MYTHS 
 
 EX LIBRIS 
 
 AURORA 
 FIRST HiSTORIAN OF LTTSRARV _ 
 
 TITLE CONFER^) SY CALIFORNIA 
 
 LPGiSLATURS, APRIL 1919 
 SAN FkA.XCiSCO, CALIFORNIA 
 
 OLD GREECE 
 
 VOLUIVIE: II. 
 
 By MARA L. PRATT, C 
 
 Author of" American History Stories" " Young Folk's Library of 
 Choice Literature ," etc. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 BOSTON 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 

 o 
 
 I 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 
 BY EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 1896. 
 
 FT Of 
 
 tit '*- 
 
 //(. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Creation . 5 
 
 Pandora .,.... 11 
 
 The Great Flood 17 
 
 The Story of Iris 25 
 
 The New Creation ...... o ... 31 
 
 Apollo and Daphne .......... 37 
 
 lo o ..... 41 
 
 Callisto 51 
 
 Actaeori .".... 59 
 
 King Midas ........... 65 
 
 Baucis and Philemon 77 
 
 Glaucus and Scylla . . . , ; . i ''.&.. . . . . . 85 
 
 Pygmalion and Galatea ......... 94 
 
 Dryope ....... ...... 100 
 
 The Halcyon Birds .......... 104 
 
 The Story of Pomona 115 
 
 Psyche ..... 122 
 
 The Dragon's Teeth ......... 142 
 
 Echo and Narcissus , 151 
 
 Clytie 158 
 
 Arachne ...... 162 
 
 Perseus and Medusa ......... 171 
 
 Pegasus and Bellerophon ........ 182 
 
 The Golden Fleece, I. ~" ......... 190 
 
 The Golden Fleece, II. . 195 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Zeus . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 76, 147 
 
 Minerva ............ 8 
 
 Athene . 10 
 
 Pandora ............ 14 
 
 Neptune .,........ 16 
 
 Hephaestus ........... 18 
 
 Afctraea 20 
 
 North Wind ........... 21 
 
 The Flower-Iris 24 
 
 Iris 25 
 
 Apollo 26, 36, 72 
 
 Hera and Iris ........... 28 
 
 Hera 31 
 
 Daphne 36, 37 
 
 Hera with her pet bird 41 
 
 Hermes .46 
 
 Juno 50 
 
 Diana of Versailles 58 
 
 Bacchus . 65 
 
 Silenus 66 
 
 Pan 75 
 
 Neptune ............ 85 
 
 Venus ............ 96 
 
 JEolus 105 
 
 Iris (Gallery St. Luke, Home) 110 
 
 Pomona 116 
 
 Satyrs (Pinacothek, Munich) . . 118 
 
 Psyche (A. De Curzon) 123 
 
 Cupid 124 
 
 Pluto 138 
 
 Statue of Europa 143 
 
 Echo 150 
 
 Narcissus ........... 155 
 
 Poets' Narcissus 157 
 
 Clytie . . . 158 
 
 Athens restored 162 
 
 Mars 164 
 
 Perseus 172 
 
 Head of Medusa (Afflzi, Florence) 174 
 
 Mercury . , 176 
 
 Perseus and Andromeda 178 
 
 Bellerophon and the Chimaera 183 
 
 Jason ............ 195 
 
 Jason Slaying the Dragon 200 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE, II, 
 
 THE CREATION. 
 
 There was a time, so the' Gree't people 
 in their beautiful legendary lore tell us, 'when 
 the earth, and the sea, and the sky, all one 
 chaotic mass, struggled together, and clashed 
 the one against the other; so that there was 
 neither solid earth, nor clear water, nor was 
 the air transparent. 
 
 But the air, in time, rose lightly above 
 the chaotic mass ; the earth sank heavily 
 
6 MYTHS' OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 below, and the seething waters, now quiet and 
 firm and still, buoyed up the earth. 
 
 Then arose the hills and mountains, by 
 which the valleys were made in which the 
 lakes lay and the rivers flowed. The trees 
 and ferns grew by the still water's edge, and 
 the stars shone through the clear cold air. 
 
 To the gods Prometheus and Epimetheus 
 was given the task of filling the waters with 
 fish, the forests with animals, and the plains 
 with a creatifTe- \yho.should be above all these, 
 and. whieti ; should .be. called man. 
 
 To all of these, 'the brothers gave some 
 gift; to one strength, to another speed, to 
 another sagacity; to one fins, to another* 
 claws ; to another wings, and to another shelly 
 covering, all of which gifts were to help these 
 birds and fish and animals to provide for their 
 own wants, and to protect themselves from 
 their foes. 
 
ix-*-KL >-v- 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 7 
 
 But, alas, when man came there was no 
 gift for him ; all had been given to the birds 
 and fishes and animals. There he stood, with 
 neither wings or fins ; and with neither speed 
 nor sagacity above many an animal of the 
 forest. 
 
 " What shall be done for him ? " asked 
 Prometheus. " He is less provided for and 
 less protected than any bird or fish or animal ; 
 he has neither fins nor wings, fur nor feathers; 
 neither great strength nor speed. Greatly do 
 I fear he will be a prey to the larger animals 
 that now are browsing on the plains." 
 
 For a long time Prometheus and Epime- 
 theus pondered and were sad at heart ; for 
 they loved the earth and its creations, and 
 had sought to give each his share of gifts. 
 
 At last, Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, 
 spoke and said ; " To bring down fire from the 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 9 
 
 heavens, and to teach man its use and 
 power, would be to endow him with that 
 which may overcome even the elements 
 themselves." 
 
 " Though it destroy me, I will bring it to 
 these helpless people," Prometheus said ; and 
 away he sped upon his errand. 
 
 From the chariot of the sun he lighted 
 his torch, and slowly and carefully descended 
 with it to the earth ; and together the brothers 
 taught the people its uses and its power. 
 
 With it, the wild beasts were kept at bay; 
 with it irons for weapons were made ; food 
 was cooked ; and their rude huts were made 
 warm and comfortable when the biting cold 
 descended upon the plains. 
 
PANDORA. 
 
 But man was a desolate creature living 
 on the earth alone, and with no other occupa- 
 tion than fighting each other and subduing 
 the wild beasts that roamed up and down 
 the earth. 
 
 And the gods looked down from Mt. 
 Olympus upon him and pitied him that he 
 had, after all, so little to make him really 
 happy and to lift his thoughts Heavenward. 
 
 " He has no love in his heart," said one 
 god, sadly. 
 
 " He does not know the meaning of 
 gentleness," said another. 
 
 " He knows no heroism except that of 
 brute strength against a foe," said another. 
 
 11 
 
12 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " He thinks only of self," said another. 
 " There is," said Zeus, " but one way to lift 
 his thoughts towards Olympus ; but one way 
 to arouse in his heart love and tenderness and 
 true heroism ; and that is to give him some- 
 thing to love, something to protect. Even 
 the brutes of the forest have their young, and 
 so are happier than man." 
 
 Then spoke the wise and loving Athene, 
 " Let us send down to earth a woman who 
 shall be to man a goddess, and who shall refine 
 his nature and make to grow in his sleeping 
 heart those qualities that shall make him 
 god-like and brave and true." 
 
 To this great Zeus bowed assent ; and 
 happy in the task before them, the gods set 
 themselves to work, and every god and 
 goddess vied each with the other to make 
 some glorious gift to her. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 13 
 
 One gave her a tender loving heart that 
 could do no cruelty even to a worm of the 
 earth ; another gave her a beautiful form and 
 ' a face from which the light of Apollo always 
 shone ; one gave her a love of music and 
 beauty ; another a love of home and of little 
 children ; and when, at last, the beautiful 
 Pandora was brought before Zeus, his stern 
 face grew tender ; and, rising from his golden 
 throne, he placed his hand upon her shining 
 head, and there was added unto her beauty 
 and gentleness a reverence henceforth for all 
 that was pure and high and god-like in the 
 earth or in Olympus. 
 
 Then Iris spread her beautiful arch 
 across the sky; and hand in hand the 
 messenger of Hera and the loving-hearted 
 Pandora passed out from Olympus, down the 
 shining bridge of color, to the abode of man. 
 
14 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 And when Pandora stood before Prome- 
 theus and the people he had made, there fell 
 
 a hush upon man's war-like spirit ; and 
 sprang up in his heart the tenderness and love 
 and protection of the weak that made man 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 15 
 
 forever more a being above the brute, and 
 tending always towards the god-like. 
 
 But it was the will of Zeus that sorrow 
 ' should come into man's world ; and so it was 
 Pandora who, as time went on, lifted the lid 
 from the chest in which lay her parting gifts 
 of the gods --joy, happiness, health, success, 
 comfort, prosperity - - and alas, they all 
 escaped - - all except hope. That, Pandora 
 saved ; and so it is that while all other bles- 
 sings come and go, leaving the heart of man 
 sometimes sad and heavy, hope never fails, 
 but abides eternal, upholding, and encouraging 
 to new endeavor, even the most heavily laden 
 life. 
 
THE GREAT FLOOD. 
 
 But there came a time, as the years rolled 
 on and the centuries stretched themselves in 
 the past, when the people grew so selfish and 
 cruel, and avaricious towards each other, and 
 so unmindful of the gods who worked with 
 them and watched over them from Mt. 
 Olympus, that Zeus, grieved that they should 
 forget the innocent and happy Age that had 
 once made earth so beautiful and their own 
 lives so joyous, called the gods together in his 
 great cloud palace. 
 
 " O gods and goddesses," said Zeus, when 
 at his command all had hastened up the nebu- 
 lous shining path of heaven which the earth 
 people called . the Milky Way ; " O gods and 
 
 17 
 
HEPH/ESTUS. 
 
MYTHS OF OLt> GREECE. 19 
 
 goddesses, who so long have loved these 
 people, have dwelt among them and have 
 labored with them in all the time since first 
 the earth was made, behold now the grievous 
 state into which they have fallen. There is 
 no love among them ; they seek only to slay 
 one another ; greed and selfishness have 
 destroyed their happiness and have shut them 
 out from great Olympus." 
 
 " Let them be destroyed by fire," said 
 Hephaestus, whose great forges groaned and 
 bellowed in the mountains, and sent their 
 lurid flames high up in the heavens. 
 
 " Let them be destroyed by water," said 
 Neptune who dwelt in the depths of the dark 
 green ocean. 
 
 And while they counselled thus together, 
 Astraea, the goddess of justice, who even when 
 Zeus called, had lingered among the earth 
 
20 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 people, still hoping they might turn to her 
 and hear her plea, came slowly up the arch of 
 heaven and laid her scales, with which so long 
 
 she had weighed the claims of right and 
 wrong, down at the feet of Zeus. 
 
 " Let the waters," said she, " rather than 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 21 
 
 fire, destroy the wrong that has turned the 
 peaceful earth to one of war and sorrow ; for 
 then shall the earth itself be unharmed; the 
 grass shall spring forth again ; the trees shall 
 
 NORTH WIND. 
 
 send forth their leaves, and the flowers, 
 nourished by the floods, shall brighten the 
 hills and plains again." 
 
 So Zeus called to the South Wind to 
 
22 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 bring its rains, and the sweet West Wind, 
 and the fierce North Wind he chained into 
 dungeons deep, that they might scatter not 
 the heavy-laden clouds South Wind should 
 bring. 
 
 Then Neptune lashed the seas in fury, 
 and the waves rose mountains high ; the 
 rivers loosed their floods ; the snows in the 
 mountains melted, and the whole earth was 
 covered with water. 
 
 Among the tree-tops the fishes swam ; 
 and there was no living thing upon the face of 
 the earth --so the South Wind and Neptune 
 believed. 
 
 But it was not the will of Zeus that there 
 should be complete destruction of life upon 
 the earth ; and he sent Hermes to find the 
 bravest, truest man and the bravest, truest 
 woman, into whose ears he should whisper 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 3 
 
 \ 
 
 words of warning, and should lead them in 
 safety to the top of Mt. Parnassus, far beyond 
 the reach of wind and wave. 
 
 And there, safe in the shelter of a mighty 
 cave, the Sun-god found them, when, after 
 many days the water had subsided and the 
 clouds had rolled away. 
 
 Joyously Deucalion and Pyrra greeted 
 the coming of the Sun's rays ; and with hearts 
 filled with hope, they raised their hands 
 towards the rainbow arch, when it shone out 
 in the eastern sky, a token to them that the 
 wrath of Zeus had passed away, and that 
 Hera had sent to them her own loving Iris 
 with messages of hope and courage. 
 
THE FLOWER-IRIS. 
 
THE STORY OF IRIS. 
 
 Never before had Deucalion and Pyrra 
 seen this wonderful arch in the eastern sky, 
 with its rich colors of red and purple and 
 orange ; but they knew it must bring a mes- 
 senger of good to them, so beautiful was it, 
 and so softly did it reflect its beauty in the 
 waters below. 
 
 Then again Hermes came to them and 
 whispered the story of Iris into their willing 
 
26 
 
 MYTHS OP OLD 
 
 ears and into their ready hearts ; for it is only 
 into such hearts that the gods can speak ; and 
 it is only such ears that can hear the music 
 and the messages the gods bear always to the 
 earth-people. 
 
 Of all the gods and 
 goddesses, not even except- 
 ing Apollo, the glorious 
 Sun-god, none were as beau- 
 tiful as Iris whose delicate 
 rainbow Colors Deucalion 
 and Pyrra saw now in the 
 radiant sky, and reflected 
 APOLLa in the sparkling raindrops 
 
 that glittered upon every leaf and upon every 
 blade of grass. 
 
 And so loved by all was this beautiful 
 Iris, that Hera had chosen her for her own 
 loving companion, who should bear from her 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 27 
 
 to the suffering earth-children messages of 
 helpfulness and gentle words of cheer. 
 
 And Iris, in whose heart \vas never a 
 thought unloving towards either gods or the 
 earth-people who needed her warnings in 
 times of danger, and her loving messages in 
 times of trouble, sped always upon her errands 
 with fleet and willing feet ; and the people, 
 when they came to know her, and saw her 
 wonderful colors in the sparkling waters, and 
 sometimes dancing upon the walls of their 
 simple homes, would smile and say, " Iris is 
 near ! Iris is near ! " 
 
 And this evening when the fierce floods 
 had disappeared, and only the soft rains had 
 been falling through the day, and Demeter 
 and Persephone were happy in the strength 
 and fresh courage the floods should bring to 
 the fruits and flowers, behold, there appeared 
 
28 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 in the east, this arch of red and green and 
 purple, with rare tints of yellow and pink and 
 blue. Never in all the earth, even at sunset 
 time, had such beauty of color been seen in 
 the eastern sky. 
 
 HERA (JUNO) AND IRIS 
 
 And in the lakes and rivers, even in each 
 tiny raindrop was the beauty reflected, till all 
 the earth seemed filled with the rich glow of 
 the beautiful arch. 
 
 Then Hermes came and whispered to 
 Pyrra and Deucalion, " This is a rainbow 
 
k> L 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 29 
 
 bridge from Olympus to the sea. Most 
 gracious Hera makes this gift to Iris, and down 
 its beautiful arch none but Iris shall be allowed 
 to pass ; for it is Hera's own gift, her token to 
 all earth-people of her love for the beautiful 
 messenger queen, the gentle, loving Iris." 
 
 And from that time when the rainbow 
 appeared in the sky, the people would look up 
 in wonder at its wondrous beauty and would 
 say, " See, Iris approacheth. She hath 
 wrapped herself in a cloud of purple and red ; 
 she hath stepped into her chariot and she 
 guideth it down her rainbow bridge." 
 
 The beautiful Iris came to love to wander 
 up and down the valleys of earth, and to look 
 into the clear waters of the rivers and the 
 lakes ; for in them she could see often the 
 colors of her own beautiful bridge. 
 
 She would sprinkle the waterdrops in her 
 

 
 30 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 hair; she would string them like pearls, and 
 wear them around her neck and around her 
 shining white arms. 
 
 It was joy to her to shake them out from 
 the clouds, and see them chasing each other 
 down through the air, every one of them 
 reflecting the same rich colors of red and 
 orange and purple. 
 
