6TORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 39
And whose wings rain contagion ; how they fled,
When like Apollo, from his golden bow,
The Pythian of the age one arrow sped
And smiled ! The spoilers tempt no second blow ;
They fawn on the proud feet that spurn them as they go."
PYRAMUS AND THISBE.
Pyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the
fairest maiden, in all Babylonia, where Semiramis reigned.
Their parents occupied adjoining houses ; and neighbor
hood brought the young people together, and acquaintance
ripened into love. They would gladly have married, but
their parents forbade. One thing however they could
not forbid — that love should glow with equal ardor in the
bosoms of both. They conversed by signs and glances,
and the lire burned more intensely for being covered up.
In the wall that parted the two houses there was a crack,
caused by some fault in the structure. No one had re
marked it before, but the lovers discovered it. What will
not love discover ! It afforded a passage to the voice ;
and tender messages used to pass backward and forward
through the gap. As they stood, Pyramus on this side,
Thisbe on that, their breaths would mingle. " Cruel
wall," they said, " why do you keep two lovers apart ?
But we will not be ungrateful. We owe you, we confess,
the privilege of transmitting loving words to willing ears."
Such words they uttered on different sides of the wall ;
and when night came and they must say farewell, they
pressed their lips upon the wall, she on her side, he on
his, as they could come no nearer.
Next morning, when Aurora had put out the stars, and
the sun had melted the frost from the grass, they met at
the accustomed spot. Then, after lamenting their hard
40 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
fate, they agreed that next night, when all was still, they
would slip away from watchful eyes, leave their dwellings
and walk out into the fields ; and to insure a meeting,
repair to a well-known edifice, standing without the city's
bounds, called the Tomb of Ninus, and that the one who
came first should await the other at the foot of a certain
tree. It was a white mulberry tree, and stood near a cool
spring. All was agreed on, and they waited impatiently
for the sun to go down beneath the waters and night to
rise up from them. Then cautiously Thisbe stole forth,
unobserved by the family, her head covered with a veil,
made her way to the monument and sat down under the
tree. As she sat alone in the dim light of the evening
she descried a lioness, her jaws reeking with recent
slaughter, approaching the fountain to slake her thirst.
Thisbe fled at the sight, and sought refuge in the hollow
of a rock. As she fled she dropped her veil. The lion
ess, after drinking at the spring, turned to retreat to the
woods, and seeing the veil on the ground, tossed and rent
it with her bloody mouth.
Pyramus, having been delayed, now approached the
place of meeting. He saw in the sand the footsteps of
the lion, and the color fled from his cheeks at the sight.
Presently he found the veil all rent and bloody. " O,
hapless girl," said he, " I have been the cause of thy
death ! Thou, more worthy of life than I, hast fallen the
first victim. I will follow. I am the guilty cause, in
tempting thee forth to a place of such peril, and not being
myself on the spot to guard thee. Come forth, ye lions,
from the rocks, and tear this guilty body with your teeth."
He took up the veil, carried it with him to the appointed
tree, and covered it with kisses and with tears. " My
blood also shall stain your texture," said he, and draw-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 41
ing his sword plunged it into his heart. The blood
spirted from the wound, and tinged the white mulberries
of the tree all red ; and sinking into the earth reached
the roots, so that the red color mounted through the trunk
to the fruit.
By this time, Tliisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wish
ing not to disappoint her lover, stepped cautiously forth,
looking anxiously for the youth, eager to tell him the
danger she had escaped. When she came to the spot
and saw the changed color of the mulberries she doubted
whether it was the same place. While she hesitated sho
saw the form of one struggling in the agonies of death.
She started back, a shudder ran through her frame as a
ripple on the face of the stih1 water when a sudden breeze
sweeps over it. But as soon as she recognized her lover,
she screamed and beat her breast ; embracing the lifeless
body, pouring tears into its wounds, and imprinting kisses
on the cold lips. " O, Pyramus," she cried, "• what has
done this ? Answer me, Pyramus ; it is your own Thisbe
that speaks. Hear me, dearest, and lift that drooping
head!" At the name of Thisbe Pyramus opened his
eyes, then closed them again. She saw her veil stained
with blood and the scabbard empty of its sword. " Thy
own hand has slain thee, and for my sake," she said.
" I toe can be brave for once, and my love is as strong
as thine. I will follow thee in death, for I have been the
cause ; and death, which alone could part us, shall not
prevent my joining thee. And ye, unhappy parents of
us both, deny us not our united request. As love and
death have joined us, let one tomb contain us. And thou,
tree, retain the marks of slaughter. Let thy berries still
serve for memorials of our blood." So saying she
plunged the sword into her breast. Her parents ratified
4*
42 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
her wish, the gods also ratified it. The two bodies were
buried in one sepulchre, and the tree ever after brought
forth purple berries, as it does to this day.
Moore, in the Sylph's Ball, speaking of Davy's Safety
Lamp, is reminded of the wall that separated Thisbe and
her lover: —
" O for that Lamp's metallic gauze,
That curtain of protecting wire,
Which Davy delicately draws
Around illicit, dangerous fire !
" The wall he sets 'twixt Flame and Air,
(Like that which barred young Thisbe's bliss,)
Through whose small holes this dangerous pair
May see each other, but not kiss."
In Mickle's translation of the Lusiad occurs the follow
ing allusion to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the
metamorphosis of the mulberries. The poet is describing
the. Island of Love.
" here each gift Pomona's hand bestows
In cultured garden, free uncultured flows,
The flavor sweeter and the hue more fair
Than e'er was fostered by the hand of care.
The cherry here in shining crimson glows,
And stained with lovers' blood, in pendent rows.
The mulberries o'erload the bending boughs."
If any of our young readers can be so hard-hearted a*
to enjoy a laugh at the expense of poor Pyramus and
Thisbe, they may find an opportunity by turning to Shak-
speare's play of the Midsummer Night's Dream, where
it is most amusingly burlesqued.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES 48
CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS.
Cephalus was a beautiful youth and fond of manty
sports. He would rise before the dawn to pursue the
chase. Aurora saw him when she first looked forth, fell
in lov? with him and stole him away. But Cephalus was
just married to a charming wife whom he devotedly
loved. Her name was Procris. She was a favorite of
Diana, the goddess of hunting, who had given her a dog
which could outrun every rival, and a javelin which
would never fail of its mark ; and Procris gave these
presents to her husband. Cephalus was so happy in his
wife that he resisted all the entreaties of Aurora, and she
finally dismissed him in displeasure, saying, " Go, un
grateful mortal, keep your wife, whom, if I am not much
mistaken, you will one day be very sorry you ever saw
again."
Cephalus returned, and was as happy as 'ever in his
wife and his woodland sports. Now it happened some
angry deity had sent a ravenous fox to annoy the country ;
and the hunters turned out in great strength to capture it.
Their efforts were all in vain ; no dog could run it down ;
and at last they came to Cephalus to borrow his famous
dog, whose name was Lelaps. No sooner was the dog let
loose than he darted off, quicker than their eye could fol
low him. If they had not seen his footprints in the sand
they would have thought he flew. Cephalus and others
stood on a hill and saw the race. The fox tried every
art ; he ran in a circle and turned on his track, the dog
close upon him, with open jaws, snapping at his heels, but
Citing only the air. Cephalus was about to use his jave*
lin, when suddenly he saw both dog and game stop in
44 STORIES OF G01>S AND HEROES.
stantly. The heavenly powers who had given both, were
not willing that either should conquer. In the very atti
tude of life and action they were turned into stone. So
lifelike and natural did they look, you would have
thought, as you looked at them, that one was going to
bark, the other to leap forward.
Cephalus, though he had lost his dog, still continued to
take delight in the chase. He would go out at early
morning, ranging the woods and hills unaccompanied by
any one, needing no help, for his javelin was a sure
weapon in all cases. Fatigued with hunting, when the
sun got L'gh he would seek a shady nook where a
cool stream flowed, and, stretched on the grass, with his
garments thrown aside, would enjoy the breeze. Some
times he would say aloud, " Come, sweet breeze, come
and fan my breast, come and allay the heat that burns
me." Some one passing by one day heard him talking in
this way to the air, and, foolishly believing that he was
talking to some maiden, went and told the secret to Pro-
cris, Cephalus's wife. Love is credulous. Procris, at
the sudden shock, fainted away. Presently recovering,
she said, " It cannot be true ; I will not believe it unless
I myself am a witness to it.*' So she waited, with anx
ious heart, till the next morning, when Cephalus went to
hunt as usual. Then she stole out after him, and con
cealed herself in the place where the informer directed
her. Cephalus came as he was wont when tired with
sport, and stretched himself on the green bank, saying,
" Come, sweet breeze, come and fan me ; you know how
I love you ! you make the groves and my solitary ram
bles delightful." He was running on in this way when
he heard, or thought he heard, a sound as of a sob in the
bushes. Supposing it some wild animal, he Uirew his
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 45
javelin at the spot. A cry from his beloved Piocris told
him that the weapon had too surely met its mark. He
rushed to the place, and found her bleeding, and with
sinking strength endeavoring to draw forth from the
wound the javelin, her own gift. Cephalus raised her
from the earth, strove to stanch the blood, and called her
to revive and not to leave him miserable, to reproach
himself with her death. She opened her feeble eyes,
and forced herself to utter these few words : " I implore
you, if you have ever loved me, if I have ever de
served kindness at your hands, my husband, grant me this
last request ; do not marry that odious Breeze ! " This
disclosed the whole mystery : but alas ! what advantage
to disclose it now ? She died ; but her face wore a calm
expression, and she looked pityingly and forgivingly on
her husband when he made her understand the truth.
Moore, in his Legendary Ballads, has one on Cephalua
and 1'rocris, beginning thus : —
" A hunter once in a grove reclined,
To shun the noon's bright eye,
And oft he wooed the wandering wind
To cool his brow with its sigh.
While mute lay even the wild bee's hum,
Nor breath could stir the aspen's hair,
His song was still, ' Sweet Air, 0 come ! '
While Echo answered, « Come, sweet Air ! ' M
46 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER IV.
JUNO AND HER RIVALS, 10 AND CALLISTO —DIANA
AND ACTION — LATONA AND THE RUSTICS.
JUNO one day perceived it suddenly grow dark, and
immediately suspected that her husband had raised a
cloud to hide some of his doings that would not bear the
light. She brushed away the cloud, and saw her husband,
on the banks of a glassy river, with a beautiful heifer
standing near him. Juno suspected the heifer's form con
cealed some fair nymph of mortal mould, — as was, indeed,
the case ; for it was lo, the daughter of the river god Ina-
chus, whom Jupiter had been flirting with, and, when he
became aware of the approach of his wife, had changed
into that form.
Juno joined her husband, and noticing the heifer
praised its beauty, and asked whose it was, and of what
herd. Jupiter, to stop questions, replied that it was a
fresh creation from the earth. Juno asked to have it as a
gift. What could Jupiter do? He was loath to give his
mistress to his wife ; yet how refuse so trifling a present
as a simple heifer? He could not, without exciting sus
picion ; so he consented. The goddess was not yet re
lieved of her suspicions ; so she delivered the heifer to
Argus, to be strictly watched.
Now Argus had a hundred eyes in tis head, and never
went to sleep with more than two at a time, so that he
kept watch of To constantly. He suffered her to feed
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 47
through the day, and at night tied her up with a vile
rope round her neck. She would have stretched out her
arms to implore freedom of Argus, but she had no arms
to stretch out, and her voice was a bellow that frightened
even herself. She saw her father and her sisters, went
near them, and suffered them to pat her back, and heard
them admire her beauty. Her father reached her a tuft
3f grass, and she licked the outstretched hand. She
longed to make herself known to him, and would have
uttered her wish ; but, alas ! words were wanting. At
(erigth she bethought herself of writing, and inscribed
her name — it was a short one — with her hoof on the
sand. Inachus recognized it, and discovering that his
daughter, whom he had long sought in vain, was hidden
under this disguise, mourned over her, and, embracing
her white neck, exclaimed, " Alas ! my daughter, it would
have been a less grief to have lost you altogether ! "
While he thus lamented, Argus, observing, came and
drove her away, and took his seat on a high bank, from
whence he could see all round in every direction.
Jupiter was troubled at beholding the sufferings of his
mistress, and calling Mercury told him to go and despatch
Argus. Mercury made haste, put his winged slippers on
his feet, and cap on his head, took his sleep-producing
wand, and leaped down from the heavenly towers to the
earth. There he laid aside his wings, and kept only his
wand, with which he presented himself as a shepherd
driving his flock. As he strolled on he blew upon his
pipes. These were what are called the Syrinx or Pan
dean pipes. Argus listened with delight, for he had never
%een the instrument before. " Young man," said he,
" come and take a seat by me on this stone. There is
no better place for your Hock to graze in than hereabouts,
4 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and here is a pleasant shade such as shepherds love.''
Mercury sat down, talked, and told stories till it grew late,
and played upon his pipes his most soothing strains, hop
ing to lull the watchful eyes to sleep, but all in vain ; for
Argus still contrived to keep some of his eyes open
though he shut the rest.
Among other stories, Mercury told him how the instru
ment on which he played was invented. " There was a
certain nymph, whose name was Syrinx, who was much
beloved by the satyrs and spirits of the wood ; but she
would have none of them, but was a faithful worshipper
of Diana, and followed the chase. You would have
thought it was Diana herself, had you seen her in her
hunting dress, only that her bow was of horn and Diana's
of silver. One day, as she was returning from the chase,
Pan met her, told her just this, and added more of the
same sort. She ran away, without stopping to hear his
compliments, and he pursued till she came to the bank of
the river, where he overtook her, and she had only time
to call for help on her friends the water nymphs. They
heard and consented. Pan threw his arms around what
he supposed to be the form of the nymph, and found he
embraced only a tuft of reeds ! As he breathed a sigh,
the air sounded through the reeds, and produced a plain
tive melody. The god, charmed with the novelty, and
with the sweetness of the music, said, ' Thus, then, at
least, you shall be mine.' And he took some of the
reeds, and placing them together, of unequal lengths, side
by side, made an instrument which he called Syrinx,
in honor of the nymph." Before Mercury had finished
his story he saw Argus's eyes all asleep. As his head
nodded forward on his breast, Mercury with one stroke
cut his neck through, and tumbled his head down the
rocks. O, hapless Argus ! the light of your hundred eyes
STORIES OF GODS AXD HEROES. 49
is quenched at once ! Juno took them and put them as
ornaments on the tail of her peacock, where they remain
to this day.
But the vengeance of Juno was not yet satiated. She
sent a gadfly to torment To, who fled over the whole
world from its pursuit. She swam through the Ionian
Sea, which derived its name from her, then roamed over
the plains of Illyria, ascended Mount Hremus, and crossed
the Thracian strait, thence named the Bosphorus, (cow-
ford,) rambled on through Scythia, and the country of the
Cimmerians, and arrived at last on the banks of the Nile.
At length Jupiter interceded for her, and upon his prom
ising not to pay her any more attentions Juno consented
to restore her to her form. It was curious to see her
gradually recover her former self. The coarse hairs
fell from her body, her horns shrank up, her eyes grew
narrower, her mouth shorter ; hands and fingers came
instead of hoofs to her fore feet ; in fine there was noth
ing left of the heifer, except her beauty. At first she
was afraid to speak for fear she should low, but gradually
she recovered her confidence and was restored to her
father and sisters.
In a poem dedicated to Leigh Hunt, by Keats, the fol
lowing allusion to the story of Pan and Syrinx occurs : —
" So did he feel who pulled the boughs aside,
That we might look into a forest wide,
# # # *
Telling us how fair trembling Syrinx fled
Arcadian Pan, with such a fearful dread.
Poor nymph — poor Pan — how he did weep to find
Nought but a lovely sighing of the wind
Along the reedy stream ; a half-heard strain,
Full of sweet desolation, balmy pain "
5
50 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CALLISTO.
Callisto was another maiden who excited the
of Juno, and the goddess changed her into a mr.
"I will take away," said she, "that beauty with whicV
you have captivated my husband." Down fell Callisto
on her hands and knees ; she tried to stretch out her arms
in supplication, — they were already beginning to be cov
ered with black hair. Her hands grew rounded, became
armed with crooked claws, and served for feet; her
mouth, which Jove used to praise for its beauty, became
a horrid pair of jaws ; her voice, which if unchanged
would have moved the heart to pity, became a growl,
more fit to inspire terror. Yet her former disposition
remained, and with continual groaning, she bemoaned her
fate, and stood upright as well as she could, lifting up her
paws to beg for mercy ; and felt that Jove was unkind,
though she could not tell him so. Ah, how often, afraid
to stay in the woods all night alone, she wandered about
the neighborhood of her former haunts ; how often, fright
ened by the dogs, did she, so lately a huntress, fly in terror
from the hunters ! Often she fled from the wild beasts,
forgetting that she was now a wild beast herself; and,
bear as she was, was afraid of the bears.
One day a youth espied her as he was hunting. She
saw him and recognized him as her own son, now grown
a young man. She stopped and felt inclined to embrace
him. As she was about to approach, he, alarmed, raised
his hunting spear, and was on the point of transfix
ing her, when Jupiter, beholding, arrested the crime, and
snatching away both of them, placed them in the heavens
as the Great and Little Bear.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 51
Juno was in a rage to see her rival so set in honor, and
hastened to ancient Tethys and Oceanus, the powers of
ocean, and in answer to their inquiries, thus told the cause
of her coming. " Do you ask why I, the queen of the
gods, have left the heavenly plains and sought your
depths. Learn that I am supplanted in heaven, — my
place is given to another. You will hardly believe me ;
but look when night darkens the world, and you shall see
the two of whom I have so much reason to complain
exalted to the heavens, in that part where the circle is the
smallest, in the neighborhood of the pole. Why should
any one hereafter tremble at the thought of offending
Juno, when such rewards are the consequence of my dis
pleasure ! See what I have been able to effect ! I for
bade her to wear the human form, — she is placed among
the stars ! So do my punishments result, — such is the
extent of my power ! Better that she should have re
sumed her former shape, as I permitted lo to do. Per
haps he means to marry her, and put me away ! But
you, my foster-parents, if you feel for me, and see with
displeasure this unworthy treatment of me, show it, I
beseech you, by forbidding this guilty couple from coming
into your waters." The powers of the ocean assented,
and consequently the two constellations of the Great and
Little Bear move round and round in heaven, but never
sink, as the other stars do, beneath the ocean.
Milton alludes to the fact that the constellation of the
Boor never sets, when he says —
" Let my lamp at midnight hour
Be seen in some high lonely tower,
Where I may oft outwatch the Bear," &c.
52 STORIES OF GODS A.ND HEROES.
And Prometheus, in J. R. Lowell's poem, says, —
" One after one the stars have risen and set,
Sparkling upon the hoar frost of ray chain ;
The Bear that prowled all night about the fold
Of the North-star, hath shrunk into his den,
Scared by the blithesome footsteps of the Dawn."
The last star in the tail of the Little Bear is the Pol
star, called also the Cynosure. Milton says, —
" Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures
While the landscape round it measures.
* * * *
Towers and battlements it sees
Bosomed high in tufted trees,
Where perhaps some beauty lies
The Cynosure of neighboring eyes."
The reference here is both to the Pole-star as the guide
of mariners, and to the magnetic attraction of the North.
He calls it also the " Star of Arcady," because Callisto's
boy was named Areas, and they lived in Arcadia. In
Comus, the brother, benighted in the woods, says, —
" Some gentle taper !
Though a rush candle, from the wicker hole
Of some clay habitation, visit us
With thy long levelled rule of streaming light,
And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
Or Tyrian Cynosure."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
58
»
Diana and Actseon.
DIANA AND ACTION.
Thus, in two instances, we have seen Juno's severity to
her rivals ; now let us learn how a virgin goddess pun
ished an invader of her privacy.
It was midday, and the sun stood equally distant from
either goal, when young Actueon, son of King 'Cadmus,
thus addressed the youths who with him were hunting the
etag in the mountains : —
" Friends, our nets and our weapons are wet with the
blood of our victims ; we have had sport enough for one
day, and to-morrow we can renew our labors. Now, while
Pho?,bus parches the earth, let us put by our implements
and indulge ourselves with rest."
5*
54 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
There was a valley thick enclosed with cypresses and
pines, sacred to the huntress queen, Diana. In the ex
tremity of the valley was a cave, not adorned with art,
but nature had counterfeited art in its construction, for
she had turned the arch of its roof with stones as deli
cately fitted as if by the hand of man. A fountain burst
out from one side, whose open basin was bounded by a
grassy rim. PI ere the goddess of the woods used to come
when weary with hunting and lave her virgin limbs in the
sparkling water.
One day, having repaired thither with her nymphs, she
handed her javelin, her quiver, and her bow to one, her
robe to another, while a third unbound the sandals from
her feet. Then Crocale, the most skilful of them, ar
ranged her hair, and Nephele, Hyale and the rest drew
water in capacious urns. While the goddess was thus
employed in the labors of the toilet, behold Acteon, hav
ing quitted his companions, and rambling without any
especial object, came to the place, led thither by his des
tiny. As he presented himself at the entrance of the
cave, the nymphs, seeing a man, screamed and rushed
towards the goddess to hide her with their bodies. But
she was taller than the rest and overtopped them all by a
head. Such a color as tinges the clouds at sunset or at
dawn, came over the countenance of Diana thus taken by
surprise. Surrounded as she was by her nymphs, she yet
turned half away, and sought with a sudden impulse for
her arrows. As they were not at hand, she dashed the
water into the face of the intruder, adding these words ;
" Now go and tell, if you can, that you have seen Diana
unapparelled." Immediately a pair of branching stag's
horns grew out of his head, his neck gained in length, his
ears grew sharp-pointed, his hands became feet, his arms
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 56
long legs, his body was covered with a hairy spotted hide.
Fear took the place of his former boldness, and the here
fled. He could not but admire his own speed; but when
he saw his horns in the water, " Ah, wretched me ! " he
would have said, but no sound followed the effort He
groaned, and tears flowed down the face which had ^aken
the place of his own. Yet his consciousness remained.
What shall he do ? — go home to seek the palace, or lie
hid in the woods ? The latter he was afraid, the former
he was ashamed to do. While he hesitated the dogs saw
him. First Melampus, a Spartan dog, gave the signal
with his bark, then Pamphagus, Dorceus, Lelaps, Theron,
Nape, Tigris, and all the rest, rushed after him swifter
than the wind. Over rocks and cliffs, through mountain
gorges that seemed impracticable, he fled and they fol
lowed. Where he had often chased the stag and cheered
on his pack, his pack now chased him, cheered on by his
huntsmen. He longed to cry out, " I am Actseon ; recog
nize your master ! " but the words came not at his will.
The air resounded with the bark of the dogs. Presently
one fastened on his back, another seized his shoulder.
While they held their master, the rest of the pack came
up arid buried their teeth in his flesh. He groaned, — not
in a human voice, yet certainly not in a stag's, — and fall
ing on his knees, raised his eyes, and would have raised
his arms in supplication, if he had had them. His friends
and fellow-huntsmen cheered on the dogs, and looked
every where for Actoeon, calling on him to join the sport.
At the sound of his name, he turned his head, and heard
them regret that he should be away. He earnestly wished
he was. He would have been well pleased to see the
exploits of his dogs, but to feel them was too much.
They were all around him, rending and tearing ; and it
56 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
was not till they had torn his life out, that the anger oi
Diana was satisfied.
In Shelley's poem Adonais is the following allusion tc
the story of Action : —
"'Midst others of less note came one frail form,
A phantom among men : companionless
As the last cloud of an expiring storm,
Whose thunder is its knell ; he, as 1 guess,
Had gazed on Nature's naked loveliness,
Actaeon-like, and now he fled astray
With feeble steps o'er the world's wilderness ;
And his own Thoughts, along that rugged way,
Pursued like raging hounds their father and their prey.'
Stanza 31.
The allusion is probably to Shelley himself.
LATONA AND THE RUSTICS.
Some thought the goddess in this instance more severe
than was just, while others praised her conduct as strictly
consistent with her virgin dignity. As usual, the recent
event brought older ones to mind, and one of the by
standers tcld this story. " Some countrymen of Lycia
once insulted the goddess Latona, but not with impunity.
When I was young, my father, who had grown too old
for active labors, sent me to Lycia to drive thence some
choice oxen, and there I saw the very pond and marsh
where the wonder happened. Near by stood an ancient
altar, black with the smoke of sacrifice and almost buried
among the reeds. I inquired whose altar it might be,
whether of Faunus or the Naiads or some god of the
neighboring mountain, and one of the country people
replied, * No mountain or river god possesses this altar
but she whom royal Juno in her jealousy drove from
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 57
land to land, denying her any spot of earth whereon tc
rear her twins. Bearing in her arms the infant deities,
Latona reached this land, weary with her burden and
parched with thirst. By chance she espied in the bottom
of the valley this pond of clear water, where the country
people were at work gathering willows and osiers. The
goddess approached, and kneeling on the bank would have
slaked her thirst in the cool stream, but the rustics forbade
her. * Why do you refuse me water ? ' said she ; ' water
is free to all. Nature allows no one to claim as property
the sunshine, the air, or the water. I come to take my
share of the common blessing. Yet I ask it of you as a
favor. I have no intention of washing my limbs in it,
weary though they be, but only to quench my thirst. My
mouth is so dry that I can hardly speak. A dyaught of
water would be nectar to me ; it would revive me, and I
would own myself indebted to you for life itself. Let
these infants move your pity, who stretch out their little
arms as if to plead for me ; ' and the children, as it hap
pened, were stretching out their arms.
" Who would not have been moved with these gentle
words of the goddess? But these clowns persisted in
their rudeness ; they even added jeers and threats of vio
lence if she did not leave the place. Nor was this all.
They waded into the pond and stirred up the mud with
their feet, so as to make the water unfit to drink. Latona
was so angry that she ceased to mind her thirst. She no
longer supplicated the clowns, but lifting her hands Ui
heaven exclaimed, * May they never quit that pool, but
pass their lives there ! ' And it came to pass accordingly.
They now live in the water, sometimes totally submerged,
then raising their heads above the surface or swimming
upon it. Sometimes they come out upon the bank, but
soon leap back again into the water. They still use theii
58 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
base voices in railing, and though they have the water all
to themselves, are net ashamed to croak in the midst of it.
Their voices are harsh, their throats bloated, their mouths
have become stretched by constant railing, their necks
have shrunk up and disappeared, and their heads are
joined to their bodies. Their backs are green, their dis-
proportioned bellies white, and in short they are now
frogs, and dwell in the slimy pool."
This story explains the allusion in one of Milton's son
nets, " On the detraction which followed upon his writing
nertain treatises."
" I did but prompt the age to quit their clogs
By the known laws of ancient liberty,
When straight a barbarous noise environs me
Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.
As when those hinds that were transformed to frogs
Railed at Latona's twin-born progeny,
Which after held the sun and moon in fee."
The persecution which Latona experienced from Juno
Is alluded to in the story. The tradition was that the
future mother of Apollo and Diana, flying from the
wrath of Juno, besought all the islands of the JEgean to
afford her a place of rest, but all feared too much the
potent queen of heaven to assist her rival. Delos alone
consented to become the birthplace of the future deities.
Delos was then a floating island ; but when Latona arrived
there, Jupiter fastened it with adamantine chains to the
bottom of the sea, that it might be a secure resting-place
for his beloved. Byron alludes to Delos in his Don Juan : —
" The isles of Greece ! the isles of Greece !
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung ! "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
50
PhaMon.
CHAPTER Y.
PHAETON
PHAETON was the son of Apollo and the nympl CIj«
mcne. One day a schoolfellow laughed at the idea of hia
being the son of the god, and Phaeton went in rage and
shame and reported it to his mother. " If," said he, " 1
am indeed of heavenly birth, give me, mother, some proof
of it, and establish my claim to the honor." Clymenc
stretched forth her hands towards the skies, and said, " 1
call to witness the Sun which looks down upon us, that I
have told you the truth. Tf I speak falsely, let this he
60 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
the last time I behold his light. But it needs not much
labor to go and inquire for yourself; the land whence the
Sun rises lies next to ours. Go and demand of him
whether he will own you as a son." Phaeton heard
with delight. He travelled to India, which lies directly
in the regions of sunrise ; and, full of hope and pride,
approached the goal whence his parent begins his course.
The palace of the Sun stood reared aloft on columns,
glittering with gold and precious stones, while polished
ivory formed the ceilings, and silver the doors. The
workmanship surpassed the material ; * for upon the walls
Vulcan had represented earth, sea and skies, with their
inhabitants. In the sea were the nymphs, some sporting
in the waves, some riding on the backs of fishes, while
others sat upon the rocks and dried their sea-green hair.
Their faces were not all alike, nor yet unlike, — but such
as sisters' ought to be.* The earth had its towns and for
ests and rivers and rustic divinities. Over all was carved
the likeness of the glorious heaven ; and on the silver
doors the twelve signs of the zodiac, six on each side.
Clymene's son advanced up the steep ascent, and en
tered the halls of his disputed father. He approached
the paternal presence, but stopped at a distance, for the
light was more than he could bear. Phoebus, arrayed in
a purple vesture, sat on a throne which glittered as with
diamonds. On his right hand and his left stood the Day,
the Month, and the Year, and, at regular intervals, the
Hours. Spring stood with her head crowned with flowers,
and Summer, wjth garment cast aside, and a garland
formed of spears of ripened grain, and Autumn, with his
feet stained with grape-juice, and icy Winter> with his
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 477-
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 61
hair stiffened with hoar frost. Surrounded by these at
tendants, the Sun, with the eye that sees every thing,
beheld the youth dazzled with the novelty and splendor
of the scene, and inquired the purpose of his errand
The youth replied, " 0, light of the boundless world,
Phoebus, my father, — if you permit me to use that name,
— give me some proof, I beseech you, by which I may
be known as yours." He ceased ; and his father, laying
aside the beams that shone all around his head, bade him
approach, and embracing him, said, " My son, you deserve
not to be disowned, and I confirm what your mother has
told you. To put an end to your doubts, ask what you
will, the gift shall be yours. I call to witness that dread
ful lake, which I never saw, but which we gods swear by
in our most solemn engagements." Phaeton immediately
asked to be permitted for one day to drive the chariot of
the sun. The father repented of his promise ; thrice and
four times he shook his radiant head in warning. " I
have spoken rashly," said he ; " this only request I would
fain deny. I beg you to withdraw it. It is not a safe
boon, nor one, my Phaeton, suited to your youth and
strength. Your lot is mortal, and you ask what is beyond
a mortal's power. In your ignorance you aspire to do
that which not even the gods themselves may do. None
but myself may drive the flaming car of day. Not even
Jupiter, whose terrible right arm hurls the thunderbolts.
The first part of the way is steep, and such as the horses
when fresh in the morning can hardly climb ; the middle
is high up in the heavens, whence I myself can scarcely,
without alarm, look down and behold the earth and sea
stretched beneath me. The last part of the road descends
rapidly, and requires most careful driving. Tethys, who
is waiting to receive me, often trembles for me lest I
6
62 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
should fall headlong. Add to all this, the heaven is al]
the time turning round and carrying the stars with it. I
have to be perpetually on my guard lest that movement,
which sweeps every thing else along, should hurry me also
away. Suppose I should lend you the chariot, what would
you do ? Could you keep your course while the sphere
was revolving under you ? Perhaps you think that there
are forests and cities, the abodes of gods, and palaces and
temples on the way. On the contrary, the road is through
the midst of frightful monsters. You pass by the horns,
of the Bull, in front of the Archer, and near the Lion's
jaws, and where the Scorpion stretches its arms in one
direction and the Crab in another. Nor will you find it
easy to guide those horses, with their breasts full of fire
that they breathe forth from their mouths and nostrils. I
can scarcely govern them myself, when they are unruly
and resist the reins. Beware, my son, lest I be the donor
of a fatal gift ; recall your request while yet you may.
Do you ask me for a proof that you are sprung from my
blood ? I give you a proof in my fears for you. Look
af my face, — I would that you could look into my breast,
you would there see all a father's anxiety. Finally,"
he continued, " look round the world and choose whatever
you will of what earth or sea contains most precious, —
ask it and fear no refusal. This only I pray you not to
urge. It is not honor, but destruction you seek. Why
do you hang round my neck and still entreat me ? You
shall have it if you persist, — the oath is sworn and must
be kept, — but I beg you to choose more wisely."
He ended ; but the youth rejected all .admonition, and
held to his demand. So, having resisted as long as he
could, Phoebus at last led the way to where stood thf
lofty chariot.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 63
It was of gold, the gift of Vulcan ; the axle was of
gold, the pole and wheels of gold, the spokes of silver.
Along the seat were rows of chrysolites and diamonds,
which reflected all around the brightness of the sun,
While the daring youth gazed in admiration, the early
Dawn threw open the purple doors of the east, and
showed the pathway strewn with roses. The stars with
drew, marshalled by the Daystar, which last of all retired
also. The father, when he saw the earth beginning to
glow, and the Moon preparing to retire, ordered the Hours
to harness up the horses. They obeyed, and led forth
from the lofty stalls the steeds full fed with ambrosia, and
attached the reins. Then the father bathed the face of
his son with a powerful unguent, and made him capable
of enduring the brightness of the flame. He set the rays
on his head, and, with a foreboding sigh, said, " If, my
son, you will in this at least heed my advice, spare the
whip and hold tight the reins. They go fast enough of
their own accord ; the labor is to hold them in. You are
not to take the straight road directly between the five
circles, but turn off to the left. Keep within the limit of
the middle zone, and avoid the northern and the southern
alike. You will see the marks of the wheels, and they
will serve to guide you. And, that the skies and the
earth may each receive their due share of heat, go not too
high, or yen will burn the heavenly dwellings, nor too
low, or you will set the earth on fire ; the middle course
is safest and best* And now I leave you to your chance,
which I hope will plan better for you than you have done
for yourself. Night is passing out of the western gates
and we can delay no longer. Take the reins ; but if at
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 477.
64 STOIIIES OF GODS AXD HEROES.
last your heart fails you, and you will benefit by ray ad«
vice, stay where you are in safety, and suffer me to light
and warm the earth." The agile youth sprang into the
chariot, stood erect and grasped the reins with delight,
pouring out thanks to his reluctant parent.
Meanwhile the horses fill the air with their snorting?
and fiery breath, and stamp the ground impatient. Now
the bars are let down, and the boundless plain of the uni •
verse lies open before them. They dart forward and
cleave the opposing clouds, and outrun the morning
breezes which started from the same eastern goal. The
steeds soon perceived that the load they drew was lighter
than usual ; and as a ship without ballast is tossed hither
and thither on the sea, so the chariot, without its accus
tomed weight, was dashed about as if empty. They rush
headlong and leave the travelled road. He is alarmed,
and knows not how to guide them ; nor, if he knew, has
he the power. Then, for the first time, the Great and
Little Bear were scorched with heat, and would fain, if it
were possible, have plunged into the water ; and the Ser
pent which lies coiled up round the north pole, torpid and
harmless, grew warm, and with warmth felt its rage re
vive. Bootes, they say, fled away, though encumbered
with his plough, and all unused to rapid motion.
When hapless Phaeton looked down upon the earth,
now spreading in vast extent beneath him, he grew pale
and his knees shook with terror. In spite of the glare all
around him, the s-ight of his eyes grew dim. He wished
he had never touched his father's horses, never learned
his parentage, never prevailed in his request. He is
borne along like a vessel that flies before a tempest, when
the pilot can do no more and betakes himself to his
prayers. What shall he do ? Much of the heavenly
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 65
road is left behind, but more remains before. He turns
his eyes from one direction to the other ; now to the goal
whence he began his course, now to the realms of sunset
which he is not destined to reach. He loses his self-
command, and knows not what to do, — whether to draw
tight the reins or throw them loose ; he forgets the names
fjf the horses. He sees with terror the monstrous forms
scattered over the surface of heaven. Here the Scorpion
extended his two great arms, with his tail and crooked
claws stretching over two signs of the zodiac. When the
boy beheld him, reeking with poison and menacing with
his fangs, his courage failed, and the reins fell from his
hands. The horses, when they felt them loose on their
backs, dashed headlong, and unrestrained went off into
unknown regions of the sky, in among the stars, hurling
the chariot over pathless places, now up in high heaven,
now down almost to the earth. The moon saw with as
tonishment her brother's chariot running beneath her own.
The clouds begin to smoke, and the mountain tops take
fire ; the fields are parched with heat, the plants wither,
the trees with their leafy branches burn, the harvest is
ablaze ! But these are small things. Great cities per
ished, with their walla and towers ; whole nations with
their people were consumed to ashes ! The forest-clad
mountains burned, Athos and Taurus and Tmolus and
CEte ; Ida, once celebrated for fountains, but now all dry ;
the Muses' mountain Helicon, and Haemus ; -<Etna, with
fires within and without, and Parnassus, with his two
peaks, and Rhodope, forced at last to part with his snowy
crown. Her cold climate was no protection to Scythia,
Caucasus burned, and Ossa and Pindus, and, greater than
both, Olympus ; the Alps high in air, and the Apennines
srowned with clouds.
66 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Then Phaeton beheld the world on fire, and felt the
heat intolerable. The air he breathed was like the air of
a furnace and full of' burning ashes, and the smoke was
of a pitchy darkness. He dashed forward he knew not
whither. Then, it is believed, the people of ^Ethiopia
became black by the blood being forced so suddenly to the
surface, and the Libyan desert was dried up to the condi
tion in which it remains to this day. The Nymphs of the
fountains, with dishevelled hair, mourned their waters,
nor were the rivers safe beneath their banks; Tanais
smoked, and Caicus, Xanthus and Meander. Babylonian
Euphrates and Ganges, Tagus with golden sands, and
Cayster where the swans resort. Nile fled away and hid
his head in the desert, and there it still remains concealed.
Where he used to discharge his waters through seven
mouths into the sea, there seven dry channels alone re
mained. The earth cracked open, and through the chinkp
light broke into Tartarus, and frightened the king of
shadows and his queen. The sea shrank up. Where
before was water, it became a dry plain ; and the moun
tains that lie beneath the waves lifted up their heads and
became islands. The fishes sought the lowest depths, and
the dolphins no longer ventured as usual to sport on the
surface. Even Nereus, and his wife Doris, with the Ne
reids, their daughters, sought the deepest caves for refuge.
Thrice Neptune essayed to raise his head above the sur
face, and thrice was driven back by the heat. Earth,
surrounded as she was by waters, yet with head and
shoulders bare, screening her face with her hand, looked
up to heaven, and with a husky voice called on Jupiter.
'* 0, ruler of the gods, if I have deserved this treat-
ment, and it is your will that I perish with fire, why with
hold your thunderbolts ? Let me at least fall by your
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 07
hand. Is this the reward of my fertility, of my obedient
service ? Is it for this that I have supplied herbage for
cattle, and fruits for men, and frankincense for your altars ?
But if I am unworthy of regard, what has my brother
Ocean done to deserve such a fate ? If neither of us can
excite your pity, think, I pray you, of your own heaven,
and behold how both the poles are smoking which sustain
your palace, which must fall if they be destroyed. Atlas
faints, and scarce holds up his burden. If sea, earth, and
heaven perish, we fall into ancient Chaos. Save what
yet remains to us from the devouring flame. 0, take
thought for our deliverance in this awful moment ! "
Thus spoke Earth, and overcome with heat and thirst,
could say no more. Then Jupiter omnipotent, calling to
witness all the gods, including him who had lent the
chariot, and showing them that all was lost unless some
speedy remedy were applied, mounted the lofty tower
from whence he diffuses clouds over the earth, and hurls
the forked lightnings. But at that time not a cloud was
to be found to interpose for a screen to earth, nor was a
shower remaining unexhausted. He thundered, and
brandishing a lightning bolt in his right hand launched
it against the charioteer, and struck him at the same mo
ment from his seat and from existence ! Phaeton, with
his hair on fire, fell headlong, like a shooting star which
marks the heavens with its brightness as it falls, and Erid-
anus, the great river, received him and cooled his burn
ing frame. The Italian Naiads reared a tomb for him,
and inscribed these words upon the stone : —
" Driver of Phoebus' chariot, Phaeton,
Struck by Jove's thunder, rests beneath this stone.
He could not rule his father's car of fire,
Yet was it much so nobly to aspire."
68 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
His sisters, the Heliades, as they lamented his fate
were turned into poplar trees, on the banks of the river
and their tears, which continued to flow, became amber an
they dropped into the stream.
Milman, in his poem of Samor, makes the following
allusion to Phaeton's story : —
" As when the palsied universe aghast
Lay * * * * mute and still,
When drove, so poets sing, the Sun-born youtn
Devious through Heaven's affrighted signs his sire's
Ill-granted chariot. Him the Thunderer hurled
From th' empyrean headlong to the gulf
Of the half-parched Eridanus, where weep
Even now the sister trees their amber tears
O'er Phaeton untimely dead."
In the beautiful lines of Walter Savage Landor, de
scriptive of the Sea-shell, there is an allusion to the Sun's
palace and chariot. The water-nymph says, —
" I have sinuous shells of pearly hue
Within, and things that lustre have imbibed
In the sun's palace porch, where when unyoked
His chariot wheel stands midway in the wave.
Shake one and it awakens ; then apply
Its polished lip to your attentive ear,
And it remembers its august abodes,
And murmurs as the ocean murours there."
Gebir, Book 1.
STORIES OF UODS ANL> HEROES.
6s)
CHAPTER VI.
MIDAS — BAUCIS AND PHILEMON.
BACCHUS, on a certain occasion, found his old school
master and foster-father, Silenus, missing. The old man
had been drinking, and in that state wandered away, and
was found by some peasants, who carried him to their
king, Midas. Midas recognized him, and treated him
hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with
an unceasing round of jollity. On the eleventh day he
brought Silenus back, and restored him in safety to his
pupil. Whereupon Bacchus offered Midas his choice of
70 STORIES OF CODS AND HEROES.
a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that what
ever he might touch should be changed into gold. Bac
chus consented, though sorry that he had not made a bet
ter choice. Midas went his way, rejoicing in his new-
acquired power, which he hastened to put to the, test. He
could scarce believe his eyes when he found a twig of an
oak, which he plucked from the branch, become gold ID
his hand. He took up a stone ; it changed to gold. He
touched a sod ; it did the same. He took an apple from
the tree; you would have thought he had robbed the gar
den of the Hesperides. His joy knew no bounds, and as
soon as he got home, he ordered the servants to set a
splendid repast on the table. Then he found to his dis
may that whether he touched -bread, it hardened in his
hand ; or put a morsel to his lips, it defied his teeth. He
took a glass of wine, but it flowed down his throat like
melted gold.
In consternation at the unprecedented affliction, he
strove to divest himself of his power ; he hated the gift
he had lately coveted. But all in vain ; starvation seemed
to await him. He raised his arms, all shining with gold,
in prayer to Bacchus, begging to be delivered from his
glittering destruction. Bacchus, merciful deity, heard and
consented. " Go," said he, " to the River Pactolus, trace
the stream to its fountain-head, there plunge your head
and body in, and wash away your fault and its punish
ment." He did so, and scarce had he touched the waters
before the gold-creating power passed into them, and the
river sands became changed into gold, as they remain to
this day.
Thenceforth Midas, hating wealth and splendor, dwelt
in the country, and became a worshipper of Pan, the god
of the fields. On a certain occasion Pan had the temerity
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 71
to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to challenge
the god of the lyre to a trial of skill. The challenge was
accepted, and Tmolus, the mountain god, was chosen um
pire. The senior took his seat, and cleared away the trees
from his ears to listen. At a given signal Pan blew on
his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfac
tion to himself and his faithful follower Midas, who hap
pened to be present. Then Tmolus turned his head
toward the Sun-god, and all his trees turned with him.
Apollo rose; his brow wreathed with Parnassian laurel,
while his robe of Tyrian purple swept the ground. In
his left hand he held the lyre, and with his right hand
struck the strings. Ravished with the harmony, Tmolus
at once awarded the victory to the god of the lyre, and all
but Midas acquiesced in the judgment. He dissented,
and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would
not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer to wear
the human form, but caused them to increase in length,
grow hairy, within and without, and movable on their
roots ; in short, to be on the perfect pattern of those of
an ass.
Mortified enough was King Midas at this mishap ; but
he consoled himself with the thought that it was possible
to hide his misfortune, which he attempted to do by means
of an ample turban or head-dress. ' But his hair-dresser
of course knew the secret. He was charged not to men
tion it, and threatened with dire punishment if he pre
sumed to disobey. But he found it too much for his dis
cretion to keep such a secret ; so he went out into the
meadow, dug a hole in the ground, ar.d stooping down,
whispered the story, and covered it up. Before long a
thick bed of reeds sprang up in the meadow, and as soon
as it had gained its growth, began whispering the story,
72 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and has continued to do so, from that day to this, every
time a breeze passes over the place.
The story of King Midas has been told by others with
some variations. Dryden, in the Wife of Bath's Tale,
makes Midas's queen the betrayer of the secret.
" This Midas knew, and durst communicate
To none but to his wife his ears of state."
Midas was king of Phrygia. He was the son of Goi-
dius, a poor countryman, who was taken by the people
and made king, in obedience to the command of the ora
cle, which had said that their future king should come in
a wagon. While the people were deliberating, Gordius
with his wife and son came driving his wagon into the
public square.
Gordius, being made king, dedicated his wagon to the
deity of the oracle, and tied it up in its place with a fast
knot. This was the celebrated Gordian knot, which, in
after times it was said, whoever should untie should be
come lord of all Asia. Many tried to untie it, but none
succeeded, till Alexander the Great, in his career of con
quest, came to Phrygia. He tried his skill with as ill
success as others, till growing impatient he drew his sword
and cut the knot. When he afterwards succeeded in sub
jecting all Asia to his sway, people began to think that he
had complied with the terms of the oracle according to its
true meaning.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON.
On a certain hill in Phrygia stand a linden tree and an
oak, enclosed by a low wall. Not far from the spot is a
marsh, formerly good habitable land, but now indented
with pools, the resort of fen-birds and cormorants. Once
on a time, Jupiter, in human shape, visited this country,
and with him his son Mercury, (he of the caduceus,)
without his wings. They presented themselves as weary
travellers, at many a door, seeking rest and shelter, but
found all closed, for it was late, and the inhospitable in
habitants would not rouse themselves to open for their
reception. At last a humble mansion received them, a
small thatched cottage, where Baucis, a pious old dame,
and her husband Philemon, united when young, had grown
old together. Not ashamed of their poverty, they made
it endurable by moderate desires and kind dispositions.
One need not look there for master or for servant ; they
two were the whole household, master and servant alike.
When the two heavenly guests crossed the humble thresh
old, and bowed their heads to pass under the low door,
the old man placed a seat, on which Baucis, bustling and
attentive, spread a cloth, and begged them to sit down.
Then she raked out the coals from the ashes, and kindled
up a fire, fed it with leaves and dry bark, and with her
scanty breath blew it into a flame. She brought out of a
corner split sticks and dry branches, broke them up, and
placed them under the small kettle. Her husband col
lected some pot-herbs in the garden, and she shred them
from the stalks, and prepared them for the pot. He
reached down with a forked stick a flitch of bacon hang
ing ic the chimney, cut a *>inall piece, and put it in
74 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
the pot to boil with the herbs, setting away the rest foi
another time. A beechen bowl was filled with warm
water, that their guests might wash. While all was doing,
they beguiled the time with conversation.
On the bench designed for the guests was laid a cushion
stuffed with sea weed ; and a cloth, only produced on great
occasions, but ancient and coarse enough, was spread over
that. The old lady, with her apron on, with trembling
hand set the table. One leg was shorter than the rest,
but a piece of slate put under restored the level. When
fixed, she rubbed the table down with some sweet-smelling
herbs. Upon it she set some of chaste Minerva's olives,
some cornel berries preserved in vinegar, and added rad
ishes and cheese, with eggs lightly cooked in the ashes.
All were served in earthen dishes, and an earthen-ware
pitcher, with wooden cups, stood beside them. When all
was ready, the stew, smoking hot, was set on the table.
Some wine, not of the oldest, was added ; and for dessert,
apples and wild honey ; and over and above all, friendly
faces, and simple but hearty welcome.
Now while the repast proceeded, the old folks were
astonished to see that the wine, as fast as it was poured
out, renewed itself in the pitcher, of its own accord.
Struck with terror, Baucis and Philemon recognized their
heavenly guests, fell on their knees, and with clasped
hands implored forgiveness for their poor entertainment.
There was an old goose, which they kept as the guardian
of their humble cottage; and they bethought them to
make this a sacrifice in honor of their guests. But the
goose, too nimble, with the aid of feet and wings, for the
old folks, eluded their pursuit, and at last took shelter
between the gods themselves. They forbade it to be
slain ; and spoke in these words : " We are gods. This
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 75
inhospitable village shall pay the penalty of its impiety
you alone shall go free from the chastisement. Quit your
house, and come with us to the top of yonder hill." They
hastened to obey, and, staft in hand, labored up the steep
ascent. They had reached to within an arrow's flight of
the top, when turning their eyes below, they beheld all
the country sunk in a lake, only their own house left
standing. While they gazed with wonder at the sight,
and lamented the fate of their neighbors, that old house
of theirs was changed into a temple. Columns took the
place of the corner posts, the thatch grew yellow and
appeared a gilded roof, the floors became marble, the
doors were enriched with carving and ornaments of gold.
Then spoke Jupiter in benignant accents: " Excellent old
man, and woman worthy of such a husband, speak, tell U3
your wishes ; what favor have you to ask of us ? v Phile
mon took counsel with Baucis a few moments ; then de
clared to the gods their united wish. "We ask to be
priests and guardians of this your temple ; and since here
we have passed our lives in love and concord, we wish that
one and the same hour may take us both from life, that I
may not live to see her grave, nor be laid in my own by
her." Their prayer was granted. They were the keep
ers of the temple as long as they lived. When grown
very old, as they stood one day before the steps of the
sacred edifice, and were telling the story of the place,
Baucis saw Philemon begin to put forth leaves, and old
Philemon saw Baucis changing in like manner. And
now a leafy crown had grown over their heads, wliile
exchanging parting words, as long as they could speak.
* Farewell, dear spouse," they said, together, and at the
same moment the bark closed over their mouths. The
Tyanean shepherd still shows the two trees, standing side
by side, made out of the two good old people.
76 STORIES OF GODS AND HEKOE&.
The story of Baucis arid Philemon has been imitated
by Swift, in a burlesque style, the actors in the change
being two wandering saints, and the house being changed
into a church, of which Philemon is made the parson.
The following may serve as a specimen : —
" They scarce had spoke, when, fair and soft.
The roof began to mount aloft;
Aloft rose every beam and rafter ;
The heavy wall climbed slowly after.
The chimney widened and grew higher,
Became a steeple with a spire.
The kettle to the top was hoist,
And there stood fastened to a joist,
But with the upside down, to show
Its inclination for below ;
In vain, for a superior force,
Applied at bottom* stops its course ;
Doomed ever in suspense to dwell,
Tis now no kettle, but a bell.
A wooden jack, which had almost
Lost by disuse the art to roast,
A sudden alteration feels,
Increased by new intestine wheels ;
And, what exalts the wonder more,
The number made the motion slower ;
The flier, though 't had leaden feet,
Turned round so quick you scarce could see 'fc;
But slackened by some secret power,
Now hardly moves an inch an hour.
The jack and chimney, near allied,
Had never left each other's side .
The chimney to a steeple grown,
The jack would not be left alone ;
But up against the steeple reared,
Became a clock, and still adhered;
And still its love to household cares
By a shrill voice at noon declares,
Warning the cook-maid not to burn
That roast meat which it cannot turn.
Che groaning chair began to crawl.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 77
Like a huge snail, along the wall ;
There stuck aloft in public view,
And with small change, a pulpit grew.
A bedstead of the antique mode,
Compact of timber many a load,
Such as our ancestors did use,
Was metamorphosed into pews,
Which still their ancient nature koep
By lodgirg folks disposed to sleep."
7*
STOUIES OF GODS AND HF.UOF.S.
Proserpine.
CHAPTER VII .
PROSERPINE — GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA.
WHEN Jupiter and his brothers had defeated the Ti
tans ^nd banished them to Tartarus, a new enemy rose
up against the gods. They were the giants Typhon, Bri-
areus, Enceladus, and others. Some of them had a hun
dred arms, others breathed out fire. They were finally
subdued and buried alive under Mount JEtna, where they
still sometimes struggle to get loose, and shake the wholn
island with earthquakes. Their breath comes up through
the mountain, and is what men call the eruption of the
volcano.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 7i'
The fall of these monsters shook the earth, so thai
Pluto was alarmed, and feared that his kingdom would be
laid open to the light of day. Under this apprehension,
he mounted his chariot, drawn by black horses, and took
a circuit of inspection tc satisfy himself of the extent of
the damage. While he was thus engaged, Venus, who
was sitting on Mount Eryx playing with her boy Cupid,
espied him, and said, u My son, take your darts with which
you conquer all, even Jove himself, and send one into the
breast of yonder dark monarch, who rules the realm of
Tartarus. Why should he alone escape ? Seize the
opportunity to extend your empire and mine. Do you
not see that even in heaven some despise our power ?
Minerva the wise, and Diana the huntress, defy us ; and
there is that daughter of Ceres, who threatens to follow
their example. Now do you, if you have any regard for
your own interest or mine, join these two in one." The
boy unbound his quiver, and selected his sharpest arid
truest arrow ; then, straining the bow against his knee,
he attached the string, and, having made ready, shot the
arrow with its barbed point right into the heart of Pluto.
In the vale of Enna there is a lake embowered in
woods, which screen it from the fervid rays of the sun,
while the moist ground is covered with flowers, and Spring
reigns perpetual. Here Proserpine was playing with her
companions, gathering lilies and violets, and filling her
basket and her apron with them, when Pluto saw her,
loved her, and carried her off. She screamed for help to
her mother and her companions ; and when in her fright
she dropped the corners of her apron and let the flowers
fall, childlike she felt the loss of them as an addition to
her grief. The ravisher urged on his steeds, calling them
each by name, and throwing loose over their heads and
80 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
necks his iron-colored reins. When he reached the Rivel
Cyane, and it opposed his passage, he struck the river-
bank with his trident, and the earth opened and gave him
a passage to Tartarus.
Ceros sought her daughter all the world over. Bright-
haired Aurora, when she came forth in the morning, and
Hesperus, when he led out the stars in the evening, found
her still busy in the search. But it was all unavailing.
At length weary and sad, she sat down upon a stone, an<?
continued sitting nine days and nights, in the open air,
under the sunlight and moonlight and falling showers. It
was where now stands the city of Eleusis, then the home
of an old man named Celeus. He was out in the field,
gathering acorns and blackberries, and sticks for his fire.
His little girl was driving home their two goats, and as
she passed the goddess, who appeared in the guise of an
old woman, she said to her, " Mother," — and the name
was sweet to the ears of Ceres, — " why do you sit here
alone upon the rocks ? " The old man also stopped,
though his load was heavy, and begged her to come
into his cottage, such as it was. She declined, and he
urged her. " Go in peace," she replied, " and be happy
in your daughter; I have lost mine." As she spoke,
tears — or something like tears, for the gods never weep,
— fell down her cheeks upon her bosom. The compas
sionate old man and his child wept with her. Then said
he, " Come with us, and despise not our humble roof; so
may your daughter be restored to you in safety." " Lead
on, said she, "I cannot resist that appeal ! " So she
rose from the stone and went with them. As they walked
he told her that his only son, a little boy, lay very sick,
feverish and sleepless She stooped and gathered some
poppies. As they entered the cottage, they found all in
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 81
great distress, for the boy seemed past hope of recovery
Metanira, his mother, received her kindly, and the god
dess stooped and kissed the lips of the sick child. In
stantly the paleness left his face, and healthy vigor
returned to his body. The whole family were delighted
— that is, the father, mother, and little girl, for they were
all ; they had no servants. They spread the table, and
put upon it curds and cream, apples, and honey in the
comb. While they ate, Ceres mingled poppy juice in the
milk of the boy. When night came and all was still, she
arose, and taking the sleeping boy, moulded his limbs with
her hands, and uttered over him three times a solemn
charm, then went and laid him in the ashes. His mother,
who had been watching what her guest was doing, sprang
forward with a cry and snatched the child from the fire.
Then Ceres assumed her own form, and a divine splendor
shone all around. While they were overcome with aston
ishment, she said, " Mother, you have been cruel in your
fondness to your son. I would have made him immortal,
but you have frustrated my attempt. Nevertheless, he
shall be great and useful. He shall teach men the use of
the plough, and the rewards which labor can win from the
cultivated soil." So saying, she wrapped a cloud aboul
her, and mounting her chariot rode away.
Ceres continued her search for her daughter, passing
from land to land, and across seas and rivers, till at
length she returned to Sicily, whence she at first set cut,
and stood by the banks of the River Cyane, where Pluto
made himself a passage with his prize to his own do
minions. The river nymph would have told the god
dess all she had witnessed, but dared not, for fear of Pluto;
go she only ventured to take up the girdle which Proser
pine had dropped in her flight, and waft it to the feet of
82 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROEb.
the mother. Ceres, seeing this, was no longer in doubt
cf her loss, but she did not yet know the cause, and laid
the blame on the innocent land. " Ungrateful soil," said
she, "which I have endowed with fertility and clothed
with herbage and nourishing grain, no more shall you en
joy my favors." Then the cattle died, the plough broke
in the furrow, the seed failed to come up ; there was too
much sun, there was too much rain ; the birds stole the
seeds, - thistles and brambles were the only growth.
Seeing this, the fountain Arethusa interceded for the land.
" Goddess," said she, " blame not the land ; it opened un
willingly to yield a passage to your daughter. I can tell
you of her fate, for I have seen her. This is not my
native country ; I came hither from Elis. I was a wood
land nymph, and delighted in the chase. They praised
my beauty, but I cared nothing for it, and rather boasted
of my hunting exploits. One day I was returning from
the wood, heated with exercise, when I came to a stream
silently flowing, so clear that you might count the pebbles
on the bottom. The willows shaded it, and the grassy
bank sloped down to the water's edge. I approached, I
touched the water with my foot. I stepped in knee-deep,
and not content with that, I laid my garments on the wil
lows and went in. While I sported in the water, I heard
an indistinct murmur coming up as out of the depths of
the stream ; and made haste to escape to the nearest bank.
The voice said, " Why do you fly, Arethusa ? I am
Alpheus, the god of this stream." I ran, he pursued ; he
was not more swift than I, but he was stronger, and gained
upon me, as my strength failed. At last, exhausted, I
cried for help to Diana. * Help me, goddess ! help your
votary ! ' The goddess heard, and wrapped me suddenly
in a thick cloud. The river god looked now this way ami
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 83
now that, and twice came close to me, but could nci
find me. * Arethusa ! Arethusa ! ' he cried. O, how I
trembled, — like a lamb that hears the wolf growling out-
side the fold. A cold sweat came over me, my hair flowed
down in streams ; where my foot stood there was a pool.
In short, in less time than it takes to tell it I became a
fountain. But in this form Alpheus knew me, and
attempted to mingle his stream with mine. Diana cleft
the ground, and I, endeavoring to escape him, plunged
into the cavern, and through the bowels of the earth came
out here in Sicily. While I passed through the lower
parts of the earth, I saw your Proserpine. She was sad,
but no longer showing alarm in her countenance. Her
look was such as became a queen, — the queen of Erebus ;
the powerful bride of the monarch of the realms of the
dead."
When Ceres heard this, she stood for a while like one
stupefied ; then turned her chariot towards heaven, and
hastened to present herself before the throne of Jove.
She told the story of her bereavement, and implored Ju
piter to interfere to procure the restitution of her daugh
ter. Jupiter consented on one condition, namely, that
Proserpine should not during her stay in the lower world
have taken any food ; otherwise, the Fates forbade her
release. Accordingly, Mercury was sent, accompanied by
Spring, to demand Proserpine of Pluto. The wily mon
arch consented ; but alas ! the maiden had taken a pome
granate which Pluto offered her, and had sucked the sweet
pulp from a few of the seeds. This was enough to pre
vent her complete release ; but a compromise was made,
<>y which she was to pass half the time with her mother,
ind the rest with her husband Pluto.
Ceres allowed herself to be pacified with this arrange-
84 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
merit, and restored the earth to her favor. Now she
remembered Celeus and his family, and her promise to
his infant son Triptolemus. When the boy grew up, she
taught him the use of the plough, and how to sow thu
seed. She took him in her chariot, drawn by wingefl
dragons, through all the countries of the earth, imparting
to mankind valuable grains, and the knowledge of a<jn
culture. After his return, Triptolemus built a magnificent
temple to Ceres in Eleusis, and! established the worship 01
the goddess, under the name of the Eleusinian mysteries,
which, in the splendor and solemnity of their observance*,
surpassed all other religious celebrations among tht,
Greeks.
There can be little doubt of this story of Ceres and
Proserpine being an allegory. Proserpine signifies tho
seed-corn which when cast into the ground lies ther»
concealed, — that is, she is carried off by the god of thr>
underworld; it reappears, — that is, Proserpine is re
stored to her mother. Spring leads her back to the
light of day.
Milton alludes to the story of Proserpine in Paradise
Lost, Book IV: —
" Not that fair field
Of Enna where Proserpine gathering flowers,
H erself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain
To seek her through the world,
* * * * might with this Paradise
Of Eden strive."
Hood, in his Ode to Melancholy, uses the same allusion
very beautifully : —
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 85
"Forgive, if somewhile I forget,
In woe to come the present bliss ;
As frighted Proserpine let fall
Her flowers at the sight of Dis."
The River Alpheus does in fact disappear undel
ground, in part of its course, finding its way through sub
terranean channels, till it again appears on the surface. —
It was said that the Sicilian fountain Arethusa was the
same stream, which, after passing under the sea, came up
again in Sicily. Hence the story ran that a cup thrown
into the Alpheus appeared again in Arethusa, It is this
fable of the underground course of Alpheus that Coleridge
alludes to in his poem of Kubla Khan: —
" In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man,
Down to a sunless sea."
In one of Moore's juvenile poems he thus alludes
the same story, and to the practice of throwing garlands
or other light objects on his stream to be carried down
ward by it, and afterwards reproduced at its emerging : —
" 0 my beloved, how divinely sweet
Is the pure joy when kindred spirits meet !
Like him the river god, whose waters flow,
With love their only light, through caves below,
Wafting in triumph all the flowery braids
And festal rings, with which Olympic maids
Have decked his current, as an offering meet
To lay at Arethusa's shining feet.
Think, when he meets at last his fountain bride,
What perfect love must thrill the blended tide !
Each lost in each, till mingling into one,
Their lot the same for shadow or for sun.
A type of true love, to the deep they run."
8
86 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
The following extract from Moore's Rhymes on the
Road gives an account of a celebrated picture by Albano
at Milan, called a Dance of Loves : —
" Tis for the theft of Enna's flower from earth
These urchins celebrate their dance of mirth,
Round the green tree, like fays upon a heath —
Those that are nearest linked in order bright,
Cheek after cheek, like rosebuds in a wrealh ;
And those more distant showing from beneath
The others' wings their little eyes of light.
While see ! among the clouds, their eldest brother,
But just flown up, tells with a smile of bliss,
This prank of Pluto to his charmed mother,
Who turns to greet the tidings with a kiss."
GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA.
Glaucus was a fisherman. One day he had drawn his
nets to land, and had taken a great many fishes of various
Kinds. So he emptied his net, and proceeded to sort the
fishes on the grass. The place where he stood was a
beautiful island in the river, a solitary spot, uninhabited,
and not used for pasturage of cattle, nor ever visited by
any but himself. On a sudden, the fishes, which had been
laid on the grass, began to revive and move their fins as
if they were in the water ; and while he looked on aston
ished, they one and all moved off to the water, plunged in
and swam away. He did not know what to make of this,
whether some god had done it, or some secret power in
the herbage. " What herb has such a power ? " he ex
claimed ; and gathering some of it, he tasted it. Scarce
had the juices of the plant reached his palate when he
found himself agitated with a longing desire for the water
He could no longer restrain himself, but bidding farewei
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 87
to earth, he plunged into the stream. The gods of the
water received him graciously, and admitted him to the
honor of their society. They obtained the consent of
Oceanus and Tethys, the sovereigns of the sea, that all
that was mortal in him should be washed away. A hun
dred rivers poured their waters over him. Then he lost
all sense of his former nature and all consciousness.
When he recovered, he found himself changed in form
and mind. His hair was sea-green, and trailed behind
him on the water ; his shoulders grew broad, and what
had been thighs and legs assumed the form of a fish's tail.
The sea-gods complimented him on the change of his
appearance, and he fancied himself rather a good-looking
personage.
One day Glaucus saw the beautiful maiden Scylla, the
favorite of the water-nymphs, rambling on the shore, and
when she had found a sheltered nook, laving her limbs in
the clear water. He fell in love with her, and showing
himself on the surface, spoke to her, saying such things as
he thought most likely to win her to stay ; for she turned
to run immediately on the sight of him, and ran till she
had gained a cliff overlooking the sea. Here she stopped
and turned round to see whether it was a god or a sea
animal, and observed with wonder his shape and color.
Glaucus partly emerging from the water, and supporting
himself against a rock, said, " Maiden, I am no monster,
nor a sea animal, but a god ; and neither Proteus nor Tri
ton ranks higher than I. Once I was a mortal, and fol
lowed the sea for a living ; but now I belong wholly to it"
Then he told the story of his metamorphosis, and how he
had been promoted to his present dignity, and added,
" But what avails all this if it fails to move your heart?"
He was going on in this strain, but Scylla turned and
hastened away.
S STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Glaucus was in despair, but it occurred to him to con
pult the enchantress, Circe. Accordingly he repaired to
her island, — the same where afterwards Ulysses landed,
as we shall see in one of our later stories. After mutuai
salutations, he said, " Goddess, I entreat your pity ; you
alone can relieve the pain I suffer. The power of herbs
I know as well as any one, for it is to them I owe my
change of form. I love Scylla. I am ashamed to tell
you how I have sued and promised to her, and how scorn
fully she has treated me. I beseech you to use your in
cantations, or potent herbs, if they are more prevailing,
not to cure me of my love, — for that I do not wish, —
but to make her share it and yield me a like return."
To which Circe replied, for she was not insensible to the
attractions of the sea-green deity, " You had better pursue
a willing object ; you are worthy to be sought, instead of
having to seek in vain. Be not diffident, know your own
worth. I protest to you that even I, goddess though I be,
and learned in the virtues cf plants and spells, should not
know how to refuse you. If she scorns you, scorn her ;
meet one who is ready to meet you half way, and thus
make a due return to both at once." To these words
Glaucus replied, " Sooner stall trees grow at the bottom
of the ocean, and seaweed on the top of the mountains,
than I will cease to love Scylla, and her alone."
The goddess was indignant, but she could not punish
him, neither did she wish to do so, for she liked him too
well ; so she turned all her wrath against her rival, pool
Scylla. She took plants of poisonous powers and mixed
them together, with incantations and charms. Then she
passed through the crowd of gambolling beasts, the victims
of her art, and proceeded to the coast of Sicily, where
Scylla lived. There was a little bay on the shore to which
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 8\t
Scylla used to resort, in the heat of the day, to breathe
the air of the sea, and to bathe in its waters. Here the
goddess poured her poisonous mixture, and muttered over
it incantations of mighty power. Scylla came as usual
and plunged into the water up to her waist. What was
her horror to perceive a brood of serpents and barking
monsters surrounding her ! At first she could not imagine
hey were a part of herself, and tried to run from them,
and to drive them away ; but as she ran she carried them
with her, and when she tried to touch her limbs, she
found her hands touch only the yawning jaws of mon
sters. Scylla remained rooted to the spot. Her temper
grew as ugly as her form, and she took pleasure in de
vouring hapless mariners who came within her grasp.
Thus she destroyed six of the companions of Ulysses,
and tried to wreck the ships of TEneas, till at last she was
turned into a rock, and as such still continues to be a
terror to mariners.
Keats, in his Endymion, has given a new version of the
ending of " Glaucus and Scylla " — Glaucus consents to
Circe's blandishments, till he by chance is witness to her
'ransactions with her beasts.* Disgusted with her treach
ery and cruelty, he tries to escape from her, but is taken
ind brought back, when with reproaches she banishes
him, sentencing him to pass a thousand years in decrepi
tude and pain. He returns to the sea, and there finds the
body of Scylla, whom the goddess has not transformed
but drowned. Glaucus learns that his destiny is that, if
he passes his thousand years in collecting all the bodies
of drowned lovers, a youth beloved of the gods will ap
pear and help him. Endymion fulfils this prophecy, and
8 * * See Page 325.
90 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
aids in restoring Glaucus to youth, and Scylla and all the
drowned lovers to life.
The following is Glaucus 's account of his feelings after
his " sea-change : " —
" I plunged for life or death. To interknit
One's senses with so dense a breathing stuff
Might seem a work of pain ; so not enough
Can I admire how crystal-smooth it felt,
And buoyant round my limbs. At first I dwelt
Whole days and days in sheer astonishment ;
Forgetful utterly of self-intent,
Moving but with the mighty ebb and flow.
Then like a new-fledged bird that first doth show
His spreaied feathers to the morrow chill,
1 tried in fear the pinions of my will.
'Twas freedom! and at once I visited
The ceaseless wonders of this ocean-bed," &c.
Eta*
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
91
Pygmalion.
CHAPTER VIII.
PYGMALION — DRYOPE — VENUS AND ADONIS —
APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS.
PYGMALION saw so much to blame in women that he
came at last to abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmar
ried. He was a sculptor, and had made with wonderful
rkill a statue of ivory, so beautiful that no living woman
came any where near it. It was indeed the perfect sem
blance of a maiden that seemed to be alive, and only pre
vented from moving by modesty. His art was so perfect
that it concealed itself and its product looked like the
92 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
workmanship of nature. Pygmalion admired his own
work, and at last fell in love with the counterfeit creation,
Oftentimes he laid his hand upon it as if to assure himself
whether it were living or not, and could not even then
believe that it was only ivory. He caressed it, and gave
it presents such as young girls love, — bright shells and
polished stones, little birds and flowers of various hues
beads and amber. He put raiment on its limbs, and
jewels on its fingers, and a necklace about its neck. To
the ears he hung ear-rings, and strings of pearls upon the
breast. Her dress became her, and she looked not less
charming than when unattired. He laid her on a couch
spread with cloths of Tyrian dye, and called her his wife,
and put her head upon a pillow of the softest feathers, as
if she could enjoy their softness.
The festival of Venus was at hand, — a festival cele
brated with great pomp at Cyprus. Victims were offered,
the altars smoked, and the odor of incense filled the air.
When Pygmalion had performed his part in the solemni
ties, he stood before the altar and timidly said, " Ye gods,
who can do all things, give me, I pray you, for my wife "
— he dared not say " my ivory virgin," but said instead —
u one like my ivory virgin." Venus, who was present at
the festival, heard him and knew the thought he would
have uttered ; and as an omen of her favor, caused the
flame on the altar to shoot up thrice in a fiery point into
the air. When he returned home, he went to see his
statue, and leaning over the couch, gave a kiss to the
mouth. It seemed to be warm. He pressed its lips again,
he laid his hand upon the limbs ; the ivory felt soft to his
touch, and yielded to his fingers like the wax of Hymettus.
While he stands astonished and glad, though doubting, and
fears he may be mistaken, again and again with a lover's
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 93
ardor, he touches the object of his hopes. It was indeed
alive ! The veins when pressed yielded to the finger and
again resumed their roundness. Then at last the votary
of Venus found words to thank the goddess, and pressed
his lips upon lips as real as his own. The virgin felt the
kisses and blushed, and opening her timid eyes to the
light, fixed them at the same moment on her lover.
Venus blessed the nuptials she had formed, and from this
union Paphos was born, from whom the city, sacred to
Venus, received its name.
Schiller, in his poem the Ideals, applies this tale of
Pygmalion to the love of nature in a youthful heart.
The following translation is furnished by a friend : —
" As once with prayers in passion flowing,
Pygmalion embraced the stone,
Till from the frozen marble glowing,
The light of feeling o'er him shone,
So did I clasp with young devotion
Bright nature to a poet's heart ;
Till breath and warmth and vital motion
Seemed through the statue form to dart.
'* And then, in all my ardor sharing.
The silent form expression found ;
Returned my kiss of youthful daring,
And understood my heart's quick sound.
Then lived for me the bright creation,
The silver rill with song was rife ;
The trees, the roses shared sensation,
An echo of my boundless life."
S. G. B.
DRYOPE.
Dryope and lole were sisters. The former was the
wife of Andraemon, beloved by her husband, and happy
94 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
in the birth of her first child. One day the sisters strolled
to the bank of a stream that doped gradually down to the
water's edge, while the upland was overgrown with myr
tles. They were intending to gather flowers for forming
garlands for the altars of the nymphs, and Dryope carried
her child at her bosom, a precious burden, and pursed
him as she walked. Near the water grew a lotus plant,
full of purple flowers. Dryope gathered some and offered
them to the baby, and lole was about to do the same,
when she perceived blood dropping from the places where
her sister had broken them off' the stem. The plant was
no other than the Nymph Lotis, who, running from a base
pursuer, had been changed into this form. This they
learned from the country people when it was too late.
