^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) |gf <• ^>5^ ^c l/j t 1.0 H U£ 1^ Vi 11.25 1.4 11.6 ^ Vi n t. ' > '/ /S^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 4^ iV ^^ N^ ;\ \ ^ '■.ilk <*A 6^ <^. '^. 33 WIST MAIN ITMIT WIMTIR.NY USIO (716) •73-4103 ^f^ ^ '^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microroproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiquas Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiquM The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. □ Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ D Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurAe et/ou pelliculAe I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur D D D D Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli^avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrAe peut causer de I'ombre ou da la distortion le long de la marge intArieure Blank leaves added during rest-nration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutAes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas «t4 film«as. / L'Institut a microfilm* la meillaur examplaire qu'il lui a «t« possible da ■• procurer, Las details de cet exemplaire qui sont paut-itra uniques du point de vue bibliographiqua, qui pauvant modifier une image reproduite, ou qui pauvant axiger une modification dans la mAthoda normala da fllmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur r~V Pages damagei/ Lkj Pages endommagias □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurtas at/ou palliculAas r~lxPages discoloured, stained or foxed/ L^ Pages dAcoiortes, tachatiai ou piquies □ Pages detached/ Pages d*tach*ss I H/Showthrough/ Lid Transparence D D D n Quality of print varies/ Quality inigala da rimprassion Includes supplementary matarlal/ Comprend du matirial supplAmantaIra Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponibia Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., ri^va baar\ raf limed to ensure the beet possible image/ Las pages totalement ou partlallament obscurcies par un feuillet d'arrata, une pelure, etc., ont *t* filmAes A nouvaau da fapon A obtenir la maillaura image possible □ Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmantaires; Varioui psgingi. Pan** 145-146 are mining. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X >. 1^ J I 1 12X 16X 20X 28X 32X Tho copy filmad h«r« hat b««n rsproducad thanks to tha ganaroaity of: Vancouver Public Library L'axamplaira filmi fut raproduit grAca A la g*nArosit4 da; Vancouver Public Library fier e Tha imagas appaaring hars ara tha bast quality possibia consldaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spacifications. Las imagas suivantas ont At4 raproduitas avac la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da l'axamplaira filmA, at an conformity avac las conditions du contrat da filmaga. Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmed beginning with tha front covar and ending on tha last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sont filmAs en commen^ant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration. soit par la second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darniire page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —•^- (meaning "CON- TINUED "). or the symbol V (meaning "END "), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre raproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire, Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. jre. ] 1 2 3 % . • • 4 • WITH A CLA n^tntUpUct, APOLLO BELVEDERB, (Rome.) THE AGE OF FABLE OR BEAUTIES OF MYTHOLOGY BY THOMAS BULFINCH A NEW, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION I '.. EDITED BY REV. J. l.OUGHRAN SCOTT, D.D. " O, yc delicious fables I where the wave And woods were peopled, and the air, with things So lovely I why, ah ! why has science grave Scattered afar your 'weet imaginings?" Barkv Cornw\l^. ' » ■'o. a ^ •* - o . « . i "»-■ V > a ^i ■>"■) WITH A CLASSICAL INDEX AND DICTIONARY AND NFARLV . ..1 1 -» TWO HUNDR^.D .'LLUSThATICNS \^^V^ o /» ^ TORONTO THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY LIMITED '1 \ ,1T B'^1) su Copyright, 1898, by David McKay. • ■ • •• • • • • ••• • • • • • • • •• • • »•• • ........ . . . .«• • .1 •:•• ••• • • • . .•• • * • • TO HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, THE POET ALIKE OF THE MANY AND OP THE FEW, THIS ATTEMPT TO POPULARIZE MYTHOLOOY, AND EXTEND THE ENJOYMENT OF ELEGANT I-TTERATURE, IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 1 46985 I To T. Z. S".— Bo'na De'a, Clym'e-ne, Ni'ke, Psy'che, Graces three, Myths, indeed, Compared with thee. Editor If no ot which help society, th< if that whi useful, thei ogy is the 1 allies of vii Without ture of our When Byr( she looks a of one far striking thi reader ign< sions. Th and the o^ Through F reason wh] they cann< Aurora (Reni) AUTHOR'S PREFACE. If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which 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 useful, then we claim that epithet for our subject ; for Mythol- ogy 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 Niobe of nations, or says, of Venice, she looks a sea-Cybele 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 mythology. Milton abounds in similar allu- sions. 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 (V) I i ■ ; ^1 !!. J 4 VI AUTHORS PREFACK their mjre 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 musical as is Apollo's lute. Our citations, taken from more than twenty-five poets, from Spenser to Longfellow, will show how general has been the practice of borrowing illustrations from mythology. The prose writers also avail themselves of the same source of elegant and suggestive illustration. But how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn it through the medium of the languages of Greece and Rome ? 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 reader 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. 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 ac- cording to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the refer- ence. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation 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 education. 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 !s very un- attractive reading. Neither are they in verse, as well for othcf AUTHOR'S PREFACE. VII reasons as from a cunviction that to translate faithfully under all the embarrassments of rhyme and measure is imposKiblc. 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 language itself, and omitting those amplifications which are not suited to the altered form. 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 conversation. 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 mortification in confessing his ignorance of them. Our book is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation. 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 ; 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 morn- ing of life- '^1 I ^M u VUl AUTHORS PREFACE, The permanency of those associations is beautifully expressed in the well-known lines of Coleridge : *♦ The intelligible forms of ancient poets, luv fair humanities of old religion, The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty That had their haunts in dale or piny nioufituin, Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring, Or chasms and watery depths ; all these have vdiiikhcd , 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 'Tis Jupiter who brings whate'er is great And Venus who brings every thing that's fair." '! m ^ EDITOR'S PREFACE j Mythology is the dust of former beliefs. It is man's first effort to know his God.^ The story of that effort this book seeks to relate. There has always been a fascination about the "Age of Fable " unequalled by any similar work. It was first given to the public some forty years ago, but time has failed to lessen the appreciation of its merit. Mythology itself has undergone marked changes, especially on its philosophic and comparative sides ; still the essential story remains uncurpassed. The simplicity of style and purpose has contributed largely to this result. By connecting mythology with literature, the age of fable became the one of fact. Other mythologists were content to introduce the gods to each other; Mr. Bulfinch sought to make them acquainted with men. In this he succeeded, and an intimacy was formed which had not hitherto existed. He also abandoned the conventional manual idea, and treated mythology as a story. The difference between a manual and consecutive history is the difference between a series of stagnant pools and a running stream. In the latter instance one is carried on by the force of the current. The marked changes, however, to which we have referred demand a newer and more complete edition. The Pantheons of Greece and Rome have received no important accessions, but the eastern sky is resplendent with new stars. There has been a resurrection throughout Egypt and Babylon which has entirely transformed the mythologies of those countries. This we have sought to recognize by introducing an entirely new Section on Babylon, Assyi'i. and Phoenicia. We * Mythologies are the unaided attempts of man to find out God. They are the efforts of the reason struggling to know the Infinite. — D. G. Brinton, The Myths of the New IVoyld, ^. 