 And it is said that one day she found by 
 the water's edge a beautiful flower, as blue as 
 the heavens above ; and that she kissed the 
 flower, saying, " O flow r er, thy blue is like 
 the blue of the sky and of my own rainbow 
 bridge of mist ! " 
 
 And as she stooped to kiss the flower, 
 some of the raindrops in her hair fell upon 
 it ; and there they remain, even to this day, 
 reflecting the same beauty and glory that is 
 seen in the wonderful rainbow bridge. 
 
HERA (JUNO.) 
 
 THE NEW CREATION. 
 
 When at last the waters of the sea were 
 quiet, the rivers were flowing peacefully along 
 between their sunny banks, and the soft 
 clouds were smiling down at their own reflec- 
 tions in the blue lakes, Deucalion and Pyrra 
 
 31 
 
32 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 came down from Mt. Parnassus and walked 
 along the fresh green valleys. 
 
 The brooks laughed in glee, and ran and 
 bubbled to see them once again ; the flowers 
 looked up and laughed and nodded at them ; 
 and the great trees spread out their branches 
 to protect them from the too fierce heat of 
 the sun. 
 
 " The earth is beautiful," said Pyrra. 
 
 " Very beautiful," answered Deucalion ; 
 " but I am wondering why we two were spared 
 to divell here in all this beauty." 
 
 " Let us go to a temple of Zeus, and ask 
 the gods to tell us what we ought to do," said 
 Pyrra. 
 
 For two whole days and two whole 
 nights they wandered on, seeking a temple 
 of Zeus. Many ruins they passed ; but at the 
 end of the second day they came to a great 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 33 
 
 white marble temple whose altar and whose 
 shrine had not been washed away even by the 
 great flood of waters. 
 
 Here they knelt and prayed to the gods ; 
 and at night, when they had fallen asleep, an 
 answer came to them. Perhaps it was Iris 
 that brought it ; perhaps it was Hermes ; but 
 the words they heard were, " Go up the moun- 
 tain-side ; and as you go, roll back, down into 
 the valley, every rock and stone that lies in 
 your pathway. Rest in the mountain a night ; 
 then, when the early Dawn begins to paint the 
 eastern sky with rosy tints, go down again 
 into the valley, and there will you find your 
 work awaiting you." 
 
 This seemed a very strange message ; 
 but the good Deucalion and Pyrra hesitated 
 not to obey the commands of the gods. 
 
 All day long they toiled up the mountain 
 
34 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 side, rolling down the stones even as they had 
 been bid. 
 
 At night they rested; and in the morning, 
 eager, they hastened to the valley below. 
 
 What a wonder met their gaze ! for there 
 in the valley, at the foot of the mountain, 
 stood men and women and little children - 
 hundreds of them ; for behold, the rocks and 
 stones Deucalion and Pyrra had rolled down 
 the mountain side had changed to people ; and 
 there they stood, awaiting the coming of 
 Deucalion and Pyrra who were to teach them 
 and guide them until they should themselves 
 become wise. 
 
 " These people," said Pyrra, the mother 
 heart within her speaking, " shall be our care." 
 
 " Yes," answered the true-hearted Deu- 
 calion ; and \ve will teach them to be noble 
 men and women. They shall be kind, one to 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 35 
 
 the other, and the strong shall learn that it is 
 heroic to protect the weak." 
 
 Then Deucalion taught the men to plant 
 and gather the harvests ; he taught them to 
 fell the trees, and to make houses for their 
 shelter ; he taught them to hunt and fish, and 
 then to cook their game. And Pyrra taught 
 the women to care for their homes, to spin 
 and weave ; and to teach the children to grow 
 up noble men and women. 
 
 Very happy were these people ; for they 
 strove in everything to be like Deucalion and 
 Pyrra, good and kind and helpful, each to 
 every other ; and there was joy in Olympus ; 
 for the gods looked down and smiled upon the 
 valley, and each vied with the other to protect 
 these innocent people and keep their hearts 
 from evil. 
 
APOLLO AND DAPHNE. 
 
 One morning, as the Sun- 
 god wandered in the valleys 
 of Parnassus, he saw at 
 play upon the hillside a 
 beautiful maiden, with sunny 
 blue eyes, and the most 
 beautiful golden hair Apollo 
 had ever seen. 
 
 " O, beautiful' Daphne!" 
 Apollo cried ; " come wander 
 in the sunny valley. All 
 day long will we hunt the 
 
 deer, and you, too, shall learn to loose my 
 
 golden . bow." 
 
 But Daphne feared the arrows from that 
 
 37 
 
38 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 golden bow ; and the radiant face of Apollo, 
 too, she feared. 
 
 She sprang from the sunny rock upon 
 which she sat at play; and with a speed that 
 only the deer might claim, she disappeared 
 above the mountain ridge. 
 
 In quick haste Apollo pursued the flying 
 maiden. " Daphne, Daphne," cried Apollo, 
 "do not run away from me. I am Apollo, and 
 I seek not to do thee harm." 
 
 On, on Daphne fled across the wide valley 
 that stretches at the foot of Mt. Parnassus ; 
 on, on Apollo followed till the morning was 
 well nigh spent. And now, close upon the 
 banks of a mighty forest, Daphne sank 
 exhausted. " Daphne, Daphne," cried Apollo ; 
 for his noble heart was grieved ; " faint not, 
 for Apollo will bring thee fresh water from 
 the mountain stream." And with greater 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 39 
 
 speed he flew to the poor maiden's protection. 
 " Save me, save me ! " cried "Daphne, 
 springing again to her feet. And Zeus heard 
 her prayer ; for hardly had she raised her 
 arms toward heaven, when there came a swift 
 change upon her. Her trailing robe grew 
 firm, even like the trunk and roots of a tree. 
 Her white arms changed to branches, and 
 
 * 
 
 over her was thrown a protecting bark, even 
 like that of a laurel tree. 
 
 " O Daphne, Daphne!" sobbed Apollo. 
 " Foolish youth that I am to have pursued 
 thee thus. And thou wert so beautiful ! 
 Now have I lost thee forever ; nor wilt thy 
 beauty grace the hillsides ever again in the 
 rosy morning of the day." 
 
 " But thou shalt be honored, O Daphne, 
 eyen by the bravest in the land ; for from thy 
 branches will I gather a laurel wreath ; and in 
 
40 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE 
 
 all the ages to come shall the wreath of laurel 
 be placed upon the victor's brow, in honor not 
 only of his brave deed, but of thy lost beauty, 
 O Daphne." 
 
 

 HERA (JUNO) WITH HER PKT BIRD. 
 
 10. 
 
 In the sunny valley dwelt lo, the sweet 
 daughter of the river-god ; and very happy 
 and free was the fair maiden's life, till one day 
 there fell upon her the jealous wrath of one 
 who changed her into the form of a cow, and 
 left her to wander up and down the pasture 
 
42 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 lands, with no friend to help, and with no way 
 to tell her sad and curious story. 
 
 Moreover, there was set to watch her the 
 giant Argus, whose hundred eyes were never 
 closed, and who could see in all directions and 
 at untold distances. 
 
 Never for one second did his eyes wander 
 away from the enchanted maiden, whom it was 
 his charge to watch. For though he slept 
 often, never were all the hundred eyes closed 
 at once; and whenever the sad maiden, turned 
 towards him she saw those cruel eyes glaring 
 at her. They winked and blinked, but never 
 closed ; and the poor child wandered hope- 
 lessly up and down the fields and hillsides, 
 wishing she could join the herds that she was 
 like, and that she could forget she had ever 
 been a happy maiden, the pride and joy -of 
 the river-god, her father. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 43 
 
 And all this time the river-god, angry 
 that his child had been stolen from him, was 
 storming up and down the country. The 
 waters of the rivers hissed, and foamed, and 
 roared, and like an angry sea threw their 
 spray upon its banks, and over into the fields 
 on either side. 
 
 " It is strange," the earth-people would 
 say, " that there should be freshets at this 
 season of the year." 
 
 And the sisters of lo searched up and 
 down the country for the lost child, stopping 
 at every hut to ask if its people had seen a 
 maiden as beautiful as a flower and as radiant 
 as a water drop, with long hair in which the 
 sunlight dwelt, and with a laugh that was like 
 the bubbling of a happy rivulet. 
 
 But no one had seen a maiden half so 
 fair ; and the sisters would lie down on the 
 
44 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 hillside and sob themselves to sleep at night. 
 
 Sometimes lo would come and stand 
 beside them and look down at them with her 
 great, brown, sorrowful eyes. 
 
 But the sisters never knew ; and when, 
 because her heart was full to breaking, she 
 would try to cry out to them, it was only the 
 deep sound that the cows make that they 
 heard. '- What soft brown eyes the cow has," 
 the sisters said one day ; " and how she cries. 
 There is something she wants." 
 
 " Poor cow," said the oldest sister, placing 
 her soft hand on lo's neck, " tell us what it is 
 you want." 
 
 But lo could only look at them with her 
 great, brown, pleading eyes ; and by and by 
 the sisters went back to the river-god to tell 
 him they could find no trace of lo in all the 
 land. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 45 
 
 All day long lo browsed in the green 
 fields beside the river bank ; and one evening, 
 as the river-god sat grieving still for his 
 daughter, it came into lo's heart to try to 
 give some sign to him. So she came and 
 rested her head upon his shoulder ; and then 
 when he had spoken kindly to her, she raised 
 one forefoot and slowly traced in the white 
 sand her own name--IO. 
 
 " O my child, my child ! " cried the river- 
 god. " My lo, my To ! Who hath done this 
 cruel thing? Who hath changed my beautiful 
 daughter to a beast like this ? " And he 
 threw his arms about the soft white neck of 
 the cow and prayed to Zeus to break the spell 
 that had fallen upon his daughter. 
 
 "Hermes," said Zeus, "go thou down into 
 the earth, and close with thy wonderful music 
 the hundred eyes of the ever watchful giant 
 
46 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Argus, who watcheth over the white cow that 
 feedeth in the river pastures." 
 
 V 
 
 N" ".-H 
 
 And Hermes, glad of such sport as this 
 would be, sped downward just at eventide, 
 when Argus, wearied, had already stretched 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 47 
 
 himself upon the hillside, and had closed fifty 
 of his eyes for sleep. 
 
 And Hermes took his place close beside 
 the giant and played to him the softest strains 
 that ever came from harp or lyre. 
 
 For a whole hour Hermes played, and 
 already the sun had sunk behind the hills. 
 
 " It is most beautiful music," said the 
 giant ; but only sixty of the eyes were closed. 
 
 Another hour passed. Hermes played 
 and sang soft and low ; but only seventy of 
 the eyes were closed. 
 
 Another hour passed. The darkness had 
 fallen. All was still. Hermes crooned soft 
 strains that were like the murmur in the 
 pines; but only eighty of the eyes were closed. 
 
 Another hour passed. The cool breezes 
 swept softly across the face of Argus ; the 
 music of Hermes rose and fell in slow, sweet 
 
48 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 rhythm ; but only ninety of the eyes were 
 closed. 
 
 Then Hermes loosened the strings of his 
 lyre, and the music grew deeper and deeper. 
 The sweet voice of Hermes fell lower and 
 lower ; the breezes felt the hush ; midnight 
 settled its dark wings on all the land --and 
 one hundred of the eyes were closed. 
 
 Then Hermes smote the giant lying there 
 upon the hills, and fled with his hundred eyes 
 to Mt. Olympus. 
 
 Zeus now had power to set poor lo free ; 
 and the hundred eyes were placed in the 
 feathers of Hera's pet bird, the peacock ; and 
 there they are to be seen, even to this day, 
 shining in the sunlight, as the vain bird struts 
 to and fro. 
 
JUNO (VATICAN MUSEUM.) 
 
CALLISTO. 
 
 You have seen the Great Bear and the 
 Little Bear Constellations in the sky, of course. 
 
 Well, it is a sad story --that of the beau- 
 tiful maiden Callisto. For it was because of 
 the jealousy of Juno that her sad fate fell upon 
 her. 
 
 Callisto was beautiful, as lo was beautiful. 
 And she was a free, happy maiden, content to 
 wander up and down the hill-sides and watch 
 the flocks in the valleys. Her eyes were as 
 blue as the deep blue sky, and her laughter 
 bubbled like the waters in the sunlit brooks. 
 
 It was sad that the wrath of Juno should 
 descend upon so fair a maid as this ; but alas, 
 Juno was not always kind ; and one evening 
 
 51 
 
52 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 when Callisto lay sleeping on the hill-side, 
 Juno, wrapping herself in a shining cloud, 
 came and stood upon the hill-top. 
 
 " Awake ! " she said, looking down upon 
 the sleeping maiden. 
 
 With a cry of fear, Callisto sprang to her 
 feet; for the voice had sounded hard and cruel, 
 and she knew an enemy must be near. 
 
 " Come to the hill-top," said Juno, turning 
 her dark face upon the maiden. Callisto 
 trembled. There was something terrible in 
 the dark face ; and the great eyes seemed to 
 burn into her very heart. 
 
 " Spare me ! spare me ! " sobbed Callisto, 
 falling upon her knees and stretching her soft 
 white arms towards the cruel Juno. 
 
 But Juno had no pity. " You shall be 
 punished," she answered, " for your great 
 beauty. See ! Already those white hands 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 53 
 
 that gleam so in the moonlight are changing 
 into claws ! And your arms, the great black 
 hairs are covering them I And your rosy lips 
 and teeth of pearl, look at them now ! " 
 
 Poor Callisto ! One glance at her own 
 arms and hands, and with a shriek --no, not 
 a shriek, but a horrible growl that frightened 
 even herself !-- she fell to the ground. 
 
 For a long time she lay there; for Juno had 
 thrown a deep sleep upon the maiden; and, wrap- 
 ping the cloud again around herself, had floated 
 back to her golden palace on Mt. Olympus. 
 
 It was black night when Callisto awoke. 
 The stars were shining overhead, and in the 
 distance she could hear the growling of the 
 bears and the howling of the wolves. 
 
 She tried to cry out, but again from her 
 own throat came the horrible growl. 
 
 A little bird in the branches overhead 
 
54 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 gave a frightened little twitter and flew to 
 another tree. Callisto arose on her four 
 feet and made her way down into the valley 
 towards her own home. 
 
 Morning came and the people in the little 
 huts were awake. " A bear ! a bear ! " cried her 
 own father as she approached, " Get me my 
 arrows ! quick, quick ! " and away ran her own 
 little brother to bring the old hunter's bow and 
 arrows. 
 
 But Callisto had not the bear mind though 
 she had the bear body. She knew her father's 
 voice, and understood his words ; and before 
 the arrows were brought she was safe within 
 the forest. 
 
 For long, long months poor Callisto 
 wandered up and down the land. She could 
 not approach her old home again, for the 
 children were terrified at sight of her, and she 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 55 
 
 knew full well the skill of her hunter father. 
 
 In the forests she herself lived in terror. 
 The howls of the wolves made her heart leap ; 
 and at sight of a bear she trembled from head 
 to foot. 
 
 When the bears, in their own bear 
 language, spoke to her, she would turn and 
 flee ; and no cave was there so dark that its 
 darkness and dampness was not to her a 
 shelter, and more grateful than the sunlight on 
 the hill-side. 
 
 But one morning, when the air was cool and 
 clear, and the soft breezes were laden with the 
 sweet odors of fern and pine, poor Callisto 
 crept out to the edge of the forest. There, just 
 across the rippling brooklet, stood a beautiful, 
 fair-haired youth. He was playing in the 
 water, and amusing himself, throwing the 
 water drops high in the air. 
 
56 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " O my brother, my brother ! " cried poor 
 Callisto, forgetting everything in the joy of 
 seeing the beautiful child again. And with 
 a bound, her jaws stretched, and her eyes 
 shining, she sprang towards him. 
 
 But the child had heard the growl - - there 
 were no words in it to his ear and saw the 
 
 hungry-jawed creature burst out from the 
 
 < 
 thicket. Like lightning he turned upon the 
 
 bear, and raised his spear. " Straight at her 
 breast he aimed/' The spear flashed in the 
 sunlight there was a roll of thunder in the 
 sky --it turned its course, and buried itself 
 in the soft earth; for Jupiter had seen the 
 danger to the beautiful Callisto, and so smote 
 the spear to the ground. 
 
