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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Age of Fable, by Thomas Bulfinch
+(#1 in our series by Thomas Bulfinch)
+
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+Title: The Age of Fable
+
+Author: Thomas Bulfinch
+
+Release Date: January, 2004  [EBook #4925]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on March 27, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE AGE OF FABLE ***
+
+
+
+
+Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY
+
+THE AGE OF FABLE
+
+THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
+
+LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE
+
+BY THOMAS BULFINCH
+
+COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
+
+
+[Editor's Note: The etext contains only THE AGE OF FABLE]
+
+
+
+
+PUBLISHERS' PREFACE
+
+
+No new edition of Bulfinch's classic work can be considered
+complete without some notice of the American scholar to whose wide
+erudition and painstaking care it stands as a perpetual monument.
+"The Age of Fable" has come to be ranked with older books like
+"Pilgrim's Progress," "Gulliver's Travels," "The Arabian Nights,"
+"Robinson Crusoe," and five or six other productions of world-wide
+renown as a work with which every one must claim some acquaintance
+before his education can be called really complete. Many readers
+of the present edition will probably recall coming in contact with
+the work as children, and, it may be added, will no doubt discover
+from a fresh perusal the source of numerous bits of knowledge that
+have remained stored in their minds since those early years. Yet
+to the majority of this great circle of readers and students the
+name Bulfinch in itself has no significance.
+
+Thomas Bulfinch was a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born
+in 1796. His boyhood was spent in that city, and he prepared for
+college in the Boston schools. He finished his scholastic training
+at Harvard College, and after taking his degree was for a period a
+teacher in his home city. For a long time later in life he was
+employed as an accountant in the Boston Merchants' Bank. His
+leisure time he used for further pursuit of the classical studies
+which he had begun at Harvard, and his chief pleasure in life lay
+in writing out the results of his reading, in simple, condensed
+form for young or busy readers. The plan he followed in this work,
+to give it the greatest possible usefulness, is set forth in the
+Author's Preface.
+
+"Age of Fable," First Edition, 1855; "The Age of Chivalry," 1858;
+"The Boy Inventor," 1860; "Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of
+the Middle Ages," 1863; "Poetry of the Age of Fable," 1863;
+"Oregon and Eldorado, or Romance of the Rivers,"1860.
+
+In this complete edition of his mythological and legendary lore
+"The Age of Fable," "The Age of Chivalry," and "Legends of
+Charlemagne" are included. Scrupulous care has been taken to
+follow the original text of Bulfinch, but attention should be
+called to some additional sections which have been inserted to add
+to the rounded completeness of the work, and which the publishers
+believe would meet with the sanction of the author himself, as in
+no way intruding upon his original plan but simply carrying it out
+in more complete detail. The section on Northern Mythology has
+been enlarged by a retelling of the epic of the "Nibelungen Lied,"
+together with a summary of Wagner's version of the legend in his
+series of music-dramas. Under the head of "Hero Myths of the
+British Race" have been included outlines of the stories of
+Beowulf, Cuchulain, Hereward the Wake, and Robin Hood. Of the
+verse extracts which occur throughout the text, thirty or more
+have been added from literature which has appeared since
+Bulfinch's time, extracts that he would have been likely to quote
+had he personally supervised the new edition.
+
+Finally, the index has been thoroughly overhauled and, indeed,
+remade. All the proper names in the work have been entered, with
+references to the pages where they occur, and a concise
+explanation or definition of each has been given. Thus what was a
+mere list of names in the original has been enlarged into a small
+classical and mythological dictionary, which it is hoped will
+prove valuable for reference purposes not necessarily connected
+with "The Age of Fable."
+
+Acknowledgments are due the writings of Dr. Oliver Huckel for
+information on the point of Wagner's rendering of the Nibelungen
+legend, and M. I. Ebbutt's authoritative volume on "Hero Myths and
+Legends of the British Race," from which much of the information
+concerning the British heroes has been obtained
+
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+
+If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which
+helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in
+society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if
+that which tends to make us happier and better can be called
+useful, then we claim that epithet for our subject. For Mythology
+is the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the best
+allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.
+
+Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of
+our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. When Byron
+calls Rome "the Niobe of nations," or says of Venice, "She looks a
+Sea-Cybele fresh from ocean," he calls up to the mind of one
+familiar with our subject, illustrations more vivid and striking
+than the pencil could furnish, but which are lost to the reader
+ignorant of mythology. Milton abounds in similar allusions. The
+short poem "Comus" contains more than thirty such, and the ode "On
+the Morning of the Nativity" half as many. Through "Paradise Lost"
+they are scattered profusely. This is one reason why we often hear
+persons by no means illiterate say that they cannot enjoy Milton.
+But were these persons to add to their more solid acquirements the
+easy learning of this little volume, much of the poetry of Milton
+which has appeared to them "harsh and crabbed" would be found
+"musical as is Apollo's lute." Our citations, taken from more than
+twenty-five poets, from Spenser to Longfellow, will show how
+general has been the practice of borrowing illustrations from
+mythology.
+
+The prose writers also avail themselves of the same source of
+elegant and suggestive illustration. One can hardly take up a
+number of the "Edinburgh" or "Quarterly Review" without meeting
+with instances. In Macaulay's article on Milton there are twenty
+such.
+
+But how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn it
+through the medium of the languages of Greece and Rome? To devote
+study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false
+marvels and obsolete faiths is not to be expected of the general
+reader in a practical age like this. The time even of the young is
+claimed by so many sciences of facts and things that little can be
+spared for set treatises on a science of mere fancy.
+
+But may not the requisite knowledge of the subject be acquired by
+reading the ancient poets in translations? We reply, the field is
+too extensive for a preparatory course; and these very
+translations require some previous knowledge of the subject to
+make them intelligible. Let any one who doubts it read the first
+page of the "Aeneid," and see what he can make of "the hatred of
+Juno," the "decree of the Parcae," the "judgment of Paris," and
+the "honors of Ganymede," without this knowledge.
+
+Shall we be told that answers to such queries may be found in
+notes, or by a reference to the Classical Dictionary? We reply,
+the interruption of one's reading by either process is so annoying
+that most readers prefer to let an allusion pass unapprehended
+rather than submit to it. Moreover, such sources give us only the
+dry facts without any of the charm of the original narrative; and
+what is a poetical myth when stripped of its poetry? The story of
+Ceyx and Halcyone, which fills a chapter in our book, occupies but
+eight lines in the best (Smith's) Classical Dictionary; and so of
+others.
+
+Our work is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the
+stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of
+amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to
+the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them
+referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference.
+Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a
+relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book,
+yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of
+education. The index at the end will adapt it to the purposes of
+reference, and make it a Classical Dictionary for the parlor.
+
+Most of the classical legends in "Stories of Gods and Heroes" are
+derived from Ovid and Virgil. They are not literally translated,
+for, in the author's opinion, poetry translated into literal prose
+is very unattractive reading. Neither are they in verse, as well
+for other reasons as from a conviction that to translate
+faithfully under all the embarrassments of rhyme and measure is
+impossible. The attempt has been made to tell the stories in
+prose, preserving so much of the poetry as resides in the thoughts
+and is separable from the language itself, and omitting those
+amplifications which are not suited to the altered form.
+
+The Northern mythological stories are copied with some abridgment
+from Mallet's "Northern Antiquities." These chapters, with those
+on Oriental and Egyptian mythology, seemed necessary to complete
+the subject, though it is believed these topics have not usually
+been presented in the same volume with the classical fables.
+
+The poetical citations so freely introduced are expected to answer
+several valuable purposes. They will tend to fix in memory the
+leading fact of each story, they will help to the attainment of a
+correct pronunciation of the proper names, and they will enrich
+the memory with many gems of poetry, some of them such as are most
+frequently quoted or alluded to in reading and conversation.
+
+Having chosen mythology as connected with literature for our
+province, we have endeavored to omit nothing which the reader of
+elegant literature is likely to find occasion for. Such stories
+and parts of stories as are offensive to pure taste and good
+morals are not given. But such stories are not often referred to,
+and if they occasionally should be, the English reader need feel
+no mortification in confessing his ignorance of them.
+
+Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for
+the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of
+either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently
+made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and
+those which occur in polite conversation.
+
+In the "Stories of Gods and Heroes" the compiler has endeavored to
+impart the pleasures of classical learning to the English reader,
+by presenting the stories of Pagan mythology in a form adapted to
+modern taste. In "King Arthur and His Knights" and "The
+Mabinogeon" the attempt has been made to treat in the same way the
+stories of the second "age of fable," the age which witnessed the
+dawn of the several states of Modern Europe.
+
+It is believed that this presentation of a literature which held
+unrivalled sway over the imaginations of our ancestors, for many
+centuries, will not be without benefit to the reader, in addition
+to the amusement it may afford. The tales, though not to be
+trusted for their facts, are worthy of all credit as pictures of
+manners; and it is beginning to be held that the manners and modes
+of thinking of an age are a more important part of its history
+than the conflicts of its peoples, generally leading to no result.
+Besides this, the literature of romance is a treasure-house of
+poetical material, to which modern poets frequently resort. The
+Italian poets, Dante and Ariosto, the English, Spenser, Scott, and
+Tennyson, and our own Longfellow and Lowell, are examples of this.
+
+These legends are so connected with each other, so consistently
+adapted to a group of characters strongly individualized in
+Arthur, Launcelot, and their compeers, and so lighted up by the
+fires of imagination and invention, that they seem as well adapted
+to the poet's purpose as the legends of the Greek and Roman
+mythology. And if every well-educated young person is expected to
+know the story of the Golden Fleece, why is the quest of the
+Sangreal less worthy of his acquaintance? Or if an allusion to the
+shield of Achilles ought not to pass unapprehended, why should one
+to Excalibar, the famous sword of Arthur?--
+
+    "Of Arthur, who, to upper light restored,
+     With that terrific sword,
+     Which yet he brandishes for future war,
+     Shall lift his country's fame above the polar star."
+
+[Footnote: Wordsworth]
+
+It is an additional recommendation of our subject, that it tends
+to cherish in our minds the idea of the source from which we
+sprung. We are entitled to our full share in the glories and
+recollections of the land of our forefathers, down to the time of
+colonization thence. The associations which spring from this
+source must be fruitful of good influences; among which not the
+least valuable is the increased enjoyment which such associations
+afford to the American traveller when he visits England, and sets
+his foot upon any of her renowned localities.
+
+The legends of Charlemagne and his peers are necessary to complete
+the subject.
+
+In an age when intellectual darkness enveloped Western Europe, a
+constellation of brilliant writers arose in Italy. Of these, Pulci
+(born in 1432), Boiardo (1434), and Ariosto (1474) took for their
+subjects the romantic fables which had for many ages been
+transmitted in the lays of bards and the legends of monkish
+chroniclers. These fables they arranged in order, adorned with the
+embellishments of fancy, amplified from their own invention, and
+stamped with immortality. It may safely be asserted that as long
+as civilization shall endure these productions will retain their
+place among the most cherished creations of human genius.
+
+In "Stories of Gods and Heroes," "King Arthur and His Knights" and
+"The Mabinogeon" the aim has been to supply to the modern reader
+such knowledge of the fables of classical and mediaeval literature
+as is needed to render intelligible the allusions which occur in
+reading and conversation. The "Legends of Charlemagne" is intended
+to carry out the same design. Like the earlier portions of the
+work, it aspires to a higher character than that of a piece of
+mere amusement. It claims to be useful, in acquainting its readers
+with the subjects of the productions of the great poets of Italy.
+Some knowledge of these is expected of every well-educated young
+person.
+
+In reading these romances, we cannot fail to observe how the
+primitive inventions have been used, again and again, by
+successive generations of fabulists. The Siren of Ulysses is the
+prototype of the Siren of Orlando, and the character of Circe
+reappears in Alcina. The fountains of Love and Hatred may be
+traced to the story of Cupid and Psyche; and similar effects
+produced by a magic draught appear in the tale of Tristram and
+Isoude, and, substituting a flower for the draught, in
+Shakspeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream." There are many other
+instances of the same kind which the reader will recognize without
+our assistance.
+
+The sources whence we derive these stories are, first, the Italian
+poets named above; next, the "Romans de Chevalerie" of the Comte
+de Tressan; lastly, certain German collections of popular tales.
+Some chapters have been borrowed from Leigh Hunt's Translations
+from the Italian Poets. It seemed unnecessary to do over again
+what he had already done so well; yet, on the other hand, those
+stories could not be omitted from the series without leaving it
+incomplete.
+
+THOMAS BULFINCH.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
+
+      I. Introduction
+     II. Prometheus and Pandora
+    III. Apollo and Daphne--Pyramus and Thisbe--Cephalus and Procris
+     IV. Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto--Diana and Actaeon
+         --Latona and the Rustics
+      V. Phaeton
+     VI. Midas--Baucis and Philemon
+    VII. Proserpine--Glaucus and Scylla
+   VIII. Pygmalion--Dryope--Venus and Adonis--Apollo and Hyacinthus
+     IX. Ceyx and Halcyone
+      X. Vertumnus and Pomona--Iphis and Anaxarete
+     XI. Cupid and Psyche
+    XII. Cadmus--The Myrmidons
+   XIII. Nisus and Scylla--Echo and Narcissus--Clytie--Hero and Leander
+    XIV. Minerva and Arachne--Niobe
+     XV. The Graeae and Gorgons--Perseus and Medusa--Atlas--Andromeda
+    XVI. Monsters: Giants--Sphinx--Pegasus and Chimaera--Centaurs
+         --Griffin--Pygmies
+   XVII. The Golden Fleece--Medea
+  XVIII. Meleager and Atalanta
+    XIX. Hercules--Hebe and Ganymede
+     XX.  Theseus and Daedalus--Castor and Pollux--Festivals and Games
+    XXI. Bacchus and Ariadne
+   XXII. The Rural Deities--The Dryads and Erisichthon
+         --Rhoecus--Water Deities--Camenae--Winds
+  XXIII. Achelous and Hercules--Admetus and Alcestis--Antigone--Penelope
+   XXIV. Orpheus and Eurydice--Aristaeus--Amphion--Linus
+         --Thamyris--Marsyas--Melampus--Musaeus
+    XXV. Arion--Ibycus--Simonides--Sappho
+   XXVI. Endymion--Orion--Aurora and Tithonus--Acis and Galatea
+  XXVII. The Trojan War
+ XXVIII. The Fall of Troy--Return of the Greeks--Orestes and Electra
+   XXIX. Adventures of Ulysses--The Lotus-eaters--The Cyclopes
+         --Circe--Sirens--Scylla and Charybdis--Calypso
+    XXX. The Phaeacians--Fate of the Suitors
+   XXXI. Adventures of Aeneas--The Harpies--Dido--Palinurus
+  XXXII. The Infernal Regions--The Sibyl
+ XXXIII. Aeneas in Italy--Camilla--Evander--Nisus and Euryalus
+         --Mezentius--Turnus
+  XXXIV. Pythagoras--Egyptian Deities--Oracles
+   XXXV. Origin of Mythology--Statues of Gods and Goddesses
+         --Poets of Mythology
+  XXXVI. Monsters (modern)--The Phoenix--Basilisk--Unicorn--Salamander
+ XXXVII. Eastern Mythology--Zoroaster--Hindu Mythology--Castes--Buddha
+         --The Grand Lama--Prester John
+XXXVIII. Northern Mythology--Valhalla--The Valkyrior
+  XXXIX. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim
+     XL. The Death of Baldur--The Elves--Runic Letters--Skalds--Iceland
+         --Teutonic Mythology--The Nibelungen Lied
+         --Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
+    XLI. The Druids--Iona
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+
+
+
+
+STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so-
+called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among
+living men. They belong now not to the department of theology, but
+to those of literature and taste. There they still hold their
+place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely
+connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both
+ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion.
+
+We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come
+down to us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern
+poets, essayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same
+time be entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has
+ever created, and put in possession of information indispensable
+to every one who would read with intelligence the elegant
+literature of his own day.
+
+In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to
+acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe
+which prevailed among the Greeks--the people from whom the
+Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and
+religion.
+
+The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own
+country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either
+Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its
+oracle.
+
+The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and
+divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the
+Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with
+which they were acquainted.
+
+Around the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from
+south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary
+direction on the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable
+current, unvexed by storm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers
+on earth, received their waters from it.
+
+The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by
+a happy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss
+and spring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed
+to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled
+the people of Hellas (Greece). Their country was inaccessible by
+land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils
+and warfare. Moore has given us the "Song of a Hyperborean,"
+beginning
+
+    "I come from a land in the sun-bright deep,
+        Where golden gardens glow,
+     Where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep,
+        Their conch shells never blow."
+
+On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Ocean,
+dwelt a people happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were
+named the Aethiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they
+were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes and go to share
+their sacrifices and banquets.
+
+On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a
+happy place named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by
+the gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an
+immortality of bliss. This happy region was also called the
+"Fortunate Fields," and the "Isles of the Blessed."
+
+We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any
+real people except those to the east and south of their own
+country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination
+meantime peopled the western portion of this sea with giants,
+monsters, and enchantresses; while they placed around the disk of
+the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width,
+nations enjoying the peculiar favor of the gods, and blessed with
+happiness and longevity.
+
+The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the
+Ocean, on the eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving
+light to gods and men. The stars, also, except those forming the
+Wain or Bear, and others near them, rose out of and sank into the
+stream of Ocean. There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat,
+which conveyed him round by the northern part of the earth, back
+to his place of rising in the east. Milton alludes to this in his
+"Comus":
+
+    "Now the gilded car of day
+     His golden axle doth allay
+     In the steep Atlantic stream,
+     And the slope Sun his upward beam
+     Shoots against the dusky pole,
+     Pacing towards the other goal
+     Of his chamber in the east"
+
+The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olympus, in
+Thessaly. A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses named the
+Seasons, opened to permit the passage of the Celestials to earth,
+and to receive them on their return. The gods had their separate
+dwellings; but all, when summoned, repaired to the palace of
+Jupiter, as did also those deities whose usual abode was the
+earth, the waters, or the underworld. It was also in the great
+hall of the palace of the Olympian king that the gods feasted each
+day on ambrosia and nectar, their food and drink, the latter being
+handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe. Here they conversed of
+the affairs of heaven and earth; and as they quaffed their nectar,
+Apollo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones of his
+lyre, to which the Muses sang in responsive strains. When the sun
+was set, the gods retired to sleep in their respective dwellings.
+
+The following lines from the "Odyssey" will show how Homer
+conceived of Olympus:
+
+    "So saying, Minerva, goddess azure-eyed,
+    Rose to Olympus, the reputed seat
+    Eternal of the gods, which never storms
+    Disturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm
+    The expanse and cloudless shmes with purest day.
+    There the inhabitants divine rejoice
+    Forever"--Cowper.
+
+The robes and other parts of the dress of the goddesses were woven
+by Minerva and the Graces and everything of a more solid nature
+was formed of the various metals. Vulcan was architect, smith,
+armorer, chariot builder, and artist of all work in Olympus. He
+built of brass the houses of the gods; he made for them the golden
+shoes with which they trod the air or the water, and moved from
+place to place with the speed of the wind, or even of thought. He
+also shod with brass the celestial steeds, which whirled the
+chariots of the gods through the air, or along the surface of the
+sea. He was able to bestow on his workmanship self-motion, so
+that the tripods (chairs and tables) could move of themselves in
+and out of the celestial hall. He even endowed with intelligence
+the golden handmaidens whom he made to wait on himself.
+
+Jupiter, or Jove (Zeus [Footnote: The names included in
+parentheses are the Greek, the others being the Roman or Latin
+names] ), though called the father of gods and men, had himself a
+beginning. Saturn (Cronos) was his father, and Rhea (Ops) his
+mother. Saturn and Rhea were of the race of Titans, who were the
+children of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos, of which we
+shall give a further account in our next chapter.
+
+There is another cosmogony, or account of the creation, according
+to which Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first of beings. Love
+(Eros) issued from the egg of Night, which floated on Chaos. By
+his arrows and torch he pierced and vivified all things, producing
+life and joy.
+
+Saturn and Rhea were not the only Titans. There were others, whose
+names were Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Ophion, males; and
+Themis, Mnemosyne, Eurynome, females. They are spoken of as the
+elder gods, whose dominion was afterwards transferred to others.
+Saturn yielded to Jupiter, Oceanus to Neptune, Hyperion to Apollo.
+Hyperion was the father of the Sun, Moon, and Dawn. He is
+therefore the original sun-god, and is painted with the splendor
+and beauty which were afterwards bestowed on Apollo.
+
+    "Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself"
+
+     --Shakspeare.
+
+Ophion and Eurynome ruled over Olympus till they were dethroned by
+Saturn and Rhea. Milton alludes to them in "Paradise Lost." He
+says the heathens seem to have had some knowledge of the
+temptation and fall of man.
+
+    "And fabled how the serpent, whom they called
+     Ophion, with Eurynome, (the wide-
+     Encroaching Eve perhaps,) had first the rule
+     Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driven."
+
+The representations given of Saturn are not very consistent; for
+on the one hand his reign is said to have been the golden age of
+innocence and purity, and on the other he is described as a
+monster who devoured his children. [Footnote: This inconsistency
+arises from considering the Saturn of the Romans the same with the
+Grecian deity Cronos (Time), which, as it brings an end to all
+things which have had a beginning, may be said to devour its own
+offspring] Jupiter, however, escaped this fate, and when grown up
+espoused Metis (Prudence), who administered a draught to Saturn
+which caused him to disgorge his children. Jupiter, with his
+brothers and sisters, now rebelled against their father Saturn and
+his brothers the Titans; vanquished them, and imprisoned some of
+them in Tartarus, inflicting other penalties on others. Atlas was
+condemned to bear up the heavens on his shoulders.
+
+On the dethronement of Saturn, Jupiter with his brothers Neptune
+(Poseidon) and Pluto (Dis) divided his dominions. Jupiter's
+portion was the heavens, Neptune's the ocean, and Pluto's the
+realms of the dead. Earth and Olympus were common property.
+Jupiter was king of gods and men. The thunder was his weapon, and
+he bore a shield called Aegis, made for him by Vulcan. The eagle
+was his favorite bird, and bore his thunderbolts.
+
+Juno (Hera) was the wife of Jupiter, and queen of the gods. Iris,
+the goddess of the rainbow, was her attendant and messenger. The
+peacock was her favorite bird.
+
+Vulcan (Hephaestos), the celestial artist, was the son of Jupiter
+and Juno. He was born lame, and his mother was so displeased at
+the sight of him that she flung him out of heaven. Other accounts
+say that Jupiter kicked him out for taking part with his mother in
+a quarrel which occurred between them. Vulcan's lameness,
+according to this account, was the consequence of his fall. He was
+a whole day falling, and at last alighted in the island of Lemnos,
+which was thenceforth sacred to him. Milton alludes to this story
+in "Paradise Lost," Book I.:
+
+    "... From morn
+    To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
+    A summer's day; and with the setting sun
+    Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star,
+    On Lemnos, the Aegean isle."
+
+Mars (Ares), the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno.
+
+Phoebus Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy, and music, was the
+son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana (Artemis). He was
+god of the sun, as Diana, his sister, was the goddess of the moon.
+
+Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty, was the
+daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Others say that Venus sprang from
+the foam of the sea. The zephyr wafted her along the waves to the
+Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by the Seasons,
+and then led to the assembly of the gods. All were charmed with
+her beauty, and each one demanded her for his wife. Jupiter gave
+her to Vulcan, in gratitude for the service he had rendered in
+forging thunderbolts. So the most beautiful of the goddesses
+became the wife of the most ill-favored of gods. Venus possessed
+an embroidered girdle called Cestus, which had the power of
+inspiring love. Her favorite birds were swans and doves, and the
+plants sacred to her were the rose and the myrtle.
+
+Cupid (Eros), the god of love, was the son of Venus. He was her
+constant companion; and, armed with bow and arrows, he shot the
+darts of desire into the bosoms of both gods and men. There was a
+deity named Anteros, who was sometimes represented as the avenger
+of slighted love, and sometimes as the symbol of reciprocal
+affection. The following legend is told of him:
+
+Venus, complaining to Themis that her son Eros continued always a
+child, was told by her that it was because he was solitary, and
+that if he had a brother he would grow apace. Anteros was soon
+afterwards born, and Eros immediately was seen to increase rapidly
+in size and strength.
+
+Minerva (Pallas, Athene), the goddess of wisdom, was the offspring
+of Jupiter, without a mother. She sprang forth from his head
+completely armed. Her favorite bird was the owl, and the plant
+sacred to her the olive.
+
+Byron, in "Childe Harold," alludes to the birth of Minerva thus:
+
+    "Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be,
+     And Freedom find no champion and no child,
+     Such as Columbia saw arise, when she
+     Sprang forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled?
+     Or must such minds be nourished in the wild,
+     Deep in the unpruned forest,'midst the roar
+     Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled
+     On infant Washington? Has earth no more
+     Such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such shore?"
+
+Mercury (Hermes) was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He presided over
+commerce, wrestling, and other gymnastic exercises, even over
+thieving, and everything, in short, which required skill and
+dexterity. He was the messenger of Jupiter, and wore a winged cap
+and winged shoes. He bore in his hand a rod entwined with two
+serpents, called the caduceus.
+
+Mercury is said to have invented the lyre. He found, one day, a
+tortoise, of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite
+edges of it, and drew cords of linen through them, and the
+instrument was complete. The cords were nine, in honor of the nine
+Muses. Mercury gave the lyre to Apollo, and received from him in
+exchange the caduceus.
+
+[Footnote: From this origin of the instrument, the word "shell" is
+often used as synonymous with "lyre," and figuratively for music
+and poetry. Thus Gray, in his ode on the "Progress of Poesy,"
+says:
+
+    "O Sovereign of the willing Soul,
+     Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,
+     Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares
+     And frantic Passions hear thy soft control."]
+
+Ceres (Demeter) was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. She had a
+daughter named Proserpine (Persephone), who became the wife of
+Pluto, and queen of the realms of the dead. Ceres presided over
+agriculture.
+
+Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine, was the son of Jupiter and
+Semele. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but
+its social and beneficent influences likewise, so that he is
+viewed as the promoter of civilization, and a lawgiver and lover
+of peace.
+
+The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (Memory).
+They presided over song, and prompted the memory. They were nine
+in number, to each of whom was assigned the presidence over some
+particular department of literature, art, or science. Calliope was
+the muse of epic poetry, Clio of history, Euterpe of lyric poetry,
+Melpomene of tragedy, Terpsichore of choral dance and song, Erato
+of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy,
+Thalia of comedy.
+
+The Graces were goddesses presiding over the banquet, the dance,
+and all social enjoyments and elegant arts. They were three in
+number. Their names were Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia.
+
+Spenser describes the office of the Graces thus:
+
+    "These three on men all gracious gifts bestow
+    Which deck the body or adorn the mind,
+    To make them lovely or well-favored show;
+    As comely carriage, entertainment kind,
+    Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind,
+    And all the complements of courtesy;
+    They teach us how to each degree and kind
+    We should ourselves demean, to low, to high,
+    To friends, to foes; which skill men call Civility."
+
+The Fates were also three--Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Their
+office was to spin the thread of human destiny, and they were
+armed with shears, with which they cut it off when they pleased.
+They were the daughters of Themis (Law), who sits by Jove on his
+throne to give him counsel.
+
+The Erinnyes, or Furies, were three goddesses who punished by
+their secret stings the crimes of those who escaped or defied
+public justice. The heads of the Furies were wreathed with
+serpents, and their whole appearance was terrific and appalling.
+Their names were Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. They were also
+called Eumenides.
+
+Nemesis was also an avenging goddess. She represents the righteous
+anger of the gods, particularly towards the proud and insolent.
+
+Pan was the god of flocks and shepherds. His favorite residence
+was in Arcadia.
+
+The Satyrs were deities of the woods and fields. They were
+conceived to be covered with bristly hair, their heads decorated
+with short, sprouting horns, and their feet like goats' feet.
+
+Momus was the god of laughter, and Plutus the god of wealth.
+
+ROMAN DIVINITIES
+
+The preceding are Grecian divinities, though received also by the
+Romans. Those which follow are peculiar to Roman mythology:
+
+Saturn was an ancient Italian deity. It was attempted to identify
+him with the Grecian god Cronos, and fabled that after his
+dethronement by Jupiter he fled to Italy, where he reigned during
+what was called the Golden Age. In memory of his beneficent
+dominion, the feast of Saturnalia was held every year in the
+winter season. Then all public business was suspended,
+declarations of war and criminal executions were postponed,
+friends made presents to one another and the slaves were indulged
+with great liberties. A feast was given them at which they sat at
+table, while their masters served them, to show the natural
+equality of men, and that all things belonged equally to all, in
+the reign of Saturn.
+
+Faunus, [Footnote: There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona
+Dea.] the grandson of Saturn, was worshipped as the god of fields
+and shepherds, and also as a prophetic god. His name in the
+plural, Fauns, expressed a class of gamesome deities, like the
+Satyrs of the Greeks.
+
+Quirinus was a war god, said to be no other than Romulus, the
+founder of Rome, exalted after his death to a place among the
+gods.
+
+Bellona, a war goddess.
+
+Terminus, the god of landmarks. His statue was a rude stone or
+post, set in the ground to mark the boundaries of fields.
+
+Pales, the goddess presiding over cattle and pastures.
+
+Pomona presided over fruit trees.
+
+Flora, the goddess of flowers.
+
+Lucina, the goddess of childbirth.
+
+Vesta (the Hestia of the Greeks) was a deity presiding over the
+public and private hearth. A sacred fire, tended by six virgin
+priestesses called Vestals, flamed in her temple. As the safety of
+the city was held to be connected with its conservation, the
+neglect of the virgins, if they let it go out, was severely
+punished, and the fire was rekindled from the rays of the sun.
+
+Liber is the Latin name of Bacchus; and Mulciber of Vulcan.
+
+Janus was the porter of heaven. He opens the year, the first month
+being named after him. He is the guardian deity of gates, on which
+account he is commonly represented with two heads, because every
+door looks two ways. His temples at Rome were numerous. In war
+time the gates of the principal one were always open. In peace
+they were closed; but they were shut only once between the reign
+of Numa and that of Augustus.
+
+The Penates were the gods who were supposed to attend to the
+welfare and prosperity of the family. Their name is derived from
+Penus, the pantry, which was sacred to them. Every master of a
+family was the priest to the Penates of his own house.
+
+The Lares, or Lars, were also household gods, but differed from
+the Penates in being regarded as the deified spirits of mortals.
+The family Lars were held to be the souls of the ancestors, who
+watched over and protected their descendants. The words Lemur and
+Larva more nearly correspond to our word Ghost.
+
+The Romans believed that every man had his Genius, and every woman
+her Juno: that is, a spirit who had given them being, and was
+regarded as their protector through life. On their birthdays men
+made offerings to their Genius, women to their Juno.
+
+A modern poet thus alludes to some of the Roman gods:
+
+    "Pomona loves the orchard,
+       And Liber loves the vine,
+     And Pales loves the straw-built shed
+       Warm with the breath of kine;
+     And Venus loves the whisper
+       Of plighted youth and maid,
+     In April's ivory moonlight,
+       Beneath the chestnut shade."
+
+    --Macaulay, "Prophecy of Capys."
+
+N.B.--It is to be observed that in proper names the final e and es
+are to be sounded. Thus Cybele and Penates are words of three
+syllables. But Proserpine and Thebes are exceptions, and to be
+pronounced as English words. In the Index at the close of the
+volume we shall mark the accented syllable in all words which
+appear to require it.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA
+
+
+The creation of the world is a problem naturally fitted to excite
+the liveliest interest of man, its inhabitant. The ancient pagans,
+not having the information on the subject which we derive from the
+pages of Scripture, had their own way of telling the story, which
+is as follows:
+
+Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one
+aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos--a confused and
+shapeless mass, nothing but dead weight, in which, however,
+slumbered the seeds of things. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed
+up together; so the earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid,
+and the air was not transparent. God and Nature at last
+interposed, and put an end to this discord, separating earth from
+sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being the lightest,
+sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight and
+place. The earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water took
+the lowest place, and buoyed up the earth.
+
+Here some god--it is not known which--gave his good offices in
+arranging and disposing the earth. He appointed rivers and bays
+their places, raised mountains, scooped out valleys, distributed
+woods, fountains, fertile fields, and stony plains. The air being
+cleared, the stars began to appear, fishes took possession of the
+sea, birds of the air, and four-footed beasts of the land.
+
+But a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made. It is not known
+whether the creator made him of divine materials, or whether in
+the earth, so lately separated from heaven, there lurked still
+some heavenly seeds. Prometheus took some of this earth, and
+kneading it up with water, made man in the image of the gods. He
+gave him an upright stature, so that while all other animals turn
+their faces downward, and look to the earth, he raises his to
+heaven, and gazes on the stars.
+
+Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited
+the earth before the creation of man. To him and his brother
+Epimetheus was committed the office of making man, and providing
+him and all other animals with the faculties necessary for their
+preservation. Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prometheus was
+to overlook his work, when it was done. Epimetheus accordingly
+proceeded to bestow upon the different animals the various gifts
+of courage, strength, swiftness, sagacity; wings to one, claws to
+another, a shelly covering to a third, etc. But when man came to
+be provided for, who was to be superior to all other animals,
+Epimetheus had been so prodigal of his resources that he had
+nothing left to bestow upon him. In his perplexity he resorted to
+his brother Prometheus, who, with the aid of Minerva, went up to
+heaven, and lighted his torch at the chariot of the sun, and
+brought down fire to man. With this gift man was more than a match
+for all other animals. It enabled him to make weapons wherewith to
+subdue them; tools with which to cultivate the earth; to warm his
+dwelling, so as to be comparatively independent of climate; and
+finally to introduce the arts and to coin money, the means of
+trade and commerce. Woman was not yet made. The story (absurd
+enough!) is that Jupiter made her, and sent her to Prometheus and
+his brother, to punish them for their presumption in stealing fire
+from heaven; and man, for accepting the gift. The first woman was
+named Pandora. She was made in heaven, every god contributing
+something to perfect her. Venus gave her beauty, Mercury
+persuasion, Apollo music, etc. Thus equipped, she was conveyed to
+earth, and presented to Epimetheus, who gladly accepted her,
+though cautioned by his brother to beware of Jupiter and his
+gifts. Epimetheus had in his house a jar, in which were kept
+certain noxious articles, for which, in fitting man for his new
+abode, he had had no occasion. Pandora was seized with an eager
+curiosity to know what this jar contained; and one day she slipped
+off the cover and looked in. Forthwith there escaped a multitude
+of plagues for hapless man,--such as gout, rheumatism, and colic
+for his body, and envy, spite, and revenge for his mind,--and
+scattered themselves far and wide. Pandora hastened to replace the
+lid! but, alas! the whole contents of the jar had escaped, one
+thing only excepted, which lay at the bottom, and that was HOPE.
+So we see at this day, whatever evils are abroad, hope never
+entirely leaves us; and while we have THAT, no amount of other
+ills can make us completely wretched.
+
+Another story is that Pandora was sent in good faith, by Jupiter,
+to bless man; that she was furnished with a box, containing her
+marriage presents, into which every god had put some blessing. She
+opened the box incautiously, and the blessings all escaped, HOPE
+only excepted. This story seems more probable than the former; for
+how could HOPE, so precious a jewel as it is, have been kept in a
+jar full of all manner of evils, as in the former statement?
+
+The world being thus furnished with inhabitants, the first age was
+an age of innocence and happiness, called the Golden Age. Truth
+and right prevailed, though not enforced by law, nor was there any
+magistrate to threaten or punish. The forest had not yet been
+robbed of its trees to furnish timbers for vessels, nor had men
+built fortifications round their towns. There were no such things
+as swords, spears, or helmets. The earth brought forth all things
+necessary for man, without his labor in ploughing or sowing.
+Perpetual spring reigned, flowers sprang up without seed, the
+rivers flowed with milk and wine, and yellow honey distilled from
+the oaks.
+
+Then succeeded the Silver Age, inferior to the golden, but better
+than that of brass. Jupiter shortened the spring, and divided the
+year into seasons. Then, first, men had to endure the extremes of
+heat and cold, and houses became necessary. Caves were the first
+dwellings, and leafy coverts of the woods, and huts woven of
+twigs. Crops would no longer grow without planting. The farmer was
+obliged to sow the seed and the toiling ox to draw the plough.
+
+Next came the Brazen Age, more savage of temper, and readier to
+the strife of arms, yet not altogether wicked. The hardest and
+worst was the Iron Age. Crime burst in like a flood; modesty,
+truth, and honor fled. In their places came fraud and cunning,
+violence, and the wicked love of gain. Then seamen spread sails to
+the wind, and the trees were torn from the mountains to serve for
+keels to ships, and vex the face of ocean. The earth, which till
+now had been cultivated in common, began to be divided off into
+possessions. Men were not satisfied with what the surface
+produced, but must dig into its bowels, and draw forth from thence
+the ores of metals. Mischievous IRON, and more mischievous GOLD,
+were produced. War sprang up, using both as weapons; the guest was
+not safe in his friend's house; and sons-in-law and fathers-in-
+law, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, could not trust one
+another. Sons wished their fathers dead, that they might come to
+the inheritance; family love lay prostrate. The earth was wet with
+slaughter, and the gods abandoned it, one by one, till Astraea
+alone was left, and finally she also took her departure.
+
+[Footnote: The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving
+earth, she was placed among the stars, where she became the
+constellation Virgo--the Virgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother
+of Astraea. She is represented as holding aloft a pair of scales,
+in which she weighs the claims of opposing parties.
+
+It was a favorite idea of the old poets that these goddesses would
+one day return, and bring back the Golden Age. Even in a Christian
+hymn, the "Messiah" of Pope, this idea occurs:
+
+    "All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail,
+     Returning Justice lift aloft her scale,
+     Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
+     And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend."
+
+See, also, Milton's "Hymn on the Nativity," stanzas xiv. and xv.]
+
+Jupiter, seeing this state of things, burned with anger. He
+summoned the gods to council. They obeyed the call, and took the
+road to the palace of heaven. The road, which any one may see in a
+clear night, stretches across the face of the sky, and is called
+the Milky Way. Along the road stand the palaces of the illustrious
+gods; the common people of the skies live apart, on either side.
+Jupiter addressed the assembly. He set forth the frightful
+condition of things on the earth, and closed by announcing his
+intention to destroy the whole of its inhabitants, and provide a
+new race, unlike the first, who would be more worthy of life, and
+much better worshippers of the gods. So saying he took a
+thunderbolt, and was about to launch it at the world, and destroy
+it by burning; but recollecting the danger that such a
+conflagration might set heaven itself on fire, he changed his
+plan, and resolved to drown it. The north wind, which scatters the
+clouds, was chained up; the south was sent out, and soon covered
+all the face of heaven with a cloak of pitchy darkness. The
+clouds, driven together, resound with a crash; torrents of rain
+fall; the crops are laid low; the year's labor of the husbandman
+perishes in an hour. Jupiter, not satisfied with his own waters,
+calls on his brother Neptune to aid him with his. He lets loose
+the rivers, and pours them over the land. At the same time, he
+heaves the land with an earthquake, and brings in the reflux of
+the ocean over the shores. Flocks, herds, men, and houses are
+swept away, and temples, with their sacred enclosures, profaned.
+If any edifice remained standing, it was overwhelmed, and its
+turrets lay hid beneath the waves. Now all was sea, sea without
+shore. Here and there an individual remained on a projecting
+hilltop, and a few, in boats, pulled the oar where they had lately
+driven the plough. The fishes swim among the tree-tops; the anchor
+is let down into a garden. Where the graceful lambs played but
+now, unwieldy sea calves gambol. The wolf swims among the sheep,
+the yellow lions and tigers struggle in the water. The strength of
+the wild boar serves him not, nor his swiftness the stag. The
+birds fall with weary wing into the water, having found no land
+for a resting-place. Those living beings whom the water spared
+fell a prey to hunger.
+
+Parnassus alone, of all the mountains, overtopped the waves; and
+there Deucalion, and his wife Pyrrha, of the race of Prometheus,
+found refuge--he a just man, and she a faithful worshipper of the
+gods. Jupiter, when he saw none left alive but this pair, and
+remembered their harmless lives and pious demeanor, ordered the
+north winds to drive away the clouds, and disclose the skies to
+earth, and earth to the skies. Neptune also directed Triton to
+blow on his shell, and sound a retreat to the waters. The waters
+obeyed, and the sea returned to its shores, and the rivers to
+their channels. Then Deucalion thus addressed Pyrrha: "O wife,
+only surviving woman, joined to me first by the ties of kindred
+and marriage, and now by a common danger, would that we possessed
+the power of our ancestor Prometheus, and could renew the race as
+he at first made it! But as we cannot, let us seek yonder temple,
+and inquire of the gods what remains for us to do." They entered
+the temple, deformed as it was with slime, and approached the
+altar, where no fire burned. There they fell prostrate on the
+earth, and prayed the goddess to inform them how they might
+retrieve their miserable affairs. The oracle answered, "Depart
+from the temple with head veiled and garments unbound, and cast
+behind you the bones of your mother." They heard the words with
+astonishment. Pyrrha first broke silence: "We cannot obey; we dare
+not profane the remains of our parents." They sought the thickest
+shades of the wood, and revolved the oracle in their minds. At
+length Deucalion spoke: "Either my sagacity deceives me, or the
+command is one we may obey without impiety. The earth is the great
+parent of all; the stones are her bones; these we may cast behind
+us; and I think this is what the oracle means. At least, it will
+do no harm to try." They veiled their faces, unbound their
+garments, and picked up stones, and cast them behind them. The
+stones (wonderful to relate) began to grow soft, and assume shape.
+By degrees, they put on a rude resemblance to the human form, like
+a block half-finished in the hands of the sculptor. The moisture
+and slime that were about them became flesh; the stony part became
+bones; the veins remained veins, retaining their name, only
+changing their use. Those thrown by the hand of the man became
+men, and those by the woman became women. It was a hard race, and
+well adapted to labor, as we find ourselves to be at this day,
+giving plain indications of our origin.
+
+The comparison of Eve to Pandora is too obvious to have escaped
+Milton, who introduces it in Book IV. of "Paradise Lost":
+
+    "More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods
+     Endowed with all their gifts; and O, too like
+     In sad event, when to the unwiser son
+     Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she insnared
+     Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged
+     On him who had stole Jove's authentic fire."
+
+Prometheus and Epimetheus were sons of Iapetus, which Milton
+changes to Japhet.
+
+Prometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets. He is
+represented as the friend of mankind, who interposed in their
+behalf when Jove was incensed against them, and who taught them
+civilization and the arts. But as, in so doing, he transgressed
+the will of Jupiter, he drew down on himself the anger of the
+ruler of gods and men. Jupiter had him chained to a rock on Mount
+Caucasus, where a vulture preyed on his liver, which was renewed
+as fast as devoured. This state of torment might have been brought
+to an end at any time by Prometheus, if he had been willing to
+submit to his oppressor; for he possessed a secret which involved
+the stability of Jove's throne, and if he would have revealed it,
+he might have been at once taken into favor. But that he disdained
+to do. He has therefore become the symbol of magnanimous endurance
+of unmerited suffering, and strength of will resisting oppression.
+
+Byron and Shelley have both treated this theme. The following are
+Byron's lines:
+
+    "Titan! to whose immortal eyes
+       The sufferings of mortality,
+       Seen in their sad reality,
+     Were not as things that gods despise;
+     What was thy pity's recompense?
+     A silent suffering, and intense;
+     The rock, the vulture, and the chain;
+     All that the proud can feel of pain;
+     The agony they do not show;
+     The suffocating sense of woe.
+
+    "Thy godlike crime was to be kind;
+       To render with thy precepts less
+       The sum of human wretchedness,
+     And strengthen man with his own mind.
+       And, baffled as thou wert from high,
+       Still, in thy patient energy
+     In the endurance and repulse
+       Of thine impenetrable spirit,
+     Which earth and heaven could not convulse,
+       A mighty lesson we inherit."
+
+Byron also employs the same allusion, in his
+"Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte":
+
+    "Or, like the thief of fire from heaven,
+       Wilt thou withstand the shock?
+     And share with him--the unforgiven--
+       His vulture and his rock?"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+APOLLO AND DAPHNE--PYRAMUS AND THISBE CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS
+
+
+The slime with which the earth was covered by the waters of the
+flood produced an excessive fertility, which called forth every
+variety of production, both bad and good. Among the rest, Python,
+an enormous serpent, crept forth, the terror of the people, and
+lurked in the caves of Mount Parnassus. Apollo slew him with his
+arrows--weapons which he had not before used against any but
+feeble animals, hares, wild goats, and such game. In commemoration
+of this illustrious conquest he instituted the Pythian games, in
+which the victor in feats of strength, swiftness of foot, or in
+the chariot race was crowned with a wreath of beech leaves; for
+the laurel was not yet adopted by Apollo as his own tree.
+
+The famous statue of Apollo called the Belvedere represents the
+god after this victory over the serpent Python. To this Byron
+alludes in his "Childe Harold," iv., 161:
+
+    "... The lord of the unerring bow,
+     The god of life, and poetry, and light,
+     The Sun, in human limbs arrayed, and brow
+     All radiant from his triumph in the fight
+     The shaft has just been shot; the arrow bright
+     With an immortal's vengeance; in his eye
+     And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might
+     And majesty flash their full lightnings by,
+     Developing in that one glance the Deity."
+
+APOLLO AND DAPHNE
+
+Daphne was Apollo's first love. It was not brought about by
+accident, but by the malice of Cupid. Apollo saw the boy playing
+with his bow and arrows; and being himself elated with his recent
+victory over Python, he said to him, "What have you to do with
+warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave them for hands worthy of them.
+Behold the conquest I have won by means of them over the vast
+serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of the plain!
+Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as
+you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle with my
+weapons." Venus's boy heard these words, and rejoined, "Your
+arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike
+you." So saying, he took his stand on a rock of Parnassus, and
+drew from his quiver two arrows of different workmanship, one to
+excite love, the other to repel it. The former was of gold and
+sharp pointed, the latter blunt and tipped with lead. With the
+leaden shaft he struck the nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river
+god Peneus, and with the golden one Apollo, through the heart.
+Forthwith the god was seized with love for the maiden, and she
+abhorred the thought of loving. Her delight was in woodland sports
+and in the spoils of the chase. Many lovers sought her, but she
+spurned them all, ranging the woods, and taking no thought of
+Cupid nor of Hymen. Her father often said to her, "Daughter, you
+owe me a son-in-law; you owe me grandchildren." She, hating the
+thought of marriage as a crime, with her beautiful face tinged all
+over with blushes, threw arms around her father's neck, and said,
+"Dearest father, grant me this favor, that I may always remain
+unmarried, like Diana." He consented, but at the same time said,
+"Your own face will forbid it."
+
+Apollo loved her, and longed to obtain her; and he who gives
+oracles to all the world was not wise enough to look into his own
+fortunes. He saw her hair flung loose over her shoulders, and
+said, "If so charming in disorder, what would it be if arranged?"
+He saw her eyes bright as stars; he saw her lips, and was not
+satisfied with only seeing them. He admired her hands and arms,
+naked to the shoulder, and whatever was hidden from view he
+imagined more beautiful still. He followed her; she fled, swifter
+than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his entreaties. "Stay,"
+said he, "daughter of Peneus; I am not a foe. Do not fly me as a
+lamb flies the wolf, or a dove the hawk. It is for love I pursue
+you. You make me miserable, for fear you should fall and hurt
+yourself on these stones, and I should be the cause. Pray run
+slower, and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant.
+Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and
+know all things, present and future. I am the god of song and the
+lyre. My arrows fly true to the mark; but, alas! an arrow more
+fatal than mine has pierced my heart! I am the god of medicine,
+and know the virtues of all healing plants. Alas! I suffer a
+malady that no balm can cure!"
+
+The nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half uttered.
+And even as she fled she charmed him. The wind blew her garments,
+and her unbound hair streamed loose behind her. The god grew
+impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid,
+gained upon her in the race. It was like a hound pursuing a hare,
+with open jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts
+forward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew the god and the
+virgin--he on the wings of love, and she on those of fear. The
+pursuer is the more rapid, however, and gains upon her, and his
+panting breath blows upon her hair. Her strength begins to fail,
+and, ready to sink, she calls upon her father, the river god:
+"Help me, Peneus! open the earth to enclose me, or change my form,
+which has brought me into this danger!" Scarcely had she spoken,
+when a stiffness seized all her limbs; her bosom began to be
+enclosed in a tender bark; her hair became leaves; her arms became
+branches; her foot stuck fast in the ground, as a root; her face,
+became a tree-top, retaining nothing of its former self but its
+beauty. Apollo stood amazed. He touched the stem, and felt the
+flesh tremble under the new bark. He embraced the branches, and
+lavished kisses on the wood. The branches shrank from his lips.
+"Since you cannot be my wife," said he, "you shall assuredly be my
+tree. I will wear you for my crown; I will decorate with you my
+harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up
+the triumphal pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths
+for their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall be
+always green, and your leaf know no decay." The nymph, now changed
+into a Laurel tree, bowed its head in grateful acknowledgment.
+
+That Apollo should be the god both of music and poetry will not
+appear strange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his
+province, may. The poet Armstrong, himself a physician, thus
+accounts for it:
+
+    "Music exalts each joy, allays each grief,
+     Expels diseases, softens every pain;
+     And hence the wise of ancient days adored
+     One power of physic, melody, and song."
+
+The story of Apollo and Daphne is often alluded to by the poets.
+Waller applies it to the case of one whose amatory verses, though
+they did not soften the heart of his mistress, yet won for the
+poet wide-spread fame:
+
+    "Yet what he sung in his immortal strain,
+     Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain.
+     All but the nymph that should redress his wrong,
+     Attend his passion and approve his song.
+     Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise,
+     He caught at love and filled his arms with bays."
+
+The following stanza from Shelley's "Adonais" alludes to Byron's
+early quarrel with the reviewers:
+
+    "The herded wolves, bold only to pursue;
+    The obscene ravens, clamorous o'er the dead;
+    The vultures, to the conqueror's banner true,
+    Who feed where Desolation first has fed,
+    And whose wings rain contagion: how they fled,
+    When like Apollo, from his golden bow,
+    The Pythian of the age one arrow sped
+    And smiled! The spoilers tempt no second blow;
+    They fawn on the proud feet that spurn them as they go."
+
+PYRAMUS AND THISBE
+
+Pyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the fairest maiden,
+in all Babylonia, where Semiramis reigned. Their parents occupied
+adjoining houses; and neighborhood brought the young people
+together, and acquaintance ripened into love. They would gladly
+have married, but their parents forbade. One thing, however, they
+could not forbid--that love should glow with equal ardor in the
+bosoms of both. They conversed by signs and glances, and the fire
+burned more intensely for being covered up. In the wall that
+parted the two houses there was a crack, caused by some fault in
+the structure. No one had remarked it before, but the lovers
+discovered it. What will not love discover! It afforded a passage
+to the voice; and tender messages used to pass backward and
+forward through the gap. As they stood, Pyramus on this side,
+Thisbe on that, their breaths would mingle. "Cruel wall," they
+said, "why do you keep two lovers apart? But we will not be
+ungrateful. We owe you, we confess, the privilege of transmitting
+loving words to willing ears." Such words they uttered on
+different sides of the wall; and when night came and they must say
+farewell, they pressed their lips upon the wall, she on her side,
+he on his, as they could come no nearer.
+
+Next morning, when Aurora had put out the stars, and the sun had
+melted the frost from the grass, they met at the accustomed spot.
+Then, after lamenting their hard fate, they agreed, that next
+night, when all was still, they would slip away from watchful
+eyes, leave their dwellings and walk out into the fields; and to
+insure a meeting, repair to a well-known edifice standing without
+the city's bounds, called the Tomb of Ninus, and that the one who
+came first should await the other at the foot of a certain tree.
+It was a white mulberry tree, and stood near a cool spring. All
+was agreed on, and they waited impatiently for the sun to go down
+beneath the waters and night to rise up from them. Then cautiously
+Thisbe stole forth, unobserved by the family, her head covered
+with a veil, made her way to the monument and sat down under the
+tree. As she sat alone in the dim light of the evening she
+descried a lioness, her jaws reeking with recent slaughter,
+approaching the fountain to slake her thirst. Thisbe fled at the
+sight, and sought refuge in the hollow of a rock. As she fled she
+dropped her veil. The lioness after drinking at the spring turned
+to retreat to the woods, and seeing the veil on the ground, tossed
+and rent it with her bloody mouth.
+
+Pyramus, having been delayed, now approached the place of meeting.
+He saw in the sand the footsteps of the lion, and the color fled
+from his cheeks at the sight. Presently he found the veil all rent
+and bloody. "O hapless girl," said he, "I have been the cause of
+thy death! Thou, more worthy of life than I, hast fallen the first
+victim. I will follow. I am the guilty cause, in tempting thee
+forth to a place of such peril, and not being myself on the spot
+to guard thee. Come forth, ye lions, from the rocks, and tear this
+guilty body with your teeth." He took up the veil, carried it with
+him to the appointed tree, and covered it with kisses and with
+tears. "MY blood also shall stain your texture," said he, and
+drawing his sword plunged it into his heart. The blood spurted
+from the wound, and tinged the white mulberries of the tree all
+red; and sinking into the earth reached the roots, so that the red
+color mounted through the trunk to the fruit.
+
+By this time Thisbe, still trembling with fear, yet wishing not to
+disappoint her lover, stepped cautiously forth, looking anxiously
+for the youth, eager to tell him the danger she had escaped. When
+she came to the spot and saw the changed color of the mulberries
+she doubted whether it was the same place. While she hesitated she
+saw the form of one struggling in the agonies of death. She
+started back, a shudder ran through her frame as a ripple on the
+face of the still water when a sudden breeze sweeps over it. But
+as soon as she recognized her lover, she screamed and beat her
+breast, embracing the lifeless body, pouring tears into its
+wounds, and imprinting kisses on the cold lips. "O Pyramus," she
+cried, "what has done this? Answer me, Pyramus; it is your own
+Thisbe that speaks. Hear me, dearest, and lift that drooping
+head!" At the name of Thisbe Pyramus opened his eyes, then closed
+them again. She saw her veil stained with blood and the scabbard
+empty of its sword. "Thy own hand has slain thee, and for my
+sake," she said. "I too can be brave for once, and my love is as
+strong as thine. I will follow thee in death, for I have been the
+cause; and death which alone could part us shall not prevent my
+joining thee. And ye, unhappy parents of us both, deny us not our
+united request. As love and death have joined us, let one tomb
+contain us. And thou, tree, retain the marks of slaughter. Let thy
+berries still serve for memorials of our blood." So saying she
+plunged the sword into her breast. Her parents ratified her wish,
+the gods also ratified it. The two bodies were buried in one
+sepulchre, and the tree ever after brought forth purple berries,
+as it does to this day.
+
+Moore, in the "Sylph's Ball," speaking of Davy's Safety Lamp, is
+reminded of the wall that separated Thisbe and her lover:
+
+    "O for that Lamp's metallic gauze,
+       That curtain of protecting wire,
+     Which Davy delicately draws
+       Around illicit, dangerous fire!
+
+     The wall he sets 'twixt Flame and Air,
+       (Like that which barred young Thisbe's bliss,)
+     Through whose small holes this dangerous pair
+       May see each other, but not kiss."
+
+In Mickle's translation of the "Lusiad" occurs the following
+allusion to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the metamorphosis
+of the mulberries. The poet is describing the Island of Love:
+
+    "... here each gift Pomona's hand bestows
+     In cultured garden, free uncultured flows,
+     The flavor sweeter and the hue more fair
+     Than e'er was fostered by the hand of care.
+     The cherry here in shining crimson glows,
+     And stained with lovers' blood, in pendent rows,
+     The mulberries o'erload the bending boughs."
+
+If any of our young readers can be so hard-hearted as to enjoy a
+laugh at the expense of poor Pyramus and Thisbe, they may find an
+opportunity by turning to Shakspeare's play of the "Midsummer
+Night's Dream," where it is most amusingly burlesqued.
+
+CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS
+
+Cephalus was a beautiful youth and fond of manly sports. He would
+rise before the dawn to pursue the chase. Aurora saw him when she
+first looked forth, fell in love with him, and stole him away. But
+Cephalus was just married to a charming wife whom he devotedly
+loved. Her name was Procris. She was a favorite of Diana, the
+goddess of hunting, who had given her a dog which could outrun
+every rival, and a javelin which would never fail of its mark; and
+Procris gave these presents to her husband. Cephalus was so happy
+in his wife that he resisted all the entreaties of Aurora, and she
+finally dismissed him in displeasure, saying, "Go, ungrateful
+mortal, keep your wife, whom, if I am not much mistaken, you will
+one day be very sorry you ever saw again."
+
+Cephalus returned, and was as happy as ever in his wife and his
+woodland sports. Now it happened some angry deity had sent a
+ravenous fox to annoy the country; and the hunters turned out in
+great strength to capture it. Their efforts were all in vain; no
+dog could run it down; and at last they came to Cephalus to borrow
+his famous dog, whose name was Lelaps. No sooner was the dog let
+loose than he darted off, quicker than their eye could follow him.
+If they had not seen his footprints in the sand they would have
+thought he flew. Cephalus and others stood on a hill and saw the
+race. The fox tried every art; he ran in a circle and turned on
+his track, the dog close upon him, with open jaws, snapping at his
+heels, but biting only the air. Cephalus was about to use his
+javelin, when suddenly he saw both dog and game stop instantly.
+The heavenly powers who had given both were not willing that
+either should conquer. In the very attitude of life and action
+they were turned into stone. So lifelike and natural did they
+look, you would have thought, as you looked at them, that one was
+going to bark, the other to leap forward.
+
+Cephalus, though he had lost his dog, still continued to take
+delight in the chase. He would go out at early morning, ranging
+the woods and hills unaccompanied by any one, needing no help, for
+his javelin was a sure weapon in all cases. Fatigued with hunting,
+when the sun got high he would seek a shady nook where a cool
+stream flowed, and, stretched on the grass, with his garments
+thrown aside, would enjoy the breeze. Sometimes he would say
+aloud, "Come, sweet breeze, come and fan my breast, come and allay
+the heat that burns me." Some one passing by one day heard him
+talking in this way to the air, and, foolishly believing that he
+was talking to some maiden, went and told the secret to Procris,
+Cephalus's wife. Love is credulous. Procris, at the sudden shock,
+fainted away. Presently recovering, she said, "It cannot be true;
+I will not believe it unless I myself am a witness to it." So she
+waited, with anxious heart, till the next morning, when Cephalus
+went to hunt as usual. Then she stole out after him, and concealed
+herself in the place where the informer directed her. Cephalus
+came as he was wont when tired with sport, and stretched himself
+on the green bank, saying, "Come, sweet breeze, come and fan me;
+you know how I love you! you make the groves and my solitary
+rambles delightful." He was running on in this way when he heard,
+or thought he heard, a sound as of a sob in the bushes. Supposing
+it some wild animal, he threw his javelin at the spot. A cry from
+his beloved Procris told him that the weapon had too surely met
+its mark. He rushed to the place, and found her bleeding, and with
+sinking strength endeavoring to draw forth from the wound the
+javelin, her own gift. Cephalus raised her from the earth, strove
+to stanch the blood, and called her to revive and not to leave him
+miserable, to reproach himself with her death. She opened her
+feeble eyes, and forced herself to utter these few words: "I
+implore you, if you have ever loved me, if I have ever deserved
+kindness at your hands, my husband, grant me this last request; do
+not marry that odious Breeze!" This disclosed the whole mystery:
+but alas! what advantage to disclose it now! She died; but her
+face wore a calm expression, and she looked pityingly and
+forgivingly on her husband when he made her understand the truth.
+
+Moore, in his "Legendary Ballads," has one on Cephalus and
+Procris, beginning thus:
+
+    "A hunter once in a grove reclined,
+       To shun the noon's bright eye,
+     And oft he wooed the wandering wind
+       To cool his brow with its sigh
+     While mute lay even the wild bee's hum,
+       Nor breath could stir the aspen's hair,
+     His song was still, 'Sweet Air, O come!'
+       While Echo answered, 'Come, sweet Air!'"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+JUNO AND HER RIVALS, IO AND CALLISTO--DIANA AND ACTAEON--LATONA
+AND THE RUSTICS
+
+
+Juno one day perceived it suddenly grow dark, and immediately
+suspected that her husband had raised a cloud to hide some of his
+doings that would not bear the light. She brushed away the cloud,
+and saw her husband on the banks of a glassy river, with a
+beautiful heifer standing near him. Juno suspected the heifer's
+form concealed some fair nymph of mortal mould--as was, indeed the
+case; for it was Io, the daughter of the river god Inachus, whom
+Jupiter had been flirting with, and, when he became aware of the
+approach of his wife, had changed into that form.
+
+Juno joined her husband, and noticing the heifer praised its
+beauty, and asked whose it was, and of what herd. Jupiter, to stop
+questions, replied that it was a fresh creation from the earth.
+Juno asked to have it as a gift. What could Jupiter do? He was
+loath to give his mistress to his wife; yet how refuse so trifling
+a present as a simple heifer? He could not, without exciting
+suspicion; so he consented. The goddess was not yet relieved of
+her suspicions; so she delivered the heifer to Argus, to be
+strictly watched.
+
+Now Argus had a hundred eyes in his head, and never went to sleep
+with more than two at a time, so that he kept watch of Io
+constantly. He suffered her to feed through the day, and at night
+tied her up with a vile rope round her neck. She would have
+stretched out her arms to implore freedom of Argus, but she had no
+arms to stretch out, and her voice was a bellow that frightened
+even herself. She saw her father and her sisters, went near them,
+and suffered them to pat her back, and heard them admire her
+beauty. Her father reached her a tuft of grass, and she licked the
+outstretched hand. She longed to make herself known to him, and
+would have uttered her wish; but, alas! words were wanting. At
+length she bethought herself of writing, and inscribed her name--
+it was a short one--with her hoof on the sand. Inachus recognized
+it, and discovering that his daughter, whom he had long sought in
+vain, was hidden under this disguise, mourned over her, and,
+embracing her white neck, exclaimed, "Alas! my daughter, it would
+have been a less grief to have lost you altogether!" While he thus
+lamented, Argus, observing, came and drove her away, and took his
+seat on a high bank, from whence he could see all around in every
+direction.
+
+Jupiter was troubled at beholding the sufferings of his mistress,
+and calling Mercury told him to go and despatch Argus. Mercury
+made haste, put his winged slippers on his feet, and cap on his
+head, took his sleep-producing wand, and leaped down from the
+heavenly towers to the earth. There he laid aside his wings, and
+kept only his wand, with which he presented himself as a shepherd
+driving his flock. As he strolled on he blew upon his pipes. These
+were what are called the Syrinx or Pandean pipes. Argus listened
+with delight, for he had never seen the instrument before. "Young
+man," said he, "come and take a seat by me on this stone. There is
+no better place for your flocks to graze in than hereabouts, and
+here is a pleasant shade such as shepherds love." Mercury sat
+down, talked, and told stories till it grew late, and played upon
+his pipes his most soothing strains, hoping to lull the watchful
+eyes to sleep, but all in vain; for Argus still contrived to keep
+some of his eyes open though he shut the rest.
+
+Among other stories, Mercury told him how the instrument on which
+he played was invented. "There was a certain nymph, whose name was
+Syrinx, who was much beloved by the satyrs and spirits of the
+wood; but she would have none of them, but was a faithful
+worshipper of Diana, and followed the chase. You would have
+thought it was Diana herself, had you seen her in her hunting
+dress, only that her bow was of horn and Diana's of silver. One
+day, as she was returning from the chase, Pan met her, told her
+just this, and added more of the same sort. She ran away, without
+stopping to hear his compliments, and he pursued till she came to
+the bank of the river, where he overtook her, and she had only
+time to call for help on her friends the water nymphs. They heard
+and consented. Pan threw his arms around what he supposed to be
+the form of the nymph, and found he embraced only a tuft of reeds!
+As he breathed a sigh, the air sounded through the reeds, and
+produced a plaintive melody. The god, charmed with the novelty and
+with the sweetness of the music, said, 'Thus, then, at least, you
+shall be mine.' And he took some of the reeds, and placing them
+together, of unequal lengths, side by side, made an instrument
+which he called Syrinx, in honor of the nymph." Before Mercury had
+finished his story he saw Argus's eyes all asleep. As his head
+nodded forward on his breast, Mercury with one stroke cut his neck
+through, and tumbled his head down the rocks. O hapless Argus! the
+light of your hundred eyes is quenched at once! Juno took them and
+put them as ornaments on the tail of her peacock, where they
+remain to this day.
+
+But the vengeance of Juno was not yet satiated. She sent a gadfly
+to torment Io, who fled over the whole world from its pursuit. She
+swam through the Ionian sea, which derived its name from her, then
+roamed over the plains of Illyria, ascended Mount Haemus, and
+crossed the Thracian strait, thence named the Bosphorus (cow-
+ford), rambled on through Scythia, and the country of the
+Cimmerians, and arrived at last on the banks of the Nile. At
+length Jupiter interceded for her, and upon his promising not to
+pay her any more attentions Juno consented to restore her to her
+form. It was curious to see her gradually recover her former self.
+The coarse hairs fell from her body, her horns shrank up, her eyes
+grew narrower, her mouth shorter; hands and fingers came instead
+of hoofs to her forefeet; in fine there was nothing left of the
+heifer, except her beauty. At first she was afraid to speak, for
+fear she should low, but gradually she recovered her confidence
+and was restored to her father and sisters.
+
+In a poem dedicated to Leigh Hunt, by Keats, the following
+allusion to the story of Pan and Syrinx occurs:
+
+    "So did he feel who pulled the bough aside,
+     That we might look into a forest wide,
+
+     Telling us how fair trembling Syrinx fled
+     Arcadian Pan, with such a fearful dread.
+     Poor nymph--poor Pan--how he did weep to find
+     Nought but a lovely sighing of the wind
+     Along the reedy stream; a half-heard strain.
+     Full of sweet desolation, balmy pain."
+
+CALLISTO
+
+Callisto was another maiden who excited the jealousy of Juno, and
+the goddess changed her into a bear. "I will take away," said she,
+"that beauty with which you have captivated my husband." Down fell
+Callisto on her hands and knees; she tried to stretch out her arms
+in supplication--they were already beginning to be covered with
+black hair. Her hands grew rounded, became armed with crooked
+claws, and served for feet; her mouth, which Jove used to praise
+for its beauty, became a horrid pair of jaws; her voice, which if
+unchanged would have moved the heart to pity, became a growl, more
+fit to inspire terror. Yet her former disposition remained, and
+with continual groaning, she bemoaned her fate, and stood upright
+as well as she could, lifting up her paws to beg for mercy, and
+felt that Jove was unkind, though she could not tell him so. Ah,
+how often, afraid to stay in the woods all night alone, she
+wandered about the neighborhood of her former haunts; how often,
+frightened by the dogs, did she, so lately a huntress, fly in
+terror from the hunters! Often she fled from the wild beasts,
+forgetting that she was now a wild beast herself; and, bear as she
+was, was afraid of the bears.
+
+One day a youth espied her as he was hunting. She saw him and
+recognized him as her own son, now grown a young man. She stopped
+and felt inclined to embrace him. As she was about to approach,
+he, alarmed, raised his hunting spear, and was on the point of
+transfixing her, when Jupiter, beholding, arrested the crime, and
+snatching away both of them, placed them in the heavens as the
+Great and Little Bear.
+
+Juno was in a rage to see her rival so set in honor, and hastened
+to ancient Tethys and Oceanus, the powers of ocean, and in answer
+to their inquiries thus told the cause of her coming: "Do you ask
+why I, the queen of the gods, have left the heavenly plains and
+sought your depths? Learn that I am supplanted in heaven--my place
+is given to another. You will hardly believe me; but look when
+night darkens the world, and you shall see the two of whom I have
+so much reason to complain exalted to the heavens, in that part
+where the circle is the smallest, in the neighborhood of the pole.
+Why should any one hereafter tremble at the thought of offending
+Juno, when such rewards are the consequence of my displeasure? See
+what I have been able to effect! I forbade her to wear the human
+form--she is placed among the stars! So do my punishments result--
+such is the extent of my power! Better that she should have
+resumed her former shape, as I permitted Io to do. Perhaps he
+means to marry her, and put me away! But you, my foster-parents,
+if you feel for me, and see with displeasure this unworthy
+treatment of me, show it, I beseech you, by forbidding this guilty
+couple from coming into your waters." The powers of the ocean
+assented, and consequently the two constellations of the Great and
+Little Bear move round and round in heaven, but never sink, as the
+other stars do, beneath the ocean.
+
+Milton alludes to the fact that the constellation of the Bear
+never sets, when he says:
+
+    "Let my lamp at midnight hour
+     Be seen in some high lonely tower,
+     Where I may oft outwatch the Bear," etc.
+
+And Prometheus, in J. R. Lowell's poem, says:
+
+    "One after one the stars have risen and set,
+     Sparkling upon the hoar frost of my chain;
+     The Bear that prowled all night about the fold
+     Of the North-star, hath shrunk into his den,
+     Scared by the blithesome footsteps of the Dawn."
+
+The last star in the tail of the Little Bear is the Pole-star,
+called also the Cynosure. Milton says:
+
+    "Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures
+     While the landscape round it measures.
+
+     Towers and battlements it sees
+     Bosomed high in tufted trees,
+     Where perhaps some beauty lies
+     The Cynosure of neighboring eyes"
+
+The reference here is both to the Pole-star as the guide of
+mariners, and to the magnetic attraction of the North He calls it
+also the "Star of Arcady," because Callisto's boy was named Arcas,
+and they lived in Arcadia. In "Comus," the brother, benighted in
+the woods, says:
+
+    "... Some gentle taper!
+     Though a rush candle, from the wicker hole
+     Of some clay habitation, visit us
+     With thy long levelled rule of streaming light,
+     And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
+     Or Tyrian Cynosure."
+
+DIANA AND ACTAEON
+
+Thus in two instances we have seen Juno's severity to her rivals;
+now let us learn how a virgin goddess punished an invader of her
+privacy.
+
+It was midday, and the sun stood equally distant from either goal,
+when young Actaeon, son of King Cadmus, thus addressed the youths
+who with him were hunting the stag in the mountains:
+
+"Friends, our nets and our weapons are wet with the blood of our
+victims; we have had sport enough for one day, and to-morrow we
+can renew our labors. Now, while Phoebus parches the earth, let us
+put by our implements and indulge ourselves with rest."
+
+There was a valley thick enclosed with cypresses and pines, sacred
+to the huntress queen, Diana. In the extremity of the valley was a
+cave, not adorned with art, but nature had counterfeited art in
+its construction, for she had turned the arch of its roof with
+stones as delicately fitted as if by the hand of man. A fountain
+burst out from one side, whose open basin was bounded by a grassy
+rim. Here the goddess of the woods used to come when weary with
+hunting and lave her virgin limbs in the sparkling water.
+
+One day, having repaired thither with her nymphs, she handed her
+javelin, her quiver, and her bow to one, her robe to another,
+while a third unbound the sandals from her feet. Then Crocale, the
+most skilful of them, arranged her hair, and Nephele, Hyale, and
+the rest drew water in capacious urns. While the goddess was thus
+employed in the labors of the toilet, behold Actaeon, having
+quitted his companions, and rambling without any especial object,
+came to the place, led thither by his destiny. As he presented
+himself at the entrance of the cave, the nymphs, seeing a man,
+screamed and rushed towards the goddess to hide her with their
+bodies. But she was taller than the rest and overtopped them all
+by a head. Such a color as tinges the clouds at sunset or at dawn
+came over the countenance of Diana thus taken by surprise.
+Surrounded as she was by her nymphs, she yet turned half away, and
+sought with a sudden impulse for her arrows. As they were not at
+hand, she dashed the water into the face of the intruder, adding
+these words: "Now go and tell, if you can, that you have seen
+Diana unapparelled." Immediately a pair of branching stag's horns
+grew out of his head, his neck gained in length, his ears grew
+sharp-pointed, his hands became feet, his arms long legs, his body
+was covered with a hairy spotted hide. Fear took the place of his
+former boldness, and the hero fled. He could not but admire his
+own speed; but when he saw his horns in the water, "Ah, wretched
+me!" he would have said, but no sound followed the effort. He
+groaned, and tears flowed down the face which had taken the place
+of his own. Yet his consciousness remained. What shall he do?--go
+home to seek the palace, or lie hid in the woods? The latter he
+was afraid, the former he was ashamed, to do. While he hesitated
+the dogs saw him. First Melampus, a Spartan dog, gave the signal
+with his bark, then Pamphagus, Dorceus, Lelaps, Theron, Nape,
+Tigris, and all the rest, rushed after him swifter than the wind.
+Over rocks and cliffs, through mountain gorges that seemed
+impracticable, he fled and they followed. Where he had often
+chased the stag and cheered on his pack, his pack now chased him,
+cheered on by his huntsmen. He longed to cry out, "I am Actaeon;
+recognize your master!" but the words came not at his will. The
+air resounded with the bark of the dogs. Presently one fastened on
+his back, another seized his shoulder. While they held their
+master, the rest of the pack came up and buried their teeth in his
+flesh. He groaned,--not in a human voice, yet certainly not in a
+stag's,--and falling on his knees, raised his eyes, and would have
+raised his arms in supplication, if he had had them. His friends
+and fellow-huntsmen cheered on the dogs, and looked everywhere for
+Actaeon, calling on him to join the sport. At the sound of his
+name he turned his head, and heard them regret that he should be
+away. He earnestly wished he was. He would have been well pleased
+to see the exploits of his dogs, but to feel them was too much.
+They were all around him, rending and tearing; and it was not till
+they had torn his life out that the anger of Diana was satisfied.
+
+In Shelley's poem "Adonais" is the following allusion to the story
+of Actaeon:
+
+    "'Midst others of less note came one frail form,
+    A phantom among men: companionless
+    As the last cloud of an expiring storm,
+    Whose thunder is its knell; he, as I guess,
+    Had gazed on Nature's naked loveliness,
+    Actaeon-like, and now he fled astray
+    With feeble steps o'er the world's wilderness;
+    And his own Thoughts, along that rugged way,
+    Pursued like raging hounds their father and their prey."
+
+    Stanza 31.
+
+The allusion is probably to Shelley himself.
+
+LATONA AND THE RUSTICS
+
+Some thought the goddess in this instance more severe than was
+just, while others praised her conduct as strictly consistent with
+her virgin dignity. As, usual, the recent event brought older ones
+to mind, and one of the bystanders told this story: "Some
+countrymen of Lycia once insulted the goddess Latona, but not with
+impunity. When I was young, my father, who had grown too old for
+active labors, sent me to Lycia to drive thence some choice oxen,
+and there I saw the very pond and marsh where the wonder happened.
+Near by stood an ancient altar, black with the smoke of sacrifice
+and almost buried among the reeds. I inquired whose altar it might
+be, whether of Faunus or the Naiads, or some god of the
+neighboring mountain, and one of the country people replied, 'No
+mountain or river god possesses this altar, but she whom royal
+Juno in her jealousy drove from land to land, denying her any spot
+of earth whereon to rear her twins. Bearing in her arms the infant
+deities, Latona reached this land, weary with her burden and
+parched with thirst. By chance she espied on the bottom of the
+valley this pond of clear water, where the country people were at
+work gathering willows and osiers. The goddess approached, and
+kneeling on the bank would have slaked her thirst in the cool
+stream, but the rustics forbade her. 'Why do you refuse me water?'
+said she; 'water is free to all. Nature allows no one to claim as
+property the sunshine, the air, or the water. I come to take my
+share of the common blessing. Yet I ask it of you as a favor. I
+have no intention of washing my limbs in it, weary though they be,
+but only to quench my thirst. My mouth is so dry that I can hardly
+speak. A draught Of water would be nectar to me; it would revive
+me, and I would own myself indebted to you for life itself. Let
+these infants move your pity, who stretch out their little arms as
+if to plead for me;' and the children, as it happened, were
+stretching out their arms.
+
+"Who would not have been moved with these gentle words of the
+goddess? But these clowns persisted in their rudeness; they even
+added jeers and threats of violence if she did not leave the
+place. Nor was this all. They waded into the pond and stirred up
+the mud with their feet, so as to make the water unfit to drink.
+Latona was so angry that she ceased to mind her thirst. She no
+longer supplicated the clowns, but lifting her hands to heaven
+exclaimed, 'May they never quit that pool, but pass their lives
+there!' And it came to pass accordingly. They now live in the
+water, sometimes totally submerged, then raising their heads above
+the surface or swimming upon it. Sometimes they come out upon the
+bank, but soon leap back again into the water. They still use
+their base voices in railing, and though they have the water all
+to themselves, are not ashamed to croak in the midst of it. Their
+voices are harsh, their throats bloated, their mouths have become
+stretched by constant railing, their necks have shrunk up and
+disappeared, and their heads are joined to their bodies. Their
+backs are green, their disproportioned bellies white, and in short
+they are now frogs, and dwell in the slimy pool."
+
+This story explains the allusion in one of Milton's sonnets, "On
+the detraction which followed upon his writing certain treatises."
+
+    "I did but prompt the age to quit their clogs
+       By the known laws of ancient liberty,
+       When straight a barbarous noise environs me
+     Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.
+     As when those hinds that were transformed to frogs
+       Railed at Latona's twin-born progeny,
+       Which after held the sun and moon in fee."
+
+The persecution which Latona experienced from Juno is alluded to
+in the story. The tradition was that the future mother of Apollo
+and Diana, flying from the wrath of Juno, besought all the islands
+of the Aegean to afford her a place of rest, but all feared too
+much the potent queen of heaven to assist her rival. Delos alone
+consented to become the birthplace of the future deities. Delos
+was then a floating island; but when Latona arrived there, Jupiter
+fastened it with adamantine chains to the bottom of the sea, that
+it might be a secure resting-place for his beloved. Byron alludes
+to Delos in his "Don Juan":
+
+    "The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece!