1$. : («) I %-n \ :a EDITORS PREFACE. have also rewritten the Chai)ters on Persia, India, Scandinavia and the Druids. These countries, in some instances, were the sources of our own civilization, and ought to be of interest to every student. The classical feature upon which Mr. Bulfinch laid so much stress has received especial attention. The most liberal extracts from the old classics are to be found in almost every chapter. Such names as Virgil, Homer, Euripides, Sophocles and Ovid will become familiar to every student. By these references the reader will obtain at least a suggestive knowledge of the thoughts and themes of those master men. Their worth is much, if they do nothing more than serve as guide-boards to the more spacious fields of ancient literature The modern poets have also ])een generous in their contribu- tions. Mr. Bulfinch, in his first edition, made "citations from twenty -five poets, ranging from Spenser to Longfellow." But the Muses have not been altogether voiceless for tiie last half- century. Our readers, on their journey through, will meet writers like Edwin Arnold, Charles A, Swinburne and William Morris, not one of whom would have been recognized as a poet forty years ago. Apart from this is the other equally important fact, that some of the finest legendary poems of the older writers, such as Tennyson's "Tithonus," Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn," and Lowell's " l*rometheus," are all of more recent date. Poetry is the natural language of all mythology. The Zend-Avesta, Rig-Veda, and the Eddas, are but the epics of the gods. They were to other nations what the Odyssey and ^neid were to Greece and Rome. From these various sheaves we have selected a few specimen-straws — enough, perhaps, to suggest the richness of the harvest. Our illustrations have been selected with great care, and we hope with ecjual judgment. They are mainly reproductions from the original statues and paintings, thus giving a picture of the idea as it actually existed in the ancient mind. The purpose of their insertion is not only to _, beautify th< from this, tl logical art. One of tl uncertainty True, there the words th| sible, but to< of interest, tl mythology uJ something de sought to ren of the chapt appears in th tude of ever cannot be attj To know tl mythology, w divinity by hi understands it vocabularies, introduction i: recognize the Rome and Zei idea, by whicl no sympathy, god which ai Jupiter is esse rose by anoth^ Our solar sysl Jupiter were 1 dite, and Mei worlds ; not s shadow of an EDITOES PREFACE. XI beautify the pages, but also to interpret their thought. Apart from this, they form collectively a complete handbook of mytho- logical art. One of the chief difficulties in the study of mythology is the uncertainty attached to the pronunciation of the proper names. True, there are rules of pronunciation, often more abstruse than the words themselves. The dictionary may or may not be acces- sible, but too frequent a reference tends to break off continuity of interest, thus rendering study an irksome task. The result is, mythology under these conditions is liable to be laid aside as something devoid of charm or interest. This obstacle we have sought to remove by giving each name, as it appears at the head of the chapter, its proper pronunciation ; also the first time it appears in the body of the text. For this we predict the grati- tude of every student of mythology. Too much importance cannot be attached to this feature of our edition. To know the name is often to know the thing, especially in mythology, where names constitute being. We introduce every divinity by his proper name, and so distinctly that the student understands it from the first. One is not compelled to search the vocabularies, and return perhaps without the knowledge; his introduction is sufficient. In doing this we have attempted to recognize the nationality of every god. Thus Jupiter is from Rome and Zeus from Olympus. With this modern Hellenistic idea, by which Rome becomes a suburb to Athens, we confess to no sympathy. There is an affinity between the name and the god which amounts to identity of being. Thus the name of Jupiter is essential to his existence ; as Zeus he ceases to be. A rose by another name may remain unchanged, but a god cannot. Our solar system, we suppose, would suffer no change, although Jupiter were known among the planets as Zeus, Venus as Aphro- dite, and Mercury as Hermes. Behind those names stand real worlds ; not so in mythology. There the name is but the visible shadow of an invisible idea. 1 ■}M I a i -'M 1 's^'j •-,^1 -€ xu EDITORS PREFACE, There is no law more positive than that of custom. Name and character become inseparable. Thus Vulcan, as Hephaestus, is no longer the "crippled artizan god," — the good-natured, genial fellow who toils away without complaint, — ^but a social gentleman. The name of Vulcan is black with the dust of the forge ; one hears the ring of the anvil in its very accent. Not so with Hephaestus. There is no soot on his face, no halt in his walk ; his associates are Mercury, Apollo and Jupiter. We have thus sought not only to retain the names, but also the ideal per- sonalities which they represent. The index has been enlarged to the proportions of a dictionary, Whenever an important divinity has received but passing notice in the text, we have supplemented the fact by a more extended account in the lexicon. In so doing we have quoted from Smith's "Classical Dictionary" to such an extent that the lexicon may be regarded as a compendium of that valuable work. Three characteristics would seem to be de- sirable in a complete mythology — simple, classic and compre- hensive. So far as the first is concerned, the verdict of forty years is not liable to be reversed. As for the remaining two, we can only trust that time may accord us that degree of recognition we have striven to merit. Whatever Mr. Bulfinch wrote remains largely intact. The changes introduced are incident to time and circumstance. Our purpose has been to prompt rather than interrupt these beautiful stories as they were first told by the author, fort) year? ago. J. LouGHRAN Scrvr. The Macdowell Church, Philadelphia, May, sSgS. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAOI Mythology — ^Literature — Structure of the Universe — Olympus — ^Jupiter ( Zeus ) — Saturn Cranus — Rhea — Chaos — Titans — The Elder Gods, Oceanus, Hyperion, lapetus, Ophion, Themis, Mnemosyne, Eurynom — Division of Universe — Neptune — Pluto — ^Juno — Vulcan — Mars— Phoebus Apollo — Diana — Cupid — Minerva — Mercury — Ce- res — Proserpine — Bacchus — The Muses — The Graces — The Fates — The Furies — Nemesis — Pan — ^The Satyrs — Momus — Plutus — Satur- nalia — The Roman Gods — The Olympian Gods—Demigods, . . I CHAPTER 11. 'origin of the World — The Golden Age — Prometheus— Epimetheus — Theft of Fire — Pandora — Silver, Brazen, and Iron Ages — The Milky Way — The Deluge — Deucalion — Pyrrha — Origin of Man, . . 19 CHAPTER HI. Python— Delphi — Apollo and Daphne — Pyramus and Thisbe — Origin of * the Mulberry Tree — Cephalus and Procris, . . . . • 29 CHAPTER IV. Juno— lo — Argus — The Syrinx — Callisto— Constellation of Great and Lit- tle Bear — Diana and Actaeon — Actaeon turned into a Stag — His Death — Latona — Rustics transformed into Frogs, . . . .40 CHAPTER V. Phaeton — Palace of the Sun — Phoebus — Chariot of the Sun — Dawn — Day-star — The Seasons — The Libyan Desert — The World on Fire — Slain by Jove — His Tomb— The Hcliades — Cycnus, 51 CHAPTER VL Silenus — Midas— Pan's Challenge— Jud gment of Midas — His Ears— The Gordian Knot — Baucis and Philemon — Entertain Jupiter — Their Hut becomes a Palace — Guardian « of the Temple — Changed into Trees, ...•....'.. 60 ( xiii ) If h V f 1 > fe' )*')! XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PACk Mount ^.a— Cupid Wounds Pluto— Pluto carries off Proserpine — Search of Ceres — She Curses the Earth — Jove Releases Proserpine — The River Alpheus — The Eleusinian Mysteries — Glaucus — Becomes a Fish — Loves Scylla — ^Wrath of Circe — Scylla becomes a Rock, . 66 CHAPTER VIII. Pygmalion — Loves a Statue— Venus gives Life— Dryope and lole — The Lotus Tree — Venus and Adonis — Death of Adonis — Anemone, or Wind-Flower — Apollo and Hyacinthiis— Game of . Quoits — ^The Hyacinthus Flower, 79 CHAPTER IX. Ceyx and Halcyone— Palace of King of Sleep— Cave of Somnus — Flight of Morpheus — Halcyon Birds, 88 CHAPTER X. Vertumnus and Pomona — Hamadryades — Iphis, 95 CHAPTER XL Cupid and Psyche — Zephyr — ^Jealousy of Psyche— Temple of Venus — ^The Ant Hill — The Golden Fleece — Pluto — Charon— Mysterious Box — Stygian Sleep — Cup of Ambrosia — Birth of Pleasure— Significance of Name, loo CHAPTER XII. Cadmus — City of Thebes — Kills the Serpent — Dragon's Teeth — Marries Harmonia — Introduces Letters into Greece — The Myrmidons — Cephalus — Moicms — Pestilence — Origin of the Myrmidons, . » HZ CHAPTER XIII. Nisus — Scylla betrays Nisus — Her Punishment — Echo— Sentence of Juno — Narcissus — Loves Himself— Turned into a Flower — Clytie — Pas- sion for Apollo— Turned into a Sunflower — Hero and Leander— Swims the Hellespont — Death, 120 CHAPTER XIV. jMinerva— Mars — Arachne— Challenges Minerva — Minerva's Web— Arachne becomes a Spider — Niobe — Excites Latona's Anger- Death of the Children — Becomes a vStone, . . » . . I3» CHAPTER XV. The Greese — Gorgons — Acrisius—Danoe— Tower of Brass — Jupiter's Love — Perseus — Polydectes — Medusa — Atlas — Andromeda — The Sea- Monster — The Wedding- Feast — Enemies turned into Stone — Death of Acrisius, I41 Monsters — La -The msera — Bt The Golden Clashing tions of Ml Meleager — At^ Golden Ar Hercules — ^Twe Gift— Deat Cecrops— Ericht — Procruste King— Pint bles— Olym Castor and \ Semele— Infancy Worship of Crown, Pan— Syrinx— > - Paganism ment— Phoe and Doris- Camenoe— 'l Achelous— Cont — Admetus votion— Hs CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XVI. PAGB Monsters — Laius, King of Thebes — CEdipus— Slays his Father — Sphinx — The Riddle — CEdipus King — Jacosta — Plague — Pegasus — Chi- msera — Bellerophon — Centaurs — Pygmies — Griffin — Arimaspians, . 151 CHAPTER XVn. The Golden Fleece — Hellespont — Search of Jason — The Argonauts- Clashing Islands — Fiery Bulls — Dragon's Teeth — Mson — Incanta* tions of Medea — Hecate — Hebe — Death of Jason, . , . . i6l CHAPTER XVni. Meleager — Atalanta — Wild Boar — Atalanta' s Race — Hippomenes — Golden Apples— Ingratitude — Venus' Revenge — Corybantes, . 