 In a second, both Callisto and the little 
 hunter were lifted high in the air. On, on 
 they sped, up, up, above the earth, above the 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 57 
 
 clouds, even into the realm where the stars 
 shine the whole night long. 
 
 And there, close by the great Pole Star, 
 Jupiter placed them both, among the brightest 
 lights of the heavens, safe from all danger, and 
 forever beyond the reach of Juno's wrath and 
 jealously. 
 
DIANA OF VERSAILLES. 
 
ACTION. 
 
 " Come, good youths," called Actaeon the 
 swift hunter ; " the morning is fresh and fair. 
 Let us away to the hunt. Surely, on such a 
 morning as this the deer will come forth to 
 drink from the clear waters of the brook and 
 river. Away, then, let us away." 
 
 Gladly the youths obeyed the call of their 
 noble leader; -and, gathering their bows and 
 arrows, away they sped up the hillside and 
 across the plain. 
 
 On, on through the forests Actaeon led 
 the way ; for the air was clear and cool, the 
 youths were strong, and their hearts were 
 filled with joy. 
 
 But alas for the joyous Actaeon ! Bursting 
 
 59 
 
60 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 through the forest, he came, upon the beautiful 
 Diana, the goddess of the chase, who, with her 
 maidens, was bathing in the clear, sparkling 
 waters of the fountain, that poured its silver 
 waters forth from the great, dark rock that 
 over-shadowed the pool. 
 
 " O beautiful Diana ! " cried Actaeon, 
 coming towards the fountain ; but it was not 
 the wish of the goddess that Actaeon should 
 approach, and so learn the secret of her home, 
 and where lay concealed her moonlight glory 
 through the long days and nights, when she 
 chose to hide herself from the sight of man. 
 
 Darting one flash of angry light upon 
 him, she raised her white arm as if to smite 
 him to the ground. " Go," she said ; " Go and 
 tell, if thou canst, that thou hast found the 
 cave wherein Diana dwells, and the fountain 
 whereat she bathes." 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 61 
 
 Actaeon bowed his head, grieved that he 
 should have aroused the anger of the goddess, 
 for whom he had great love and admiration ; 
 but as he bowed, he beheld the reflection of 
 himself in the waters at his feet. A terrible 
 reflection ! Already great horns, like those of 
 a stag, branched far above his head. And as 
 he gazed, his ears grew large and long; his 
 face changed, and course brown hairs covered 
 him from head to foot. 
 
 With a groan, he turned and fled into the 
 forest. What should he do ? How should he 
 make known to his comrades the sad fate that 
 had befallen him ? 
 
 But already the clicking of his hoofs had 
 caught the quick ear of his hunting dogs. 
 With a yelp, the great dog, Melampus started, 
 raised his ears, and sniffed. Then with a 
 howl and a bound he sprang forward 
 
62 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 . 
 
 Pamphagus, Dorceus, Lelaps, Theron, Nape 
 and Tigris in close pursuit. 
 
 Actaeon heard them coming. Would his 
 own dogs devour him. Would they not 
 know ? How should he prove to them that 
 he was still their master? 
 
 But nearer and nearer they came. Their 
 eyes were shining. Already he could see their 
 red tongues hanging from their frothing mouths. 
 
 With a spring Actaeon bounded through 
 the forest. If he could only reach his com- 
 rades ! Some way, he was sure he could make 
 them know. 
 
 But now the shout of the huntsman was 
 added to the yelping and barking of the dogs. 
 
 " On, on Melampus ! " they shouted. " On 
 Pamphagus ! On Tigris ! " 
 
 And the dogs, excited by the shouts and 
 frequent cries, sped faster and faster. Over 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 63 
 
 hills, through valleys, on - - on across the 
 fields they flew -- Actaeon and the dogs --and 
 breathless, in close pursuit, his comrades 
 followed. 
 
 And now the dogs were upon him. One 
 seized a leg, another an ear, another sprang 
 upon his back. Worn out with the long 
 chase and stinging from his wounds,, the 
 unfortunate youth fell to the ground, and 
 already the film of death had gathered over 
 the beautiful brown eyes when his companions 
 knelt beside him. 
 
 " Bravo, bravo, Melampus," said one. 
 
 " Pamphagus, the fleet-footed," said 
 another. 
 
 " If only Actaeon could have seen you, 
 good Tigris," said another. 
 
 But Actaeon knew now nothing of the 
 swiftness of the dogs he had loved and had 
 
64 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 trained so carefully ; for already his heart had 
 ceased beating, and cruel Diana's revenge was 
 finished. 
 
 Actaeon was dead ; and the secret cave 
 and sparkling fountain were never discovered 
 to the earth-people who dwelt, and who still 
 dwell in Diana's moonlit valleys. 
 
 
KING MIDAS. 
 
 " An old man cometh begging at our 
 gates," said the servants of great King Midas. 
 
 " Bring him into my presence," was the 
 king's answer ; " and, if I find him worthy, he 
 shall have food and drink ; if an impostor, he 
 shall be punished." 
 
 65 
 
66 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 And so Silenus, the old tutor of the jovial 
 Bacchus, was brought into the presence of 
 the king. 
 
 Now, for days, up and down the country, 
 messengers from Bacchus had been scurrying 
 hither and thither in search of the old tutor 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 67 
 
 who had wandered away and perhaps had 
 lost his path in the deep forests. 
 
 But here the old man was at last, safe 
 and sound, and begging at the gates of King 
 Midas. 
 
 And so, when King Midas restored the 
 old man, as he did, to the grateful Bacchus, 
 there was a great feast given in honor of the 
 king ; and, after days and nights of games and 
 revellings, Bacchus, as a parting gift, promised 
 to bestow upon Midas any gift or power that 
 he should name. 
 
 Now Midas was not the wisest king that 
 ever lived, nor was he far-seeing. So he 
 answered, as foolishly as greedily, " Give me 
 gold, O Bacchus ! Let everything, even 
 though a clod of earth, turn into gold at my 
 touch. Gold, gold, gold! Yes, give me gold !" 
 
 " The miserly fool," thought Bacchus ; 
 
68 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " but he shall have his wish. Indeed there 
 could be no greater punishment for his stupid 
 greed." 
 
 So Bacchus laid his hands upon the 
 king's foolish head and bade him receive his 
 
 gift- 
 
 King Midas could scarcely contain him- 
 self for joy. " Let me return to my palace at 
 once," said he, " that I may test my power." 
 
 " As you please," said Bacchus, a twinkle 
 in his merry eye. And away the king hurried 
 through the forest, not waiting even to mount 
 his good horse, so eager was he to be away. 
 
 On the way a snake crossed his path ; 
 and seizing a stone to throw at it, behold, the 
 stone was changed into a shining mass of 
 gold. 
 
 Midas shouted aloud for joy, all by 
 hirr l r ; n the forest. He put the stone in his 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 69 
 
 pocket, forgetting the snake, and greedily 
 began gathering branches from the trees, 
 simply to further prove his power. Yes, yes, 
 it was true, the golden touch was his; for 
 every twig and leaf changed to a rich yellow 
 in his hand. 
 
 Reaching his palace, he ordered that a 
 grand feast be prepared at once, and that all 
 the people for miles about should be bidden 
 to attend. Such a surprise as should be 
 theirs ! How envious the guests would be ! 
 And how, henceforth, they would reverence 
 his wonderful power! The king could scarcely 
 contain himself until the people had gathered, 
 so many plans had he for displaying his 
 wonderful gift before them. 
 
 But alas for King Midas's feast! Alas 
 for his glorification before the people ! The 
 bread that he took into his hand changed at 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 once into tasteless gold ; his meat dropped 
 from his lips heavy and hard and yellow. 
 Furious, he seized a glass of wine ; but the 
 liquid poured down his throat a stream of 
 molten gold. The poor king groaned aloud ; 
 the guests, sorrowful and amazed, withdrew 
 from the dining hall, and Midas was left alone 
 in his golden misery. 
 
 At daybreak he set forth with the greatest 
 possible speed to the valley where Bacchus 
 dwelt. He passed through the selfsame 
 forests, and saw scattered here and there the 
 golden leaves he had so greedily plucked from 
 the bushes a few hours before. But they had 
 no charm for him now ; he only groaned at 
 sight of them and hurried on. 
 
 "O Bacchus, Bacchus!" he cried, throwing 
 himself upon the ground before the god, " take 
 back this direful gift ; give me again my 
 poverty and my peace." 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 71 
 
 And the merry Bacchus, seeing that the 
 king was indeed cured of his greed, took back 
 the gift, and bade the king rise and be free 
 again. 
 
 "Go, now," said Bacchus, " to the River 
 Pactolus. Bathe there until not a grain of 
 golden dust is upon you. Return then, and 
 dwell with us in the forests and the valleys. 
 Here we are free from strife and envy and 
 greed ; for all day we wander up and down the 
 valleys, free and happy ; even as the birds and 
 the beasts, the trees and the flowers are free 
 and happy." 
 
 For a long time King Midas dwelt with 
 Bacchus, and worshipped Pan, the god of the 
 field and forest; and until this day all might 
 have been well with him had not a contest 
 arisen between Pan and Apollo as to whose 
 music was the sweetest.^ } - 
 
72 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " The mountain-god shall decide the 
 matter for us," said Bacchus. 
 
 Then Pan played upon 
 his pipes music so sweet 
 that the very birds of the 
 forests hushed their songs 
 to listen. 
 
 " Music most sweet," 
 said the mountain-god. 
 
 "There can be no music 
 sweeter," said Midas. 
 
 But when the Sun- 
 god tuned his lyre, be- 
 hold, the trees themselves 
 APOL.O. turned to listen; nor 
 
 was there a flutter among the leaves until 
 the music had died away, and the red sunset 
 was pouring its red light down upon hill and 
 vale. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 73 
 
 "The music of Pan is best," said Midas, 
 obstinately, although he knew he spoke not 
 the truth. 
 
 "Stupid creature!" flashed the Sun-god. 
 " Such ears and such stupid obstinacy belong 
 only to an ass. Henceforth your ears shall be 
 like those of the beast you so resemble." 
 
 And before Midas could even cry for 
 mercy, behold, his ears stood up even above 
 the top of his stupid head, long and pointed, 
 and covered with rough, bristling hairs. 
 
 Mortified indeed was King Midas that so 
 grievous a disgrace had fallen upon him ; and 
 for whole days he hid himself in the caves of 
 the forest. But again merry Bacchus rescued 
 him. Upon the top of his head the merry 
 god bound down the ears, and over them 
 arranged a wreath of leaves and berries. Not 
 a hair of the wretched ears was to be seen I 
 
74 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 and again Midas joined the games, and 
 lived the happy life of the followers and 
 worshippers of Pan. 
 
 Every day a new wreath was made for 
 him and arranged upon his head ; and only the 
 youth that made the wreath knew the secret. 
 
 " Tell thou the secret to any man or god," 
 said Bacchus, " and dire punishment shall 
 befall thee." For long months the youth kept 
 close the knowledge that he had ; but it 
 troubled him sorely by day, and it kept him 
 awake by night. And when at last he could 
 bear it no longer, he went down by the river, 
 dug a hole, whispered the secret into it, 
 covered it over, and ran away. 
 
 But strange to say, from this very hole 
 there sprang up a growth of reeds and 
 bulrushes ; and no sooner had they reached 
 their heads above the grass, than they began 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 75 
 
 to whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper the story 
 that had been whispered to them. And they 
 have kept on whispering it in all the years 
 that have followed ; till now all the people in 
 the world, far and wide, know the secret of 
 King Midas's ears. 
 
 PAN. 
 
JUPITER (ZEUS) VATICAN MUSEUM 
 
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON. 
 
 On a beautiful hillside in Greece, and 
 looking down upon a valley where the sunset 
 loves to linger, and where the waters of the 
 river wind like a band of silver among the tall 
 grass, there stands a strong, far-spreading oak ; 
 and close by its side, even within the shadow 
 of its great leaves and beneath the protection 
 of its strong arms, stands a graceful linden, - 
 both tall and beautiful, the pride of the 
 peaceful valley and the glory of the sunny 
 hillside. 
 
 But there was a time when these two 
 trees were not upon the hillside, nor were the 
 river and the lakes to be seen in the valley 
 below. Upon the hillside was one small hut, 
 
78 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 in which dwelt good old Baucis and Philemon ; 
 and in the valley below was a city where many 
 people dwelt, people of great wealth, but 
 none of them with hearts as kind and good as 
 those of Baucis and Philemon. 
 
 And it came about that one day Jupiter 
 and Mercury came into the valley at nightfall, 
 weary with their long journey, their clothes 
 dusty, their sandals travel-worn and ragged. 
 
 In the city they halted at many a door, 
 begging for food and shelter, but were driven 
 away from each, often with words rude and 
 cruel. 
 
 " Who dwells in the old hut on the hill- 
 side?" asked Jupiter of a youth in the city 
 gateway. 
 
 " Old Baucis and Philemon," answered 
 the youth " miserable beggars like yourself." 
 And the youth laughed uproariously, thinking 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 79 
 
 he had made an answer both witty and wise. 
 
 " Let us climb the hill," said Jupiter to 
 Mercury ; and turning, the two gods left the 
 city. 
 
 It was nearly nightfall when the two 
 reached the little hut ; but already Baucis had 
 come out to meet them, and good Philemon 
 stood in the doorway ready to bid the 
 strangers welcome. 
 
 " Enter, travelers," said Baucis ; " our 
 home is simple, but we will gladly share with 
 thee all that we have." 
 
 "And we will spread the table and pour 
 sweet milk for thee ; for surely thou must be 
 hungry." 
 
 Gladly the travelers entered the little 
 door and seated themselves before the fire, 
 while Baucis and Philemon bustled about, 
 preparing the simple supper. 
 
80 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " I am afraid the milk will seem to you 
 little," said Baucis, pouring it into the great 
 earthern bowls. 
 
 " Had we known you were coming we 
 would gladly have saved more from our own 
 suppers," added Philemon. 
 
 " I am sure there is enough and to spare," 
 said Jupiter, emptying his bowl almost at one 
 swallow ; for he was very hungry and thirsty. 
 
 " It is the very best milk I ever drank/' 
 said Mercury; and he, too, emptied his bowl at 
 a swallow. 
 
 Philemon and Baucis looked at one 
 another. There was only a tiny cup of milk 
 left in the pitcher, they were sure. 
 
 "Once more fill our bowls, good people/' 
 said Jupiter. 
 
 Baucis lifted the pitcher. " I am afraid " 
 he began ; but behold, the pitcher was full 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 81 
 
 to the brim ! With trembling hand he poured 
 it into the bowls, while Philemon looked on 
 amazed. 
 
 Again the travelers drained their cups ; 
 and again they asked for more. Trembling, 
 Philemon this time lifted the pitcher. " If we 
 had known " she began ; but again the 
 pitcher was full and foaming to the brim. 
 
 Hardly could Philemon fill the bowls, so 
 overcome was she by the miracle before her 
 eyes. 
 
 " O travelers," the good old Baucis said, 
 " whoever thou art, forgive us that we should 
 have dared offer our humble hospitality to 
 such as we now see thee to be. Surely thou 
 shouldst have been received in the grand 
 houses in the city below." 
 
 " Speak not to me of that inhospitable 
 city," answered Jupiter, his brow growing 
 
82 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 black at the thought. " But come, let us go 
 out upon the hillside, and there look down 
 upon the valley." 
 
 Together the little company went forth. 
 The sun's last rays lay upon the great hills 
 beyond ; and in the valley below - - what a 
 change had taken place! --not a house was 
 there to be seen. No cattle were grazing in 
 the fields and meadows ; no children were at 
 play along the riverside. There was not a 
 sign of life as far as the eye could reach; and 
 where the village had so recently raised 
 its marble columns, lay a broad lake, peaceful 
 and still, and shining like polished gold in 
 the rich sunset light. 
 
 And the little hut of Baucis and Phile- 
 mon - - that, too, had disappeared ; and in its 
 place stood a temple of pure white stone, 
 whose dome rose high above the clouds. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 83 
 
 " And now, good Baucis and Philemon," 
 said Jupiter, " tell me what of all things in the 
 earth you would that I should give to thee; 
 for kindly have we been received into thy 
 house, and whatever thou askest, that shall be 
 given thee." 
 