+       Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
+     Where grew the arts of war and peace,
+       Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+PHAETON
+
+
+Phaeton was the son of Apollo and the nymph Clymene. One day a
+schoolfellow laughed at the idea of his being the son of the god,
+and Phaeton went in rage and shame and reported it to his mother.
+"If," said he, "I am indeed of heavenly birth, give me, mother,
+some proof of it, and establish my claim to the honor." Clymene
+stretched forth her hands towards the skies, and said, "I call to
+witness the Sun which looks down upon us, that I have told you the
+truth. If I speak falsely, let this be the last time I behold his
+light. But it needs not much labor to go and inquire for yourself;
+the land whence the Sun rises lies next to ours. Go and demand of
+him whether he will own you as a son." Phaeton heard with delight.
+He travelled to India, which lies directly in the regions of
+sunrise; and, full of hope and pride, approached the goal whence
+his parent begins his course.
+
+The palace of the Sun stood reared aloft on columns, glittering
+with gold and precious stones, while polished ivory formed the
+ceilings, and silver the doors. The workmanship surpassed the
+material; [Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.] for upon the
+walls Vulcan had represented earth, sea, and skies, with their
+inhabitants. In the sea were the nymphs, some sporting in the
+waves, some riding on the backs of fishes, while others sat upon
+the rocks and dried their sea-green hair. Their faces were not all
+alike, nor yet unlike,--but such as sisters' ought to be.
+[Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.] The earth had its towns
+and forests and rivers and rustic divinities. Over all was carved
+the likeness of the glorious heaven; and on the silver doors the
+twelve signs of the zodiac, six on each side.
+
+Clymene's son advanced up the steep ascent, and entered the halls
+of his disputed father. He approached the paternal presence, but
+stopped at a distance, for the light was more than he could bear.
+Phoebus, arrayed in a purple vesture, sat on a throne, which
+glittered as with diamonds. On his right hand and his left stood
+the Day, the Month, and the Year, and, at regular intervals, the
+Hours. Spring stood with her head crowned with flowers, and
+Summer, with garment cast aside, and a garland formed of spears of
+ripened grain, and Autumn, with his feet stained with grape-juice,
+and icy Winter, with his hair stiffened with hoar frost.
+Surrounded by these attendants, the Sun, with the eye that sees
+everything, beheld the youth dazzled with the novelty and splendor
+of the scene, and inquired the purpose of his errand. The youth
+replied, "O light of the boundless world, Phoebus, my father,--if
+you permit me to use that name,--give me some proof, I beseech
+you, by which I may be known as yours." He ceased; and his father,
+laying aside the beams that shone all around his head, bade him
+approach, and embracing him, said, "My son, you deserve not to be
+disowned, and I confirm what your mother has told you. To put an
+end to your doubts, ask what you will, the gift shall be yours. I
+call to witness that dreadful lake, which I never saw, but which
+we gods swear by in our most solemn engagements." Phaeton
+immediately asked to be permitted for one day to drive the chariot
+of the sun. The father repented of his promise; thrice and four
+times he shook his radiant head in warning. "I have spoken
+rashly," said he; "this only request I would fain deny. I beg you
+to withdraw it. It is not a safe boon, nor one, my Phaeton, suited
+to your youth and strength. Your lot is mortal, and you ask what
+is beyond a mortal's power. In your ignorance you aspire to do
+that which not even the gods themselves may do. None but myself
+may drive the flaming car of day. Not even Jupiter, whose terrible
+right arm hurls the thunderbolts. The first part of the way is
+steep, and such as the horses when fresh in the morning can hardly
+climb; the middle is high up in the heavens, whence I myself can
+scarcely, without alarm, look down and behold the earth and sea
+stretched beneath me. The last part of the road descends rapidly,
+and requires most careful driving. Tethys, who is waiting to
+receive me, often trembles for me lest I should fall headlong. Add
+to all this, the heaven is all the time turning round and carrying
+the stars with it. I have to be perpetually on my guard lest that
+movement, which sweeps everything else along, should hurry me also
+away. Suppose I should lend you the chariot, what would you do?
+Could you keep your course while the sphere was revolving under
+you? Perhaps you think that there are forests and cities, the
+abodes of gods, and palaces and temples on the way. On the
+contrary, the road is through the midst of frightful monsters. You
+pass by the horns of the Bull, in front of the Archer, and near
+the Lion's jaws, and where the Scorpion stretches its arms in one
+direction and the Crab in another. Nor will you find it easy to
+guide those horses, with their breasts full of fire that they
+breathe forth from their mouths and nostrils. I can scarcely
+govern them myself, when they are unruly and resist the reins.
+Beware, my son, lest I be the donor of a fatal gift; recall your
+request while yet you may. Do you ask me for a proof that you are
+sprung from my blood? I give you a proof in my fears for you. Look
+at my face--I would that you could look into my breast, you would
+there see all a father's anxiety. Finally," he continued, "look
+round the world and choose whatever you will of what earth or sea
+contains most precious--ask it and fear no refusal. This only I
+pray you not to urge. It is not honor, but destruction you seek.
+Why do you hang round my neck and still entreat me? You shall have
+it if you persist,--the oath is sworn and must be kept,--but I beg
+you to choose more wisely."
+
+He ended; but the youth rejected all admonition and held to his
+demand. So, having resisted as long as he could, Phoebus at last
+led the way to where stood the lofty chariot.
+
+It was of gold, the gift of Vulcan; the axle was of gold, the pole
+and wheels of gold, the spokes of silver. Along the seat were rows
+of chrysolites and diamonds which reflected all around the
+brightness of the sun. While the daring youth, gazed in
+admiration, the early Dawn threw open the purple doors of the
+east, and showed the pathway strewn with roses. The stars
+withdrew, marshalled by the Day-star, which last of all retired
+also. The father, when he saw the earth beginning to glow, and the
+Moon preparing to retire, ordered the Hours to harness up the
+horses. They obeyed, and led forth from the lofty stalls the
+steeds full fed with ambrosia, and attached the reins. Then the
+father bathed the face of his son with a powerful unguent, and
+made him capable of enduring the brightness of the flame. He set
+the rays on his head, and, with a foreboding sigh, said, "If, my
+son, you will in this at least heed my advice, spare the whip and
+hold tight the reins. They go fast enough of their own accord; the
+labor is to hold them in. You are not to take the straight road
+directly between the five circles, but turn off to the left. Keep
+within the limit of the middle zone, and avoid the northern and
+the southern alike. You will see the marks of the wheels, and they
+will serve to guide you. And, that the skies and the earth may
+each receive their due share of heat, go not too high, or you will
+burn the heavenly dwellings, nor too low, or you will set the
+earth on fire; the middle course is safest and best. [Footnote:
+See Proverbial Expressions] And now I leave you to your chance,
+which I hope will plan better for you than you have done for
+yourself. Night is passing out of the western gates and we can
+delay no longer. Take the reins; but if at last your heart fails
+you, and you will benefit by my advice, stay where you are in
+safety, and suffer me to light and warm the earth." The agile
+youth sprang into the chariot, stood erect, and grasped the reins
+with delight, pouring out thanks to his reluctant parent.
+
+Meanwhile the horses fill the air with their snortings and fiery
+breath, and stamp the ground impatient. Now the bars are let down,
+and the boundless plain of the universe lies open before them.
+They dart forward and cleave the opposing clouds, and outrun the
+morning breezes which started from the same eastern goal. The
+steeds soon perceived that the load they drew was lighter than
+usual; and as a ship without ballast is tossed hither and thither
+on the sea, so the chariot, without its accustomed weight, was
+dashed about as if empty. They rush headlong and leave the
+travelled road. He is alarmed, and knows not how to guide them;
+nor, if he knew, has he the power. Then, for the first time, the
+Great and Little Bear were scorched with heat, and would fain, if
+it were possible, have plunged into the water; and the Serpent
+which lies coiled up round the north pole, torpid and harmless,
+grew warm, and with warmth felt its rage revive. Bootes, they say,
+fled away, though encumbered with his plough, and all unused to
+rapid motion.
+
+When hapless Phaeton looked down upon the earth, now spreading in
+vast extent beneath him, he grew pale and his knees shook with
+terror. In spite of the glare all around him, the sight of his
+eyes grew dim. He wished he had never touched his father's horses,
+never learned his parentage, never prevailed in his request. He is
+borne along like a vessel that flies before a tempest, when the
+pilot can do no more and betakes himself to his prayers. What
+shall he do? Much of the heavenly road is left behind, but more
+remains before. He turns his eyes from one direction to the other;
+now to the goal whence he began his course, now to the realms of
+sunset which he is not destined to reach. He loses his self-
+command, and knows not what to do,--whether to draw tight the
+reins or throw them loose; he forgets the names of the horses. He
+sees with terror the monstrous forms scattered over the surface of
+heaven. Here the Scorpion extended his two great arms, with his
+tail and crooked claws stretching over two signs of the zodiac.
+When the boy beheld him, reeking with poison and menacing with his
+fangs, his courage failed, and the reins fell from his hands. The
+horses, when they felt them loose on their backs, dashed headlong,
+and unrestrained went off into unknown regions of the sky, in
+among the stars, hurling the chariot over pathless places, now up
+in high heaven, now down almost to the earth. The moon saw with
+astonishment her brother's chariot running beneath her own. The
+clouds begin to smoke, and the mountain tops take fire; the fields
+are parched with heat, the plants wither, the trees with their
+leafy branches burn, the harvest is ablaze! But these are small
+things. Great cities perished, with their walls and towers; whole
+nations with their people were consumed to ashes! The forest-clad
+mountains burned, Athos and Taurus and Tmolus and OEte; Ida, once
+celebrated for fountains, but now all dry; the Muses' mountain
+Helicon, and Haemus; Aetna, with fires within and without, and
+Parnassus, with his two peaks, and Rhodope, forced at last to part
+with his snowy crown. Her cold climate was no protection to
+Scythia, Caucasus burned, and Ossa and Pindus, and, greater than
+both, Olympus; the Alps high in air, and the Apennines crowned
+with clouds.
+
+Then Phaeton beheld the world on fire, and felt the heat
+intolerable. The air he breathed was like the air of a furnace and
+full of burning ashes, and the smoke was of a pitchy darkness. He
+dashed forward he knew not whither. Then, it is believed, the
+people of Aethiopia became black by the blood being forced so
+suddenly to the surface, and the Libyan desert was dried up to the
+condition in which it remains to this day. The Nymphs of the
+fountains, with dishevelled hair, mourned their waters, nor were
+the rivers safe beneath their banks: Tanais smoked, and Caicus,
+Xanthus, and Meander; Babylonian Euphrates and Ganges, Tagus with
+golden sands, and Cayster where the swans resort. Nile fled away
+and hid his head in the desert, and there it still remains
+concealed. Where he used to discharge his waters through seven
+mouths into the sea, there seven dry channels alone remained. The
+earth cracked open, and through the chinks light broke into
+Tartarus, and frightened the king of shadows and his queen. The
+sea shrank up. Where before was water, it became a dry plain; and
+the mountains that lie beneath the waves lifted up their heads and
+became islands. The fishes sought the lowest depths, and the
+dolphins no longer ventured as usual to sport on the surface. Even
+Nereus, and his wife Doris, with the Nereids, their daughters,
+sought the deepest caves for refuge. Thrice Neptune essayed to
+raise his head above the surface, and thrice was driven back by
+the heat. Earth, surrounded as she was by waters, yet with head
+and shoulders bare, screening her face with her hand, looked up to
+heaven, and with a husky voice called on Jupiter:
+
+"O ruler of the gods, if I have deserved this treatment, and it is
+your will that I perish with fire, why withhold your thunderbolts?
+Let me at least fall by your hand. Is this the reward of my
+fertility, of my obedient service? Is it for this that I have
+supplied herbage for cattle, and fruits for men, and frankincense
+for your altars? But if I am unworthy of regard, what has my
+brother Ocean done to deserve such a fate? If neither of us can
+excite your pity, think, I pray you, of your own heaven, and
+behold how both the poles are smoking which sustain your palace,
+which must fall if they be destroyed. Atlas faints, and scarce
+holds up his burden. If sea, earth, and heaven perish, we fall
+into ancient Chaos. Save what yet remains to us from the devouring
+flame. O, take thought for our deliverance in this awful moment!"
+
+Thus spoke Earth, and overcome with heat and thirst, could say no
+more. Then Jupiter omnipotent, calling to witness all the gods,
+including him who had lent the chariot, and showing them that all
+was lost unless speedy remedy were applied, mounted the lofty
+tower from whence he diffuses clouds over the earth, and hurls the
+forked lightnings. But at that time not a cloud was to be found to
+interpose for a screen to earth, nor was a shower remaining
+unexhausted. He thundered, and brandishing a lightning bolt in his
+right hand launched it against the charioteer, and struck him at
+the same moment from his seat and from existence! Phaeton, with
+his hair on fire, fell headlong, like a shooting star which marks
+the heavens with its brightness as it falls, and Eridanus, the
+great river, received him and cooled his burning frame. The
+Italian Naiads reared a tomb for him, and inscribed these words
+upon the stone:
+
+    "Driver of Phoebus' chariot Phaeton,
+     Struck by Jove's thunder, rests beneath this stone.
+     He could not rule his father's car of fire,
+     Yet was it much so nobly to aspire"
+
+[Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions]
+
+His sisters, the Heliades, as they lamented his fate, were turned
+into poplar trees, on the banks of the river, and their tears,
+which continued to flow, became amber as they dropped into the
+stream.
+
+Milman, in his poem of "Samor," makes the following allusion to
+Phaeton's story:
+
+    "As when the palsied universe aghast
+     Lay mute and still,
+     When drove, so poets sing, the Sun-born youth
+     Devious through Heaven's affrighted signs his sire's
+     Ill-granted chariot. Him the Thunderer hurled
+     From th' empyrean headlong to the gulf
+     Of the half-parched Eridanus, where weep
+     Even now the sister trees their amber tears
+     O'er Phaeton untimely dead"
+
+In the beautiful lines of Walter Savage Landor, descriptive of the
+Sea-shell, there is an allusion to the Sun's palace and chariot.
+The water-nymph says:
+
+    "I have sinuous shells of pearly hue
+     Within, and things that lustre have imbibed
+     In the sun's palace porch, where when unyoked
+     His chariot wheel stands midway on the wave.
+     Shake one and it awakens; then apply
+     Its polished lip to your attentive ear,
+     And it remembers its august abodes,
+     And murmurs as the ocean murmurs there."
+
+    --Gebir, Book I.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+MIDAS--BAUCIS AND PHILEMON
+
+
+Bacchus, on a certain occasion, found his old schoolmaster and
+foster-father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking,
+and in that state wandered away, and was found by some peasants,
+who carried him to their king, Midas. Midas recognized him, and
+treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights
+with an unceasing round of jollity. On the eleventh day he brought
+Silenus back, and restored him in safety to his pupil. Whereupon
+Bacchus offered Midas his choice of a reward, whatever he might
+wish. He asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into
+GOLD. Bacchus consented, though sorry that he had not made a
+better choice. Midas went his way, rejoicing in his new-acquired
+power, which he hastened to put to the test. He could scarce
+believe his eyes when he found a twig of an oak, which he plucked
+from the branch, become gold in his hand. He took up a stone; it
+changed to gold. He touched a sod; it did the same. He took an
+apple from the tree; you would have thought he had robbed the
+garden of the Hesperides. His joy knew no bounds, and as soon as
+he got home, he ordered the servants to set a splendid repast on
+the table. Then he found to his dismay that whether he touched
+bread, it hardened in his hand; or put a morsel to his lips, it
+defied his teeth. He took a glass of wine, but it flowed down his
+throat like melted gold.
+
+In consternation at the unprecedented affliction, he strove to
+divest himself of his power; he hated the gift he had lately
+coveted. But all in vain; starvation seemed to await him. He
+raised his arms, all shining with gold, in prayer to Bacchus,
+begging to be delivered from his glittering destruction. Bacchus,
+merciful deity, heard and consented. "Go," said he, "to the River
+Pactolus, trace the stream to its fountain-head, there plunge your
+head and body in, and wash away your fault and its punishment." He
+did so, and scarce had he touched the waters before the gold-
+creating power passed into them, and the river-sands became
+changed into GOLD, as they remain to this day.
+
+Thenceforth Midas, hating wealth and splendor, dwelt in the
+country, and became a worshipper of Pan, the god of the fields. On
+a certain occasion Pan had the temerity to compare his music with
+that of Apollo, and to challenge the god of the lyre to a trial of
+skill. The challenge was accepted, and Tmolus, the mountain god,
+was chosen umpire. The senior took his seat, and cleared away the
+trees from his ears to listen. At a given signal Pan blew on his
+pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to
+himself and his faithful follower Midas, who happened to be
+present. Then Tmolus turned his head toward the Sun-god, and all
+his trees turned with him. Apollo rose, his brow wreathed with
+Parnassian laurel, while his robe of Tyrian purple swept the
+ground. In his left hand he held the lyre, and with his right hand
+struck the strings. Ravished with the harmony, Tmolus at once
+awarded the victory to the god of the lyre, and all but Midas
+acquiesced in the judgment. He dissented, and questioned the
+justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair
+of ears any longer to wear the human form, but caused them to
+increase in length, grow hairy, within and without, and movable on
+their roots; in short, to be on the perfect pattern of those of an
+ass.
+
+Mortified enough was King Midas at this mishap; but he consoled
+himself with the thought that it was possible to hide his
+misfortune, which he attempted to do by means of an ample turban
+or head-dress. But his hair-dresser of course knew the secret. He
+was charged not to mention it, and threatened with dire punishment
+if he presumed to disobey. But he found it too much for his
+discretion to keep such a secret; so he went out into the meadow,
+dug a hole in the ground, and stooping down, whispered the story,
+and covered it up. Before long a thick bed of reeds sprang up in
+the meadow, and as soon as it had gained its growth, began
+whispering the story, and has continued to do so, from that day to
+this, every time a breeze passes over the place.
+
+The story of King Midas has been told by others with some
+variations. Dryden, in the "Wife of Bath's Tale," makes Midas's
+queen the betrayer of the secret:
+
+    "This Midas knew, and durst communicate
+     To none but to his wife his ears of state."
+
+Midas was king of Phrygia. He was the son of Gordius, a poor
+countryman, who was taken by the people and made king, in
+obedience to the command of the oracle, which had said that their
+future king should come in a wagon. While the people were
+deliberating, Gordius with his wife and son came driving his wagon
+into the public square.
+
+Gordius, being made king, dedicated his wagon to the deity of the
+oracle, and tied it up in its place with a fast knot. This was the
+celebrated Gordian knot, which, in after times it was said,
+whoever should untie should become lord of all Asia. Many tried to
+untie it, but none succeeded, till Alexander the Great, in his
+career of conquest, came to Phrygia. He tried his skill with as
+ill success as others, till growing impatient he drew his sword
+and cut the knot. When he afterwards succeeded in subjecting all
+Asia to his sway, people began to think that he had complied with
+the terms of the oracle according to its true meaning.
+
+BAUCIS AND PHILEMON
+
+On a certain hill in Phrygia stands a linden tree and an oak,
+enclosed by a low wall. Not far from the spot is a marsh, formerly
+good habitable land, but now indented with pools, the resort of
+fen-birds and cormorants. Once on a time Jupiter, in, human shape,
+visited this country, and with him his son Mercury (he of the
+caduceus), without his wings. They presented themselves, as weary
+travellers, at many a door, seeking rest and shelter, but found
+all closed, for it was late, and the inhospitable inhabitants
+would not rouse themselves to open for their reception. At last a
+humble mansion received them, a small thatched cottage, where
+Baucis, a pious old dame, and her husband Philemon, united when
+young, had grown old together. Not ashamed of their poverty, they
+made it endurable by moderate desires and kind dispositions. One
+need not look there for master or for servant; they two were the
+whole household, master and servant alike. When the two heavenly
+guests crossed the humble threshold, and bowed their heads to pass
+under the low door, the old man placed a seat, on which Baucis,
+bustling and attentive, spread a cloth, and begged them to sit
+down. Then she raked out the coals from the ashes, and kindled up
+a fire, fed it with leaves and dry bark, and with her scanty
+breath blew it into a flame. She brought out of a corner split
+sticks and dry branches, broke them up, and placed them under the
+small kettle. Her husband collected some pot-herbs in the garden,
+and she shred them from the stalks, and prepared them for the pot.
+He reached down with a forked stick a flitch of bacon hanging in
+the chimney, cut a small piece, and put it in the pot to boil with
+the herbs, setting away the rest for another time. A beechen bowl
+was filled with warm water, that their guests might wash. While
+all was doing, they beguiled the time with conversation.
+
+On the bench designed for the guests was laid a cushion stuffed
+with sea-weed; and a cloth, only produced on great occasions, but
+ancient and coarse enough, was spread over that. The old lady,
+with her apron on, with trembling hand set the table. One leg was
+shorter than the rest, but a piece of slate put under restored the
+level. When fixed, she rubbed the table down with some sweet-
+smelling herbs. Upon it she set some of chaste Minerva's olives,
+some cornel berries preserved in vinegar, and added radishes and
+cheese, with eggs lightly cooked in the ashes. All were served in
+earthen dishes, and an earthenware pitcher, with wooden cups,
+stood beside them. When all was ready, the stew, smoking hot, was
+set on the table. Some wine, not of the oldest, was added; and for
+dessert, apples and wild honey; and over and above all, friendly
+faces, and simple but hearty welcome.
+
+Now while the repast proceeded, the old folks were astonished to
+see that the wine, as fast as it was poured out, renewed itself in
+the pitcher, of its own accord. Struck with terror, Baucis and
+Philemon recognized their heavenly guests, fell on their knees,
+and with clasped hands implored forgiveness for their poor
+entertainment. There was an old goose, which they kept as the
+guardian of their humble cottage; and they bethought them to make
+this a sacrifice in honor of their guests. But the goose, too
+nimble, with the aid of feet and wings, for the old folks, eluded
+their pursuit, and at last took shelter between the gods
+themselves. They forbade it to be slain; and spoke in these words:
+"We are gods. This inhospitable village shall pay the penalty of
+its impiety; you alone shall go free from the chastisement. Quit
+your house, and come with us to the top of yonder hill." They
+hastened to obey, and, staff in hand, labored up the steep ascent.
+They had reached to within an arrow's flight of the top, when
+turning their eyes below, they beheld all the country sunk in a
+lake, only their own house left standing. While they gazed with
+wonder at the sight, and lamented the fate of their neighbors,
+that old house of theirs was changed into a temple. Columns took
+the place of the corner posts, the thatch grew yellow and appeared
+a gilded roof, the floors became marble, the doors were enriched
+with carving and ornaments of gold. Then spoke Jupiter in
+benignant accents: "Excellent old man, and woman worthy of such a
+husband, speak, tell us your wishes; what favor have you to ask of
+us?" Philemon took counsel with Baucis a few moments; then
+declared to the gods their united wish. "We ask to be priests and
+guardians of this your temple; and since here we have passed our
+lives in love and concord, we wish that one and the same hour may
+take us both from life, that I may not live to see her grave, nor
+be laid in my own by her." Their prayer was granted. They were the
+keepers of the temple as long as they lived. When grown very old,
+as they stood one day before the steps of the sacred edifice, and
+were telling the story of the place, Baucis saw Philemon begin to
+put forth leaves, and old Philemon saw Baucis changing in like
+manner. And now a leafy crown had grown over their heads, while
+exchanging parting words, as long as they could speak. "Farewell,
+dear spouse," they said, together, and at the same moment the bark
+closed over their mouths. The Tyanean shepherd still shows the two
+trees, standing side by side, made out of the two good old people.
+
+The story of Baucis and Philemon has been imitated by Swift, in a
+burlesque style, the actors in the change being two wandering
+saints, and the house being changed into a church, of which
+Philemon is made the parson. The following may serve as a
+specimen:
+
+    "They scarce had spoke, when, fair and soft,
+     The roof began to mount aloft;
+     Aloft rose every beam and rafter;
+     The heavy wall climbed slowly after.
+     The chimney widened and grew higher,
+     Became a steeple with a spire.
+     The kettle to the top was hoist.
+     And there stood fastened to a joist,
+     But with the upside down, to show
+     Its inclination for below;
+     In vain, for a superior force,
+     Applied at bottom, stops its course;
+     Doomed ever in suspense to dwell,
+     'Tis now no kettle, but a bell.
+     A wooden jack, which had almost
+     Lost by disuse the art to roast,
+     A sudden alteration feels
+     Increased by new intestine wheels;
+     And, what exalts the wonder more.
+     The number made the motion slower;
+     The flier, though't had leaden feet,
+     Turned round so quick you scarce could see't;
+     But slackened by some secret power,
+     Now hardly moves an inch an hour.
+     The jack and chimney, near allied,
+     Had never left each other's side:
+     The chimney to a steeple grown,
+     The jack would not be left alone;
+     But up against the steeple reared,
+     Became a clock, and still adhered;
+     And still its love to household cares
+     By a shrill voice at noon declares,
+     Warning the cook-maid not to burn
+     That roast meat which it cannot turn;
+     The groaning chair began to crawl,
+     Like a huge snail, along the wall;
+     There stuck aloft in public view,
+     And with small change, a pulpit grew.
+     A bedstead of the antique mode,
+     Compact of timber many a load,
+     Such as our ancestors did use,
+     Was metamorphosed into pews,
+     Which still their ancient nature keep
+     By lodging folks disposed to sleep."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+PROSERPINE--GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA
+
+
+When Jupiter and his brothers had defeated the Titans and banished
+them to Tartarus, a new enemy rose up against the gods. They were
+the giants Typhon, Briareus, Enceladus, and others. Some of them
+had a hundred arms, others breathed out fire. They were finally
+subdued and buried alive under Mount Aetna, where they still
+sometimes struggle to get loose, and shake the whole island with
+earthquakes. Their breath comes up through the mountain, and is
+what men call the eruption of the volcano.
+
+The fall of these monsters shook the earth, so that Pluto was
+alarmed, and feared that his kingdom would be laid open to the
+light of day. Under this apprehension, he mounted his chariot,
+drawn by black horses, and took a circuit of inspection to satisfy
+himself of the extent of the damage. While he was thus engaged,
+Venus, who was sitting on Mount Eryx playing with her boy Cupid,
+espied him, and said, "My son, take your darts with which you
+conquer all, even Jove himself, and send one into the breast of
+yonder dark monarch, who rules the realm of Tartarus. Why should
+he alone escape? Seize the opportunity to extend your empire and
+mine. Do you not see that even in heaven some despise our power?
+Minerva the wise, and Diana the huntress, defy us; and there is
+that daughter of Ceres, who threatens to follow their example. Now
+do you, if you have any regard for your own interest or mine, join
+these two in one." The boy unbound his quiver, and selected his
+sharpest and truest arrow; then straining the bow against his
+knee, he attached the string, and, having made ready, shot the
+arrow with its barbed point right into the heart of Pluto.
+
+In the vale of Enna there is a lake embowered in woods, which
+screen it from the fervid rays of the sun, while the moist ground
+is covered with flowers, and Spring reigns perpetual. Here
+Proserpine was playing with her companions, gathering lilies and
+violets, and filling her basket and her apron with them, when
+Pluto saw her, loved her, and carried her off. She screamed for
+help to her mother and companions; and when in her fright she
+dropped the corners of her apron and let the flowers fall,
+childlike she felt the loss of them as an addition to her grief.
+The ravisher urged on his steeds, calling them each by name, and
+throwing loose over their heads and necks his iron-colored reins.
+When he reached the River Cyane, and it opposed his passage, he
+struck the river-bank with his trident, and the earth opened and
+gave him a passage to Tartarus.
+
+Ceres sought her daughter all the world over. Bright-haired
+Aurora, when she came forth in the morning, and Hesperus when he
+led out the stars in the evening, found her still busy in the
+search. But it was all unavailing. At length, weary and sad, she
+sat down upon a stone, and continued sitting nine days and nights,
+in the open air, under the sunlight and moonlight and falling
+showers. It was where now stands the city of Eleusis, then the
+home of an old man named Celeus. He was out in the field,
+gathering acorns and blackberries, and sticks for his fire. His
+little girl was driving home their two goats, and as she passed
+the goddess, who appeared in the guise of an old woman, she said
+to her, "Mother,"--and the name was sweet to the ears of Ceres,--
+"why do you sit here alone upon the rocks?" The old man also
+stopped, though his load was heavy, and begged her to come into
+his cottage, such as it was. She declined, and he urged her. "Go
+in peace," she replied, "and be happy in your daughter; I have
+lost mine." As she spoke, tears--or something like tears, for the
+gods never weep--fell down her cheeks upon her bosom. The
+compassionate old man and his child wept with her. Then said he,
+"Come with us, and despise not our humble roof; so may your
+daughter be restored to you in safety." "Lead on," said she, "I
+cannot resist that appeal!" So she rose from the stone and went
+with them. As they walked he told her that his only son, a little
+boy, lay very sick, feverish, and sleepless. She stooped and
+gathered some poppies. As they entered the cottage, they found all
+in great distress, for the boy seemed past hope of recovery.
+Metanira, his mother, received her kindly, and the goddess stooped
+and kissed the lips of the sick child. Instantly the paleness left
+his face, and healthy vigor returned to his body. The whole family
+were delighted--that is, the father, mother, and little girl, for
+they were all; they had no servants. They spread the table, and
+put upon it curds and cream, apples, and honey in the comb. While
+they ate, Ceres mingled poppy juice in the milk of the boy. When
+night came and all was still, she arose, and taking the sleeping
+boy, moulded his limbs with her hands, and uttered over him three
+times a solemn charm, then went and laid him in the ashes. His
+mother, who had been watching what her guest was doing, sprang
+forward with a cry and snatched the child from the fire. Then
+Ceres assumed her own form, and a divine splendor shone all
+around. While they were overcome with astonishment, she said,
+"Mother, you have been cruel in your fondness to your son. I would
+have made him immortal, but you have frustrated my attempt.
+Nevertheless, he shall be great and useful. He shall teach men the
+use of the plough, and the rewards which labor can win from the
+cultivated soil." So saying, she wrapped a cloud about her, and
+mounting her chariot rode away.
+
+Ceres continued her search for her daughter, passing from land to
+land, and across seas and rivers, till at length she returned to
+Sicily, whence she at first set out, and stood by the banks of the
+River Cyane, where Pluto made himself a passage with his prize to
+his own dominions. The river nymph would have told the goddess all
+she had witnessed, but dared not, for fear of Pluto; so she only
+ventured to take up the girdle which Proserpine had dropped in her
+flight, and waft it to the feet of the mother. Ceres, seeing this,
+was no longer in doubt of her loss, but she did not yet know the
+cause, and laid the blame on the innocent land. "Ungrateful soil,"
+said she, "which I have endowed with fertility and clothed with
+herbage and nourishing grain, no more shall you enjoy my favors."
+Then the cattle died, the plough broke in the furrow, the seed
+failed to come up; there was too much sun, there was too much
+rain; the birds stole the seeds--thistles and brambles were the
+only growth. Seeing this, the fountain Arethusa interceded for the
+land. "Goddess," said she, "blame not the land; it opened
+unwillingly to yield a passage to your daughter. I can tell you of
+her fate, for I have seen her. This is not my native country; I
+came hither from Elis. I was a woodland nymph, and delighted in
+the chase. They praised my beauty, but I cared nothing for it, and
+rather boasted of my hunting exploits. One day I was returning
+from the wood, heated with exercise, when I came to a stream
+silently flowing, so clear that you might count the pebbles on the
+bottom. The willows shaded it, and the grassy bank sloped down to
+the water's edge. I approached, I touched the water with my foot.
+I stepped in knee-deep, and not content with that, I laid my
+garments on the willows and went in. While I sported in the water,
+I heard an indistinct murmur coming up as out of the depths of the
+stream: and made haste to escape to the nearest bank. The voice
+said, 'Why do you fly, Arethusa? I am Alpheus, the god of this
+stream.' I ran, he pursued; he was not more swift than I, but he
+was stronger, and gained upon me, as my strength failed. At last,
+exhausted, I cried for help to Diana. 'Help me, goddess! help your
+votary!' The goddess heard, and wrapped me suddenly in a thick
+cloud. The river god looked now this way and now that, and twice
+came close to me, but could not find me. 'Arethusa! Arethusa!' he
+cried. Oh, how I trembled,--like a lamb that hears the wolf
+growling outside the fold. A cold sweat came over me, my hair
+flowed down in streams; where my foot stood there was a pool. In
+short, in less time than it takes to tell it I became a fountain.
+But in this form Alpheus knew me and attempted to mingle his
+stream with mine. Diana cleft the ground, and I, endeavoring to
+escape him, plunged into the cavern, and through the bowels of the
+earth came out here in Sicily. While I passed through the lower
+parts of the earth, I saw your Proserpine. She was sad, but no
+longer showing alarm in her countenance. Her look was such as
+became a queen--the queen of Erebus; the powerful bride of the
+monarch of the realms of the dead."
+
+When Ceres heard this, she stood for a while like one stupefied;
+then turned her chariot towards heaven, and hastened to present
+herself before the throne of Jove. She told the story of her
+bereavement, and implored Jupiter to interfere to procure the
+restitution of her daughter. Jupiter consented on one condition,
+namely, that Proserpine should not during her stay in the lower
+world have taken any food; otherwise, the Fates forbade her
+release. Accordingly, Mercury was sent, accompanied by Spring, to
+demand Proserpine of Pluto. The wily monarch consented; but, alas!
+the maiden had taken a pomegranate which Pluto offered her, and
+had sucked the sweet pulp from a few of the seeds. This was enough
+to prevent her complete release; but a compromise was made, by
+which she was to pass half the time with her mother, and the rest
+with her husband Pluto.
+
+Ceres allowed herself to be pacified with this arrangement, and
+restored the earth to her favor. Now she remembered Celeus and his
+family, and her promise to his infant son Triptolemus. When the
+boy grew up, she taught him the use of the plough, and how to sow
+the seed. She took him in her chariot, drawn by winged dragons,
+through all the countries of the earth, imparting to mankind
+valuable grains, and the knowledge of agriculture. After his
+return, Triptolemus built a magnificent temple to Ceres in
+Eleusis, and established the worship of the goddess, under the
+name of the Eleusinian mysteries, which, in the splendor and
+solemnity of their observance, surpassed all other religious
+celebrations among the Greeks.
+
+There can be little doubt of this story of Ceres and Proserpine
+being an allegory. Proserpine signifies the seed-corn which when
+cast into the ground lies there concealed--that is, she is carried
+off by the god of the underworld. It reappears--that is,
+Proserpine is restored to her mother. Spring leads her back to the
+light of day.
+
+Milton alludes to the story of Proserpine in "Paradise Lost," Book
+IV.:
+
+    ". . . Not that fair field
+     Of Enna where Proserpine gathering flowers,
+     Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
+     Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain
+     To seek her through the world,--
+     ... might with this Paradise
+     Of Eden strive."
+
+Hood, in his "Ode to Melancholy," uses the same allusion very
+beautifully:
+
+    "Forgive, if somewhile I forget,
+       In woe to come the present bliss;
+     As frighted Proserpine let fall
+       Her flowers at the sight of Dis."
+
+The River Alpheus does in fact disappear underground, in part of
+its course, finding its way through subterranean channels till it
+again appears on the surface. It was said that the Sicilian
+fountain Arethusa was the same stream, which, after passing under
+the sea, came up again in Sicily. Hence the story ran that a cup
+thrown into the Alpheus appeared again in Arethusa. It is this
+fable of the underground course of Alpheus that Coleridge alludes
+to in his poem of "Kubla Khan":
+
+    "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
+       A stately pleasure-dome decree,
+     Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
+     Through caverns measureless to man,
+       Down to a sunless sea."
+
+In one of Moore's juvenile poems he thus alludes to the same
+story, and to the practice of throwing garlands or other light
+objects on his stream to be carried downward by it, and afterwards
+reproduced at its emerging:
+
+    "O my beloved, how divinely sweet
+     Is the pure joy when kindred spirits meet!
+     Like him the river god, whose waters flow,
+     With love their only light, through caves below,
+     Wafting in triumph all the flowery braids
+     And festal rings, with which Olympic maids
+     Have decked his current, as an offering meet
+     To lay at Arethusa's shining feet.
+     Think, when he meets at last his fountain bride,
+     What perfect love must thrill the blended tide!
+     Each lost in each, till mingling into one,
+     Their lot the same for shadow or for sun,
+     A type of true love, to the deep they run."
+
+The following extract from Moore's "Rhymes on the Road" gives an
+account of a celebrated picture by Albano, at Milan, called a
+Dance of Loves:
+
+    "'Tis for the theft ef Enna's flower from earth
+     These urchins celebrate their dance of mirth,
+       Round the green tree, like fays upon a heath;--
+         Those that are nearest linked in order bright,
+       Cheek after cheek, like rosebuds in a wreath;
+       And those more distant showing from beneath
+         The others' wings their little eyes of light.
+       While see! among the clouds, their eldest brother,
+         But just flown up, tells with a smile of bliss,
+       This prank of Pluto to his charmed mother,
+         Who turns to greet the tidings with a kiss."
+
+GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA
+
+Glaucus was a fisherman. One day he had drawn his nets to land,
+and had taken a great many fishes of various kinds. So he emptied
+his net, and proceeded to sort the fishes on the grass. The place
+where he stood was a beautiful island in the river, a solitary
+spot, uninhabited, and not used for pasturage of cattle, nor ever
+visited by any but himself. On a sudden, the fishes, which had
+been laid on the grass, began to revive and move their fins as if
+they were in the water; and while he looked on astonished, they
+one and all moved off to the water, plunged in, and swam away. He
+did not know what to make of this, whether some god had done it or
+some secret power in the herbage. "What herb has such a power?" he
+exclaimed; and gathering some of it, he tasted it. Scarce had the
+juices of the plant reached his palate when he found himself
+agitated with a longing desire for the water. He could no longer
+restrain himself, but bidding farewell to earth, he plunged into
+the stream. The gods of the water received him graciously, and
+admitted him to the honor of their society. They obtained the
+consent of Oceanus and Tethys, the sovereigns of the sea, that all
+that was mortal in him should be washed away. A hundred rivers
+poured their waters over him. Then he lost all sense of his former
+nature and all consciousness. When he recovered, he found himself
+changed in form and mind. His hair was sea-green, and trailed
+behind him on the water; his shoulders grew broad, and what had
+been thighs and legs assumed the form of a fish's tail. The sea-
+gods complimented him on the change of his appearance, and he
+fancied himself rather a good-looking personage.
+
+One day Glaucus saw the beautiful maiden Scylla, the favorite of
+the water-nymphs, rambling on the shore, and when she had found a
+sheltered nook, laving her limbs in the clear water. He fell in
+love with her, and showing himself on the surface, spoke to her,
+saying such things as he thought most likely to win her to stay;
+for she turned to run immediately on the sight of him, and ran
+till she had gained a cliff overlooking the sea. Here she stopped
+and turned round to see whether it was a god or a sea animal, and
+observed with wonder his shape and color. Glaucus partly emerging
+from the water, and supporting himself against a rock, said,
+"Maiden, I am no monster, nor a sea animal, but a god; and neither
+Proteus nor Triton ranks higher than I. Once I was a mortal, and
+followed the sea for a living; but now I belong wholly to it."
+Then he told the story of his metamorphosis, and how he had been
+promoted to his present dignity, and added, "But what avails all
+this if it fails to move your heart?" He was going on in this
+strain, but Scylla turned and hastened away.
+
+Glaucus was in despair, but it occurred to him to consult the
+enchantress Circe. Accordingly he repaired to her island--the same
+where afterwards Ulysses landed, as we shall see in one of our
+later stories. After mutual salutations, he said, "Goddess, I
+entreat your pity; you alone can relieve the pain I suffer. The
+power of herbs I know as well as any one, for it is to them I owe
+my change of form. I love Scylla. I am ashamed to tell you how I
+have sued and promised to her, and how scornfully she has treated
+me. I beseech you to use your incantations, or potent herbs, if
+they are more prevailing, not to cure me of my love,--for that I
+do not wish,--but to make her share it and yield me a like
+return." To which Circe replied, for she was not insensible to the
+attractions of the sea-green deity, "You had better pursue a
+willing object; you are worthy to be sought, instead of having to
+seek in vain. Be not diffident, know your own worth. I protest to
+you that even I, goddess though I be, and learned in the virtues
+of plants and spells, should not know how to refuse you. If she
+scorns you scorn her; meet one who is ready to meet you half way,
+and thus make a due return to both at once." To these words
+Glaucus replied, "Sooner shall trees grow at the bottom of the
+ocean, and sea-weed on the top of the mountains, than I will cease
+to love Scylla, and her alone."
+
+The goddess was indignant, but she could not punish him, neither
+did she wish to do so, for she liked him too well; so she turned
+all her wrath against her rival, poor Scylla. She took plants of
+poisonous powers and mixed them together, with incantations and
+charms. Then she passed through the crowd of gambolling beasts,
+the victims of her art, and proceeded to the coast of Sicily,
+where Scylla lived. There was a little bay on the shore to which
+Scylla used to resort, in the heat of the day, to breathe the air
+of the sea, and to bathe in its waters. Here the goddess poured
+her poisonous mixture, and muttered over it incantations of mighty
+power. Scylla came as usual and plunged into the water up to her
+waist. What was her horror to perceive a brood of serpents and
+barking monsters surrounding her! At first she could not imagine
+they were a part of herself, and tried to run from them, and to
+drive them away; but as she ran she carried them with her, and
+when she tried to touch her limbs, she found her hands touch only
+the yawning jaws of monsters. Scylla remained rooted to the spot.
+Her temper grew as ugly as her form, and she took pleasure in
+devouring hapless mariners who came within her grasp. Thus she
+destroyed six of the companions of Ulysses, and tried to wreck the
+ships of Aeneas, till at last she was turned into a rock, and as
+such still continues to be a terror to mariners.
+
+Keats, in his "Endymion," has given a new version of the ending of
+"Glaucus and Scylla." Glaucus consents to Circe's blandishments,
+till he by chance is witness to her transactions with her beasts.
+Disgusted with her treachery and cruelty, he tries to escape from
+her, but is taken and brought back, when with reproaches she
+banishes him, sentencing him to pass a thousand years in
+decrepitude and pain. He returns to the sea, and there finds the
+body of Scylla, whom the goddess has not transformed but drowned.
+Glaucus learns that his destiny is that, if he passes his thousand
+years in collecting all the bodies of drowned lovers, a youth
+beloved of the gods will appear and help him. Endymion fulfils
+this prophecy, and aids in restoring Glaucus to youth, and Scylla
+and all the drowned lovers to life.
+
+The following is Glaucus's account of his feelings after his "sea-
+change":
+
+    "I plunged for life or death. To interknit
+     One's senses with so dense a breathing stuff
+     Might seem a work of pain; so not enough
+     Can I admire how crystal-smooth it felt,
+     And buoyant round my limbs. At first I dwelt
+     Whole days and days in sheer astonishment;
+     Forgetful utterly of self-intent,
+     Moving but with the mighty ebb and flow.
+     Then like a new-fledged bird that first doth show
+     His spreaded feathers to the morrow chill,
+     I tried in fear the pinions of my will.
+     'Twas freedom! and at once I visited
+     The ceaseless wonders of this ocean-bed," etc.
+
+    --Keats.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+PYGMALION--DRYOPE-VENUS AND ADONIS--APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS
+
+
+Pygmalion saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to
+abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor,
+and had made with wonderful skill a statue of ivory, so beautiful
+that no living woman came anywhere near it. It was indeed the
+perfect semblance of a maiden that seemed to be alive, and only
+prevented from moving by modesty. His art was so perfect that it
+concealed itself and its product looked like the workmanship of
+nature. Pygmalion admired his own work, and at last fell in love
+with the counterfeit creation. Oftentimes he laid his hand upon it
+as if to assure himself whether it were living or not, and could
+not even then believe that it was only ivory. He caressed it, and
+gave it presents such as young girls love,--bright shells and
+polished stones, little birds and flowers of various hues, beads
+and amber. He put raiment on its limbs, and jewels on its fingers,
+and a necklace about its neck. To the ears he hung earrings and
+strings of pearls upon the breast. Her dress became her, and she
+looked not less charming than when unattired. He laid her on a
+couch spread with cloths of Tyrian dye, and called her his wife,
+and put her head upon a pillow of the softest feathers, as if she
+could enjoy their softness.
+
+The festival of Venus was at hand--a festival celebrated with
+great pomp at Cyprus. Victims were offered, the altars smoked, and
+the odor of incense filled the air. When Pygmalion had performed
+his part in the solemnities, he stood before the altar and timidly
+said, "Ye gods, who can do all things, give me, I pray you, for my
+wife"--he dared not say "my ivory virgin," but said instead--"one
+like my ivory virgin." Venus, who was present at the festival,
+heard him and knew the thought he would have uttered; and as an
+omen of her favor, caused the flame on the altar to shoot up
+thrice in a fiery point into the air. When he returned home, he
+went to see his statue, and leaning over the couch, gave a kiss to
+the mouth. It seemed to be warm. He pressed its lips again, he
+laid his hand upon the limbs; the ivory felt soft to his touch and
+yielded to his fingers like the wax of Hymettus. While he stands
+astonished and glad, though doubting, and fears he may be
+mistaken, again and again with a lover's ardor he touches the
+object of his hopes. It was indeed alive! The veins when pressed
+yielded to the finger and again resumed their roundness. Then at
+last the votary of Venus found words to thank the goddess, and
+pressed his lips upon lips as real as his own. The virgin felt the
+kisses and blushed, and opening her timid eyes to the light, fixed
+them at the same moment on her lover. Venus blessed the nuptials
+she had formed, and from this union Paphos was born, from whom the
+city, sacred to Venus, received its name.
+
+Schiller, in his poem the "Ideals," applies this tale of Pygmalion
+to the love of nature in a youthful heart. The following
+translation is furnished by a friend:
+
+    "As once with prayers in passion flowing,
+       Pygmalion embraced the stone,
+     Till from the frozen marble glowing,
+       The light of feeling o'er him shone,
+     So did I clasp with young devotion
+       Bright nature to a poet's heart;
+     Till breath and warmth and vital motion
+       Seemed through the statue form to dart.
+
+    "And then, in all my ardor sharing,
+       The silent form expression found;
+     Returned my kiss of youthful daring,
+       And understood my heart's quick sound.
+     Then lived for me the bright creation,
+       The silver rill with song was rife;
+     The trees, the roses shared sensation,
+       An echo of my boundless life."
+
+    --S. G. B.
+
+DRYOPE
+
+Dryope and Iole were sisters. The former was the wife of
+Andraemon, beloved by her husband, and happy in the birth of her
+first child. One day the sisters strolled to the bank of a stream
+that sloped gradually down to the water's edge, while the upland
+was overgrown with myrtles. They were intending to gather flowers
+for forming garlands for the altars of the nymphs, and Dryope
+carried her child at her bosom, precious burden, and nursed him as
+she walked. Near the water grew a lotus plant, full of purple
+flowers. Dryope gathered some and offered them to the baby, and
+Iole was about to do the same, when she perceived blood dropping
+from the places where her sister had broken them off the stem. The
+plant was no other than the nymph Lotis, who, running from a base
+pursuer, had been changed into this form. This they learned from
+the country people when it was too late.
+
+Dryope, horror-struck when she perceived what she had done, would
+gladly have hastened from the spot, but found her feet rooted to
+the ground. She tried to pull them away, but moved nothing but her
+upper limbs. The woodiness crept upward, and by degrees invested
+her body. In anguish she attempted to tear her hair, but found her
+hands filled with leaves. The infant felt his mother's bosom begin
+to harden, and the milk cease to flow. Iole looked on at the sad
+fate of her sister, and could render no assistance. She embraced
+the growing trunk, as if she would hold back the advancing wood,
+and would gladly have been enveloped in the same bark. At this
+moment Andraemon, the husband of Dryope, with her father,
+approached; and when they asked for Dryope, Iole pointed them to
+the new-formed lotus. They embraced the trunk of the yet warm
+tree, and showered their kisses on its leaves.
+
+Now there was nothing left of Dryope but her face. Her tears still
+flowed and fell on her leaves, and while she could she spoke. "I
+am not guilty. I deserve not this fate. I have injured no one. If
+I speak falsely, may my foliage perish with drought and my trunk
+be cut down and burned. Take this infant and give it to a nurse.
+Let it often be brought and nursed under my branches, and play in
+my shade; and when he is old enough to talk, let him be taught to
+call me mother, and to say with sadness, 'My mother lies hid under
+this bark.' But bid him be careful of river banks, and beware how
+he plucks flowers, remembering that every bush he sees may be a
+goddess in disguise. Farewell, dear husband, and sister, and
+father. If you retain any love for me, let not the axe wound me,
+nor the flocks bite and tear my branches. Since I cannot stoop to
+you, climb up hither and kiss me; and while my lips continue to
+feel, lift up my child that I may kiss him. I can speak no more,
+for already the bark advances up my neck, and will soon shoot over
+me. You need not close my eyes, the bark will close them without
+your aid." Then the lips ceased to move, and life was extinct; but
+the branches retained for some time longer the vital heat.
+
+Keats, in "Endymion," alludes to Dryope thus:
+
+    "She took a lute from which there pulsing came
+     A lively prelude, fashioning the way
+     In which her voice should wander. 'T was a lay
+     More subtle-cadenced, more forest-wild
+     Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child;" etc.
+
+VENUS AND ADONIS
+
+Venus, playing one day with her boy Cupid, wounded her bosom with
+one of his arrows. She pushed him away, but the wound was deeper
+than she thought. Before it healed she beheld Adonis, and was
+captivated with him. She no longer took any interest in her
+favorite resorts--Paphos, and Cnidos, and Amathos, rich in metals.
+She absented herself even from heaven, for Adonis was dearer to
+her than heaven. Him she followed and bore him company. She who
+used to love to recline in the shade, with no care but to
+cultivate her charms, now rambles through the woods and over the
+hills, dressed like the huntress Diana; and calls her dogs, and
+chases hares and stags, or other game that it is safe to hunt, but
+keeps clear of the wolves and bears, reeking with the slaughter of
+the herd. She charged Adonis, too, to beware of such dangerous
+animals. "Be brave towards the timid," said she; "courage against
+the courageous is not safe. Beware how you expose yourself to
+danger and put my happiness to risk. Attack not the beasts that
+Nature has armed with weapons. I do not value your glory so high
+as to consent to purchase it by such exposure. Your youth, and the
+beauty that charms Venus, will not touch the hearts of lions and
+bristly boars. Think of their terrible claws and prodigious
+strength! I hate the whole race of them. Do you ask me why?" Then
+she told him the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes, who were
+changed into lions for their ingratitude to her.
+
+Having given him this warning, she mounted her chariot drawn by
+swans, and drove away through the air. But Adonis was too noble to
+heed such counsels. The dogs had roused a wild boar from his lair,
+and the youth threw his spear and wounded the animal with a
+sidelong stroke. The beast drew out the weapon with his jaws, and
+rushed after Adonis, who turned and ran; but the boar overtook
+him, and buried his tusks in his side, and stretched him dying
+upon the plain.
+
+Venus, in her swan-drawn chariot, had not yet reached Cyprus, when
+she heard coming up through mid-air the groans of her beloved,
+and turned her white-winged coursers back to earth. As she drew
+near and saw from on high his lifeless body bathed in blood, she
+alighted and, bending over it, beat her breast and tore her hair.
+Reproaching the Fates, she said, "Yet theirs shall be but a
+partial triumph; memorials of my grief shall endure, and the
+spectacle of your death, my Adonis, and of my lamentations shall
+be annually renewed. Your blood shall be changed into a flower;
+that consolation none can envy me." Thus speaking, she sprinkled
+nectar on the blood; and as they mingled, bubbles rose as in a
+pool on which raindrops fall, and in an hour's time there sprang
+up a flower of bloody hue like that of the pomegranate. But it is
+short-lived. It is said the wind blows the blossoms open, and
+afterwards blows the petals away; so it is called Anemone, or Wind
+Flower, from the cause which assists equally in its production and
+its decay.
+
+Milton alludes to the story of Venus and Adonis in his "Comus":
+
+    "Beds of hyacinth and roses
+     Where young Adonis oft reposes,
+     Waxing well of his deep wound
+     In slumber soft, and on the ground
+     Sadly sits th' Assyrian queen;" etc.
+
+APOLLO AND HYACINTHUS
+
+Apollo was passionately fond of a youth named Hyacinthus. He
+accompanied him in his sports, carried the nets when he went
+fishing, led the dogs when he went to hunt, followed him in his
+excursions in the mountains, and neglected for him his lyre and
+his arrows. One day they played a game of quoits together, and
+Apollo, heaving aloft the discus, with strength mingled with
+skill, sent it high and far. Hyacinthus watched it as it flew, and
+excited with the sport ran forward to seize it, eager to make his
+throw, when the quoit bounded from the earth and struck him in the
+forehead. He fainted and fell. The god, as pale as himself, raised
+him and tried all his art to stanch the wound and retain the
+flitting life, but all in vain; the hurt was past the power of
+medicine. As when one has broken the stem of a lily in the garden
+it hangs its head and turns its flowers to the earth, so the head
+of the dying boy, as if too heavy for his neck, fell over on his
+shoulder. "Thou diest, Hyacinth," so spoke Phoebus, "robbed of thy
+youth by me. Thine is the suffering, mine the crime. Would that I
+could die for thee! But since that may not be, thou shalt live
+with me in memory and in song. My lyre shall celebrate thee, my
+song shall tell thy fate, and thou shalt become a flower inscribed
+with my regrets." While Apollo spoke, behold the blood which had
+flowed on the ground and stained the herbage ceased to be blood;
+but a flower of hue more beautiful than the Tyrian sprang up,
+resembling the lily, if it were not that this is purple and that
+silvery white. [Footnote: It is evidently not our modern hyacinth
+that is here described. It is perhaps some species of iris, or
+perhaps of larkspur or of pansy.] And this was not enough for
+Phoebus; but to confer still greater honor, he marked the petals
+with his sorrow, and inscribed "Ah! ah!" upon them, as we see to
+this day. The flower bears the name of Hyacinthus, and with every
+returning spring revives the memory of his fate.
+
+It was said that Zephyrus (the West wind), who was also fond of
+Hyacinthus and jealous of his preference of Apollo, blew the quoit
+out of its course to make it strike Hyacinthus. Keats alludes to
+this in his "Endymion," where he describes the lookers-on at the
+game of quoits:
+
+    "Or they might watch the quoit-pitchers, intent
+       On either side, pitying the sad death
+       Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath
+     Of Zephyr slew him; Zephyr penitent,
+     Who now ere Phoebus mounts the firmament,
+       Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain."
+
+An allusion to Hyacinthus will also be recognized in Milton's
+"Lycidas":
+
+    "Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CEYX AND HALCYONE: OR, THE HALCYON BIRDS
+
+
+Ceyx was king of Thessaly, where he reigned in peace, without
+violence or wrong. He was son of Hesperus, the Day-star, and the
+glow of his beauty reminded one of his father. Halcyone, the
+daughter of Aeolus, was his wife, and devotedly attached to him.
+Now Ceyx was in deep affliction for the loss of his brother, and
+direful prodigies following his brother's death made him feel as
+if the gods were hostile to him. He thought best, therefore, to
+make a voyage to Carlos in Ionia, to consult the oracle of Apollo.
+But as soon as he disclosed his intention to his wife Halcyone, a
+shudder ran through her frame, and her face grew deadly pale.
+"What fault of mine, dearest husband, has turned your affection
+from me? Where is that love of me that used to be uppermost in
+your thoughts? Have you learned to feel easy in the absence of
+Halcyone? Would you rather have me away?" She also endeavored to
+discourage him, by describing the violence of the winds, which she
+had known familiarly when she lived at home in her father's
+house,--Aeolus being the god of the winds, and having as much as
+he could do to restrain them. "They rush together," said she,
+"with such fury that fire flashes from the conflict. But if you
+must go," she added, "dear husband, let me go with you, otherwise
+I shall suffer not only the real evils which you must encounter,
+but those also which my fears suggest."
+
+These words weighed heavily on the mind of King Ceyx, and it was
+no less his own wish than hers to take her with him, but he could
+not bear to expose her to the dangers of the sea. He answered,
+therefore, consoling her as well as he could, and finished with
+these words: "I promise, by the rays of my father the Day-star,
+that if fate permits I will return before the moon shall have
+twice rounded her orb." When he had thus spoken, he ordered the
+vessel to be drawn out of the shiphouse, and the oars and sails to
+be put aboard. When Halcyone saw these preparations she shuddered,
+as if with a presentiment of evil. With tears and sobs she said
+farewell, and then fell senseless to the ground.
+
+Ceyx would still have lingered, but now the young men grasped
+their oars and pulled vigorously through the waves, with long and
+measured strokes. Halcyone raised her streaming eyes, and saw her
+husband standing on the deck, waving his hand to her. She answered
+his signal till the vessel had receded so far that she could no
+longer distinguish his form from the rest. When the vessel itself
+could no more be seen, she strained her eyes to catch the last
+glimmer of the sail, till that too disappeared. Then, retiring to
+her chamber, she threw herself on her solitary couch.
+
+Meanwhile they glide out of the harbor, and the breeze plays among
+the ropes. The seamen draw in their oars, and hoist their sails.
+When half or less of their course was passed, as night drew on,
+the sea began to whiten with swelling waves, and the east wind to
+blow a gale. The master gave the word to take in sail, but the
+storm forbade obedience, for such is the roar of the winds and
+waves his orders are unheard. The men, of their own accord, busy
+themselves to secure the oars, to strengthen the ship, to reef the
+sail. While they thus do what to each one seems best, the storm
+increases. The shouting of the men, the rattling of the shrouds,
+and the dashing of the waves, mingle with the roar of the thunder.
+The swelling sea seems lifted up to the heavens, to scatter its
+foam among the clouds; then sinking away to the bottom assumes the
+color of the shoal--a Stygian blackness.
+
+The vessel shares all these changes. It seems like a wild beast
+that rushes on the spears of the hunters. Rain falls in torrents,
+as if the skies were coming down to unite with the sea. When the
+lightning ceases for a moment, the night seems to add its own
+darkness to that of the storm; then comes the flash, rending the
+darkness asunder, and lighting up all with a glare. Skill fails,
+courage sinks, and death seems to come on every wave. The men are
+stupefied with terror. The thought of parents, and kindred, and
+pledges left at home, comes over their minds. Ceyx thinks of
+Halcyone. No name but hers is on his lips, and while he yearns for
+her, he yet rejoices in her absence. Presently the mast is
+shattered by a stroke of lightning, the rudder broken, and the
+triumphant surge curling over looks down upon, the wreck, then
+falls, and crushes it to fragments. Some of the seamen, stunned by
+the stroke, sink, and rise no more; others cling to fragments of
+the wreck. Ceyx, with the hand that used to grasp the sceptre,
+holds fast to a plank, calling for help,--alas, in vain,--upon his
+father and his father-in-law. But oftenest on his lips was the
+name of Halcyone. To her his thoughts cling. He prays that the
+waves may bear his body to her sight, and that it may receive
+burial at her hands. At length the waters overwhelm him, and he
+sinks. The Day-star looked dim that night. Since it could not
+leave the heavens, it shrouded its face with clouds.
+
+In the meanwhile Halcyone, ignorant of all these horrors, counted
+the days till her husband's promised return. Now she gets ready
+the garments which he shall put on, and now what she shall wear
+when he arrives. To all the gods she offers frequent incense, but
+more than all to Juno. For her husband, who was no more, she
+prayed incessantly: that he might be safe; that he might come
+home; that he might not, in his absence, see any one that he would
+love better than her. But of all these prayers, the last was the
+only one destined to be granted. The goddess, at length, could not
+bear any longer to be pleaded with for one already dead, and to
+have hands raised to her altars that ought rather to be offering
+funeral rites. So, calling Iris, she said, "Iris, my faithful
+messenger, go to the drowsy dwelling of Somnus, and tell him to
+send a vision to Halcyone in the form of Ceyx, to make known to
+her the event."
+
+Iris puts on her robe of many colors, and tingeing the sky with
+her bow, seeks the palace of the King of Sleep. Near the Cimmerian
+country, a mountain cave is the abode of the dull god Somnus. Here
+Phoebus dares not come, either rising, at midday, or setting.
+Clouds and shadows are exhaled from the ground, and the light
+glimmers faintly. The bird of dawning, with crested head, never
+there calls aloud to Aurora, nor watchful dog, nor more sagacious
+goose disturbs the silence. No wild beast, nor cattle, nor branch
+moved with the wind, nor sound of human conversation, breaks the
+stillness. Silence reigns there; but from the bottom of the rock
+the River Lethe flows, and by its murmur invites to sleep. Poppies
+grow abundantly before the door of the cave, and other herbs, from
+whose juices Night collects slumbers, which she scatters over the
+darkened earth. There is no gate to the mansion, to creak on its
+hinges, nor any watchman; but in the midst a couch of black ebony,
+adorned with black plumes and black curtains. There the god
+reclines, his limbs relaxed with sleep. Around him lie dreams,
+resembling all various forms, as many as the harvest bears stalks,
+or the forest leaves, or the seashore sand grains.
+
+As soon as the goddess entered and brushed away the dreams that
+hovered around her, her brightness lit up all the cave. The god,
+scarce opening his eyes, and ever and anon dropping his beard upon
+his breast, at last shook himself free from himself, and leaning
+on his arm, inquired her errand,--for he knew who she was. She
+answered, "Somnus, gentlest of the gods, tranquillizer of minds
+and soother of care-worn hearts, Juno sends you her commands that
+you despatch a dream to Halcyone, in the city of Trachine,
+representing her lost husband and all the events of the wreck."
+
+Having delivered her message, Iris hasted away, for she could not
+longer endure the stagnant air, and as she felt drowsiness
+creeping over her, she made her escape, and returned by her bow
+the way she came. Then Somnus called one of his numerous sons,--
+Morpheus,--the most expert in counterfeiting forms, and in
+imitating the walk, the countenance, and mode of speaking, even
+the clothes and attitudes most characteristic of each. But he only
+imitates men, leaving it to another to personate birds, beasts,
+and serpents. Him they call Icelos; and Phantasos is a third, who
+turns himself into rocks, waters, woods, and other things without
+life. These wait upon kings and great personages in their sleeping
+hours, while others move among the common people. Somnus chose,
+from all the brothers, Morpheus, to perform the command of Iris;
+then laid his head on his pillow and yielded himself to grateful
+repose.
+
+Morpheus flew, making no noise with his wings, and soon came to
+the Haemonian city, where, laying aside his wings, he assumed the
+form of Ceyx. Under that form, but pale like a dead man, naked, he
+stood before the couch of the wretched wife. His beard seemed
+soaked with water, and water trickled from his drowned locks.
+Leaning over the bed, tears streaming from his eyes, he said, "Do
+you recognize your Ceyx, unhappy wife, or has death too much
+changed my visage? Behold me, know me, your husband's shade,
+instead of himself. Your prayers, Halcyone, availed me nothing. I
+am dead. No more deceive yourself with vain hopes of my return.
+The stormy winds sunk my ship in the Aegean Sea, waves filled my
+mouth while it called aloud on you. No uncertain messenger tells
+you this, no vague rumor brings it to your ears. I come in person,
+a shipwrecked man, to tell you my fate. Arise! give me tears, give
+me lamentations, let me not go down to Tartarus unwept." To these
+words Morpheus added the voice, which seemed to be that of her
+husband; he seemed to pour forth genuine tears; his hands had the
+gestures of Ceyx.
+
+Halcyone, weeping, groaned, and stretched out her arms in her
+sleep, striving to embrace his body, but grasping only the air.
+"Stay!" she cried; "whither do you fly? let us go together." Her
+own voice awakened her. Starting up, she gazed eagerly around, to
+see if he was still present, for the servants, alarmed by her
+cries, had brought a light. When she found him not, she smote her
+breast and rent her garments. She cares not to unbind her hair,
+but tears it wildly. Her nurse asks what is the cause of her
+grief. "Halcyone is no more," she answers, "she perished with her
+Ceyx. Utter not words of comfort, he is shipwrecked and dead. I
+have seen him, I have recognized him. I stretched out my hands to
+seize him and detain him. His shade vanished, but it was the true
+shade of my husband. Not with the accustomed features, not with
+the beauty that was his, but pale, naked, and with his hair wet
+with sea-water, he appeared to wretched me. Here, in this very
+spot, the sad vision stood,"--and she looked to find the mark of
+his footsteps. "This it was, this that my presaging mind
+foreboded, when I implored him not to leave me, to trust himself
+to the waves. Oh, how I wish, since thou wouldst go, thou hadst
+taken me with thee! It would have been far better. Then I should
+have had no remnant of life to spend without thee, nor a separate
+death to die. If I could bear to live and struggle to endure, I
+should be more cruel to myself than the sea has been to me. But I
+will not struggle, I will not be separated from thee, unhappy
+husband. This time, at least, I will keep thee company. In death,
+if one tomb may not include us, one epitaph shall; if I may not
+lay my ashes with thine, my name, at least, shall not be
+separated." Her grief forbade more words, and these were broken
+with tears and sobs.
+
+It was now morning. She went to the seashore, and sought the spot
+where she last saw him, on his departure. "While he lingered here,
+and cast off his tacklings, he gave me his last kiss." While she
+reviews every object, and strives to recall every incident,
+looking out over the sea, she descries an indistinct object
+floating in the water. At first she was in doubt what it was, but
+by degrees the waves bore it nearer, and it was plainly the body
+of a man. Though unknowing of whom, yet, as it was of some
+shipwrecked one, she was deeply moved, and gave it her tears,
+saying, "Alas! unhappy one, and unhappy, if such there be, thy
+wife!" Borne by the waves, it came nearer. As she more and more
+nearly views it, she trembles more and more. Now, now it
+approaches the shore. Now marks that she recognizes appear. It is
+her husband! Stretching out her trembling hands towards it, she
+exclaims, "O dearest husband, is it thus you return to me?"
+
+There was built out from the shore a mole, constructed to break
+the assaults of the sea, and stem its violent ingress. She leaped
+upon this barrier and (it was wonderful she could do so) she flew,
+and striking the air with wings produced on the instant, skimmed
+along the surface of the water, an unhappy bird. As she flew, her
+throat poured forth sounds full of grief, and like the voice of
+one lamenting. When she touched the mute and bloodless body, she
+enfolded its beloved limbs with her new-formed wings, and tried to
+give kisses with her horny beak. Whether Ceyx felt it, or whether
+it was only the action of the waves, those who looked on doubted,
+but the body seemed to raise its head. But indeed he did feel it,
+and by the pitying gods both of them were changed into birds. They
+mate and have their young ones. For seven placid days, in winter
+time, Halcyone broods over her nest, which floats upon the sea.
+Then the way is safe to seamen. Aeolus guards the winds and keeps
+them from disturbing the deep. The sea is given up, for the time,
+to his grandchildren.
+
+The following lines from Byron's "Bride of Abydos" might seem
+borrowed from the concluding part of this description, if it were
+not stated that the author derived the suggestion from observing
+the motion of a floating corpse:
+
+    "As shaken on his restless pillow,
+     His head heaves with the heaving billow,
+     That hand, whose motion is not life,
+     Yet feebly seems to menace strife,
+     Flung by the tossing tide on high,
+     Then levelled with the wave ..."
+
+Milton in his "Hymn on the Nativity," thus alludes to the fable of
+the Halcyon:
+
+    "But peaceful was the night
+     Wherein the Prince of light
+       His reign of peace upon the earth began;
+     The winds with wonder whist
+     Smoothly the waters kist
+       Whispering new joys to the mild ocean,
+     Who now hath quite forgot to rave
+     While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave."
+
+Keats, also, in "Endymion," says:
+
+    "O magic sleep! O comfortable bird
+     That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind
+     Till it is hushed and smooth."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+VERTUMNUS AND POMONA
+
+
+The Hamadryads were Wood-nymphs. Pomona was of this class, and no
+one excelled her in love of the garden and the culture of fruit.
+She cared not for forests and rivers, but loved the cultivated
+country, and trees that bear delicious apples. Her right hand bore
+for its weapon not a javelin, but a pruning-knife. Armed with
+this, she busied herself at one time to repress the too luxuriant
+growths, and curtail the branches that straggled out of place; at
+another, to split the twig and insert therein a graft, making the
+branch adopt a nursling not its own. She took care, too, that her
+favorites should not suffer from drought, and led streams of water
+by them, that the thirsty roots might drink. This occupation was
+her pursuit, her passion; and she was free from that which Venus
+inspires. She was not without fear of the country people, and kept
+her orchard locked, and allowed not men to enter. The Fauns and
+Satyrs would have given all they possessed to win her, and so
+would old Sylvanus, who looks young for his years, and Pan, who
+wears a garland of pine leaves around his head. But Vertumnus
+loved her best of all; yet he sped no better than the rest. O how
+often, in the disguise of a reaper, did he bring her corn in a
+basket, and looked the very image of a reaper! With a hay band
+tied round him, one would think he had just come from turning over
+the grass. Sometimes he would have an ox-goad in his hand, and you
+would have said he had just unyoked his weary oxen. Now he bore a
+pruning-hook, and personated a vine-dresser; and again, with a
+ladder on his shoulder, he seemed as if he was going to gather
+apples. Sometimes he trudged along as a discharged soldier, and
+again he bore a fishing-rod, as if going to fish. In this way he
+gained admission to her again and again, and fed his passion with
+the sight of her.
+
+One day he came in the guise of an old woman, her gray hair
+surmounted with a cap, and a staff in her hand. She entered the
+garden and admired the fruit. "It does you credit, my dear," she
+said, and kissed her, not exactly with an old woman's kiss. She
+sat down on a bank, and looked up at the branches laden with fruit
+which hung over her. Opposite was an elm entwined with a vine
+loaded with swelling grapes. She praised the tree and its
+associated vine, equally. "But," said she, "if the tree stood
+alone, and had no vine clinging to it, it would have nothing to
+attract or offer us but its useless leaves. And equally the vine,
+if it were not twined round the elm, would lie prostrate on the
+ground. Why will you not take a lesson from the tree and the vine,
+and consent to unite yourself with some one? I wish you would.
+Helen herself had not more numerous suitors, nor Penelope, the
+wife of shrewd Ulysses. Even while you spurn them, they court
+you,--rural deities and others of every kind that frequent these
+mountains. But if you are prudent and want to make a good
+alliance, and will let an old woman advise you,--who loves you
+better than you have any idea of,--dismiss all the rest and
+accept Vertumnus, on my recommendation. I know him as well as he
+knows himself. He is not a wandering deity, but belongs to these
+mountains. Nor is he like too many of the lovers nowadays, who
+love any one they happen to see; he loves you, and you only. Add
+to this, he is young and handsome, and has the art of assuming any
+shape he pleases, and can make himself just what you command him.
+Moreover, he loves the same things that you do, delights in
+gardening, and handles your apples with admiration. But NOW he
+cares nothing for fruits nor flowers, nor anything else, but only
+yourself. Take pity on him, and fancy him speaking now with my
+mouth. Remember that the gods punish cruelty, and that Venus hates
+a hard heart, and will visit such offences sooner or later. To
+prove this, let me tell you a story, which is well known in Cyprus
+to be a fact; and I hope it will have the effect to make you more
+merciful.
+
+"Iphis was a young man of humble parentage, who saw and loved
+Anaxarete, a noble lady of the ancient family of Teucer. He
+struggled long with his passion, but when he found he could not
+subdue it, he came a suppliant to her mansion. First he told his
+passion to her nurse, and begged her as she loved her foster-child
+to favor his suit. And then he tried to win her domestics to his
+side. Sometimes he committed his vows to written tablets, and
+often hung at her door garlands which he had moistened with his
+tears. He stretched himself on her threshold, and uttered his
+complaints to the cruel bolts and bars. She was deafer than the
+surges which rise in the November gale; harder than steel from the
+German forges, or a rock that still clings to its native cliff.
+She mocked and laughed at him, adding cruel words to her ungentle
+treatment, and gave not the slightest gleam of hope.
+
+"Iphis could not any longer endure the torments of hopeless love,
+and, standing before her doors, he spake these last words:
+'Anaxarete, you have conquered, and shall no longer have to bear
+my importunities. Enjoy your triumph! Sing songs of joy, and bind
+your forehead with laurel,--you have conquered! I die; stony
+heart, rejoice! This at least I can do to gratify you and force
+you to praise me; and thus shall I prove that the love of you left
+me but with life. Nor will I leave it to rumor to tell you of my
+death. I will come myself, and you shall see me die, and feast
+your eyes on the spectacle. Yet, O ye gods, who look down on
+mortal woes, observe my fate! I ask but this: let me be remembered
+in coming ages, and add those years to my fame which you have reft
+from my life. Thus he said, and, turning his pale face and weeping
+eyes towards her mansion, he fastened a rope to the gatepost, on
+which he had often hung garlands, and putting his head into the
+noose, he murmured, 'This garland at least will please you, cruel
+girl!' and falling hung suspended with his neck broken. As he fell
+he struck against the gate, and the sound was as the sound of a
+groan. The servants opened the door and found him dead, and with
+exclamations of pity raised him and carried him home to his
+mother, for his father was not living. She received the dead body
+of her son, and folded the cold form to her bosom, while she
+poured forth the sad words which bereaved mothers utter. The
+mournful funeral passed through the town, and the pale corpse was
+borne on a bier to the place of the funeral pile. By chance the
+home of Anaxarete was on the street where the procession passed,
+and the lamentations of the mourners met the ears of her whom the
+avenging deity had already marked for punishment.
+
+"'Let us see this sad procession,' said she, and mounted to a
+turret, whence through an open window she looked upon the funeral.
+Scarce had her eyes rested upon the form of Iphis stretched on the
+bier, when they began to stiffen, and the warm blood in her body
+to become cold. Endeavoring to step back, she found she could not
+move her feet; trying to turn away her face, she tried in vain;
+and by degrees all her limbs became stony like her heart. That you
+may not doubt the fact, the statue still remains, and stands in
+the temple of Venus at Salamis, in the exact form of the lady. Now
+think of these things, my dear, and lay aside your scorn and your
+delays, and accept a lover. So may neither the vernal frosts
+blight your young fruits, nor furious winds scatter your
+blossoms!"
+
+When Vertumnus had spoken thus, he dropped the disguise of an old
+woman, and stood before her in his proper person, as a comely
+youth. It appeared to her like the sun bursting through a cloud.
+He would have renewed his entreaties, but there was no need; his
+arguments and the sight of his true form prevailed, and the Nymph
+no longer resisted, but owned a mutual flame.
+
+Pomona was the especial patroness of the Apple-orchard, and as
+such she was invoked by Phillips, the author of a poem on Cider,
+in blank verse. Thomson in the "Seasons" alludes to him:
+
+    "Phillips, Pomona's bard, the second thou
+     Who nobly durst, in rhyme-unfettered verse,
+     With British freedom, sing the British song."
+
+But Pomona was also regarded as presiding over other fruits, and
+as such is invoked by Thomson:
+
+    "Bear me, Pomona, to thy citron groves,
+     To where the lemon and the piercing lime,
+     With the deep orange, glowing through the green,
+     Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclined
+     Beneath the spreading tamarind, that shakes,
+     Fanned by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CUPID AND PSYCHE
+
+
+A certain king and queen had three daughters. The charms of the
+two elder were more than common, but the beauty of the youngest
+was so wonderful that the poverty of language is unable to express
+its due praise. The fame of her beauty was so great that strangers
+from neighboring countries came in crowds to enjoy the sight, and
+looked on her with amazement, paying her that homage which is due
+only to Venus herself. In fact Venus found her altars deserted,
+while men turned their devotion to this young virgin. As she
+passed along, the people sang her praises, and strewed her way
+with chaplets and flowers.
+
+This perversion of homage due only to the immortal powers to the
+exaltation of a mortal gave great offence to the real Venus.
+Shaking her ambrosial locks with indignation, she exclaimed, "Am I
+then to be eclipsed in my honors by a mortal girl? In vain then
+did that royal shepherd, whose judgment was approved by Jove
+himself, give me the palm of beauty over my illustrious rivals,
+Pallas and Juno. But she shall not so quietly usurp my honors. I
+will give her cause to repent of so unlawful a beauty."
+
+Thereupon she calls her winged son Cupid, mischievous enough in
+his own nature, and rouses and provokes him yet more by her
+complaints. She points out Psyche to him and says, "My dear son,
+punish that contumacious beauty; give thy mother a revenge as
+sweet as her injuries are great; infuse into the bosom of that
+haughty girl a passion for some low, mean, unworthy being, so that
+she may reap a mortification as great as her present exultation
+and triumph."
+
+Cupid prepared to obey the commands of his mother. There are two
+fountains in Venus's garden, one of sweet waters, the other of
+bitter. Cupid filled two amber vases, one from each fountain, and
+suspending them from the top of his quiver, hastened to the
+chamber of Psyche, whom he found asleep. He shed a few drops from
+the bitter fountain over her lips, though the sight of her almost
+moved him to pity; then touched her side with the point of his
+arrow. At the touch she awoke, and opened eyes upon Cupid (himself
+invisible), which so startled him that in his confusion he wounded
+himself with his own arrow. Heedless of his wound, his whole
+thought now was to repair the mischief he had done, and he poured
+the balmy drops of joy over all her silken ringlets.
+
+Psyche, henceforth frowned upon by Venus, derived no benefit from
+all her charms. True, all eyes were cast eagerly upon her, and
+every mouth spoke her praises; but neither king, royal youth, nor
+plebeian presented himself to demand her in marriage. Her two
+elder sisters of moderate charms had now long been married to two
+royal princes; but Psyche, in her lonely apartment, deplored her
+solitude, sick of that beauty which, while it procured abundance
+of flattery, had failed to awaken love.
+
+Her parents, afraid that they had unwittingly incurred the anger
+of the gods, consulted the oracle of Apollo, and received this
+answer: "The virgin is destined for the bride of no mortal lover.
+Her future husband awaits her on the top of the mountain. He is a
+monster whom neither gods nor men can resist."