Dryope, horror-struck when she perceived what she
had done, would gladly have hastened from the spot, but
found her feet rooted to the ground. She tried to pull
them away, but moved nothing but her upper limbs. The
woodiness crept upward, and by degrees invested her
body. In anguish she attempted to tear her hair, but
found her hands filled with leaves. The infant felt his
mother's bosom begin to harden, and the milk cease to
flow. lole looked on at the sad fate of her sister, and
could render no assistance. She embraced the growing
trunk, as if she would hold back the advancing wood, and
would gladly have been enveloped in the same bark. At
this moment, Andrjemon, the husband of Dryope, with
her father, approached ; and when they asked for Dryope,
lole pointed them to the new-formed lotus. They em
braced the trunk of the yet warm tree, and showered
their kisses on its leaves.
Now there was nothing left of Dryope but her face.
Her tears still flowed and fell on her leaves, and while
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 95
she could she spoke. "I am not guilty. I deserve not
this fate. I have injured no one. If I speak falsely, may
my foliage perish with drought and my trunk be cut down
and burned. Take this infant and give it to a nurse.
Let it often be brought and nursed under my branches,
and play in my shade ; and when he is old enough to talk,
let him be taught to call me mother, and to say with sad
ness, * My mother lies hid under this bark.' But bid him
be careful of river banks, and beware how he plucks
flowers, remembering that every bush he sees may be a
goddess in disguise. Farewell, dear husband, and sister,
and father. If you retain any love for me, let not the axe
wound me, nor the flocks bite and tear my branches.
Since I cannot stoop to you, climb up hither and kiss me
and while my lips continue to feel, lift up my child that I
may kiss him. I can speak no more, for already the bark
advances up my neck, and will soon shoot over me. You
need not close my eyes, the bark will close them without
your aid." Then the lips ceased to move, and life was
extinct ; but the branches retained for some time longer
the vital heat.
Keats, in Endymion, alludes to Dryope, thus : —
" She took a lute from which there pulsing came
A lively prelude, fashioning the way
In which her voice should wander. 'Twas a lay
More subtle-cadenced, more forest-wild
Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child ; " Ac.
VENUS AND ADONIS.
Venus, playing one day with her boy Cupid, wounded
her bosom with one of his arrows. She pushed him away,
96 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES,
but the wound was deeper than she thought. Before
it healed she beheld Adonis, and was captivated with
him. She no longer took any interest in her favorite
resorts, — Paphos, and Cnidos, and Amathos, rich in met
als. She absented herself even from heaven, for Adonis
was dearer to her than heaven. Him she followed and
bore him company. She who used to love to recline in
the shade, with no care but to cultivate her charms, now
rambles through the woods and over the hills, dressed like
the huntress Diana ; and calls her dogs, and chases hares
and stags, or other game that it is safe to hunt, but keeps
clear of the wolves and bears, reeking with the slaughter
of the herd. She charged Adonis, too, to beware of such
dangerous animals. " Be brave towards the timid," said
she ; " courage against the courageous' is not safe. Be
ware how you expose yourself to danger, and put my
happiness to risk. Attack not the beasts that Nature has
armed with weapons. I do not value your glory so high
as to consent to purchase it by such exposure. Your
youth, and the beauty that charms Venus, will not touch
the hearts of lions and bristly boars. Think of their
terrible claws and prodigious strength ! I hate the whole
race of them. Do you ask me why ? " Then she told
him the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes, who were
changed into lions for their ingratitude to her.
Having given him this warning, she mounted her char
iot drawn by swans, and drove away through the air.
But Adonis was too noble to heed such counsels. The
dogs had roused a wild boar from his lair, and the youth
threw his spear and wounded the animal with a sidelong
stroke. The beast drew out the weapon with his jaws,
and rushed after Adonis, who turned and ran ; but the
boar overtook him, and buried his tusks in his side, and
stretched him d^ing upon the plain.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 97
Venus, in her swan-drawn chariot, had not yet reached
Cyprus, when she heard coming up through mid air the
groans of her beloved, and turned her white-winged cours-
nrs back to earth. As she drew near and saw from on high
his lifeless body bathed in blood, she alighted, and bending
over it beat her breast and tore her hair. Reproaching
the Fates, she said, " Yet theirs shall be but a partial
triumph ; memorials of my grief shall endure, and the
spectacle of your death, my Adonis, and of my lamenta
tion shall be annually renewed. Your blood shall be
changed into a flower; that consolation none can envy
me." Thus speaking, she sprinkled nectar on the blood ;
and as they mingled, bubbles rose as in a pool, on which
raindrops fall, and in an hour's time there sprang up a
flower of bloody hue like that of the pomegranate. But
it is short-lived. It is said the wind blows the blossoms
open, and afterwards blows the petals away ; so it is called
Anemone, or Wind Flower, from the cause which assists
equally in its production and its decay.
Milton alludes to the story of Venus and Adonis in his
Comus • —
" Beds of hyacinth and roses
Where young Adonis oft reposes,
Waxing well of his deep wound
In slumber soft, and on the ground
Sadly sits th' Assyrian queen ; " &c.
APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS.
Apollo was passionately fond of a youth named Hya-
cinthus. He accompanied him in his sports, carried the
nets when he went fishing, led the dogs when he went to
9
98 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
hunt, followed him in his excursions in the mountains, and
neglected for him his lyre and his arrows. One day they
played a game of quoits together, and Apollo, heaving
aloft the discus, with strength mingled with skill, sent it
high and far. Hyacinthus watched it as it flew, and ex
cited with the sport ran forward to seize it, eager to make
his throw, when the quoit bounded from the earth and
struck him in the forehead. He fainted and fell. The
go'l, as pale as himself, raised him and tried all his art to
stanch the wound and retain the flitting life, but all in
vain ; the hurt was past the power of medicine. As when
one has broken the stem of a lily in the garden it hangs
its head and turns its flowers to the earth, so the head of
the dying boy, as if too heavy for his neck, fell over on
his shoulder. " Thou diest, Hyacinth," so spoke Phoebus,
" robbed of thy youth by me. Thine is the suffering,
mine the crime. Would that I could die for thee ! But
since that may not be, thou shalt live with me in memory
and in song. My lyre shall celebrate thee, my song shall
tell thy fate, and thou shalt become a flower inscribed with
my regrets." While Apollo spoke, behold the blood which
had flowed on the ground and stained the herbage, ceased
to be blood ; but a flower of hue more beautiful than the
Tyrian sprang up, resembling the lily, if it were not that
this is purple and that silvery white.* And this was not
enough for Phoebus ; but to confer still greater honor, he
marked the petals with his sorrow, and inscribed " Ah !
ah ! " upon them, as we see to this day. The flower bears
the name of Hyacinthus, and with every returning spring
revives the memory of his fate.
* It is evidently not our modern hyacinth that is here described. It
is perhaps some species of iris, or perhaps of larkspur, or of pansy.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 99
It was said that Zephyrus, (the West-wind,) who was
also fond of Hyacinthus and jealous of his preference of
Apollo, blew the quoit out of its course to make it strike
Hyacinthus. Keats alludes to this in his Endymion, where
he describes the lookers-on at the game of quoits : —
** Or they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent
On either side, pitying the sad death
Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath
Of Zephyr slew him ; Zephyr penitent,
Who now ere Phoebus mounts the firmament,
Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain."
An allusion to Hyacinthus will also be recognized in
Milton's Lycidas : —
" lake to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe."
100 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Ceyx and Halcyone.
CHAPTER IX.
CEYX AND HALCYONE: OR, THE HALCYON BIRDS
CEYX was king of Thessaly, where be reigned in peace,
without violence or wrong. He was son of Hesperus, tha
Day-star, and the glow of his beauty reminded one of hia
father. Halcyone the daughter of JEolus was his ^\ife,
arid devotedly attached to him. Now Ceyx was in deep
affliction for the loss of his brother, and direful prodigies
following his brother's death made him feel as if the godt?
were hostile to him. He thought best therefore to make
a voyage to Claros in Ionia, to consult the oracle of Apoll*
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 101
But as soon as he disclosed his intention to his wife Hal
cyone, a shudder ran through her frame, and her face
grew deadly pale. " What fault of mine, dearest husband,
has turned your affection from me ? Where is that love
of me that used to be uppermost in your thoughts ? Have
you learned to feel easy in the absence of Halcyon^ ?
Would you rather have me away ? " She also endeavored
tc discourage him, by describing the violence of the winds,
wrhich she had known familiarly when she lived at home
in her father's house, JEolus being the god of the winds,
and having as much as he could do to restrain them.
" They rush together," said she, " with such fury that fire
flashes from the conflict. But if you must go," she added,
u dear husband, let me go with you, otherwise I shall suf
fer, not only the real evils which you must encounter, but
those also which my fears suggest."
These words weighed heavily on the mind of King
Ceyx, and it was no less his own wish than hers to take
her with him, but he could not bear to expose her to the
dangers of the sea. He answered therefore consoling her
as well as he could, and finished with these words : " I
promise, by the rays of my father the Day-star, that if
fate permits I will return before the moon shall have twice
rounded her orb." When he had thus spoken he ordered
the vessel to be drawn out of the shiphouse, and the oars
and sails to be put aboard. When Halcyone saw these
preparations she shuddered, as if with a presentiment of
evil. With tears and sobs she said farewell, and then fell
senseless to the ground.
Ceyx would still have lingered, but now the young
men grasped their oars and pulled vigorously through
the waves, with long and measured strokes. Halcyone
raised her streaming eyes, and saw her husband standing
9*
102 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
on the deck, waving his hand to her. She answered his
signal till the vessel had receded so far that she could no
longer distinguish his form from the rest. When the ves
sel itself could no more be seen, she strained her eyes to
catch the last glimmer of the sail, till that too disappeared.
Then, retiring to her chamber, she threw herself on her
solitary couch.
Meanwhile they glide out of the harbor, and the breeze
plays among the ropes. The seamen draw in their oars,
and hoist their sails. When half or less of their course
was passed, as night drew on, the sea began to whiten with
swelling waves, and the east wind to blow a gale. The
master gave the word to take in sail, but the storm forbade
obedience, for such is the roar of the winds and waves his
orders are unheard. The men, of their own accord, busy
themselves to secure the oars, to strengthen the ship, to reef
the sail. While they thus do what to each one seems best,
the storm increases. The shouting of the men, the rat
tling of the shrouds, and the dashing of the waves, mingle
with the roar of the thunder. The swelling sea seems
lifted up to the heavens, to scatter its foam among the
clouds ; then sinking away to the bottom assumes the color
of the shoal, — a Stygian blackness.
The vessel shares all these changes. It seems like a
wild beast that rushes on the spears of the hunters. Rain
falls in torrents, as if the skies were coming down to unite
with the sea. When the lightning ceases for a moment,
the night seems to add its own darkness to that of the
storm ; then conies the flash, rending the darkness asunder,
and lighting up all with a glare. Skill fails, courage sinks,
and death seems to come on every wave. The men are
stupefied with terror. The thought of parents, and kin
dred, and pledges left at home, comes over their minds
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 103
Ceyx thinks of Halcyone. No name but hers is on hia
lips, and while he yearns for her, he yet rejoices in her
absence. Presently the mast is shattered by a stroke of
lightning, the rudder broken, and the triumphant surge
curling over looks down upon the wreck, then falls, and
crushes it to fragments. Some of the seamen, stunned by
the stroke, sink, and rise no more ; others cling to frag
ments of the wreck. Ceyx, with the hand that used to
grasp the sceptre, holds fast to a plank, calling for help,
— alas, in vain, — upon his father and his father-in-law.
But oftenest on his lips was the name of Halcyone. To
her his thoughts cling. He prays that the waves may
bear his body to her sight, and that it may receive burial
at her hands. At length the waters overwhelm him, and
he sinks. The Day-star looked dim that night. Since it
could not leave the heavens, it shrouded its face with
clouds.
In the meanwhile Halcyone, ignorant of all these hor
rors, counted the days till her husband's promised return.
Now she gets ready the garments which he shall put on,
and now what she shall wear when he arrives. To all the
gods she offers frequent incense, but more than all to Juno.
For her husband, who was no more, she prayed incessant
ly ; that he might be safe ; that he might come home ;
that he might not, in his absence, see any one that he
would love better than her. But of all these prayers, the
last was the only one destined to be granted. The goddess,
at length, could not bear any longer to be pleaded with for
one already dead, and to have hands raised to her altars,
that ought rather to be offering funeral rites. So, calling
Iris, she said, " Iris, my faithful messenger, go to the
drowsy dwelling of Somnus, and tell him to send a vision
to Halcyone, in the form of Ceyx, to make known to her
the event."
104 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Iiis puts on her robe of many colors, and tinging the
sky with her bow, seeks the palace of the King of Sleep
Near the Cimmerian country, a mountain cave is the
abode of the dull god, Somnus. Here Phoebus dares not
come, either rising, at midday or setting. Clouds and
shadows are exhaled from the ground, and the light glim-
mers faintly. The bird of dawning, with crested head,
never there calls aloud to Aurora, nor watchful dog, nor
more sagacious goose disturbs the silence. No wild beast,
nor cattle, nor branch moved with the wind, nor sound of
human conversation, breaks the stillness. Silence reigns
there ; but from the bottom of the rock the River Lethe
flows, and by its murmur invites to sleep. Poppies grow
abundantly before the door of the cave, and other herbs,
from whose juices Night collects slumbers, which she scat
ters over the darkened earth. There is no gate to the
mansion, to creak on its hinges, nor any watchman ; but
in the midst, a couch of black ebony, adorned with black
plumes and black curtains. There the god reclines, his
limbs relaxed with sleep. Around him lie dreams, resem
bling all various forms, as many as the harvest bears stalks,
or the forest leaves, or the seashore sandgrains.
As soon as the goddess entered and brushed away the
dreams that hovered around her, her brightness lit up all
flie cave. The god, scarce opening his eyes, and ever and
anon dropping his beard upon his breast, at last shook
himself free from himself, and leaning on his arm, en
quired her errand, — for lie knew who she was. She an
swered, " Somnus, gentlest of the gods, tranquillizer of
minds and soother of care-worn hearts, Juno /••<• u's you
her commands that you despatch a dream to Halc/v.ne, in
the city of Trachine, representing her lost husband and
all the events of the wreck."
S1ORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 105
Having delivered her message, Iris hasted away, for she
could not longer endure the stagnant air, and as she fell
drowsiness creeping over her, she made her escape, and
returned by her bow the way she came. Then Somnua
called one of his numerous sons, — Morpheus, — the most
expert in counterfeiting forms, and in imitating the walk,
the countenance, and mode of speaking, even the clothes
and attitudes most characteristic of each. But he only
imitates men, leaving it to another to personate birds,
beasts, and serpents. Him they call Icelos ; and Phan-
tasos is a third, who turns himself into rocks, waters,
woods, and other things without life. These wait upon
kings and great personages in their sleeping hours, while
others move among the common people. Somnus chose,
from all the brothers, Morpheus, to perform the command
of Iris ; then laid his head on his pillow and yielded him
self to grateful repose.
Morpheus flew, making no noise with his wings, and
soon came to the Hasmonian city, where, laying aside his
wings, he assumed the form of Ceyx. Under that form,
but pale like a dead man, naked, he stood before the couch
of the wretched wife. His beard seemed soaked with wa
ter, and water trickled from his drowned locks. Leaning
over the bed, tears streaming from his eyes, he said, " Do
you recognize your Ceyx, unhappy wife, or has death too
much changed my visage ? Behold me, know me, yoar
husband's shade, instead of himself. Your prayers, Hal-
cyone, availed me nothing. I am dead. No more deceive
yourself with vain hopes of my return. The stormy winds
sunk my ship in the ^Egean Sea, waves filled my mouth
while it called aloud on you. No uncertain messenger
tells you this, no vague rumor brings it to your ears. J
come in person, a shipwrecked man, to tell you my fate.
100 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Arise ! give me tears, give me lamentations, let me not go
down to Tartarus unwept." To these words Morpheus
added the voice which seemed to be that of her husband
he seemed to pour forth genuine tears ; his hands had the
gestures of Ceyx.
Halcyone, weeping, groaned, and stretched out her anna
in her sleep, striving to embrace his body, but grasping
only the air. " Stay ! " she cried ; " whither do you fly ?
let us go together." Her own voice awakened her.
Starting up, she gazed eagerly around, to see if he was
still present, for the servants, alarmed by her cries, had
brought a light. When she found him not, she smote her
breast and rent her garments. She cares not to unbind
her hair, but tears it wildly. Her nurse asks what is the
cause of her grief. " Halcyone is no more," she answers,
" she perished with her Ceyx. Utter not words of com
fort, he is shipwrecked and dead. I have seen him, I
have recognized him. I stretched out my hands to seize
him and detain him. His shade vanished, but it was the
true shade of my husband. Not with the accustomed
features, not with the beauty that was his, but pale, naked,
and with his hair wet with sea-water, he appeared to
wretched me. Here, in this very spot, the sad vision
stood," — and she looked to find the mark of his footsteps.
" This it was, this that my presaging mind foreboded, when I
implored him not to leave me, to trust himself to the waves.
0, how I wish, since thou wouldst go, thou hadst taken me
with thee ! It would have been far better. Then I should
have had no remnant of life to spend without thee, nor a
separate death to die. If I could be?r to live and strug
gle to endure, I should be more cruel to myself than the
sea has been to me. But I will not struggle, I will not be
separated from thee, unhappy husband. This time, ai
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 107
least, I will keep thee company. In death, if one tomb
may not include us, one epitaph shall ; if I may not lay
my ashes with thine, my name, at least, shall not be sep
arated." Her grief forbade more words, and these were
broken with tears and sobs.
It was now morning. She went to the sea shore, and
sought the spot where she last saw him, on his departure.
" While he lingered here, and cast off his tacklings, he
gave me his last kiss." While she reviews every object,
and strives to recall every incident, looking out over the
sea, she descries an indistinct object floating in the water.
At first she was in doubt what it was, but by degrees the
waves bore it nearer, and it was plainly the body of a man.
Though unknowing of whom, yet, as it was of some ship
wrecked one, she was deeply moved, and gave it her tears,
saying, " Alas ! unhappy one, and unhappy, if such there
be, thy wife ! " Borne by the waves, it came nearer. As
she more and more nearly views it, she trembles more and
more. Now, now it approaches the shore. Now marks
that she recognizes appear. It is her husband ! Stretch
ing out her trembling hands towards it, she exclaims, " 0,
dearest husband, is it thus you return to me ? "
There was built out from the shore a mole, constructed
to break the assaults of the sea, and stem its violent in
gress. She leaped upon this barrier and (it was wonderful
she could do so,) she flew, and striking the air with wings
produced on the instant, skimmed along the surface of
the water, an unhappy bird. As she flew, her throat
poured forth sounds full of grief, and like the voice of one
lamenting. When she touched the mute and bloodless
body, she enfolded its beloved limbs with her new-formed
wings, and tried to give kisses with her horny beak.
Whether Ceyx felt it, or whether it was only the action
108 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
of the waves, those who looked on doubted, but the bodj
seemed to raise its head. But indeed he did feel it, and
by the pitying gods both of them were changed into birds.
They mate and have their young ones. For seven placid
days, in winter time, Halcyone broods over her nest,
which floats upon the sea. Then the way is safe to sea
men. JEolus guards the winds and keeps them from dis
turbing the deep. The sea is given up, for the time, to
his grandchildren.
The following lines from Byron's Bride of Abydos
might seem borrowed from the concluding part of this
description, if it were not stated that the author derived
the suggestion from observing the motion of a floating
corpse.
" As shaken on his restless pillow,
His head heaves with the heaving billow ;
That hand, whose motion is nor life,
Yet feebly seems to menace strife,
Flung by the tossing tide on high,
Then levelled with the wave "
Milton in his Hymn to the Nativity thus alludes to the
fable of the Halcyon : —
" But peaceful was the night
Wherein the Prince of light
His reign of peace upon the earth began ;
The winds with wonder whist
Smoothly the waters kist
Whispering new joys to the mild ocean,
Who now hath quite forgot to rave
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed ware
Keats also in Endymion says, —
" O magic sleep ! O comfortable bird
That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind
Till it is hushed and smooth."
STORIES OF GODS AND IIEKOES-
103
Vcrtumnus and Pomona.
CHAPTER X.
VERTUMNUS AND POMONA
THE Hamadryads were "Wood-nymphs. Pomona was
of this class, and no one excelled her in love of the gar
den and the culture of fruit. She cared not for forests
and rivers, but loved the cultivated country and trees that
bear delicious apples. Her right hand bore for its weapon
not a javelin, but a pruning-knife. Armed with this, she
busied herself at one time to repress the too luxuriant
growths, and curtail the branches that straggled out of
place ; at another, to split the twig and insert therein a
graft, making the branch adopt a nursling not its own.
She took care, too, that her favorites should not suffer
from drought, and led streams of water by them that the
thirsty roots might drink. This occupation was her pur
suit, her passion ; and she was free from that which
Venus inspires. She was not without fear of the country
10
110 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
people, and kept her orchard locked, and allowed not men
to enter. The Fauns and Satyrs would have given all
they possessed to win her, and so would old Syh anus,
who looks young for his years, and Pan, who wears a
garland of pine leaves around his head. But Vertumnus
loved her best of all ; yet he sped no better than the rest.
O, how often, in the disguise of a reaper, did he bring
her corn in a basket, and looked the very image of a
reaper ! With a hay band tied round him, one would
think he had just come from turning over the grass.
Sometimes he would have an ox-goad in his hand, and
you would have said he had just unyoked his weary oxen.
Now he bore a pruning-hook, and personated a vine
dresser; and again with a ladder on his shoulder, he
seemed as if he was going to gather apples. Sometimes
he trudged along as a discharged soldier, and again he
bore a fishing-rod as if going to fish. In this way, he
gained admission to her, again and again, and fee! his
passion with the sight of her.
One day he came in the guise of an old woman, her
gray hair surmounted with a cap, and a staff in her hand.
She entered the garden and admired the fruit. *' It does
you credit, my dear," she said, and kissed her, not exactly
with an old woman's kiss. She sat down on a bank, and
looked up at the branches laden with fruit which hung
over her. Opposite was an elm entwined with a vine
loaded with swelling grapes. She praised the tree and
its associated vine, equally. " But," said she, " if the tree
stood alone, and had no vine clinging to it, it would have
nothing to attract or offer us but its useless leaves. And
equally the vine, if it were not twined round the elm,
would lie prostrate on the ground. Why will you not take
it lesson from the tree and the vine, and consent to unit*3
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
in
yourself with some oner I wish you would. Helec
herself had not more numerous suitors, nor Penelope, the
wife of shrewd Ulysses. Even while you spurn them,
they court you, — rural deities and others of every kind
that frequent these mountains. But if you are prudem
and want to make a good alliance, and will let an old
woman advise you, — who loves you better than you have
any idea of, — dismiss all the rest and accept Vertumnus,
on my recommendation. I know him as well as he knows
himself. He is not a wandering deity, but belongs to
these mountains. Nor is he like too many of the lovers
nowadays, who love any one they happen to see; he
loves you, and you only. Add to this, he is young and
handsome, and has the art of assuming any shape he
pleases, and can make himself just what you command
him. Moreover, he loves the same things that you do,
delights in gardening, and handles your apples with admi
ration. But now he cares nothing for fruits, nor flowers,
nor any thing else, but only yourself. Take pity on him,
and fancy him speaking now with my mouth. Remember
that the gods punish cruelty, and that Venus hates a hard
heart, and will visit such offences sooner or later. To
prove this, let me tell you a story, which is well known in
Cyprus to be a fact ; and I hope it will have the effect to
make you more merciful.
"Iphis was a young man of humble parentage, who
saw and loved Anaxarete, a noble lady of the ancient
family of Teucer. He struggled long with his passion,
but when he found he could not subdue it, he came a
suppliant to her mansion. First he told his passion to her
nurse, and begged her as she loved her foster-child to
favcr his suit. And then he tried to win her domestics to
his side. Sometimes he committed his vows to written
112 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
tablets, and often hung at her door garlands which he had
moistened with his tears. He stretched himself on her
threshold, and uttered his complaints to the cruel bolts
and bars. She was deafer than the surges which rise in
the November gale ; harder than steel from the G erman
forges, or a rock that still clings to its native cliff. She
mocked and laughed at him, adding cruel words to her
ungentle treatment, and gave not the slightest gleam
of hope.
" Iphis could not any longer endure the torments of
hopeless love, and, standing before her doors, he spake
these last words : * Anaxarete, you have conquered, and
shall no longer have to bear my importunities. Enjoy
your triumph ! Sing songs of joy, and bind your forehead
with laurel, — you have conquered! I die; stony heart,
rejoice ! This at least I can do to gratify you, and force
you to praise me ; and thus shall I prove that the love of
you left me but with life. Nor will I leave it to rumor to
tell you of my death. I will come myself, and you shall
see me die, and feast your eyes on the spectacle. Yet, 0,
ye gods, who look down on mortal woes, observe my fate !
I ask but this ; let me be remembered in coming ages, and
add those years to my fame which you have reft from my
life.' Thus he said, and, turning his pale face and weep
ing eyes towards her mansion, he fastened a rope to the
gate-post, on which he had often hung garlands, and put
ting his head into the noose, he murmured, ' This garland
at least will please you, cruel girl ! ' and falling hung
suspended with his neck broken. As he fell he struck
against the gate, and the sound was as the sound of a
groan. The servants opened the door and found him
dead, and with exclamations of pity raised him and car
ried him home to his mother, for his father was not living
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 113
She received the dead body of her son, and folded the
cold form to her bosom ; while she poured forth the sad
words which bereaved mothers utter. The mournful
funeral passed through the town, and the pale corpse was
borne on a bier to the place of the funeral pile. By
chance the home of Anaxarete was on the street where
(he procession passed, and the lamentations of the mourn
ers met the ears of her whom the avenging deity had
already marked for punishment.
" ' Let us see this sad procession,' said she, and mounted
to a turret, whence through an open window she looked
upon the funeral. Scarce had her eyes rested upon the
form of I phis stretched on the bier, when they began to
stiifen, and the warm blood in her body to become cold.
Endeavoring to step back, she found she could not move
her feet ; trying to turn away her face, she tried in vain ;
and by degrees all her limbs became stony like her heart.
That you may not doubt the fact, the statue still remains,
and stands in the temple of Venus at Salamis, in the ex
act form of the lady. Now think of these things, my
dear, and lay aside your scorn and your delays, and accept
a lover. So may neither the vernal frosts blight your
young fruits, nor furious winds 'scatter your blossoms!"
When Vertumnus had spoken thus, he dropped the
disguise of an old woman, and stood before her in his
proper person, as a comely youth. It appeared to her
like the sun bursting through a cloud. He would have
renewed his entreaties, but there was no need ; his argu
ments and the sight of his true form prevailed, and the
Nymph no longer resisted, but owned a mutual flame.
Pomona was the especial patroness of the Apple-
orchard, and as such she was invoked by Phillips, the
10*
114 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
author of a poem on Cider, in blank verse. Thomson
in the Seasons alludes to him: —
" Phillips, Pomona's bard, the second thou
Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse,
With British freedom, sing the British song."
But Pomona was also regarded as presiding over othei
fruits, and as such is invoked by Thomson : —
" Bear me, Pomona, to thy citron groves,
To where the lemon and the piercing lime,
With the deep orange, glowing through the green,
Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclined
Beneath the spreading tamarind, that shakes,
Fumed by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit."
8TORIKS OF GODS AND HEROES. 115
CHAPTER XI.
CUPID AND PSYCHE.
A CERTAIN king and queen had three daughters. The
charms of the two elder were more than common, bat the
beauty of the youngest was so wonderful that the poverty
of language is unable to express its due praise. The
fame of her beauty was so great that strangers from neigh
boring countries came in crowds to enjoy the sight, and
looked on her with amazement, paying her that homage
which is due only to Venus herself. In fact Venus found
her altars deserted, while men turned their devotion to
this young virgin. As she passed along, the people sang
her praises, and strewed her way with chaplets and
flowers.
This perversion of homage due only to the immortal
powers to the exaltation of a mortal gave great offence to
the real Venus. Shaking her ambrosial locks with indig
nation, she exclaimed, 4t Am I then to be eclipsed in my
honors by a mortal girl? In vain then did that royal
shepherd whose judgment was approved by Jove himself,
give me the palm of beauty over my illustrious rivals,
Pallas and Juno. But she shall not so quietly usurp my
honors. I will give her cause to repent of so unlawful a
beauty."
Thereupon she calls her wingf/d son Cupid, mischievous
enough in his own nature, and rouses and provokes him
yet more by her complaints. She points out Psyche to
116 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
him and says, " My dear son, punish that contumacious
beauty ; give thy mother a revenge as sweet as her in
juries are great ; infuse into the bosom of that haughty girl
a passion for some low, mean, unworthy being, so that she
may reap a mortification as great as her present exultation
and triumph."
Cupid prepared to obey the commands of his mother.
There are two fountains in Venus's garden, one of sweet
waters, the other of bitter. Cupid filled two amber vases,
one from each fountain, and suspending them from the top
of his quiver, hastened to the chamber of Psyche, whom
he found asleep. He shed a few drops from the bitter
fountain over her lips, though the sight of her almost
moved him to pity ; then touched her side with the point
of his arrow. At the touch she awoke, and opened
eyes upon Cupid (himself invisible) which so startled him
that in his confusion he wounded himself with his own
arrow. Heedless of his wound his whole thought now
was to repair the mischief he had done, and he poured
the balmy drops of joy over all her silken ringlets.
Psyche, henceforth frowned upon by Venus, derived no
benefit from all her charms. True, all eyes were cast
eagerly upon her, and every mouth spoke her praises ;
but neither king, royal youth, nor plebeian presented him
self to demand her in marriage. Her two elder sisters
of moderate charms had now long been married to two
royal princes ; but Psyche, in her lonely apartment, de
plored her solitude, sick of that beauty, which while it
procured abundance of flattery, had tailed to awaken
love.
Her parents, afraid that they had unwittingly incurred
the anger of the gods, consulted the oracle of Apollo, and
received this answer "The virgin is destined for the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 117
bride of no mortal lover. Her future husband awaits hex
on the top of the mountain. He is a monster whom nei
ther gods nor men can resist."
This dreadful decree of the oracle filled all the people
with dismay, and her parents abandoned themselves to
grief. But Psyche said, " Why, my dear parents, do you
now lament me ? You should rather have grieved whei\
the people showered upon me undeserved honors, and with
one voice called me a Venus. I now perceive that 1 am
a victim to that name. I submit. Lead me to that rock
to which my unhappy fate has destined me." According
ly, all things being prepared, the royal maid took her
place in the procession, which more resembled a funeral
than a nuptial pomp, and with her parents, amid the lam
entations of the people, ascended the mountain, on the
summit of which they left her alone, and with sorrowful
hearts returned home.
While Psyche stood on the ridge of the mountain, pant
ing with fear and with eyes full of tears, the gentle Zephyr
raised her from the earth and bore her with an easy mo
tion into a flowery dale. By degrees her mind became
composed, and she laid herself down on the grassy bank
to sleep. When she awoke refreshed with sleep, she
looked round and beheld near by a pleasant grove of tall
and stately trees. She entered it, and in the midst dis
covered a fountain, sending forth clear and crystal waters,
and fast by, a magnificent palace whose august front im
pressed the spectator that it was not the work of mortal
hands, but the happy retreat of some god. Drawn by
admiration and wonder she approached the building and
ventured to enter. Every object she met filled her with
pleasure and amazement. Golden pillars supported the
vaulted roof, and the walls were enriched with carvings
118 STORIES OF GODS AND HEKOES.
and paintings representing beasts of the chase and rural
scenes, adapted to delight the eye of the beholder. Pro
ceeding onward she perceived that besides the apartments
of state there were others filled with all manner of treas
ures, and beautiful and precious productions of nature
and art.
While her eyes were thus occupied, a voice addressed
her, though she saw no one, uttering these words : " Sov
ereign lady, all that you see is yours. We whose voices
you hear are your servants and shall obey all your com
mands with our utmost care and diligence. Retire there
fore to your chamber and repose on your bed of down,
and when you see fit repair to the bath. Supper awaits
you in the adjoining alcove when it pleases you to take
your seat there."
Psyche gave ear to the admonitions of her vocal at
tendants, and after repose and the refreshment of the bath,
seated herself in the alcove, where a table immediately
presented itself, without any visible aid from waiters or
servants, and covered with the greatest delicacies of food
and the most nectareous wines. Her ears too were feasted
with music from invisible performers ; of whom one sang,
another played on the lute, and all closed in the wonderful
harmony of a full chorus.
She had not yet seen her destined husband. He came
only in the hours of darkness and fled before the dawn of
morning, but his accents were full of love, and inspired a
like passion in her. She often begged him to stay and let
her behold him, but he would not consent. On the con
trary he charged her to make no attempt to see him, for
it was his pleasure, for the best of reasons, to keep con
cealed. " Why should you wish to behold me ? " he said
"have you any doubt of my love? have you any wish
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 119
angratified ? If you saw me, perhaps you would fear me,
perhaps adore me, but all I ask of you is to love me. 1
would rather you would love me as an equal than adore
me as a god."
This reasoning somewhat quieted Psyche for a time,
and while the novelty lasted she felt quite happy. But
at length the thought of her parents, left in ignorance of
her fate, and of her sisters, precluded from sharing with
her the delights of her situation, preyed on her mind and
made her begin to feel her palace as but a splendid prison.
When her husband came one night, she told him her dis
tress, and at last drew from him an unwilling consent that
her sisters should be brought to see her.
So calling Zephyr, she acquainted him with her hus
band's commands, and he, promptly obedient, soon brought
them across the mountain down to their sister's valley.
They embraced her and she returned their caresses.
" Come," said Psyche, " enter with me my house and re
fresh yourselves with whatever your sister has to offer.
Then taking their hands she led them into her golden
palace, and committed them to the care of her numerous
train of attendant voices, to refresh them in her baths and
at her table, and to show them all her treasures. The
view of these celestial delights caused envy to enter their
bosoms, at seeing their young sister possessed of such state
and splendor, so much exceeding their own.
They asked her numberless questions, among otLers
what sort of a person her husband was. Psyche replied
that he was a beautiful youth, who generally spent the
daytime in hunting upon the mountains. The sisters, not
satisfied with this reply, soon made her confess that she
had never seen him. Then they proceeded to fill her
bosom with dark suspicions. " Call to mind," they said,
120 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
* the Pythian oracle that declared you destined to marrj
a direful and tremendous monster. The inhabitants of
this valley say that your husband is a terrible and mon
strous serpent, who nourishes you for a while with dain
ties that he may by and by devour you. Take our advice,
Provide youix-if with a lamp and a sharp knife; put
them in concealment that your husband may not discover
them, and when he is sound asleep, slip out of bed, bring
forth your lamp and see for yourself whether what they
say is true or not. If it is, hesitate not to cut off the
monster's head, and thereby recover your liberty."
Psyche resisted these persuasions as well as she could,
but they did not fail to have their effect on her mind, and
when her sisters were gone, their words and her own curi
osity were too strong for her to resist. So she prepared
her lamp and a sharp knife, and hid them out of sight of
her husband. When he had fallen into his first sleep, she
silently rose and uncovering her lamp beheld not a hid
eous monster, but the most beautiful and charming of the
gods, with his golden ringlets wandering over his snowy
neck and crimson cheek, with two dewy wings on his
shoulders, whiter than snow, and with shining feathers
like the tender blossoms of spring. As she leaned the
lamp over to have a nearer view of his face a drop of
burning oil fell on the shoulder of the god, startled with
which he opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her ;
then, without saying one word, he spread his white wing3
and flew out of the window. Psyche, in vain endeavoring
to follow him, fell from the window to the ground. Cupid,
beholding her as she lay in the dust, stopped his flight for
an instant and said, " O foolish Psyche, is it thus you re
pay my love ? After having disobeyed my mother's com
mands and made you my wife, will you think me a monstei
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 121
and cut off my head? But go; return to your sisters,
whose advice you seein to think preferable to mine. I
inflict no other punishment on you than to leave you for
ever. Love cannot dwell with suspicion." So saying he
fled away leaving poor Psyche prostrate on the ground,
filling the place with mournful lamentations.
When she had recovered some degree of composure she
looked around her, but the palace and gardens had van
ished, and she found herself in the open field not far from
the city where her sisters dwelt. She repaired thither
and told them the whole story of her misfortunes, at which,
pretending to grieve, those spiteful creatures inwardly re
joiced ; " for now," said they, " he will perhaps choose one
of us." With this idea, without saying a word of her in
tentions, each of them rose early the next morning and
ascended the mountain, and having reached the top, called
upon Zephyr to receive her and bear her to his lord ; then
leaping up, and not being sustained by Zephyr, fell down
the precipice and was dashed to pieces.
Psyche meanwhile wandered day and night, without
food or repose, in search of her husband. Casting her
eyes on a lofty mountain having on its brow a magnificent
temple, she sighed and said to herself, " Perhaps rny love,
my lord, inhabits there," and directed her steps thither.
She had no sooner entered than she saw heaps of corn,
some in loose ears and some in sheaves, with mingled ears
of barley. Scattered about lay sickles and rakes, and all
the instruments of harvest, without order, as if thrown
carelessly out of the weary reapers' hands in the sultry
hours of the day.
This unseemly confusion the pious Psyche put an end
to, by separating and sorting every thing to its proper
place and kind, believing that she ought to neglect none
11
122
BTORIK8 OF GODS AND HEROES.
of the gods, but endeavor by her piety to engage them all
in her behalf. The holy Ceres, whose temple it was, find
ing her so religiously employed, thus spoke to her : *' 0
Psyche, truly worthy of our pity, though I cannot shield
you from the frowns of Venus, yet I can teach you how
best to allay her displeasure. Go then and voluntarily
surrender yourself to your lady and sovereign, and try by
modesty and submission to win her forgiveness, and per
haps her favor will restore you the husband you have lost."
Psyche obeyed the commands of Ceres and took her
way to the temple of Venus, endeavoring to fortify her
mind and ruminating on what she should say and how best
propitiate the angry goddess, feeling that the issue was
doubtful and perhaps fatal.
Psyche, in terror of Venus.
Venus received her with angry countenance. " Most
andutifvl and faithless of servants," said she. " do you al
last remember that you really have a mistress ? Or have
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 123
you rather come to see your sick husband, yet laid up of
the wound given him by his loving wife ? You are so ill-
favored and disagreeable that the only way you can merit
your lover must be by dint of industry and diligence. I
will make trial of your housewifery." Then she ordered
Psyche to be led to the storehouse of her temple, where
was laid up a great quantity of wheat, barley, millet,
vetches, beans, and lentils prepared for food for her pi
geons, and said, " Take and separate all these grains, put
ting all of the same kind in a parcel by themselves, and
see that you get it done before evening." Then Venus
departed and left her to her task.
But Psyche, in a perfect consternation at the enormous
work, sat stupid and silent, without moving a finger to the
inextricable heap.
While she sat despairing Cupid stirred up the little ant,
a native of the fields, to take compassion on her. The
leader of the ant hill, followed by whole hosts of his six-
legged subjects, approached the heap, and with the utmost
diligence taking grain by grain, they separated the pile,
sorting each kind to its parcel ; and when it was all done,
they vanished out of sight in a moment.
Venus at the approach of twilight returned from the
banquet of the gods, breathing odors and crowned with
roses. Seeing the task done she exclaimed, " This is no
work of yours, wicked one, but his, whom to your own and
his misfortune you have enticed." So saying, she threw
her a piece of black bread for her supper and went
away.
Next morning Venus ordered Psyche to be called and
said to her, " Behold yonder grove which stretches along
the margin of the water. There you will find sheep feed
ing without a shepherd, with golden-shining Heeces oc
124 STORIES OF G01>S AND HEROES.
their backs. Go, fetch me a sample of that precious wool
gathered from every one of their fleeces."
Psyche obediently went to the river side, prepared to
do her best to execute the command. But the river god
inspired the reeds with harmonious murmurs, which
seemed to say, " O maiden, severely tried, tempt not the
dangerous flood, nor venture among the formidable rams
on the other side, for as long as they are under the in
fluence of the rising sun, they burn with a cruel rage to
destroy mortals writh their sharp horns or rude teeth. But
when the noontide sun has driven the cattle to the shade,
and the serene spirit of the flood has lulled them to rest,
you may then cross in safety, and you will find the woolly
gold sticking to the bushes and the trunks of the trees."
Thus the compassionate river god gave Psyche instruc
tions how to accomplish her task, and by observing his
directions she soon returned to Venus with her arms full
of the golden fleece ; but she received not the approbation
of her implacable mistress, who said, " I know very well
it is by none of your own doings that you have succeeded
in this task, and I am not satisfied yet that you have any
capacity to make yourself useful. But I have another
task for you. Here, take this box, and go your way to
the infernal shades, and give this box to Proserpine and
say, <k My mistress Venus desires you to send her a little
of your beauty, for in tending her sick son she has lost
some of her own. Be not too long on your errand, for I
must paint myself with it to appear at the circle of the
gods and goddesses this evening."
Psyche was now satisfied that her destruction was at
hand, being obliged to go with her own feet directly down
to Erebus. Wherefore, to make no delay of what was
oot to be avoided, she goes to the top of a high tower tc
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 125
precipitate herself headlong, thus to descend the shortest
way to the shades below. But a voice from the tower
said to her, "Why, poor unlucky girl, dost thou design to
put an end to thy days in so dreadful a manner ? And
what cowardice makes thee sink under this last danger
who hast been so miraculously supported in all thy for
mer ? " Then the voice told her how by a certain cave she
might reach the realms of Pluto, and how to avoid all the
dangers of the road, to pass by Cerberus, the three-headed
dog, and prevail on Charon, the ferryman, to take her
across the black river and bring her back again. But the
voice added, " When Proserpine has given you the box,
filled with her beauty, of all things this is chiefly to be
observed by you, that you never once open or look into
the box nor allow your curiosity to pry into the treasure
of the beauty of the goddesses."
Psyche encouraged by this advice obeyed it in all things,
and taking heed to her ways travelled safely to the king
dom of Pluto. She was admitted to the palace of Pros
erpine, and without accepting the delicate seat or delicious
banquet that was offered her, but contented with coarse
bread for her food, she delivered her message from Venus.
Presently the box was returned to her, shut and filled
with the precious commodity. Then she returned the
way she came, and glad was she to come out once more
into the light of day.
But having got so far successfully through her dan
gerous task a longing desire seized her to examine the
contents of the box. "What," said she, "shall I, the
carrier of this divine beauty, not take the least bit to put
on my cheeks to appear to more advantage in the eyes of
my beloved husband ! " So she carefully opened the box,
but found nothing there of any beauty at all, but an
11*
126 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
infernal and truly Stygian sleep, which being thus set free
from its prison, took possession of her, and she fell down
in the midst of the road, a sleepy corpse without sense or
motion.
But Cupid, being now recovered from his wound, and
not able longer to bear the absence of his beloved Psyche,
slipping through the smallest crack of the window of his
chamber which happened to be left open, flew to the spot
where Psyche lay, and gathering up the sleep from her
body closed it again in the box, and waked Psyche with
a light touch of one of his arrows. "Again," said he,
" hast thou almost perished by the same curiosity. But
now perform exactly the task imposed on you by my
mother, and I will take care of the rest."
Then Cupid, as swift as lightning penetrating the heights
of heaven, presented himself before Jupiter with his sup
plication. Jupiter lent a favoring ear, and pleaded the
cause of the lovers so earnestly with Venus that he won her
consent. On this he sent Mercury to bring Psyche up to
the heavenly assembly, and when she arrived, handing
her a cup of ambrosia, he said, " Drink this, Psyche, and
be immortal ; nor shall Cupid ever break away from the
knot in which he is tied, but these nuptials shall be
perpetual."
Thus Psyche became at last united to Cupid, and in
due time they had a daughter born to them whose name
was Pleasure.
The fable of Cupid and Psyche is usually considered
allegorical. The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche,
and the same word means the soul. There is no illustra
tion of the immortality of the soul so striking and beau
tiful as the butterfly, bursting on brilliant wings from the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 127
tomb in which it has Iain, after a dull, grovelling, cater
pillar existence, to flutter in the blaze of day and feed on
the most fragrant and delicate productions of the spring.
Psyche then is the human soul, which is purified by suf
ferings and misfortunes, and is thus prepared for the en
joyment of true and pure happiness.
In works of art Psyche is represented as a maiden with
the wings of a butterfly, along with Cupid, in the different
situations described in the allegory.
Milton alludes to the story of Cupid and Psyche in the
conclusion of his Comus : —
" Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced,
Holds his dear Psyche sweet entranced,
After her wandering labors long,
Till free consent the gods among
Make her his eternal bride ;
And from her fair unspotted side
Two blissful twins are to be born,
Youth and Joy ; so Jove hath sworn."
The allegory of the story of Cupid and Psyche is well
presented in the beautiful lines of T. K. Harvey : —
" They wove bright fables in the days of old,
When reason borrowed fancy's painted wings ;
When truth's clear river flowed o'er sands of gold,
And told in song its high and mystic things !
And such the sweet and solemn tale of her
The pilgrim-heart, to whom a dream was given,
That led her through the world, — Love's worshipper,—
To seek on earth for him whose home was heaven !
"In the full city, — by the haunted fount, —
Through the dim grotto's tracery of spars, —
'Mid the pine temples, on the moon-lit mount,
Where silence sits to listen to the stars;
In the deep glade where dwells the brooding dove.
The painted valley, and the scented air,
She heard far echoes of the voice of Love,
And found his footsteps' traces every where.
128 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
' But never more they met ! since doubts and fears,
Those phantom-shapes that haunt and blight the earth.
Had come 'twixt her, a child of sin and tears,
And that bright spirit of immortal birth ;
Until her pining soul and weeping eyes
Had learned to seek him only in the skies ;
Till wings unto the wear)' heart were given,
And she became Love's angel bride in heaven ! "
Tho story of Cupid and Psyche first appears in the
works of Apuleius, a writer of the second century of our
era. It is therefore of much more recent date than most
of the legends of the Age of Fable. It is this that Keats
alludes to in his Ode to Psyche.
" 0 latest-born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy !
Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-regioned star
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor altar heaped with flowers ;
Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the midnight hours ;
No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet.
From chain-swung censer teeming ;
No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of pale-mouthed prophet dreaming."
In Moore's Summer Fete a fancy ball is described, in
which one of the characters personated is Psyche.
" not in dark disguise to-night
Hath our young heroine veiled her light ; —
For see, she walks the earth, Love's own.
His wedded bride, by holiest vow
Pledged in Olympus, and made known
To mortals by the type which now
Hangs glittering on her snowy brow,
That butterfly, mysterious trinket,
Which means the soul, (though few would tnink it *
And sparkling thus on brow so white
Tells us we ve Psyche here to-night."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Cadmus.
CHAPTER XII.
CADMUS — THE MYRMIDONS.
JUPITER, under the disguise of a bull, had carried away
Europa, the daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia.
Agenor commanded his son Cadmus to go in search of
his sister, and not to return without her. Cadmus weni
and sought long and far for his sister, but could not find
her, and not daring to return unsuccessful, consulted the
oracle of Apollo to know what country he should settle in.
The oracle informed him that he should find a cow in the
field, and should follow her whert^r she might wander,
130 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and where she stopped, should build a city and call it
Thebes. Cadmus had hardly left the Castalian cave,
from which the oracle was delivered, when he saw a young
cow slowly walking before him. He followed her close,
offering at the same time his prayers to Phoebus. The
cow went on till she passed the shallow channel of Cephi-
BUS and came out into the plain of Panope. There she
stood still, and raising her broad forehead to the sky, filled
the air with her lowings. Cadmus gave thanks, and
stooping down kissed the foreign soil, then lifting his eyes,
greeted the surrounding mountains. Wishing to offer a
sacrifice to Jupiter, he sent his servants to seek pure water
for a libation. Near by there stood an ancient grove
which had never been profaned by the axe, in the midst
of which was a cave, thick covered with the growth of
bushes, its roof forming a low arch, from beneath which
burst forth a fountain of purest water. In the cave lurked
a horrid serpent with a crested head and scales glittering
like gold. His eyes shone like fire, his body was swollen
with venom, he vibrated a triple tongue, and showed a
triple row of teeth. No sooner had the Tyrians dipped
their pitchers in the fountain, and the ingushing waters
made a sound, than the glittering serpent raised his head
out of the cave and uttered a fearful hiss. The vessels
fell from their hands, the blood left their cheeks, they
trembled in every limb. The serpent, twisting his scaly
body in a huge coil, raised his head so as to overtop the
tallest trees, and while the Tyrians from terror could
neither fight nor fly, slew some with his fangs, others in
his folds, and others with his poisonous breath.
Cadmus having waited for the return of his men till
midday, went in search of them. His covering was a
lion's hide, and besides his javelin he carried in his hand
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 13)
a lance, and in his breast a bold heart, a surer reliance
than either. When he entered the wood, and saw the
lifeless bodies of his men, and the monster with his bloody
jaws, he exclaimed, " O faithful friends, I will avenge
you, or share your death." So saying he lifted a huge
stone and threw it with all his force at the serpent. Such
a block would have shaken the wall of a fortress, but it
made no impression on the monster. Cadmus next threw
his javelin, which met with better success, for it pene
trated the serpent's scales, and pierced through to his
entrails. Fierce with pain the monster turned back his
head to view the wound, and attempted to draw out the
weapon with his mouth, but broke it off, leaving the iron
point rankling in his flesh. His neck swelled with rage,
bloody foam covered his jaws, and the breath of his nos
trils poisoned the air around. Now he twisted himself
into a circle, then stretched himself out on the ground like
the trunk of a fallen tree. As he moved onward, Cad
mus retreated before him, holding his spear opposite to
the monster's opened jaws. The serpent snapped at the
weapon and attempted to bite its iron point. At last Cad-
rnus watching his chance thrust the spear at a moment
when the animal's head thrown back came against the
trunk of a tree, and so succeeded in pinning him to its
side. His weight bent the tree as he struggled in the
agonies of death.
"While Cadmus stood over his conquered foe, contem
plating its vast size, a voice was heard (from whence he
knew not, but he heard it distinctly) commanding him to
take the dragon's teeth and sow them in the earth. He
obeyed. He made a furrow in the ground, and planted
the teeth, destined to produce a crop of men. Scarce had
he done so when the clods began to move, and the points
132 riTORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
of spears to appear above the surface. Next helmets
with their nodding plumes came up, and next the shoul
ders and breasts and limbs of men with weapons, and in-
time a harvest of armed warriors. Cadmus alarmed pre
pared to encounter a new enemy, but one of them said to
him, " Meddle not with our civil war." With that he who
had spoken smote one of his earth-born brothers with a
sword, and he himself fell pierced with an arrow from
another. The latter fell victim to a fourth, and in like
manner the whole crowd dealt with each other till all fell
slain with mutual wounds, except five survivors. One of
these cast away his weapons and said, " Brothers, let us
live in peace ! " These five joined with Cadmus in build
ing his city, to which they gave the name of Thebes.
Cadmus obtained in marriage Harmonia, the daughter
of Venus. The gods left Olympus to honor the occasion
with their presence, and Vulcan presented the bride with
a necklace of surpassing brilliancy, his own workmanship.
But a fatality hung over the family of Cadmus in conse
quence of his killing the serpent sacred to Mars. Semele
and Ino, his daughters, and Actason and Pentheus, his
grandchildren, all perished unhappily, and Cadmus and
Harmonia quitted Thebes, now grown odious to them, and
emigrated to the country of the Enchelians, who received
them with honor and made Cadmus their king. But the
misfortunes of their children still weighed Upon their
minds ; and one day Cadmus exclaimed, " If a serpent's
life is so dear to the gods, I would I were myself a ser
pent." No sooner had he uttered the words than he
began to change his form. Harmonia beheld it and
prayed to the gods to let her share his fate. Both became
serpents. They live in the woods, but mindful of their
origin, they neither avoid the presence of man, nor do
they ever injure any one.
STORIES OF £01>S AND HEROES. 133
There is a tradition that Cadmus introduced into Greece
the letters of the alphabet which were invented by the
Phoenicians. This is alluded to by Byron where address
ing the modern Greeks, he says, —
" You have the letters Cadmus gave,
Think you he meant them for a slave ? "
Milton, describing the serpent which tempted Eve, is
reminded of the serpents of the classical stories and says, —
" pleasing was his shape,
And lovely : never since of serpent kind
Lovelier ; not those that in Illyria changed
Hermione and Cadmus, nor the god
In Epidaurus."
For an explanation of the last allusion, see EPIDAUBUB.
THE MYRMIDONS.
The Myrmidons were the soldiers of Achilles, in the
Trojan war. From them all zealous and unscrupulous
followers of a political chief are called by that name, down
to this day. But the origin of the Myrmidons would not
give one the idea of a fierce and bloody race, but rather
of a laborious and peaceful one.
Cephalus, king of Athens, arrived in the island of
-ZEgina to seek assistance of his old friend and ally -ZEacus,
the king, in his war with Minos, king of Crete. Cepha
lus was most kindly received, and the desired assistance
readily promised. " I have people enough," said jEacus,
" to protect myself and spare you such a force as you
need." " I rejoice to see it," replied Cephalus, " and my
wonder has been raised, I confess, to find such a host of
vouths as I see around me, all apparently of about the
12
134 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
same age. Yet there are many individuals whom I pre
viously knew, that I look for now in vain. What has
become of them ? " ^Eacus groaned, and replied with a
voice of sadness, " I have been intending to tell you, and
will now do so, without more delay, that you may see
how from the saddest beginning a happy res lit sometimes
flows. Those whom you formerly knew are now dust and
ashes ! A plague sent by angry Juno devastated the land
She hated it because it bore the name of one of her
husband's female favorites. While the disease appeared
to spring from natural causes we resisted it as we best
might, by natural remedies ; but it soon appeared that the
pestilence was too powerful for our efforts, and we yielded.
At the beginning the sky seemed to settle down upon the
earth, and thick clouds shut in the heated air. For four
months together a deadly south wind prevailed. The dis
order affected the wells and springs ; thousands of snakes
crept over the land and shed their poison in the fountains.
The force of the disease was first spent on the lower ani
mals, dogs, cattle, sheep, and birds. The luckless plough
man wondered to see his oxen fall in the midst of their
work, and lie helpless in the unfinished furrow. The
wool fell from the bleating sheep, and their bodies pined
away. The horse once foremost in the race contested the
palm no more, but groaned at his stall and died an inglo
rious death. The wild boar forgot his rage, the stag his
swiftness, the bears no longer attacked the herds. Every
thing languished ; dead bodies lay in the roads, the fields,
and the woods ; the air was poisoned by them. I tell you
what is hardly credible, but neither dogs nor birds would
touch them, nor starving wolves. Their decay spread the
infection. Next the disease attacked the country people,
and then the dwellers in the city. At first the cheek waa
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 135
flushed, and the breath drawn with difficulty. The tongue
grew rou^h and swelled, and the dry mouth stood open
with its veins enlarged and gasped for the air. Men could
not bear the heat of their clothes or their beds, but pre
ferred to lie on the bare ground ; and the ground did not
cool them, but on the contrary, they heated the spot where
they lay. Nor could the physicians help, for the disease
attacked them also, and the contact of the sick gave them
infection, so that the most faithful were the first victims.
At last all hope of relief vanished, and men learned to
look upon death as the only deliverer from disease. Then
they gave way to every inclination, and cared not to ask
what was expedient, for nothing was expedient. All
restraint laid aside, they crowded around the wells and
fountains and drank till they died, without quenching
thirst. Many had not strength to get away from the
water, but died in the midst of the stream, and others
would drink of it notwithstanding. Such was their weari
ness of their sick beds that some would creep forth, and
if not strong enough to stand, would die on the ground.
They seemed to hate their friends, and got away from
their homes, as if, not knowing the cause of their sickness,
they charged it on the place of their abode. Some were
seen tottering along the road, as long as they could stand,
while others sank on the earth, and turned their dying
eyes around to take a last look, then closed them in death.
" What heart had I left me, during all this, or what
ought I to have had, except to hate life and wish to be
with my dead subjects? On all sides lay my people
strewn like over-ripened apples beneath the tree, or
acorns under the storm-shaken oak. You see yonder a
temple on the height. It is sacred to Jupiter. O, how
many offered prayers there, husbands for wives, fathers
136 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
for sons, and died in the very act of supplication ! Ho\v
often, while the priest made ready for sacrifice, the victim
fell, struck down by disease without waiting for the blow
At length all reverence for sacred things was lost. Bodies
were thrown out unburied, wood was wanting for funeral
piles, men fought with one another for the possession of
them. Finally there were none left to mourn ; sons and
husbands, old men and youths, perished alike unlamented.
'* Standing before the altar I raised my eyes to heaven.
' 0 Jupiter,' I said, ' if thou art indeed my father, and art
not ashamed of thy offspring, give me back my people, or
take me also away ! ' At these words a clap of thunder
was heard. * I accept the omen,' I cried ; * O, may it be a
sign of a favorable disposition towards me ! ' By chance
there grew by the place where I stood an oak with wide-
spreading branches, sacred to Jupiter. I observed a
troop of ants busy with their labor, carrying minute grains
in their mouths and following one another in a line up the
trunk of the tree. Observing their numbers with admira
tion I said, * Give me, 0 father, citizens as numerous as
these, and replenish my empty city.' The tree shook and
gave a rustling sound with its branches though no wind
agitated them. I trembled in every limb, yet I kissed the
earth and the tree. I would not confess to myself that I
hoped, yet I did hope. Night came on and sleep took
possession of my frame oppressed with cares. The tree
stood before me in my dreams, with its numerous branches
all covered with living, moving creatures. It seemed to
shake its limbs and throw down over the ground a multi
tude of those industrious grain-gathering animals, which
appeared to gain in size, and grow larger and larger, and
by-and-by to stand erect, lay aside their superfluous legs
and their black color, and finally to assume the human
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 137
Form. Then I awoke, and my first impulse wu to chide
the gods who had robbed me of a sweet vision and given
me no reality in its place. Being still in the temple my
attention was caught by the sound of many voices with
out ; a sound of late unusual to my ears. While I began
to think I was yet dreaming, Telamon, my son, throwing
open the temple-gates, exclaimed, ' Father, approach, and
behold things surpassing even your hopes ! ' I went forth ,
I saw a multitude of men, such as I had seen in my
dream, and they were passing in procession in the same
manner. While I gazed with wonder and delight they
approached, and kneeling hailed me as their king. I paid
my vows to Jove, and proceeded to allot the vacant city to
the new-born race, and to parcel out the fields among
them. I called them Myrmidons from the ant, (myrmex,)
from which they sprang. You have seen these persons ;
their dispositions resemble those which they had in their
former shape. They are a diligent and industrious race,
eager to gain, and tenacious of their gains. Among them
you may recruit your forces. They will follow you to the
war, young in years and bold in heart."
This description of the plague is copied by Ovid from
the account which Thucydides, the Greek historian, gives
of the plague of Athens. The historian drew from life,
and all the poets and writers of fiction since his day, when
they have had occasion to describe a similar scene, have
borrowed their details from him.
12*
188 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XIII.
NISUS AND SCYLLA — ECHO AND NARCISSUS —
CLYTIE — HERO AND LEANDER.
NISUS AND SCYLLA.
MINOS, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus
was king of Megara, and Scylla was his daughter. The
siege had now lasted six months, and the city still held
out, for it was decreed by fate that it should not be taken
so long as a certain purple lock, which glittered among
the hair of King Nisus, remained on his head. There was
a tower on the city walls, which overlooked the plain
where Minos and his army were encamped. To this tow
er Scylla used to repair, and look abroad over the tents
of the hostile army. The siege had lasted so long that
she had learned to distinguish the persons of the leaders.
Minos, in particular, excited her admiration. Arrayed in
his helmet, and bearing his shield, she admired his grace
ful deportment ; if he threw his javelin, skill seemed com
bined with force in the discharge ; if he drew his bow,
Apollo himself could not have done it more gracefully.
But when he laid aside his helmet, and in his purple robes
kfs*rode his white horse with its gay caparisons, and
reined in its foaming mouth, the daughter of Nisus was
hardly mistress of herself; she was almost frantic with
admiration. She envied the weapon that he grasped, the
reins that he held. She felt as if she could, if it were
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 139
possible, go to him through the hostile ranks ; she felt an
impulse to cast herself down from the tower into the
midst of his camp, or to open the gates to him, or to do
any thing else, so only it might gratify Minos. As she sat
in the tower, she talked thus with herself: " I know not
whether to rejoice or grieve at this sad war. I grieve
that Minos is our enemy ; but I rejoice at any cause that
brings him to my sight. Perhaps he would be willing to
grant us peace, and receive me as a hostage. I would fly
down, if I could, and alight in his camp, and tell him that
we yield ourselves to his mercy. But, then, to betray
my father ! No ! rather would I never see Minos again.
And yet no doubt it is sometimes the best thing for a city
to be conquered, when the conqueror is clement and gen
erous. Minos certainly has right on his side. I think we
shall be conquered; and if that must be the end of it,
why should not love unbar the gates to him, instead of
leaving it to be done by war ? Better spare delay and
slaughter if we can. And O, if any one should wound
or kill Minos ! No one surely would have the heart to do
it; yet ignorantly, not knowing him, one might. I will, I
will surrender myself to him, with my country as a dowry,
and so put an end to the war. But how ? The gates are
guarded, and my father keeps the keys ; he only stands
\n my way. 0 that it might please the gods to take him
away ! But why ask the gods to do it ? Another woman,
loving as I do, would remove with her own hands what
ever stood in the way of her love. And can any other
woman dare more than I ? I would encounter fire and
sword to gain my object ; but here there is no need of fire
and sword. I only need my father's purple lock. More
precious than gold to me, that will give me all I wish."
While she thus reasoned night came on, and soon the
140 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
whole palace was buried in sleep. She entered her father's
bedchamber and cut off the fatal lock ; then passed out of
the city and entered the enemy's camp. She demanded
to be led to the king, and thus addressed him : " I am
Scylla, the daughter of Nisus. I surrender to you my
country and my father's house. I ask no reward but
yourself; for love of you I have done it. See here the
purple lock ! With this I give you my father and his
kingdom." She held out her hand with the fatal spoil.
Minos shrunk back and refused to touch it. " The gods
destroy thee, infamous woman," he exclaimed ; " disgrace
of our time ! May neither earth nor sea yield thee a
resting-place ! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself
was cradled, shall not be polluted with such a monster ! "
Thus he said, and gave orders that equitable terms should
be allowed to the conquered city, and that the fleet should
immediately sail from the island.
Scylla was frantic. " Ungrateful man," she exclaimed,
'' is it thus you leave me ? — me who have given you vic
tory, — who have sacrificed for you parent and country !
I am guilty, I confess, and deserve to die, but not by your
hand." As the ships left the shore, she leaped into the
water, and seizing the rudder of the one which carried
Minos, she was borne along an unwelcome companion of
their course. A sea-eagle soaring aloft — it was her
father who had been changed into that form, — seeing her,
pounced down upon her, and struck her with his beak and
claws. In terror she let go the ship, and would have
fallen into the water, but some pitying deity changed her
into a bird. The sea-eagle still cherishes the old animosi
ty ; and whenever he espies her in his lofty flight, you
may see him dart down upon her, with beak and claws, to
take vengeance for the ancient crime.
STORIES OF GOD AND HEROES.
14J
Echo.
ECHO AND NARCISSUS.
Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and
hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She
was a favorite of Diana, and attended her in the chase,
But Echo had one failing ; she was fond of talking, and
whether in chat or argument, would have the last word.
One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had
reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs.
Echo by her talk contrived to detain the goddess till the
nymphs made their escape. When Juno discovered it,
Bhe passed sentence upon Echo in these words : " You
shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which you have
cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond
142 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
/
of — reply. You shall still have the last word, but no
power to speak first."
This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he
pursued the chase upon the mountains. She loved him,
and followed his footsteps. O, how she longed to address
him in the softest accents, and win him to converse ! but
it was not in her power. She waited with impatience for
him to speak first, and had her answer ready. One day
the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted
aloud, " Who's here ? " Echo replied, " Here." Narcis
sus looked around, but seeing no one, called out, " Come."
Echo answered, " Come." As no one came, Narcissus
called again, " Why do you shun me ? " Echo asked the
same question. " Let us join one another," said the youth.
The maid answered with all her heart in the same words,
and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about
his neck. He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I
would rather die than you should have me ! " " Have
me," said she ; but it was all in vain. He left her, and
she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of the woods.
From that time forth she lived in caves and among moun
tain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her
flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks,
and there was nothing left of her but her voice. With
that she is still ready to reply to any one who calls her,
and keeps up her old habit of having the last word.
Narcissus's cruelty in this case was not the only instance.
He shunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done
poor Echo. One day a maiden, who had in vain en
deavored to attract him, uttered a prayer that he might
some time or other feel what it was to love and meet no
return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and
granted the prayer.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 143
There was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to
which the shepherds never drove their flocks, nor the
mountain goats resorted, nor any of the beasts of the for
est ; n°i",her was it defaced with fallen leaves or branches ;
but the grass grew fresh around it, and the rocks sheltered
it from the sun. Hither came one day the youth fatigued
with hunting, heated and thirsty. He stooped down to
drink, and saw his own image in the water ; he thought il
was some beautiful water-spirit living in the fountain.
He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes,
those locks curled like the locks of Bacchus or Apollo, the
rounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the
glow of health and exercise over all. He fell in love with
himself. He brought his lips near to take a kiss; he
plunged his arms in to embrace the beloved object. It
fled at the touch, but returned again after a moment and
renewed the fascination. He could not tear himself away ;
he lost all thought of food or rest, while he hovered over
the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image.
He talked with the supposed spirit : " Why, beautiful
being, do you shun me ? Surely, my face is not one to
repel you. The nymphs love me, and you yourself look
not indifferent upon me. When I stretch forth my arms
you do the same ; and you smile upon me and answer my
beckonings with the like." His tears fell into the water
and disturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he ex
claimed, " Stay, I entreat you ! Let me at least gaze upon
you, if I may not touch you." With this, and much more
of the same kind, he cherished the flame that consumed
him, so that by degrees he lost his color, his vigor, and
the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph
Echo. She kept near him, however, and when he ex
claimed, " Alas ! alas ! " she answered him with the same
144 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
words. He pined away and died ; and when his shade
passed the Stygian river, it leaned over the boat to catch
a look of itself in the waters. The nymphs mourned for
him, especially the water-nymphs ; and when they smote
their breasts, Echo smote hers also. They prepared a
funeral pile, and would have burned the body, but it was
nowhere to be found ; but in its place a flower, purple
within, and surrounded with white leaves, which bears
the name and preserves the memory of Narcissus.
Milton alludes to the story of Echo and Narcissus in
the Lady's song in Comus. She is seeking her brothers
in the forest, and sings to attract their attention.
" Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen
Within thy aery shell
By slow Meander's margent green,
And in the violet-embroidered vale,
Where the love-lorn nightingale
Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well;
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair
That likest thy Narcissus are ?
O, if thou have
Hid them in some flowery cave,
Tell me but where,
Sweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere,
So may'st thou be translated to the skies,
And give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies."
Milton has imitated the story of Narcissus in the ac
count which he makes Eve give of the first sight of herself
reflected in the fountain : —
" That day I oft remember when from sleep
I first awaked, and found myself reposed
Under a shade on flowers, much wondering where
And what I was, whence thither brought, and ho.
Not distant far from thence a murmuring souii'l
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 145
Of waters issued from a cave, and spread
Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved
Pure as the expanse of heaven ; I thither went
With unexperienced thought, and laid me down
On the green bank, to look into the clear
Smooth lake that to me seemed another sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite
A shape within the watery gleam appeared,
Bending to look on me. I started back ;
It started back ; but pleased I soon returned,
Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks
Of sympathy and love. There had I fixed
Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warned me: ' What thou seest,
What there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself; ' " &c.
Paradise Lost, Book IV.
No one of the fables of antiquity has been oftener alluded
to by the poets than that of Narcissus. Here are two
epigrams which treat it in different ways. The first is by
Goldsmith : —
"ON A BEAUTIFUL YOUTH, STRUCK. BLIND BY LIGHTNING-"
" Sure 'twas by Providence designed,
Rather in pity than in hate,
That he should be like Cupid blind,
To save him from Narcissus' fate."
The other is by Cowper : —
" ON AN UGLY FELLOW.
" Beware, my friend, of crystal brook
Or fountain, lest that hideous hook,
Thy nose, thou chance to see ;
Narcissus' fate would then be thine,
And self-detested thou would'st pine
As self-enamoured he."
13
146 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CLYTIE.
Clytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who
made her no return. So she pined away, sitting all day
long upon the cold ground, with her unbound tresses
streaming over her shoulders. Nine days she sat and
tasted neither food nor drink, her own tears and the chilly
dew her only food. She gazed on the sun when he rose,
and as he passed through his daily course to his setting ;
she saw no other object, her face turned constantly on
him. At last, they say, her limbs rooted in the ground,
her face became a flower,* which turns on its stem so as
always to face the sun throughout its daily course ; for it
retains to that extent the feeling of the nymph from whom
it sprang.
Hood in his Flowers thus alludes to Clytie : —
" I will not have the mad Clytie,
Whose head is turned by the sun ;
The tulip is a courtly quean,
Whom therefore 1 will shun ;
The cowslip is a country wench,
The violet is a nun ; —
But I will woo the dainty rose,
The queen of every one."
The sunflower is a favorite emblem of constancy. Thus
Moore uses it : —
" The heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close ;
As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
The same look that she turned when he rose "
* The Sunflowpr
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 147
HERO AND LEANDEB.
Leander was a youth of Abydos, a town of the Asian
side of the strait which separates Asia and Europe. On
the opposite shore in the town of Sestos lived the maiden
Hero, a priestess of Venus. Leander loved her, and used
to swim the strait nightly to enjoy the company of his
mistress, guided by a torch which she reared upon the
tower, for the purpose. But one night a tempest arose
and the sea was rough ; his strength failed, and he was
drowned. The waves bore his body to the European
shore, where Hero became aware of his death, and in her
despair cast herself down from the tower into the sea and
perished.
The following sonnet is by Keats : —
ON A PICTURE OF LEANDER.
Come hither all sweet maidens soberly,
Down looking aye, and with a chasten'd light,
Hid in the fringes of your eyelids white,
And meekly let your fair hands joined be,
As if so gentle that ye could not see,
Untouch'd, a victim of your beauty bright,
Sinking away to his }'oung spirit's night,
Sinking bewilder'd 'mid the dreary sea.
'Tis young Leander toiling to his death.
Nigh swooning he doth purse his weary lips
For Hero's cheek, and smiles against her smile.
O horrid dream ! see how his body dips
Dead-heavy; arms and shoulders gleam awhile;
He's gone; up bubbles all his amorous breath!
The story of Leander's swimming the Hellespont was
looked upon as fabulous, and the feat considered impossi
ble, till Lord Byron proved its possibility by performing it
himself. In the Bride of Abydos he says, —
" These limbs that buoyant wave hath borne."
48 STORIES OF GODS AND HKROEb.
The distance in the narrowest part is almost a mile, and
there is a constant current setting out from the Sea of
Marmora into the Archipelago. Since Byron's time llif
feat has been achieved by others ; but it yet remains :i
test of strength and skill in the art of swimming sufficient
to give a wide and lasting celebrity to any one of our
readers who may dare to make the attempt and succeed
in accomplishing it.
In the beginning of the second canto of the same poem
Byron thus alludes to this story : —
" The winds are high on Helle's wave,
As on that night of stormiest water,
When Love, who sent, forgot to save
The young, the beautiful, the brave,
The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.
0, when alone along the sky
The turret-torch was blazing high,
Though rising gale and breaking foam,
And shrieking sea-birds warned him home •
And clouds aloft and tides below,
With signs and sounds forbade to go,
He could not see, he would not hear
. Or sound or sight foreboding fear.
His eye but saw that light of love,
The only star it hailed above ;
His ear but rang with Hero's song,
« Ye waves, divide not lovers long.'
That tale is old, but love anew
May nerve young hearts to prove as true.1'
STOl'IES
119
Minerva and Arachne.
C H A P T E R XIV.
MINERVA — NIOBE.
MINERVA.
MINERVA, the goddess of wisdom, was the daughter of
Jupiter. She was said to have leaped forth from Ins
brain, mature, and in complete armor. She presided over
'.lie useful and ornamental arts, both those of men, — such
as agriculture and navigation — and those of women, —
spinning, weaving, and needle-work. She was also a war
like divinity; but it was defensive war only that she pat-
18*
150 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
ronized, and che had no sympathy with Mars's savage love
of violence and bloodshed. Athens was her chosen seat,
her own city, awarded to her as the prize of a contest
with Neptune, who also aspired to it. The tale ran that
in the reign of Cecrops, the first king of Athens, the two
deities contended for the possession of the city. The gods
decreed that it should be awarded to that one who pro
duced the gift most useful to mortals. Neptune gave the
horse ; Minerva produced the olive. The gods gave judg
ment that the olive was the more useful of the two, and
awarded the city to the goddess ; and it was named alter
her, Athens, her name in Greek being Athene.
There was another contest, in which a mortal dared to
come in competition with Minerva. That mortal was
Arachnc, a maiden who had attained such skill in the arts
of weaving and embroidery that the Nymphs themselves
would leave their groves and fountains to come and gaze
upon her work. It was not only beautiful when it was
done, but beautiful also in the doing. To watch her, as
she took the wool in its rude state and formed it into rolls,
or separated it with her fingers and carded it till it looked
as light and soft as a cloud, or twirled the spindle with
skilful touch, or wove the web, or, after it was woven,
adorned it with her needle, one would have said that Mi
nerva herself had taught her. But this she denied, and
could not bear to be thought a pupil even of a goddess.