 Philemon and Baucis looked at the white 
 temple, whose dome blazed like gold in the 
 sunset light. " Surely," said they, " thou canst 
 be no other than Jupiter himself; let us, then, 
 dedicate this temple to thee, and let us hence- 
 forth serve thee here as thy priests and as 
 guardians of thy temple. And when we die, O 
 Jupiter, let us die together. That is all we ask ; 
 for with these gifts we shall be content forever." 
 
 Jupiter, well pleased, blessed the two old 
 people, and promised them their gifts; adding 
 to them, however, perfect health and strength 
 and immortal life. 
 
84 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 For a long, long time Baucis and Phile- 
 mon dwelt within the temple, and never were 
 the sacred rites forgotten, nor were the rarest 
 offerings spared from the altar. 
 
 And one evening, when they had grown 
 very, very old, they stood before the great 
 doorway of the temple, looking down upon the 
 lake whose waters never failed. 
 
 Suddenly a change fell upon them. 
 Above the heads of each great branches 
 spread, and the leaves rustled against each 
 other. In an instant strong roots struck down 
 into the ground, and the bodies of the two 
 good people were like the form of the trunks 
 of trees. And to this day they stand upon 
 the hillside, a stout oak and a tall, graceful 
 linden ; for in this beautiful way did Jupiter 
 bestow upon the kind Baucis and Philemon 
 the gift of immortality. 
 
 
GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA. 
 
 All his life long, Glaucus had fished in 
 the waters of the sea, and had drawn his great 
 nets and emptied their contents upon the 
 banks. 
 
 But one morning he drew his boat along- 
 side an island where the cattle never had fed, 
 nor had the foot of man often rested upon its 
 soil. 
 
 There were strange grasses and odd 
 
 85 
 
86 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 plants upon this island, and it was upon a 
 bed qf these grasses that Glaucus spread his 
 nets. There were hundreds of fish, and many 
 kinds were there among them. One by one 
 Glaucus gathered them up, placing them in 
 little piles, each kind by itself. 
 
 But suddenly a wonderful change came 
 over the fish. Perhaps it was the strange 
 grass that had affected them ! For certainly 
 no fish the old fisherman had ever seen 
 behaved as these fish now behaved. They 
 winked and blinked ; they wriggled their tails 
 and flapped their fins ; and, strangest of all, 
 they hopped and rolled and tumbled, until 
 every one of them reached the banks, and 
 plunged again into the waters and swam 
 away. 
 
 " What can this mean ? " asked Glaucus, 
 watching the fish disappear before his eyes 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 87 
 
 " Has some god set a spell upon these 
 creatures of the waters ? Is old Neptune 
 angry that I should take them from his seas ? 
 Or is there some magic power in these strange 
 grasses ?" 
 
 " I will know if it be the grasses ; " and 
 the old fisherman gathered a handful and 
 began slowly and thoughtfully to taste and to 
 swallow it. 
 
 Yes, it was the grasses ; for hardly had 
 he tasted, when there came upon him an 
 unaccountable longing for the waters of the 
 sea. Fie went to the banks and drank. But 
 that did not satisfy him ; he must have more. 
 And from that day to this such has been 
 the effect upon all people of drinking sea- 
 water. 
 
 Again he drank ; and again and again ; 
 till at last, so frantic did he become, that he 
 
88 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 could do no less than plunge into the sea itself. 
 Down, down he sank ; and far out, out to sea 
 did he float. 
 
 Strange creatures he saw about him in 
 the water and upon the sea bottom below. 
 
 By and by beautiful nymphs began to 
 appear ; and, at last, straight into the palace of 
 the ocean god himself he floated. 
 
 Very graciously did old Oceanus receive 
 the fisherman, and most gladly did Glaucus 
 accept his welcome ; for he had now no love 
 for the land, and longed only to live forever in 
 the cool depths of the sea. 
 
 " But you must be in form like unto 
 those of us who dwell beneath the sea," said 
 Oceanus. 
 
 " Gladly would I be like thee," answered 
 Glaucus ; and even while he spoke, behold, a 
 change came over him. His hair grew green 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 89 
 
 like the sea-weed and floated far out behind 
 him ; his body became covered with shining 
 scales of green and silver ; and his legs took 
 on the shape of a long, green, fish-like tail. 
 Glaucus was delighted with his fine color; 
 he swam up and down before the palace, 
 
 flashing his green scales in the sunlight, and 
 watching his long green hair as it floated 
 upon the top of the water. 
 
 And it may be that Glaucus would have 
 gone on happy forever, had he not one day 
 spied upon the shore a beautiful maiden, 
 
90 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 whose fair face and golden hair made him 
 wish he were a mortal again, that he might 
 speak with her and walk with her upon the 
 land. 
 
 Up close to the shore Glaucus swam, 
 and lifted his green head above the waters. 
 "O beautiful maiden," he began, --but at 
 sight of him the beautiful maiden ran scream- 
 ing into the forests ; nor did she ever come 
 down to the waters at that place again. 
 
 Morning after morning Glaucus watched 
 for her, till at last he saw her far down the 
 shore, sitting upon the rocks in the sun. 
 
 Quickly Glaucus swam to her, and, lifting 
 his head above the waters, began again ; " O 
 beautiful maiden " - but again the beautiful 
 maiden fled, screaming, to the forests. 
 
 Then Glaucus, sad at heart, swam away 
 to the island of Circe the enchantress. " O 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 91 
 
 Circe/' he moaned, " give me back my mortal 
 form, that I may again walk upon the land 
 and try to win the love of the beautiful Scylla" 
 
 But Circe had no wish to aid poor 
 Glaucus. Indeed, she was very angry that he 
 should wish to leave the waters upon the 
 shores of which she dwelt. " These people of 
 the sea," said she to herself, " should admire 
 me. I am no less beautiful than this golden- 
 haired Scylla. Or if I am, then she shall be 
 changed, not you, O Glaucus." 
 
 And the cruel Circe laughed to think how 
 the maiden should be destroyed. 
 
 She made no answer to Glaucus, and the 
 sad fisher-merman swam away to the palace 
 of Oceanus. Nor did he ever know what a 
 terrible fate befell his beautiful Scylla. He 
 only knew that out in the waters, over against 
 the roaring whirlpool of Charybdis, there came 
 
92 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 to dwell a terrible serpent with six most 
 terrible heads. And a cruel serpent it was ; 
 for as the ships passed by, it would reach 
 forth its six terrible heads, open its six terrible 
 jaws, and swallow up the crew. Or if the 
 crew were hidden in the lower part of the 
 vessel --and they learned very soon to be- 
 then it would lash the waters with its terrible 
 tail, and try to drive the vessel into the waters 
 of the whirlpool. 
 
 Indeed, the waters between Scylla and 
 Charybdis came to be a place dreaded above 
 all rocks and shoals by the brave mariners 
 who were forced to sail that way. Nor even 
 when, at last Circe, wearied of her care over 
 the terrible Scylla, changed her into a huge 
 cliff, bidding her stand forever against the 
 clear sky, did the sailors fear the waters less. 
 For now there were treacherous rocks beneath 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 the waters the six heads of the serpent they 
 might be, still hiding below and great was 
 the danger that the ships would strike upon 
 these sharp and cruel points. While on the 
 other side, still roared and seethed the fateful 
 waters of Charybdis ; as indeed it roars now- 
 even to this day. 
 
PYGMALION AND GALATEA. 
 
 Pygmalion was a most wonderful sculp- 
 tor. Never was he so happy as when with a 
 great block of pure white marble he seated 
 himself, chisel in hand, to carve out some 
 beautiful creation. 
 
 His work was the admiration of all the 
 world, and kings came to him from all the 
 countries round about, begging him to make 
 beautiful their palaces with his wonderful 
 carvings. For the vines that he carved, the 
 flowers, the leaves, were true vines and flowers 
 and leaves in grace and beauty. 
 
 But one day he set himself to carve from 
 the white, transparent marble the figure of a 
 maiden, who should show forth the perfection 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 95 
 
 of all the maidenly beauty that had ever been. 
 
 Day after day, week after week he 
 worked, from early morn till late at night; 
 and when he went out among his comrades, 
 he walked and listened as one in a dream. 
 
 " Pygmalion sees visions," the people 
 began to whisper among themselves. 
 
 By and by, the sculptor began to work by 
 night as well as by day ; no one could win 
 him away ; neither would he permit his 
 closest friends to look upon his work. 
 
 " The youth is mad," they said, and began 
 to draw away from him. Still he worked on, 
 till by and by there came a time when no 
 sound of hammer was heard in the sculptor's 
 chamber, and the great door was barred 
 against the world. Still, Pygmalion dwelt 
 alone, and no one dreamed the secret of his 
 heart. 
 
96 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 But one day, when the people were cele- 
 brating with festivities the glory of the 
 goddess Venus, Pygmalion threw himself 
 
 before the altar and cried, " O most kind 
 Venus, give me for my wife, my beautiful 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 97 
 
 marble Galatea! give me my beautiful marble 
 Galatea ! " 
 
 The people wondered. " It is the ravings 
 of a madman," they said, and tried to lead him 
 away from the altar. But Pygmalion knew, 
 and Venus knew what his strange words 
 meant, and she took pity upon the sculptor 
 who had made a marble maiden so beautiful 
 that he had grown to love her and to long to 
 have her dwell with him, a real, speaking, 
 thinking, living maiden. 
 
 When the festivities were over, and 
 Pygmalion had laid upon the altar the richest 
 gifts of all who had gathered there, he hurried 
 back to his home. Would Venus grant his 
 prayer? He hurried to the great chamber. 
 There in the niche the statue stood, tall and 
 beautiful as Venus herself. 
 
 Pygmalion knelt before it; then he rose 
 
98 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 and folded his arms around it ; he bent his 
 head tenderly over the marble head. " O Gal- 
 atea, Galatea," he whispered ; " my beautiful 
 Galatea ! " 
 
 Then Pygmalion threw himself upon the 
 rug before the statue and lay looking up at 
 the beautiful face. 
 
 By and by a change began to creep over 
 the marble ; a pink glow flushed the pale face 
 and arms ; the hair softened and took on a 
 hue of golden bronze ; the eyelids quivered, 
 opened - - and there looked down upon the 
 youth eyes of most tender, loving blue. 
 
 Slowly, slowly one hand was raised - 
 then the other one foot advanced-- then the 
 other. Pygmalion's heart beat fast. Down 
 from the niche the marble Galatea now the 
 beautiful, rosy, flesh and blood Galatea - 
 stepped. Pygmalion sprang to his feet. Gal- 
 
> \/ Is) si f 1 
 
 J'WT" '7 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 99 
 
 atea came towards him ; she stretched out her 
 arms to him ; and Pygmalion, lifting his eyes 
 towards heaven, drew her to him saying, " O 
 goddess Venus, I thank thee that thou hast 
 given me my Galatea." 
 
 And Galatea proved to be as good as she 
 was beautiful. A long, long, happy life they 
 lived together; and it was from Pygmalion 
 that Galatea learned to build the altar fires, 
 to spin and weave, and to have charge over 
 her household, as a goodly matron should; 
 and never in all the land, even among the 
 princesses, was a woman so beautiful, so wise, 
 so good as the Galatea of the sculptor 
 Pygmalion. 
 

 DRYOPE. 
 
 The beautiful young mother, Dryope, 
 wandered in the sunlight along the riverside, 
 crooning now and then soft music to the tiny 
 baby that nestled in her arms and hid its little 
 pink face in her fair neck. 
 
 Beneath the shade of a grove of grand 
 old oaks, Dryope sat down to rest and to 
 
 watch the still waters of the river. 
 
 100 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 101 
 
 Beside them grew :a -lotos plant, its 
 branches heavy with the purple flowers,. 
 
 "How beautiful !" said Dryope; and she 
 reached forth her hand and gathered a branch 
 whose flowers were deep and full. 
 
 But behold a terrible sight ! From the 
 stem of the broken branch blood poured forth, 
 and a sad moaning filled the air ; for this was 
 the Nymph Lotis who, fleeing in fright, had 
 been transformed, and, hidden thus, had dwelt 
 near the shady grove, secure from harm. 
 
 Poor Dryope, sad indeed that she had 
 brought sorrow again to the unhappy Lotis, 
 rose to go away; but alas, she could not 
 move. Already her punishment had come 
 upon her and her feet held fast to the earth. 
 
 " Help, help, O help me!" she cried, 
 swaying back and forth and stretching her 
 hands towards heaven. 
 
102 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Hearing" .hpiv- cry, Dryope's sister came 
 hurrying /towards.- ,her; Already the woody 
 bark had covered her to the waist, and lole, 
 clasping her arms around it, as if to w T arm it 
 back to life, moaned and sobbed till the trees 
 of the forest rocked to and fro, and the wind 
 moaned and sobbed as if to show their 
 sympathy with the great sorrow that had 
 fallen upon the sisters. 
 
 " O save me ! save me, lole ! save me," 
 moaned Dryope; but already her voice sounded 
 like the wail of the wind in the forest. 
 Leaves rustled and waved about her head ; 
 her arms were bound, and only the sweet face 
 shown out among the upper branches. 
 
 " Don't let my baby forget me," she 
 moaned. "Tell him of my cruel fate; and 
 when he is grown, let him come to me and 
 say, 'Beneath this bark my mother dwells'; 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 103 
 
 and bid him be careful what flowers he plucks, 
 lest he should chance upon a goddess trans- 
 formed, and the cruel fate of his mother 
 should some day be his as well. 
 
 " Lift the child to me. Let me once 
 more kiss the sweet lips then go --away." 
 
 Already the voice of Dryope grew indis- 
 tinct ; for the bark had crept up over the fair 
 throat and face ; the eyes had closed ; and by 
 the riverside stood a tall straight Lotus tree 
 that had not been there before. And as the 
 peasants passed through the grove at night 
 they said, " Strange that we should never have 
 noticed this tree before. Almost we could 
 believe it to be the growth of a day." 
 
THE HALCYON BIRDS. 
 
 In Thessaly dwelt the just and peaceful 
 king Ceyx, the son of Heosphoros, the Morn- 
 ing Star, and with him in his marble palace 
 Queen Halcyone, the daughter of ^Eolus the 
 Wind-god. 
 
 But there was trouble now in the heart of 
 Ceyx ; for already his brother had passed away 
 
 104 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 105 
 
 to the land of the shades, and dire prophecies 
 of greater troubles still were rife in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 " I must go," said he to Halcyone, " across 
 
 the waters to consult the Oracle at the temple 
 of Apollo." 
 
 A great fear filled the heart of Halcyone 
 
 - a premonition of great sorrow to come ; 
 
 and, falling upon her knees, she begged King 
 
 Ceyx to give up this journey across the seas 
 
106 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 a journey long and wearisome, and sorely 
 fraught with cruel danger. " But if it seems 
 to you," she said, " that there is no other way to 
 escape the ills that beset our kingdom, then 
 take me, I pray, with you. Even the dangers 
 of the sea will be light to bear, as compared 
 with the long weeks of dread and uncertainty 
 and weary waiting." 
 
 The words of Halcyone weighed heavily 
 upon the soul of Ceyx, and fain would he 
 have turned back ; but already the boat lay 
 waiting, the oarsmen were at their benches, 
 with oars in hand. 
 
 With moaning and bitter tears Halcyone 
 bade the king farewell ; for well she knew 
 some evil lay before him, and heavy was her 
 heart and full oi fear. 
 
 Upon the bank she stood, waving her 
 hand to her husband and watching him upon 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 107 
 
 the boat far, far out at sea, until at last the 
 purple distance hid him from her view; then, 
 sad at heart, she turned away and entered the 
 deserted palace. 
 
 On, on, across the waters the little vessel 
 bounded, and for a time all was well; -but 
 when the sun went down,' and darkness began 
 to settle upon the sea, a change came upon 
 the deep. Far away a moaning, as of the 
 wind was heard ; the waters were restless ; 
 white specks of foam tossed to and fro ; the 
 waves rose higher and higher ; the east wind 
 burst upon them ; and the rain poured down 
 in torrents. 
 
 " The sails I the sails ! " the master cried ; 
 but so loudly did the wind howl and shriek 
 among the rigging that no commands could be 
 heard ; moreover, the vessel so rocked and 
 plunged that no man could climb the rigging, 
 
108 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 and the rain so beat upon them that not even 
 the bravest and the hardiest of all the sailors 
 could see to guide his steps. 
 