+
+This dreadful decree of the oracle filled all the people with
+dismay, and her parents abandoned themselves to grief. But Psyche
+said, "Why, my dear parents, do you now lament me? You should
+rather have grieved when the people showered upon me undeserved
+honors, and with one voice called me a Venus. I now perceive that
+I am a victim to that name. I submit. Lead me to that rock to
+which my unhappy fate has destined me." Accordingly, all things
+being prepared, the royal maid took her place in the procession,
+which more resembled a funeral than a nuptial pomp, and with her
+parents, amid the lamentations of the people, ascended the
+mountain, on the summit of which they left her alone, and with
+sorrowful hearts returned home.
+
+While Psyche stood on the ridge of the mountain, panting with fear
+and with eyes full of tears, the gentle Zephyr raised her from the
+earth and bore her with an easy motion into a flowery dale. By
+degrees her mind became composed, and she laid herself down on the
+grassy bank to sleep. When she awoke refreshed with sleep, she
+looked round and beheld near by a pleasant grove of tall and
+stately trees. She entered it, and in the midst discovered a
+fountain, sending forth clear and crystal waters, and fast by, a
+magnificent palace whose august front impressed the spectator that
+it was not the work of mortal hands, but the happy retreat of some
+god. Drawn by admiration and wonder, she approached the building
+and ventured to enter. Every object she met filled her with
+pleasure and amazement. Golden pillars supported the vaulted roof,
+and the walls were enriched with carvings and paintings
+representing beasts of the chase and rural scenes, adapted to
+delight the eye of the beholder. Proceeding onward, she perceived
+that besides the apartments of state there were others filled with
+all manner of treasures, and beautiful and precious productions of
+nature and art.
+
+While her eyes were thus occupied, a voice addressed her, though
+she saw no one, uttering these words: "Sovereign lady, all that
+you see is yours. We whose voices you hear are your servants and
+shall obey all your commands with our utmost care and diligence.
+Retire, therefore, to your chamber and repose on your bed of down,
+and when you see fit repair to the bath. Supper awaits you in the
+adjoining alcove when it pleases you to take your seat there."
+
+Psyche gave ear to the admonitions of her vocal attendants, and
+after repose and the refreshment of the bath, seated herself in
+the alcove, where a table immediately presented itself, without
+any visible aid from waiters or servants, and covered with the
+greatest delicacies of food and the most nectareous wines. Her
+ears too were feasted with music from invisible performers; of
+whom one sang, another played on the lute, and all closed in the
+wonderful harmony of a full chorus.
+
+She had not yet seen her destined husband. He came only in the
+hours of darkness and fled before the dawn of morning, but his
+accents were full of love, and inspired a like passion in her. She
+often begged him to stay and let her behold him, but he would not
+consent. On the contrary he charged her to make no attempt to see
+him, for it was his pleasure, for the best of reasons, to keep
+concealed. "Why should you wish to behold me?" he said; "have you
+any doubt of my love? have you any wish ungratified? If you saw
+me, perhaps you would fear me, perhaps adore me, but all I ask of
+you is to love me. I would rather you would love me as an equal
+than adore me as a god."
+
+This reasoning somewhat quieted Psyche for a time, and while the
+novelty lasted she felt quite happy. But at length the thought of
+her parents, left in ignorance of her fate, and of her sisters,
+precluded from sharing with her the delights of her situation,
+preyed on her mind and made her begin to feel her palace as but a
+splendid prison. When her husband came one night, she told him her
+distress, and at last drew from him an unwilling consent that her
+sisters should be brought to see her.
+
+So, calling Zephyr, she acquainted him with her husband's
+commands, and he, promptly obedient, soon brought them across the
+mountain down to their sister's valley. They embraced her and she
+returned their caresses. "Come," said Psyche, "enter with me my
+house and refresh yourselves with whatever your sister has to
+offer." Then taking their hands she led them into her golden
+palace, and committed them to the care of her numerous train of
+attendant voices, to refresh them in her baths and at her table,
+and to show them all her treasures. The view of these celestial
+delights caused envy to enter their bosoms, at seeing their young
+sister possessed of such state and splendor, so much exceeding
+their own.
+
+They asked her numberless questions, among others what sort of a
+person her husband was. Psyche replied that he was a beautiful
+youth, who generally spent the daytime in hunting upon the
+mountains. The sisters, not satisfied with this reply, soon made
+her confess that she had never seen him. Then they proceeded to
+fill her bosom with dark suspicions. "Call to mind," they said,
+"the Pythian oracle that declared you destined to marry a direful
+and tremendous monster. The inhabitants of this valley say that
+your husband is a terrible and monstrous serpent, who nourishes
+you for a while with dainties that he may by and by devour you.
+Take our advice. Provide yourself with a lamp and a sharp knife;
+put them in concealment that your husband may not discover them,
+and when he is sound asleep, slip out of bed, bring forth your
+lamp, and see for yourself whether what they say is true or not.
+If it is, hesitate not to cut off the monster's head, and thereby
+recover your liberty."
+
+Psyche resisted these persuasions as well as she could, but they
+did not fail to have their effect on her mind, and when her
+sisters were gone, their words and her own curiosity were too
+strong for her to resist. So she prepared her lamp and a sharp
+knife, and hid them out of sight of her husband. When he had
+fallen into his first sleep, she silently rose and uncovering her
+lamp beheld not a hideous monster, but the most beautiful and
+charming of the gods, with his golden ringlets wandering over his
+snowy neck and crimson cheek, with two dewy wings on his
+shoulders, whiter than snow, and with shining feathers like the
+tender blossoms of spring. As she leaned the lamp over to have a
+nearer view of his face a drop of burning oil fell on the shoulder
+of the god, startled with which he opened his eyes and fixed them
+full upon her; then, without saying one word, he spread his white
+wings and flew out of the window. Psyche, in vain endeavoring to
+follow him, fell from the window to the ground. Cupid, beholding
+her as she lay in the dust, stopped his flight for an instant and
+said, "O foolish Psyche, is it thus you repay my love? After
+having disobeyed my mother's commands and made you my wife, will
+you think me a monster and cut off my head? But go; return to your
+sisters, whose advice you seem to think preferable to mine. I
+inflict no other punishment on you than to leave you forever. Love
+cannot dwell with suspicion." So saying, he fled away, leaving
+poor Psyche prostrate on the ground, filling the place with
+mournful lamentations.
+
+When she had recovered some degree of composure she looked around
+her, but the palace and gardens had vanished, and she found
+herself in the open field not far from the city where her sisters
+dwelt. She repaired thither and told them the whole story of her
+misfortunes, at which, pretending to grieve, those spiteful
+creatures inwardly rejoiced. "For now," said they, "he will
+perhaps choose one of us." With this idea, without saying a word
+of her intentions, each of them rose early the next morning and
+ascended the mountains, and having reached the top, called upon
+Zephyr to receive her and bear her to his lord; then leaping up,
+and not being sustained by Zephyr, fell down the precipice and was
+dashed to pieces.
+
+Psyche meanwhile wandered day and night, without food or repose,
+in search of her husband. Casting her eyes on a lofty mountain
+having on its brow a magnificent temple, she sighed and said to
+herself, "Perhaps my love, my lord, inhabits there," and directed
+her steps thither.
+
+She had no sooner entered than she saw heaps of corn, some in
+loose ears and some in sheaves, with mingled ears of barley.
+Scattered about, lay sickles and rakes, and all the instruments of
+harvest, without order, as if thrown carelessly out of the weary
+reapers' hands in the sultry hours of the day.
+
+This unseemly confusion the pious Psyche put an end to, by
+separating and sorting everything to its proper place and kind,
+believing that she ought to neglect none of the gods, but endeavor
+by her piety to engage them all in her behalf. The holy Ceres,
+whose temple it was, finding her so religiously employed, thus
+spoke to her: "O Psyche, truly worthy of our pity, though I cannot
+shield you from the frowns of Venus, yet I can teach you how best
+to allay her displeasure. Go, then, and voluntarily surrender
+yourself to your lady and sovereign, and try by modesty and
+submission to win her forgiveness, and perhaps her favor will
+restore you the husband you have lost."
+
+Psyche obeyed the commands of Ceres and took her way to the temple
+of Venus, endeavoring to fortify her mind and ruminating on what
+she should say and how best propitiate the angry goddess, feeling
+that the issue was doubtful and perhaps fatal.
+
+Venus received her with angry countenance. "Most undutiful and
+faithless of servants," said she, "do you at last remember that
+you really have a mistress? Or have you rather come to see your
+sick husband, yet laid up of the wound given him by his loving
+wife? You are so ill-favored and disagreeable that the only way
+you can merit your lover must be by dint of industry and
+diligence. I will make trial of your housewifery." Then she
+ordered Psyche to be led to the storehouse of her temple, where
+was laid up a great quantity of wheat, barley, millet, vetches,
+beans, and lentils prepared for food for her pigeons, and said,
+"Take and separate all these grains, putting all of the same kind
+in a parcel by themselves, and see that you get it done before
+evening." Then Venus departed and left her to her task.
+
+But Psyche, in a perfect consternation at the enormous work, sat
+stupid and silent, without moving a finger to the inextricable
+heap.
+
+While she sat despairing, Cupid stirred up the little ant, a
+native of the fields, to take compassion on her. The leader of the
+ant hill, followed by whole hosts of his six-legged subjects,
+approached the heap, and with the utmost diligence, taking grain
+by grain, they separated the pile, sorting each kind to its
+parcel; and when it was all done, they vanished out of sight in a
+moment.
+
+Venus at the approach of twilight returned from the banquet of the
+gods, breathing odors and crowned with roses. Seeing the task
+done, she exclaimed, "This is no work of yours, wicked one, but
+his, whom to your own and his misfortune you have enticed." So
+saying, she threw her a piece of black bread for her supper and
+went away.
+
+Next morning Venus ordered Psyche to be called and said to her,
+"Behold yonder grove which stretches along the margin of the
+water. There you will find sheep feeding without a shepherd, with
+golden-shining fleeces on their backs. Go, fetch me a sample of
+that precious wool gathered from every one of their fleeces."
+
+Psyche obediently went to the riverside, prepared to do her best
+to execute the command. But the river god inspired the reeds with
+harmonious murmurs, which seemed to say, "O maiden, severely
+tried, tempt not the dangerous flood, nor venture among the
+formidable rams on the other side, for as long as they are under
+the influence of the rising sun, they burn with a cruel rage to
+destroy mortals with their sharp horns or rude teeth. But when the
+noontide sun has driven the cattle to the shade, and the serene
+spirit of the flood has lulled them to rest, you may then cross in
+safety, and you will find the woolly gold sticking to the bushes
+and the trunks of the trees."
+
+Thus the compassionate river god gave Psyche instructions how to
+accomplish her task, and by observing his directions she soon
+returned to Venus with her arms full of the golden fleece; but she
+received not the approbation of her implacable mistress, who said,
+"I know very well it is by none of your own doings that you have
+succeeded in this task, and I am not satisfied yet that you have
+any capacity to make yourself useful. But I have another task for
+you. Here, take this box and go your way to the infernal shades,
+and give this box to Proserpine and say, 'My mistress Venus
+desires you to send her a little of your beauty, for in tending
+her sick son she has lost some of her own.' Be not too long on
+your errand, for I must paint myself with it to appear at the
+circle of the gods and goddesses this evening."
+
+Psyche was now satisfied that her destruction was at hand, being
+obliged to go with her own feet directly down to Erebus.
+Wherefore, to make no delay of what was not to be avoided, she
+goes to the top of a high tower to precipitate herself headlong,
+thus to descend the shortest way to the shades below. But a voice
+from the tower said to her, "Why, poor unlucky girl, dost thou
+design to put an end to thy days in so dreadful a manner? And what
+cowardice makes thee sink under this last danger who hast been so
+miraculously supported in all thy former?" Then the voice told her
+how by a certain cave she might reach the realms of Pluto, and how
+to avoid all the dangers of the road, to pass by Cerberus, the
+three-headed dog, and prevail on Charon, the ferryman, to take her
+across the black river and bring her back again. But the voice
+added, "When Proserpine has given you the box filled with her
+beauty, of all things this is chiefly to be observed by you, that
+you never once open or look into the box nor allow your curiosity
+to pry into the treasure of the beauty of the goddesses."
+
+Psyche, encouraged by this advice, obeyed it in all things, and
+taking heed to her ways travelled safely to the kingdom of Pluto.
+She was admitted to the palace of Proserpine, and without
+accepting the delicate seat or delicious banquet that was offered
+her, but contented with coarse bread for her food, she delivered
+her message from Venus. Presently the box was returned to her,
+shut and filled with the precious commodity. Then she returned the
+way she came, and glad was she to come out once more into the
+light of day.
+
+But having got so far successfully through her dangerous task, a
+longing desire seized her to examine the contents of the box.
+"What," said she, "shall I, the carrier of this divine beauty, not
+take the least bit to put on my cheeks to appear to more advantage
+in the eyes of my beloved husband!" So she carefully opened the
+box, but found nothing there of any beauty at all, but an infernal
+and truly Stygian sleep, which being thus set free from its
+prison, took possession of her, and she fell down in the midst of
+the road, a sleepy corpse without sense or motion.
+
+But Cupid, being now recovered from his wound, and not able longer
+to bear the absence of his beloved Psyche, slipping through the
+smallest crack of the window of his chamber which happened to be
+left open, flew to the spot where Psyche lay, and gathering up the
+sleep from her body closed it again in the box, and waked Psyche
+with a light touch of one of his arrows. "Again," said he, "hast
+thou almost perished by the same curiosity. But now perform
+exactly the task imposed on you by my mother, and I will take care
+of the rest."
+
+Then Cupid, as swift as lightning penetrating the heights of
+heaven, presented himself before Jupiter with his supplication.
+Jupiter lent a favoring ear, and pleaded the cause of the lovers
+so earnestly with Venus that he won her consent. On this he sent
+Mercury to bring Psyche up to the heavenly assembly, and when she
+arrived, handing her a cup of ambrosia, he said, "Drink this,
+Psyche, and be immortal; nor shall Cupid ever break away from the
+knot in which he is tied, but these nuptials shall be perpetual."
+
+Thus Psyche became at last united to Cupid, and in due time they
+had a daughter born to them whose name was Pleasure.
+
+The fable of Cupid and Psyche is usually considered allegorical.
+The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche, and the same word means
+the soul. There is no illustration of the immortality of the soul
+so striking and beautiful as the butterfly, bursting on brilliant
+wings from the tomb in which it has lain, after a dull,
+grovelling, caterpillar existence, to flutter in the blaze of day
+and feed on the most fragrant and delicate productions of the
+spring. Psyche, then, is the human soul, which is purified by
+sufferings and misfortunes, and is thus prepared for the enjoyment
+of true and pure happiness.
+
+In works of art Psyche is represented as a maiden with the wings
+of a butterfly, along with Cupid, in the different situations
+described in the allegory.
+
+Milton alludes to the story of Cupid and Psyche in the conclusion
+of his "Comus":
+
+    "Celestial Cupid, her famed son, advanced,
+     Holds his dear Psyche sweet entranced,
+     After her wandering labors long,
+     Till free consent the gods among
+     Make her his eternal bride;
+     And from her fair unspotted side
+     Two blissful twins are to be born,
+     Youth and Joy; so Jove hath sworn."
+
+The allegory of the story of Cupid and Psyche is well presented in
+the beautiful lines of T. K. Harvey:
+
+    "They wove bright fables in the days of old,
+       When reason borrowed fancy's painted wings;
+     When truth's clear river flowed o'er sands of gold,
+       And told in song its high and mystic things!
+     And such the sweet and solemn tale of her
+       The pilgrim heart, to whom a dream was given,
+     That led her through the world,--Love's worshipper,--
+       To seek on earth for him whose home was heaven!
+
+    "In the full city,--by the haunted fount,--
+       Through the dim grotto's tracery of spars,--
+     'Mid the pine temples, on the moonlit mount,
+       Where silence sits to listen to the stars;
+     In the deep glade where dwells the brooding dove,
+       The painted valley, and the scented air,
+     She heard far echoes of the voice of Love,
+       And found his footsteps' traces everywhere.
+
+    "But nevermore they met since doubts and fears,
+       Those phantom shapes that haunt and blight the earth,
+     Had come 'twixt her, a child of sin and tears,
+       And that bright spirit of immortal birth;
+     Until her pining soul and weeping eyes
+     Had learned to seek him only in the skies;
+     Till wings unto the weary heart were given,
+     And she became Love's angel bride in heaven!"
+
+The story of Cupid and Psyche first appears in the works of
+Apuleius, a writer of the second century of our era. It is
+therefore of much more recent date than most of the legends of the
+Age of Fable. It is this that Keats alludes to in his "Ode to
+Psyche":
+
+    "O latest born and loveliest vision far
+       Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy!
+     Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-regioned star
+       Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
+     Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
+       Nor altar heaped with flowers;
+     Nor virgin choir to make delicious moan
+       Upon the midnight hours;
+     No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet,
+       From chain-swung censor teeming;
+     No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
+       Of pale-mouthed prophet dreaming."
+
+In Moore's "Summer Fete" a fancy ball is described, in which one
+of the characters personated is Psyche--
+
+
+    "... not in dark disguise to-night
+     Hath our young heroine veiled her light;--
+     For see, she walks the earth, Love's own.
+       His wedded bride, by holiest vow
+     Pledged in Olympus, and made known
+       To mortals by the type which now
+       Hangs glittering on her snowy brow.
+     That butterfly, mysterious trinket,
+     Which means the soul, (though few would think it,)
+     And sparkling thus on brow so white
+     Tells us we've Psyche here to-night."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CADMUS--THE MYRMIDONS
+
+
+Jupiter, under the disguise of a bull, had carried away Europa,
+the daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. Agenor commanded his
+son Cadmus to go in search of his sister, and not to return
+without her. Cadmus went and sought long and far for his sister,
+but could not find her, and not daring to return unsuccessful,
+consulted the oracle of Apollo to know what country he should
+settle in. The oracle informed him that he should find a cow in
+the field, and should follow her wherever she might wander, and
+where she stopped, should build a city and call it Thebes. Cadmus
+had hardly left the Castalian cave, from which the oracle was
+delivered, when he saw a young cow slowly walking before him. He
+followed her close, offering at the same time his prayers to
+Phoebus. The cow went on till she passed the shallow channel of
+Cephisus and came out into the plain of Panope. There she stood
+still, and raising her broad forehead to the sky, filled the air
+with her lowings. Cadmus gave thanks, and stooping down kissed the
+foreign soil, then lifting his eyes, greeted the surrounding
+mountains. Wishing to offer a sacrifice to Jupiter, he sent his
+servants to seek pure water for a libation. Near by there stood an
+ancient grove which had never been profaned by the axe, in the
+midst of which was a cave, thick covered with the growth of
+bushes, its roof forming a low arch, from beneath which burst
+forth a fountain of purest water. In the cave lurked a horrid
+serpent with a crested head and scales glittering like gold. His
+eyes shone like fire, his body was swollen with venom, he vibrated
+a triple tongue, and showed a triple row of teeth. No sooner had
+the Tyrians dipped their pitchers in the fountain, and the in-
+gushing waters made a sound, than the glittering serpent raised
+his head out of the cave and uttered a fearful hiss. The vessels
+fell from their hands, the blood left their cheeks, they trembled
+in every limb. The serpent, twisting his scaly body in a huge
+coil, raised his head so as to overtop the tallest trees, and
+while the Tyrians from terror could neither fight nor fly, slew
+some with his fangs, others in his folds, and others with his
+poisonous breath.
+
+Cadmus, having waited for the return of his men till midday, went
+in search of them. His covering was a lion's hide, and besides his
+javelin he carried in his hand a lance, and in his breast a bold
+heart, a surer reliance than either. When he entered the wood, and
+saw the lifeless bodies of his men, and the monster with his
+bloody jaws, he exclaimed, "O faithful friends, I will avenge you,
+or share your death." So saying he lifted a huge stone and threw
+it with all his force at the serpent. Such a block would have
+shaken the wall of a fortress, but it made no impression on the
+monster. Cadmus next threw his javelin, which met with better
+success, for it penetrated the serpent's scales, and pierced
+through to his entrails. Fierce with pain, the monster turned back
+his head to view the wound, and attempted to draw out the weapon
+with his mouth, but broke it off, leaving the iron point rankling
+in his flesh. His neck swelled with rage, bloody foam covered his
+jaws, and the breath of his nostrils poisoned the air around. Now
+he twisted himself into a circle, then stretched himself out on
+the ground like the trunk of a fallen tree. As he moved onward,
+Cadmus retreated before him, holding his spear opposite to the
+monster's opened jaws. The serpent snapped at the weapon and
+attempted to bite its iron point. At last Cadmus, watching his
+chance, thrust the spear at a moment when the animal's head thrown
+back came against the trunk of a tree, and so succeeded in pinning
+him to its side. His weight bent the tree as he struggled in the
+agonies of death.
+
+While Cadmus stood over his conquered foe, contemplating its vast
+size, a voice was heard (from whence he knew not, but he heard it
+distinctly) commanding him to take the dragon's teeth and sow them
+in the earth. He obeyed. He made a furrow in the ground, and
+planted the teeth, destined to produce a crop of men. Scarce had
+he done so when the clods began to move, and the points of spears
+to appear above the surface. Next helmets with their nodding
+plumes came up, and next the shoulders and breasts and limbs of
+men with weapons, and in time a harvest of armed warriors. Cadmus,
+alarmed, prepared to encounter a new enemy, but one of them said
+to him, "Meddle not with our civil war." With that he who had
+spoken smote one of his earth-born brothers with a sword, and he
+himself fell pierced with an arrow from another. The latter fell
+victim to a fourth, and in like manner the whole crowd dealt with
+each other till all fell, slain with mutual wounds, except five
+survivors. One of these cast away his weapons and said, "Brothers,
+let us live in peace!" These five joined with Cadmus in building
+his city, to which they gave the name of Thebes.
+
+Cadmus obtained in marriage Harmonia, the daughter of Venus. The
+gods left Olympus to honor the occasion with their presence, and
+Vulcan presented the bride with a necklace of surpassing
+brilliancy, his own workmanship. But a fatality hung over the
+family of Cadmus in consequence of his killing the serpent sacred
+to Mars. Semele and Ino, his daughters, and Actaeon and Pentheus,
+his grandchildren, all perished unhappily, and Cadmus and Harmonia
+quitted Thebes, now grown odious to them, and emigrated to the
+country of the Enchelians, who received them with honor and made
+Cadmus their king. But the misfortunes of their children still
+weighed upon their minds; and one day Cadmus exclaimed, "If a
+serpent's life is so dear to the gods, I would I were myself a
+serpent." No sooner had he uttered the words than he began to
+change his form. Harmonia beheld it and prayed to the gods to let
+her share his fate. Both became serpents. They live in the woods,
+but mindful of their origin, they neither avoid the presence of
+man nor do they ever injure any one.
+
+There is a tradition that Cadmus introduced into Greece the
+letters of the alphabet which were invented by the Phoenicians.
+This is alluded to by Byron, where, addressing the modern Greeks,
+he says:
+
+    "You have the letters Cadmus gave,
+     Think you he meant them for a slave?"
+
+Milton, describing the serpent which tempted Eve, is reminded of
+the serpents of the classical stories and says:
+
+    ... "--pleasing was his shape,
+     And lovely never since of serpent kind
+     Lovelier; not those that in Illyria changed
+     Hermione and Cadmus, nor the god
+     In Epidaurus"
+
+For an explanation of the last allusion, see Oracle of
+Aesculapius, p. 298.
+
+THE MYRMIDONS
+
+The Myrmidons were the soldiers of Achilles, in the Trojan war.
+From them all zealous and unscrupulous followers of a political
+chief are called by that name, down to this day. But the origin of
+the Myrmidons would not give one the idea of a fierce and bloody
+race, but rather of a laborious and peaceful one.
+
+Cephalus, king of Athens, arrived in the island of Aegina to seek
+assistance of his old friend and ally Aeacus, the king, in his war
+with Minos, king of Crete. Cephalus was most kindly received, and
+the desired assistance readily promised. "I have people enough,"
+said Aeacus, "to protect myself and spare you such a force as you
+need." "I rejoice to see it," replied Cephalus, "and my wonder has
+been raised, I confess, to find such a host of youths as I see
+around me, all apparently of about the same age. Yet there are
+many individuals whom I previously knew, that I look for now in
+vain. What has become of them?" Aeacus groaned, and replied with a
+voice of sadness, "I have been intending to tell you, and will now
+do so, without more delay, that you may see how from the saddest
+beginning a happy result sometimes flows. Those whom you formerly
+knew are now dust and ashes! A plague sent by angry Juno
+devastated the land. She hated it because it bore the name of one
+of her husband's female favorites. While the disease appeared to
+spring from natural causes we resisted it, as we best might, by
+natural remedies; but it soon appeared that the pestilence was too
+powerful for our efforts, and we yielded. At the beginning the sky
+seemed to settle down upon the earth, and thick clouds shut in the
+heated air. For four months together a deadly south wind
+prevailed. The disorder affected the wells and springs; thousands
+of snakes crept over the land and shed their poison in the
+fountains. The force of the disease was first spent on the lower
+animals--dogs, cattle, sheep, and birds The luckless ploughman
+wondered to see his oxen fall in the midst of their work, and lie
+helpless in the unfinished furrow. The wool fell from the bleating
+sheep, and their bodies pined away. The horse, once foremost in
+the race, contested the palm no more, but groaned at his stall and
+died an inglorious death. The wild boar forgot his rage, the stag
+his swiftness, the bears no longer attacked the herds. Everything
+languished; dead bodies lay in the roads, the fields, and the
+woods; the air was poisoned by them, I tell you what is hardly
+credible, but neither dogs nor birds would touch them, nor
+starving wolves. Their decay spread the infection. Next the
+disease attacked the country people, and then the dwellers in the
+city. At first the cheek was flushed, and the breath drawn with
+difficulty. The tongue grew rough and swelled, and the dry mouth
+stood open with its veins enlarged and gasped for the air. Men
+could not bear the heat of their clothes or their beds, but
+preferred to lie on the bare ground; and the ground did not cool
+them, but, on the contrary, they heated the spot where they lay.
+Nor could the physicians help, for the disease attacked them also,
+and the contact of the sick gave them infection, so that the most
+faithful were the first victims. At last all hope of relief
+vanished, and men learned to look upon death as the only deliverer
+from disease. Then they gave way to every inclination, and cared
+not to ask what was expedient, for nothing was expedient. All
+restraint laid aside, they crowded around the wells and fountains
+and drank till they died, without quenching thirst. Many had not
+strength to get away from the water, but died in the midst of the
+stream, and others would drink of it notwithstanding. Such was
+their weariness of their sick beds that some would creep forth,
+and if not strong enough to stand, would die on the ground. They
+seemed to hate their friends, and got away from their homes, as
+if, not knowing the cause of their sickness, they charged it on
+the place of their abode. Some were seen tottering along the road,
+as long as they could stand, while others sank on the earth, and
+turned their dying eyes around to take a last look, then closed
+them in death.
+
+"What heart had I left me, during all this, or what ought I to
+have had, except to hate life and wish to be with my dead
+subjects? On all sides lay my people strewn like over-ripened
+apples beneath the tree, or acorns under the storm-shaken oak. You
+see yonder a temple on the height. It is sacred to Jupiter. O how
+many offered prayers there, husbands for wives, fathers for sons,
+and died in the very act of supplication! How often, while the
+priest made ready for sacrifice, the victim fell, struck down by
+disease without waiting for the blow! At length all reverence for
+sacred things was lost. Bodies were thrown out unburied, wood was
+wanting for funeral piles, men fought with one another for the
+possession of them. Finally there were none left to mourn; sons
+and husbands, old men and youths, perished alike unlamented.
+
+"Standing before the altar I raised my eyes to heaven. 'O
+Jupiter,' I said, 'if thou art indeed my father, and art not
+ashamed of thy offspring, give me back my people, or take me also
+away!' At these words a clap of thunder was heard. 'I accept the
+omen,' I cried; 'O may it be a sign of a favorable disposition
+towards me!' By chance there grew by the place where I stood an
+oak with wide-spreading branches, sacred to Jupiter. I observed a
+troop of ants busy with their labor, carrying minute grains in
+their mouths and following one another in a line up the trunk of
+the tree. Observing their numbers with admiration, I said, 'Give
+me, O father, citizens as numerous as these, and replenish my
+empty city.' The tree shook and gave a rustling sound with its
+branches, though no wind agitated them. I trembled in every limb,
+yet I kissed the earth and the tree. I would not confess to myself
+that I hoped, yet I did hope. Night came on and sleep took
+possession of my frame oppressed with cares. The tree stood before
+me in my dreams, with its numerous branches all covered with
+living, moving creatures. It seemed to shake its limbs and throw
+down over the ground a multitude of those industrious grain-
+gathering animals, which appeared to gain in size, and grow larger
+and larger, and by and by to stand erect, lay aside their
+superfluous legs and their black color, and finally to assume the
+human form. Then I awoke, and my first impulse was to chide the
+gods who had robbed me of a sweet vision and given me no reality
+in its place. Being still in the temple, my attention was caught
+by the sound of many voices without; a sound of late unusual to my
+ears. While I began to think I was yet dreaming, Telamon, my son,
+throwing open the temple gates, exclaimed: 'Father, approach, and
+behold things surpassing even your hopes!' I went forth; I saw a
+multitude of men, such as I had seen in my dream, and they were
+passing in procession in the same manner. While I gazed with
+wonder and delight they approached and kneeling hailed me as their
+king. I paid my vows to Jove, and proceeded to allot the vacant
+city to the new-born race, and to parcel out the fields among them
+I called them Myrmidons, from the ant (myrmex) from which they
+sprang. You have seen these persons; their dispositions resemble
+those which they had in their former shape. They are a diligent
+and industrious race, eager to gain, and tenacious of their gains.
+Among them you may recruit your forces. They will follow you to
+the war, young in years and bold in heart." This description of
+the plague is copied by Ovid from the account which Thucydides,
+the Greek historian, gives of the plague of Athens. The historian
+drew from life, and all the poets and writers of fiction since his
+day, when they have had occasion to describe a similar scene, have
+borrowed their details from him.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+NISUS AND SCYLLA--ECHO AND NARCISSUS--CLYTIE--HERO AND LEANDER
+
+NISUS AND SCYLLA
+
+
+Minos, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus was king of
+Megara, and Scylla was his daughter. The siege had now lasted six
+months and the city still held out, for it was decreed by fate
+that it should not be taken so long as a certain purple lock,
+which glittered among the hair of King Nisus, remained on his
+head. There was a tower on the city walls, which overlooked the
+plain where Minos and his army were encamped. To this tower Scylla
+used to repair, and look abroad over the tents of the hostile
+army. The siege had lasted so long that she had learned to
+distinguish the persons of the leaders. Minos, in particular,
+excited her admiration. Arrayed in his helmet, and bearing his
+shield, she admired his graceful deportment; if he threw his
+javelin skill seemed combined with force in the discharge; if he
+drew his bow Apollo himself could not have done it more
+gracefully. But when he laid aside his helmet, and in his purple
+robes bestrode his white horse with its gay caparisons, and reined
+in its foaming mouth, the daughter of Nisus was hardly mistress of
+herself; she was almost frantic with admiration. She envied the
+weapon that he grasped, the reins that he held. She felt as if she
+could, if it were possible, go to him through the hostile ranks;
+she felt an impulse to cast herself down from the tower into the
+midst of his camp, or to open the gates to him, or to do anything
+else, so only it might gratify Minos. As she sat in the tower, she
+talked thus with herself: "I know not whether to rejoice or grieve
+at this sad war. I grieve that Minos is our enemy; but I rejoice
+at any cause that brings him to my sight. Perhaps he would be
+willing to grant us peace, and receive me as a hostage. I would
+fly down, if I could, and alight in his camp, and tell him that we
+yield ourselves to his mercy. But then, to betray my father! No!
+rather would I never see Minos again. And yet no doubt it is
+sometimes the best thing for a city to be conquered, when the
+conqueror is clement and generous. Minos certainly has right on
+his side. I think we shall be conquered; and if that must be the
+end of it, why should not love unbar the gates to him, instead of
+leaving it to be done by war? Better spare delay and slaughter if
+we can. And O if any one should wound or kill Minos! No one surely
+would have the heart to do it; yet ignorantly, not knowing him,
+one might. I will, I will surrender myself to him, with my country
+as a dowry, and so put an end to the war. But how? The gates are
+guarded, and my father keeps the keys; he only stands in my way. O
+that it might please the gods to take him away! But why ask the
+gods to do it? Another woman, loving as I do, would remove with
+her own hands whatever stood in the way of her love. And can any
+other woman dare more than I? I would encounter fire and sword to
+gain my object; but here there is no need of fire and sword. I
+only need my father's purple lock. More precious than gold to me,
+that will give me all I wish."
+
+While she thus reasoned night came on, and soon the whole palace
+was buried in sleep. She entered her father's bedchamber and cut
+off the fatal lock; then passed out of the city and entered the
+enemy's camp. She demanded to be led to the king, and thus
+addressed him: "I am Scylla, the daughter of Nisus. I surrender to
+you my country and my father's house. I ask no reward but
+yourself; for love of you I have done it. See here the purple
+lock! With this I give you my father and his kingdom." She held
+out her hand with the fatal spoil. Minos shrunk back and refused
+to touch it. "The gods destroy thee, infamous woman," he
+exclaimed; "disgrace of our time! May neither earth nor sea yield
+thee a resting-place! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself was
+cradled, shall not be polluted with such a monster!" Thus he said,
+and gave orders that equitable terms should be allowed to the
+conquered city, and that the fleet should immediately sail from
+the island.
+
+Scylla was frantic. "Ungrateful man," she exclaimed, "is it thus
+you leave me?--me who have given you victory,--who have sacrificed
+for you parent and country! I am guilty, I confess, and deserve to
+die, but not by your hand." As the ships left the shore, she
+leaped into the water, and seizing the rudder of the one which
+carried Minos, she was borne along an unwelcome companion of their
+course. A sea-eagle ing aloft,--it was her father who had been
+changed into that form,--seeing her, pounced down upon her, and
+struck her with his beak and claws. In terror she let go the ship
+and would have fallen into the water, but some pitying deity
+changed her into a bird. The sea-eagle still cherishes the old
+animosity; and whenever he espies her in his lofty flight you may
+see him dart down upon her, with beak and claws, to take vengeance
+for the ancient crime.
+
+ECHO AND NARCISSUS
+
+Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she
+devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana,
+and attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was
+fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the
+last word. One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had
+reason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her
+talk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their
+escape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in
+these words: "You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which
+you have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond
+of--reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to
+speak first."
+
+This nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the
+chase upon the mountains. She loved him, and followed his
+footsteps. O how she longed to address him in the softest accents,
+and win him to converse! but it was not in her power. She waited
+with impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready.
+One day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted
+aloud, "Who's here?" Echo replied, "Here." Narcissus looked
+around, but seeing no one called out, "Come." Echo answered,
+"Come." As no one came, Narcissus called again, "Why do you shun
+me?" Echo asked the same question. "Let us join one another," said
+the youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words,
+and hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck.
+He started back, exclaiming, "Hands off! I would rather die than
+you should have me!" "Have me," said she; but it was all in vain.
+He left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of
+the woods. From that time forth she lived in caves and among
+mountain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her
+flesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks and there was
+nothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to
+reply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of
+having the last word.
+
+Narcissus's cruelty in this case was not the only instance. He
+shunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done poor Echo. One
+day a maiden who had in vain endeavored to attract him uttered a
+prayer that he might some time or other feel what it was to love
+and meet no return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and
+granted the prayer.
+
+There was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the
+shepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats
+resorted, nor any of the beasts of the forest; neither was it
+defaced with fallen leaves or branches; but the grass grew fresh
+around it, and the rocks sheltered it from the sun. Hither came
+one day the youth, fatigued with hunting, heated and thirsty. He
+stooped down to drink, and saw his own image in the water; he
+thought it was some beautiful water-spirit living in the
+fountain. He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes,
+those locks curled like the locks of Bacchus or Apollo, the
+rounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of
+health and exercise over all. He fell in love with himself. He
+brought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to
+embrace the beloved object. It fled at the touch, but returned
+again after a moment and renewed the fascination. He could not
+tear himself away; he lost all thought of food or rest, while he
+hovered over the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image.
+He talked with the supposed spirit: "Why, beautiful being, do you
+shun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love
+me, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch
+forth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my
+beckonings with the like." His tears fell into the water and
+disturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, "Stay, I
+entreat you! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch
+you." With this, and much more of the same kind, he cherished the
+flame that consumed him, so that by degrees he lost his color, his
+vigor, and the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph
+Echo. She kept near him, however, and when he exclaimed, "Alas!
+alas!" she answered him with the same words. He pined away and
+died; and when his shade passed the Stygian river, it leaned over
+the boat to catch a look of itself in the waters. The nymphs
+mourned for him, especially the water-nymphs; and when they smote
+their breasts Echo smote hers also. They prepared a funeral pile
+and would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be found;
+but in its place a flower, purple within, and surrounded with
+white leaves, which bears the name and preserves the memory of
+Narcissus.
+
+Milton alludes to the story of Echo and Narcissus in the Lady's
+song in "Comus." She is seeking her brothers in the forest, and
+sings to attract their attention:
+
+    "Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen
+         Within thy aery shell
+       By slow Meander's margent green,
+     And in the violet-embroidered vale,
+       Where the love-lorn nightingale
+     Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well;
+     Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair
+       That likest thy Narcissus are?
+         O, if thou have
+       Hid them in some flowery cave,
+         Tell me but where,
+     Sweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere,
+     So may'st thou be translated to the skies,
+   And give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies."
+
+Milton has imitated the story of Narcissus in the account which he
+makes Eve give of the first sight of herself reflected in the
+fountain:
+
+    "That day I oft remember when from sleep
+     I first awaked, and found myself reposed
+     Under a shade on flowers, much wondering where
+     And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.
+     Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound
+     Of waters issued from a cave, and spread
+     Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved
+     Pure as the expanse of heaven; I thither went
+     With unexperienced thought, and laid me down
+     On the green bank, to look into the clear
+     Smooth lake that to me seemed another sky.
+     As I bent down to look, just opposite
+     A shape within the watery gleam appeared,
+     Bending to look on me. I started back;
+     It started back; but pleased I soon returned,
+     Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks
+     Of sympathy and love. There had I fixed
+     Mine eyes till now, and pined wi vain desire,
+     Had not a voice thus warned me: 'What thou seest,
+     What there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself;'" etc.
+
+    --Paradise Lost, Book IV.
+
+No one of the fables of antiquity has been oftener alluded to by
+the poets than that of Narcissus. Here are two epigrams which
+treat it in different ways. The first is by Goldsmith:
+
+"ON A BEAUTIFUL YOUTH, STRUCK BLIND BY LIGHTNING
+
+    "Sure 'twas by Providence designed,
+       Rather in pity than in hate,
+     That he should be like Cupid blind,
+       To save him from Narcissus' fate."
+
+The other is by Cowper:
+
+"ON AN UGLY FELLOW
+
+    "Beware, my friend, of crystal brook
+     Or fountain, lest that hideous hook,
+       Thy nose, thou chance to see;
+     Narcissus' fate would then be thine,
+     And self-detested thou would'st pine,
+       As self-enamoured he."
+
+CLYTIE
+
+Clytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who made her no
+return. So she pined away, sitting all day long upon the cold
+ground, with her unbound tresses streaming over her shoulders.
+Nine days she sat and tasted neither food nor drink, her own tears
+and the chilly dew her only food. She gazed on the sun when he
+rose, and as he passed through his daily course to his setting;
+she saw no other object, her face turned constantly on him. At
+last, they say, her limbs rooted in the ground, her face became a
+flower [Footnote: The sunflower.] which turns on its stem so as
+always to face the sun throughout its daily course; for it retains
+to that extent the feeling of the nymph from whom it sprang.
+
+Hood, in his "Flowers," thus alludes to Clytie:
+
+    "I will not have the mad Clytie,
+       Whose head is turned by the sun;
+     The tulip is a courtly quean,
+       Whom therefore I will shun;
+     The cowslip is a country wench,
+       The violet is a nun;--
+     But I will woo the dainty rose,
+       The queen of every one."
+
+The sunflower is a favorite emblem of constancy. Thus Moore uses
+it:
+
+    "The heart that has truly loved never forgets,
+       But as truly loves on to the close;
+     As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
+       The same look that she turned when he rose."
+
+HERO AND LEANDER
+
+Leander was a youth of Abydos, a town of the Asian side of the
+strait which separates Asia and Europe. On the opposite shore, in
+the town of Sestos, lived the maiden Hero, a priestess of Venus.
+Leander loved her, and used to swim the strait nightly to enjoy
+the company of his mistress, guided by a torch which she reared
+upon the tower for the purpose. But one night a tempest arose and
+the sea was rough; his strength failed, and he was drowned. The
+waves bore his body to the European shore, where Hero became aware
+of his death, and in her despair cast herself down from the tower
+into the sea and perished.
+
+The following sonnet is by Keats:
+
+"ON A PICTURE OF LEANDER
+
+    "Come hither all sweet maidens soberly,
+       Down looking aye, and with a chasten'd light
+       Hid in the fringes of your eyelids white,
+     And meekly let your fair hands joined be
+     As if so gentle that ye could not see,
+       Untouch'd, a victim of your beauty bright,
+       Sinking away to his young spirit's night,
+     Sinking bewilder'd'mid the dreary sea.
+     'Tis young Leander toiling to his death
+       Nigh swooning he doth purse his weary lips
+     For Hero's cheek, and smiles against her smile
+       O horrid dream! see how his body dips
+     Dead-heavy; arms and shoulders gleam awhile;
+     He's gone; up bubbles all his amorous breath!"
+
+The story of Leander's swimming the Hellespont was looked upon as
+fabulous, and the feat considered impossible, till Lord Byron
+proved its possibility by performing it himself. In the "Bride of
+Abydos" he says,
+
+    "These limbs that buoyant wave hath borne."
+
+The distance in the narrowest part is almost a mile, and there is
+a constant current setting out from the Sea of Marmora into the
+Archipelago. Since Byron's time the feat has been achieved by
+others; but it yet remains a test of strength and skill in the art
+of swimming sufficient to give a wide and lasting celebrity to any
+one of our readers who may dare to make the attempt and succeed in
+accomplishing it.
+
+In the beginning of the second canto of the same poem, Byron thus
+alludes to this story:
+
+    "The winds are high on Helle's wave,
+     As on that night of stormiest water,
+    When Love, who sent, forgot to save
+    The young, the beautiful, the brave,
+    The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.
+
+    O, when alone along the sky
+    The turret-torch was blazing high,
+    Though rising gale and breaking foam,
+    And shrieking sea-birds warned him home;
+    And clouds aloft and tides below,
+    With signs and sounds forbade to go,
+    He could not see, he would not hear
+    Or sound or sight foreboding fear.
+    His eye but saw that light of love,
+    The only star it hailed above;
+    His ear but rang with Hero's song,
+    'Ye waves, divide not lovers long.'
+    That tale is old, but love anew
+    May nerve young hearts to prove as true."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+MINERVA--NIOBE
+
+MINERVA
+
+
+Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, was the daughter of Jupiter. She
+was said to have leaped forth from his brain, mature, and in
+complete armor. She presided over the useful and ornamental arts,
+both those of men--such as agriculture and navigation--and those
+of women,--spinning, weaving, and needlework. She was also a
+warlike divinity; but it was defensive war only that she
+patronized, and she had no sympathy with Mars's savage love of
+violence and bloodshed. Athens was her chosen seat, her own city,
+awarded to her as the prize of a contest with Neptune, who also
+aspired to it. The tale ran that in the reign of Cecrops, the
+first king of Athens, the two deities contended for the possession
+of the city. The gods decreed that it should be awarded to that
+one who produced the gift most useful to mortals. Neptune gave the
+horse; Minerva produced the olive. The gods gave judgment that the
+olive was the more useful of the two, and awarded the city to the
+goddess; and it was named after her, Athens, her name in Greek
+being Athene.
+
+There was another contest, in which a mortal dared to come in
+competition with Minerva. That mortal was Arachne, a maiden who
+had attained such skill in the arts of weaving and embroidery that
+the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and fountains to
+come and gaze upon her work. It was not only beautiful when it was
+done, but beautiful also in the doing. To watch her, as she took
+the wool in its rude state and formed it into rolls, or separated
+it with her fingers and carded it till it looked as light and soft
+as a cloud, or twirled the spindle with skilful touch, or wove the
+web, or, after it was woven, adorned it with her needle, one would
+have said that Minerva herself had taught her. But this she
+denied, and could not bear to be thought a pupil even of a
+goddess. "Let Minerva try her skill with mine," said she; "if
+beaten I will pay the penalty." Minerva heard this and was
+displeased. She assumed the form of an old woman and went and gave
+Arachne some friendly advice "I have had much experience," said
+she, "and I hope you will not despise my counsel. Challenge your
+fellow-mortals as you will, but do not compete with a goddess. On
+the contrary, I advise you to ask her forgiveness for what you
+have said, and as she is merciful perhaps she will pardon you."
+Arachne stopped her spinning and looked at the old dame with anger
+in her countenance. "Keep your counsel," said she, "for your
+daughters or handmaids; for my part I know what I say, and I stand
+to it. I am not afraid of the goddess; let her try her skill, if
+she dare venture." "She comes," said Minerva; and dropping her
+disguise stood confessed. The nymphs bent low in homage, and all
+the bystanders paid reverence. Arachne alone was unterrified. She
+blushed, indeed; a sudden color dyed her cheek, and then she grew
+pale. But she stood to her resolve, and with a foolish conceit of
+her own skill rushed on her fate. Minerva forbore no longer nor
+interposed any further advice. They proceed to the contest. Each
+takes her station and attaches the web to the beam. Then the
+slender shuttle is passed in and out among the threads. The reed
+with its fine teeth strikes up the woof into its place and
+compacts the web. Both work with speed; their skilful hands move
+rapidly, and the excitement of the contest makes the labor light.
+Wool of Tyrian dye is contrasted with that of other colors, shaded
+off into one another so adroitly that the joining deceives the
+eye. Like the bow, whose long arch tinges the heavens, formed by
+sunbeams reflected from the shower, [Footnote: This correct
+description of the rainbow is literally translated from Ovid.] in
+which, where the colors meet they seem as one, but at a little
+distance from the point of contact are wholly different.
+
+Minerva wrought on her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.
+Twelve of the heavenly powers are represented, Jupiter, with
+august gravity, sitting in the midst. Neptune, the ruler of the
+sea, holds his trident, and appears to have just smitten the
+earth, from which a horse has leaped forth. Minerva depicted
+herself with helmed head, her Aegis covering her breast. Such was
+the central circle; and in the four corners were represented
+incidents illustrating the displeasure of the gods at such
+presumptuous mortals as had dared to contend with them. These were
+meant as warnings to her rival to give up the contest before it
+was too late.
+
+Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit
+the failings and errors of the gods. One scene represented Leda
+caressing the swan, under which form Jupiter had disguised
+himself; and another, Danae, in the brazen tower in which her
+father had imprisoned her, but where the god effected his entrance
+in the form of a golden shower. Still another depicted Europa
+deceived by Jupiter under the disguise of a bull. Encouraged by
+the tameness of the animal Europa ventured to mount his back,
+whereupon Jupiter advanced into the sea and swam with her to
+Crete. You would have thought it was a real bull, so naturally was
+it wrought, and so natural the water in which it swam. She seemed
+to look with longing eyes back upon the shore she was leaving, and
+to call to her companions for help. She appeared to shudder with
+terror at the sight of the heaving waves, and to draw back her
+feet from the water.
+
+Arachne filled her canvas with similar subjects, wonderfully well
+done, but strongly marking her presumption and impiety. Minerva
+could not forbear to admire, yet felt indignant at the insult. She
+struck the web with her shuttle and rent it in pieces, she then
+touched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and
+shame. She could not endure it and went and hanged herself.
+Minerva pitied her as she saw her suspended by a rope. "Live," she
+said, "guilty woman! and that you may preserve the memory of this
+lesson, continue to hang, both you and your descendants, to all
+future times." She sprinkled her with the juices of aconite, and
+immediately her hair came off, and her nose and ears likewise. Her
+form shrank up, and her head grew smaller yet; her fingers cleaved
+to her side and served for legs. All the rest of her is body, out
+of which she spins her thread, often hanging suspended by it, in
+the same attitude as when Minerva touched her and transformed her
+into a spider.
+
+Spenser tells the story of Arachne in his "Muiopotmos," adhering
+very closely to his master Ovid, but improving upon him in the
+conclusion of the story. The two stanzas which follow tell what
+was done after the goddess had depicted her creation of the olive
+tree:
+
+    "Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly,
+     With excellent device and wondrous slight,
+     Fluttering among the olives wantonly,
+     That seemed to live, so like it was in sight;
+     The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,
+     The silken down with which his back is dight,
+     His broad outstretched horns, his hairy thighs,
+     His glorious colors, and his glistening eyes."
+
+    "Which when Arachne saw, as overlaid
+     And mastered with workmanship so rare,
+     She stood astonied long, ne aught gainsaid;
+     And with fast-fixed eyes on her did stare
+     And by her silence, sign of one dismayed,
+     The victory did yield her as her share;
+     Yet did she inly fret and felly burn,
+     And all her blood to poisonous rancor turn."
+
+[Footnote: Sir James Mackintosh says of this, "Do you think that
+even a Chinese could paint the gay colors of a butterfly with more
+minute exactness than the following lines: 'The velvet nap,'
+etc.?"--Life, Vol. II, 246.]
+
+And so the metamorphosis is caused by Arachne's own mortification
+and vexation, and not by any direct act of the goddess.
+
+The following specimen of old-fashioned gallantry is by Garrick:
+
+         "UPON A LADY'S EMBROIDERY
+
+    "Arachne once, as poets tell,
+       A goddess at her art defied,
+     And soon the daring mortal fell
+       The hapless victim of her pride.
+
+    "O, then beware Arachne's fate;
+       Be prudent, Chloe, and submit,
+     For you'll most surely meet her hate,
+       Who rival both her art and wit."
+
+Tennyson, in his "Palace of Art," describing the works of art with
+which the palace was adorned, thus alludes to Europa:
+
+    "... sweet Europa's mantle blew unclasped
+       From off her shoulder, backward borne,
+     From one hand drooped a crocus, one hand grasped
+       The mild bull's golden horn."
+
+In his "Princess" there is this allusion to Danae:
+
+    "Now lies the earth all Danae to the stars,
+     And all thy heart lies open unto me."
+
+NIOBE
+
+The fate of Arachne was noised abroad through all the country, and
+served as a warning to all presumptuous mortals not to compare
+themselves with the divinities. But one, and she a matron too,
+failed to learn the lesson of humility. It was Niobe, the queen of
+Thebes. She had indeed much to be proud of; but it was not her
+husband's fame, nor her own beauty, nor their great descent, nor
+the power of their kingdom that elated her. It was her children;
+and truly the happiest of mothers would Niobe have been if only
+she had not claimed to be so. It was on occasion of the annual
+celebration in honor of Latona and her offspring, Apollo and
+Diana,--when the people of Thebes were assembled, their brows
+crowned with laurel, bearing frankincense to the altars and paying
+their vows,--that Niobe appeared among the crowd. Her attire was
+splendid with gold and gems, and her aspect beautiful as the face
+of an angry woman can be. She stood and surveyed the people with
+haughty looks. "What folly," said she, "is this!--to prefer beings
+whom you never saw to those who stand before your eyes! Why should
+Latona be honored with worship, and none be paid to me? My father
+was Tantalus, who was received as a guest at the table of the
+gods; my mother was a goddess. My husband built and rules this
+city, Thebes, and Phrygia is my paternal inheritance. Wherever I
+turn my eyes I survey the elements of my power; nor is my form and
+presence unworthy of a goddess. To all this let me add I have
+seven sons and seven daughters, and look for sons-in-law and
+daughters-in-law of pretensions worthy of my alliance. Have I not
+cause for pride? Will you prefer to me this Latona, the Titan's
+daughter, with her two children? I have seven times as many.
+Fortunate indeed am I, and fortunate I shall remain! Will any one
+deny this? My abundance is my security. I feel myself too strong
+for Fortune to subdue. She may take from me much; I shall still
+have much left. Were I to lose some of my children, I should
+hardly be left as poor as Latona with her two only. Away with you
+from these solemnities,--put off the laurel from your brows,--have
+done with this worship!" The people obeyed, and left the sacred
+services uncompleted.
+
+The goddess was indignant. On the Cynthian mountain top where she
+dwelt she thus addressed her son and daughter: "My children, I who
+have been so proud of you both, and have been used to hold myself
+second to none of the goddesses except Juno alone, begin now to
+doubt whether I am indeed a goddess. I shall be deprived of my
+worship altogether unless you protect me." She was proceeding in
+this strain, but Apollo interrupted her. "Say no more," said he;
+"speech only delays punishment." So said Diana also. Darting
+through the air, veiled in clouds, they alighted on the towers of
+the city. Spread out before the gates was a broad plain, where the
+youth of the city pursued their warlike sports. The sons of Niobe
+were there with the rest,--some mounted on spirited horses richly
+caparisoned, some driving gay chariots. Ismenos, the first-born,
+as he guided his foaming steeds, struck with an arrow from above,
+cried out, "Ah me!" dropped the reins, and fell lifeless. Another,
+hearing the sound of the bow,--like a boatman who sees the storm
+gathering and makes all sail for the port,--gave the reins to his
+horses and attempted to escape. The inevitable arrow overtook him
+as he fled. Two others, younger boys, just from their tasks, had
+gone to the playground to have a game of wrestling. As they stood
+breast to breast, one arrow pierced them both. They uttered a cry
+together, together cast a parting look around them, and together
+breathed their last. Alphenor, an elder brother, seeing them fall,
+hastened to the spot to render assistance, and fell stricken in
+the act of brotherly duty. One only was left, Ilioneus. He raised
+his arms to heaven to try whether prayer might not avail. "Spare
+me, ye gods!" he cried, addressing all, in his ignorance that all
+needed not his intercessions; and Apollo would have spared him,
+but the arrow had already left the string, and it was too late.
+
+The terror of the people and grief of the attendants soon made
+Niobe acquainted with what had taken place. She could hardly think
+it possible; she was indignant that the gods had dared and amazed
+that they had been able to do it. Her husband, Amphion,
+overwhelmed with the blow, destroyed himself. Alas! how different
+was this Niobe from her who had so lately driven away the people
+from the sacred rites, and held her stately course through the
+city, the envy of her friends, now the pity even of her foes! She
+knelt over the lifeless bodies, and kissed now one, now another of
+her dead sons. Raising her pallid arms to heaven, "Cruel Latona,"
+said she, "feed full your rage with my anguish! Satiate your hard
+heart, while I follow to the grave my seven sons. Yet where is
+your triumph? Bereaved as I am, I am still richer than you, my
+conqueror." Scarce had she spoken, when the bow sounded and struck
+terror into all hearts except Niobe's alone. She was brave from
+excess of grief. The sisters stood in garments of mourning over
+the biers of their dead brothers. One fell, struck by an arrow,
+and died on the corpse she was bewailing. Another, attempting to
+console her mother, suddenly ceased to speak, and sank lifeless to
+the earth. A third tried to escape by flight, a fourth by
+concealment, another stood trembling, uncertain what course to
+take. Six were now dead, and only one remained, whom the mother
+held clasped in her arms, and covered as it were with her whole
+body. "Spare me one, and that the youngest! O spare me one of so
+many!" she cried; and while she spoke, that one fell dead.
+Desolate she sat, among sons, daughters, husband, all dead, and
+seemed torpid with grief. The breeze moved not her hair, no color
+was on her cheek, her eyes glared fixed and immovable, there was
+no sign of life about her. Her very tongue cleaved to the roof of
+her mouth, and her veins ceased to convey the tide of life. Her
+neck bent not, her arms made no gesture, her foot no step. She was
+changed to stone, within and without. Yet tears continued to flow;
+and borne on a whirlwind to her native mountain, she still
+remains, a mass of rock, from which a trickling stream flows, the
+tribute of her never-ending grief.
+
+The story of Niobe has furnished Byron with a fine illustration of
+the fallen condition of modern Rome:
+
+    "The Niobe of nations! there she stands,
+     Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe;
+     An empty urn within her withered hands,
+     Whose holy dust was scattered long ago;
+     The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now:
+     The very sepulchres lie tenantless
+     Of their heroic dwellers; dost thou flow,
+     Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness?
+     Rise with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress."
+
+Childe Harold, IV. 79.
+
+This affecting story has been made the subject of a celebrated
+statue in the imperial gallery of Florence. It is the principal
+figure of a group supposed to have been originally arranged in the
+pediment of a temple. The figure of the mother clasped by the arm
+of her terrified child is one of the most admired of the ancient
+statues. It ranks with the Laocoon and the Apollo among the
+masterpieces of art. The following is a translation of a Greek
+epigram supposed to relate to this statue:
+
+    "To stone the gods have changed her, but in vain;
+     The sculptor's art has made her breathe again."
+
+Tragic as is the story of Niobe, we cannot forbear to smile at the
+use Moore has made of it in "Rhymes on the Road":
+
+    "'Twas in his carriage the sublime
+     Sir Richard Blackmore used to rhyme,
+       And, if the wits don't do him wrong,
+     'Twixt death and epics passed his time,
+       Scribbling and killing all day long;
+         Like Phoebus in his car at ease,
+       Now warbling forth a lofty song,
+         Now murdering the young Niobes."
+
+Sir Richard Blackmore was a physician, and at the same time a very
+prolific and very tasteless poet, whose works are now forgotten,
+unless when recalled to mind by some wit like Moore for the sake
+of a joke.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE GRAEAE OR GRAY-MAIDS--PERSEUS--MEDUSA--ATLAS--ANDROMEDA
+
+THE GRAEAE AND THE GORGONS
+
+
+The Graeae were three sisters who were gray-haired from their
+birth, whence their name. The Gorgons were monstrous females with
+huge teeth like those of swine, brazen claws, and snaky hair. None
+of these beings make much figure in mythology except Medusa, the
+Gorgon, whose story we shall next advert to. We mention them
+chiefly to introduce an ingenious theory of some modern writers,
+namely, that the Gorgons and Graeae were only personifications of
+the terrors of the sea, the former denoting the STRONG billows of
+the wide open main, and the latter the WHITE-crested waves that
+dash against the rocks of the coast. Their names in Greek signify
+the above epithets.
+
+PERSEUS AND MEDUSA
+
+Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danae. His grandfather
+Acrisius, alarmed by an oracle which had told him that his
+daughter's child would be the instrument of his death, caused the
+mother and child to be shut up in a chest and set adrift on the
+sea. The chest floated towards Seriphus, where it was found by a
+fisherman who conveyed the mother and infant to Polydectes, the
+king of the country, by whom they were treated with kindness. When
+Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the conquest
+of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the country. She
+was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her chief glory, but as
+she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva, the goddess deprived her
+of her charms and changed her beautiful ringlets into hissing
+serpents. She became a cruel monster of so frightful an aspect
+that no living thing could behold her without being turned into
+stone. All around the cavern where she dwelt might be seen the
+stony figures of men and animals which had chanced to catch a
+glimpse of her and had been petrified with the sight. Perseus,
+favored by Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her
+shield and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while
+she slept, and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
+by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he cut
+off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the middle of
+her Aegis.
+
+Milton, in his "Comus," thus alludes to the Aegis:
+
+    "What was that snaky-headed Gorgon-shield
+     That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,
+     Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,
+     But rigid looks of chaste austerity,
+     And noble grace that dashed brute violence
+     With sudden adoration and blank awe!"
+
+Armstrong, the poet of the "Art of Preserving Health," thus
+describes the effect of frost upon the waters:
+
+    "Now blows the surly North and chills throughout
+    The stiffening regions, while by stronger charms
+    Than Circe e'er or fell Medea brewed,
+    Each brook that wont to prattle to its banks
+    Lies all bestilled and wedged betwixt its banks,
+    Nor moves the withered reeds ...
+    The surges baited by the fierce North-east,
+    Tossing with fretful spleen their angry heads,
+    E'en in the foam of all their madness struck
+    To monumental ice.
+
+    Such execution,
+    So stern, so sudden, wrought the grisly aspect
+    Of terrible Medusa,
+    When wandering through the woods she turned to Stone
+    Their savage tenants; just as the foaming Lion
+    Sprang furious on his prey, her speedier power
+    Outran his haste,
+    And fixed in that fierce attitude he stands
+    Like Rage in marble!"
+
+    --Imitations of Shakspeare.
+
+PERSEUS AND ATLAS
+
+After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing with him the head
+of the Gorgon, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came
+on, he reached the western limit of the earth, where the sun goes
+down. Here he would gladly have rested till morning. It was the
+realm of King Atlas, whose bulk surpassed that of all other men.
+He was rich in flocks and herds and had no neighbor or rival to
+dispute his state. But his chief pride was in his gardens, whose
+fruit was of gold, hanging from golden branches, half hid with
+golden leaves. Perseus said to him, "I come as a guest. If you
+honor illustrious descent, I claim Jupiter for my father; if
+mighty deeds, I plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and
+food." But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had warned
+him that a son of Jove should one day rob him of his golden
+apples. So he answered, "Begone! or neither your false claims of
+glory nor parentage shall protect you;" and he attempted to thrust
+him out. Perseus, finding the giant too strong for him, said,
+"Since you value my friendship so little, deign to accept a
+present;" and turning his face away, he held up the Gorgon's head.
+Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and
+hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a
+summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk till he
+became a mountain, and (such was the pleasure of the gods) heaven
+with all its stars rests upon his shoulders.
+
+THE SEA-MONSTER
+
+Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the
+Aethiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen,
+proud of her beauty, had dared to compare herself to the Sea-
+Nymphs, which roused their indignation to such a degree that they
+sent a prodigious sea-monster to ravage the coast. To appease the
+deities, Cepheus was directed by the oracle to expose his daughter
+Andromeda to be devoured by the monster. As Perseus looked down
+from his aerial height he beheld the virgin chained to a rock, and
+waiting the approach of the serpent. She was so pale and
+motionless that if it had not been for her flowing tears and her
+hair that moved in the breeze, he would have taken her for a
+marble statue. He was so startled at the sight that he almost
+forgot to wave his wings. As he hovered over her he said, "O
+virgin, undeserving of those chains, but rather of such as bind
+fond lovers together, tell me, I beseech you, your name, and the
+name of your country, and why you are thus bound." At first she
+was silent from modesty, and, if she could, would have hid her
+face with her hands; but when he repeated his questions, for fear
+she might be thought guilty of some fault which she dared not
+tell, she disclosed her name and that of her country, and her
+mother's pride of beauty. Before she had done speaking, a sound
+was heard off upon the water, and the sea-monster appeared, with
+his head raised above the surface, cleaving the waves with his
+broad breast. The virgin shrieked, the father and mother who had
+now arrived at the scene, wretched both, but the mother more
+justly so, stood by, not able to afford protection, but only to
+pour forth lamentations and to embrace the victim. Then spoke
+Perseus: "There will be time enough for tears; this hour is all we
+have for rescue. My rank as the son of Jove and my renown as the
+slayer of the Gorgon might make me acceptable as a suitor; but I
+will try to win her by services rendered, if the gods will only be
+propitious. If she be rescued by my valor, I demand that she be my
+reward." The parents consent (how could they hesitate?) and
+promise a royal dowry with her.
+
+And now the monster was within the range of a stone thrown by a
+skilful slinger, when with a sudden bound the youth soared into
+the air. As an eagle, when from his lofty flight he sees a serpent
+basking in the sun, pounces upon him and seizes him by the neck to
+prevent him from turning his head round and using his fangs, so
+the youth darted down upon the back of the monster and plunged his
+sword into its shoulder. Irritated by the wound, the monster
+raised himself in the air, then plunged into the depth; then, like
+a wild boar surrounded, by a pack of barking dogs, turned swiftly
+from side to side, while the youth eluded its attacks by means of
+his wings. Wherever he can find a passage for his sword between
+the scales he makes a wound, piercing now the side, now the flank,
+as it slopes towards the tail. The brute spouts from his nostrils
+water mixed with blood. The wings of the hero are wet with it, and
+he dares no longer trust to them. Alighting on a rock which rose
+above the waves, and holding on by a projecting fragment, as the
+monster floated near he gave him a death stroke. The people who
+had gathered on the shore shouted so that the hills reechoed the
+sound. The parents, transported with joy, embraced their future
+son-in-law, calling him their deliverer and the savior of their
+house, and the virgin both cause and reward of the contest,
+descended from the rock.
+
+Cassiopeia was an Aethiopian, and consequently, in spite of her
+boasted beauty, black; at least so Milton seems to have thought,
+who alludes to this story in his "Penseroso," where he addresses
+Melancholy as the
+
+    ".... goddess, sage and holy,
+     Whose saintly visage is too bright
+     To hit the sense of human sight,
+     And, therefore, to our weaker view
+     O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue.
+     Black, but such as in esteem
+     Prince Memnon's sister might beseem,
+     Or that starred Aethiop queen that strove
+     To set her beauty's praise above
+     The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended."
+
+Cassiopeia is called "the starred Aethiop queen" because after her
+death she was placed among the stars, forming the constellation of
+that name. Though she attained this honor, yet the Sea-Nymphs, her
+old enemies, prevailed so far as to cause her to be placed in that
+part of the heaven near the pole, where every night she is half
+the time held with her head downward, to give her a lesson of
+humility.
+
+Memnon was an Aethiopian prince, of whom we shall tell in a future
+chapter.
+
+THE WEDDING FEAST
+
+The joyful parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, repaired to the
+palace, where a banquet was spread for them, and all was joy and
+festivity. But suddenly a noise was heard of warlike clamor, and
+Phineus, the betrothed of the virgin, with a party of his
+adherents, burst in, demanding the maiden as his own. It was in
+vain that Cepheus remonstrated--"You should have claimed her when
+she lay bound to the rock, the monster's victim. The sentence of
+the gods dooming her to such a fate dissolved all engagements, as
+death itself would have done." Phineus made no reply, but hurled
+his javelin at Perseus, but it missed its mark and fell harmless.
+Perseus would have thrown his in turn, but the cowardly assailant
+ran and took shelter behind the altar. But his act was a signal
+for an onset by his band upon the guests of Cepheus. They defended
+themselves and a general conflict ensued, the old king retreating
+from the scene after fruitless expostulations, calling the gods to
+witness that he was guiltless of this outrage on the rights of
+hospitality.
+
+Perseus and his friends maintained for some time the unequal
+contest; but the numbers of the assailants were too great for
+them, and destruction seemed inevitable, when a sudden thought
+struck Perseus,--"I will make my enemy defend me." Then with a
+loud voice he exclaimed, "If I have any friend here let him turn
+away his eyes!" and held aloft the Gorgon's head. "Seek not to
+frighten us with your jugglery," said Thescelus, and raised his
+javelin in act to throw, and became stone in the very attitude.
+Ampyx was about to plunge his sword into the body of a prostrate
+foe, but his arm stiffened and he could neither thrust forward nor
+withdraw it. Another, in the midst of a vociferous challenge,
+stopped, his mouth open, but no sound issuing. One of Perseus's
+friends, Aconteus, caught sight of the Gorgon and stiffened like
+the rest. Astyages struck him with his sword, but instead of
+wounding, it recoiled with a ringing noise.
+
+Phineus beheld this dreadful result of his unjust aggression, and
+felt confounded. He called aloud to his friends, but got no
+answer; he touched them and found them stone. Falling on his knees
+and stretching out his hands to Perseus, but turning his head away
+he begged for mercy. "Take all," said he, "give me but my life."
+"Base coward," said Perseus, "thus much I will grant you; no
+weapon shall touch you; moreover, you shall be preserved in my
+house as a memorial of these events." So saying, he held the
+Gorgon's head to the side where Phineus was looking, and in the
+very form in which he knelt, with his hands outstretched and face
+averted, he became fixed immovably, a mass of stone!
+
+The following allusion to Perseus is from Milman's "Samor":
+
+    "As'mid the fabled Libyan bridal stood
+     Perseus in stern tranquillity of wrath,
+     Half stood, half floated on his ankle-plumes
+     Out-swelling, while the bright face on his shield
+     Looked into stone the raging fray; so rose,
+     But with no magic arms, wearing alone
+     Th' appalling and control of his firm look,
+     The Briton Samor; at his rising awe
+     Went abroad, and the riotous hall was mute."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+MONSTERS
+
+GIANTS, SPHINX, PEGASUS AND CHIMAERA, CENTAURS, GRIFFIN, AND
+PYGMIES
+
+
+Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural
+proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing
+immense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury
+and annoyance of men. Some of them were supposed to combine the
+members of different animals; such were the Sphinx and Chimaera;
+and to these all the terrible qualities of wild beasts were
+attributed, together with human sagacity and faculties. Others, as
+the giants, differed from men chiefly in their size; and in this
+particular we must recognize a wide distinction among them. The
+human giants, if so they may be called, such as the Cyclopes,
+Antaeus, Orion, and others, must be supposed not to be altogether
+disproportioned to human beings, for they mingled in love and
+strife with them. But the superhuman giants, who warred with the
+gods, were of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus, we are told, when
+stretched on the plain, covered nine acres, and Enceladus required
+the whole of Mount Aetna to be laid upon him to keep him down.
+
+We have already spoken of the war which the giants waged against
+the gods, and of its result. While this war lasted the giants
+proved a formidable enemy. Some of them, like Briareus, had a
+hundred arms; others, like Typhon, breathed out fire. At one time
+they put the gods to such fear that they fled into Egypt and hid
+themselves under various forms. Jupiter took the form of a ram,
+whence he was afterwards worshipped in Egypt as the god Ammon,
+with curved horns. Apollo became a crow, Bacchus a goat, Diana a
+cat, Juno a cow, Venus a fish, Mercury a bird. At another time the
+giants attempted to climb up into heaven, and for that purpose
+took up the mountain Ossa and piled it on Pelion. [Footnote: See
+Proverbial Expressions.] They were at last subdued by
+thunderbolts, which Minerva invented, and taught Vulcan and his
+Cyclopes to make for Jupiter.
+
+THE SPHINX
+
+Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that there was
+danger to his throne and life if his new-born son should be
+suffered to grow up. He therefore committed the child to the care
+of a herdsman with orders to destroy him; but the herdsman, moved
+with pity, yet not daring entirely to disobey, tied up the child
+by the feet and left him hanging to the branch of a tree. In this
+condition the infant was found by a peasant, who carried him to
+his master and mistress, by whom he was adopted and called
+OEdipus, or Swollen-foot.
+
+Many years afterwards Laius being on his way to Delphi,
+accompanied only by one attendant, met in a narrow road a young
+man also driving in a chariot. On his refusal to leave the way at
+their command the attendant killed one of his horses, and the
+stranger, filled with rage, slew both Laius and his attendant. The
+young man was OEdipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of
+his own father.
+
+Shortly after this event the city of Thebes was afflicted with a
+monster which infested the highroad. It was called the Sphinx. It
+had the body of a lion and the upper part of a woman. It lay
+crouched on the top of a rock, and arrested all travellers who
+came that way proposing to them a riddle, with the condition that
+those who could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed
+should be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in solving it, and all
+had been slain. OEdipus was not daunted by these alarming
+accounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked him,
+"What animal is that which in the morning gees on four feet, at
+noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" OEdipus replied,
+"Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks
+erect, and in old age with the aid of a staff." The Sphinx was so
+mortified at the solving of her riddle that she cast herself down
+from the rock and perished.
+
+The gratitude of the people for their deliverance was so great
+that they made OEdipus their king, giving him in marriage their
+queen Jocasta. OEdipus, ignorant of his parentage, had already
+become the slayer of his father; in marrying the queen he became
+the husband of his mother. These horrors remained undiscovered,
+till at length Thebes was afflicted with famine and pestilence,
+and the oracle being consulted, the double crime of OEdipus came
+to light. Jocasta put an end to her own life, and OEdipus, seized
+with madness, tore out his eyes and wandered away from Thebes,
+dreaded and abandoned by all except his daughters, who faithfully
+adhered to him, till after a tedious period of miserable wandering
+he found the termination of his wretched life.
+
+PEGASUS AND THE CHIMAERA
+
+When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, the blood sinking into the
+earth produced the winged horse Pegasus. Minerva caught him and
+tamed him and presented him to the Muses. The fountain Hippocrene,
+on the Muses' mountain Helicon, was opened by a kick from his
+hoof.
+
+The Chimaera was a fearful monster, breathing fire. The fore part
+of its body was a compound of the lion and the goat, and the hind
+part a dragon's. It made great havoc in Lycia, so that the king,
+Iobates, sought for some hero to destroy it. At that time there
+arrived at his court a gallant young warrior, whose name was
+Bellerophon. He brought letters from Proetus, the son-in-law of
+Iobates, recommending Bellerophon in the warmest terms as an
+unconquerable hero, but added at the close a request to his
+father-in-law to put him to death. The reason was that Proetus was
+jealous of him, suspecting that his wife Antea looked with too
+much admiration on the young warrior. From this instance of
+Bellerophon being unconsciously the bearer of his own death
+warrant, the expression "Bellerophontic letters" arose, to
+describe any species of communication which a person is made the
+bearer of, containing matter prejudicial to himself.
+
+Iobates, on perusing the letters, was puzzled what to do, not
+willing to violate the claims of hospitality, yet wishing to
+oblige his son-in-law. A lucky thought occurred to him, to send
+Bellerophon to combat with the Chimaera. Bellerophon accepted the
+proposal, but before proceeding to the combat consulted the
+soothsayer Polyidus, who advised him to procure if possible the
+horse Pegasus for the conflict. For this purpose he directed him
+to pass the night in the temple of Minerva. He did so, and as he
+slept Minerva came to him and gave him a golden bridle. When he
+awoke the bridle remained in his hand. Minerva also showed him
+Pegasus drinking at the well of Pirene, and at sight of the bridle
+the winged steed came willingly and suffered himself to be taken.
+Bellerophon mounted him, rose with him into the air, soon found
+the Chimaera, and gained an easy victory over the monster.
+
+After the conquest of the Chimaera Bellerophon was exposed to
+further trials and labors by his unfriendly host, but by the aid
+of Pegasus he triumphed in them all, till at length Iobates,
+seeing that the hero was a special favorite of the gods, gave him
+his daughter in marriage and made him his successor on the throne.
+At last Bellerophon by his pride and presumption drew upon himself
+the anger of the gods; it is said he even attempted to fly up into
+heaven on his winged steed, but Jupiter sent a gadfly which stung
+Pegasus and made him throw his rider, who became lame and blind in
+consequence. After this Bellerophon wandered lonely through the
+Aleian field, avoiding the paths of men, and died miserably.
+
+Milton alludes to Bellerophon in the beginning of the seventh book
+of "Paradise Lost":
+
+    "Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name
+     If rightly thou art called, whose voice divine
+     Following above the Olympian hill I soar,
+     Above the flight of Pegasean wing
+                           Upled by thee,
+     Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
+     An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air
+     (Thy tempering); with like safety guided down
+     Return me to my native element;
+     Lest from this flying steed unreined (as once
+     Bellerophon, though from a lower sphere),
+     Dismounted on the Aleian field I fall,
+     Erroneous there to wander and forlorn."
+
+Young, in his "Night Thoughts," speaking of the sceptic, says:
+
+    "He whose blind thought futurity denies,
+     Unconscious bears, Bellerophon, like thee
+     His own indictment, he condemns himself.
+     Who reads his bosom reads immortal life,
+     Or nature there, imposing on her sons,
+     Has written fables; man was made a lie."
+
+Vol II, p 12
+
+Pegasus, being the horse of the Muses, has always been at the
+service of the poets. Schiller tells a pretty story of his having
+been sold by a needy poet and put to the cart and the plough. He
+was not fit for such service, and his clownish master could make
+nothing of him But a youth stepped forth and asked leave to try
+him As soon as he was seated on his back the horse, which had
+appeared at first vicious, and afterwards spirit-broken, rose
+kingly, a spirit, a god, unfolded the splendor of his wings, and
+soared towards heaven. Our own poet Longfellow also records an
+adventure of this famous steed in his "Pegasus in Pound."
+
+Shakspeare alludes to Pegasus in "Henry IV.," where Vernon
+describes Prince Henry:
+
+    "I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,
+     His cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed,
+     Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
+     And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
+     As if an angel dropped down from the clouds,
+     To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
+     And witch the world with noble horsemanship"
+
+THE CENTAURS
+
+These monsters were represented as men from the head to the loins,
+while the remainder of the body was that of a horse. The ancients
+were too fond of a horse to consider the union of his nature with
+man's as forming a very degraded compound, and accordingly the
+Centaur is the only one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to
+which any good traits are assigned. The Centaurs were admitted to
+the companionship of man, and at the marriage of Pirithous with
+Hippodamia they were among the guests. At the feast Eurytion, one
+of the Centaurs, becoming intoxicated with the wine, attempted to
+offer violence to the bride; the other Centaurs followed his
+example, and a dreadful conflict arose in which several of them
+were slain. This is the celebrated battle of the Lapithae and
+Centaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poets of
+antiquity.
+
+But not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of Pirithous.
+Chiron was instructed by Apollo and Diana, and was renowned for
+his skill in hunting, medicine, music, and the art of prophecy.
+The most distinguished heroes of Grecian story were his pupils.
+Among the rest the infant--Aesculapius was intrusted to his charge
+by Apollo, his father. When the sage returned to his home bearing
+the infant, his daughter Ocyroe came forth to meet him, and at
+sight of the child burst forth into a prophetic strain (for she
+was a prophetess), foretelling the glory that he was to achieve
+Aesculapius when grown up became a renowned physician, and even in
+one instance succeeded in restoring the dead to life. Pluto
+resented this, and Jupiter, at his request, struck the bold
+physician with lightning, and killed him, but after his death
+received him into the number of the gods.
+
+Chiron was the wisest and justest of all the Centaurs, and at his
+death Jupiter placed him among the stars as the constellation
+Sagittarius.