171 CHAPTER XIX. Hercules — ^Twelve Labors — Slave of Omphale — Slays Nessus — Dejanirus' Gift — Death of Hercules — Hebe — Ganymede — Fortuna — Victoria, . CHAPTER XX. 178 Cecrops — Erichthonius — Procne — Philomela — Theseus — Moves the Stone — Procrustes' Bed — The Minotaur — Ariadne — Labyrinth — Becomes King — Pirithous — Theseum— Festival of Panathensea — Elgin Mar- bles — Olympic Games — Daedalus — Icarus — Perdix Invents the Saw — Castor and Pollux — Gemini— Dioscuri, I90 CHAPTER XXI. Semele — Infancy of Bacchus — Triumphal March — Acetes — Pentheus — Worship of Bacchus — Ariadne — Bacchus Marries Ariadne — Her Crown 203 if!! f *A, i| CHAPTER XXII. Pan — Syrinx — Naiades — Oreades — Nereides — Dryades, or Hamadryades - Paganism — Erisichthon — Violation of Ceres' Grove — The Punish- ment — Phoecus — The Water- Deities — Trident — Amphitrite — Nereus and Doris— Triton and Proteus — Thetis — Leucothea and Palaemon — Camenae— The Winds, 21J 41 CHAPTER XXIII. Achelous — Contest with Hercules — Cornucopia — /Esculapius — Cyclopes — Admetus — Alcestis — Ofifers her Life— Antigone — Antigone's De- votion—Her Burial — Penelope, 224 I xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. frAoa Otphens — Marriage with Eurydice — Her Death — Orpheus Descends to Hades — ^Thracian Maidens — Aristaeus — Complains to his Mother — Regains his Bees — Mythical Poets and Musicians — First Prophet — Musseus, 234 CHAPTER XXV. Anon — ^Thrown into the Sea — His Return — Ibycus — His Murder — ^Thea- tre Scene — Cranes of Ibycus — The Punishment — Simonides — Scopas Jest— Sappho — Lover's Leap, 245 CHAPTER XXVL Endymion — Diana — Orion — Made Blind — Kedalion — Sight Restored — Pleiades — ^Aurora — Memnon — Tithonus — Stature of Memnon — Scylla— Acis — Galatea — River Acis, 254 CHAPTER XXVn. The Trojan War — The Contest — Decision of Paris — Abduction of Helen — Ulysses Feigns Madness — Priam — Agamemnon — Kill > the Stag — Iphigenia — The War — The Iliad — Interest of die Divinities — Achilles' Armor — Death of Patroclus — Achilles takes the Field — Slays Hector — Priam visits Achilles — His request Granted — Funeral Solemnities, ...... ... 262 CHAPTER XXVni. Achilles Captivated by Polyxena — Slain in the Temple — Ulysses claims his Armor — Death of Ajax — Hyacinthus — ^Arrows of Hercules — Death of Paris — The Palladium — Wooden Horse — Sea Serpent — Death of Laocoon — Fall of Troy — Menelaus and Helen — Agamem- non — Orestes — Electra, 285 CHAPTER XXIX. Odyssey — Adventiu"es of Ulysses — ^The Cyclopes — iEolus Isle — ^The Laes- trygonians — Circe — Scylla and Charybdis — Oxen of the Sun — Ulys • ses' Raft — Calypso— Telemachus and Mentor's Escape, . . . 294 CHAPTER XXX. Ulysses Abandons the Raft — Country of the Phje&cians— Dream of Nau- sicaa— Game of Ball — Palace of Alcinous — The Gardens — Hospi- tality to Ulysses — Game of Quoits— Demodicus — Ulysses' Depar- ture — Arrives at Ithaca — Received by Eumceus — Meets Telemachus — Recognized by his Dog — Penelope — Skill of Archery — Slays the Suitors, 308 Modern Monst( CONTBNTSy. xvii CHAPTER XXXI. rXGB Adventures of JEneas — Arrives at Thrace — Delos - Crete — Tue Harpies — Shore of Epirus — Cyclopes — Juno's Anger — Neptune's Inter- vention — Carthage — Abandons Dido— Death of Palinurus — Direc- tions of the Sybil — Arrives at Italy, 319 CHAPTER XXXII. The Infernal Regions — Descent into Hades— Pluto — The Fates — Charon — Meets Palinurus — Cerberus — Minos Judge of Children — Meets Dido — Shades of the Warriors — Judgment Hall of Khadamanthus — Elysian Fields — Ixion — Sisyphus — Tantalus— Orpheus — Meets his Father — Plan of Creation — ^Transmigration of Souls— Elysium — The Sibyl— The Nine Books, 3*7 ' CHAPTER XXXIII. Dream of Latinus — Prediction of the Harpies — ^Juno's Anger — Opening the Gates of Janus — Camilla — Evander — Welcome to ^neas — In- fant Ro'ie — The Rutulians— Turnus — Nisus and Euryalus — Both are Sla' 1 — Mezentius — ^Eneas slays Turnus — Death of yEneas — Romulus and Remus— Foundation of Rome, 340 CHAPTER XXXIV. Pythagoras — His Teachings — Sybaris and Crotona — Mile— Egyptian Mythology— The Rosetta Stone— The Ritual of the Dead— Hall of Two Truths — Osiris and the Judges — Disposition of the Dead — The Apis — The Tomb of — The Egyptian Gods — Myth of Osiris and Isis — ^The Oracles — Dodona — Delphi— Trophonius — /Esculapius — Apis, 356 CHAPTER XXXV. , Origin of Mythology— The Theories— Scriptural, Historical, Allegor- ical, Astro:?omical, Physical, and Philological — Statues of the Gods and Goddesses, Olympian Jupiter, Minerva of the Parthenon, Venus de Medici, Venus de Melos, Apollo Belvedere, Diana of the Hind, Hermes of Olympia — Poets of Mythology, Homer, Virgil, Ovid, ^schylus, Sophocles and Euripides, 375 CHAPTER XXXVI. Modern Monsters — The Phoenix— Cockatrice — Unicorn — Salamander, . 386 CHAPTER XXXVII. Eastern Mythology — Zoroaster — Zend-Avesta — Babylonia — Assyria — Ni'eveh — Phoenician Deities — Hindu Mythology — The Vedas — Brahma — Vishnu — Siva — Laws of Mnnu — The Juggernaut — Castes — Customs— Buddha — Buddhism— The Grand Lama — Presterjohn, . 39I :\.rl M''" k 4 XVUl CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVIII Northern Mythology-The Vaa ^ Mountain Giant his Wages^The f ^°""d-How Thor paid the and Gerda, . . ^^^^The R.coveo^ of the Hanune^I^Fr^ * • . - ^ 409 CHAPTER XXXIX. ^or'svisitto^otanhei.:;rr '''''''• of UtganiLutgaid I^kiRT'r''"-^^'^'^ falls AsIeep^Citv ^•nking ContSt-Ttr'cTay clt^^^r^^^^ ^"^ «'^The B.d„r,theOood^PH^,,^™^^^- tIetoe-The Blind Hodi^n.T'f«' ^°"' *° Fensalir-The Mi, Go den Age-Runie Let! 'rs^Thrs Jm ^T^^^^*^'-^*'^" of the thology^The Lorelei-Tue N^X Ji:!?-^^^^^^^^ My' * ' • • . 433 • • • -445 ft«verbial Expressions, Index to Poets. . Index and Dictionwy,. • 4SS • 457 • 461 I. Apo II. Thr( III. June IV. Apo! V. Jupil VI. Heix VII. Mine VIII. Peise IX. Nepti X. BaccI XI. Sea-G XII. Venus XIII. XIV X\. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. Mars I Mercu Laoco< Miner ^neas Furies, Mercui Achilles and Lic< Achilles, Thetis 1 Actaeon, . Adonis, . .<*)sculapius, Ajax, Ajax bearing the 1 Amazon, . Amazons, Battle o Amun, . Anon, or Dagon, FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. I. Apollo Belvedere, II. Three Fates, The, III. Juno (Hera), IV. Apollo Musagetes, V. Jupiter (2^us of Otricoli), VI. Hero and Leander, VII. Minerva (Pallas Athene), VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. X\. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. Perseus and Andromeda, Neptune (Poseidon), Bacchus (Dionysus), Sea-God, . Venus (Aphrodite), Mars (Ares), Mercury (Hermes), Laocoon -Group, . Minerva (Athene), JEneas at the Court of Dido, Furies, The, Mercury (Hermes of Praxiteles), Rome, . . Paul Thumann, Frontispiece Facing 13 . Villa Lodovisi, Rome, . Vatican, Rome, . Vatican, Rome, . F. Kellner, . f After Pheidias, Found) ■ I at Athens, 1880, J . Coypel, Louvre, Paris, . . Lateran Museum, Rome, . Museum, Capitol, Rome, Vatican, Rome, {Head of the Statue from \ Melos, Paris, . / . Glyptothek, Munich, . Bronze Statue, Naples, . Vatican, Rome, Parthenon, . P. Guerin, . E. Bume- Jones, f Found in Olympia, 1877. * I Restored by Schaper, :•} ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT. 40 86 "3 129 «3i 146 196 206 218 262 270 282 289 308 324 332 380 rAGS Achilles and Licomede Uffizi Gallery, Florence, . 266 Achilles, Thetis bearing the armor of, F. G6rard, . . . 277 Actseon, British Museum, . . 47 Adonis, Thorwaldsen, Munich, . 83 iEsculapius, Vatican, Rome, . . 226 Ajax, Vatican, Rome, . . 286 Ajax bearing the body of Patroclus, . . Capitol, Rome, . . 375 Amazon, ....... Vatican, Rome, . . 180 Amazons, Battle of, Vatican, Rome, . . 195 Amun, 366 Anon, or Dagon From a Relief at Nimroud, 398 ( «» ) m ■.iff I XX ILLUSTRATIONS, Apis Bull. Apollo, Apollo and Daphne, . Apollo and the Muses, Apollo and the Muses, Arethusa, . Ariadne, . Ariadne, . Astarte, . ^ Atalanta's Race, Athene, . Group from Altar-frieze of Atlas, Aurora, . Aurora, . Bacchus and Silenus, Bacchus and Panther, Brahma with Sarasiwati, Buddha, . Cacus and Hercules, . Calliope, . Centaur, . Ceres, Charon and Psyche, . Circe and the friends of Ulysses Clio, Cronus and Rhea, Ciunaean Sibyl, . Cupid (Eros), . Cupid and Psyche, Cupid, Psyche at the Couch of, Cupid and Psyche on Mount Olympus Dredalus and Icarus, . Days of the Week, Monday, Days of the Week, Tuesday, Days of the Week, Wednesday, Days of the Week, Thursday, Days of the Week, Friday, Days of the Week, Saturday, Days of the Week, Sunday, Diana, Diana, Diana of Epbesus, Diana of Versailles, Echo, Electra and Orestes, Erato, Euterpe, . M, . Louvre, Paris, . Vatican, Rome, Rome, . . G. Romano, Florence, . Raphael Mengs, . Ch. Crank, . . H. Rae, . Vatican, Rome, From a Bronze found in Syria, . Poynter, Pergamon. Restored by Tondeur, . Naples, . Reni, . . Reni, . Vatican, Rome, . Athens, . Florence, Vatican, Rome, A. Zick, B. Riviere, . Naples, . Angelo ( Sistine Chapel, Rome) . Capitol, Rome, . Capitol, Rome, . P. Thumann, . P. Thumann, . J. M. Vim, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Raphael, . Corregio, . Vatican, Rome, Louvre, Paris, Guy Head, Villa Ludovisi , Rome, lAGB ^1 364 Famese Bufl 86 Fenris, the S 3* Fingal's Ca^ 171 Flora, • H 9 Fortuna, . ■ 72 i Freya, • ■ 193 Freyr, . ■ 209 Frigga, . ■ 397 i Ganymedes, ■ m Gods weighiiB I Hebe, . 1 145 Hecate, . 1 V Hector, . 1 35 Hector and aI 61 Helen, Paris 1 203 Helen, Rape! 403 Helois, or So 405 Hercules, Th 182 Hercules and 10 Hercules at fe 159 Hercules, Far 214 Hero and Lea 329 Homer, A rea 301 Indra, " Irene, with yoi 6 Iris, . 339 Isis, . XOI Janus, 103 Jason, los Jason, xxo Juno, or Hera 198 Jupiter, Veros] 19 Jupiter, Group 51 Leander, Here 79 Lorelei, . 95 ' Mars, 113 Mars, 151 Medea, 161 • Medusa, Heac 352 Meleager, 353 Melpomene, 256 Mercury Belvt 46 Mercury, . 123 Minerva, . 292 Mithras, . 15 Naiades, . «s Narcissus, ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi F&mese Bull, . Fenris, the Wolf, Fingal's Cave, . Flora, Fortuna, Freya, Freyr, Frigga, Ganymedes, Gods weighing Actions Hebe, Hecate, . Hector, . Hector and Andromache, Parting Helen, Paris and, Helen, Rape of, Helois, or Sol, . Hercules, The Infant, Hercules and Cacus, . Hercules at feet of Omphal Hercules, Famese, . Hero and Leander, . Homer, A reading from, Indra, Irene, with young Pluto, Iris, . Isis, . Janus, Jason, Jason, Juno, or Hera, Jupiter, Verospi, Jupiter, Group from Altar-frieze Leander, Hero and, Lorelei, . Mars, Mars, Medea, • Medusa, Head of, Meleager, Melpomene, Mercury Belvedere, Mercury, . Minerva, . Mithras, . Naiades, . Narcissus, . of, . Naples, . . Naples, . . . Vatican, Rome, Vatican, Rome, British Museum, . Capitol, Rome, . Venice, . , . A. Maignan, . J. L. Davis (Louvre, . Mantua, , . Relief, from Troy, . Louvre, Paris, . Florence, C. G. Glyre (Louvre, . Naples, . . F. Kellner, . . Alma-Tadema, Parif) Paris) . Munich, of Pergamon, Glyptothek, Rome, Museum, Rome, Vatican, Rome, Vatican, Rome, . F. Kellner, . . W. Kray, . Villa Ludovisi, Rome; . Louvre, Paris, . N. Sichel, . . Wagrez, . . Vatican, Rome, . Vatican, Rome, . Vatican, Rome, Nationa' Museum, Florence, . Capitol, Rome, . Vatican, Rome, . Naples, . . . Naples, . . fAOt r\ 343 1 431 " 449 U' 331 188 4*4 k. 419 1- 434 'iW^^^^^^H 187 i 363 ^ 186. u •■■ 337 379 '} 367 ,1: 364 1 363 ^ 305 ^'1 179 f.