 The thunders roared ; the lightning 
 flashed; the boat pitched and reeled; and 
 the great waves burst over the vessel, 
 sweeping the crew from the deck, and 
 bearing them far out upon the black and 
 stormy sea. 
 
 And now the mast falls with a crash ; the 
 surge rolls over upon the wreck ; the little 
 vessel sinks beneath the waves ; and the 
 Morning Star, powerless to save, shrouds its 
 face in the black clouds. 
 
 The king, seizing upon a broken spar, 
 floats with it upon the water, calling upon the 
 Morning Star and upon ^Eolus to save him. 
 At last the waters overwhelm him, and with a 
 prayer that his body may be washed ashore, 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 109 
 
 that Halcyone may know his fate, he sinks 
 beneath the black waters. 
 
 The weeks pass by ; up and down the 
 shore each day Halcyone wandered, watching 
 until the darkness fell for the coming of her 
 husband's ship. At night she prayed to Juno 
 that her husband might be guided and guarded, 
 and at last restored to her and to his kingdom. 
 Rare incense she burned upon the altars, and 
 daily sacrifices she offered, till Juno, saddened 
 with these prayers for one already dead, called 
 to her side the faithful Iris and said, " Good 
 messenger, go thou upon thy rainbow bridge 
 down to the cave of Somnus, and bid him in 
 mercy send to Halcyone a dream that shall tell 
 her the sad fate that has already befallen her 
 husband, Ceyx, the king of Thessaly." 
 
 Iris obeyed ; and spreading the rich 
 rainbow of many colors across the sky, she 
 
IRIS, GALLERY OF ST. LUKE, ROME. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. HI 
 
 sped downward to the cave of Somnus ; and 
 that night there came to the sad Halcyone a 
 vision that spoke to her saying, " Watch no 
 longer with weary eye for the return of Ceyx 
 your husband ; for, look at me, recognize me, 
 I am his shade, and I have come to tell you that 
 weeks ago I sank beneath the waters. Watch 
 for me no longer ; but busy thyself with 
 funeral rites for me, and bid my people build 
 a tomb to my memory. Be brave, dear 
 Halcyone, and thou, too, shalt come to the 
 land of the shades when the gods so will." 
 
 Then the vision disappeared ; and Hal- 
 cyone, springing from her bed, cried aloud for 
 her maids, and told them the dream that had 
 come to her. 
 
 Then do\vn to the water's edge she sped 
 and stretched her arms outward toward the 
 distant horizon. " O Father ^Eolus," she 
 
112 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 cried, " give me wings strong and large that I 
 may fly out across the waters to the place 
 where my poor husband sank beneath the 
 angry waters. O father, father, help thy 
 child ! " 
 
 And as she prayed, behold, she was lifted 
 from the shore ; a strange power wafted her 
 high in air; and out across the waters she 
 floated, her long robes dipping upon the 
 billowy waters. 
 
 Out, out she floated, the large strong 
 wings steady, firm, unfailing. At last, upon 
 the surface of the waters afar off, Halcyone 
 spied lying upon the waters, a pale, white 
 body. " It is Ceyx," she thought ; and from 
 her throat there burst a flood of soft, sad 
 melody. On, on she sped, till she came to the 
 spot where the body lay, so cold and still upon 
 the wave. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 113 
 
 It was indeed the body of the king; for 
 the Morning Star and ^Eolus were guiding it 
 towards the shores of Thessaly. Halcyone 
 bent tenderly over it, and again the soft, sad 
 music filled the air. For an instant the wings 
 closed, and the sad wife knelt upon the wave. 
 
 And Juno, looking down upon the scene, 
 pitied Halcyone ; and, descending from Olym- 
 pus, stood beside them on the waters. Her 
 hands she outstretched and placed upon the 
 heads of each, saying, " Go, thou loving hearts ; 
 seek a home for yourselves in the cliffs of the 
 sea, and dwell there again together, happy in 
 all the ages to come." 
 
 And behold, there arose from the waters 
 two large, strong birds ; and together they flew 
 across the waters, to the white cliffs far away. 
 And there to this day they dwell in peace and 
 happiness ; and each year when they build 
 
114 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 their nest and Halcyone broods over the little 
 ones, ^Eolus holds the winds in check; the 
 Sun and the Morning Star shine brightly, and 
 all is peace and quiet upon the sea; for these 
 are the Halcyon Days and in them all 
 nature rests. 
 
THE STORY OF POMONA. 
 
 There were many, many Hamadryads - 
 or Wood-nymphs, if you like the easier word 
 better --who watched over the forests, the 
 valleys, the hillsides, the rivers, the lakes, the 
 waterfalls, the brooklets ; but to Pomona's 
 heart the orchards were the dearest. 
 
 Her sisters might wander if they willed 
 in the wild woodlands, but Pomona loved 
 better the abodes of man and the vines and 
 trees that bore him fruit. 
 
 Her sisters rejoiced in the javelin and the 
 hunt ; but to Pomona the simple pruning 
 knife was better; and, armed with it, she 
 rejoiced to wander from vineyard to vineyard, 
 and from orchard to orchard, pruning here 
 
 115 
 
116 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 and grafting there, till every vine and every 
 tree grew strong and tall, and the branches 
 
 bent beneath the heavy load of fruit. 
 
 And Pomona was beautiful to look upon; 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 117 
 
 her eyes shone like stars and her cheeks were 
 rosy, like the apples she loved so well. 
 
 Not a Faun nor Satyr in all the forest 
 but loved the beautiful Pomona, and would 
 have counted himself happy to have won a 
 smile from her; but Pomona was busy and 
 happy in her orchards, and seemed to care 
 more for the fruit than for the Fauns. 
 
 But of them all, Vertumnus loved her 
 most of all. Often would this youth come to 
 her in disguise, and so gain a vision of her, 
 and perhaps win the favor of a few words 
 with her. 
 
 Once he came as a reaper, bringing her 
 rich and yellow sheaves ; again as a farmer, 
 ox-goad in hand, weary from his hard day's 
 work ; again as a vine dresser, with a pruning 
 knife like her own. 
 
 But one day he came as an old bent 
 
SATYRS, (PINACOTHEK, MUNICH.) 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 119 
 
 woman, a cap about her head, and a staff in 
 her trembling hand. Now Pomona was kind 
 of heart, and she made a seat for the old 
 woman on a soft bank, and sat beside her. 
 
 " It is strange," said the old woman, after 
 a time, " that so beautiful a maiden as you 
 should give so little heed to the brave youths 
 that dwell in the land. 
 
 There is Vertumnus ; surely a hand- 
 some youth is he, and he would give his life 
 for you. Now my dear Pomona, take an old 
 woman's advice, and do not let your heart 
 grow hard and cold. Did you ever hear 
 the story of Iphis and the young princess 
 Anaxarete ? " 
 
 And the old woman shook her head 
 solemnly and blinked her eyes knowingly. 
 " Long, long," said she, " Iphis sought to gain 
 the love of the princess ; but she was as deaf 
 
120 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 to his words as are the cliffs to the surging of 
 the waters. 
 
 Then Iphis, weary of his sad life, threw 
 himself into the dark waters of the rivers ; 
 and when the dead body of the youth was 
 found, they bore him through the streets of 
 the city where the princess dwelt. 
 
 But even now the heart of the maiden 
 was cold and hard ; and the gods said, ' So 
 cruel a maiden as this deserves as cruel a 
 punishment.' And, behold, as she looked 
 down from her tower upon the unhappy Iphis, 
 she was changed, from head to foot, to a 
 marble statue, as cold and hard as her heart 
 had been." 
 
 Very closely had Pomona listened to the 
 wonderful story. Her cheeks grew red, the 
 tears came into her beautiful eyes. The form 
 of the old woman disappeared, and the noble 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 121 
 
 Vertumnus stood before her, the handsome 
 hero that he was. 
 
 The legend does not say what words they 
 spoke ; but when the harvest time was over, 
 and the fruits were gathered in, there was a 
 great marriage festival among the forest trees. 
 
 The hillsides rang with the song of 
 Fauns and Satyrs ; Pan played upon his lyre 
 as never he had played before ; and even old 
 Sylvanus arrayed himself in newest robes of 
 green ; and all this in honor of the goddess 
 Pomona and the brave youth Vertumnus. 
 
PSYCHE. 
 
 They were most beautiful maidens ; but 
 of them all, Psyche, the youngest, was most 
 beautiful. 
 
 So beautiful indeed was she that people 
 came from all the countries round about to 
 gaze upon her as she came forth from her 
 royal father's kingly palace. 
 
 All the youths and maidens up and down 
 the kingdom talked of her, and for a time 
 forgot to pay their homage at the altars of 
 Venus. 
 
 Great offense was this against that god- 
 dess, whose jealousy was aroused. " Go," said 
 she to her winged son Cupid, " down to the 
 kingdom where this maiden dwells, and 
 
 122 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 123 
 
 punish her as she deserves. How dares she 
 claim a beauty so great that my altars are 
 forsaken. Go fill her heart with love for some 
 
 PSYCHE (A. DE CURZON.) 
 
 horrible, deformed, unworthy creature, so that 
 she and all who dwell with her may suffer 
 mortification as great as this I suffer now." 
 
124 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Readily Cupid " sped down through the 
 soft air to the palace where Psyche dwelt. 
 
 With him he carried a vial of the bitter water 
 that should bring sorrow into the maiden's 
 life, even as Venus wished. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 125 
 
 But alas for Cupid's wicked plan ! For 
 when he looked upon her, lying upon her 
 snowy couch of down, so pure and beautiful 
 was she, that he himself bowed his head and 
 fell upon his knees before her. Never, even 
 among the goddesses on Mt. Olympus, had he 
 seen such beauty ; and, forgetting his mother's 
 command, the youth's heart filled with but one 
 thought to win her for his own bride. 
 
 Now it happened that, on the next day, 
 the king and queen visited the Oracle to 
 consult concerning matters of the kingdom; 
 but Cupid, speeding on before them, took his 
 place within the altar, and spoke to the king 
 and queen from out his own overflowing heart. 
 
 Strange and unsatisfactory, so the king 
 thought, were the Oracle's words, save when it 
 spoke of his beautiful daughter Psyche. 
 
 " Prepare thy household," said Cupid, " as 
 
126 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 for a great wedding. Array thy daughter in 
 rarest robes of white. Take her to the top of 
 yonder mountain, and there leave her, and 
 lead thy household back unto thy palace ; for 
 on the top of the mountain shall she find a 
 palace more beautiful than any ever built by 
 mortal king; and there shall her husband 
 receive her; for this shall be the wedding 
 festivity of the fair Psyche." 
 
 Sadly the king and queen returned to 
 their home and told their daughter what the 
 Oracle had said. The hearts of all were filled 
 with fear; yet no one dared disobey the 
 command of the Oracle, and Psyche, arrayed 
 in a long white robe, whose shimmering light 
 trailed far out behind her on the way, and lay 
 like a beautiful cloud upon the hillside, was 
 led up the mountain side, just as the sun was 
 sinking in the west. Sadly her father and her 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 127 
 
 mother kissed their child, then turned back to 
 their desolate home. 
 
 When they were far down the mountain 
 side, and the darkness was already creeping 
 over the sky, there came to Psyche a soft 
 voice like the music of the western wind, 
 saying, " Be not afraid, sweet maid ; come with 
 me to the beautiful home that thy husband 
 has prepared for thee." 
 
 Then Psyche was led along the mountain 
 top, down into a beautiful glen, where stood a 
 beautiful palace of marble. The floors were 
 inlaid with precious stones, and from the 
 ceilings lamps of amber and of gold shed a 
 soft and mellow light. 
 
 There was rich music in the air, and on 
 every side kind voices bade her welcome. 
 
 By and by there was a burst of music 
 rare, and a voice beside her said, " Thy hus- 
 
128 MYTHS OF OLD GRp;ECE. 
 
 band cometh." But, alas, he too was invisible; 
 and though he spoke to her in tenderest words, 
 and was so kind to her that she could not but 
 love him in return, he would not permit that 
 she should look upon his face. 
 
 For a long time Psyche dwelt in her 
 strange home, which soon she learned to 
 love and be most happy in. By and by, 
 however, there came to her a longing to see 
 her sisters and to tell her father and her 
 mother of her happy fate. 
 
 " I will bring them to you," said Cupid - 
 for of course it was Cupid who had made this 
 beautiful palace and had won her love --and 
 away he sped to where the sisters dwelt. 
 
 In the guise of a mountain guide he 
 appeared before them, delivered Psyche's 
 words, and offered to lead them to their 
 sister's palace on the mountain top. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 129 
 
 Gladly did the sisters set forth upon the 
 journey, and joyous indeed was the meeting of 
 Psyche with them. 
 
 Through the palace, from floor to tower, 
 she showed them the wonders of her new 
 home ; they heard the invisible servants 
 receive their orders, and saw with what perfec- 
 tion the orders were carried out. All day 
 long the soft music floated down from the 
 trees above, and the mellow light shone 
 through the purple windows. 
 
 11 And now Psyche," said the sisters, " tell 
 us about the Prince that has prepared for you 
 this beautiful home." 
 
 " O he is very kind ! " answered Psyche. 
 
 " But how does he look ? " 
 
 " There is nothing in all the world that he 
 will not bring to me if I but show even a faint 
 desire for it.' 
 
130 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " We can believe that easily ; but how 
 does the Prince look?" 
 
 " Never in all the world was there ever a 
 husband so kind." 
 
 " But is he tall and handsome ? " 
 
 " And he sings most beautifully ; and " 
 
 " Is his hair yellow ? And are his eyes 
 blue like your own beautiful eyes?" 
 
 Poor Psyche ! she could not deceive her 
 sisters, neither could she keep her secret from 
 them longer. " O sisters," said she, weeping, 
 " I - - I - - have never seen his face. He 
 comes only after the darkness has settled 
 upon the mountain, and he departs from the 
 palace before the sun gilds the eastern sky. 
 He is most kind and gentle always, and I have 
 not cared to see his face, since for some reason 
 it seems best to him that I should not." 
 
 " You foolish, foolish girl ! " her sisters 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 131 
 
 cried. " What nonsense ! How do you know 
 he is not some terrible creature, disfigured and 
 deformed ? " 
 
 " Sometime, he tells me, I may see him ! " 
 " Sometime ! Sometime ! " the sisters 
 answered angrily. " See to it that the some- 
 time is this very night. Now take our advice. 
 We are older than you ; and never in all our 
 lives did we ever hear such nonsense. Why, 
 the creature may be a being wholly unworthy 
 to look upon the daughter of a king ; " and the 
 sisters went away, scolding angrily. 
 
 Poor Psyche ! never had it entered her 
 mind before to doubt her husband's true and 
 generous motives. He had been so kind and 
 gentle ; and sometime she was sure that she 
 should see him face to face. It would be a 
 good face she had been sure of that. But 
 now O dear! what if? and she threw 
 
132 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 herself upon her couch and cried as if her 
 heart would break. 
 
 Night came; and with it the kind husband, 
 bringing her a most beautiful gift, as was his 
 custom always. 
 
 But there was a shadow upon Psyche's 
 face to-night, for her sister's words were 
 ringing in her ears still, and doubt had entered 
 her heart. 
 
 Hour after hour Psyche lay upon her 
 couch, wondering, wondering, wondering ; for 
 with the sound of these words in her ear there 
 was no sleep for her. " I must know," she 
 said ; and taking her silver candle in her hand 
 she crept softly out from her chamber, down 
 the long marble hall. 
 
 There upon a couch of white and silver, 
 the Prince lay fast asleep. Psyche held her 
 breath in wonder ; for never had she seen a 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 133 
 
 prince of such surpassing beauty. His yellow 
 hair lay in beautiful ringlets about his 
 forehead ; and his skin was pink and soft 
 and white like a baby's. But, strangest of all, 
 folded softly upon his back, were two white 
 wings like those of a beautiful bird. 
 