+
+THE PYGMIES
+
+The Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word
+which means the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which
+was said to be the height of these people. They lived near the
+sources of the Nile, or according to others, in India. Homer tells
+us that the cranes used to migrate every winter to the Pygmies'
+country, and their appearance was the signal of bloody warfare to
+the puny inhabitants, who had to take up arms to defend their
+cornfields against the rapacious strangers. The Pygmies and their
+enemies the Cranes form the subject of several works of art.
+
+Later writers tell of an army of Pygmies which finding Hercules
+asleep made preparations to attack him, as if they were about to
+attack a city. But the hero, awaking, laughed at the little
+warriors, wrapped some of them up in his lion's skin, and carried
+them to Eurystheus.
+
+Milton uses the Pygmies for a simile, "Paradise Lost," Book I.:
+
+     "... like that Pygmaean race
+    Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves
+    Whose midnight revels by a forest side,
+    Or fountain, some belated peasant sees
+    (Or dreams he sees), while overhead the moon
+    Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
+    Wheels her pale course; they on their mirth and dance
+    Intent, with jocund music charm his ear.
+    At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds."
+
+THE GRIFFIN, OR GRYPHON
+
+The Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the head and
+wings of an eagle, and back covered with feathers. Like birds it
+builds its nest, and instead of an egg lays an agate therein. It
+has long claws and talons of such a size that the people of that
+country make them into drinking-cups. India was assigned as the
+native country of the Griffins. They found gold in the mountains
+and built their nests of it, for which reason their nests were
+very tempting to the hunters, and they were forced to keep
+vigilant guard over them. Their instinct led them to know where
+buried treasures lay, and they did their best to keep plunderers
+at a distance. The Arimaspians, among whom the Griffins
+flourished, were a one-eyed people of Scythia.
+
+Milton borrows a simile from the Griffins, "Paradise Lost," Book
+II,:
+
+    "As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,
+     With winged course, o'er hill and moory dale,
+     Pursues the Arimaspian who by stealth
+     Hath from his wakeful custody purloined
+     His guarded gold," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE GOLDEN FLEECE--MEDEA
+
+THE GOLDEN FLEECE
+
+
+In very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king and queen
+named Athamas and Nephele. They had two children, a boy and a
+girl. After a time Athamas grew indifferent to his wife, put her
+away, and took another. Nephele suspected danger to her children
+from the influence of the step-mother, and took measures to send
+them out of her reach. Mercury assisted her, and gave her a ram
+with a GOLDEN FLEECE, on which she set the two children, trusting
+that the ram would convey them to a place of safety. The ram
+vaulted into the air with the children on his back, taking his
+course to the East, till when crossing the strait that divides
+Europe and Asia, the girl, whose name was Helle, fell from his
+back into the sea, which from her was called the Hellespont,--now
+the Dardanelles. The ram continued his career till he reached the
+kingdom of Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, where
+he safely landed the boy Phryxus, who was hospitably received by
+Aeetes, king of the country. Phryxus sacrificed the ram to
+Jupiter, and gave the Golden Fleece to Aeetes, who placed it in a
+consecrated grove, under the care of a sleepless dragon.
+
+There was another kingdom in Thessaly near to that of Athamas, and
+ruled over by a relative of his. The king Aeson, being tired of
+the cares of government, surrendered his crown to his brother
+Pelias on condition that he should hold it only during the
+minority of Jason, the son of Aeson. When Jason was grown up and
+came to demand the crown from his uncle, Pelias pretended to be
+willing to yield it, but at the same time suggested to the young
+man the glorious adventure of going in quest of the Golden Fleece,
+which it was well known was in the kingdom of Colchis, and was, as
+Pelias pretended, the rightful property of their family. Jason was
+pleased with the thought, and forthwith made preparations for the
+expedition. At that time the only species of navigation known to
+the Greeks consisted of small boats or canoes hollowed out from
+trunks of trees, so that when Jason employed Argus to build him a
+vessel capable of containing fifty men, it was considered a
+gigantic undertaking. It was accomplished, however, and the vessel
+named "Argo," from the name of the builder. Jason sent his
+invitation to all the adventurous young men of Greece, and soon
+found himself at the head of a band of bold youths, many of whom
+afterwards were renowned among the heroes and demigods of Greece.
+Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, and Nestor were among them. They are
+called the Argonauts, from the name of their vessel.
+
+The "Argo" with her crew of heroes left the shores of Thessaly and
+having touched at the Island of Lemnos, thence crossed to Mysia
+and thence to Thrace. Here they found the sage Phineus, and from
+him received instruction as to their future course. It seems the
+entrance of the Euxine Sea was impeded by two small rocky islands,
+which floated on the surface, and in their tossings and heavings
+occasionally came together, crushing and grinding to atoms any
+object that might be caught between them. They were called the
+Symplegades, or Clashing Islands. Phineus instructed the Argonauts
+how to pass this dangerous strait. When they reached the islands
+they let go a dove, which took her way between the rocks, and
+passed in safety, only losing some feathers of her tail. Jason and
+his men seized the favorable moment of the rebound, plied their
+oars with vigor, and passed safe through, though the islands
+closed behind them, and actually grazed their stern. They now
+rowed along the shore till they arrived at the eastern end of the
+sea, and landed at the kingdom of Colchis.
+
+Jason made known his message to the Colchian king, Aeetes, who
+consented to give up the golden fleece if Jason would yoke to the
+plough two fire-breathing bulls with brazen feet, and sow the
+teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had slain, and from which it was
+well known that a crop of armed men would spring up, who would
+turn their weapons against their producer. Jason accepted the
+conditions, and a time was set for making the experiment.
+Previously, however, he found means to plead his cause to Medea,
+daughter of the king. He promised her marriage, and as they stood
+before the altar of Hecate, called the goddess to witness his
+oath. Medea yielded, and by her aid, for she was a potent
+sorceress, he was furnished with a charm, by which he could
+encounter safely the breath of the fire-breathing bulls and the
+weapons of the armed men.
+
+At the time appointed, the people assembled at the grove of Mars,
+and the king assumed his royal seat, while the multitude covered
+the hill-sides. The brazen-footed bulls rushed in, breathing fire
+from their nostrils that burned up the herbage as they passed. The
+sound was like the roar of a furnace, and the smoke like that of
+water upon quick-lime. Jason advanced boldly to meet them. His
+friends, the chosen heroes of Greece, trembled to behold him.
+Regardless of the burning breath, he soothed their rage with his
+voice, patted their necks with fearless hand, and adroitly slipped
+over them the yoke, and compelled them to drag the plough. The
+Colchians were amazed; the Greeks shouted for joy. Jason next
+proceeded to sow the dragon's teeth and plough them in. And soon
+the crop of armed men sprang up, and, wonderful to relate! no
+sooner had they reached the surface than they began to brandish
+their weapons and rush upon Jason. The Greeks trembled for their
+hero, and even she who had provided him a way of safety and taught
+him how to use it, Medea herself, grew pale with fear. Jason for a
+time kept his assailants at bay with his sword and shield, till,
+finding their numbers overwhelming, he resorted to the charm which
+Medea had taught him, seized a stone and threw it in the midst of
+his foes. They immediately turned their arms against one another,
+and soon there was not one of the dragon's brood left alive. The
+Greeks embraced their hero, and Medea, if she dared, would have
+embraced him too.
+
+It remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the fleece,
+and this was done by scattering over him a few drops of a
+preparation which Medea had supplied. At the smell he relaxed his
+rage, stood for a moment motionless, then shut those great round
+eyes, that had never been known to shut before, and turned over on
+his side, fast asleep. Jason seized the fleece and with his
+friends and Medea accompanying, hastened to their vessel before
+Aeetes the king could arrest their departure, and made the best of
+their way back to Thessaly, where they arrived safe, and Jason
+delivered the fleece to Pelias, and dedicated the "Argo" to
+Neptune. What became of the fleece afterwards we do not know, but
+perhaps it was found after all, like many other golden prizes, not
+worth the trouble it had cost to procure it.
+
+This is one of those mythological tales, says a late writer, in
+which there is reason to believe that a substratum of truth
+exists, though overlaid by a mass of fiction. It probably was the
+first important maritime expedition, and like the first attempts
+of the kind of all nations, as we know from history, was probably
+of a half-piratical character. If rich spoils were the result it
+was enough to give rise to the idea of the golden fleece.
+
+Another suggestion of a learned mythologist, Bryant, is that it is
+a corrupt tradition of the story of Noah and the ark. The name
+"Argo" seems to countenance this, and the incident of the dove is
+another confirmation.
+
+Pope, in his "Ode on St. Cecilia's Day," thus celebrates the
+launching of the ship "Argo," and the power of the music of
+Orpheus, whom he calls the Thracian:
+
+    "So when the first bold vessel dared the seas,
+       High on the stern the Thracian raised his strain,
+    While Argo saw her kindred trees
+       Descend from Pelion to the main.
+    Transported demigods stood round,
+       And men grew heroes at the sound."
+
+In Dyer's poem of "The Fleece" there is an account of the ship
+"Argo" and her crew, which gives a good picture of this primitive
+maritime adventure:
+
+    "From every region of Aegea's shore
+     The brave assembled; those illustrious twins
+     Castor and Pollux; Orpheus, tuneful bard;
+     Zetes and Calais, as the wind in speed;
+     Strong Hercules and many a chief renowned.
+     On deep Iolcos' sandy shore they thronged,
+     Gleaming in armor, ardent of exploits;
+     And soon, the laurel cord and the huge stone
+     Uplifting to the deck, unmoored the bark;
+     Whose keel of wondrous length the skilful hand
+     Of Argus fashioned for the proud attempt;
+     And in the extended keel a lofty mast
+     Upraised, and sails full swelling; to the chiefs
+     Unwonted objects. Now first, now they learned
+     Their bolder steerage over ocean wave,
+     Led by the golden stars, as Chiron's art
+     Had marked the sphere celestial," etc.
+
+Hercules left the expedition at Mysia, for Hylas, a youth beloved
+by him, having gone for water, was laid hold of and kept by the
+nymphs of the spring, who were fascinated by his beauty. Hercules
+went in quest of the lad, and while he was absent the "Argo" put
+to sea and left him. Moore, in one of his songs, makes a beautiful
+allusion to this incident:
+
+    "When Hylas was sent with his urn to the fount,
+       Through fields full of light and with heart full of play,
+     Light rambled the boy over meadow and mount,
+       And neglected his task for the flowers in the way.
+
+    "Thus many like me, who in youth should have tasted
+       The fountain that runs by Philosophy's shrme,
+     Their time with the flowers on the margin have wasted,
+       And left their light urns all as empty as mine."
+
+MEDEA AND AESON
+
+Amid the rejoicings for the recovery of the Golden Fleece, Jason
+felt that one thing was wanting, the presence of Aeson, his
+father, who was prevented by his age and infirmities from taking
+part in them. Jason said to Medea, "My spouse, would that your
+arts, whose power I have seen so mighty for my aid, could do me
+one further service, take some years from my life and add them to
+my father's." Medea replied, "Not at such a cost shall it be done,
+but if my art avails me, his life shall be lengthened without
+abridging yours." The next full moon she issued forth alone, while
+all creatures slept; not a breath stirred the foliage, and all was
+still. To the stars she addressed her incantations, and to the
+moon; to Hecate, [Footnote: Hecate was a mysterious divinity
+sometimes identified with Diana and sometimes with Proserpine. As
+Diana represents the moonlight splendor of night, so Hecate
+represents its darkness and terrors. She was the goddess of
+sorcery and witchcraft, and was believed to wander by night along
+the earth, seen only by the dogs, whose barking told her
+approach.] the goddess of the underworld, and to Tellus the
+goddess of the earth, by whose power plants potent for enchantment
+are produced. She invoked the gods of the woods and caverns, of
+mountains and valleys, of lakes and rivers, of winds and vapors.
+While she spoke the stars shone brighter, and presently a chariot
+descended through the air, drawn by flying serpents. She ascended
+it, and borne aloft made her way to distant regions, where potent
+plants grew which she knew how to select for her purpose. Nine
+nights she employed in her search, and during that time came not
+within the doors of her palace nor under any roof, and shunned all
+intercourse with mortals.
+
+She next erected two altars, the one to Hecate, the other to Hebe,
+the goddess of youth, and sacrificed a black sheep, pouring
+libations of milk and wine. She implored Pluto and his stolen
+bride that they would not hasten to take the old man's life. Then
+she directed that Aeson should be led forth, and having thrown him
+into a deep sleep by a charm, had him laid on a bed of herbs, like
+one dead. Jason and all others were kept away from the place, that
+no profane eyes might look upon her mysteries. Then, with
+streaming hair, she thrice moved round the altars, dipped flaming
+twigs in the blood, and laid them thereon to burn. Meanwhile the
+caldron with its contents was got ready. In it she put magic
+herbs, with seeds and flowers of acrid juice, stones from the
+distant east, and sand from the shore of all-surrounding ocean;
+hoar frost, gathered by moonlight, a screech owl's head and wings,
+and the entrails of a wolf. She added fragments of the shells of
+tortoises, and the liver of stags,--animals tenacious of life,--
+and the head and beak of a crow, that outlives nine generations of
+men. These with many other things "without a name" she boiled
+together for her purposed work, stirring them up with a dry olive
+branch; and behold! the branch when taken out instantly became
+green, and before long was covered with leaves and a plentiful
+growth of young olives; and as the liquor boiled and bubbled, and
+sometimes ran over, the grass wherever the sprinklings fell shot
+forth with a verdure like that of spring.
+
+Seeing that all was ready, Medea cut the throat of the old man and
+let out all his blood, and poured into his mouth and into his
+wound the juices of her caldron. As soon as he had completely
+imbibed them, his hair and beard laid by their whiteness and
+assumed the blackness of youth; his paleness and emaciation were
+gone; his veins were full of blood, his limbs of vigor and
+robustness. Aeson is amazed at himself, and remembers that such as
+he now is, he was in his youthful days, forty years before.
+
+Medea used her arts here for a good purpose, but not so in another
+instance, where she made them the instruments of revenge. Pelias,
+our readers will recollect, was the usurping uncle of Jason, and
+had kept him out of his kingdom. Yet he must have had some good
+qualities, for his daughters loved him, and when they saw what
+Medea had done for Aeson, they wished her to do the same for their
+father. Medea pretended to consent, and prepared her caldron as
+before. At her request an old sheep was brought and plunged into
+the caldron. Very soon a bleating was heard in the kettle, and
+when the cover was removed, a lamb jumped forth and ran frisking
+away into the meadow. The daughters of Pelias saw the experiment
+with delight, and appointed a time for their father to undergo the
+same operation. But Medea prepared her caldron for him in a very
+different way. She put in only water and a few simple herbs. In
+the night she with the sisters entered the bed chamber of the old
+king, while he and his guards slept soundly under the influence of
+a spell cast upon them by Medea. The daughters stood by the
+bedside with their weapons drawn, but hesitated to strike, till
+Medea chid their irresolution. Then turning away their faces, and
+giving random blows, they smote him with their weapons. He,
+starting from his sleep, cried out, "My daughters, what are you
+doing? Will you kill your father?" Their hearts failed them and
+their weapons fell from their hands, but Medea struck him a fatal
+blow, and prevented his saying more.
+
+Then they placed him in the caldron, and Medea hastened to depart
+in her serpent-drawn chariot before they discovered her treachery,
+or their vengeance would have been terrible. She escaped, however,
+but had little enjoyment of the fruits of her crime. Jason, for
+whom she had done so much, wishing to marry Creusa, princess of
+Corinth, put away Medea. She, enraged at his ingratitude, called
+on the gods for vengeance, sent a poisoned robe as a gift to the
+bride, and then killing her own children, and setting fire to the
+palace, mounted her serpent-drawn chariot and fled to Athens,
+where she married King Aegeus, the father of Theseus, and we shall
+meet her again when we come to the adventures of that hero.
+
+The incantations of Medea will remind the reader of those of the
+witches in "Macbeth." The following lines are those which seem
+most strikingly to recall the ancient model:
+
+    "Round about the caldron go;
+     In the poisoned entrails throw.
+
+     Fillet of a fenny snake
+     In the caldron boil and bake;
+     Eye of newt and toe of frog,
+     Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
+     Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
+     Lizard's leg and howlet's wing:
+
+     Maw of ravening salt-sea shark,
+     Root of hemlock digged in the dark," etc
+
+    --Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1
+
+And again:
+
+    Macbeth.--What is't you do?
+    Witches,--A deed without a name.
+
+There is another story of Medea almost too revolting for record
+even of a sorceress, a class of persons to whom both ancient and
+modern poets have been accustomed to attribute every degree of
+atrocity. In her flight from Colchis she had taken her young
+brother Absyrtus with her. Finding the pursuing vessels of Aeetes
+gaining upon the Argonauts, she caused the lad to be killed and
+his limbs to be strewn over the sea. Aeetes on reaching the place
+found these sorrowful traces of his murdered son; but while he
+tarried to collect the scattered fragments and bestow upon them an
+honorable interment, the Argonauts escaped.
+
+In the poems of Campbell will be found a translation of one of the
+choruses of the tragedy of "Medea," where the poet Euripides has
+taken advantage of the occasion to pay a glowing tribute to
+Athens, his native city. It begins thus:
+
+    "O haggard queen! to Athens dost thou guide
+       Thy glowing chariot, steeped in kindred gore;
+     Or seek to hide thy damned parricide
+       Where peace and justice dwell for evermore?"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+MELEAGER AND ATALANTA
+
+
+One of the heroes of the Argonautic expedition was Meleager, son
+of OEneus and Althea, king and queen of Calydon. Althea, when her
+son was born, beheld the three destinies, who, as they spun their
+fatal thread, foretold that the life of the child should last no
+longer than a brand then burning upon the hearth. Althea seized
+and quenched the brand, and carefully preserved it for years,
+while Meleager grew to boyhood, youth, and manhood. It chanced,
+then, that OEneus, as he offered sacrifices to the gods, omitted
+to pay due honors to Diana; and she, indignant at the neglect,
+sent a wild boar of enormous size to lay waste the fields of
+Calydon. Its eyes shone with blood and fire, its bristles stood
+like threatening spears, its tusks were like those of Indian
+elephants. The growing corn was trampled, the vines and olive
+trees laid waste, the flocks and herds were driven in wild
+confusion by the slaughtering foe. All common aid seemed vain; but
+Meleager called on the heroes of Greece to join in a bold hunt for
+the ravenous monster. Theseus and his friend Pirithous, Jason,
+Peleus, afterwards the father of Achilles, Telamon the father of
+Ajax, Nestor, then a youth, but who in his age bore arms with
+Achilles and Ajax in the Trojan war,--these and many more joined
+in the enterprise. With them came Atalanta, the daughter of
+Iasius, king of Arcadia. A buckle of polished gold confined her
+vest, an ivory quiver hung on her left shoulder, and her left hand
+bore the bow. Her face blent feminine beauty with the best graces
+of martial youth. Meleager saw and loved.
+
+But now already they were near the monster's lair. They stretched
+strong nets from tree to tree; they uncoupled their dogs, they
+tried to find the footprints of their quarry in the grass. From
+the wood was a descent to marshy ground. Here the boar, as he lay
+among the reeds, heard the shouts of his pursuers, and rushed
+forth against them. One and another is thrown down and slain.
+Jason throws his spear, with a prayer to Diana for success; and
+the favoring goddess allows the weapon to touch, but not to wound,
+removing the steel point of the spear in its flight. Nestor,
+assailed, seeks and finds safety in the branches of a tree.
+Telamon rushes on, but stumbling at a projecting root, falls
+prone. But an arrow from Atalanta at length for the first time
+tastes the monster's blood. It is a slight wound, but Meleager
+sees and joyfully proclaims it. Anceus, excited to envy by the
+praise given to a female, loudly proclaims his own valor, and
+defies alike the boar and the goddess who had sent it; but as he
+rushes on, the infuriated beast lays him low with a mortal wound.
+Theseus throws his lance, but it is turned aside by a projecting
+bough. The dart of Jason misses its object, and kills instead one
+of their own dogs. But Meleager, after one unsuccessful stroke,
+drives his spear into the monster's side, then rushes on and
+despatches him with repeated blows.
+
+Then rose a shout from those around; they congratulated the
+conqueror, crowding to touch his hand. He, placing his foot upon
+the head of the slain boar, turned to Atalanta and bestowed on her
+the head and the rough hide which were the trophies of his
+success. But at this, envy excited the rest to strife. Plexippus
+and Toxeus, the brothers of Meleager's mother, beyond the rest
+opposed the gift, and snatched from the maiden the trophy she had
+received. Meleager, kindling with rage at the wrong done to
+himself, and still more at the insult offered to her whom he
+loved, forgot the claims of kindred, and plunged his sword into
+the offenders' hearts.
+
+As Althea bore gifts of thankfulness to the temples for the
+victory of her son, the bodies of her murdered brothers met her
+sight. She shrieks, and beats her breast, and hastens to change
+the garments of rejoicing for those of mourning. But when the
+author of the deed is known, grief gives way to the stern desire
+of vengeance on her son. The fatal brand, which once she rescued
+from the flames, the brand which the destinies had linked with
+Meleager's life, she brings forth, and commands a fire to be
+prepared. Then four times she essays to place the brand upon the
+pile; four times draws back, shuddering at the thought of bringing
+destruction on her son. The feelings of the mother and the sister
+contend within her. Now she is pale at the thought of the proposed
+deed, now flushed again with anger at the act of her son. As a
+vessel, driven in one direction by the wind, and in the opposite
+by the tide, the mind of Althea hangs suspended in uncertainty.
+But now the sister prevails above the mother, and she begins as
+she holds the fatal wood: "Turn, ye Furies, goddesses of
+punishment! turn to behold the sacrifice I bring! Crime must atone
+for crime. Shall OEneus rejoice in his victor son, while the house
+of Thestius is desolate? But, alas! to what deed am I borne along?
+Brothers forgive a mother's weakness! my hand fails me. He
+deserves death, but not that I should destroy him. But shall he
+then live, and triumph, and reign over Calydon, while you, my
+brothers, wander unavenged among the shades? No! thou hast lived
+by my gift; die, now, for thine own crime. Return the life which
+twice I gave thee, first at thy birth, again when I snatched this
+brand from the flames. O that thou hadst then died! Alas! evil is
+the conquest; but, brothers, ye have conquered." And, turning away
+her face, she threw the fatal wood upon the burning pile.
+
+It gave, or seemed to give, a deadly groan. Meleager, absent and
+unknowing of the cause, felt a sudden pang. He burns, and only by
+courageous pride conquers the pain which destroys him. He mourns
+only that he perishes by a bloodless and unhonored death. With his
+last breath he calls upon his aged father, his brother, and his
+fond sisters, upon his beloved Atalanta, and upon his mother, the
+unknown cause of his fate. The flames increase, and with them the
+pain of the hero. Now both subside; now both are quenched. The
+brand is ashes, and the life of Meleager is breathed forth to the
+wandering winds.
+
+Althea, when the deed was done, laid violent hands upon herself.
+The sisters of Meleager mourned their brother with uncontrollable
+grief; till Diana, pitying the sorrows of the house that once had
+aroused her anger, turned them into birds.
+
+ATALANTA
+
+The innocent cause of so much sorrow was a maiden whose face you
+might truly say was boyish for a girl, yet too girlish for a boy.
+Her fortune had been told, and it was to this effect: "Atalanta,
+do not marry; marriage will be your ruin." Terrified by this
+oracle, she fled the society of men, and devoted herself to the
+sports of the chase. To all suitors (for she had many) she imposed
+a condition which was generally effectual in relieving her of
+their persecutions,--"I will be the prize of him who shall conquer
+me in the race; but death must be the penalty of all who try and
+fail." In spite of this hard condition some would try. Hippomenes
+was to be judge of the race. "Can it be possible that any will be
+so rash as to risk so much for a wife?" said he. But when he saw
+her lay aside her robe for the race, he changed his mind, and
+said, "Pardon me, youths, I knew not the prize you were competing
+for." As he surveyed them he wished them all to be beaten, and
+swelled with envy of any one that seemed at all likely to win.
+While such were his thoughts, the virgin darted forward. As she
+ran she looked more beautiful than ever. The breezes seemed to
+give wings to her feet; her hair flew over her shoulders, and the
+gay fringe of her garment fluttered behind her. A ruddy hue tinged
+the whiteness of her skin, such as a crimson curtain casts on a
+marble wall. All her competitors were distanced, and were put to
+death without mercy. Hippomenes, not daunted by this result,
+fixing his eyes on the virgin, said, "Why boast of beating those
+laggards? I offer myself for the contest." Atalanta looked at him
+with a pitying countenance, and hardly knew whether she would
+rather conquer him or not. "What god can tempt one so young and
+handsome to throw himself away? I pity him, not for his beauty
+(yet he is beautiful), but for his youth. I wish he would give up
+the race, or if he will be so mad, I hope he may outrun me." While
+she hesitates, revolving these thoughts, the spectators grow
+impatient for the race, and her father prompts her to prepare.
+Then Hippomenes addressed a prayer to Venus: "Help me, Venus, for
+you have led me on." Venus heard and was propitious.
+
+In the garden of her temple, in her own island of Cyprus, is a
+tree with yellow leaves and yellow branches and golden fruit.
+Hence she gathered three golden apples, and, unseen by any one
+else, gave them to Hippomenes, and told him how to use them. The
+signal is given; each starts from the goal and skims over the
+sand. So light their tread, you would almost have thought they
+might run over the river surface or over the waving grain without
+sinking. The cries of the spectators cheered Hippomenes,--"Now,
+now, do your best! haste, haste! you gain on her! relax not! one
+more effort!" It was doubtful whether the youth or the maiden
+heard these cries with the greater pleasure. But his breath began
+to fail him, his throat was dry, the goal yet far off. At that
+moment he threw down one of the golden apples. The virgin was all
+amazement. She stopped to pick it up. Hippomenes shot ahead.
+Shouts burst forth from all sides. She redoubled her efforts, and
+soon overtook him. Again he threw an apple. She stopped again, but
+again came up with him. The goal was near; one chance only
+remained. "Now, goddess," said he, "prosper your gift!" and threw
+the last apple off at one side. She looked at it, and hesitated;
+Venus impelled her to turn aside for it. She did so, and was
+vanquished. The youth carried off his prize.
+
+But the lovers were so full of their own happiness that they
+forgot to pay due honor to Venus; and the goddess was provoked at
+their ingratitude. She caused them to give offence to Cybele. That
+powerful goddess was not to be insulted with impunity. She took
+from them their human form and turned them into animals of
+characters resembling their own: of the huntress-heroine,
+triumphing in the blood of her lovers, she made a lioness, and of
+her lord and master a lion, and yoked them to her car, where they
+are still to be seen in all representations, in statuary or
+painting, of the goddess Cybele.
+
+Cybele is the Latin name of the goddess called by the Greeks Rhea
+and Ops. She was the wife of Cronos and mother of Zeus. In works
+of art she exhibits the matronly air which distinguishes Juno and
+Ceres. Sometimes she is veiled, and seated on a throne with lions
+at her side, at other times riding in a chariot drawn by lions.
+She wears a mural crown, that is, a crown whose rim is carved in
+the form of towers and battlements. Her priests were called
+Corybantes.
+
+Byron, in describing the city of Venice, which is built on a low
+island in the Adriatic Sea, borrows an illustration from Cybele:
+
+    "She looks a sea-Cybele fresh from ocean,
+     Rising with her tiara of proud towers
+     At airy distance, with majestic motion,
+     A ruler of the waters and their powers."
+
+    --Childe Harold, IV.
+
+In Moore's "Rhymes on the Road," the poet, speaking of Alpine
+scenery, alludes to the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes thus:
+
+    "Even here, in this region of wonders, I find
+     That light-footed Fancy leaves Truth far behind,
+     Or at least, like Hippomenes, turns her astray
+     By the golden illusions he flings in her way."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+HERCULES--HEBE AND GANYMEDE
+
+HERCULES
+
+
+Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena. As Juno was always
+hostile to the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she
+declared war against Hercules from his birth. She sent two
+serpents to destroy him as he lay in his cradle, but the
+precocious infant strangled them with his own hands. He was,
+however, by the arts of Juno rendered subject to Eurystheus and
+compelled to perform all his commands. Eurystheus enjoined upon
+him a succession of desperate adventures, which are called the
+"Twelve Labors of Hercules." The first was the fight with the
+Nemean lion. The valley of Nemea was infested by a terrible lion.
+Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring him the skin of this monster.
+After using in vain his club and arrows against the lion, Hercules
+strangled the animal with his hands. He returned carrying the dead
+lion on his shoulders; but Eurystheus was so frightened at the
+sight of it and at this proof of the prodigious strength of the
+hero, that he ordered him to deliver the account of his exploits
+in future outside the town.
+
+His next labor was the slaughter of the Hydra. This monster
+ravaged the country of Argos, and dwelt in a swamp near the well
+of Amymone. This well had been discovered by Amymone when the
+country was suffering from drought, and the story was that
+Neptune, who loved her, had permitted her to touch the rock with
+his trident, and a spring of three outlets burst forth. Here the
+Hydra took up his position, and Hercules was sent to destroy him.
+The Hydra had nine heads, of which the middle one was immortal.
+Hercules struck off its heads with his club, but in the place of
+the head knocked off, two new ones grew forth each time. At length
+with the assistance of his faithful servant Iolaus, he burned away
+the heads of the Hydra, and buried the ninth or immortal one under
+a huge rock.
+
+Another labor was the cleaning of the Augean stables. Augeas, king
+of Elis, had a herd of three thousand oxen, whose stalls had not
+been cleansed for thirty years. Hercules brought the rivers
+Alpheus and Peneus through them, and cleansed them thoroughly in
+one day.
+
+His next labor was of a more delicate kind. Admeta, the daughter
+of Eurystheus, longed to obtain the girdle of the queen of the
+Amazons, and Eurystheus ordered Hercules to go and get it. The
+Amazons were a nation of women. They were very warlike and held
+several flourishing cities. It was their custom to bring up only
+the female children; the boys were either sent away to the
+neighboring nations or put to death. Hercules was accompanied by a
+number of volunteers, and after various adventures at last reached
+the country of the Amazons. Hippolyta, the queen, received him
+kindly, and consented to yield him her girdle, but Juno, taking
+the form of an Amazon, went and persuaded the rest that the
+strangers were carrying off their queen. They instantly armed and
+came in great numbers down to the ship. Hercules, thinking that
+Hippolyta had acted treacherously, slew her, and taking her girdle
+made sail homewards.
+
+Another task enjoined him was to bring to Eurystheus the oxen of
+Geryon, a monster with three bodies, who dwelt in the island
+Erytheia (the red), so called because it lay at the west, under
+the rays of the setting sun. This description is thought to apply
+to Spain, of which Geryon was king. After traversing various
+countries, Hercules reached at length the frontiers of Libya and
+Europe, where he raised the two mountains of Calpe and Abyla, as
+monuments of his progress, or, according to another account, rent
+one mountain into two and left half on each side, forming the
+straits of Gibraltar, the two mountains being called the Pillars
+of Hercules. The oxen were guarded by the giant Eurytion and his
+two-headed dog, but Hercules killed the giant and his dog and
+brought away the oxen in safety to Eurystheus.
+
+The most difficult labor of all was getting the golden apples of
+the Hesperides, for Hercules did not know where to find them.
+These were the apples which Juno had received at her wedding from
+the goddess of the Earth, and which she had intrusted to the
+keeping of the daughters of Hesperus, assisted by a watchful
+dragon. After various adventures Hercules arrived at Mount Atlas
+in Africa. Atlas was one of the Titans who had warred against the
+gods, and after they were subdued, Atlas was condemned to bear on
+his shoulders the weight of the heavens. He was the father of the
+Hesperides, and Hercules thought might, if any one could, find the
+apples and bring them to him. But how to send Atlas away from his
+post, or bear up the heavens while he was gone? Hercules took the
+burden on his own shoulders, and sent Atlas to seek the apples. He
+returned with them, and though somewhat reluctantly, took his
+burden upon his shoulders again, and let Hercules return with the
+apples to Eurystheus.
+
+Milton, in his "Comus," makes the Hesperides the daughters of
+Hesperus and nieces of Atlas:
+
+   "... amidst the gardens fair
+    Of Hesperus and his daughters three,
+    That sing about the golden tree."
+
+The poets, led by the analogy of the lovely appearance of the
+western sky at sunset, viewed the west as a region of brightness
+and glory. Hence they placed in it the Isles of the Blest, the
+ruddy Isle Erythea, on which the bright oxen of Geryon were
+pastured, and the Isle of the Hesperides. The apples are supposed
+by some to be the oranges of Spain, of which the Greeks had heard
+some obscure accounts.
+
+A celebrated exploit of Hercules was his victory over Antaeus.
+Antaeus, the son of Terra, the Earth, was a mighty giant and
+wrestler, whose strength was invincible so long as he remained in
+contact with his mother Earth. He compelled all strangers who came
+to his country to wrestle with him, on condition that if conquered
+(as they all were) they should be put to death. Hercules
+encountered him, and finding that it was of no avail to throw him,
+for he always rose with renewed strength from every fall, he
+lifted him up from the earth and strangled him in the air.
+
+Cacus was a huge giant, who inhabited a cave on Mount Aventine,
+and plundered the surrounding country. When Hercules was driving
+home the oxen of Geryon, Cacus stole part of the cattle, while the
+hero slept. That their footprints might not serve to show where
+they had been driven, he dragged them backward by their tails to
+his cave; so their tracks all seemed to show that they had gone in
+the opposite direction. Hercules was deceived by this stratagem,
+and would have failed to find his oxen, if it had not happened
+that in driving the remainder of the herd past the cave where the
+stolen ones were concealed, those within began to low, and were
+thus discovered. Cacus was slain by Hercules.
+
+The last exploit we shall record was bringing Cerberus from the
+lower world. Hercules descended into Hades, accompanied by Mercury
+and Minerva. He obtained permission from Pluto to carry Cerberus
+to the upper air, provided he could do it without the use of
+weapons; and in spite of the monster's struggling, he seized him,
+held him fast, and carried him to Eurystheus, and afterwards
+brought him back again. When he was in Hades he obtained the
+liberty of Theseus, his admirer and imitator, who had been
+detained a prisoner there for an unsuccessful attempt to carry off
+Proserpine.
+
+Hercules in a fit of madness killed his friend Iphitus, and was
+condemned for this offence to become the slave of Queen Omphale
+for three years. While in this service the hero's nature seemed
+changed. He lived effeminately, wearing at times the dress of a
+woman, and spinning wool with the hand-maidens of Omphale, while
+the queen wore his lion's skin. When this service was ended he
+married Dejanira and lived in peace with her three years. On one
+occasion as he was travelling with his wife, they came to a river,
+across which the Centaur Nessus carried travellers for a stated
+fee. Hercules himself forded the river, but gave Dejanira to
+Nessus to be carried across. Nessus attempted to run away with
+her, but Hercules heard her cries and shot an arrow into the heart
+of Nessus. The dying Centaur told Dejanira to take a portion of
+his blood and keep it, as it might be used as a charm to preserve
+the love of her husband.
+
+Dejanira did so and before long fancied she had occasion to use
+it. Hercules in one of his conquests had taken prisoner a fair
+maiden, named Iole, of whom he seemed more fond than Dejanira
+approved. When Hercules was about to offer sacrifices to the gods
+in honor of his victory, he sent to his wife for a white robe to
+use on the occasion. Dejanira, thinking it a good opportunity to
+try her love-spell, steeped the garment in the blood of Nessus. We
+are to suppose she took care to wash out all traces of it, but the
+magic power remained, and as soon as the garment became warm on
+the body of Hercules the poison penetrated into all his limbs and
+caused him the most intense agony. In his frenzy he seized Lichas,
+who had brought him the fatal robe, and hurled him into the sea.
+He wrenched off the garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and with
+it he tore away whole pieces of his body. In this state he
+embarked on board a ship and was conveyed home. Dejanira, on
+seeing what she had unwittingly done, hung herself. Hercules,
+prepared to die, ascended Mount Oeta, where he built a funeral
+pile of trees, gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes, and laid
+himself down on the pile, his head resting on his club, and his
+lion's skin spread over him. With a countenance as serene as if he
+were taking his place at a festal board he commanded Philoctetes
+to apply the torch. The flames spread apace and soon invested the
+whole mass.
+
+Milton thus alludes to the frenzy of Hercules:
+
+   "As when Alcides, from Oechalia crowned
+    With conquest, felt the envenomed robe, and tore,
+    Through pain, up by the roots Thessalian pines
+    And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw
+    Into the Euboic Sea."
+
+[Footnote: Alcides, a name of Hercules.]
+
+The gods themselves felt troubled at seeing the champion of the
+earth so brought to his end. But Jupiter with cheerful countenance
+thus addressed them: "I am pleased to see your concern, my
+princes, and am gratified to perceive that I am the ruler of a
+loyal people, and that my son enjoys your favor. For although your
+interest in him arises from his noble deeds, yet it is not the
+less gratifying to me. But now I say to you, Fear not. He who
+conquered all else is not to be conquered by those flames which
+you see blazing on Mount Oeta. Only his mother's share in him can
+perish; what he derived from me is immortal. I shall take him,
+dead to earth, to the heavenly shores, and I require of you all to
+receive him kindly. If any of you feel grieved at his attaining
+this honor, yet no one can deny that he has deserved it." The gods
+all gave their assent; Juno only heard the closing words with some
+displeasure that she should be so particularly pointed at, yet not
+enough to make her regret the determination of her husband. So
+when the flames had consumed the mother's share of Hercules, the
+diviner part, instead of being injured thereby, seemed to start
+forth with new vigor, to assume a more lofty port and a more awful
+dignity. Jupiter enveloped him in a cloud, and took him up in a
+four-horse chariot to dwell among the stars. As he took his place
+in heaven, Atlas felt the added weight.
+
+Juno, now reconciled to him, gave him her daughter Hebe in
+marriage.
+
+The poet Schiller, in one of his pieces called the "Ideal and
+Life," illustrates the contrast between the practical and the
+imaginative in some beautiful stanzas, of which the last two may
+be thus translated:
+
+   "Deep degraded to a coward's slave,
+    Endless contests bore Alcides brave,
+    Through the thorny path of suffering led;
+    Slew the Hydra, crushed the lion's might,
+    Threw himself, to bring his friend to light,
+    Living, in the skiff that bears the dead.
+    All the torments, every toil of earth
+    Juno's hatred on him could impose,
+    Well he bore them, from his fated birth
+    To life's grandly mournful close.
+
+   "Till the god, the earthly part forsaken,
+    From the man in flames asunder taken,
+    Drank the heavenly ether's purer breath.
+    Joyous in the new unwonted lightness,
+    Soared he upwards to celestial brightness,
+    Earth's dark heavy burden lost in death.
+    High Olympus gives harmonious greeting
+    To the hall where reigns his sire adored;
+    Youth's bright goddess, with a blush at meeting,
+    Gives the nectar to her lord."
+
+    --S. G. B.
+
+HEBE AND GANYMEDE
+
+Hebe, the daughter of Juno, and goddess of youth, was cup-bearer
+to the gods. The usual story is that she resigned her office on
+becoming the wife of Hercules. But there is another statement
+which our countryman Crawford, the sculptor, has adopted in his
+group of Hebe and Ganymede, now in the Athenaeum gallery.
+According to this, Hebe was dismissed from her office in
+consequence of a fall which she met with one day when in
+attendance on the gods. Her successor was Ganymede, a Trojan boy,
+whom Jupiter, in the disguise of an eagle, seized and carried off
+from the midst of his playfellows on Mount Ida, bore up to heaven,
+and installed in the vacant place.
+
+Tennyson, in his "Palace of Art," describes among the decorations
+on the walls a picture representing this legend:
+
+   "There, too, flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh
+      Half buried in the eagle's down,
+    Sole as a flying star shot through the sky
+      Above the pillared town."
+
+And in Shelley's "Prometheus" Jupiter calls to his cup-bearer
+thus:
+
+   "Pour forth heaven's wine, Idaean Ganymede,
+      And let it fill the Daedal cups like fire."
+
+The beautiful legend of the "Choice of Hercules" may be found in
+the "Tatler," No. 97.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THESEUS--DAEDALUS--CASTOR AND POLLUX
+
+THESEUS
+
+
+Theseus was the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, and of Aethra,
+daughter of the king of Troezen. He was brought up at Troezen, and
+when arrived at manhood was to proceed to Athens and present
+himself to his father. Aegeus on parting from Aethra, before the
+birth of his son, placed his sword and shoes under a large stone
+and directed her to send his son to him when he became strong
+enough to roll away the stone and take them from under it. When
+she thought the time had come, his mother led Theseus to the
+stone, and he removed it with ease and took the sword and shoes.
+As the roads were infested with robbers, his grandfather pressed
+him earnestly to take the shorter and safer way to his father's
+country--by sea; but the youth, feeling in himself the spirit and
+the soul of a hero, and eager to signalize himself like Hercules,
+with whose fame all Greece then rang, by destroying the evil-doers
+and monsters that oppressed the country, determined on the more
+perilous and adventurous journey by land.
+
+His first day's journey brought him to Epidaurus, where dwelt a
+man named Periphetes, a son of Vulcan. This ferocious savage
+always went armed with a club of iron, and all travellers stood in
+terror of his violence. When he saw Theseus approach he assailed
+him, but speedily fell beneath the blows of the young hero, who
+took possession of his club and bore it ever afterwards as a
+memorial of his first victory.
+
+Several similar contests with the petty tyrants and marauders of
+the country followed, in all of which Theseus was victorious. One
+of these evil-doers was called Procrustes, or the Stretcher. He
+had an iron bedstead, on which he used to tie all travellers who
+fell into his hands. If they were shorter than the bed, he
+stretched their limbs to make them fit it; if they were longer
+than the bed, he lopped off a portion. Theseus served him as he
+had served others.
+
+Having overcome all the perils of the road, Theseus at length
+reached Athens, where new dangers awaited him. Medea, the
+sorceress, who had fled from Corinth after her separation from
+Jason, had become the wife of Aegeus, the father of Theseus.
+Knowing by her arts who he was, and fearing the loss of her
+influence with her husband if Theseus should be acknowledged as
+his son, she filled the mind of Aegeus with suspicions of the
+young stranger, and induced him to present him a cup of poison;
+but at the moment when Theseus stepped forward to take it, the
+sight of the sword which he wore discovered to his father who he
+was, and prevented the fatal draught. Medea, detected in her arts,
+fled once more from deserved punishment, and arrived in Asia,
+where the country afterwards called Media received its name from
+her, Theseus was acknowledged by his father, and declared his
+successor.
+
+The Athenians were at that time in deep affliction, on account of
+the tribute which they were forced to pay to Minos, king of Crete.
+This tribute consisted of seven youths and seven maidens, who were
+sent every year to be devoured by the Minotaur, a monster with a
+bull's body and a human head. It was exceedingly strong and
+fierce, and was kept in a labyrinth constructed by Daedalus, so
+artfully contrived that whoever was enclosed in it could by no
+means, find his way out unassisted. Here the Minotaur roamed, and
+was fed with human victims.
+
+Theseus resolved to deliver his countrymen from this calamity, or
+to die in the attempt. Accordingly, when the time of sending off
+the tribute came, and the youths and maidens were, according to
+custom, drawn by lot to be sent, he offered himself as one of the
+victims, in spite of the entreaties of his father. The ship
+departed under black sails, as usual, which Theseus promised his
+father to change for white, in case of his returning victorious.
+When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens were exhibited
+before Minos; and Ariadne, the daughter of the king, being
+present, became deeply enamored of Theseus, by whom her love was
+readily returned. She furnished him with a sword, with which to
+encounter the Minotaur, and with a clew of thread by which he
+might find his way out of the labyrinth. He was successful, slew
+the Minotaur, escaped from the labyrinth, and taking Ariadne as
+the companion of his way, with his rescued companions sailed for
+Athens. On their way they stopped at the island of Naxos, where
+Theseus abandoned Ariadne, leaving her asleep. [Footnote: One of
+the finest pieces of sculpture in Italy, the recumbent Ariadne of
+the Vatican, represents this incident. A copy is owned by the
+Athenaeum, Boston, and deposited, in the Museum of Fine Arts.] His
+excuse for this ungrateful treatment of his benefactress was that
+Minerva appeared to him in a dream and commanded him to do so.
+
+On approaching the coast of Attica, Theseus forgot the signal
+appointed by his father, and neglected to raise the white sails,
+and the old king, thinking his son had perished, put an end to his
+own life. Theseus thus became king of Athens.
+
+One of the most celebrated of the adventures of Theseus is his
+expedition against the Amazons. He assailed them before they had
+recovered from the attack of Hercules, and carried off their queen
+Antiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the country of Athens
+and penetrated into the city itself; and the final battle in which
+Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of the city.
+This battle was one of the favorite subjects of the ancient
+sculptors, and is commemorated in several works of art that are
+still extant.
+
+The friendship between Theseus and Pirithous was of a most
+intimate nature, yet it originated in the midst of arms. Pirithous
+had made an irruption into the plain of Marathon, and carried off
+the herds of the king of Athens. Theseus went to repel the
+plunderers. The moment Pirithous beheld him, he was seized with
+admiration; he stretched out his hand as a token of peace, and
+cried, "Be judge thyself--what satisfaction dost thou require?"
+"Thy friendship," replied the Athenian, and they swore inviolable
+fidelity. Their deeds corresponded to their professions, and they
+ever continued true brothers in arms. Each of them aspired to
+espouse a daughter of Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on Helen,
+then but a child, afterwards so celebrated as the cause of the
+Trojan war, and with the aid of his friend he carried her off.
+Pirithous aspired to the wife of the monarch of Erebus; and
+Theseus, though aware of the danger, accompanied the ambitious
+lover in his descent to the under-world. But Pluto seized and set
+them on an enchanted rock at his palace gate, where they remained
+till Hercules arrived and liberated Theseus, leaving Pirithous to
+his fate.
+
+After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of
+Minos, king of Crete. Phaedra saw in Hippolytus, the son of
+Theseus, a youth endowed with all the graces and virtues of his
+father, and of an age corresponding to her own. She loved him, but
+he repulsed her advances, and her love was changed to hate. She
+used her influence over her infatuated husband to cause him to be
+jealous of his son, and he imprecated the vengeance of Neptune
+upon him. As Hippolytus was one day driving his chariot along the
+shore, a sea-monster raised himself above the waters, and
+frightened the horses so that they ran away and dashed the chariot
+to pieces. Hippolytus was killed, but by Diana's assistance
+Aesculapius restored him to life. Diana removed Hippolytus from
+the power of his deluded father and false stepmother, and placed
+him in Italy under the protection of the nymph Egeria.
+
+Theseus at length lost the favor of his people, and retired to the
+court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, who at first received him
+kindly, but afterwards treacherously slew him. In a later age the
+Athenian general Cimon discovered the place where his remains were
+laid, and caused them to be removed to Athens, where they were
+deposited in a temple called the Theseum, erected in honor of the
+hero.
+
+The queen of the Amazons whom Theseus espoused is by some called
+Hippolyta. That is the name she bears in Shakspeare's "Midsummer
+Night's Dream,"--the subject of which is the festivities attending
+the nuptials of Theseus and Hippolyta.
+
+Mrs. Hemans has a poem on the ancient Greek tradition that the
+"Shade of Theseus" appeared strengthening his countrymen at the
+battle of Marathon.
+
+Theseus is a semi-historical personage. It is recorded of him that
+he united the several tribes by whom the territory of Attica was
+then possessed into one state, of which Athens was the capital. In
+commemoration of this important event, he instituted the festival
+of Panathenaea, in honor of Minerva, the patron deity of Athens.
+This festival differed from the other Grecian games chiefly in two
+particulars. It was peculiar to the Athenians, and its chief
+feature was a solemn procession in which the Peplus, or sacred
+robe of Minerva, was carried to the Parthenon, and suspended
+before the statue of the goddess. The Peplus was covered with
+embroidery, worked by select virgins of the noblest families in
+Athens. The procession consisted of persons of all ages and both
+sexes. The old men carried olive branches in their hands, and the
+young men bore arms. The young women carried baskets on their
+heads, containing the sacred utensils, cakes, and all things
+necessary for the sacrifices. The procession formed the subject of
+the bas-reliefs which embellished the outside of the temple of the
+Parthenon. A considerable portion of these sculptures is now in
+the British Museum among those known as the "Elgin marbles."
+
+OLYMPIC AND OTHER GAMES
+
+It seems not inappropriate to mention here the other celebrated
+national games of the Greeks. The first and most distinguished
+were the Olympic, founded, it was said, by Jupiter himself. They
+were celebrated at Olympia in Elis. Vast numbers of spectators
+flocked to them from every part of Greece, and from Asia, Africa,
+and Sicily. They were repeated every fifth year in mid-summer,
+and continued five days. They gave rise to the custom of reckoning
+time and dating events by Olympiads. The first Olympiad is
+generally considered as corresponding with the year 776 B.C. The
+Pythian games were celebrated in the vicinity of Delphi, the
+Isthmian on the Corinthian isthmus, the Nemean at Nemea, a city of
+Argolis.
+
+The exercises in these games were of five sorts: running, leaping,
+wrestling, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javelin, or boxing.
+Besides these exercises of bodily strength and agility, there were
+contests in music, poetry, and eloquence. Thus these games
+furnished poets, musicians, and authors the best opportunities to
+present their productions to the public, and the fame of the
+victors was diffused far and wide.
+
+DAEDALUS
+
+The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of
+Ariadne was built by Daedalus, a most skilful artificer. It was an
+edifice with numberless winding passages and turnings opening into
+one another, and seeming to have neither beginning nor end, like
+the river Maeander, which returns on itself, and flows now onward,
+now backward, in its course to the sea. Daedalus built the
+labyrinth for King Minos, but afterwards lost the favor of the
+king, and was shut up in a tower. He contrived to make his escape
+from his prison, but could not leave the island by sea, as the
+king kept strict watch on all the vessels, and permitted none to
+sail without being carefully searched. "Minos may control the land
+and sea," said Daedalus, "but not the regions of the air. I will
+try that way." So he set to work to fabricate wings for himself
+and his young son Icarus. He wrought feathers together, beginning
+with the smallest and adding larger, so as to form an increasing
+surface. The larger ones he secured with thread and the smaller
+with wax, and gave the whole a gentle curvature like the wings of
+a bird. Icarus, the boy, stood and looked on, sometimes running to
+gather up the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then
+handling the wax and working it over with his fingers, by his play
+impeding his father in his labors. When at last the work was done,
+the artist, waving his wings, found himself buoyed upward, and
+hung suspended, poising himself on the beaten air. He next
+equipped his son in the same manner, and taught him how to fly, as
+a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into the air.
+When all was prepared for flight he said, "Icarus, my son, I
+charge you to keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too low
+the damp will clog your wings, and if too high the heat will melt
+them. Keep near me and you will be safe." While he gave him these
+instructions and fitted the wings to his shoulders, the face of
+the father was wet with tears, and his hands trembled. He kissed
+the boy, not knowing that it was for the last time. Then rising on
+his wings, he flew off, encouraging him to follow, and looked back
+from his own flight to see how his son managed his wings. As they
+flew the ploughman stopped his work to gaze, and the shepherd
+leaned on his staff and watched them, astonished at the sight, and
+thinking they were gods who could thus cleave the air.
+
+They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the
+right, when the boy, exulting in his career, began to leave the
+guidance of his companion and soar upward as if to reach heaven.
+The nearness of the blazing sun softened the wax which held the
+feathers together, and they came off. He fluttered with his arms,
+but no feathers remained to hold the air. While his mouth uttered
+cries to his father it was submerged in the blue waters of the
+sea, which thenceforth was called by his name. His father cried,
+"Icarus, Icarus, where are you?" At last he saw the feathers
+floating on the water, and bitterly lamenting his own arts, he
+buried the body and called the land Icaria in memory of his child.
+Daedalus arrived safe in Sicily, where he built a temple to
+Apollo, and hung up his wings, an offering to the god.
+
+Daedalus was so proud of his achievements that he could not bear
+the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her son Perdix under
+his charge to be taught the mechanical arts. He was an apt scholar
+and gave striking evidences of ingenuity. Walking on the seashore
+he picked up the spine of a fish. Imitating it, he took a piece of
+iron and notched it on the edge, and thus invented the SAW. He put
+two pieces of iron together, connecting them at one end with a
+rivet, and sharpening the other ends, and made a PAIR OF
+COMPASSES. Daedalus was so envious of his nepnew's performances
+that he took an opportunity, when they were together one day on
+the top of a high tower, to push him off. But Minerva, who favors
+ingenuity, saw him falling, and arrested his fate by changing him
+into a bird called after his name, the Partridge. This bird does
+not build his nest in the trees, nor take lofty flights, but
+nestles in the hedges, and mindful of his fall, avoids high
+places.
+
+The death of Icarus is told in the following lines by Darwin:
+
+    "... with melting wax and loosened strings
+     Sunk hapless Icarus on unfaithful wings;
+     Headlong he rushed through the affrighted air,
+     With limbs distorted and dishevelled hair;
+     His scattered plumage danced upon the wave,
+     And sorrowing Nereids decked his watery grave;
+     O'er his pale corse their pearly sea-flowers shed,
+     And strewed with crimson moss his marble bed;
+     Struck in their coral towers the passing bell,
+     And wide in ocean tolled his echoing knell."
+
+CASTOR AND POLLUX
+
+Castor and Pollux were the offspring of Leda and the Swan, under
+which disguise Jupiter had concealed himself. Leda gave birth to
+an egg from which sprang the twins. Helen, so famous afterwards as
+the cause of the Trojan war, was their sister.
+
+When Theseus and his friend Pirithous had carried off Helen from
+Sparta, the youthful heroes Castor and Pollux, with their
+followers, hastened to her rescue. Theseus was absent from Attica
+and the brothers were successful in recovering their sister.
+
+Castor was famous for taming and managing horses, and Pollux for
+skill in boxing. They were united by the warmest affection and
+inseparable in all their enterprises. They accompanied the
+Argonautic expedition. During the voyage a storm arose, and
+Orpheus prayed to the Samothracian gods, and played on his harp,
+whereupon the storm ceased and stars appeared on the heads of the
+brothers. From this incident, Castor and Pollux came afterwards to
+be considered the patron deities of seamen and voyagers, and the
+lambent flames, which in certain states of the atmosphere play
+round the sails and masts of vessels, were called by their names.
+
+After the Argonautic expedition, we find Castor and Pollux engaged
+in a war with Idas and Lynceus. Castor was slain, and Pollux,
+inconsolable for the loss of his brother, besought Jupiter to be
+permitted to give his own life as a ransom for him. Jupiter so far
+consented as to allow the two brothers to enjoy the boon of life
+alternately, passing one day under the earth and the next in the
+heavenly abodes. According to another form of the story, Jupiter
+rewarded the attachment of the brothers by placing them among the
+stars as Gemini the Twins.
+
+They received divine honors under the name of Dioscuri (sons of
+Jove). They were believed to have appeared occasionally in later
+times, taking part with one side or the other, in hard-fought
+fields, and were said on such occasions to be mounted on
+magnificent white steeds. Thus in the early history of Rome they
+are said to have assisted the Romans at the battle of Lake
+Regillus, and after the victory a temple was erected in their
+honor on the spot where they appeared.
+
+Macaulay, in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," thus alludes to the
+legend:
+
+    "So like they were, no mortal
+       Might one from other know;
+     White as snow their armor was,
+       Their steeds were white as snow.
+     Never on earthly anvil
+       Did such rare armor gleam,
+     And never did such gallant steeds
+       Drink of an earthly stream.
+
+    "Back comes the chief in triumph
+       Who in the hour of fight
+     Hath seen the great Twin Brethren
+       In harness on his right.
+     Safe comes the ship to haven,
+       Through billows and through gales.
+     If once the great Twin Brethren
+       Sit shining on the sails."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+BACCHUS--ARIADNE
+
+BACCHUS
+
+
+Bacchus was the son of Jupiter and Semele. Juno, to gratify her
+resentment against Semele, contrived a plan for her destruction.
+Assuming the form of Beroe, her aged nurse, she insinuated doubts
+whether it was indeed Jove himself who came as a lover. Heaving a
+sigh, she said, "I hope it will turn out so, but I can't help
+being afraid. People are not always what they pretend to be. If he
+is indeed Jove, make him give some proof of it. Ask him to come
+arrayed in all his splendors, such as he wears in heaven. That
+will put the matter beyond a doubt." Semele was persuaded to try
+the experiment. She asks a favor, without naming what it is. Jove
+gives his promise, and confirms it with the irrevocable oath,
+attesting the river Styx, terrible to the gods themselves. Then
+she made known her request. The god would have stopped her as she
+spake, but she was too quick for him. The words escaped, and he
+could neither unsay his promise nor her request. In deep distress
+he left her and returned to the upper regions. There he clothed
+himself in his splendors, not putting on all his terrors, as when
+he overthrew the giants, but what is known among the gods as his
+lesser panoply. Arrayed in this, he entered the chamber of Semele.
+Her mortal frame could not endure the splendors of the immortal
+radiance. She was consumed to ashes.
+
+Jove took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge to the Nysaean
+nymphs, who nourished his infancy and childhood, and for their
+care were rewarded by Jupiter by being placed, as the Hyades,
+among the stars. When Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of
+the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice; but Juno
+struck him with madness, and drove him forth a wanderer through
+various parts of the earth. In Phrygia the goddess Rhea cured him
+and taught him her religious rites, and he set out on a progress
+through Asia, teaching the people the cultivation of the vine. The
+most famous part of his wanderings is his expedition to India,
+which is said to have lasted several years. Returning in triumph,
+he undertook to introduce his worship into Greece, but was opposed
+by some princes, who dreaded its introduction on account of the
+disorders and madness it brought with it.
+
+As he approached his native city Thebes, Pentheus the king, who
+had no respect for the new worship, forbade its rites to be
+performed. But when it was known that Bacchus was advancing, men
+and women, but chiefly the latter, young and old, poured forth to
+meet him and to join his triumphal march.
+
+Mr. Longfellow in his "Drinking Song" thus describes the march of
+Bacchus:
+
+    "Fauns with youthful Bacchus follow;
+       Ivy crowns that brow, supernal
+     As the forehead of Apollo,
+       And possessing youth eternal.
+
+    "Round about him fair Bacchantes,
+       Bearing cymbals, flutes and thyrses,
+     Wild from Naxian groves of Zante's
+       Vineyards, sing delirious verses,"
+
+It was in vain Pentheus remonstrated, commanded, and threatened.
+"Go," said he to his attendants, "seize this vagabond leader of
+the rout and bring him to me. I will soon make him confess his
+false claim of heavenly parentage and renounce his counterfeit
+worship." It was in vain his nearest friends and wisest
+counsellors remonstrated and begged him not to oppose the god.
+Their remonstrances only made him more violent.
+
+But now the attendants returned whom he had despatched to seize
+Bacchus. They had been driven away by the Bacchanals, but had
+succeeded in taking one of them prisoner, whom, with his hands
+tied behind him, they brought before the king. Pentheus, beholding
+him with wrathful countenance, said, "Fellow! you shall speedily
+be put to death, that your fate may be a warning to others; but
+though I grudge the delay of your punishment, speak, tell us who
+you are, and what are these new rites you presume to celebrate."
+
+The prisoner, unterrified, responded, "My name is Acetes; my
+country is Maeonia; my parents were poor people, who had no fields
+or flocks to leave me, but they left me their fishing rods and
+nets and their fisherman's trade. This I followed for some time,
+till growing weary of remaining in one place, I learned the
+pilot's art and how to guide my course by the stars. It happened
+as I was sailing for Delos we touched at the island of Dia and
+went ashore. Next morning I sent the men for fresh water, and
+myself mounted the hill to observe the wind; when my men returned
+bringing with them a prize, as they thought, a boy of delicate
+appearance, whom they had found asleep. They judged he was a noble
+youth, perhaps a king's son, and they might get a liberal ransom
+for him. I observed his dress, his walk, his face. There was
+something in them which I felt sure was more than mortal. I said
+to my men, 'What god there is concealed in that form I know not,
+but some one there certainly is. Pardon us, gentle deity, for the
+violence we have done you, and give success to our undertakings.'
+Dictys, one of my best hands for climbing the mast and coming down
+by the ropes, and Melanthus, my steersman, and Epopeus, the leader
+of the sailor's cry, one and all exclaimed, 'Spare your prayers
+for us.' So blind is the lust of gain! When they proceeded to put
+him on board I resisted them. 'This ship shall not be profaned by
+such impiety,' said I. 'I have a greater share in her than any of
+you.' But Lycabas, a turbulent fellow, seized me by the throat and
+attempted to throw me overboard, and I scarcely saved myself by
+clinging to the ropes. The rest approved the deed.
+
+"Then Bacchus (for it was indeed he), as if shaking off his
+drowsiness, exclaimed, 'What are you doing with me? What is this
+fighting about? Who brought me here? Where are you going to carry
+me?' One of them replied, 'Fear nothing; tell us where you wish to
+go and we will take you there.' 'Naxos is my home,' said Bacchus;
+'take me there and you shall be well rewarded.' They promised so
+to do, and told me to pilot the ship to Naxos. Naxos lay to the
+right, and I was trimming the sails to carry us there, when some
+by signs and others by whispers signified to me their will that I
+should sail in the opposite direction, and take the boy to Egypt
+to sell him for a slave. I was confounded and said, 'Let some one
+else pilot the ship;' withdrawing myself from any further agency
+in their wickedness. They cursed me, and one of them, exclaiming,
+'Don't flatter yourself that we depend on you for our safety;'
+took any place as pilot, and bore away from Naxos.
+
+"Then the god, pretending that he had just become aware of their
+treachery, looked out over the sea and said in a voice of weeping,
+'Sailors, these are not the shores you promised to take me to;
+yonder island is not my home. What have I done that you should
+treat me so? It is small glory you will gain by cheating a poor
+boy.' I wept to hear him, but the crew laughed at both of us, and
+sped the vessel fast over the sea. All at once--strange as it may
+seem, it is true,--the vessel stopped, in the mid sea, as fast as
+if it was fixed on the ground. The men, astonished, pulled at
+their oars, and spread more sail, trying to make progress by the
+aid of both, but all in vain. Ivy twined round the oars and
+hindered their motion, and clung to the sails, with heavy clusters
+of berries. A vine, laden with grapes, ran up the mast, and along
+the sides of the vessel. The sound of flutes was heard and the
+odor of fragrant wine spread all around. The god himself had a
+chaplet of vine leaves, and bore in his hand a spear wreathed with
+ivy. Tigers crouched at his feet, and forms of lynxes and spotted
+panthers played around him. The men were seized with terror or
+madness; some leaped overboard; others preparing to do the same
+beheld their companions in the water undergoing a change, their
+bodies becoming flattened and ending in a crooked tail. One
+exclaimed, 'What miracle is this!' and as he spoke his mouth
+widened, his nostrils expanded, and scales covered all his body.
+Another, endeavoring to pull the oar, felt his hands shrink up and
+presently to be no longer hands but fins; another, trying to raise
+his arms to a rope, found he had no arms, and curving his
+mutilated body, jumped into the sea. What had been his legs became
+the two ends of a crescent-shaped tail. The whole crew became
+dolphins and swam about the ship, now upon the surface, now under
+it, scattering the spray, and spouting the water from their broad
+nostrils. Of twenty men I alone was left. Trembling with fear, the
+god cheered me. 'Fear not,' said he; 'steer towards Naxos.' I
+obeyed, and when we arrived there, I kindled the altars and
+celebrated the sacred rites of Bacchus."
+
+Pentheus here exclaimed, "We have wasted time enough on this silly
+story. Take him away and have him executed without delay." Acetes
+was led away by the attendants and shut up fast in prison; but
+while they were getting ready the instruments of execution the
+prison doors came open of their own accord and the chains fell
+from his limbs, and when they looked for him he was nowhere to be
+found.
+
+Pentheus would take no warning, but instead of sending others,
+determined to go himself to the scene of the solemnities. The
+mountain Citheron was all alive with worshippers, and the cries of
+the Bacchanals resounded on every side. The noise roused the anger
+of Pentheus as the sound of a trumpet does the fire of a war-
+horse. He penetrated through the wood and reached an open space
+where the chief scene of the orgies met his eyes. At the same
+moment the women saw him; and first among them his own mother,
+Agave, blinded by the god, cried out, "See there the wild boar,
+the hugest monster that prowls in these woods! Come on, sisters! I
+will be the first to strike the wild boar." The whole band rushed
+upon him, and while he now talks less arrogantly, now excuses
+himself, and now confesses his crime and implores pardon, they
+press upon him and wound him. In vain he cries to his aunts to
+protect him from his mother. Autonoe seized one arm, Ino the
+other, and between them he was torn to pieces, while his mother
+shouted, "Victory! Victory! we have done it; the glory is ours!"
+
+So the worship of Bacchus was established in Greece.
+
+There is an allusion to the story of Bacchus and the mariners in
+Milton's "Comus," at line 46, The story of Circe will be found in
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+    "Bacchus that first from out the purple grapes
+     Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine,
+     After the Tuscan manners transformed,
+     Coasting the Tyrrhene shore as the winds listed
+     On Circe's island fell (who knows not Circe,
+     The daughter of the Sun? whose charmed cup
+     Whoever tasted lost his upright shape,
+     And downward fell into a grovelling swine)."
+
+ARIADNE
+
+
+We have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne, the daughter of
+King Minos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth,
+was carried by him to the island of Naxos and was left there
+asleep, while the ungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without
+her. Ariadne, on waking and finding herself deserted, abandoned
+herself to grief. But Venus took pity on her, and consoled her
+with the promise that she should have an immortal lover, instead
+of the mortal one she had lost.
+
+The island where Ariadne was left was the favorite island of
+Bacchus, the same that he wished the Tyrrhenian mariners to carry
+him to, when they so treacherously attempted to make prize of him.
+As Ariadne sat lamenting her fate, Bacchus found her, consoled
+her, and made her his wife. As a marriage present he gave her a
+golden crown, enriched with gems, and when she died, he took her
+crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted the gems grew
+brighter and were turned into stars, and preserving its form
+Ariadne's crown remains fixed in the heavens as a constellation,
+between the kneeling Hercules and the man who holds the serpent.
+
+Spenser alludes to Ariadne's crown, though he has made some
+mistakes in his mythology. It was at the wedding of Pirithous, and
+not Theseus, that the Centaurs and Lapithae quarrelled.
+
+    "Look how the crown which Ariadne wore
+    Upon her ivory forehead that same day
+    That Theseus her unto his bridal bore,
+    Then the bold Centaurs made that bloody fray
+    With the fierce Lapiths which did them dismay;
+    Being now placed in the firmament,
+    Through the bright heaven doth her beams display,
+    And is unto the stars an ornament,
+    Which round about her move in order excellent."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE RURAL DEITIES--ERISICHTHON--RHOECUS--THE WATER DEITIES--
+CAMENAE--WINDS
+
+THE RURAL DEITIES
+
+
+Pan, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt
+in grottos, wandered on the mountains and in valleys, and amused
+himself with the chase or in leading the dances of the nymphs. He
+was fond of music, and as we have seen, the inventor of the
+syrinx, or shepherd's pipe, which he himself played in a masterly
+manner. Pan, like other gods who dwelt in forests, was dreaded by
+those whose occupations caused them to pass through the woods by
+night, for the gloom and loneliness of such scenes dispose the
+mind to superstitious fears. Hence sudden fright without any
+visible cause was ascribed to Pan, and called a Panic terror.
+
+As the name of the god signifies ALL, Pan came to be considered a
+symbol of the universe and personification of Nature; and later
+still to be regarded as a representative of all the gods and of
+heathenism itself.
+
+Sylvanus and Faunus were Latin divinities, whose characteristics
+are so nearly the same as those of Pan that we may safely consider
+them as the same personage under different names.
+
+The wood-nymphs, Pan's partners in the dance, were but one class
+of nymphs. There were beside them the Naiads, who presided over
+brooks and fountains, the Oreads, nymphs of mountains and grottos,
+and the Nereids, sea-nymphs. The three last named were immortal,
+but the wood-nymphs, called Dryads or Hamadryads, were believed to
+perish with the trees which had been their abode and with which
+they had come into existence. It was therefore an impious act
+wantonly to destroy a tree, and in some aggravated cases were
+severely punished, as in the instance of Erisichthon, which we are
+about to record.
+
+Milton in his glowing description of the early creation, thus
+alludes to Pan as the personification of Nature:
+
+    "... Universal Pan,
+     Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
+     Led on the eternal spring."
+
+And describing Eve's abode:
+
+    "... In shadier bower,
+     More sacred or sequestered, though but feigned,
+     Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor nymph
+     Nor Faunus haunted."
+
+    --Paradise Lost, B. IV.
+
+It was a pleasing trait in the old Paganism that it loved to trace
+in every operation of nature the agency of deity. The imagination
+of the Greeks peopled all the regions of earth and sea with
+divinities, to whose agency it attributed those phenomena which
+our philosophy ascribes to the operation of the laws of nature.
+Sometimes in our poetical moods we feel disposed to regret the
+change, and to think that the heart has lost as much as the head
+has gained by the substitution. The poet Wordsworth thus strongly
+expresses this sentiment:
+
+    "... Great God, I'd rather be
+    A Pagan, suckled in a creed outworn,
+    So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
+     Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
+     Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
+     And hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."
+
+Schiller, in his poem "Die Gotter Griechenlands," expresses his
+regret for the overthrow of the beautiful mythology of ancient
+times in a way which has called forth an answer from a Christian
+poet, Mrs. E. Barrett Browning, in her poem called "The Dead Pan."
+The two following verses are a specimen:
+
+    "By your beauty which confesses
+     Some chief Beauty conquering you,
+     By our grand heroic guesses
+     Through your falsehood at the True,
+     We will weep NOT! earth shall roll
+     Heir to each god's aureole,
+                   And Pan is dead.
+
+    "Earth outgrows the mythic fancies
+     Sung beside her in her youth;
+     And those debonaire romances
+     Sound but dull beside the truth.
+     Phoebus' chariot course is run!
+     Look up, poets, to the sun!
+                      Pan, Pan is dead."
+
+These lines are founded on an early Christian tradition that when
+the heavenly host told the shepherds at Bethlehem of the birth of
+Christ, a deep groan, heard through all the isles of Greece, told
+that the great Pan was dead, and that all the royalty of Olympus
+was dethroned and the several deities were sent wandering in cold
+and darkness. So Milton in his "Hymn on the Nativity":
+
+    "The lonely mountains o'er,
+     And the resounding shore,
+       A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;
+     From haunted spring and dale,
+     Edged with poplar pale,
+       The parting Genius is with sighing sent;
+     With flower-enwoven tresses torn,
+     The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn."
+
+ERISICHTHON
+
+Erisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of the gods. On
+one occasion he presumed to violate with the axe a grove sacred to
+Ceres. There stood in this grove a venerable oak so large that it
+seemed a wood in itself, its ancient trunk towering aloft, whereon
+votive garlands were often hung and inscriptions carved expressing
+the gratitude of suppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often had
+the Dryads danced round it hand in hand. Its trunk measured
+fifteen cubits round, and it overtopped the other trees as they
+overtopped the shrubbery. But for all that, Erisichthon saw no
+reason why he should spare it and he ordered his servants to cut
+it down. When he saw them hesitate he snatched an axe from one,
+and thus impiously exclaimed: "I care not whether it be a tree
+beloved of the goddess or not; were it the goddess herself it
+should come down if it stood in my way." So saying, he lifted the
+axe and the oak seemed to shudder and utter a groan. When the
+first blow fell upon the trunk blood flowed from the wound. All
+the bystanders were horror-struck, and one of them ventured to
+remonstrate and hold back the fatal axe. Erisichthon, with a
+scornful look, said to him, "Receive the reward of your piety;"
+and turned against him the weapon which he had held aside from the
+tree, gashed his body with many wounds, and cut off his head. Then
+from the midst of the oak came a voice, "I who dwell in this tree
+am a nymph beloved of Ceres, and dying by your hands forewarn you
+that punishment awaits you." He desisted not from his crime, and
+at last the tree, sundered by repeated blows and drawn by ropes,
+fell with a crash and prostrated a great part of the grove in its
+fall.
+
+The Dryads in dismay at the loss of their companion and at seeing
+the pride of the forest laid low, went in a body to Ceres, all
+clad in garments of mourning, and invoked punishment upon
+Erisichthon. She nodded her assent, and as she bowed her head the
+grain ripe for harvest in the laden fields bowed also. She planned
+a punishment so dire that one would pity him, if such a culprit as
+he could be pitied,--to deliver him over to Famine. As Ceres
+herself could not approach Famine, for the Fates have ordained
+that these two goddesses shall never come together, she called an
+Oread from her mountain and spoke to her in these words: "There is
+a place in the farthest part of ice-clad Scythia, a sad and
+sterile region without trees and without crops. Cold dwells there,
+and Fear and Shuddering, and Famine. Go and tell the last to take
+possession of the bowels of Erisichthon. Let not abundance subdue
+her, nor the power of my gifts drive her away. Be not alarmed at
+the distance" (for Famine dwells very far from Ceres), "but take
+my chariot. The dragons are fleet and obey the rein, and will take
+you through the air in a short time." So she gave her the reins,
+and she drove away and soon reached Scythia. On arriving at Mount
+Caucasus she stopped the dragons and found Famine in a stony
+field, pulling up with teeth and claws the scanty herbage. Her
+hair was rough, her eyes sunk, her face pale, her lips blanched,
+her jaws covered with dust, and her skin drawn tight, so as to
+show all her bones. As the Oread saw her afar off (for she did not
+dare to come near), she delivered the commands of Ceres; and,
+though she stopped as short a time as possible, and kept her
+distance as well as she could, yet she began to feel hungry, and
+turned the dragons' heads and drove back to Thessaly.
+
+Famine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped through the air to
+the dwelling of Erisichthon, entered the bedchamber of the guilty
+man, and found him asleep. She enfolded him with her wings and
+breathed herself into him, infusing her poison into his veins.
+Having discharged her task, she hastened to leave the land of
+plenty and returned to her accustomed haunts. Erisichthon still
+slept, and in his dreams craved food, and moved his jaws as if
+eating. When he awoke, his hunger was raging. Without a moment's
+delay he would have food set before him, of whatever kind earth
+sea, or air produces; and complained of hunger even while he ate.
+What would have sufficed for a city or a nation, was not enough
+for him. The more he ate the more he craved. His hunger was like
+the sea, which receives all the rivers, yet is never filled; or
+like fire, that burns all the fuel that is heaped upon it, yet is
+still voracious for more.
+
+His property rapidly diminished under the unceasing demands of his
+appetite, but his hunger continued unabated. At length he had
+spent all and had only his daughter left, a daughter worthy of a
+better parent. Her too he sold. She scorned to be the slave of a
+purchaser and as she stood by the seaside raised her hands in
+prayer to Neptune. He heard her prayer, and though her new master
+was not far off and had his eye upon her a moment before, Neptune
+changed her form and made her assume that of a fisherman busy at
+his occupation. Her master, looking for her and seeing her in her
+altered form, addressed her and said, "Good fisherman, whither
+went the maiden whom I saw just now, with hair dishevelled and in
+humble garb, standing about where you stand? Tell me truly; so may
+your luck be good and not a fish nibble at your hook and get
+away." She perceived that her prayer was answered and rejoiced
+inwardly at hearing herself inquired of about herself. She
+replied, "Pardon me, stranger, but I have been so intent upon my
+line that I have seen nothing else; but I wish I may never catch
+another fish if I believe any woman or other person except myself
+to have been hereabouts for some time." He was deceived and went
+his way, thinking his slave had escaped. Then she resumed her own
+form. Her father was well pleased to find her still with him, and
+the money too that he got by the sale of her; so he sold her
+again. But she was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as she
+was sold, now into a horse, now a bird, now an ox, and now a
+stag,--got away from her purchasers and came home. By this base
+method the starving father procured food; but not enough for his
+wants, and at last hunger compelled him to devour his limbs, and
+he strove to nourish his body by eating his body, till death
+relieved him from the vengeance of Ceres.
+
+RHOECUS
+
+The Hamadryads could appreciate services as well as punish
+injuries. The story of Rhoecus proves this. Rhoecus, happening to
+see an oak just ready to fall, ordered his servants to prop it up.
+The nymph, who had been on the point of perishing with the tree,
+came and expressed her gratitude to him for having saved her life
+and bade him ask what reward he would. Rhoecus boldly asked her
+love and the nymph yielded to his desire. She at the same time
+charged him to be constant and told him that a bee should be her
+messenger and let him know when she would admit his society. One
+time the bee came to Rhoecus when he was playing at draughts and
+he carelessly brushed it away. This so incensed the nymph that she
+deprived him of sight.
+
+Our countryman, J. R. Lowell, has taken this story for the subject
+of one of his shorter poems. He introduces it thus:
+
+    "Hear now this fairy legend of old Greece,
+     As full of freedom, youth and beauty still,
+     As the immortal freshness of that grace
+     Carved for all ages on some Attic frieze."
+
+THE WATER DEITIES
+
+Oceanus and Tethys were the Titans who ruled over the watery
+element. When Jove and his brothers overthrew the Titans and
+assumed their power, Neptune and Amphitrite succeeded to the
+dominion of the waters in place of Oceanus and Tethys.
+
+NEPTUNE
+
+Neptune was the chief of the water deities. The symbol of his
+power was the trident, or spear with three points, with which he
+used to shatter rocks, to call forth or subdue storms, to shake
+the shores and the like. He created the horse and was the patron
+of horse races. His own horses had brazen hoofs and golden manes.
+They drew his chariot over the sea, which became smooth before
+him, while the monsters of the deep gambolled about his path.
+
+AMPHITRITE
+
+Amphitrite was the wife of Neptune. She was the daughter of Nereus
+and Doris, and the mother of Triton. Neptune, to pay his court to
+Amphitrite, came riding on a dolphin. Having won her he rewarded
+the dolphin by placing him among the stars.