^^^^^^^^H 183 m-'' 183 m 185 R " 139 JM ■ 394 mi- 401 t^l^^H 354 •''< ', 91 ■t 369 •1 9 1 34* ( 163 1 • 164 ' v1 8 3 ;:•• 1 ■■ *-• '. 375 ,■■'( 1 ■ ' 139 ''i ' '' 443 ' II -''s-^^ m 371 mP- 168 m ^^K 141 *T 173 13 • mM' ■'>. 10 1 '"■§",• tU.; 383 ^lT?iWik8 133 PijfflSH 39a rUfl^fflH 57 1 Wi^^Ki I3J ■ ^-iyB - XXll ILLUSTRATIONS. I WAM Neptune and Amphitrite, .... Munich, « . . 217 Nile God, Vatican, Rome, . . 361 Nin, Assyrian Winged Bull and Genius, ..... 396 Niobe, Florence, . . . 137 Odin, 411 CEdipus and Antigone E. TacbendorfT, . 229 CEdipus and the Sphinx, .... Louvre, Parii, . .153 Orestes and Electra, Villa Ludovifi, Kome, . 292 Orpheus and Eurydice, . . K. Beyicblag, . . 234 Orpheus, Eurydice and Mercury, . Naples, . . . 237 Osiris, 367 Osiris, 368 Pan, 211 Pan and Apollo, Naples, .... 212 Pandora, . N. Sichel, ... 22 Paris and Helen, J. L. Davis (IvOUvre, Parif), 264 Patroclus, Athens, , , . 273 Patroclus, Ajax bearing the body of, . Capitol, Rome, , . 275 Pegasus and the Nymphs Thorwaldsen, . .156 Penelope, . Vatican, Rome, . . 233 Perseus, Canova (Vatican, Rome), 143 Pleiades, E, Vedder, , , . 257 Pluto and Proserpine, .... Villa Ludoviii, Rome, . 66 Polyhymnia, 16 Pomona, Naples Museum, , 96 Prometheus Bound, Flaxman, ... 27 Proserpine, 69 Proserpine, Abduction of, . .P. Shobeti, ... 70 Psyche and Cupid, Capitol, Rome, . . 103 Psyche at Couch of Cupid, .P. Thumann, , . 105 Psyche with Urn, R. Beyschlag, , . 108 Psyche and Cupid on Mount Olympus, P. Thumann, , . .110 Psyche and Charon, A. Zick, . . . 329 Rosetta Stone, 360 Sappho and Alcseus, H. Biirck, . . . 253 Silenus and Bacchus, .... Vatican, Rome, . « 61 Sirens, . . . . . E. Barrios, . , , 302 Siva, 400 Sol, or Helois, Relief, from Troy, . , 305 Sphinx, CEdipus and the, .... Louvre, Paris, . '153 Stonehenge, ..... 446 Terpsichore, Florence, ... 14 Thalia, Vatican, Rome, , .17 ITieseus, Temple of Volksgartens, Vienna, 191 Thetis, bearing the Armor of Achilles, . F. G6rard, , , . 277 Thor, 418 Three Graces, Vatican, Rome, . .12 Trimorti, . Urania, Ulysses Feigning Valkyrie baring ; Valkyrior, Venus, CrouchingJ Venus, Venus, Love, and Venus de Milo, Vesta, or Hestia, Victory, or Nike, V\r^\, Tomb of, Vishnu, . Vulcan, Foi^e of, Winds, The, Apeli< WolfFenris, ILLUSTRATIONS. XXlll Trimord, Urania, Berlin, . Ulysses Feigning Madness, . H. Hardy, Valkyrie bearing a hero to Valhalla, . K. Dielitz, Valkyrior, P. N. Arbo, Venus, Crouching, Venus, Venus, Love, and Vulcan, Venus de Milo, Vesta, or Hestia, Victory, or Nike, Virgil, Tomb of, Vishnu, . Vulcan, Forge of, . Vatican, Rome, . Capitol, Rome, . Tintoretto, , Louvre, Paris, Rome, . Samothrace ( Restored by Zimibusch Tintoretto, Venice, Winds, The, Apeliotes, Eurus, Lips, Zephyrus, WolfFenris, PACK 14 265 409 416 67 84 245 379 354 189 382 399 5 222 421 \ 11 ft 1 ' ^1 ill WW*- 14 Efl pm lui- -t ' ' ' ■• "'\ '''■■ ■■ ' ■'•-> ■ .J \* i '\ "«ll tu'i.- •l. r ':rj- ,^ it '! '"^1^ ^'%.-,. "pif" it: M 3i •» 'ir> ' i" ^. < * 4 *'' I '•;i.,ii.i GiBA=-P0NTl», I Nereus. I •I Thaiimas. rRim Oi; Jj TO A (Uiibt.i Am UHANdJlT-G/itA. Cro usaRhea. Jupiter _Ceres- [ Juno , Pluto Ki'.iHu] (Zeus). (Demete). (Hera). (Hrcics) Minerva (Athene). Pnorcys=Ceto, ptiine=Amphiirite. Galatea. Thetis. Ins. Harpies. Gorgons. Sirens. ScylloJ Triton. Achilles. kniethcus— Ctymene. Epl metheus =1 Pandora Deucalion =« Pyrrha. Hiilen(i). k(a). Dorus (3). Xuthiis (4). > 1 Achaeui., Ion. W .\ncestor of the Greeks. I') incestor of thu /F.olians, ()) Ancestor of the Doiiiuis, U) Ancestor of the Ai:h.i}ans and Ionian*. ?KIB. 0; Ml*! ■ ET ZHUS—Ifera Uuno). I 1 Hebe. Ares iJVIars). He;'hwt»« 'l.l< CcetM«-Phceb«. Ipetiu^ uno). 1 ..H ;v M'.iona)i /■ ■ (Dlan; ,7 ■' \ chits). lies'." '/'.I'" 5 (Th-f ) I i. LatotiA i). (Uto). i ilmetheu*. Promethui. Atlas. I Plumk i Maia. T7RANtTS=G«A. \ Oceanus=l\jthys. 1 Inachus Occanicis, and river gods. Clymene, Doris=Nereus. Nereides. Cronu8=Khea. I Neptune=AmphitrIte,l Proteus. , TritJn, tFAlS,o:,mbnEK, ZKU8=»Dcme remepnone (tt>cri>ina). till*). •). Ilermi Zuua=»M ^ Muses, (Ceres), Mercury), nosyno. t rrometheuswCIymene. AHJha (Dnddess Jiiiiiice), if E'5'niU;'''' . { l)cucitlon«»J'viih«. I I ^^ 1 'II ' . . Mll'tl, Alan. I m fJ? V ' ■ lifilt" ****H* '%fe <®0 'Us , M ; ■;- *^^..- -^i' ,; ' .■ '_..,- - . ' -*' ■''.■*-' y vV .X'-"- ---^ *** i". ■ ' - 0i^^^^ '■-■■ ^ i'' i^^'^' ■ . m.- \ ^s h 7^:- .# ?- .V-^'^, * ■' V l;^:,t* « . .. ■ ^V,;^ fv , '■..(iT.,.-rtfi|irii»'nwS'' lilWiiMimiBSaMBBH^^ Athene. Group froi STORIES ( Ancient mytholo As religions, they b of 0-lym'pus hay( Their dominion is tJ has displaced the t( immortality. Our ( the visionary deities and A-pol'lo — thesi of our best -known ' This similarity of lar The gods, like men we arrive at a moi always found in co constructs one of hii invented and given ] tient beings, and at feelings take upon tl the light of subsequei 0« :, -.'Zl' ■ i'^ ■ - ■ -'i^^^-^* ^'--^ . .. ^••V>. ■ _ ':/ ^"^-i'" '"> yr ■ • "4 '■ ' ..ti'-'.-.' / V _ \ > / ^ ^^ - -v' > **-l'i i.nr:!iai^"».ui 5i;ii«'Wiffluiafl*tflH** wa8^aBa»s5i ^ts.::JlLill.u.-.iti.-...i.i.>t.-jiij^.j3ukiiii...li.'^uliii..- ...-i- ii. ^. :t-.,.j ,,........0,'.^,.:... -J .... -^-:. ..-...- J-^ Athene. Group from altar-frieze of Pergamon (restored by Tondeur). STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. CHAPTER t INTRODUCTION, Ancient mythologies have much to do with modem literature. As religions, they belong to the past. The so-called divinities of O-lym'pus have not a single worshipper among living men. Their dominion is that of literature and taste. The school-room has displaced the temple j and here the gods have found their immortality. Our own language, in particular, o\V^es much to the visionary deities of extinct theology. Zeus, Mi-nerVa and A-pol'lo — these are among our literary ancestors. Many of our best -known words are but the harvest of their sowing. This similarity of language presupposes an origin common to all. The gods, like men, were related, and by tracing their kinship we arrive at a more perfect knowledge of our own. Man is always found in company with some god j left to himself, he constructs one of his own. The most extravagant legends are invented and given locality. The fofce STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. f.r r" to understand these legends, it will be necessary to acquaint our- selves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which pre- vailed among the Greeks — the people from whom the Romans and oth(:r nations re- ceived much of their mythology. They believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the mid- dle of i(^ the central point being either Mount O-lym'pus, the aJ.iode of the gods, ur Del'phi, so famou.4 for its oracle. The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east, and divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediter- ranean, and its con- tinuation, the Eux- ine. Around the earth flowed the J^iver Ocean, its course being from south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direc- tion on the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable cur- rent, unv^xed by storm of'ienijtesf. 'Rie ye» andiallftl^ji'nvers on earth received their wat^ from it •.•*.*•! : Jupiter Ve];G«p!*(VMiacm, Rogie). ,••• \ • •• • • * •! .• -• .•••.* ••• ••• •• - t • • The northern ited by a happy' in everlasting bliil caverns were supj north wind, whici country was ina< from disease or given us the **So| On the south sii dwelt a people ha were named the }. that they were wc and go to share thi On the western lay a happy place favored by the go to enjoy an immo called the "Fortui ••Theyne They The sun When "They till The> Not a te They We thus see th jmy real people ej country, or near tl nation, meantime, giants, monsters ai disk of the earth, t I ( , I • • • I • • • • • • • • • • ••• • • • • 1 • INTBODUCTION, 3 The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhab< ited by a happy race named the Hyp-er-bo're ans, 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, I "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 Hyperboreans. They were named the ufEthiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes, and go to share their sacrifices and banquets. On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a happy place named the E-lys'i-an 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." ** They need not the moon in that land of delight. They need not the pale, pale star ; The sun is bright, by day and night, Where the souls of the blessed are. •• They till not the ground, they plow not the wave, Thej labor not, never ! oh, never 1 Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave i They are happy for ever and ever I"— Pindar. We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of jmy real people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagi- nation, 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 cff no great STORIEiS OF OOnS AND HEROES. I'. width, nations enjoying the pecuh'ar favor of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity. The Dawn, the Sun and the Moon were supposed to rise crt of the Ocean on the eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving light to gods and men. The stars also, except those form- ing 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 conveyed him round by the northern part of the earth, back to his place of rising in the east. Milton aPudes to this in his ** Comus.*' Ul ** 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 dusky pole, Pacing towards the other goal Of his chamber in the east.'