 " It is Cupid ! " said Psyche, with a start, 
 and her heart beat fast with joy. But alas for 
 Psyche! In her surprise she tipped her candle 
 and a drop of the boiling oil fell upon the 
 rosy shoulder of the god. With a cry he 
 sprang from his couch, and seeing Psyche, 
 said, " O Psyche, Psyche, could you not trust 
 me ? Have I not been kind and gentle with 
 you always? But now farewell! Love cannot 
 dwell where there is suspicion." And spreading 
 his snow-white wings, he flew away. With him 
 the palace, too, disappeared ; and poor Psyche 
 found herself alone upon the cold mountain top. 
 
134 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Morning dawned at last, and Psyche 
 made her way down the rough mountain pass 
 to the valley below. There was a temple 
 there, and Psyche entered. She threw herself 
 prostrate before the altar and begged Venus to 
 forgive her for any wrong she had ever done, 
 however innocently, against that goddess, and 
 to give her some task to do, by which she 
 might atone for her wrong-doing, and prove 
 herself worthy of whatever peace Venus might 
 grant to her in her future years. 
 
 Scornfully Venus looked down upon the 
 prostrate Psyche. " Very well," she said, 
 " here is a wagon-load of wheat and barley, 
 millet, beans, and lentils. Separate these 
 grains, and let me see them at nightfall in five 
 baskets, each kind by itself. 
 
 Psyche sat down before the grain. The 
 tears poured down her pale cheeks, for she 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 135 
 
 knew her task was hopeless, and that Venus 
 had cruelly meant that it should be so. But 
 just then a soft voice beside her said, " Fear 
 not ; do you not see that these ants will help 
 you ? " And sure enough, a great colony of 
 ants had fallen upon the grain, and were 
 separating it particle by particle. 
 
 A happy smile broke over Psyche's face, 
 for she knew it was Cupid's voice that had 
 spoken to her; and at nightfall she stood 
 before Venus, her five baskets filled, each 
 with a separate grain. 
 
 " This is no work of yours, wicked one," 
 said Venus, and, angry, she turned away. 
 
 The next morning, however, she sent again 
 for Psyche, and said, " Do you see yonder that 
 flock of a thousand golden fleeced sheep ? 
 Go, then, to the field, and bring me wool from 
 the back of each one of that great flock." 
 
136 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Very sorrowfully again Psyche wandered 
 along to the water's edge ; for this task was 
 even more hopeless than that of the day 
 before --and dangerous as well. 
 
 But from the reeds along the banks a 
 voice again spoke to her ; for again Cupid had 
 come to her and had secured the promise of 
 the river-god to help her in the second 
 hopeless task. 
 
 " O unhappy maiden," said the voice 
 among the reeds, " do not attempt to cross this 
 dangerous flood, nor to approach the angry 
 rams on the opposite bank ; for they burn 
 with a cruel rage to destroy mortals with their 
 sharp horns. Wait until the hot noontide sun 
 has driven them to sleep beneath the shade. 
 Then, too, the flood will be quiet, and you may 
 cross in safety ; and you will find, without 
 trouble whole armfuls of the shining wool 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 137 
 
 upon the bushes where the rams have crowded 
 past." 
 
 And so, again, Psyche succeeded in perform- 
 ing the task allotted to her by the cruel Venus. 
 
 But when, at nightfall, she bore the shin- 
 ing wool to the goddess, she angrily said 
 again, " You have succeeded, but not by any 
 power of your own ; that I know full well. 
 Some one again has given you help ; but I 
 will force you yet to fail. Go, then, at once to 
 Proserpina, who dwells in the land of shades, 
 and give to her this box. Tell her to fill it 
 with beautiful color that I may bathe in it 
 before I appear before the gods and goddesses 
 in council. Go, let there be no delay." 
 
 This was indeed a most hopeless com- 
 mand. The other two had been possible, 
 almost probable, compared with this ; and the 
 poor child sat down in mute despair. 
 
138 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Again a voice came to her and said, " O 
 faithless maiden, do you not know that you 
 will be helped in this even as you have been 
 helped before ! Rise then, be brave, and go do 
 what is bidden you. Go first to the great cave 
 
 that stands, black and terrible, beneath the 
 mountain by the riverside. Enter, and you 
 will be led to the entrance to Hades. Then 
 the three-headed dog, Cerberus, may growl and 
 show its teeth ; but go on, have no fear. You 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 139 
 
 will reach the home of Proserpina and she will 
 fill the box for you. Only remember this, 
 whatever happens, do not open the box nor 
 look within it ; for that only can you be 
 punished." 
 
 And Psyche, encouraged, arose and made 
 her way to the great black cave. Everything 
 was as the voice had said, and in a short time 
 she w r as on her way back into the light of the 
 upper world. 
 
 But, alas, the foolish maiden ! Hardly 
 was she safely out from the blackness, when 
 there came to her a strange longing to know 
 what was within the box. " It is by this," she 
 said, " that cruel Venus preserves immortal her 
 wonderful beauty ; why should I not know her 
 secret, too ? Do I not wish, as well as she, to 
 preserve, immortal, my beauty ? " 
 
 And Psyche opened the box, forgetting 
 
140 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 what the voice had said, and looked within. 
 But nothing did she see ; for no sooner had 
 she raised the lid than a dull heavy sleep fell 
 upon her; her eyes closed, and she fell like 
 one dead, by the riverside. 
 
 " O Psyche, Psyche," cried Cupid, coming 
 again to the rescue ; almost again, by the 
 same foolish curiosity, have you lost your 
 chance for happiness ; but rouse yourself, and 
 speed away to Venus with the box ; already 
 she waits, impatient, for it." 
 
 And then Cupid, spreading his wings, 
 flew upward into the presence of Jupiter, told 
 him the whole long story, and begged him to 
 allow forgiveness to be carried to Psyche. 
 And more than that, he begged that she 
 might even be brought to Olympus and be 
 made immortal. 
 
 Jupiter looked kindly upon the fair-faced 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 141 
 
 Cupid and smiled. " Carry to her this cup," 
 he said, " and bid her drink. Then shall she 
 be immortal, and shall come to dwell in peace 
 forever upon Olympus, where the jealousy of 
 no goddess in the land or sea or in the 
 heavens shall separate her from her faithful 
 Cupid." 
 
THE DRAGON'S TEETH. 
 
 The children of old King Agenor were 
 playing by the shore of the sea, when afar off 
 they saw a gentle white cow feeding in the 
 field near by. 
 
 " Let's play with her," said the children; 
 and away they ran to her. And, indeed, the 
 cow seemed to enjoy the play quite as well as 
 the children did ; for when they made a wreath 
 of wild flowers for her, she bent her pretty 
 head for them to place it upon her neck, and 
 even allowed the children to clamber over her. 
 
 By and by the little Europa climbed 
 upon her back. Her brothers made reins 
 of woven grasses for her and fastened them to 
 the horns of the cow. 
 
 142 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 143 
 
 But no sooner were the reins in the little 
 Europa's hands, than a change seemed to 
 come over the spirit of the cow. She raised 
 
 STATUE OF EUROPA. 
 
 her head high, planted her fore feet, and, with 
 a bound, was out across the fields and down to 
 the water's edge. 
 
 The brothers screamed with fright, and 
 
144 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 little Europa lifted up her voice in a piteous 
 wail ; but little did the cow care for that. On, 
 on, she plunged, even into the sea, and swam 
 with the little girl upon her back far, far out, 
 
 until the little brothers could no longer see 
 
 
 
 her for the purple mists that had settled down 
 upon the waters. 
 
 Then the oldest brother, Cadmus, made a 
 solemn vow. " Some spell is upon my sister," 
 said he, " and the cow is some power in 
 disguise. Nevertheless will I go forth to find 
 Europa ; nor will I return until I bring her 
 with me." 
 
 And Cadmus set forth ; for years and 
 years he wandered up and down the country, 
 asking in every village, " Have you seen a 
 snow-white cow, bearing upon her back a little 
 girl with golden hair and violet eyes ? " 
 
 But no one had seen either the cow or 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 145 
 
 the child ; and sometimes the people stared at 
 Cadmus and thought he was mad to ask such 
 a question. 
 
 And now Cadmus had become a man. 
 One day, as he knelt before the Oracle asking 
 for guidance, as he had done for years, the 
 voice said to him, " Search no longer for the 
 child. Do you not know that, wfrerever she is, 
 she is now a tall maiden, and has made for 
 herself long since a home in some far distant 
 land ? And you yourself are a man now, 
 strong and able to build cities or lead armies 
 to battle. Give up, then, this search, and go out 
 from the temple with changed plans. In the field 
 outside you will find a young heifer. Follow 
 it as long as it shall wander; and where at last 
 it shall lie down to rest, there it is that the gods 
 would have you build a city ; and the city shall 
 be great, and its name shall be called Thebes." 
 
146 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE, 
 
 Cadmus went out from the temple as he 
 had been bidden ; and there in the field stood 
 the heifer browsing, even as the Oracle had 
 said. 
 
 " I can trust the command," Cadmus 
 thought ; and when the heifer moved along 
 the roadside, Cadmus followed willingly ; and 
 when at last it lay down to rest, Cadmus 
 prostrated himself beside it, kissed the ground, 
 and offered sacrifice to Jupiter. 
 
 Near by stood a tall dense forest, and far 
 within the forest sprang from the dark rocks a 
 fountain of clear, sweet waters. To this 
 fountain Cadmus made his way, for he was 
 tired and thirsty from his long journey, and 
 was in sore need of the fresh waters. 
 
 But hardly had he stooped to drink, when 
 he heard above his head a crackling of boughs 
 and the hissing of a terrible dragon. Quickly 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 14' 
 
 Cadmus seized a great rock, tore it out from 
 
 the earth, and threw it with the force of a 
 
 giant against the head of the angry creature. 
 
 Little harm did it do, however, but came 
 
 JUPITER. 
 
 rolling down into the glen like the crash of 
 Jupiters's own thunderbolt ; and the dragon 
 only opened his great mouth the wider, 
 showing his terrible, shining teeth. 
 
148 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 Then Cadmus threw his javelin --an 
 enchanted javelin it was --and even the 
 c^tagon could not resist its poisonous point. 
 In through the brazen scales it flew, and the 
 i;reat creature, unable to cast it out, writhed 
 and hissed and curled, then fell dead, down 
 from the great cliff, at Cadmus's feet. 
 
 " Plant the teeth of the dragon," said a 
 voice close at Cadmus's ear ; " plant the 
 dragon's teeth." 
 
 It was a strange command, yet Cadmus 
 obeyed ; but scarcely had he covered them 
 with the ground, when the clods of earth began 
 to move. Tiny spears pushed their way up ; 
 then shining helmets showed their steel ; then 
 nodding plumes; and then the heads, the 
 shoulders, the bodies, the legs, --till there 
 stood before the hero a full army of armed 
 warriors. 
 
l 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 149 
 
 Again Cadmus drew his sword. Was 
 here another foe ? But the warriors took no 
 heed of him ; but fell rather to fighting each 
 other. One after another was slain, until at 
 last just five were left ; and these, coming 
 towards Cadmus, laid down their spears before 
 him, saying, " We have come to help you build 
 your city." 
 
 And grand help these five warriors 
 proved to be ; for in a few years a beautiful 
 city had been built, over which Cadmus 
 reigned as king for many a happy year. 
 
ECHO AND NARCISSUS. 
 
 Echo was a beautiful maiden --a wood- 
 nymph who spent her days in happy play 
 upon the hillsides and in the valleys along the 
 rivers. 
 
 No one would have supposed any harm 
 could come to her, so innocent and beautiful 
 was she. But one day Juno came hurrying 
 along the riverside, evidently in great haste. 
 She stopped to speak with Echo, and then 
 attempted to hurry on. 
 
 Now, whether Echo intended to delay 
 Juno, or whether she was flattered that the 
 great goddess should speak to her, no one can 
 tell ; but one thing is sure, Juno was delayed 
 by Echo's continual talking, which followed 
 
 151 
 
152 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 her even along the valley ; so that when she 
 reached her destination she was far too late, 
 and her errand, whatever it was, was fruitless. 
 
 Juno was angry, indeed ; and seeing the 
 nymph on her return through the same valley 
 and along the riverside, she fell upon her with 
 words so angry and excited, that the poor 
 child could not speak for fright. 
 
 " Never shall your voice come back to 
 you," cried Juno, her angry brow growing 
 blacker and blacker ; " never shall you speak 
 again to any companion ; to you shall be left 
 only the power to echo the last word you hear." 
 
 Then Echo went away into the forest to 
 weep, and Juno ascended to her home in 
 Mt. Olympus. 
 
 By and by there came into Echo's valley 
 the brave youth Narcissus. He was very 
 beautiful, and a daring hunter ; but alas, most 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE, 153 
 
 foolishly vain ; and, as vain people always 
 are, selfish. 
 
 But Echo thought only of his great 
 beauty, and longed to gain his admiration. If 
 only she might speak to him ! But no, she 
 had no voice and could only echo now and 
 then some last word he might speak. 
 
 One day the youth, while hunting in the 
 valley, became separated from his companions 
 and wandered near the home of Echo. 
 
 " Haloo ! " he called. 
 
 " Haloo ! " answered Echo. 
 
 "I'm lost!" he called again. 
 
 " Lost," answered Echo sadly. 
 
 ' Is any one here?" he shouted loudly. 
 
 " Here," answered Echo. 
 
 "Then come," cried Narcissus, a little 
 impatient. 
 
 "Come," answered Echo; and she did 
 
154 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 come. But when he saw it was only poor 
 little Echo who had come, he was very rude to 
 her. So rude that she fled back, weeping, to 
 the forests again. 
 
 Then Narcissus wandered on up and 
 down the river by himself, trying to find his 
 way back to his companions. Tired at last, 
 he threw himself down by the waters to rest. 
 He was thirsty, and so leaned over the bank 
 to drink. Suddenly a beautiful face like his 
 own confronted him, its large blue eyes 
 looking up into his very own. 
 
 Now, a face like his own the vain 
 Narcissus could love ; for such he had only 
 words of courtesy and kindness. " O beautiful 
 one!" he said, "come to me." The face smiled 
 up at him but did not come. Narcissus 
 smiled more sweetly; the face, too, smiled 
 more sweetly; still it came no nearer, nor could 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 155 
 
 Narcissus approach it. More than once he 
 plunged into the water to meet it ; but no 
 sooner did he ruffle the smooth waters than it 
 
 would disappear ; nor would it return until he 
 had left the waters and lay quiet again upon 
 the bank. 
 
 All day long Narcissus pleaded with the 
 
> 
 
 156 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 beautiful face, and when night came* he fell 
 asleep beside the waters, meaning to wait 
 until the sun should come again to resume 
 his entreaties with the beautiful face. 
 
 The sun came again, and with it again the 
 face. Another day Narcissus spent by the 
 riverside ; another and another ; another and 
 another ; until at last a sad, sad fate overtook 
 him. He pined and pined ; he grew thin and 
 pale, and at last he died --there by the pool 
 of clear, still water. 
 
 And when his comrades came to search 
 for him, they found, where he had died, a 
 beautiful purple flower. " Is our Narcissus 
 dead?" his comrades asked. 
 
 " Dead," answered Echo sadly. 
 
 Then the comrades looked down at the 
 purple flower, whose purple reflection lay 
 dancing on the waters. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 157 
 
 " And from his dead body this flower has 
 sprung," they said. 
 
 "This flower has sprung," answered Echo. 
 And the comrades gathered the purple flower 
 and carried it to the home of Narcissus, telling 
 there the words that the voice in the river 
 valley had spoken to them. 
 
 POET'S NARCISSUS. 
 
CLYTIE. 
 
 Poor foolish Clytie ! She did not cry for 
 the moon, to be sure; but every morning when 
 she came forth from the waters and rested 
 upon the river bank, her face turned eagerly 
 
 158 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 159 
 
 towards the great red sun, rising far away in 
 the east. 
 
 To her there was nothing in the heavens, 
 nor in the earth, so beautiful. She gave no 
 ear to the bird, nor to the rippling of the 
 waters ; she had no eye for the color in the 
 grass or flowers; nor to her were the sunset 
 clouds beautiful, except that through them the 
 bright sun, as he bade farewell to the earth, 
 sank to his rest behind the hills. 
 
 Nor did she turn her face towards 
 Olympus where dwelt the gods and the god- 
 desses ; and sadder than all this, she forgot her 
 own sisters, the water nymphs, and wandered 
 lonely up and down the river banks, her eyes 
 following always the sun in its course across 
 the skies. 
 