+
+NEREUS AND DORIS
+
+Nereus and Doris were the parents of the Nereids, the most
+celebrated of whom were Amphitrite, Thetis, the mother of
+Achilles, and Galatea, who was loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus.
+Nereus was distinguished for his knowledge and his love of truth
+and justice, whence he was termed an elder; the gift of prophecy
+was also assigned to him.
+
+TRITON AND PROTEUS
+
+Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and the poets make
+him his father's trumpeter. Proteus was also a son of Neptune. He,
+like Nereus, is styled a sea-elder for his wisdom and knowledge of
+future events. His peculiar power was that of changing his shape
+at will.
+
+THETIS
+
+Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris, was so beautiful that
+Jupiter himself sought her in marriage; but having learned from
+Prometheus the Titan that Thetis should bear a son who should grow
+greater than his father, Jupiter desisted from his suit and
+decreed that Thetis should be the wife of a mortal. By the aid of
+Chiron the Centaur, Peleus succeeded in winning the goddess for
+his bride and their son was the renowned Achilles. In our chapter
+on the Trojan war it will appear that Thetis was a faithful mother
+to him, aiding him in all difficulties, and watching over his
+interests from the first to the last.
+
+LEUCOTHEA AND PALAEMON
+
+Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas, flying from her
+frantic husband with her little son Melicertes in her arms, sprang
+from a cliff into the sea. The gods, out of compassion, made her a
+goddess of the sea, under the name of Leucothea, and him a god,
+under that of Palaemon. Both were held powerful to save from
+shipwreck and were invoked by sailors. Palaemon was usually
+represented riding on a dolphin. The Isthmian games were
+celebrated in his honor. He was called Portunus by the Romans, and
+believed to have jurisdiction of the ports and shores.
+
+Milton alludes to all these deities in the song at the conclusion
+of "Comus":
+
+    "... Sabrina fair,
+     Listen and appear to us,
+     In name of great Oceanus;
+     By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace,
+     And Tethys' grave, majestic pace,
+     By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
+     And the Carpathian wizard's hook, [Footnote: Proteus]
+     By scaly Triton's winding shell,
+     And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell,
+     By Leucothea's lovely hands,
+     And her son who rules the strands.
+     By Thetis' tinsel-slippered feet,
+     And the songs of Sirens sweet;" etc.
+
+Armstrong, the poet of the "Art of preserving Health," under the
+inspiration of Hygeia, the goddess of health, thus celebrates the
+Naiads. Paeon is a name both of Apollo and Aesculapius.
+
+    "Come, ye Naiads! to the fountains lead!
+     Propitious maids! the task remains to sing
+     Your gifts (so Paeon, so the powers of Health
+     Command), to praise your crystal element.
+     O comfortable streams! with eager lips
+     And trembling hands the languid thirsty quaff
+     New life in you; fresh vigor fills their veins.
+     No warmer cups the rural ages knew,
+     None warmer sought the sires of humankind;
+     Happy in temperate peace their equal days
+     Felt not the alternate fits of feverish mirth
+     And sick dejection; still serene and pleased,
+     Blessed with divine immunity from ills,
+     Long centuries they lived; their only fate
+     Was ripe old age, and rather sleep than death."
+
+THE CAMENAE
+
+By this name the Latins designated the Muses, but included under
+it also some other deities, principally nymphs of fountains.
+Egeria was one of them, whose fountain and grotto are still shown.
+It was said that Numa, the second king of Rome, was favored by
+this nymph with secret interviews, in which she taught him those
+lessons of wisdom and of law which he imbodied in the institutions
+of his rising nation. After the death of Numa the nymph pined away
+and was changed into a fountain.
+
+Byron, in "Childe Harold," Canto IV., thus alludes to Egeria and
+her grotto:
+
+    "Here didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover,
+     Egeria! all thy heavenly bosom beating
+     For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover;
+     The purple midnight veiled that mystic meeting
+     With her most starry canopy;" etc.
+
+Tennyson, also, in his "Palace of Art," gives us a glimpse of the
+royal lover expecting the interview:
+
+    "Holding one hand against his ear,
+        To list a footfall ere he saw
+     The wood-nymph, stayed the Tuscan king to hear
+        Of wisdom and of law."
+
+THE WINDS
+
+When so many less active agencies were personified, it is not to
+be supposed that the winds failed to be so. They were Boreas or
+Aquilo, the north wind; Zephyrus or Favonius, the west; Notus or
+Auster, the south; and Eurus, the east. The first two have been
+chiefly celebrated by the poets, the former as the type of
+rudeness, the latter of gentleness. Boreas loved the nymph
+Orithyia, and tried to play the lover's part, but met with poor
+success. It was hard for him to breathe gently, and sighing was
+out of the question. Weary at last of fruitless endeavors, he
+acted out his true character, seized the maiden and carried her
+off. Their children were Zetes and Calais, winged warriors, who
+accompanied the Argonautic expedition, and did good service in an
+encounter with those monstrous birds the Harpies.
+
+Zephyrus was the lover of Flora. Milton alludes to them in
+"Paradise Lost," where he describes Adam waking and contemplating
+Eve still asleep.
+
+    "... He on his side
+     Leaning half raised, with looks of cordial love,
+     Hung over her enamored, and beheld
+     Beauty which, whether waking or asleep,
+     Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice,
+     Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,
+     Her hand soft touching, whispered thus: 'Awake!
+     My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,
+     Heaven's last, best gift, my ever-new delight.'"
+
+Dr. Young, the poet of the "Night Thoughts," addressing the idle
+and luxurious, says:
+
+    "Ye delicate! who nothing can support
+     (Yourselves most insupportable) for whom
+     The winter rose must blow, ...
+     ... and silky soft
+     Favonius breathe still softer or be chid!"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+ACHELOUS AND HERCULES--ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS--ANTIGONE--PENELOPE
+
+ACHELOUS AND HERCULES
+
+
+The river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon to Theseus
+and his companions, whom he was entertaining at his hospitable
+board, while they were delayed on their journey by the overflow of
+his waters. Having finished his story, he added, "But why should I
+tell of other persons' transformations when I myself am an
+instance of the possession of this power? Sometimes I become a
+serpent, and sometimes a bull, with horns on my head. Or I should
+say I once could do so; but now I have but one horn, having lost
+one." And here he groaned and was silent.
+
+Theseus asked him the cause of his grief, and how he lost his
+horn. To which question the river-god replied as follows: "Who
+likes to tell of his defeats? Yet I will not hesitate to relate
+mine, comforting myself with the thought of the greatness of my
+conqueror, for it was Hercules. Perhaps you have heard of the fame
+of Dejanira, the fairest of maidens, whom a host of suitors strove
+to win. Hercules and myself were of the number, and the rest
+yielded to us two. He urged in his behalf his descent from Jove
+and his labors by which he had exceeded the exactions of Juno, his
+stepmother. I, on the other hand, said to the father of the
+maiden, 'Behold me, the king of the waters that flow through your
+land. I am no stranger from a foreign shore, but belong to the
+country, a part of your realm. Let it not stand in my way that
+royal Juno owes me no enmity nor punishes me with heavy tasks. As
+for this man, who boasts himself the son of Jove, it is either a
+false pretence, or disgraceful to him if true, for it cannot be
+true except by his mother's shame.' As I said this Hercules
+scowled upon me, and with difficulty restrained his rage. 'My hand
+will answer better than my tongue,' said he. 'I yield to you the
+victory in words, but trust my cause to the strife of deeds.' With
+that he advanced towards me, and I was ashamed, after what I had
+said, to yield. I threw off my green vesture and presented myself
+for the struggle. He tried to throw me, now attacking my head, now
+my body. My bulk was my protection, and he assailed me in vain.
+For a time we stopped, then returned to the conflict. We each kept
+our position, determined not to yield, foot to foot, I bending
+over him, clenching his hand in mine, with my forehead almost
+touching his. Thrice Hercules tried to throw me off, and the
+fourth time he succeeded, brought me to the ground, and himself
+upon my back. I tell you the truth, it was as if a mountain had
+fallen on me. I struggled to get my arms at liberty, panting and
+reeking with perspiration. He gave me no chance to recover, but
+seized my throat. My knees were on the earth and my mouth in the
+dust.
+
+"Finding that I was no match for him in the warrior's art, I
+resorted to others and glided away in the form of a serpent. I
+curled my body in a coil and hissed at him with my forked tongue.
+He smiled scornfully at this, and said, 'It was the labor of my
+infancy to conquer snakes.' So saying he clasped my neck with his
+hands. I was almost choked, and struggled to get my neck out of
+his grasp. Vanquished in this form, I tried what alone remained to
+me and assumed the form of a bull. He grasped my neck with his
+arm, and dragging my head down to the ground, overthrew me on the
+sand. Nor was this enough. His ruthless hand rent my horn from my
+head. The Naiades took it, consecrated it, and filled it with
+fragrant flowers. Plenty adopted my horn and made it her own, and
+called it 'Cornucopia.'"
+
+The ancients were fond of finding a hidden meaning in their
+mythological tales. They explain this fight of Achelous with
+Hercules by saying Achelous was a river that in seasons of rain
+overflowed its banks. When the fable says that Achelous loved
+Dejanira, and sought a union with her, the meaning is that the
+river in its windings flowed through part of Dejanira's kingdom.
+It was said to take the form of a snake because of its winding,
+and of a bull because it made a brawling or roaring in its course.
+When the river swelled, it made itself another channel. Thus its
+head was horned. Hercules prevented the return of these periodical
+overflows by embankments and canals; and therefore he was said to
+have vanquished the river-god and cut off his horn. Finally, the
+lands formerly subject to overflow, but now redeemed, became very
+fertile, and this is meant by the horn of plenty.
+
+There is another account of the origin of the Cornucopia. Jupiter
+at his birth was committed by his mother Rhea to the care of the
+daughters of Melisseus, a Cretan king. They fed the infant deity
+with the milk of the goat Amalthea. Jupiter broke off one of the
+horns of the goat and gave it to his nurses, and endowed it with
+the wonderful power of becoming filled with whatever the possessor
+might wish.
+
+The name of Amalthea is also given by some writers to the mother
+of Bacchus. It is thus used by Milton, "Paradise Lost," Book IV.:
+
+    "... That Nyseian isle,
+     Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,
+     Whom Gentiles Ammon call, and Libyan Jove,
+     Hid Amalthea and her florid son,
+     Young Bacchus, from his stepdame Rhea's eye."
+
+ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS
+
+Aesculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with
+such skill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to
+life. At this Pluto took alarm, and prevailed on Jupiter to launch
+a thunderbolt at Aesculapius. Apollo was indignant at the
+destruction of his son, and wreaked his vengeance on the innocent
+workmen who had made the thunderbolt. These were the Cyclopes, who
+have their workshop under Mount Aetna, from which the smoke and
+flames of their furnaces are constantly issuing. Apollo shot his
+arrows at the Cyclopes, which so incensed Jupiter that he
+condemned him as a punishment to become the servant of a mortal
+for the space of one year. Accordingly Apollo went into the
+service of Admetus, king of Thessaly, and pastured his flocks for
+him on the verdant banks of the river Amphrysos.
+
+Admetus was a suitor, with others, for the hand of Alcestis, the
+daughter of Pelias, who promised her to him who should come for
+her in a chariot drawn by lions and boars. This task Admetus
+performed by the assistance of his divine herdsman, and was made
+happy in the possession of Alcestis. But Admetus fell ill, and
+being near to death, Apollo prevailed on the Fates to spare him on
+condition that some one would consent to die in his stead.
+Admetus, in his joy at this reprieve, thought little of the
+ransom, and perhaps remembering the declarations of attachment
+which he had often heard from his courtiers and dependents fancied
+that it would be easy to find a substitute. But it was not so.
+Brave warriors, who would willingly have perilled their lives for
+their prince, shrunk from the thought of dying for him on the bed
+of sickness; and old servants who had experienced his bounty and
+that of his house from their childhood up, were not willing to lay
+down the scanty remnant of their days to show their gratitude. Men
+asked, "Why does not one of his parents do it? They cannot in the
+course of nature live much longer, and who can feel like them the
+call to rescue the life they gave from an untimely end?" But the
+parents, distressed though they were at the thought of losing him,
+shrunk from the call. Then Alcestis, with a generous self-
+devotion, proffered herself as the substitute. Admetus, fond as he
+was of life, would not have submitted to receive it at such a
+cost; but there was no remedy. The condition imposed by the Fates
+had been met, and the decree was irrevocable. Alcestis sickened as
+Admetus revived, and she was rapidly sinking to the grave.
+
+Just at this time Hercules arrived at the palace of Admetus, and
+found all the inmates in great distress for the impending loss of
+the devoted wife and beloved mistress. Hercules, to whom no labor
+was too arduous, resolved to attempt her rescue. He went and lay
+in wait at the door of the chamber of the dying queen, and when
+Death came for his prey, he seized him and forced him to resign
+his victim. Alcestis recovered, and was restored to her husband.
+
+Milton alludes to the story of Alcestis in his Sonnet "on his
+deceased wife:"
+
+    "Methought I saw my late espoused saint
+       Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,
+       Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave,
+     Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint."
+
+J. R. Lowell has chosen the "Shepherd of King Admetus" for the
+subject of a short poem. He makes that event the first
+introduction of poetry to men.
+
+    "Men called him but a shiftless youth,
+       In whom no good they saw,
+     And yet unwittingly, in truth,
+       They made his careless words their law.
+
+    "And day by day more holy grew
+       Each spot where he had trod,
+     Till after-poets only knew
+       Their first-born brother was a god."
+
+ANTIGONE
+
+A large proportion both of the interesting persons and of the
+exalted acts of legendary Greece belongs to the female sex.
+Antigone was as bright an example of filial and sisterly fidelity
+as was Alcestis of connubial devotion. She was the daughter of
+Oedipus and Jocasta, who with all their descendants were the
+victims of an unrelenting fate, dooming them to destruction.
+OEdipus in his madness had torn out his eyes, and was driven forth
+from his kingdom Thebes, dreaded and abandoned by all men, as an
+object of divine vengeance. Antigone, his daughter, alone shared
+his wanderings and remained with him till he died, and then
+returned to Thebes.
+
+Her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, had agreed to share the
+kingdom between them, and reign alternately year by year. The
+first year fell to the lot of Eteocles, who, when his time
+expired, refused to surrender the kingdom to his brother.
+Polynices fled to Adrastus, king of Argos, who gave him his
+daughter in marriage, and aided him with an army to enforce his
+claim to the kingdom. This led to the celebrated expedition of the
+"Seven against Thebes," which furnished ample materials for the
+epic and tragic poets of Greece.
+
+Amphiaraus, the brother-in-law of Adrastus, opposed the
+enterprise, for he was a soothsayer, and knew by his art that no
+one of the leaders except Adrastus would live to return. But
+Amphiaraus, on his marriage to Eriphyle, the king's sister, had
+agreed that whenever he and Adrastus should differ in opinion, the
+decision should be left to Eriphyle. Polynices, knowing this, gave
+Eriphyle the collar of Harmonia, and thereby gained her to his
+interest. This collar or necklace was a present which Vulcan had
+given to Harmonia on her marriage with Cadmus, and Polynices had
+taken it with him on his flight from Thebes. Eriphyle could not
+resist so tempting a bribe, and by her decision the war was
+resolved on, and Amphiaraus went to his certain fate. He bore his
+part bravely in the contest, but could not avert his destiny.
+Pursued by the enemy, he fled along the river, when a thunderbolt
+launched by Jupiter opened the ground, and he, his chariot, and
+his charioteer were swallowed up.
+
+It would not be in place here to detail all the acts of heroism or
+atrocity which marked the contest; but we must not omit to record
+the fidelity of Evadne as an offset to the weakness of Eriphyle.
+Capaneus, the husband of Evadne, in the ardor of the fight
+declared that he would force his way into the city in spite of
+Jove himself. Placing a ladder against the wall he mounted, but
+Jupiter, offended at his impious language, struck him with a
+thunderbolt. When his obsequies were celebrated, Evadne cast
+herself on his funeral pile and perished.
+
+Early in the contest Eteocles consulted the soothsayer Tiresias as
+to the issue. Tiresias in his youth had by chance seen Minerva
+bathing. The goddess in her wrath deprived him of his sight, but
+afterwards relenting gave him in compensation the knowledge of
+future events. When consulted by Eteocles, he declared that
+victory should fall to Thebes if Menoeceus, the son of Creon, gave
+himself a voluntary victim. The heroic youth, learning the
+response, threw away his life in the first encounter.
+
+The siege continued long, with various success. At length both
+hosts agreed that the brothers should decide their quarrel by
+single combat. They fought and fell by each other's hands. The
+armies then renewed the fight, and at last the invaders were
+forced to yield, and fled, leaving their dead unburied. Creon, the
+uncle of the fallen princes, now become king, caused Eteocles to
+be buried with distinguished honor, but suffered the body of
+Polynices to lie where it fell, forbidding every one on pain of
+death to give it burial.
+
+Antigone, the sister of Polynices, heard with indignation the
+revolting edict which consigned her brother's body to the dogs and
+vultures, depriving it of those rites which were considered
+essential to the repose of the dead. Unmoved by the dissuading
+counsel of an affectionate but timid sister, and unable to procure
+assistance, she determined to brave the hazard, and to bury the
+body with her own hands. She was detected in the act, and Creon
+gave orders that she should be buried alive, as having
+deliberately set at naught the solemn edict of the city. Her
+lover, Haemon, the son of Creon, unable to avert her fate, would
+not survive her, and fell by his own hand.
+
+Antigone forms the subject of two fine tragedies of the Grecian
+poet Sophocles. Mrs. Jameson, in her "Characteristics of Women,"
+has compared her character with that of Cordelia, in Shakspeare's
+"King Lear." The perusal of her remarks cannot fail to gratify our
+readers.
+
+The following is the lamentation of Antigone over OEdipus, when
+death has at last relieved him from his sufferings:
+
+    "Alas! I only wished I might have died
+     With my poor father; wherefore should I ask
+     For longer life?
+     O, I was fond of misery with him;
+     E'en what was most unlovely grew beloved
+     When he was with me. O my dearest father,
+     Beneath the earth now in deep darkness hid,
+     Worn as thou wert with age, to me thou still
+     Wast dear, and shalt be ever."
+
+    --Francklin's Sophocles.
+
+PENELOPE
+
+Penelope is another of those mythic heroines whose beauties were
+rather those of character and conduct than of person. She was the
+daughter of Icarius, a Spartan prince. Ulysses, king of Ithaca,
+sought her in marriage, and won her, over all competitors. When
+the moment came for the bride to leave her father's house,
+Icarius, unable to bear the thoughts of parting with his daughter,
+tried to persuade her to remain with him, and not accompany her
+husband to Ithaca. Ulysses gave Penelope her choice, to stay or go
+with him. Penelope made no reply, but dropped her veil over her
+face. Icarius urged her no further, but when she was gone erected
+a statue to Modesty on the spot where they parted.
+
+Ulysses and Penelope had not enjoyed their union more than a year
+when it was interrupted by the events which called Ulysses to the
+Trojan war. During his long absence, and when it was doubtful
+whether he still lived, and highly improbable that he would ever
+return, Penelope was importuned by numerous suitors, from whom
+there seemed no refuge but in choosing one of them for her
+husband. Penelope, however, employed every art to gain time, still
+hoping for Ulysses' return. One of her arts of delay was engaging
+in the preparation of a robe for the funeral canopy of Laertes,
+her husband's father. She pledged herself to make her choice among
+the suitors when the robe was finished. During the day she worked
+at the robe, but in the night she undid the work of the day. This
+is the famous Penelope's web, which is used as a proverbial
+expression for anything which is perpetually doing but never done.
+The rest of Penelope's history will be told when we give an
+account of her husband's adventures.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE--ARISTAEUS--AMPHION--LINUS--THAMYRIS--
+MARSYAS--MELAMPUS--MUSAEUS
+
+ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
+
+
+Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was
+presented by his father with a Lyre and taught to play upon it,
+which he did to such perfection that nothing could withstand the
+charm of his music. Not only his fellow-mortals but wild beasts
+were softened by his strains, and gathering round him laid by
+their fierceness, and stood entranced with his lay. Nay, the very
+trees and rocks were sensible to the charm. The former crowded
+round him and the latter relaxed somewhat of their hardness,
+softened by his notes.
+
+Hymen had been called to bless with his presence the nuptials of
+Orpheus with Eurydice; but though he attended, he brought no happy
+omens with him. His very torch smoked and brought tears into their
+eyes. In coincidence with such prognostics, Eurydice, shortly
+after her marriage, while wandering with the nymphs, her
+companions, was seen by the shepherd Aristaeus, who was struck
+with her beauty and made advances to her. She fled, and in flying
+trod upon a snake in the grass, was bitten in the foot, and died.
+Orpheus sang his grief to all who breathed the upper air, both
+gods and men, and finding it all unavailing resolved to seek his
+wife in the regions of the dead. He descended by a cave situated
+on the side of the promontory of Taenarus and arrived at the
+Stygian realm. He passed through crowds of ghosts and presented
+himself before the throne of Pluto and Proserpine. Accompanying
+the words with the lyre, he sung, "O deities of the underworld, to
+whom all we who live must come, hear my words, for they are true.
+I come not to spy out the secrets of Tartarus, nor to try my
+strength against the three-headed dog with snaky hair who guards
+the entrance. I come to seek my wife, whose opening years the
+poisonous viper's fang has brought to an untimely end. Love has
+led me here, Love, a god all powerful with us who dwell on the
+earth, and, if old traditions say true, not less so here. I
+implore you by these abodes full of terror, these realms of
+silence and uncreated things, unite again the thread of Eurydice's
+life. We all are destined to you and sooner or later must pass to
+your domain. She too, when she shall have filled her term of life,
+will rightly be yours. But till then grant her to me, I beseech
+you. If you deny me I cannot return alone; you shall triumph in
+the death of us both."
+
+As he sang these tender strains, the very ghosts shed tears.
+Tantalus, in spite of his thirst, stopped for a moment his efforts
+for water, Ixion's wheel stood still, the vulture ceased to tear
+the giant's liver, the daughters of Danaus rested from their task
+of drawing water in a sieve, and Sisyphus sat on his rock to
+listen. Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks of the
+Furies were wet with tears. Proserpine could not resist, and Pluto
+himself gave way. Eurydice was called. She came from among the
+new-arrived ghosts, limping with her wounded foot. Orpheus was
+permitted to take her away with him on one condition, that he
+should not turn around to look at her till they should have
+reached the upper air. Under this condition they proceeded on
+their way, he leading, she following, through passages dark and
+steep, in total silence, till they had nearly reached the outlet
+into the cheerful upper world, when Orpheus, in a moment of
+forgetfulness, to assure himself that she was still following,
+cast a glance behind him, when instantly she was borne away.
+Stretching out their arms to embrace each other, they grasped only
+the air! Dying now a second time, she yet cannot reproach her
+husband, for how can she blame his impatience to behold her?
+"Farewell," she said, "a last farewell,"--and was hurried away, so
+fast that the sound hardly reached his ears.
+
+Orpheus endeavored to follow her, and besought permission to
+return and try once more for her release; but the stern ferryman
+repulsed him and refused passage. Seven days he lingered about the
+brink, without food or sleep; then bitterly accusing of cruelty
+the powers of Erebus, he sang his complaints to the rocks and
+mountains, melting the hearts of tigers and moving the oaks from
+their stations. He held himself aloof from womankind, dwelling
+constantly on the recollection of his sad mischance. The Thracian
+maidens tried their best to captivate him, but he repulsed their
+advances. They bore with him as long as they could; but finding
+him insensible one day, excited by the rites of Bacchus, one of
+them exclaimed, "See yonder our despiser!" and threw at him her
+javelin. The weapon, as soon as it came within the sound of his
+lyre, fell harmless at his feet. So did also the stones that they
+threw at him. But the women raised a scream and drowned the voice
+of the music, and then the missiles reached him and soon were
+stained with his blood. The maniacs tore him limb from limb, and
+threw his head and his lyre into the river Hebrus, down which they
+floated, murmuring sad music, to which the shores responded a
+plaintive symphony. The Muses gathered up the fragments of his
+body and buried them at Libethra, where the nightingale is said to
+sing over his grave more sweetly than in any other part of Greece.
+His lyre was placed by Jupiter among the stars. His shade passed a
+second time to Tartarus, where he sought out his Eurydice and
+embraced her with eager arms. They roam the happy fields together
+now, sometimes he leading, sometimes she; and Orpheus gazes as
+much as he will upon her, no longer incurring a penalty for a
+thoughtless glance.
+
+The story of Orpheus has furnished Pope with an illustration of
+the power of music, for his "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" The
+following stanza relates the conclusion of the story:
+
+    "But soon, too soon the lover turns his eyes;
+     Again she falls, again she dies, she dies!
+     How wilt thou now the fatal sisters move?
+     No crime was thine, if't is no crime to love.
+         Now under hanging mountains,
+         Beside the falls of fountains,
+         Or where Hebrus wanders,
+         Rolling in meanders,
+             All alone,
+             He makes his moan,
+             And calls her ghost,
+           Forever, ever, ever lost!
+         Now with furies surrounded,
+         Despairing, confounded,
+         He trembles, he glows,
+         Amidst Rhodope's snows
+     See, wild as the winds o'er the desert he flies;
+     Hark! Haemus resounds with the Bacchanals' cries;
+         Ah, see, he dies!
+     Yet even in death Eurydice he sung,
+     Eurydice still trembled on his tongue:
+     Eurydice the woods
+     Eurydice the floods
+     Eurydice the rocks and hollow mountains rung"
+
+The superior melody of the nightingale's song over the grave of
+Orpheus is alluded to by Southey in his "Thalaba":
+
+        "Then on his ear what sounds
+           Of harmony arose'
+     Far music and the distance-mellowed song
+         From bowers of merriment,
+           The waterfall remote,
+       The murmuring of the leafy groves;
+           The single nightingale
+     Perched in the rosier by, so richly toned,
+     That never from that most melodious bird
+     Singing a love song to his brooding mate,
+       Did Thracian shepherd by the grave
+       Of Orpheus hear a sweeter melody,
+     Though there the spirit of the sepulchre
+       All his own power infuse, to swell
+       The incense that he loves"
+
+ARISTAEUS, THE BEE-KEEPER
+
+Man avails himself of the instincts of the inferior animals for
+his own advantage. Hence sprang the art of keeping bees. Honey
+must first have been known as a wild product, the bees building
+their structures in hollow trees or holes in the rocks, or any
+similar cavity that chance offered. Thus occasionally the carcass
+of a dead animal would be occupied by the bees for that purpose.
+It was no doubt from some such incident that the superstition
+arose that the bees were engendered by the decaying flesh of the
+animal; and Virgil, in the following story, shows how this
+supposed fact may be turned to account for renewing the swarm when
+it has been lost by disease or accident:
+
+Aristaeus, who first taught the management of bees, was the son of
+the water-nymph Cyrene. His bees had perished, and he resorted for
+aid to his mother. He stood at the river side and thus addressed
+her: "O mother, the pride of my life is taken from me! I have lost
+my precious bees. My care and skill have availed me nothing, and
+you my mother have not warded off from me the blow of misfortune."
+His mother heard these complaints as she sat in her palace at the
+bottom of the river, with her attendant nymphs around her. They
+were engaged in female occupations, spinning and weaving, while
+one told stories to amuse the rest. The sad voice of Aristaeus
+interrupting their occupation, one of them put her head above the
+water and seeing him, returned and gave information to his mother,
+who ordered that he should be brought into her presence. The river
+at her command opened itself and let him pass in, while it stood
+curled like a mountain on either side. He descended to the region
+where the fountains of the great rivers lie; he saw the enormous
+receptacles of waters and was almost deafened with the roar, while
+he surveyed them hurrying off in various directions to water the
+face of the earth. Arriving at his mother's apartment, he was
+hospitably received by Cyrene and her nymphs, who spread their
+table with the richest dainties. They first poured out libations
+to Neptune, then regaled themselves with the feast, and after that
+Cyrene thus addressed him: "There is an old prophet named Proteus,
+who dwells in the sea and is a favorite of Neptune, whose herd of
+sea-calves he pastures. We nymphs hold him in great respect, for
+he is a learned sage and knows all things, past, present, and to
+come. He can tell you, my son, the cause of the mortality among
+your bees, and how you may remedy it. But he will not do it
+voluntarily, however you may entreat him. You must compel him by
+force. If you seize him and chain him, he will answer your
+questions in order to get released, for he cannot by all his arts
+get away if you hold fast the chains. I will carry you to his
+cave, where he comes at noon to take his midday repose. Then you
+may easily secure him. But when he finds himself captured, his
+resort is to a power he possesses of changing himself into various
+forms. He will become a wild boar or a fierce tiger, a scaly
+dragon or lion with yellow mane. Or he will make a noise like the
+crackling of flames or the rush of water, so as to tempt you to
+let go the chain, when he will make his escape. But you have only
+to keep him fast bound, and at last when he finds all his arts
+unavailing, he will return to his own figure and obey your
+commands." So saying she sprinkled her son with fragrant nectar,
+the beverage of the gods, and immediately an unusual vigor filled
+his frame, and courage his heart, while perfume breathed all
+around him.
+
+The nymph led her son to the prophet's cave and concealed him
+among the recesses of the rocks, while she herself took her place
+behind the clouds. When noon came and the hour when men and herds
+retreat from the glaring sun to indulge in quiet slumber, Proteus
+issued from the water, followed by his herd of sea-calves which
+spread themselves along the shore. He sat on the rock and counted
+his herd; then stretched himself on the floor of the cave and went
+to sleep. Aristaeus hardly allowed him to get fairly asleep before
+he fixed the fetters on him and shouted aloud. Proteus, waking and
+finding himself captured, immediately resorted to his arts,
+becoming first a fire, then a flood, then a horrible wild beast,
+in rapid succession. But finding all would not do, he at last
+resumed his own form and addressed the youth in angry accents:
+"Who are you, bold youth, who thus invade my abode, and what do
+yot want of me?" Aristaeus replied, "Proteus, you know already,
+for it is needless for any one to attempt to deceive you. And do
+you also cease your efforts to elude me. I am led hither by divine
+assistance, to know from you the cause of my misfortune and how to
+remedy it." At these words the prophet, fixing on him his gray
+eyes with a piercing look, thus spoke: "You receive the merited
+reward of your deeds, by which Eurydice met her death, for in
+flying from you she trod upon a serpent, of whose bite she died.
+To avenge her death, the nymphs, her companions, have sent this
+destruction to your bees. You have to appease their anger, and
+thus it must be done: Select four bulls, of perfect form and size,
+and four cows of equal beauty, build four altars to the nymphs,
+and sacrifice the animals, leaving their carcasses in the leafy
+grove. To Orpheus and Eurydice you shall pay such funeral honors
+as may allay their resentment. Returning after nine days, you will
+examine the bodies of the cattle slain and see what will befall."
+Aristaeus faithfully obeyed these directions. He sacrificed the
+cattle, he left their bodies in the grove, he offered funeral
+honors to the shades of Orpheus and Eurydice; then returning on
+the ninth day he examined the bodies of the animals, and,
+wonderful to relate! a swarm of bees had taken possession of one
+of the carcasses and were pursuing their labors there as in a
+hive.
+
+In "The Task," Cowper alludes to the story of Aristaeus, when
+speaking of the ice-palace built by the Empress Anne of Russia. He
+has been describing the fantastic forms which ice assumes in
+connection with waterfalls, etc.:
+
+    "Less worthy of applause though more admired
+     Because a novelty, the work of man,
+     Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Russ,
+     Thy most magnificent and mighty freak,
+     The wonder of the north. No forest fell
+     When thou wouldst build, no quarry sent its stores
+     T' enrich thy walls; but thou didst hew the floods
+     And make thy marble of the glassy wave.
+     In such a palace Aristaeus found
+     Cyrene, when he bore the plaintive tale
+     Of his lost bees to her maternal ear."
+
+Milton also appears to have had Cyrene and her domestic scene in
+his mind when he describes to us Sabrina, the nymph of the river
+Severn, in the Guardian-spirit's Song in "Comus":
+
+          "Sabrina fair!
+       Listen where thou art sitting
+     Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave
+       In twisted braids of lilies knitting
+     The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
+       Listen for dear honor's sake,
+       Goddess of the silver lake!
+            Listen and save."
+
+The following are other celebrated mythical poets and musicians,
+some of whom were hardly inferior to Orpheus himself:
+
+AMPHION
+
+Amphion was the son of Jupiter and Antiope, queen of Thebes. With
+his twin brother Zethus he was exposed at birth on Mount
+Cithaeron, where they grew up among the shepherds, not knowing
+their parentage. Mercury gave Amphion a lyre and taught him to
+play upon it, and his brother occupied himself in hunting and
+tending the flocks. Meanwhile Antiope, their mother, who had been
+treated with great cruelty by Lycus, the usurping king of Thebes,
+and by Dirce, his wife, found means to inform her children of
+their rights and to summon them to her assistance. With a band of
+their fellow-herdsmen they attacked and slew Lycus, and tying
+Dirce by the hair of her head to a bull, let him drag her till she
+was dead. Amphion, having become king of Thebes, fortified the
+city with a wall. It is said that when he played on his lyre the
+stones moved of their own accord and took their places in the
+wall.
+
+See Tennyson's poem of "Amphion" for an amusing use made of this
+story.
+
+LINUS
+
+Linus was the instructor of Hercules in music, but having one day
+reproved his pupil rather harshly, he roused the anger of
+Hercules, who struck him with his lyre and killed him.
+
+THAMYRIS
+
+An ancient Thracian bard, who in his presumption challenged the
+Muses to a trial of skill, and being overcome in the contest, was
+deprived by them of his sight. Milton alludes to him with other
+blind bards, when speaking of his own blindness, "Paradise Lost,"
+Book III., 35.
+
+MARSYAS
+
+Minerva invented the flute, and played upon it to the delight of
+all the celestial auditors; but the mischievous urchin Cupid
+having dared to laugh at the queer face which the goddess made
+while playing, Minerva threw the instrument indignantly away, and
+it fell down to earth, and was found by Marsyas. He blew upon it,
+and drew from it such ravishing sounds that he was tempted to
+challenge Apollo himself to a musical contest. The god of course
+triumphed, and punished Marsyas by flaying him alive.
+
+MELAMPUS
+
+Melampus was the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers.
+Before his house there stood an oak tree containing a serpent's
+nest. The old serpents were killed by the servants, but Melampus
+took care of the young ones and fed them carefully. One day when
+he was asleep under the oak the serpents licked his ears with
+their tongues. On awaking he was astonished to find that he now
+understood the language of birds and creeping things. This
+knowledge enabled him to foretell future events, and he became a
+renowned soothsayer. At one time his enemies took him captive and
+kept him strictly imprisoned. Melampus in the silence of the night
+heard the woodworms in the timbers talking together, and found out
+by what they said that the timbers were nearly eaten through and
+the roof would soon fall in. He told his captors and demanded to
+be let out, warning them also. They took his warning, and thus
+escaped destruction, and rewarded Melampus and held him in high
+honor.
+
+MUSAEUS A semi-mythological personage who was represented by one
+tradition to be the son of Orpheus. He is said to have written
+sacred poems and oracles. Milton couples his name with that of
+Orpheus in his "Il Penseroso":
+
+    "But O, sad virgin, that thy power
+     Might raise Musaeus from his bower,
+     Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing
+     Such notes as warbled to the string,
+     Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek,
+     And made Hell grant what love did seek."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+ARION--IBYCUS--SIMONIDES--SAPPHO
+
+
+The poets whose adventures compose this chapter were real persons
+some of whose works yet remain, and their influence on poets who
+succeeded them is yet more important than their poetical remains.
+The adventures recorded of them in the following stories rest on
+the same authority as other narratives of the "Age of Fable," that
+is, of the poets who have told them. In their present form, the
+first two are translated from the German, Arion from Schlegel, and
+Ibycus from Schiller.
+
+ARION
+
+Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt in the court of Periander,
+king of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was to
+be a musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for
+the prize. He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a
+brother to give up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and
+be contented. He who strives to win may lose." Arion answered, "A
+wandering life best suits the free heart of a poet. The talent
+which a god bestowed on me, I would fain make a source of pleasure
+to others. And if I win the prize, how will the enjoyment of it be
+increased by the consciousness of my widespread fame!" He went,
+won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a Corinthian ship
+for home. On the second morning after setting sail, the wind
+breathed mild and fair. "O Periander," he exclaimed, "dismiss your
+fears! Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish
+offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry
+will we be at the festal board!" The wind and sea continued
+propitious. Not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted
+too much to the ocean--but he had to man. He overheard the seamen
+exchanging hints with one another, and found they were plotting to
+possess themselves of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him
+loud and mutinous, and said, "Arion, you must die! If you would
+have a grave on shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if
+otherwise, cast yourself into the sea." "Will nothing satisfy you
+but my life?" said he. "Take my gold, and welcome. I willingly buy
+my life at that price." "No, no; we cannot spare you. Your life
+would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to escape from
+Periander, if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your
+gold would be of little use to us, if on returning home, we could
+never more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last
+request, since nought will avail to save my life, that I may die,
+as I have lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my
+death song, and my harp-strings shall have ceased to vibrate, then
+I will bid farewell to life, and yield uncomplaining to my fate."
+This prayer, like the others, would have been unheeded,--they
+thought only of their booty,--but to hear so famous a musician,
+that moved their rude hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to arrange
+my dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I be clad in my minstrel
+garb."
+
+He clothed his well-proportioned limbs in gold and purple fair to
+see, his tunic fell around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned
+his arms, his brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and over his
+neck and shoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors. His left
+hand held the lyre, his right the ivory wand with which he struck
+its chords. Like one inspired, he seemed to drink the morning air
+and glitter in the morning ray. The seamen gazed with admiration.
+He strode forward to the vessel's side and looked down into the
+deep blue sea. Addressing his lyre, he sang, "Companion of my
+voice, come with me to the realm of shades. Though Cerberus may
+growl, we know the power of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of
+Elysium, who have passed the darkling flood,--ye happy souls, soon
+shall I join your band. Yet can ye relieve my grief? Alas, I leave
+my friend behind me. Thou, who didst find thy Eurydice, and lose
+her again as soon as found; when she had vanished like a dream,
+how didst thou hate the cheerful light! I must away, but I will
+not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who slay me unoffending,
+when I am no more, your time of trembling shall come. Ye Nereids,
+receive your guest, who throws himself upon your mercy!" So
+saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him, and
+the seamen held on their way, fancying themselves safe from all
+danger of detection.
+
+But the strains of his music had drawn round him the inhabitants
+of the deep to listen, and Dolphins followed the ship as if
+chained by a spell. While he struggled in the waves, a Dolphin
+offered him his back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to
+shore. At the spot where he landed, a monument of brass was
+afterwards erected upon the rocky shore, to preserve the memory of
+the event.
+
+When Arion and the dolphin parted, each to his own element, Arion
+thus poured forth his thanks: "Farewell, thou faithful, friendly
+fish! Would that I could reward thee; but thou canst not wend with
+me, nor I with thee. Companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
+queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
+burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep."
+
+Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers
+of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went,
+full of love and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful
+only of what remained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the
+hospitable halls, and was soon clasped in the embrace of
+Periander. "I come back to thee, my friend," he said. "The talent
+which a god bestowed has been the delight of thousands, but false
+knaves have stripped me of my well-earned treasure; yet I retain
+the consciousness of wide spread fame." Then he told Periander all
+the wonderful events that had befallen him, who heard him with
+amazement. "Shall such wickedness triumph?" said he. "Then in vain
+is power lodged in my hands. That we may discover the criminals,
+you must remain here in concealment, and so they will approach
+without suspicion." When the ship arrived in the harbor, he
+summoned the mariners before him. "Have you heard anything of
+Arion?" he inquired. "I anxiously look for his return." They
+replied, "We left him well and prosperous in Tarentum." As they
+said these words, Arion stepped forth and faced them. His well-
+proportioned limbs were arrayed in gold and purple fair to see,
+his tunic fell around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his
+arms, his brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck
+and shoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors; his left hand
+held the lyre, his right the ivory wand with which he struck its
+chords. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning bolt
+had struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a god.
+O Earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke. "He lives,
+the master of the lay! Kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As
+for you, I invoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not
+your blood. Ye slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous
+land, and never may aught beautiful delight your souls!"
+
+Spenser represents Arion, mounted on his dolphin, accompanying the
+train of Neptune and Amphitrite:
+
+    "Then was there heard a most celestial sound
+     Of dainty music which did next ensue,
+     And, on the floating waters as enthroned,
+     Arion with his harp unto him drew
+     The ears and hearts of all that goodly crew;
+     Even when as yet the dolphin which him bore
+     Through the Aegean Seas from pirates' view,
+     Stood still, by him astonished at his lore,
+     And all the raging seas for joy forgot to roar."
+
+Byron, in his "Childe Harold," Canto II., alludes to the story of
+Arion, when, describing his voyage, he represents one of the
+seamen making music to entertain the rest:
+
+    "The moon is up; by Heaven a lovely eve!
+     Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand;
+     Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe;
+     Such be our fate when we return to land!
+     Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand
+     Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love;
+     A circle there of merry listeners stand,
+     Or to some well-known measure featly move
+   Thoughtless as if on shore they still were free to rove."
+
+IBYCUS
+
+In order to understand the story of Ibycus which follows it is
+necessary to remember, first, that the theatres of the ancients
+were immense fabrics capable of containing from ten to thirty
+thousand spectators, and as they were used only on festival
+occasions, and admission was free to all, they were usually
+filled. They were without roofs and open to the sky, and the
+performances were in the daytime. Secondly, the appalling
+representation of the Furies is not exaggerated in the story. It
+is recorded that Aeschylus, the tragic poet, having on one
+occasion represented the Furies in a chorus of fifty performers,
+the terror of the spectators was such that many fainted and were
+thrown into convulsions, and the magistrates forbade a like
+representation for the future.
+
+Ibycus, the pious poet, was on his way to the chariot races and
+musical competitions held at the Isthmus of Corinth, which
+attracted all of Grecian lineage. Apollo had bestowed on him the
+gift of song, the honeyed lips of the poet, and he pursued his way
+with lightsome step, full of the god. Already the towers of
+Corinth crowning the height appeared in view, and he had entered
+with pious awe the sacred grove of Neptune. No living object was
+in sight, only a flock of cranes flew overhead taking the same
+course as himself in their migration to a southern clime. "Good
+luck to you, ye friendly squadrons," he exclaimed, "my companions
+from across the sea. I take your company for a good omen. We come
+from far and fly in search of hospitality. May both of us meet
+that kind reception which shields the stranger guest from harm!"
+
+He paced briskly on, and soon was in the middle of the wood. There
+suddenly, at a narrow pass, two robbers stepped forth and barred
+his way. He must yield or fight. But his hand, accustomed to the
+lyre, and not to the strife of arms, sank powerless. He called for
+help on men and gods, but his cry reached no defender's ear. "Then
+here must I die," said he, "in a strange land, unlamented, cut off
+by the hand of outlaws, and see none to avenge my cause." Sore
+wounded, he sank to the earth, when hoarse screamed the cranes
+overhead. "Take up my cause, ye cranes," he said, "since no voice
+but yours answers to my cry." So saying he closed his eyes in
+death.
+
+The body, despoiled and mangled, was found, and though disfigured
+with wounds, was recognized by the friend in Corinth who had
+expected him as a guest. "Is it thus I find you restored to me?"
+he exclaimed. "I who hoped to entwine your temples with the wreath
+of triumph in the strife of song!"
+
+The guests assembled at the festival heard the tidings with
+dismay. All Greece felt the wound, every heart owned its loss.
+They crowded round the tribunal of the magistrates, and demanded
+vengeance on the murderers and expiation with their blood.
+
+But what trace or mark shall point out the perpetrator from amidst
+the vast multitude attracted by the splendor of the feast? Did he
+fall by the hands of robbers or did some private enemy slay him?
+The all-discerning sun alone can tell, for no other eye beheld
+it. Yet not improbably the murderer even now walks in the midst of
+the throng, and enjoys the fruits of his crime, while vengeance
+seeks for him in vain. Perhaps in their own temple's enclosure he
+defies the gods mingling freely in this throng of men that now
+presses into the amphitheatre.
+
+For now crowded together, row on row, the multitude fill the seats
+till it seems as if the very fabric would give way. The murmur of
+voices sounds like the roar of the sea, while the circles widening
+in their ascent rise tier on tier, as if they would reach the sky.
+
+And now the vast assemblage listens to the awful voice of the
+chorus personating the Furies, which in solemn guise advances with
+measured step, and moves around the circuit of the theatre. Can
+they be mortal women who compose that awful group, and can that
+vast concourse of silent forms be living beings?
+
+The choristers, clad in black, bore in their fleshless hands
+torches blazing with a pitchy flame. Their cheeks were bloodless,
+and in place of hair writhing and swelling serpents curled around
+their brows. Forming a circle, these awful beings sang their
+hymns, rending the hearts of the guilty, and enchaining all their
+faculties. It rose and swelled, overpowering the sound of the
+instruments, stealing the judgment, palsying the heart, curdling
+the blood.
+
+"Happy the man who keeps his heart pure from guilt and crime! Him
+we avengers touch not; he treads the path of life secure from us.
+But woe! woe! to him who has done the deed of secret murder. We
+the fearful family of Night fasten ourselves upon his whole being.
+Thinks he by flight to escape us? We fly still faster in pursuit,
+twine our snakes around his feet, and bring him to the ground.
+Unwearied we pursue; no pity checks our course; still on and on,
+to the end of life, we give him no peace nor rest." Thus the
+Eumenides sang, and moved in solemn cadence, while stillness like
+the stillness of death sat over the whole assembly as if in the
+presence of superhuman beings; and then in solemn march completing
+the circuit of the theatre, they passed out at the back of the
+stage.
+
+Every heart fluttered between illusion and reality, and every
+breast panted with undefined terror, quailing before the awful
+power that watches secret crimes and winds unseen the skein of
+destiny. At that moment a cry burst forth from one of the
+uppermost benches--"Look! look! comrade, yonder are the cranes of
+Ibycus!" And suddenly there appeared sailing across the sky a dark
+object which a moment's inspection showed to be a flock of cranes
+flying directly over the theatre. "Of Ibycus! did he say?" The
+beloved name revived the sorrow in every breast. As wave follows
+wave over the face of the sea, so ran from mouth to mouth the
+words, "Of Ibycus! him whom we all lament, whom some murderer's
+hand laid low! What have the cranes to do with him?" And louder
+grew the swell of voices, while like a lightning's flash the
+thought sped through every heart, "Observe the power of the
+Eumenides! The pious poet shall be avenged! the murderer has
+informed against himself. Seize the man who uttered that cry and
+the other to whom he spoke!"
+
+The culprit would gladly have recalled his words, but it was too
+late. The faces of the murderers, pale with terror, betrayed their
+guilt. The people took them before the judge, they confessed their
+crime, and suffered the punishment they deserved.
+
+SIMONIDES
+
+Simonides was one of the most prolific of the early poets of
+Greece, but only a few fragments of his compositions have
+descended to us. He wrote hymns, triumphal odes, and elegies. In
+the last species of composition he particularly excelled. His
+genius was inclined to the pathetic, and none could touch with
+truer effect the chords of human sympathy. The "Lamentation of
+Danae," the most important of the fragments which remain of his
+poetry, is based upon the tradition that Danae and her infant son
+were confined by order of her father, Acrisius, in a chest and set
+adrift on the sea. The chest floated towards the island of
+Seriphus, where both were rescued by Dictys, a fisherman, and
+carried to Polydectes, king of the country, who received and
+protected them. The child, Perseus, when grown up became a famous
+hero, whose adventures have been recorded in a previous chapter.
+
+Simonides passed much of his life at the courts of princes, and
+often employed his talents in panegyric and festal odes, receiving
+his reward from the munificence of those whose exploits he
+celebrated. This employment was not derogatory, but closely
+resembles that of the earliest bards, such as Demodocus, described
+by Homer, or of Homer himself, as recorded by tradition.
+
+On one occasion, when residing at the court of Scopas, king of
+Thessaly, the prince desired him to prepare a poem in celebration
+of his exploits, to be recited at a banquet. In order to diversify
+his theme, Simonides, who was celebrated for his piety, introduced
+into his poem the exploits of Castor and Pollux. Such digressions
+were not unusual with the poets on similar occasions, and one
+might suppose an ordinary mortal might have been content to share
+the praises of the sons of Leda. But vanity is exacting; and as
+Scopas sat at his festal board among his courtiers and sycophants,
+he grudged every verse that did not rehearse his own praises. When
+Simonides approached to receive the promised reward Scopas
+bestowed but half the expected sum, saying, "Here is payment for
+my portion of thy performance; Castor and Pollux will doubtless
+compensate thee for so much as relates to them." The disconcerted
+poet returned to his seat amidst the laughter which followed the
+great man's jest. In a little time he received a message that two
+young men on horseback were waiting without and anxious to see
+him. Simonides hastened to the door, but looked in vain for the
+visitors. Scarcely, however, had he left the banqueting hall when
+the roof fell in with a loud crash, burying Scopas and all his
+guests beneath the ruins. On inquiring as to the appearance of the
+young men who had sent for him, Simonides was satisfied that they
+were no other than Castor and Pollux themselves.
+
+SAPPHO
+
+Sappho was a poetess who flourished in a very early age of Greek
+literature. Of her works few fragments remain, but they are enough
+to establish her claim to eminent poetical genius. The story of
+Sappho commonly alluded to is that she was passionately in love
+with a beautiful youth named Phaon, and failing to obtain a return
+of affection she threw herself from the promontory of Leucadia
+into the sea, under a superstition that those who should take that
+"Lover's-leap" would, if not destroyed, be cured of their love.
+
+Byron alludes to the story of Sappho in "Childe Harold," Canto
+II.:
+
+   "Childe Harold sailed and passed the barren spot
+    Where sad Penelope o'erlooked the wave,
+    And onward viewed the mount, not yet forgot,
+    The lover's refuge and the Lesbian's grave.
+    Dark Sappho! could not verse immortal save
+    That breast imbued with such immortal fire?
+
+   "'Twas on a Grecian autumn's gentle eve
+    Childe Harold hailed Leucadia's cape afar;" etc.
+
+Those who wish to know more of Sappho and her "leap" are referred
+to the "Spectator," Nos. 223 and 229. See also Moore's "Evenings
+in Greece."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+ENDYMION--ORION--AURORA AND TITHONUS--ACIS AND GALATEA
+
+DIANA AND ENDYMION
+
+
+Endymion was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on Mount Latmos.
+One calm, clear night Diana, the moon, looked down and saw him
+sleeping. The cold heart of the virgin goddess was warmed by his
+surpassing beauty, and she came down to him, kissed him, and
+watched over him while he slept.
+
+Another story was that Jupiter bestowed on him the gift of
+perpetual youth united with perpetual sleep. Of one so gifted we
+can have but few adventures to record. Diana, it was said, took
+care that his fortunes should not suffer by his inactive life, for
+she made his flock increase, and guarded his sheep and lambs from
+the wild beasts.
+
+The story of Endymion has a peculiar charm from the human meaning
+which it so thinly veils. We see in Endymion the young poet, his
+fancy and his heart seeking in vain for that which can satisfy
+them, finding his favorite hour in the quiet moonlight, and
+nursing there beneath the beams of the bright and silent witness
+the melancholy and the ardor which consumes him. The story
+suggests aspiring and poetic love, a life spent more in dreams
+than in reality, and an early and welcome death.--S. G. B.
+
+The "Endymion" of Keats is a wild and fanciful poem, containing
+some exquisite poetry, as this, to the moon:
+
+   "... The sleeping kine
+    Couched in thy brightness dream of fields divine.
+    Innumerable mountains rise, and rise,
+    Ambitious for the hallowing of thine eyes,
+    And yet thy benediction passeth not
+    One obscure hiding-place, one little spot
+    Where pleasure may be sent; the nested wren
+    Has thy fair face within its tranquil ken;" etc., etc.
+
+Dr. Young, in the "Night Thoughts," alludes to Endymion thus:
+
+   "... These thoughts, O night, are thine;
+    From thee they came like lovers' secret sighs,
+    While others slept. So Cynthia, poets feign,
+    In shadows veiled, soft, sliding from her sphere,
+    Her shepherd cheered, of her enamoured less
+    Than I of thee."
+
+Fletcher, in the "Faithful Shepherdess," tells:
+
+   "How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove,
+    First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes
+    She took eternal fire that never dies;
+    How she conveyed him softly in a sleep,
+    His temples bound with poppy, to the steep
+    Head of old Latmos, where she stoops each night,
+    Gilding the mountain with her brother's light,
+    To kiss her sweetest."
+
+ORION
+
+Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a mighty
+hunter. His father gave him the power of wading through the depths
+of the sea, or, as others say, of walking on its surface.
+
+Orion loved Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and
+sought her in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and
+brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as
+Oenopion constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain
+possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this
+conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and
+cast him out on the seashore. The blinded hero followed the sound
+of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge
+of Vulcan, who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his
+men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on
+his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the
+sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.
+
+After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a
+favorite, and it is even said she was about to marry him. Her
+brother was highly displeased and often chid her, but to no
+purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through the sea with his
+head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and
+maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The
+archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled
+the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error
+with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he
+appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and club.
+Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly before him.
+
+The Pleiads were daughters of Atlas, and nymphs of Diana's train.
+One day Orion saw them and became enamoured and pursued them. In
+their distress they prayed to the gods to change their form, and
+Jupiter in pity turned them into pigeons, and then made them a
+constellation in the sky. Though their number was seven, only six
+stars are visible, for Electra, one of them, it is said left her
+place that she might not behold the ruin of Troy, for that city
+was founded by her son Dardanus. The sight had such an effect on
+her sisters that they have looked pale ever since.
+
+Mr. Longfellow has a poem on the "Occultation of Orion." The
+following lines are those in which he alludes to the mythic story.
+We must premise that on the celestial globe Orion is represented
+as robed in a lion's skin and wielding a club. At the moment the
+stars of the constellation, one by one, were quenched in the light
+of the moon, the poet tells us
+
+   "Down fell the red skin of the lion
+    Into the river at his feet.
+    His mighty club no longer beat
+    The forehead of the bull; but he
+    Reeled as of yore beside the sea,
+    When blinded by Oenopion
+      He sought the blacksmith at his forge,
+      And climbing up the narrow gorge,
+    Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun."
+
+Tennyson has a different theory of the Pleiads:
+
+   "Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow
+      shade,
+    Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid."
+
+    --Locksley Hall.
+
+Byron alludes to the lost Pleiad:
+
+"Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below."
+
+See also Mrs. Hemans's verses on the same subject.
+
+AURORA AND TITHONUS
+
+The goddess of the Dawn, like her sister the Moon, was at times
+inspired with the love of mortals. Her greatest favorite was
+Tithonus, son of Laomedon, king of Troy. She stole him away, and
+prevailed on Jupiter to grant him immortality; but, forgetting to
+have youth joined in the gift, after some time she began to
+discern, to her great mortification, that he was growing old. When
+his hair was quite white she left his society; but he still had
+the range of her palace, lived on ambrosial food, and was clad in
+celestial raiment. At length he lost the power of using his limbs,
+and then she shut him up in his chamber, whence his feeble voice
+might at times be heard. Finally she turned him into a
+grasshopper.
+
+Memnon was the son of Aurora and Tithonus. He was king of the
+Aethiopians, and dwelt in the extreme east, on the shore of Ocean.
+He came with his warriors to assist the kindred of his father in
+the war of Troy. King Priam received him with great honors, and
+listened with admiration to his narrative of the wonders of the
+ocean shore.
+
+The very day after his arrival, Memnon, impatient of repose, led
+his troops to the field. Antilochus, the brave son of Nestor, fell
+by his hand, and the Greeks were put to flight, when Achilles
+appeared and restored the battle. A long and doubtful contest
+ensued between him and the son of Aurora; at length victory
+declared for Achilles, Memnon fell, and the Trojans fled in
+dismay.
+
+Aurora, who from her station in the sky had viewed with
+apprehension the danger of her son, when she saw him fall,
+directed his brothers, the Winds, to convey his body to the banks
+of the river Esepus in Paphlagonia. In the evening Aurora came,
+accompanied by the Hours and the Pleiads, and wept and lamented
+over her son. Night, in sympathy with her grief, spread the heaven
+with clouds; all nature mourned for the offspring of the Dawn. The
+Aethiopians raised his tomb on the banks of the stream in the
+grove of the Nymphs, and Jupiter caused the sparks and cinders of
+his funeral pile to be turned into birds, which, dividing into two
+flocks, fought over the pile till they fell into the flame. Every
+year at the anniversary of his death they return and celebrate his
+obsequies in like manner. Aurora remains inconsolable for the loss
+of her son. Her tears still flow, and may be seen at early morning
+in the form of dew-drops on the grass.
+
+Unlike most of the marvels of ancient mythology, there still exist
+some memorials of this. On the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt,
+are two colossal statues, one of which is said to be the statue of
+Memnon. Ancient writers record that when the first rays of the
+rising sun fall upon this statue a sound is heard to issue from
+it, which they compare to the snapping of a harp-string. There is
+some doubt about the identification of the existing statue with
+the one described by the ancients, and the mysterious sounds are
+still more doubtful. Yet there are not wanting some modern
+testimonies to their being still audible. It has been suggested
+that sounds produced by confined air making its escape from
+crevices or caverns in the rocks may have given some ground for
+the story. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, a late traveller, of the highest
+authority, examined the statue itself, and discovered that it was
+hollow, and that "in the lap of the statue is a stone, which on
+being struck emits a metallic sound, that might still be made use
+of to deceive a visitor who was predisposed to believe its
+powers."
+
+The vocal statue of Memnon is a favorite subject of allusion with
+the poets. Darwin, in his "Botanic Garden," says:
+
+   "So to the sacred Sun in Memnon's fane
+    Spontaneous concords choired the matin strain;
+    Touched by his orient beam responsive rings
+    The living lyre and vibrates all its strings;
+    Accordant aisles the tender tones prolong,
+    And holy echoes swell the adoring song."
+
+Book I., 1., 182.
+
+ACIS AND GALATEA
+
+Scylla was a fair virgin of Sicily, a favorite of the Sea-Nymphs.
+She had many suitors, but repelled them all, and would go to the
+grotto of Galatea, and tell her how she was persecuted. One day
+the goddess, while Scylla dressed her hair, listened to the story,
+and then replied, "Yet, maiden, your persecutors are of the not
+ungentle race of men, whom, if you will, you can repel; but I, the
+daughter of Nereus, and protected by such a band of sisters, found
+no escape from the passion of the Cyclops but in the depths of the
+sea;" and tears stopped her utterance, which when the pitying
+maiden had wiped away with her delicate finger, and soothed the
+goddess, "Tell me, dearest," said she, "the cause of your grief."
+Galatea then said, "Acis was the son of Faunus and a Naiad. His
+father and mother loved him dearly, but their love was not equal
+to mine. For the beautiful youth attached himself to me alone, and
+he was just sixteen years old, the down just beginning to darken
+his cheeks. As much as I sought his society, so much did the
+Cyclops seek mine; and if you ask me whether my love for Acis or
+my hatred of Polyphemus was the stronger, I cannot tell you; they
+were in equal measure. O Venus, how great is thy power! this
+fierce giant, the terror of the woods, whom no hapless stranger
+escaped unharmed, who defied even Jove himself, learned to feel
+what love was, and, touched with a passion for me, forgot his
+flocks and his well-stored caverns. Then for the first time he
+began to take some care of his appearance, and to try to make
+himself agreeable; he harrowed those coarse locks of his with a
+comb, and mowed his beard with a sickle, looked at his harsh
+features in the water, and composed his countenance. His love of
+slaughter, his fierceness and thirst of blood prevailed no more,
+and ships that touched at his island went away in safety. He paced
+up and down the sea-shore, imprinting huge tracks with his heavy
+tread, and, when weary, lay tranquilly in his cave.
+
+"There is a cliff which projects into the sea, which washes it on
+either side. Thither one day the huge Cyclops ascended, and sat
+down while his flocks spread themselves around. Laying down his
+staff, which would have served for a mast to hold a vessel's sail,
+and taking his instrument compacted of numerous pipes, he made the
+hills and the waters echo the music of his song. I lay hid under a
+rock by the side of my beloved Acis, and listened to the distant
+strain. It was full of extravagant praises of my beauty, mingled
+with passionate reproaches of my coldness and cruelty.
+
+"When he had finished he rose up, and, like a raging bull that
+cannot stand still, wandered off into the woods. Acis and I
+thought no more of him, till on a sudden he came to a spot which
+gave him a view of us as we sat. 'I see you,' he exclaimed, 'and I
+will make this the last of your love-meetings.' His voice was a
+roar such as an angry Cyclops alone could utter. Aetna trembled at
+the sound. I, overcome with terror, plunged into the water. Acis
+turned and fled, crying, 'Save me, Galatea, save me, my parents!'
+The Cyclops pursued him, and tearing a rock from the side of the
+mountain hurled it at him. Though only a corner of it touched him,
+it overwhelmed him.
+
+"All that fate left in my power I did for Acis. I endowed him with
+the honors of his grandfather, the river-god. The purple blood
+flowed out from under the rock, but by degrees grew paler and
+looked like the stream of a river rendered turbid by rains, and in
+time it became clear. The rock cleaved open, and the water, as it
+gushed from the chasm, uttered a pleasing murmur."
+
+Thus Acis was changed into a river, and the river retains the name
+of Acis.
+
+Dryden, in his "Cymon and Iphigenia," has told the story of a
+clown converted into a gentleman by the power of love, in a way
+that shows traces of kindred to the old story of Galatea and the
+Cyclops.
+
+   "What not his father's care nor tutor's art
+    Could plant with pains in his unpolished heart,
+    The best instructor, Love, at once inspired,
+    As barren grounds to fruitfulness are fired.
+    Love taught him shame, and shame with love at strife
+    Soon taught the sweet civilities of life."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+THE TROJAN WAR
+
+
+Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, but on one occasion she did a
+very foolish thing; she entered into competition with Juno and
+Venus for the prize of beauty. It happened thus: At the nuptials
+of Peleus and Thetis all the gods were invited with the exception
+of Eris, or Discord. Enraged at her exclusion, the goddess threw a
+golden apple among the guests, with the inscription, "For the
+fairest." Thereupon Juno, Venus, and Minerva each claimed the
+apple. Jupiter, not willing to decide in so delicate a matter,
+sent the goddesses to Mount Ida, where the beautiful shepherd
+Paris was tending his flocks, and to him was committed the
+decision. The goddesses accordingly appeared before him. Juno
+promised him power and riches, Minerva glory and renown in war,
+and Venus the fairest of women for his wife, each attempting to
+bias his decision in her own favor. Paris decided in favor of
+Venus and gave her the golden apple, thus making the two other
+goddesses his enemies. Under the protection of Venus, Paris sailed
+to Greece, and was hospitably received by Menelaus, king of
+Sparta. Now Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was the very woman whom
+Venus had destined for Paris, the fairest of her sex. She had been
+sought as a bride by numerous suitors, and before her decision was
+made known, they all, at the suggestion of Ulysses, one of their
+number, took an oath that they would defend her from all injury
+and avenge her cause if necessary. She chose Menelaus, and was
+living with him happily when Paris became their guest. Paris,
+aided by Venus, persuaded her to elope with him, and carried her
+to Troy, whence arose the famous Trojan war, the theme of the
+greatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and Virgil.
+
+Menelaus called upon his brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil
+their pledge, and join him in his efforts to recover his wife.
+They generally came forward, but Ulysses, who had married
+Penelope, and was very happy in his wife and child, had no
+disposition to embark in such a troublesome affair. He therefore
+hung back and Palamedes was sent to urge him. When Palamedes
+arrived at Ithaca Ulysses pretended to be mad. He yoked an ass and
+an ox together to the plough and began to sow salt. Palamedes, to
+try him, placed the infant Telemachus before the plough, whereupon
+the father turned the plough aside, showing plainly that he was no
+madman, and after that could no longer refuse to fulfil his
+promise. Being now himself gained for the undertaking, he lent his
+aid to bring in other reluctant chiefs, especially Achilles. This
+hero was the son of that Thetis at whose marriage the apple of
+Discord had been thrown among the goddesses. Thetis was herself
+one of the immortals, a sea-nymph, and knowing that her son was
+fated to perish before Troy if he went on the expedition, she
+endeavored to prevent his going. She sent him away to the court of
+King Lycomedes, and induced him to conceal himself in the disguise
+of a maiden among the daughters of the king. Ulysses, hearing he
+was there, went disguised as a merchant to the palace and offered
+for sale female ornaments, among which he had placed some arms.
+While the king's daughters were engrossed with the other contents
+of the merchant's pack, Achilles handled the weapons and thereby
+betrayed himself to the keen eye of Ulysses, who found no great
+difficulty in persuading him to disregard his mother's prudent
+counsels and join his countrymen in the war.
+
+Priam was king of Troy, and Paris, the shepherd and seducer of
+Helen, was his son. Paris had been brought up in obscurity,
+because there were certain ominous forebodings connected with him
+from his infancy that he would be the ruin of the state. These
+forebodings seemed at length likely to be realized, for the
+Grecian armament now in preparation was the greatest that had ever
+been fitted out. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and brother of the
+injured Menelaus, was chosen commander-in-chief. Achilles was
+their most illustrious warrior. After him ranked Ajax, gigantic in
+size and of great courage, but dull of intellect; Diomede, second
+only to Achilles in all the qualities of a hero; Ulysses, famous
+for his sagacity; and Nestor, the oldest of the Grecian chiefs,
+and one to whom they all looked up for counsel. But Troy was no
+feeble enemy. Priam, the king, was now old, but he had been a wise
+prince and had strengthened his state by good government at home
+and numerous alliances with his neighbors. But the principal stay
+and support of his throne was his son Hector, one of the noblest
+characters painted by heathen antiquity. He felt, from the first,
+a presentiment of the fall of his country, but still persevered in
+his heroic resistance, yet by no means justified the wrong which
+brought this danger upon her. He was united in marriage with
+Andromache, and as a husband and father his character was not less
+admirable than as a warrior. The principal leaders on the side of
+the Trojans, besides Hector, were Aeneas and Deiphobus, Glaucus
+and Sarpedon.
+
+After two years of preparation the Greek fleet and army assembled
+in the port of Aulis in Boeotia. Here Agamemnon in hunting killed
+a stag which was sacred to Diana, and the goddess in return
+visited the army with pestilence, and produced a calm which
+prevented the ships from leaving the port. Calchas, the
+soothsayer, thereupon announced that the wrath of the virgin
+goddess could only be appeased by the sacrifice of a virgin on her
+altar, and that none other but the daughter of the offender would
+be acceptable. Agamemnon, however reluctant, yielded his consent,
+and the maiden Iphigenia was sent for under the pretence that she
+was to be married to Achilles. When she was about to be sacrificed
+the goddess relented and snatched her away, leaving a hind in her
+place, and Iphigenia, enveloped in a cloud, was carried to Tauris,
+where Diana made her priestess of her temple.
+
+Tennyson, in his "Dream of Fair Women," makes Iphigenia thus
+describe her feelings at the moment of sacrifice:
+
+   "I was cut off from hope in that sad place,
+      Which yet to name my spirit loathes and fears;
+    My father held his hand upon his face;
+      I, blinded by my tears,
+
+   "Still strove to speak; my voice was thick with sighs,
+      As in a dream. Dimly I could descry
+    The stern black-bearded kings, with wolfish eyes,
+      Waiting to see me die.
+
+   "The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,
+      The temples and the people and the shore;
+    One drew a sharp knife through my tender throat
+      Slowly,--and--nothing more."
+
+The wind now proving fair the fleet made sail and brought the
+forces to the coast of Troy. The Trojans came to oppose their
+landing, and at the first onset Protesilaus fell by the hand of
+Hector. Protesilaus had left at home his wife, Laodamia, who was
+most tenderly attached to him. When the news of his death reached
+her she implored the gods to be allowed to converse with him only
+three hours. The request was granted. Mercury led Protesilaus back
+to the upper world, and when he died a second time Laodamia died
+with him. There was a story that the nymphs planted elm trees
+round his grave which grew very well till they were high enough to
+command a view of Troy, and then withered away, while fresh
+branches sprang from the roots.
+
+Wordsworth has taken the story of Protesilaus and Laodamia for the
+subject of a poem. It seems the oracle had declared that victory
+should be the lot of that party from which should fall the first
+victim to the war. The poet represents Protesilaus, on his brief
+return to earth, as relating to Laodamia the story of his fate:
+
+   "'The wished-for wind was given; I then revolved
+      The oracle, upon the silent sea;
+    And if no worthier led the way, resolved
+      That of a thousand vessels mine should be
+    The foremost prow impressing to the strand,--
+    Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand.
+
+   "'Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter was the pang
+      When of thy loss I thought, beloved wife!
+    On thee too fondly did my memory hang,
+      And on the joys we shared in mortal life,
+    The paths which we had trod,--these fountains, flowers;
+    My new planned cities and unfinished towers.
+
+   "'But should suspense permit the foe to cry,
+      "Behold they tremble! haughty their array,
+    Yet of their number no one dares to die?"
+      In soul I swept the indignity away:
+    Old frailties then recurred: but lofty thought
+    In act embodied my deliverance wrought.'
+
+   "... upon the side
+      Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained)
+    A knot of spiry trees for ages grew
+      From out the tomb of him for whom she died;
+      And ever when such stature they had gained
+    That Ilium's walls were subject to their view,
+    The trees' tall summits withered at the sight,
+    A constant interchange of growth and blight!"
+
+"THE ILIAD"
+
+The war continued without decisive results for nine years. Then an
+event occurred which seemed likely to be fatal to the cause of the
+Greeks, and that was a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon. It
+is at this point that the great poem of Homer, "The Iliad,"
+begins. The Greeks, though unsuccessful against Troy, had taken
+the neighboring and allied cities, and in the division of the
+spoil a female captive, by name Chryseis, daughter of Chryses,
+priest of Apollo, had fallen to the share of Agamemnon. Chryses
+came bearing the sacred emblems of his office, and begged the
+release of his daughter. Agamemnon refused. Thereupon Chryses
+implored Apollo to afflict the Greeks till they should be forced
+to yield their prey. Apollo granted the prayer of his priest, and
+sent pestilence into the Grecian camp. Then a council was called
+to deliberate how to allay the wrath of the gods and avert the
+plague. Achilles boldly charged their misfortunes upon Agamemnon
+as caused by his withholding Chryseis. Agamemnon, enraged,
+consented to relinquish his captive, but demanded that Achilles
+should yield to him in her stead Briseis, a maiden who had fallen
+to Achilles' share in the division of the spoil. Achilles
+submitted, but forthwith declared that he would take no further
+part in the war. He withdrew his forces from the general camp and
+openly avowed his intention of returning home to Greece.
+
+The gods and goddesses interested themselves as much in this
+famous war as the parties themselves. It was well known to them
+that fate had decreed that Troy should fall, at last, if her
+enemies should persevere and not voluntarily abandon the
+enterprise. Yet there was room enough left for chance to excite by
+turns the hopes and fears of the powers above who took part with
+either side. Juno and Minerva, in consequence of the slight put
+upon their charms by Paris, were hostile to the Trojans; Venus for
+the opposite cause favored them. Venus enlisted her admirer Mars
+on the same side, but Neptune favored the Greeks. Apollo was
+neutral, sometimes taking one side, sometimes the other, and Jove
+himself, though he loved the good King Priam, yet exercised a
+degree of impartiality; not, however, without exceptions.
+
+Thetis, the mother of Achilles, warmly resented the injury done to
+her son. She repaired immediately to Jove's palace and besought
+him to make the Greeks repent of their injustice to Achilles by
+granting success to the Trojan arms. Jupiter consented, and in the
+battle which ensued the Trojans were completely successful. The
+Greeks were driven from the field and took refuge in their ships.
+
+Then Agamemnon called a council of his wisest and bravest chiefs.
+Nestor advised that an embassy should be sent to Achilles to
+persuade him to return to the field; that Agamemnon should yield
+the maiden, the cause of the dispute, with ample gifts to atone
+for the wrong he had done. Agamemnon consented, and Ulysses, Ajax,
+and Phoenix were sent to carry to Achilles the penitent message.
+They performed that duty, but Achilles was deaf to their
+entreaties. He positively refused to return to the field, and
+persisted in his resolution to embark for Greece without delay.
+
+The Greeks had constructed a rampart around their ships, and now
+instead of besieging Troy they were in a manner besieged
+themselves, within their rampart. The next day after the
+unsuccessful embassy to Achilles, a battle was fought, and the
+Trojans, favored by Jove, were successful, and succeeded in
+forcing a passage through the Grecian rampart, and were about to
+set fire to the ships. Neptune, seeing the Greeks so pressed, came
+to their rescue. He appeared in the form of Calchas the prophet,
+encouraged the warriors with his shouts, and appealed to each
+individually till he raised their ardor to such a pitch that they
+forced the Trojans to give way. Ajax performed prodigies of valor,
+and at length encountered Hector. Ajax shouted defiance, to which
+Hector replied, and hurled his lance at the huge warrior. It was
+well aimed and struck Ajax, where the belts that bore his sword
+and shield crossed each other on the breast. The double guard
+prevented its penetrating and it fell harmless. Then Ajax, seizing
+a huge stone, one of those that served to prop the ships, hurled
+it at Hector. It struck him in the neck and stretched him on the
+plain. His followers instantly seized him and bore him off,
+stunned and wounded.
+
+While Neptune was thus aiding the Greeks and driving back the
+Trojans, Jupiter saw nothing of what was going on, for his
+attention had been drawn from the field by the wiles of Juno. That
+goddess had arrayed herself in all her charms, and to crown all
+had borrowed of Venus her girdle, called "Cestus," which had the
+effect to heighten the wearer's charms to such a degree that they
+were quite irresistible. So prepared, Juno went to join her
+husband, who sat on Olympus watching the battle. When he beheld
+her she looked so charming that the fondness of his early love
+revived, and, forgetting the contending armies and all other
+affairs of state, he thought only of her and let the battle go as
+it would.
+
+But this absorption did not continue long, and when, upon turning
+his eyes downward, he beheld Hector stretched on the plain almost
+lifeless from pain and bruises, he dismissed Juno in a rage,
+commanding her to send Iris and Apollo to him. When Iris came he
+sent her with a stern message to Neptune, ordering him instantly
+to quit the field. Apollo was despatched to heal Hector's bruises
+and to inspirit his heart. These orders were obeyed with such
+speed that, while the battle still raged, Hector returned to the
+field and Neptune betook himself to his own dominions.
+
+An arrow from Paris's bow wounded Machaon, son of Aesculapius, who
+inherited his father's art of healing, and was therefore of great
+value to the Greeks as their surgeon, besides being one of their
+bravest warriors. Nestor took Machaon in his chariot and conveyed
+him from the field. As they passed the ships of Achilles, that
+hero, looking out over the field, saw the chariot of Nestor and
+recognized the old chief, but could not discern who the wounded
+chief was. So calling Patroclus, his companion and dearest friend,
+he sent him to Nestor's tent to inquire.
+
+Patroclus, arriving at Nestor's tent, saw Machaon wounded, and
+having told the cause of his coming would have hastened away, but
+Nestor detained him, to tell him the extent of the Grecian
+calamities. He reminded him also how, at the time of departing for
+Troy, Achilles and himself had been charged by their respective
+fathers with different advice: Achilles to aspire to the highest
+pitch of glory, Patroclus, as the elder, to keep watch over his
+friend, and to guide his inexperience. "Now," said Nestor, "is the
+time for such influence. If the gods so please, thou mayest win
+him back to the common cause; but if not let him at least send his
+soldiers to the field, and come thou, Patroclus, clad in his
+armor, and perhaps the very sight of it may drive back the
+Trojans."
+
+Patroclus was strongly moved with this address, and hastened back
+to Achilles, revolving in his mind all he had seen and heard. He
+told the prince the sad condition of affairs at the camp of their
+late associates: Diomede, Ulysses, Agamemnon, Machaon, all
+wounded, the rampart broken down, the enemy among the ships
+preparing to burn them, and thus to cut off all means of return to
+Greece. While they spoke the flames burst forth from one of the
+ships. Achilles, at the sight, relented so far as to grant
+Patroclus his request to lead the Myrmidons (for so were Achilles'
+soldiers called) to the field, and to lend him his armor, that he
+might thereby strike more terror into the minds of the Trojans.
+Without delay the soldiers were marshalled, Patroclus put on the
+radiant armor and mounted the chariot of Achilles, and led forth
+the men ardent for battle. But before he went, Achilles strictly
+charged him that he should be content with repelling the foe "Seek
+not," said he, "to press the Trojans without me, lest thou add
+still more to the disgrace already mine." Then exhorting the
+troops to do their best he dismissed them full of ardor to the
+fight.
+
+Patroclus and his Myrmidons at once plunged into the contest where
+it raged hottest; at the sight of which the joyful Grecians
+shouted and the ships reechoed the acclaim. The Trojans, at the
+sight of the well-known armor, struck with terror, looked
+everywhere for refuge. First those who had got possession of the
+ship and set it on fire left and allowed the Grecians to retake it
+and extinguish the flames. Then the rest of the Trojans fled in
+dismay. Ajax, Menelaus, and the two sons of Nestor performed
+prodigies of valor. Hector was forced to turn his horses' heads
+and retire from the enclosure, leaving his men entangled in the
+fosse to escape as they could. Patroclus drove them before him,
+slaying many, none daring to make a stand against him.
+
+At last Sarpedon, son of Jove, ventured to oppose himself in fight
+to Patroclus. Jupiter looked down upon him and would have snatched
+him from the fate which awaited him, but Juno hinted that if he
+did so it would induce all others of the inhabitants of heaven to
+interpose in like manner whenever any of their offspring were
+endangered; to which reason Jove yielded. Sarpedon threw his
+spear, but missed Patroclus, but Patroclus threw his with better
+success. It pierced Sarpedon's breast and he fell, and, calling to
+his friends to save his body from the foe, expired. Then a furious
+contest arose for the possession of the corpse. The Greeks
+succeeded and stripped Sarpedon of his armor; but Jove would not
+allow the remains of his son to be dishonored, and by his command
+Apollo snatched from the midst of the combatants the body of
+Sarpedon and committed it to the care of the twin brothers Death
+and Sleep, by whom it was transported to Lycia, the native land of
+Sarpedon, where it received due funeral rites.