" Let Minerva try her skill with mine," said she ; " if
beaten, I will pay the penalty." Minerva heard this and
was displeased. She assumed the form of an old woman,
and went and gave Arachne some friendly advice. " I
have had much experience," said she, " and I hope you
will not despise my counsel. Challenge your fellow-mor
tals as you will, but do not compete with a goddess. On
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 151
the contrary, I advise you to ask her forgiveness for what
you have said, and as she is merciful, perhaps she will
pardon you." Arachne stopped her spinning, and looked
at the old dame with anger in her countenance. " Keep
your counsel," said she, <k for your daughters or hand
maids ; for my part, I know what I say, and I stand to
it. I am not afraid of the goddess ; let her try her skill,
if she dare venture." " She comes," said Minerva ; and
dropping her disguise, stood confessed. The Nymphs
bent low in homage, and all the bystanders paid reverence.
Arachne alone was unterrified. She blushed, indeed; a
sudden color dyed her cheek, and then she grew pale.
But she stood to her resolve, and with a foolish conceit of
her own skill rushed on her fate. Minerva forbore no
longer, nor interposed any further advice. They proceed
to the contest. Each takes her station and attaches the
web to the beam. Then the slender shuttle is passed in
and out among the threads. The reed with its fine teeth
strikes up the woof into its place and compacts the web.
Both work with speed ; their skilful hands move rapidly,
and the excitement of the contest makes the labor light.
Wool of Tyrian dye is contrasted with that of other col
ors, shaded off into one another so adroitly that the joining
deceives the eye. Like the bow, whose long arch tinges
the heavens, formed by sunbeams reflected from the
shower,* in which, where the colors meet they seem as
om . but at a little distance from the point of contact are
wholly different.
Minerva wrought on her web the scene of her contest
Neptune. Twelve of the heavenly powers are rep-
• This correct description of the rainbow is literally translated from
Ovid.
152 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
resenied, Jupiter, with august gravity, sitting in the midst
Neptune, the ruler of the sea, holds his trident, and ap
pears to have just smitten the earth, from which a horse
has leaped forth. Minerva depicted herself with helmed
head, her ^Egis covering her breast. Such was the central
circle ; and in the four corners were represented incidents
illustrating the displeasure of the gods at such presumptu
ous mortals as had dared to contend with them. These
were meant as warnings to her rival to give up the con
test before it was too late.
Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen
to exhibit the failings and errors of the gods. One scene
represented Leda caressing the swan, under which form
Jupiter had disguised himself; and another, Danae, in the
brazen tower in which her father had imprisoned her, but
where the god effected his entrance in the form of a golden
shower. Still another depicted Europa deceived by Jupi
ter under the disguise of a bull. Encouraged by the
tameness of the animal, Europa ventured to mount his
back, whereupon Jupiter advanced into the sea, and swam
with her to Crete. You would have thought it was a real
bull, so naturally was it wrought, and so natural the water
in which it swam. She seemed to look with longing eyes
back upon the shore she was leaving, and to call to her com
panions for help. She appeared to shudder with terror at
the sight of the heaving waves, and to draw back her feel
from the water.
Arachne filled her canvas with similar subjects/wonder-
fully well done, but strongly marking her presumption and
impiety. Minerva could not forbear to admire, yet felt
indignant at the insult. She struck the web with her
shuttle, and rent it in pieces ; she then touched the fore«
head of Arachne, and made her feel her guilt and shame*
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 153
She could not endure it, and weiii and hanged herself
Minerva pitied her as she saw her suspended by a rope,
u Live," she said, " guilty woman — and that you may
preserve the memory of this lesson continue to hang, both
you and your descendants, to all future times." She
sprinkled her with the juices of aconite, and immediately
her hair came off, and her nose and ears likewise. Her
form shrank up, and her head grew smaller yet ; her fin
gers cleaved to her side, and served for legs. All the rest
of her is body, out of which she spins her thread, often
hanging suspended by it, in the same attitude as when
Minerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.
Spenser tells the story of Arachne in his Muiopotmos,
adhering very closely to his master Ovid, but improving
upon him in the conclusion of the story. The two stan
zas which follow tell what was done after the goddess had
depicted her creation of the olive tree: —
" Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly,
With excellent device and wondrous slight,
Fluttering among the olives wantonly,
That seemed to live, so like it was in sight ;
The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,
The silken down with which his back is dight,
His broad outstretched horns, his hairy thighs,
His glorious colors, and his glistening eyes." *
" Which when Arachne saw, as overlaid
And mastered with workmanship so rare,
She stood astonied long, ne aught gainsaid;
And with fast-fixed eyes on her did stare,
• Sir James Mackintosh says of this, " Do you think that even a
Chinese could paint the gay colors of a butterfly with more minutfl
exactness than the following lines — ' The velvet nap, &c.' ? "
Li/e.-Vol. II. 246
t54 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
And by her silence, sign of one dismayed,
The victory did yield her as her share :
Yet did she inly fret and felly burn,
And all her blood to poisonous rancor turn."
And so the metamorphosis is caused by Arachne's own
mortification and vexation, and not by any direct act of
the goddess.
The following specimen of old-fashioned gallantry is
by Garrick: —
UPON A LADY'S EMBROIDERY.
" Arachne once, as poets tell,
A goddess at her art defied,
And soon the daring mortal fell
The hapless victim of her pride.
0, then beware Arachne's fate ;
Be prudent, Chloe, and submit,
For you'll most surely meet her hate,
Who rival both her art and wit."
Tennyson, in his Palace of Art, describing the works
of art with which the palace was adorned, thus alludes to
Europa : —
*' sweet Europa's mantle blew unclasped
From off her shoulder, backward borne,
From one hand drooped a crocus, one hand grasped
The mild bull's golden horn."
In his Princess there is this allusion to Danae : —
"Now lies the earth all Danae to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
151
Niobe.
NIOBE.
The tale of Aruchn^ was noised abroad through all
the country, and served as a warning to all presumptuous
mortals not to compare themselves with the divinities.
But one, and shu a matron too, failed to learn the lesson
of humility. It was Niobe, the queen of Thebes. Sh^
had indeed much to be proud of; but it was not her hus
band's fame, nor her own beauty, nor their great descent,
nor the power of their kingdom that elated her. It wad
her children ; and truly the happiest of mothers would
Niobe have been, if only she had not claimed to be so.
It was on occasion of the annual celebration in honor of
Latona and her offspring, Apollo and Diana, — when thf
I5G STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
people of Thebes were assembled, their brows crowned
with laurel, bearing frankincense to the altars and paying
their vows, — that Niobe appeared among the crowd.
Her attire was splendid with gold and gems, and her
aspect beautiful as the face of an angry woman can be.
She stood and surveyed the people with haughty looks.
" What folly," said she, " is this ! — to prefer beings whom
you never saw to those who stand before your eyes !
Why should Latona be honored with worship, and none
be paid to me ? My father was Tantalus, who was re
ceived as a guest at the table of the gods ; my mother
was a goddess. My husband built and rules this city,
Thebes, and Phrygia is my paternal inheritance. Wher
ever I turn my eyes I survey the elements of my
power ; nor is my form and presence unworthy of a god
dess. To all this let me add, I have seven sons and se,ven
daughters, and look for sons-in-law and daughters-in-law of
pretensions worthy of my alliance. Have I not cause for
pride ? Will you prefer to me this Latona, the Titan's
daughter, with her two children ? I have seven times as
many. Fortunate indeed am F, and fortunate I shall re
main ! Will anyone deny this? My abundance is my
security. I feel myself too strong for Fortune to subdue.
She may take from me much ; I shall still have much left.
Were I to lose some of my children, I should hardly be
left as poor as Latona with her two only. Away with
you from these solemnities, — put off the laurel from your
brows, — have done with this worship!" The people
obeyed, and left the sacred services uncompleted.
The goddess was indignant. On the Cynthian moun
tain top, where she dwelt, she thus addressed her son and
daughter : " My children, I who have been so proud o^
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 157
you both, and have been used to hold myself second to
none of the goddesses except Juno alone, begin now to
doubt whether 1 am indeed a goddess. I shall be de
prived of my worship altogether unless you protect me."
She was proceeding in this strain, but Apollo interrupted
her. " Say no more," said he ; " speech only delays pun
ishment." So said Diana also. Darting through the air,
veiled in clouds, they alighted on the towers of the city.
Spread out before the gates was a broad plain, where the
youth of the city pursued their warlike sports. The sons
of Niobe were there with the rest, — some mounted on
spirited horses richly caparisoned, some driving gay chari
ots. Ismenos, the first-born, as he guided his foaming
steeds, struck with an arrow from above, cried out, "Ah
me ! " — dropped the reins and fell lifeless. Another,
hearing the sound of the bow, — like a boatman who sees
the storm gathering and makes all sail for the port, — gave
the rein to his horses and attempted to escape. The in
evitable arrow overtook him as he fled. Two others,
younger boys, just from their tasks, had gone to the play
ground to have a game of wrestling. As they stood
breast to breast, one arrow pierced them both. They
uttered a cry together, together cast a parting look around
them, and together breathed their last. Alphenor, an
ehbr brother, seeing them fall hastened to the spot to
render assistance, and fell stricken in the act of brotherly
duty. One only was left, Ilioneus. He raised his arms
to heaven to try whether prayer might not avail. " Spare
me, ye gods ! " he cried, addressing all, in his ignorance
that all needed not his intercessions ; and Apollo would
have spared him, but the arrow had already left the string,
and it was too late.
The terror of the people and grief of the attendants
14
158 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
soon made Niobe acquainted with what had taken place,
She could hardly think it possible ; she was indignant that
the gods had dared and amazed that they had been able
to do it. Her husband, Amphion, overwhelmed with the
blow, destroyed himself. Alas ! how different was this
Niobe from her who had so lately driven away the people
from the sacred rites, and held her stately course through
the city, the envy of her friends, now the pity even of her
foes ! She knelt over the lifeless bodies, and kissed, now
one, now another of her dead sons. Raising her pallid
arms to heaven, " Cruel Latona," said she, "feed full your
rage with my anguish ! Satiate your hard heart, while \
follow to the grave my seven sons. Yet where is your
triumph ? Bereaved as I am, I am still richer than you,
my conqueror." Scarce had she spoken, when the bow
sounded and struck terror into all hearts except Niobe's
alone. She was brave from excess of grief. The sisters
stood in garments of mourning over the biers of their
dead brothers. One fell, struck by an arrow, and died on
the corpse she was bewailing. Another, attempting to
console her mother, suddenly ceased to speak, and sank
lifeless to the earth. A third tried to escape by flight, a
fourth by concealment, another stood trembling, uncertain
what course to take. Six were now dead, and only one
remained, whom the mother held clasped in her arms, and
covered as it were with her whole body. " Spare me one,
and that the youngest ! O, spare me one of so many ! "
she cried ; and while she spoke, that one fell dead. Deso
late she sat, among sons, daughters, husband, all dead, and
seemed torpid with grief. The breeze moved not her
hair, no color was on her cheek, her eyes glared fixed and
immovable, there was no sign of life about her. Her
very tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, and her veins
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 15S
ceased to convey the tide of life. Her neck bent not, her
arms made no gesture, her foot no step. She was changed
to stone, within and without. Yet tears continued to
flow ; and, borne on a whirlwind to her native mountain,
she still remains, a mass of rock, from which a trickling
stream flows, the tribute of her never-ending grief.
The story of Niobe has furnished Byron with a fine
illustration of the fallen condition of modern Rome : —
" The Niobe of nations ! there she stands,
Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe ;
An empty urn within her withered hands,
Whose holy dust was scattered long ago ;
The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now:
The very sepulchres lie tenantless
Of their heroic dwellers ; dost thou flow,
Old Tiber ! through a marble wilderness ?
Rise with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress.
Childe Harold, IV. 79.
Our illustration of this story is a copy of a celebrated
statue in the imperial gallery of Florence. It is the prin
cipal figure of a group supposed to have been originally
arranged in the pediment of a temple. The figure of
the mother clasped by the arm of her terrified child, is
one of the most admired of the ancient statues. It ranks
with the Laocoon and the Apollo among the masterpieces
of art. The following is a translation of a Greek epi
gram supposed to relate to this statue : —
" To stone the gods have changed her, but in vain ;
The sculptor's art has made her breathe again."
Tragic as is the story of Niobe we cannot forbear to
smile at the use Moore has made of it in Rhymes on the
Road- —
160 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROlSS
" 'Twas in his carriage the sublime
Sir Richard Blackmore used to rhyme,
And, if the wits don't do him wrong,
'Twixt death and epics passed his time,
Scribbling and killing all day long ;
Like Phoebus in his car at ease,
Now warbling forth a lofty song,
Now murdering the voung Niobes."
Sir llichard Blackmore was a physician^ aiK/ at the
same time a very prolific and very tasteless po-st^ wnose
works are now forgotten, unless when recalled '**• mind by
some wit like Moore for the sake of a joke.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 161
CHAPTER XY.
THE GRJELE OR GRAY-MAIDS — PERSEUS- MEDU
SA — ATLAS — ANDROMEDA.
THE GR^E^E AND GORGONS.
THE Groeae were three sisters who were gray-haired
from their birth, whence their name. The Gorgons were
monstrous females witli huge teeth like those of swine,
brazen claws, and snaky hair. None of these beings make
much figure in mythology except Medusa, the Gorgon,
whose story we shall next advert to. We mention them
chiefly to introduce an ingenious theory of some modern
writers, namely, that the Gorgons and Greece were only
personifications of the terrors of the sea, the former de
noting the strong billows of the wide open main, and the
latter the white-crested waves that dash against the rocks
of the coast. Their names in Greek signify the above
epithets.
PERSEUS AND MEDUSA.
Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danae. His grand
father Acrisius alarmed by an oracle which had told him
that his daughter's child would be the instrument of his
death, caused the mother and child to be shut up in a
chest and set adrift on the sea. The chest floated towards
Seriphus, where it was found by a fisherman whr con-
14*
162 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
veyed the mother and infant to Polydectes, king of the
country, by whom they were treated with kindness.
When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to
attempt the conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who
had laid waste the country. She was once a beautiful
maiden whose hair was her chief glory, but as she dared
to vie in beauty with Minerva, the goddess deprived her
of her charms and changed her beautiful ringlets into
hissing serpents. She became a cruel monster of so
frightful an aspect that no living thing could behold her
without being turned into stone. All around the cavern
where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her
and had been petrified with the sight. Perseus, favored
by Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him
her shield and the latter his winged shoes, approached
Medusa while she slept, and taking care not to look di
rectly at her, but guided by her image reflected in the
bright shield which he bore, he cut off her head, and gave
it to Minerva, who fixed it in the middle of her'^Egis.
Milton in his Comus thus alludes to the JEgis : —
" What was that snaky-headed Gorgon-shield
That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,
Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,
But rigid looks of chaste austerity,
And noble grace that dashed brute violence
With sudden adoration and blank awe ! "
Armstrong, the poet of the Art of Preserving Health
thus describes the effect of frost upon the waters : —
" Now blows the surly North and chills throughout
The stiffening regions, while by stronger charms
Than Circe e'er or fell Medea brewed.
Each brook that wont to prattle to its banks
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 1
Lies all bestilled and wedged betwixt its banks,
Nor moves the withered reeds. * * *
The surges baited by the fierce North-east,
Tossing with fretful spleen their angry heads,
E'en in the foam of all their madness struck
To monumental ice.
» * * * *
Such execution,
So stern, so sudden, wrought the grisly aspect
Of terrible Medusa,
When wandering through the woods she turned to stone
Their savage tenants ; just as the foaming Lion
Sprang furious on his prey, her speedier power
Outran his haste,
And fixed in that fierce attitude he stands
Like llage in marblt ! "
Imitations of Shakspeare.
PERSEUS AND ATLAS.
After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing witl
him the head of the Gorgon, flew far and wide, over land
and sea. As night came on, he reached the western limit
of the earth, where the sun goes down. Here he would
gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm of King
Atlas, whose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He
was rich in flocks and herds and had no neighbor or rival
to dispute his state. But his chief pride was in his gar
dens, whose fruit was of gold, hanging from golden
branches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseus said to
him, « I come as a guest. If you honor illustrious de
scent, I claim Jupiter for my father ; if mighty deeds, I
plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and food."
But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had
warned him that a son of Jove should one day rob him
of his golden apples So he answered, "Begone I or
164
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
neither your false claims of glory or parentage shall pro
tect you ; " and he attempted to thrust him out. Perseus,
finding the giant too strong for him, said, "Since you
value my friendship so little, deign to accept a present;"
and turning his face away, he held up the Gorgon's head.
Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His
beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders
cliffs, his head a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part
increased in bulk till he became a mountain, and (such
was the pleasure of the irods) heaven with all its stars
rests upon his shoulders.
THE SEA-MONSTER.
Perseus and Andromeda.
Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country oi
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 16
the ^Ethiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia
his queen, proud of her beauty, had dared to compare her
self to the Sea-Nymphs, which roused their indignation
to such a degree that they sent a prodigious sea-monster
to ravage the coast. To appease the deities, Cepheua
was directed by the oracle to expose his daughter An
dromeda to be devoured by the monster. As Perscua
looked down from his aerial height he beheld the virgin
chained to a rock, and waiting the approach of the ser
pent. She was so pale and motionless that if it had not
been for her flowing tears and her hair that moved in the
breeze, he would have taken her for a marble statue. He
was so startled at the sight that he almost forgot to wave
his wings. As he hovered over her he said, " 0 virgin,
undeserving of those chains, but rather of such as bind
fond lovers together, tell me, I beseech you, your name,
and the name of your country, and why you are thus
bound." At first she was silent from modesty, and, if
she could, would have hid her face with her hands ; but
when he repeated his questions, for fear she might be
thought guilty of some fault which she dared not tell, she
disclosed her name and that of her country, and her
mother's pride of beauty. Before she had done speaking,
a sound was heard off upon the water, and the sea-mon
ster appeared, with his head raised above the surface,
cleaving the waves with his broad breast. The virgin
shrieked, the father and mother who had now arrived at
the scene, wretched both, but the mother more justly so,
stood by, not able to afford protection, but only to pour
forth lamentations and to embrace the victim. Then
Bpoke Perseus : " There will be time enough for tears ;
this hour is all we have for rescue. My rank as the son
of Jove and my renown as the slayer of the Gorgon
166 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
might make me acceptable as a suitor ; but I will try tc
win her by services rendered, if the gods will only be
propitious. If she be rescued by my valor, I demand
that she be my reward." The parents consent, (how
could they hesitate ?) and promise a royal dowry with her.
And now the monster was within the range of a stone
thrown by a skilful slinger, when with a sudden bound the
youth soared into the air. As an eagle, when from his
lofty flight he sees a serpent basking in the sun, pounces
upon him and seizes him by the neck to prevent him from
turning his head round and using his fangs, so the youth
darted down upon the back of the monster and plunged
his sword into its shoulder. Irritated by the wound the
monster raised himself into the air, then plunged into the
depth ; then, like a wild boar surrounded by a pack of
barking dogs, turned swiftly from side to side, while the
youth eluded its attacks by means of his wings. Wher
ever he can find a passage for his sword between the
scales he makes a wound, piercing now the side, now the
flank, as it slopes towards the tail. The brute spouts from
his nostrils water mixed with blood. The wings of the
hero are wet with it, and he dares no longer trust to them.
Alighting on a rock which rose above the waves, and
holding on by a projecting fragment, as the monster floated
near he gave him a death stroke. The people who had
gathered on the shore shouted so that the hills reechoed
the sound. The parents, transported with joy, embraced
their future son-in-law, calling him their deliverer and the
savior of their house, and the virgin, both cause and re
ward of the contest, descended from the rock.
Cassiopeia was an ^Ethiopian, and consequently, in spite
of her boasted beauty, black ; at least so Miltoii seems to
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 167
have thought, who alludes to this story in his Penseroso,
where he addresses Melancholy as the
" goddess, sage and holy,
Whose saintly visage is too bright
To hit the sense of human sight,
And, therefore, to our weaker view
O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue.
Black, but such as in esteem
Prince Menmon's sister might beseem,
Or that starred .ZEthiop queen that strove
To set her beauty's praise above
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended."
Cassiopeia is called "the starred JEthiop queen" be
cause after her death she was placed among the stars,
forming the constellation of that name. Though she at
tained this honor, yet the Sea-Nymphs, her old enemies,
prevailed so far as to cause her to be placed in that part
of the heaven near the pole, where every night she is
half the time held with her head downward, to give her a
lesson of humility.
Memnon was an ^Ethiopian prince, of whom we shall
tell in a future chapter.
THE WEDDING FEAST.
The joyful parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, re
paired to the palace, where a banquet was spread for them,
and all was joy and festivity. But suddenly a noise was
heard of warlike clamor, and Phineus, the betrothed of
the virgin, with a party of his adherents, burst in, de
manding the maiden as his own. It was in vain that
Cepheus remonstrated, — " You should have claimed her
when she lay bound to the rock, the monster's victim,
16$ STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
The sentence of the gods dooming her to such a fate dis
solved all engagements, as death itself would have done."
Phineus made no reply, but hurled his javelin at Perseus,
but it missed its mark and fell harmless. Perseus
would have thrown his in turn, but the cowardly assailant
ran and took shelter behind the altar. But his act was a
signal for an onset by his band upon the guests of Ce-
pheus. They defended themselves and a general conflict
ensued, the old king retreating from the scene after fruit
less expostulations, calling the gods to witness that he was
guiltless of this outrage on the rights of hospitality.
Perseus and his friends maintained for some time the
unequal contest ; but the numbers of the assailants were
loo great for them, and destruction seemed inevitable,
when a sudden thought struck Perseus, — "I will make my
enemy defend me." Then with a loud voice he exclaimed,
" If I have any friend here let him turn away his eyes ! "
and held aloft the Gorgon's head. " Seek not to frighten
us with your jugglery," said Thescelus, and raised his
javelin in act to throw, and became stone in the very atti
tude. Ampyx was about to plunge his sword into the
body of a prostrate foe, but his arm stiffened and he could
neither thrust forward nor withdraw it. Another, in the
midst of a vociferous challenge, stopped, his mouth open,
but no sound issuing. One of Perseus's friends, Aeon'
teus, caught sight of the Gorgon and stiffened like the
rest. Astyages struck him with his sword, but instead of
wounding, it recoiled with a ringing noise.
Phineus beheld this dreadful result of his unjust aggres
sion, and felt confounded. He called aloud to his friends,
but got no answer ; he touched them and found them
stone. Falling on his knees and stretching out his hands
*o Perseus, but turning his head away, he begged for
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 16$
mercy. " Take all," said he, " give me but my life.'
" Base coward," said Perseus, " thus much I will grant
you ; no weapon shall touch you ; moreover you shall be
preserved in my house as a memorial of these events."
So saying, he held the Gorgon's head to the side where
Phineus was looking, and in the very form in which he
knelt, with his hands outstretched and face averted he be
came fixed immovably, a mass of stone !
The following allusion to Perseus is from Milman'i
Samor : —
" As 'mid the fabled Libyan bridal stood
Perseus in stern tranquillity of wrath,
Half stood, half floated on his ankle-plumes
Out-swelling, while the bright face on his shield
Looked into stone the raging fray ; so rose,
But with no magic arms, wearing alone
Th' appalling and control of his firm look,
The Briton Samor ; at his rising awe
Went abroad, and the riotous hall waa mute."
15
170 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XVI.
MONSTERS.
GIANTS, SPHINX, PEGASUS AND CHDLERA, CENTAURS
GRIFFIN, AND PYGMIES.
MONSTERS, in the language of mythology, were beinga
of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with
terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which
they employed for the injury and annoyance of men.
Some of them were supposed to combine the members of
different animals ; such were the Sphinx and Chimasra ;
and to these all the terrible qualities of wild beasts were
attributed, together with human sagacity and faculties.
Others, as the giants, differed from men chiefly in their
size; and in this particular we must recognize a wide dis
tinction among them. The human giants, if so they may
be called, such as the Cyclopes, Antaeus, Orion and others,
must be supposed not to be altogether disproportioned to
human beings, for they mingled in love and strife with
them. But the superhuman giants, who warred with the
gods, were of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus, we are
told, when stretched on the plain, covered nine acres, and
Enceladus required the whole of Mount JEtna to be laid
upon him to keep him down.
We have already spoken of the war which the gianta
waged against the gods, and of its result. While this war
lasted the giants proved a formidable enemy. Some of
them, like Briareus, had a hundred arms ; others, like Ty-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 171
phon, breathed out fire. At one time they put the gods
to such fear that they fled into Egypt, and hid themselves
under various forms. Jupiter took the form of a ram,
whence he was afterwards worshipped in Egypt as the
god Ammon, with curved horns. Apollo became a crow,
Bacchus a goat, Diana a cat, Juno a cow, Venus a fish,
Mercury a bird. At another time the giants attempted to
climb up into heaven, and for that purpose took up the
mountain Ossa and piled it on Pelion.* They were at
last subdued by thunderbolts, which Minerva invented, and
taught Vulcan and his Cyclopes to make for Jupiter.
THE SPHINX.
Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that
there was danger to his throne and life if his new-born
son should be suffered to grow up. He therefore com
mitted the child to the care of a herdsman, with orders to
destroy him ; but the herdsman, moved with pity, yet not
daring entirely to disobey, tied up the child by the feet,
and left him hanging to the branch of a tree. In this
condition the infant was found by a peasant, who carried
him to his master and mistress, by whom he was adopted
and called CEdipus, or Swollen-foot.
Many year.4 afterwards Laius being on his way to Del
phi, accompanied only by one attendant, met in a narrow
road a young man also driving in a chariot. On his re
fusal to leave the way at their command, the attendant
killed one of his horses, and the stranger, filled with rage,
slew lwth Laius and his attendant. The young man was
CEdipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of hii
own father.
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 477.
172 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Shortly after this event, the city of Thebes was afflicted
with a monster which infested the high-road. It was
called the Sphinx. It had the body of a lion, and the
upper part of a woman. It lay crouched on the top of a
rock, and arrested all travellers who came that way, pro
posing to them a riddle, with the condition that those who
could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed should
be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in solving it, and
all had been slain. CEdipus was not daunted by these
alarming accounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The
Sphinx asked him, "What animal is that which in the
morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the even
ing upon three ? " (Edipus replied, " Man, who in child
hood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect,
and in old age with the aid of a staff." The Sphinx was
so mortified at the solving of her riddle that she cast her
self down from the rock and perished.
The gratitude of the people for their deliverance was
so great that they made CEdipus their king, giving him in
marriage their queen Jocasta. (Edipus, ignorant of his
parentage, had already become the slayer of his father ;
in marrying the queen he became the husband of his
mother. These horrors remained undiscovered, till at
length Thebes was afflicted with famine and pestilence,
and the oracle being consulted, the double crime of CEdi
pus came to light. Jocasta put an end to her own life,
and CEdipus, seized with madness, tore out his eyes, and
wandered away from Thebes, dreaded and abandoned by
all, except his daughters, who faithfully adhered to him ;
till after a tedious period of miserable wandering, he found
the termination of his wretched life.
STOltlES OF GODS AND HEROES. 173
PEGASUS AND THE CHIMERA.
When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, the blood sinking
into the earth produced the winged horse Pegasus. Mi
nerva caught and tamed him, and presented him to the
Muses. The fountain Hippocrene, on the Muses' moun
tain Helicon, was opened by a kick from his hoof.
The Chimera was a fearful monster, breathing fire.
The fore part of its body was a compound of the lion and
the goat, and the hind part a dragon's. It made great
havoc in Lycia, so that the king lobates sought for some
hero to destroy it. At that time there arrived at his
court a gallant young warrior, whose name was Bellero-
phon. He brought letters from Prcetus, the son-in-law of
lobates, recommending Bellerophon in the warmest terms
as an unconquerable hero, but added at the close a request
to his father-in-law to put him to death. The reason was
that Prcetus was jealous of him, suspecting that his wife
Antea looked with too much admiration on the young
warrior. From this instance of Bellerophon being uncon
sciously the bearer of his own death-warrant, the expres
sion " Bellerophontic letters " arose, to describe any specie8
of communication which a person is made the bearer of,
containing matter prejudicial to himself.
lobates, on perusing the letters, was puzzled what to do,
not willing to violate the claims of hospitality, yet wishing
to oblige his son-in-law. A lucky thought occurred to
him, to send Bellerophon to combat with the Chimoera.
Bellerophon accepted the proposal, but before proceeding
to the combat consulted the soothsayer Polyidus, who
advised him to procure if possible the horse Pegasus for
the conflict. For this purpose he directed him to pass the
15*
174 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
night in the temple of Minerva. He did so, and as h«
slept Minerva came to him and gave him a golden hridle.
When he awoke the bridle remained in his hand. Mi
nerva also showed him Pegasus drinking at the well of
Pirene, and at sight of the bridle, the winged steed came
willingly and suffered himself to be taken. Bellerophon
mounted him, rose with him into the air, soon found
the Chimera, and gained an easy victory over the mon
ster.
After the conquest of the Chimuera, Bellerophon was
exposed to further trials and labors by his unfriendly host,
but by the aid of Pegasus he triumphed in them all ; till
at length lobates, seeing that the hero was a special favor
ite of the gods, gave him his daughter in marriage and
made him his successor on the throne. At last Bellero
phon by his pride and presumption drew upon himself
the anger of the gods ; it is said he even attempted to fly
up into heaven on his winged steed ; but Jupiter sent a
gadfly which stung Pegasus and made him throw his
rider, who became lame and blind in consequence. After
this Bellerophon wandered lonely through the Aleian field,
avoiding the paths of men, and died miserably.
Milton alludes to Bellerophon in the beginning of the
seventh book of Paradise Lost : —
"Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name
If rightly thou ait called, whose voice divine
Following above the Olympian hill I soar,
Above the flight of Pegasean wing.
Upled by thee,
Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air,
(Thy tempering ;) with like safety guided down
Return me to my native element ;
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 175
Lest from this flying steed unreined, (as once
Bellerophon, though from a lower sphere,)
Dismounted on the Aleian field I fall.
Erroneous there to wander ana forlorn.'-
Young in his Night Thoughts, speaking of the sceptic,
says, —
" He whose blind thought futurity denies,
Unconscious bears, Bellerophon, like thee
His own indictment ; he condemns himself.
Who reads his bosom reads immortal life,
Or nature there, imposing on her sons,
Has written fables ; man was made a lie."
Vol. II. p. 12.
Pegasus, being the horse of the Muses, has always been
at the service of the poets. Schiller tells a pretty story
of his having been sold by a needy poet, and put to the
cart and the plough. He was not fit for such service, and
his clownish master could make nothing of him. But a
youth stepped forth and asked leave to try him. As soon
as he was seated on his back, the horse, which had ap
peared at first vicious, and afterwards spirit-broken, rose
kingly, a spirit, a god ; unfolded the splendor of his wings
and soared towards heaven. Our own poet Longfellow
also records an adventure of this famous steed in his Pe<*-
asus in Pound.
Shakspeare alludes to Pegasus in Henry IV. wher*
Vernon describes Prince Henry: —
" 1 saw young Harry, with his beaver on,
His cuish.es on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship."
STORIES OF GO])S A^D HEROES.
Chiron.
THE CENTAURS.
These monsters were represented as men from the head
to the loins while the remainder of the body was that of
a horse. The ancients were too fond of a horse to con
sider the union of his nature with man's as forming a very
degraded compound, and accordingly the Centaur is the
only one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to which
any good traits are assigned. The Centaurs were admit
ted to the companionship of man, and at the marriage of
Pirithous with Hippodamia, they were among the guests.
At the feast, Eurytion, one of the Centaurs, becoming
intoxicated with the wine, attempted to offer violence to
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 177
the bride ; the other Centaurs followed his example, and
a dreadful conflict arose in which several of them were
slain. This is the celebrated battle of the Lapithoe and
Centaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poeta
of antiquity.
But not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of
Pirithous. Chiron was instructed by Apollo and Diana,
and was renowned for his skill in hunting, medicine, mu
sic, and the art of prophecy. The most distinguished
heroes of Grecian story were his pupils. Among the rest
the infant JEsculapius was intrusted to his charge, by
Apollo, bis father. When the sage returned to his home
bearing the infant, his daughter Ocyroe came forth to meet
him, and at sight of the child burst forth into a prophetic
strain, (for she was a prophetess,) foretelling the glory that
he was to achieve. ^Esculapius when grown up became a
renowned physician, and even in one instance succeeded
in restoring the dead to life. Pluto resented this, and
Jupiter, at his request, struck the bold physician with
lightning, and killed him, but after his death received him
into the number of the gods.
Chiron was the wisest and justest of all the Centaurs,
and at his death Jupiter placed him among the stars aa
the constellation Sagittarius.
THE PYGMIES.
The Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a
Greek word which means the cubit or measure of about
thirteen inches, which was said to be the height of these
people. They lived near the sources of the Nile, or ac-
2ording to others, in India. Homer tells us that the cranes
178 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
used to migrate every winter to the Pygmies' country, and
their appearance was the signal of bloody warfare to the
puny inhabitants, who had to take up arms to defend their
cornfields against the rapacious strangers. The Pygmiea
and their enemies the Cranes form the subject of several
works of art.
Later writers tell of an army of Pygmies which finding
Hercules asleep made preparations to attack him, as if
they were about to attack a city. But the hero awaking
laughed at the little warriors, wrapped some of them up
in his lion's-skin, and carried them to Eurystheus.
Milton uses the Pygmies for a simile, P. L. Book I. : — «
" like that Pygmaean race
Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves
Whose midnight revels by a forest side,
Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
(Or dreams he sees,) while overhead the moon
Jits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale course ; they on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund music charm his ear.
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds."
THE GRIFFIN, OR GRYPHON.
The Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the
head and wings of an eagle, and back covered with feath
ers. Like birds it builds its nest, and instead of an egg
lays an agate therein. It has long claws and talons of
such a size that the people of that country make them into
rlrinking-cups. India was assigned as the native country
of the Griffins. They found gold in the mountains and
built their nests of it, for which reason their nests were
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 179
very tempting to the hunters and they were forced to keep
vigilant guard over them. Their instinct led them to know
where buried treasures lay, and they did their best to keep
plunderers at a distance. The Arimaspians, among whom
the Griffins flourished, were a one-eyed people of Scythia.
Milton borrows a simile from the Griffins, P. L.
Book II.:—
" As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,
With winged course, o'er hill and moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian who by stealth
Hath from his wakeful custody purloined
His guarded gold," &c.
180 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Medea and Jason.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE — MEDEA.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE.
IN very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king
and queen named Athamas and Nephele. They had two
children, a boy and a girl. After a time Athamas grew
indifferent to his wife, put her away, and took another.
Nephele suspected danger to her children from the influ
ence of the step-mother, and took measures to send them
out of her reach. Mercury assisted her, and gave her a
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 181
ram, with a golden fleece, on which she set the two chil
dren, trusting that the ram would convey them to a place
of safety. The ram vaulted into the air with the children
on his back, taking his course to the East, till when cross
ing the strait that divides Europe and Asia, the girl,
whose name was Helle, fell from his back into the sea,
which from her was called the Hellespont, — now tlie
Dardanelles. The ram continued his career till he
reached the kingdom of Colchis, on the eastern shore
of the Black Sea, where he safely landed the boy Phryx-
us, who was hospitably received by -ZEetes, the king of the
country. Phryxus sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, and
gave the golden fleece to ^etes, who placed it in a conse
crated grove, under the care of a sleepless dragon.
There was another kingdom in Thessaly near to that of
Athamas, and ruled over by a relative of his. The king
JEson, being tired of the cares of government, surren
dered his crown to his brother Pelias, on condition that
he should hold it only during the minority of Jason, the
son of JEson. When Jason was grown up and came to
demand the crown from his uncle, Pelias pretended to be
willing to yield it, but at the same time suggested to the
young man the glorious adventure of going in quest of
the golden fleece, which it was well known was in the
kingdom of Colchis, and was, as Pelias pretended, the
rightful property of their family. Jason was pleased with
the thought, and forthwith made preparations for the expe
dition. At that time the only species of navigation known
to the Greeks consisted of small boats or canoes hollowed
out from trunks of trees, so that when Jason employed
Argus to build him a vessel capable of containing fifty
men. it was considered a gigantic undertaking. It was
accomplished, however, and the vessel named Argo, from
16
182 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
the name of the builder. Jason sent his invitation to all
the adventurous young men of Greece, and soon found
himself at the head of a band of bold youths, many of
whom afterwards were renowned among the heroes and
demigods of Greece. Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, and
Nestor were among them. They are called the Argo
nauts, from the name of their vessel.
The Argo with her crew of heroes left the shores of
Thessaly and having touched at the Island of Lemnos,
thence crossed to Mysia and thence to Thrace. Here
they found the sage Phineus, and from him received in
struction as to their future course. It seems the entrance
of the Euxine Sea was impeded by two small rockj
islands, which floated on the surface, and in their tossings
and Leavings occasionally came together, crushing and
grinding to atoms any object that might be caught be
tween them. They were called the Syrnplegades, or
Clashing Islands. Phineus instructed the Argonauts
how to pass this dangerous strait. When they reached
the islands they let go a dove, which took her way be
tween the rocks, and passed in safety, only losing some
feathers of her tail. Jason and his men seized the fa
vorable moment of the rebound, plied their oars with
vigor, and passed safe through, though the islands closed
behind them, and actually grazed their stern. They now
rowed along the shore till they arrived at the eastern end
of the sea, and landed at the kingdom of Colchis.
Jason made known his message to the Colchian king,
JEetes, who consented to give up the golden fleece if
Jason would yoke to the plough two fire-breathing bulls
with brazen feet, and sow the teeth of the dragon, which
Cadmus had slain, and from which it was well known that
a crop of armed men would spring up, who would turn
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 185
their weapons against their producer. Jason accepted
the conditions, and a time was set for making the experi
ment. Previously, however, he found means to plead his
cause to Medea, daughter of the king. He promised her
marriage, and as they stood before the altar of Hecate,
called the goddess to witness his oath. Medea yielded —
and by her aid. for she was a potent sorceress, he was fur
nished with a charm, by which he could encounter safely
the breath of the lire-breathing bulls and the weapons of
4he armed men.
At the time appointed, the people assembled at the
grove of Mars, and the king assumed his royal seat, while
the multitude covered the hill sides. Th<^ brazen-footed
bulls rushed in, breathing fire from their nostrils, that
burned up the herbage as they passed. The sound was
like the roar of a furnace, and the smoke like that of
water upon quick-lime. Jason advanced boldly to meet
them. His friends, the chosen heroes of Greece, trembled
to behold him. Regardless of the burning breath, he
soothed their rage with his voice, patted their necks with
fearless hand, and adroitly slipped over them the yoke,
and compelled them to drag the plough. The Colchiana
were amazed ; the Greeks shouted for joy. Jason next
proceeded to sow the dragon's teeth and plough them in.
And soon the crop of armed men sprang up, and wonder
ful to relate ! no sooner had they reached the surface than
they began to brandish their weapons and rush upon Ja
son. The Greeks trembled for their hero, and even she
who had provided him a way of safety and taught him
how to use it, Medea herself, grew pale with fear. Jason
for a time kept his assailants at bay with his sword and
shield, till finding their numbers overwhelming, he resorted
to the charrn which Medea had taught him, seized a stone
184 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and threw it in the midst of his foes. They immediately
turned their arms against one another, and soon there was
not one of the dragon's brood left alive. The Greeka
embraced their hero, and Medea, if she dared, would have
embraced him, too.
It remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the
fle&ce, and this was done by scattering over him a few
drops of a preparation, which Medea had supplied. At
the smell he relaxed his rage, stood for a moment motion
less, then shut those great round eyes, that had never been
known to shut before, and turned over on his side, fast
asleep. Jason seized the fleece, and with his friends and
Medea accompanying, hastened to their vessel, before
JEetes, the king, could arrest their departure, and made
the best of their way back to Thessaly, where they arrived
safe, and Jason delivered the fleece to Pelias, and dedi
cated the Argo to Neptune. What became of the fleece
afterwards we do not know, but perhaps it was found after
all, like many other golden prizes, not worth the trouble it
had cost to procure it.
This is one of those mythological tales, says a late
writer, in which there is reason to believe that a substra
tum of truth exists, though overlaid by a mass of fiction
It probably was the first important maritime expedition,
and like the first attempts of the kind of all nations, as
we know from history, was probably of a half-piratical
character. If rich spoils were the result, it was enough
to give rise to the idea of the golden fleece.
Another suggestion of a learned mythologist, Bryant, is
that it is a corrupt tradition of the story of Noah and the
ark. The name Argo seems to countenance this, and the
incident of the dove is another confirmation.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 185
Pope, in his Ode on St. Cecilia's day, thus celebrates the
launching of the ship Argo, and the power of the music
of Orpheus, whom lie calls the Thracian: —
"So when the first bold vessel (hred the seas,
High on the stern the Thr;u-i;in raised his strain,
While Argo saw her kindred trees
Descend from Pelion to the mum.
Transported demigods stood round,
And men grew heroes at the sound."
In Dyer's poem of The Fleece there is an account of
the ship Argo and her crew, which gives a good picture
of this primitive maritime adventure: —
" From every region of ^Egea's shore
The brave assembled ; those illustrious twins
Castor and Pollux; Orpheus, tuneful bard;
Zetes and Calais, as the wind in speed ;
Strong Hercules and many a chief renowned.
On deep lolcos' sandy shore they thronged,
Gleaming in armor, ardent of exploits ;
And soon, the laurel cord and the huge stone
Uplifting to the deck, unmoored the bark ;
Whose keel of wondrous length the skilful hand
Of Argus fashioned for the proud attempt ;
And in the extended keel a lofty mast
Upraised, and sails full swelling ; to the chiefs
Unwonted objects. Now first, now they learned
Their bolder steerage over ocean wave,
Led by the golden stars, as Chiron's art
Hud marked the sphere celestial," &c.
Hercules left the expedition at Mysia, for Hylas, a youth
beloved by him, having gone for water, was laid hold of
and kept by the nymphs of the spring, who were fasci
nated by his beauty. Hercules went in quest of the lad,
and while he was absent the Argo put to sea and left him.
Moore, in one of his songs, makes a beautiful allusion to
this inciient : —
16*
186 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
" When Hylas was sent with his urn to the fount,
Through fields full of light and with heart full of play,
Light rambled the boy over meadow and mount,
And neglected his task for the flowers in the way.
" Thus many like me, who in youth should have tasted
The fountain that runs by Philosophy's shrine,
Their time with the flowers on the margin have wasted,
And left their light urns all as empty as mine."
MEDEA, AND 2ESON.
Amid the rejoicings for the recovery of the Golden
Fleece, Jason felt that one thing was wanting, the pres
ence of -3£son, his father, who was prevented by his age
and infirmities from taking part in them. Jason said to
Medea, " My spouse, would that your arts, whose power I
have seen so mighty for my aid, could do me one further
service, take some years from my life and add them to my
father's." Medea replied, " Not at such a cost shall it be
done, but if my art avails me, his life shall be lengthened
without abridging yours." The next full moon she issued
forth alone, while all creatures slept ; not a breath stirred
the foliage, and all was still. To the stars she addressed
her incantations, and to the moon ; to Hecate,* the god
dess of the underworld, and to Tellus the goddess of the
earth, by whose power plants potent for enchantments are
produced. She invoked the gods of the wcods and cav-
* Hecate was a mysterious divinity sometimes identified with Diana
and sometimes with Proserpine. As Diana represents the moonlight
splendor of night, so Hecate represents its darkness and terrors. She
was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft, and was believed to wander
by night along the earth seen only by the dogs, whose barking K)ld
ber approach.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 187
eras, of mountains and valleys, of lakes and rivers, of
winds and vapors. While she spoke the stars shemj
brighter, and presently a chariot descended through th*
air, drawn by flying serpents. She ascended it, and borne
aloft made her way to distant regions, where potent plants
grew which she knew how to select for her purpose
Nine nights she employed in her search, and during that
time came not within the doors of her palace nor undei
any roof, and shunned all intercourse with mortals.
She next erected two altars, the one to Hecate, the
other to Hebe, the goddess of youth, and sacrificed a black
sheep, pouring libations of milk and wine. She implored
Pluto and his stolen bride that they would not hasten to
take the old man's life. Then she directed that -5Sson
should be led forth, and having thrown him into a deep
sleep by a charm, had him laid on a bed of herbs, like one
dead. Jason and all others were kept away from the
place, that no profane eyes might look upon her mysteries.
Then with streaming hair, she thrice moved round the
altars, dipped flaming twigs in the blood, and laid them
thereon to burn. Meanwhile the caldron with its con
tents was got ready. In it she put magic herbs, with
seeds and flowers of acrid juice, stones from the distant
east, and sand from the shore of all-surrounding ocean ;
hoar frost, gathered by moonlight, a screech owl's head
and wings, and the entrails of a wolf. She added frag
ments of the shells of tortoises, and the liver of stags, —
animals tenacious of life, — and the head and beak of a
crow, that outlives nine generations of men. These with
many other things " without a name " she boiled together
for her purposed work, stirring them up with a dry olive
branch; and behold! the branch when taken out instantly
became green, and before long was covered wi'h leaves
188 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and a plentiful growth of young olives ; and as the liquor
boiled and bubbled, and sometimes ran over, the grass
wherever the sprinklings fell shot forth with a verdure like
that of spring.
Seeing that all was ready, Medea cut the throat of the
old man and let out all his blood, and poured into hia
mouth and into his wound the juices of her caldron. As
soon as he had completely imbibed them, his hair and
beard laid by their whiteness and assumed the blackness
of youth ; his paleness and emaciation were gone ; his
veins were full of blood, his limbs of vigor and robustness.
JEson is amazed at himself, and remembers that such as
he now is, he was in his youthful days, forty years before.
Medea used her arts here for a good purpose, but not
so in another instance where she made them the instru
ments of revenge. Pelias, our readers will recollect, was
the usurping uncle of Jason, and had kept him out of his
kingdom. Yet he must have had some good qualities, for
his daughters loved him, and when they saw what Medea
had done for ^Eson, they wished her to do the same for
their father. Medea pretended to consent, and prepared
her caldron as before. At her request an old sheep was
brought and plunged into the caldron. Very soon a
bleating was heard in the kettle, and when the cover waa
removed, a larnb jumped forth and ran frisking away into
the meadow. The daughters of Pelias saw the experi
ment with delight, and appointed a time for their father to
undergo the same operation. But Medea prepared her
caldron for him in a very different way. She put in only
water and a few simple herbs. In the night she with the
sisters entered the bed chamber of the old king, while he
and his guards slept soundly under the influence of a spell
cast upon them by Medea. The daughters stood by the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 189
Dedside with their weapons drawn, but hesitated to strike,
till Medea chid their irresolution. Then, turning away
their faces, and giving random blows, they smote him with
their weapons. He starting from his sleep cried out, u My
daughters, what are you doing ? Will you kill your fa
ther ? " Their hearts failed them and the weapons fell
from their hands, but Medea struck him a fatal blow, and
prevented his saying more.
Then they placed him in the caldron, and Medea has
tened to depart in her serpent-drawn chariot before they
discovered her treachery, or their vengeance would have
been terrible. She escaped, however, but had little enjoy
ment of the fruits of her crime. Jason, for whom she had
done so much, wishing to marry Creusa, princess of Co
rinth, put away Medea. She, enraged at his ingratitude,
called on the gods for vengeance, sent a poisoned robe as
a gift to the bride, and then killing her own children, and
setting fire to the palace, mounted her serpent-drawn
chariot and fled to Athens, where she married King ^Ege-
us, the father of Theseus, and we shall meet her again
when we come to the adventures of that hero.
The incantations of Medea will remind the reader of
those of the witches in Macbeth. The following linea
are those which seem most strikingly to recall the ancient
model : —
" Round about the caldron go ;
In the poisoned entrails throw.
* * * » «
Fillet of a fenny snake
In the caldron boil and bake ;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog-
190 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing :
*****
Maw of ravening salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digged in the dark," &c.
Macbeth, Act IV. Scene 1.
And again : —
Macbeth. — What is't you do ?
Witches. — A deed without a name.
There is another story of Medea almost too revolting
for record even of a sorceress, a class of persons to whom
both ancient and modern poets have been accustomed to
attribute every degree of atrocity. In her flight from
Colchis she had taken her young brother Absyrtus with
her. Finding the pursuing vessels of ^Eetes gaining
upon the Argonauts, she caused the lad to be killed
and his limbs to be strewn over the sea. -^Eetes on
reaching the place found these sorrowful traces of his
murdered son ; but while he tarried to collect the scattered
fragments and bestow upon them an honorable interment,
the Argonauts escaped.
In the poems of Campbell will be found a translation
of one of the choruses of the tragedy of Medea, where
the poet Euripides has taken advantage of the occasion to
pay a glowing tribute to Athens, his native city. It be
gins thus: —
" 0 haggard queen ! to Athens dost thou guide
Thy glowing chariot, steeped in kindred gore ;
Or seek to hide thy damned parricide
Where Peace and Justice dwell for evermore ? "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 1P1
Meleager.
CH AFTER XVIII.
MELEAGER AND ATALANTA.
ONE of the heroes of the Argonautic expedition was
Meleager, son of (Eneus and Althea, king and queen of
Oalydon. Althea, when her son was born, beheld the
three Destinies, who, as they spun their fatal thread, fore
told that the life of the child should last no longer than a
brand then burning upon the hearth. Althea seized and
quenched the brand, and carefully preserved it for years,
while Meleager grew to boyhood, youth, and manhood. It
chanced, then, that (Eneus, as he offered sacrifices to the
192 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
gods, omitted to pay due honors to Diana ; and she, indig«
nant at the neglect, sent a wild boar of enormous size to
lay waste the fields of Calydon. Its eyes shone with
blood and fire, its bristles stood like threatening spears, its
tusks were like those of Indian elephants. The growing
corn was trampled, the vines and olive trees laid waste,
the flocks and herds were driven in wild confusion by the
slaughtering foe. All common aid seemed vain ; but Me-
leager called on the heroes of Greece to join in a bold
hunt for the ravenous monster. Theseus and his friend
Pirithous, Jason, Peleus afterwards the father of Achilles,
Telamon the father of Ajax, Nestor, then a youth, but
who in his age bore arms with Achilles and Ajax in the
Trojan war, — these and many more joined in the enter
prise. With them came Atalanta, the daughter of lasius,
king of Arcadia. A buckle of polished gold confined her
vest, an ivory quiver hung on her left shoulder, and her
left hand bore the bow. Her face blent feminine beauty
with the best graces of martial youth. Meleager saw
and loved.
But now already they were near the monster's lair.
They stretched strong nets from tree to tree ; they un
coupled their dogs, they tried to find the footprints of their
quarry in the grass. From the wood was a descent to
marshy ground. Here the boar, as he lay among the
reeds, heard the shouts of his pursuers, and rushed forth
against them. One and another is thrown down and slain.
Jason throws his spear, with a prayer to Diana for suc
cess ; and the favoring goddess allows the weapon to
touch, but not to wound, removing the steel point of the
spear even in its flight. Nestor, assailed, seeks and finds
safety in the branches of a tree. Telamon rushes on, but
stumbling at a projecting root, falls prone But an arrow
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 193
from Atalanta at length for the first time tastes the mon
ster's blood. It is a slight wound, but Meleager sees and
joyfully proclaims it. Anceus, excited to envy by the
praise given to a female, loudly proclaims his own valor,
and defies alike the boar and the goddess who had sent it ;
but as he rushes on, the infuriated beast lays him low with
a mortal wound. Theseus throws his lance, but it is
turned aside by a projecting bough. The dart of Jason
misses its object, and kills instead one of their own dogs,
But Meleager, after one unsuccessful stroke, drives his
spear into the monster's side, then rushes on and de
spatches him with repeated blows.
Then rose a shout from those around.; they congratu
lated the conqueror, crowding to touch his hand. He,
placing his foot upon the head of the slain boar, turned to
Atalanta and bestowed on her the head and the rough
hide which were the trophies of his success. But at this,
envy excited the rest to strife. Plexippus and Toxeus,
the brothers of Meleager's mother, beyond the rest op
posed the gift, and snatched from the maiden the trophy
she had received. Meleager, kindling with rage at the
wrong done to himself, and still more at the insult offered
to her whom he loved, forgot the claims of kindred, and
plunged his sword into the offenders' hearts.
As Althea bore gifts of thankfulness to the temples foi
the victory of her son, the bodies of her murdered broth
ers met her sight. She shrieks, and beats her breast,
and hastens to change the garments of rejoicing for those
of mourning. But when the author of the deed is known,
grief gives way to the stern desire of vengeance on her
son. The fatal brand, which once she rescued from the
flames, the brand which the Destinies had linked with
Meleager's life, she brings forth, and commands a fire to
17
194 STORIES OF GOBS AND HEROES,
•
be prepared. Then four times she essays to place the
brand upon the pile; four times draws back, shuddering
at the thought of bringing destruction on her son. The
feelings of the mother and the sister contend within her,
Now she is pale at the thought of the purposed deed, now
flushed again with anger at the act of her son. As a ves
sel, driven in one direction by the wind, and in the oppo
site by the tide, the mind of Althea hangs suspended in
uncertainty. But now the sister prevails above the moth
er, and she begins as she holds the fatal wood : " Turn,
ye Furies, goddesses of punishment ! turn to behold the
sacrifice I bring! Crime must atone for crime. Shall
CEneus rejoice in his victor son, while the house of Thes-
tius is desolate ? But, alas ! to what deed am I borne
along ? Brothers, forgive a mother's weakness ! my hand
fails me. He deserves death, but not that I should de
stroy him. But shall he then live, and triumph, and reign
over Calydon, while you, my brothers, wander unavenged
among the shades ? No ! thou hast lived by my gift ;
die, now, for thine own crime. Return the life which
twice I gave thee, first at thy birth, again when I snatched
this brand from the flames. O that thou hadst then died !
Alas ! evil is the conquest ; but, brothers, ye have con
quered." And, turning away her face, she threw the
fatal wood upon the burning pile.
It gave, or seemed to give, a deadly groan. Meleager,
absent and unknowing of the cause, felt a sudden pang.
He burns, and only by courageous pride conquers the pain
which destroys him. He mourns only that he perishes by
a bloodless and unhonored death. With his last breath he
calls upon his aged father, his brother, and his fond sis
ters, upon his beloved Atalanta, and upon his mother, the
unknown cause of his fate. The flames increase, and
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 195
with them the pain of the hero. Now both subside ; now
both are quenched. The brand is ashes, and the life of
Meleager is breathed forth to the wandering winds.
Althea, when the deed was done, laid violent handa
upon herself. The sisters of Meleager mourned their
brother with uncontrollable grief; till Diana, pitying the
sorrows of the house that once had aroused her anger,
turned them into birds.
ATALANTA.
The innocent cause of so much sorrow was a maiden
whose face you might truly say was boyish for a girl, yet
too girlish for a boy. Her fortune had been told, and it
was to this effect : " Atalanta, do not marry ; marriage
will be your ruin." Terrified by this oracle, she fled the
society of men, and devoted herself to the sports of the
chase. To all suitors (for she had many) she imposed a
condition which was generally effectual in relieving her
of their persecutions, — "I will be the prize of him who
shall conquer me in the race ; but death must be the pen
alty of all who try and fail." In spite of this hard con
dition some would try. Hippomenes was to be judge of
the race. " Can it be possible that any will be so rash as
to risk so much for a wife ? " said he. But when he saw
her lay aside her robe for the race, he changed his mind,
and said, " Pardon me, youths, I knew not the prize you
were competing for." As he surveyed them he wished
them all to be beaten, and swelled with envy of any one
that seemed at all likely to win. While such were his
thoughts, the virgin darted forward. As she ran she
looked more beautiful than ever. The breezes seemed to
196 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
give wings to her feet ; her hair flew over her shoulders,
and the gay fringe of her garment fluttered behind her,
A ruddy hue tinged the whiteness of her skin, such as a
crimson curtain casts on a marble wall. All her competi<
tors were distanced, and were put to death without mercy.
Hippomenes, not daunted by this result, fixing his eyes on
the virgin, said, " Why boast of beating those laggards ?
I offer myself for the contest." Atalanta looked at him
with a pitying countenance, and hardly knew whether she
would rather conquer him or not. u What god can tempt
one so young and handsome to throw himself away ? I
pity him, not for his beauty, (yet he is beautiful,) but for
his youth. I wish he would give up the race, or if he
will be so mad, I hope he may outrun me." While she
hesitates, revolving these thoughts, the spectators grow
impatient for the race, and her father prompts her to pre
pare. Then Hippomenes addressed a prayer to Venus :
" Help rne. Venus, for you have led me on." Venus
heard, and was propitious.
In the garden of her temple, in her own island of Cy
prus, is a tree with, yellow leaves and yellow branches,
and golden fruit. Hence she gathered three golden apples,
and, unseen by any one else, gave them to Hippomenes,
and told him how to use them. The signal is given ; each
starts from the goal, and skims over the sand. So light
their tread, you would almost have thought they might run
over the river surface or over the waving grain without
sinking. The cries of the spectators cheered Hippomenes,
— " Now, now do your best ! haste, haste ! you gain on
her ! relax not ! one more effort ! " It was doubtful
whether the youth or the maiden heard these cries with
the greater pleasure. But his breath began to fail him,
his throat was dry, the goal yet far off. At that moment
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 197
he threw down one of the golden apples. The virgin was
all amazement. She stopped to pick it up. Hippomenes
shot ahead. Shouts burst forth from all sides. She re
doubled her efforts, and soon overtook him. Again he
threw an apple. She stopped again, but again came up
with him. The goal was near ; one chance only remained.
" Now, goddess," said he, " prosper your gift ! " and threw
the last apple off at one side. She looked at it, and hesi
tated ; Venus impelled her to turn aside for it. She did
so, and was vanquished. The youth carried off his prize.
But the lovers were so full of their own happiness that
they forgot to pay due honor to Venus ; and the goddess
was provoked at their ingratitude. She caused them to
give offence to Cybele. That powerful goddess was not
to be insulted with impunity. She took from them their
human form and turned them into animals of characters
resembling their own : of the huntress-heroine, triumphing
in the blood of her lovers, she made a lioness, and of her
lord and master a lion, and yoked them to her car, where
they are still to be seen in all representations, in statuary
or painting, of the goddess Cybele.
Cybele is the Latin name of the goddess called by the
Greeks Rhea and Ops. She was the wife of Cronos and
mother of Zeus. In works of art, she exhibits the ma
tronly air which distinguishes Juno and Ceres. Sometimes
she is veiled, and seated on a throne with lions at her side,
at other times riding in a chariot drawn by lions. She
wears a mural crown, that is, a crown whose rim is carved
in the form of towers and battlements. Her priests were
called Corybantes.
Byron in describing the city of Venice, which is built
17*
198 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
on a low island in the Adriatic Sea, borrows an illustration
from Cybele: —
" She looks a sea-Cybele fresh from ocean,
Rising with her tiara of proud towers
At airy distance, with majestic motion,
A ruler of the waters and their powers.
Childe Harold, IV.
In Moore's Rhymes on the Road, the poet, speaking of
Alpine scenery, alludes to the story of Atalanta and Hip-
pomcnes, thus : —
" Even here, in this region of wonders, I find
That light-footed Fancy leaves Truth far behind ,
Or at least, like Hippomenes, turns her astray
By the golden illusions he flings in her way."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
*llerculcs.
CHAPTER XIX.
KERCULES - HEBE AND GANYMEDE.
HERCULES.
HERCULES was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. As
Juno was always hostile to the offspring of her lit island
by mortal mothers, she declared war against Hercules
from his birth. She sent two serpents to destroy him aa
he lay in his cradle, but the precocious infant strangled
them with his own hands. He was however by the arts
of Juno rendered subject to Eurystheus and compelled to
200 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
perform all his commands. Eurystheus enjoined upon
him a succession of desperate adventures, which are called
the twelve " Labors of Hercules." The first was the fight
with the Nemean lion. The valley of Nemea was in
fested by a terrible lion. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to
bring him the skin of this monster. After using in vain
his club and arrows against the lion, Hercules strangled
the animal with his hands. He returned carrying the
dead lion on his shoulders ; but Eurystheus was so fright
en yl at the sight of it and at this proof of the prodigious
strength of the hero, that he ordered him to deliver the
account of his exploits in future outside the town.
His next labor was the slaughter of the Hydra. This
monster ravaged the country of Argos, and dwelt in a
swamp near the well of Amymone. This well had been
discovered by Amymone when the country was suffering
from drought, and the story was, that Neptune, who loved
her, had permitted her to touch tke rock with his trident,
and a spring of three outlets burst forth. Here the Hy
dra took up his position, and Hercules was sent to destroy
him. The Hydra had nine heads, of which the middle
one was immortal. Hercules struck off its heads with his
club, but in the place of the head knocked off, two new
ones grew forth each time. At length with the assistance
of his faithful servant lolaus, he burned away the heads
of the Hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under
a huge rock.
Another labor was the cleaning of the Augean stables.
A.ugeas, king of Elis, had a herd of three thousand oxen,
whose stalls had not been cleansed for thirty years. Her
cules brought the rivers Alpheus and Peneus through
them, and cleansed them thoroughly in one day.
His next labor was of a more delicate kind. Admeta,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 201
the daughter of Eurystheus, longed to obtain the girdle of
the queen of the Amazons, and Eurystheus ordered Her
cules to g3 and get it. The Amazons were a nation of
women. They were very warlike and held several flour
ishing cities. It was their custom to bring up only the
female children ; the boys were either sent away to the
neighboring nations or put to death. Hercules was ao
companied by a number of volunteers, and after various
adventures at last reached the country of the Amazons.
Hippolyta, the queen, received him kindly, and consented
to yield him her girdle, but Juno, taking the form of an
Amazon, went and persuaded the rest that the strangers
were carrying off their queen. They instantly armed
and came in great numbers down to the ship. Hercules,
thinking that Hippolyta had acted treacherously, slew her,
and taking her girdle made sail homewards.
Another task enjoined him was to bring to Eurystheus
the oxen of Geryon, a monster with three bodies, who
dwelt in the island Erytheia, (the red,) so called be
cause it lay at the west, under the rays of the setting sun.
This description is thought to apply to Spain, of which
Geryon was king. After traversing various countries,
Hercules reached at length the frontiers of Libya and
Europe, where he raised the two mountains of Calpe and
Abyla, as monuments of his progress, or according to an
other account rent one mountain into two and left half on
each side, forming the Straits of Gibraltar, the tAvo moun
tains being called the Pillars of Hercules. The oxen
were guarded by the giant Eurytion and his two-headed
dog, but Hercules killed the giant and his dog and brought
away the oxen in safety to Eurystheus.
The most difficult labor of all was getting the golden
apples of the Ilesperides, for Hercules did not know where
202 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
to find them. These were the apples which Juno had
received at her wedding from the goddess of the Earth,
and which she had intrusted to the keeping of the daugh
ters of Hesperis, assisted by a watchful dragon. After
various adventures Hercules arrived at Mount Atlas in
Africa. Atlas was one of the Titans who had warred
against the gods, and after they were subdued, Atlas was
condemned to bear on his shoulders the weight of the
heavens. He was the father of the Hesperides, and Her
cules thought, might, if any one could, find the apples and
bring them to him. But how to send Atlas away from
his post, or bear up the heavens while he was gone ?
Hercules took the burden on his own shoulders, and sent
Atlas to seek the apples. He returned with them, and
though somewhat reluctantly, took his burden upon his
shoulders again, and let Hercules return with the apples
to Eurystheus.
Milton in his Comus makes the Hesperides the dangh*
ters of Hesperus, and nieces of Atlas : —
" amidst the gardens fair
Of Hesperus and his daughters three,
That sing about the golden tree.
The poets, led by the analogy of the lovely appearance
of the western sky at sunset, viewed the west as a region
of brightness and glory. Hence they placed in it the Isles
of the blest, the ruddy isle Erytheia, on which the bright
oxen of Geryon were pastured, and the isle of the Hes
perides. The apples are supposed by some to be the
oranges of Spain, of which the Greeks had heard some
obscure accounts.
A celebrated exploit of Hercules was his victory ovei
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 203
Antajus. Antaeus, the son of Terra, the Earth, was a
mighty giant and wrestler, whose strength was invincible
so long as he remained in contact with his mother Earth.
He compelled all strangers who came to his country to
wrestle with him, on condition that if conquered (as they
all were) they should be put to death. Hercules en-
countered him, and finding that it was of no avail to throiv
him, for he always rose with renewed strength from every
fall, he lifted him up from the earth and strangled him in
the air.
Cacus was a huge giant, who inhabited a cave on
Mount Aventine, and plundered the surrounding country.
When Hercules was driving home the oxen oi Geryon,
Cacus stole part of the cattle, while the hero slept. That
their foot-prints might not serve to show where they had
been driven, he dragged them backward by their tails to
his cave ; so their tracks all seemed to show that they had
gone in the opposite direction. Hercules was deceived by
this stratagem, and would have failed to find his oxen, if
it had not happened that in driving the remainder of the
herd past the cave where the stolen ones were concealed/
those within began to low, and were thus discovered.
Cacus was slain by Hercules.
The last exploit we shall record was bringing Cerberus
from the lower world. Hercules descended into Hades,
accompanied by Mercury and Minerva. He obtained
permission from Pluto to carry Cerberus to the upper air
provided he could do it without the use of weapons ; and
in spite of the monster's struggling, he seized him, held him
fast, and carried him to Eurystheus, and afterwards brought
him back again. When he was in Hades he obtained the
liberty of Theseus, his admirer and imitator, who had been
detained a prisoner there for an unsuccessful attempt to
carry off Proserpine.
204 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Hercules in a fit of madness killed his friend Iphitus.
and was condemned for this offence to become the slave of
Queen Omphale for three years. While in this service
the hero's nature seemed changed. He lived effeminately,
wearing at times the dress of a woman, and spinning wool
with the hand-maidens of Omphale, while the queen wore
his lion's skin. When this service was ended he married
"Dejanira and lived in peace with her three years. On
one occasion as he was travelling with his wife, they came
to a river, across which the Centaur Nessus carried trav
ellers for a stated fee. Hercules himself forded the river,
but gave Dejanira to Nessus to be carried across. Nessus
attempted to run away with her, but Hercules heard her
cries, and shot an arrow into the heart of Nessus. The
dying Centaur told Dejanira to take a portion of his blood
and keep it, as it might be used as a charm to preserve
the love of her husband.
Dejanira did so, and before long fancied she had occa
sion to use it. Hercules in one of his conquests had taken
prisoner a fair maiden, named lole, of whom he seemed
more fond than Dejanira approved. When Hercules was
about to offer sacrifices to the gods in honor of his victory,
he sent to his wife for a white robe to use on the occasion,
Dejanira, thinking it a good opportunity to try her love-
spell, steeped the garment in the blood of Nessus. We
are to suppose she took care to wash out all traces of it,
but the magic power remained, and as soon as the garment
became warm on the body of Hercules, the poison pene
trated into all his limbs and caused him the most intense
ogony. In his frenzy he seized Liclias, who had brought
him the fatal robe, and hurled him into the sea. He
wrenched off the garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and
with it he tore away whole pieces of his body. In this
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 205
state he embarked on board a ship and was conveyed
home. Dejanira on seeing what she had unwittingly done,
hung herself. Hercules, prepared to die, ascended Mount
(Eta, where he built a funeral pile of trees, gave his bow
and arrows to Philoctetes, and laid himself down on the
pile, his head resting on his club, and his lion's skin spread
over him. With a countenance as serene as if he were
taking his place at a festal board, he commanded Philoc
tetes to apply the torch. The flames spread apace and
soon invested the whole mass.
Milton thus alludes to the frenzy of Hercules : —
"As -when Alcides,* from CEchalia crowned
With conquest, felt the envenomed robe, and tore,
Through pain, up by the roots Thessalian pines
And Lichas from the top of CEta threw
Into the Euboic Sea."
The gods themselves felt troubled at seeing the cham
pion of the earth so brought to his end. But Jupiter with
cheerful countenance thus addressed them : " I am pleased
to see your concern, my princes, and am gratified to per
ceive that I am the ruler of a loyal people, and that my
son enjoys your favor. For although your interest in him
arises from his noble deeds, yet it is not the less gratifying
to me. But now I say to you, Fear not. He who con
quered all else is not to be conquered by those flames
which you see blazing on Mount (Eta. Only his mother's
share in him can perish ; what he derived from me ia
immortal. I shall take him, dead to earth, to the heavenly
shores, and I require of you all to receive him kindly. li
* Alcides, a name of Hercules.
18
206 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
any of you feel grieved at his attaining this honor, yet no
one can deny that he has deserved it." The gods all gave
their assent ; Juno only heard the closing words with some
displeasure that she should be so particularly pointed at,
yet not enough to make her regret the determination of
her husband. So when the flames had consumed the moth
er's share of Hercules, the diviner part, instead of being
injured thereby, seemed to start forth with new vigor, to
assume a more lofty port and a more awful dignity. Ju
piter enveloped him in a cloud, and took him up in a four-
horse chariot to dwell among the stars. As he took his
place in heaven, Atlas felt the added weight.
Juno, now reconciled to him, gave him her daughter
Hebe in marriage.
The poet Schiller, in one of his pieces called the Ideal
and Life, illustrates the contrast between the practical
and the imaginative in some beautiful stanzas, of which
the last two may be thus translated : —
" Deep degraded to a coward's slave,
Endless contests bore Alcides brave,
Through the thorny path of suffering led ;
Slew the Hydra, crushed the lion's might,
Threw himself, to bring his friend to light,
Living, in the skiff that bears the dead.
All the torments, every toil of earth
Juno's hatred on him could impose,
Well he bore them, from his fated birth
To life's grandly mournful close.
"Till the god, the earthly part forsaken,
From the man in flames asunder taken,
Drank the heavenly ether's purer breath.
Joyous in the new unwonted lightness,
Soared he upwards to celestial brightness,
Earth's dark heavy burden lost in death.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 207
High Olympus gives harmonious greeting
To the hall where reigns his sire adored ;
Youth's bright goddess, with a blush at meeting,
Gives the nectar to her lord." S. G. B.
HEBE AND GANYMEDE.
Hebe, the daughter of Juno, and goddess of youth, wag
cup-bearer to the gods. The usual story is, that she re
signed her office on becoming the wife of Hercules. But
there is another statement which our countryman Craw
ford, the sculptor, has adopted in his group of Hebe and
Ganymede, now in the Athenaeum gallery. According to
this, Hebe was dismissed from her office in consequence
of a fall which she met with one day when in attendance
on the gods. Her successor was Ganymede, a Trojan
boy whom Jupiter, in the disguise of an eagle, seized and
carried off from the midst of his playfellows on Mount
Ida, bore up to heaven, and installed in the vacant place.
Tennyson, in his Palace of Art, describes among the
decorations on the walls, a picture representing this
legend : —
" There, too, flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh
Half buried in the eagle's down,
Sole as a flying star shot through the sky
Above the pillared town."
And in Shelley's Prometheus, Jupiter calls to his cup
bearer thus : —
" Pour forth heaven's wine, Idaean Ganymede,
And let it fill the Daedal cups like fire."
The beautiful legend of the Choice of Hercules may
be found in the Tatler, No. 97.
208 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XX.
THESEUS — D JED ALUS — CASTOR AND POLLUX,
THESEUS.
THESEUS was the son of ^Egeus, king of Athens, and
of JEthra, daughter of the king of Trcezen. He was
brought up at Trcezen, and when arrived at manhood, was
to proceed to Athens and present himself to his father.
JEgeus, on parting from JEthra, before the birth of his
son, placed his sword and shoes under a large stone, and
directed her to send his son to him when he became strong
enough to roll away the stone and take them from under
it. When she thought the time had come, his mother led
Theseus to the stone, and he removed it with ease, and
took the sword and shoes. As the roads were infested
with robbers, his grandfather pressed him earnestly to take
the shorter and safer way to his father's country, by sea ;
but the youth, feeling in himself the spirit and the soul of
a hero, and eager to signalize himself like Hercules, with
whose fame all Greece then rang, by destroying the evil
doers and monsters that oppressed the country, determined
on the more perilous and adventurous journey by land.
His first day's journey brought him to Epidaurus, where
dwelt a man named Periphetes, a son of Vulcan. This
ferocious savage always went armed with a club of iron,
and all travellers stood in terror of his violence. When
he saw Theseus approach, he assailed him, but speedily
fell beneath the blows of the young hero, who took pos
session of his club, and bore it ever afterwards as a me
morial of his first victory.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 209
Several similar contests with the petty tyrants and
marauders of the country followed, in all of which The
seus was victorious. One of these evil-doers was called
Procrustes, or the Stretcher. He had an iron bedstead,
on which he used to tie all travellers who fell into his
iiands. If they were shorter than the bed, he stretched
their limbs to make them fit it ; if they were longer than
the bed, he lopped off a portion. Theseus served him as
he had served others.
Having overcome all the perils of the road, Theseus at
length reached Athens, where new dangers awaited him.
Medea, the sorceress, who had fled from Corinth after her
separation from Jason, had become the wife of jEgeus,
the father of Theseus. Knowing by her arts who he was,
and fearing the loss of her influence with her husband, if
Theseus should be acknowledged as his son, she filled the
mind of ^Egeus with suspicions of the young stranger, and
induced him to present him a cup of poison ; but at the
moment when Theseus stepped forward to take it, the
sight of the sword which he wore discovered to his father
who he was, and prevented the fatal draught. Medea,
detected in her arts, fled once more from deserved punish
ment, and arrived in Asia, where the country afterwards
called Media received its name from her. Theseus was
acknowledged by his father, and declared his successor.