* !l The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount O-lym'- pus, in Thessaly. A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses naned 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 summoned, repaired to the palace of Ju'pi-ter, 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 He'be. Here they conversed of the affairs of heaven and earth ; and as they quaffed their nectar, A-pol'lo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones of his lyre, to which the Muses sang in re- sponsive strains. When the sun was set, the gods retired to sleep in their respective dwellings. The following lines from the "Odyssey" will show hovi Homer conceived of Olympus : ' I- f *• So saying, Mi-ner'va, goddess azure-eyed. Rose to 0-lym''pus, the reputed seat Eternal of the gods, which never storms Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but caui BrTRODVCTlON. 6 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 everything of a more solid nature was formed of the various metals. Vul'can was Foi^e of Vulcan (by Tintoretto, Venice). 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 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. W -i', I :i^'-y'* ; i k m Mt. ;r 1 1. .1 .1 6 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES, «* Those who labor The sweaty forge, who edge the crooked scythe, Bend stubborn steel, and harden gleaming armor. Acknowledge Vulcan's aid."— Prior. Ju'pi-ter, or Jove (Zeus*), though called the father of gock and men, had himself a beginning. Sat'urn (Cro'nus) was his father, and Rhe'a (Ops) his mother. Saturn and Rhea were of the race of Ti'tans, who were the children of Cronus and Rhea (Naples). Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Cha'os, of which we shall give a further account in our next chapter. Saturn and Rhea were not the only Titans. There were others, whose names were O-ce'a-nus, Hy-pe'ri-on, I-ap'e- tus and O-phi'on, males; and The'mis, Mne-mos^y-ne, * The names included in parentheses are the Greek, the others being th« Roman or Latin names. The represen for on the one 1 of innocence ar monster who d escaped this fa dence), who ad to disgorge his now rebelled aj tans; vanquish ta-rus, inflicti demned to beai On the det] Nep'tune (P minions. Jup ocean, and Plu » This inconsisi same with the Gr things which hav« INTRODUCTION. f Eu-ryn' 0-me, 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 if therefore the original sun-god, and is painted with the splendor and beauty which were afterwards 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, " 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 Sat'urn are not very consistent, 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 children.* Jupiter, however, escaped this fate, and when grown up espoused Me'tis (Pru- dence), 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 Ti- tans ; vanquished them, and imprisoned some of them in Tar'- ta-rus, inflicting other penalties on others. Atlas was con- demned to bear up the heavens on his shoulders. On the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter with his brothers Nep'tune (Po-sei'don) and Plu'to (Dis) divided his do- minions. Jupiter's portion was the heavens, Neptune's the ocean, and Pluto's the realms of the dead. *• Pluto, the grisly god, who never spares, Who feels no mercy, who hears no prayers. "- -Homer. > This inconsistency arises from considering the Saturn of the RomaoH thfl same with the Grecian deity Cronos (Time), which, as it brings an end to all things which have had a beginninaj, may be said to devom- its own offspring. STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. Earth and Olympus were common property. .Jupiter was king of gods and men. The thunder was his weapon, and he bore a shield called .^'gis, made for him by Vulcan The eagle was his favorite bird, and bore his thunderbolts. Ju'no (Hc'ra) was the wife of Jupiter, and (lueen of the gods. Iris, the goddcs.'. of the rainbow, wa« her at tendant and niCHHcnger. The peacock was her favorite bird. Vurcan(He-ph8e8'tu8), the celestial artist, was the son of Jupiter and Jimo. He was born lame, and his mother was so displeas(;(l at the sight |of him that she Hung him out of heaven. Other accounts say that Ju'pi-tcr kicked him out for taking part with his mother in a (juarrel which oc- curred between them. Vul'- can's lameness, according to this account, was the conse- quence of his fall. He was a whole uay falling, and at last alighted in the Island of Lem'nos, which wa» thence* forth sacred to him. Milton alludes to this story in " Paradise Lost," Book I. Juno, or Hera. (Vatican, Rome.) ** From morn ' >. To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer's day ; and with the setting Kun Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star. On Lemnos, the ^gean isle." Mars (A'res), the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno. Phcs'bus A-poVlo, the god of archery, prophecy and mtisic, was the son a'na (Ar'^e-mis ter, was the godde Ve'nus (Aph- was the daughter Venus sprang from her along the wai ceived and attired of the gods. All demanded her for gratitude for the bolts. So the moj .of the most ill-fav broidered girdle C£ love. Her favorit sacred to her were Cu'pid(E'ros was her constant ( he shot the dart and men. There sometimes represei INTBODUCTIOK music, was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Di- a'na (Ar'ie-mis). He was god of the sun, as Diana, his sis- ter, was the goddess of the moon. Ve'nus (Aph-ro-di'te), the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of Jupiter and Di-o'ne. Others say that Venus sprang from the foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to the Isle of Cyprus, where she was re« ceived 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. Ju'pi-tergave her to Vul'can, in ',■■'< ■>,-"*.;iSS^a&V»»'> .*S{ *^¥S*; ^^^^- 1 - ■» '*r ',. ■■■-.■A. ■ \ ,■-■ v /. i^. ApoHo and the Muses (Raphael Mengs). gratitude for the service he had rendered in forging thunder- bolts. So the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife •of the most ill-favored of the gods. Ve'nus possessed an em- broidered girdle called Cestus, which had the power of inspiring love. Her favorite birds were swans and doves, and the plants sacred to her were the rose and the myrtle. Cu'pid (E'ros), the god of love, was the son of Venus. He was her constant companion, and, armed with bow and arrows, he shot the darts of desire into the bosoms of both gods and men. There was a deity named An'te-ros, who was sometimes represented as the avenger of slighted love, and some- ■» 1 ■ ' \-. h. ■« a:. rf" lO STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES. \i:' f times as the symbol of reciprocal affection. The following legend is told of him : — Ve'nus, complaining to The'mis that her son Eros continued 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 born soon afterwards, and Eros immediately was seen to increase rapidly in size and strength. Mercury Belvedere. (Vatican, Rome.) Calliope. Mi-ner'va (Pal'las A-the-'ne), the goddess of wisdom, was the offspring of Jupiter, without a mother. She sprang forth from his head, completely armed. Her favorite bird was Ihe owl, and the plant sacred to her the olive. Byron, in *< Childe Harold," alludes to the birth of Minerva, thus :— Mer'cu-ry (H lit presided over c d-jes, even over ipg, and everythii short, which re( skill and dexterity, was the messenger pIter, and wore a ^^ cap and winged He bore in hi:" h rod entwined wit! ssrpents, called th duceus. Mercury is sa have invented the He found, one ( tortoise, of whic took the shell, holes in the o\ edges of it, and instrument was cc the nine Muses. '. from him in excha ' From this origin Rvnonymous with *'ly in his ode on the * * Pr INTRODUCTION, II " 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?** Mer'cu-ry (Her'mes) was the son of Jupiter and Ma'ia. l)"fc presided over commerce, wrestling and other gymnastic exer' ches, even over thiev- ipg, and everything, in short, which required skill and dexterity. He was the messenger of Ju- piter, and wore a winged cap and winged shoes. He bore in hi::" hand a rod entwined with two serpents, called the Ca- duceus. 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 Clio (Louvre). edges of it, and drew cords of linen through then», and the instrument was complete. The cords were nine, *.n honor of the nine Muses. Mercury gave the lyre to Apollo, and received | from him in exchange the caduceus.* ♦, * From this origin of the instrument, the word '* shell " U often used ai Rvnonymous with "lyre," and figuratively for music and poetiy. Thus 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 &oft control." m ft I 12 STORIES OF GODS AND JiEMOES, W i^': Ce'res (De-me'ter) was the daughter of Satuip and Rhea. She had a daughter named Pro ser'pi-ne (Pcr-seph'o-ne), who became the wife of Pluto, and queen of the realms of the dead. Ceres presided over agriculture. Bac'chus (Di-o-nys'us), the god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and Sem'e-le. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but its social and beneficent influences likewise, so that he is viewed as the promoter of civiliza- tion, and a lawgiver and lover of peace. The Mu'ses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mne-mos'y-ne (Mem- ory). They presided over song and prompted the memory. They were nine in number, to each of whom was assigned the presidgjjcc over some particular depart ment of literature, art or sci- ence. Cal-li'o-pe was 'be muse of epic poetry, Cli'o of history, Eu-tcr'pe of ly- ric poetry, Mel-pom'e-ne of tragedy, Tcrp-sich'o-re of choral dance and song, Er'a-to of love-poetry, Pol-y-hym'ni-a of sacred poetry, U-ra'ni-a of astron- omy, Tha-li'a of comedy The Graces were goddesses presiding over the banquet, the dance, and all social enjoyments and elegant arts. They were three in number. Their names were £u-phros'y-net Ag« la'ia and Tha-li'a. Spenser describes the office of the Graces thus!— i '•Thtse throe on iiirii u!l fjrncious ^^\{^.