+
+Thus far Patroclus had succeeded to his utmost wish in repelling
+the Trojans and relieving his countrymen, but now came a change of
+fortune. Hector, borne in his chariot, confronted him. Patroclus
+threw a vast stone at Hector, which missed its aim, but smote
+Cebriones, the charioteer, and knocked him from the car. Hector
+leaped from the chariot to rescue his friend, and Patroclus also
+descended to complete his victory. Thus the two heroes met face to
+face. At this decisive moment the poet, as if reluctant to give
+Hector the glory, records that Phoebus took part against
+Patroclus. He struck the helmet from his head and the lance from
+his hand. At the same moment an obscure Trojan wounded him in the
+back, and Hector, pressing forward, pierced him with his spear. He
+fell mortally wounded.
+
+Then arose a tremendous conflict for the body of Patroclus, but
+his armor was at once taken possession of by Hector, who retiring
+a short distance divested himself of his own armor and put on that
+of Achilles, then returned to the fight. Ajax and Menelaus
+defended the body, and Hector and his bravest warriors struggled
+to capture it. The battle raged with equal fortunes, when Jove
+enveloped the whole face of heaven with a dark cloud. The
+lightning flashed, the thunder roared, and Ajax, looking round for
+some one whom he might despatch to Achilles to tell him of the
+death of his friend, and of the imminent danger that his remains
+would fall into the hands of the enemy, could see no suitable
+messenger. It was then that he exclaimed in those famous lines so
+often quoted,
+
+    "Father of heaven and earth! deliver thou
+    Achaia's host from darkness; clear the skies;
+    Give day; and, since thy sovereign will is such,
+    Destruction with it; but, O, give us day."
+
+    --Cowper.
+
+Or, as rendered by Pope,
+
+    "... Lord of earth and air!
+    O king! O father! hear my humble prayer!
+    Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore;
+    Give me to see and Ajax asks no more;
+    If Greece must perish we thy will obey,
+    But let us perish in the face of day."
+
+Jupiter heard the prayer and dispersed the clouds. Then Ajax sent
+Antilochus to Achilles with the intelligence of Patroclus's death,
+and of the conflict raging for his remains. The Greeks at last
+succeeded in bearing off the body to the ships, closely pursued by
+Hector and Aeneas and the rest of the Trojans.
+
+Achilles heard the fate of his friend with such distress that
+Antilochus feared for a while that he would destroy himself. His
+groans reached the ears of his mother, Thetis, far down in the
+deeps of ocean where she abode, and she hastened to him to inquire
+the cause. She found him overwhelmed with self-reproach that he
+had indulged his resentment so far, and suffered his friend to
+fall a victim to it. But his only consolation was the hope of
+revenge. He would fly instantly in search of Hector. But his
+mother reminded him that he was now without armor, and promised
+him, if he would but wait till the morrow, she would procure for
+him a suit of armor from Vulcan more than equal to that he had
+lost. He consented, and Thetis immediately repaired to Vulcan's
+palace. She found him busy at his forge making tripods for his own
+use, so artfully constructed that they moved forward of their own
+accord when wanted, and retired again when dismissed. On hearing
+the request of Thetis, Vulcan immediately laid aside his work and
+hastened to comply with her wishes. He fabricated a splendid suit
+of armor for Achilles, first a shield adorned with elaborate
+devices, then a helmet crested with gold, then a corselet and
+greaves of impenetrable temper, all perfectly adapted to his form,
+and of consummate workmanship. It was all done in one night, and
+Thetis, receiving it, descended with it to earth, and laid it down
+at Achilles' feet at the dawn of day.
+
+The first glow of pleasure that Achilles had felt since the death
+of Patroclus was at the sight of this splendid armor. And now,
+arrayed in it, he went forth into the camp, calling all the chiefs
+to council. When they were all assembled he addressed them.
+Renouncing his displeasure against Agamemnon and bitterly
+lamenting the miseries that had resulted from it, he called on
+them to proceed at once to the field. Agamemnon made a suitable
+reply, laying all the blame on Ate, the goddess of discord; and
+thereupon complete reconcilement took place between the heroes.
+
+Then Achilles went forth to battle inspired with a rage and thirst
+for vengeance that made him irresistible. The bravest warriors
+fled before him or fell by his lance. Hector, cautioned by Apollo,
+kept aloof; but the god, assuming the form of one of Priam's sons,
+Lycaon, urged Aeneas to encounter the terrible warrior. Aeneas,
+though he felt himself unequal, did not decline the combat. He
+hurled his spear with all his force against the shield the work of
+Vulcan. It was formed of five metal plates; two were of brass, two
+of tin, and one of gold. The spear pierced two thicknesses, but
+was stopped in the third. Achilles threw his with better success.
+It pierced through the shield of Aeneas, but glanced near his
+shoulder and made no wound. Then Aeneas seized a stone, such as
+two men of modern times could hardly lift, and was about to throw
+it, and Achilles, with sword drawn, was about to rush upon him,
+when Neptune, who looked out upon the contest, moved with pity for
+Aeneas, who he saw would surely fall a victim if not speedily
+rescued, spread a cloud between the combatants, and lifting Aeneas
+from the ground, bore him over the heads of warriors and steeds to
+the rear of the battle. Achilles, when the mist cleared away,
+looked round in vain for his adversary, and acknowledging the
+prodigy, turned his arms against other champions. But none dared
+stand before him, and Priam looking down from the city walls
+beheld his whole army in full flight towards the city. He gave
+command to open wide the gates to receive the fugitives, and to
+shut them as soon as the Trojans should have passed, lest the
+enemy should enter likewise. But Achilles was so close in pursuit
+that that would have been impossible if Apollo had not, in the
+form of Agenor, Priam's son, encountered Achilles for a while,
+then turned to fly, and taken the way apart from the city.
+Achilles pursued and had chased his supposed victim far from the
+walls, when Apollo disclosed himself, and Achilles, perceiving how
+he had been deluded, gave up the chase.
+
+But when the rest had escaped into the town Hector stood without
+determined to await the combat. His old father called to him from
+the walls and begged him to retire nor tempt the encounter. His
+mother, Hecuba, also besought him to the same effect, but all in
+vain. "How can I," said he to himself, "by whose command the
+people went to this day's contest, where so many have fallen, seek
+safety for myself against a single foe? But what if I offer him to
+yield up Helen and all her treasures and ample of our own beside?
+Ah, no! it is too late. He would not even hear me through, but
+slay me while I spoke." While he thus ruminated. Achilles
+approached, terrible as Mars, his armor flashing lightning as he
+moved. At that sight Hector's heart failed him and he fled.
+Achilles swiftly pursued. They ran, still keeping near the walls,
+till they had thrice encircled the city. As often as Hector
+approached the walls Achilles intercepted him and forced him to
+keep out in a wider circle. But Apollo sustained Hector's strength
+and would not let him sink in weariness. Then Pallas, assuming the
+form of Deiphobus, Hector's bravest brother, appeared suddenly at
+his side. Hector saw him with delight, and thus strengthened
+stopped his flight and turned to meet Achilles. Hector threw his
+spear, which struck the shield of Achilles and bounded back. He
+turned to receive another from the hand of Deiphobus, but
+Deiphobus was gone. Then Hector understood his doom and said,
+"Alas! it is plain this is my hour to die! I thought Deiphobus at
+hand, but Pallas deceived me, and he is still in Troy. But I will
+not fall inglorious," So saying he drew his falchion from his side
+and rushed at once to combat. Achilles, secured behind his shield,
+waited the approach of Hector. When he came within reach of his
+spear, Achilles choosing with his eye a vulnerable part where the
+armor leaves the neck uncovered, aimed his spear at that part and
+Hector fell, death-wounded, and feebly said, "Spare my body! Let
+my parents ransom it, and let me receive funeral rites from the
+sons and daughters of Troy." To which Achilles replied, "Dog, name
+not ransom nor pity to me, on whom you have brought such dire
+distress. No! trust me, naught shall save thy carcass from the
+dogs. Though twenty ransoms and thy weight in gold were offered, I
+would refuse it all."
+
+So saying he stripped the body of its armor, and fastening cords
+to the feet tied them behind his chariot, leaving the body to
+trail along the ground. Then mounting the chariot he lashed the
+steeds and so dragged the body to and fro before the city. What
+words can tell the grief of King Priam and Queen Hecuba at this
+sight! His people could scarce restrain the old king from rushing
+forth. He threw himself in the dust and besought them each by name
+to give him way. Hecuba's distress was not less violent. The
+citizens stood round them weeping. The sound of the mourning
+reached the ears of Andromache, the wife of Hector, as she sat
+among her maidens at work, and anticipating evil she went forth to
+the wall. When she saw the sight there presented, she would have
+thrown herself headlong from the wall, but fainted and fell into
+the arms of her maidens. Recovering, she bewailed her fate,
+picturing to herself her country ruined, herself a captive, and
+her son dependent for his bread on the charity of strangers.
+
+When Achilles and the Greeks had taken their revenge on the killer
+of Patroclus they busied themselves in paying due funeral rites to
+their friend. A pile was erected, and the body burned with due
+solemnity; and then ensued games of strength and skill, chariot
+races, wrestling, boxing, and archery. Then the chiefs sat down to
+the funeral banquet and after that retired to rest. But Achilles
+neither partook of the feast nor of sleep. The recollection of his
+lost friend kept him awake, remembering their companionship in
+toil and dangers, in battle or on the perilous deep. Before the
+earliest dawn he left his tent, and joining to his chariot his
+swift steeds, he fastened Hector's body to be dragged behind.
+Twice he dragged him around the tomb of Patroclus, leaving him at
+length stretched in the dust. But Apollo would not permit the body
+to be torn or disfigured with all this abuse, but preserved it
+free from all taint or defilement.
+
+While Achilles indulged his wrath in thus disgracing brave Hector,
+Jupiter in pity summoned Thetis to his presence. He told her to go
+to her son and prevail on him to restore the body of Hector to his
+friends. Then Jupiter sent Iris to King Priam to encourage him to
+go to Achilles and beg the body of his son. Iris delivered her
+message, and Priam immediately prepared to obey. He opened his
+treasuries and took out rich garments and cloths, with ten talents
+in gold and two splendid tripods and a golden cup of matchless
+workmanship. Then he called to his sons and bade them draw forth
+his litter and place in it the various articles designed for a
+ransom to Achilles. When all was ready, the old king with a single
+companion as aged as himself, the herald Idaeus, drove forth from
+the gates, parting there with Hecuba, his queen, and all his
+friends, who lamented him as going to certain death.
+
+But Jupiter, beholding with compassion the venerable king, sent
+Mercury to be his guide and protector. Mercury, assuming the form
+of a young warrior, presented himself to the aged couple, and
+while at the sight of him they hesitated whether to fly or yield,
+the god approached, and grasping Priam's hand offered to be their
+guide to Achilles' tent. Priam gladly accepted his offered
+service, and he, mounting the carriage, assumed the reins and soon
+conveyed them to the tent of Achilles. Mercury's wand put to sleep
+all the guards, and without hinderance he introduced Priam into
+the tent where Achilles sat, attended by two of his warriors. The
+old king threw himself at the feet of Achilles, and kissed those
+terrible hands which had destroyed so many of his sons. "Think, O
+Achilles," he said, "of thy own father, full of days like me, and
+trembling on the gloomy verge of life. Perhaps even now some
+neighbor chief oppresses him and there is none at hand to succor
+him in his distress. Yet doubtless knowing that Achilles lives he
+still rejoices, hoping that one day he shall see thy face again.
+But no comfort cheers me, whose bravest sons, so late the flower
+of Ilium, all have fallen. Yet one I had, one more than all the
+rest the strength of my age, whom, fighting for his country, thou
+hast slain. I come to redeem his body, bringing inestimable ransom
+with me. Achilles! reverence the gods! recollect thy father! for
+his sake show compassion to me!" These words moved Achilles, and
+he wept; remembering by turns his absent father and his lost
+friend. Moved with pity of Priam's silver locks and beard, he
+raised him from the earth, and thus spake: "Priam, I know that
+thou hast reached this place conducted by some god, for without
+aid divine no mortal even in his prime of youth had dared the
+attempt. I grant thy request, moved thereto by the evident will of
+Jove." So saying he arose, and went forth with his two friends,
+and unloaded of its charge the litter, leaving two mantles and a
+robe for the covering of the body, which they placed on the
+litter, and spread the garments over it, that not unveiled it
+should be borne back to Troy. Then Achilles dismissed the old king
+with his attendants, having first pledged himself to allow a truce
+of twelve days for the funeral solemnities.
+
+As the litter approached the city and was descried from the walls,
+the people poured forth to gaze once more on the face of their
+hero. Foremost of all, the mother and the wife of Hector came, and
+at the sight of the lifeless body renewed their lamentations. The
+people all wept with them, and to the going down of the sun there
+was no pause or abatement of their grief.
+
+The next day preparations were made for the funeral solemnities.
+For nine days the people brought wood and built the pile, and on
+the tenth they placed the body on the summit and applied the
+torch; while all Troy thronging forth encompassed the pile. When
+it had completely burned, they quenched the cinders with wine,
+collected the bones and placed them in a golden urn, which they
+buried in the earth, and reared a pile of stones over the spot.
+
+    "Such honors Ilium to her hero paid,
+    And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade."
+
+    --Pope.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE FALL OF TROY--RETURN OF THE GREEKS--ORESTES AND ELECTRA
+
+THE FALL OF TROY
+
+
+The story of the Iliad ends with the death of Hector, and it is
+from the Odyssey and later poems that we learn the fate of the
+other heroes. After the death of Hector, Troy did not immediately
+fall, but receiving aid from new allies still continued its
+resistance. One of these allies was Memnon, the Aethiopian prince,
+whose story we have already told. Another was Penthesilea, queen
+of the Amazons, who came with a band of female warriors. All the
+authorities attest their valor and the fearful effect of their war
+cry. Penthesilea slew many of the bravest warriors, but was at
+last slain by Achilles. But when the hero bent over his fallen
+foe, and contemplated her beauty, youth, and valor, he bitterly
+regretted his victory. Thersites, an insolent brawler and
+demagogue, ridiculed his grief, and was in consequence slain by
+the hero.
+
+Achilles by chance had seen Polyxena, daughter of King Priam,
+perhaps on the occasion of the truce which was allowed the Trojans
+for the burial of Hector. He was captivated with her charms, and
+to win her in marriage agreed to use his influence with the Greeks
+to grant peace to Troy. While in the temple of Apollo, negotiating
+the marriage, Paris discharged at him a poisoned arrow, which,
+guided by Apollo, wounded Achilles in the heel, the only
+vulnerable part about him. For Thetis his mother had dipped him
+when an infant in the river Styx, which made every part of him
+invulnerable except the heel by which she held him. [Footnote 1:
+The story of the invulnerability of Achilles is not found in
+Homer, and is inconsistent with his account. For how could
+Achilles require the aid of celestial armor if be were
+invulnerable?]
+
+The body of Achilles so treacherously slain was rescued by Ajax
+and Ulysses. Thetis directed the Greeks to bestow her son's armor
+on the hero who of all the survivors should be judged most
+deserving of it. Ajax and Ulysses were the only claimants; a
+select number of the other chiefs were appointed to award the
+prize. It was awarded to Ulysses, thus placing wisdom before
+valor; whereupon Ajax slew himself. On the spot where his blood
+sank into the earth a flower sprang up, called the hyacinth,
+bearing on its leaves the first two letters of the name of Ajax,
+Ai, the Greek for "woe." Thus Ajax is a claimant with the boy
+Hyacinthus for the honor of giving birth to this flower. There is
+a species of Larkspur which represents the hyacinth of the poets
+in preserving the memory of this event, the Delphinium Ajacis--
+Ajax's Larkspur.
+
+It was now discovered that Troy could not be taken but by the aid
+of the arrows of Hercules. They were in possession of Philoctetes,
+the friend who had been with Hercules at the last and lighted his
+funeral pyre. Philoctetes had joined the Grecian expedition
+against Troy, but had accidentally wounded his foot with one of
+the poisoned arrows, and the smell from his wound proved so
+offensive that his companions carried him to the isle of Lemnos
+and left him there. Diomed was now sent to induce him to rejoin
+the army. He sukcceeded. Philoctetes was cured of his wound by
+Machaon, and Paris was the first victim of the fatal arrows. In
+his distress Paris bethought him of one whom in his prosperity he
+had forgotten. This was the nymph OEnone, whom he had married when
+a youth, and had abandoned for the fatal beauty Helen. OEnone,
+remembering the wrongs she had suffered, refused to heal the
+wound, and Paris went back to Troy and died. OEnone quickly
+repented, and hastened after him with remedies, but came too late,
+and in her grief hung herself. [Footnote 1: Tennyson has chosen
+OEnone as the subject of a short poem; but he has omitted the most
+poetical part of the story, the return of Paris wounded, her
+cruelty and subsequent repentance.]
+
+There was in Troy a celebrated statue of Minerva called the
+Palladium. It was said to have fallen from heaven, and the belief
+was that the city could not be taken so long as this statue
+remained within it. Ulysses and Diomed entered the city in
+disguise and succeeded in obtaining the Palladium, which they
+carried off to the Grecian camp.
+
+But Troy still held out, and the Greeks began to despair of ever
+subduing it by force, and by advice of Ulysses resolved to resort
+to stratagem. They pretended to be making preparations to abandon
+the siege, and a portion of the ships were withdrawn and lay hid
+behind a neighboring island. The Greeks then constructed an
+immense WOODEN HORSE, which they gave out was intended as a
+propitiatory offering to Minerva, but in fact was filled with
+armed men. The remaining Greeks then betook themselves to their
+ships and sailed away, as if for a final departure. The Trojans,
+seeing the encampment broken up and the fleet gone, concluded the
+enemy to have abandoned the siege. The gates were thrown open, and
+the whole population issued forth rejoicing at the long-prohibited
+liberty of passing freely over the scene of the late encampment.
+The great HORSE was the chief object of curiosity. All wondered
+what it could be for. Some recommended to take it into the city as
+a trophy; others felt afraid of it.
+
+While they hesitate, Laocoon, the priest of Neptune exclaims,
+"What madness, citizens, is this? Have you not learned enough of
+Grecian fraud to be on your guard against it? For my part, I fear
+the Greeks even when they offer gifts." [Footnote: See Proverbial
+Expressions.] So saying he threw his lance at the horse's side. It
+struck, and a hollow sound reverberated like a groan. Then perhaps
+the people might have taken his advice and destroyed the fatal
+horse and all its contents; but just at that moment a group of
+people appeared, dragging forward one who seemed a prisoner and a
+Greek. Stupefied with terror, he was brought before the chiefs,
+who reassured him, promising that his life should be spared on
+condition of his returning true answers to the questions asked
+him. He informed them that he was a Greek, Sinon by name, and that
+in consequence of the malice of Ulysses he had been left behind by
+his countrymen at their departure. With regard to the wooden
+horse, he told them that it was a propitiatory offering to
+Minerva, and made so huge for the express purpose of preventing
+its being carried within the city; for Calchas the prophet had
+told them that if the Trojans took possession of it they would
+assuredly triumph over the Greeks. This language turned the tide
+of the people's feelings and they began to think how they might
+best secure the monstrous horse and the favorable auguries
+connected with it, when suddenly a prodigy occurred which left no
+room to doubt. There appeared, advancing over the sea, two immense
+serpents. They came upon the land, and the crowd fled in all
+directions. The serpents advanced directly to the spot where
+Laocoon stood with his two sons. They first attacked the children,
+winding round their bodies and breathing their pestilential breath
+in their faces. The father, attempting to rescue them, is next
+seized and involved in the serpents' coils. He struggles to tear
+them away, but they overpower all his efforts and strangle him and
+the children in their poisonous folds. This event was regarded as
+a clear indication of the displeasure of the gods at Laocoon's
+irreverent treatment of the wooden horse, which they no longer
+hesitated to regard as a sacred object, and prepared to introduce
+with due solemnity into the city. This was done with songs and
+triumphal acclamations, and the day closed with festivity. In the
+night the armed men who were enclosed in the body of the horse,
+being let out by the traitor Sinon, opened the gates of the city
+to their friends, who had returned under cover of the night. The
+city was set on fire; the people, overcome with feasting and
+sleep, put to the sword, and Troy completely subdued.
+
+One of the most celebrated groups of statuary in existence is that
+of Laocoon and his children in the embrace of the serpents. A cast
+of it is owned by the Boston Athenaeum; the original is in the
+Vatican at Rome. The following lines are from the "Childe Harold"
+of Byron:
+
+    "Now turning to the Vatican go see
+    Laocoon's torture dignifying pain;
+    A father's love and mortal's agony
+    With an immortal's patience blending;--vain
+    The struggle! vain against the coiling strain
+    And gripe and deepening of the dragon's grasp
+    The old man's clinch; the long envenomed chain
+    Rivets the living links; the enormous asp
+    Enforces pang on pang and stifles gasp on gasp."
+
+The comic poets will also occasionally borrow a classical
+allusion. The following is from Swift's "Description of a City
+Shower":
+
+    "Boxed in a chair the beau impatient sits,
+    While spouts run clattering o'er the roof by fits,
+    And ever and anon with frightful din
+    The leather sounds; he trembles from within.
+    So when Troy chairmen bore the wooden steed
+    Pregnant with Greeks impatient to be freed,
+    (Those bully Greeks, who, as the moderns do,
+    Instead of paying chairmen, run them through);
+    Laocoon struck the outside with a spear,
+    And each imprisoned champion quaked with fear."
+
+King Priam lived to see the downfall of his kingdom and was slain
+at last on the fatal night when the Greeks took the city. He had
+armed himself and was about to mingle with the combatants, but was
+prevailed on by Hecuba, his aged queen, to take refuge with
+herself and his daughters as a suppliant at the altar of Jupiter.
+While there, his youngest son Polites, pursued by Pyrrhus, the son
+of Achilles, rushed in wounded, and expired at the feet of his
+father; whereupon Priam, overcome with indignation, hurled his
+spear with feeble hand against Pyrrhus, [Footnote 1: Pyrrhus's
+exclamation, "Not such aid nor such defenders does the time
+require," has become proverbial. See Proverbial Expressions.] and
+was forthwith slain by him.
+
+Queen Hecuba and her daughter Cassandra were carried captives to
+Greece. Cassandra had been loved by Apollo, and he gave her the
+gift of prophecy; but afterwards offended with her, he rendered
+the gift unavailing by ordaining that her predictions should never
+be believed. Polyxena, another daughter, who had been loved by
+Achilles, was demanded by the ghost of that warrior, and was
+sacrificed by the Greeks upon his tomb.
+
+MENELAUS AND HELEN
+
+Our readers will be anxious to know the fate of Helen, the fair
+but guilty occasion of so much slaughter. On the fall of Troy
+Menelaus recovered possession of his wife, who had not ceased to
+love him, though she had yielded to the might of Venus and
+deserted him for another. After the death of Paris she aided the
+Greeks secretly on several occasions, and in particular when
+Ulysses and Diomed entered the city in disguise to carry off the
+Palladium. She saw and recognized Ulysses, but kept the secret and
+even assisted them in obtaining the image. Thus she became
+reconciled to her husband, and they were among the first to leave
+the shores of Troy for their native land. But having incurred the
+displeasure of the gods they were driven by storms from shore to
+shore of the Mediterranean, visiting Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Egypt.
+In Egypt they were kindly treated and presented with rich gifts,
+of which Helen's share was a golden spindle and a basket on
+wheels. The basket was to hold the wool and spools for the queen's
+work.
+
+Dyer, in his poem of the "Fleece," thus alludes to this incident:
+
+    "... many yet adhere
+    To the ancient distaff, at the bosom fixed,
+    Casting the whirling spindle as they walk.
+
+    This was of old, in no inglorious days,
+    The mode of spinning, when the Egyptian prince
+    A golden distaff gave that beauteous nymph,
+    Too beauteous Helen; no uncourtly gift."
+
+Milton also alludes to a famous recipe for an invigorating
+draught, called Nepenthe, which the Egyptian queen gave to Helen:
+
+    "Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone
+    In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
+    Is of such power to stir up joy as this,
+    To life so friendly or so cool to thirst."
+
+    --Comus.
+
+Menelaus and Helen at length arrived in safety at Sparta, resumed
+their royal dignity, and lived and reigned in splendor; and when
+Telemachus, the son of Ulysses, in search of his father, arrived
+at Sparta, he found Menelaus and Helen celebrating the marriage of
+their daughter Hermione to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles.
+
+AGAMEMNON, ORESTES, AND ELECTRA
+
+Agamemnon, the general-in-chief of the Greeks, the brother of
+Menelaus, and who had been drawn into the quarrel to avenge his
+brother's wrongs, not his own, was not so fortunate in the issue.
+During his absence his wife Clytemnestra had been false to him,
+and when his return was expected, she with her paramour,
+Aegisthus, laid a plan for his destruction, and at the banquet
+given to celebrate his return, murdered him.
+
+It was intended by the conspirators to slay his son Orestes also,
+a lad not yet old enough to be an object of apprehension, but from
+whom, if he should be suffered to grow up, there might be danger.
+Electra, the sister of Orestes, saved her brother's life by
+sending him secretly away to his uncle Strophius, King of Phocis.
+In the palace of Strophius Orestes grew up with the king's son
+Pylades, and formed with him that ardent friendship which has
+become proverbial. Electra frequently reminded her brother by
+messengers of the duty of avenging his father's death, and when
+grown up he consulted the oracle of Delphi, which confirmed him in
+his design. He therefore repaired in disguise to Argos, pretending
+to be a messenger from Strophius, who had come to announce the
+death of Orestes, and brought the ashes of the deceased in a
+funeral urn. After visiting his father's tomb and sacrificing upon
+it, according to the rites of the ancients, he made himself known
+to his sister Electra, and soon after slew both Aegisthus and
+Clytemnestra.
+
+This revolting act, the slaughter of a mother by her son, though
+alleviated by the guilt of the victim and the express command of
+the gods, did not fail to awaken in the breasts of the ancients
+the same abhorrence that it does in ours. The Eumenides, avenging
+deities, seized upon Orestes, and drove him frantic from land to
+land. Pylades accompanied him in his wanderings and watched over
+him. At length, in answer to a second appeal to the oracle, he was
+directed to go to Tauris in Scythia, and to bring thence a statue
+of Diana which was believed to have fallen from heaven.
+Accordingly Orestes and Pylades went to Tauris, where the
+barbarous people were accustomed to sacrifice to the goddess all
+strangers who fell into their hands. The two friends were seized
+and carried bound to the temple to be made victims. But the
+priestess of Diana was no other than Iphigenia, the sister of
+Orestes, who, our readers will remember, was snatched away by
+Diana at the moment when she was about to be sacrificed.
+Ascertaining from the prisoners who they were, Iphigenia disclosed
+herself to them, and the three made their escape with the statue
+of the goddess, and returned to Mycenae.
+
+But Orestes was not yet relieved from the vengeance of the
+Erinyes. At length he took refuge with Minerva at Athens. The
+goddess afforded him protection, and appointed the court of
+Areopagus to decide his fate. The Erinyes brought forward their
+accusation, and Orestes made the command of the Delphic oracle his
+excuse. When the court voted and the voices were equally divided,
+Orestes was acquitted by the command of Minerva.
+
+Byron, in "Childe Harold," Canto IV., alludes to the story of
+Orestes:
+
+    "O thou who never yet of human wrong
+    Left the unbalanced scale, great Nemesis!
+    Thou who didst call the Furies from the abyss,
+    And round Orestes bade them howl and hiss,
+    For that unnatural retribution,--just,
+    Had it but been from hands less near,--in this,
+    Thy former realm, I call thee from the dust!"
+
+One of the most pathetic scenes in the ancient drama is that in
+which Sophocles represents the meeting of Orestes and Electra, on
+his return from Phocis. Orestes, mistaking Electra for one of the
+domestics, and desirous of keeping his arrival a secret till the
+hour of vengeance should arrive, produces the urn in which his
+ashes are supposed to rest. Electra, believing him to be really
+dead, takes the urn and, embracing it, pours forth her grief in
+language full of tenderness and despair.
+
+Milton, in one of his sonnets, says:
+
+    "... The repeated air
+    Of sad Electra's poet had the power
+    To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare."
+
+This alludes to the story that when, on one occasion, the city of
+Athens was at the mercy of her Spartan foes, and it was proposed
+to destroy it, the thought was rejected upon the accidental
+quotation, by some one, of a chorus of Euripides.
+
+TROY
+
+The facts relating to the city of Troy are still unknown to
+history. Antiquarians have long sought for the actual city and
+some record of its rulers. The most interesting explorations were
+those conducted about 1890 by the German scholar, Henry
+Schliemann, who believed that at the mound of Hissarlik, the
+traditional site of Troy, he had uncovered the ancient capital.
+Schliemann excavated down below the ruins of three or four
+settlements, each revealing an earlier civilization, and finally
+came upon some royal jewels and other relics said to be "Priam's
+Treasure." Scholars are by no means agreed as to the historic
+value of these discoveries.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES--THE LOTUS-EATERS--CYCLOPES--CIRCE--SIRENS
+--SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS--CALYPSO
+
+RETURN OF ULYSSES
+
+
+The romantic poem of the Odyssey is now to engage our attention.
+It narrates the wanderings of Ulysses (Odysseus in the Greek
+language) in his return from Troy to his own kingdom Ithaca.
+
+From Troy the vessels first made land at Ismarus, city of the
+Ciconians, where, in a skirmish with the inhabitants, Ulysses lost
+six men from each ship. Sailing thence, they were overtaken by a
+storm which drove them for nine days along the sea till they
+reached the country of the Lotus-eaters. Here, after watering,
+Ulysses sent three of his men to discover who the inhabitants
+were. These men on coming among the Lotus-eaters were kindly
+entertained by them, and were given some of their own food, the
+lotus-plant, to eat. The effect of this food was such that those
+who partook of it lost all thoughts of home and wished to remain
+in that country. It was by main force that Ulysses dragged these
+men away, and he was even obliged to tie them under the benches of
+the ships.
+
+[Footnote: Tennyson in the "Lotus-eaters" has charmingly expressed
+the dreamy, languid feeling which the lotus food is said to have
+produced.
+
+   "How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream
+    With half-shut eyes ever to seem
+    Falling asleep in a half dream!
+    To dream and dream, like yonder amber light
+    Which will not leave the myrrh-bush on the height;
+    To hear each others' whispered speech;
+    Eating the Lotos, day by day,
+    To watch the crisping ripples on the beach,
+    And tender curving lines of creamy spray:
+    To lend our hearts and spirits wholly
+    To the influence of mild-minded melancholy;
+    To muse and brood and live again in memory,
+    With those old faces of our infancy
+    Heaped over with a mound of grass,
+    Two handfuls of white dust, shut in an urn of brass."]
+
+They next arrived at the country of the Cyclopes. The Cyclopes
+were giants, who inhabited an island of which they were the only
+possessors. The name means "round eye," and these giants were so
+called because they had but one eye, and that placed in the middle
+of the forehead. They dwelt in caves and fed on the wild
+productions of the island and on what their flocks yielded, for
+they were shepherds. Ulysses left the main body of his ships at
+anchor, and with one vessel went to the Cyclopes' island to
+explore for supplies. He landed with his companions, carrying with
+them a jar of wine for a present, and coming to a large cave they
+entered it, and finding no one within examined its contents. They
+found it stored with the richest of the flock, quantities of
+cheese, pails and bowls of milk, lambs and kids in their pens, all
+in nice order. Presently arrived the master of the cave,
+Polyphemus, bearing an immense bundle of firewood, which he threw
+down before the cavern's mouth. He then drove into the cave the
+sheep and goats to be milked, and, entering, rolled to the cave's
+mouth an enormous rock, that twenty oxen could not draw. Next he
+sat down and milked his ewes, preparing a part for cheese, and
+setting the rest aside for his customary drink. Then, turning
+round his great eye, he discerned the strangers, and growled out
+to them, demanding who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied
+most humbly, stating that they were Greeks, from the great
+expedition that had lately won so much glory in the conquest of
+Troy; that they were now on their way home, and finished by
+imploring his hospitality in the name of the gods. Polyphemus
+deigned no answer, but reaching out his hand seized two of the
+Greeks, whom he hurled against the side of the cave, and dashed
+out their brains. He proceeded to devour them with great relish,
+and having made a hearty meal, stretched himself out on the floor
+to sleep. Ulysses was tempted to seize the opportunity and plunge
+his sword into him as he slept, but recollected that it would only
+expose them all to certain destruction, as the rock with which the
+giant had closed up the door was far beyond their power to remove,
+and they would therefore be in hopeless imprisonment. Next morning
+the giant seized two more of the Greeks, and despatched them in
+the same manner as their companions, feasting on their flesh till
+no fragment was left. He then moved away the rock from the door,
+drove out his flocks, and went out, carefully replacing the
+barrier after him. When he was gone Ulysses planned how he might
+take vengeance for his murdered friends, and effect his escape
+with his surviving companions. He made his men prepare a massive
+bar of wood cut by the Cyclops for a staff, which they found in
+the cave. They sharpened the end of it, and seasoned it in the
+fire, and hid it under the straw on the cavern floor. Then four of
+the boldest were selected, with whom Ulysses joined himself as a
+fifth. The Cyclops came home at evening, rolled away the stone and
+drove in his flock as usual. After milking them and making his
+arrangements as before, he seized two more of Ulysses' companions
+and dashed their brains out, and made his evening meal upon them
+as he had on the others. After he had supped, Ulysses approaching
+him handed him a bowl of wine, saying, "Cyclops, this is wine;
+taste and drink after thy meal of men's flesh." He took and drank
+it, and was hugely delighted with it, and called for more. Ulysses
+supplied him once again, which pleased the giant so much that he
+promised him as a favor that he should be the last of the party
+devoured. He asked his name, to which Ulysses replied, "My name is
+Noman."
+
+After his supper the giant lay down to repose, and was soon sound
+asleep. Then Ulysses with his four select friends thrust the end
+of the stake into the fire till it was all one burning coal, then
+poising it exactly above the giant's only eye, they buried it
+deeply into the socket, twirling it round as a carpenter does his
+auger. The howling monster with his outcry filled the cavern, and
+Ulysses with his aids nimbly got out of his way and concealed
+themselves in the cave. He, bellowing, called aloud on all the
+Cyclopes dwelling in the caves around him, far and near. They on
+his cry flocked round the den, and inquired what grievous hurt had
+caused him to sound such an alarm and break their slumbers. He
+replied, "O friends, I die, and Noman gives the blow." They
+answered, "If no man hurts thee it is the stroke of Jove, and thou
+must bear it." So saying, they left him groaning.
+
+Next morning the Cyclops rolled away the stone to let his flock
+out to pasture, but planted himself in the door of the cave to
+feel of all as they went out, that Ulysses and his men should not
+escape with them. But Ulysses had made his men harness the rams of
+the flock three abreast, with osiers which they found on the floor
+of the cave. To the middle ram of the three one of the Greeks
+suspended himself, so protected by the exterior rams on either
+side. As they passed, the giant felt of the animals' backs and
+sides, but never thought of their bellies; so the men all passed
+safe, Ulysses himself being on the last one that passed. When they
+had got a few paces from the cavern, Ulysses and his friends
+released themselves from their rams, and drove a good part of the
+flock down to the shore to their boat. They put them aboard with
+all haste, then pushed off from the shore, and when at a safe
+distance Ulysses shouted out, "Cyclops, the gods have well
+requited thee for thy atrocious deeds. Know it is Ulysses to whom
+thou owest thy shameful loss of sight." The Cyclops, hearing this,
+seized a rock that projected from the side of the mountain, and
+rending it from its bed, he lifted it high in the air, then
+exerting all his force, hurled it in the direction of the voice.
+Down came the mass, just clearing the vessel's stern. The ocean,
+at the plunge of the huge rock, heaved the ship towards the land,
+so that it barely escaped being swamped by the waves. When they
+had with the utmost difficulty pulled off shore, Ulysses was about
+to hail the giant again, but his friends besought him not to do
+so. He could not forbear, however, letting the giant know that
+they had escaped his missile, but waited till they had reached a
+safer distance than before. The giant answered them with curses,
+but Ulysses and his friends plied their oars vigorously, and soon
+regained their companions.
+
+Ulysses next arrived at the island of Aeolus. To this monarch
+Jupiter had intrusted the government of the winds, to send them
+forth or retain them at his will. He treated Ulysses hospitably,
+and at his departure gave him, tied up in a leathern bag, with a
+silver string, such winds as might be hurtful and dangerous,
+commanding fair winds to blow the barks towards their country.
+Nine days they sped before the wind, and all that time Ulysses had
+stood at the helm, without sleep. At last quite exhausted he lay
+down to sleep. While he slept, the crew conferred together about
+the mysterious bag, and concluded it must contain treasures given
+by the hospitable king Aeolus to their commander. Tempted to
+secure some portion for themselves, they loosed the string, when
+immediately the winds rushed forth. The ships were driven far from
+their course, and back again to the island they had just left.
+Aeolus was so indignant at their folly that he refused to assist
+them further, and they were obliged to labor over their course
+once more by means of their oars.
+
+THE LAESTRYGONIANS
+
+Their next adventure was with the barbarous tribe of
+Laestrygonians. The vessels all pushed into the harbor, tempted by
+the secure appearance of the cove, completely land-locked; only
+Ulysses moored his vessel without. As soon as the Laestrygonians
+found the ships completely in their power they attacked them,
+heaving huge stones which broke and overturned them, and with
+their spears despatched the seamen as they struggled in the water.
+All the vessels with their crews were destroyed, except Ulysses'
+own ship, which had remained outside, and finding no safety but in
+flight, he exhorted his men to ply their oars vigorously, and they
+escaped.
+
+With grief for their slain companions mixed with joy at their own
+escape, they pursued their way till they arrived at the Aeaean
+isle, where Circe dwelt, the daughter of the sun. Landing here,
+Ulysses climbed a hill, and gazing round saw no signs of
+habitation except in one spot at the centre of the island, where
+he perceived a palace embowered with trees. He sent forward one-
+half of his crew, under the command of Eurylochus, to see what
+prospect of hospitality they might find. As they approached the
+palace, they found themselves surrounded by lions, tigers, and
+wolves, not fierce, but tamed by Circe's art, for she was a
+powerful magician. All these animals had once been men, but had
+been changed by Circe's enchantments into the forms of beasts. The
+sounds of soft music were heard from within, and a sweet female
+voice singing. Eurylochus called aloud and the goddess came forth
+and invited them in; they all gladly entered except Eurylochus,
+who suspected danger. The goddess conducted her guests to a seat,
+and had them served with wine and other delicacies. When they had
+feasted heartily, she touched them one by one with her wand, and
+they became immediately changed into SWINE, in "head, body, voice,
+and bristles," yet with their intellects as before. She shut them
+in her sties and supplied them with acorns and such other things
+as swine love.
+
+Eurylochus hurried back to the ship and told the tale. Ulysses
+thereupon determined to go himself, and try if by any means he
+might deliver his companions. As he strode onward alone, he met a
+youth who addressed him familiarly, appearing to be acquainted
+with his adventures. He announced himself as Mercury, and informed
+Ulysses of the arts of Circe, and of the danger of approaching
+her. As Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his attempt, Mercury
+provided him with a sprig of the plant Moly, of wonderful power to
+resist sorceries, and instructed him how to act. Ulysses
+proceeded, and reaching the palace was courteously received by
+Circe, who entertained him as she had done his companions, and
+after he had eaten and drank, touched him with her wand, saying,
+"Hence, seek the sty and wallow with thy friends." But he, instead
+of obeying, drew his sword and rushed upon her with fury in his
+countenance. She fell on her knees and begged for mercy. He
+dictated a solemn oath that she would release his companions and
+practise no further harm against him or them; and she repeated it,
+at the same time promising to dismiss them all in safety after
+hospitably entertaining them. She was as good as her word. The men
+were restored to their shapes, the rest of the crew summoned from
+the shore, and the whole magnificently entertained day after day,
+till Ulysses seemed to have forgotten his native land, and to have
+reconciled himself to an inglorious life of ease and pleasure.
+
+At length his companions recalled him to nobler sentiments, and he
+received their admonition gratefully. Circe aided their departure,
+and instructed them how to pass safely by the coast of the Sirens.
+The Sirens were sea-nymphs who had the power of charming by their
+song all who heard them, so that the unhappy mariners were
+irresistibly impelled to cast themselves into the sea to their
+destruction. Circe directed Ulysses to fill the ears of his seamen
+with wax, so that they should not hear the strain; and to cause
+himself to be bound to the mast, and his people to be strictly
+enjoined, whatever he might say or do, by no means to release him
+till they should have passed the Sirens' island. Ulysses obeyed
+these directions. He filled the ears of his people with wax, and
+suffered them to bind him with cords firmly to the mast. As they
+approached the Sirens' island, the sea was calm, and over the
+waters came the notes of music so ravishing and attractive that
+Ulysses struggled to get loose, and by cries and signs to his
+people begged to be released; but they, obedient to his previous
+orders, sprang forward and bound him still faster. They held on
+their course, and the music grew fainter till it ceased to be
+heard, when with joy Ulysses gave his companions the signal to
+unseal their ears, and they relieved him from his bonds.
+
+The imagination of a modern poet, Keats, has discovered for us the
+thoughts that passed through the brains of the victims of Circe,
+after their transformation. In his "Endymion" he represents one of
+them, a monarch in the guise of an elephant, addressing the
+sorceress in human language, thus:
+
+    "I sue not for my happy crown again;
+    I sue not for my phalanx on the plain;
+    I sue not for my lone, my widowed wife;
+    I sue not for my ruddy drops of life,
+    My children fair, my lovely girls and boys;
+    I will forget them; I will pass these joys,
+    Ask nought so heavenward; so too--too high;
+    Only I pray, as fairest boon, to die;
+    To be delivered from this cumbrous flesh,
+    From this gross, detestable, filthy mesh,
+    And merely given to the cold, bleak air.
+    Have mercy, goddess! Circe, feel my prayer!"
+
+SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS
+
+Ulysses had been warned by Circe of the two monsters Scylla and
+Charybdis. We have already met with Scylla in the story of
+Glaucus, and remember that she was once a beautiful maiden and was
+changed into a snaky monster by Circe. She dwelt in a cave high up
+on the cliff, from whence she was accustomed to thrust forth her
+long necks (for she had six heads), and in each of her mouths to
+seize one of the crew of every vessel passing within reach. The
+other terror, Charybdis, was a gulf, nearly on a level with the
+water. Thrice each day the water rushed into a frightful chasm,
+and thrice was disgorged. Any vessel coming near the whirlpool
+when the tide was rushing in must inevitably be ingulfed; not
+Neptune himself could save it.
+
+On approaching the haunt of the dread monsters, Ulysses kept
+strict watch to discover them. The roar of the waters as Charybdis
+ingulfed them, gave warning at a distance, but Scylla could
+nowhere be discerned. While Ulysses and his men watched with
+anxious eyes the dreadful whirlpool, they were not equally on
+their guard from the attack of Scylla, and the monster, darting
+forth her snaky heads, caught six of his men, and bore them away,
+shrieking, to her den. It was the saddest sight Ulysses had yet
+seen; to behold his friends thus sacrificed and hear their cries,
+unable to afford them any assistance.
+
+Circe had warned him of another danger. After passing Scylla and
+Charybdis the next land he would make was Thrinakia, an island
+whereon were pastured the cattle of Hyperion, the Sun, tended by
+his daughters Lampetia and Phaethusa. These flocks must not be
+violated, whatever the wants of the voyagers might be. If this
+injunction were transgressed destruction was sure to fall on the
+offenders.
+
+Ulysses would willingly have passed the island of the Sun without
+stopping, but his companions so urgently pleaded for the rest and
+refreshment that would be derived from anchoring and passing the
+night on shore, that Ulysses yielded. He bound them, however, with
+an oath that they would not touch one of the animals of the sacred
+flocks and herds, but content themselves with what provision they
+yet had left of the supply which Circe had put on board. So long
+as this supply lasted the people kept their oath, but contrary
+winds detained them at the island for a month, and after consuming
+all their stock of provisions, they were forced to rely upon the
+birds and fishes they could catch. Famine pressed them, and at
+length one day, in the absence of Ulysses, they slew some of the
+cattle, vainly attempting to make amends for the deed by offering
+from them a portion to the offended powers. Ulysses, on his return
+to the shore, was horror-struck at perceiving what they had done,
+and the more so on account of the portentous signs which followed.
+The skins crept on the ground, and the joints of meat lowed on the
+spits while roasting.
+
+The wind becoming fair they sailed from the island. They had not
+gone far when the weather changed, and a storm of thunder and
+lightning ensued. A stroke of lightning shattered their mast,
+which in its fall killed the pilot. At last the vessel itself came
+to pieces. The keel and mast floating side by side, Ulysses formed
+of them a raft, to which he clung, and, the wind changing, the
+waves bore him to Calypso's island. All the rest of the crew
+perished.
+
+The following allusion to the topics we have just been considering
+is from Milton's "Comus," line 252:
+
+    "... I have often heard
+    My mother Circe and the Sirens three,
+    Amidst the flowery-kirtled Naiades,
+    Culling their potent herbs and baneful drugs,
+    Who as they sung would take the prisoned soul
+    And lap it in Elysium. Scylla wept,
+    And chid her barking waves into attention,
+    And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause."
+
+Scylla and Charybdis have become proverbial, to denote opposite
+dangers which beset one's course. See Proverbial Expressions.
+
+ CALYPSO
+
+Calypso was a sea-nymph, which name denotes a numerous class of
+female divinities of lower rank, yet sharing many of the
+attributes of the gods. Calypso received Ulysses hospitably,
+entertained him magnificently, became enamoured of him, and wished
+to retain him forever, conferring on him immortality. But he
+persisted in his resolution to return to his country and his wife
+and son. Calypso at last received the command of Jove to dismiss
+him. Mercury brought the message to her, and found her in her
+grotto, which is thus described by Homer:
+
+    "A garden vine, luxuriant on all sides,
+    Mantled the spacious cavern, cluster-hung
+    Profuse; four fountains of serenest lymph,
+    Their sinuous course pursuing side by side,
+    Strayed all around, and everywhere appeared
+    Meadows of softest verdure, purpled o'er
+    With violets; it was a scene to fill
+    A god from heaven with wonder and delight."
+
+Calypso with much reluctance proceeded to obey the commands of
+Jupiter. She supplied Ulysses with the means of constructing a
+raft, provisioned it well for him, and gave him a favoring gale.
+He sped on his course prosperously for many days, till at length,
+when in sight of land, a storm arose that broke his mast, and
+threatened to rend the raft asunder. In this crisis he was seen by
+a compassionate sea-nymph, who in the form of a cormorant alighted
+on the raft, and presented him a girdle, directing him to bind it
+beneath his breast, and if he should be compelled to trust himself
+to the waves, it would buoy him up and enable him by swimming to
+reach the land.
+
+Fenelon, in his romance of "Telemachus," has given us the
+adventures of the son of Ulysses in search of his father. Among
+other places at which he arrived, following on his father's
+footsteps, was Calypso's isle, and, as in the former case, the
+goddess tried every art to keep him with her, and offered to share
+her immortality with him. But Minerva, who in the shape of Mentor
+accompanied him and governed all his movements, made him repel her
+allurements, and when no other means of escape could be found, the
+two friends leaped from a cliff into the sea, and swam to a vessel
+which lay becalmed off shore. Byron alludes to this leap of
+Telemachus and Mentor in the following stanza:
+
+    "But not in silence pass Calypso's isles,
+    The sister tenants of the middle deep;
+    There for the weary still a haven smiles,
+    Though the fair goddess long has ceased to weep,
+    And o'er her cliffs a fruitless watch to keep
+    For him who dared prefer a mortal bride.
+    Here too his boy essayed the dreadful leap,
+    Stern Mentor urged from high to yonder tide;
+    While thus of both bereft the nymph-queen doubly sighed."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE PHAEACIANS--FATE OF THE SUITORS
+
+THE PHAEACIANS
+
+
+Ulysses clung to the raft while any of its timbers kept together,
+and when it no longer yielded him support, binding the girdle
+around him, he swam. Minerva smoothed the billows before him and
+sent him a wind that rolled the waves towards the shore. The surf
+beat high on the rocks and seemed to forbid approach; but at
+length finding calm water at the mouth of a gentle stream, he
+landed, spent with toil, breathless and speechless and almost
+dead. After some time, reviving, he kissed the soil, rejoicing,
+yet at a loss what course to take. At a short distance he
+perceived a wood, to which he turned his steps. There, finding a
+covert sheltered by intermingling branches alike from the sun and
+the rain, he collected a pile of leaves and formed a bed, on which
+he stretched himself, and heaping the leaves over him, fell
+asleep.
+
+The land where he was thrown was Scheria, the country of the
+Phaeacians. These people dwelt originally near the Cyclopes; but
+being oppressed by that savage race, they migrated to the isle of
+Scheria, under the conduct of Nausithous, their king. They were,
+the poet tells us, a people akin to the gods, who appeared
+manifestly and feasted among them when they offered sacrifices,
+and did not conceal themselves from solitary wayfarers when they
+met them. They had abundance of wealth and lived in the enjoyment
+of it undisturbed by the alarms of war, for as they dwelt remote
+from gain-seeking man, no enemy ever approached their shores, and
+they did not even require to make use of bows and quivers. Their
+chief employment was navigation. Their ships, which went with the
+velocity of birds, were endued with intelligence; they knew every
+port and needed no pilot. Alcinous, the son of Nausithous, was now
+their king, a wise and just sovereign, beloved by his people.
+
+Now it happened that the very night on which Ulysses was cast
+ashore on the Phaeacian island, and while he lay sleeping on his
+bed of leaves, Nausicaa, the daughter of the king, had a dream
+sent by Minerva, reminding her that her wedding-day was not far
+distant, and that it would be but a prudent preparation for that
+event to have a general washing of the clothes of the family. This
+was no slight affair, for the fountains were at some distance, and
+the garments must be carried thither. On awaking, the princess
+hastened to her parents to tell them what was on her mind; not
+alluding to her wedding-day, but finding other reasons equally
+good. Her father readily assented and ordered the grooms to
+furnish forth a wagon for the purpose. The clothes were put
+therein, and the queen mother placed in the wagon, likewise, an
+abundant supply of food and wine. The princess took her seat and
+plied the lash, her attendant virgins following her on foot.
+Arrived at the river side, they turned out the mules to graze, and
+unlading the carriage, bore the garments down to the water, and
+working with cheerfulness and alacrity soon despatched their
+labor. Then having spread the garments on the shore to dry, and
+having themselves bathed, they sat down to enjoy their meal; after
+which they rose and amused themselves with a game of ball, the
+princess singing to them while they played. But when they had
+refolded the apparel and were about to resume their way to the
+town, Minerva caused the ball thrown by the princess to fall into
+the water, whereat they all screamed and Ulysses awaked at the
+sound.
+
+Now we must picture to ourselves Ulysses, a ship-wrecked mariner,
+but a few hours escaped from the waves, and utterly destitute of
+clothing, awaking and discovering that only a few bushes were
+interposed tween him and a group of young maidens whom, by their
+deportment and attire, he discovered to be not mere peasant girls,
+but of a higher class. Sadly needing help, how could he yet
+venture, naked as he was, to discover himself and make his wants
+known? It certainly was a case worthy of the interposition of his
+patron goddess Minerva, who never failed him at a crisis. Breaking
+off a leafy branch from a tree, he held it before him and stepped
+out from the thicket. The virgins at sight of him fled in all
+directions, Nausicaa alone excepted, for HER Minerva aided and
+endowed with courage and discernment. Ulysses, standing
+respectfully aloof, told his sad case, and besought the fair
+object (whether queen or goddess he professed he knew not) for
+food and clothing. The princess replied courteously, promising
+present relief and her father's hospitality when he should become
+acquainted with the facts. She called back her scattered maidens,
+chiding their alarm, and reminding them that the Phaeacians had no
+enemies to fear. This man, she told them, was an unhappy wanderer,
+whom it was a duty to cherish, for the poor and stranger are from
+Jove. She bade them bring food and clothing, for some of her
+brother's garments were among the contents of the wagon. When this
+was done, and Ulysses, retiring to a sheltered place, had washed
+his body free from the sea-foam, clothed and refreshed himself
+with food, Pallas dilated his form and diffused grace over his
+ample chest and manly brows.
+
+The princess, seeing him, was filled with admiration, and scrupled
+not to say to her damsels that she wished the gods would send her
+such a husband. To Ulysses she recommended that he should repair
+to the city, following herself and train so far as the way lay
+through the fields; but when they should approach the city she
+desired that he would no longer be seen in her company, for she
+feared the remarks which rude and vulgar people might make on
+seeing her return accompanied by such a gallant stranger. To avoid
+which she directed him to stop at a grove adjoining the city, in
+which were a farm and garden belonging to the king. After allowing
+time for the princess and her companions to reach the city, he was
+then to pursue his way thither, and would be easily guided by any
+he might meet to the royal abode.
+
+Ulysses obeyed the directions and in due time proceeded to the
+city, on approaching which he met a young woman bearing a pitcher
+forth for water. It was Minerva, who had assumed that form.
+Ulysses accosted her and desired to be directed to the palace of
+Alcinous the king. The maiden replied respectfully, offering to be
+his guide; for the palace, she informed him, stood near her
+father's dwelling. Under the guidance of the goddess, and by her
+power enveloped in a cloud which shielded him from observation,
+Ulysses passed among the busy crowd, and with wonder observed
+their harbor, their ships, their forum (the resort of heroes), and
+their battlements, till they came to the palace, where the
+goddess, having first given him some information of the country,
+king, and people he was about to meet, left him. Ulysses, before
+entering the courtyard of the palace, stood and surveyed the
+scene. Its splendor astonished him. Brazen walls stretched from
+the entrance to the interior house, of which the doors were gold,
+the doorposts silver, the lintels silver ornamented with gold. On
+either side were figures of mastiffs wrought in gold and silver,
+standing in rows as if to guard the approach. Along the walls were
+seats spread through all their length with mantles of finest
+texture, the work of Phaeacian maidens. On these seats the princes
+sat and feasted, while golden statues of graceful youths held in
+their hands lighted torches which shed radiance over the scene.
+Full fifty female menials served in household offices, some
+employed to grind the corn, others to wind off the purple wool or
+ply the loom. For the Phaeacian women as far exceeded all other
+women in household arts as the mariners of that country did the
+rest of mankind in the management of ships. Without the court a
+spacious garden lay, four acres in extent. In it grew many a lofty
+tree, pomegranate, pear, apple, fig, and olive. Neither winter's
+cold nor summer's drought arrested their growth, but they
+flourished in constant succession, some budding while others were
+maturing. The vineyard was equally prolific. In one quarter you
+might see the vines, some in blossom, some loaded with ripe
+grapes, and in another observe the vintagers treading the wine
+press. On the garden's borders flowers of all hues bloomed all the
+year round, arranged with neatest art. In the midst two fountains
+poured forth their waters, one flowing by artificial channels over
+all the garden, the other conducted through the courtyard of the
+palace, whence every citizen might draw his supplies.
+
+Ulysses stood gazing in admiration, unobserved himself, for the
+cloud which Minerva spread around him still shielded him. At
+length, having sufficiently observed the scene, he advanced with
+rapid step into the hall where the chiefs and senators were
+assembled, pouring libation to Mercury, whose worship followed the
+evening meal. Just then Minerva dissolved the cloud and disclosed
+him to the assembled chiefs. Advancing to the place where the
+queen sat, he knelt at her feet and implored her favor and
+assistance to enable him to return to his native country. Then
+withdrawing, he seated himself in the manner of suppliants, at the
+hearth side.
+
+For a time none spoke. At last an aged statesman, addressing the
+king, said, "It is not fit that a stranger who asks our
+hospitality should be kept waiting in suppliant guise, none
+welcoming him. Let him therefore be led to a seat among us and
+supplied with food and wine." At these words the king rising gave
+his hand to Ulysses and led him to a seat, displacing thence his
+own son to make room for the stranger. Food and wine were set
+before him and he ate and refreshed himself.
+
+The king then dismissed his guests, notifying them that the next
+day he would call them to council to consider what had best be
+done for the stranger.
+
+When the guests had departed and Ulysses was left alone with the
+king and queen, the queen asked him who he was and whence he came,
+and (recognizing the clothes which he wore as those which her
+maidens and herself had made) from whom he received those
+garments. He told them of his residence in Calypso's isle and his
+departure thence; of the wreck of his raft, his escape by
+swimming, and of the relief afforded by the princess. The parents
+heard approvingly, and the king promised to furnish a ship in
+which his guest might return to his own land.
+
+The next day the assembled chiefs confirmed the promise of the
+king. A bark was prepared and a crew of stout rowers selected, and
+all betook themselves to the palace, where a bounteous repast was
+provided. After the feast the king proposed that the young men
+should show their guest their proficiency in manly sports, and all
+went forth to the arena for games of running, wrestling, and other
+exercises. After all had done their best, Ulysses being challenged
+to show what he could do, at first declined, but being taunted by
+one of the youths, seized a quoit of weight far heavier than any
+of the Phaeacians had thrown, and sent it farther than the utmost
+throw of theirs. All were astonished, and viewed their guest with
+greatly increased respect.
+
+After the games they returned to the hall, and the herald led in
+Demodocus, the blind bard,--
+
+    "... Dear to the Muse,
+    Who yet appointed him both good and ill,
+    Took from him sight, but gave him strains divine."
+
+He took for his theme the "Wooden Horse," by means of which the
+Greeks found entrance into Troy. Apollo inspired him, and he sang
+so feelingly the terrors and the exploits of that eventful time
+that all were delighted, but Ulysses was moved to tears. Observing
+which, Alcinous, when the song was done, demanded of him why at
+the mention of Troy his sorrows awaked. Had he lost there a
+father, or brother, or any dear friend? Ulysses replied by
+announcing himself by his true name, and at their request,
+recounted the adventures which had befallen him since his
+departure from Troy. This narrative raised the sympathy and
+admiration of the Phaeacians for their guest to the highest pitch.
+The king proposed that all the chiefs should present him with a
+gift, himself setting the example. They obeyed, and vied with one
+another in loading the illustrious stranger with costly gifts.
+
+The next day Ulysses set sail in the Phaeacian vessel, and in a
+short time arrived safe at Ithaca, his own island. When the vessel
+touched the strand he was asleep. The mariners, without waking
+him, carried him on shore, and landed with him the chest
+containing his presents, and then sailed away.
+
+Neptune was so displeased at the conduct of the Phaeacians in thus
+rescuing Ulysses from his hands that on the return of the vessel
+to port he transformed it into a rock, right opposite the mouth of
+the harbor.
+
+Homer's description of the ships of the Phaeacians has been
+thought to look like an anticipation of the wonders of modern
+steam navigation. Alcinous says to Ulysses:
+
+    "Say from what city, from what regions tossed,
+    And what inhabitants those regions boast?
+    So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned,
+    In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;
+    No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;
+    Like man intelligent they plough the tides,
+    Conscious of every coast and every bay
+    That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray."
+
+    --Odyssey, Book VIII.
+
+Lord Carlisle, in his "Diary in the Turkish and Greek Waters,"
+thus speaks of Corfu, which he considers to be the ancient
+Phaeacian island:
+
+"The sites explain the 'Odyssey.' The temple of the sea-god could
+not have been more fitly placed, upon a grassy platform of the
+most elastic turf, on the brow of a crag commanding harbor, and
+channel, and ocean. Just at the entrance of the inner harbor there
+is a picturesque rock with a small convent perched upon it, which
+by one legend is the transformed pinnace of Ulysses.
+
+"Almost the only river in the island is just at the proper
+distance from the probable site of the city and palace of the
+king, to justify the princess Nausicaa having had resort to her
+chariot and to luncheon when she went with the maidens of the
+court to wash their garments."
+
+FATE OF THE SUITORS
+
+Ulysses had now been away from Ithaca for twenty years, and when
+he awoke he did not recognize his native land. Minerva appeared to
+him in the form of a young shepherd, informed him where he was,
+and told him the state of things at his palace. More than a
+hundred nobles of Ithaca and of the neighboring islands had been
+for years suing for the hand of Penelope, his wife, imagining him
+dead, and lording it over his palace and people, as if they were
+owners of both. That he might be able to take vengeance upon them,
+it was important that he should not be recognized. Minerva
+accordingly metamorphosed him into an unsightly beggar, and as
+such he was kindly received by Eumaeus, the swine-herd, a faithful
+servant of his house.
+
+Telemachus, his son, was absent in quest of his father. He had
+gone to the courts of the other kings, who had returned from the
+Trojan expedition. While on the search, he received counsel from
+Minerva to return home. He arrived and sought Eumaeus to learn
+something of the state of affairs at the palace before presenting
+himself among the suitors. Finding a stranger with Eumaeus, he
+treated him courteously, though in the garb of a beggar, and
+promised him assistance. Eumaeus was sent to the palace to inform
+Penelope privately of her son's arrival, for caution was necessary
+with regard to the suitors, who, as Telemachus had learned, were
+plotting to intercept and kill him. When Eumaeus was gone, Minerva
+presented herself to Ulysses, and directed him to make himself
+known to his son. At the same time she touched him, removed at
+once from him the appearance of age and penury, and gave him the
+aspect of vigorous manhood that belonged to him. Telemachus viewed
+him with astonishment, and at first thought he must be more than
+mortal. But Ulysses announced himself as his father, and accounted
+for the change of appearance by explaining that it was Minerva's
+doing.
+
+    "... Then threw Telemachus
+    His arms around his father's neck and wept.
+    Desire intense of lamentation seized
+    On both; soft murmurs uttering, each indulged
+    His grief."
+
+The father and son took counsel together how they should get the
+better of the suitors and punish them for their outrages. It was
+arranged that Telemachus should proceed to the palace and mingle
+with the suitors as formerly; that Ulysses should also go as a
+beggar, a character which in the rude old times had different
+privileges from what we concede to it now. As traveller and
+storyteller, the beggar was admitted in the halls of chieftains,
+and often treated like a guest; though sometimes, also, no doubt,
+with contumely. Ulysses charged his son not to betray, by any
+display of unusual interest in him, that he knew him to be other
+than he seemed, and even if he saw him insulted, or beaten, not to
+interpose otherwise than he might do for any stranger. At the
+palace they found the usual scene of feasting and riot going on.
+The suitors pretended to receive Telemachus with joy at his
+return, though secretly mortified at the failure of their plots to
+take his life. The old beggar was permitted to enter, and provided
+with a portion from the table. A touching incident occurred as
+Ulysses entered the courtyard of the palace. An old dog lay in the
+yard almost dead with age, and seeing a stranger enter, raised his
+head, with ears erect. It was Argus, Ulysses' own dog, that he had
+in other days often led to the chase.
+
+    "... Soon as he perceived
+    Long-lost Ulysses nigh, down fell his ears
+    Clapped close, and with his tail glad sign he gave
+    Of gratulation, impotent to rise,
+    And to approach his master as of old.
+    Ulysses, noting him, wiped off a tear
+    Unmarked.
+    ... Then his destiny released
+    Old Argus, soon as he had lived to see
+    Ulysses in the twentieth year restored."
+
+As Ulysses sat eating his portion in the hall, the suitors began
+to exhibit their insolence to him. When he mildly remonstrated,
+one of them, raised a stool and with it gave him a blow.
+Telemachus had hard work to restrain his indignation at seeing his
+father so treated in his own hall, but remembering his father's
+injunctions, said no more than what became him as master of the
+house, though young, and protector of his guests.
+
+Penelope had protracted her decision in favor of either of her
+suitors so long that there seemed to be no further pretence for
+delay. The continued absence of her husband seemed to prove that
+his return was no longer to be expected. Meanwhile, her son had
+grown up, and was able to manage his own affairs. She therefore
+consented to submit the question of her choice to a trial of skill
+among the suitors. The test selected was shooting with the bow.
+Twelve rings were arranged in a line, and he whose arrow was sent
+through the whole twelve was to have the queen for his prize. A
+bow that one of his brother heroes had given to Ulysses in former
+times was brought from the armory, and with its quiver full of
+arrows was laid in the hall. Telemachus had taken care that all
+other weapons should be removed, under pretence that in the heat
+of competition there was danger, in some rash moment, of putting
+them to an improper use.
+
+All things being prepared for the trial, the first thing to be
+done was to bend the bow in order to attach the string. Telemachus
+endeavored to do it, but found all his efforts fruitless; and
+modestly confessing that he had attempted a task beyond his
+strength, he yielded the bow to another. He tried it with no
+better success, and, amidst the laughter and jeers of his
+companions, gave it up. Another tried it and another; they rubbed
+the bow with tallow, but all to no purpose; it would not bend.
+Then spoke Ulysses, humbly suggesting that he should be permitted
+to try; for, said he, "beggar as I am, I was once a soldier, and
+there is still some strength in these old limbs of mine." The
+suitors hooted with derision, and commanded to turn him out of the
+hall for his insolence. But Telemachus spoke up for him, and,
+merely to gratify the old man, bade him try. Ulysses took the bow,
+and handled it with the hand of a master. With ease he adjusted
+the cord to its notch, then fitting an arrow to the bow he drew
+the string and sped the arrow unerring through the rings.
+
+Without allowing them time to express their astonishment, he said,
+"Now for another mark!" and aimed direct at the most insolent one
+of the suitors. The arrow pierced through his throat and he fell
+dead. Telemachus, Eumaeus, and another faithful follower, well
+armed, now sprang to the side of Ulysses. The suitors, in
+amazement, looked round for arms, but found none, neither was
+there any way of escape, for Eumaeus had secured the door. Ulysses
+left them not long in uncertainty; he announced himself as the
+long-lost chief, whose house they had invaded, whose substance
+they had squandered, whose wife and son they had persecuted for
+ten long years; and told them he meant to have ample vengeance.
+All were slain, and Ulysses was left master of his palace and
+possessor of his kingdom and his wife.
+
+Tennyson's poem of "Ulysses" represents the old hero, after his
+dangers past and nothing left but to stay at home and be happy,
+growing tired of inaction and resolving to set forth again in
+quest of new adventures.
+
+    "... Come, my friends,
+    'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
+    Push off, and sitting well in order smite
+    The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
+    To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
+    Of all the western stars, until I die.
+    It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
+    It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
+    And see the great Achilles whom we knew;" etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+ADVENTURES OF AENEAS--THE HARPIES--DIDO--PALINURUS
+
+ADVENTURES OF AENEAS
+
+
+We have followed one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses, in his
+wanderings on his return home from Troy, and now we propose to
+share the fortunes of the remnant of the conquered people, under
+their chief Aeneas, in their search for a new home, after the ruin
+of their native city. On that fatal night when the wooden horse
+disgorged its contents of armed men, and the capture and
+conflagration of the city were the result, Aeneas made his escape
+from the scene of destruction, with his father, and his wife, and
+young son. The father, Anchises, was too old to walk with the
+speed required, and Aeneas took him upon his shoulders. Thus
+burdened, leading his son and followed by his wife, he made the
+best of his way out of the burning city; but, in the confusion,
+his wife was swept away and lost.
+
+On arriving at the place of rendezvous, numerous fugitives, of
+both sexes, were found, who put themselves under the guidance of
+Aeneas. Some months were spent in preparation, and at length they
+embarked. They first landed on the neighboring shores of Thrace,
+and were preparing to build a city, but Aeneas was deterred by a
+prodigy. Preparing to offer sacrifice, he tore some twigs from one
+of the bushes. To his dismay the wounded part dropped blood. When
+he repeated the act a voice from the ground cried out to him,
+"Spare me, Aeneas; I am your kinsman, Polydore, here murdered with
+many arrows, from which a bush has grown, nourished with my
+blood." These words recalled to the recollection of Aeneas that
+Polydore was a young prince of Troy, whom his father had sent with
+ample treasures to the neighboring land of Thrace, to be there
+brought up, at a distance from the horrors of war. The king to
+whom he was sent had murdered him and seized his treasures. Aeneas
+and his companions, considering the land accursed by the stain of
+such a crime, hastened away.
+
+They next landed on the island of Delos, which was once a floating
+island, till Jupiter fastened it by adamantine chains to the
+bottom of the sea. Apollo and Diana were born there, and the
+island was sacred to Apollo. Here Aeneas consulted the oracle of
+Apollo, and received an answer, ambiguous as usual,--"Seek your
+ancient mother; there the race of Aeneas shall dwell, and reduce
+all other nations to their sway." The Trojans heard with joy and
+immediately began to ask one another, "Where is the spot intended
+by the oracle?" Anchises remembered that there was a tradition
+that their forefathers came from Crete and thither they resolved
+to steer. They arrived at Crete and began to build their city, but
+sickness broke out among them, and the fields that they had
+planted failed to yield a crop. In this gloomy aspect of affairs
+Aeneas was warned in a dream to leave the country and seek a
+western land, called Hesperia, whence Dardanus, the true founder
+of the Trojan race, had originally migrated. To Hesperia, now
+called Italy, therefore, they directed their future course, and
+not till after many adventures and the lapse of time sufficient to
+carry a modern navigator several times round the world, did they
+arrive there.
+
+Their first landing was at the island of the Harpies. These were
+disgusting birds with the heads of maidens, with long claws and
+faces pale with hunger. They were sent by the gods to torment a
+certain Phineus, whom Jupiter had deprived of his sight, in
+punishment of his cruelty; and whenever a meal was placed before
+him the Harpies darted down from the air and carried it off. They
+were driven away from Phineus by the heroes of the Argonautic
+expedition, and took refuge in the island where Aeneas now found
+them.
+
+When they entered the port the Trojans saw herds of cattle roaming
+over the plain. They slew as many as they wished and prepared for
+a feast. But no sooner had they seated themselves at the table
+than a horrible clamor was heard in the air, and a flock of these
+odious harpies came rushing down upon them, seizing in their
+talons the meat from the dishes and flying away with it. Aeneas
+and his companions drew their swords and dealt vigorous blows
+among the monsters, but to no purpose, for they were so nimble it
+was almost impossible to hit them, and their feathers were like
+armor impenetrable to steel. One of them, perched on a neighboring
+cliff, screamed out, "Is it thus, Trojans, you treat us innocent
+birds, first slaughter our cattle and then make war on ourselves?"
+She then predicted dire sufferings to them in their future course,
+and having vented her wrath flew away. The Trojans made haste to
+leave the country, and next found themselves coasting along the
+shore of Epirus. Here they landed, and to their astonishment
+learned that certain Trojan exiles, who had been carried there as
+prisoners, had become rulers of the country. Andromache, the widow
+of Hector, became the wife of one of the victorious Grecian
+chiefs, to whom she bore a son. Her husband dying, she was left
+regent of the country, as guardian of her son, and had married a
+fellow-captive, Helenus, of the royal race of Troy. Helenus and
+Andromache treated the exiles with the utmost hospitality, and
+dismissed them loaded with gifts.
+
+From hence Aeneas coasted along the shore of Sicily and passed the
+country of the Cyclopes. Here they were hailed from the shore by a
+miserable object, whom by his garments, tattered as they were,
+they perceived to be a Greek. He told them he was one of Ulysses's
+companions, left behind by that chief in his hurried departure. He
+related the story of Ulysses's adventure with Polyphemus, and
+besought them to take him off with them as he had no means of
+sustaining his existence where he was but wild berries and roots,
+and lived in constant fear of the Cyclopes. While he spoke
+Polyphemus made his appearance; a terrible monster, shapeless,
+vast, whose only eye had been put out. [Footnote: See Proverbial
+Expressions.] He walked with cautious steps, feeling his way with
+a staff, down to the sea-side, to wash his eye-socket in the
+waves. When he reached the water, he waded out towards them, and
+his immense height enabled him to advance far into the sea, so
+that the Trojans, in terror, took to their oars to get out of his
+way. Hearing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after them, so that the
+shores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopes came forth
+from their caves and woods and lined the shore, like a row of
+lofty pine trees. The Trojans plied their oars and soon left them
+out of sight.
+
+Aeneas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the strait guarded
+by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. There Ulysses, the reader
+will remember, had lost six of his men, seized by Scylla while the
+navigators were wholly intent upon avoiding Charybdis. Aeneas,
+following the advice of Helenus, shunned the dangerous pass and
+coasted along the island of Sicily.
+
+Juno, seeing the Trojans speeding their way prosperously towards
+their destined shore, felt her old grudge against them revive, for
+she could not forget the slight that Paris had put upon her, in
+awarding the prize of beauty to another. In heavenly minds can
+such resentments dwell. [Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.]
+Accordingly she hastened to Aeolus, the ruler of the winds,--the
+same who supplied Ulysses with favoring gales, giving him the
+contrary ones tied up in a bag. Aeolus obeyed the goddess and sent
+forth his sons, Boreas, Typhon, and the other winds, to toss the
+ocean. A terrible storm ensued and the Trojan ships were driven
+out of their course towards the coast of Africa. They were in
+imminent danger of being wrecked, and were separated, so that
+Aeneas thought that all were lost except his own.
+
+At this crisis, Neptune, hearing the storm raging, and knowing
+that he had given no orders for one, raised his head above the
+waves, and saw the fleet of Aeneas driving before the gale.
+Knowing the hostility of Juno, he was at no loss to account for
+it, but his anger was not the less at this interference in his
+province. He called the winds and dismissed them with a severe
+reprimand. He then soothed the waves, and brushed away the clouds
+from before the face of the sun. Some of the ships which had got
+on the rocks he pried off with his own trident, while Triton and a
+sea-nymph, putting their shoulders under others, set them afloat
+again. The Trojans, when the sea became calm, sought the nearest
+shore, which was the coast of Carthage, where Aeneas was so happy
+as to find that one by one the ships all arrived safe, though
+badly shaken.
+
+Waller, in his "Panegyric to the Lord Protector" (Cromwell),
+alludes to this stilling of the storm by Neptune:
+
+    "Above the waves, as Neptune showed his face,
+    To chide the winds and save the Trojan race,
+    So has your Highness, raised above the rest,
+    Storms of ambition tossing us repressed."
+
+DIDO
+
+Carthage, where the exiles had now arrived, was a spot on the
+coast of Africa opposite Sicily, where at that time a Tyrian
+colony under Dido, their queen, were laying the foundations of a
+state destined in later ages to be the rival of Rome itself. Dido
+was the daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, and sister of Pygmalion,
+who succeeded his father on the throne. Her husband was Sichaeus,
+a man of immense wealth, but Pygmalion, who coveted his treasures,
+caused him to be put to death. Dido, with a numerous body of
+friends and followers, both men and women, succeeded in effecting
+their escape from Tyre, in several vessels, carrying with them the
+treasures of Sichaeus. On arriving at the spot which they selected
+as the seat of their future home, they asked of the natives only
+so much land as they could enclose with a bull's hide. When this
+was readily granted, she caused the hide to be cut into strips,
+and with them enclosed a spot on which she built a citadel, and
+called it Byrsa (a hide). Around this fort the city of Carthage
+rose, and soon became a powerful and flourishing place.
+
+Such was the state of affairs when Aeneas with his Trojans arrived
+there. Dido received the illustrious exiles with friendliness and
+hospitality. "Not unacquainted with distress," she said, "I have
+learned to succor the unfortunate." [Footnote: See Proverbial
+Expressions.] The queen's hospitality displayed itself in
+festivities at which games of strength and skill were exhibited.
+The strangers contended for the palm with her own subjects, on
+equal terms, the queen declaring that whether the victor were
+"Trojan or Tyrian should make no difference to her." [Footnote 1:
+See Proverbial Expressions.] At the feast which followed the
+games, Aeneas gave at her request a recital of the closing events
+of the Trojan history and his own adventures after the fall of the
+city. Dido was charmed with his discourse and filled with
+admiration of his exploits. She conceived an ardent passion for
+him, and he for his part seemed well content to accept the
+fortunate chance which appeared to offer him at once a happy
+termination of his wanderings, a home, a kingdom, and a bride.
+Months rolled away in the enjoyment of pleasant intercourse, and
+it seemed as if Italy and the empire destined to be founded on its
+shores were alike forgotten. Seeing which, Jupiter despatched
+Mercury with a message to Aeneas recalling him to a sense of his
+high destiny, and commanding him to resume his voyage.
+
+Aeneas parted from Dido, though she tried every allurement and
+persuasion to detain him. The blow to her affection and her pride
+was too much for her to endure, and when she found that he was
+gone, she mounted a funeral pile which she had caused to be
+erected, and having stabbed herself was consumed with the pile.
+The flames rising over the city were seen by the departing
+Trojans, and, though the cause was unknown, gave to Aeneas some
+intimation of the fatal event.
+
+The following epigram we find in "Elegant Extracts":
+
+FROM THE LATIN
+
+   "Unhappy, Dido, was thy fate
+    In first and second married state!
+    One husband caused thy flight by dying,
+    Thy death the other caused by flying"
+
+PALINURUS
+
+After touching at the island of Sicily, where Acestes, a prince of
+Trojan lineage, bore sway, who gave them a hospitable reception,
+the Trojans re-embarked, and held on their course for Italy. Venus
+now interceded with Neptune to allow her son at last to attain the
+wished-for goal and find an end of his perils on the deep. Neptune
+consented, stipulating only for one life as a ransom for the rest.
+The victim was Palinurus, the pilot. As he sat watching the stars,
+with his hand on the helm, Somnus sent by Neptune approached in
+the guise of Phorbas and said: "Palinurus, the breeze is fair, the
+water smooth, and the ship sails steadily on her course. Lie down
+awhile and take needful rest. I will stand at the helm in your
+place." Palinurus replied, "Tell me not of smooth seas or favoring
+winds,--me who have seen so much of their treachery. Shall I
+trust Aeneas to the chances of the weather and the winds?" And he
+continued to grasp the helm and to keep his eyes fixed on the
+stars. But Somnus waved over him a branch moistened with Lethaean
+dew, and his eyes closed in spite of all his efforts. Then Somnus
+pushed him overboard and he fell; but keeping his hold upon the
+helm, it came away with him. Neptune was mindful of his promise
+and kept the ship on her track without helm or pilot, till Aeneas
+discovered his loss, and, sorrowing deeply for his faithful
+steersman, took charge of the ship himself.