The Athenians were at that time in deep affliction, on
acoount of the tribute which they were forced to pay to
Minos, king of Crete. This tribute consisted of seven
youths and seven maidens, who were sent every year to
be devoured by the Minotaur, a monster with a bull's body
and a human head. It was exceedingly strong and fierce,
and was kept in a labyrinth constructed by Drcdalus, so
artfully contrived that whoever was enclosed in it could by
18*
210 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
no means find his way out unassisted. Here the Mino
taur roamed, and was fed with human victims.
Theseus resolved to deliver his countrymen from this
calamity, or to die in the attempt. Accordingly, when the
time of sending off the tribute came, and the youths and
maidens were, according to custom, drawn by lot to be
sent, he offered himself as one of the victims, in spite of
the entreaties of his father. The ship departed under
black sails, as usual, which Theseus promised his father to
change for white, in case of his returning victorious.
When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens were
exhibited before Minos ; and Ariadne, the daughter of
the king, being present, became deeply enamoured of The
seus, by whom her love was readily returned. She fur
nished him with a sword, with which to encounter the
Minotaur, and with a clew of thread by which he might
find his way out of the labyrinth. Pie was successful,
slew the Minotaur, escaped from the labyrinth, and taking
Ariadne as the companion of his way, with his rescued
companions sailed for Athens. On their way they stopped
at the island of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned Ari
adne, leaving her asleep.* His excuse for this ungrateful
treatment of his benefactress was, that Minerva appeared
to him in a dream and commanded him to do so.
On approaching the coast of Attica, Theseus forgot the
signal appointed by his father, and neglected to raise the
white sails, and the old king, thinking his son had perished,
put an end to his own life. Theseus thus became king
of Athens.
One of the most celebrated of the adventures of The-
• One of the finest pieces of sculpture in Italy, the recumbent Ari
adne of the Vatican, represents this incident. A copy is m the Athe
naeum gallery, Boston.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 211
seus is his expedition against the Amazons. He assailed
them before they had recovered from the attack of Her
cules, and carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons
in their turn invaded the country of Athens and pene
trated into the city itself; and the final battle in which
Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of
the city. This battle was one of the favorite subjects of
the ancient sculptors, and is commemorated in several
works of art that are still extant.
The friendship between Theseus and Pirithous was of
a most intimate nature, yet it originated in the midst of
arms. Pirithous had made an irruption into the plain
of Marathon, and carried off the herds of the king of
Athens. Theseus went to repel the plunderers. The
moment Pirithous beheld him, he was seized with admi
ration ; he stretched out his hand as a token of peace, and
cried, " I3e judge thyself, — what satisfaction dost thou
require?" " Thy friendship," replied the Athenian, and
they swore inviolable fidelity. Their deeds corresponded
to their professions, and they ever continued true brothers
in arms. Each of them aspired to espouse a daughter of
Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on Helen, then but a
child, afterwards so celebrated as the cause of the Trojan
war, and with the aid of his friend he carried her off. Pi
rithous aspired to the wife of the monarch of Erebus ; and
Theseus, though aware of the danger, accompanied the
ambitious lover in his descent to the under world. But
Pluto seized and set them on an enchanted rock at his
palace gate, where they remained till Hercules arrived
and liberated Theseus, leaving Pirithous to his fate.
After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra,
daughter of Minos, king of Crete. Phredra saw in Hip.
polytus, the son of Theseus, a youth endowed with all the
212 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
graces and virtues of his father, and of an age correspond
ing to her own. She loved him, but he repulsed her ad
vances, and her love was changed to hate. She used he*
influence over her infatuated husband to cause him to be
jealous o: his son, and he imprecated the vengeance of
Neptune upon him. As Hippolytus was one day driving
his chariot along the shore, a sea-monster raised himself
above the waters, and frightened the horses so that they
ran away and dashed the chariot to pieces. Hippolytus
was killed, but by Diana's assistance ^Esculapius restored
him to life. Diana removed Hippolytus from the power
of his deluded father and false step-mother, and placed
him in Italy under the protection of the nymph Egeria.
Theseus at length lost the favor of his people, and re
tired to the court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, who at
first received him kindly, but afterwards treacherously
slew him. In a later age the Athenian general Cimon
discovered the place where his remains were laid, and
caused them to be removed to Athens, where they were
deposited in a temple called the Theseum, erected in honor
of the hero.
The queen of the Amazons whom Theseus espoused
is by some called Hippolyta. That is the name she bears
in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, — the sub
ject of which is the festivities attending the nuptials of
Theseus and Hippolyta.
Mrs. Hemans has a poem on the ancient Greek tradi
tion that the " Shade of Theseus " appeared strengthen-
ing his countrymen at the battle of Marathon.
Theseus is a semi-historical personage. It is recorded
of him that he united the several tribes by whom the ter
ritory of Attica was then possessed into one state, of which
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 213
Athens was the capital. In commemoration of this im«
portant event, he instituted the festival of Panathenaea, in
honor of Minerva, the patron deity of Athens. This fes
tival differed from the other Grecian games chiefly in two
particulars. It was peculiar to the Athenians, and its
chief feature was a solemn procession in which the Peplus
or sacred robe of Minerva was carried to the Parthenon,
and suspended before the statue of the goddess. The
Peplus was covered with embroidery, worked by select
virgins of the noblest families in Athens. The procession
consisted of persons of all ages and both sexes. The old
men carried olive branches in their hands, and the young
men bore arms. The young women carried baskets on
their heads, containing the sacred utensils, cakes, and all
things necessary for the sacrifices. The procession formed
the subject of the bas-reliefs which embellished the out
side of the temple of the Parthenon. A considerable
portion of these sculptures is now in the British Museum
among those known as the " Elgin marbles."
OLYMPIC AND OTHER GAMES.
It seems not inappropriate to mention here the other
celebrated national games of the Greeks. The first and
most distinguished were the Olympic, founded it was said
by Jupiter himself. They were celebrated at Olympia in
Elis. Vast numbers of spectators flocked to them from
every part of Greece, and from Asia, Africa, and Sicily,
They were repeated every fifth year in midsummer, and
continued five days. They gave rise to the custom of
reckoning time and dating events by Olympiads. The
first Olympiad is generally considered as corresponding
214 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
with the year 776 B. C. The Pythian games were cele
brated in the vicinity of Delphi, the Isthmian on the Co
rinthian isthmus, the Nemean at Nemea, a city of Argolis.
The exercises in these games were of live sorts, run
ning, leaping, wrestling, throwing the quoit, and hurling
the javelin, or boxing. Besides these exercises of bodily
strength and agility, there were contests in music, poetry,
and eloquence. Thus these games furnished poets, musi
cians, and authors the best opportunities to present their
productions to the public, and the fame of the victors was
diffused far and wide.
DJEDALUS.
The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means
of the clew of Ariadne was built by Daedalus, a most
skilful artificer. It was an edifice with numberless wind
ing passages and turnings opening into one another, and
seeming to have neither beginning nor end, like the river
Moeander, which returns on itself, and flows now onward,
now backward, in its course to the sea. Daedalus built
the labyrinth for King Minos, but afterwards lost the favor
of the king, and was shut up in a to\ver. He contrived
to make his escape from his prison, but could not leave the
island by sea, as the king kept strict watch on all the ves
sels, and permitted none to sail without being carefully
searched. " Minos may control the land and sea," said
Daedalus, " but not the regions of the air. I will try that
way." So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself
and his young son Icarus. He wrought feathers together,
beginning with the smallest and adding larger, so as to
form an increasing surface. The larger ones he secured
with thread and the smaller with wax, and gave the whole
STORIES OF GODS AND IIKKOES.
21*
Fall of Icarus.
a gentle curvature like the wings of a bird. Icarus, the
boy, stood and looked on, sometimes running to gather up
the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then
handling the wax and working it over with his fingers, by
his play impeding his father in his labors. When at last
the work was done, the artist, waving his wings, found
himself buoyed upwards and hung suspended, poising
himself on the beaten air. He next equipped his son ir
the same manner, and taught him how to fly, as a bird
tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air.
When all was prepared for flight he said, " Icarus, my son,
I charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly
toe low the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the
heat will melt them. Keep near me and you will be safe."
While he gave him these instructions and fitted the wings
to his shoulders, the face of the father was wet with tears,
and his hands trembled. Pie kissed the boy, not knowing
216 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
that ;t was for the last time. Then rising on his wings
he ^w off, encouraging him to follow, and looked buck
(row his own flight to see how his son managed his wings.
As they flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and
the shepherd leaned on his staff and watched them, aston
ished at the sight, and thinking they were gods who could
Jims cleave the air.
They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebyn-
thos on the right, when the boy, exulting in his career,
began to leave the guidance of his companion and soar
upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the blaz
ing sun softened the wax which held the feathers together,
and they came off. He fluttered with his arms, but no
leathers remained to hold the air. While his mouth ut
tered cries to his father it was submerged in the blue
waters of the sea, which thenceforth was called by his
name. His father cried, " Icarus, Icarus, where are you ? "
At last he saw the feathers floating on the water, and bit
terly lamenting his own arts, he buried the body and called
the land Icaria in memory of his child. Dredalus arrived
safe in Sicily, where he built a temple to Apollo, and hung
up his wings, an offering to the god.
Duedalus was so proud of his achievements that he could
not b<vir the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her
son Pv,rdix under his charge to be taught the mechanical
arts. He was an apt scholar and gave striking evidences
of ingenuity. Walking on the seashore he picked up the
spine of a fish. Imitating it, he took a piece of iron and
notched it on the edge, and thus invented the saw. He
put two pieces of iron together, connecting them at one
end with a rivet, and sharpening the other ends, and made
a pair of compasses. Da3dalus was so envious of hia
nephew's performances that he took an opportunity, when
they were together one day on the top of a high tower, to
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 217
push him off. But Minerva, who favors ingenuity, sa\*
him falling, and arrested his fate by changing him into a
bird called after his name, the Partridge. This bird does
not build his nest in the trees, nor take lofty flights, but
nestles in the hedges, and mindful of his fall, avoids high
places.
The death of Icarus is told in the following lines by
Darwin : —
4 with melting wax and loosened strings
Sunk hapless Icarus on unfaithful wings;
Headlong he rushed through the affrighted air,
With limbs distorted and dishevelled hair;
His scattered plumage danced upon the wave,
And sorrowing Nereids decked his watery grave;
O'er his pale corse their pearly sea-flowers shed,
And strewed with crimson moss his marble bed ;
Struck in their coral towers the passing bell,
And wide in ocean tolled his echoing knell."
CASTOR AND POLLUX.
Castor and Pollux were the offspring of Leda and the
Swan, under which disguise Jupiter had concealed himself.
Leda gave birth to an egg, from which sprang the twins.
Helen, so famous afterwards as the cause of the Trojan
war, was their sister.
When Theseus and his friend Pirithous had carried oil
Helen from Sparta, the youthful heroes Castor and Pol
lux, with their followers, hasted to her rescue. Theseus
was absent from Attica and the brothers were successful
in recovering their sister
Castor was famous for taming and managing horses, and
19
218 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Pollux for skill in boxing. They were united by the
warmest affection and inseparable in all their enterprises.
They accompanied the Argonautic expedition. During
die voyage a storm arose, and Orpheus prayed to the
Samothracian gods, and played on his harp, whereupon
the storm ceased and stars appeared on the heads of the
brothers. From this incident, Castor and Pollux came
afterwards to be considered the patron deities of seamen
and voyagers, and the lambent flames, which in certain
states of the atmosphere play round the sails and masts
of vessels, were called by their names.
After the Argonautic expedition, we find Castor and
Pollux engaged in a war with Idas and Lynceus. Cas
tor was slain, and 'Pollux, inconsolable for the loss of his
brother, besought Jupiter to be permitted to give his own
life as a ransom for him. Jupiter so far consented as to
allow the two brothers to enjoy the boon of life alternately,
passing one day under the earth and the next in the
heavenly abodes. According to another form of the
story Jupiter rewarded the attachment of the brothers by
placing them among the stars as Gemini, the Twins.
Thev received divine honors under the name of Dios
curi, (sons of Jove.) They were believed to have ap
peared occasionally in later times, taking part with one
side or the other, in hard-fought fields, and were said on
such occasions to be mounted on magnificent white steeds.
Thus in the early history of Rome they are said to have
assisted the Romans at the battle of Lake Regillus, and
after the victory a temple was erected in their honor on
the spot where they appeared.
Macaulay in his Lays of Ancient Rome thus alludes to
the legend : —
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROF* 219
"So like they were, no mortal
Might one from other know;
White as snow their armor was,
Their steeds were white as snow.
Never on earthly anvil
Did such rare armor gleam,
And never did such gallant steeds
Drink of an earthly stream.
* * • *
u Back comes the chief in triumph
Who in the hour of fight
Hath seen the great Twin Brethren
In harness on his right.
Safe comes the ship to haven,
Through billows and through galef
If once the great Twin Brethren
Sit shining on the sails."
220
STORIKS OF OODS AND HEROES.
Bacchus.
CHAPTER XXI.
BACCHUS — ARIADNE.
BACCHUS.
BACCHUS was the son of Jupiter and Semele. Jumi
to gratify her resentment against Semele contrived a plan
for her destruction. Assuming the form of Beroe, her
aged nurse, she insinuated doubts whether it was indeed
Jove himself who came as a lover. Heaving a sigh, she
said, " I hope it will turn out so, but I can't help being
afraid. People are not always what they pretend to be.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 221
If he is indeed Jove, make him give some proof of it
Ask him to come arrayed in all his splendors, such as he
wears in heaven. That will put the matter beyond a
doubt." Semele was persuaded to try the experiment.
She asks a favor, without naming what it is. Jove gives
his promise, and confirms it with the irrevocable oath,
attesting the river Styx, terrible to the gods themselves.
Then she made known her request. The god would have
stopped her as she spake, but she was too quick for him.
The words escaped, and he could neither unsay his prom
ise nor her request. In deep distress he left her and
returned to the upper regions. There he clothed himself
in his splendors, not putting on all his terrors, as when he
overthrew the giants, but what is known among the goda
as his lesser panoply. Arrayed in this he entered the
chamber of Semele. Her mortal frame could not endure
the splendors of the immortal radiance. She was con
sumed to ashes.
Jove took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge
to the Nysaean nymphs, who nourished his infancy and
childhood, arid for their care were rewarded by Jupiter by
being placed, as the Hyades, among the stars. When
Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine
and the mode of extracting its precious juice ; but Juno
struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer
through various parts of the earth. In Phrygia' the gvd-
dess Rhea cured him and taught him her religious rites,
and he set out on a progress through Asia teaching the
people the cultivation of the vine. The most famous part
of his wanderings is his expedition to India, which is said
to have lasted several years. Returning in triumph he
undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but
was opposed by some princes who dreaded its introduc-
19*
222 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
tion on account of the disorders and madness it brought
with it.
As he approached his native city Thebes, Pentheus the
king, who had no respect for the new worship, forbade its
rites to be performed. But when it was known that Bac
chus was advancing, men and women, but chiefly the latter,
young and old poured forth to meet him and to join his
triumphal march.
Mr. Longfellow in his Drinking Song thus describes the
march of Bacchus : —
" Fauns with youthful Bacchus follow;
Ivy crowns that brow, supernal
As the forehead of Apollo,
And possessing youth eternal.
" Round about him fair Bacchantes,
Bearing cymbals, flutes and thyrses,
Wild from Naxian groves or Zante's
Vineyards, sing delirious verses."
It was in vain Pentheus remonstrated, commanded, and
threatened. " Go," said he to his attendants, " seize this
vagabond leader of the rout and bring him to me. I will
soon make him confess his false claim of heavenly parent
age and renounce his counterfeit worship." It was in vain
his nearest friends and wisest counsellors remonstrated
and begged him not to oppose the god. Their remon-
Btrances only made him more violent.
But new the attendants returned whom he had de
spatched to seize Bacchus. They had been driven away
by the Bacchanals, but had succeeded in taking one of
them prisoner, whom, with his hands tied behind him,
they brought before the king. Pentheus beholding him
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 223
with wrathful countenance said, " Fellow ! you shall
speedily be put to death, that your fate may be a warning
to others ; but though I grudge the delay of your punish
ment, speak, tell us who you are, and what are these new
rites you presume to celebrate."
The prisoner unterrified responded, " My name is Ace-
tcs ; my country is Maeonia ; my parents were poor people,
who had no fields or flocks to leave me, but they left me
their fishing rods and nets and their fisherman's trade.
This I followed for some time, till growing weary of re
maining in one place, I learned the pilot's art and how to
guide my course by the stars. It happened as I was sail
ing for Delos, we touched at the island of Dia and went
ashore. Kext morning I sent the men for fresh water
and myself mounted the hill to observe the wind ; when
my men returned bringing with them a prize, as they
thought, a boy of delicate appearance, whom they had
found asleep. They judged he was a noble youth, per
haps a king's son, and they might get a liberal ransom for
him. I observed his dress, his walk, his face. There was
something in them which I felt sure was more than mortal.
I said to rny men, ; What god there is concealed in that
form I know not, but some one there certainly is. Pardon
us, gentle deity, for the violence we have done you, and
give success to our undertakings.' Dictys, one of my
best hands for climbing the mast and coming down by the
ropes, and Melanthus my steersman, and Epopeus the
leader of the sailors' cry, one and all exclaimed, 'Spare
your prayers for us.' So blind is the lust of gain!
When they proceeded to put him on board I resisted
them. 'This ship shall not be profaned by such impiety,'
said I. ' I have a greater share in her than any of you/
But Ly cabas, a turbulent fellow, seized me by the throat
224 STORIES 01 GODS AND HEROES.
and attempted to throw me overboard, and I scarcely
saved myself by clinging to the ropes. The rest approved
the deed.
" Then Bacchus (for it was indeed he) as if shaking off
his drowsiness exclaimed, ' What are you doing with me ?
What is this fighting about? Who brought me here?
Where are you going to carry me ? ' One of them re
plied, * Fear nothing ; tell us where you wish to go and
we will take you there.' * Naxos is my home,' said
Bacchus; 'take me there and you shall be well re
warded.' They promised so to do, and told me to pilot
the ship to Naxos. Naxos lay to the right, and I was
trimming the sails to carry us there, when some by signs
and others by whispers signified to me their will that I
should sail in the opposite direction, and take the boy to
Egypt to sell him for a slave. I was confounded and said,
* Let some one else pilot the ship ; ' withdrawing myself
from any further agency in their wickedness. They
cursed me, and one of them exclaiming, ' Don't flatter
yourself that we depend on you for our safety,' took my
place as pilot, and bore away from Naxos.
"Then the god, pretending that he had just become
aware of their treachery, looked out over the sea and said
in a voice of weeping, * Sailors, these are not the shores
you promised to take me to ; yonder island is not my
home. What haVe I done that you should treat me so ?
It is small glory you will gain by cheating a poor boy.'
I wept to hear him, but the crew laughed at both of us,
and sped the vessel fast over the sea. All at once —
strange as it may seem, it is true, — the vessel stopped,
in the mid sea, as fast as if it was fixed on the ground.
The men, astonished, pulled at their oars, and spread more
sail, trying to make progress by the aid of both, buf all in
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 225
vain. Ivy twined round the oars and hindered their mo
lion, and clung to the sails, with heavy clusters of berries,
A vine, laden with grapes, ran up the mast, and along the
sides of the vessel. The sound of flutes was heard and
the odor of fragrant wine spread all around. The god
himself had a chaplet of vine leaves, and bore in his hand
a spear wreathed with ivy. Tigers crouched at his feet,
and forms of lynxes and spotted panthers played around
him. The men were seized with terror or madness ; some
leaped overboard ; others preparing to do the same be
held their companions in the water undergoing a change,
their bodies becoming flattened and ending in a crooked
tail. One exclaimed, ' What miracle is this ! ' and as he
spoke his mouth widened, his nostrils expanded, and scales
covered all his body. Another endeavoring to pull the
oar felt his hands shrink up and presently to be no longer
hands but fins ; another trying to raise his arms to a rope
found he had no arms, and curving his mutilated body,
jumped into the sea. What had been his legs became
the two ends of a crescent-shaped tail. The whole crew
became dolphins and swam about the ship, now upon the
surface, now under it, scattering the spray, and spouting
the water from their broad nostrils. Of twenty men I
alone was left. Trembling with fear, the god cheered me.
4 Fear not,' said he. ; * steer towards Naxos.' I obeyed,
and when we arrived there, I kindled the altars and cele
brated the sacred rites of Bacchus."
Pentheus here exclaimed, " We have wasted time
enough on this silly story. Take him away and have him
executed without delay." Acetes was led away by the
attendants and shut up fast in prison ; but while they were
getting ready the instruments of execution, the prison
doors came open of their own accord and the chains fell
^26 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
from his limbs, and when they looked for him he was no
where to be found.
Pentheus would take no warning, but instead of sending
others, determined to go himself to the scene of the so
lemnities. The mountain Citheron was all alive with
worshippers, and the cries of the Bacchanals resounded
on every side. The noise roused the anger of Pentheus
as the sound of a trumpet does the fire of a war-horse.
He penetrated through the wood and reached an open
space where the chief scene of the orgies met his eyes.
At the same moment the women saw him ; and first among
them his own mother, Agave, blinded by the god, cried out,
" See there the wild boar, the hugest monster that prowls
in these woods ! Come on, sisters ! I will be the first to
strike the wild boar." The whole band rushed upon him,
and while he now talks less arrogantly, now excuses him
self, and now confesses his crime and implores pardon,
they press upon and wound him. In vain he cries to his
aunts to protect him from his mother. Autonoe seized one
arm, Ino the other, and between them he was torn to
pieces, while his mother shouted, " Victory ! Victory !
we have done it ; the glory is ours ! "
So the worship of Bacchus was established in Greece.
There is an allusion to the story of Bacchus and the
mariners in Milton's Comus, at line 46. The story of
Circe will be found in Chapter XXIX.
" Bacchus that first from out the purple grape
Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine,
After the Tuscan mariners transformed,
Coasting the Tyrrhene shore as the winds listed
On Circe's island fell ; (who knows not Circe,
The daughter of the Sun ? whose charmed cup
Whoever tasted lost his upright shape,
And downward fell into a grovelling swine.)"
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 227
ARIADNE.
We have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne,
the daughter of King Minos, after helping Theseus to
escape from the labyrinth, was earned by him to the
island of Naxos and was left there asleep, while the un
grateful Theseus pursued his way home without her.
Ariadne on waking and finding herself deserted aban
doned herself to grief. But Venus took pity on her,
and consoled her with the promise that she should
have an immortal lover, instead of the mortal one she
had lost.
The island where Ariadne was left was the favorite
island of Bacchus, the same that he wished the Tyrrhe
nian mariners to carry him to, when they so treacherously
attempted to make prize of him. As Ariadne sat lament
ing her fate, Bacchus found her, consoled her and made
her his wife. As a marriage present he gave her a golden
crown, enriched with gems, and when she died, he took
her crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted
the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and
preserving its form Ariadne's crown remains fixed in the
heavens as a constellation, between the kneeling Hercules
and the man who holds the serpent.
Spenser alludes to Ariadne's crown, though he has made
gome mistakes in his mythology. It was at the wedding
of Pirithous, and not Theseus, that the Centaurs and La-
pithye quarrelled.
" Look how the crown which Ariadne wore
Upon her ivory forehead that same day
228 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
That Theseus her unto his bridal bore,
When the bold Centaurs made that bloody fray
With the fierce Lapiths which did them dismay ;
Being now placed in the firmament,
Through the bright heaven doth her beams display,
And is unto the stars an ornament,
Which round about her move in order excellent "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 229
CHAPTER XXII.
THE RURAL DEITIES — ERISICHTHON — RHCECUS -
THE WATER DEITIES — CAMEN^B — WINDS.
THE RURAL DEITIES.
PAN, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shep
herds, dwelt in grottos, wandered on the mountains and in
valleys, and amused himself with the chase or in leading
the dances of the nymphs. He was fond of music, and,
as we have seen, the inventor of the syrinx, or shepherd's
pipe, which he himself played in a masterly manner.
Pan, like other gods who dwelt in forests, was dreaded by
those whose occupations caused them to pass through the
woods by night, for the gloom and loneliness of such scenes
dispose the mind to superstitious fears. Hence sudden
fright without any visible cause was ascribed to Pan, and
called a Panic terror.
As the name of the god signifies a//, Pan came to be
considered a symbol of the universe and personification of
Nature ; and later still to be regarded as a representative
of all the gods and of heathenism itself.
Sylvanus and Faunus were Latin divinities, whose char
acteristics are so nearly the same as those of Pan that we
may safely consider them as the same personage under
different names.
The wood-nymphs, Pan's partners in the dance, were
but one class of nymphs. There were beside them the
20
230 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Naiads, who presided over brooks and fountains, the Oreads,
nymphs of mountains and grottos, and the Nereids, sea-
nymphs. The three last named were immortal, but the
wood-nymphs, called Dryads or Hamadryads, were be
lieved to perish with the trees which had been their abode,
and with which they had come into existence. It was
therefore an impious act wantonly to destroy a tree, and
in some agravated cases was severely punished, as in the
instance of Erisichthon, which we are about to record.
Milton, in his glowing description of the early creation,
thus alludes to Pan as the personification of Nature : —
" Universal Pan,
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on the eternal spring."
And describing Eve's abode : —
" In shadier bowei,
More sacred or sequestered, though but feigned,
Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor Nymph
Nor Faunus haunted."
Paradise Lost, B. IV.
It was a pleasing trait in the old Paganism that it loved
to trace in every operation of nature the agency of deity.
The imagination of tho Greeks peopled all the regions of
earth and sea with divinities, to whose agency it attributed
those phenomena which our philosophy ascribes to the
operation of the laws of nature. Sometimes in our poet
ical moods we feel disposed to regret the change, and to
think that the heart has lost as much as the head haa
gained by the substitution. The poet Wordsworth thus
strongly expresses this sentiment : —
" Great God, I'd rather be
A Pagan, suckled in a creed outworn,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 281
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn ;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."
Schiller, in his poem Die Gotter Griechenlands, ex
presses his regret for the overthrow of the beautiful my
thology of ancient times in a way which has called forth
an answer from a Christian poet, Mrs. E. Barrett Brown
ing, in her poem called The Dead Pan. The two fol
lowing verses are a specimen : —
" By your beauty which confesses
Some chief Beauty conquering you,
By our grand heroic guesses
Through your falsehood at the True,
We will weep not ! earth shall roll
Heir to each god's aureole,
And Pan is dead.
"Earth outgrows the mythic fancies
Sung beside her in her youth ;
And those debonaire romances
Sound but .dull beside the truth.
Phoebus' chariot course is run !
Look up, poets, to the sun !
Pan, Pan is dead."
These lines are founded on an early Christian tradition
that when the heavenly host told the shepherds at Beth
lehem of the birth of Christ, a deep groan, heard through
all the isles of Greece, told that the great Pan was dead,
and that all the royalty of Olympus was dethroned, and
the several deities were sent wandering in cold and dark
ness. So Milton in his Hymn to the Nativity : —
" The lonely mountains o'er,
And the resounding shore,
A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
From haunted spring and dale,
Edged with poplar pale,
The parting Genius is with sighing sent ;
With flower-enwoven tresses torn,
The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn."
Erisichthon.
ERISICHTHON.
Erisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of the
gods. On one occasion he presumed to violate with the
axe a grove sacred to Ceres. There stood in this grove a
venerable oak, so large that it seemed a wood in itself, its
ancient trunk towering aloft, whereon votive garlands were
often hung and inscriptions carved expressing the grati
tude of suppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often had
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 233
the Dryads danced round it hand in hand. Its trunk
measured fifteen cubits round, and it overtopped the other
trees as they overtopped the shrubbery. But for all that,
Erisichthon saw no reason why he should spare it, and he
ordered his servants to cut it down. When he saw them
hesitate, he snatched an axe from one, and thus impiously
exclaimed : " I care not whether it be a tree beloved of
the goddess or not ; were it the goddess herself it should
come down, if it stood in my way." So saying he lifted
the axe, and the oak seemed to shudder and utter a groan.
When the first blow fell upon the trunk, blood flowed from
the wound. All the bystanders were horror-struck, and
one of them ventured to remonstrate and hold back the
fatal axe. Erisichthon, with a scornful look, said to him,
" Receive the reward of your piety ; " and turned against
him the weapon which he had held aside from the tree,
gashed his body with many wounds and cut off his head.
Then from the midst of the oak came a voice, " I who
dwell in this tree am a nymph beloved of Ceres, and
dying by your hands, forewarn you that punishment awaits
you." He desisted not from his crime, and at last the tree,
sundered by repeated blows and drawn by ropes, fell
with a crash, and prostrated a great part of the grove in
its fall.
The Dryads in dismay at the loss of their companion,
and at seeing the pride of the forest laid low, went in a
body to Ceres, all clad in garments of mourning, and in
voked punishment upon Erisichthon. She nodded hei
assent, and as she bowed her head the grain ripe for har
vest in the laden fields bowed also. She planned a pun
ishment so dire that one would pity him, if such a culprit
as he could be pitied, — to deliver him over to Famine. As
Ceres herself could not approach Famine, for the Fates
20*
234 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
have ordained that these two goddesses shall never come
together, she called an Oread from her mountain and
spoke to her in these words : " There is a place in the
farthest part of ice-clad Scythia, a sad and sterile region
without trees and without crops. Cold dwells there, and
Fear, and Shuddering, and Famine. Go and tell the last
fco take possession of the bowels of Erisichthon. Let not
abundance subdue her, nor the power of my gifts drive
her away. Be not alarmed at the distance," (for Famine
dwells very far from Ceres,) " but take my chariot. The
dragons are fleet and obey the rein, and will take you
through the air in a short time." So she gave her the
reins, and she drove away and soon reached Scythia. On
arriving at Mount Caucasus she stopped the dragons and
found Famine in a stony field, pulling up with teeth and
claws the scanty herbage. Her hair was rough, her eyes
sunk, her face pale, her lips blanched, her jaws covered
with dust, and her skin drawn tight, so as to show all her
bones. As the Oread saw her afar off, (for she did not
dare to come near,) she delivered the commands of Ceres ;
and, though she stopped as short a tune as possible, and
kept her distance as well as she could, yet she began to
feel hungry, and turned the dragons' heads and drove back
to Thessaly.
Famine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped through
the air to the dwelling of Erisichthon, entered the bed
chamber of the guilty man, and found him asleep. She
enfolded him with her wings and breathed herself into
him, infusing her poison into his veins. Having dis
charged her task, she hastened to leave the land of plenty
and returned to her accustomed haunts. Erisichthon still
slept, and in his dreams craved food, and moved his jaws
as if eating. When he awoke his hunger was raging.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 235
Without a moment's delay he would have food set before
him, of whatever kind earth, sea or air produces ; and
complained of hunger even while he ate. What would
have sufficed for a city or a nation, was not enough for
him. The more he ate the more he craved. His hunger
was like the sea, which receives all the rivers, yet is never
filled ; or like fire that burns all the fuel that is heaped
upon it, yet is still voracious for more.
His property rapidly diminished under the unceasing
demands of his appetite, but his hunger continued unabat
ed. At length he had spent all, and had only his daughter
left, a daughter worthy of a better parent. Her too lie sold.
She scorned to be the slave of a purchaser, and as she
stood by the sea side, raised her hands in prayer to Nep
tune. He heard her prayer, and, though her new master
was not far off, and had his eye upon her a moment before,
Neptune changed her form, and made her assume that of
a fisherman busy at his occupation. Her master, looking
for her and seeing her in her altered form, addressed her
and said, " Good fisherman, whither went the maiden
whom I saw just now, with hair dishevelled and in hum
ble garb, standing about where you stand ? Tell me truly;
BO may your luck be good, and not a fish nibble at your
hook and get away." She perceived that her prayer
was answered, and rejoiced inwardly at hearing herself
inquired of about herself. She replied, " Pardon me,
stranger, but I have been so intent upon my line, that I
have seen nothing else ; but I wish 1 may never catch
another fish if I believe any woman or other person ex
cept myself to have been hereabouts for some time." He
was deceived and went his way, thinking his slave had
escaped. Then she resumed her own form. Her father
was well pleased to find her still with him, and the money
236 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
too that be got by the sale of her ; so he sold her again.
But she was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as
she was sold, now into a horse, now a bird, now an ox, and
now a stag, — got away from her purchasers and came
home. By this base method the starving father procured
food ; but not enough for his wants, and at last hunger
compelled him to devour his limbs, and he strove to nour
ish his body by eating his body, till death relieved him
from the vengeance of Ceres.
EHCECUS.
The Hamadryads could appreciate services as well as
punish injuries. The story of Rhcecus proves this. Rhce-
cus, happening to see an oak just ready to fall, ordered hig
servants to prop it up. The nymph, who had been on the
point of perishing with the tree, came and expressed her
gratitude to him for having saved her life, and bade him
ask what reward he would. Rhoecus boldly asked her
love, and the nymph yielded to his desire. She at the
same time charged him to be constant, and told him that
a bee should be her messenger, and let him know when
she would admit his society. One time the bee came to
Rho3cus when he was playing at draughts, and he care
lessly brushed it away. This so incensed the nymph that
she deprived him of sight.
Our countryman J. R. Lowell has taken this story for
the subject of one of his shorter poems. He introduces
it thus : —
•« Hear now this fairy legend of old Greece,
As full of freedom, youth and beauty still,
As the immortal freshness of that gra.cn
Carved for all ages on some Attic frieze."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 237
THE WATER DEITIES.
Oceanus and Tethys were the Titans who ruled over
the watery element. When Jove and his brothers over
threw the Titans and assumed their power, Neptune and
Amphitrite succeeded to the dominion of the waters in
place of Oceanus and Tethys.
NEPTUNE
Neptune was the chief of the water deities. The sym
bol of his power was the trident, or spear with three
points, with which he used to shatter rocks, to call forth
or subdue storms, to shake the shores, and the like. He
created the horse and was the patron of horse races.
His own horses had brazen hoofs and golden manes. They
drew his chariot over the sea, which became smooth before
him, while the monsters of the deep gambolled about his
path.
AMPHITIIITE.
Amphitrite was the wife of Neptune. She was the
daughter of Nereus and Doris, and the mother of Triton.
Neptune, to pay his court to Amphitrite, came riding on a
dolphin. Having won her, he rewarded the dolphin by
placing him among the stars.
NEREUS AND DORIS.
Nereus and Doris were the parents of the Nereids, the
most celebrated of whom were Amphitrite, Thetis, the
238 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
mother of Achilles, and Galatea, who was loved by the
Cyclops Polyphemus. Nereus was distinguished for hia
knowledge and his love of truth and justice, whence he
was termed an elder ; the gift of prophecy was also as
signed to him.
TRITON AND PROTEUS.
Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and
the poets make him his father's trumpeter. Proteus was
also a son of Neptune. He, like Nereus, is styled a sea-
elder for his wisdom and knowledge of future events.
His peculiar power was that of changing his shape at will.
THETIS.
Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris, was so beau
tiful that Jupiter himself sought her in marriage ; but
having learned from Prometheus the Titan, that Thetis
should bear a son who should be greater than his father,
Jupiter desisted from his suit and decreed that Thetis
should be the wife of a mortal. By the aid of Chiron
the Centaur, Peleus succeeded in winning the goddess for
his bride, and their son was the renowned Achilles. In
our chapter on the Trojan war it will appear that Thetis
was a faithful mother to him, aiding him in all difficulties,
and watching over his interests from the first to the last.
LEUCOTHEA AND PAL^EMON.
Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas,
flying from her frantic husband with her little son Meli-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 23S
certes in her arms, sprang from a cliff into the sea. The
gods, out of compassion, made her a goddess of the sea,
under the name of Leucothea, and him a god under that
of Palremon. Both were held powerful to save from ship
wreck and were invoked by sailors. Palaemon was usu«
ally represented riding on a dolphin. The Isthmian games
were celebrated in his honor. He was called Portunua
by the Romans, and believed to have jurisdiction of the
ports and shores.
Milton alludes to all these deities in the song at the con
clusion of Comus.
" Sabrina fair,
Listen and appear to us,
In name of great Oceanus ;
By the earth-shaking Neptune s mace,
And Tethys' grave, majestic pace,
By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
And the Carpathian wizard's hook,*
By scaly Triton's winding shell,
And old soothsaying Glaucus* spell,
By Leucothea's lovely hands,
And her son who rules the strands,
By Thetis' tinsel-slippered feet,
. And the songs of Sirens sweet ; " &c.
Armstrong, the poet of the Art of preserving Health,
under the inspiration of Hygeia, the goddess of health,
thus celebrates the Naiads. Paeon is a name both of
Apollo and ^Esculapius.
" Come, ye Naiads ! to the fountains lead !
Propitious maids ! the task remains to sing
Your gifts, (so Pseon, so the powers of Health
Command,) to praise your crystal element.
O comfortable streams ! with eager lips
* Proteus.
240 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
And trembling hands the languid thirsty quaff
New life in you ; fresh vigor fills their veins.
No warmer cups the rural ages knew,
None warmer sought the sires of humankind ;
Happy in temperate peace their equal days
Felt not the alternate fits of feverish mirth
And sick dejection ; still serene and pleased,
Blessed with divine immunity from ills,
Long centuries they lived ; their only fate
Was ripe old age, and rather sleep than death."
THE CAMEN^E.
By this name the Latins designated the Muses, but in
cluded under it also some other deities, principally nymphs
of fountains. Egeria was one of them, whosr fountain
and grotto are still shown. It was said that !Numa, the
second king of Rome, was favored by this nymph with
secret interviews, in which she taught him those lessons of
wisdom and of law which he imbodied in the institutions
of his rising nation. After the death of Numa the nymph
pined away and was changed into a fountain.
Byron in Childe Harold, Canto IV., thus alludes to
Egeria and her grotto : —
" Here didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover,
Egeria ! all thy heavenly bosom beating
For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover ;
The purple midnight veiled that mystic meeting
With her most starry canopy ; " &c.
Tennyson, also, in his Palace of Art, gives us a glimpse
»f the royal lover expecting the interview.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 241
" Holding one hand against his ear,
To list a footfall ere he saw
The wood-nymph, stayed the Tuscan king to hear
Of wisdom and of law."
THE WINDS.
When so many less active agencies were personified, it
is not to be supposed that the winds failed to be so. They
were Boreas or Aquilo, the north wind, Zephyrus or Fa-
vonius, the west, Notus or Auster, the south, and Eurus,
the east The first two have been chiefly celebrated by
the poets, the former as the type of rudeness, the latter
of gentleness. Boreas loved the nymph Orithyia, and
tried to play the lover's part, but met with poor success.
It was hard for him to breathe gently, and sighing was out
of the question. Weary at last of fruitless endeavors, he
acted out his true character, seized the maiden and carried
her off. Their children were Zetes and Calais, winged
warriors, who accompanied the Argonautic expedition, and
did good service in an encounter with those monstrous
birds the Harpies.
/ephyrus was the lover of Flora. Milton alludes to
them in Paradise Lost, where he describes Adam waking
and contemplating Eve still asleep.
" He on his side
Leaning half raised, with looks of cordial love,
Hung over her enamored, and beheld
Beauty which, whether waking or asleep,
Shot forth peculiar graces ; then with voice,
Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,
Her hand soft touching, whispered thus : ' Awake I
21
24*2 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,
Heaven's last, best gift, my ever-new delight.' "
Dr. Young, the poet of the Night Thoughts, addressing
the idle and luxurious, says, —
*' Ye delicate ! who nothing can support,
(Yourselves most insupportable,) for whom
The winter rose must blow, * *
* * * * and silky soft
Favonius breathe still softer or be chid ! "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 243
CHAPTER XXIII.
A.CHELOUS AND HERCULES — ADMETUS AND Air
CESTIS — ANTIGONE — PENELOPE.
ACHELOUS AND HERCULES.
THE river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon
to Theseus and his companions, whom he was entertaining
at his hospitable board, while they were delayed on their
journey by the overflow of his waters. Having finished
his story he added, " But why should I tell of other per
sons' transformations, when I myself am an instance of
the possession of this power. Sometimes I become a ser
pent, and sometimes a bull, with horns on my head. Or
I should say, I once could do so ; but now I have but one
horn, having lost one." And here he groaned and was
silent.
Theseus asked him the cause of his grief, and how he
lost his horn. To which question the river-god replied as
follows: « Who likes to tell of his defeats ? Yet I wU
not hesitate to relate mine, comforting myself with the
thought of the greatness of my conqueror, for it was Her
cules. Perhaps you have heard of the fame of Dejanira,
the fairest of maidens, whom a host of suitors strove to
win. Hercules and myself were of the number, and the
rest yielded to us two. He urged in his behalf his de
scent from Jove, and his labors by which he had exceeded
the exactions of Juno, his step-mother. I, on the other
244 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
hand, said to the father of the maiden, ' Behold me, the
king of the waters that flow through your land. I am no
stranger from a foreign shore, but belong to the country, a
part of your realm. Let it not stand in my way that
royal Juno owes me no enmity, nor punishes me with
heavy tasks. As for this man, who boasts himself the son
of Jove, it is either a false pretence, or disgraceful to him
if true, for it cannot be true except by his mother's shame/
As I said this Hercules scowled upon me, and with diffi
culty restrained his rage. ' My hand will answer better
than my tongue/ said he. * I yield you the victory in
words, but trust my cause to the strife of deeds/ With
that he advanced towards me, and I was ashamed, after
what I had said, to yield. I threw off my green vesture,
and presented myself for the struggle. He tried to throw
me, now attacking my head, now my body. My bulk
was my protection, and he assailed me in vain. For
a time we stopped, then returned to the conflict. We
each kept our position, determined not to yield, foot to
foot, I bending over him, clinching his hands in mine, with
my forehead almost touching his. Thrice Hercules tried
to throw me off, and the fourth time he succeeded, brought
me to the ground and himself upon my back. I tell you
the truth, it was as if a mountain had fallen on me. I
struggled to get my arms at liberty, panting and reeking
with perspiration. He gave me no chance to recover, but
seized my throat. My knees were on the earth and my
mouth in the dust.
" Finding that I was no match for him in the warrior's
art, I resorted to others, and glided away in the form of a
serpent. I curled my body in a coil, and hissed at him
with my forked tongue. He smiled scornfully at this, and
said, ' It was the labor of my infancy to conquer snakes.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 245
So saying he clasped my neck with his hands. I waa
almost choked, and struggled to get my neck out of his
grasp. Vanquished in this form, I tried what alone re
mained to me, and assumed the form of a bull. He
grasped my neck with his arm, and dragging my head
down to the ground, overthrew me on the sand. Nor was
this enough. His ruthless hand rent my horn from my
head. The Naiades took it, consecrated it, and filled it
with fragrant flowers. Plenty adopted my horn and made
it her own, and called it Cornucopia."
The ancients were fond of finding a hidden meaning in
their mythological tales. They explain this fight of
Achelous with Hercules by saying, Achelous was a river
that in seasons of rain overflowed its banks. When the
fable says that Achelous loved Dejanira, and sought a
union with her, the meaning is, that the river in its wind
ings flowed through part of Dejanira's kingdom. It was
said to take the form of a snake because of its winding,
and of a bull because it made a brawling or roaring in its
course. When the river swelled, it made itself another
channel. Thus its head was horned. Hercules prevented
the return of these periodical overflows, by embankments
and canals ; and therefore he was said to have vanquished
the river-god and cut off his horn. Finally, the lands
formerly subject to overflow, but now redeemed, became
very fertile, and this is meant by the horn of plenty.
There is another account of the origin of the Cornuco
pia, Jupiter at his birth was committed by his mother
Rhea to the care of the daughters of Melisseus, a Cretan
king. They fed the infant deity with the milk of the goat
Amalthea. Jupiter broke off one of the horns of the
goat and gave it to his nurses, and endowed it with the
21*
246
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
wonderful power of becoming filled with whatever the pos
sessor might wish.
The name of Amalthea is also given by some writers to
the mother of Bacchus. It is thus used by Milton, P. L.
Book IV.: —
" — That Nyseian isle,
Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,
Whom Gentiles Ammon call, and Libyan Jove,
Hid Amalthea and her florid son,
Young Bacchus, from his stepdame Rhea's eye."
Apollo keeping the flocks of Admetus.
ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS.
the son of Apollo, was endowed by his
falher with such skill in the healing art that he even re
stored the dead to life. At this Pluto took alarm, and
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 247
prevailed on Jupiter to launch a thunderbolt at JEscula-
pius. Apollo was indignant at the destruction of his son,
and wreaked his vengeance on the innocent workmen who
had made the thunderbolt. These were the Cyclopes, who
have their workshop under Mount ^Etna, from which the
smoke and flames of their furnaces are constantly issuing.
Apollo shot his arrows at the Cyclopes, which so incensed
Jupiter that he condemned him as a punishment to become
the servant of a mortal for the space of one year. Ac
cordingly Apollo went into the service of Admetus, king
of Thessaly, and pastured his flocks for him on the ver
dant banks of the river Amphrysos.
Admetus was a suitor, with others, for the hand of Al-
cestis, the daughter of Pelias, who promised her to him
who should come for her in a chariot drawn by lions and
boars. This task Admetus performed by the assistance
of his divine herdsman, and was made happy in the pos
session of Alcestis. But Admetus fell ill, and being neai
to death, Apollo prevailed on the Fates to spare him on
condition that some one would consent to die in his stead.
Admetus in his joy at this reprieve, thought little of the
ransom, and perhaps remembering the declarations of at
tachment which he had often heard from his courtiers and
dependents, fancied that it would be easy to find a substi
tute. But it was not so. Brave warriors, who would
willingly have perilled their lives for their prince, shrunk
from the thought of dying for him on the bed of sickness ;
and old servants who had experienced his bounty and that
of his house from their childhood up, were not willing to
lay down the scanty remnant of their days to show their
gratitude. Men asked, — " Why does not one of his pa
rents do it ? They cannot in the course of nature live much
longer, and who can feel like them the call to rescue th«
248 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
life they gave, from an untimely end ? " But the parents
distressed though they were at the thought of losing him,
shrunk from the call. Then Alcestis, with a generous
self-devotion, proffered herself as the substitute. Adrne-
tus, fond as he was of life, would not have submitted to
receive it at such a cost ; but there was no remedy. The
condition imposed by the Fates had been met, and the
decree was irrevocable. Alcestis sickened as Admetus
revived, and she was rapidly sinking to the grave.
Just at this time Hercules arrived at the palace of Ad-
metus, and found all the inmates in great distress for the
impending loss of the devoted wife and beloved mistress.
Hercules, to whom no labor was too arduous, resolved to
attempt her rescue. He went and lay in wait at the door
of the chamber of the dying queen, and when Death came
for his prey, he seized him and forced him to resign his
victim. Alcestis recovered, and was restored to her hus
band.
Milton alludes to the story of Alcestis in his Sonnet
u on his deceased wife."
" Methought I saw my late espoused saint
Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,
Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave,
Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint."
J. R. Lowell has chosen the " Shepherd of King Ad-
metus " for the subject of a short poem. He makes that
event the first introduction of poetry to men.
" Men called him but a shiftless youth,
In whom no good they saw,
And yet unwittingly, in truth,
They made his careless words their law.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 249
" And day by day more holy grew
Each spot where he had trod,
Till after-poets only knew
Their first-born brother was a god."
ANTIGONE.
A large proportion, both of the interesting persons and
of the exalted acts of legendary Greece belongs to the
female sex. Antigone was as bright an example of filial
and sisterly fidelity as was Alcestis of connubial devotion.
She was the daughter of (Edipus and Jocasta. who with
all their descendants were the victims of an unrelenting
fate, dooming them to destruction. (Edipus in his mad
ness had torn out his eyes, and was driven forth from his
kingdom Thebes, dreaded and abandoned by all men, as
an object of divine vengeance. Antigone, his daughter,
alone shared his wanderings and remained with him till
he died, and then returned to Thebes.
Her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, had agreed to
share the kingdom between them, and reign alternately
year by year. The first year fell to the lot of Eteocles,
who, when his time expired, refused to surrender the
kingdom to his brother. Polynices fled to Adrastus king
of Argos, who. gave him his daughter in marriage, and
aided him with an army to enforce his claim to the king
dom. This led to the celebrated expedition of the " Seven
against Thebes," which furnished ample materials for the
epic and tragic poets of Greece.
Amphiaraus, the brother-in-law of Adrastus, opposed
the enterprise, for he was a soothsayer, and knew by his
art that no one of the leaders except Adrastus would live
to return. But Amphiaraus, on his marriage to Eriphyle,
250 STORIES OF GODS AND HEKOE3.
the king's sister, had agreed that whenever he and Adras^
tus should differ in opinion, the decision should be left to
Eriphyle. Polynices, knowing this, gave Eriphyle the
collar of Harmonia, and thereby gained her to his inter
est. This collar or necklace was a present which Vulcan
had given to Harmonia on her marriage with Cadmus,
and Polynices had taken it with him on his flight from
Thebes. Eriphyle could not resist so tempting a bribe,
and by her decision the war was resolved on, and Amphi-
araus went to his certain fate. He bore his part bravely
in the contest, but could not avert his destiny. Pursued
by the enemy he fled along the river, when a thunderbolt
launched by Jupiter opened the ground, and he, his char
iot and his charioteer were swallowed up.
It would not be in place here to detail all the acts of
heroism or atrocity which marked the contest ; but we
must not omit to record the fidelity of Evadne as an off
set to the weakness of Eriphyle. Capaneus, the husband
of Evadne, in the ardor of the fight declared that he
would force his way into the city in spite of Jove himself.
Placing a ladder against the wall he mounted, but Jupiter,
offended at his impious language struck him with a thun
derbolt. When his obsequies were celebrated, Evadne
cast herself on his funeral pile and perished.
Early in the contest Eteocles consulted the soothsayer
Tiresias as to the issue. Tiresias in his youth had by
chance seen Minerva bathing. The goddess in her wrath
deprived him of his sight, but afterwards relenting gave
him in compensation the knowledge of future events
When consulted by Eteocles, he declared that victory
should fall to Thebes if Menoeceus the son of Creon gave
himself a voluntary victim. The heroic youth learning
the response threw away his life in the first encounter
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 251
The siege continued long, with various success. At
length both hosts agreed that the brothers should decide
their quarrel by single combat. They fought and fell by
each other's hands. The armies then renewed the fight,
and at last the invaders were forced to yield, and fled
leaving their dead unburied. Creon, the uncle of the
fallen princes, now become king, caused Eteocles to be
buried with distinguished honor, but suffered the body of
Polynices to lie where it fell, forbidding every one on pain
of death to give it burial.
Antigone, the sister of Polynices, heard with indigna
tion the revolting edict which consigned her brother's body
to the dogs and vultures, depriving it of those rites which
were considered essential to the repose of the dead. Un
moved by the dissuading counsel of an affectionate but
timid sister, and unable to procure assistance, she deter
mined to brave the hazard and to bury the body with her
own hands. She was detected in the act, and Creon gave
orders that she should be buried alive, as having deliber
ately set at nought the solemn edict of the city. Her
lover, Hoemon, the son of Creon, unable to avert hei fate,
would not survive her, and fell by his own hand.
Antigone forms the subject of two fine tragedies of the
Grecian poet Sophocles. Mrs. Jameson, in her Charac
teristics of Women, has compared her character with that
of Cordelia, in Shakspeare's King Lear. The perusal of
her remarks cannot fail to gratify our readers.
The following is the lamentation of Antigone over
CEdipus, when death has at last relieved him from his
Bufferings : —
•« Alas ! I only wished I might have died
With my poor father ; wherefore should I ask
$52 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
For longer life ?
O, I was fond of misery with him ;
E'en what was most unlovely grew beloved
When he was with me. 0 my dearest father,
Beneath the earth now in deep darkness hid,
Worn as thou wert with age, to me thou still
Wast dear, and shalt be ever."
Francklin's Sophoctet.
PENELOPE.
Penelope is another of those mythic heroines whose
beauties were rather those of character and conduct than
of person. She was the daughter of Icarius, a Spartan
prince. Ulysses, king of Ithaca, sought her in marriage,
and won her, over all competitors. When the moment
came for the bride to leave her father'? house, Ina
rms, unable to bear the thoughts of parting with his
daughter, tried to persuade her to remain with him, and
not accompany her husband to Ithaca. Ulysses gave Pe
nelope her choice, to stay or go with him. Penelope made
no reply, but dropped her veil over her face. Icarius
urged her no further, but when she was gone erected a
statue to Modesty on the spot where they parted.
Ulysses and Penelope had not enjoyed their union
more than a year when it was interrupted by the events
which called Ulysses to the Trojan war. During his long
absence, and when it was doubtful whether he still lived,
and highly improbable that he would ever return, Penel
ope was importuned by numerous suitors, from whom
there seemed no refuge but in choosing one of them for
her husband. Penelope, however, employed every art
to gain time, still hoping for Ulysses' return. One of
her arts of delay was engaging in the preparation of a
robe for the funeral canopy of Laertes, her husband's
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. *253
father. She pledged herself to make her choice among
the suitors when the robe was finished. During the day
she worked at the robe, but in the night she undid the
work of the day. This is the famous Penelope's web,
which is used as a proverbial expression for any thing
which is perpetually doing but never done. The rest of
Penelope's history will be told when we give an account
of her husband's adventures.
22
254
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Orpheus.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE — ARIST^EUS — AMP1OON
— LINUS — TH AMYRIS — MARSYAS — MELAMPUS —
MUS^EUS.
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.
ORPHEUS was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope.
He was presented by his father with a Lyre and taught to
play upon it, which he did to such perfection that nothing
could withstand the charm of his music. Not only his
fellow-mortals but wild beasts were softened by his strains(
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 255
and gathering round him laid by their fierceness, and
stood entranced with his lay. Nay, the very trees and
rocks were sensible to the charm. The former crowded
round him and the latter relaxed somewhat of their hard
ness, softened by his notes.
Hymen had been called to bless with his presence the
nuptials of Orpheus with Eurydice ; but though he at
tended, he brought no happy omens with him. His very-
torch smoked and brought tears into their eyes. In coin
cidence with such prognostics Eurydice, shortly after her
marriage,while wandering with the nymphs, her companions,
was seen by the shepherd Aristaeus, who was struck with
her beauty, and made advances to her. She fled, and in
flying trod upon a snake in the grass, was bitten in the
foot and died. Orpheus sang his grief to all who breathed
the upper air, both gods and men, and finding it all un
availing resolved to seek his wife in the regions of the
dead. He descended by a cave situated on the side of
the promontory of Trenarus and arrived at the Stygian
realm. He passed through crowds of ghosts and present
ed himself before the throne of Pluto and Proserpine.
Accompanying the words with the lyre, he sung, " O dei
ties of the under world, to whom all we who live must
come, hear my words, for they are true. I come not to
spy out the secrets of Tartarus, nor to try my strength
against the three-headed dog with snaky hair who guards
the entrance. I come to seek my wife, whose opening
years the poisonous viper's fang has brought to an untime
ly end. Love has led me here, Love, a god all powerful
with us who dwell on the earth, and, if old traditions say
true, not less so here. I implore you by these abodes full
of terror, these realms of silence and uncreated things,
unite again the thread of Eurydice's life. We all are
256 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
destined to you, and sooner or later must pass to your do
main. She too, when she shall have filled her term of
life, will rightly be yours. But till then grant her to me,
I beseech you. If you deny me, I cannot return alone ;
you shall triumph in the death of us both."
As he sang these tender strains, the very ghosts shed
tears. Tantalus, in spite of his thirst, stopped for a mo
ment his efforts for water, Ixion's wheel stood still, the
vulture ceased to tear the giant's liver, the daughters of
Danaiis rested from their task of drawing water in a
sieve, and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen. Then for
the first time, it is said, the cheeks of the Furies were wet
with tears. Proserpine could not resist, and Pluto himself
gave way. Eurydice was called. She came from among
the new-arrived ghosts, limping with her wounded foot.
Orpheus was permitted to take her away with him on one
condition, that he should not turn round to look at her till
they should have reached the upper air. Under this con
dition they proceeded on their way, he leading, she fol
lowing, through passages dark and steep, in total silence,
till they had nearly reached the outlet into the cheerful
upper world, when Orpheus, in a moment of forgetfulness,
to assure himself that she was still following, cast a glance
behind him, when instantly she was borne away. Stretch
ing out their arms to embrace one another they grasped
only the air ! Dying now a second time she yet cannot
reproach her husband, for how can she blame his impa
tience to behold her ! " Farewell," she said, " a last fare
well," — and was hurried away, so fast that the sound
hardly reached his ears.
Orpheus endeavored to follow her, and besought per
mission to return and try once more for her release ; but
the stern ferryman repulsed him and refused passage.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 257
Seven days he lingered about the brink, without food or
Bleep ; then bitterly accusing of cruelty the powers of
Erebus, he sang his complaints to the rocks and mountains,
melting the hearts of tigers and moving the oaks from
their stations. He held himself aloof from womankind,
dwelling constantly on the recollection of his sad mis-
chance. The Thracian maidens tried their best to capti
vate him, but he repulsed their advances. They bore
with him as long as they could ; but finding him insensible,
one day, excited by the rites of Bacchus, one of them
exclaimed, " See yonder our despiser ! " and threw at
him her javelin. The weapon, as soon as it came within
the sound of his lyre, fell harmless at his feet. So did
also the stones that they threw at him. But the women
raised a scream and drowned the voice of the music, and
then the missiles reached him and soon were stained with
his blood. The maniacs tore him limb from limb, and
threw his head and his lyre into the river Ilebrus, down
which they floated, murmuring sad music, to which the
shores responded a plaintive symphony. The Muses
gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them
at Libethra, where the nightingale is said to sing over his
grave more sweetly than in any other part of Greece.
His lyre was placed by Jupiter among the stars. His
shade passed a second time to Tartarus, where he sought
out his Eurydice and embraced her, with eager arms.
They roam the happy fields together now, sometimes he
leading, sometimes she ; and Orpheus gazes as much as
he will upon her, no longer incurring a penalty for a
thoughtless glance.
The story of Orpheus has furnished Pope with an illus
tration of the power of music, for his Ode for St. Cecilia's
22*
258 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Day, The following stanza relates the conclusion of
the story : —
" tf ut soon, too soon the lover turns his eyes ;
Again she falls, again she dies, she dies !
How wilt thou now the fatal sisters move ?
No crime was thine, if 'tis no crime to love.
Now under hanging mountains,
Beside the falls of fountains,
Or where Hebrus wanders,
Rolling in meanders,
All alone,
He makes his moan,
And calls her ghost,
Forever, ever, ever lost !
Now with furies surrounded,
Despairing, confounded,
He trembles, he glows,
Amidst Rhodope's snows.
See, wild as the winds o'er the desert he flies ;
Hark ! Hsemus resounds with the Bacchanals' cries.
Ah, see, he dies !
Yet even in death Eurydice he sung,
Eurydice still trembled on his tongue:
Eurydice the woods
Eurydice the floods
Eurydice the rocks and hollow mountains rung."
The superior melody of the nightingale's song over
the grave of Orpheus is alluded to by Southey in hia
Thalaba : —
" Then on his ear what sounds
Of harmony arose !
Far music and the distance-mellowed song
From bowers of merriment ;
The waterfall remote ;
The murmuring of the leafy groves ;
The single nightingale
Perched in the rosier by, so richly toned,
That never from that most melodious bird
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 259
Singing a love song to his brooding mate,
Did Thracian shepherd by the grave
Of Orpheus hear a sweeter melody,
Though there the spirit of the sepulchre
AH his own power infuse, to swell
The incense that he loves."
ARIST^US, THE BEE-KEEPER.
Man avails himself of the instincts of the inferior ani
mals for his own advantage. Hence sprang the art of
keeping bees. Honey must first have been known as a
wild product, the bees building their structures in hollow
trees or holes in the rocks, or any similar cavity that
chance offered. Thus occasionally the carcass of a dead
animal would be occupied by the bees for that purpose.
It was no doubt from some such incident that the supersti
tion arose that the bees were engendered by the decaying
flesh of the animal ; and Virgil, in the following story,
shows how this supposed fact may be turned to account for
renewing the swarm when it has been lost by disease or
accident.
Aristaeus, who first taught the management of bees,
was the son of the water-nymph Gyrene. His bees had
perished, and he resorted for aid to his mother. He
stood at the river side and thus addressed her : "O moth
er, the pride of my life is taken from me ! I have lost
my precious bees. My care and skill have availed me
nothing, and you my mother have not warded off from me
the blow of misfortune." His mother heard these com
plaints as she sat in her palace at the bottom of the river
with her attendant nymphs around her. They were (Mi-
gaged in female occupations, spinning and weaving, while
260 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
one told stories to amuse the rest. The sad voice of Aris
tous interrupting their occupation, one of them put her
head above the water and seeing him, returned and gave
information to his mother, who ordered that he should be
brought into her presence. The river at her command
opened itself and let him pass in, while it stood curled
like a mountain on either side. He descended to the re
gion where the fountains of the great rivers lie ; he saw
the enormous receptacles of waters and was almost deaf
ened with the roar, while he surveyed them hurrying off
in various directions to water the face of the earth. Ar
riving at his mother's apartment he was hospitably re
ceived by Gyrene and her nymphs, who spread their table
with the richest dainties. They first poured out libations
to Neptune, then regaled themselves with the feast, and
after that Gyrene thus addressed him : " There is an old
prophet named Proteus, who dwells in the sea and is a
favorite of Neptune whose herd of sea-calves he pastures.
We nymphs hold him in great respect, for he is a learned
sage and knows all things, past, present, and to come. He
can tell you, my son, the cause of the mortality among
your bees, and how you may remedy it. But he will not
do it voluntarily, however you may entreat him. You
must compel him by force. If you seize him and chain
him, he will answer your questions in order to get released,
for he cannot by all his arts get away if you hold fast the
chains. I will carry you to his cave, where he comes at
noon to take his midday repose. Then you may easily
secure him. But when he finds himself captured, his re
sort is to a power he possesses of changing himself into
various forms. He will become a wild boar or a fierce?
tiger, a scaly dragon or lion with yellow mane. Or he
will make a noise like the crackling of flames or the rush
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 261
Df water, so as to tempt you to let go the chain, when h«
will make his escape. But you have only to keep him
fast bound, and at last when he finds all his arts unavail
ing, he will return to his own figure and obey your com
mands." So saying she sprinkled her son with fragrant
nectar, the beverage of the gods, and immediately an un
usual vigor filled his frame and courage his heart, while
perfume breathed all around him.
The nymph led her son to the prophet's cave and con
cealed him among the recesses of the rocks, while she
herself took her place behind the clouds. When noon
came and the hour when men and herds retreat from the
glaring sun to indulge in quiet slumber, Proteus issued
from the water, followed by his herd of sea-calves which
spread themselves along the shore. He sat on the rock
and counted his herd ; then stretched himself on the floor
of the cave and went to sleep. Aristaeus hardly allowed
him to get fairly asleep before he fixed the fetters on him
and shouted aloud. Proteus waking and finding himself
captured immediately resorted to his arts, becoming first a
tire, then a flood, then a horrible wild beast, in rapid suc
cession. But finding all would not do, he at last resumed
his own form and addressed the youth in angry accents :
" Who are you, bold youth, who thus invade my abode,
and what do you want with me ? " Aristaeus replied,
" Proteus, you know already, for it is needless for any one
to attempt to deceive you. And do you also cease your
efforts to elude me. I am led hither by divine assistance,
to know from you the cause of my misfortune and how to
remedy it." At these words the prophet fixing on Lim
his gray eyes, with a piercing look, thus spoke : u You
receive the merited reward of your deeds, by which Eury-
dice met her death, for in flying from you she trod upon a
£62 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
serpent, of whose bite she died. To avenge her death,
the nymphs her companions have sent this destruction to
your bees. You have to appease their anger, and thus it
must be done : Select four bulls, of perfect form and size,
and four cows of equal beauty, build four altars to the
nymphs, and sacrifice the animals, leaving their carcassea
in the leafy grove. To Orpheus and Eurydice you shall
pay such funeral honors as may allay their resentment.
Returning after nine days you will examine the bodies of
the cattle slain and see what will befall." Aristaeus faith
fully obeyed these directions. He sacrificed the cattle,
he left their bodies in the grove, he offered funeral honors
to the shades of Orpheus and Eurydice ; then returning
on the ninth day he examined the bodies of the animals,
and, wonderful to relate ! a swarm of bees had taken pos
session of one of the carcasses and were pursuing their
labors there as in a hive.
In the Task, Cowper alludes to the story of Aristaeus,
when speaking of the ice-palace built by the Empress
Anne of Russia. He has been describing the fantas
tic forms which ice assumes in connection with water
falls, &c. : —
" Less worthy of applause though more admired
Because a novelty, the work of man,
Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Russ,
Thy most magnificent and mighty freak.
The wonder of the north. No forest fell
When thou wouldst build, no quarry sent its stores
T'enrich thy walls ; but thou didst hew the floods
And make thy marble of the glassy wave.
In such a palace Aristaeus found
Cyrene, when he bore the plaintive tale
Of his lost bees to her maternal ear."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 263
Milton also appears to have had Gyrene and her domes
tic scene in his mind when he describes to us Sabrina, the
nymph of the river Severn, in the Guardian-spirit's Song
in Comus : —
" Sabrina fair !
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair ;
Listen for dear honor's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake !
Listen and save."
The following are other celebrated mythical poets and
musicians, some of whom were hardly inferior to Orpheus
himself: —
AMPHION.
Amphion was the son of Jupiter and Antiope, queen
of Thebes. With his twin brother Zethus he was exposed
at birth on Mount Cithoeron, where they grew up among
the shepherds, not knowing their parentage. Mercury
gave Amphion a lyre and taught him to play upon it, and
his brother occupied himself in hunting and tending the
flocks. Meanwhile Antiope, their mother, who had been
treated with great cruelty by Lycus, the usurping king of
Thebes, and by Dirce, his wife, found means to inform her
children of their rights and to summon them to her as
sistance. "With a bund of their fellow-herdsmen they at
tacked and slew Lycus, and tying Dirce by the hair of
her head to a bull, let him drag her till she was dead.*
* The punishment of Dirce is the subject of a celebrated group of
itatuary now in the Musaeum at Naples.
264 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Amphion having become king of Thebes fortified the city
with a wall. It is said that when he played on his lyre
the stones moved of their own accord and took their places
in the wall.
See Tennyson's poeui of Amphion for an amusing use
made of this story.
LINUS.
Linus was the instructor of Hercules in music, but hav
ing one day reproved his pupil rather harshly, he roused
the anger of Hercules, who struck him with his lyre and
killed him.
THAMYRIS.
An ancient Thracian bard, who in his presumption
challenged the Muses to a trial of skill, and being over
come in the contest was deprived by them of his sight.
Milton alludes to him with other blind bards, when speak
ing of his own blindness, P. L. Book III. 35.
MARSYAS.
Minerva invented the flute, and played upon it to the
delight of all the celestial auditors ; but the mischievous
urchin Cupid having dared to laugh at the queer face
which the goddess made while playing, Minerva threw the
instrument indignantly away, and it fell down to earth, and
was found by Marsyas. He blew upon it, and drew from
it such ravishing sounds that he was tempted to challenge
Apollo himself to a musical contest. The god of course
triumphed, and punished Marsyas by flaying him alive.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 265
MELAMPUS.
Melampus was the first mortal endowed with prophetic
powers. Before his house there stood an oak tree con
taining a serpent's nest. The old serpents were killed by
the servants, but Melampus took care of the young onea
and fed them carefully. One day when he was asleep
under the oak, the serpents licked his ears with their
tongues. On awaking he was astonished to find that he
now understood the language of birds and creeping things.
This knowledge enabled him to foretell future events, and
he became a renowned soothsayer. At one time his ene
mies took him captive and kept him strictly imprisoned.
Melampus in the silence of the night heard the wood
worms in the timbers talking together, and found out by
what they said that the timbers were nearly eaten through
and the roof would soon fall in. He told his captors and
demanded to be let out, warning them also. They took
his warning, and thus escaped destruction, and rewarded
Melampus and held him in high honor.
MUSJBUS.
A semi-mythological personage who was represented by
one tradition to be the son of Orpheus. He is said to
have written sacred poems and oracles. Milton coupha
his name with that of Orpheus in his II Penseroso : —
" But 0, sad virgin, that thy power
Might raise Musaeus from his bower,
Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing
Such notes as warbled to the string,
Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek.
And made Hell grant what love did seek."
23
266 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES
CHAPTER XXV.
ARION — IBYCUS — SIMONIDES — SAPPHO.
THE poets whose adventures compose this chapter were
real persons some of whose works yet remain, and their
influence on poets who succeeded them is yet more impor
tant than their poetical remains. The adventures recorded
of them in the following stories rest on the same authority
as other narratives of the Age of Fable, that is, of the
poets who have told them. In their present form, the first
two are translated from the German, Arion from Schlegel
and Ibycus from Schiller.
AEION.
Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court oi
Periander, king of Corinth, with whom he was a great
favorite. There was to be a musical contest in Sicily, and
Arion longed to compete for the prize. He told his wish
to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give up
the thought. " Pray stay with me," he said, " and be con
tented. He who strives to win may lose." Arion an
swered, " A wandering life best suits the free heart of a
poet. The talent which a god bestowed on me, I would
fain make a source of pleasure to others. And if I win
the prize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by
the consciousness of my wide-spread fame ! " He went,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 267
won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a Corin
thian ship for home. On the second morning after setting
sail, the wind breathed mild and fair. " O Periander/'
he exclaimed, " dismiss your fears ! Soon shall you for
get them in my embrace. With what lavish offerings will
we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry will
we be at the festal board ! " The wind and sea continued
propitious. Not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had
not trusted too much to the ocean, — but he had to man.
He overheard the seamen exchanging hints with one an
other, and found they were plotting to possess themselves
of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him loud and
mutinous, and said, " Arion, you must die ! If you would
have a grave on shore, yield yourself to die on this spot ;
but if otherwise, cast yourself into the sea." u Will noth
ing satisfy you but my life ? " said he. " Take my gold,
and welcome. I willingly buy my life at that price."
" No, no ; we cannot spare you. Your life would be too
dangerous to us. Where could we go to escape from Pe-
riander, if he should know that you had been robbed by
us ? Your gold would be of little use to us, if, on return
ing home, we could never more be free from fear."
" Grant me, then," said he, " a last request, since nought
will avail to save my life, that I may die as I have lived,
as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death
Bong, and my harp-strings shall have ceased to vibrate,
then I will bid farewell to life, and yield uncomplaining to
my fate." This prayer, like the others, would have been
unheeded, — they thought only of their booty, — but to
hear so famous a musician, that moved their rude hearts.
{ u Suffer me," he added, u to arrange my dress. Apollo
will not favor me unless I be clad in my minstrel garb."
He clothed his well-proportioned limbs in gold and pur
268 STOKIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
pie fair to see, his tunic fell around him in graceful folds.
jewels adorned his arms, his brow was crowned with a
golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed his
hair perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre,
his right the ivory wand with which he struck its chords.
Like one inspired, he seemed to drink the morning air
and glitter in the morning ray. The seamen gazed with
admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side and
looked down into the blue sea. Addressing his lyre, he
sang, " Companion of my voice, come with me to the
realm of shades. Though Cerberus may growl, we know
the power of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elys
ium, who have passed the darkling flood, — ye happy souls,
soon shall I join your band. Yet can ye relieve my grief?
Alas, I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who didst find
thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found; when
she had vanished like a dream, how didst thou hate the
cheerful light ! I must away, but I will not fear. The
gods look down upon us. Ye who slay me unoffending,
when I am no more, your time of trembling shall come.
Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon
your mercy ! " So saying, he sprang into the deep sea.
The waves covered him, and the seamen held on their way,
fancying themselves safe from all danger of detection.
But the strains of his music had drawn round him the
inhabitants of the deep to listen, and Dolphins followed the
ship as if chained by a spell. While he struggled in the
waves, a Dolphin offered him his back, and carried him
mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where he
landed, a monument of brass was afterwards erected upon
the rocky shore, to preserve the memory of the event.
When Arion and the Dolphin parted, each to his own
element, Alion thus poured forth his thanks. " Farewell
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 269
thou faithful, friendly fish ! "Would that I could reward
thee ; but thou canst not wend with me, nor I with thee.
Companionship we may not have. May Galatea, queen
of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the
deep."
Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before
him the towers of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in
hand, singing as he went, full of love and happiness, for
getting his losses, and mindful only of what remained, his
friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls, and
was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. " I come
back to thee, my friend," he said. " The talent which a
god bestowed has been the delight of thousands, but false
knaves have stripped me of my well-earned treasure ; yet
I retain the consciousness of wide-spread fame." Then
he told Periander all the wonderful events that had be
fallen him, who heard him with amazement. " Shall such
wickedness triumph ? " said he. " Then in vain is power
lodged in my hands. That we may discover the crimi
nals, you must remain here in concealment, and so they
will approach without suspicion." When the ship arrived
in the harbor, he summoned the mariners before him.
" Have you heard any thing of Arion ? " he inquired. " I
anxiously look for his return." They replied, " We left
him well and prosperous in Tarentum." As they said
these words, Arion stepped forth and faced them. His
well-proportioned limbs were arrayed in gold and purple
fair to see, his tunic fell around him in graceful folds,
jewels adorned his arms, his brow was crowned with a
golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed his
hair perfumed with odors ; his left hand held the lyre,
his right the ivory wand with which he struck its chords.
23*
270 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning bolt had
struck them. " AVe meant to murder him, and he haa
become a god. O Earth, open and receive us ! " Then
Periander spoke. " He lives, the master of the lay !
Kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I in
voke not the spirit of vengeance ; Arion wishes not your
blood. Ye slaves of avarice, begone ! Seek some bar
barous laud, and never may aught beautiful delight your
souls ! "
Spenser represents Arion, mounted on his dolphin, ac
companying the train of Neptune and Amphitrite : —
" Then was there heard a most celestial sound
Of dainty music which did next ensue,
And, on the floating waters as enthroned,
Arion with his harp unto him drew
The ears and hearts of all that goodly crew ;
Even when as yet the dolphin which him bore
Through the JEgean Seas from pirates' view,
Stood still, by him astonished at his lore,
And all the raging seas for joy forgot to roar."
Byron, in his Childe Harold, Canto II., alludes to the
story of Arion, when, describing his voyage, he represents
one of the seamen making music to entertain the rest : —
" The moon is up ; by Heaven a lovely eve !
Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand;
Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe ;
Such be our fate when we return to land !
Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand
Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love ;
A circle there of merry listeners stand,
Or to some well-known measure featly move
Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 271
IBYCUS.
In order to understand the story of Ibycus which fol
lows it is necessary to remember, first, that the theatres of
ths ancients were immense fabrics capable of containing
from ten to thirty thousand spectators, and as they were
used only on festal occasions, and admission was free to
all, they were usually filled. They were without roofs
and open to the sky, and the performances were in the
daytime. ' Secondly, the appalling representation of the
Furies is not exaggerated in the story. It is recorded
that .^Eschylus, the tragic poet, having on one occasion
represented the Furies in a chorus of fifty performers, the
terror of the spectators was such that many fainted and
were thrown into convulsions, and the magistrates forbade
a like representation for the future.
Ibycus, the pious poet, was on his way to the chariot
races and musical competitions held at the Isthmus of
Corinth, which attracted all of Grecian lineage. Apollo
had bestowed on him the gift of song, the honeyed lips of
the poet, and he pursued his way with lightsome step, full
of the god. Already the towers of Corinth crowning the
height appeared in view, and he had entered with pious
awe the sacred grove of Neptune. No living object was
in sight, only a flock of cranes flew overhead taking the
same course as himself in their migration to a southern
clime. " Good luck to you, ye friendly squadrons," he
exclaimed, " my companions from across the sea. I take
your company for a good omen. We come from far and
fly in search of hospitality. May both of us meet that kind
reception which shields the stranger guest from harm ! "
272 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
He paced briskly on, and soon was in the middle of the
wood. There suddenly, at a narrow pass, two robbers
stepped forth and barred his way. He must yield or fight.
But his hand, accustomed to the lyre, and not to the strife
of arms, sank powerless. 'He called for help on men and
gods, but his cry reached no defender's ear. " Then here
must I die," said he, " in a strange land, unlamented, cut
off by the hand of outlaws, and see none to avenge my
cause." Sore wounded he sank to the earth, when hoarse
screamed the cranes overhead. " Take up my cause, ye
cranes," he said, " since no voice but yours answers to my
cry." So saying he closed his eyes in death.
The body despoiled and mangled was found, and though
disfigured with wounds, was recognized by the friend in
Corinth who had expected him as a guest. " Is it thus I
find you restored to me ? " he exclaimed ; " I who hoped
to entwine your temples with the wreath of triumph in
the strife of song ! "
The guests assembled at the festival heard the tidings
with dismay. All Greece felt the wound, every heart
owned its loss. They crowded round the tribunal of the
magistrates, and demanded vengeance on the murderers
and expiation with their blood.
But what trace or mark shall point out the perpetrator
from amidst the vast multitude attracted by the splendor
of the feast ? Did he fall by the hands of robbers or did
some private enemy slay him ? The all-discerning sun
alone can tell, for no other eye beheld it. Yet not im
probably the murderer even now walks in the midst of the
throng, and enjoys the fruits of his crime, while vengeance
seeks for him in vain. Perhaps in their own temple's
enclosure he defies the gods, mingling freely in this throng
of men that now presses into the amphitheatre.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 273
For now crowded together, row on row, the multitude
fill the seats till it seems as if the very fabric would give
way. The murmur of voices sounds like the roar of the
sea, while the circles widening in their ascent rise, tier on
tier, as if they would reach the sky.
And now the vast assemblage listens to the awful Toice
of the chorus personating the Furies, which in solemn
guise advances with measured step, and moves around the
circuit of the theatre. Can they be mortal women who
compose that awful group, and can that vast concourse of
silent forms be living beings !
The Choristers, clad in black, bore in their fleshless
hands torches blazing with a pitchy flame. Their cheeks
were bloodless, and in place of hair, writhing and swelling
serpents curled around their brows. Forming a circle,
these awful beings sang their hymn, rending the hearts of
the guilty, and enchaining all their faculties. It rose and
swelled, overpowering the sound of the instruments, steal
ing the judgment, palsying the heart, curdling the blood.
" Happy the man who keeps his heart pure from guilt
and crime! Him we avengers touch not; he treads the
path of life secure from us. But woe ! woe ! to him who
has done the deed of secret murder. We the fearful
family of Night fasten ourselves upon his whole being.
Thinks he by flight to escape us ? We fiy still faster in
pursuit, twine our snakes around his feet and bring him to
the ground. Unwearied we pursue ; no pity checks our
course ; still on and on to the end of life, we give him no
peace nor rest." Thus the Eumenides sang, and moved
in solemn cadence, while stillness like the stillness of
death sat over the whole assembly as if in the presence of
superhuman beings ; and then in solemn march completing
the circuit of the theatre, they passed out at the back of
the stage.
274 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Every heart fluttered between illusion and reality, and
every breast panted with undefined terror, quailing before
the awful power that watches secret crimes and winds un
seen the skein of destiny. At that moment a cry burst
forth from one of the uppermost benches — " Look ! look !
comrade, yonder are the cranes of Ibycus ! " And sud
denly there appeared sailing across the sky a dark object
which a moment's inspection showed to be a flock of
cranes flying directly over the theatre. " Of Ibycus ! did
he say ? " The beloved name revived the sorrow in every
breast. As wave follows wave over the face of the sea,
so ran from mouth to mouth the words, " Of Ibycus ! him
whom we all lament, whom some murderer's hand laid
low! What have the cranes to do with him?" And
louder grew the swell of voices, while like a lightning's
flash the thought sped through every heart, " Observe the
power of the Eumenides ! The pious poet shall be
avenged! the murderer has informed against himself.
Seize the man who uttered that cry and the other to whom
he spoke ! "
The culprit would gladly have recalled his words, but
it was too late. The faces of the murderers pale with
terror betrayed their guilt. The people took them before
the judge, they confessed their crime and suffered the pun
ishment they deserved.
SIMONIDES.
Simonides was one of the most prolific of the early
poets of Greece, but only a few fragments of his compo
sitions have descended to us. He wrote hymns, triumphal
odes, and elegies. In the last species of composition he
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 275
particularly excelled. His genius was inclined to the pa
thetic, and none could touch with truer effect the chords of
human sympathy. The Lamentation of Danae, the most
important of the fragments which remain of his poetry, is
based upon the tradition that Danae and her infant son
were confined by order of her father Acrisius in a c"iest
and set adrift on the sea. The chest floated towards the
island of Seriphus, where both were rescued by Dictys, a
fisherman, and carried to Polydectes, king of the country,
who received and protected them. The child Perseus
when grown up became a famous hero, whose adventures
have been recorded in a previous chapter.
Simonides passed much of his life at the courts of princes
and often employed his talents in panegyric and festal
odes, receiving his reward from the munificence of those
whose exploits he celebrated. This employment was not
derogatory, but closely resembles that of the earliest bards,
such as Demodocus, described by Homer, or of Homer
himself as recorded by tradition.
On one occasion when residing at the court of Scopas,
king of Thessaly, the prince desired him to prepare a
poem in celebration of his exploits, to be recited at a ban
quet. In order to diversify his theme, Simonides who
was celebrated for his piety introduced into his poem the
exploits of Castor and Pollux. Such digressions were
not unusual with the poets on similar occasions, and one
might suppose an ordinary mortal might have been con
tent to share the praises of the sons of Leda. But vanity
is exacting ; and as Scopas sat at his festal board among
his courtiers and sycophants, he grudged every verse that
did not rehearse his own praises. When Simonides ap
proached to receive the promised reward Scopas bestowed
but half the expected sum, saying, " Here is payment foi
276 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
my poifion of thy performance, Castor and Pollux will
doubtless compensate thee for so much as relates to them."
The disconcerted poet returned to his seat amidst the
laughter which followed the great man's jest. In a little
time he received a message that two young men on horse
back were waiting without and anxious to see him. Si-
monides hastened to the door, but looked in vain for the
visitors. Scarcely however had he left the banquetting
hall when the roof fell in with a loud crash, burying Sco-
pas and all his guests beneath the ruins. On inquiring as
to the appearance of the young men who had sent for
him, Simonides was satisfied that they were no other than
Castor and Pollux themselves.
SAPPHO.
Sappho was a poetess who flourished in a very early
age of Greek literature. Of her works few fragments
remain, but they are enough to establish her claim to emi
nent poetical genius. The story of Sappho commonly
alluded to is that she was passionately in love with a
beautiful youth named Phaon, and failing to obtain a re
turn of affection she threw herself from the promontory
of Leucadia into the sea, under a superstition that those
who should take that i Lover' s-leap ' would, if not de
stroyed, be cured of their love.
i
Byron alludes to the story of Sappho in Childe Harold,
Canto II. : —
" Childe Harold sailed and passed the barren spot
Where sad Penelope o'erlooked the wave,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 277
And onward viewed the mount, not yet forgot,
The lover's refuge and the Lesbian's grave.
Dark Sappho ! could not verse immortal save
That breast imbued with such immortal fire ?
" 'Twas on a Grecian autumn's gentle eve
Childe Harold hailed Leucadia's cape afar ; " &c.
Those who wish to know more of Sappho and hei
leap/ are referred to the Spectator, Nos. 223 and 229.
See also Moore's Evenings in Greece.
24
278 STOKIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Endymion.
CHAPTER XXYI.
ENDYMION — ORION — ATJTCORA AND T1THONUS -
ACIS AND GALATEA.
DIANA AND ENDYMION.
ENDYMION was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on
Mount Latmos. One calm, clear night, Diana, the Moon,
looked down and saw him sleeping. The cold heart of
the virgin goddess was warmed by his surpassing beauty,
and she came down to him, kissed him, and watched over
him while he slept.
Another story was that Jupiter bestowed on him the
gift of perpetual youth united with perpetual sleep. Of
one so gifted we can have but few adventures to record
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 279
Diana it was said took care that his fortunes should not
suffer by his inactive life, for she made his flock increase,
and guarded his sheep and lambs from the wild beasts.
The story of Endymion has a peculiar charm from the
human meaning which it so thinly veils. We see in En
dymion the young poet, his fancy and his heart seeking in
vain for that which can satisfy them, finding his favorite
hour in the quiet moonlight, and nursing there beneath the
beams of the bright and silent witness the melancholy and
the ardor which consumes him. The story suggests as
piring and poetic love, a life spent more in dreams than ID
reality, and an early and welcome death. S. G. B.
The Endymion of Keats is a wild and fanciful poem,
containing some exquisite poetry, as this, to the moon : —
" The sleeping kine
Couched in thy brightness dream of fields divine.
Innumerable mountains rise, and rise,
Ambitious for the hallowing of thine eyes,
And yet thy benediction passeth not
One obscure hiding-place, one little spot
Where pleasure may be sent ; the nested wren
Has thy fair face within its tranquil ken ; " &c., &c.
Dr. Young in the Night Thoughts alludes to Endymion
thus : —
" These thoughts, 0 Night, are thine;
From thee they came like lovers' secret sighs,
While others slept. So Cynthia, poets feign,
In shadows veiled, soft, sliding from her sphere,
Her shepherd cheered, of her enamoured less
Than I of thee."
Fletcher, in the Faithful Shepherdess, tells, —
" How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove,
First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes
280 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
She took eternal fire that never dies ,
How she conveyed him softly in a sleep,
His temples bound with poppy, to the steep
Head uf old Latmos, where she stoops each night,
Gilding the mountain with her brother's light,
To kiss her sweetest."
ORION.
Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome
giant and a mighty hunter. His father gave him the
power of wading through the depths of the sea, or as
others say of walking on its surface.
Orion loved Merope, the daughter of CEnopion, king
of Chios, and sought her in marriage. He cleared the
island of wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase
as presents to his beloved ; but as (Enopion constantly
deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession
of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this
conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his
sight and cast him out on the sea shore. The blinded hero
followed the sound of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached
Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking
pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his
guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his
shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting
the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.
After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom
he was a favorite, and it is even said she was about to
many him. Her brother was highly displeased and often
chid her, but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion
wading through the sea with his head just above the water,
Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 281
could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-
goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves
rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing
her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among
the stars, where he appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword,
lion's skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the
Pleiads fly before him.
The Pleiads were daughters of Atlas, and nymphs of
Diana's train. One day Orion saw them and became
enamoured and pursued them. In their distress they
prayed to the gods to change their form, and Jupiter in
pity turned them into pigeons, and then made them a con
stellation in the sky. Though their number was seven,
only six stars are visible, for Electra, one of them, it ia
said left her place that she might not behold the ruin of
Troy, for that city was. founded by her son Dardanus.
The sight had such an effect on her sisters that they have
looked pale ever since.
Mr. Longfellow has a poem on the " Occupation of Ori
on." The following lines are those in which he alludes to
the mythic story. We must premise that on the celestial
globe Orion is represented as robed in a lion's skin, and
wielding a club. At the moment the stars of the constel
lation one by one were quenched in the light of the moon,
the poet tells us —
" Down fell the red skin of the lion
Into the river at his feet.
His mighty club no longer beat
The forehead of the bull ; but he
Reeled as of yore beside the sea,
When blinded by (Enopion
He sought the bhcksmith at his forge,
24*
282 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
And climbing up the narrow gorge,
Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun."
Tennyson has a different theory of the Pleiads
Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid."
Locksley Hall
Byron alludes to the lost Pleiad.
" Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below."
See also Mrs. Hemans's verses on the same subject
AURORA AND TITHONUS.
The goddess of the Dawn, like her sister the Moon, was
at times inspired with the love of mortals. Her greatest
favorite was Tithonus, son of Laomedon, king of Troy.
She stole him away, and prevailed on Jupiter to grant
him immortality ; but forgetting to have youth joined in
the gift, after some time she began to discern, to her great
mortification, that he was growing old. When his hair
was quite white she left his society ; but he still had the
range of her palace, lived on ambrosial food and was clad
in celestial raiment. At length he lost the power of using
his limbs, and then she shut him up in his chamber,
whence his feeble voice might at times be heard. Final
ly she turned him into a grasshopper.
Memnon was the son of Aurora and Tithonus. He
was king of the ^Ethiopians and dwelt in the extreme
east, on the shore of Ocean. He came with his warriors
to assist the kindred of his father in the war of Troy
STORIES OF G'^~3 AND HEROfcS. 283
King Priam received him with great honors, and listened
with admiration to his narrative of the wonders of the
ocean shore.
The very day after his arrival, Memnon impatient of-
repose led his troops to the field. Antilochus, the brave
son of Nestor, fell by his hand, and the Greeks were put
to flight, when Achilles appeared and restored the battle.
A long and doubtful contest ensued between him and the
son of Aurora ; at length victory declared for Achilles,
Memnon fell, and the Trojans fled in dismay.
Aurora, who from her station in the sky had viewed
with apprehension the danger of her son, when she saw
him fall directed his brothers the Winds to convey his
body to the banks of the river Esepus in Paphlagonia. In
the evening, Aurora came, accompanied by the Hours and
the Pleiads, and wept and lamented over her son. Night,
in sympathy with her grief, spread the heaven with clouds ;
all nature mourned for the offspring of the Dawn. The
^Ethiopians raised his tomb on the banks of the stream
in the grove of the Nymphs, and Jupiter caused the sparks
and cinders of his funeral pile to be turned into birds,
which, dividing into two flocks, fought over the pile till
they fell into the flame. Every year at the anniversary
of his death they return and celebrate his obsequies in
like manner. Aurora remains inconsolable for the loss of
her son. Her tears still flow, and may be seen at early
morning in the form of dew-drops on the grass.
Unlike most of the marvels of ancient mythology, there
etill exist some memorials of this. On the banks of the
river Nile, in Egypt, are two colossal statues, one of
which is said to be the statue of Memnon. Ancient writ
ers record that when the first rays of the rising >'in fall
284 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
upon this statue, a sound is heard to issue from it which
they compare to the snapping of a harpstring. There ia
some doubt about the identification of the existing statue
with the one described by the ancients, and the mysteri
ous sounds are still more doubtful. Yet there are not
wanting some modern testimonies to their being still audi
ble. It has been suggested that sounds produced by con
fined air making its escape from crevices or caverns in the
rocks may have given some ground for the story. Sir
Gardner Wilkinson, a late traveller, of the highest author
ity, examined the statue itself, and discovered that it was
hollow, and that »* in the lap of the statue is a stone, which
on being struck emits a metallic sound, that might still be
made use of to deceive a visitor who was predisposed to
believe its powers."
The vocal statue of Memnon is a favorite subject of
allusion with the poets. Darwin in his Botanic Garden
says —
" So to the sacred Sun in Memnon's fane
Spontaneous concords choired the matin strain ;
Touched by his orient beam responsive rings
The living lyre and vibrates all its strings ;
Accordant aisles the tender tones prolong,
And holy echoes swell the adoring song."
B. I., 1. 182.
ACIS AND GALATEA.
Scylla was a fair virgin of Sicily, a favorite of the Sea-
Nymphs. She had many suitors, but repelled them all,
and would go to the grotto of Galatea, and tell her how
she was persecuted. One day the goddess, while Scylla
dressed her hair, listened to the story, and then replied,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 285
*Tet, maiden, your persecutors are of the not ungentle
race of men, whom if you will you can repel ; but I, the
daughter of Nereus, and protected by such a band of
sisters, found no escape from the passion of the Cyclops
but in the depths of the sea ; " and tears stopped her
utterance, which when the pitying maiden had wiped
away with her delicate finger, and soothed the goddess,
" Tell me, dearest," said she, " the cause of your grief."
Galatea then said, " Acis was the son of Faunus and a
Naiad. His father and mother loved him dearly, but their
love was not equal to mine. For the beautiful youth at
tached himself to me alone, and he was just sixteen years
old, the down just beginning to darken his cheeks. As
much as I sought his society, so much did the Cyclops
seek mine ; and if you ask me whether my love for Acis
or my hatred of Polyphemus was the stronger, I cannot
tell you ; they were in equal measure. O Venus, how
great is thy power ! this lierce giant, the terror of the
woods, whom no hapless stranger escaped unharmed, who
defied even Jove himself, learned to feel what love was,
and, touched with a passion for me, forgot his flocks and
his well-stored caverns. Then for the first time he began
to take some care of his appearance, and to try to make
himself agreeable ; he harrowed those coarse locks of his
with a comb, and mowed his beard with a sickle, looked
at his harsh features in the water and composed his coun
tenance. His love of slaughter, his fierceness and thirst
of blood prevailed no more, and ships that touched at his
island went away in safety. He paced up and down the
sea shore, imprinting huge tracks with his heavy tread,
and, when weary, lay tranquilly in his cave.
"There is a cliff which projects into the sea, which
washes it on either side. Thither one day the huge Cy-
285 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
clops ascended, and sat down while his flocks spread them
selves around. Laying down his staff which would have
served for a mast to hold a vessel's sail, and taking his
instrument compacted of numerous pipes, he made the
hills and the waters echo the music of his song. I lay
hid under a rock by the side of my beloved Acis, and
listened to the distant strain. It was full of extravagant
praises of my beauty, mingled with passionate reproaches
of my coldness and cruelty.
" When he had finished, he rose up and like a raging
bull, that cannot stand still, wandered off into the woods.
Acis and I thought no more of him, till on a sudden he
came to a spot which gave him a view of us as we sat.
* I see you/ he exclaimed, ' and I will make this the last
of your love-meetings/ His voice was a roar such as an
angry Cyclops alone could utter. ^Etna trembled at the
sound. I, overcome with terror, plunged into the water.
Acis turned and fled, crying, ' Save me, Galatea, save me,
my parents ! ' The Cyclops pursued him, and tearing a
rock from the side of the mountain hurled it at him.
Though only a corner of it touched him it overwhelmed
him."
" All that fate left in my power I did for Acis. I en
dowed him with the honors of his grandfather the river-
god. The purple' blood flowed out from under the rock,
but by degrees grew paler and looked like the stream of
a river rendered turbid by rains, and in time it became
clear. The rock cleaved open, and the water, as it gushed
from the chasm, uttered a pleasing murmur."
Thus Acis was changed into a river, and the river re
tains the name of Acis.
Dryden, in his Cymon and Iphigenia, has told the story
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 2fe/
of a clown converted into a gentleman by the power of
love, in a way that shows traces of kindred to the old
story of Galatea and the Cyclops.
" What not his father's care nor tutor's art
Could plant with pains in his unpolished heart,
The best instructor, Love, at once inspired,
As barren grounds to fruitfulness are fired.
Love taught him shame, and shame with love at strife
Soon taught the sweet civilities of life "
2*8 STORIES 01 fiODS AM> HMCOEB.
C II A P T 10 It XXVII.
I
Tin- TROJAH WAR.
MINERVA was the goddess of wi-dorn, but on one occa»
-hf, did a v-ry fooli-h thin'/; .-hr; entered into com-
pf.tilion with Juno and \Vriu-. for th" pri/<: of h'-au!v. Il
happ'-ri'-d that! At th<: nuptial- of Peleai :in'l Th'-ti nil
ford. lOni.T/'-'l at, li'-r , llif- f/o'l'l'- - threw a
^'ol'l'-n ,'if»p!'- union:/ th'- ^u»- t.-., with th<- in-f-ription, " I''or
th»: f;iinr-t." 'rii'-r'-.upon Juno. V«-nim, .'JIK! M inerva each
r!;iirn»:fl tiiM ,'ippl'-. Jupit'-.r. not willing to dedde I
(\i-\\c.:i\': a rii:.tt'-r, r-f:rit t! 0 .Mount I'J;i, whf-n-
th': hr-autiful r-.li»-.ph»:nl I'uri.s wa-. t'-n'lin^ hi- flo'-J: .
to him Was COTrnuitt'-.l tli»; dedflOD. 'Ili«: J.'0'M'- r:H EC5-
'•oniirifrly ;ipjj»-ur»:'l h'-for<: him. Juno promi-'-fl him
r and rif-li'-.-;, Min'-rva ^lory and n-n«v
.'I, aftf-mplin^
to biai hi '-'• d ion In ber own favor. I'. d in
favor r>f \ : th'-, L'ol'l'-n jifipN-. tliu- rnah-
inj.' thr-, two oth'-r gp bii enemies. ('nd<T th-
bo pi-
tahly rrjcf.ivfd l*y M'-:i< ! m . I. in;' r,f Sp;irt;i. Now JI«d'-n,
if': r,f M'-n"!. ry woman whom VenU8
had d<::-tin«-'l for I'ari-. th»: fair-- t of h'T r-.i-.x. Sh", had
::- Ji hrid" \ty i tOTf, and l>«-foi-':
i. at th':
of [Jlygges, one of th'-ir numh'-i-, took an oath that
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 289
would defend her from all injury and avenge her cause if
necessary. She chose Menelaus, and was living with him
happily when Paris became their guest. Paris, aided by
Venus, persuaded her to elope with him, and carried her
to Troy, whence arose the famous Trojan war, the theme
of the greatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and
Virgil.
Menelaus called upon his brother chieftains of Greece
to fulfil their pledge, and join him in his efforts to recover
his wife. They generally came forward, but Ulysses, who
had marned Penelope and was very happy in his wife
and child, had no disposition to embark in such a trouble
some affair. He therefore hung back and Palamedes was
sent to urge him. When Palamedes arrived at Ithaca,
Ulysses pretended to be mad. He yoked an ass and an
ox together to the plough and began to sow salt. Pala
medes, to try him, placed the infant Telemachus before the
plough, whereupon the father turned the plough aside,
showing plainly that he was no madman, and after that
could no longer refuse to fulfil his promise. Being now
himself gained for the undertaking he lent his aid to bring
in other reluctant chiefs, especially Achilles. This hero
was the son of that Thetis at whose marriage the apple of
Discord had been thrown among the goddesses. Thetis
was herself one of the immortals, a sea-nymph, and know
ing that her son was fated to perish before Troy if he
went on the expedition, she endeavored to prevent his
going. She sent him away to the court of King Lycome-
de?, and induced him to conceal himself in the disguise of
a maiden among the daughters of the king. Ulysses, hear
ing he was there, went disguised as a merchant to the
palace and offered for sale female ornaments, among which
he had placed some arms. Wliile the king's daughter!
290 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
were engrossed with the other contents of the merchant's
pack, Achilles handled the weapons and thereby betrayed
himself to the keen eye of Ulysses, who found no great
difficulty in persuading him to disregard his mother's pru
dent counsels and join his countrymen in the war.
Priam was king of Troy, and Paris, the shepherd and
seducer of Helen, was his son. Paris had been brought
up in obscurity, because there were certain ominous
forebodings connected with him from his infancy that
he would be the ruin of the state. These forebodings
seemed at length likely to be realized, for the Grecian
armament now in preparation was the greatest that had
ever been fitted out. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and
brother of the injured Menelaus, was chosen commander-
in-chief. Achilles was their most illustrious warrior.
After him ranked Ajax, gigantic in size and of great cour
age, but dull of intellect, Diomede, second only to Achilles
in all the qualities of a hero, Ulysses, famous for his sa
gacity, and Nestor, the oldest of the Grecian chiefs, and
one to whom they all looked up for counsel. But Troy
was no feeble enemy. Priam the king was now old, 1. •
he had been a wise prince and had strengthened his st;ur
by good government at home and numerous alliances with
his neighbors. But the principal stay and support of his
throne was his son Hector, one of the noblest characters
painted by heathen antiquity. He felt, from the first, a
presentiment of the fall of his country, but still persevered
in his heroic resistance, yet by no means justified the
wrong which brought this danger upon her. He was
united in marriage with Andromache, and as a husband
and father his character was not less admirable than as a
warrior. The principal leaders on the side of the Tro
jans, besides Hector, were .-^Eneas and Deiphobus, GJau
cus and Sarpodon.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
291
After two years of preparation the Greek fleet and
army assembled in the port of Aulis in Boeotia. Here
Agamemnon in hunting killed a stag which was sacred to
Diana, and the goddess in return visited the army with
pestilence, and produced a calm which prevented the ships
from leaving the port. Calchas the soothsayer thereupon
announced that the wrath of the virgin goddess could only
be appeased by the sacrifice of a virgin on her altar, and
that none other but the daughter of the offender would be
acceptable. Agamemnon, however reluctant, yielded his
consent, and the maiden Iphigenia was sent for under
the pretence that she was to be married to Achilles.
When she was about to be sacrificed the goddess relented
and snatched her away, leaving a hind in her place, and
Iphigenia enveloped in a cloud was carried to Tauris,
where Diana made her priestess of her temple.
292 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Tennyson, in his Dream of Fair Women, makes Iphige-
nia thus describe her feelings at the moment of sacrifice ;
the moment represented in our engraving : —
" I was cut off from hope in that sad place,
"Which yet to name my spirit loathes and fears ;
My father held his hand upon his face ;
I, blinded by my tears,
" Still strove to speak ; my voice was thick with sighs,
As in a dream. Dimly I could descry
The stern black-bearded kings, with wolfish eyes,
Waiting to see me die.
" The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,
The temples and the people and the shore ;
One drew a sharp knife through my tender throat
Slowly, — and — nothing more."
The wind now proving fair the fleet made sail and
brought the forces to the coast of Troy. The Trojans
came to oppose their landing, and at the first onset Pro-
tesilaus fell by the hand of Hector. Protesilaus had left
at home his wife Laodamia, who was most tenderly at
tached to him. When the news of his death reached her
she implored the gods to be allowed to converse with him
only three hours. The request was granted. Mercury
led Protesilaus back to the upper world, and when he died
a second time Laodamia died with him. There was a
story that the nymphs planted elm trees round his grave
which grew very well till they were high enough to com
mand a view of Troy, and then withered away, while
fresh branches sprang from the roots.
Wordsworth has taken the story of Protesilaus and
Laodamia for the subject of a poem. It seems the oracle
had declared that victory should be the lot of that party
STORIES OI GODS AND HEROES. 293
from which should fall the first victim to the war. Th«
poet represents Proiesilaus, on his brief return to earth,
as relating to Laodamia the story of his fate : —
" The wished-for wind was given ; I then revolved
The oracle, upon the silent sea ;
And if no worthier led the way, resolved
That of a thousand vessels mine should be
The foremost prow impressing to the strand,—
Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand.
"Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter was the pang
When of thy loss I thought, beloved wife 1
On thce too fondly did my memory hang,
And on the joys we shared in mortal life,
The paths which we had trod, — these fountains, flowers;
My new planned cities and unfinished towers.
' But should suspense permit the foe to cry,
' Behold they tremble ! haughty their array,
Yet of their number no one dares to die ? '
In soul I swept the indignity away :
Old frailties then recurred : but lofty thought
In act imbodicd my deliverance wrought.
*****
" upon the side
Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained)
A knot of spiry trees for ages grew
From out the tomb of him for whom she died;
And ever when such stature they had gained
That Ilium's walls were subject to their view,
The trees' tall summits withered at the sight,
A constant interchange of growth and blight ! "
THE ILIAD.
The war continued without decisive results for nine
years. Then an event occurred which seemed likely to
25*
294 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
be fatal to the cause of the Greeks, and that was a quarrel
between Achilles and Agamemnon. It is at this point
that the great poem of Homer, the Iliad, begins. The
Greeks though unsuccessful against Troy, had taken the
neighboring and allied cities, and in the division of the
spoil a female captive, bj name Chryseis, daughter of
Chryses, priest of Apollo, had fallen to the share of Aga
memnon. Chryses came bearing the sacred emblems of
his office, and begged the release of his daughter. Aga
memnon refused. Thereupon Chryses implored Apollo to
afflict the Greeks till they should be forced to yield their
prey. Apollo granted the prayer of his priest, and sent
pestilence into the Grecian camp. Then a council was
called to deliberate how to allay the wrath of the gods and
avert the plague. Achilles boldly charged their misfor
tunes upon Agamemnon as caused by his withholding
Chryseis. Agamemnon enraged consented to relinquish
his captive, but demanded that Achilles should yield to
him in her stead Briseis, a maiden who had fallen to
Achilles' share in the division of the spoil. Achilles sub
mitted, but forthwith declared that he would take no fur
ther part in tliQ war. He withdrew his forces from the
general camp and openly avowed his intention of return
ing home to Greece.
The gods and goddesses interested themselves as much
in this famous war as the parties themselves. It was well
known to them that fate had decreed that Troy should fall,
at last, if her enemies should persevere and not volunta
rily abandon the enterprise. Yet there was room enough
left for chance to excite by turns the hopes and fears of
the powers above who took part with either side. Juno
and Minerva, in consequence of the slight put upon their
charms by Paris, were hostile to the Trojans ; Venus fol
STORIES OF GODS AND HEUOES. 295
the opposite cause favored them. Venus enlisted her ad
mirer Mars on the same side, but Neptune favored the
Greeks. Apollo was neutral, sometimes taking one side,
sometimes the other, and Jove himself, though lie loved
the good King Priam, yet exercised a degree of impar
tiality; not however witliout exceptions.
Thetis, the mother of Achilles, warmly resented the
injury done to her son. She repaired immediately to
Jove's palace and besought him to make the Greeks
repent of their injustice to Achilles by granting success
to the Trojan arms. Jupiter consented ; and in the battle
which ensued the Trojans were completely successful.
The Greeks were driven from the field and took refuge in
their ships.
Then Agamemnon called a council of his wisest and
bravest chiefs. Nestor advised that an embassy should be
sent to Achilles to persuade him to return to the field ;
that Agamemnon should yield the maiden, the cause of the
dispute, with ample gifts to atone for the wrong he had
done. Agamemnon consented, and Ulysses, Ajax, and
Phoenix were sent to carry to Achilles the penitent mes
sage. They performed that duty, but Achilles was deaf
to their entreaties. lie positively refused to return to the
field, and persisted in his resolution to embark for Greece
without delay.
The Greeks had constructed a rampart around their
ships, and now instead of besieging Troy they were in a
manner besieged themselves, within their rampart. The
next day after the unsuccessful embassy to Achilles, a
battle was fought, and the Trojans, favored by Jove, were
successful, and succeeded in forcing a passage through the
Grecian rampart, and were about to set fire to the ships.
Neptune, seeing the Greeks so pressed, came to their res
296 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
cue. He appeared in the form of Calchas the prophet,
encouraged the warriors with his shouts and appealed to
each individually till he raised their ardor to such a pitch
that they forced the Trojans to give way. Ajax performed
prodigies of valor, and at length encountered Hector.
Ajax shouted defiance, to which Hector replied, and hurled
his lunce at the huge warrior. It was well aimed and
struck Ajax where the helts that bore his sword and shield
crossed each other on the breast. The double guard pre
vented its penetrating and it fell harmless. Then Ajax
seizing a huge stone, one of those that served to prop the
ships, hurled it at Hector. It struck him in the neck and
stretched him on the plain. His followers instantly seized
him and bore him off' stunned and wounded.
While Neptune was thus aiding the Greeks and driving
back the Trojans, Jupiter saw nothing of what was going
on, for his attention had been drawn from the field by the
wiles of Juno. That goddess had arrayed herself in all
her charms, and to crown all had borrowed of Venus her
girdle called Cestus, which had the effect to heighten the
wearer's charms to such a degree that they were quite
irresistible. So prepared, Juno went to join her husband,
who sat on Olympus watching the battle. "When he be
held her she looked so charming that the fondness of his
early love revived, and, forgetting the contending armies
and all other affairs of state, he thought only of her and
let the battle go as it would.
But this absorption did not continue long, and when,
upon turning his eyes downward, he beheld Hector stretched
on the plain almost lifeless from pain and bruises, he dis
missed Juno in a rage, commanding her to send Iris and
Apollo to him. When Iris came he sent her with a stern
message to Neptune, ordering him instantly to quit the
STO1UES OF GODS AND HEROES. 297
field. Apollo was despatched to heal Hector's bruises
and to inspirit his heart. These orders were obeyed with
such speed that while the battle still raged, Hector returned
to the field and Neptune betook himself to his own do
minions.
An arrow from Paris's bow wounded Machaon, son of
^Esculapius, who inherited his father's art of healing, and
was therefore of great value to the Greeks as their sur
geon, besides being one of their bravest warriors. Nestor
took Machaon in his chariot and conveyed him from the
field. As they passed the ships of Achilles, that hero,
looking out over the field, saw the chariot of Nestor and
recognized the old chief, but could not discern who the
wounded chief was. So calling Patroclus, his companion
and dearest friend, he sent him to Nestor's tent to inquire.
Patroclus, arriving at Nestor's tent, saw Machaon
wounded, and having told the cause of his coming would
have hastened away, but Nestor detained him, to tell him
the extent of the Grecian calamities. He reminded him
also how, at the time of departing for Troy, Achilles and
himself had been charged by their respective fathers with
different advice ; Achilles to aspire to the highest pitch of
glory, Patroclus, as the ehler, to keep watch over his
friend, and to guide his inexperience. " Now," said Nes
tor, " is the time for such influence. If the gods so please,
thou ma vest win him back to the common cause ; but if not
let him at least send his soldiers to the field, and come
thou Patroclus chid in his armor, and perhaps the very
bight of it may drive back the Trojans."
Patroclus was strongly moved with this address, and
hastened back to Achilles revolving in his mind all he had
seen and heard. He told the prince the sad condition of
affairs at the camp of their late associates ; Diomede
£98 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Ulysses, Agamemnon, Machaon, all wounded, the rampart
broken down, the enemy among the ships preparing to
burn them, and thus to cut off all means of return to
Greece. While they spoke the flames burst forth from
one of the ships. Achilles, at the sight, relented so far 03
to grant Patroclus his request to lead the Myrmidons (for
so were Achilles' soldiers called) to the field, and to lend
him his armor that he might thereby strike more terror
into the minds of the Trojans. Without delay the soldiers
were marshalled, Patroclus put on the radiant armor and
mounted the chariot of Achilles, and led forth the meu
ardent for battle. But before he went, Achilles strictly
charged him that he should be content with repelling the
foe. " Seek not," said he, " to press the Trojans without
me, lest thou add still more to the disgrace already mine.'
Then exhorting the troops to do their best he dismissed
them full of ardor to the fight.
Patroclus and his Myrmidons at once plunged into the
contest where it raged hottest ; at the sight of which the
joyful Grecians shouted and the ships reechoed the ac
claim. The Trojans, at the sight of the well-known armor,
struck with terror, looked every where for refuge. First
those who had got possession of the ship and set it on fire
left and allowed the Grecians to retake it and extinguish
the flames. Then the rest of the Trojans fled in dismay.
Ajax, Menelaus, and the two sons of Nestor performed
prodigies of valor. Hector was forced to turn his horses'
heads and retire from the enclosure, leaving his men en
tangled in the fosse to escape as they could. Patroclua
drove them before him, slaying many, none daring to make
a stand against him.
At last Sarpedon, son of Jove, ventured to oppose him
self in fight to Patroclus. Jupiter looked down upon him
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 299
and would have snatched him from the fate which awaited
him, but Juno hinted that if he did so it would induce all
others of the inhabitants of heaven to interpose in like
manner whenever any of their offspring were endangered;
to which reason Jove yielded. Sarpedon threw his spear
but missed Patroclus, but Patroclus threw his with better
success. It pierced Sarpedon's breast and he fell, and,
calling to his friends to save his body from the foe, expired.
Then a furious contest arose for the possession of the
corpse. The Greeks succeeded and stripped Sarpedon
of his armor ; but Jove would not allow the remains of
his son to be dishonored, and by his command Apollo
snatched from the midst of the combatants the body of
Sarpedon and committed it to the care of the twin brothers
Death and Sleep, by whom it was transported to Lycia,
the native land of Sarpedon, where it received due funeral
rites.
Thus far Patroclus had succei-.led to his utmost wish in
repelling the Trojans and relieving his countrymen, but
now came a change of fortune. Hector, borne in his
chariot, confronted him. Patroclus threw a vast stone at
Hector, which missed its aim, but smote Cebriones, the
charioteer, and knocked him from the car. Hector leaped
from the chariot to rescue his friend, and Patroclus also
descended to complete his victory. Thus the two heroes
met face to face. At this decisive moment the poet, as if
reluctant to give Hector the glory, records that Phoebus
took part against Patroclus. He struck the helmet from
his head and the lance from his hand. At the same mo
ment an obscure Trojan wounded him in the back, and
Hector pressing forward pierced him with his spear. He
fell mortally wounded.
Then arose, a tremendous conflict for the body of Patro
300 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
clus, but his armor was at once taken possession of by
Hector, who retiring a short distance divested himself of
his own armor and put on that of Achilles, then returned
to the fight. Ajax and Menelaus defended the body, and
Hector and his bravest warriors struggled to capture it.
The battle raged with equal fortunes, when Jove enveloped
the whole face of heaven with a dark cloud. The light
ning flashed, the thunder roared, and Ajax, looking round
for some one whom he might despatch to Achilles to tell
him of the death of his friend and of the imminent danger
that his remains would fall into the hands of the enemy,
could see no suitable messenger. It was then that he ex
claimed in those famous lines so often quoted, —
" Father of heaven and earth ! deliver thou
Achaia's host from darkness ; clear the skies ;
Give day ; and, since thy sovereign will is such,
Destruction with it ; but, 0, give us day."
Cotoper.
Or, as rendered by Pope, —
" Lord of earth and air !
O king ! 0 father ! hear my humble prayer !
Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore ;
Give me to see and Ajax asks no more ;
If Greece must perish we thy will obey,
But let us perish in the face of day."
Jupiter heard the prayer and dispersed the clouds
Then Ajax sent Antilochus to Achilles with the intelli
gence of Patroclus's death, and of the conflict raging for his
remains. The Greeks at last succeeded in bearing off the
body to the ships, closely pursued by Hector and JEneas
and the rest of the Trojans.
Achilles heard the fate of his friend with such distress
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 30 1
lhat Antilochus feared for a while that he would destroy
himself. His groans reached the ears of his mother
Thetis, far down in the deeps of ocean where she abode,
and she hastened to him to inquire the cause. She found
him overwhelmed with self-reproach that he had indulged
his resentment so far, and suffered his friend to fall a victim
to it. But his only consolation was the hope of revenge.
He would fly instantly in search of Hector. But his
mother reminded him that he was now without armor,
and promised him, if he would but wait till the morrow,
she would procure for him a suit of armor from Vulcan
more than equal to that he had lost. He consented, and
Thetis immediately repaired to Vulcan's palace. She
found him busy at his forge making tripods for his own
use, so artfully constructed that they moved forward of
their own accord when wanted, and retired again when
dismissed. On hearing the request of Thetis, Vulcan
immediately laid aside his work and hastened to comply
with her wishes. He fabricated a splendid suit of armor
for Achilles, first a shield adorned with elaborate devices,
then a helmet crested with gold, then a corselet and greaves
of impenetrable temper, all perfectly adapted to his form
and of consummate workmanship. It was all done in one
night, and Thetis, receiving it, descended with it to earth
and laid it down at Achilles' feet at the dawn of day.
The first glow of pleasure that Achilles had felt since
the death of Patroclus was at the sight of this splendid
armor. And now arrayed in it, he went forth into the
camp calling all the chiefs to council. When they were
all assembled he addressed them. Renouncing his dis
pleasure against Agamemnon and bitterly lamenting the
miseries that had resulted from it, he called on them to
proceed at once to the field. Agamemnon made a suitable
26
302 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
reply, laying all the blame on Ate, the goddess of discord $
and thereupon complete reconcilement took place between
the heroes.
Then Achilles went forth to battle inspired with a rage
and thirst for vengeance that made him irresistible. The
bravest warriors fled before him or fell by his lance. Hec
tor, cautioned by Apollo, kept aloof; but the god, assum
ing the form of one of Priam's sons, Lycaon, urged ^Eneaa
tc encounter the terrible warrior. jEneas, though he felt
i' ii1 i j:.i i j__i: j.u , i__j. FT i i j
IllHiadi uiiuijiuii, uiu nut ueciiuc tut; cuiuuat. AJ.C xiUriCu
his spear with all his force against the shield the work of
Vulcan. It was formed of five metal plates ; two were of
brass, two of tin, and one of gold. The spear pierced two
thicknesses, but was stopped in the third. Achilles threw
his with better success. It pierced through the shield of
-5£neas, but glanced near his shoulder and made no wound.
Then JEneas seized a stone, such as two men of modern
times could hardly lift, and was about to throw it, and
Achilles, with sword drawn, was about to rush upon him,
when Neptune, who looked out upon the contest, moved
with pity for JEneas, who he saw would surely fall a victim
if not speedily rescued, spread a cloud between the com
batants, and lifting vEneas from the ground, bore him over
the heads of warriors and steeds to the rear of the battle.
Achilles, when the mist cleared away, looked round in vain
for his adversary, and acknowledging the prodigy, turned
his arms against other champions. But none dared stand
before him, and Priam looking down from his city walls
beheld his whole army in full flight towards the city, lie-
gave command to open wide the gates to receive the fugi
tives, and to shut them as soon as the Trojans should have
passed, lest the enemy should enter likewise. But Achil
les was so close in pursuit that that would have been im
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 303
possible if Apollo Lad not, in the form of Agenor, Priam's
son, encountered Achilles for a while, then turned to fly,
and taken the way apart from the city. Achilles pursued
and hud chased his supposed victim far from the walls,
when Apollo disclosed himself, and Achilles, perceiving
how he had heen deluded, gave up the chase.
But when the rest had escaped into the town Hector
stood without determined to await the combat. His old
father called to him from the walls and begged him to re
tire nor tempt the encounter. His mother, Hecuba, also
besought him to the same effect, but all in vain. " How
can I," said he to himself, " by whose command the people
went to this day's contest, where so many have fallen, seek
safety for myself against a single foe ? But what if I
offer him to yield up Helen and all her treasures and am
ple of our own beside ? Ah no ! it is too late. He would
not even hear me through, but slay me while I spoke."
While he thus ruminated, Achilles approached, terrible as
Mars, his armor flashing lightning as he moved. At that
sight Hector's heart failed him and he fled. Achilles
swiftly pursued. They ran, still keeping near the walls,
till they had thrice encircled the city. As often as Hector
approached the walls Achilles intercepted him and forced
him to keep out in a wider circle. But Apollo sustained
Hector's strength and would not let him sink in weariness.
Then Pallas assuming the form of Deiphobus, Hector's
bravest brother, appeared suddenly at his side. Hector
saw him with delight, and thus strengthened stopped his
flight and turned to meet Achilles. Hector threw his
spear, which struck the shield of Achilles and bounded
back. He turned to receive another from the hand of
Deiphobus, but Deiphobus was gone. Then Hector un
derstood his doom and said, " Alas ! it is plain this is mv
304 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
hour to die ! I thought Deiphobus at hand, but Pallas
deceived me, and he is still in Troy. But I will not fall
inglorious." So saying he drew his falchion from his side
and rushed at once to combat. Achilles secured behind
his shield waited the approach of Hector. When he came
within reach of his spear, Achilles choosing with his eye a
vulnerable part where the armor leaves the neck uncov
ered, aimed his spear at that part, and Hector fell, death-
wounded, and feebly said, " Spare my body ! Let my par
ents ransom it, and let me receive funeral rites from the
eons and daughters of Troy." To which Achilles replied.
u Dog, name not ransom nor pity to me, on whom you
have brought such dire distress. No ! trust me, nought
shall save thy carcass from the dogs. Though twenty
ransoms and thy weight in gold were offered, I would re
fuse it all."
So saying he stripped the body of its armor, and fasten
ing cords to the feet tied them behind his chariot, leaving the
body to trail along the ground. Then mounting the char
iot he lashed the steeds and so dragged the body to and
fro before the city. What words can tell the grief of
King Priam and Queen Hecuba at this sight ! His peo
ple could scarce restrain the old king from rushing forth
He threw himself in the dust and besought them each by
name to give him way. Hecuba's distress was not less
violent. The citizens stood round them weeping. The
sound of the mourning reached the ears of Andromache,
the wife of Hector, as she sat among her maidens at work,
and anticipating evil she went forth to the wall. When
she saw the sight there presented, she would have thrown
herself headlong from the wall, but fainted and fell into
the arms of her maidens. Recovering she bewailed her
fate, picturing to herself her country ruined^ herself a
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 305
captive, and her son dependent for his bread on the charity
af strangers.
When Achilles and the Greeks had taken their revenge
on the killer of Patroclus they busied themselves in paying
due funeral rites to their friend. A pile was erected, and the
body burned with due solemnity ; and then ensued games
of strength and skill, chariot races, wrestling, boxing, and
archery. Then the chiefs sat down to the funeral banquet
and after that retired to rest. But Achilles neither par
took of the feast nor of sleep. The recollection of his
lost friend kept him awake, remembering their compan
ionship in toil and dangers, in battle or on the perilous
deep. Before the earliest dawn he left his tent, and join
ing to his chariot his swift steeds, he fastened Hector's
body to be dragged behind. Twice he dragged him round
the tomb of Patroclus, leaving him at length stretched in
the dust. But Apollo would not permit the body to be
torn or disfigured with all this abuse, but preserved it free
from all taint or defilement.
While Achilles indulged his wrath in thus disgracing
brave Hector, Jupiter in pity summoned Thetis to his
presence. He told her to go to her son and prevail on
him to restore the body of Hector to his friends. Then
Jupiter sent Iris to King Priam to encourage him to go
to Achilles and beg the body of his son. Iris delivered
her message, and Priam immediately prepared to obey.
He opened his treasuries and took out rich garments and
cloths, with ten talents in gold and two splendid tripods
and a golden cup of matchless workmanship. Then he
called to his sons and bade them draw forth his litter an<f
place in it the various articles designed for a ransom ta
Achilles. When all was ready, the old king with a singli
companion as aged as himself, the herald Idoeus, drove
2(>*
306 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
forth from the gates, parting there with Hecuba his queen
and all his friends, who lamented him as going to certain
death.
But Jupiter, beholding with compassion the venerable
king, sent Mercury to be his guide and protector. Mer
cury, assuming the form of a young warrior, presented
himself to the aged couple, and while at the sight of him
they hesitated whether to fly or yield, the god approached,
and grasping Priam's hand, offered to be their guide to
Achilles' tent. Priam gladly accepted his offered service,
and he mounting the carriage assumed the reins and soon
conveyed them to the tent of Achilles. Mercury's wand
put to sleep all the guards, and without hinderance he in
troduced Priam into the tent where Achilles sat, attended
by two of his warriors. The old king threw himself at
the feet of Achilles and kissed those terrible hands which
had destroyed so many of his sons. " Think, 0 Achilles,"
he said, " of thy own father, full of days like me, and
trembling on the gloomy verge of life. Perhaps even
now some neighbor chief oppresses him and there is none
at hand to succor him in his distress. Yet doubtless
knowing that Achilles lives he still rejoices, hoping that
one day he shall see thy face again. But no comfort
cheers me, whose bravest sons, so late the flower of Ilium,
all have fallen. Yet one I had, one more than all the rest
the strength of my age whom fighting for his country thou
hast slain. I come to redeem his body, bringing ines
timable ransom with me. Achilles ! reverence the gods!
recollect thy father ! for his sake show compassion to me ! "
These words moved Achilles and he wept ; remembering
by turns his absent father and his lost friend. Moved
with pity of Priam's silver locks and beard, he raised him
from the earth and thus spake : " Priam, I know that
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 307
thou hast reached this place conducted by some god, for
without aid divine no mortal even in his prime of youth
had dared the attempt. I grant thy request ; moved
thereto by the evident will of Jove." So saying he arose,
and went forth with his two friends, and unloaded of its
charge the litter, leaving two mantles and a robe for the
covering of the body, which they placed on the litter, and
spread the garments over it, that not unveiled it should be
borne back to Troy. Then Achilles dismissed the old
king with his attendants, having first pledged himself to
allow a truce of twelve days for the funeral solemnities.
As the litter approached the city and was descried from
the walls, the people poured forth to gaze once more on
the face of their hero. Foremost of all, the mother and
the wife of Hector came, and at the sight of the lifeless
body renewed their lamentations. The people all wept
with them, and to the going down of the sun there was no
pause or abatement of their grief.
The next day, preparations were made for the funeral
solemnities. For nine days the people brought wood and
built the pile, and on the tenth they placed the body on
the summit and applied the torch ; while all Troy throng
ing forth encompassed the pile. When it had completely
burned, they quenched the cinders with wine, collected
the bones and placed them in a golden urn, which they
buried in the earth, and reared a pile of stones over the
rpot.
" Such honors Ilium to her hero paid,
And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade
Pope.
308 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FALL OF TROY — RETURN OF THE GREEKS—
ORESTES AND ELECTRA.
THE FALL OF TROY.
THE story of the Iliad ends with the death of Hector
and it is from the Odyssey and later poems that we learn
the fate of the other heroes. After the death of Hector,
Troy did not immediately fall, but receiving aid from new
allies still continued its resistance. One of these allies
was Memnon, the ./Ethiopian prince, whose story we have
already told. Another was Penthesilea, queen of the
Amazons, who came with a band of female warriors. All
the authorities attest their valor and the fearful effect of
their war cry. Penthesilea slew many of the bravest
warriors, but was at last slain by Achilles. But when the
hero bent over his fallen foe, and contemplated her
beauty, youth and valor, he bitterly regretted his victory.
Thersites, an insolent brawler and demagogue, ridiculed
his grief, and was in consequence slain by the hero.
Achilles by chance had seen Polyxena, daughter of
King Priam, perhaps on occasion of the truce which waa
allowed the Trojans for the burial of Hector. He was
captivated with her charms, and to win her in marriage
agreed to use his influence with the Greeks to grant peace
to Troy. While in the temple of Apollo, negotiating the
marriage, Paris discharged at him a poisoned arrow, which,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 309
guided by Apollo, wounded Achilles in the heel, the only
vulnerable part about him. For Thetis his mother had
dipped him when an infant in the river Styx, which made
every part of him invulnerable except the heel by which
she held him.*
The body of Achilles so treacherously slain was rescued
by Ajax and Ulysses. Thetis directed the Greeks to be
stow her son's armor on the hero who of all the survivors
should be judged most deserving of it. Ajax and Ulysses
were the only claimants ; a select number of the othei
chiefs were appointed to award the prize. It was awarded
to Ulysses, thus placing wisdom before valor ; whereupon
Ajax slew himself. On the spot where his blood sank
into the earth a flower sprang up, called the hyacinth,
bearing on its leaves the first two letters of the name of
Ajax, Ai, the Greek for " woe." Thus Ajax is a claimant
with the boy Hyacinthus for the honor of giving birth to
this flower. There is a species of Larkspur which repre
sents the hyacinth of the poets in preserving the mem
ory of this event, the Delphinium Ajacis — Ajax's Lark
spur.
It was now discovered that Troy could not be taken but
by the aid of the arrows of Hercules. They were in pos
session of Philoctetes, the friend who had been with Her
cules at the last and lighted his funeral pyre. Philoctetes
had joined the Grecian expedition against Troy, but had
accidentally wounded his foot with one of the poisoned
arrows, and the smell from his wound proved so offensive
that his companions carried him to the isle of Lemnos and
left him there. Diomed was now sent to induce him to
* The story of the invulnerability of Achilles is not found in Homer,
and is inconsistent with his account. For how could Achilles require
the aid of celestial armor if he were invulnerable ?
510 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
rejoin the army. He succeeded. Philoctetes was cured
of his wound by Machaon, and Paris was the first victim
of the fatal arrows. In his distress Paris bethought him
of one whom in his prosperity he had forgotten. This
was the nymph (Enone, whom he had married when a
youth, and had abandoned for the fatal beauty Helen,
CEnone, remembering the wrongs she had suffered, refused
to heal the wound, and Paris went back to Troy and died
CEnone quickly repented, and hastened after him with
remedies, but came too late, and in her grief hung herself.*
There was in Troy a celebrated statue of Minerva
called the Palladium. It was said to have fallen from
heaven, and the belief was that the city could not be taken
so long as this statue remained within it. Ulysses and
Dioraed entered the city in disguise and succeeded in ob
taining the Palladium, which they carried off to the Gre
cian camp.
But Troy still held out, and the Greeks began to de
spair of ever subduing it by force, and by advice of Ulys
ses resolved to resort to stratagem. They pretended to
be making preparations to abandon the siege, and a por
tion of the ships were withdrawn and lay hid behind a
neighboring island. The Greeks then constructed an im
mense wooden horse, which they gave out was intended as
a propitiatory offering to Minerva, but in fact was filled
with armed men. The remaining Greeks then betook
themselves to their ships and sailed away, as if for a final
departure. The Trojans seeing the encampment broken
up, and the fleet gone, concluded the enemy to have aban
doned the siege. The gates were thrown open, and the
• Tennyson has chosen CEnone as the subject of a short poem ; out
nc has omitted the most poetical part of the story, the return of Paris
rounded, her cruelty and subsequent repentance.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 311
whole population issued forth rejoicing at the long-prohib
ited liberty of passing freely over the scene of the late
encampment. The great horse was the chief object of
curiosity. All wondered what it could be for. Some
recommended to take it into the city as a trophy ; others
felt afraid of it.
While they hesitate, Laocoon, the priest of Neptune,
exclaims, " What madness, citizens, is this ! Have you not
learned enough of Grecian fraud to be on your guard
against it ? For my part I fear the Greeks even when
they offer gifts." * So saying he threw his lance at the
horse's side. It struck, and a hollow sound reverberated
like a groan. Then perhaps the people might have taken
his advice and destroyed the fatal horse and all its con
tents ; but just at thr,t moment a group of people appeared
dragging forward one who seemed a prisoner and a Greek.
Stupefied with terror he was brought before the chiefs,
who reassured him, promising that his life should be
spared on condition of his returning true answers to the
questions asked him. He informed them that he was a
Greek, Sinon by name, and that in consequence of the
malice of Ulysses he had been left behind by his country
men at their departure. With regard to the wooden horse,
he told them that it was a propitiatory offering to Miner
va, and made so huge for the express purpose of prevent
ing its being carried within the city; for Calchas the
prophet had told them that if the Trojans took possession
of it, they would assuredly triumph over the Greeks.
This language turned the tide of the people's feelings and
they began to think how they might best secure the mon-
Itrous horse and the favorable auguries connected with it,
• See Proverbial Expressions, page 478
312 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
when suddenly a prodigy occurred which left no room to
doubt. There appeared advancing over the sea two im
mense serpents. They came upon the land, and the crowd
fled in all directions. The serpents advanced directly to
the spot where Laocoon stood with his two sons. They
first attacked the children, winding round their bodies and
breathing their pestilential breath in their faces. The
father attempting to rescue them is next seized and in
volved in the serpents' coils. He struggles to tear them
away, but they overpower all his efforts and strangle him
and the children in their poisonous folds. This event was
regarded as a clear indication of the displeasure of the
gods at Laocoon's irreverent treatment of the wooden
horse, which they no longer hesitated to regard as a sacred
object and prepared to introduce with due solemnity into
the city. This was done with songs and triumphal accla
mations, and the day closed with festivity. In the night
the armed men who were enclosed in the body of the horse,
being let out by the traitor Sinon, opened the gates of the
city to their friends who had returned under cover of the
night. The city was set on fire ; the people, overcome
with feasting and sleep, put to the sword, and Troy com
pletely subdued.
One of the most celebrated groups of statuary in exist
ence is that of Laocoon and his children in the embrace
of the serpents. There is a cast of it in the Boston Ath
enaeum ; the original is in the Vatican at Rome. The
following lines are from the Childe Harold of Byron : —
" Now turning to the Vatican go see
Laocoon's torture dignifying pain ;
A father's love and mortal's agony
With an immortal's patience blending; — vam
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 313
The struggle ! vain against the coiling strain
And gripe and deepening of the dragon's grasp
The old man's clinch ; the long envenomed chain
Rivets the living links ; the enormous asp
Enforces pang on pang and stifles gasp on gasp."
The comic poets will also occasionally borrow a classical
allusion. The following is from Swift's Description of a
City Shower : -—
" Boxed in a chair the beau impatient sits,
While spouts run clattering o'er the roof by fits,
And ever and anon with frightful din
The leather sounds ; he trembles from within.
So when Troy chairmen bore the wooden steed
Pregnant with Greeks impatient to be freed,
(Those bully Greeks, who, as the moderns do,
Instead of paying chairmen, run them through ;)
Laocoon struck the outside with a spear,
And each imprisoned champion quaked with fear."
King Priam lived to see the downfall of his kingdom,
and was slain at last on the fatal night when the Greeks
took the city. He had armed himself and was about to
mingle with the combatants, but was prevailed on by
Hecuba, his aged queen, to take refuge with herself and
his daughters as a suppliant at the altar of Jupiter,
While there, his youngest son Polites, pursued by Pyr-
rhus, the son of Achilles, rushed in wounded, and expired
at the feet of his father; whereupon Priam, overcome
with indignation, hurled his spear with feeble hand against
Pyrrhus,* and was forthwith slain by him.
Queen Hecuba and her daughter Cassandra were car
ried captives to Greece. Cassandra had been loved by
Apollo, and he gave her the gift of prophecy ; but after-
* Pyrrhus's exclamation, •' Not such aid nor such defenders doei
.he time require," has become proverbial. See Prov. Exp. page 478.
27
$14 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
wards offended with her, he rendered the gift unavailing
by ordaining that her predictions should never be believed.
Polyxena, another daughter, who haa been loved by
Achilles, was demanded by the ghost of that warrior, and
was sacrificed by the Greeks upon his tomb.
MENELAUS AND HELEN.
Our readers will be anxious to know the fate of Helen,
the fair but guilty occasion of so much slaughter. On the
fall of Troy Menelaus recovered possession of his wife,
who had not ceased to love him, though she had yielded
to the might of Venus and deserted him for another.
After the death of Paris she aided the Greeks secretly on
several occasions, and in particular when Ulysses and Di-
omed entered the city in disguise to carry off the Palla
dium. She saw and recognized Ulysses, but kept the
secret, and even assisted them in obtaining the image.
Thus she became reconciled to her husband, and they
were among the first to leave the shores of Troy for their
native land. But having incurred the displeasure of the
gods they were driven by storms from shore to shore of
the Mediterranean, visiting Cyprus, Phoenicia and Egypt.
In Egypt they were kindly treated and presented with
rich gifts, of which Helen's share was a golden spindle
and a basket on wheels. The basket was to hold the wool
and spools for the queen's work.
Dyer, in his poem of the Fleece, thus alludes to thu
tacident : —
" many yet adhere
To the ancient distaff, at the bosom fixed
STORIKS OF GODS AND HEROES. 315
Casting the whirling spindle as they walk.
*****
This was of old, in no inglorious days,
The mode of spinning, when the Egyptian prince
A golden distaff gave that beauteous nymph,
Too beauteous Helen ; no uncourtly gift."
Milton also alludes to a famous recipe for an invigorat
ing draught, called Nepenthe, which the Egyptian queen
gave to Helen : —
"Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone
111 Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of such power to stir up joy as this,
To life so friendly or so cool to thirst."
Comus.
Menelaus and Helen at length arrived in safety at
Sparta, resumed their royal dignity and lived and reigned
in splendor ; and when Telemachus, the son of Ulysses, in
search of his father, arrived at Sparta, he found Menelaus
and Helen celebrating the marriage of their daughter
Hermione to ISTeoptolemus, son of Achilles.
AGAMEMNON, ORESTES, AND ELECTRA.
Agamemnon, the general-in-chief of the Greeks, the
brother of Menelaus, and who had been drawn into the
quarrel to avenge his brother's wrongs, not his own, was
not so fortunate in the issue. During his absence his wife
Clytemnestra had been false to him, and when his return
was expected, she with her paramour, ^Egisthus, laid a
v plan for his destruction, and at the banquet given to cele
brate his return, murdered him.
It was intended by the conspirators to slay his SOD
816 STORiKS OF GODS AND HEROES.
Orestes also, a lad not yet old enough to be an object of
apprehension, but from whom, if he should be suffered tc
grow up, there might be danger. Electra, the sister of
Orestes, saved her brother's life by sending him secretly
away to his uncle Strophius, King of Phocis. In the pal
ace of Strophius Orestes grew up with the king's son Py-
lades, and formed with him that ardent friendship which
has become proverbial. Electra frequently reminded her
brother by messengers of the duty of avenging his fa
ther's death, and when grown up he consulted the oracle of
Delphi, which confirmed him in his design. He therefore
repaired in disguise to Argos, pretending to be a messen
ger from Strophius, who had come to announce the death
of Orestes, and brought the ashes of the deceased in a
funeral urn. After visiting his father's tomb and sacri
ficing upon it, according to the rites of the ancients, he
made himself known to his sister Electra, and soon after
slew both .^Egisthus and Clytemnestra.
This revolting act, the slaughter of a mother by her
son, though alleviated by the guilt of the victim and the
express command of the gods, did not fail to awaken in
the breasts of the ancients the same abhorrence that it
does in ours. The Eumenides, avenging deities, seized
upon Orestes, and drove him frantic from land to land.
Pylades accompanied him in his wanderings and watched
over him. At length in answer to a second appeal to the
oracle, he was directed to go to Tauris in Scythia, and to
bring thence a statue of Diana which was believed to
have fallen from heaven. Accordingly Orestes and Py-
iades went to Tauris, where the barbarous people were
accustomed to sacrifice to the goddess all strangers who
fell into their hands. The two friends were seized and
carried bound to the temple to be made victims. But the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 317
priestess of Diana was no other than Iphigenia, the sis
ter of Orestes, who, our readers will remember, was
snatched away by Diana, at the moment when she wa9
about to be sacrificed. Ascertaining from the prisoners
who they were, Iphigenia disclosed herself to them, and
the three made their escape with the statue of the goddess,
and returned to Mycence.
But Orestes was not yet relieved from the vengeance
of the Erinyes. At length he took refuge with Minerva
at Athens. The goddess afforded him protection, and
appointed the court of Areopagus to decide his fate.
The Erinyes brought forward their accusation, and Ores
tes made the command of the Delphic oracle his excuse.
When the court voted and the voices were equally divided,
Orestes was acquitted by the command of Minerva.
Byron, in Childe Harold, Canto IV., alludes to the story
of Orestes : —
" 0 thou who never yet of human wrong
Left the unbalanced scale, great Nemesis !
Thou who didst call the Furies from the abyss,
And round Orestes bade them howl and hiss,
For that unnatural retribution, — just,
Had it but been from hands less near, — in this,
Thy former realm, I call thee from the dust ! "
One of the most pathetic scenes in the ancient drama is
that in which Sophocles represents the meeting of Orestes
and Electra, on his return from Phocis. Orestes mistak
ing Electra for one of the domestics, and desirous of
keeping his arrival a secret till the hour of vengeance
should arrive, produces the urn in which his ashes are
supposed to rest. Electra, believing him to be really
27*
318 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
dead, takes the urn and embracing it, pours forth her griei
in language full of tenderness and despair.
Milton, in one of his sonnets, says, —
" The repeated air
Of sad Electra's poet had the power
To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare."
This alludes to the story that when, on one occasion;
the city of Athens was at the mercy of her Spartan foes,
and it was proposed to destroy it, the thought was rejected
upon the accidental quotation, by some one, of a chorus
of Euripides.
TROY.
After hearing so much about the city of Troy and its
heroes, the reader will perhaps be surprised to learn that
the exact site of that famous city is still a matter of dis
pute. There are some vestiges of tombs on the plain
which most nearly answers to the description given by
Homer and the ancient geographers, but no other evidence
of the former existence of a great city. Byron thus de
scribes the present appearance of the scene : —
" The winds are high, and Helle's tide
Rolls darkly heaving to the main ;
And night's descending shadows hide
That field with blood bedewed in vain,
The desert of old Priam's pride,
The tombs, sole relics of his reign,
All — save immortal dreams that could beguile
The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle."
Bride of Abydos
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
319
CHAPTER XXIX.
ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES — THE LOTUS-EATERS
— CYCLOPES — CIRCE — SIRENS — SCYLLA AND
CHARYBDIS — CALYPSO.
RETURN OF ULYSSES.
THE romantic poem of the Odyssey is now to engage
our attention. It narrates the wanderings of Ulysses
(Odysseus in the Greek language) in his return from
Troy to his own kingdom Ithaca.
From Troy the vessels first made land at Ismarus, city
of the Ciconians, where, in a skirmish with the inhahit-
820 STORIES OF GODS AXD HEROES.
ants, Ulysses lost six men from each ship. Sailing thence
they were overtaken by a storm which drove them for
nine days along the sea till they reached the country of the
Lotus-eaters. Here, after watering, Ulysses sent three of
his men to discover who the inhabitants were. These men
on coming among the Lotus-eaters were kindly entertained
by them, and were given some of their own food, the lotus-
plant, to eat. The effect of this food was such that those
who partook of it lost all thoughts of home and wished to
remain in that country. It was by main force that Ulys
ses dragged these men away, and he was even obliged to
tie them under the benches of his ship.*
They next arrived at the country of the Cyclopes. The
Cyclopes were giants, who inhabited an island of which
they were the only possessors. The name-means "round
eye," and these giants were so called because they had but
one eye, and that placed in the middle of the forehead.
They dwelt in caves and fed on the wild productions of
* Tennyson in the Lotus-eaters has charmingly expressed thu
dreamy, languid feeling which the lotus-food is said to have produced
" How sweet it were, hearing the downward streair
With half-shut eyes ever to seem
Falling asleep in a half-dream !
To dream and dream, like yonder amber light
Which will not leave the myrrh-bush on the height ;
To hear each others' whispered speech ;
Eating the Lotos, day by day,
To watch the crisping ripples on the beach,
And tender curving lines of creamy spray :
To lend our hearts and spirits wholly
To the influence of mild-minded melancholy ;
To muse and brood and live again in memory,
With those old faces of our infancy
Heaped over with a mound of grass,
Two handfuls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. u21
the island and on what their flocks yielded, for they were
shepherds. Ulysses left the main body of his ships at an
chor, and with one vessel went to the Cyclopes' island to
explore for supplies. He landed with his companions,
carrying with them a jar of wine for a present, and com
ing to a large cave they entered it, and finding no one
within examined its contents. They found it stored with
the riches of the flock, quantities of cheese, pails and
bcwls of milk, lambs and kids in their pens, all in nice
order. Presently arrived the master of the cave, Poly
phemus, bearing an immense bundle of firewood, which he
threw down before the cavern's mouth. He then drove
into the cave the sheep and goats to be milked, and, enter
ing, rolled to the cave's mouth an enormous rock, that
twenty oxen could not draw. Next he sat down and
milked his ewes, preparing a part for cheese, and setting
the rest aside for his customary drink. Then turning
round his great eye he discerned the strangers, and growled
out to them, demanding who they were, and where from.
Ulysses replied most humbly, stating that they were
Greeks, from the great expedition that had lately won
so much glory in the conquest of Troy ; that they were
now on their way home, and finished by imploring his hos
pitality in the name of the gods. Polyphemus deigned
no answer, but reaching out his hand seized two of the
Greeks, whom he hurled against the side of the cave, and
dashed out their brains. He proceeded to devour them
with great relish, and having made a hearty meal, stretched
himself out on the floor to sleep. Ulysses was tempted
to seize the opportunity and plunge his sword into him as
he slept, but recollected that it would only expose thorn all
to certain destruction, as the rock with which the giant
had closed up the door was far beyond their power to
322 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
remove, and they would therefore IK- in hope-loss imprison*
merit. Next morning the; giant sei/ed two more of the
Greek*, and de-patched them in the same manner as their
companions, f.-a-ting on their fl«--h till no fragment \va.- left
lie th< -11 moved away the rock from the door, drove out
his f!ofk«, and went out, carefully replacing the harrier
after him. When he \va- gone DljMei planned how he
might take v.-.-ngeance for \i\< murdered friend-, and effect
'•ape with his surviving companion-. lie made his
men prepan- a nia—ive bar of wood cut by the Cyclops
for a >ta(F, which they found in the cave. They sharpened
the end of it and sea-oii'-d it in the fire, arid hid it under
the «traw on the cavern floor. Then four of the bo!d<--t
were selected, with whom Uly-se* joined hinnelf as a fifth.
The Cyclops fame home at evening, rolled away the stone
and drove in his flo'-k a- n-ual. After milking them and
making his arrangement., as before, h»- -ei/.-d t\vo more of
! '.rnpanioris and dashed their brain< out, and made
hi- evening meal upon th< ."i M he had on t h«- o'h<-r-. Af
ter h<- had -up '-s ap[)roaching him handed him
a bowl of wine-, saying, 4> Cyclop-, thi- i< win«- ; ta-t«- and
drink after thy meal of man'- f!«--h.1' II«- took and drank
it, and was hug'-lv d<-ligh:e«l with it. and called for more,
jpplied him once and again, whi'-h j)lea-ed the
giant so much that he promised him as a favor that he
ghouM he the la-t of the j,arty devoured. lie a-k«-d his
name, to which Ulysses replied. " M v MUM i- Noman."
After his supper the giant lay down to repo-c, and was
«OOn so'ind a-le.-p. Then I ,'ly — e- with hi- foin s«d«-ct jViendfl
thru-t the end of :' into the fire till it wa- all one
burning coal, then poi-ing it exactly above the giant's only
eye, they buried it deeply into the socket, twirling it round
M a < does his auger. The howling monster with
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 323
his outcry filled the cavern, and Ulysses with his aids
nimbly got out of his way and concealed themselves in the
cave. lie, bellowing, called aloud on all the Cyclopes
dwelling in the caves around him, far and near. They on
his cry Hocked round the den, and inquired what grievous
hurt had caused him to sound such an ularm and break
their slumbers. He replied, "0 friends, I die, and No-
man gives the blow." They answered, '• If no man hurt*
thee it is the stroke of Jove, and thou must bear it." So
saying, they left him groaning.
Next morning the Cyclops rolled away the stone to let
his flock out to pasture, but planted himself in the door of
the cave to feel of all as they went out, that Ulysses and
his men should not escape with them. But Ulysses had
made his men harness the rams of the flock three abreast,
with osiers which they found on the floor of the cave. To
the middle ram of the three one of the Greeks suspended
himself, so protected by the exterior rams on either side.
As they passed, the giant felt of the animals' backs and
sides, but never thought of their bellies; so the men all
1 Bfrffe, Ulysses himself being on the last one that
•i. AVhen th-'y had got a few paces from the cavern,
Ulysses and his friends released themselves from their
rams, and drove a good part of the flock down to the shore
to their boat. > v put them aboard with all haste, then
pushed off from the shore, and when at a safe distance
Ulysses shouted out, " Cyclops, the gods have well reqait-
ed thee for thy atrocious de« ds. Know it is Ulysses to
whom thou owe.-t thy shameful loss of sight." The Cy
clops, hearing this, sei/i-d a rock that projected from the
*ide of the mountain, and rending it from its bed he lifted
it high in the air, then exerting all his force, hurled it in
the direction of the voice. Down came the mass, just
324 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
clearing the vessel's stern. The ocean, at the plunge of
the huge rock, heaved the ship towards the land, so that ii
barely escaped being swamped by the waves. "When they
had with the utmost difficulty pulled off shore, Ulysses wag
about to hail the giant again, but his friends besought him
not to do so. He could not forbear, however, letting tha
giant know that they had escaped his missile, but waited
till they had reached a safer distance than before. The
giant answered them with curses, but Ulysses and his
friends plied their oars vigorously, and soon regained their
companions.