<^ beHloW >Vbich de^ the LmxI/ or adoru the mindi Three Graces, (Vatican Rome.) To/nake t As comely Sweet seni And all th They teacl We should To friends The Fates were ro-pos. Their of to spin the thread o destiny, and th armed with shea? which they cut it they pleased. Th( the daughters of T (Law), who sits on his throne to g counsel. TheE-rin'ny-es ries, were three g who punished by tht stings the crimes ( who escaped or aefie justice. The headi Furies were wreath serpents, and thei ■ appearance was ten appalling. Their nai A-lec'to, Ti-si] 2\\d Me-gae'ra. T alio called Eu-nie Nem'e-sis was avenging goddess, resents the right.eo of the gods, partici Pan was the god dence was in Arcad The Sa'tyrs wer conceived to be co\ with short, sproutin INTRODUCTION 13 To/nake them lovely or well-favored show j As comely carriage, entertainment kind, } Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind, And all the complements of courtesy ; They teach us 1 nv to each degree and kind We should ourelves demean, to low, to high, To friends, to foes ; which skill men call Civility." The Fates were also three — Clo'tho, Lach'e-sis and At' ro-pos. Their office was < to spin the thread of human destiny, and they were armed with shears, with which they cut it; off when they pleased. They were the daughters of The'mis (Law), who sits by Jove on his throne to give him counsel. The E-rin'ny-es,orFu'- ries, were three goddesses who punished by their secret stings the crimes of those who escaped or oefied public justice. The heads of the Furies were wreathed with serpents, and their whole ■ appearance was terrific and appalling. Their names were A-1 e c't o, Ti-siph'o-ne jud Me-gse'ra. They were alio called Eu-men'i-des. Nem'e-sis was also an avenging goddess. She rep- resents the righteoiib anger of the gods, particularly towards the proud and insolent. Pan was the god of flocks and shepherds. His favorite resi- dence was in Arcadia. The Sa'tyrs were deities of the woods and fields. They were j conceived to be covered with bristly hair, their heads decorated I with short, sprouting hornsj and their feet lilje goats' feet. Melpomeie. (Vatican, Rome. ) m 4. J!ki 14 STORIES OF QODS AND HEROES. fm Mo'mus was the god of laughter, and Plu'tus the god of wealth. The preceding are Grecian divinities, though received also by the Romans. They bear the color and form of Grecian thought. But the Greeks and Romans were yet to meet and exchange di- vinities. This they did, and in a single pantheon built an altar her mythology to : and their gods are to be remembered, had gods peculiar their own distincti to be identical.' Terpsichore. ( Florence. ) Urania. (Berlin.) common to both. It was a peculiar service, and one which has much to do with modern literature. T'.e Greeks were the more poetic, hence they became the song-writers ot ancient mythology. Rome had a religion, but no mythology. Her people wor- shipped the memory of their ancestors, and seemed to care for little else. Their gods were largely al)stractions, whiie those of Greece were definite personalities. As a result, Greece gave Sat' urn was ar identify him with t his dethronement » The Jupiter of a literature was more th « And we feel stro to our Roman diviniti INTRODUCTION. 15 her mythology to Rome. The same legends are told of each, and their gods are often mistaken one for the other. It ought to be remembered, however, that both the Greeks and Romans had gods peculiar to themselves.^ Zeus and Jupiter retained their own distinctive characteristics long after they were thought to be identical.' ^'^'''m. Euterpe. Erato (l-ouvre). ROMAN DIVINITIES. Sat'urn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify him with the Grecian god Cro'nus, and fabled that after his dethronement by Jupiter he fled to Italy, where he reigned * The Jupiter of actual worship was a Roman god ; the Jupiter of Latin literature was more than half Greek. — (Jupiter), Encyclopedia Britanntca. ' And we feel stronger and stranger among people who gfive Greek namei to our Roman divinities. — Quo Vadis, i6 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. " ■'i| if during what was called the Golden Age. In memory of his be neficent dominion, the feast of Saturnalia 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 in- dulged with great liberties. A feast was given them, at which they sat at table, while their masters served them, to show the natural equality of men, and that all things belonged equally to all in the reign of Saturn. Fau'nus,* the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the god of fields and shepherds, and also as a pro- phetic god. His name in the plural, Fauns, expressed a class of gamesome deities, lik^ the Satyrs of the Greeks. Qui-ri'nus was a war god, said to be no other than Romulus, the founder of Rome, exalted after his death to a place among the gods. Bel-lo'na, a war goddess. Ter'mi-nus, the god of landmarks. His statue was a rude stone or post, set in the ground to mark the boundaries of fields. Pa'les, the goddess presiding over cattle and pastures. Po-mo'na presided over fruit trees. Flo'ra, the goddess of flowers. Lu-ci'na, the goddess of childbirth. Ves'ta (the Hes'ti-a 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 temples. As the safety of the city was held to be con- nected with its conservation, the neglect of the virgins, if they let it go out, was severely punished, and the fire was rekindled fron the rays of the sun. » Lri'ber is the Latin name of Bac'chus ; and Mul'ci-ber of Vulcan. Polyhymnia. * There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona Dea. INTRODUCTION, 17 Ja'nus was the porter of heaven. He opens the year, the {list month being named after him. rx ; r> ^'if'/J' *' I count The years that tlirougn my portals come and go." — LoNGFEl,LOW. He is the guardian deity of gates, on which account he is com- monly represented 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 Pe-na'tes were the ^"[ods who were supposed to at- tend to the welfare and pros- perity 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 La'res, or Lars, were also household gods, but dif- ered from the Penates in being regarded as thp deified spirits of mortals. The family Lars were held to be the souls of the ancestors, who watched over and protected their descend- ants. The words Lemur and Thalia. (Vatican, Rome. ) Larva more nearly correspond to our word Ghost. The Romans believed that every man had his Genius, and every woman her Ju'no ; 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 Genius, women to their Juno. Macaulay thus alludes to some of the Roman gods :— . %Mm . 'invvi-i 18 STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES, *' 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 whisper Of plighted youth and maid. In April's ivory moonlight, , Beneath the chestnut shade.'* — Prophecy ofCapys, The gods were classified as higher or lower according to their rank. The higher order moved in the region of air above the clouds. At times they assembled on the summit of Olympus for consultation ; for which reason they were known as the Olym- pian gods. These were twelve in number: ^u'pi-ter (Zeus), Ju'no (He'ra),l^ep'tune (Po-sei-don),X'eres (De-me'- ter),^A-poPlo, Di-a'na (Ar'te-mis),^Vurcan (He-phses- tus)\Min'er-va (Pal'las A-the'ne)rMars(A'res), (Ve'- nus'^ph-ro-di'te),^Mer'cu-ry (Her'mes), and Ves'ta. The inferior gods lived far below and in mansions like to earthly princes. Some of them were restricted to certain locali- ties of earth, such as the Ne-re'i des to fountains, the 0-re'- a-des to the hills, and the Dry'a-des to the trees. Demigods. The dem'i-gods, as the name implies, were but half-deities. They were the offspring of a god and a mortal. When the mor kal died the immortal was received among the gods. Monday, Luna (Raphad). CHAPTER II. I » Pro-me'theus and Pan-do'ra. The origin of the world was naturally one of the first ques< tions to excite the interest of man. The ancients, having no revelation, were obliged to tell the story in their own way, which was as follows :' Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos. *' Ere earth and sea and covering heavens wet'e known. The face of nature, o'er the world, was one ; And men have call'd it Chaos."— Ovid (Elton's tr.). Earth, sea and air were all blended together. The earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. *• No sun yet beam'd from yon cerulean height ; No orbing moon repair' d her horns of light ; No earth, self-poised, on liquid ether hung ; No sea its world-enclasping waters flung." — OviD (Elton's tr.). * There are many legends as to the earth's creation. One, the " Egg Myth," was quite generally accepted. Er^e-bus, the god of darkness, and Nox, the goddess of night, produced an egg, from which emerged E'ros, the god of Love, to create the earth. A similar legend, related by Hesiod, makes E^ros the child of Chafes. Being the god of Love, he induced U'ra-nus, the Heaven, to marry Qe'a, the Earth, whose children became the TKtans, tha original creatonof man. (19) 20 STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES, i God and Nature at last interposed and put an end to this dis cord, 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 who — gave his good offices In arranging and disposing the earth. He gave to the rivers and bays their places, raised mountains, excavated valleys, dis- tributed woods, fountains, fertile fields and stony plains. The air being cleared, the stars began to appear, fishes took posses- sion 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. Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with water, made man in the image of the gods. ** Prometheus first transmuted Atoms culled for human cIay."»-HoRACE. He gave him an upright stature, so that while all other ani- mals turn their faces downward and look to the earth, he raises his face toward heaven and gazes upon the stars. Pro-me'theus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race who inhabited the earth before the creation of man. To him and his brother Epimetheus was committed the office of making man, and providing him and all other animals with the faculties neces- sary for their preservation. Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was to overlook his work. Epimetheus accord- ingly proceeded to bestow upon the different animals the 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 superior to all other animals, Epimetheus had been so prodigal of his resources that he had nothing left to bestow upon him. In his perplexity he resorted to his brother, Prometheus, who, with the aid of Mi- nerva, went up to heaven and lighted his torch at the chariot of the sun and brought down fire to man. With the gift The beasts were .and overcome tl: thus became an i troduced the arts bilities of trade. Woman was n< that Jupiter beh( fire upon the ear knew no bounds was determined as a punishment in heaven. I I The gods vie Venus gave her 1 because of which Thus equippec Epimetheus, wh< brother to bewar his house a jar, which, in fitting Pandora was sei jar contained. AM Wl Fo Pandora was slipped off the ( a multitude of ] tism and colic f mind, — and scat to replace the li PBOMETOIJUS AND PANDORA, 21 With the gift of fire came man's dominion over the earth. The beasts wt;re his enemy, but fire enabled man to forge weapons .and overcome them. With fire he warmed his dwelling, and thus became an inhabitant of every clime. With it he also in- troduced the arts, coined money, and brought about the possi' bilities of trade. Woman was not yet made. The story (absurd enough!) is that Jupiter beholding from his throne on Olympus a strange fire upon the earth, asked what it meant. When told, his rage knew no bounds. The gods were assembled in council, and it was determined that woman should be created, and sent to man as a punishment for accepting Prometheus* gift. She was made in heaven. " The crippled artist-god. Illustrious, molded from the yielding day ^ A bashful viigin'i image, as ad vis' d i' Satumianjove." — Hesiod (Elton's tr.). The gods vied with each other in contributing their gifts, Venus gave her beauty. Mercury persuasion, Apollo music, etc., because of which she was named Pan-do'ra.* 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 contained. ** Yon mysterious chest Attracts and fascinates me. Would I knew What there lies hidden 1 But the oracle Forbids." — Masque op Pandora (L.ingfellow). Pandora was not equal to the temptation. One day she slipped off the cover and looked in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude of plagues for hapless man, — such as gout, rheuma* tism and colic for his body, and envy, spite and revenge for his mind, — and scattered themselves far and wide. Pandora hastened to replace the lid, but alas ! the whole contents of the jar had es* > Grade for Allgiaed. MM in 22 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. PRO! V. -:n I Hi Hi caped, one thing only excepted, which lay at the bottom, and that was /tope. So we see at this day, whatever evils arc abroad, hope never entirely leaves us ; and while we have //ta/, no amount of other ills can make us completely wretched. *• Hope sole remain' d within, nor took her flight, Beneath the vessel's verge conceal' d from light." —Hmiou (ElUm'» tr.*). Another story is that Pandora was sent in good faith, by Ju- piter, to blem man; that she waH furnished with a box, containing her marriage presents, into which every god had put some blessing. She opened the box incautiously, and the blessings all escaped, /lopg only excepted. This story seems more probable than the for- mer ; for how could hope, 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 one of inno- cence and happiness. Truth and right pre- vailed, though not en- forced by law, nor was there any magistrate to threaten or punish. The forest had not yet been rol)bed of its trees to furnish timbers for vessels, nor had men built for« Pandora, by N. Sichel. tifications round th( swords, spears, or h( necessary for man, v Perpetual spring rei rivers flowed with n from the oaks. 1-his was the Go Age, inferior to the Jupiter shortened Then, first, men had houses became neces leafy coverts of the would no longer gro^ to sow the seed, and «« Succeeding ti Excelling bra Then summei And spring m The sun his a Good days co The air with The wings of And shiverinj Sought shelte Those houses With twining Then plows, And oxen lal The Brazen and Ir burst in like a flood : places came fraud £ of gain. Then scan were torn from the i the face of ocean, vated in common, b were not satisfied wi into its bowels, and Mischievous iron, a War sprang up, usii in his friend's house 'VW^BwrnB".*"- PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA, 23 tifications round their towns. There The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving earth, she was placed among the stars, where she became the conMtcllation Virgo — the Virgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother of Aslncft. She is represented os holding aloft a pair of scales, in which .she weighs the claiinH of opposing parties. \ It was a favorite idea of the old poets thiit llicso goddesses would one day return, and bring back the Golden Age. Kveii in u (Jluisliun Hymn, the Mrs slab of Pope, this idea occurs. "All crimes shall ceas»., and ancient fraud shall fail, Returning Justice lift oloft her .stale, Peace o'er the woild luT olive wand extend, And white-robed J imorence from heaven descend." See also, Milton's Ilvmn to the Nativity, slan/aM, xlv. atid xv. PRO. land. At tl.e same and brings in the ref herds, men and houi sacred enclosures pr it was overwhelmed, Now all was sea, se vidual remained on pulled the oar wher fishes swim among t garden. Where th( sea-calves gambol. lions and tigers stru^ boar serves him not with weary wing int( ing-place. Those 1 prey to hunger. «• Now hills an And level' d Parnassus alone, o and there Deucalion theus, found refuge— the gods. Jupiter, v remembered their 1: the north winds to i to earth and earth to blow on his shell ani obeyed, and the sea channels. «* At length But desoh Nature be' A dismal < Then Deucalion tl wo?nan, joined to r and now by a comm of our ancestor Pro first made it 1 But V • PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA. 25 land. At t'I.e same time he heaves the land with an earthquake, and brings in the reflux of the ocean over the short j. Flocks, herds, men and houses are swept away, and temples with their sacred enclosures profined. 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 indi- vidual remained on a projecting hill-top, and a few, in boats, pulled the oar where they had lately driven the plough. The fishes swim 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 his swiftness the stag. The birds fall with weary wing into the water, having found no land for a rest- ing-place. Those living beings whom the water spared fell a prey to hunger. •» Now hills and vales no more distincUon know. And level'd nature lies oppress'd below."— OviD (Dryden*8 tr.), Parnassus alone, of all the mountains, overtopped the waves ; and t^ere Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, of the race of Prome- theus, found refuge — he a just man and she a faithfi il 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 tlie 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 theif channels. *« At length the world was all restor'd to view, But desolate, and of a sickly hue ; Nature beheld herself, and stood aghast, A dismal desert and a silent waste."— 0\riD (Dryden*» Tr.). Then Deucalion thus addressed T^yrrha: **0 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 niade it ! But as we cannot, let us seek yonder temple, and 46985 • '>i-:i'. IB Ili^ifli y ' «|-i ^\ -i^a^ijf '?,, J '-tw»f!M \J'. I^ifflj MB \i '"'ffl fT^m h' i.:/'iM M m;:, i i .>i;i!.>Mi-^ ■W. 26 STORIES OF QODS AND HEROES, Kil!! f H 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 retrieve their miserable affairs. The oracle answered, *' Depart from the temple with head veiled and garments unbound, and cast behind you the bones of your mother," They heard the words with astonishment. Pyrrha first broke silence: "We cannot obey; we dare not profane the remains of our parent'." They sought the thickest shades 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 : -^jiety. 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 rnoisture and slime that were about them became flesh j 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 indications of our origin. Milton thus compares Eve to Pandora, changing lapetus, the (ather of Prometheus and Epimetheus, to Japhet : ** More lovely than Pandora, whom the godi Endowed with oil their gifts ; and O, too like In sad event, when to the unwiscr son Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she Innnarcd Mankind by her fair looks, to bo avenged On him who had stole Jove's authentic fire." -^Parodist Lostf D. IV, Prometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets. He Is represented as the friend of mankind, who intcrpoHcd in their behalf when Jove was incensed against them, and who taught PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA 27 Ihem civilization and the arts. But as, in so doing, he trans> gressed the will of Jupiter, and drew down on himself the anger of the ruler of gods and men. Jupiter had him chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture preyed on his liver, which was renewed as fast as devoured. This state of torment Prometheus bound, Flaxman. might have been brought to an end at any time by Prometheus, if he had been willing to submit to his oppressor ; for he pos- sessed 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 this he disdained to do. " I would not quit This bleak ravine, these unrepentant pofaut. Pity tlae self-despising slaves of Jove, Not me, within whose mind sits peace serene." —Shelley, Promtthem UnbouniL * A fatal marriage that Jove was about to maka. !■ \' it* - .« W 'm;r •I*- ■'■% * 'itiS'ii:.'- ":■ .J- AJn 28 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES, Prometheus has become the world's symbol of suflering and strength of will resisting wrong. ** Therefore, great heart, bear up ! Thou are but type Of what all lofty spirits endure, that fain Would win men back to strength and peace through love." — Lowell's Prometheus. Lord Byron has also written on the same theme. The fol- lowing are his lines : ** Titan I 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."