+
+There is a beautiful allusion to the story of Palinurus in Scott's
+"Marmion," Introduction to Canto I., where the poet, speaking of
+the recent death of William Pitt, says:
+
+    "O, think how, to his latest day,
+    When death just hovering claimed his prey,
+    With Palinure's unaltered mood,
+    Firm at his dangerous post he stood;
+    Each call for needful rest repelled,
+    With dying hand the rudder held,
+    Till in his fall, with fateful sway,
+    The steerage of the realm gave way."
+
+The ships at last reached the shores of Italy, and joyfully did
+the adventurers leap to land. While his people were employed in
+making their encampment Aeneas sought the abode of the Sibyl. It
+was a cave connected with a temple and grove, sacred to Apollo and
+Diana. While Aeneas contemplated the scene, the Sibyl accosted
+him. She seemed to know his errand, and under the influence of the
+deity of the place, burst forth in a prophetic strain, giving dark
+intimations of labors and perils through which he was destined to
+make his way to final success. She closed with the encouraging
+words which have become proverbial: "Yield not to disasters, but
+press onward the more bravely." [Footnote: See Proverbial
+Expressions.] Aeneas replied that he had prepared himself for
+whatever might await him. He had but one request to make. Having
+been directed in a dream to seek the abode of the dead in order to
+confer with his father, Anchises, to receive from him a revelation
+of his future fortunes and those of his race, he asked her
+assistance to enable him to accomplish the task. The Sibyl
+replied, "The descent to Avernus is easy: the gate of Pluto stands
+open night and day; but to retrace one's steps and return to the
+upper air, that is the toil, that the difficulty."[Footnote: See
+Proverbial Expressions.] She instructed him to seek in the forest
+a tree on which grew a golden branch. This branch was to be
+plucked off and borne as a gift to Proserpine, and if fate was
+propitious it would yield to the hand and quit its parent trunk,
+but otherwise no force could rend it away. If torn away, another
+would succeed.[Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.]
+
+Aeneas followed the directions of the Sibyl. His mother, Venus,
+sent two of her doves to fly before him and show him the way, and
+by their assistance he found the tree, plucked the branch, and
+hastened back with it to the Sibyl.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+THE INFERNAL REGIONS--THE SIBYL
+
+THE INFERNAL REGIONS
+
+
+As at the commencement of our series we have given the pagan
+account of the creation of the world, so as we approach its
+conclusion we present a view of the regions of the dead, depicted
+by one of their most enlightened poets, who drew his doctrines
+from their most esteemed philosophers. The region where Virgil
+locates the entrance to this abode is perhaps the most strikingly
+adapted to excite ideas of the terrific and preternatural of any
+on the face of the earth. It is the volcanic region near Vesuvius,
+where the whole country is cleft with chasms, from which
+sulphurous flames arise, while the ground is shaken with pent-up
+vapors, and mysterious sounds issue from the bowels of the earth.
+The lake Avernus is supposed to fill the crater of an extinct
+volcano. It is circular, half a mile wide, and very deep,
+surrounded by high banks, which in Virgil's time were covered with
+a gloomy forest. Mephitic vapors rise from its waters, so that no
+life is found on its banks, and no birds fly over it. Here,
+according to the poet, was the cave which afforded access to the
+infernal regions, and here Aeneas offered sacrifices to the
+infernal deities, Proserpine, Hecate, and the Furies. Then a
+roaring was heard in the earth, the woods on the hill-tops were
+shaken, and the howling of dogs announced the approach of the
+deities. "Now," said the Sibyl, "summon up your courage, for you
+will need it." She descended into the cave, and Aeneas followed.
+Before the threshold of hell they passed through a group of beings
+who are enumerated as Griefs and avenging Cares, pale Diseases and
+melancholy Age, Fear and Hunger that tempt to crime, Toil,
+Poverty, and Death,--forms horrible to view. The Furies spread
+their couches there, and Discord, whose hair was of vipers tied up
+with a bloody fillet. Here also were the monsters, Briareus, with
+his hundred arms, Hydras hissing, and Chimaeras breathing fire.
+Aeneas shuddered at the sight, drew his sword and would have
+struck, but the Sibyl restrained him. They then came to the black
+river Cocytus, where they found the ferryman, Charon, old and
+squalid, but strong and vigorous, who was receiving passengers of
+all kinds into his boat, magnanimous heroes, boys and unmarried
+girls, as numerous as the leaves that fall at autumn, or the
+flocks that fly southward at the approach of winter. They stood
+pressing for a passage and longing to touch the opposite shore.
+But the stern ferryman took in only such as he chose, driving the
+rest back. Aeneas, wondering at the sight, asked the Sibyl, "Why
+this discrimination?" She answered, "Those who are taken on board
+the bark are the souls of those who have received due burial
+rites; the host of others who have remained unburied are not
+permitted to pass the flood, but wander a hundred years, and flit
+to and fro about the shore, till at last they are taken over."
+Aeneas grieved at recollecting some of his own companions who had
+perished in the storm. At that moment he beheld Palinurus, his
+pilot, who fell overboard and was drowned. He addressed him and
+asked him the cause of his misfortune. Palinurus replied that the
+rudder was carried away, and he, clinging to it, was swept away
+with it. He besought Aeneas most urgently to extend to him his
+hand and take him in company to the opposite shore. But the Sibyl
+rebuked him for the wish thus to transgress the laws of Pluto; but
+consoled him by informing him that the people of the shore where
+his body had been wafted by the waves should be stirred up by
+prodigies to give it due burial, and that the promontory should
+bear the name of Cape Palinurus, which it does to this day.
+Leaving Palinurus consoled by these words, they approached the
+boat. Charon, fixing his eyes sternly upon the advancing warrior,
+demanded by what right he, living and armed, approached that
+shore. To which the Sibyl replied that they would commit no
+violence, that Aeneas's only object was to see his father, and
+finally exhibited the golden branch, at sight of which Charon's
+wrath relaxed, and he made haste to turn his bark to the shore,
+and receive them on board. The boat, adapted only to the light
+freight of bodiless spirits, groaned under the weight of the hero.
+They were soon conveyed to the opposite shore. There they were
+encountered by the three-headed dog, Cerberus, with his necks
+bristling with snakes. He barked with all his three throats till
+the Sibyl threw him a medicated cake which he eagerly devoured,
+and then stretched himself out in his den and fell asleep. Aeneas
+and the Sibyl sprang to land. The first sound that struck their
+ears was the wailing of young children, who had died on the
+threshold of life, and near to these were they who had perished
+under false charges. Minos presides over them as judge, and
+examines the deeds of each. The next class was of those who had
+died by their own hand, hating life and seeking refuge in death. O
+how willingly would they now endure poverty, labor, and any other
+infliction, if they might but return to life! Next were situated
+the regions of sadness, divided off into retired paths, leading
+through groves of myrtle. Here roamed those who had fallen victims
+to unrequited love, not freed from pain even by death itself.
+Among these, Aeneas thought he descried the form of Dido, with a
+wound still recent. In the dim light he was for a moment
+uncertain, but approaching, perceived it was indeed herself. Tears
+fell from his eyes, and he addressed her in the accents of love.
+"Unhappy Dido! was then the rumor true that you had perished? and
+was I, alas! the cause? I call the gods to witness that my
+departure from you was reluctant, and in obedience to the commands
+of Jove; nor could I believe that my absence would cost you so
+dear. Stop, I beseech you, and refuse me not a last farewell." She
+stood for a moment with averted countenance, and eyes fixed on the
+ground, and then silently passed on, as insensible to his
+pleadings as a rock. Aeneas followed for some distance; then, with
+a heavy heart, rejoined his companion and resumed his route.
+
+They next entered the fields where roam the heroes who have fallen
+in battle. Here they saw many shades of Grecian and Trojan
+warriors. The Trojans thronged around him, and could not be
+satisfied with the sight. They asked the cause of his coming, and
+plied him with innumerable questions. But the Greeks, at the sight
+of his armor glittering through the murky atmosphere, recognized
+the hero, and filled with terror turned their backs and fled, as
+they used to do on the plains of Troy.
+
+Aeneas would have lingered long with his Trojan friends, but the
+Sibyl hurried him away. They next came to a place where the road
+divided, the one leading to Elysium, the other to the regions of
+the condemned. Aeneas beheld on one side the walls of a mighty
+city, around which Phlegethon rolled its fiery waters. Before him
+was the gate of adamant that neither gods nor men can break
+through. An iron tower stood by the gate, on which Tisiphone, the
+avenging Fury, kept guard. From the city were heard groans, and
+the sound of the scourge, the creaking of iron, and the clanking
+of chains. Aeneas, horror-struck, inquired of his guide what
+crimes were those whose punishments produced the sounds he heard?
+The Sibyl answered, "Here is the judgment hall of Rhadamanthus,
+who brings to light crimes done in life, which the perpetrator
+vainly thought impenetrably hid. Tisiphone applies her whip of
+scorpions, and delivers the offender over to her sister Furies."
+At this moment with horrid clang the brazen gates unfolded, and
+Aeneas saw within a Hydra with fifty heads guarding the entrance.
+The Sibyl told him that the gulf of Tartarus descended deep, so
+that its recesses were as far beneath their feet as heaven was
+high above their heads. In the bottom of this pit, the Titan race,
+who warred against the gods, lie prostrate; Salmoneus, also, who
+presumed to vie with Jupiter, and built a bridge of brass over
+which he drove his chariot that the sound might resemble thunder,
+launching flaming brands at his people in imitation of lightning,
+till Jupiter struck him with a real thunderbolt, and taught him
+the difference between mortal weapons and divine. Here, also, is
+Tityus, the giant, whose form is so immense that as he lies he
+stretches over nine acres, while a vulture preys upon his liver,
+which as fast as it is devoured grows again, so that his
+punishment will have no end.
+
+Aeneas saw groups seated at tables loaded with dainties, while
+near by stood a Fury who snatched away the viands from their lips
+as fast as they prepared to taste them. Others beheld suspended
+over their heads huge rocks, threatening to fall, keeping them in
+a state of constant alarm. These were they who had hated their
+brothers, or struck their parents, or defrauded the friends who
+trusted them, or who, having grown rich, kept their money to
+themselves, and gave no share to others; the last being the most
+numerous class. Here also were those who had violated the marriage
+vow, or fought in a bad cause, or failed in fidelity to their
+employers. Here was one who had sold his country for gold, another
+who perverted the laws, making them say one thing to-day and
+another to-morrow.
+
+Ixion was there, fastened to the circumference of a wheel
+ceaselessly revolving; and Sisyphus, whose task was to roll a huge
+stone up to a hill-top, but when the steep was well-nigh gained,
+the rock, repulsed by some sudden force, rushed again headlong
+down to the plain. Again he toiled at it, while the sweat bathed
+all his weary limbs, but all to no effect. There was Tantalus, who
+stood in a pool, his chin level with the water, yet he was parched
+with thirst, and found nothing to assuage it; for when he bowed
+his hoary head, eager to quaff, the water fled away, leaving the
+ground at his feet all dry. Tall trees laden with fruit stooped
+their heads to him, pears, pomegranates, apples, and luscious
+figs; but when with a sudden grasp he tried to seize them winds
+whirled them high above his reach.
+
+The Sibyl now warned Aeneas that it was time to turn from these
+melancholy regions and seek the city of the blessed. They passed
+through a middle tract of darkness, and came upon the Elysian
+fields, the groves where the happy reside. They breathed a freer
+air, and saw all objects clothed in a purple light. The region has
+a sun and stars of its own. The inhabitants were enjoying
+themselves in various ways, some in sports on the grassy turf, in
+games of strength or skill. others dancing or singing. Orpheus
+struck the chords of his lyre, and called forth ravishing sounds.
+Here Aeneas saw the founders of the Trojan state, magnanimous
+heroes who lived in happier times. He gazed with admiration on the
+war chariots and glittering arms now reposing in disuse. Spears
+stood fixed in the ground, and the horses, unharnessed, roamed
+over the plain. The same pride in splendid armor and generous
+steeds which the old heroes felt in life, accompanied them here.
+He saw another group feasting and listening to the strains of
+music. They were in a laurel grove, whence the great river Po has
+its origin, and flows out among men. Here dwelt those who fell by
+wounds received in their country's cause, holy priests also, and
+poets who have uttered thoughts worthy of Apollo, and others who
+have contributed to cheer and adorn life by their discoveries in
+the useful arts, and have made their memory blessed by rendering
+service to mankind. They wore snow-white fillets about their
+brows. The Sibyl addressed a group of these, and inquired where
+Anchises was to be found. They were directed where to seek him,
+and soon found him in a verdant valley, where he was contemplating
+the ranks of his posterity, their destinies and worthy deeds to be
+achieved in coming times. When he recognized Aeneas approaching,
+he stretched out both hands to him, while tears flowed freely.
+"Have you come at last," said he, "long expected, and do I behold
+you after such perils past? O my son, how have I trembled for you
+as I have watched your career!" To which Aeneas replied, "O
+father! your image was always before me to guide and guard me."
+Then he endeavored to enfold his father in his embrace, but his
+arms enclosed only an unsubstantial image.
+
+Aeneas perceived before him a spacious valley, with trees gently
+waving to the wind, a tranquil landscape, through which the river
+Lethe flowed. Along the banks of the stream wandered a countless
+multitude, numerous as insects in the summer air. Aeneas, with
+surprise, inquired who were these. Anchises answered, "They are
+souls to which bodies are to be given in due time. Meanwhile they
+dwell on Lethe's bank, and drink oblivion of their former lives."
+"O father!" said Aeneas, "is it possible that any can be so in
+love with life as to wish to leave these tranquil seats for the
+upper world?" Anchises replied by explaining the plan of creation.
+The Creator, he told him, originally made the material of which
+souls are composed of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and
+water, all which when united took the form of the most excellent
+part, fire, and became FLAME. This material was scattered like
+seed among the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, and stars. Of this
+seed the inferior gods created man and all other animals, mingling
+it with various proportions of earth, by which its purity was
+alloyed and reduced. Thus, the more earth predominates in the
+composition the less pure is the individual; and we see men and
+women with their full-grown bodies have not the purity of
+childhood. So in proportion to the time which the union of body
+and soul has lasted is the impurity contracted by the spiritual
+part. This impurity must be purged away after death, which is done
+by ventilating the souls in the current of winds, or merging them
+in water, or burning out their impurities by fire. Some few, of
+whom Anchises intimates that he is one, are admitted at once to
+Elysium, there to remain. But the rest, after the impurities of
+earth are purged away, are sent back to life endowed with new
+bodies, having had the remembrance of their former lives
+effectually washed away by the waters of Lethe. Some, however,
+there still are, so thoroughly corrupted, that they are not fit to
+be intrusted with human bodies, and these are made into brute
+animals, lions, tigers, cats, dogs, monkeys, etc. This is what the
+ancients called Metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls; a
+doctrine which is still held by the natives of India, who scruple
+to destroy the life even of the most insignificant animal, not
+knowing but it may be one of their relations in an altered form.
+
+Anchises, having explained so much, proceeded to point out to
+Aeneas individuals of his race, who were hereafter to be born, and
+to relate to him the exploits they should perform in the world.
+After this he reverted to the present, and told his son of the
+events that remained to him to be accomplished before the complete
+establishment of himself and his followers in Italy. Wars were to
+be waged, battles fought, a bride to be won, and in the result a
+Trojan state founded, from which should rise the Roman power, to
+be in time the sovereign of the world.
+
+Aeneas and the Sibyl then took leave of Anchises, and returned by
+some short cut, which the poet does not explain, to the upper
+world.
+
+ELYSIUM
+
+Virgil, we have seen, places his Elysium under the earth, and
+assigns it for a residence to the spirits of the blessed. But in
+Homer Elysium forms no part of the realms of the dead. He places
+it on the west of the earth, near Ocean, and describes it as a
+happy land, where there is neither snow, nor cold, nor rain, and
+always fanned by the delightful breezes of Zephyrus. Hither
+favored heroes pass without dying and live happy under the rule of
+Rhadamanthus. The Elysium of Hesiod and Pindar is in the Isles of
+the Blessed, or Fortunate Islands, in the Western Ocean. From
+these sprang the legend of the happy island Atlantis. This
+blissful region may have been wholly imaginary, but possibly may
+have sprung from the reports of some storm-driven mariners who had
+caught a glimpse of the coast of America.
+
+J. R. Lowell, in one of his shorter poems, claims for the present
+age some of the privileges of that happy realm. Addressing the
+Past, he says:
+
+     "Whatever of true life there was in thee,
+        Leaps in our age's veins.
+
+     Here, 'mid the bleak waves of our strife and care,
+       Float the green 'Fortunate Isles,'
+     Where all thy hero-spirits dwell and share
+       Our martyrdoms and toils.
+         The present moves attended
+     With all of brave and excellent and fair
+         That made the old time splendid."
+
+Milton also alludes to the same fable in "Paradise Lost," Book
+III, 1. 568:
+
+    "Like those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
+    Fortunate fields and groves and flowery vales,
+    Thrice happy isles."
+
+And in Book II. he characterizes the rivers of Erebus according to
+the meaning of their names in the Greek language:
+
+    "Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate,
+    Sad Acheron of sorrow black and deep;
+    Cocytus named of lamentation loud
+    Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegethon
+    Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
+    Far off from these a slow and silent stream,
+    Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
+    Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
+    Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
+    Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain."
+
+THE SIBYL
+
+As Aeneas and the Sibyl pursued their way back to earth, he said
+to her, "Whether thou be a goddess or a mortal beloved of the
+gods, by me thou shalt always be held in reverence. When I reach
+the upper air I will cause a temple to be built to thy honor, and
+will myself bring offerings." "I am no goddess," said the Sibyl;
+"I have no claim to sacrifice or offering. I am mortal; yet if I
+could have accepted the love of Apollo I might have been immortal.
+He promised me the fulfilment of my wish, if I would consent to be
+his. I took a handful of sand, and holding it forth, said, 'Grant
+me to see as many birthdays as there are sand grains in my hand.'
+Unluckily I forgot to ask for enduring youth. This also he would
+have granted, could I have accepted his love, but offended at my
+refusal, he allowed me to grow old. My youth and youthful strength
+fled long ago. I have lived seven hundred years, and to equal the
+number of the sand grains I have still to see three hundred
+springs and three hundred harvests. My body shrinks up as years
+increase, and in time, I shall be lost to sight, but my voice will
+remain, and future ages will respect my sayings."
+
+These concluding words of the Sibyl alluded to her prophetic
+power. In her cave she was accustomed to inscribe on leaves
+gathered from the trees the names and fates of individuals. The
+leaves thus inscribed were arranged in order within the cave, and
+might be consulted by her votaries. But if perchance at the
+opening of the door the wind rushed in and dispersed the leaves
+the Sibyl gave no aid to restoring them again, and the oracle was
+irreparably lost.
+
+The following legend of the Sibyl is fixed at a later date. In the
+reign of one of the Tarquins there appeared before the king a
+woman who offered him nine books for sale. The king refused to
+purchase them, whereupon the woman went away and burned three of
+the books, and returning offered the remaining books for the same
+price she had asked for the nine. The king again rejected them;
+but when the woman, after burning three books more, returned and
+asked for the three remaining the same price which she had before
+asked for the nine, his curiosity was excited, and he purchased
+the books. They were found to contain the destinies of the Roman
+state. They were kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus,
+preserved in a stone chest, and allowed to be inspected only by
+especial officers appointed for that duty, who, on great
+occasions, consulted them and interpreted their oracles to the
+people.
+
+There were various Sibyls; but the Cumaean Sibyl, of whom Ovid and
+Virgil write, is the most celebrated of them. Ovid's story of her
+life protracted to one thousand years may be intended to represent
+the various Sibyls as being only reappearances of one and the same
+individual.
+
+Young, in the "Night Thoughts," alludes to the Sibyl. Speaking of
+Worldly Wisdom, he says:
+
+   "If future fate she plans 'tis all in leaves,
+    Like Sibyl, unsubstantial, fleeting bliss;
+    At the first blast it vanishes in air.
+
+    As worldly schemes resemble Sibyl's leaves,
+    The good man's days to Sibyl's books compare,
+    The price still rising as in number less."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CAMILLA--EVANDER--NISUS AND EURYALUS--MEZENTIUS--TURNUS
+
+
+Aeneas, having parted from the Sibyl and rejoined his fleet,
+coasted along the shores of Italy and cast anchor in the mouth of
+the Tiber. The poet, having brought his hero to this spot, the
+destined termination of his wanderings, invokes his Muse to tell
+him the situation of things at that eventful moment. Latinus,
+third in descent from Saturn, ruled the country. He was now old
+and had no male descendant, but had one charming daughter,
+Lavinia, who was sought in marriage by many neighboring chiefs,
+one of whom, Turnus, king of the Rutulians, was favored by the
+wishes of her parents. But Latinus had been warned in a dream by
+his father Faunus, that the destined husband of Lavinia should
+come from a foreign land. From that union should spring a race
+destined to subdue the world.
+
+Our readers will remember that in the conflict with the Harpies
+one of those half-human birds had threatened the Trojans with dire
+sufferings. In particular she predicted that before their
+wanderings ceased they should be pressed by hunger to devour their
+tables. This portent now came true; for as they took their scanty
+meal, seated on the grass, the men placed their hard biscuit on
+their laps, and put thereon whatever their gleanings in the woods
+supplied. Having despatched the latter they finished by eating the
+crusts. Seeing which, the boy Iulus said playfully, "See, we are
+eating our tables." Aeneas caught the words and accepted the omen.
+"All hail, promised land!" he exclaimed, "this is our home, this
+our country." He then took measures to find out who were the
+present inhabitants of the land, and who their rulers. A hundred
+chosen men were sent to the village of Latinus, bearing presents
+and a request for friendship and alliance. They went and were
+favorably received. Latinus immediately concluded that the Trojan
+hero was no other than the promised son-in-law announced by the
+oracle. He cheerfully granted his alliance and sent back the
+messengers mounted on steeds from his stables, and loaded with
+gifts and friendly messages.
+
+Juno, seeing things go thus prosperously for the Trojans, felt her
+old animosity revive, summoned Alecto from Erebus, and sent her to
+stir up discord. The Fury first took possession of the queen,
+Amata, and roused her to oppose in every way the new alliance.
+Alecto then speeded to the city of Turnus, and assuming the form
+of an old priestess, informed him of the arrival of the foreigners
+and of the attempts of their prince to rob him of his bride. Next
+she turned her attention to the camp of the Trojans. There she saw
+the boy Iulus and his companions amusing themselves with hunting.
+She sharpened the scent of the dogs, and led them to rouse up from
+the thicket a tame stag, the favorite of Silvia, the daughter of
+Tyrrheus, the king's herdsman. A javelin from the hand of Iulus
+wounded the animal, and he had only strength left to run
+homewards, and died at his mistress's feet. Her cries and tears
+roused her brothers and the herdsmen, and they, seizing whatever
+weapons came to hand, furiously assaulted the hunting party. These
+were protected by their friends, and the herdsmen were finally
+driven back with the loss of two of their number.
+
+These things were enough to rouse the storm of war, and the queen,
+Turnus, and the peasants all urged the old king to drive the
+strangers from the country. He resisted as long as he could, but,
+finding his opposition unavailing, finally gave way and retreated
+to his retirement.
+
+OPENING THE GATES OF JANUS
+
+It was the custom of the country, when war was to be undertaken,
+for the chief magistrate, clad in his robes of office, with solemn
+pomp to open the gates of the temple of Janus, which were kept
+shut as long as peace endured. His people now urged the old king
+to perform that solemn office, but he refused to do so. While they
+contested, Juno herself, descending from the skies, smote the
+doors with irresistible force, and burst them open. Immediately
+the whole country was in a flame. The people rushed from every
+side breathing nothing but war.
+
+Turnus was recognized by all as leader; others joined as allies,
+chief of whom was Mezentius, a brave and able soldier, but of
+detestable cruelty. He had been the chief of one of the
+neighboring cities, but his people drove him out. With him was
+joined his son Lausus, a generous youth, worthy of a better sire.
+
+CAMILLA
+
+Camilla, the favorite of Diana, a huntress and warrior, after the
+fashion of the Amazons, came with her band of mounted followers,
+including a select number of her own sex, and ranged herself on
+the side of Turnus. This maiden had never accustomed her fingers
+to the distaff or the loom, but had learned to endure the toils of
+war, and in speed to outstrip the wind. It seemed as if she might
+run over the standing corn without crushing it, or over the
+surface of the water without dipping her feet. Camilla's history
+had been singular from the beginning. Her father, Metabus, driven
+from his city by civil discord, carried with him in his flight his
+infant daughter. As he fled through the woods, his enemies in hot
+pursuit, he reached the bank of the river Amazenus, which, swelled
+by rains, seemed to debar a passage. He paused for a moment, then
+decided what to do. He tied the infant to his lance with wrappers
+of bark, and poising the weapon in his upraised hand thus
+addressed Diana: "Goddess of the woods! I consecrate this maid to
+you;" then hurled the weapon with its burden to the opposite bank.
+The spear flew across the roaring water. His pursuers were already
+upon him, but he plunged into the river and swam across, and found
+the spear, with the infant safe on the other side. Thenceforth he
+lived among the shepherds and brought up his daughter in woodland
+arts. While a child she was taught to use the bow and throw the
+javelin. With her sling she could bring down the crane or the wild
+swan. Her dress was a tiger's skin. Many mothers sought her for a
+daughter-in-law, but she continued faithful to Diana and repelled
+the thought of marriage.
+
+EVANDER
+
+Such were the formidable allies that ranged themselves against
+Aeneas. It was night and he lay stretched in sleep on the bank of
+the river under the open heavens. The god of the stream, Father
+Tiber, seemed to raise his head above the willows and to say, "O
+goddess-born, destined possessor of the Latin realms, this is the
+promised land, here is to be your home, here shall terminate the
+hostility of the heavenly powers, if only you faithfully
+persevere. There are friends not far distant. Prepare your boats
+and row up my stream; I will lead you to Evander, the Arcadian
+chief, he has long been at strife with Turnus and the Rutulians,
+and is prepared to become an ally of yours. Rise! offer your vows
+to Juno, and deprecate her anger. When you have achieved your
+victory then think of me." Aeneas woke and paid immediate
+obedience to the friendly vision. He sacrificed to Juno, and
+invoked the god of the river and all his tributary fountains to
+lend their aid. Then for the first time a vessel filled with armed
+warriors floated on the stream of the Tiber. The river smoothed
+its waves, and bade its current flow gently, while, impelled by
+the vigorous strokes of the rowers, the vessels shot rapidly up
+the stream.
+
+About the middle of the day they came in sight of the scattered
+buildings of the infant town, where in after times the proud city
+of Rome grew, whose glory reached the skies. By chance the old
+king, Evander, was that day celebrating annual solemnities in
+honor of Hercules and all the gods. Pallas, his son, and all the
+chiefs of the little commonwealth stood by. When they saw the tall
+ship gliding onward near the wood, they were alarmed at the sight,
+and rose from the tables. But Pallas forbade the solemnities to be
+interrupted, and seizing a weapon, stepped forward to the river's
+bank. He called aloud, demanding who they were, and what their
+object. Aeneas, holding forth an olive-branch, replied, "We are
+Trojans, friends to you, and enemies to the Rutulians. We seek
+Evander, and offer to join our arms with yours." Pallas, in amaze
+at the sound of so great a name, invited them to land, and when
+Aeneas touched the shore he seized his hand, and held it long in
+friendly grasp. Proceeding through the wood, they joined the king
+and his party and were most favorably received. Seats were
+provided for them at the tables, and the repast proceeded.
+
+INFANT ROME
+
+When the solemnities were ended all moved towards the city. The
+king, bending with age, walked between his son and Aeneas, taking
+the arm of one or the other of them, and with much variety of
+pleasing talk shortening the way. Aeneas with delight looked and
+listened, observing all the beauties of the scene, and learning
+much of heroes renowned in ancient times. Evander said, "These
+extensive groves were once inhabited by fauns and nymphs, and a
+rude race of men who sprang from the trees themselves, and had
+neither laws nor social culture. They knew not how to yoke the
+cattle nor raise a harvest, nor provide from present abundance for
+future want; but browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs, or fed
+voraciously on their hunted prey. Such were they when Saturn,
+expelled from Olympus by his sons, came among them and drew
+together the fierce savages, formed them into society, and gave
+them laws. Such peace and plenty ensued that men ever since have
+called his reign the golden age; but by degrees far other times
+succeeded, and the thirst of gold and the thirst of blood
+prevailed. The land was a prey to successive tyrants, till fortune
+and resistless destiny brought me hither, an exile from my native
+land, Arcadia."
+
+Having thus said, he showed him the Tarpeian rock, and the rude
+spot then overgrown with bushes where in after times the Capitol
+rose in all its magnificence. He next pointed to some dismantled
+walls, and said, "Here stood Janiculum, built by Janus, and there
+Saturnia, the town of Saturn." Such discourse brought them to the
+cottage of poor Evander, whence they saw the lowing herds roaming
+over the plain where now the proud and stately Forum stands. They
+entered, and a couch was spread for Aeneas, well stuffed with
+leaves, and covered with the skin of a Libyan bear.
+
+Next morning, awakened by the dawn and the shrill song of birds
+beneath the eaves of his low mansion, old Evander rose. Clad in a
+tunic, and a panther's skin thrown over his shoulders, with
+sandals on his feet and his good sword girded to his side, he went
+forth to seek his guest. Two mastiffs followed him, his whole
+retinue and body guard. He found the hero attended by his faithful
+Achates, and, Pallas soon joining them, the old king spoke thus:
+
+"Illustrious Trojan, it is but little we can do in so great a
+cause. Our state is feeble, hemmed in on one side by the river, on
+the other by the Rutulians. But I propose to ally you with a
+people numerous and rich, to whom fate has brought you at the
+propitious moment. The Etruscans hold the country beyond the
+river. Mezentius was their king, a monster of cruelty, who
+invented unheard-of torments to gratify his vengeance. He would
+fasten the dead to the living, hand to hand and face to face, and
+leave the wretched victims to die in that dreadful embrace. At
+length the people cast him out, him and his house. They burned his
+palace and slew his friends. He escaped and took refuge with
+Turnus, who protects him with arms. The Etruscans demand that he
+shall be given up to deserved punishment, and would ere now have
+attempted to enforce their demand; but their priests restrain
+them, telling them that it is the will of heaven that no native of
+the land shall guide them to victory, and that thsir destined
+leader must come from across the sea. They have offered the crown
+to me, but I am too old to undertake such great affairs, and my
+son is native-born, which precludes him from the choice. You,
+equally by birth and time of life, and fame in arms, pointed out
+by the gods, have but to appear to be hailed at once as their
+leader. With you I will join Pallas, my son, my only hope and
+comfort. Under you he shall learn the art of war, and strive to
+emulate your great exploits."
+
+Then the king ordered horses to be furnished for the Trojan
+chiefs, and Aeneas, with a chosen band of followers and Pallas
+accompanying, mounted and took the way to the Etruscan city,
+[Footnote: The poet here inserts a famous line which is thought to
+imitate in its sound the galloping of horses. It may be thus
+translated--"Then struck the hoofs of the steeds on the ground
+with a four-footed trampling."--See Proverbial Expressions.]
+having sent back the rest of his party in the ships. Aeneas and
+his band safely arrived at the Etruscan camp and were received
+with open arms by Tarchon and his countrymen.
+
+NISUS AND EURYALUS
+
+In the meanwhile Turnus had collected his bands and made all
+necessary preparations for the war. Juno sent Iris to him with a
+message inciting him to take advantage of the absence of Aeneas
+and surprise the Trojan camp. Accordingly the attempt was made,
+but the Trojans were found on their guard, and having received
+strict orders from Aeneas not to fight in his absence, they lay
+still in their intrenchments, and resisted all the efforts of the
+Rutulians to draw them into the field. Night coming on, the army
+of Turnus, in high spirits at their fancied superiority, feasted
+and enjoyed themselves, and finally stretched themselves on the
+field and slept secure.
+
+In the camp of the Trojans things were far otherwise. There all
+was watchfulness and anxiety and impatience for Aeneas's return.
+Nisus stood guard at the entrance of the camp, and Euryalus, a
+youth distinguished above all in the army for graces of person and
+fine qualities, was with him. These two were friends and brothers
+in arms. Nisus said to his friend, "Do you perceive what
+confidence and carelessness the enemy display? Their lights are
+few and dim, and the men seem all oppressed with wine or sleep.
+You know how anxiously our chiefs wish to send to Aeneas, and to
+get intelligence from him. Now, I am strongly moved to make my way
+through the enemy's camp and to go in search of our chief. If I
+succeed, the glory of the deed will be reward enough for me, and
+if they judge the service deserves anything more, let them pay it
+to you."
+
+Euryalus, all on fire with the love of adventure, replied, "Would
+you, then, Nisus, refuse to share your enterprise with me? And
+shall I let you go into such danger alone? Not so my brave father
+brought me up, nor so have I planned for myself when I joined the
+standard of Aeneas, and resolved to hold my life cheap in
+comparison with honor." Nisus replied, "I doubt it not, my friend;
+but you know the uncertain event of such an undertaking, and
+whatever may happen to me, I wish you to be safe. You are younger
+than I and have more of life in prospect. Nor can I be the cause
+of such grief to your mother, who has chosen to be here in the
+camp with you rather than stay and live in peace with the other
+matrons in Acestes' city." Euryalus replied, "Say no more. In vain
+you seek arguments to dissuade me. I am fixed in the resolution to
+go with you. Let us lose no time." They called the guard, and
+committing the watch to them, sought the general's tent. They
+found the chief officers in consultation, deliberating how they
+should send notice to Aeneas of their situation. The offer of the
+two friends was gladly accepted, themselves loaded with praises
+and promised the most liberal rewards in case of success. Iulus
+especially addressed Euryalus, assuring him of his lasting
+friendship. Euryalus replied, "I have but one boon to ask. My aged
+mother is with me in the camp. For me she left the Trojan soil,
+and would not stay behind with the other matrons at the city of
+Acestes. I go now without taking leave of her. I could not bear
+her tears nor set at nought her entreaties. But do thou, I beseech
+you, comfort her in her distress. Promise me that and I shall go
+more boldly into whatever dangers may present themselves." Iulus
+and the other chiefs were moved to tears, and promised to do all
+his request. "Your mother shall be mine," said Iulus, "and all
+that I have promised to you shall be made good to her, if you do
+not return to receive it."
+
+The two friends left the camp and plunged at once into the midst
+of the enemy. They found no watch, no sentinels posted, but, all
+about, the sleeping soldiers strewn on the grass and among the
+wagons. The laws of war at that early day did not forbid a brave
+man to slay a sleeping foe, and the two Trojans slew, as they
+passed, such of the enemy as they could without exciting alarm. In
+one tent Euryalus made prize of a helmet brilliant with gold and
+plumes. They had passed through the enemy's ranks without being
+discovered, but now suddenly appeared a troop directly in front of
+them, which, under Volscens, their leader, were approaching the
+camp. The glittering helmet of Euryalus caught their attention,
+and Volscens hailed the two, and demanded who and whence they
+were. They made no answer, but plunged into the wood. The horsemen
+scattered in all directions to intercept their flight. Nisus had
+eluded pursuit and was out of danger, but Euryalus being missing
+he turned back to seek him. He again entered the wood and soon
+came within sound of voices. Looking through the thicket he saw
+the whole band surrounding Euryalus with noisy questions. What
+should he do? how extricate the youth, or would it be better to
+die with him.
+
+Raising his eyes to the moon, which now shone clear, he said,
+"Goddess! favor my effort!" and aiming his javelin at one of the
+leaders of the troop, struck him in the back and stretched him on
+the plain with a death-blow. In the midst of their amazement
+another weapon flew and another of the party fell dead. Volscens,
+the leader, ignorant whence the darts came, rushed sword in hand
+upon Euryalus. "You shall pay the penalty of both," he said, and
+would have plunged the sword into his bosom, when Nisus, who from
+his concealment saw the peril of his friend, rushed forward
+exclaiming, "'Twas I, 'twas I; turn your swords against me,
+Rutulians, I did it; he only followed me as a friend." While he
+spoke the sword fell, and pierced the comely bosom of Euryalus.
+His head fell over on his shoulder, like a flower cut down by the
+plough. Nisus rushed upon Volscens and plunged his sword into his
+body, and was himself slain on the instant by numberless blows.
+
+MEZENTIUS
+
+Aeneas, with his Etrurian allies, arrived on the scene of action
+in time to rescue his beleaguered camp; and now the two armies
+being nearly equal in strength, the war began in good earnest. We
+cannot find space for all the details, but must simply record the
+fate of the principal characters whom we have introduced to our
+readers. The tyrant Mezentius, finding himself engaged against his
+revolting subjects, raged like a wild beast. He slew all who dared
+to withstand him, and put the multitude to flight wherever he
+appeared. At last he encountered Aeneas, and the armies stood
+still to see the issue. Mezentius threw his spear, which striking
+Aeneas's shield glanced off and hit Anthor. He was a Grecian by
+birth, who had left Argos, his native city, and followed Evander
+into Italy. The poet says of him with simple pathos which has made
+the words proverbial, "He fell, unhappy, by a wound intended for
+another, looked up at the skies, and dying remembered sweet
+Argos." [Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.] Aeneas now in turn
+hurled his lance. It pierced the shield of Mezentius, and wounded
+him in the thigh. Lausus, his son, could not bear the sight, but
+rushed forward and interposed himself, while the followers pressed
+round Mezentius and bore him away. Aeneas held his sword suspended
+over Lausus and delayed to strike, but the furious youth pressed
+on and he was compelled to deal the fatal blow. Lausus fell, and
+Aeneas bent over him in pity. "Hapless youth," he said, "what can
+I do for you worthy of your praise? Keep those arms in which you
+glory, and fear not but that your body shall be restored to your
+friends, and have due funeral honors." So saying, he called the
+timid followers and delivered the body into their hands.
+
+Mezentius meanwhile had been borne to the riverside, and washed
+his wound. Soon the news reached him of Lausus's death, and rage
+and despair supplied the place of strength. He mounted his horse
+and dashed into the thickest of the fight, seeking Aeneas. Having
+found him, [Footnote: See Proverbial Expressions.] he rode round
+him in a circle, throwing one javelin after another, while Aeneas
+stood fenced with his shield, turning every way to meet them. At
+last, after Mezentius had three times made the circuit, Aeneas
+threw his lance directly at the horse's head. It pierced his
+temples and he fell, while a shout from both armies rent the
+skies. Mezentius asked no mercy, but only that his body might be
+spared the insults of his revolted subjects, and be buried in the
+same grave with his son. He received the fatal stroke not
+unprepared, and poured out his life and his blood together.
+
+PALLAS, CAMILLA, TURNUS
+
+While these things were doing in one part of the field, in another
+Turnus encountered the youthful Pallas. The contest between
+champions so unequally matched could not be doubtful. Pallas bore
+himself bravely, but fell by the lance of Turnus. The victor
+almost relented when he saw the brave youth lying dead at his
+feet, and spared to use the privilege of a conqueror in despoiling
+him of his arms. The belt only, adorned with studs and carvings of
+gold, he took and clasped round his own body. The rest he remitted
+to the friends of the slain.
+
+After the battle there was a cessation of arms for some days to
+allow both armies to bury their dead. In this interval Aeneas
+challenged Turnus to decide the contest by single combat, but
+Turnus evaded the challenge. Another battle ensued, in which
+Camilla, the virgin warrior, was chiefly conspicuous. Her deeds of
+valor surpassed those of the bravest warriors, and many Trojans
+and Etruscans fell pierced with her darts or struck down by her
+battle-axe. At last an Etruscan named Aruns, who had watched her
+long, seeking for some advantage, observed her pursuing a flying
+enemy whose splendid armor offered a tempting prize. Intent on the
+chase she observed not her danger, and the javelin of Aruns struck
+her and inflicted a fatal wound. She fell and breathed her last in
+the arms of her attendant maidens. But Diana, who beheld her fate,
+suffered not her slaughter to be unavenged. Aruns, as he stole
+away, glad, but frightened, was struck by a secret arrow, launched
+by one of the nymphs of Diana's train, and died ignobly and
+unknown.
+
+At length the final conflict took place between Aeneas and Turnus.
+Turnus had avoided the contest as long as he could, but at last,
+impelled by the ill success of his arms and by the murmurs of his
+followers, he braced himself to the conflict. It could not be
+doubtful. On the side of Aeneas were the expressed decree of
+destiny, the aid of his goddess-mother at every emergency, and
+impenetrable armor fabricated by Vulcan, at her request, for her
+son. Turnus, on the other hand, was deserted by his celestial
+allies, Juno having been expressly forbidden by Jupiter to assist
+him any longer. Turnus threw his lance, but it recoiled harmless
+from the shield of Aeneas. The Trojan hero then threw his, which
+penetrated the shield of Turnus, and pierced his thigh. Then
+Turnus's fortitude forsook him and he begged for mercy; and Aeneas
+would have given him his life, but at the instant his eye fell on
+the belt of Pallas, which Turnus had taken from the slaughtered
+youth. Instantly his rage revived, and exclaiming, "Pallas
+immolates thee with this blow," he thrust him through with his
+sword.
+
+Here the poem of the "Aeneid" closes, and we are left to infer
+that Aeneas, having triumphed over his foes, obtained Lavinia for
+his bride. Tradition adds that he founded his city, and called it
+after her name, Lavinium. His son Iulus founded Alba Longa, which
+was the birthplace of Romulus and Remus and the cradle of Rome
+itself.
+
+There is an allusion to Camilla in those well-known lines of Pope,
+in which, illustrating the rule that "the sound should be an echo
+to the sense," he says:
+
+   "When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
+    The line too labors and the words move slow.
+    Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
+    Flies o'er th' unbending corn or skims along the main."
+
+    --Essay on Criticism.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+PYTHAGORAS--EGYPTIAN DEITIES--ORACLES
+
+PYTHAGORAS
+
+
+The teachings of Anchises to Aeneas, respecting the nature of the
+human soul, were in conformity with the doctrines of the
+Pythagoreans. Pythagoras (born five hundred and forty years B.C.)
+was a native of the island of Samos, but passed the chief portion
+of his life at Crotona in Italy. He is therefore sometimes called
+"the Samian," and sometimes "the philosopher of Crotona." When
+young he travelled extensively, and it is said visited Egypt,
+where he was instructed by the priests in all their learning, and
+afterwards journeyed to the East, and visited the Persian and
+Chaldean Magi, and the Brahmins of India.
+
+At Crotona, where he finally established himself, his
+extraordinary qualities collected round him a great number of
+disciples. The inhabitants were notorious for luxury and
+licentiousness, but the good effects of his influence were soon
+visible. Sobriety and temperance succeeded. Six hundred of the
+inhabitants became his disciples and enrolled themselves in a
+society to aid each other in the pursuit of wisdom, uniting their
+property in one common stock for the benefit of the whole. They
+were required to practise the greatest purity and simplicity of
+manners. The first lesson they learned was SILENCE; for a time
+they were required to be only hearers. "He [Pythagoras] said so"
+(Ipse dixit), was to be held by them as sufficient, without any
+proof. It was only the advanced pupils, after years of patient
+submission, who were allowed to ask questions and to state
+objections.
+
+Pythagoras considered NUMBERS as the essence and principle of all
+things, and attributed to them a real and distinct existence; so
+that, in his view, they were the elements out of which the
+universe was constructed. How he conceived this process has never
+been satisfactorily explained. He traced the various forms and
+phenomena of the world to numbers as their basis and essence. The
+"Monad" or unit he regarded as the source of all numbers. The
+number Two was imperfect, and the cause of increase and division.
+Three was called the number of the whole because it had a
+beginning, middle, and end. Four, representing the square, is in
+the highest degree perfect; and Ten, as it contains the sum of the
+four prime numbers, comprehends all musical and arithmetical
+proportions, and denotes the system of the world.
+
+As the numbers proceed from the monad, so he regarded the pure and
+simple essence of the Deity as the source of all the forms of
+nature. Gods, demons, and heroes are emanations of the Supreme,
+and there is a fourth emanation, the human soul. This is immortal,
+and when freed from the fetters of the body passes to the
+habitation of the dead, where it remains till it returns to the
+world, to dwell in some other human or animal body, and at last,
+when sufficiently purified, it returns to the source from which it
+proceeded. This doctrine of the transmigration of souls
+(metempsychosis), which was originally Egyptian and connected with
+the doctrine of reward and punishment of human actions, was the
+chief cause why the Pythagoreans killed no animals. Ovid
+represents Pythagoras addressing his disciples in these words:
+"Souls never die, but always on quitting one abode pass to
+another. I myself can remember that in the time of the Trojan war
+I was Euphorbus, the son of Panthus, and fell by the spear of
+Menelaus. Lately being in the temple of Juno, at Argos, I
+recognized my shield hung up there among the trophies. All things
+change, nothing perishes. The soul passes hither and thither,
+occupying now this body, now that, passing from the body of a
+beast into that of a man, and thence to a beast's again. As wax is
+stamped with certain figures, then melted, then stamped anew with
+others, yet is always the same wax, so the soul, being always the
+same, yet wears, at different times, different forms. Therefore,
+if the love of kindred is not extinct in your bosoms, forbear, I
+entreat you, to violate the life of those who may haply be your
+own relatives."
+
+Shakspeare, in the "Merchant of Venice," makes Gratiano allude to
+the metempsychosis, where he says to Shylock:
+
+   "Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith,
+    To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
+    That souls of animals infuse themselves
+    Into the trunks of men; thy currish spirit
+    Governed a wolf; who hanged for human slaughter
+    Infused his soul in thee; for thy desires
+    Are wolfish, bloody, starved and ravenous."
+
+The relation of the notes of the musical scale to numbers, whereby
+harmony results from vibrations in equal times, and discord from
+the reverse, led Pythagoras to apply the word "harmony" to the
+visible creation, meaning by it the just adaptation of parts to
+each other. This is the idea which Dryden expresses in the
+beginning of his "Song for St. Cecilia's Day":
+
+   "From harmony, from heavenly harmony
+    This everlasting frame began;
+    From harmony to harmony
+    Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
+    The Diapason closing full in Man."
+
+In the centre of the universe (he taught) there was a central
+fire, the principle of life. The central fire was surrounded by
+the earth, the moon, the sun, and the five planets. The distances
+of the various heavenly bodies from one another were conceived to
+correspond to the proportions of the musical scale. The heavenly
+bodies, with the gods who inhabited them, were supposed to perform
+a choral dance round the central fire, "not without song." It is
+this doctrine which Shakspeare alludes to when he makes Lorenzo
+teach astronomy to Jessica in this fashion:
+
+   "Look, Jessica, see how the floor of heaven
+    Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold!
+    There's not the smallest orb that thou behold'st
+    But in his motion like an angel sings,
+    Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim;
+    Such harmony is in immortal souls!
+    But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
+    Doth grossly close it in we cannot hear it."
+
+    --Merchant of Venice.
+
+The spheres were conceived to be crystalline or glassy fabrics
+arranged over one another like a nest of bowls reversed. In the
+substance of each sphere one or more of the heavenly bodies was
+supposed to be fixed, so as to move with it. As the spheres are
+transparent we look through them and see the heavenly bodies which
+they contain and carry round with them. But as these spheres
+cannot move on one another without friction, a sound is thereby
+produced which is of exquisite harmony, too fine for mortal ears
+to recognize. Milton, in his "Hymn on the Nativity," thus alludes
+to the music of the spheres:
+
+   "Ring out, ye crystal spheres!
+    Once bless our human ears
+      (If ye have power to charm our senses so);
+    And let your silver chime
+    Move in melodious time,
+      And let the base of Heaven's deep organ blow;
+    And with your ninefold harmony
+    Make up full concert with the angelic symphony."
+
+Pythagoras is said to have invented the lyre. Our own poet
+Longfellow, in "Verses to a Child," thus relates the story:
+
+   "As great Pythagoras of yore,
+    Standing beside the blacksmith's door,
+    And hearing the hammers as they smote
+    The anvils with a different note,
+    Stole from the varying tones that hung
+    Vibrant on every iron tongue,
+    The secret of the sounding wire,
+    And formed the seven-chorded lyre."
+
+See also the same poet's "Occupation of Orion"--
+
+   "The Samian's great Aeolian lyre."
+
+SYBARIS AND CROTONA
+
+Sybaris, a neighboring city to Crotona, was as celebrated for
+luxury and effeminacy as Crotona for the reverse. The name has
+become proverbial. J. R. Lowell uses it in this sense in his
+charming little poem "To the Dandelion":
+
+   "Not in mid June the golden cuirassed bee
+    Feels a more summer-like, warm ravishment
+      In the white lily's breezy tent
+    (His conquered Sybaris) than I when first
+    From the dark green thy yellow circles burst."
+
+A war arose between the two cities, and Sybaris was conquered and
+destroyed. Milo, the celebrated athlete, led the army of Crotona.
+Many stories are told of Milo's vast strength, such as his
+carrying a heifer of four years old upon his shoulders and
+afterwards eating the whole of it in a single day. The mode of his
+death is thus related: As he was passing through a forest he saw
+the trunk of a tree which had been partially split open by wood-
+cutters, and attempted to rend it further; but the wood closed
+upon his hands and held him fast, in which state he was attacked
+and devoured by wolves.
+
+Byron, in his "Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte," alludes to the story of
+Milo:
+
+   "He who of old would rend the oak
+      Deemed not of the rebound;
+    Chained by the trunk he vainly broke,
+      Alone, how looked he round!"
+
+EGYPTIAN DEITIES
+
+The Egyptians acknowledged as the highest deity Amun, afterwards
+called Zeus, or Jupiter Ammon. Amun manifested himself in his word
+or will, which created Kneph and Athor, of different sexes. From
+Kneph and Athor proceeded Osiris and Isis. Osiris was worshipped
+as the god of the sun, the source of warmth, life, and
+fruitfulness, in addition to which he was also regarded as the god
+of the Nile, who annually visited his wife, Isis (the Earth), by
+means of an inundation. Serapis or Hermes is sometimes represented
+as identical with Osiris, and sometimes as a distinct divinity,
+the ruler of Tartarus and god of medicine. Anubis is the guardian
+god, represented with a dog's head, emblematic of his character of
+fidelity and watchfulness. Horus or Harpocrates was the son of
+Osiris. He is represented seated on a Lotus flower, with his
+finger on his lips, as the god of Silence.
+
+In one of Moore's "Irish Melodies" is an allusion to Harpocrates:
+
+   "Thyself shall, under some rosy bower,
+      Sit mute, with thy finger on thy lip;
+    Like him, the boy, who born among
+      The flowers that on the Nile-stream blush,
+    Sits ever thus,--his only song
+      To Earth and Heaven, 'Hush all, hush!'"
+
+MYTH OF OSIRIS AND ISIS
+
+Osiris and Isis were at one time induced to descend to the earth
+to bestow gifts and blessings on its inhabitants. Isis showed them
+first the use of wheat and barley, and Osiris made the instruments
+of agriculture and taught men the use of them, as well as how to
+harness the ox to the plough. He then gave men laws, the
+institution of marriage, a civil organization, and taught them how
+to worship the gods. After he had thus made the valley of the Nile
+a happy country, he assembled a host with which he went to bestow
+his blessings upon the rest of the world. He conquered the nations
+everywhere, but not with weapons, only with music and eloquence.
+His brother Typhon saw this, and filled with envy and malice
+sought during his absence to usurp his throne. But Isis, who held
+the reins of government, frustrated his plans. Still more
+embittered, he now resolved to kill his brother. This he did in
+the following manner: Having organized a conspiracy of seventy-two
+members, he went with them to the feast which was celebrated in
+honor of the king's return. He then caused a box or chest to be
+brought in, which had been made to fit exactly the size of Osiris,
+and declared that he wouldd would give that chest of precious wood
+to whosoever could get into it. The rest tried in vain, but no
+sooner was Osiris in it than Typhon and his companions closed the
+lid and flung the chest into the Nile. When Isis heard of the
+cruel murder she wept and mourned, and then with her hair shorn,
+clothed in black and beating her breast, she sought diligently for
+the body of her husband. In this search she was materially
+assisted by Anubis, the son of Osiris and Nephthys. They sought in
+vain for some time; for when the chest, carried by the waves to
+the shores of Byblos, had become entangled in the reeds that grew
+at the edge of the water, the divine power that dwelt in the body
+of Osiris imparted such strength to the shrub that it grew into a
+mighty tree, enclosing in its trunk the coffin of the god. This
+tree with its sacred deposit was shortly after felled, and erected
+as a column in the palace of the king of Phoenicia. But at length
+by the aid of Anubis and the sacred birds, Isis ascertained these
+facts, and then went to the royal city. There she offered herself
+at the palace as a servant, and being admitted, threw off her
+disguise and appeared as a goddess, surrounded with thunder and
+lightning. Striking the column with her wand she caused it to
+split open and give up the sacred coffin. This she seized and
+returned with it, and concealed it in the depth of a forest, but
+Typhon discovered it, and cutting the body into fourteen pieces
+scattered them hither and thither. After a tedious search, Isis
+found thirteen pieces, the fishes of the Nile having eaten the
+other. This she replaced by an imitation of sycamore wood, and
+buried the body at Philae, which became ever after the great
+burying place of the nation, and the spot to which pilgrimages
+were made from all parts of the country. A temple of surpassing
+magnificence was also erected there in honor of the god, and at
+every place where one of his limbs had been found minor temples
+and tombs were built to commemorate the event. Osiris became after
+that the tutelar deity of the Egyptians. His soul was supposed
+always to inhabit the body of the bull Apis, and at his death to
+transfer itself to his successor.
+
+Apis, the Bull of Memphis, was worshipped with the greatest
+reverence by the Egyptians. The individual animal who was held to
+be Apis was recognized by certain signs. It was requisite that he
+should be quite black, have a white square mark on the forehead,
+another, in the form of an eagle, on his back, and under his
+tongue a lump somewhat in the shape of a scarabaeus or beetle. As
+soon as a bull thus marked was found by those sent in search of
+him, he was placed in a building facing the east, and was fed with
+milk for four months. At the expiration of this term the priests
+repaired at new moon, with great pomp, to his habitation and
+saluted him Apis. He was placed in a vessel magnificently
+decorated and conveyed down the Nile to Memphis, where a temple,
+with two chapels and a court for exercise, was assigned to him.
+Sacrifices were made to him, and once every year, about the time
+when the Nile began to rise, a golden cup was thrown into the
+river, and a grand festival was held to celebrate his birthday.
+The people believed that during this festival the crocodiles
+forgot their natural ferocity and became harmless. There was,
+however, one drawback to his happy lot: he was not permitted to
+live beyond a certain period, and if, when he had attained the age
+of twenty-five years, he still survived, the priests drowned him
+in the sacred cistern and then buried him in the temple of
+Serapis. On the death of this bull, whether it occurred in the
+course of nature or by violence, the whole land was filled with
+sorrow and lamentations, which lasted until his successor was
+found.
+
+We find the following item in one of the newspapers of the day:
+
+"The Tomb of Apis.--The excavations going on at Memphis bid fair
+to make that buried city as interesting as Pompeii. The monster
+tomb of Apis is now open, after having lain unknown for
+centuries."
+
+Milton, in his "Hymn on the Nativity," alludes to the Egyptian
+deities, not as imaginary beings, but as real demons, put to
+flight by the coming of Christ.
+
+    "The brutish god of Nile as fast,
+    Isis and Horus and the dog Anubis haste.
+         Nor is Osiris seen
+         In Memphian grove or green
+    Trampling the unshowered grass with lowings loud;
+         Nor can he be at rest
+         Within his sacred chest;
+    Nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud.
+       In vain with timbrel'd anthems dark
+    The sable-stole sorcerers bear his worshipped ark."
+
+[Footnote: There being no rain in Egypt, the grass is
+"unshowered," and the country depend for its fertility upon the
+overflowings of the Nile. The ark alluded to in the last line is
+shown by pictures still remaining on the walls of the Egyptian
+temples to have been borne by the priests in their religious
+processions. It probably represented the chest in which Osiris was
+placed.]
+
+Isis was represented in statuary with the head veiled, a symbol of
+mystery. It is this which Tennyson alludes to in "Maud," IV., 8:
+
+"For the drift of the Maker is dark, an Isis hid by the veil,"
+etc.
+
+ORACLES Oracle was the name used to denote the place where answers
+were supposed to be given by any of the divinities to those who
+consulted them respecting the future. The word was also used to
+signify the response which was given.
+
+The most ancient Grecian oracle was that of Jupiter at Dodona.
+According to one account, it was established in the following
+manner: Two black doves took their flight from Thebes in Egypt.
+One flew to Dodona in Epirus, and alighting in a grove of oaks, it
+proclaimed in human language to the inhabitants of the district
+that they must establish there an oracle of Jupiter. The other
+dove flew to the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan Oasis, and
+delivered a similar command there. Another account is, that they
+were not doves, but priestesses, who were carried off from Thebes
+in Egypt by the Phoenicians, and set up oracles at the Oasis and
+Dodona. The responses of the oracle were given from the trees, by
+the branches rustling in the wind, the sounds being interpreted by
+the priests.
+
+But the most celebrated of the Grecian oracles was that of Apollo
+at Delphi, a city built on the slopes of Parnassus in Phocis.
+
+It had been observed at a very early period that the goats feeding
+on Parnassus were thrown into convulsions when they approached a
+certain long deep cleft in the side of the mountain. This was
+owing to a peculiar vapor arising out of the cavern, and one of
+the goatherds was induced to try its effects upon himself.
+Inhaling the intoxicating air, he was affected in the same manner
+as the cattle had been, and the inhabitants of the surrounding
+country, unable to explain the circumstance, imputed the
+convulsive ravings to which he gave utterance while under the
+power of the exhalations to a divine inspiration. The fact was
+speedily circulated widely, and a temple was erected on the spot.
+The prophetic influence was at first variously attributed to the
+goddess Earth, to Neptune, Themis, and others, but it was at
+length assigned to Apollo, and to him alone. A priestess was
+appointed whose office it was to inhale the hallowed air, and who
+was named the Pythia. She was prepared for this duty by previous
+ablution at the fountain of Castalia, and being crowned with
+laurel was seated upon a tripod similarly adorned, which was
+placed over the chasm whence the divine afflatus proceeded. Her
+inspired words while thus situated were interpreted by the
+priests.
+
+ORACLE OF TROPHONIUS
+
+Besides the oracles of Jupiter and Apollo, at Dodona and Delphi,
+that of Trophonius in Boeotia was held in high estimation.
+Trophonius and Agamedes were brothers. They were distinguished
+architects, and built the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and a
+treasury for King Hyrieus. In the wall of the treasury they placed
+a stone, in such a manner that it could be taken out; and by this
+means, from time to time, purloined the treasure. This amazed
+Hyrieus, for his locks and seals were untouched, and yet his
+wealth continually diminished. At length he set a trap for the
+thief and Agamedes was caught. Trophonias, unable to extricate
+him, and fearing that when found he would be compelled by torture
+to discover his accomplice, cut off his head. Trophonius himself
+is said to have been shortly afterwards swallowed up by the earth.
+
+The oracle of Trophonius was at Lebadea in Boeotia. During a great
+drought the Boeotians, it is said, were directed by the god at
+Delphi to seek aid of Trophonius at Lebadea. They came thither,
+but could find no oracle. One of them, however, happening to see a
+swarm of bees, followed them to a chasm in the earth, which proved
+to be the place sought.
+
+Peculiar ceremonies were to be performed by the person who came to
+consult the oracle. After these preliminaries, he descended into
+the cave by a narrow passage. This place could be entered only in
+the night. The person returned from the cave by the same narrow
+passage, but walking backwards. He appeared melancholy and
+defected; and hence the proverb which was applied to a person low-
+spirited and gloomy, "He has been consulting the oracle of
+Trophonius."
+
+ORACLE OF AESCULAPIUS
+
+There were numerous oracles of Aesculapius, but the most
+celebrated one was at Epidaurus. Here the sick sought responses
+and the recovery of their health by sleeping in the temple. It has
+been inferred from the accounts that have come down to us that the
+treatment of the sick resembled what is now called Animal
+Magnetism or Mesmerism.
+
+Serpents 'were sacred to Aesculapius, probably because of a
+superstition that those animals have a faculty of renewing their
+youth by a change of skin. The worship of Aesculapius was
+introduced into Rome in a time of great sickness, and an embassy
+sent to the temple of Epidaurus to entreat the aid of the god.
+Aesculapius was propitious, and on the return of the ship
+accompanied it in the form of a serpent. Arriving in the river
+Tiber, the serpent glided from the vessel and took possession of
+an island in the river, and a temple was there erected to his
+honor.
+
+ORACLE OF APIS
+
+At Memphis the sacred bull Apis gave answer to those who consulted
+him by the manner in which he received or rejected what was
+presented to him. If the bull refused food from the hand of the
+inquirer it was considered an unfavorable sign, and the contrary
+when he received it.
+
+It has been a question whether oracular responses ought to be
+ascribed to mere human contrivance or to the agency of evil
+spirits. The latter opinion has been most general in past ages. A
+third theory has been advanced since the phenomena of Mesmerism
+have attracted attention, that something like the mesmeric trance
+was induced in the Pythoness, and the faculty of clairvoyance
+really called into action.
+
+Another question is as to the time when the Pagan oracles ceased
+to give responses. Ancient Christian writers assert that they
+became silent at the birth of Christ, and were heard no more after
+that date. Milton adopts this view in his "Hymn of the Nativity,"
+and in lines of solemn and elevated beauty pictures the
+consternation of the heathen idols at the Advent of the Saviour:
+
+    "The oracles are dumb;
+    No voice or hideous hum
+     Rings through the arched roof in words Deceiving.
+    Apollo from his shrine
+    Can no more divine,
+      With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos heaving.
+    No nightly trance or breathed spell
+    Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell"
+
+In Cowper's poem of "Yardley Oak" there are some beautiful
+mythological allusions. The former of the two following is to the
+fable of Castor and Pollux; the latter is more appropriate to our
+present subject. Addressing the acorn he says:
+
+   "Thou fell'st mature; and in the loamy clod,
+    Swelling with vegetative force instinct,
+    Didst burst thine, as theirs the fabled Twins
+    Now stars; twor lobes protruding, paired exact;
+    A leaf succeede and another leaf,
+    And, all the elements thy puny growth
+    Fostering propitious, thou becam'st a twig.
+    Who lived  when thou wast such? Of couldst thou speak,
+    As in Dodona once thy kindred trees
+    Oracular, I would not curious ask
+    The future, best unknown, but at thy mouth
+    Inquisitive, the less ambiguous past."
+
+Tennyson, in his "Talking Oak," alludes to the oaks of Dodona in
+these lines:
+
+    And I will work in prose and rhyme,
+     And praise thee more in both
+    Than bard has honored beech or lime,
+     Or that Thessalian growth
+    In which the swarthy ring-dove sat
+     And mystic sentence spoke; etc.
+
+Byron alludes to the oracle of Delphi where, speaking of Rousseau,
+whose writings he conceives did much to bring on the French
+revolution, he says:
+
+    "For the, he was inspired, and from him came,
+       As from the Pythian's mystic cave of yore,
+    Those oracles which set the world in flame,
+       Nor ceased to burn till kingdoms were no more."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY--STATUES OF GODS AND GODDESSES--POETS OF
+MYTHOLOGY
+
+ORIGINS OF MYTHOLOGY
+
+
+Having reached the close of our series of stories of Pagan
+mythology, and inquiry suggests itself. "Whence came these
+stories? Have they a foundation in truth or are they simply dreams
+of the imagination?" Philosophers have suggested various theories
+on the subject; and 1. The Scriptural theory; according to which
+all mythological legends are derived from the narratives of
+Scripture, though the real facts have been disguised and altered.
+Thus Deucalion is only another name for Noah, Hercules for Samson,
+Arion for Jonah, etc. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his "History of the
+World," says, "Jubal, Tubal, and Tubal-Cain were Mercury, Vulcan,
+and Apollo, inventors of Pasturage, Smithing, and Music. The
+Dragon which kept the golden apples was the serpent that beguiled
+Eve. Nimrod's tower was the attempt of the Giants against Heaven."
+There are doubtless many curious coincidences like these, but the
+theory cannot without extravagance be pushed so far as to account
+for any great proportion of the stories.
+
+2. The Historical theory; according to which all the persons
+mentioned in mythology were once real human beings, and the
+legends and fabulous traditions relating to them are merely the
+additions and embellishments of later times. Thus the story of
+Aeolus, the king and god of the winds, is supposed to have risen
+from the fact that Aeolus was the ruler of some islands in the
+Tyrrhenian Sea, where he reigned as a just and pious king, and
+taught the natives the use of sails for ships, and how to tell
+from the signs of the atmosphere the changes of the weather and
+the winds. Cadmus, who, the legend says, sowed the earth with
+dragon's teeth, from which sprang a crop of armed men, was in fact
+an emigrant from Phoenicia, and brought with him into Greece the
+knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, which he taught to the
+natives. From these rudiments of learning sprung civilization,
+which the poets have always been prone to describe as a
+deterioration of man's first estate, the Golden Age of innocence
+and simplicity.
+
+3. The Allegorical theory supposes that all the myths of the
+ancients were allegorical and symbolical, and contained some
+moral, religious, or philosophical truth or historical fact, under
+the form of an allegory, but came in process of time to be
+understood literally. Thus Saturn, who devours his own children,
+is the same power whom the Greeks called Cronos (Time), which may
+truly be said to destroy whatever it has brought into existence.
+The story of Io is interpreted in a similar manner. Io is the
+moon, and Argus the starry sky, which, as it were, keeps sleepless
+watch over her. The fabulous wanderings of Io represent the
+continual revolutions of the moon, which also suggested to Milton
+the same idea.
+
+   "To behold the wandering moon
+    Riding near her highest noon,
+    Like one that had been led astray
+    In the heaven's wide, pathless way."
+
+    --Il Penseroso.
+
+4. The Physical theory; according to which the elements of air,
+fire, and water were originally the objects of religious
+adoration, and the principal deities were personifications of the
+powers of nature. The transition was easy from a personification
+of the elements to the notion of supernatural beings presiding
+over and governing the different objects of nature. The Greeks,
+whose imagination was lively, peopled all nature with invisible
+beings, and supposed that every object, from the sun and sea to
+the smallest fountain and rivulet, was under the care of some
+particular divinity. Wordsworth, in his "Excursion," has
+beautifully developed this view of Grecian mythology:
+
+   "In that fair clime the lonely herdsman, stretched
+    On the soft grass through half a summer's day,
+    With music lulled his indolent repose;
+    And, in some fit of weariness, if he,
+    When his own breath was silent, chanced to hear
+    A distant strain far sweeter than the sounds
+    Which his poor skill could make, his fancy fetched
+    Even from the blazing chariot of the Sun
+    A beardless youth who touched a golden lute,
+    And filled the illumined groves with ravishment.
+    The mighty hunter, lifting up his eyes
+    Toward the crescent Moon, with grateful heart
+    Called on the lovely Wanderer who bestowed
+    That timely light to share his joyous sport;
+    And hence a beaming goddess with her nymphs
+    Across the lawn and through the darksome grove
+    (Not unaccompanied with tuneful notes
+    By echo multiplied from rock or cave)
+    Swept in the storm of chase, as moon and stars
+    Glance rapidly along the clouded heaven
+    When winds are blowing strong. The Traveller slaked
+    His thirst from rill or gushing fount, and thanked
+    The Naiad. Sunbeams upon distant hills
+    Gliding apace with shadows in their train,
+    Might with small help from fancy, be transformed
+    Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly.
+    The Zephyrs, fanning, as they passed, their wings,
+    Lacked not for love fair objects whom they wooed
+    With gentle whisper. Withered boughs grotesque,
+    Stripped of their leaves and twigs by hoary age,
+    From depth of shaggy covert peeping forth
+    In the low vale, or on steep mountain side;
+    And sometimes intermixed with stirring horns
+    Of the live deer, or goat's depending beard;
+    These were the lurking Satyrs, wild brood
+    Of gamesome deities; or Pan himself,
+    That simple shepherd's awe-inspiring god."
+
+All the theories which have been mentioned are true to a certain
+extent. It would therefore be more correct to say that the
+mythology of a nation has sprung from all these sources combined
+than from any one in particular. We may add also that there are
+many myths which have arisen from the desire of man to account for
+those natural phenomena which he cannot understand; and not a few
+have had their rise from a similar desire of giving a reason for
+the names of places and persons.
+
+STATUES OF THE GODS
+
+To adequately represent to the eye the ideas intended to be
+conveyed to the mind under the several names of deities was a task
+which called into exercise the highest powers of genius and art.
+Of the many attempts FOUR have been most celebrated, the first two
+known to us only by the descriptions of the ancients, the others
+still extant and the acknowledged masterpieces of the sculptor's
+art.
+
+THE OLYMPIAN JUPITER
+
+The statue of the Olympian Jupiter by Phidias was considered the
+highest achievement of this department of Grecian art. It was of
+colossal dimensions, and was what the ancients called
+"chryselephantine;" that is, composed of ivory and gold; the parts
+representing flesh being of ivory laid on a core of wood or stone,
+while the drapery and other ornaments were of gold. The height of
+the figure was forty feet, on a pedestal twelve feet high. The god
+was represented seated on his throne. His brows were crowned with
+a wreath of olive, and he held in his right hand a sceptre, and in
+his left a statue of Victory. The throne was of cedar, adorned
+with gold and precious stones.
+
+The idea which the artist essayed to embody was that of the
+supreme deity of the Hellenic (Grecian) nation, enthroned as a
+conqueror, in perfect majesty and repose, and ruling with a nod
+the subject world. Phidias avowed that he took his idea from the
+representation which Homer gives in the first book of the "Iliad,"
+in the passage thus translated by Pope:
+
+   "He spoke and awful bends his sable brows,
+    Shakes his ambrosial curls and gives the nod,
+    The stamp of fate and sanction of the god.
+    High heaven with reverence the dread signal took,
+    And all Olympus to the centre shook."
+
+[Footnote: Cowper's version is less elegant, but truer to the
+original:
+
+   "He ceased, and under his dark brows the nod
+    Vouchsafed of confirmation. All around
+    The sovereign's everlasting head his curls
+    Ambrosial shook, and the huge mountain reeled."
+
+It may interest our readers to see how this passage appears in
+another famous version, that which was issued under the name of
+Tickell, contemporaneously with Pope's, and which, being by many
+attributed to Addison, led to the quarrel which ensued between
+Addison and Pope:
+
+   "This said, his kingly brow the sire inclined;
+    The large black curls fell awful from behind,
+    Thick shadowing the stern forehead of the god;
+    Olympus trembled at the almighty nod."]
+
+THE MINERVA OF THE PARTHENON
+
+This was also the work of Phidias. It stood in the Parthenon, or
+temple of Minerva at Athens. The goddess was represented standing.
+In one hand she held a spear, in the other a statue of Victory.
+Her helmet, highly decorated, was surmounted by a Sphinx. The
+statue was forty feet in height, and, like the Jupiter, composed
+of ivory and gold. The eyes were of marble, and probably painted
+to represent the iris and pupil. The Parthenon, in which this
+statue stood, was also constructed under the direction and
+superintendence of Phidias. Its exterior was enriched with
+sculptures, many of them from the hand of Phidias. The Elgin
+marbles, now in the British Museum, are a part of them.
+
+Both the Jupiter and Minerva of Phidias are lost, but there is
+good ground to believe that we have, in several extant statues and
+busts, the artist's conceptions of the countenances of both. They
+are characterized by grave and dignified beauty, and freedom from
+any transient expression, which in the language of art is called
+repose.
+
+THE VENUS DE' MEDICI
+
+The Venus of the Medici is so called from its having been in the
+possession of the princes of that name in Rome when it first
+attracted attention, about two hundred years ago. An inscription
+on the base records it to be the work of Cleomenes, an Athenian
+sculptor of 200 B.C., but the authenticity of the inscription is
+doubtful. There is a story that the artist was employed by public
+authority to make a statue exhibiting the perfection of female
+beauty, and to aid him in his task the most perfect forms the city
+could supply were furnished him for models. It is this which
+Thomson alludes to in his "Summer":
+
+   "So stands the statue that enchants the world;
+    So bending tries to veil the matchless boast,
+    The mingled beauties of exulting Greece."
+
+Byron also alludes to this statue. Speaking of the Florence
+Museum, he says:
+
+   "There, too, the goddess loves in stone, and fills
+    The air around with beauty;" etc.
+
+And in the next stanza,
+
+   "Blood, pulse, and breast confirm the Dardan shepherd's prize."
+
+See this last allusion explained in Chapter XXVII.
+
+THE APOLLO BELVEDERE
+
+The most highly esteemed of all the remains of ancient sculpture
+is the statue of Apollo, called the Belvedere, from the name of
+the apartment of the Pope's palace at Rome in which it was placed.
+The artist is unknown. It is supposed to be a work of Roman art,
+of about the first century of our era. It is a standing figure, in
+marble, more than seven feet high, naked except for the cloak
+which is fastened around the neck and hangs over the extended left
+arm. It is supposed to represent the god in the moment when he has
+shot the arrow to destroy the monster Python. (See Chapter III.)
+The victorious divinity is in the act of stepping forward. The
+left arm, which seems to have held the bow, is outstretched, and
+the head is turned in the same direction. In attitude and
+proportion the graceful majesty of the figure is unsurpassed. The
+effect is completed by the countenance, where on the perfection of
+youthful godlike beauty there dwells the consciousness of
+triumphant power.
+
+THE DIANA A LA BICHE
+
+The Diana of the Hind, in the palace of the Louvre, may be
+considered the counterpart to the Apollo Belvedere. The attitude
+much resembles that of the Apollo, the sizes correspond and also
+the style of execution. It is a work of the highest order, though
+by no means equal to the Apollo. The attitude is that of hurried
+and eager motion, the face that of a huntress in the excitement of
+the chase. The left hand is extended over the forehead of the
+Hind, which runs by her side, the right arm reaches backward over
+the shoulder to draw an arrow from the quiver.
+
+THE POETS OF MYTHOLOGY
+
+Homer, from whose poems of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" we have taken
+the chief part of our chapters of the Trojan war and the return of
+the Grecians, is almost as mythical a personage as the heroes he
+celebrates. The traditionary story is that he was a wandering
+minstrel, blind and old, who travelled from place to place singing
+his lays to the music of his harp, in the courts of princes or the
+cottages of peasants, and dependent upon the voluntary offerings
+of his hearers for support. Byron calls him "The blind old man of
+Scio's rocky isle," and a well-known epigram, alluding to the
+uncertainty of the fact of his birthplace, says:
+
+   "Seven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead,
+    Through which the living Homer begged his bread."
+
+These seven were Smyrna, Scio, Rhodes, Colophon, Salamis, Argos,
+and Athens.
+
+Modern scholars have doubted whether the Homeric poems are the
+work of any single mind. This arises from the difficulty of
+believing that poems of such length could have been committed to
+writing at so early an age as that usually assigned to these, an
+age earlier than the date of any remaining inscriptions or coins,
+and when no materials capable of containing such long productions
+were yet introduced into use. On the other hand it is asked how
+poems of such length could have been handed down from age to age
+by means of the memory alone. This is answered by the statement
+that there was a professional body of men, called Rhapsodists, who
+recited the poems of others, and whose business it was to commit
+to memory and rehearse for pay the national and patriotic legends.
+
+The prevailing opinion of the learned, at this time, seems to be
+that the framework and much of the structure of the poems belong
+to Homer, but that there are numerous interpolations and additions
+by other hands.
+
+The date assigned to Homer, on the authority of Herodotus, is 850
+B.C.
+
+VIRGIL
+
+Virgil, called also by his surname, Maro, from whose poem of the
+"Aeneid" we have taken the story of Aeneas, was one of the great
+poets who made the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus so
+celebrated, under the name of the Augustan age. Virgil was born in
+Mantua in the year 70 B.C. His great poem is ranked next to those
+of Homer, in the highest class of poetical composition, the Epic.
+Virgil is far inferior to Homer in originality and invention, but
+superior to him in correctness and elegance. To critics of English
+lineage Milton alone of modern poets seems worthy to be classed
+with these illustrious ancients. His poem of "Paradise Lost," from
+which we have borrowed so many illustrations, is in many respects
+equal, in some superior, to either of the great works of
+antiquity. The following epigram of Dryden characterizes the three
+poets with as much truth as it is usual to find in such pointed
+criticism:
+
+   "ON MILTON
+
+   "Three poets in three different ages born,
+    Greece, Italy, and England did adorn
+    The first in loftiness of soul surpassed,
+    The next in majesty, in both the last.
+    The force of nature could no further go;
+    To make a third she joined the other two."
+
+From Cowper's "Table Talk":
+
+   "Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared,
+    And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard.
+    To carry nature lengths unknown before,
+    To give a Milton birth, asked ages more.
+    Thus genius rose and set at ordered times,
+    And shot a dayspring into distant climes,
+    Ennobling every region that he chose;
+    He sunk in Greece, in Italy he rose,
+    And, tedious years of Gothic darkness past,
+    Emerged all splendor in our isle at last.
+    Thus lovely Halcyons dive into the main,
+    Then show far off their shining plumes again."
+
+OVID
+
+Ovid, often alluded to in poetry by his other name of Naso, was
+born in the year 43 B.C. He was educated for public life and held
+some offices of considerable dignity, but poetry was his delight,
+and he early resolved to devote himself to it. He accordingly
+sought the society of the contemporary poets, and was acquainted
+with Horace and saw Virgil, though the latter died when Ovid was
+yet too young and undistinguished to have formed his acquaintance.