Ulysses next arrived at the island of ^Eolus. To this
monarch Jupiter had intrusted the government of the
winds, to send them forth or retain them at his will. He
treated Ulysses hospitably, and at his departure gave him,
tied up in a leathern bag with a silver string, such winds
as might be hurtful and dangerous, commanding fair winds
to blow the barks towards their country. Nine days they
sped before the wind, and all that time Ulysses had stood
at the helm, without sleep. At last quite exhausted he
lay down to sleep. While he slept, the crew conferred
together about the mysterious bag, and concluded it must
contain treasures given by the hospitable King JEolus to
their commander. Tempted to secure some portion for
themselves they loosed the string, when immediately the
winds rushed forth. The ships were driven far from their
course, and back again to the island they had just left.
^Eolus was so indignant at their folly that he refused to
assist them further, and they were obliged to labor oiei
their course once more by means of their oars.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 823
THE L.ESTRYGONIANS.
Their next adventure was with the barbarous tribe of
Loestrygonians. The vessels all pushed into the harbor,
tempted by the secure appearance of the cove, completely
land-locked ; only Ulysses moored his vessel without. As
soon as the Laestrygonians found the ships completely ir.
their power they attacked them, heaving huge stones which
broke and overturned them, and with their spears de
spatched the seamen as they struggled in the water. Al'
the vessels with their crews were destroyed, except Ulys
ses' own ship which had remained outside, and finding no
safety but in flight, he exhorted his men to ply their oars
vigorously, and they escaped.
With grief for their slain companions mixed with joy
at their own escape, they pursued their way till they ar
rived at the JEaean isle, where Circe dwelt, the daughter
of the sun. Landing here Ulysses climbed a hill, and
gazing round saw no signs of habitation except in one spot
at the centre of the island, where he perceived a palace
embowered with trees. He sent forward one half of his
crew, under the command of Eurylochus, to see what pros
pect of hospitality they might find. As they approached
the palace, they found themselves surrounded by lions,
tigers and wolves, not fierce, but tamed by Circe's art, fcr
she was a powerful magician. All these animals had onco
been men, but had been changed by Circe's enchantments
into the forms of beasts. The sounds of soft music were
heard from within, and a sweet female voice singing.
Eurylochus called aloud and the goddess came forth and
invited them in; they all gladly entered except Eurylo
chus, who suspected danger. The goddess conducted hei
28
326
STORIES OF UODS AND HEROES.
guests to a seat, and had them served with wine and othei
delicacies. When they had feasted heartily, she touched
them one by one with her wand, and they became immedi
ately changed into swine, in " head, body, voice and bris
tles," yet with their intellects as before. She shut them
m her sties and supplied them with acorns and such other
things as swine love.
Eurylochus hurried back to the ship and told the tale.
Ulysses thereupon determined to go himself, and try if by
Ulysses and Circe.
any means he might deliver his companions. As he strode
onward alone, lie met a youth who addressed him famil
iarly, appearing to be acquainted with his adventures,
He announced himself as Mercury, and informed Ulysses
of the arts of Circe, and of the danger of approaching
her As Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his at-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 327
tempt, Mercury provided him with a sprig of the plant
Holy, of wonderful power to resist sorceries, and instruct
ed him how to act. Ulysses proceeded, and reaching the
palace was courteously received by Circe, who entertained
him as she had done his companions, and after he had
eaten and drank, touched him with her wand, saying,
" Hence, seek the sty and wallow with thy friends." But
he, instead of obeying, drew his sword and rushed upon
her with fury in his countenance. She fell on her knees
and begged for mercy. He dictated a solemn oath that
she would release his companions and practise no further
harm against him or them ; and she repeated it, at the
same time promising to dismiss them all in safety after
hospitably entertaining them. She was as good as her
word. The men were restored to their shapes, the rest
of the crew summoned from the shore, and the whole
magnificently entertained day after day, till Ulysses seemed
to have forgotten his native land, and to have reconciled
himself to an inglorious life of ease and pleasure.
At length his companions recalled him to nobler senti
ments, and he received their admonition gratefully. Circe
aided their departure, and instructed them how to pass
safely by the coast of the Sirens. The Sirens were sea-
nymphs who had the power of charming by their song all
who heard them, so that the unhappy mariners were irre
sistibly impelled to cast themselves into the sea to their
destruction. Circe directed Ulysses to fill the ears of his
seamon with wax, so that they should not hear the strain ;
and to cause himself to be bound to the mast, and his peo
ple to be strictly enjoined, whatever he might say or do,
by no means to release him till they should have passed
the Sirens' island. Uljsses obeyed these directions. Ha
filled the ears of his people with wax, and suffered them
328 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
to bind him with cords firmly to the mast. As they ap
proached the Sirens' island, the sea was calm, and over
the waters came the notes of music so ravishing and at
tractive, that Ulysses struggled to get loose, and by cries
and signs to his people, begged to be released ; but they,
obedient to his previous orders, sprang forward and bound
him still faster. They held on their course, and the music
grew fainter till it ceased to be heard, when with joy Ulys
ses gave his companions the signal to unseal their ears,
and they relieved him from his bonds.
The imagination of a modern poet, Keats, has discov
ered for us the thoughts that passed through the brains of
the victims of Circe, after their transformation. In his
Endymion he represents one of them, a monarch in the
guise of an elephant, addressing the sorceress in human
language thus : —
" I sue not for my happy crown again ;
I sue not for my phalanx on the plain ;
I sue not for my lone, my widowed wife ;
I sue not for my ruddy drops of life,
My children fair, my lovely girls and boys ;
I will forget them ; I will pass these joys,
Ask nought so heavenward ; so too — too high ;
Only I pray, as fairest boon, to die ;
To be delivered from this cumbrous flesh,
From this gross, detestable, filthy mesh,
And merely given to the cold, bleak air.
Have mercy, goddess ! Circe, feel my prayer ! "
6CYLLA AND CHARYBDIS.
Ulysses had been warned by Circe of the two monsters
Scylla and Charybdis. We have already met with Scylla
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 829
in the story of Glaucus, and remember that she was once
a beautiful maiden and was changed into a snaky monster
by Circe. She dwelt in a cave high up on the cliff, from
whence she was accustomed to thrust forth her long necks,
(for she had six heads,) and in each of her mouths to seize
one of the crew of every vessel passing within reach.
The other terror, Cbarybdis, was a gulf, nearly on a level
with the water. Thrice each d>ay the water rushed into a
frightful chasm, and thrice was disgorged. Any vessel
coming near the whirlpool when the tide was rushing in
must inevitably be ingulphed ; not Neptune himself could
save it.
On approaching the haunt of the dread monsters, Ulys
ses kept strict watch to discover them. The roar of the
waters as Charybdis ingulphed them, gave warning at a
distance, but Scylla could nowhere be discerned. While
Ulysses and his men watched with anxious eyes the dread
ful whirlpool, they were not equally on their guard from
the attack of Scylla, and the monster darting forth her
snaky heads, caught six of his men, and bore them away
shrieking to her den. It was the saddest sight Ulysses
had yet seen ; to behold his friends thus sacrificed and
hear their cries, unable to afford them any assistance.
Circe had warned him of another danger. After pass
ing Scylla and Charybdis the next land he would make
was Thrinakia, an island whereon were pastured the cattle
of Hyperion, the Sun, tended by his daughters Lampetia,
and Pluiethusa. These flocks must not be violated, what
ever the wants of the voyagers might be. If this injunc
tion were transgressed, destruction was sure to fall on the
offenders.
Ulysses would willingly have passed the island of the
Sun without stopping, but his companions so urgently
28*
330 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
pleaded for the rest and refreshment that wouid be derived
from anchoring and passing the night on shore, that Ulys
ses yielded, lie bound them however with an ojith that
they would not touch one of the animals of the sacred
flocks and herds, but content themselves with what provis
ion they yet had left cf the supply which Circe had put
on board. So long as this supply lasted the people kept
their oath, but contrary winds detained them at the island
for a month, and after consuming all their stock of provis
ions, they were forced to rely upon the birds and fishes
they could catch. Famine pressed them, and at length
one day, in the absence of Ulysses, they slew some of the
cattle, vainly attempting to make amends for the deed by
offering from them a portion to the offended powers.
Ulysses, on his return to the shore, was horror-struck at
perceiving what they had done, and the more so on ac
count of the portentous signs which followed. The skins
crept on the ground, and the joints of meat lowed on the
spits while roasting.
The wind becoming fair they sailed from the island.
They had not gone far when the weather changed, and a
storm of thunder and lightning ensued. A stroke of light
ning shattered their mast, which in its fall killed the pilot
At last the vessel itself came to pieces. The keel and
mast floating side by side, Ulysses formed of them a raft,
to which he clung, and, the wind changing, the waves boro
him to Calypso's island. All the rest of the crew perished.
The following allusion to the topics we have just been
considering is from Milton's Comus, line 252.
" I have often heard
My mother Circe and the Sirens three,
the flowery-kirtled Naiades,
6TOKIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 331
Culling their potent herbs and baneful drugs,
Who as they sung would take the prisoned soul
And lap it in Elysium. Scylla wept,
And chid her barking waves into attention,
And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause."
Scylla and Charybdis have become proverbial, to denote
opposite dangers which beset one's course. — See Proveib-
iai Expressions, p. 478.
CALYPSO.
Calypso was a sea-nymph, which name denotes a nu
merous class cf female divinities of lower rank, yet shar
ing many of the attributes of the gods. Calypso received
Ulysses hospitably, entertained him magnificently, became
enamoured of him, and wished to retain him forever, con
ferring on him immortality. But lie persisted in his reso
lution to return to his country and his wife and son. Ca
lypso at last received the command of Jove to dismiss
him. Mercury brought the message to her, and found her
in her grotto, which is thus described by Homer : —
" A garden vine, luxuriant on all sides,
Mantled the spacious cavern, cluster-hung
Profuse ; four fountains cf sereuest lymph,
Their sinuous course pursuing side by side,
Strayed all around, and every where appeared
Meadows of softest verdure, purpled o'er
With violets ; it was a scene to fill
A god from heaven with wonder and delight."
Calypso with much reluctance proceeded to obey the
commands of Jupiter. She supplied Ulysses with the
means of constructing a raft, provisioned it well for him,
gmd gave him a favoring gale. He sped on his course
STORIES OF GODS AND HKROES.
prosperously for many days, till at length, when in sight of
land, a storm arose that broke his mast, and threatened to
rend the raft asunder. In this crisis he was seen by a
compassionate sea-nymph, who in the form of a cormorant
alighted on the raft, and presented him a girdle, directing
him to bind it beneath his breast, and if he should be com-
pelled to trust himself to the waves, it would buoy him up
and enable him by swimming to reach the land.
Fenelon. in his romance of Telemachus, has given us
the adventures of the son of Ulysses in search of his
father. Among other places at which he arrived, following
on his fat'. was Calypso's isle, and, as in the
former case, the goddess tried every an to keep him with
her, and offered to share her immortality with him. But
Minerva, who in the shape of Mentor accompanied him
and governed all his movements, made him repel her al
lurements, and when no other means of escape could be
found, the two friends leaped from a cliff into the sea, and
swam to a vessel which lay becalmed off shore, Byron
alludes to this leap of Teleiiwhus and Mentor in the fol
io wing stanza : —
M But not in silence pass Calypso's tsfat,
The sister tenants of UM MttMIt 4erp ;
There for the wtary still a have* smife*,
Tho*$h tke fair sotttn km IMA CMM* to WM*
And o'er her clUb a fruitless walA to keep
For him who dared prefer a Mortal bride.
Here too his boy essayed the dreadful leap,
Stern Mcator «rgc4 fro* tfek to JWM!CT tide ;
While thus of both bereft the nymph-^ceen do
ETORIES OF GODS AXD HEBOES.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE PIUEACIAXS — FATE OF THE SUITORS
ULTSSES dong to the raft white any of its timbers kept
together, and when it no longer yielded him
ing the girdle around him, he swam.
the billows before him and sent him a wind that rolled the
wares towards the shore. The surf beat high on the
rocks and seemed to forbid approach ; bat at length find-
ing calm water at the mouth of a gentle stream, he landed,
spent with toil, breathless and speechless and almost dead.
After some time reviving be kissed the sofl. rejoicing, jet
at a loss what course to take. At a short distance he per
ceived a wood, to which be toned his steps. There find
ing a covert sheltered b j intermingEng branches alike
fiom the son and the rain, he collected a pOe of fcaTes and
formed a bed, on which he stretched himself and heaping
the leaves over him, fell asleep.
The land where he was thrown was Scheria, the country
of the Phaeadans. These people dwelt originally near
die Cyclopes; but being oppressed by that savage race,
they migrated to the isle of Scheria, under the conduct of
Kaasithous their king. Tney were, the poet tells us, a
people akin to the gods, who appeared manifestly and
f.- -.; . : —-... -- .,:-. :'..,; ;r—: ^..r. ,;~. .v. : :.:
;..; ;•;: ...... ...,..^:..^ ...... * ..... :.- .; .- - r,
334 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
met them. They had abundance of wealth and lived in
the enjoyment of it undisturbed by the alarms of war, for
as they dwelt remote from gain-seeking man, no enemy
ever approached their shores, and they did not even re
quire to make use of bows and quivers. Their chief em
ployment was navigation. Their ships, which went with
the velocity of birds, were endued with intelligence ; they
knew every port and needed no pilot. Alcinoiis, the son
of Nausithoiis, was now their king, a wise and just sov
ereign, beloved by his people.
Now it happened that the very night on which Ulysses
was cast ashore on the Phrcacian island, and while he lay
sleeping on his bed of leaves, Nausicaa, the daughter of
the king, had a dream sent by Minerva, reminding her that
her wedding day was not far distant, and that it would be
but a prudent preparation for that event to have a general
washing of the clothes of the family. This was no slight
affair, for the fountains were at some distance and the gar
ments must be carried thither. On awaking, the princess
hastened to her parents to tell them what was on her mind ;
not alluding to her wedding day, but finding other reasons
equally good. Her father readily assented and ordered
the grooms to furnish forth a wagon for the purpose. The
clothes were put therein, and the queen mother placed in
the wagon likewise an abundant supply of food and wine.
The princess took her seat and plied the lash, her attend
ant virgins following her on foot. Arrived at the river
side they turned out the mules to graze, and unlading the
carriage, bore the garments down to the water, and work
ing with cheerfulness and alacrity soon despatched their
labor. Then having spread the garments on the shore to
dry, and having themselves bathed, they sat down to enjoy
their meal ; after which they rose and amused themselves
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 335
with a game of ball, the princess singing to them while
they played. But when they had refolded the apparel
and were about to resume their way to the town, Minerva
caused the ball thrown by the princess to fall into the
water, whereat they all screamed and Ulysses awaked at
the sound.
Now we mast picture to ourselves Ulysses, a shipwrecked
mariner, but a few hours escaped from the waves, and
utterly destitute of clothing, awaking and discovering that
only a few bushes were interposed between him and a
group of young maidens whom by their deportment and
attire he discovered to be not mere peasant girls, but of a
higher class. Sadly needing help, how could he yet ven
ture naked as he was to discover himself and make his
wants known ? It certainly was a case worthy of the in
terposition of his patron goddess Minerva, who never failed
him at a crisis. Breaking off a leafy branch from a tree
he held it before him and stepped out from the thicket.
The virgins at sight of him fled in all directions, Nausicaa
alone excepted, for her Minerva aided and endowed with
courage and discernment. Ulysses, standing respectfully
aloof, told his sad case, and besought the fair object (wheth
er queen or goddess he professed he knew not) for food
and clothing. The princess replied courteously, promising
present relief and her father's hospitality when he should
become acquainted with the facts. She called back her
scattered maidens, chiding their alarm, and reminding them
that the Phieacians had no enemies to fear. This man,
she told them, was an unhappy wanderer, whom it was a
duly to cherish, for the poor and stranger are from Jove.
She bade them bring food and clothing, for some of her
brothers' garments were among the contents of the wagon.
When this was done, and Ulysses retiring to a sheltered
S3G STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
place had washed his body free from the sea-foam, clothed
and refreshed himself with food, Pallas dilated his form
and diffused grace over his ample chest and manly brow*
The princess seeing him was filled with admiration, and
scrupled not to say to her damsels that she wished the
gods would send her such a husband. To Ulysses she
recommended that he should repair to the city, following
herself and train so far as the way lay through the fields ;
but when they should approach the city she desired that
he would no longer be seen in her company, for she feared
the remarks which rude and vulgar people might make on
seeing her return accompanied by such a gallant stranger.
To avoid which she directed him to stop at a grove ad
joining the city, in which were a farm and garden belong
ing to the king. After allowing time for the princess and
her companions to reach the city, he was then to pursue
his way thither, and would be easily guided by any he
might meet to the royal abode.
Ulysses obeyed the directions and in due time proceeded
to the city, on approaching which he met a young woman
bearing a pitcher forth for water. It was Minerva who
had assumed that form. Ulysses accosted her and desired
to be directed to the palace of Alcinous the king. The
maiden replied respectfully, offering to be his guide ; for the
palace she informed him stood near her father's dwelling.
Under the guidance of the goddess and by her power envel
oped in a cloud which shielded him from observation, Ulysses
passed among the busy crowd, and with wonder observed
their harbor, their ships, their forum, (the resort of heroes,)
and their battlements, till they came to the palace, where
the goddess, having first given him some information of
the country, king, and people he was about to meet, letl
him. Ulysses, before entering the court-yard of the pal-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 337
ace, stood and surveyed the scene. Its splendor astonished
him. Brazen walls stretched from the entrance to the
interior house, of which the doors were gold, the door
posts silver, the lintels silver ornamented with gold. On
either side were figures of mastiffs wrought in gold and
silver, standing in rows as if to guard the approach. Along
the walls were seats spread through all their length with
mantles of finest texture, the work of Phoeacian maiden?.
On these seats the princes sat and feasted, while golden
statues of graceful youths held in their hands lighted
torches which shed radiance over the scene. Full fifty
female menials served in household offices, some employed
to grind the corn, others to wind off the purple wool or
ply the loom. For the Phneacian women as far exceeded
all other women in household arts as the mariners of that
country did the rest of mankind in the management of
ships. Without the court a spacious garden lay, four acres
in extent. In it grew many a lofty tree, pomegranate,
pear, apple, fig, and olive. Neither winter's cold nor sum
mer's drought arrested their growth, but they flourished in
constant succession, some budding while others were matur
ing. The vineyard was equally prolific. In one quarter
you might see the vines, some in blossom, some loaded
with ripe grapes, and in another observe the vintagers
treading the wine press. On the garden's borders flowers
of all hues bloomed all the year round, arranged with
neatest art. In the midst two fountains poured forth their
waters, one flowing by artificial channels over all the gar
den, the other conducted through the court-yard of the
palace, whence every citizen might draw his supplies.
Ulysses stood gazing in admiration, unobserved himself,
for the cloud which Minerva spread around him still
shielded him. At length having sufficiently observed the
29
OOO STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
scene, he advanced with rapid step into the hall where the
chiefs and senators were assembled, pouring libation to
Mercury, whose worship followed the evening meal. Just
then Minerva dissolved the cloud and disclosed him to the
assembled chiefs. Advancing to the place where the
queen sat, he knelt at her feet and implored her favor and
assistance to enable him to return to his native country.
Then withdrawing, he seated himself in the manner of
suppliants, at the hearth side.
For a time none spoke. At last an aged statesman, ad
dressing the king, said, " It is not fit that a stranger who
asks our hospitality should be kept waiting in suppliant
guise, none welcoming him. Let him therefore be led to
a seat among us and supplied with food and wine." At
these words the king rising gave his hand to Ulysses and
led him to a seat, displacing thence his own son to make
room for^he stranger. Food and wine were set before him
and he ate and refreshed himself.
The king then dismissed his guests, notifying them that
the next day he would call them to council to consider
what had best be done for the stranger.
When the guests had departed and Ulysses was left
alone with the king and queen, the queen asked him who
he was and whence he came, and (recognizing the clothes
which he wore as those which her maidens and herself
had made) from whom he received those garments. He
told them of his residence in Calypso's isle and his depart
ure thence ; of the wreck of his raft, his escape by swim
ming, and of the relief afforded by the princess. The
parents heard approvingly, and the king promised to
furnish a ship in which his guest might return to his
own land.
The next day the assembled chiefs confirmed the prom
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 339
isc of the king. A bark was prepared and a crew of
stout rowers selected, and all betook themselves to the pal
ace, where a bounteous repast was provided. After the
feast the king proposed that the young men should show
their guest their proficiency in manly sports, and all went
forth to the arena for games of running, wrestling, and
other exercises. After all had done their best, Ulysses
being challenged to show what he could do, at first de
clined, but being taunted by one of the youths, seized a
quoit of weight far heavier than any the Phoeacians had
thrown, and sent it farther than the utmost throw of theirs.
All were astonished, and viewed their guest with greatly
increased respect.
After the games they returned to the hall, and the her
ald led in Demodocus, the blind bard, —
" Dear to the Muse,
Who yet appointed him both good and ill,
Took from him sight, but gave him strains divine."
He took for his theme the Wooden Horse, by means of
which the Greeks found entrance into Troy. Apollo in
spired him, and he sang so feelingly the terrors and the
exploits of that eventful time that all were delighted, but
Ulysses was moved to tears. Observing which, Alcinous,
when the song was done, demanded of him why at the
mention of Troy his sorrows awaked. Had he lost there
a father or brother, or any dear friend ? Ulysses replied
by announcing himself by his true name, and at their re
quest, recounted the adventures which had befallen him
since his departure from Troy. This narrative raised the
sympathy and admiration of the Phaeacians for their guest
to the highest pitch. The king proposed that all the chiefs
340 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
should present him with a gift, himself setting the example,
They obeyed, and vied with one another in loading the
illustrious stranger with costly gifts.
The next day Ulysses set sail in the Phseacian vessel,
and in a short time arrived safe at Ithaca, his own island,
When the vessel touched the strand he was asleep. The
mariners, without waking him, carried him on shore, and
landed with him the chest containing his presents, and
then sailed away.
Neptune was so displeased at the conduct of the Phoea-
cians in thus rescuing Ulysses from his hands that on the
return of the vessel to port he transformed it into a rock,
right opposite the mouth of the harbor.
Homer's description of the ships of the Phaeacians has
been thought to look like an anticipation of the wonders
of modern steam navigation. Alcinous says to Ulysses,—
" Say from what city, from what regions tossed,
And what inhabitants those regions boast ?
So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned,
In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind ;
No helm secures their course, no pilot guides ;
Like man intelligent they plough the tides,
Conscious of every coast and every bay
That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray."
Odyssey, Book VIII.
Lord Carlisle, in his Diary in the Turkish and Greek
Waters, thus speaks of Corfu, which he considers to be
the ancient Phaeacian island : —
" The sites explain the Odyssey. The temple of the
eea-god could not have been more fitly placed, upon a
grassy platform of the most elastic turf, on the brow of a
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROEb. 341
crag commanding harbor, and channel, and ocean. Just
at the entrance of the inner harbor there is a picturesque
rock with a small convent perched upon it, which by one
legend is the transformed pinnace of Ulysses.'*
" Almost the only river in the island is just at the prop
er distance from the probable site of the city and palace
of the king, to justify the princess Nausicaa having had
resort to her chariot and to luncheon when she went with
the maidens of the court to wash their garments."
FATE OF THE SUITORS.
Ulysses had now been away from Ithaca for twenty
years, and when he awoke he did not recognize his native
land. Minerva appeared to him in the form of a young
shepherd, informed him where he was, and told him tho
state of things at his palace. More than a hundred nobles
of Ithaca and of the neighboring islands had been for
years suing for the hand of Penelope, his wife, imagining
him dead, and lording it over his palace and people, as if
they were owners of both. That he might be able to take
vengeance upon them, it was important that he should not
be recognized. Minerva accordingly metamorphosed him
into an unsightly beggar, and as such he was kindly re
ceived by Eumaeus, the swine-herd, a faithful servant of
his house.
Telemachus, his son, was absent in quest of his father.
He had gone to the courts of the other kings, who had re
turned from the Trojan expedition. While on the search,
he received counsel from Minerva to return home. He
arrived and sought Eumaeus to learn something of the
itate of affairs at the palace before presenting himself
29*
342 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
among the suitors. Finding a stranger with Eumoeus, he
treated him courteously, though in the garb of a beggar,
and promised him assistance. Eumasus was sent to the
palace to inform Penelope privately of her son's arrival,
for caution was necessary with regard to the suitors, who,
as Telemachus had learned, were plotting to intercept and
kill him. When Eumoeus was gone, Minerva presented
herself to Ulysses, and directed him to make himself
known to his son. At the same time she touched him,
removed at once from him the appearance of age and
penury, and gave him the aspect of vigorous manhood
that belonged to him. Telemachus viewed him with as
tonishment, and at first thought he must be more than
mortal. But Ulysses announced himself as his father,
and accounted for the change of appearance, by explain
ing that it was Minerva's doing.
" Then threw Telemachus
His arms around his father's neck and wept.
Desire intense of lamentation seized
On both ; soft murmurs uttering, each indulged
His grief."
The father and son took counsel together how they
should get the better of the suitors and punish them for
their outrages. It was arranged that Telemachus should
proceed to the palace and mingle with the suitors as for
merly ; that Ulysses should also go as a beggar, a charac
ter which in the rude old times had different privileges
from what we concede to it now. As traveller and story
teller, the beggar was admitted in the halls of chieftains,
and often treated like a guest ; though sometimes, also, no
doubt, with contumely. Ulysses charged his son not to
betray, by any display cf unusual interest in him, that h«
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 343
knew him to be other than he seemed, and even if he saw
him insulted, or beaten, not to interpose otherwise than he
might do for any stranger. At the palace they found the
usual scene of feasting and riot going on. The suitors
pretended to receive Telemachus with joy at his return,
though secretly mortified at the failure of their plots to
take his life. The old beggar was permitted to enter, and
pirn idcd with a portion from the table. A touching inci
dent occurred as Ulysses entered the court-yard of the
palace. An old dog lay in the yard almost dead with ag«
and seeing a stranger enter, raised his head, with ean
erect. It was Argus, Ulysses' own dog, that he had in
other days often led to the chase.
" Soon as he perceived
Long-lost Ulysses nigh, down fell his ears
Clapped close, and with his tail glad sign he gave
Of gratulation, impotent to rise,
And to approach his master as of old.
Ulysses, noting him, wiped off a tear
Unmarked.
* * * Then his destiny released
Old Argus, soon as he had lived to see
Ulysses in the twentieth year restored."
As Ulysses sat eating his portion in the hall, the suitors
soon began to exhibit their insolence to him. When he
mildly remonstrated, one of them raised a stool and with
it gave him a blow. Telemachus had hard work to re
strain his indignation at seeing his father so treated in his
own hall, but remembering his father's injunctions, said no
more than what became him as master of the house, though
/oung, and protector of his guests.
Penelope had protracted her decision in favor of eithel
of her suitors so long, that there seemed to be no furthei
344 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
pretence for delay. The continued absence of her husband
seemed to prove that his return was no longer to be ex
pected. Meanwhile her son had grown up, and was able
to manage his own affairs. She therefore consented to
submit the question of her choice to a trial of skill among
the suitors. The test selected was shooting with the bow.
Twelve rings were arranged in a line, and he whose arrow
was sei.t through the whole twelve, was to have the queen
for his prize. A bow that one of his brother heroes had
given to Ulysses in former times, was brought from the
armory, and with its quiver full of arrows was laid in the
hall. Telemaclms had taken care that all other weapons
should be removed, under pretence that in the heat of
competition, there was danger, in some rash moment, of
putting them to an improper use.
All things being prepared for the trial, the first thing to
be done was to bend the bow in order to attach the string.
Telemachus endeavored to do it, but found all his efforts
fruitless ; and modestly confessing that he had attempted
a task beyond his strength, he yielded the bow to another.
He tried it with no better success, and, amidst the laughter
and jeers of his companions, gave it up. Another tried it
and another ; they rubbed the bow with tallow, but all to
no purpose ; it would not bend. Then spoke Ulysses,
humbly suggesting that he should be permitted to try ;
for, said he, " beggar as I am, I was once a soldier, and
there is still some strength in these old limbs of mine."
The suitors hooted with derision, and commanded to turn
him out of the hall for his insolence. But Telemachus
spoke up for him, and merely to gratify the old man, bade
him try. Ulysses took the bow, and handled it with the
nand of a master. With ease he adjusted the cord to its
aotch, then fitting an arrow to the bow he drew the string
and sped the arrow unerring through the rings.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. o4:6
Without allowing them time to express their astonish
ment, he said, " Now for another mark ! " and aimed direct
at the most insolent one of the suitors. The arrow pierced
through his throat and he fell dead. Telemachus, Eumoeus
and another faithful follower, well armed, now sprang to
the side of Ulysses. The suitors, in amazement, looked
round for arms, but found none, neither was there any
way of escape, for Eumajus had secured the door. Ulysses
left them not long in uncertainty ; he announced himself
as the long-lost chief, whose house they had invaded, whose
substance they had squandered, whose wife and son they
had persecuted for ten long years ; and told them he meant
to have ample vengeance. All were slain, and Ulysses
was left master of his palace and possessor of his king
dom and his wife.
Tennyson's poem of Ulysses represents the old hero,
after his dangers past and nothing left but to stay at home
and be happy, growing tired of inaction and resolving to
§et forth again in quest of new adventures.
"Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows ; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down ;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles whom we knew ; " &c.
846 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
-Eneas bearing Anchises from the flames of Troy.
CHAPTER XXXI.
ADVENTURES OF JENEAS— THE HARPIES — DIDO
— PALINURUS.
ADVENTURES OF .ENEAS.
WE have followed one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses,
in his wanderings, on his return home from Troy, and
now we propose to share the fortunes of the remnant of
the conquered people, under their chief ^Eneas, in their
search for a new home, after the ruin of their native city,
On that fatal night when the wooden horse disgorged ita
contents of armed men, and the capture and conflagration
of the city were the result, JEneas made his escape from
the scene of destruction, with his father, and his wife, and
young son. The father, Anchises, was too old to walk
with the speed required, and JEneas took him upon his
shoulders. Thus burdened, leading his son and followed
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. S47
by his wife, he made the best of his way out of the burn
ing city ; but, in the confusion, his wife was swept away
and lost.
On arriving at the place of rendezvous, numerous fugi
tives, of both sexes, were found, who put themselves under
the guidance of JEneas. Some months were spent in
preparation, and at length they embarked. They first
landed on the neighboring shores of Thrace, and wero
preparing to build a city, but JEneas was deterred by a
prodigy. Preparing to offer sacrifice, he tore some twigs
*rom one of the bushes. To his dismay the wounded par*
dropped blood. When he repeated the act, a voice from
the ground cried out to him, " Spare me, ./Eneas ; I am.
your kinsman, Folydore, here murdered with many arrows,
from which a bush has grown, nourished with my blood."
These words recalled to the recollection of -ZEneas that
Polydore was a young prince of Troy, whom his father
had sent with ample treasures to the neighboring land of
Thrace, to be there brought up, at a distance from the
horrors of war. The king to whom he was sent had mur
dered him, and seized his treasures. ./Eneas and his com
panions, considering the land accursed by the stain of such
a crime, hastened away.
They next hmded on the island of Delos, which was
once a floating island, till Jupiter fastened it by adaman
tine chains to the bottom of the sea. Apollo and Diana
were born there, and the island was sacred to Apollo.
Here JEneas consulted the oracle of Apollo, and received
an answer, ambiguous as usual, — "Seek your ancient
mother; there the race of JEneas shall dwell, and reduce
all other nations to their sway." The Trojans heard with
joy, and immediately began to ask one another, "Where
is the spot intended by the oracle?" Anchises reniem-
848 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
bered that there was a tradition that their forefathers came
from Crete, and thither they resolved to steer. They
arrived at Crete, and began to build their city, but sick
ness broke out among them, and the fields that they had
planted, failed to yield a crop. In this gloomy aspect of
affairs, -ZEneas was warned in a dream to leave the coun
try, and seek a western land, called Hesperia, whence
Dardanus, the true founder of the Trojan race, had origi
nally migrated. To Hesperia, now called Italy, therefore,
they directed their future course, arid not till after many
adventures and the lapse of time sufficient to carry a
modern navigator several times round the world, did they
arrive there.
Their first landing was at the island of the Harpies.
These were disgusting birds, with the heads of maidens,
with long claws and faces pale with hunger. They were
sent by the gods to torment a certain Phineus, whom Ju
piter had deprived of his sight, in punishment of his cru
elty ; and whenever a meal was placed before him, the
Harpies darted down from the air and carried it off.
They were driven away from Phineus by the heroes of
the Argonautic expedition, and took refuge in the island
where -ZEneas now found them.
When they entered the port the Trojans saw herds of
cattle roaming over the plain. They slew as many as
they wished, and prepared for a feast. But no sooner
had they seated themselves at the table, than a horrible
clamor was heard in the air, and a flock of these odious
harpies came rushing down upon them, seizing in their
talons the meat from the dishes, and flying away with it
JEneas and his companions drew their swords and dealt
vigorous blows among the monsters, but to no purpose,
for they were so nimble it was almost impossible to hit
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 349
them, and their feathers were like armor impenetrable to
steel. One of them, perched on a neighboring cliff,
screamed out, " Is it thus, Trojans, you treat us innocent
birds, first slaughter our cattle, and then make war on our
selves ? " She then predicted dire sufferings to them in
their future course, and having vented her wrath flew
away. The Trojans made haste to leave the country, and
next found themselves coasting along the shore of Epirus.
Here they landed, and to their astonishment learned that
certain Trojan exiles, who had been carried there as pris
oners, had become rulers of the country. Andromache,
the widow of Hector, became the wife of one of the vic
torious Grecian chiefs, to whom she bore a son. Her
husband dying, she was left regent of the country, as
guardian of her son, and had married a fellow-captive,
Helenus, of the royal race of Troy. Helenus and An
dromache treated the exiles with the utmost hospitality,
and dismissed them loaded with gifts.
From hence JEneas coasted along the shore of Sicily,
and passed the country of the Cyclopes. Here they were
hailed from the shore by a miserable object, whom by his
garments, tattered as they were, they -perceived to be a
Greek. He told them he was one of Ulysses's compan
ions, left behind by that chief in his hurried departure,
He related the story of Ulysses's adventure with Polyphe
mus, and besought them to take him off with them, as he
had no means of sustaining his existence where he was,
but wild berries and roots, and lived in constant fear of
the Cyclopes. While he spoke Polyphemus made his ap
pearance ; a terrible monster, shapeless, vast, whose only
eye had bsen put out.* He walked with cautious steps,
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 478
30
350 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
feeling his way with a staff, down to the sea-side, to wash
his eye-socket in the waves. When he reached the water
he waded out towards them, and his imrrense height ena
bled him to advance far into the sea, so that the Trojans,
in terror, took to their oars to get out of his way. Hear
ing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after them, so that the
shores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopes
came forth from their caves and woods, and lined the
shore, like a row of lofty pine trees. The Trojans plied
their oars, and soon left them out of sight.
^Eneas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the
strait guarded by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
There Ulysses, the reader will remember, had lost six of
his men, seized by Scylla, while the navigators wrere
wholly intent upon avoiding Charybdis. ./Eneas following
the advice of Helenus shunned the dangerous pass and
coasted along the island of Sicily.
Juno, seeing the Trojans speeding their way prosper
ously towards their destined shore, felt her old grudge
against them revive, for she could not forget the slight
that Paris had put upon her, in awarding the prize of
beauty to another. In heavenly minds can such resent
ments dwell ! * Accordingly she hastened to -ZEolus, the
ruler of the winds, — the same who supplied Ulysses with
favoring gales, giving him the contrary ones tied up in a
bag. jEolus obeyed the goddess and sent forth his sons,
Boreas, Typhon arid the other winds, to toss the ocean. A
teirible storm ensued, and the Trojan ships were driven
out of their course towards the coast of Africa. They
were in imminent danger of being wrecked, and were sep
arated, so that ^Eneas thought that all were lost except
his own.
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 478
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 351
At this crisis, Neptune, hearing the storm raging, and
knowing that he had given no orders for one, raised hi3
head above the waves, and saw the fleet of JEneas driving
befoi'3 the gale. Knowing the hostility of Juno, he was
at no loss to account for it, but his anger was not the less
at this interference in his province. He called the winds,
and dismissed them with a severe reprimand. He then
soothed the waves, and brushed away the clouds from
before the face of the sun. Some of the ships which had
got on the rocks, he pried off with his own trident, while
Triton and a sea-nymph, putting their shoulders under
others, set them afloat again. The Trojans, when the sea
became calm, sought the nearest shore, which was the
coast of Carthage, where JEneas was so happy as to find
that one by one the ships all arrived safe, though badly
shaken.
Waller, in his Panegyric to the Lord Protector, ( Crom
well,) alludes to this stilling of the storm by Neptune: —
" Above the waves, as Neptune showed his face,
To chide the winds and save the Trojan race,
So has your Highness, raised above the rest,
Storms of ambition tossing us repressed."
DIDO.
Carthage, where the exiles had now arrived, was a spot
on the coast of Africa opposite Sicily, where at that time
a Tyrian colony under Dido their queen, were laying the
foundations of a state destined in later ages to be the rival
of Rome itself. Dido was the daughter of Belus, king of
Tyre, and sister of Pygmalion who succeeded his father
on the throne. Her husband was Sichaeus, a man of im«
352 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
mense wealth, but Pygmalion, who coveted his treasures,
caused him to be put to death. Dido, with a numerous
body of friends and followers, both men and women, suo
ceeded ii? effecting their escape from Tyre, in several ves
sels, carrying with them the treasures of Sichceus. On
arriving at the spot which they selected as the seat of
their future home, they asked of the natives only so much
land as they could enclose with a bull's hide. When this
was readily granted, she caused the hide to be cut into
strips, and with them enclosed a spot on which she built a
citadel, and called it Byrsa, (a hide.) Around this fort
the city of Carthage rose, and soon became a powerful
and flourishing place.
Such was the state of affairs when JEneas with hia
Trojans arrived there. Dido received the illustrious ex
iles with friendliness and hospitality. " Not unacquainted
with distress," she said, " I have learned to succor the un
fortunate." * The queen's hospitality displayed itself in
festivities at which games of strength and skill were ex
hibited. The strangers contended for the palm with her
own subjects, on equal terms, the queen declaring that
whether the victor were " Trojan or Tyrian should make
no difference to her." * At the feast which followed the
games, JEneas gave at her request a recital of the closing
events of the Trojan history and his own adventures after
the fall of the city. Dido was charmed with his discourse
and filled with admiration of his exploits. She conceived
an ardent passion for him, and he for his part seemed well
content to accept the fortunate chance which appearetf to
offer him at once a happy termination of his wanderings,
a home, a kingdom, and a bride. Months rolled away in
* Sec Proverbial Expressions, pp. 478, 479.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 358
the enjoyment of pleasant intercourse, and it seemed as if
Italy and the empire destined to be founded on its shores
were alike forgotten. Seeing which, Jupiter despatched
Mercury with a message to JEneas recalling him to a
sense of his high destiny, and commanding him to resume
his voyage.
-ZEneas parted from Dido, though she tried every allure
ment and persuasion to detain him. The blow to her
affection and her pride was too much for her to endure,
and when she found that he was gone, she mounted a
funeral pile which she had caused to be prepared, and
having stabbed herself was consumed with the pile. The
flames rising over the city were seen by the departing
Trojans, and though the cause was unknown, gave to
.-Eneas some intimation of the fatal event.
The following epigram we find in Elegant Extracts: —
FROM THE LATIN.
" Unhappy, Dido, was thy fate
In first and second married state !
One husband caused thy flight by dying,
Thy death the other caused by flying."
PALINURUS.
After touching at the island of Sicily, where Acestes, a
prince of Trojan lineage, bore sway, who gave them a hos
pitable reception, the Trojans reembarked, and held OD
their course for Italy. Venus now interceded with Nep
tune to allow her son at last to attain the wished-for goal
and find an end of his perils on the deep. Neptune con
sented, stipulating only for one life as a ransom for the
30*
354 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
rest. The victim was Palinurus, the pilot. As he sat
watching the stars, with his hand on the helm, Somnua
sent by Neptune approached in the guise of Phorbas and
said, " Palinurus, the breeze is fair, the water smooth, and
the ship sails steadily on her course. Lie down a while
and take needful rest. I will stand at the helm in your
place.'' Palinurus replied, "Tell me not of smooth seas
or favoring winds, — me who have seen so much of their
treachery. Shall I trust ^Eneas to the chances of the
weather and the winds ? " And he continued to grasp the
helm and to keep his eyes fixed on the stars. But Somnus
waved over him a branch moistened with Lethosan dew.
and his eyes closed in spite of all his efforts. Then Som
nus pushed him overboard and he fell ; but keeping his
hold upon the helm, it came away with him. Neptune
was mindful of his promise and kept the ship on her
track without helm or pilot, till ^Eneas discovered his
loss, and sorrowing deeply for his faithful steersman took
eharge of the ship himself.
There is a beautiful allusion to the story of Palinurus
in Scott's Marmion, Introduction to Canto I., where the
poet, speaking of the recent death of William Pitt, says, —
" 0, think how, to his latest day,
When death just hovering claimed his prey,
With Palinure's unaltered mood,
Firm at his dangerous post he stood ;
Each call for needful rest repelled,
With dying hand the rudder held.
Till in his fall, with fateful sway,
The steerage of the realm gave way."
The ships at last reached the shores of Italy, and joy-
tully did the adventurers leap to land. While his people
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 35A
were employed in making their encampment ^Eneas sought
the abode of the Sibyl. It was a cave connected with a
temple and grove, sacred to Apollo and Diana. While
uEneas contemplated the scene, the Sibyl accosted him.
She seemed to know his errand, and under the influence
of the deity of the place, burst forth in a prophetic strain,
giving dark intimations of labors and perils through which
he was destined to make his way to final success. She
closed with the encouraging words which have become pro
verbial : — " Yield not to disasters, but press onward the
more bravely." * ^Eneas replied that he had prepared him
self for whatever might await him. He had but one re
quest to make. Having been directed in a dream to seek
the ibode of the dead in order to confer with his father
Anchises to receive from him a revelation of his future
fortunes and those of his race, he asked her assistance to
enable him to accomplish the task. The Sibyl replied,
" The descent to Avernus is easy ; the gate of Pluto
stands open night and day ; but to retrace one's steps and
return to the upper air, that is the toil, that the difficulty.*
She instructed him to seek in the forest a tree on which
grew a golden branch. This branch was to be plucked
off and borne as a gift to Proserpine, and if fate was pro
pitious it would yield to the hand and quit its parent trunk,
but otherwise no force could rend it away. If torn away
another would succeed.*
-3Sneas followed the directions of the Sibyl. His moth
er Venus sent two of her doves to fly before him and
show him the way, and by their assistance he found the
tree, plucked the branch, and hastened back with it to the
Sibyl.
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 479.
3)6
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
-Sis
JEneas and the B&jl at the entrance to the Infernal Regions.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE INFERNAL REGIONS — THE SIBYL.
THE INFERNAL REGIONS.
As at the commencement of our series we have given
the pagan account of the creation of the world, so as we
approach its conclusion, we present a view of the regions
of the dead, depicted by one of their most enlightened
poets, who drew his doctrines from their most esteemed
philosophers. The region where Virgil locates the en
trance into this abode, is perhaps the most strikingly
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 357
adapted to excite ideas of the terrific and preternatural
of any on the face of the earth. It is the volcanic region
near Vesuvius, where the whole country is cleft with
chasms from which sulphurous flames arise, while the
ground is shaken with pent-up vapors, and mysterious
sounds issue from the bowels of the earth. The lake
Avernus is supposed to fill the crater of an extinct vol
cano. It is circular, half a mile wide, and very deep, sur
rounded by high banks, which in Virgil's time were cov
ered with a gloomy forest. Mephitic vapors rise from its
waters, so that no life is found on its banks, and no birds
fly over it. Here, according to the poet, was the cave
which afforded access to the infernal regions, and here
^Eneas offered sacrifices to the infernal deities, Proser
pine, Hecate, and the Furies. Then a roaring was heard
In the earth, the woods on the hill-tops were shaken, and
the howling of dogs announced the approach of the deities.
" Now," said the Sibyl, " summon up your courage, for
you will need it." She descended into the cave, and
JEneas followed. Before the threshold of hell they passed
through a group of beings who are enumerated as Griefs
and avenging Cares, pale Diseases and melancholy Age,
Fear and Hunger that tempt to crime, Toil, Poverty, and
Death, forms horrible to view. The Furies spread their
couches there, and Discord, whose hair was of vipers tied
up with a bloody fillet. Here also were the monsters,
Briareus with his hundred arms, Hydras hissing, and Chi-
maeras breathing fire. jEneas shuddered at the sight,
drew his sword and would have struck, but the Sibyl re
strained him. They then came to the black river Cocy-
tus, where they found the ferryman, Charon, old and
squalid, but strong and vigorous, who was receiving pas
sengers of all kinds into his boat, magnanimous heroes,
358 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and unmarried girls, as numerous as the leaves thai
fall at autumn, or the flocks that fly southward at the ap
proach of winter. They stood pressing for a passage and
longing to touch the opposite shore. But the stern ferry
man took in only such as he chose, driving the rest back.
JEneas, wondering at the sight, asked the Sibyl, " Why
this discrimination ? " She answered, " Those who are
taken on board the bark are the souls of those who have
received due burial rites ; the host of others who have
remained unburied, are not permitted to pass the flood,
but wander a hundred years, and flit to and fro about the
shore, till at last they are taken over." JEneas grieved
at recollecting some of his own companions who had per
ished in the storm. At that moment he beheld Palinurus,
his pilot, who fell overboard and was drowned. He ad
dressed him and asked him the cause of his misfortune.
Palinurus replied that the rudder was carried away, and
he clinging to it was swept away with it. He besought
JEneas most urgently to extend to him his hand and take
him in company to the opposite shore. But the Sibyl
rebuked him for the wish thus to transgress the laws of
Pluto ; but consoled him by informing him that the people
of the shore where his body had been wafted by the waves,
should be stirred up by prodigies to give it due burial, and
that the promontory should bear the name of Cape Pali
nurus, which it does to this day. Leaving Palinurus con
soled by these words, they approached the boat. Charon.
fixing his eyes sternly upon the advancing warrior, de
manded by what right he, living and armed, approached
that shore. To which the Sibyl replied that they would
commit no violence, that ^Eneas's only object was to see
his father, and finally exhibited the golden branch, at sight
of which Charon's wrath relaxed, and he made haste to
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 359
turn his bark to the shore, and receive them on board
The boat, adapted only to the light freight of bodiless spir
its, groaned under the weight of the hero. They were
soon conveyed to the opposite shore. There they were
encountered by the three-headed dog Cerberus, with hia
necks bristling with snakes. He barked with all his three
throats till the Sibyl threw him a medicated cake, which
he eagerly devoured, and then stretched himself out in
his den and fell asleep. ^Eneas and the Sibyl sprang to
land. The first sound that struck their ears was the wail
ing of young cl ildren, who had died on the threshold of
life, and near to these were they who had perished under
false charges. Minos presides over them as judge, and
examines the deed; of each. The next class was of those
who had died by their own hand, hating life and seeking
refuge in death. O, how willingly would they now endure
poverty, labor, and any other infliction, if they might but
return to life ! Next were situated the regions of sad
ness, divided off into retired paths, leading through groves
of myrtle. Here roamed those who had fallen victims to
unrequited love, not freed from pain even by death itself.
Among these, ./Eneas thought he descried the form of
Dido, with a wound still recent. In the dim light he wag
for a moment uncertain, but approaching, perceived it was
indeed herself. Tears fell from his eyes, and he addressed
her in the accents of love. " Unhappy Dido ! was then
the rumor true that you had perished ? and was I, alas !
the cause ? I call the gods to witness that my departure
from you was reluctant, and in obedience to the com
mands of Jove ; nor could I believe that my absence
would have cost you so dear. Stop, I beseech you, and
refuse me not a last farewell." She stood for a moment
with averted countenance, and eyes fixed on the ground,
860 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
and then silently passed on. as insensible to his pleadings
as a rock. ^Eneas followed for some distance ; then, with
a heavy heart, rejoined his companion and resumed his
route.
They next entered the fields where roam the heroes
who have fallen in battle. Here they saw many shades
of Grecian and Trojan warriors. The Trojans thronged
around him, and could not be satisfied with the sight.
They asked the cause of his coming, and plied him with
innumerable questions. But the Greeks, at the sight of
his armor glittering through the murky atmosphere, recog
nized the hero, and filled with terror turned their backs
and fled, as they used to do on the plains of Troy.
-ZEneas would have lingered long with his Trojan friends,
but the Sibyl hurried him away. They next came to a
place where the road divided, the one leading to Elysium,
the other to the regions of the condemned. ^Eneas be
held on one side the walls of a mighty city, around which
Phlegethon rolled its fiery waters. Before him was the
gate of adamant that neither gods nor men can break
through. An iron tower stood by the gate, on which Ti-
siphone, the avenging Fury, kept guard. From the city
were heard groans, and the sound of the scourge, the
creaking of iron, and the clanking of chains. ./Eneas, hor
ror-struck, inquired of his guide what crimes were those
whose punishments produced the sounds he heard? The
Sibyl answered, " Here is the judgment hall of Rhadaman-
thus, who brings to light crimes done in life, which the
perpetrator vainly thought impenetrably hid. Tisiphone
applies her whip of scorpions, and delivers the offender over
to her sister Furies. At this moment with horrid clang
the brazen gates unfolded, and ^Eneas saw within, a Hydra
with fifty heads, guarding the entrance. The Sibyl told
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 86i
him that the gulf of Tartarus descended deep, so that iti
recesses were as far beneath their feet as heaven was high
above their heads. In the bottom of this pit, the Titan
race, who warred against the gods, lie prostrate ; Salmo-
neus, also, who presumed to vie with Jupiter, and built a
bridge of brass over which he drove his chariot that the
sound might resemble thunder, launching flaming brands
at his people in imitation of lightning, till Jupiter struck
him with a real thunderbolt, and taught him the difference
between mortal weapons and divine. Here, also, is Tityus,
the giant, whose form is so immense that as he lies, he
stretches over nine acres, while a vulture preys upon his
liver, which as fast as it is devoured grows again, so that
his punishment will have no end.
JEneas saw groups seated at tables loaded with dainties,
while near by stood a Fury who snatched away the viands
from their lips, as fast as they prepared to taste them.
Others beheld suspended over their heads huge rocks,
threatening to fall, keeping them in a state of constant
alarm. These were they who had hated their brothers,
or struck their parents, or defrauded the friends who
trusted them, or who, having grown rich, kept their money
to themselves, and gave no share to others ; the last being
the most numerous class. Here also were those who had
violated the marriage vow, or fought in a bad cause, or
failed in fidelity to their employers. Here was one who
had sold his country for gold, another who perverted the
laws, making them say one thing to-day and another to
morrow.
Ixion was there, fastened to the circumference of a
wheel ceaselessly revolving; and Sisyphus, whose task
was to roll a huge stone up to a hill-top, but when the
steep was well-nigh gained, the rock, repulsed by some
31
362 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
sudden force, rushed again headlong down to the plain
Again he toiled at it, while the sweat bathed all his weary
limbs, but all to no effect. There was Tantalus, who stood
in a pool, his chin level with the water, yet he was parched
with thirst, and found nothing tp assuage it ; for when he
bowed his hoary head, eager to quaff, the water fled away,
leaving the ground at his feet all dry. Tall trees laden
witli fruit stooped their heads to him, pears, pomegranates,
apples, and luscious figs ; but when with a sudden grasp
he tried to seize them, winds whirled them high above hia
reach.
The Sibyl now warned jEneas that it was time to turn
from these melancholy regions and seek the city of the
blessed. They passed through a middle tract of darkness,
and came upon the Elysian fields, the groves where the
happy reside. They breathed a freer air, and saw all
objects clothed in a purple light. The region has a sun
and stars of its own. The inhabitants were enjoying them
selves in various ways, some in sports on the grassy turf,
in games of strength or skill, others dancing or singing.
Orpheus struck the chords of his lyre, and called forth
ravishing sounds. Here JEneas saw the founders of the
Trojan state, magnanimous heroes who lived in happier
times. He gazed with admiration on the war chariots and
glittering arms now reposing in disuse. Spears stood
fixed in the ground, and the horses, unharnessed, roamed
over the plain. The same pride in splendid armor
and generous steeds which the old heroes felt in life, ac
companied them here. He saw another group feasting,
and listening to the strains of music. They were in a
laurel grove, whence the great river Po has its origin, and
flows out among men. Here dwelt those who fell by
wounds received in their country's cause, holy priests also,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 363
and poets who have uttered thoughts worthy of Apollo,
and others who have contributed to cheer and adorn life
by their discoveries in the useful arts, and have made their
memory blessed by rendering service to mankind. They
wore snow-white fillets about their brows. The Sibyl
addressed a group of these, and inquired where Anchises
was to be found. They were directed where to seek him,
and soon found him in a verdant valley, where he was
contemplating the ranks of his posterity, their destinies
and worthy deeds to be achieved in coming times. When
he recognized ^Eneas approaching, he stretched out both
hands to him, while tears flowed freely. " Have you
come at last," said he, " long expected, and do I behold
you after such perils past ? O my son, how have I trem
bled for you as I have watched your career ! " To which
./Eneas replied, " 0 father ! your image was always be
fore me to guide and guard me." Then he endeavored
to enfold his father in his embrace, but his arms enclosed
only an unsubstantial image.
jEneas perceived before him a spacious valley, with
trees gently waving to the wind, a tranquil landscape,
through which the river Lethe flowed. Along the banks
of tl e stream wandered a countless multitude, numerous
as insects in the summer air. JEneas, with surprise, in
quired who were these. Anchises answered, " They are
souls to which bodies are to be given in due time. Mean*,
while they dwell on Lethe's bank, and drink oblivion of
their former lives." " O, father ! " said ^Eneas, " is it
possible that any can be so in love with life, as to wish to
leave these tranquil seats for the upper world ? " An
chises replied by explaining the plan of creation. Tho
Creator, he told him, originally made the material of which
iouls are composed, of the four elements, fire, air, earth,
364 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
and water, all which when united took the form of thuj
most excellent part, fire, and became flame. This mate
rial was scattered like seed among the heavenly bodies,
the sun, moon, and stars. Of this seed the inferior gods
created man and all other animals, mingling it with vari
ous proportions of earth, by which its purity was alloyed
and reduced. Thus the more earth predominates in the
composition, the less pure is the individual ; and we see
men and women with their full-grown bodies have not the
purity of childhood. So in proportion to the time which
the union of body and soul has lasted, is the impurity con
tracted by the spiritual part. This impurity must be
purged away after death, which is done by ventilating the
souls in the current of winds, or merging them in water,
or burning out their impurities by fire. Some few, of
whom Anchises intimates that he is one. are admitted at
once to Elysium, there to remain. But the rest, after the
impurities of earth are purged away, are sent back to
life endowed with new bodies, having had the remem
brance of their former lives effectually washed away by
the waters of Lethe. Some, however, there still are, so
thoroughly corrupted, that they are not fit to be intrusted
with human bodies, and these are made into brute ani
mals, lions, tigers, cats, dogs, monkeys, &c. This is what
the ancients called Metempsychosis, or the transmigration
of souls ; a doctrine which is still held by the natives of
India, who scruple to destroy the life, even of the most
insignificant animal, not knowing but it may be one of
their relations in an altered form.
Anchises, having explained so much, proceeded to point
out to JEneas individuals of his race, who were hereafter
to be born, and to relate to him the exploits they should
perform in the world. After this he reverted to the prea-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 365
ent, and told his son of the events that remained to him
to be accomplished before the complete establishment of
himself and his followers in Italy. Wars were to be
waged, battles fought, a bride to be won, and in the result
a Trojan state founded, from which should rise the Roman
power, to be in time the sovereign of the world.
^Eneas and the Sibyl then took leave of Anchises, and
returned by some short cut, which the poet does not ex
plain, to the upper world.
ELYSIUM.
Virgil, we have seen, places his Elysium under the
earth, and assigns it for a residence to the spirits of the
blessed. But in Homer Elysium forms no part of the
realms of the dead. He places it on the west of the earth,
near Ocean, and describes it as a happy land, where there
is neither snow, nor cold, nor rain, and always fanned by
the delightful breezes of Zephyrus. Hither favored he
roes pass without dying and live happy under the rule of
Rhadamanthus. The Elysium of Hesiod and Pindar is
in the Isles of the Blessed, or Fortunate Islands, in the
Western Ocean. From these sprang the legend of the
happy island Atlantis. This blissful region may have
been wholly imaginary, but possibly may have sprung from
the reports of some storm-driven mariners who had caught
a glimpse of the coast of America.
J. R. Lowell, in one of his shorter poems, claims for the
present age some of the privileges of that happy realm
Addressing the Past, he says, —
" Whatever of true life there was in thee,
Leaps in our age's veins."
31*
866 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
" Here, 'mid the bleak waves of our strife and care,
Float the green ' Fortunate Isles,'
Where all thy hero-spirits dwell and share
Our martyrdoms and toils.
The present moves attended
With all of brave and excellent and fair
That made the old time splendid."
Milton also alludes to the same fable in P. L., Book
m., 1. 568.
" Like those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
Fortunate fields and groves and flowery vales.
Thrice happy isles."
And in Book II. he characterizes the rivers of Erebua
according to the meaning of their names in the Greek
language : —
" Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate,
Sad Acheron of sorrow black and deep ;
Cocytus named of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful stream ; fierce Phlegethon
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
Far off from these a slow and silent stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
Forgets both joy and grief, p'easure and pain."
THE SIBYL.
As ^Eneas and the Sibyl pursued their way back to
earth, he said to her, "Whether thou be a goddess or a
mortal beloved of the gods, by me thou shalt always be
held in reverence. When I reach the upper air, I will
cause a temple to be built to thy honor, and will myself
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 867
bring offerings." " I am no goddess," said the Sibyl ; u I
have no claim to sacrifice or offering. I am mortal ; yet
if I could have accepted the love of Apollo, T might have
been immortal. He promised me the fulfilment of my
wish, if I would consent to be his. I took a handful of
sand, and holding it forth, said, ' Grant me to see as many
birthdays as there are sand grains in my hand.' Unluck
ily I forgot to ask for enduring youth. This also he would
have granted, could I have accepted his love, but offended
at my refusal, he allowed me to grow old. My youth and
youthful strength fled long ago. I have lived seven hun
dred years, and to equal the number of the sand-grains, I
have still to see three hundred springs and three hundred
harvests. My body shrinks up as years increase, and in
time, I shall be lost to sight, but my voice will remain, and
future ages will respect my sayings."
These concluding words of the Sibyl alluded to her pro
phetic power. In her cave she was accustomed to inscribe
on leaves gathered from the trees the names and fates of
individuals. The leaves thus inscribed were arranged in
order within the cave, and might be consulted by her vo
taries. But if perchance at the opening of the door the
wind rushed in and dispersed the leaves, the Sibyl gave no
aid to restoring them again, and the oracle was irrepara
bly lost.
The following legend of the Sibyl is fixed at a later
date. In the reign of one of the Tarquins there appeared
before the king a woman who offered him nine books for
sale. The king refused to purchase them, whereupon the
woman went away and burned three of the books, and
returning offered the remaining books for the same price
she had asked for the nine. The king again rejected
them ; but when the woman, after burning three books
368 STOKIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
more, returned and asked for the three remaining the
same price which she had before asked for the nine, his
curiosity was excited, and he purchased the books. They
were found to contain the destinies of the Roman state.
They were kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, pre
served in a stone chest, and allowed to be inspected only
by especial officers appointed for that duty, who on great
occasions consulted them and interpreted their oracles to
the people.
There were various Sibyls ; but the Cumaean Sibyl, of
whom Ovid and Virgil write, is the most celebrated of
them. Ovid's story of her life protracted to one thousand
years may be intended to represent the various Sibyls as
being only reappearances of one and the same individual.
Young, in the Night Thoughts, alludes to the Sibyl
Speaking of Worldly Wisdom, he says,
" If future fate she plans 'tis all in leaves,
Like Sibyl, unsubstantial, fleeting bliss ;
At the first blast it vanishes in air.
* * * *
As worldly schemes resemble Sibyl's leaves,
The good man's days to Sibyl's books compare,
The price still rising as in number lew."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES 369
CHAPTER XXXIII.
CAMILLA — E VANDEB — NISUS AND EU11YALU8 —
MEZENTIUS — TURNUS.
, having parted from the Sibyl and rejoined his
fleet, coasted along the shores of Italy and cast anchor in
the mouth of the Tiber. The poet, having brought his
hero to this spot, the destined termination of his wander
ings, invokes his Muse to tell him the situation of things
at that eventful moment. Latinus, third in descent from
Saturn, ruled the country. lie was now old and had no
male descendant, but had one charming daughter, Lavinia,
who was sought in marriage by many neighboring chiefs,
one of whom, Turnus, king of the Rutulians, was favored
by the wishes of her parents. But Latinus had been
warned in a dream by his father Faunus, that the destined
husband of Lavinia should come from a foreign land.
From that union should spring a race destined to subdue
the world.
Our readers will remember that in the conflict with the
Harpies, one of those half-human birds had threatened
the Trojans with dire sufferings. In particular she pre
dicted that before their wanderings ceased they should
be pressed by hunger to devour their tables. This por
tent now came true ; for as they took their scanty meal,
seated on the grass, the men placed their hard biscuit on
their laps, and put thereon whatever their gleanings in the
woods supplied. Having despatched the latter they fin-
870 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
ished by eating the crusts. Seeing which, the boy Julua
said playfully, " See, we are eating our tables." TEneaa
caught the words and accepted the omen. " All hail,
promised land!" he exclaimed, "this is our home, this
our country ! " He then took measures to find out who
were the present inhabitants of the land, and who their
rulers. A hundred chosen men were sent to the village
of Latinus, bearing presents and a request for friendship
and alliance. They went and were favoraHy received.
Latinus immediately concluded that the Trojan hero was
no other than the promised son-in-law announced by the
oracle. He cheerfully granted his alliance and sent back
the messengers mounted on steeds from his stables, and
loaded with gifts and friendly messages.
Juno, seeing things go thus prosperously for the Trojans,
felt her old animosity revive, summoned Alecto from Ere
bus, and sent her to stir up discord. The Fury first took
possession of the queen, Amata, and roused her to oppose
in every way the new alliance. Alecto then speeded to
the city of Turnus, and assuming the form of an old priest
ess, informed him of the arrival of the foreigners and of
the attempts of their prince to rob him of his bride.
Next she turned her attention to the camp of the Trojans.
There she saw the boy lulus and his companions amusing
themselves with hunting. She sharpened the scent of the
dogs, and led them to rouse up from the thicket a tame
stag, the favorite of Silvia, the daughter of Tyrrheus, the
king's herdsman. A javelin from the hand of lulus
wounded the animal, and he had only strength left to
run homewards, and died at his mistress's feet. Her
cries and tears roused her brothers and the herdsmen, and
they, seizing whatever weapons came to hand, furiously
assaulted the hunting party. These were protected by
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 371
their friends, and the herdsmen were finally driven back
with the loss of two of their number.
These things were enough to rouse the storm of war,
and the queen, Turnus, and the peasants all urged the old
king to drive the strangers from the country. He resisted
as long as he could, but finding his opposition unavailing,
finally gave way and retreated to his retirement.
OPENING THE GATES OP JANUS.
It was the custom of the country, when war was to be
undertaken, for the chief magistrate, clad in his robes of
office, with solemn pomp to open the gates of the temple
of Janus, which were kept shut as long as peace endured.
His people now urged the old king to perform that solemn
office, but he refused to do so. While they contested, Juno
herself, descending from the skies, smote the doors with
irresistible force, and burst them open. Immediately the
whole country was in a flame. The people rushed from
every side breathing nothing but war.
Turnus was recognized by all as leader ; others joined
as allies, chief of whom was Mezentius, a brave and able
soldier, but of detestable cruelty. He had been the chief
of one of the neighboring cities, but his people drove him
out. With him was joined his son Lausus, a generous
youth worthy of a better sire.
CAMILLA.
Camilla, the favorite of Diana, a huntress and warrior,
after the fashion of the Amazons, came with her band of
mounted followers, including a select number of her owr
872 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
sex, and ranged herself on the side of Turims. This
maiden had never accustomed ' er fingers to the distaff or
the loom, but had learned to er lure the toils of war, and
in speed to outstrip the wind. It seemed as if she might
run over the standing corn without crushing it, or over the
surface of the water without dipping her feet. Camilla's
history had been singular from the beginning. Her father,
Metabus, driven from his city by civil discord, carried
with him in his flight his infant daughter. As he fled
through the woods, his enemies in hot pursuit, he reached
the bank of the river Amazenus, which, swelled by rains,
seemed to debar a passage. He paused for a moment,
then decided what to do. He tied the infant to his lance
with wrappers of bark, and poising the weapon in his up
raised hand, thus addressed Diana : " Goddess of the
woods ! I consecrate this maid to you ; " then hurled the
weapon with its burden to the opposite bank. The spear
flew across the roaring water. His pursuers were already
upon him, but he plunged into the river and swam across,
and found the spear, with the infant safe on the other side.
Thenceforth he lived among the shepherds and brought up
his daughter in woodland arts. While a child she was
taught to use the bow and throw the javelin. "With her
gling she could bring down the crane or the wild swan.
Her dress was a tiger's skin. Many mothers sought her
for a daughter-in-law, but she continued faithful to Diana
and repelled the thought of marriage.
EVANDER.
Such were the formidable allies that ranged themselves
against tineas. It was night and he lay stretched in sleep
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 373
on the bank of the river, under the open heavens. The
god of the stream, Father Tiber, seemed to raise his head
above the willows and to say, " 0 goddess-born, destined pos
sessor of the Latin realms, this is the promised land, here
is to be your home, here shall terminate the hostility of the
heavenly powers, if only you faithfully persevere. There
are friends not far distant. Prepare your boats and row
up my stream ; I will lead you to Evander the Arcadian
chief. He has long been at strife with Turnus and the
Rutulians, and is prepared to become an ally of yours.
Rise ! offer your vows to Juno, and deprecate her anger.
When you have achieved your victory then think of me."
JEneas woke and paid immediate obedience to the friend
ly vision. He sacrificed to Juno, and invoked the god of
the river and all his tributary fountains to lend their aid.
Then for the first time a vessel filled with armed warriors
floated on the stream of the Tiber. The river smoothed
its waves, and bade its current flow gently, while, impelled
by the vigorous strokes of the rowers, the vessel shot rap
idly up the stream.
About the middle of the day they came in sight of the
scattered buildings of the infant town where in after times
the proud city of Rome grew, whose glory reached the
skies. By chance the old king, Evander, was that day
celebrating annual solemnities in honor of Hercules and
all the gods. Pallas, his son, and all the chiefs of the
little commonwealth stood by. When they saw the tall
ship gliding onward through the wood, they were alarmed
at the sight, and rose from the tables. But Pallas forbade
the solemnities to be interrupted, and seizing a weapon,
stepped forward to the river's bank. He called aloud, de
manding who they were, and what their object. -ZEneas,
holding forth an olive-branch, replied, " We are Trojana,
32
374 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
friends to you and enemies to the Rutulians. We seek
Evander, and offer to join our arms with yours." Pallas,
in amaze at the sound of so great a name, invited them to
land, and when JEneas touched the shore he seized his
hand, and held it long in friendly grasp. Proceeding
through the wood they joined the king and his party and
were most favorably received. Seats were provided for
them at the tables, and the repast proceeded.
INFANT ROME.
"When the solemnities were ended all moved towards
the city. The king, bending with age, walked between his
son and JEneas, taking the arm of one or the other of
them, and with much variety of pleasing talk shortening
the way. JEneas with delight looked and listened, observ
ing all the beauties of the scene, and learning much of
heroes renowned in ancient times. Evander said, " These
extensivs groves were once inhabited by fauns and
nymphs, and a rude race of men who sprang from the
trees themselves, and had neither laws nor social culture.
They knew not how to yoke the cattle nor raise a harvest,
nor provide from present abundance for future want ; but
browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs, or fed vora
ciously on their hunted prey. Such were they when Sat
urn, expelled from Olympus by his sons, came among them
and drew together the fierce savages, formed them into
society, and gave them laws. Such peace and plenty en
sued that men ever since have called his reign the golden
age ; but by degrees far other times succeeded, and the
thirst of gold and the thirst of blood prevailed. The land
was a prey to successive tyrants, till fortune and resistless
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 375
destiny brought me hither, an exile from my native land,
Arcadia."
Having thus said, he showed him the Tarpeian rock^
and the rude spot then overgrown with bushes where in
after times the Capitol rose in all its magnificence. He
next pointed to some dismantled walls, and said, " Here
stood Janiculum, built by Janus, and there Saturnia, the
town of Saturn." Such discourse brought them to the
cottage of poor Evander, whence they saw the lowing
herds roaming over the plain where now the proud and
stately Forum stands. They entered, and a couch was
spread for ^Eneas, well stuffed with leaves and covered
with the skin of a Libyan bear.
Next morning, awakened by the dawn and the shrill
song of birds beneath the eaves of his low mansion, old
Evander rose. Clad in a tunic, and a panther's skin
thrown over his shoulders, with sandals on his feet, and
his good sword girded to his side, he went forth to seek
his guest. Two mastiffs followed him, his whole retinue
and body guard. He found the hero attended by his faith
ful Achates, and, Pallas soon joining them, the old king
spoke thus : —
" Illustrious Trojan, it is but little we can do in so great
a cause. Our state is feeble, hemmed in on one side by
the river, on the other by the Rutulians. But I propose
to ally you with a people numerous and rich, to whom
fate has brought you at the propitious moment. The
Etruscans hold the country beyond the river. Mczcntius
was their king, a monster of cruelty, who invented un
heard-of torments to gratify his vengeance. lie would
fasten the dead to the living, hand to hand and face to
face, and leave the wretched victims to die in that divnd-
ful embrace. At length the people cast him out, him and
376 STORIES OF GODS A.ND HEROES.
his house They burned his palace and slew his friends
He escaped and took refuge with Turnus, who protects
him with arms. The Etruscans demand that he shall be
given up to deserved punishment, and would ere now have
attempted to enforce their demand ; but their priests re
strain them, telling them that it is the will of heaven that
no native of the land shall guide them to victory, and that
their destined leader must come from across the sea. They
have offered the crown to me, but I am too old to under
take such great affairs, and my son is native-born, which
precludes him from the choice. You, equally by birth and
time of life, and fame in arms, pointed out by the gods,
have but to appear to be hailed at once as their leader.
"With you I will join Pallas, my son, my only hope and
comfort. Under you he shall learn the art of war, and
strive to emulate your great exploits."
Then the king ordered horses to be furnished for the
Trojan chiefs, and JEneas, with a chosen band of followers
and Pallas accompanying, mounted and took the way to
the Etruscan city,* having sent back the rest of his party
in the ships. ^Eneas and his band safely arrived at the
Etruscan camp and were received with open arms by Tar-
chon and his countrymen.
NISUS AND EURYALUS.
In the meanwhile Turnus had collected his bands and
made all necessary preparations for the war. Juno sent
* The poet here inserts a famous line which is thought to imitate in
its sound the galloping of horses. It may be thus translated : " Then
struck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground with a four-footed tram
pling." — See Proverbial Expressions, page 479.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 377
Iris to him with a message inciting him to take advantages
of the absence of .ZEneas and surprise the Trojan camp.
Accordingly the attempt was made, but the Trojans were
found on their guard, and having received strict orders
from JEneas not to fight in his absence, they lay still in
their intrenchments, and resisted all the efforts of the
Rutulians to draw them into the field. Night coming on
the army of Turnus, in high spirits at their fancied supe
riority, feasted and enjoyed themselves, and finally stretched
themselves on the field and slept secure.
In the camp of the Trojans things were far otherwise.
There all was watchfulness and anxiety, and impatience
for JEneas's return. Nisus stood guard at the entrance
of the camp, and Euryalus, a youth distinguished above
all in the army for graces of person and fine qualities,
was with him. These two were friends and brothers in
arms. Nisus said to his friend, " Do you perceive what
confidence and carelessness the enemy display ? Their
lights are few and dim, and the men seem all oppressed
<vith wine or sleep. You know how anxiously our chiefs
vish to send to JEneas, and to get intelligence from him.
Now I am strongly moved to make my way through the
enemy's camp and to go in search of our chief. If I suc
ceed, the glory of the deed will be reward enough for me,
and if they judge the service deserves any thing more, let
them pay it to you."
Euryalus, all on fire with the love of adventure, re
plied, " Would you then, Nisus, refuse to share your en
terprise with me ? And shall I let you go into such
danger alone ? Not so my brave father brought me up,
nor so have I planned for myself when I joined the stan
dard of ^Eneas, and resolved to hold tny life cheap in
comparison with honor." Nisus replied, "I doubt it not,
32*
378 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
my friend ; but you know the uncertain event of such an
undertaking, and whatever may happen to me, I wish
you to be safe. You are younger than I and have more
of life in prospect. Nor can I be the cause of such grief
to your mother, who has chosen to be here in the camp
with you rather than stay and live in peace with the other
matrons in Acestes' city." Euryalus replied, " Say no
more. In vain you seek arguments to dissuade me. I
am fixed in the resolution to go with you. Let us lose no
time." They called the guard, and committing the watch
to them, sought the general's tent. They found the chief
officers in consultation, deliberating how they should send
notice to ^Eneas of their situation. The offer of the two
friends was gladly accepted, themselves loaded with
praises and promised the most liberal rewards in case of
success. lulus especially addressed Euryalus, assuring
him of his lasting friendship. Euryalus replied, " I have
but one boon to ask. My aged mother is with me in the
camp. For me she left the Trojan soil, and would not
stay behind with the other matrons at the city of Acestes.