 At last the gods and goddesses, it is 
 feared, grew jealous, resenting such neglect 
 
160 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 from one from whom respect and reverence 
 were due ; and it is said they convened 
 together and punished the poor foolish Clytie 
 for her neglect. 
 
 For there came a morning when the sun 
 shone out and no Clytie turned her eyes 
 towards the east to greet his coming. At 
 least, there was no water nymph by the river 
 side, as for so many mornings there had been, 
 waiting, eager and earnest, for the first ray of 
 yellow light. 
 
 But where this sweet water nymph had 
 been wont to stand with face upturned, there 
 stood a tall, rich golden flower, its face turned 
 towards the east. And strange to say, as the 
 sun rose and crossed the sky, the flower turned 
 upon its stalk and followed ; so that when sun- 
 set came, the flower's face was lifted towards 
 the west, and on its golden petals the last rays 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 161 
 
 lingered, filling the valley with a golden glory. 
 " It shall be called the sun flower," said 
 the people ; " and it shall be guarded well ; for 
 it may be that in its root and stalk the soul of 
 Clytie dwells." 
 
ATHENS RESTORED. 
 
 ARACHNE. 
 
 Minerva, or Athenae, which ever name 
 you like best, was the goddess of wisdom. 
 Indeed, it is said she sprang forth, armed with 
 shield and helmet, straight from the mighty 
 brain of Jupiter himself, which, if true, is 
 reason enough for her great wisdom. 
 
 Minerva presided over all useful and also 
 all ornamental arts of both men and women 
 
 162 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 163 
 
 -spinning, weaving, agriculture, navigation ;- 
 all these she understood and could direct. 
 
 Moreover, she was always present upon 
 the battle field ; not with the savage love for 
 bloodshed that Mars gloried in and never 
 failed to bring about, but with firm wisdom, 
 justice, and ready always to take the part of 
 the weak and ill-used. 
 
 The beautiful city of Athens was her 
 chosen seat, a prize awarded her by Jupiter in 
 a contest with old Neptune. 
 
 It was like this : Neptune and Athenae 
 both loved the beautiful plain, and both 
 besought Jupiter to grant them the honor 
 of its possession. 
 
 "What can I do? "asked Jupiter; "you 
 have asked for it, both together ; and both in 
 my sight are equally deserving." 
 
 " Let us contend for it," said Minerva. 
 
164 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 And so it was arranged, that, when next 
 the Sun rose in the east, Minerva and 
 
 Neptune should come before the 'council on 
 Mt. Olympus, bringing with them gifts for the 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 165 
 
 people who would dwell in the beautiful city. 
 And to that one who brought the gift most 
 useful, most helpful, should be given charge 
 over the city. 
 
 The Sun arose ; and the council gathered. 
 Minerva and Neptune stood before the mighty 
 judge. 
 
 " I bring the horse," said Neptune, " as 
 my gift ; with it man can plow, travel, and can 
 carry war against his enemy." 
 
 "And I," said Athenae, " bring this little 
 olive, from which a tree shall spring to furnish 
 food and oil and shelter to the people." 
 
 Unlike gifts, were they not? For a long 
 time the council sat in judgment; and at last, 
 as you must already have suspected, the prize 
 was awarded to Athenae, and the city thus 
 became her own. 
 
 Most wisely did she rule the city ; for 
 
166 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 never in all the history of the world has there 
 been one so famous for beauty, for prowess, 
 for art; and for great men and women. 
 
 But in this city there dwelt a proud and 
 
 haughty maiden, whose name was Arachne. 
 She was a most wonderful spinner of wool and 
 weaver of tapestry. Indeed her tapestries 
 were so life like, the trees and fruit so natural, 
 that often the birds would come and try to 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 167 
 
 alight upon the branches and peck at the fruit. 
 And once, when she had woven a mountain 
 and a rivulet, so true was it, that the nymphs 
 came and knelt by the water to drink. 
 
 " You must have been a pupil of 
 Minerva," said the people ; " no other could 
 have taught you to do such perfect weaving." 
 
 Now, one would have supposed this would 
 have made the little maiden's heart beat fast 
 with pride. But no, she would own no 
 teacher. She wished, rather, that people should 
 believe she taught herself unaided. 
 
 " Let the goddess herself come and 
 contend with me," said the foolish girl. " I 
 will soon show you all whether or not her 
 work even can equal mine." 
 
 " She comes," said an angry voice near 
 by; and there stood Minerva herself, a black 
 frown upon her beautiful face. 
 
168 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " Foolish girl ! ' said she ; " do you not 
 know that the gods brook no insult? Sit 
 down at your loom, and we will indeed show 
 the people to whom the honor is due." 
 
 Arachne shook with fear. She took her 
 shuttle in her hand and began to weave ; 
 Minerva, too, seated herself at a loom near by. 
 
 The looms hummed and buzzed ; the 
 shuttles flew ; and slowly the tapestries grew 
 before the eyes of the people, who stood 
 in terror for Arachne's fate. 
 
 Arachne wove pictures of the gods in all 
 the defeats that had ever come to them, and in 
 all the wrongs they had ever done. 
 
 Minerva wove pictures of the gods in 
 their greatest victories, of Neptune ruling over 
 the sea, and among the figures the august 
 Jove himself sat proudly. 
 
 " Shame upon you, Arachne," said the 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 169 
 
 people, " to so insult the goddess. Shame ! 
 Shame upon you!" And then Minerva, touch- 
 ing the forehead of the saucy girl with her 
 shuttle, so filled her heart with shame that she 
 went away and hanged herself by the long 
 threads of Tyrian colored wool with which she 
 had been weaving. 
 
 But when Minerva saw the foolish 
 Arachne hanging from the tree, she said, " Nay, 
 nay, foolish girl, you shall not escape to the 
 land of shades like this. Awake, and live ; 
 and forever more shall you and all your kin 
 hang by your own threads, even as you are 
 hanging now." 
 
 Then straightway the form of Arachne 
 began to change. Her arms and legs began 
 to shorten, her head grew small, and in this 
 form, as spiders, behold the descendants of 
 Arachne have gone on spinning the threads 
 
170 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 with which they hang, from that time on till 
 now, even as Minerva bade them do. 
 
PERSEUS AND MEDUSA. 
 
 There were the Gracae, white haired from 
 their birth ; and there were the Gorgons, 
 hissing terrible creatures dwelling in the 
 waters near the shore, cruel and treacherous 
 always. . 
 
 And some say the Gracae were the billows 
 that roll and toss away out in the sea ; and 
 that the Gorgons are the white-crested waves 
 that break upon the shore ; but whatever they 
 were, there is a story about them that once 
 heard will never be forgotten. 
 
 There was in the court of the king of 
 Argos, a youth most brave, and strong, and 
 daring. But of this youth, the king had great 
 fear. " He shall die," said the king ; and 
 
 171 
 
172 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 straightway he began to devise ways of putting 
 him to death. 
 
 He dared not slay him outright, for 
 Perseus had hosts of friends at court who 
 might avenge his death. So he called the lad 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 173 
 
 to him one day and said, " Away towards the 
 far west, upon the shores of the sea, dwell 
 the Gorgons. The head of one of them- 
 Medusa I must have." 
 
 " I will go," answered Perseus ; for he 
 knew full well what the cruel king desired. 
 
 " But wait," said the king. It is an 
 adventure full of danger, and great must be 
 the care you use ; for the terrible curse of this 
 Medusa is, that any mortal that looks upon her 
 is turned at once to stone." 
 
 " It will not be an easy thing to find a foe 
 one must not look upon," said Perseus 
 bitterly ; and he went out from the palace sad 
 indeed at heart. 
 
 " Of course there is but one end death," 
 said he, as he buckled on his sandals. 
 
 " Keep up your courage, lad," said a voice 
 close by. " Here, put on my sandals. They 
 
174 
 
 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 will make you fleet-footed and invisible as well. 
 And here is a shield, polished like glass. 
 
 " Take this now, and fly out across the 
 waters till you come to the Gracae. Follow 
 
 HEAD OF MEDUSA (AFFIZI, FLORENCE.) 
 
 their guide, and you will come into the land of 
 the Gorgons. 
 
 " You will hear their hissing and seething 
 long before you can see them. Then is the 
 time to use your mirror-like shield. Turn 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 175 
 
 your back upon them, and fly backwards, 
 holding your shield high until you see their 
 reflection in it. Still watching them through 
 the mirror, you must strike at them, get the 
 head of Medusa, put it into this bag which I 
 shall give you, and fly home again to punish 
 the cruel king who has put this task upon 
 you." 
 
 And away Perseus flew, encouraged by 
 these words of helpfulness. On, on, for a 
 whole day and a whole night, he flew, till he 
 came at last into the home of the Gracae. 
 Then on, on, another day till he came into the 
 land of the Gorgons. 
 
 As the good messenger, Mercury, had 
 said, he heard the seething and hissing when 
 yet afar off. It was like a roar, and then like 
 the splash of waters ; but Perseus was not 
 afraid. Turning, he raised his shield ; and in 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 177 
 
 less time than it takes to tell you of it, he had 
 swooped down upon Medusa with his magic 
 power, had secured his prize, and was winging 
 his way towards the far east, where twice the 
 Sun rose to greet him before his journey was 
 done. 
 
 Once, midway across the sea, he stopped 
 to rescue the beautiful maiden Andromeda, 
 who, for some cruel reason, was chained to a 
 great rock, at the base of which, far down 
 beneath the dark waters, sea serpents and 
 ravenous dragons dwelt, who one day might 
 rise and devour their prey. 
 
 Again he came into the land of Atlas, the 
 huge giant who bears upon his shoulders this 
 great, round earth of ours. 
 
 " Begone, rash youth," thundered Atlas ; 
 " approach not the garden of the golden 
 apples, on penalty of your life." 
 
PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 179 
 
 " Look at me," called Perseus from afar; 
 for he dared not come too near the gruff old 
 fellow. " Look at me ! Dare you contend 
 with me? Lad though I am, I have a magic 
 power." 
 
 " Away with you ! " roared the giant again, 
 turning in rage towards him. But as he 
 turned, Perseus raised the Medusa head before 
 him ; and in one second the giant became a 
 great mountain of rock, upon whose shoulders 
 the earth sits all the more firmly because he 
 never changes. Then seizing the very largest 
 and handsomest of the golden apples, away the 
 youth sped again toward the cruel king. 
 
 Together with his great court of advisors, 
 all as wicked as he was himself, Perseus found 
 the king in royal state. 
 
 " I have brought the Medusa head," said 
 Perseus, presenting himself before the king. 
 
180 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " Fool ! " shouted the king angrily ; " how 
 dare you speak false to me ! " 
 
 " I do not speak false," answered Perseus; 
 "I have it here in this leathern bag." 
 
 " Show it to me, then," sneered the king, 
 " we are all here to see it." 
 
 " Here ! here ! " shouted the advisors. 
 
 " But you know the fate of all who look 
 upon this face," said Perseus. 
 
 " Coward ! " yelled the king, beside himself 
 with rage. " Do you think to cheat us in this 
 manner --with this foolish excuse? Show 
 your prize, I say ; or you shall die upon the 
 spot ! " And the angry king drew his spear, 
 ready to hurl it upon the defenceless lad. 
 
 " I will do as you say," answered Perseus; 
 "but I warn you once again --and he waited, 
 one hand already in this leathern bag. 
 
 " Show ! show ! " yelled the advisors ; and 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 181 
 
 Perseus, closing his own eyes, drew forth the 
 snaky head of the terrible Medusa. 
 
 One second, and there was the hush of 
 death throughout the palace hall ; and when 
 Perseus looked, behold every man stood trans- 
 fixed in marble, even as Perseus had warned 
 them would be there fate. 
 
 " And now, faithful lad," whispered 
 Mercury, " this kingdom is yours ; and over all 
 the people you shall reign long and happily. 
 Hail ! then, all hail King Perseus the Brave ! " 
 
PEGASUS AND BELLEROPHON. 
 
 Bellerophon, the princely son of Glaucus, 
 lived in the court of the king of Argos. 
 Beautiful, and brave, and strong was he, and 
 renowned in all the country for his daring deeds. 
 
 But the king, urged on by wicked 
 advisors, sent Bellerophon far away into the 
 country of a distant king, and with him sent 
 messages to the king, asking that he should 
 slay the youth lest he return to work harm 
 to the kingdom of Argos. 
 
 When Bellerophon reached the kingdom 
 of King lobates, so beautiful and princely was 
 he, the king welcomed him gladly to his court, 
 and for nine days feted and feasted him, 
 pouring upon him every honor. 
 
 182 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 183 
 
 At the end of the ninth day he called 
 Bellerophon to him and said, " Now, my brave 
 prince, deliver to me the message which you 
 bring from your king." 
 
 BELLEROPHON AND THE CHIMERA. 
 
 " I cannot tell you what it is," answered 
 Bellerophon, " but I will bring to you the 
 sealed tablets upon which it is written, and 
 
184 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 which I have faithfully borne from my king 
 to you." 
 
 King lobates read the message. He 
 turned pale and shook with fear. For the 
 message bade him, as we know, slay this 
 youth whom he had now for nine days feted, 
 and feasted, and honored. 
 
 For three days and three nights the 
 king pondered upon the sad task laid upon 
 him. 
 
 Now, great trouble had come to the 
 people in a distant part of the realm. A 
 terrible .creature, half serpent and half lion, 
 had taken up its abode in the forests, and each 
 morning it rushed out upon the people, breath- 
 ing forth a flame from its terrible mouth that 
 set on fire the grasses and the trees. 
 
 All in vain had brave men sought to 
 capture the creature ; but each and every one 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 185 
 
 of them had been devoured or scorched to 
 death before the burning flame. 
 
 " Bellerophon," said the king, " dare you 
 go against this dread creature and try to save 
 my people ? " For if Bellerophon could be led 
 to do this, his own destruction was sure, so 
 the king thought. 
 
 " I will go," said Bellerophon, his brave 
 heart touched by the story of the sufferings of 
 the people. 
 
 But first Bellerophon asked the aid of 
 Minerva, who, appearing to him in a dream, 
 told him he must first secure the winged horse 
 Pegasus, else all attempts, however brave, 
 would be futile. 
 
 Now Pegasus was a winged horse, whom 
 no one had ever yet been able to secure. 
 'Often was he seen frolicking in the fields, or 
 drinking from the fountain that gushed from 
 
186 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 the high cliffs outside the city. But Minerva 
 had given Bellerophon a magic bridle, and, 
 full of hope, the youth went forth. 
 
 All day long he lay upon the hillsides, 
 waiting and watching. Often, up among the 
 clouds, he caught sight of the white wings of 
 the horse, but never once, all day long, did 
 Pegasus come down to earth. 
 
 The night passed. More than once 
 Bellerophon heard the whirring of the wings 
 above his head, but could only see the shadow 
 in the darkness. 
 
 At sunrise Bellerophon went down to the 
 fountain and concealed himself in the heavy 
 overhanging branches of a great tree. Bridle 
 in hand, he waited, for sooner or later Pegasus 
 was sure to come. 
 
 By and by the whirring of the wings was 
 heard ; then the clattering of the silver hoofs ; 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 187 
 
 and there, at the fountain, stood the snow- 
 white steed, frisking and prancing, as if too 
 full of life to stop even to drink. Patiently 
 Bellerophon waited. Noiselessly he crept 
 along the bough, and waited until Pegasus 
 should stretch his long neck down to the 
 water. 
 
 Then, with a quick spring, he bounded 
 upon the back of the horse and grasped him 
 by his beautiful, flowing mane. With a cry of 
 terror almost human, the strange creature 
 bounded out into the fields, carrying Beller- 
 ophon upon his back. Over and over he 
 rolled, while Bellerophon tried to place the 
 magic bridle. Up, up, among the clouds he 
 flew, rolling and plunging in his attempt to 
 throw off his unwelcome rider. But even 
 Pegasus could not withstand the will of the 
 gods ; and all in good time he fell beneath the 
 
188 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 power of the magic bridle and the dauntless 
 daring of the youth. 
 