* ' The poet ^Eschylus, who lived twenty- five hundred years ago, wrote three tragedies on the subject of Prometheus. Unfortunately but one Promethein Chained is now extant. Vulcan, after much hesitation, chains the Titan to the rock. He is visited by Mercury, who offers release on condition that his secret be revealed. There are many very excellent English translations. The poet Shelley Is perhaps his best interpreter. ' / PYTHON, 29 CHAPTER III. Py'thon — A-pol'lo and Daph'ne — Pyr'a-mus and This'be — Ceph'a-lus and Proc'ris. 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, Py'thon, an enormous serpent, crept forth, the terror of the people, and lurked in the caves of Mount Parnassus. A-pol'lo slew him with his arrows — ^weapons which he had i-ot before used against any but feeble animals, hares, wild goats, and such game. In commemoration of this illustrious conquest he insti- tuted 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. At the entrance to one of these mountain caverns was situated the Delphic oracle, the most famous shrine in all the ancient world. Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona. Juno, jealous of his mother, banished her to Delos, a rock in the .^gean sea. Here was born Apollo and his twin sister Diana. The two seem 10 have centred in themselves the highest ideal of their country. Apollo became a god of almost universal worship. " I am the eye with which the Universe Beholds itself and knows itself divine. All harmony of instrument and verse, All prophecy, all med'cine, are mine. All light of nrt or nature ; to my song Victory and praise in its own right belong." Hymn of AroLLO (Shelley). The famous statue of Apollo, called the Belvedere, represents the god after his victory over the serpent Python. To this By- ron alludes in his ^' Childe Harold," iv. x6x :^ ■dM T, f if! r hi w. 30 STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES. ** 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." A-pol'lo and Daph'ne. Daph'ne was A-pol'lo*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 vast serpent who stretched his poison- ous 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 presume not to meddle with my weapons." Venus' s boy heard these words and rejoined, " Your arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you." So saying, he took his stand on a rock of Parnassus, and drew from his quiver two arrows of different workmanship, one to ex- cite love, the other to repel it. The former was of gold and sharp -pointed, the latter blunt and tipped with lead. With the leaden shaft he struck the nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus, and with the golden one Apollo, through the heart. Forthwith the god was seized with love for the maiden, while 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 hk: 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 fece will forbid it." APOLLO AND DAPHNE. 31 Apollo loved her, and longed to obtain her ; but 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 seeing 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 j she fled, swifter than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his entrea- ties. " Stay,'* said he, ** daughter of Peneus j 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 these stones, and I should be the cause. Pray run slower, and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant. Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and know all things, present and future. I am the god of song and the lyre. «* Abate, fair fugitive, abate thy speed, Dismiss thy fears, and turn thy beauteous head ; •* You fly, alas ! not knowing whom you fly ; No ill-bred swain, nor rustic clown, am I.'*— Prior, " My arrows fly true to the mark ; but, alas I an arrow more fatal than mine has pierced my heart I I am the god of medi- cine, and know the virtues of all healing plants. Alas 1 I suff*er a malady that no balm can cure 1" The nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half-uttered. And even as she fled she charmed him. The wind blew her garments, and her unbound hair streamed loose behind her. The god grew impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the race. It was like a hound persuing a hare, with open jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts forward, 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 : " Help me, Peneus ! open the earth to fWfM. g^? 1 •,(: m ' f. a* *ifl tk i' " t' 32 STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger I" 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 foo- ApoUo and Dapline, Rome. Stuck ^^ast in the ground^ as a root j her face became a tree-top, retain;' nothing of itr, 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, you cannot be tree. I will wea: my heart and my lead up the trium into wreaths for i also shall be alwa The nymph, i in grateful ackno That Apollo s] not appear stranj his province ma thus accounts foi The followin Byron's early q . ^- ^ W^ aPollo and daphne. i SJ on the wood. The branches shrank fronm his lips. ** Since vou cannot be lay wife," said he, "you shall assuredly be my tree. I will weai you for my crown ; I will decorate with you my heart 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." " I espouse thee for my tree : Be thou the prize of honor and renown ; The deathless poet, and the poem, crown ; Thou shall the Roman festivals adorn. And, after poets, be by victors worn.'* — OviD (Dryden's tr.). The nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed its head in grateful acknowledgment. That Apollo should be the god both of music and poetry will not appear strange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his province may. The poet Armstrong, himself a physician, thus 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 widespread fame. " Yet V hat 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" alludes to Byron's early quarrel with the reviewers : — •'The herded wolves, bold only to pursue t \ llie obscene ravens, clamorous o'er the dead ; ■^^^^f > „. „ ■fei >'*" m f> 4 l'*\ R. 54 STORIES OF OODS AND HEROES. The vultures, to the conqueror's banner true, ' , . Who feed where desolation first has fed, 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 ; Tney fawn on the proud feet that spurn them as they go.'* Pyr'a-mus and This'bs. Pyr'a-mus was the handsomest youth, and This'be the fair- est maiden, in all Babylonia, where Semiramis reigned. Their parents occupied adjoining houses ; thus frequently bringing the young people together, their acquaintance finally 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 fire 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 crevice. 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. *' And through wall's chink, poor souls, They are content To whisper." — Shakespeare. Next morning, when Aurora had put out the stars, and the sun had melted the frost from the grass, they met at the accus- tomed place. Then, after lamenting their hard 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, renair to a well-known edifice, standing i without the city's the one who came certain tree. It wi spring. All was a^ sun to go down I them. Then caut family, her head co ment and sat down light of the eveni with recent slaugh thirst. Thisbe fled of a rock. As she drinking at the spri ing the veil on th< mouth. Pyramus, having meeting. He saw color fled from his veil all rent and blc Deen the cause of th hast fallen the first '' in tempting thee f myself on the spot the rocks, and tear up the veil, carried it with kisses and ' PYRAMUS AND THISBE. 3S 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 5un 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 monu- ment and sat down under the tree. As she sat alone in the dim light of the evening she descried a lioness, her jaws reeking Aurora. (Ren!.) 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 lioness, after drinking at the spring, turned to retreat to the woods, and see - ing 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 Deen the cause of thy death I 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 youf llfeif 1^1'; ».' K ,f V«VrJ >.*; , A. :m^-, V'l # 1 '['•'• ft 36 STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES. texture," said he, and drawing his sword plunged it into his heart. ** In her bosom plunged the sword, All warm and reeking from its slaughtered lord."— OviD (Eiuden's tr.). The blood spirted from the wound, and tinged the white mulberries of the tree, and sinking into the earth reached the roots, so that the red color mounted through the trunk to the fruit. By this time, Thisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wishing not to disappoint her lover, stepped cautiously forth, looking anx- iously for the youth, eager to tell him the danger she had escaped. When she came to the spot and ej.w the changed color of the mulberries, she doubted whether it was the same place. While she hesitated she 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 still water when a sudden breeze sweeps over it. But as soon as she recognized her lover, »he screamed and beat her breast ; embracing the lifeless body, pour ing tears into its wounds, and imprinting kisses on the cold lips. **0, Pyramus," she cried, "what has done this? Answer me, Pyramus ; it is your own Thisbe that speaks. Hear tne, 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, too, 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 j 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 re* quest. As love and death have joined us, let one tomb contain us. And thou, tree, retain the marks of slaughter, I/Ct thy berries still serve for memorials of our blood." So saying, sht plunged the sword into her breast. Her parents consented to 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 t>>e wall that separated I'hisbe and her lover :«>-• " O foi Tl Whi A " The (I Thn M In Mickle's tra lusion to the stor phosis of the mu Love. « In cult The fli Then« \ Thect \ And St The ra If any of our y a laugh at the ex find an opportuni summer Night's Ceph'a-lus \i He would rise be him when she fir him away. But whom he devotee a favorite of Dia