I go now without taking leave of her. I could not bear
her tears nor set at nought her entreaties. But do thou,
I beseech you, comfort her in her distress. Promise me
that and I shall go more boldly into whatever dangers may
present themselves." lulus and the other chiefs were
moved to tears, and promised to do ah1 his request. " Your
mother shall be mine," said lulus, " and all that I have
promised to you shall be made good to her, if you do not
return to receive it."
The two friends left the camp and plunged at once into
the midst of the enemy. They found no watch, no senti
nels posted, but all about, the sleeping soldiers strewn on
the grass and among the wagons. The laws of war at that
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 37S
early day did not forbid a brave man to slay a sleeping
foe, and the two Trojans slew, as they passed, such of the
enemy as they could without exciting alarm. In one tent
Euryalus made prize of a helmet brilliant with gold and
plumes. They had passed through the enemy's ranks
without being discovered, but now suddenly appeared a
troop directly in front of them, which, under Volscens,
their leader, were approaching the camp. The glittering
helmet of Euryalus caught their attention, and Volscena
hailed the two, and demanded who and whence they were.
They made no answer, but plunged into the wood. The
horsemen scattered in all directions to intercept their flight.
Nisus had eluded pursuit and was out of danger, but Eu
ryalus being missing he turned back to seek him. He
again entered the wood and soon came within sound of
voices. Looking through the thicket he saw the whole
band surrounding Euryalus with noisy questions. What
should he do ! how extricate the youth ! or would it be
better to die with him ?
Raising his eyes to the moon which now shone clear, he
said, " Goddess ! fuvor my effort ! " and aiming his javelin
at one of the leaders of the troop, struck him in the back
and stretched him on the plain with a death-blow. In the
midst of their amazement another weapon flew and anoth
er of the party fell dead. Volscens, the leader, ignorant
whence the darts came, rushed sword in hand upon Eury
alus. " You shall pay the penalty of both," he said, and
would have plunged the sword into his bosom, when Nistis,
who from his concealment saw the peril of his friend,
rushed forward exclaiming, "'Twas I, 'twas I; turn your
swords against me, Rutulians ; I did it ; he only followed
me as a friend." While he spoke the sword fell, and
pierced the comely bosom of Euryalus. His head fell
880 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
over on his shoulder, like a flower cut down by the plough,
Nisus r-ished upon Volscens and plunged his sword into
his body, and was himself slain on the instant by number
less blows.
MEZENTIUS.
JEneas, with his Etrurian allies, arrived on the scene of
action in time to rescue his beleaguered camp ; and now
the two armies being nearly equal in strength, the war
began in good earnest. We cannot find space for all the
details, but must simply record the fate of the principal
characters whom we have introduced to our readers. The
tyrant Mezentius, finding himself engaged against his re
volted subjects, raged like a wild beast. He slew all who
dared to withstand him, and put the multitude to flight
wherever he appeared. At last he encountered JEneas,
and the armies stood still to see the issue. Mezentius
threw his spear, which striking jEneas's shield glanced off
and hit Anthor. He was a Grecian by birth, who had left
Argos, his native city, and followed Evander into Italy.
The poet says of him with simple pathos which has made
the words proverbial, " He fell, unhappy, by a wound in
tended for another, looked up to the skies, and dying re
membered sweet Argos."* JEneas now in turn hurled his
lance. It nierced the shield of Mezentius, and wounded
him in the thigh. Lausus, his son, could not bear the
sight, but rushed forward and interposed himself, while the
followers pressed round Mezentius and bore him away.
JEneas held his sword suspended over Lausus and delayed
to strike, but the furious youth pressed on and he was com-
* See Proverbial Expressions, page 479.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 381
pelled to deal the fatal blow. Lausus fell, and JEneaa
bent over him in pity. " Hapless youth," he said, " what
can I do for you worthy of your praise ? Keep those
arms in which you glory, and fear not but that your body
shall be restored to your friends, and have due funeral
honors." So saying, he called the timid followers and
delivered the body into their hands.
Mezentius meanwhile had been borne to the river-side,
and washed his wound. Soon the news reached him of
Lausus's death, and rage and despair supplied the place
of strength. He mounted his horse and dashed into the
thickest of the fight, seeking JEneas. Having found him,
he rode round him in a circle, throwing one javelin after
another, while .ZEneas stood fenced with his shield, turn
ing every way to meet them. At last, after Mezentiug
had three times made the circuit, JEnea? threw his lance
directly at the horse's head. It pierced his temples and
he fell, while a shout from both armies rent the skies.
Mezentius asked no mercy, but only that his body might
be spared the insults of his revolted subjects, and be
buried in the same grave with his son. He received the
fatal stroke not unprepared, and poured out his life and his
blood together.
PALLAS, CAMILLA, TURNUS.
While these things were doing in one part of the field,
in another Turnus encountered the youthful Pallas. The
contest between champions so unequally matched could
not be doubtful. Pallas bore himself bravely, but fell by
the lance of Turnus. The victor almost relented when he
«aw the brave youth lying dead at his feet, and spared to
use the privilege of a conqueror in despoiling him of his
882 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
arms. The belt only, adorned with studs and carvings of
gold, he took and clasped round his own body. The rest
he remitted to the friends of the slain.
After the battle there was a cessation of arms for some
days to allow both armies to bury their dead. In this in
terval TEneas challenged Turnus to decide the contest by
single combat, but Turnus evaded the challenge. Another
battle ensued, in which Camilla, the virgin warrior, was
chiefly conspicuous. Her deeds of valor surpassed those
of the bravest warriors, and many Trojans and Etruscans
fell pierced with her darts or struck down by her battle-
axe. At last an Etruscan named Aruns, who had watched
her long, seeking for some advantage, observed her pur
suing a flying enemy whose splendid armor offered a
tempting prize. Intent on the chase she observed not her
danger, and the javelin of Aruns struck her and inflicted
a fatal wound. She fell and breathed her last in the arms
of her attendant maidens. But Diana, who beheld her
fate, suffered not her slaughter to be unavenged. Aruns,
as he stole away, glad but frightened, was struck by a se
cret arrow, launched by one of the nymphs of Diana's
train, and died ignobly and unknown.
At length the final conflict took place between JEneas
and Turnus. Turnus had avoided the contest as long
as he could, but at last impelled by the ill success of his
arms, and by the murmurs of his followers, he braced him
self to the conflict. It could not be doubtful. On the side
of JEneas were the expressed decree of destiny, the aid
of his goddess-mother at every emergency, and impene
trable armor fabricated by Vulcan, at her request, for her
son. Turnus, on the other hand, was deserted by his ce
lestial allies, Juno hav:ng been expressly forbidden by
Jupiter to assist him any longer. Turnus threw his lance,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 883
but it recoiled harmless from the shield of JEneas. The
Trojan hero then threw his, which penetrated the shield
of Turnus, and pierced his thigh. Then Turnns's forti
tude forsook him and he begged for mercy ; and TEneas
would have given him his life, but at the instant his eye
fell on the belt of Pallas, which Turnus had taken from
the slaughtered youth. Instantly his rage revived, and
exclaiming, " Pallas immolates thee with this blow," he
thrust him through with his sword.
Here the poem of the ^Eneid closes, and we are left to
infer that ^Eneas, having triumphed over his foes, obtained
Luvinia for his bride. Tradition adds that he founded his
city, arid called it after her name, Lavinium. His son
lulus founded Alba Longa, which was the birthplace of
Romulus and Remus, and the cradle of Rome itself.
There is an allusion to Camilla in those well-known
lines of Pope, in which, illustrating the rule that " the
sound should be an echo to the sense," he says, —
" When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labors and the words move slow.
Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o'er th' unbending corn or skims along the main."
Etsay on Criticism.
384 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
PYTHAGORAS — EGYPTIAN DEITIES — OKACLEa
PYTHAGORAS.
THE teachings of Anchises to TEneas, respecting the
nature of the human soul, were in conformity with the
doctrines of the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras (born five
hundred and forty years B. C.) was a native of the island
of Samos, but passed the chief portion of his life at Cro-
tona in Italy. He is therefore sometimes called "the
Samian," and sometimes "the philosopher of Crotona."
When young he travelled extensively, and it is said visit
ed Egypt, where he was instructed by the priests in all
their learning, and afterwards journeyed to the East, and
visited the Persian and Chaldean Magi, and the Brah
mins of India.
At Crotona, where he finally established himself, his
extraordinary qualities collected round him a great num
ber cf disciples. The inhabitants were notorious for lux
ury and licentiousness, but the good effects of his influence
were soon visible. Sobriety and temperance succeeded.
Six hundred of the inhabitants became his disciples and
enrolled themselves in a society to aid each other in the
pursuit of wisdom ; uniting their property in one common
stock, for the benefit of the whole. They were required
to practise the greatest purity and simplicity of manners.
The first lesson they learned was silence ; for a time they
were required to be only hearers. "He [Pythagoras]
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 385
jaid so," (Ipse dixit,) was to be held by them as sufficient,
without any proof. It was only the advanced pupils, after
years of patient submission, who were allowed to ask
questions and to state objections.
Pythagoras considered numbers as the essence and
principle of all things, arid attributed to them a real and
distinct existence; so that in his view, they were the
elements out of which the universe was constructed. How
he conceived this process has never been satisfactorily
explained. He traced the various forms and phenomena
of the world to numbers as their basis and essence. The
" Monad " or unit he regarded as the source of all numbers.
The number Two was imperfect, and the cause of increase
and division. Three was called the number of the whole
because it had a beginning, middle, and end ; Four, repre
senting the square, is in the highest degree perfect ; and
Ten, as it contains the sum of the four prime numbers,
comprehends all musical and arithmetical proportions, and
denotes the system of the world.
As the numbers proceed from the monad, so he regard
ed the pure and simple essence of the Deity, as the source
of all the forms of nature. Gods, demons and heroes are
emanations of the Supreme, and there is a fourth emana
tion, the human soul. This is immortal, and when freed
from the fetters of the body, passes to the habitation of
(he dead, where it remains till it returns to the world, to
dwell in some other human or animal body, and at last
when sufficiently purified, it returns to the source from
which it proceeded. This doctrine of the transmigration
of souls, (metempsychosis,) which was originally Egyptian
and connected with the doctrine of reward and punish
ment of human actions, was the chief cause why the Py
thagoreans killed no animals. Ovid represents Pythagoras
33
386 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
addressing his disciples in these words : " Souls never die,
but always on quitting one abode, pass to another. I my
self can remember that in the time of the Trojan war I
was Euphorbus, the son of Panthus, and fell by the spear
of Menelaus. Lately being in the temple of Juno, at
Argos, I recognized my shield hung up there among the
trophies. All things change, nothing perishes. The soul
passes hither and thither, occupying now this body, now
that, passing from the body of a beast into that of a man,
and thence to a beast's again. As wax is stamped with
certain figures, then melted, then stamped anew with oth
ers, yet is always the same wax, so the soul, being always
the same, yet wears, at different times, different forms.
Therefore, if the love of kindred is not extinct in your
bosoms, forbear, I entreat you, to violate the life of those
who may haply be your own relatives."
Shakspeare, in the Merchant of Venice, makes Gra-
tiano allude to the metempsychosis, where he says to Shy-
lock, —
" Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men ; thy currish spirit
Governed a wolf; who hanged for human slaughter
Infused his soul in thee ; for thy desires
Are wolfish, bloody, starved and ravenous."
The relation of the notes of the musical scale to num
bers, whereby harmony results from vibrations in equal
times, and discord from the reverse, led Pythagoras to ap
ply the word " harmony " to the visible creation, meaning
by it the just adaptation of parts to each other. This is
the idea which Dryden expresses in the beginning of his
Song for St. Cecilia's Day : —
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 387
' From harmony, from heavenly harmony
This everlasting frame began ;
From harmony to harmony
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The Diapason closing full in Man."
In the centre of the universe (he taught) there was a
central fire, the principle of life. The central fire was
surrounded by the earth, the moon, the sun, and the five
planets. The distances of the various heavenly bodies
from one another were conceived to correspond to the pro
portions of the musical scale. The heavenly bodies, with
the gods who inhabited them, were supposed to perform a
choral dance round the central fire, " not without song." It
is this doctrine which Shakspeare alludes to when he makes
Lorenzo teach astronomy to Jessica in this fashion : —
" Look, Jessica, see how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with pattens of bright gold !
There's not the smallest orb that thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed chembim ;
Such harmony is in immortal souls !
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in we cannot hear it."
Merchant of Venice.
The spheres were conceived to be crystalline or glassy
fabrics arranged over one another like a nest of bowla
reversed. In the substance of each sphere one or more
of the heavenly bodies was supposed to be fixed, so as to
move with it. As the spheres are transparent we look
through them and see the heavenly bodies which they con
tain and carry round with them. But as these spheres can-
aot move on one another without friction, a sound is there
by produced which is of exquisite harmony, too fine for
mortal ears to recognize. Milton, in his Hymn to the
Nativity, thus alludes to the music of the sphm-s- —
888 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
" Ring out, ye crystal spheres !
Once bless our human ears ;
(If ye have power to charm our senses so;)
An 1 let your silver chime
Move in melodious time,
And let the base of Heaven's deep organ blow ;
And with your ninefold harmony
Make up full concert with the angelic symphony."
Pythagoras is said to have invented the lyre. Our OWD
poet Longfellow, in Verses to a Child, thus relates the
story : —
" As great Pythagoras of yore,
Standing beside the blacksmith's door,
And hearing the hammers as they smote
The anvils with a different note,
Stole from the varying tones that hung
Vibrant on every iron tongue,
The secret of the sounding wire,
And formed the seven-chorded lyre."
See also the same poet's Occultation of Orion.
" The Samian's great JEolian lyre."
SYBARIS AND CROTONA.
Sybaris, a neighboring city to Crotona, was as celebrat
ed for luxury and effeminacy as Crotona for the reverse.
The name has become proverbial. J. R. Lowell uses it
in this sense in his charming little poem, — To the Dande
lion:—
41 Not in mid June the golden-cuirassed bee
Feels a more summer-like, warm ravishmert
In the white lily's breezy tent,
(His conquered Sybaris) than I when first
From the dark green thy yellow circles burst."
A war arose between the two cities, and Sybaris was
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 389
conquered and destroyed. Milo the celebrated athlete led
the army of Crotona. Many stories are told of Milo's
vast strength, such as his carrying a heifer of four years
old upon his shoulders and afterwards eating the whole of
it in a single day. The mode of his death is thus related.
As he was passing through a forest he saw the trunk of a
tree which had been partially split open by wood-gutters,
and attempted to rend it further; but the wood closed
upon his hands and held him fast, in which state he was
attacked and devoured by wolves.
Byron, in his Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte, alludes to
the story of Milo : —
" He who of old would rend the oak
Deemed not of the rebound ;
Chained by the trunk he vainly broke,
Alone, how looked he round 1 "
EGYPTIAN DEITIES.
The Egyptians acknowledged as the highest deity
Amun, afterwards called Zeus, or Jupiter Ammon. Amun
manifested himself in his word or will, which created
Kneph and Athor, of different sexes. From Kneph and
Athor proceeded Osiris and Isis. Osiris was worshipped
as the god of the sun, the source of warmth, life, and fruit-
fulness, in addition to which he was also regarded as the
god of the Nile, who annually visited his wife, Isis, (the
Earth,) by means of an inundation. Serapis or Heruiea
is sometimes represented as identical with Osiris, and
sometimes as a distinct divinity, the ruler of Tartarus and
god of medicine. Anubis is the guardian god, represented
with a dog's head, emblematic of his character of fidelity
33*
S90 STORIES OF GODS AND
Anubis.
and watchfulness. Horus or Harpocrates was the son of
Osiris. He is represented seated on a Lotus flower, with
bis finger on his lips, as the god of Silence.
In one of Moore's Irish Melodies is an allusion to Har
pocrates : —
" Thyself shall, under srme rosy bower,
Sit mute, with thy finger on thy lip ;
Like him, the boy, who born among
The riowers that on the Nile-stream blush,
Sits ever thus, — his only song
To Earth and Heaven, " Hush, all, hush ! "
MYTH OP OSIRIS AND ISIS.
Osiris and Isis were at one time induced to descend to
the earth to bestow gifts and blessings on its inhabitants,
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 391
Isis showed them first the use of wheat and barley, and
Osiris made the instruments of agriculture and taught men
the use of them, as well as how to harness the ox to the
plough. He then gave men laws, the institution of mar
riage, a civil organization, and taught them how to worship
the gods. After he had thus made the valley of the Nile
a happy country, he assembled a host with which he went
to bestow his blessings upon the rest of the world. He
conquered the nations every where, but not with weapon?
only with music and eloquence. His brother Typhon saw
this, and fdled with envy and malice sought during his
absence to usurp his throne. But Isis, who held the reins
of government, frustrated his plans. Still more imbit-
tered, he now resolved to kill his brother. This he did in
the following manner. Having organized a conspiracy of
seventy-two members he went with them to the feast
which was celebrated in honor of the king's return. He
then caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had
been made to fit exactly the size of Osiris, and declared
that he would give that chest of precious wood to whoso
ever could get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no
sooner was Osiris in it than Typhon and his companions
closed the lid and flung the chest into the Nile. AVhen
Isis heard of the cruel murder she wept and mourned,
and then with her hair shorn, clothed in black and beating
her breast, she sought diligently for the body of her hus
band. In this search she was materially assisted by Anu-
bis, the son of Osiris and Nephthys. They sought in vain
for some time ; for when the chest, carried by the waves
to the shores of Byblos, had become entangled in the
reeds that grew at the edge of the water, the divine
power that dwelt in the body of Osiris imparted such
strength to the shrub that it grew into a mighty tree, en-
392 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
closing in its trunk the coffin of the god. This tree with
its sacred deposit was shortly after felled, and erected as a
column in the palace of the king of Phoenicia. But at
length by the aid of Anubis and the sacred birds, Isis
ascertained these facts, and then went to the royal city.
There she offered herself at the palace as a servant, and
being admitted, threw off her disguise and appeared as
the goddess, surrounded with thunder and lightning.
Striking the column with her wand she caused it to split
open and give up the sacred coffin. This she seized and
returned with it, and concealed it in the depth of a forest,
but Typhon discovered it, and cutting the body into four
teen pieces scattered them hither and thither. After a
tedious search, Isis found thirteen pieces, the fishes of the
Nile having eaten the other. This she replaced by an
imitation of .sycamore wood, and buried the body at Phi-
loe, which became ever after the great burying place of
the nation, and the spot to which pilgrimages were made
from all parts of the country. A temple of surpassing
magnificence was also erected there in honor of the god,
and at every place where one of his limbs had been found,
minor temples and tombs were built to commemorate the
event. Osiris became after that the tutelar deity of the
Egyptians. His soul was supposed always to inhabit the
body of the bull Apis, and at his death to transfer itself
to his successor.
Apis, the Bull of Memphis, was worshipped with the
greatest reverence by the Egyptians. The individual ani
mal who was held to be Apis was recognized by certain
signs. It was requisite that he should be quite black, have
a white square mark on the forehead, another, in the form
of an eagle, on his back, and under his tongue a lump
somewhat in the shape of a scarabaeus or beetle. As SOOD
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 393
as a bull thus marked was found by those sent in search
of him, he was placed in a building facing the east, and
was fed with milk for four months. At the expiration of
this term the priests repaired at new moon, with great
pomp, to his habitation and saluted him Apis. He was
placed in a vessel magnificently decorated and conveyed
down the Nile to Memphis, where a temple, with two
chapels and a court for exercise, was assigned to him.
Sacrifices were made to him, and once every year, about
the time when the Nile began to rise, a golden cup was
thrown into the river, and a grand festival was held to
celebrate his birthday. The people believed that during
this festival the crocodiles forgot their natural ferocity and
became harmless. There was however one drawback to
his happy lot ; he was not permitted to live beyond a cer
tain period; and if when he had attained the age of
twenty-five years, he still survived, the priests drowned
him in the sacred cistern, and then buried him in the tem
ple of Serapis. On the death of this bull, whether it
occurred in the course of nature or by violence, the whole
land was filled with sorrow and lamentations, which lasted
until his successor was found.
We find the following item in one of the newspapers of
the day : —
TJie Tomb of Apis. — The excavations going on at
Memphis bid fair to make that buried city as interesting
as Pompeii. The monster tomb of Apis is now open,
after having lain unknown for centuries.
Milton, in his Hymn of the Nativity, alludes to the
Egyptian deities, not as imaginary beings, but as real
demons, put to ilight by the coming of Christ : —
894 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
" The brutish gods of Nile as fast,
Isis and Horus and the dog Anubis haste.
Nor is Osiris seen
In Memphian grove or green
Trampling the * unshowered grass with lowings loud;
Nor can he be at rest
Within his sacred chest ;
Nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud.
In vain with timbrel'd anthems dark
The sable-stoled sorcerers bear his worshipped ark."
Isis was represented in statuary with the head veiled, a
symbol of mystery. It is this which Tennyson alludes to
in Maud, IV. 8: —
" For the drift of the Maker is dark, an Isis hid by the veil," &c.
ORACLES.
Oracle was the name used to denote the place where
answers were supposed to be given by any of the divini
ties to those who consulted them respecting the future.
The word was also used to signify the response which was
given.
The most ancient Grecian oracle was that of Jupiter at
Dodona. According to one account it was established in
the following manner. Two black doves took their flight
from Thebes in Egypt. One flew to Dodona in Epirus;
and alighting in a grove of oaks, it proclaimed in human
language to the inhabitants of the district that they must
* There being no rain in Egypt, the grass is " unshowered," and the
country depends for its fertility upon the overflowings of the Nile
The ark alluded to in the last line is shown by pictures still remaining
on the walls of the Egyptian temples to have been borne by the priests
in thoir religious processions. It probably represented the chest ia
which Osiris was placed.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 895
establish there an oracle of Jupiter. The other dove fle*
to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan oasis, and
delivered a similar command there. Anoiher account is,
that they were not doves, but priestesses, who were carried
off from Thebes in Egypt by the Phoenicians, and set up
oracles at the Oasis and Dodona. The responses of the
oracle were given from the trees, by the branches rustling
in the wind, the sounds being interpreted by the priests.
But the most celebrated of the Grecian oracles was that
of Apollo at Delphi, a city built on the slopes of Parnas
sus in Phocis.
It had been observed at a very early period that the
goats feeding on Parnassus were thrown into convulsions
when they approached a certain long deep cleft in the side
of the mountain. This was owing to a peculiar vapor
arising out of the cavern, and one of the goatherds was
induced to try its effects upon himself. Inhaling the in
toxicating air he was affected in the same manner as the
cattle had been, and the inhabitants of the surrounding
country, unable to explain the circumstance, imputed the
convulsive ravings to which he gave utterance while under
the power of the exhalations, to a divine inspiration. The
fact was speedily circulated widely, and a temple was
erected on the spot. The prophetic influence was at first
variously attributed to the goddess Earth, to Neptune,
Themis, and others, but it was at length assigned to
Apollo, and to him alone. A priestess was appointed
whose office it was to inhale the hallowed air, and who
was named the Pythia. She was prepared for this duty
by previous ablution at the fountain of Castalia, ami bring
crowned with laurel was seated upon a tripod similarly
adorned, which was placed over the chasm whence the
divine afflatus proceeded. Her inspired words while thm
situated were interpreted by the priests
396 STOEIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS.
Besides the oracles of Jupiter and Apollo, at Dodona
and Delphi, that of Trophonius in Bucotia was held in
high estimation. Trophonius and Agamedes were broth
ers. They were distinguished architects, and built the
temple of Apollo at Delphi, and a treasury for King Hy-
rieus. In the wall of the treasury they placed a stone, in
such a manner that it could be taken out ; and by this
means from time to time purloined the treasure. This
amazed Hyrieus, for his locks and seals were untouched,
and yet his wealth continually diminished. At length he
set a trap for the thief and Agamedes was caught. Tro
phonius unable to extricate him, and fearing that when
found he would be compelled by torture to discover his
accomplice, cut off his head. Trophonius himself is said
to have been shortly afterwards swallowed up by the earth.
The oracle of Trophonius was at Lebadea in Bo3otia.
During a great drought the Boeotians, it is said, were di
rected by the god at Delphi to seek aid of Trophonius at
Lebadea. They came thither, but could find no oracle.
One of them however, happening to see a swarm of bees,
followed them to a chasm in the earth, which proved to be
the place sought.
Peculiar ceremonies were to be performed by the per
son who came to consult the oracle. After these prelimi
naries, he descended into the cave by a narrow passage.
This place could be entered only in the night. The per
son returned from the cave by the same narrow passage,
but walking backwards. He appeared melancholy and
dejected ; and hence the proverb which was applied to a
person low-spirited and gloomy, "He has boen consulting
the oracle of Trophonius."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 397
ORACLE OP AESCULAPIUS.
There were numerous oracles of ^Esculapius, but the
most celebrated one was at Epidaurus. Here the sick
sought responses and the recovery of their health by sleep-
ing in the temple. It has been inferred from the accounta
that have come down to us, that the treatment of the sick
resembled what is now called Animal Magnetism or Mes
merism.
Serpents were sacred to -ZEsculapius, probably because
of a superstition that those animals have a faculty of re
newing their youth by a change of skin. The worship of
^Esculupius was introduced into Rome in a time of great
sickness, and an embassy sent to the temple of Epidaurus
to entreat the aid of the god. ^Esculapius was propitious,
and on the return of the ship accompanied it in the form
of a serpent. Arriving in the river Tiber, the serpent
glided from the vessel and took possession of an island in
the river, and a temple was there erected to his honor.
ORACLE OP APIS.
At Memphis the sacred bull Apis gave answer to those
who consulted him, by the manner in which he received or
rejected what was presented to him. If the bull refused
food from the hand of the inquirer it was considered an
unfavorable sign, and the contrary when he received it.
It has been a question whether oracular responses ought
to be ascribed to mere human contrivance or to the ngency
of evil spirits. The latter opinion has been most general
in past ages. A third theory has been advanced sine*
34
S98 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
the phenomena of Mesmerism have attracted attention,
that something like the mesmeric trance was induced in
the Pythoness, and the faculty of clairvoyance really
called into action.
Another question is as to the time when the Pagan
oracles ceased to give responses. Ancient Christian wri
ters assert that they became silent at the birth of Christ,
and were heard no more after that date. Milton adopts
this view in his Hymn of the Nativity, and in lines of
solemn and elevated beauty pictures the consternation of
the heathen idols at the advent of the Savior.
" The oracles are dumb ;
No voice or hideous hum
Rings through the arched roof in words deceiving.
Apollo from his shrine
Can no more divine,
"With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving.
No nightly trance or breathed spell
Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell."
In Cowper's poem of Yardley Oak there are some
beautiful mythological .allusions. The former of the two
following is to the fable of Castor and Pollux ; the latter
is more appropriate to our present subject. Addressing
the acorn he says, —
" Thou fell'st mature ; and in the loamy clod,
Swelling with vegetative force instinct,
Didst burst thine egg, as theirs the fabled Twins
Now stars; two lobes protruding, paired exact;
A leaf succeeded and another leaf,
And, all the elements thy puny growth
Fostering propitious, thou becam'st a twig.
Who lived when thou wast such ? 0, couldst thou speak
As in Dodona once thy kindred trees
Oracular, I would not curious ask
The future, best unknown, but at thy mouth
Inquisitive, the less ambiguous past "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 399
Tennyson in his Talking Oak alludes to the oaks of
Dodona in these lines : —
" And I will work in prose and rhyme,
And praise thee more in both
Than bard has honored beech or lime,
Or that Thessalian growth
In which the swarthy ring-dore sat
And mystic sentence spoke ; " &c.
Byron alludes to the oracle of Delphi where speaking
of Rousseau, whose writings he conceives did much to
bring on the French revolution, he says, —
" For then he was inspired, and from him came,
As from the Pythian's mystic cave of yore,
Those oracles which set the world in flame,
Nor ceased to burn till kingdoms were no more.'*
400 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
CHAPTER XXXV.
ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY — STATUES OF GODS AND
GODDESSES — POETS OF MYTHOLOGY.
ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY.
HAVING reached the close of our series of stories of
Pagan mythology, an inquiry suggests itself. " Whence
came these stories ? Have they a foundation in truth, or
are they simply dreams of the imagination ? " Philoso
phers have suggested various theories on the subject ; and
1. The Scriptural theory; according to which all my
thological legends are derived from the narratives of
Scripture, though the real facts have been disguised and
altered. Thus Deucalion is only another name for Noah,
Hercules for Samson, Arion for Jonah, &c. Sir Walter
Raleigh, in his History of the World, says, " Jubal, Tubal,
and Tubal-Cain were Mercury, Vulcan, and Apollo, in
ventors of Pasturage, Smithing, and Music. The Dragon
which kept the golden apples was the serpent that beguiled
Eve. Nimrod's tower was the attempt of the Giants
against Heaven." There are doubtless many curious
coincidences like these, but the theory cannot without ex
travagance be pushed so far as to account for any great
proportion of the stories.
2. The Historical theory ; according to which all the
persons mentioned in mythology were once real human
beings, and the legends and fabulous traditions relating to
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 401
them are merely the additions and embellishments of later
times. Thus the story of ^Eolus, the king and god of the
winds, is supposed to have risen from the fact that ^Eolua
was the ruler of some islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea,
where he reigned as a just and pious king, and taught the
natives the use of sails for ships, and how to tell from the
signs of the atmosphere the changes of the weather and
the winds. Cadmus, who, the legend says, sowed the earth
with dragon's teeth, from which sprang a crop of armed
men, was in fact an emigrant from Phoenicia, and brought
with him into Greece the knowledge of the letters of the
alphabet, which he taught to the natives. From these ru
diments of learning sprung civilization, which the poets have
always been prone to describe as a deterioration of man's
first estate, the Golden Age of innocence and simplicity.
3. The Allegorical theory supposes that all the myths
of the ancients were allegorical and symbolical, and con
tained some moral, religious, or philosophical truth or his
torical fact, under the form of an allegory, but came in
process of time to be understood literally. Thus Saturn,
who devours his own children, is the same power whom
the Greeks called Cronos, (Time,) which may truly be
said to destroy whatever it has brought into existence.
The story of lo is interpreted in a similar manner. lo is
the moon, and Argus the starry sky, which, as it were,
keeps sleepless watch over her. The fabulous wanderings
of lo represent the continual revolutions of the moon,
which also suggested to Milton the same idea.
41 To behold the wandering moon
Riding near her highest noon,
Like one that had been led astray
In the heaven's wide, pathless way."
// Fenteroso.
34*
402 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
4. The Physical theory ; according to which the ele
ments of air, tire, and water were originally the objects of
religious adoration, and the principal deities were person
ifications of the powers of nature. The transition waa
easy from a personilication of the elements to the notion
of supernatural beings presiding over and governing the
different objects of nature. The Greeks, whose imagina
tion was lively, peopled all nature with invisible beings,
and supposed that every object, from the sun and sea to
the smallest fountain and rivulet, was under the care of
some particular divinity. Wordsworth, in his Excursion,
has beautifully developed this view of Grecian mythology.
''In that fair clime the lonely herdsman, stretched
On the soft grass through half a summer's day,
With music lulled his indolent repose ;
And, in some fit of weariness, if he,
"When his own breath was silent, chanced to hear
A distant strain far sweeter than the sounds
Which his poor skill could make, his fancy fetched
Even from the blazing chariot of the Sun
A beardless youth who touched a golden lute,
And filled the illumined groves with ravishment.
The mighty hunter, lifting up his eyes
Toward the crescent Moon, with grateful heart
Called on the lovely Wanderer who bestowed
That timely light to share his joyous sport ;
And hence a beaming goddess with her nymphs
Across the lawn and through the darksome grove
(Not unaccompanied with tuneful notes
By echo multiplied from rock or cave)
Swept in the storm of chase, as moon and stars
Glance rapidly along the clouded heaven
When winds are blowing strong. The Traveller slaked
His thirst from rill or gushing fount, and thanked
The Naiad. Sunbeams upon distant hills
Gliding apace with shadows in their train,
Might with small help from fancy, be transformed
Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 408
The Zephyrs, fanning, as they passed, their wings,
Lacked not for love fair objects whom they wooed
With gentle whisper. Withered boughs grotesque,
Stripped of their leaves and twigs by hoary age,
From depth of shaggy covert peeping forth
In the low vale, or on steep mountain side ;
And sometimes intermixed with stirring horns
Of the live deer, or goat's depending beard ;
These were the lurking Satyrs, a wild brood
Of gamesome deities ; or Pan himself,
The simple shepherd's awe-inspiring god."
All the theories which have been mentioned are true to
a certain extent. It would therefore be more correct to
say that the mythology of a nation has sprung from all
these sources combined than from any one in particular.
We may add also that there are many myths which have
arisen from the desire of man to account for those natural
phenomena which he cannot understand ; and not a few
have had their rise from a similar desire of giving a rea
son for the names of places and persona.
STATUES OP THE GODS.
To adequately represent to the eye the ideas intended
to be conveyed to the mind under the several names of
deities, was a task which called into exercise the highest
powers of genius and art. Of the many attempts four
have been most celebrated, the first two known to us only
by the descriptions of the ancients, the others still extant
and the acknowledged masterpieces of the sculptor's art,
404 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
THE OLYMPIAN JUPITER,
The statue of the Olympian Jupiter by Phidias waa
considered the highest achievement of this department of
Grecian art. It was of colossal dimensions, and was what
the ancients called " chryselephantine ; " that is, composed
of ivory and gold ; the parts representing flesh being of
ivory laid on a core of wood or stone, while the drapery
and other ornaments were of gold. The height of the
figure was forty feet, on a pedestal twelve feet high. The
god was represented seated on his throne. His brows
were crowned with a wreath of olive, and he held in hia
right hand a sceptre, and in his left a statue of Victory.
The throne was of cedar, adorned with gold and precious
stones.
The idea which the artist essayed to imbody was that
of the supreme deity of the Hellenic (Grecian) nation,
enthroned as a cdhqueror, in perfect majesty and repose,
and ruling with a nod the subject world. Phidias avowed
that he took his idea from the representation which Homer
gives in the first book of the Iliad, in the passage thus
translated by Pope : —
" He spoke and awful bends his sable brows,
Shakes his ambrosial curls and gives the nod,
The stamp of fate and sanction of the god.
High heaven with reverence the dread signal took,
And all Olympus to the centre shook." *
Cowper's version is less elegant, but truer to the original. —
" He ceased, and under his dark brows *he nod
Vouchsafed of confirmation. All around
The sovereign's everlasting head his curls
Ambrosial shook, and the huge mountain reeled."
BTORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 405
THE MINERVA OF THE PARTHENON.
This was also the work of Phidias. It stood in the
Parthenon, or temple of Minerva at Athens. The goddt>.s
was represented standing. In one hand she held a spear,
in the other a statue of Victory. Her helmet, highly dec
orated, was surmounted by a Sphinx. The statue was
forty feet in height, and, like the Jupiter, composed of
ivory and gold. The eyes were of marble, and probably
painted to represent the iris and pupil. The Parthenon
in which this statue stood was also constructed under the di
rection and superintendence of Phidias. Its exterior was
enriched with sculptures, many of them from the hand of
Phidias. The Elgin marbles now in the British Museum
are a part of them.
Both the Jupiter and Minerva of Phidias are lost, but
there is good ground to believe that we have, in several
extant statues and busts, the artist's conceptions of the
countenances of both. They are characterized by grave
and dignified beauty, and freedom from any transient ex
pression, which in the language of art is called repose.
It may interest our readers to see how this passage appears in an
other famous version, that which was issued under the name of Tick ell,
contemporaneously with Pope's, and which, being by many attributed to
Addison, led to the quarrel which ensued between Addison and Pope.
" This said, his kingly brow the sire inclined ;
The large black curls fell awful from behind,
Thick shadowing the stern forehead of the god;
Olympus trembled at the almighty nod."
406 STOKIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
THE VENUS DE* MEDICI.
The Venus of the Medici is so called from its having
been in the possession of the princes of that name in
Rome when it first attracted attention, about two hundred
years ag> An inscription on the base records it to be
the work of Cleomenes, an Athenian sculptor of 200 B. C.,
but the authenticity of the inscription is doubtful. There
is a story that the artist was employed by public authority
to make a statue exhibiting the perfection of female
beauty, and to aid him in his task, the most perfect forms
the city could supply were furnished him for models. It
is this which Thomson alludes to in his Summer.
" So stands the statue that enchants the world ;
So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,
The mingled beauties of exulting Greece."
Byron also alludes to this statue. Speaking of th«
Florence Museum, he says, —
" There too the goddess loves in stone, and fills
The air around with beauty ; " &c.
And in the next stanza,
" Blood, pulse, and breast confirm the Dardan shepherd's prise
See this last illusion explained in Chapter XXVII.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 407
THE APOLLO BELVEDERE.
The most highly esteemed of all the remains of ancient
sculpture is the statue of Apollo, called the Belvedere,
from the name of the apartment of the Pope's palace at
Rome in which it is placed. The artist is unknown. It
is supposed to be a work of Roman art, of about the first
century of our era. It is a standing figure, in marble,
more than seven feet high, naked except for the cloak
which is fastened around the neck and hangs over the ex
tended left arm. It is supposed to represent the god in
the moment when he has shot the arrow to destroy the
monster Python. (See Chapter III.) The victorious divin
ity is in the act of stepping forward. The left arm which
seems to have held the bow is outstretched, and the head
is turned in the same direction. In attitude and propor
tion the graceful majesty of the figure is unsurpassed.
The effect is completed by the countenance, where, on the
perfection of youthful godlike beauty there dwells the con
sciousness of triumphant power.
THE DIANA A LA BICHE.
The Diana of the Hind, in the palace of the Louvre,
may be considered the counterpart to the Apollo Belve
dere. The attitude much resembles that of the Apollo,
the sizes correspond and also the style of execution. It id
a work of the highest order, though by no means equal to
the Apollo. The attitude is that of hurried and eagel
motion, the face that of a huntress in the excitement of
408 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
the chase. The left hand is extended over the forehead
of the Hind which runs by her side, the right arm reaches
backward over the shoulder to draw an arrow from the
quiver.
THE POETS OF MYTHOLOGY.
Homer, from whose poems of the Iliad and Odyssey
we have taken the chief part of our chapters of the
Trojan war and the return of the Grecians, is almost as
mythical a personage as the heroes he celebrates. The
traditionary story is that he was a wandering minstrel,
blind and old, who travelled from place to place singing
his lays to the music of his harp, in the courts of princes
or the cottages of peasants, and dependent upon the vol
untary offerings of his hearers for support. Byron calls
him. " The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle," and a well-
known epigram, alluding to the uncertainty of the fact of
his birthplace, says, —
" Seven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead,
Through which the living Homer begged his bread."
These seven were Smyrna, Scio, Rhodes, Colophon, Sala-
mis, Argos, and Athens.
Modern scholars have doubted whether the Homeric
poems are the work of any single mind. This arises from
the difficulty of believing that poems of such length could
have been committed to writing at so early an age as that
usually assigned to these, an age earlier than the date of
any remaining inscriptions or coins, and when no materials,
capable of containing such long productions were yet in-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 409
troduced into use. On the other hand it is asked IIOM
poems of such length could have been handed down from
age to age by means of the memory alone. This is an
swered by the statement that there was a professional body
of men, called Rhapsodists. who recited the poems of
others, and whose business it was to commit to memory
and rehearse for pay the national and patriotic legends.
The prevailing opinion of the learned, at this time,
seems to be that the framework and much of the struc
ture of the poems belongs to Homer, but that there are
numerous interpolations and additions by other hands.
The date assigned to Homer, on the authority of Herod
otus, is 850 B. C.
VIRGIL.
Virgil, called also by his surname Maro, from whose
poem of the JEneid we have taken the story of -ZEueas,
was one of the great poets who made the reign of the
Roman emperor, Augustus, so celebrated, under the name
of the Augustan age. Virgil was born in Mantua in the
year 70 B. C. His great poem is ranked next to those
of Homer, in the highest class of poetical composition, the
Epic. Virgil is far inferior to Homer in originality and
invention, but superior to him in correctness and elegance.
To critics of English lineage Milton alone of modern
poets seems worthy to be classed with these illustrious
ancients. His poem of Paradise Lost, from which we
have borrowed so many illustrations, is in many rrsp«rts
equal, in some superior to either of the great works of
antiquity. The following epigram of Dryden character
izes the three poets with as much truth as it is usual to
Und in such pointed criticism : —
35
410 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
ON MILTON,
41 Three poets in three different ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.
The first in loftiness of soul surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of nature could no further go ;
To make a third she joined the other two."
From Cowper's Table Talk : —
"Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared,
And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard.
To carry nature lengths unknown before,
To give a Milton birth, asked ages more.
Thus genius rose and set at ordered times,
And shot a dayspring into distant climes,
Ennobling every region that he chose ;
He sunk in Greece, in Italy he rose,
And, tedious years of Gothic darkness past,
Emerged all splendor in our isle at last.
Thus lovely Halcyons dive into the main,
Then show far off their shining plumes again.'
OVID,
Often alluded to in poetry by his other name of Naso,
was born in the year 43 B. C. He was educated for pub
lic life and held some offices of considerable dignity, but
poetry was his delight, and he early resolved to devote
himself to it. He accordingly sought the society of the
contemporary poets, and was acquainted with Horace and
saw Virgil, though the latter died when Ovid was yet too
young and undistinguished to have formed his acquaint
ance. Ovid spent an easy life at Rome in the enjoyment
of a competent income. He was intimate with the family
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 41)
of Augustus, the emperor, and it is supposed that some
serious offence given to some member of that family was
the cause of an event which reversed the poet's happy
circumstances and clouded all the latter portion of his life.
At the age of fifty he was banished from Rome, and or
dered to betake himself to Tomi, on the borders of the
Black Sea. Here, among the barbarous people and in a
severe climate, the poet, who had been accustomed to all
the pleasures of a luxurious capital and the society of his
most distinguished contemporaries, spent the last ten years
of his life, worn out with grief and anxiety. His only
consolation in exile was to address his wife and absent
friends, and his letters were all poetical. Though these
poems (the Tristia and Letters from Pontus) have no
other topic than the poet's sorrows, his exquisite taste and
fruitful invention have redeemed them from the charge of
being tedious, and they are read with pleasure and even
with sympathy.
The two great works of Ovid are his Metamorphoses
and his Fasti. They are both mythological poems, and
from the former we have taken most of our stories of
Grecian and Roman mythology. A late writer thu.> char
acterizes these poems : —
" The rich mythology of Greece furnished Ovid, as it
may still furnish the poet, the painter, and the sculptor,
with materials for his art. With exquisite taste, simpli
city, and pathos he has narrated the fabulous traditions of
early ages, and given to them that appearance of reality
which only a master-hand could impart, His pictures of
nature are striking and true; he selects with rare that
which is appropriate; he rejects the superfluous ; and when
he has completed his work, it is neither defective nor re
dundant. The Metamorphoses are read with pleasure
412 STORIES OF GODS AND IIEROES.
by youth, and are re-read in more advanced age with still
greater delight. The poet ventured to predict that his
poem would survive him, and be read wherever the Ro
man name was known."
The prediction above alluded to is contained in the
closing lines of the Metamorphoses, of which we give a
literal translation below : —
" And now I close my work, which not the ire
Of Jove, nor tooth of time, nor sword, nor fire
Shall bring to nought. Come when it will that day
Which o'er the body, not the mind, has sway,
And snatch the remnant of my life away,
My better part above the stars shall soar,
And my renown endure forevermore.
Where'er the Roman arms and arts shall spread,
There by the people shall my book be read ;
And, if aught true in poet's visions be,
My name and fame have immortality."
STG*Ue,3 OF GODS AND HEROES. 4U
CHAPTER XXXYI.
MODERN MONSTERS — THE PIICENIX — BASILISK -
UNICORN — SALAMANDER.
MODERN MONSTERS.
THERE is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have
been the successors of the " Gorgons, Hydras, and Chime
ras dire " of the old superstitions, and, having no connec
tion with the false gods of Paganism, to have continued
to enjoy an existence in the popular belief after Paganism
was superseded by Christianity. They are mentioned
perhaps by the classical writers, but their chief popularity
and currency seem to have been in more modern times.
We seek our accounts of them not so much in the poetry
of the ancients, as in the old natural history books and
narrations of travellers. The accounts which we are about
to give are taken chiefly from the Penny Cyclopedia,
THE PH03NIX.
Ovid tells the story of the Phoenix as follows. " Most
beings spring from other individuals ; but there is a cer
tain kind which reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it
the Phoenix. Jt does not live on fruit or flowers, but OD
frankincense and odoriferous gums. When it has lived
five hundred years, ix builds itself a nest in the branches
414 STORIES OF GODS AND HERGES.
of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In this it collects
cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these materi
als builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying,
breathes out its last breath amidst odors. From the body
of the parent bird, a young Phoenix issues forth, destined
to live as long a life as its predecessor. When this has
grown up and gained sufficient strength, it lifts its nest
from the tree, (its own cradle and its parent's sepulchre,)
and carries it to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, and de
posits it in the temple of the Sun."
Such is the account given by a poet. Now let us see
that of a philosophic historian. 'Tacitus says, "In the
consulship of Paulus Fabius, (A. D. 34,) the miraculous
bird known to the world by the name of the Phoenix, after
disappearing for a series of ages, revisited Egypt. It was
attended in its night by a group of various birds, all at
tracted by the novelty, and gazing with wonder at so beau
tiful an appearance." He then gives an account of the
bird, not varying materially from the preceding, but adding
some details. " The first care of the young bird as soon
as iledged, and able to trust to his wings, is, to perform the
obsequies of his father. But this duty is not undertaken
rashly. He collects a quantity of myrrh, and to try his
strength makes frequent excursions with a load on his
back. When he has gained sufficient confidence in his
own vigor, he takes up the body of his father and flies
with it to the altar of the Sun, where he leaves it to be
consumed in flames of fragrance." Other writers add a
few particulars. The myrrh is compacted in the form of
an egg, in which the dead Phoenix is enclosed. From the
mouldering flesh of the dead bird a worm springs, and
this worm, when grown large, is transformed into a bird.
Herodotus describes the bird, though he says, " I have nol
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 415
seen it myself, except in a picture. Part of his plumage
is gold-colored, and part crimson ; and he is for the most
part very much like an eagle in outline and bulk."
The first writer who disclaimed a belief in the existence
of the Phoenix, was Sir Thomas Browne, in his " Vulgar
Errors," published in 1G46. He was replied to a few
years later by Alexander Ross, who says, in answer to the
objection of the Pho3nix so seldom making his appear
ance, " His instinct teaches him to keep out of the way of
the tyrant of the creation, man, for if he were to be got
at, some wealthy glutton would surely devour him, though
there were no more in the world."
Dryden in one of his early poems has this allusion to
the Phoenix : —
•' So when the new-born Phoenix first is seen
Her feathered subjects all adore their queen,
And while she makes her progress through the East,
From every grove her numerous train's increased ;
Each poet of the air her glory sings,
And round him the pleased audience clap their wings."
Milton, in Paradise Lost, Book V., compares the angel
Raphael descending to earth to a Phoenix : —
" Down thither, prone in flight
He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing,
Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan
Winnows the buxom air; till within soar
Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems
A Phoenix, gazed by all ; as that sole bird
When, to enshrine his relics in the sun's
Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies."
416 STORIES OF GODS AND HEBOE3.
THE COCKATRICE, OR BASILISK.
This animal was called the king of the serpents. In
confirmation of his royalty, he was said to be endowed
with a crest, or comb upon the head, constituting a crown.
He was supposed to be produced from the egg of a cock
hatched under toads or serpents. There were several
species of this animal. One species burned up whatever
they approached ; a second were a kind of wandering
Medusa's heads, and their look caused an instant horror
which was immediately followed by death. In Shak-
speare's play of Richard the Third, Lady Anne, in answer
to Richard's compliment on her eyes, says, " Would they
were basilisk's, to strike thee dead ! "
The basilisks were called kings of serpents because all
other serpents and snakes, behaving like good subjects,
and wisely not wishing to be burned up or struck dead,
fled, the moment they heard the distant hiss of their king,
although they might be in full feed upon the most delicious
prey, leaving the sole enjoyment of the banquet to the
royal monster.
The Roman naturalist Pliny thus describes him. " He
does not impel his body, like other serpents, by a multi
plied flexion, but advances lofty and upright. He kills
the shrubs, not only by contact but by breathing on them,
and splits the rocks, such power of evil is there in him."
It was formerly believed that if killed by a spear from on
horseback the power of the poison conducted through the
weapon killed not only the rider, but the horse also. To
this Lncan alludes in these lines : —
" What though the Moor the basilisk hath slain,
And pinned him lifeless to the sandy plain,
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 417
Up through the spear the sxibtle venom flies,
The hand imbibes it, and the victor dies."
Such a prodigy was not likely to be passed over in the
legends of the saints. Accordingly we find it recorded
that a certain holy man going to a fountain in the desert
suddenly beheld a basilisk. He immediately raised his
eyes to heaven, and with a pious appeal to the Deity, laid
the monster dead at his feet.
These wonderful powers of the basilisk are attested by
a host of learned persons, such as Galen, Aviccnna, Scal-
iger, and others. Occasionally one would demur to some
part of the tale while he admitted the rest. Jonston, a
learned physician, sagely remarks, " I would scarcely be
lieve that it kills with its Icok, for who could have seen it
and lived to tell the story ? " The worthy sage was not
aware that those who went to hunt the basilisk of this sort,
took with them a mirror, which reflected back the deadly
glare upon its author, and by a kind of poetical justice
slew the basilisk with his own weapon.
But what was to attack this terrible and unapproacha
ble monster ? There is an old saying that " every thing
has its enemy," — and the cockatrice quailed before the
weasel. The basilisk might look daggers, the weasel cared
not, but advanced boldly to the conflict. When bitten, the
weasel retired for a moment to eat some rue, which was
the only plant the basilisks could not wither, returned with
renewed strength and soundness to the charge, and never
left the enemy till he was stretched dead on the plain.
The monster, too, as if conscious of the irregular way in
which he came into the world, was supposed to have a
great antipathy to a cock ; and well he might, for as soon
as he heard the cock crow he expired.
418 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
The basilisk was of some use after death. Thus we
read that its carcass was suspended in the temple of Apollo,
and in private houses, as a sovereign remedy against spi
ders, and that it was also hung up in the temple of Diana,
for which reason no swallow ever dared enter the sacred
place.
The reader will, we apprehend, by this time have had
enough of absurdities, but still we can imagine his anxiety
to know what a cockatrice was like. The following is
from Aldrovandus, a celebrated naturalist of the sixteenth
century, whose work on natural history, in thirteen folio
volumes, contains with much that is valuable a large pro
portion of fables and inutilities. In particular he is so
ample on the subject of the cock and the bull, that from
his practice, all rambling, gossiping tales of doubtful cred-
The Basilisk.
ibility are called cock and lull stories. The above print is
entitled " The Basilisk which lives in the African desert."
It will be seen that
" What seemed its head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES 419
Shelley, in his Ode to Naples, full of the enthusiasm
excited by the intelligence of the proclamation of a Con
stitutional Government at Naples, in 1820, thus uses an
allusion to the basilisk : —
'What though Cimmerian anarchs dare blaspheme
Freedom and thee ? a new Actaeon's error
Shall theirs have been, — devoured by their own hound* !
Be thou like the imperial basilisk,
Killing thy foe with unapparent wounds !
Gaze on oppression, till at that dread risk,
Aghast she pass from the earth's disk.
Fear not, but gaze, — for freemen mightier grow,
And slaves more feeble, gazing on their foe."
THE UXICORN.
Pliny, the Roman naturalist, out of whose account of
the unicorn most of the modern unicorns have been de
scribed and figured, records it as " a very ferocious beast,
similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with the head of
a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep
bellowing voice, and a single black horn, two cubits in
length, standing out in the middle of its forehead." He
adds that *' it cannot be taken alive ; " and some such
excuse may have been necessary in those days for not pro
ducing the living animal upon the arena of the amphi
theatre.
The unicorn seems to have been a sad puzzle to the
hunters, who hardly knew how to come at so valuable a
piece of game. Some described the horn as movable at
the will of the animal, a kind of small sword in short, with
which no hunter who was not exceedingly cunning in
fence could have a chance. Othrrs maintained that all
i20 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
the animal's strength lay in its horn, and that when hard
pressed in pursuit, it would throw itself from the pinna
cle of the highest rocks horn foremost, so as to pitch upon
it, and then quietly march off not a whit the worse for
its fall.
But it seems they found out how to circumvent the poof
unicorn at last. They discovered that it was a great lover
of purity and innocence, so they took the field with a
young virgin, who was placed in the unsuspecting admi
rer's way. When the unicorn spied her, he approached
with all reverence, couched beside her, and laying his
head in her lap, fell asleep. The treacherous virgin then
gave a signal, and the hunters made in and captured the
simple beast.
Modern zoologists, disgusted as they well may be with
such fables as these, disbelieve generally the existence of
the unicorn. Yet there are animals bearing on their heads
a bony protuberance more or less like a horn, which may
have given rise to the story. The rhinoceros horn, as it
is called, is such a protuberance, though it does not exceed
a few inches in height, and is far from agreeing with the
descriptions of the horn of the unicorn. The nearest ap
proach to a horn in the middle of the forehead is exhib
ited in the bony protuberance on the forehead of the
giraffe ; but this also is short and blunt, and is not the
only horn of the animal, but a third horn, standing in front
of the two others. In fine, though it would be presump
tuous to deny the existence of a one-horned quadruped
other than the rhinoceros, it may be safely stated that the
insertion of a long and solid horn in the living forehead
of a horse-like or deer-like animal, is as near an impossi
bility as any thing can be.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 421
THE SALAMANDER.
The following is from the Life of Benvenuto Cellini,
an Italian artist of the sixteenth century, written by him
self. " When I was about five years of age, my father,
happ3ning to be in a little room in which they had been
washing, and where there was a good fire of oak burning,
looked into the flames and saw a little animal resembling
a lizard, which could live in the hottest part of that ele
ment. Instantly perceiving what it was he called for my
sister and me, and after he had shown us the creature, he
gave me a box on the ear. I fell a crying, while he, sooth
ing me with caresses, spoke these words : * My dear child,
I do not give you that blow for any fault you have com
mitted, but that you may recollect that the little creature
you see in the fire is a salamander ; such a one as never
was beheld before to my knowledge.' So saying he em
braced me, and gave me some money."
It seems unreasonable to doubt a story of which Signor
Cellini was both an eye and ear witness. Add to which
the authority of numerous sage philosophers, at the head
of whom are Aristotle and Pliny, affirms this power of
the salamander. According to them, the animal not only
resists fire, but extinguishes ii, and when he sees the flame
charges it as an enemy which he well knows how to van
quish.
That the skin of an animal which could resist the action
of fire should be considered proof against that element, is
not to be wondered at. We accordingly find that a cloth
made of the skins of salamanders (for there really is such
an animal, a kind of lizard) was incombustible, and very
valuable for wrapping up such articles as were too pre-
36
422 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
cious to be intrusted to any other envelopes. These fire*
proof cloths were actually produced, said to be made of
salamander's wool, though the knowing ones detected that
the substance of which they were composed was Asbestos,
a mineral, which is in fine filaments capable of being woven
into a flexible cloth.
The foundation of the above fables is supposed to be
the fact that the salamander really does secrete from the
pores of his body a milky juice, which when he is irritat
ed is produced in considerable quantity, and would doubt
less, for a few moments, defend the body from fire. Then
it is a hibernating animal, and in winter retires to some
hollow tree or other cavity, where it coils itself up and
remains in a torpid state till the spring again calls it forth.
It may therefore sometimes be carried with the fuel to the
fire, and wake up only time enough to put forth all its fac
ulties for its defence. Its viscous juice would do good
service, and all who profess to have seen it, acknowledge
that it got out of the fire as fast as its legs could carry it ;
indeed too fast for them ever to make prize of one, except
in one instance, and in that one, the animal's feet and some
parts of its body were badly burned.
Dr. Young, in the Night Thoughts, with more quaint
ness than good taste, compares the sceptic who can remain
unmoved in the contemplation of the starry heavens, to a
Balamander unwarmed in the fire :
" An undevout astronomer is mad !
* * *
" 0, what a genius must inform the skies !
And is Lorenzo's salamander-heart
Cold and untouched amid these sacred fires ? "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 1 1; )
CHAPTER XXX YII .
EASTERN MYTHOLOGY — ZOROASTER — HINDU MY
THOLOGY — CASTES— BUDDHA — GRAND LAMA.
ZOROASTER.
OUR knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians
is principally derived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books
of that people. Zoroaster was the founder of their reli
gion, or rather the reformer of the religion which preceded
him. The time when he lived is doubtful, but it is certain
that his system became the dominant religion of Western
Asia from the time of Cyrus (550 B. C.) to the conquest
of Persia by Alexander the Great. Under the Macedo
nian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster appear to have
been considerably corrupted by the introduction of foreign
opinions, but they afterwards recovered their ascendency.
Zoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who
created two other mighty beings and imparted to them as
much of his own nature as seemed good to him. Of these,
Ormuzd (called by the Greeks Oromasdes) remained
faithful to his creator, and was regarded as the source <>t
all good, while Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and be
came the author of all evil upon the earth. Ornm/.d
created man and supplied him with all the materials of
happiness ; but Ahriman marred this hjippinr-s by intro
ducing evil into the world, and creating savage beaata and
poisonous reptiles and plants. In consequence of this,
424 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
evil and good are DOAV mingled together in every part of
the world, and the followers of good and evil — the adher
ents of Ormuzd and Ahriman — carry on incessant war.
But this state of things will not last forever. The time
will come when the adherents of Ormuzd shall every
where be victorious, and Ahriman and his followers be
consigned to darkness forever.
The religious rites of the ancient Persians were ex
ceedingly simple. They used neither temples, altars, nor
statues, and performed their sacrifices on the tops of
mountains. They adored fire, light, and the sun as em
blems of Ormuzd, the source of all light and purity, but
did not regard them as independent deities. The religious
rites and ceremonies were regulated by the priests, who
were called Magi. The learning of the Magi was con
nected with astrology and enchantment, in which they
were so celebrated that their name was applied to all or
ders of magicians and enchanters.
Wordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Per
sians : -—
" the Persian, — zealous to reject
Altar and Image, and the inclusive walls
And roofs of temples built by human hands, —
The loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,
With myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,
Presented sacrifice to Moon and Stars
And to the Winds and mother Elements,
And the whole circle of the Heavens, for him
A sensitive existence and a God."
Excursion, Book IV.
Tn Childe Harold, Byron speaks thus of the Persian
worship : —
<4 Not vainly did the early Persian make
His altar the high places and the peak
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 425
Of earth-o'er-gazing mountains, and thus take
A tit and unwallcd temple, there to seek
The Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,
Upreared of human hands. Come and compare
Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,
"With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air,
Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer."
III. 91.
The religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even
after the introduction of Christianity, and in the third cen
tury was the dominant faith of the East, till the rise of
the Mahometan power and the conquest of Persia by
the Arabs in the seventh century, who compelled the
greater number of the Persians to renounce their ancient
faith. Those who reused to abandon the religion of their
ancestors fled to the deserts of Kerman and to Hindustan,
where they still exist under the name of Parsees, a name
derived from Pars, the ancient name of Persia. The
Arabs call them Guebers, from an Arabic word signifying
unbelievers. At Bombay the Parsees are at this day a
very active, intelligent, and wealthy class. For purity of
life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are favorably
distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which
/hey adore as the symbol of the divinity.
The Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale
in Moore's Lalla Rookh, the Fire Worshippers. The
Gueber chief says, —
" Yes ! I am of that impious race,
Those slavesof Fire, that morn and even
Hail their creator's dwelling-place
Among the living lights of heaven ;
Yes ! I am of that outcast crew
To Iran and to vengeance true,
Who curse the hour your Arabs came
To desecrate our shrines of flame,
And swear before God's Miming eye,
To break our country's rhains or die "
426 STORIES OF GODS AND HETCOES.
Trimurti.
HINDU MYTHOLOGY.
The religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on
the Vedas. To these books of their scripture they attach
the greatest sanctity, and state that Brahma himself com
posed them at the creation. But the present arrangement
of the Vedas is attributed to the sage Vyasa, about five
thousand years ago.
The Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supremo
God. The name of this deity is Brahma. His attributes
are represented by the three personified powers of crea
tion, preservation, and destruction, which under the re
spective names of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva form the
Trimurti or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of the infe
rior gods the most important are, 1. Indra, the god of
heaven, of thunder, lightning, storm, and rain ; 2. Agni,
the god of fire ; 3. Yama, the god of the infernal re
gions; 4. Surya, the god of the sun.
Brahma is the creator of the universe, and the source
from which all the individual deities have sprung, and into
which all will ultimately be absorbed. " As milk changes
STORIES OF GO£S AND HEROES. 427
to curd, and water to ice, so is Brahma variously trans
formed and diversified, without aid of exterior means of
any sort." The human soul, according to the Vedas, is a
portion of the supreme ruler as a spark is of the fire.
VISHNU.
Vishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the
Hindus, and is the personification of the preserving prin
ciple. To protect the world in various epochs of danger,
Vishnu descended to the earth in different incarnations, or
bodily forms, which descents are called Avatars. They
are very numerous, but ten are more particularly speci
fied. The first Avatar was as Matsya, the Fish, under
which form Vishnu preserved Mtmu, the ancestor of the
human race, during a universal deluge. The second
Avatar was in the form of a Tortoise, which form he as
sumed to support the earth when the gods were churning
the sea for the beverage of immortality, Amrita.
We may omit the other Avatars, which were of the
same general character, that is, interpositions to protect the
right or to punish wrong-doers, and come to the ninth,
which is the most celebrated of the Avatars of Vishnu, in
which he appeared in the human form of Krishna, an in
vincible warrior, who by his exploits relieved the earth
from the tyrants who oppressed it.
Buddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion
regarded as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by
him in order to induce the Asuras, opponents of the gods,
to abandon the sacred ordinances of the Vedus, by which
means they lost their strength and supremacy.
Kalki is the name of the tenth Avatar, in which Vishnu
428 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
will appear at the end of the present age of the world to
destroy all vice and wickedness, and to restore mankind to
virtue and purity.
SIVA.
Siva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is
the personification of the destroying principle. Though
the third name, he is, in respect to the number of his wor
shippers and the extension of his worship, before either
of the others. In the Puranas (the scriptures of the mod
ern Hindu religion) no allusion is made to the original
power of this god as a destroyer ; that power not being to
be called into exercise till after the expiration of twelve
millions of years, or when the universe will come to an
end; and Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather
the representative of regeneration than of destruction.
The worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects,
each of which proclaims the superiority of its favorite
deity, denying the claims of the other, and Brahma, the
creator, having finished his work, seems to be regarded as
no longer active, and has now only one temple in India,
while Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The worship
pers of Vishnu are generally distinguished by a greater
tenderness for life and consequent abstinence from animal
food, and a worship less cruel than that of the followers
of Siva.
JUGGERNAUT.
"Whether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reck
oned among the followers of Vishnu or Siva, our author!-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 429
ties differ. The temple stands near the shore, about three
hundred miles south-west of Calcutta. The idol is a
carved block of wood, with a hideous face, painted black,
and a distended blood-red mouth. On festival days the
throne of the image is placed on a tower sixty feet high,
moving on wheels. Six long ropes are attached to the
tower, by which the people draw it along. The priests
and their attendants stand round the throne on the tower,
and occasionally turn to the worshippers with songs and
gestures. While the tower moves along numbers of the
devout worshippers throw themselves on the ground, in
order to be crushed by the wheels, and the multitude shout
in approbation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the
idol. Every year, particularly at two great festivals in
March and July, pilgrims flock in crowds to the temple.
Not less than seventy or eighty thousand people are said
to visit the place on these occasions, when all castes eat
together.
CASTES.
The division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with
fixed occupations, existed from the earliest times. It is
supposed by some to have been founded upon conquest,
the first three castes being composed of a foreign race,
who subdued the natives of the country and reduced them
to an inferior caste. Others trace it to the fondness of
perpetuating, by descent from father to son, certain olnVes
or occupations.
The Hindu tradition gives the following account of the
origin of the various castes. At the creation Uruhma
resolved to give the earth inhabitants who should be direct
emanations from his own body. Accordingly from his
430 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
mouth came forth the eldest born, Brahma, (the priest,) to
whom he confided the four Vedas ; from his right arm
issued Shatriya, (the warrior,) and from his left, the war-
ri^-'s wife. His thighs produced Vaissyas, male and fe-
u^.c, (agriculturists and traders,) and lastly from his feet
sprang Sudras, (mechanics and laborers.)
The four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into
the world, became the fathers of the human race, and
heads of their respective castes. They were commanded
to regard the four Vedas as containing all the rules of
their faith, and all that was necessary to guide them in
their religious ceremonies. They were also commanded
to take rank in the order of their birth, the Brahmans
uppermost, as having sprung from the head of Brahma.
A strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first
three castes and the Sudras. The former are allowed to
receive instruction from the Vedas, which is not permitted
to the Sudras. The Brahmans possess the privilege of
teaching the Vedas, and were in former times in exclusive
possession of all knowledge. Though the sovereign of the
country was chosen from the Shatriya class, also called Raj~
puts, the Brahmans possessed the real power, and were
the royal counsellors, the judges and magistrates of the
country ; their persons and property were inviolable ; anrl
though they committed the greatest crimes, they could
only be banished from the kingdom. They were to be
treated by sovereigns with the greatest respect, for " a
Brahman, whether learned or ignorant, is a powerful
divinity."
When the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it be
comes his duty to marry. He ought to be supported by
the contributions of the rich, and not to be obliged to gain
Lis subsistence by any laborious or productive occupation-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 431
But as all the Brahmans could not be maintained by the
working classes of the community, it was found necessary
to allow them to engage in productive employments.
We need say little of the two intermediate classes,
whose rank and privileges may be readily inferred from
their occupations. The Sudras or fourth class are bound
to servile attendance on the higher classes, especially the
BraLmans, but they may follow mechanical occupations
and practical arts, as painting and writing, or become tra
ders or husbandmen. Consequently they sometimes grow
rich, and it will also sometimes happen that Brahmans
become poor. That fact works its usual consequence, and
rich Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial
occupations.
There is another class lower even than the Sudras, for
it is not one of the original pure daises, hut springs from
an unauthorized union of individuals of different castes.
These are the Pariahs, who are employed in the lowest
services and treated with the utmost severity. They are
compelled to do what no one else can do without pollution.
They are not only considered unclean themselves, but they
render unclean every thing they touch. They are de
prived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by particular
laws, regulating their mode of life, their houses and their
furniture. They are not allowed to visit the pagodas or
temples of the other castes, but have their own pagodas
and religious exercises. They are not suffered to enter
the houses of the other castes; if it is done incautiously
or from necessity, the place must be pnri!ie<l by religious
ceremonies. They must not appear at public markets,
and are confined to the use of particular w.-Ils, which they
are obliged to surround with hones of animals, t<> warn
Others against using them. They dwell in miserable
432 STORIES OF GODS ^ND HEROES.
hovels, distant from cities and villages, and are under no
restrictions in regard to food, which last is not a privilege,
but a mark of ignominy, as if they were so degraded that
nothing could pollute them. The three higher castes aro
prohibited entirely the use of flesh. The fourth is allowed
to eat all kinds except beef, but only the lowest caste is
allowed every kind of food without restriction.
BUDDHA.
Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incar
nation of Vishnu, is said by his followers to have been a
mortal sage, whose name was Gautama, called also by the
complimentary epithets of Sakyasinha, the Lion, and
Buddha, the Sage.
By a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his
birth, it is inferred that he lived about one thousand years
before Christ.
He was the son of a king ; and when in conformity to
the usage of the country he was, a few days after his birth,
presented before the altar of a deity, the image is said to
have inclined its head, as a presage of the future great
ness of the new-born prophet. The child soon developed
faculties of the first order, and became equally distin
guished by the 'inoommon beauty of his person. No
sooner had he ^.»a to years of maturity than he began
to reflect deeply on the depravity and misery of mankind,
and he conceived the idea of retiring from society and
devoting himself to meditation. His father' in vain op
posed this design. Buddha escaped the vigilance of his
guards, and having found a secure retreat, lived for six
years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 433
expiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a
religious teacher. At first some who heard him doubted
of the soundness of his mind ; but his doctrines soon
gained credit, and were propagated so rapidly that Buddha
himself lived to see them spread all over India. He died
at the age of eighty years.
The Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas,
and the religious observances prescribed in them and kept
by the Hindus. They also reject the distinction of castes,
and prohibit all bloody sacrifices, and allow animal food.
Their priests are chosen from all classes ; they are ex
pected to procure their maintenance by perambulation and
bogging, and among othor things it is their duty to en
deavor to turn to some use things thrown aside as useless
by others, and to discover the medicinal power of plants.
But in Ceylon three orders of priests are recognized
those of the highest order are usually men of high birth
and learning, and are supported at the principal temples,
most of which have been richly endowed by the former
monarchs of the country.
For several centuries after the appearance of Buddha,
his sect seems to have been tolerated by the Brahmans,
and Buddhism appears to have penetrated the peninsula
of Hindustan in every direction, and to have been carried
to Ceylon, and to the eastern peninsula. But afterward*
it had to endure in India a long continued persecution,
which ultimately had the effect of entirely abolishing it, in
the country where it had originated but to scatter it widely
over adjacent countries. Buddhism appears to have been
introduced into China about the year C5 of our era.
From China it was subsequently extended to Core*
Japan, and Java.
37
434 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
THE GRAND LAMA.
It is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and
of the Buddhist sect that the confinement of the human
soul, an emanation of the divine spirit, in a human body,
is a state of misery, and the consequence of frailties anj
sins committed during former existences. But they hold
that some few individuals have appeared on this earth
from time to time, not under the necessity of terrestrial
existence, but who voluntarily descended to the earth to
promote the welfare of mankind. These individuals have
gradually assumed the character of reappearances of
Buddha himself, in which capacity the line is continued
till the present day, in the several Lamas of Thibet, Chi
na, and other countries where Buddhism prevails. In
consequence of the victories of Gengis Khan and his suc
cessors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to the
dignity of chief pontiff of the sect. A separate province
was assigned to him as his own territory, and besides his
spiritual dignity he became to a limited extent a temporal
monarch. He is styled the Dalai Lama.
The first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thi
bet were surprised to find there in the heart of Asia a
pontifical court and several other ecclesiastical institutions
resembling those of the Roman Catholic church. They
found convents for priests and nuns ; also, processions and
forms of religious worship, attended with much pomp and
splendor; and many were induced by these similarities
to consider Lamaism as a sort of degenerated Christianity.
It is not improbable that the Lamas derived some of these
practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled
in Tartary when Buddhism was introduced into Thibet.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 486
PRESTER JOHN.
An early account, communicated probably by travelling
merchants, of a Lama or spiritual chief among the Tar
tars, seems to have occasioned in Europe the report of a
Presbyter or Prester John, a Christian pontiff, resident in
Upper Asia. The Pope sent a mission in search of him,
as did also Louis IX. of France, some years later, but
both missions were unsuccessful, though the small commu
nities of Nestorian Christians, which they did find, served
to keep up the belief in Europe that such a personage did
exist somewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth
century, a Portuguese traveller, Pedro Covilham, happen
ing to hear that there was a Christian prince in the coun
try of the Abessines, (Abyssinia,) not far from the Red
Sea, concluded that this must be the true Prester John.
He accordingly went thither, and penetrated to the court
of the king, whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to him
in Paradise Lost, Book XL, where, describing Adam's
vision of b:s descendants in their various nations and
cities, scattered over the face of the earth, he says, —
" Nor did his eyes not ken
TV empire of Negus, to his utmost port,
Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,
Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind."
436
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Odin.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY — VALHALLA — THE VAL-
KYRIOR.
NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY.
THE stories which have engaged our attention thus far
relate to the mythology of southern regions. But there
is another branch of ancient superstitions which ought not
to be entirely overlooked, especially as it belongs to the
nations from which we, through our English ancestors, de-
rire our origin. It is that of the northern nations called
STORIES Ofr GODS AND HEROES. 437
Scandinavians, who inhabited the countries now known aa
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. These mytho
logical records are contained in two collections called the
Eddas, of which the oldest is in poetry and dates back to
the year 1056, the more modern or prose Edda being of
the date of 1G40.
According to the Eddas there was once no heaven above
nor earth beneath, but only a bottomless deep, and a world
of mist in which flowed » fountain. Twelve rivers issued
from this fountain, and when they had flowed far from
their source, they froze into ice, and one layer accumulat
ing over another, the great deep was filled up.
Southward from the world of mist was the world of
light. From this flowed a warm wind upon the ice and
melted it. The vapors rose in the air and formed clouds,
from which sprang Ymir, the Frost giant and his progeny,
and the cow Audhumbla, whose milk afforded nourishment
and food to the giant. The cow got nourishment by lick
ing the hoar frost and salt from the ice. While she was
one day licking the salt stones there appeared at first the
hair of a man, on the second day the whole head, and on
the third the entire form endowed with beauty, agility, and
power. This new being was a god, from whom and his
wife, a daughter of the giant race, sprang the three broth
ers Odin, Vili, and Ve. They slew the giant Ymir, and
out of his body formed the earth, of his blood tr*5 seas, of
his bones the mountains, of his hair the trees, ot his skull
the heavens, and of his brain clouds, charged with hail
and snow. Of Ymir's eyebrows the gods formed M i<Lr:ml,
(mid earth,) destined to become the abode of man.