 And most wonderful it was, the obedience 
 and love that seemed to fall upon him with 
 the bridle ; for from that moment Bellerophon 
 had but to speak and Pegasus would heed the 
 words most meekly. 
 
 By and by, a great black cloud overspread 
 the sky, and darkness fell upon the hills. The 
 people hurried into their houses, shrieking in 
 terror; for well they knew that the great 
 dragon had come forth. " Now is my time," 
 said Bellerophon, watching the great dragon 
 writhing and twisting in the sky above. 
 
 " Now, good Pegasus, up ! up ! " he whis- 
 pered, " and let us do our best to stay this foe 
 of the people." 
 
 Pegasus reared his beautiful head and 
 spread his wings. Up, straight towards the 
 dread creature the good horse sped, 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 189 
 
 It was a terrible battle that followed. 
 The dragon hissed and roared. It belched 
 forth flames of fire and wound its terrible 
 length about the struggling youth, who threw 
 his spears and swung his sharp-edged sword. 
 All day long they fought ; but with the 
 going down of the sun the dragon failed in 
 strength; only black smoke poured forth from 
 his horrid jaws ; and with one last, mighty 
 roar, he fell crashing into the forest whence he 
 had come out to lay waste the fields and to 
 cruelly slay the people. 
 
 " And so the dragon was overcome, 
 the people were rescued, and Bellerophon 
 returned to the court of lobates. And there 
 in love and honor he dwelt for many a year 
 among the grateful people for whom he had 
 done so brave service. 
 
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 
 I. 
 
 The two little children of the king of 
 Thessaly were playing in the broad sunny 
 fields. They were not very happy children, 
 for their mother had been sent away into a 
 distant land, and little care had they now that 
 she was gone. 
 
 The poor mother, fearing that her chil- 
 dren would fare ill indeed with no one but 
 their cruel father to look after them, prayed to 
 the good Minerva to save them from their sad 
 fate. 
 
 Minerva, always glad to lend her aid and 
 to comfort the suffering, promised that she 
 would find the children, and rescue them if she 
 found them illy used. 
 
 190 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 191 
 
 It was on the morning of the great feast 
 day uiiat she found them ; they were out in the 
 sunny fields at play, but hungry and neglected. 
 
 " Poor children ! " said Minerva ; and 
 instantly there appeared in the field close 
 by a young sheep, upon whose back a 
 golden fleece shone like the sunlight. It 
 seemed a most playful sheep, for it ran 
 towards the children, and leaped and frolicked 
 with them as if inviting them to play. 
 
 " Let's climb upon its back, sister Helle," 
 said the boy Phrixos. " Perhaps the sheep 
 will carry us across the fields." 
 
 " Dear sheep ! " said Helle, patting its wooly 
 head ; and then the children climbed upon its 
 back, Phrixos in front and Helle clinging closQ, 
 to him behind. 
 
 Now this was just what the sheep or 
 Minerva, we should say, since it was she in 
 
192 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 disguise - - wanted the children to do ; for 
 away in a far country there was a good king 
 to whom Minerva meant to take the children. 
 
 " On, on the sheep sped. It was great 
 fun, the children thought ; but by and by they 
 reached a great body of water. It was like an 
 ocean, so the children thought, and poor little 
 Helle began to tremble with fear. 
 
 " Hold tight 1 " cried Phrixos ; but Helle 
 was so little and was so frightened she could 
 not hold ; and before the sheep had reached 
 the opposite shore the child lay in the bottom 
 of the sea, and many a sea nymph was 
 bending over her in pity that so beautiful a 
 child should have come to so sad an end. 
 
 Poor Phrixos, clinging with all his might 
 to the shining wool, called upon the gods to 
 save him from Helle's fate; and long before 
 the sun had risen in the far-off east again, the 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 193 
 
 sheep had borne the lad safely even into the 
 very palace of the good king. 
 
 " What have we here ? " cried the king, 
 amazed at the sudden appearance of his 
 strange guests. 
 
 Poor little Phrixos, trembling with fright, 
 burst into tears. " Don't cry, little boy," said 
 the king kindly. " Come to me and tell me 
 whence you came, poor child." 
 
 Then Phrixos told his wonderful story, 
 and the kind king, moved to tears of pity, 
 gathered the little fellow up in his arms and 
 bade him think no more about the past, but 
 to take up his home in the new kingdom into 
 which he had been borne. " I have no son of 
 my own, Phrixos," said the king, " and you 
 shall dwell with me here in our golden palace ; 
 you shall be as my own son, and the people 
 shall call you Prince. By and by you will 
 
194 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 be a great man king, perhaps, and shall be 
 famed throughout the land." 
 
 Little Phrixos was comforted by the good 
 king's kind words, and could he but have had 
 his little sister with him again, would have 
 been very happy. 
 
 The golden fleece, the king ordered to be 
 cut from the sheep and to be hung in a grand 
 hall in the palace, where every one, in all the 
 years to come, might see it and be reminded of 
 the wonderful manner in which the little 
 prince had been brought into the palace of the 
 king. 
 
THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 
 II. 
 
 The golden fleece, so precious did it seem 
 in the sight of the king, was guarded by a 
 huge dragon that slept neither day nor night, 
 so eager was it lest an opportunity for 
 devouring a hero should be lost to it. 
 
 Now, there were kings in the country who 
 envied the possessor of this golden fleece his 
 good fortune, and every year some daring 
 youth, desirous of fame, would attempt to 
 overcome this dragon and carry away the 
 
 195 
 
196 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 golden fleece. But alas for the youths ! A 
 hundred had already found themselves help- 
 less before the terrible creature, and never one 
 of them had ever returned to tell even the 
 story of his adventure. 
 
 But the Fates had decreed that the fleece 
 should be carried away, nevertheless ; and at 
 last a youth grew up, whose mission it was 
 to overcome the dragon. 
 
 The youth's name was Jason ; and when 
 he came for the first time into the presence of 
 King Pelias, the king turned pale and nearly 
 fainted with terror. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Jason, innocently. 
 
 " One sandal ! one sandal ! " groaned the 
 courtiers, looking down at his feet. 
 
 " Yes ; I lost the other in crossing the 
 river/' said Jason. 
 
 " But there is a prophecy," said the 
 
]Vr r THS OF OLD GREECE. 197 
 
 people, " that our king shall be dethroned by a 
 one-sandalled man." 
 
 " Never mind," said Jason, laughing ; " I 
 have no wish to dethrone your king, and have 
 not come for any such purpose. I am only a 
 youth just from school, where I have been 
 taught for years by the good Centaur Chiron. 
 He has taught me to be brave, but he has not 
 taught me to take from kings their kingdoms." 
 
 These were fair words, and the people 
 easily accepted them. The king, however, 
 was doubtful. " I will rid myself of this 
 youth," he said to himself; "I shall be far 
 safer." 
 
 So one day he called Jason into his 
 presence and said to him, " You are a brave 
 youth. No youth so brave has ever come into 
 our country. Surely so brave a youth as you 
 must long for adventure." 
 
198 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 " I do," answered Jason. 
 
 " Have you heard of the golden fleece ? " 
 asked the king. 
 
 " I have," answered Jason. " Do you will 
 that I go to seek it?" 
 
 ' I do will so," was the king's brief reply. 
 Jason caught the wicked gleam in the king's 
 eye, but made no reply, only bowed low before 
 the throne. For this was the manner, in 
 those days, with which to receive and accept 
 a royal command. 
 
 " You shall have my throne and my 
 sceptre ; " said the king most foolishly, hardly 
 knowing what he said, in his wild delight that 
 he was to be free from the dangerous youth ; 
 for he knew --or thought he knew --that no 
 youth, however brave, could overcome this 
 dreadful dragon, whose fiery breath, even 
 when afar off, was like a scorching blast. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 199 
 
 So Jason went out from the king ; and- 
 calling many brave youths to join him, they 
 built a wonderful vessel and named it the 
 Argo. 
 
 Upon its prow was fastened a beautiful 
 figure, carved from the branches of the 
 Talking Oak, a magic tree whose prophecies 
 were never known to fail. The figure still 
 held in its carved beauty the power to speak, 
 and many a goodly warning did it grant the 
 brave youth, Jason. 
 
 At last the ship was finished ; the carved 
 image was in place, and at the oars and upon 
 the decks sat the bravest company of youths 
 that Greece could gather. Proud indeed was 
 Jason of his company, and sure in his heart 
 was he of success and glory. 
 
 It was a long voyage; but the time 
 passed most happily, and in due time the 
 
JASON SLAYING THE DRAGON. 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 vessel grated upon the shores of the kingdom 
 the youths were seeking. 
 
 Fancy the surprise of the possessor of the 
 golden fleece when, an hour later, there came 
 into his presence a handsome, daring youth 
 who said, " I have come, good king, for the 
 golden fleece." 
 
 Records do not tell us what the king 
 said. Perhaps he was so amazed he could say 
 nothing; but we know that Jason succeeded 
 in his undertaking, and in due time sped baok 
 to his ship, sprang on board, and, seizing an 
 oar, whispered, " Hurry, hurry, good youths, 
 hurry!" 
 
 It had been a terrible task and none but 
 the bravest of youths would have had the 
 courage to try. For first there had been 
 the brazen bulls, which he must tame and 
 make to draw the plow-- terrible creatures 
 
202 MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 
 
 were they with their breath of belching fire. 
 Then must he plant the plowed furrows with 
 the teeth of the dragon, even as Cadmus had 
 done so long ago. From these teeth armed 
 soldiers had sprung up, whole armies of them, 
 every one of which must be slain before the 
 sun went down. 
 
 But in both tasks Jason had succeeded; 
 and then, because she admired the valor of the 
 youth, the daughter of the king had pitied the 
 sad fate that must befall him should he 
 approach the dragon-guarded fleece, and had 
 come to his aid. 
 
 "Here," said she, "is a vial of magic 
 liquid. Go bravely into the presence of the 
 dragon ; and when he opens his great jaws to 
 devour you, throw this into his cavernous 
 mouth. Even he cannot withstand its magic. 
 He will at once roll over, lash his great tail, 
 
MYTHS OF OLD GREECE. 203 
 
 and fill the air for miles around with his 
 terrible roar." 
 
 Thus, then, did the youth succeed in his 
 daring venture, and bear away the golden fleece. 
 
 "You promised me your kingdom," said 
 Jason to old King Pelias, when he had 
 appeared with the shining mass of wool. The 
 old king scowled and clenched his sceptre in 
 his hands. Never had he dreamed the youth 
 would succeed; but here he stood, before the 
 throne, claiming his reward. 
 
 "Yes, yes, you promised!" shouted the 
 courtiers, who were proud of the brave youth 
 and not overfond of the old king. 
 
 Then the king came down from his 
 throne and placed his sceptre in the hands of 
 Jason. "Useless, useless is it," said he, "to 
 contend against the will of the Fates. What 
 they decree, that thing shall be in spite of 
 kings or people." 
 
VOCABULARY. 
 
 Actaeon (ak-te'on). A hunter. 
 
 JEolus (e'o-his). The goa of the Winds. 
 
 Agenor (a-je'nor). A king of Phoenicia. 
 
 Anaxarete (an-aks-ar'e-te). A maiden of Cyprus. 
 
 Andromeda (an-drom'e-da) Rescued from a sea monster by Perseus. 
 
 Apollo (a-pol'o). Son of Zeus and leader of the Muses. 
 
 Argos (dr'gos) . A city in Argolis, Greece. 
 
 Argus (dr'gus}. " The All-seeing." 
 
 Argo (ar'go}. The ship of the Argonauts. 
 
 Arachne (a-rak'ne). A Lydian Maiden. 
 
 Astrsea or Astrea (s-re'). 
 
 Athene or Athena (ci-the'ne, or -no). Goddess of knowledge, arts, and 
 
 sciences. 
 
 Atlas (at'las*). The supporter of the sky. 
 Bacchus (bak'us}. The god of Wine. 
 Baucis (bd'sis). A woman of Phrygia. 
 Bellerophon (be-ler'o-f-n). Slayer of the monster chimera. 
 Cadmus (kad' nuts'). The reputed founder of Thebes. 
 Callisto (ka-lis'to}. An Arcadian huntress. 
 Cerberus (ser'be-rus) . The watchdog at the entrance of the infernal 
 
 regions. 
 Centaur Chiron (sen'tdr kl'ron). The pupil of Apollo. Half man, half 
 
 horse. 
 
 Ceyx (.e'i#s). Son of the Morning Star. 
 Charybdis (ka-rib'dis}. "Hole of Perdition," abyss. 
 Circe (s<r'*e). An enchantress. 
 Cupid ku'pid) . God of Love. 
 Clytie (klish'i-e or a). A nymph. 
 Daphne (daf'ne). A nymph. 
 Demeter (de-me'tir). Goddess of vegetation. 
 Deucalion (du-ka'li-on} . 
 Diana (dl-an'a). Goddess of the Moon. 
 Dry ope (drib-pe . A shepherdess. 
 Echo (ek'o}. A nymph. 
 
 Epimetheus (e f -i-me'thus'). Brother of Pandora. 
 Europa (u-ro'pa). " The land of the setting snn." 
 Faun (f-gn) Half goat, half man. 
 Glaucus (gld'kus). The steersman of the Argo. 
 Gorgons (gdr'gonz'). Three sisters dwelling in the Western ocean 
 
 having snaky h-dr, and of terrific aspect. 
 
 304 
 
VOCABULARY. 205 
 
 Hades (hd'dez). The lower world. 
 Ilalcyone (hal sl-on) . Peaceful, happy. 
 Hamadryad (ham'a-dri'ad). A tree nymph. 
 
 Hephaestus (he-fes 1 tus} . God of fire. 
 
 Hera or Here (he'rd, -re . Queen of Heaven. 
 
 Hermes (her'mez}. Messenger of the gods. 
 
 lo (I'd). Daughter of the king of Argos changed by Thera into a 
 
 white heifer. 
 
 Iris (l'ris~). Female divinity. 
 Jason (ja'son). Leader of the Argonauts. 
 
 Juno (jo no), Roman divinity, identified with the Greek Hera. 
 Jupiter (jo'pi-tei-). Roman divinity, identified with the Greek Zeus. 
 Mars (marz) . A Latin diety God of War. 
 Medusa (me'do-sd). One of the Gorgons. 
 Mercury ( mer ku-ri} . God of trade, science, arts, etc. 
 Minerva (mi-ner'va). One of the three chief divinities. 
 Melampus (me-lim'pus) . A soothsayer. 
 Midas (mi'das). King of Fhrygia. 
 
 Narcissus (nar-sis'us). A beautiful youth changed into a flower. 
 Neptune (nep'tun). God of the Sea. 
 Oceanus (o-sea-nus). The ocean stream. 
 Olympus (d-lim'pus). A mountain on the borders of Macedonia and 
 
 Thessaly. 
 Pactolus (pak-to'lus}. In ancient geography, a small river of Lydia 
 
 Asia Minor. 
 
 Pan (pan). God of pastures and flocks. 
 Pandora (pan-do 1 r a) . All-gifted. 
 
 Parnassus, Mt. (pdr-nas'us} . A mountain ridge in Greece. 
 Pegasus (peg'a-sus). A spring. 
 Perseus (^er'sus~). A hero; son of Zeus. 
 Philemon (fi-le'mon). A Phrygian. 
 Pomona (pd-mo'na}. Goddess of fruit trees. 
 Prometheus (pro-me'thus) Forethought. 
 
 Proserpine (pros' er-pin} Greek Persephone. Typical of the seasons. 
 Psyche (sl'ke). Breath, spirit, life. 
 Pyrra Pyrrha (pir'a). Wife of Deucalion. 
 Satyr (sd'ter). A sylvan deity, half man and half goat. 
 Scylla (sil'd). A sea monster. 
 Silenus (sl-le nus}. Leader of the satyrs. 
 Somnus (som'nus). God of sleep. 
 Thebes (Thebz). A city of ancient Greece. 
 Thessaly (Thas'a-le). A district of ancient Greece. 
 Theron (The'ron}. Tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily. 
 Tigris (Ti'gris'). A river in Asiatic Turkey. 
 Venus (ve'nus'). Goddess of beauty. 
 Vertumnus (ver-tum 1 nus} . God of the seasons. 
 Zeus (Zus~). Chief of the gods all-powerful. 
 
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