Odin then regulated the periods of dny and night and
the seasons by placing in the heavens the sun and moon,
&nd appointing to them their respective courses. As soon
37*
4:38 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
as the sun began to shed its rays upon the earth, it caused
the vegetable world to bud and sprout. Shortly after the
gods had created the world they walked by the side of the
Bea, pleased with their new work, but found that it was
still incomplete, for it was without human beings. Thejp
therefore took an ash tree and made a man out of it, and
they made a woman out of an alder, and called the man
Aske and the woman Embla. Odin then gave them life
and soul, Vili reason and motion^ and Ve bestowed upon
them the senses, expressive features, and speech. Mid-
gard was then given them as their residence, and they be
came the progenitors of the human race.
The mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support
the whole universe. It sprang from the body of Ymir,
and had three immense roots, extending one into Asgard,
(the dwelling of the gods,) the other into Jotunheim, (the
abode of the giants,) and the third to NLflleheim, (the re
gions of darkness and cold.) By the side of each of these
roots is a spring, from which it is watered. The root that
extends into Asgard is carefully tended by the three Noras,
goddesses, who are regarded as the dispensers of fate.
They are Urdur, (the past,) Verdandi, (the present,) Skuld,
(the future.) The spring at the Jotunheim side is Ymir's
well, in which wisdom and wit lie hidden, but that of Ni£
fleheim feeds the adder, Nidhogge, (darkness,) which per
petually gnaws at the root. Four harts run across the
branches of the tree and bite the buds ; they represent
the four winds. Under the tree lies Ymir, and when he
tries to shake off its weight the earth quakes.
Asgard is the name of the abode of the gods, access to
which is only gained by crossing the bridge, Bifrost, (the
rainbow.) Asgard consists of golden and silver palaces, the
dwellings of the gods, but the most beautiful of these is Val-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 439
halla, the residence of Odin. "When seated on his throne
he overlooks all heaven and earth. Upon his shoulders are
the ravens Hugin and Munin, who fly every day over the
whole world, and on their return report to him all they
have seen and heard. At his feet lie his two wolves,
Geri and Freki, to whom Odin gives all the meat that is
set before him, for he himself stands in no need of food.
Mead is for him both food and drink. He invented the
Runic characters, and it is the business of the Norns to
engrave the runes of fate upon a metal shield. From
Odin's name, spelt Woden, as it sometimes is, came
Wednesday, the name of the fourth day of the week.
Odin is frequently called Alfadur, (All-father,) but this
name is sometimes used in a way that shows that the
Scandinavians had an idea of a deity superior to Odin,
uncreated and eternal.
OF THE JOYS OF VALHALLA.
Valhalla is the great hall of Odin, wherein he feasts,
with his chosen heroes, all those who have fallen bravely
in battle, for all who die a peaceful death are excluded.
The flesh of the boar Schrimnir is served up to them,
and is abundant for all. For although this boar is cooked
every morning, he becomes whole again every night. For
drink the heroes are supplied abundantly with mead from
the rhe-goat Heidrun. When the heroes are not lea-ting
they amuse themselves with fighting. Every day they
ride out into the court or field and fight until they cut
each other in pieces. This is their jia-time ; but when
meal time comes, they recover from their wounds and re
turn to fea*t in Valhalla.
440 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
THE VALKYRIOR.
The Valkyrior are warlike virgins, mounted upon horsea
and armed with helmets, shields, and spears. Odin, who
is desirous to collect a great many heroes in Valhalla, to
be o.ble to meet the giants in a day when the final contest
must come, sends down to every battle-field to make choice
of those who shall be slain. The Valkyrior are his mes
sengers, and their name means " Choosers of the slain."
When they ride forth on their errand, their armor sheds a
strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern
skies, making what men call the "Aurora Borealis," or
« Northern Lights." *
OP THOR AXD THE OTHER GODS.
Thor, the thunderer, Odin's eldest son, is the strongest
of gods and men, and possesses three very precious things.
The first is a hammer, which both the Frost and the Moun
tain giants know to their cost, when they see it hurled
against them in the air, for it has split many a skull of
their fathers and kindred. When thrown, it returns to
his hand of its own accord. The second rare thing he
possesses is called the belt of strength. When he girds it
about him his divine might is doubled. The third, also
very precious, is his iron gloves, which he puts on when
ever he would use his mallet efficiently. From Thor'fl
name is derived our word Thursday.
Frey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He pro*
• Gray's ode, The Fatal Sisters, is founded on this superstition.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 441
sides over rain and sunshine and all the fruits of the earth.
His sister Freya is the most propitious of the goddesses.
She loves music, spring, and flowers, and is particularly
fond of the Elves, (fairies.) She is very fond of love
ditties, and all lovers would do well to invoke her.
Bragi is the god of poetry, and his song records the
deeds of warriors. His wife, Iduna, keeps in a box the
apples which the gods, when they feel old age approach-
ing, have only to taste of to become young again.
Heimdall is the watchman of the gods, and is therefore
placed on the borders of heaven to prevent the giants
from forcing their way over the bridge Bi frost (the rain
bow.) He requires less sleep than a bird, and sees by
night as well as by day a hundred miles around him. So
acute is his ear that no sound escapes him, for he can even
hear the grass grow and the wool on a sheep's back.
OF LOKI AND HIS PROGENY.
There is another deity who is described as the calumni
ator of the gods and the contriver of all fraud and mis
chief. His name is Loki. He is handsome and well
made, but of a very fickle mood and most evil disposition.
He is of the giant race, but forced himself into the com
pany of the gods, and seems to take pleasure in bringing
them into difficulties, and in extricating them out of the
danger by his cunning, wit, and skill. Loki has three
children. The first is the wolf Fenris, the second the
Midgard serpent, the third Ilela, (Death.) The gods
were not ignorant that these monsters were growing up,
and that they would one day bring much evil upon goda
and men. So Odin deemed it advisable to send one tc
t42 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
bring them to him. When they came he threw the eer
pent into that deep ocean by which the earth is surround
ed. But the monster has grown to such an enormous size
that holding his tail in his mouth he encircles the whole
earth. Hela he cast into Niffleheim, and gave her power
over nine worlds or regions, into which she distributes
those who are sent to her ; that is, all who die of sickness
or old age. Her hall is called Elvidnir. Hunger is her
table, Starvation her knife, Delay her man, Slowness her
maid, Precipice her threshold, Care her bed, and Burning-
anguish forms the hangings of her apartments. She may
easily be recognized, for her body is half flesh color and
half blue, and she has a dreadfully stern and forbidding
countenance.
The wolf Fenris gave the gods a great deal of trouble
before they succeeded in chaining him. He broke the
strongest fetters as if they were made of cobwebs. Final
ly the gods sent a messenger to the mountain spirits, who
made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It is fashioned
of six things, viz., the noise made by the footfall of a cat,
the beards of women, the roots of stones, the breath of
fishes, the nerves (sensibilities) of bears, and the spittle
of birds. When finished it was as smooth and soft as a
silken string. But when the gods asked the wolf to suf
fer himself to be bound with this apparently slight ribbon,
he suspected their design, fearing that it was made by en
chantment. He therefore only consented to be bound
with it upon condition that one of the gods put his hand
in his (Fenris's) mouth as a pledge that the band was to
be removed again. Tyr (the god of battles) alone had
courage enough to do this. But when the wolf found
that he could not break his fetters, and that the gods
would not release him, he bit off Tyr's hand, and he ha*
ever since remained one-handed.
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 443
HOW THOU PAID THE MOUNTAIN GIANT HIS WAGES.
Once Dn a time, when the gods were constructing theii
abodes and had already finished Midgard and Valhalla, a
certain artificer came and offered to build them a residence
BO well fortified that they should be perfectly safe from the
incursions of the Frost giants and the giants of the moun
tains. But he demanded for his reward the goddess
Freya, together with the sun and moon. The gods yield
ed to his terms, provided he would finish the whole work
himself without any one's assistance, and all within the
space of one winter. But if any thing remained unfinished
on the first day of summer he should forfeit the recom
pense agreed on. On being told these terms the artificer
stipulated that he should be allowed the use of his horse
Svadilfari, and this by the advice of Loki was granted to
him. He accordingly set to work on the first day of win
ter, and during the night let his horse draw stone for the
building. The enormous size of the stones struck the
gods with astonishment, and they saw clearly that the
horse did one half more of the toilsome work than his
master. Their bargain however had been concluded, and
confirmed by solemn oaths, for without these precautions
a giant would not have thought himself safe among the
gods, especially when Thor should return from an expe
dition he had then undertaken against the evil demons.
As the winter drew to a close, the building was far ad
vanced, and the bulwarks were sufficiently high and massivo
to render the place impregnable. In short when it wanted
but three days to summer the only part that remained tc
be finished was the gateway. Then sat the gods on theii
seats of justice and entered into consultation, inquiring of
1.44 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
one another who among them could have advised to give
1'roya away, or to plunge the heavens in darkness by per*
milling the giant to carry away the sun and the moon.
They all agreed that no one but Loki, the author of so
many evil deeds, could have given such bad counsel, and
that he should be put to a cruel death if he did not con
trive some way to prevent the artificer from completing
his task and obtaining the stipulated recompense. They
proceeded to lay hands on Loki, who in his fright prom
ised upon oath that, let it cost him what it would, he would
so manage matters that the man should lose his reward.
That very night when the man went with Svadilfari for
building stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and
began to neigh. The horse thereat broke loose and ran after
the mare into the forest, which obliged the man also to run
after his horse, and thus between one and another the whole
night was lost, so that at dawn the work had not made the
usual progress. The man seeing that he must fail of com
pleting his task, resumed his own gigantic stature, and the
gods now clearly perceived that it was in reality a moun
tain giant who had come amongst them. Feeling no longer
bound by their oaths, they called on Thor, who immediately
ran to their assistance, and lifting up his mallet, paid the
workman his wages, not with the sun and moon, and not
even by sending him back to Jotunheim, for with the first
blow he shattered the giant's skull to pieces and hurled
him headlong into Niffleheim.
THE RECOVERY OP THE HAMMER.
Once upon a time it happened that Thor's hammer fell
Into the possession of the giant Thrym, who buried it
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 445
eight fathoms deep under the rocks of Jotunheim. Tlior
Bent Loki to negotiate with Thrym, but he could only pre
vail so far as to get the giant's promise to restore the
weapon if Freya would consent to be his bride. Loki re
turned and reported the result of his mission, but the god
dess of love was quite horrified at the idea of bestowing
her charms on the king of the Frost giants. In this
emergency Loki persuaded Tlior to dress himself in
Freya's clothes and accompany him to Jotunheim. Tlirym
received his veiled bride with due courtesy, but was greatly
surprised at seeing her eat for her supper eight salmons
and a full grown ox besides other delicacies, washing the
whole down with three tuns of mead. Loki however as
sured him that she had not tasted any thing for eight long
nights, so great was her desire to see her lover, the re
nowned ruler of Jotunheim. Tlirym had at length the
curiosity to peep under his bride's veil, but started back in
affright and demanded why Freya's eyeballs glistened with
fire. Loki repeated the same excuse and the giant was
satisfied. He ordered the hammer to be brought in and
laid on the maiden's lap Thereupon Thor threw oil' his
disguise, grasped his redoubted weapon and slaughtered
Thrym and all his followers.
Frey also possessed a wonderful weapon, a sword which
would of itself spread a field with carnage whenever the
owner desired it. Frey parted with this sword, hut wa> les>
fortunate than Thor and never recovered it. It happened
in this way : Frey once mounted Odin's throne, horn
whence one can see over the whole universe, and looking
round saw far off in the giant's kingdom a beautiful maid,
at the sight of whom he was struck wiih sudden >adm--s,
insomuch that from that moment he could neiiher ^eep,
nor drink, nor speak. At last Skirnir, his messenger
38*
446 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
drew his secret from him, and undertook to get him the
maiden for his bride, if he would give him his sword as a
reward. Frey consented and gave him the sword, and
Skirnir set off on his journey and obtained the maiden's
promise that within nine nights she would come to a certain
place and there wed Frey. Skirnir having reported the
success of his errand, Frey exclaimed, —
" Long is one night,
Long are two nights,
But how shall I hold out three ?
Shorter hath seemed
A month to me oft
Than of this longing time the half."
So Frey obtained Gerda, the most beautiful of all
women, for his wife, but he lost his sword.
This story, entitled Skirnir For, and the one imme
diately preceding it, Thrym's Quida, will bo found poet
ically told in Longfellow's Poets and Poetry of Europe.
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
447
Tlxor.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM.
THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM, THE GIANT'S COUNTBT.
ONE day the god Thor, with his servant Thialfi, and
accompanied by Loki, set out on a journey to the giant's
country. Thialfi was of all men the swiftest of foot. He
bore Thor's wallet, containing their provisions. When
night came on they found themselves in an immense forest,
and searched on all sides for a place where they might
pass the night, and at last came to a very large hall, with
an entrance that took the whole breadth of one end of the
building. Here they lay down to sleep, but towards mid-
4.48 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
night were alarmed by an earthquake which shook the
whole edifice. Thor rising up called on his companio'
to seek with him a place of safety. On the right they
found an adjoining chamber, into which the others entered,
but Thor remained at the doorway with his mallet in his
hand, prepared to defend himself, whatever might happen
A terrible groaning was heard during the night, and a
dawn of day Thor went out and found lying near him a
huge giant, who slept and snored in the way that had
alarmed them so. It is said that for once Thor was afraid
to use his mallet, and as the giant soon waked up, Thor
contented himself with simply asking his name.
" My name is Skrymir," said the giant, " but I need not
ask thy name, for I know that thou art the god Thor. But
what has become of my glove ? " Thor then perceived
that what they had taken overnight for a hall was the
giant's glove, and the chamber where his two companions
had sought refuge was the thumb. Skrymir then pro
posed that they should travel in company, and Thor con
senting, they sat down to eat their breakfast, and when
they had done, Skrymir packed all the provisions into one
wallet, threw it over his shoulder, arid strode on before
them, taking such tremendous strides that they were hard
put to it to keep up with him. So they travelled the
whole day, and at dusk, Skrymir chose a place for them
to pass the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then
told them he would lie down to sleep. " But take ye the
wallet," he added, " and prepare your supper."
Skrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly
but when Thor tried to open the wallet, he found the giant
had tied it up so tight he could not untie a single knot.
At last Thor became wroth, and grasping his mallet with
both hands he struck a furious blow on the giant's head
STORIES OF GODS AND HKROES 44S
Skrymir awakening merely asked whether a leaf had not
fallen on his head, and whether they had supped and were
ready to go to sleep. Thor answered that they were just
going to sleep, and so saying went and laid himself down
under another tree. But sleep came not that night tc
Thor, and when Skrymir snored again so loud that the
forest re-echoed with the noise, he arose, and grasping his
mallet launched it with such force at the giant's skull that
it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir awakening cried out,
" What's the matter ? are there any birds perched on this
tree? I felt some moss from the branches fall on my
head. How fares it with thee, Thor ? " But Thor went
away hastily, saying that he had just then awoke, and that
as it was only midnight, there was still time for sleep.
He however resolved that if he had an opportunity of
striking a third blow, it should settle all matters between
them. A little before daybreak he perceived that Skry
mir was again fast asleep, and again grasping his mallet,
he dashed it with such violence that it forced its way into
the giant's skull up to the handle. But Skrymir sat up,
and stroking his cheek said, " An acorn fell on my head.
What! Art thou awake, Thor? Methinks it is time for
us to get up and dress ourselves ; but you have not now a
long way before you to the city called Utgard. I have
heard you whispering to one another that I am not a man
of small dimensions ; but' if you come to Utgard you will
see there many men much taller than I. Wherefore I
advise you, when you come there, not to make too much
of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard-Loki will not
brook the boasting of such little fellows as you are. You
must take the road that leads eastward, mine lies north
ward, so we must part here."
Hereupon he threw his wallet over his shoulders, and
38*
450 STORIES OP GODS AND HEKOES.
turned away from them into the forest, and Thor had no
wish to stop him or to ask for any more of his company.
Thor and his companions proceeded on their way, and
towards noon descried a city standing in the middle of a
plain. It was so lofty that they were obliged to bend their
necks quite back on their shoulders in order to see to the
top of it. On arriving they entered the city, and seeing
a large palace before them with the door wide open, they
went in, and found a number of men of prodigious stature,
sitting on benches in the hall. Going further, they came
before the king Utgard-Loki, whom they saluted with
great respect. The king, regarding them with a scornful
smile, said, "If I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder
must be the god Thor." Then addressing himself to Thor,
he said, " Perhaps thou mayst be more than thou appear-
est to be. What are the feats that thou and thy fellows
deem yourselves skilled in, for no one is permitted to re
main here who does not, in some feat or other, excel all
other men ? "
" The feat that I know," said Loki, " is to eat quicker
than any one else, and in this I am ready to give a proof
against any one here who may choose to compete with me."
" That will indeed be a feat," said Utgard-Loki, " if thou
performest what thou promisest, and it shall be tried forth
with."
He then ordered one of his men who was sitting at the
farther end of the bench, and whose name was Logi, to
come forward and try his skill with Loki. A trough filled
with meat having been set on the hall floor, Loki placed
himself at one end, and Logi at the other, and each of
them began to eat as fast as he could, until they met in
the middle of the trough. But it was found that Loki had
»nly eaten the flesh, while his adversary had devoured
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 45]
both flesh and bone, and the trough to boot All the com
pany therefore adjudged that Loki was vanquished.
Utgard-Loki then asked what feat the young man who
accompanied Thor could perform. Thialfi answered that
he would run a race with any one who might be matched
against him. The king observed that skill in running was
Bomething to boast of, but if the youth would win the
match he must display great agility. He then arose and
went with all who were present to a plain where there
was good ground for running on, and calling a young man
named Hugi, bade him run a match with Thialfi. In the
first course Hugi so much outstripped his competitor that
he turned back and met him not far from the starting
place. Then they ran a second and a third time, but Thi
alfi met with no better success.
Utgard-Loki then asked Thor in what feats he would
choose to give proofs of that prowess for which he was so
famous. Thor answered that he would try a drinking-
match with any one. Utgard-Loki bade his cupbearer
bring the large horn which his followers were obliged to
empty when they had trespassed in any way against the
law of the feast. The cupbearer having presented it to
Thor, Utgard-Loki said, "Whoever is a good drinker will
empty that horn at a single draught, though most men
make two of it, but the most puny drinker can do it in
three."
Thor looked at the horn, which seemed of no extraor
dinary size though somewhat long ; however, as he was
very thirsty, he set it to his lips, and without drawing
breath, pulled as long and as deeply as he could, that he
might not be obliged to make a second draught of it ; but
when he set the horn down and looked in, he could scaroe-
7 perceive that the liquor was diminished.
452 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
After taking breath, Thor went to it again with all hii
might, but when he took the horn from his mouth, it
seemed to him that he had drank rather less than before,
although the horn could now be carried without spilling.
" How now, Thor," said Utgard-Loki, " thou must not
spare thyself; if thou meanest to drain the horn at the
third draught thou must pull deeply; and I must needs
say that thou wilt not be called so mighty a man here as
thou art at home if thou showest no greater prowess in
other feats than methinks will be shown in this."
Thor, full of wrath, again set the horn to his lips, and
did his best to empty it; but on looking in found the
liquor was only a little lower, so he resolved to make no
further attempt, but gave back the horn to the cupbearer.
" I now see plainly," said Utgard-Loki, " that thou art
not quite so stout as we thought thee ; but wilt thou try
any other feat, though methinks thou art not likely to bear
any prize away with thee hence."
"What new trial hast thou to propose ?" said Thor.
" We have a very trifling game here," answered Ut
gard-Loki, " in which we exercise none but children. It
consists in merely lifting my cat from the ground ; nor
should I have dared to mention such a feat to the great
Thor if I had not already observed that thou art by no
means what we took thee for."
As he finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang on the
hall floor. Thor put his hand under the cat's belly and
did his utmost to raise him from the floor, but the cat,
bending his back, had, notwithstanding all Thor's efforts,
only one of his feet lifted up, seeing which Thor made no
further attempt.
" This trial has turned out," said Utgard-Loki, "just aa
I imagined it would. The cat is large, but Thor is little
ID comparison to our men."
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 453
a Little as ye call me," answered Thor, " let me see who
among you will come hither now I am in wrath and wres
tle with me."
" I see no one here," said Utgard-Loki, looking at the
men sitting on the benches, " who would not think it be
neath him to wrestle with thee ; let somebody, however,
call hither that old crone, my nurse Elli, and let Thor
wrestle with her if he will. She has thrown to the ground
many a man not less strong than this Thor is.
A toothless old woman then entered the hall, and waa
told by Utgard-Loki to take hold of Thor. The tale is
shortly told. The more Thor tightened his hold on the
crone the firmer she stood. At length after a very vio
lent struggle, Thor began to lose his footing, and was
finally brought down upon one knee. Utgard-Loki then
told them to desist, adding that Thor had now no occasion
to ask any one else in the hall to wrestle with him, and it
was also getting late ; so he showed Thor and his com
panions to their seats, and they passed the night there in
good cheer.
The next morning at break of day, Thor and his com
panions dressed themselve3 and prepared for their depart
ure. Utgard-Loki ordered a table to be set for them, on
tfhich there was no lack of victuals or drink. After the
repast Utgard-Loki led them to the gate of the city, and
on parting asked Thor how he thought his journey had
turned out, and whether he had met with any men stronger
than himself. Thor told him that he could not deny but
that he had brought great shame on himself. " And what
grieves me most," he added, " is that ye will call me a per
son of little worth."
"Nay," said Utgard-Loki, "it behooves me to tell
thee the truth, now thou art out of the city, which so long
454 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
as I live and have my way them shalt never enler again,
And, by my troth, had I known beforehand, that thou
hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst have brought
me so near to a great mishap, I would not have suffered
thee fc enter this time. Know then that I have all along
deceived thee by my illusions ; first in the forest, where I
tied up the wallet with iron wire so that thou couldst not
untie it. After this thou gavest me three blows with thy
mallet ; the first, though the least, would have ended my
days had it fallen on me, but I slipped aside and thy blows
fell on the mountain where thou wilt find three glens, one
of them remarkably deep. These are the dints made by
thy mallet. I have made use of similar illusions in the
contests you have had with my followers. In the first,
Loki, like hunger itself, devoured all that was set before
him, but Logi was in reality nothing else than Fire, and
therefore consumed not only the meat, but the trough
which held it. Hugi, with whom Thialfi contended in run
ning, was Thought, and it was impossible for Thialfi to
keep pace with that. When thou in thy turn didst at
tempt to empty the horn, thou didst perform, by my troth,
a deed so marvellous, that had I not seen it myself, I
should never have believed it. For one end of that horn
reached the sea, which thou wast not aware of, but when
thou comest to the shore thou wilt perceive how much the
sea has sunk by thy draughts. Thou didst perform a feat
no less wonderful by lifting up the cat, and to tell thee the
truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off the floor,
we were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest
for a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that encom-
passeth the earth, and he was so stretched by thee, that
he was barely long. enough to enclose it between his head
and tail. Thy wrestling with Elli was also a mast aston-
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 455
ishing feat, for there was never yet a man, nor ever will
be, whom Old Age, for such in fact was Elli, will not
sooner or later lay low. But now, as we are going to part,
let me tell thee that it will be better for both of us if thou
never come near me again, for shouldst thou do so, I
shall again Defend myself by other illusions, so that thou
wilt only lose thy labor and get no fame from the contest
with me."
On hearing these words Thor in a rage laid hold of his
mallet and would have launched it at him, but Utgard-
Loki had disappeared, and when Thor would have re
turned to the city to destroy it, he found nothing around
him but a verdant plain.
466 STORIES OF GODS AND HEEOE8.
CHAPTER XL.
THE DEATH OF BALDUR — THE ELVES — RUNIC
LETTERS — SKALDS — ICELAND.
THE DEATH OF BALDUB.
BALDUR the Good, having been tormented with terrible
dreams indicating that his life was in peril, told them to
the assembled gods, who resolved to conjure all things to
avert from him the threatened danger. Then Frigga, the
wife of Odin, exacted an oath from fire and water, from
iron and all other metals, from stones, trees, diseases, beasts,
birds, poisons, and creeping things, that none of them
would do any harm to Baldur. Odin, not satisfied with
all this, and feeling alarmed for the fate of his son, deter
mined to consult the prophetess Angerbode, a giantess,
mother of Fenris, Hela, and the Midgard serpent. She
was dead, and Odin was forced to seek her in Hela's do
minions. This Descent of Odin forms the subject of
Gray's fine ode beginning, —
1 Uprose the king of men with speed
And saddled straight his coal-black steed.'
But the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was
quite sufficient, amused themselves with using Baldur as a
mark, some hurling darts at him, some stones, while others
hewed at him with their swords and battle-axes ; for do
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 457
what they would none of them could harm him. And
this became a favorite pastime with them and was regard
ed as an honor shown to Baldur. But when Loki beheld
the scene he was sorely vexed that Baldur was not hurt.
Assuming, therefore, the shape of a woman, he went to
Fensalir, the mansion of Frigga. That goddess, when
she saw the pretended woman, inquired of her if she knew
what the gods were doing at their meetings. She replied
that they were throwing darts and stones at Baldur, with
out being able to hurt him. "Ay," said Frigga, " neither
stones, nor sticks, nor any thing else can hurt Baldur, for
I have exacted an oath from all of them." " What," ex
claimed the woman, " have all things sworn to spare Bal
dur ? " "All things," replied Frigga, " except one little
shrub that grows on the eastern side of Valhalla, and is
called Mistletoe, and which I thought too young and feeble
to crave an oath from."
As soon as Loki heard this he went away, and resum
ing his natural shape, cut off the mistletoe, and repaired
to the place where the gods were assembled. There he
found Hodur standing apart, without partaking of the
sports, on account of his blindness, and going up to him,
said, " Why dost thou not also throw something at Bal
dur?"
u Because I am blind," answered Hodur, " and see no*
Adhere Baldur is, and have moreover nothing to throw."
" Come, then," said Loki, " do like the rest, and show
honor to Baldur by throwing this twig at him, and I will
direct thy arm towards the place where he stands."
Hodur then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance
of Loki, darted it at Baldur, who, pierced through and
through, fell down lifeless. Surely never was there wit
nessed, either among gods or men, a more atrocious deed
39
458 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
than this. When Baldur fell, the gods were struck speech
less with horror, and then they looked at each other, and
all were of one mind to lay hands on him who had done
the deed, but they were ohliged to delay their vengeance
out of respect for the sacred place where they were as-
eembled. They gave vent to their grief by loud lamenta
tions. When the gods came to themselves, Frigga asked
who among them wished to gain all her love and good
will. " For this," said she, " shall he have who will ride
to Ilel and offer Hela a ransom if she will let Baldur re
turn to Asgard." Whereupon Hermod, surnamed the
Nimble, the son of Odin, offered to undertake the journey.
Odin's horse, Sleipnir, which has eight legs, and can out
run the wind, was then led forth, on which Hermod mount
ed and galloped away on his mission. For the space of
nine days and as many nights he rode through deep glens
so dark that he could not discern any thing, until he arrived
at the river Gyoll, which he passed over on a bridge cov
ered with glittering gold. The maiden who kept the
bridge asked him his name and lineage, telling him that
the day before five bands of dead persons had ridden over
the bridge, and did not shake it as much as he alone.
" But," she added, " thou hast net death's hue on thee ; why
then ridest thou here on the way to Hel ? "
" I ride to Hel," answered Hermod, " to seek Baldur.
Hast thou perchance seen him pass this way ? "
She replied, " Baldur hath ridden over Gyoll's bridge,
and yonder lieth the way he took to the abodes of death."
Hermod pursued his journey until he came to the barred
gates of Hel. Here he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter,
and remounting clapped both spurs to his horse, who
cleared the gate by a tremendous leap without touching it.
Hermod then rode on to the palace, where he found hia
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 459
brother Baldur occupying the most distinguished seat in
the hall, and passed the night in his company. The next
morning he besought Hela to let Baldur ride home with
him, assuring her that nothing but lamentations were to
be heard among the gods. Hela answered that it should
now be tried whether Baldur was so beloved as he was
said to be. " If, therefore," she added, " all things in the
world, both living and lifeless, weep for him, then shall he
return to life ; but if any one thing speak against him or
refuse to weep, he shall be kept in Hel."
Hermod then rode back to Asgard and gave an account
of all he had heard and witnessed.
The gods upon this despatched messengers throughout
the world to beg every thing to weep in order that Baldur
might be delivered from Hel. All things very willingly
complied with this request, both men and every other liv
ing being, as well as earths, and stones, and trees, and
metals, just as we have all seen these things weep when
they are brought from a cold place into a hot one. As
the messengers were returning, they found an old hag
named Thaukt sitting in a cavern, and begged her to weep
Baldur out of HeL But she answered, —
"Thaukt will wail
With dry tears
Baldur's bale-fire.
Let Hela keep her own."
It was strongly suspected that this hag was no other
than Loki himself, who never ceased to work evil amonj»
gods and men. So Baldur was prevented from coming
back to Asgard.*
• In Longfellow's Poems, vol. ii. page 379, will be found a poem
entitled Tegner's Drapa, upon the subject of Baldur's death.
460 STORIED ,F GODS AND HEROES.
THE FUNERAL OF BALDUR.
The gods took up the dead body and bore it to the sea«
shore where stood Baldur's ship Hringham, which passed
for the largest in the world. Baldur's dead body was put
on the funeral pile, on board the ship, and his wife Nanna
was so struck with grief at the sight that she broke her
heart, and her body was burned on the same pile with her
husband's. There was a vast concourse of various kinds
of people at Baldur's obsequies. First came Odin accom
panied by Frigga, the Valkyrior, and his ravens ; then
Frey in his car drawn by Gullinbursti, the boar ; Heim-
dall rode his horse Gulltopp, and Freya drove in her chariot
drawn by cats. There were also a great many Frost
giants and giants of the mountain present. Baldur's horse
was led to the pile fully caparisoned and consumed in the
same flames with his master.
But Loki did not escape his deserved punishment.
When he saw how angry the gods were, he fled to the
mountain, and there built himself a hut with four doors, so
that he could see every approaching danger. He invented
a net to catch the fishes, such as fishermen have used since
his time. But Odin found out his hiding-place and the
gods assembled to take him. He, seeing this, changed him
self into a salmon, and lay hid among the stones of the
brook. But the gods took his net and dragged the brook,
and Loki finding he must be caught, tried to leap over the
net ; but Thor caught him by the tail and compressed it
BO, that salmons ever since have had that part remarkably
fine and thin. They bound him with chains and suspend
ed a serpent over his head, whose venom falls upon his
foce drop by drop. His wife Siguna sits by his side and
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 461
catches the drops as they fall, in a, cup ; but when she car*
ries it away to empty it, the venom falls upon Loki, which
makes him howl with horror, and twist his body about so
violently that the whole earth shakes, and this produces
what men call earthquakes.
THE ELVES.
The Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to
the gods, but still possessed of great power ; these were
called Elves. The white spirits, or Elves of Light, were
exceedingly fair, more brilliant than the sun, and clad in
garments of a delicate and transparent texture. They
loved the light, were kindly disposed to mankind, and gen
erally appeared as fair and lovely children. Their country
was called Alfheim, and was the domain of Freyr, the god
of the sun, in whose light they were always sporting.
The black or Night Elves were a different kind of
creatures. Ugly, long-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown
color, they appeared only at night, for they avoided the sun
as their most deadly enemy, because whenever his beams
fell upon any of them they changed them immediately
into stones. Their language was the echo of solitudes,
and their dwelling-places subterranean caves and clefts,
They were supposed to have come into existence as maggots
produced by the decaying flesh of Ymir's body, and were
afterwards endowed by the gods with a human form and
great understanding. They were particularly distinguished
for a knowledge of the mysterious powers of nature, and
for the runes which they carved and explained. They
were the most skilful artificers of all created beings, and
worked in metals and in wood. Among their most noted
39*
462 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
works were Thor's hammer, and the ship Skidbladnir
which they gave to Freyr, and which was so large that it
could contain all the deities with their war and household
implements, but so skilfully was it wrought that when
folded together it could be put into a side pocket.
RAGNAROK, THE TWILIGHT OP THE GODS.
It was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time
would come when all the visible creation, the gods of Val
halla and Niffleheim, the inhabitants of Jotunheim, Alf-
heim, and Midgard, together with their habitations, would
be destroyed. The fearful day of destruction will not how
ever be without its forerunners. First will come a triple
winter, during which snow will fall from the four corners
of the heavens, the frost be very severe, the wind piercing,
the weather tempestuous, and the sun impart no gladness.
Three such winters will pass away without being tempered
by a single summer. Three other similar winters will
then follow, during which war and discord will spread over
the universe. The earth itself will be frightened and be
gin to tremble, the sea leave its basin, the heavens tear
asunder, and men perish in great numbers, and the eagles
of the air feast upon their still quivering bodies. The
wolf Fenris will now break his bands, the Midgard serpent
rise out of her bed in the sea, and Loki, released from Ir'j
bonds, will join the enemies of the gods. Amidst the gen
eral devastation the sons of Muspelheim will rush forth
under their leader Surtur, before and behind whom are
flames and burning fire. Onward they ride over Bifrost,
the rainbow bridge, which breaks under the horses' hoofs.
But they, disregarding its fall, direct their course to the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 463
battle-field called Vigrid. Thither also repair the wolf
Fenris, the Midgard serpent, Loki with all the follow era
of Hela, and the Frost giants.
Heimdall now stands up and sounds the Giallar horn to
assemble the gods and heroes for the contest. The godo
advance led on by Odin, who engages the wolf Fenris,
but falls a victim to the monster, who is however slain by
Vidar, Odin's son. Thor gains great renown by killing
the Midgard serpent, but recoils and falls dead, suffocated
with the venom which the dying monster vomits over him.
Loki and Heimdall meet and fight till they are both slain.
The gods and their enemies having fallen in battle, Surtur,
who has killed Freyr, darts fire and flames over the world,
and the whole universe is burned up. The sun becomes
dim, the earth sinks into the ocean, the stars fall from
heaven, and time is no more.
After this Alfadur (the Almighty) will cause a new
heaven and a new earth to arise out of the sea. The new
earth filled with abundant supplies will spontaneously pro
duce its fruits without labor or care. Wickedness and
misery will no more be known, but the gods and men will
live happily together.
RUNIC LETTERS.
One cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden
without meeting with great stones, of different forms, en
graven with characters called Runic, which appear at first
sight very different from all we know. The letters con
sist almost invariably of straight lines, in the shape of
little sticks either singly or put together. Such sticks
were in early times used by the northern nations for the
464 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
purpose of ascertaining future events. The sticks were
shaken up, and from the figures that they formed a kind
of divination was derived.
The Runic characters were of various kinds. They
were chiefly used for magical purposes. The noxious, or,
as they called them, the litter runes, were employed to
bring various evils on their enemies ; the favorable averted
misfortune. Some were medicinal, others employed to
win love, &c. In later times they were frequently used
for inscriptions, of which more than a thousand have been
found. The language is a dialect of the Gothic, called
Norse, still in use in Iceland. The inscriptions may there
fore be read with certainty, but hitherto very few have
been found which throw the least light on history. They
are nfostly epitaphs on tombstones.
Gray's ode on the Descent of Odin contains an allusion
to the use of Runic letters for incantation : —
" Facing to the northern clime,
Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme ;
Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,
The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,
Till from out the hollow ground
Slowly breathed a sullen sound."
THE SKALDS.
The Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a
very important class of men in all communities in an early
stage of civilization. They are the depositaries of what
ever historic lore there is, and it is their office to mingle
something of intellectual gratification with the rude feasts
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 465
ot the warriors, by rehearsing, with such accompaniments
of poetry and music as their skill can afford, the exploits
of their heroes living or dead. The compositions of the
Skalds were called Sagas, many of which have come down
to us, and contain valuable materials of history, and a
faithful picture of the state of society at the time to which
they relate.
ICELAND.
The Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland.
The following extract from Carlyle's Lectures on Heroes
and Hero Worship gives an animated account of the region
where the strange stories we have been reading had their
origin. Let the reader contrast it for a moment with
Greece, the parent of classical mythology.
" In that strange island, Iceland, — burst up, the geol
ogists say, by fire from the bottom of the sea, a wild land
of barrenness and lava, swallowed many months of every
year in black tempests, yet with a wild, gleaming beauty
in summer time, towering up there stern and grim in the
North Ocean, with its snow yokuls, [mountains,] roaring
geysers, [boiling springs,] sulphur pools, and horrid vol
canic chasms, like the waste, chaotic battle-field of Frost
and Fire, — where, of all places, we least looked for lit
erature or written memorials, — the record of these things
was written down. On the seaboard of this wild land is
a rim of grassy country, where cattle can subsist, and men
by means of them and of what the sea yields ; and it
seems they were poetic men these, men who had deep
thoughts in them and uttered musically their thoughts.
Much would be lost had Iceland not been burst up from
the sea, not been discovered by the Northmen 1 "
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
Cromlech.
CHAPTER XLI.
THE DRUIDS — IONA.
DRUIDS.
TIIE Druids were the priests or ministers of religion
among the ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and
Germany. Our information respecting them is borrowed
from notices in the Greek and Roman writers, com
pared with the remains of Welsh and Gaelic poetry
?till extant.
The Druids combined the functions of the priest, the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 467
magistrate, the scholar, and the physician. They stood to
the people of the Celtic tribes in a relation closely analo
gous to that in which the Brahmans of India, the Magi of
Persia, and the priests of the Egyptians stood to the peo
ple respectively by whom they were revered.
The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom
they gave a name " Be' al," which Celtic antiquaries tell
us means " the life of every thing," or " the source of all
beings," and which seerns to have affinity with the Phoeni
cian Baal. What renders this affinity more striking is
that the Druids as well as the Phoenicians identified this,
their supreme deity, with the Sun. Fire was regarded as
a symbol of the divinity. The Latin writers assert thac
the Druids also worshipped numerous inferior gods.
They used no images to represent the object of their
worship, nor did they meet in temples or buildings of any
kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle
of stones (each stone generally of vast size) enclosing an
area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in diameter, con
stituted their sacred place. The most celebrated «f these
now remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, Eng
land.
These sacred circles were generally situated near some
stream, or under the shadow of a grove or wide-spreading
oak. In the centre of the circle stood the Cromlech or
altar, which was a large stone, placed in the manner of a
table upon other stones set up on end. The Druids had
also their high places, which were large stones or piles of
stones on the summits of hills. These were called Cairns,
and were used in the worship of the deity under the sym
bol of the sun.
That the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity there
can be no doubt. But there is some uncertainty as to
468 STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES.
what they offered, and of the ceremonies connected witfc
their religious services we know almost nothing. The
classical (Roman) writers affirm that they offered on great
occasions human sacrifices ; as for success in war or for
relief from dangerous diseases. Caesar has given a de
tailed account of the manner in which this was done.
" They have images of immense size, the limbs of which
are framed with twisted twigs and filled with living per
sons. These being set on fire, those within are encom
passed by the flames." Many attempts have been made
by Celtic writers to shake the testimony of the Roman
historians to this fact, but without success.
The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The
former took place in the beginning of May, and was called
Beltane or " fire of God." On this occasion a large fire
was kindled on some elevated spot, in honor of the sun,
whose returning beneficence they thus welcomed after the
gloom and desolation of winter. Of this custom a trace
remains in the name given to Whitsunday in parts of
Scotland to this day. Sir Walter Scott uses the word in
the Boat Song in the Lady of the Lake : —
" Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain,
Blooming at Beltane in winter to fade ; " &c.
The other great festival of the Druids was called
u Samh' in," or " fire of peace/' and was held on Hallow-eve,
(first of November,) which still retains this designation in
the Highlands of Scotland. On this occasion the Druida
assembled in solemn conclave, in the most central part of
the district, to discharge the judicial functions of their
order. All questions, whether public or private, all crimes
against person or property, were at this time brought be
fore them for adjudication. With these jo ^ci^ nets were
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 469
combined certain superstitious usages, especially the kin
dling of the sacred fire, from which all the fires in the
district, which had been beforehand scrupulously extin
guished, might be relighted. This usage of kindling fires
on Hallow-eve lingered in the British islands long after
the establishment of Christianity.
Besides these two great annual festivals, the Druids
were in the habit of observing the full moon, and espe
cially the sixth day of the moon. On the latter they
sought the Mistletoe, which grew on their favorite oaks,
and to which, as well as to the oak itself, they ascribed a
peculiar virtue and sacredness. The discovery of it was
an occasion of rejoicing and solemn worship. " They call
it," says Pliny, " by a word in their language which means
* heal-all,' and having made solemn preparation for feasting
and sacrifice under the tree, they drive thither two milk-
white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time bound.
The priest then, robed in white, ascends the tree, and cuts
oft* the mistletoe with a golden sickle. It is caught in a
white mantle, after which they proceed to slay the victims,
at the same time praying that God would render his gift
prosperous to those to whom he had given it." They
drink the water in which it has been infused, and think it
a remedy for all diseases. The mistletoe is a parasitic
plant, and is not always nor often found on the oak, so
that when it is found it is the more precious.
The Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of
religion. Of their ethical teaching a valuable specimen is
preserved in the Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from
this we may gather that their views of moral rectitude
were on the whole just, and that they held and inculcated
many very noble and valuable principles of conduct.
They were also the men of science and learning of theii
40
470 6TOIUES OP GODS AND HEROES.
age and people. Whether they were acquainted with
letters or not has been disputed, though the probability ia
strong that they were, to some extent. But it is certain
that they committed nothing of their doctrine, their his-
tory, or their poetry to writing. Their teaching was oral,
and their literature (if such a word may be used in such
u case) was preserved solely by tradition. But the Ro
man writers admit that " they paid much attention to the
order and laws of nature, and investigated and taught to
the youth under their charge many things concerning the
stars and their motions, the size of the world and the
lands, and concerning the might and power of the immor
tal gods."
Their history consisted in traditional tales, in which the
heroic deeds of their forefathers were celebrated. These
were apparently in verse, and thus constituted part of the
poetry as well as the history of the Druids. In the poems
of Ossian we have, if not the actual productions of Druid-
ical times, what may be considered faithful representations
of the songs of the Bards.
The Bards were an essential part of the Druidical hie
rarchy. One author, Pennant, says, " The Bards were
supposed to be endowed with powers equal to inspiration.
They were the oral historians of all past transactions, pub
lic and private. They were also accomplished genealo
gists, &e."
Pennant gives a minute account of the Eisteddfods or
sessions of the Bards and minstrels, which were held in
Wales for many centuries, long after the Druidical priest
hood in its other departments became extinct. At these
meetings none but Bards of merit were suffered to rehearse
their pieces, and minstrels of skill to perform. Judges
were appointed to decide on their respective abilities, and
suitable degrees were conferred. In the earlier period the
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 47 i
judges were appointed by the Welsh princes, and after the
conquest of Wales, by commission from the kings of Eng
land. Yet the tradition is that Edward I., in revenge to*
the influence of the i>ards, in animating the resistance of
the people to his sway, persecuted them with great cruelty.
This tradition has furnisned the poet Gray with the sub
ject of his celebrated ode, the JJard.
There are still occasional meetings of the lovers of
Welsh poetry and niuau, neid under the ancient name.
Among Mrs. licmans's poems is one written for an Eis
teddfod, or meeiing of Y\ eish liards, held in London May
22, 1622. it begins wnii a description of tiie ancient
meeting, of which the following lines are a part : —
" midst the eternal clitfs. whose strength defied
The crested Koinaa in h's Lour of pride ;
And where the Druid's ancioi't cromlech frowned,
And the oaks breathed mystericus murmurs round,
There thronged the inspired of yore ! on plain or height,
In the sun's face, beneath the eye of light.
And baring unto heaven each noble head,
Stood in the circle, where noire else might tread."
The Druidical system was at its height at the time of
the Roman invasion under Julius Caesar. Against the
Druids, as their chief enemies, these conquerors of the
world directed their unsparing fury. The Druids, har
assed at all points on the main land, retreated to Anglesey
and lona, where for a season they found shelter and con
tinued their now-dishonored rites.
The Druids retained their predominance in lona and
over the adjacent islands and main land until they were
supplanted and their superstitions overturned by the ar«
rival of St. Columba, the apostle of the Highlands, by
whom the inhabitants of tha't district were first led to pro
fess Christianity.
472 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
IONA.
One of the smallest of the British Isles, situated near a
rugged and barren coast, surrounded by dangerous seas,
and possessing no sources of internal wealth, lona has
obtained an imperishable place in history as the seat of
civilization and religion at a time when the darkness of
heathenism hung over almost the whole of Northern Eu
rope, lona or Icolmkill is situated at the extremity of the
island of Mull, from which it is separated by a strait of
half a mile in breadth, its distance from the main land of
Scotland being thirty-six miles.
Columba was a native of Ireland, and connected by
birth with the princes of the land. Ireland was at that
time a land of gospel light, while the western and northern
parts of Scotland were still immersed in the darkness of
heathenism. Columba with twelve friends landed on the
island of lona in the year of our Lord 563, having made
the passage in a wicker boat covered with hides. The
Druids who occupied the island endeavored to prevent his
settling there, and the savage nations on the adjoining
shores incommoded him with their hostility, and on several
occasions endangered his life by their attacks. Yet by his
perseverance and zeal he surmounted all opposition, pro
cured from the king a gift of the island, and established
there a monastery of which he was the abbot. He was
unwearied in his labors to disseminate a knowledge of the
Scriptures throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scot
land, and such was the reverence paid him that though not
u bishop, but merely a presbyter and monk, the entire
province with its bishops was subject to him and his suc
cessors. The Pictish monarch was so impressed with a
STORIES OP GODS AND HEROES. 473
sense of his wisdom and worth that he held him in the
highest honor, and the neighboring chiefs and princes
sought his counsel and availed themselves of his judg
ment in settling their disputes.
When Columba landed on lona he was attended by
twelve followers whom he had formed into a religious body
of which he was the head. To these, as occasion re
quired, others were from time to time added, so that the
original number was always kept up. Their institution
was called a monastery and the superior an abbot, but the
system had little in common with the monastic institutions
of later times. The name by which those who submitted
to the rule were known was that of Culdees, probably
from the Latin " cultores Dei " — worshippers of God.
They were a body of religious persons associated together
for the purpose of aiding each other in the common work
of preaching the gospel and teaching youth, as well as
maintaining in themselves the fervor of devotion by united
exercises of worship. On entering the order certain vows
were taken by the members, but they were not those
which were usually imposed by monastic orders, for of
these, which are three, celibacy, poverty, and obedience,
the Culdees were bound to none except the third. To
poverty they did not bind themselves ; on the contrary
they seem to have labored diligently to procure for them
selves and those dependent on them the comforts of life.
Marriage also was allowed them, and most of them seem
to have entered into that state. True their wives were
not permitted to reside with them at the institution, but
they had a residence assigned to them in an adjacent
locality. Near lona there is an island which still bears
the name of " Eilen nam ban," women's island, where
their husbands seem to have resided with them, except
40*
474 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
when duty required their presence in the school or the
sanctuary.
Campbell, in his poem of Reullura, alludes to the mar«
ried monks of lona : —
" The pure Culdees
Were Albyn's earliest priests of God,
Ere yet an island of her seas
By foot of Saxon monk was trod,
Long ere her churchmen by bigotry
Were barred from holy wedlock's tie.
'Twas then that Aodh, famed afar,
In lona preached the word with power.
And Reullura, beauty's star,
Was the partner of his bower."
In one of his Irish Melodies, Moore gives the legend
of St. Senanus and the lady who sought shelter on the
island, but was repulsed : —
" 0, haste and leave this sacred isle,
Unholy bark, ere morning smile ;
For on thy deck, though dark it be,
A female form I see ;
And I have s«orn this sainted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's foot be trod."
In these respects and in others the Culdees departed
from the established rules of the Romish Church, and
consequently were deemed heretical. The consequence
was that as the power of the latter advanced that of the
Culdees was enfeebled. It was not however till the thir
teenth century that the communities of the Culdees were
suppressed and the members dispersed. They still con
tinued to labor as individuals, and resisted the inroads of
Papal usurpation as they best might till the light of the
Reformation dawned on the world.
S TORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. 475
loiia, from its position in the western seas, was exposed
to the assaults of the Norwegian and Danish rovers bj
whom those seas were infested, and by them it was repeats
edly pillaged, its dwellings burned, and its peaceful inhab
itants put to the sword. These unfavorable circumstances
led to its gradual decline, which was expedited by the sub
version of the Culdees throughout Scotland. Under the
reign of Popery the island became the seat of a nunnery,
the ruins of which are still seen. At the Reformation,
the nuns were allowed to remain, living in community,
when the abbey was dismantled.
lona is now chiefly resorted to by travellers on account
of the numerous ecclesiastical and sepulchral remains
which are found upon it. The principal of these are the
Cathedral or Abbey Church, and the Chapel of the Nun
nery. Besides these remains of ecclesiastical antiquity,
there are some of an earlier date, and pointing to the ex
istence on the island of forms of worship and belief differ
ent from those of Christianity. These are the circular
Cairns which are found in various parts, and which seem
to have been of Druidical origin. It is in reference to all
these remains of ancient religion that Johnson exclaims,
M That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would
not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, or whose
piety would not grow warmer amid the ruins of lona.1'
In the Lord of the Isles, Scott beautifully contrasts the
church on lona witli the cave of Staffa, opposite —
" Nature herself, it seemed, would raise
A minster to her Maker's praise !
Not for a meaner use ascend
Her columns, or her arches bend ;
SI or of a theme less solemn tells
That mighty surge that ebbs and gwell»,
476 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.
And still between each aw ful pause,
From the high vault an answer draws,
In varied tone, prolonged and high,
That mocks the organ's melody ;
Nor doth its entrance front in vain
To old lona's holy fane,
That Nature's voice might seem to say,
Well hast thou done, frail child of clay i
Thy humble powers that stately shrine
Tasked high and hard -— but witness mine .
PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS.
No. 1. Page 60.
MA.TERIEM superabat opus. — Ovid.
The workmanship surpassed the material.
No. 2. Page 60.
Facies non omnibus una,
Nee diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum. — Ovid.
Their faces were not all alike, nor yet unlike, but such aa those
of sisters ought to be.
No. 3. Page 63.
Medio tutissimus ibis. — Ovid.
You will go most safely in the middle.
No. 4. Page 67.
HLo situs est Phaeton, currus auriga paterni,
Quern si non tenuit, magma tamen excidit ausis. — • Ovid.
Here lies Phaeton, the driver of his father's chariot, which if
ae failed to manage, yet he fell in a great undertaking.
No. 6. Page 171.
Imponere Pelio Ossam. — Virgil.
To pile Ossa upon Pelion.
(477)
478 PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS.
No 6. Page 311.
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. — Virgil.
I fear the Greeks even when they offer gifts.
Nc< 1. Page ?,3.
Non tali auxilio nee defensoribus istis
Tempus egct. — Virgil.
Not such aid nor such defenders does the time require.
No. 8. Page 331.
Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.
He runs on Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis.
No. 9. Pago 346.
Sequitur patrem, non passibus acquis. — Virgil.
He follows his lather with unequal steps.
No. 10. Page 349
Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingcns, cui lumen ademptum. -
Virgil.
A horrible monster, misshapen, vast, whose only eye had been
put out.
No. 11. Pago 350.
Tantaene animis coclestibus irae ? — Virgil.
In heavenly minds can such resentments dwell r
No. 12. Page 352.
Haud ignara mati, miseris succurrere disco. — Virgil.
Not unaccmainted with distress, I have learned to succor the
unfortunate.
PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS 479
No. 13. Page 352.
Tros, Tyriusve mihi nullo discrimine agetur. — VirgiL
Whether Trojan or Tyrian shall make no difference to me.
No. 14. Page 355.
Facilis dcscensus Averni ;
Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis ;
Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hie labor est. — Viryil.
The descent of Avernus is easy ; the gate of Pluto stands open
night and day ; but to retrace one's steps and return to the upper
air, — that is the toil, that the difficulty.
No. 15. Page 355.
Uno avulso non deficit alter. — Virgil.
"SVhen one is torn away another succeeds.
No. 10. Page 355.
Tu ne cede rnalis, sed contra audentior ito. — VirgiL
Yield thou not to adversity, but press on the more bravely.
No. 17. Pago 376.
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. — Virgil,
Then struck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground with a four-
footed trampling.
No. 18. Page 380.
Sternitur infelix alieno vulnere, co?lumque
Adspicit et moriens dulces reminiscitur Argos. — Virgil.
lie falls, unhappy, by a wound intended for another ; looks up
to the skies, and dying remembers sweet ArgoB.
LIST OF
ILLUSTRATIVE PASSAGES
QUOTED FROM THE POETS, IN THIS VOLUME.
1 Armstrong, Pages, 38, 162, 239, 3
2. Browning, E.B. 231, j
3. Bulfinch, S. G. 67,93,206, 3
4. Byron, 18, 32, 33, 35, 58, 108, 133, 147, 159, 198, 24o]
270, 276, 282, 312, 317, 318, 332, 389, 399,
406, 424, 22
5. Campbell, 190,474, 2
6. Coleridge, 6, 85, .2
7. Cowper, 14, 145, 262, 300, 331, 339, 340, 342, 343, 398^
404, 410 12
8. Darwin, 217,284, 2
9. Dryden, 72, 287, 387, 410, 415, 5
10. Dyer, 185, 314, 2
11. Fletcher, 279, . , 1
.2. Francklin, 251, 1
13. Garrick, 154, \
14. Goldsmith, 145, ' . 1
15. Gray, 19, 456, 464, 3
16. Harvey, 127, 1
17 Ilemans, 471, . . * 1
18 Hood, 85, 146, . . 2
19 Keats, 49, 90, 95, 99, 108, 128, 279, 328, ... 8
41 (481) 73
482
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE PASSAGES.
73
20. Landor, 68, .. ... 1
21. Longfellow, 222, 281, 388 3
22. Lowell, 52, 236, 248, 365, 388, ... 6
23. Macaulay, 23, 219, 2
24. Mickle, 42, .. I
25. Milman, 68, 169, . 2
26. Milton, 13, 16, 17, 31, 51, 52, 58, 84, 97, 99, 108, 127,
133, 144, 162, 167, 174, 178, 179, 202, 205,
226, 230, 231, 239, 241, 246, 248, 263, 265,
315, 318, 330, 366, 388, 394, 398, 401, 415,
435, . 40
27. Moore, 12, 42, 45, 85, 86, 128, 146, 160, 186, 198, 390,
425, 474 .13
28. Pope, 28, 185, 258, 300, 307, 383, 404, ... 7
29. Scott, 354, 468, 475, 3
30. Shakspeare, 15, 175, 189, 386, 387 5
31. Shelley, 38,56,207,419, 4
32. Southey, 258, 1
33. Spenser, 20, 153, 227, 270, 4
34. Swift, 76, 313, 2
35. Tennyson, 154, 207, 241, 282, 292, 320, 345, 399, . . 8
36. Thomson, 114,406, 2
37. Tickell, 405 1
38. Waller, 38, 351, 2
39. Wordsworth, 230,293,402,424, .... 4
40 Young, 175,242,279,368,422, . . 5
INDEX OF NAMES.
Absyrtiis, 190.
Ajax, 290-309.
An ti ope, 211-263.
Aby'dos, 147.
Alces'tis, 246.
Anu'bis, 389.
Ace-tes, 223.
Alci'des, 205.
Aphrodi'te. 17.
Acha'tes, 375.
Alcin'o-us, 334.
Apis, 392, 397.
Achelo'us, 243.
Alcmc'na, 199.
Apollo, 17, 35, 97
Achilles, 239.
Alccto, 20.
Aq'uilo, 241.
Acis, 284.
Alexander. See Paris.
Arach'rie, 149.
Acon'tcus, 1G8.
Alfa'dur, 439.
Areas, 52.
Actacon, 53.
Alphe'us, 85.
Areop'agus, 317.
Adme'ta, 200.
Althac'a, 191.
Ares, 17.
Adme'tus, 246.
Amalthc'a, 245.
Arethu'sa, 82.
Ado'nis, 95.
Am'azons, 201, 211.
Argo, 181.
Adrastus, 249
Ambro'sia, 14.
Ar'gonauts, 181.
.aL'acus, 133.
Ammon, 171.
Argus, 46, 181, 343
.ffie'tes, 181.
Amphiara'us, 249.
Ariad'ne, 210, 227.
^ge'us, 208.
Amphi'on, 158-263.
Arima'nes, 424.
^gis, 162.
Amphitri'te, 237.
Arimas'pians, 173.
JEgisthus, 315.
Ampyx, 1(58.
Ari'on, 266.
^Ene'as, 290-346.
Amri'ta, 427.
Aristce'us, 255, 7i'9
^'olus, 324-3-50.
Amymo'ne, 200.
Ar'temis, 17.
2Escula'pius, 177, 397.
Anaxar'cte, 111.
Ascra^'an — Hu • d
^Eson, 186.
Ance'us, 193.
Asgard, 4J38.
^Ethiopians, 12-66.
Anchi'ses, 346.
Askc, 438.
a2thra, 208.
Andrsc'mon, 94.
Astrae'a, 28.
Af,ame'des, 396.
Androm'ache, 290,349.
Asty'ages, 108
Agamemnon, 290-315.
Androm'eda, 165
Atalan'ta, 191
Aga'vc, 226.
Ancmo'ne, 97.
Ate, 3n-J.
Age'nor, 129.
Antcc'us, 203.
Atlan'ti-!, 305.
Agla'ia, 20.
Ante'a, 173.
Ath'amas, 184
Agni, 426.
An'tcros, 18.
Athe'nc, 18.
AhViman, 424.
Antigone, 249.
Atlas, 163.
(483)
484
INDEX OF NAMES.
At'ropos, 20.
Castor, 217, 275.
Dawn, 283.
Audhum'bla, 437.
Ce'crops, 150.
Deiph'obus, 290,
Au'geas, 200.
Ce'leus, 80.
Delos, 58, 347.
Aulis, 291.
Centaurs, 176.
Dejani'ra, 204, 243.
Auro'ra, 282.
Ceph'alus, 43, 133.
Del'phi, 12, 395.
Auster, 241.
Ce'phcus, 165.
Deme'ter, 19.
A v 'a tar, 427.
Cer'bcrus, 203.
Demod'ocus, 339.
Bacchanals, 222.
Ce'res, 78.
Deucalion, 30.
Bacchus, 19, 220.
Ccstus, 17, 296.
Dia'na, 53.
Bac'trian sage — Zo
Cc-yx, 100.
Dictys, 223.
roaster.
Chaos, 24.
Dido, 351.
Baldur, 456
Bards, 470.
Charon, 358.
Charyb'dis, 328, 350.
"U290-309'
Basilisk, 416.
Chimse'ra, 173.
Dio'ne, 17.
Baucis, 73.
Chiron, 177.
Diony'sus, 19.
Beller'ophon, 173.
Chryse'is, 294.
Dioscu'ri, 218.
Bello'na, 21.
Chryses, 294.
Dirce, 263.
Beltane, 463.
Cir'ce, 88, 325. ,
Dis, 16, 84.
Ber'oe, 220.
Clio, 19.
Dodo'na, 395.
Bifrost, 438.
Clotho, 20.
Doris, 237.
Bo'reas, 241.
Clym'cne, 59.
Druids, 466.
Bragi, 441.
Clyt'i-c, 146.
Dryads, 230.
Brahma, 426.
Clytcmncs'tra, 315.
Dry'ope, 93.
Brazen age, 28.
Cockatrice, 416.
Echo, 141.
Bria'reus, 170.
Columba, 472.
Edda, 437.
Brise'is, 294.
Cornucopia, 245.
Ege'ria, 240.
Buddl.a, 432.
Corybantes, 197.
Electra, 281, 316.
Byrsa, 352.
Cranes, 178.
Eleusis, 84.
Cacus, 203.
Creon, 251.
Eleusinian myst* aes,
Cadm-is, 129.
Cre-u'sa, 189.
84.
Cadu'ceus, 19.
Cromlech, 467.
Elgin marbles, *18,
Cai'cus, 467.
Cronos, 21.
405.
Cal'a-is, 241.
Cupid, 18, 115.
Elli, 453.
Calchas, 291.
Culdees, 473.
Elves, 461.
Calli'ope, 19.
Cy'ane, 80.
Elysium, 365.
Callisto, 50, 240.
Cyb'e-lo, 197.
Embla, 438.
Cal'ydon, 191.
Cyclo'pes, 247,320,349.
Encel'adus, 170.
Calypso, 831.
Cyn'osure, 52.
Endym'ion, 278.
Came 'r. a-, 240.
Cyre'ne, 260.
Epidau'rus, 397
Camilla, 371. 381
Dalai Lama, 434.
Epime'theus, 2d
Cap'anexis, 250.
Dan'a-c, 152,161,275.
Epo'peus, 223.
Cassandra, 313.
Daphne, 35.
Er'ato, 19.
Cassiopeia, 165.
Dar'danus, 348.
Er'ebus — the internal
Castes, 429.
Dajd'alus, 214.
regions.
INDEX OF NAMES.
485
End 'anus, 67.
Gordian knot, 72.
Hippom'enes, 196.
Eris, 288.
Gorgons, 161.
Hodur, 457.
Erisich'thon, 232.
Graces, 20.
Homer, 408.
Erin'nyes, 20, 317.
Graeae, 161.
Horus, 390.
Eriph'yle, 249.
Griffin, 178.
Hugi, 451.
Eros, 15.
Guebers, 425.
Hugin, 439.
Ete'ocles, 249.
Hades, 203.
Hyacin'thus, 97.
Eumaeus, 341.
Halcy'one, 100.
Hy'ades, 221.
Eumen'ides, 20, 274,
Hsemon, 251.
Hydra, 200.
316.
Hamad'ryads, 230.
Hyge'ia, 239.
Euphros'yne, 20.
Harmo'nia, 132, 250.
Hylas, 185.
Euro'pa, 152.
Harpies, 348.
Hymen, 255.
Eury'alus, 376.
Harpoc'rates, 370.
Hyperbo'reans, 12.
Euryd'ice, 255.
Hebe, 207.
Hype'rion, ) ^ m
Euryn'ome, 15.
Hebrus, 257.
Hyperi'on, )
Eurys'thcus, 199.
Hec'ate, 186.
lap'etus, 15.
Euryt'ion, 176.
Hector, 290.
la'sius, 192.
Eurus, 241.
Hcc'uba, 313.
Ib'ycus, 271.
Euter'pe, 19.
Heidrun, 439.
Ic'arus, 214.
Evadno, 250.
Heimdal, 441.
Ica'rius, 252.
Evan'dcr, 372.
Hcla, 441.
Ida, 288.
Famine, 233.
Helen, 288, 314.
Idas, 218.
Fates, 20.
Hel'cnus, 349.
Idu'na, 441.
Faunus, 21, 229.
Heli'ades, 68.
Iliad, 293.
Favo'nius, 241.
Helicon, 65.
Ili'oneus, 157.
Fenris, 441.
Hellas, 12.
Ilion. Sec Troy.
Flora, 22, 241.
IIcllc, 181.
Indra, 426.
Freki, 439.
Hellespont, 181.
Ino, 238.
Frey, 440.
Ilephacs'tus, 16.
lo, 46.
Freya, 441.
Hera, 16.
lob'ates, 173.
Frigga, 456.
Hercules, 199, 243.
lola'us, 200.
Furies, 20, 273.
Hermes, 18.
I'ole,94, 204.
Gal'atfc, 234.
Hermod, 458.
lo'na, 472.
Gan'ymede, 207.
Hero, 147.
Iphigeni'a, 291, 317
Gautama, 432.
Hespc'ria, 348.
Iphis, 111.
Gem'ini, 218.
Hes'peris, 202.
Iph'itus, 204
Genius, 23.
Ilesper'ides, 201.
Iris, 16, 103.
Geri, 430.
Ilcs'perus, 202.
Iron age, 28.
Ger'yon, 201.
Hestia, 22.
Isis, 389.
Giallar horn, 463.
Hindus, 426.
Isme'nos, 157.
Giants, 1"0.
Hip.;>oorc'ne, 173.
Isthmian games, 21 v
Glaucus, 86, 290.
Hippodami'a, 176
Ith'aca, 252, 340
Golden fleece, 180
Hippol'yta, 201.
Ixi'on, 256, 351
Golden age, 27.
llippol'ytus, 211. Janus, 22.
486
INDEX OF NAMES.
Jason, 181.
Maia, 18.
Myr'midens, 133.
Jocasta, 172, 249
Magi, 424.
Na'iads, 239.
Jotunheim, 438.
Macha'on, 297
Nanna, 460.
Jove, 15.
Mahade'va, 428.
Narcissus, 141.
Juggernaut, 428.
Mantu'an swain. See
Nausic'aa, 334.
Juno, 16, 46, 283.
Virgil.
Negus, 435.
Ju'piter, 15.
Mann, 427.
Ne'mean lion, 200.
Lab'yrinth, 239.
Maro. See Virgil.
Ne'mean games, 214
Lach'esis, 23.
Mars, 17.
Nem'esis, 23, 317.
La'ms, 171.
Mar'syas, 264.
Neoptol'emus, 315.
Laestilgo'nians, 325
Mede'a, 180, 186.
Neph'ele, 180.
Lama, 434.
Medu'sa, 161.
Nepenthe, 315.
Laoc'oOn, 311.
Mcgac'ra, 20.
Neptune, 237.
Laodami'a, 292.
M clam pus, 265.
Ne'reids, 66, 237.
Lap'ithae, 177.
Melan'thus, 223.
Ne'reus, 66, 237.
Lares, 22.
Melea'ger, 191.
Nessus, 234.
Larva, 22.
Mclicer'tcs, 238.
Nestor, 290.
Lati'nus, 369.
Melisseus, 245.
Nidhogge, 438.
Latmos, 278.
Mclpom'cne, 19.
Niflleheim, 438.
Lato'na, 56, 156.
Memnon, 282.
Ni'obe, 155.
Lausus, 380.
Mcnaj'cius, 250.
Nisus, 138, 376.
Lavin'ia, 369.
Mcncla'us, 2S9, 314.
Norns, 438.
Lean'der, 147.
Mentor, 332.
Numa, 240.
Leda, 152.
Mercury, 18.
Nysse'an nymphs,221
Lemur, 22.
Mer'opc, 280.
Nymphs, 230.
Lesbian — Sappho.
Metani'ra, 81.
Oce'anus, 237.
Lethe, 363.
Metcmpsycho'sis, 364.
Odin, 437.
Leucothc'a, 238.
Metis, 16.
(Ed'ipus, 171, 249.
Liber, 22.
Mezen'tius, 380.
Od'ysscy, 319.
Libe'thra, 257.
Midas, 69.
CE'neus, 191.
Lichas, 204.
Midgard, 437.
(Eno'ne, 310.
Linus, 264.
Milky way, 29.
(Eno'pion, 280.
Logi, 450.
Milo, 389.
(Eta, 205.
Loki, 441.
Miner'va, 149, 288.
Olympus, 13.
Lotis, 94.
Minos, 138, 209, 214.
Olympic games, 213,
Lotus eatcrs;.320
Min'otaur, 209.
Olympiads, 213.
Luci'na, 22.
Mistletoe, 457, 469.
Om'phalc, 234.
Ly'cahas, 223.
Mnemos'yne, 15.
Oracles, 394.
Lycomc'des, 211, 289.
Momus, 21.
Ores'tes, 315.
Lycus, 263.
Monsters, 170.
Orithyi'a, 241.
Lyn'ceus, 218.
Mor'pheus, 105.
Ori'on, 280.
Mseander, 214.
Mul'ciber, 22.
Or'pheus, 254.
Maeon''d«s. See Ho
Musseus, 265.
Ophi'on, 15.
mer.
Muses, 19.
Ops, 197.
INDEX OF NAMES.
487
O'reads, 230.
Philocte'tes, 205, 309.
Quiri'nus, 21.
Ormuzd, 424.
Phin'eus, 167, 182.
Ithadaman'thus, 360
Oromas'des, 424
Phoebus, 17.
Rhoecus, 236.
Ossa, 171.
Phoenix, 413.
Ithea, 15.
Osi'ris, 389.
Phryxus, 181.
Sabri'ua, 263.
Os'sian, 470.
Pirith'o-us, 176, 211.
Sakyasin'ha, 432.
Ov'id, 410.
Ple'iads, 281.
Salamander, 421.
Pacto'lus, 70.
Plenty, 245.
Sa'mian sage, 384.
Pzcon, 239.
Plexip'pus, 193.
Sappho, 276.
Palanie'des, 289.
Pluto, 78.
Sagitta'rius, 177.
Pala;'mon, 233.
Plutus, 21.
Sarpe'don, 290, 294
Pa'les, 22.
Poli'tes, 313.
Saturn, 15, 21.
Palinu'rus, 354.
Pollux, 217.
Satyrs, 20.
Palla'dium, 310.
Polydec tc-s, 162.
Scylla, 87, 328.
Pallas, 18, 373.
Pol'ydore, 347.
Sem'ele, 220.
Pan, 20, 71, 229.
Polyhym nia, 19.
Scra'pis, 389.
Panathenae'a, 213.
Polyi'dus, 173.
Shatry'a, 430.
Pando'ra, 24.
Polyni'ces, 249.
Sibyl," 3-36, 366.
Parcae. See Fates.
Polyphe'mus, 321, 349.
Sichseus, 352.
Pa'riahs, 431.
Polyx'ena, 308, 314.
Sile'nus, 69.
Paris, 2*8,
Pomo'na, 22, 42, 109.
Silver age, 27.
Parnas'sin, 30, 395.
Portu'nus, 239.
Simon'ides, 274.
Parsees, 42o.
Posei'don, 16.
Sinon, 311.
Par'thcnon, 213.
Prestcr John, 43-5.
Sirens, 327-
Patro'olus, 2D7.
Pri'am, 290, 305.
Sir ius, 281.
Peg'asus, 173.
Pro'ciis, 43.
Siva, 428.
Pe'leus,.192.
Procrus'tes, 209.
Skirnir, 446
Pc'lias, 181, 247.
Prometheus, 24.
Skrymir, 448.
Pe'lion, 171.
Pros'crpinc, )
Skalds, 464.
Pena'tes, 22.
Proser'pine, )
Skidbladnir, 462.
Penel'opc, 252, 34..
Pro'teus, 238, 260.
Skuld, 438.
Pe 'nous, 37.
Protesila'us, 292.
Sleipnir, 458.
Pcnthcsilc'a, 303.
Psyche, 115.
Somnus, 104, 354.
Pcn'thcus. 222.
Pura'nas, 428.
Sphinx, 171.
Pe'plus, 213.
Pygma'lion, 91, 351.
Stonehcnge, 467.
Periandcr, 266.
Pygmies, 177.
Styx, 221.
Periphe'tcs, 203.
Pyl'udes, 316.
Syb'aris, 388.
Pcr'scus, 163.
Pyr'amus, 39.
Sylva'nus, 110,229
Pcrscph'onc, 19
Pyrrha, 30.
Sympleg'ades, 182.
Phaeaeians, 333
Pyrrhus, 313.
Syrinx, 48.
Ph:rdra, 211.
Pythag'oras, 384
Sys'iphua, 361.
Pha'cton, 59.
Pylh'ia, 395.
Sudra, 430.
Phiion, 276.
Pythian games, 214.
Surtur, 462.
Philc'mon, 73.
Python, 34.
Surya, 426.
488
INDEX OF NAMES.
Tan 'talus, 156, 362,
Thrym, 444.
Valkyr 'ior, 440
Tar'tarus, 361 .
Tisiph'one, 360.
Yedas, 427.
Tauris, 291, 316.
Titans, 15, 25.
Venus, 17, 95, 288.
Tel'amon, 192.
Titho'nus, 282.
Verdandi, 438.
Telem'achus, 332, 341.
Tire'sias, 250.
Vertumnus, 109.
Tellus, 186.
Tit'yus, 170.
Vesta, 22.
Terra, 203.
Triptol'emiis, 84.
Virgil, 409.
Ter'minus, 21.
Triton, 238.
Vishnu, 427.
Terpsich'ore, 19.
Tropho'nius, 396.
Vulcan, 16.
Te'thys, 51, 237.
Troy, 288.
Vya'sa, 426.
Thali'a, 19.
Tox'eus, 193.
Winds, 241.
Tham'yris, 264.
Turnus, 369.
Woden, 439.
Thebes, 130.
Typhon, 78, 391.
Wooden horse, 310
Thisbe, 39.
Tyr, 442.
Yama, 426.
Themis, 20.
Ulysses, 252, 289, 319.
Ygdrasill, 438.
Thersi'tes, 308.
Unicorn, 419.
Ymir, 437.
The'seus, 208.
Urania, 19.
Zendaves'ta, 423.
Thes'tius, 194.
Urdur, 433.
Zeph'yrus, 99, 241.
The'tis, 238, 295, 301.
Utgard, 449.
Zctes, 241.
Thialfi, 447.
Utgard-Loki, 449.
Zethus, 263.
Thes'celus, 168,
Vaissya, 430.
Zeus, 15.
Ihor, 447.
Valhalla, 438.
Zoroas'ter, 423.