+Ovid spent an easy life at Rome in the enjoyment of a competent
+income. He was intimate with the family of Augustus, the emperor,
+and it is supposed that some serious offence given to some member
+of that family was the cause of an event which reversed the poet's
+happy circumstances and clouded all the latter portion of his
+life. At the age of fifty he was banished from Rome, and ordered
+to betake himself to Tomi, on the borders of the Black Sea. Here,
+among the barbarous people and in a severe climate, the poet, who
+had been accustomed to all the pleasures of a luxurious capital
+and the society of his most distinguished contemporaries, spent
+the last ten years of his life, worn out with grief and anxiety.
+His only consolation in exile was to address his wife and absent
+friends, and his letters were all poetical. Though these poems
+(the "Trista" and "Letters from Pontus") have no other topic than
+the poet's sorrows, his exquisite taste and fruitful invention
+have redeemed them from the charge of being tedious, and they are
+read with pleasure and even with sympathy.
+
+The two great works of Ovid are his "Metamorphoses" and his
+"Fasti." They are both mythological poems, and from the former we
+have taken most of our stories of Grecian and Roman mythology. A
+late writer thus characterizes these poems:
+
+"The rich mythology of Greece furnished Ovid, as it may still
+furnish the poet, the painter, and the sculptor, with materials
+for his art. With exquisite taste, simplicity, and pathos he has
+narrated the fabulous traditions of early ages, and given to them
+that appearance of reality which only a master hand could impart.
+His pictures of nature are striking and true; he selects with care
+that which is appropriate; he rejects the superfluous; and when he
+has completed his work, it is neither defective nor redundant. The
+'Metamorphoses' are read with pleasure by youth, and are re-read
+in more advanced age with still greater delight. The poet ventured
+to predict that his poem would survive him, and be read wherever
+the Roman name was known."
+
+The prediction above alluded to is contained in the closing lines
+of the "Metamorphoses," of which we give a literal translation
+below:
+
+   "And now I close my work, which not the ire
+    Of Jove, nor tooth of time, nor sword, nor fire
+    Shall bring to nought. Come when it will that day
+    Which o'er the body, not the mind, has sway,
+    And snatch the remnant of my life away,
+    My better part above the stars shall soar,
+    And my renown endure forevermore.
+    Where'er the Roman arms and arts shall spread
+    There by the people shall my book be read;
+    And, if aught true in poet's visions be,
+    My name and fame have immortality."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+MODERN MONSTERS--THE PHOENIX--BASILISK--UNICORN--SALAMANDER
+
+MODERN MONSTERS
+
+
+There is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have been the
+successors of the "Gorgons, Hydras, and Chimeras dire" of the old
+superstitions, and, having no connection with the false gods of
+Paganism, to have continued to enjoy an existence in the popular
+belief after Paganism was superseded by Christianity. They are
+mentioned perhaps by the classical writers, but their chief
+popularity and currency seem to have been in more modern times. We
+seek our accounts of them not so much in the poetry of the
+ancients as in the old natural history books and narrations of
+travellers. The accounts which we are about to give are taken
+chiefly from the Penny Cyclopedia.
+
+THE PHOENIX
+
+Ovid tells the story of the Phoenix as follows: "Most beings
+spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which
+reproduces itself. The Assyrians call it the Phoenix. It does not
+live on fruit or flowers, but on frankincense and odoriferous
+gums. When it has lived five hundred years, it builds itself a
+nest in the branches of an oak, or on the top of a palm tree. In
+this it collects cinnamon, and spikenard, and myrrh, and of these
+materials builds a pile on which it deposits itself, and dying,
+breathes out its last breath amidst odors. From the body of the
+parent bird, a young Phoenix issues forth, destined to live as
+long a life as its predecessor. When this has grown up and gained
+sufficient strength, it lifts its nest from the tree (its own
+cradle and its parent's sepulchre), and carries it to the city of
+Heliopolis in Egypt, and deposits it in the temple of the Sun."
+
+Such is the account given by a poet. Now let us see that of a
+philosophic historian. Tacitus says, "In the consulship of Paulus
+Fabius (A.D. 34) the miraculous bird known to the world by the
+name of the Phoenix, after disappearing for a series of ages,
+revisited Egypt. It was attended in its flight by a group of
+various birds, all attracted by the novelty, and gazing with
+wonder at so beautiful an appearance." He then gives an account of
+the bird, not varying materially from the preceding, but adding
+some details. "The first care of the young bird as soon as
+fledged, and able to trust to his wings, is to perform the
+obsequies of his father. But this duty is not undertaken rashly.
+He collects a quantity of myrrh, and to try his strength makes
+frequent excursions with a load on his back. When he has gained
+sufficient confidence in his own vigor, he takes up the body of
+his father and flies with it to the altar of the Sun, where he
+leaves it to be consumed in flames of fragrance." Other writers
+add a few particulars. The myrrh is compacted in the form of an
+egg, in which the dead Phoenix is enclosed. From the mouldering
+flesh of the dead bird a worm springs, and this worm, when grown
+large, is transformed into a bird. Herodotus DESCRIBES the bird,
+though he says, "I have not seen it myself, except in a picture.
+Part of his plumage is gold-colored, and part crimson; and he is
+for the most part very much like an eagle in outline and bulk."
+
+The first writer who disclaimed a belief in the existence of the
+Phoenix was Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," published
+in 1646. He was replied to a few years later by Alexander Ross,
+who says, in answer to the objection of the Phoenix so seldom
+making his appearance, "His instinct teaches him to keep out of
+the way of the tyrant of the creation, MAN, for if he were to be
+got at, some wealthy glutton would surely devour him, though there
+were no more in the world."
+
+Dryden in one of his early poems has this allusion to the Phoenix:
+
+   "So when the new-born Phoenix first is seen,
+    Her feathered subjects all adore their queen,
+    And while she makes her progress through the East,
+    From every grove her numerous train's increased;
+    Each poet of the air her glory sings,
+    And round him the pleased audience clap their wings."
+
+Milton, in "Paradise Lost," Book V., compares the angel Raphael
+descending to earth to a Phoenix:
+
+   "... Down thither, prone in flight
+    He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
+    Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing,
+    Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan
+    Winnows the buxom air; till within soar
+    Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems
+    A Phoenix, gazed by all; as that sole bird
+    When, to enshrine his relics in the sun's
+    Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies."
+
+THE COCKATRICE, OR BASILISK
+
+This animal was called the king of the serpents. In confirmation
+of his royalty, he was said to be endowed with a crest, or comb
+upon the head, constituting a crown. He was supposed to be
+produced from the egg of a cock hatched under toads or serpents.
+There were several species of this animal. One species burned up
+whatever they approached; a second were a kind of wandering
+Medusa's heads, and their look caused an instant horror which was
+immediately followed by death. In Shakspeare's play of "Richard
+the Third," Lady Anne, in answer to Richard's compliment on her
+eyes, says, "Would they were basilisk's, to strike thee dead!"
+
+The basilisks were called kings of serpents because all other
+serpents and snakes, behaving like good subjects, and wisely not
+wishing to be burned up or struck dead, fled the moment they heard
+the distant hiss of their king, although they might be in full
+feed upon the most delicious prey, leaving the sole enjoyment of
+the banquet to the royal monster.
+
+The Roman naturalist Pliny thus describes him: "He does not impel
+his body, like other serpents, by a multiplied flexion, but
+advances lofty and upright. He kills the shrubs, not only by
+contact, but by breathing on them, and splits the rocks, such
+power of evil is there in him." It was formerly believed that if
+killed by a spear from on horseback the power of the poison
+conducted through the weapon killed not only the rider, but the
+horse also. To this Lucan alludes in these lines:
+
+   "What though the Moor the basilisk hath slain,
+    And pinned him lifeless to the sandy plain,
+    Up through the spear the subtle venom flies,
+    The hand imbibes it, and the victor dies."
+
+Such a prodigy was not likely to be passed over in the legends of
+the saints. Accordingly we find it recorded that a certain holy
+man, going to a fountain in the desert, suddenly beheld a
+basilisk. He immediately raised his eyes to heaven, and with a
+pious appeal to the Deity laid the monster dead at his feet.
+
+These wonderful powers of the basilisk are attested by a host of
+learned persons, such as Galen, Avicenna, Scaliger, and others.
+Occasionally one would demur to some part of the tale while he
+admitted the rest. Jonston, a learned physician, sagely remarks,
+"I would scarcely believe that it kills with its look, for who
+could have seen it and lived to tell the story?" The worthy sage
+was not aware that those who went to hunt the basilisk of this
+sort took with them a mirror, which reflected back the deadly
+glare upon its author, and by a kind of poetical justice slew the
+basilisk with his own weapon.
+
+But what was to attack this terrible and unapproachable monster?
+There is an old saying that "everything has its enemy"--and the
+cockatrice quailed before the weasel. The basilisk might look
+daggers, the weasel cared not, but advanced boldly to the
+conflict. When bitten, the weasel retired for a moment to eat some
+rue, which was the only plant the basilisks could not wither,
+returned with renewed strength and soundness to the charge, and
+never left the enemy till he was stretched dead on the plain. The
+monster, too, as if conscious of the irregular way in which he
+came into the world, was supposed to have a great antipathy to a
+cock; and well he might, for as soon as he heard the cock crow he
+expired.
+
+The basilisk was of some use after death. Thus we read that its
+carcass was suspended in the temple of Apollo, and in private
+houses, as a sovereign remedy against spiders, and that it was
+also hung up in the temple of Diana, for which reason no swallow
+ever dared enter the sacred place.
+
+The reader will, we apprehend, by this time have had enough of
+absurdities, but still we can imagine his anxiety to know what a
+cockatrice was like. The following is from Aldrovandus, a
+celebrated naturalist of the sixteenth century, whose work on
+natural history, in thirteen folio volumes, contains with much
+that is valuable a large proportion of fables and inutilities. In
+particular he is so ample on the subject of the cock and the bull
+that from his practice, all rambling, gossiping tales of doubtful
+credibility are called COCK AND BULL STORIES. Aldrovandus,
+however, deserves our respect and esteem as the founder of a
+botanic garden, and as a pioneer in the now prevalent custom of
+making scientific collections for purposes of investigation and
+research.
+
+Shelley, in his "Ode to Naples," full of the enthusiasm excited by
+the intelligence of the proclamation of a Constitutional
+Government at Naples, in 1820, thus uses an allusion to the
+basilisk:
+
+   "What though Cimmerian anarchs dare blaspheme
+    Freedom and thee? a new Actaeon's error
+    Shall theirs have been,--devoured by their own hounds!
+      Be thou like the imperial basilisk,
+    Killing thy foe with unapparent wounds!
+      Gaze on oppression, till at that dread risk,
+      Aghast she pass from the earth's disk.
+    Fear not, but gaze,--for freemen mightier grow,
+    And slaves more feeble, gazing on their foe."
+
+THE UNICORN
+
+Pliny, the Roman naturalist, out of whose account of the unicorn
+most of the modern unicorns have been described and figured,
+records it as "a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its
+body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant,
+the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and a single black
+horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its
+forehead." He adds that "it cannot be taken alive;" and some such
+excuse may have been necessary in those days for not producing the
+living animal upon the arena of the amphitheatre.
+
+The unicorn seems to have been a sad puzzle to the hunters, who
+hardly knew how to come at so valuable a piece of game. Some
+described the horn as movable at the will of the animal, a kind of
+small sword, in short, with which no hunter who was not
+exceedingly cunning in fence could have a chance. Others
+maintained that all the animal's strength lay in its horn, and
+that when hard pressed in pursuit, it would throw itself from the
+pinnacle of the highest rocks horn foremost, so as to pitch upon
+it, and then quietly march off not a whit the worse for its fall.
+
+But it seems they found out how to circumvent the poor unicorn at
+last. They discovered that it was a great lover of purity and
+innocence, so they took the field with a young virgin, who was
+placed in the unsuspecting admirer's way. When the unicorn spied
+her, he approached with all reverence, couched beside her, and
+laying his head in her lap, fell asleep. The treacherous virgin
+then gave a signal, and the hunters made in and captured the
+simple beast.
+
+Modern zoologists, disgusted as they well may be with such fables
+as these, disbelieve generally the existence of the unicorn. Yet
+there are animals bearing on their heads a bony protuberance more
+or less like a horn, which may have given rise to the story. The
+rhinoceros horn, as it is called, is such a protuberance, though
+it does not exceed a few inches in height, and is far from
+agreeing with the descriptions of the horn of the unicorn. The
+nearest approach to a horn in the middle of the forehead is
+exhibited in the bony protuberance on the forehead of the giraffe;
+but this also is short and blunt, and is not the only horn of the
+animal, but a third horn, standing in front of the two others. In
+fine, though it would be presumptuous to deny the existence of a
+one-horned quadruped other than the rhinoceros, it may be safely
+stated that the insertion of a long and solid horn in the living
+forehead of a horse-like or deer-like animal is as near an
+impossibility as anything can be.
+
+THE SALAMANDER
+
+The following is from the "Life of Benvenuto Cellini," an Italian
+artist of the sixteenth century, written by himself: "When I was
+about five years of age, my father, happening to be in a little
+room in which they had been washing, and where there was a good
+fire of oak burning, looked into the flames and saw a little
+animal resembling a lizard, which could live in the hottest part
+of that element. Instantly perceiving what it was, he called for
+my sister and me, and after he had shown us the creature, he gave
+me a box on the ear. I fell a-crying, while he, soothing me with
+caresses, spoke these words: 'My dear child, I do not give you
+that blow for any fault you have committed, but that you may
+recollect that the little creature you see in the fire is a
+salamander; such a one as never was beheld before to my
+knowledge.' So saying he embraced me, and gave me some money."
+
+It seems unreasonable to doubt a story of which Signor Cellini was
+both an eye and ear witness. Add to which the authority of
+numerous sage philosophers, at the head of whom are Aristotle and
+Pliny, affirms this power of the salamander. According to them,
+the animal not only resists fire, but extinguishes it, and when he
+sees the flame charges it as an enemy which he well knows how to
+vanquish.
+
+That the skin of an animal which could resist the action of fire
+should be considered proof against that element is not to be
+wondered at. We accordingly find that a cloth made of the skin of
+salamanders (for there really is such an animal, a kind of lizard)
+was incombustible, and very valuable for wrapping up such articles
+as were too precious to be intrusted to any other envelopes. These
+fire-proof cloths were actually produced, said to be made of
+salamander's wool, though the knowing ones detected that the
+substance of which they were composed was asbestos, a mineral,
+which is in fine filaments capable of being woven into a flexible
+cloth.
+
+The foundation of the above fables is supposed to be the fact that
+the salamander really does secrete from the pores of his body a
+milky juice, which when he is irritated is produced in
+considerable quantity, and would doubtless, for a few moments,
+defend the body from fire. Then it is a hibernating animal, and in
+winter retires to some hollow tree or other cavity, where it coils
+itself up and remains in a torpid state till the spring again
+calls it forth. It may therefore sometimes be carried with the
+fuel to the fire, and wake up only time enough to put forth all
+its faculties for its defence. Its viscous juice would do good
+service, and all who profess to have seen it, acknowledge that it
+got out of the fire as fast as its legs could carry it; indeed,
+too fast for them ever to make prize of one, except in one
+instance, and in that one the animal's feet and some parts of its
+body were badly burned.
+
+Dr. Young, in the "Night Thoughts," with more quaintness than good
+taste, compares the sceptic who can remain unmoved in the
+contemplation of the starry heavens to a salamander unwarmed in
+the fire:
+
+   "An undevout astronomer is mad!
+
+   "O, what a genius must inform the skies!
+    And is Lorenzo's salamander-heart
+    Cold and untouched amid these sacred fires?"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+EASTERN MYTHOLOGY--ZOROASTER--HINDU MYTHOLOGY--CASTES--BUDDHA--
+GRAND LAMA
+
+ZOROASTER
+
+
+Our knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is
+principally derived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that
+people. Zoroaster was the founder of their religion, or rather the
+reformer of the religion which preceded him. The time when he
+lived is doubtful, but it is certain that his system became the
+dominant religion of Western Asia from the time of Cyrus (550
+B.C.) to the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. Under the
+Macedonian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster appear to have been
+considerably corrupted by the introduction of foreign opinions,
+but they afterwards recovered their ascendency.
+
+Zoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who created two
+other mighty beings and imparted to them as much of his own nature
+as seemed good to him. Of these, Ormuzd (called by the Greeks
+Oromasdes) remained faithful to his creator, and was regarded as
+the source of all good, while Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and
+became the author of all evil upon the earth. Ormuzd created man
+and supplied him with all the materials of happiness; but Ahriman
+marred this happiness by introducing evil into the world, and
+creating savage beasts and poisonous reptiles and plants. In
+consequence of this, evil and good are now mingled together in
+every part of the world, and the followers of good and evil--the
+adherents of Ormuzd and Ahriman--carry on incessant war. But this
+state of things will not last forever. The time will come when the
+adherents of Ormuzd shall everywhere be victorious, and Ahriman
+and his followers be consigned to darkness forever.
+
+The religious rites of the ancient Persians were exceedingly
+simple. They used neither temples, altars, nor statues, and
+performed their sacrifices on the tops of mountains. They adored
+fire, light, and the sun as emblems of Ormuzd, the source of all
+light and purity, but did not regard them as independent deities.
+The religious rites and ceremonies were regulated by the priests,
+who were called Magi. The learning of the Magi was connected with
+astrology and enchantment, in which they were so celebrated that
+their name was applied to all orders of magicians and enchanters.
+
+Wordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Persians:
+
+   "... the Persian,--zealous to reject
+    Altar and Image, and the inclusive walls
+    And roofs of temples built by human hands,--
+    The loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,
+    With myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,
+    Presented sacrifice to Moon and Stars,
+    And to the Winds and mother Elements,
+    And the whole circle of the Heavens, for him
+    A sensitive existence and a God."
+
+    --Excursion, Book IV.
+
+In "Childe Harold" Byron speaks thus of the Persian worship:
+
+   "Not vainly did the early Persian make
+    His altar the high places and the peak
+    Of earth-o'er-gazing mountains, and thus take
+    A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek
+    The Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,
+    Upreared of human hands. Come and compare
+    Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,
+    With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air,
+    Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer."
+
+III., 91.
+
+The religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even after the
+introduction of Christianity, and in the third century was the
+dominant faith of the East, till the rise of the Mahometan power
+and the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century,
+who compelled the greater number of the Persians to renounce their
+ancient faith. Those who refused to abandon the religion of their
+ancestors fled to the deserts of Kerman and to Hindustan, where
+they still exist under the name of Parsees, a name derived from
+Pars, the ancient name of Persia. The Arabs call them Guebers,
+from an Arabic word signifying unbelievers. At Bombay the Parsees
+are at this day a very active, intelligent, and wealthy class. For
+purity of life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are
+favorably distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which
+they adore as the symbol of the divinity.
+
+The Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale in
+Moore's "Lalla Rookh," the "Fire Worshippers." The Gueber chief
+says,
+
+   "Yes! I am of that impious race,
+      Those slaves of Fire, that morn and even
+    Hail their creator's dwelling-place
+      Among the living lights of heaven;
+    Yes! I am of that outcast crew
+    To Iran and to vengeance true,
+    Who curse the hour your Arabs came
+    To desecrate our shrines of flame,
+    And swear before God's burning eye,
+    To break our country's chains or die."
+
+HINDU MYTHOLOGY
+
+The religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To
+these books of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity,
+and state that Brahma himself composed them at the creation. But
+the present arrangement of the Vedas is attributed to the sage
+Vyasa, about five thousand years ago.
+
+The Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supreme God. The
+name of this deity is Brahma. His attributes are represented by
+the three personified powers of creation, preservation, and
+destruction, which under the respective names of Brahma, Vishnu,
+and Siva form the Trimurti or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of
+the inferior gods the most important are: 1. Indra, the god of
+heaven, of thunder, lightning, storm, and rain; 2. Agni, the god
+of fire; 3. Yama, the god of the infernal regions; 4. Surya, the
+god of the sun.
+
+Brahma is the creator of the universe, and the source from which
+all the individual deities have sprung, and into which all will
+ultimately be absorbed. "As milk changes to curd, and water to
+ice, so is Brahma variously transformed and diversified, without
+aid of exterior means of any sort." The human soul, according to
+the Vedas, is a portion of the supreme ruler, as a spark is of the
+fire.
+
+VISHNU
+
+Vishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and
+is the personification of the preserving principle. To protect the
+world in various epochs of danger, Vishnu descended to the earth
+in different incarnations, or bodily forms, which descents are
+called Avatars. They are very numerous, but ten are more
+particularly specified. The first Avatar was as Matsya, the Fish,
+under which form Vishnu preserved Manu, the ancestor of the human
+race, during a universal deluge. The second Avatar was in the form
+of a Tortoise, which form he assumed to support the earth when the
+gods were churning the sea for the beverage of immortality,
+Amrita.
+
+We may omit the other Avatars, which were of the same general
+character, that is, interpositions to protect the right or to
+punish wrong-doers, and come to the ninth, which is the most
+celebrated of the Avatars of Vishnu, in which he appeared in the
+human form of Krishna, an invincible warrior, who by his exploits
+relieved the earth from the tyrants who oppressed it.
+
+Buddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion regarded as
+a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in order to
+induce the Asuras, opponents of the gods, to abandon the sacred
+ordinances of the Vedas, by which means they lost their strength
+and supremacy.
+
+Kalki is the name of the tenth Avatar, in which Vishnu will appear
+at the end of the present age of the world to destroy all vice and
+wickedness, and to restore mankind to virtue and purity.
+
+SIVA
+
+Siva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is the
+personification of the destroying principle. Though the third
+name, he is, in respect to the number of his worshippers and the
+extension of his worship, before either of the others. In the
+Puranas (the scriptures of the modern Hindu religion) no allusion
+is made to the original power of this god as a destroyer; that
+power not being to be called into exercise till after the
+expiration of twelve millions of years, or when the universe will
+come to an end; and Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather the
+representative of regeneration than of destruction.
+
+The worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects, each of which
+proclaims the superiority of its favorite deity, denying the
+claims of the other, and Brahma, the creator, having finished his
+work, seems to be regarded as no longer active, and has now only
+one temple in India, while Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The
+worshippers of Vishnu are generally distinguished by a greater
+tenderness for life, and consequent abstinence from animal food,
+and a worship less cruel than that of the followers of Siva.
+
+JUGGERNAUT
+
+Whether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the
+followers of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple
+stands near the shore, about three hundred miles south-west of
+Calcutta. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a hideous face,
+painted black, and a distended blood-red mouth. On festival days
+the throne of the image is placed on a tower sixty feet high,
+moving on wheels. Six long ropes are attached to the tower, by
+which the people draw it along. The priests and their attendants
+stand round the throne on the tower, and occasionally turn to the
+worshippers with songs and gestures. While the tower moves along
+numbers of the devout worshippers throw themselves on the ground,
+in order to be crushed by the wheels, and the multitude shout in
+approbation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the idol. Every
+year, particularly at two great festivals in March and July,
+pilgrims flock in crowds to the temple. Not less than seventy or
+eighty thousand people are said to visit the place on these
+occasions, when all castes eat together.
+
+CASTES
+
+The division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed
+occupations, existed from the earliest times. It is supposed by
+some to have been founded upon conquest, the first three castes
+being composed of a foreign race, who subdued the natives of the
+country and reduced them to an inferior caste. Others trace it to
+the fondness of perpetuating, by descent from father to son,
+certain offices or occupations.
+
+The Hindu tradition gives the following account of the origin of
+the various castes: At the creation Brahma resolved to give the
+earth inhabitants who should be direct emanations from his own
+body. Accordingly from his mouth came forth the eldest born,
+Brahma (the priest), to whom he confided the four Vedas; from his
+right arm issued Shatriya (the warrior), and from his left, the
+warrior's wife. His thighs produced Vaissyas, male and female
+(agriculturists and traders), and lastly from his feet sprang
+Sudras (mechanics and laborers).
+
+The four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into the world,
+became the fathers of the human race, and heads of their
+respective castes. They were commanded to regard the four Vedas as
+containing all the rules of their faith, and all that was
+necessary to guide them in their religious ceremonies. They were
+also commanded to take rank in the order of their birth, the
+Brahmans uppermost, as having sprung from the head of Brahma.
+
+A strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first three
+castes and the Sudras. The former are allowed to receive
+instruction from the Vedas, which is not permitted to the Sudras.
+The Brahmans possess the privilege of teaching the Vedas, and were
+in former times in exclusive possession of all knowledge. Though
+the sovereign of the country was chosen from the Shatriya class,
+also called Rajputs, the Brahmans possessed the real power, and
+were the royal counsellors, the judges and magistrates of the
+country; their persons and property were inviolable; and though
+they committed the greatest crimes, they could only be banished
+from the kingdom. They were to be treated by sovereigns with the
+greatest respect, for "a Brahman, whether learned or ignorant, is
+a powerful divinity."
+
+When the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it becomes his duty
+to marry. He ought to be supported by the contributions of the
+rich, and not to be obliged to gain his subsistence by any
+laborious or productive occupation. But as all the Brahmans could
+not be maintained by the working classes of the community, it was
+found necessary to allow them to engage in productive employments.
+
+We need say little of the two intermediate classes, whose rank and
+privileges may be readily inferred from their occupations. The
+Sudras or fourth class are bound to servile attendance on the
+higher classes, especially the Brahmans, but they may follow
+mechanical occupations and practical arts, as painting and
+writing, or become traders or husbandmen. Consequently they
+sometimes grow rich, and it will also sometimes happen that
+Brahmans become poor. That fact works its usual consequence, and
+rich Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial occupations.
+
+There is another class lower even than the Sudras, for it is not
+one of the original pure classes, but springs from an unauthorized
+union of individuals of different castes. These are the Pariahs,
+who are employed in the lowest services and treated with the
+utmost severity. They are compelled to do what no one else can do
+without pollution. They are not only considered unclean
+themselves, but they render unclean everything they touch. They
+are deprived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by particular
+laws regulating their mode of life, their houses, and their
+furniture. They are not allowed to visit the pagodas or temples of
+the other castes, but have their own pagodas and religious
+exercises. They are not suffered to enter the houses of the other
+castes; if it is done incautiously or from necessity, the place
+must be purified by religious ceremonies. They must not appear at
+public markets, and are confined to the use of particular wells,
+which they are obliged to surround with bones of animals, to warn
+others against using them. They dwell in miserable hovels, distant
+from cities and villages, and are under no restrictions in regard
+to food, which last is not a privilege, but a mark of ignominy, as
+if they were so degraded that nothing could pollute them. The
+three higher castes are prohibited entirely the use of flesh. The
+fourth is allowed to use all kinds except beef, but only the
+lowest caste is allowed every kind of food without restriction.
+
+BUDDHA
+
+Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of
+Vishnu, is said by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose
+name was Gautama, called also by the complimentary epithets of
+Sakyasinha, the Lion, and Buddha, the Sage.
+
+By a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his birth, it is
+inferred that he lived about one thousand years before Christ.
+
+He was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of
+the country he was, a few days after his birth, presented before
+the altar of a deity, the image is said to have inclined its head
+as a presage of the future greatness of the new-born prophet. The
+child soon developed faculties of the first order, and became
+equally distinguished by the uncommon beauty of his person. No
+sooner had he grown to years of maturity than he began to reflect
+deeply on the depravity and misery of mankind, and he conceived
+the idea of retiring from society and devoting himself to
+meditation. His father in vain opposed this design. Buddha escaped
+the vigilance of his guards, and having found a secure retreat,
+lived for six years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At
+the expiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a
+religious teacher. At first some who heard him doubted of the
+soundness of his mind; but his doctrines soon gained credit, and
+were propagated so rapidly that Buddha himself lived to see them
+spread all over India. He died at the age of eighty years.
+
+The Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the
+religious observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus.
+They also reject the distinction of castes, and prohibit all
+bloody sacrifices, and allow animal food. Their priests are chosen
+from all classes; they are expected to procure their maintenance
+by perambulation and begging, and among other things it is their
+duty to endeavor to turn to some use things thrown aside as
+useless by others, and to discover the medicinal power of plants.
+But in Ceylon three orders of priests are recognized; those of the
+highest order are usually men of high birth and learning, and are
+supported at the principal temples, most of which have been richly
+endowed by the former monarchs of the country.
+
+For several centuries after the appearance of Buddha, his sect
+seems to have been tolerated by the Brahmans, and Buddhism appears
+to have penetrated the peninsula of Hindustan in every direction,
+and to have been carried to Ceylon, and to the eastern peninsula.
+But afterwards it had to endure in India a long-continued
+persecution, which ultimately had the effect of entirely
+abolishing it in the country where it had originated, but to
+scatter it widely over adjacent countries. Buddhism appears to
+have been introduced into China about the year 65 of our era. From
+China it was subsequently extended to Corea, Japan, and Java.
+
+THE GRAND LAMA
+
+It is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the
+Buddhist sect that the confinement of the human soul, an emanation
+of the divine spirit, in a human body, is a state of misery, and
+the consequence of frailties and sins committed during former
+existences. But they hold that some few individuals have appeared
+on this earth from time to time, not under the necessity of
+terrestrial existence, but who voluntarily descended to the earth
+to promote the welfare of mankind. These individuals have
+gradually assumed the character of reappearances of Buddha
+himself, in which capacity the line is continued till the present
+day, in the several Lamas of Thibet, China, and other countries
+where Buddhism prevails. In consequence of the victories of Gengis
+Khan and his successors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to
+the dignity of chief pontiff of the sect. A separate province was
+assigned to him as his own territory, and besides his spiritual
+dignity he became to a limited extent a temporal monarch. He is
+styled the Dalai Lama.
+
+The first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thibet were
+surprised to find there in the heart of Asia a pontifical court
+and several other ecclesiastical institutions resembling those of
+the Roman Catholic church. They found convents for priests and
+nuns; also processions and forms of religious worship, attended
+with much pomp and splendor; and many were induced by these
+similarities to consider Lamaism as a sort of degenerated
+Christianity. It is not improbable that the Lamas derived some of
+these practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled in
+Tartary when Buddhism was introduced into Thibet.
+
+PRESTER JOHN
+
+An early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants,
+of a Lama or spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have
+occasioned in Europe the report of a Presbyter or Prester John, a
+Christian pontiff resident in Upper Asia. The Pope sent a mission
+in search of him, as did also Louis IX. of France, some years
+later, but both missions were unsuccessful, though the small
+communities of Nestorian Christians, which they did find, served
+to keep up the belief in Europe that such a personage did exist
+somewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth century, a
+Portuguese traveller, Pedro Covilham, happening to hear that there
+was a Christian prince in the country of the Abessines
+(Abyssinia), not far from the Red Sea, concluded that this must be
+the true Prester John. He accordingly went thither, and penetrated
+to the court of the king, whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to
+him in "Paradise Lost," Book XI., where, describing Adam's vision
+of his descendants in their various nations and cities, scattered
+over the face of the earth, he says,--
+
+    "... Nor did his eyes not ken
+     Th' empire of Negus, to his utmost port,
+     Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,
+     Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY--VALHALLA--THE VALKYRIOR
+
+NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY
+
+
+The stories which have engaged our attention thus far relate to
+the mythology of southern regions. But there is another branch of
+ancient superstitions which ought not to be entirely overlooked,
+especially as it belongs to the nations from which we, through our
+English ancestors, derive our origin. It is that of the northern
+nations, called Scandinavians, who inhabited the countries now
+known as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. These mythological
+records are contained in two collections called the Eddas, of
+which the oldest is in poetry and dates back to the year 1056, the
+more modern or prose Edda being of the date of 1640.
+
+According to the Eddas there was once no heaven above nor earth
+beneath, but only a bottomless deep, and a world of mist in which
+flowed a fountain. Twelve rivers issued from this fountain, and
+when they had flowed far from their source, they froze into ice,
+and one layer accumulating over another, the great deep was filled
+up.
+
+Southward from the world of mist was the world of light. From this
+flowed a warm wind upon the ice and melted it. The vapors rose in
+the air and formed clouds, from which sprang Ymir, the Frost giant
+and his progeny, and the cow Audhumbla, whose milk afforded
+nourishment and food to the giant. The cow got nourishment by
+licking the hoar frost and salt from the ice. While she was one
+day licking the salt stones there appeared at first the hair of a
+man, on the second day the whole head, and on the third the entire
+form endowed with beauty, agility, and power. This new being was a
+god, from whom and his wife, a daughter of the giant race, sprang
+the three brothers Odin, Vili, and Ve. They slew the giant Ymir,
+and out of his body formed the earth, of his blood the seas, of
+his bones the mountains, of his hair the trees, of his skull the
+heavens, and of his brain clouds, charged with hail and snow. Of
+Ymir's eyebrows the gods formed Midgard (mid earth), destined to
+become the abode of man.
+
+Odin then regulated the periods of day and night and the seasons
+by placing in the heavens the sun and moon and appointing to them
+their respective courses. As soon as the sun began to shed its
+rays upon the earth, it caused the vegetable world to bud and
+sprout. Shortly after the gods had created the world they walked
+by the side of the sea, pleased with their new work, but found
+that it was still incomplete, for it was without human beings.
+They therefore took an ash tree and made a man out of it, and they
+made a woman out of an elder, and called the man Aske and the
+woman Embla. Odin then gave them life and soul, Vili reason and
+motion, and Ve bestowed upon them the senses, expressive features,
+and speech. Midgard was then given them as their residence, and
+they became the progenitors of the human race.
+
+The mighty ash tree Ygdrasill was supposed to support the whole
+universe. It sprang from the body of Ymir, and had three immense
+roots, extending one into Asgard (the dwelling of the gods), the
+other into Jotunheim (the abode of the giants), and the third to
+Niffleheim (the regions of darkness and cold). By the side of each
+of these roots is a spring, from which it is watered. The root
+that extends into Asgard is carefully tended by the three Norns,
+goddesses, who are regarded as the dispensers of fate. They are
+Urdur (the past), Verdandi (the present), Skuld (the future). The
+spring at the Jotunheim side is Ymir's well, in which wisdom and
+wit lie hidden, but that of Niffleheim feeds the adder Nidhogge
+(darkness), which perpetually gnaws at the root. Four harts run
+across the branches of the tree and bite the buds; they represent
+the four winds. Under the tree lies Ymir, and when he tries to
+shake off its weight the earth quakes.
+
+Asgard is the name of the abode of the gods, access to which is
+only gained by crossing the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). Asgard
+consists of golden and silver palaces, the dwellings of the gods,
+but the most beautiful of these is Valhalla, the residence of
+Odin. When seated on his throne he overlooks all heaven and earth.
+Upon his shoulders are the ravens Hugin and Munin, who fly every
+day over the whole world, and on their return report to him all
+they have seen and heard. At his feet lie his two wolves, Geri and
+Freki, to whom Odin gives all the meat that is set before him, for
+he himself stands in no need of food. Mead is for him both food
+and drink. He invented the Runic characters, and it is the
+business of the Norns to engrave the runes of fate upon a metal
+shield. From Odin's name, spelt Woden, as it sometimes is, came
+Wednesday, the name of the fourth day of the week.
+
+Odin is frequently called Alfadur (All-father), but this name is
+sometimes used in a way that shows that the Scandinavians had an
+idea of a deity superior to Odin, uncreated and eternal.
+
+OF THE JOYS OF VALHALLA
+
+Valhalla is the great hall of Odin, wherein he feasts with his
+chosen heroes, all those who have fallen bravely in battle, for
+all who die a peaceful death are excluded. The flesh of the boar
+Schrimnir is served up to them, and is abundant for all. For
+although this boar is cooked every morning, he becomes whole again
+every night. For drink the heroes are supplied abundantly with
+mead from the she-goat Heidrum. When the heroes are not feasting
+they amuse themselves with fighting. Every day they ride out into
+the court or field and fight until they cut each other in pieces.
+This is their pastime; but when meal time comes they recover from
+their wounds and return to feast in Valhalla.
+
+THE VALKYRIE
+
+The Valkyrie are warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed
+with helmets and spears. Odin, who is desirous to collect a great
+many heroes in Valhalla to be able to meet the giants in a day
+when the final contest must come, sends down to every battle-field
+to make choice of those who shall be slain. The Valkyrie are his
+messengers, and their name means "Choosers of the slain." When
+they ride forth on their errand, their armor sheds a strange
+flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making
+what men call the "Aurora Borealis," or "Northern Lights."
+[Footnote: Gray's ode, "The Fatal Sisters," is founded on this
+superstition.]
+
+OF THOR AND THE OTHER GODS
+
+Thor, the thunderer, Odin's eldest son, is the strongest of gods
+and men, and possesses three very precious things. The first is a
+hammer, which both the Frost and the Mountain giants know to their
+cost, when they see it hurled against them in the air, for it has
+split many a skull of their fathers and kindred. When thrown, it
+returns to his hand of its own accord. The second rare thing he
+possesses is called the belt of strength. When he girds it about
+him his divine might is doubled. The third, also very precious, is
+his iron gloves, which he puts on whenever he would use his mallet
+efficiently. From Thor's name is derived our word Thursday.
+
+Frey is one of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides over
+rain and sunshine and all the fruits of the earth. His sister
+Freya is the most propitious of the goddesses. She loves music,
+spring, and flowers, and is particularly fond of the Elves
+(fairies). She is very fond of love ditties, and all lovers would
+do well to invoke her.
+
+Bragi is the god of poetry, and his song records the deeds of
+warriors. His wife, Iduna, keeps in a box the apples which the
+gods, when they feel old age approaching, have only to taste of to
+become young again.
+
+Heimdall is the watchman of the gods, and is therefore placed on
+the borders of heaven to prevent the giants from forcing their way
+over the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow). He requires less sleep than
+a bird, and sees by night as well as by day a hundred miles around
+him. So acute is his ear that no sound escapes him, for he can
+even hear the grass grow and the wool on a sheep's back.
+
+OF LOKI AND HIS PROGENY
+
+There is another deity who is described as the calumniator of the
+gods and the contriver of all fraud and mischief. His name is
+Loki. He is handsome and well made, but of a very fickle mood and
+most evil disposition. He is of the giant race, but forced himself
+into the company of the gods, and seems to take pleasure in
+bringing them into difficulties, and in extricating them out of
+the danger by his cunning, wit, and skill. Loki has three
+children. The first is the wolf Fenris, the second the Midgard
+serpent, the third Hela (Death), The gods were not ignorant that
+these monsters were growing up, and that they would one day bring
+much evil upon gods and men. So Odin deemed it advisable to send
+one to bring them to him. When they came he threw the serpent into
+that deep ocean by which the earth is surrounded. But the monster
+had grown to such an enormous size that holding his tail in his
+mouth he encircles the whole earth. Hela he cast into Niffleheim,
+and gave her power over nine worlds or regions, into which she
+distributes those who are sent to her; that is, all who die of
+sickness or old age. Her hall is called Elvidner. Hunger is her
+table, Starvation her knife, Delay her man, Slowness her maid,
+Precipice her threshold, Care her bed, and Burning Anguish forms
+the hangings of the apartments. She may easily be recognized, for
+her body is half flesh color and half blue, and she has a
+dreadfully stern and forbidding countenance. The wolf Fenris gave
+the gods a great deal of trouble before they succeeded in chaining
+him. He broke the strongest fetters as if they were made of
+cobwebs. Finally the gods sent a messenger to the mountain
+spirits, who made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It is
+fashioned of six things, viz., the noise made by the footfall of a
+cat, the beards of women, the roots of stones, the breath of
+fishes, the nerves (sensibilities) of bears, and the spittle of
+birds. When finished it was as smooth and soft as a silken string.
+But when the gods asked the wolf to suffer himself to be bound
+with this apparently slight ribbon, he suspected their design,
+fearing that it was made by enchantment. He therefore only
+consented to be bound with it upon condition that one of the gods
+put his hand in his (Fenris's) mouth as a pledge that the band was
+to be removed again. Tyr (the god of battles) alone had courage
+enough to do this. But when the wolf found that he could not break
+his fetters, and that the gods would not release him, he bit off
+Tyr's hand, and he has ever since remained one-handed. HOW THOR
+PAID THE MOUNTAIN GIANT HIS WAGES
+
+Once on a time, when the gods were constructing their abodes and
+had already finished Midgard and Valhalla, a certain artificer
+came and offered to build them a residence so well fortified that
+they should be perfectly safe from the incursions of the Frost
+giants and the giants of the mountains. But he demanded for his
+reward the goddess Freya, together with the sun and moon. The gods
+yielded to his terms, provided he would finish the whole work
+himself without any one's assistance, and all within the space of
+one winter. But if anything remained unfinished on the first day
+of summer he should forfeit the recompense agreed on. On being
+told these terms the artificer stipulated that he should be
+allowed the use of his horse Svadilfari, and this by the advice of
+Loki was granted to him. He accordingly set to work on the first
+day of winter, and during the night let his horse draw stone for
+the building. The enormous size of the stones struck the gods with
+astonishment, and they saw clearly that the horse did one-half
+more of the toilsome work than his master. Their bargain, however,
+had been concluded, and confirmed by solemn oaths, for without
+these precautions a giant would not have thought himself safe
+among the gods, especially when Thor should return from an
+expedition he had then undertaken against the evil demons.
+
+As the winter drew to a close, the building was far advanced, and
+the bulwarks were sufficiently high and massive to render the
+place impregnable. In short, when it wanted but three days to
+summer, the only part that remained to be finished was the
+gateway. Then sat the gods on their seats of justice and entered
+into consultation, inquiring of one another who among them could
+have advised to give Freya away, or to plunge the heavens in
+darkness by permitting the giant to carry away the sun and the
+moon.
+
+They all agreed that no one but Loki, the author of so many evil
+deeds, could have given such bad counsel, and that he should be
+put to a cruel death if he did not contrive some way to prevent
+the artificer from completing his task and obtaining the
+stipulated recompense. They proceeded to lay hands on Loki, who in
+his fright promised upon oath that, let it cost him what it would,
+he would so manage matters that the man should lose his reward.
+That very night when the man went with Svadilfari for building
+stone, a mare suddenly ran out of a forest and began to neigh. The
+horse thereat broke loose and ran after the mare into the forest,
+which obliged the man also to run after his horse, and thus
+between one and another the whole night was lost, so that at dawn
+the work had not made the usual progress. The man, seeing that he
+must fail of completing his task, resumed his own gigantic
+stature, and the gods now clearly perceived that it was in reality
+a mountain giant who had come amongst them. Feeling no longer
+bound by their oaths, they called on Thor, who immediately ran to
+their assistance, and lifting up his mallet, paid the workman his
+wages, not with the sun and moon, and not even by sending him back
+to Jotunheim, for with the first blow he shattered the giant's
+skull to pieces and hurled him headlong into Niffleheim.
+
+THE RECOVERY OF THE HAMMER
+
+Once upon a time it happened that Thor's hammer fell into the
+possession of the giant Thrym, who buried it eight fathoms deep
+under the rocks of Jotunheim. Thor sent Loki to negotiate with
+Thrym, but he could only prevail so far as to get the giant's
+promise to restore the weapon if Freya would consent to be his
+bride. Loki returned and reported the result of his mission, but
+the goddess of love was quite horrified at the idea of bestowing
+her charms on the king of the Frost giants. In this emergency Loki
+persuaded Thor to dress himself in Freya's clothes and accompany
+him to Jotunheim. Thrym received his veiled bride with due
+courtesy, but was greatly surprised at seeing her eat for her
+supper eight salmons and a full grown ox, besides other
+delicacies, washing the whole down with three tuns of mead. Loki,
+however, assured him that she had not tasted anything for eight
+long nights, so great was her desire to see her lover, the
+renowned ruler of Jotunheim. Thrym had at length the curiosity to
+peep under his bride's veil, but started back in affright and
+demanded why Freya's eyeballs glistened with fire. Loki repeated
+the same excuse and the giant was satisfied. He ordered the hammer
+to be brought in and laid on the maiden's lap. Thereupon Thor
+threw off his disguise, grasped his redoubted weapon, and
+slaughtered Thrym and all his followers.
+
+Frey also possessed a wonderful weapon, a sword which would of
+itself spread a field with carnage whenever the owner desired it.
+Frey parted with this sword, but was less fortunate than Thor and
+never recovered it. It happened in this way: Frey once mounted
+Odin's throne, from whence one can see over the whole universe,
+and looking round saw far off in the giant's kingdom a beautiful
+maid, at the sight of whom he was struck with sudden sadness,
+insomuch that from that moment he could neither sleep, nor drink,
+nor speak. At last Skirnir, his messenger, drew his secret from
+him, and undertook to get him the maiden for his bride, if he
+would give him his sword as a reward. Frey consented and gave him
+the sword, and Skirnir set off on his journey and obtained the
+maiden's promise that within nine nights she would come to a
+certain place and there wed Frey. Skirnir having reported the
+success of his errand, Frey exclaimed:
+
+    "Long is one night,
+     Long are two nights,
+     But how shall I hold out three?
+     Shorter hath seemed
+     A month to me oft
+     Than of this longing time the half."
+
+So Frey obtained Gerda, the most beautiful of all women, for his
+wife, but he lost his sword.
+
+This story, entitled "Skirnir For," and the one immediately
+preceding it, "Thrym's Quida," will be found poetically told in
+Longfellow's "Poets and Poetry of Europe."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM
+
+THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM, THE GIANT'S COUNTRY
+
+
+One day the god Thor, with his servant Thialfi, and accompanied by
+Loki, set out on a journey to the giant's country. Thialfi was of
+all men the swiftest of foot. He bore Thor's wallet, containing
+their provisions. When night came on they found themselves in an
+immense forest, and searched on all sides for a place where they
+might pass the night, and at last came to a very large hall, with
+an entrance that took the whole breadth of one end of the
+building. Here they lay down to sleep, but towards midnight were
+alarmed by an earthquake which shook the whole edifice. Thor,
+rising up, called on his companions to seek with him a place of
+safety. On the right they found an adjoining chamber, into which
+the others entered, but Thor remained at the doorway with his
+mallet in his hand, prepared to defend himself, whatever might
+happen. A terrible groaning was heard during the night, and at
+dawn of day Thor went out and found lying near him a huge giant,
+who slept and snored in the way that had alarmed them so. It is
+said that for once Thor was afraid to use his mallet, and as the
+giant soon waked up, Thor contented himself with simply asking his
+name.
+
+"My name is Skrymir," said the giant, "but I need not ask thy
+name, for I know that thou art the god Thor. But what has become
+of my glove?" Thor then perceived that what they had taken
+overnight for a hall was the giant's glove, and the chamber where
+his two companions had sought refuge was the thumb. Skrymir then
+proposed that they should travel in company, and Thor consenting,
+they sat down to eat their breakfast, and when they had done,
+Skrymir packed all the provisions into one wallet, threw it over
+his shoulder, and strode on before them, taking such tremendous
+strides that they were hard put to it to keep up with him. So they
+travelled the whole day, and at dusk Skrymir chose a place for
+them to pass the night in under a large oak tree. Skrymir then
+told them he would lie down to sleep. "But take ye the wallet," he
+added, "and prepare your supper."
+
+Skrymir soon fell asleep and began to snore strongly; but when
+Thor tried to open the wallet, he found the giant had tied it up
+so tight he could not untie a single knot. At last Thor became
+wroth, and grasping his mallet with both hands he struck a furious
+blow on the giant's head. Skrymir, awakening, merely asked whether
+a leaf had not fallen on his head, and whether they had supped and
+were ready to go to sleep. Thor answered that they were just going
+to sleep, and so saying went and laid himself down under another
+tree. But sleep came not that night to Thor, and when Skrymir
+snored again so loud that the forest reechoed with the noise, he
+arose, and grasping his mallet launched it with such force at the
+giant's skull that it made a deep dint in it. Skrymir, awakening,
+cried out, "What's the matter? Are there any birds perched on this
+tree? I felt some moss from the branches fall on my head. How
+fares it with thee, Thor?" But Thor went away hastily, saying that
+he had just then awoke, and that as it was only midnight, there
+was still time for sleep. He, however, resolved that if he had an
+opportunity of striking a third blow, it should settle all matters
+between them. A little before daybreak he perceived that Skrymir
+was again fast asleep, and again grasping his mallet, he dashed it
+with such violence that it forced its way into the giant's skull
+up to the handle. But Skrymir sat up, and stroking his cheek said,
+"An acorn fell on my head. What! Art thou awake, Thor? Me thinks
+it is time for us to get up and dress ourselves; but you have not
+now a long way before you to the city called Utgard. I have heard
+you whispering to one another that I am not a man of small
+dimensions; but if you come to Utgard you will see there many men
+much taller than I. Wherefore, I advise you, when you come there,
+not to make too much of yourselves, for the followers of Utgard--
+Loki will not brook the boasting of such little fellows as you
+are. You must take the road that leads eastward, mine lies
+northward, so we must part here."
+
+Hereupon he threw his wallet over his shoulders and turned away
+from them into the forest, and Thor had no wish to stop him or to
+ask for any more of his company.
+
+Thor and his companions proceeded on their way, and towards noon
+descried a city standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty
+that they were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their
+shoulders in order to see to the top of it. On arriving they
+entered the city, and seeing a large palace before them with the
+door wide open, they went in, and found a number of men of
+prodigious stature, sitting on benches in the hall. Going further,
+they came before the king, Utgard-Loki, whom they saluted with
+great respect. The king, regarding them with a scornful smile,
+said, "If I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder must be the
+god Thor." Then addressing himself to Thor, he said, "Perhaps thou
+mayst be more than thou appearest to be. What are the feats that
+thou and thy fellows deem yourselves skilled in, for no one is
+permitted to remain here who does not, in some feat or other,
+excel all other men?"
+
+"The feat that I know," said Loki, "is to eat quicker than any one
+else, and in this I am ready to give a proof against any one here
+who may choose to compete with me."
+
+"That will indeed be a feat," said Utgard-Loki, "if thou
+performest what thou promisest, and it shall be tried forthwith."
+
+He then ordered one of his men who was sitting at the farther end
+of the bench, and whose name was Logi, to come forward and try his
+skill with Loki. A trough filled with meat having been set on the
+hall floor, Loki placed himself at one end, and Logi at the other,
+and each of them began to eat as fast as he could, until they met
+in the middle of the trough. But it was found that Loki had only
+eaten the flesh, while his adversary had devoured both flesh and
+bone, and the trough to boot. All the company therefore adjudged
+that Loki was vanquished.
+
+Utgard-Loki then asked what feat the young man who accompanied
+Thor could perform. Thialfi answered that he would run a race with
+any one who might be matched against him. The king observed that
+skill in running was something to boast of, but if the youth would
+win the match he must display great agility. He then arose and
+went with all who were present to a plain where there was good
+ground for running on, and calling a young man named Hugi, bade
+him run a match with Thialfi. In the first course Hugi so much
+out-stripped his competitor that he turned back and met him not
+far from the starting place. Then they ran a second and a third
+time, but Thialfi met with no better success.
+
+Utgard-Loki then asked Thor in what feats he would choose to give
+proofs of that prowess for which he was so famous. Thor answered
+that he would try a drinking-match with any one. Utgard-Loki bade
+his cup-bearer bring the large horn which his followers were
+obliged to empty when they had trespassed in any way against the
+law of the feast. The cupbearer having presented it to Thor,
+Utgard-Loki said, "Whoever is a good drinker will empty that horn
+at a single draught, though most men make two of it, but the most
+puny drinker can do it in three."
+
+Thor looked at the horn, which seemed of no extraordinary size
+though somewhat long; however, as he was very thirsty, he set it
+to his lips, and without drawing breath, pulled as long and as
+deeply as he could, that he might not be obliged to make a second
+draught of it; but when he set the horn down and looked in, he
+could scarcely perceive that the liquor was diminished.
+
+After taking breath, Thor went to it again with all his might, but
+when he took the horn from his mouth, it seemed to him that he had
+drunk rather less than before, although the horn could now be
+carried without spilling.
+
+"How now, Thor?" said Utgard-Loki; "thou must not spare thyself;
+if thou meanest to drain the horn at the third draught thou must
+pull deeply; and I must needs say that thou wilt not be called so
+mighty a man here as thou art at home if thou showest no greater
+prowess in other feats than methinks will be shown in this."
+
+Thor, full of wrath, again set the horn to his lips, and did his
+best to empty it; but on looking in found the liquor was only a
+little lower, so he resolved to make no further attempt, but gave
+back the horn to the cup-bearer.
+
+"I now see plainly," said Utgard-Loki, "that thou art not quite so
+stout as we thought thee: but wilt thou try any other feat, though
+methinks thou art not likely to bear any prize away with thee
+hence."
+
+"What new trial hast thou to propose?" said Thor.
+
+"We have a very trifling game here," answered Utgard-Loki, "in
+which we exercise none but children. It consists in merely lifting
+my cat from the ground; nor should I have dared to mention such a
+feat to the great Thor if I had not already observed that thou art
+by no means what we took thee for."
+
+As he finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang on the hall
+floor. Thor put his hand under the cat's belly and did his utmost
+to raise him from the floor, but the cat, bending his back, had,
+notwithstanding all Thor's efforts, only one of his feet lifted
+up, seeing which Thor made no further attempt.
+
+"This trial has turned out," said Utgard-Loki, "just as I imagined
+it would. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison to
+our men."
+
+"Little as ye call me," answered Thor, "let me see who among you
+will come hither now I am in wrath and wrestle with me."
+
+"I see no one here," said Utgard-Loki, looking at the men sitting
+on the benches, "who would not think it beneath him to wrestle
+with thee; let somebody, however, call hither that old crone, my
+nurse Elli, and let Thor wrestle with her if he will. She has
+thrown to the ground many a man not less strong than this Thor
+is."
+
+A toothless old woman then entered the hall, and was told by
+Utgard-Loki to take hold of Thor. The tale is shortly told. The
+more Thor tightened his hold on the crone the firmer she stood. At
+length after a very violent struggle Thor began to lose his
+footing, and was finally brought down upon one knee. Utgard-Loki
+then told them to desist, adding that Thor had now no occasion to
+ask any one else in the hall to wrestle with him, and it was also
+getting late; so he showed Thor and his companions to their seats,
+and they passed the night there in good cheer.
+
+The next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions dressed
+themselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loki ordered a
+table to be set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals
+or drink. After the repast Utgard-Loki led them to the gate of the
+city, and on parting asked Thor how he thought his journey had
+turned out, and whether he had met with any men stronger than
+himself. Thor told him that he could not deny but that he had
+brought great shame on himself. "And what grieves me most," he
+added, "is that ye will call me a person of little worth."
+
+"Nay," said Utgard-Loki, "it behooves me to tell thee the truth,
+now thou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my
+way thou shalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known
+beforehand that thou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst
+have brought me so near to a great mishap, I would not have
+suffered thee to enter this time. Know then that I have all along
+deceived thee by my illusions; first in the forest, where I tied
+up the wallet with iron wire so that thou couldst not untie it.
+After this thou gavest me three blows with thy mallet; the first,
+though the least, would have ended my days had it fallen on me,
+but I slipped aside and thy blows fell on the mountain, where thou
+wilt find three glens, one of them remarkably deep. These are the
+dints made by thy mallet. I have made use of similar illusions in
+the contests you have had with my followers. In the first, Loki,
+like hunger itself, devoured all that was set before him, but Logi
+was in reality nothing else than Fire, and therefore consumed not
+only the meat, but the trough which held it. Hugi, with whom
+Thialfi contended in running, was Thought, and it was impossible
+for Thialfi to keep pace with that. When thou in thy turn didst
+attempt to empty the horn, thou didst perform, by my troth, a deed
+so marvellous that had I not seen it myself I should never have
+believed it. For one end of that horn reached the sea, which thou
+wast not aware of, but when thou comest to the shore thou wilt
+perceive how much the sea has sunk by thy draughts. Thou didst
+perform a feat no less wonderful by lifting up the cat, and to
+tell thee the truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off the
+floor, we were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest
+for a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that encompasseth the
+earth, and he was so stretched by thee that he was barely long
+enough to enclose it between his head and tail. Thy wrestling with
+Elli was also a most astonishing feat, for there was never yet a
+man, nor ever will be, whom Old Age, for such in fact was Elli,
+will not sooner or later lay low. But now, as we are going to
+part, let me tell thee that it will be better for both of us if
+thou never come near me again, for shouldst thou do so, I shall
+again defend myself by other illusions, so that thou wilt only
+lose thy labor and get no fame from the contest with me."
+
+On hearing these words Thor in a rage laid hold of his mallet and
+would have launched it at him, but Utgard-Loki had disappeared,
+and when Thor would have returned to the city to destroy it, he
+found nothing around him but a verdant plain.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+THE DEATH OF BALDUR--THE ELVES--RUNIC LETTERS--ICELAND--TEUTONIC
+MYTHOLOGY--NIBELUNGEN LIED
+
+THE DEATH OF BALDUR
+
+
+Baldur the Good, having been tormented with terrible dreams
+indicating that his life was in peril, told them to the assembled
+gods, who resolved to conjure all things to avert from him the
+threatened danger. Then Frigga, the wife of Odin, exacted an oath
+from fire and water, from iron and all other metals, from stones,
+trees, diseases, beasts, birds, poisons, and creeping things, that
+none of them would do any harm to Baldur. Odin, not satisfied with
+all this, and feeling alarmed for the fate of his son, determined
+to consult the prophetess Angerbode, a giantess, mother of Fenris,
+Hela, and the Midgard serpent. She was dead, and Odin was forced
+to seek her in Hela's dominions. This Descent of Odin forms the
+subject of Gray's fine ode beginning,--
+
+    "Uprose the king of men with speed
+    And saddled straight his coal-black steed"
+
+But the other gods, feeling that what Frigga had done was quite
+sufficient, amused themselves with using Baldur as a mark, some
+hurling darts at him, some stones, while others hewed at him with
+their swords and battle-axes; for do what they would, none of them
+could harm him. And this became a favorite pastime with them and
+was regarded as an honor shown to Baldur. But when Loki beheld the
+scene he was sorely vexed that Baldur was not hurt. Assuming,
+therefore, the shape of a woman, he went to Fensalir, the man-
+sion of Frigga. That goddess, when she saw the pretended woman,
+inquired of her if she knew what the gods were doing at their
+meetings. She replied that they were throwing darts and stones at
+Baldur, without being able to hurt him. "Ay," said Frigga,
+"neither stones, nor sticks, nor anything else can hurt Baldur,
+for I have exacted an oath from all of them." "What," exclaimed
+the woman, "have all things sworn to spare Baldur?" "All things,"
+replied Frigga, "except one little shrub that grows on the eastern
+side of Valhalla, and is called Mistletoe, and which I thought too
+young and feeble to crave an oath from."
+
+As soon as Loki heard this he went away, and resuming his natural
+shape, cut off the mistletoe, and repaired to the place where the
+gods were assembled. There he found Hodur standing apart, without
+partaking of the sports, on account of his blindness, and going up
+to him, said, "Why dost thou not also throw something at Baldur?"
+
+"Because I am blind," answered Hodur, "and see not where Baldur
+is, and have, moreover, nothing to throw."
+
+"Come, then," said Loki, "do like the rest, and show honor to
+Baldur by throwing this twig at him, and I will direct thy arm
+towards the place where he stands."
+
+Hodur then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance of Loki,
+darted it at Baldur, who, pierced through and through, fell down
+lifeless. Surely never was there witnessed, either among gods or
+men, a more atrocious deed than this. When Baldur fell, the gods
+were struck speechless with horror, and then they looked at each
+other, and all were of one mind to lay hands on him who had done
+the deed, but they were obliged to delay their vengeance out of
+respect for the sacred place where they were assembled. They gave
+vent to their grief by loud lamentations. When the gods came to
+themselves, Frigga asked who among them wished to gain all her
+love and good will. "For this," said she, "shall he have who will
+ride to Hel and offer Hela a ransom if she will let Baldur return
+to Asgard." Whereupon Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, the son of
+Odin, offered to undertake the journey. Odin's horse, Sleipnir,
+which has eight legs and can outrun the wind, was then led forth,
+on which Hermod mounted and galloped away on his mission. For the
+space of nine days and as many nights he rode through deep glens
+so dark that he could not discern anything, until he arrived at
+the river Gyoll, which he passed over on a bridge covered with
+glittering gold. The maiden who kept the bridge asked him his name
+and lineage, telling him that the day before five bands of dead
+persons had ridden over the bridge, and did not shake it as much
+as he alone. "But," she added, "thou hast not death's hue on thee;
+why then ridest thou here on the way to Hel?"
+
+"I ride to Hel," answered Hermod, "to seek Baldur. Hast thou
+perchance seen him pass this way?"
+
+She replied, "Baldur hath ridden over Gyoll's bridge, and yonder
+lieth the way he took to the abodes of death"
+
+Hermod pursued his journey until he came to the barred gates of
+Hel. Here he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter, and remounting
+clapped both spurs to his horse, who cleared the gate by a
+tremendous leap without touching it. Hermod then rode on to the
+palace, where he found his brother Baldur occupying the most
+distinguished seat in the hall, and passed the night in his
+company. The next morning he besought Hela to let Baldur ride home
+with him, assuring her that nothing but lamentations were to be
+heard among the gods. Hela answered that it should now be tried
+whether Baldur was so beloved as he was said to be. "If,
+therefore," she added, "all things in the world, both living and
+lifeless, weep for him, then shall he return to life; but if any
+one thing speak against him or refuse to weep, he shall be kept in
+Hel."
+
+Hermod then rode back to Asgard and gave an account of all he had
+heard and witnessed.
+
+The gods upon this despatched messengers throughout the world to
+beg everything to weep in order that Baldur might be delivered
+from Hel. All things very willingly complied with this request,
+both men and every other living being, as well as earths, and
+stones, and trees, and metals, just as we have all seen these
+things weep when they are brought from a cold place into a hot
+one. As the messengers were returning, they found an old hag named
+Thaukt sitting in a cavern, and begged her to weep Baldur out of
+Hel. But she answered,
+
+    "Thaukt will wail
+    With dry tears
+    Baldur's bale-fire.
+    Let Hela keep her own."
+
+It was strongly suspected that this hag was no other than Loki
+himself, who never ceased to work evil among gods and men. So
+Baldur was prevented from coming back to Asgard.
+
+[Footnote: In Longfellow's Poems will be found a poem entitled
+"Tegner's Drapa," upon the subject of Baldur's death.]
+
+The gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore where
+stood Baldur's ship "Hringham," which passed for the largest in
+the world. Baldur's dead body was put on the funeral pile, on
+board the ship, and his wife Nanna was so struck with grief at the
+sight that she broke her heart, and her body was burned on the
+same pile as her husband's. There was a vast concourse of various
+kinds of people at Baldur's obsequies. First came Odin accompanied
+by Frigga, the Valkyrie, and his ravens; then Frey in his car
+drawn by Gullinbursti, the boar; Heimdall rode his horse Gulltopp,
+and Freya drove in her chariot drawn by cats. There were also a
+great many Frost giants and giants of the mountain present.
+Baldur's horse was led to the pile fully caparisoned and consumed
+in the same flames with his master.
+
+But Loki did not escape his deserved punishment. When he saw how
+angry the gods were, he fled to the mountain, and there built
+himself a hut with four doors, so that he could see every
+approaching danger. He invented a net to catch the fishes, such as
+fishermen have used since his time. But Odin found out his hiding-
+place and the gods assembled to take him. He, seeing this, changed
+himself into a salmon, and lay hid among the stones of the brook.
+But the gods took his net and dragged the brook, and Loki, finding
+he must be caught, tried to leap over the net; but Thor caught him
+by the tail and compressed it, so that salmons ever since have had
+that part remarkably fine and thin. They bound him with chains and
+suspended a serpent over his head, whose venom falls upon his face
+drop by drop. His wife Siguna sits by his side and catches the
+drops as they fall, in a cup; but when she carries it away to
+empty it, the venom falls upon Loki, which makes him howl with
+horror, and twist his body about so violently that the whole earth
+shakes, and this produces what men call earthquakes.
+
+THE ELVES
+
+The Edda mentions another class of beings, inferior to the gods,
+but still possessed of great power; these were called Elves. The
+white spirits, or Elves of Light, were exceedingly fair, more
+brilliant than the sun, and clad in garments of a delicate and
+transparent texture. They loved the light, were kindly disposed to
+mankind, and generally appeared as fair and lovely children. Their
+country was called Alfheim, and was the domain of Freyr, the god
+of the sun, in whose light they were always sporting.
+
+The Black or Night Elves were a different kind of creatures. Ugly,
+long-nosed dwarfs, of a dirty brown color, they appeared only at
+night, for they avoided the sun as their most deadly enemy,
+because whenever his beams fell upon any of them they changed them
+immediately into stones. Their language was the echo of solitudes,
+and their dwelling-places subterranean caves and clefts. They were
+supposed to have come into existence as maggots produced by the
+decaying flesh of Ymir's body, and were afterwards endowed by the
+gods with a human form and great understanding. They were
+particularly distinguished for a knowledge of the mysterious
+powers of nature, and for the runes which they carved and
+explained. They were the most skilful artificers of all created
+beings, and worked in metals and in wood. Among their most noted
+works were Thor's hammer, and the ship "Skidbladnir," which they
+gave to Freyr, and which was so large that it could contain all
+the deities with their war and household implements, but so
+skillfully was it wrought that when folded together it could be
+put into a side pocket.
+
+RAGNAROK, THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
+
+It was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time would
+come when all the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and
+Niffleheim, the inhabitants of Jotunheim, Alfheim, and Midgard,
+together with their habitations, would be destroyed. The fearful
+day of destruction will not, however, be without its forerunners.
+First will come a triple winter, during which snow will fall from
+the four corners of the heavens, the frost be very severe, the
+wind piercing, the weather tempestuous, and the sun impart no
+gladness. Three such winters will pass away without being tempered
+by a single summer. Three other similar winters will then follow,
+during which war and discord will spread over the universe. The
+earth itself will be frightened and begin to tremble, the sea
+leave its basin, the heavens tear asunder, and men perish in great
+numbers, and the eagles of the air feast upon their still
+quivering bodies. The wolf Fenris will now break his bands, the
+Midgard serpent rise out of her bed in the sea, and Loki, released
+from his bonds, will join the enemies of the gods. Amidst the
+general devastation the sons of Muspelheim will rush forth under
+their leader Surtur, before and behind whom are flames and burning
+fire. Onward they ride over Bifrost, the rainbow bridge, which
+breaks under the horses' hoofs. But they, disregarding its fall,
+direct their course to the battlefield called Vigrid. Thither also
+repair the wolf Fenris, the Midgard serpent, Loki with all the
+followers of Hela, and the Frost giants.
+
+Heimdall now stands up and sounds the Giallar horn to assemble the
+gods and heroes for the contest. The gods advance, led on by Odin,
+who engages the wolf Fenris, but falls a victim to the monster,
+who is, however, slain by Vidar, Odin's son. Thor gains great
+renown by killing the Midgard serpent, but recoils and falls dead,
+suffocated with the venom which the dying monster vomits over him.
+Loki and Heimdall meet and fight till they are both slain. The
+gods and their enemies having fallen in battle, Surtur, who has
+killed Freyr, darts fire and flames over the world, and the whole
+universe is burned up. The sun becomes dim, the earth sinks into
+the ocean, the stars fall from heaven, and time is no more.
+
+After this Alfadur (the Almighty) will cause a new heaven and a
+new earth to arise out of the sea. The new earth filled with
+abundant supplies will spontaneously produce its fruits without
+labor or care. Wickedness and misery will no more be known, but
+the gods and men will live happily together.
+
+RUNIC LETTERS
+
+One cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden without
+meeting with great stones of different forms, engraven with
+characters called Runic, which appear at first sight very
+different from all we know. The letters consist almost invariably
+of straight lines, in the shape of little sticks either singly or
+put together. Such sticks were in early times used by the northern
+nations for the purpose of ascertaining future events. The sticks
+were shaken up, and from the figures that they formed a kind of
+divination was derived.
+
+The Runic characters were of various kinds. They were chiefly used
+for magical purposes. The noxious, or, as they called them, the
+BITTER runes, were employed to bring various evils on their
+enemies; the favorable averted misfortune. Some were medicinal,
+others employed to win love, etc. In later times they were
+frequently used for inscriptions, of which more than a thousand
+have been found. The language is a dialect of the Gothic, called
+Norse, still in use in Iceland. The inscriptions may therefore be
+read with certainty, but hitherto very few have been found which
+throw the least light on history. They are mostly epitaphs on
+tombstones.
+
+Gray's ode on the "Descent of Odin" contains an allusion to the
+use of Runic letters for incantation:
+
+    "Facing to the northern clime,
+    Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme;
+    Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,
+    The thrilling verse that wakes the dead,
+    Till from out the hollow ground
+    Slowly breathed a sullen sound."
+
+THE SKALDS
+
+The Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a very
+important class of men in all communities in an early stage of
+civilization. They are the depositaries of whatever historic lore
+there is, and it is their office to mingle something of
+intellectual gratification with the rude feasts of the warriors,
+by rehearsing, with such accompaniments of poetry and music as
+their skill can afford, the exploits of their heroes living or
+dead. The compositions of the Skalds were called Sagas, many of
+which have come down to us, and contain valuable materials of
+history, and a faithful picture of the state of society at the
+time to which they relate.
+
+ICELAND
+
+The Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland. The following
+extract from Carlyle's lectures on "Heroes and Hero Worship" gives
+an animated account of the region where the strange stories we
+have been reading had their origin. Let the reader contrast it for
+a moment with Greece, the parent of classical mythology:
+
+"In that strange island, Iceland,--burst up, the geologists say,
+by fire from the bottom of the sea, a wild land of barrenness and
+lava, swallowed many months of every year in black tempests, yet
+with a wild, gleaming beauty in summer time, towering up there
+stern and grim in the North Ocean, with its snow yokuls
+[mountains], roaring geysers [boiling springs], sulphur pools, and
+horrid volcanic chasms, like the waste, chaotic battlefield of
+Frost and Fire,--where, of all places, we least looked for
+literature or written memorials,--the record of these things was
+written down. On the seaboard of this wild land is a rim of grassy
+country, where cattle can subsist, and men by means of them and of
+what the sea yields; and it seems they were poetic men these, men
+who had deep thoughts in them and uttered musically their
+thoughts. Much would be lost had Iceland not been burst up from
+the sea, not been discovered by the Northmen!"
+
+TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
+
+In the mythology of Germany proper, the name of Odin appears as
+Wotan; Freya and Frigga are regarded as one and the same divinity,
+and the gods are in general represented as less warlike in
+character than those in the Scandinavian myths. As a whole,
+however, Teutonic mythology runs along almost identical lines with
+that of the northern nations. The most notable divergence is due
+to modifications of the legends by reason of the difference in
+climatic conditions. The more advanced social condition of the
+Germans is also apparent in their mythology.
+
+THE NIBELUNGEN LIED
+
+One of the oldest myths of the Teutonic race is found in the great
+national epic of the Nibelungen Lied, which dates back to the
+prehistoric era when Wotan, Frigga, Thor, Loki, and the other gods
+and goddesses were worshipped in the German forests. The epic is
+divided into two parts, the first of which tells how Siegfried,
+the youngest of the kings of the Netherlands, went to Worms, to
+ask in marriage the hand of Kriemhild, sister of Gunther, King of
+Burgundy. While he was staying with Gunther, Siegfried helped the
+Burgundian king to secure as his wife Brunhild, queen of Issland.
+The latter had announced publicly that he only should be her
+husband who could beat her in hurling a spear, throwing a huge
+stone, and in leaping. Siegfried, who possessed a cloak of
+invisibility, aided Gunther in these three contests, and Brunhild
+became his wife. In return for these services, Gunther gave
+Siegfried his sister Kriemhild in marriage.
+
+After some time had elapsed, Siegfried and Kriemhild went to visit
+Gunther, when the two women fell into a dispute about the relative
+merits of their husbands. Kriemhild, to exalt Siegfried, boasted
+that it was to the latter that Gunther owed his victories and his
+wife. Brunhild, in great anger, employed Hagan, liegeman of
+Gunther, to murder Siegfried. In the epic Hagan is described as
+follows:
+
+"Well-grown and well-compacted was that redoubted guest; Long were
+his legs and sinewy, and deep and broad his chest; His hair, that
+once was sable, with gray was dashed of late; Most terrible his
+visage, and lordly was his gait."
+
+--Nibelungen Lied, stanza 1789.
+
+This Achilles of German romance stabbed Siegfried between the
+shoulders, as the unfortunate King of the Netherlands was stooping
+to drink from a brook during a hunting expedition.
+
+The second part of the epic relates how, thirteen years later,
+Kriemhild married Etzel, King of the Huns. After a time, she
+invited the King of Burgundy, with Hagan and many others, to the
+court of her husband. A fearful quarrel was stirred up in the
+banquet hall, which ended in the slaughter of all the Burgundians
+but Gunther and Hagan. These two were taken prisoners and given to
+Kriemhild, who with her own hand cut off the heads of both. For
+this bloody act of vengeance Kriemhild was herself slain by
+Hildebrand, a magician and champion, who in German mythology holds
+a place to an extent corresponding to that of Nestor in the Greek
+mythology.
+
+THE NIBELUNGEN HOARD
+
+This was a mythical mass of gold and precious stones which
+Siegfried obtained from the Nibelungs, the people of the north
+whom he had conquered and whose country he had made tributary to
+his own kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon his marriage, Siegfried
+gave the treasure to Kriemhild as her wedding portion. After the
+murder of Siegfried, Hagan seized it and buried it secretly
+beneath the Rhine at Lochham, intending to recover it at a future
+period. The hoard was lost forever when Hagan was killed by
+Kriemhild. Its wonders are thus set forth in the poem:
+
+    "'Twas as much as twelve huge wagons in four whole nights and days
+    Could carry from the mountain down to the salt sea bay;
+    Though to and fro each wagon thrice journeyed every day.
+
+    "It was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;
+    Were all the world bought from it, and down the value told,
+    Not a mark the less would there be left than erst there was, I ween."
+
+    --Nibelungen Lied, XIX.
+
+Whoever possessed the Nibelungen hoard were termed Nibelungers.
+Thus at one time certain people of Norway were so called. When
+Siegfried held the treasure he received the title "King of the
+Nibelungers."
+
+WAGNER'S NIBELUNGEN RING
+
+Though Richard Wagner's music-drama of the Nibelungen Ring bears
+some resemblance to the ancient German epic, it is a wholly
+independent composition and was derived from various old songs and
+sagas, which the dramatist wove into one great harmonious story.
+The principal source was the Volsunga Saga, while lesser parts
+were taken from the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda, and others
+from the Nibelungen Lied, the Ecklenlied, and other Teutonic
+folklore.
+
+In the drama there are at first only four distinct races,--the
+gods, the giants, the dwarfs, and the nymphs. Later, by a special
+creation, there come the valkyrie and the heroes. The gods are the
+noblest and highest race, and dwell first in the mountain meadows,
+later in the palace of Valhalla on the heights. The giants are a
+great and strong race, but lack wisdom; they hate what is noble,
+and are enemies of the gods; they dwell in caves near the earth's
+surface. The dwarfs, or nibelungs, are black uncouth pigmies,
+hating the good, hating the gods; they are crafty and cunning, and
+dwell in the bowels of the earth. The nymphs are pure, innocent
+creatures of the water. The valkyrie are daughters of the gods,
+but mingled with a mortal strain; they gather dead heroes from the
+battle-fields and carry them to Valhalla. The heroes are children
+of the gods, but also mingled with a mortal strain; they are
+destined to become at last the highest race of all, and to succeed
+the gods in the government of the world.
+
+The principal gods are Wotan, Loki, Donner, and Froh. The chief
+giants are Fafner and Fasolt, brothers. The chief dwarfs are
+Alberich and Mime, brothers, and later Hagan, son of Alberich. The
+chief nymphs are the Rhine-daughters, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and
+Wellgunda. There are nine Valkyrie, of whom Brunhild is the
+leading one.
+
+Wagner's story of the Ring may be summarized as follows:
+
+A hoard of gold exists in the depths of the Rhine, guarded by the
+innocent Rhine-maidens. Alberich, the dwarf, forswears love to
+gain this gold. He makes it into a magic ring. It gives him all
+power, and he gathers by it a vast amount of treasures.
+
+Meanwhile Wotan, chief of the gods, has engaged the giants to
+build for him a noble castle, Valhalla, from whence to rule the
+world, promising in payment Freya, goddess of youth and love. But
+the gods find they cannot spare Freya, as they are dependent on
+her for their immortal youth. Loki, called upon to provide a
+substitute, tells of Alberich's magic ring and other treasure.
+Wotan goes with Loki, and they steal the ring and the golden hoard
+from Alberich, who curses the ring and lays the curse on all who
+shall henceforth possess it. The gods give the ring and the
+treasure to the giants as a substitute for Freya. The curse at
+once begins. One giant, Fafner, kills his brother to get all, and
+transforms himself into a dragon to guard his wealth. The gods
+enter Valhalla over the rainbow bridge. This ends the first part
+of the drama, called the Rhine-Gold.
+
+The second part, the Valkyrie, relates how Wotan still covets the
+ring. He cannot take it himself, for he has given his word to the
+giants. He stands or falls by his word. So he devises an artifice
+to get the ring. He will get a hero-race to work for him and
+recover the ring and the treasures. Siegmund and Sieglinda are
+twin children of this new race. Sieglinda is carried off as a
+child and is forced into marriage with Hunding. Siegmund comes,
+and unknowingly breaks the law of marriage, but wins Nothung, the
+great sword, and a bride. Brunhild, chief of the Valkyrie, is
+commissioned by Wotan at the instance of Fricka, goddess of
+marriage, to slay him for his sin. She disobeys and tries to save
+him, but Hunding, helped by Wotan, slays him. Sieglinda, however,
+about to bear the free hero, to be called Siegfried, is saved by
+Brunhild, and hid in the forest. Brunhild herself is punished by
+being made a mortal woman. She is left sleeping on the mountains
+with a wall of fire around her which only a hero can penetrate.
+
+The drama continues with the story of Siegfried, which opens with
+a scene in the smithy between Mime the dwarf and Siegfried. Mime
+is welding a sword, and Siegfried scorns him. Mime tells him
+something of his mother, Sieglinda, and shows him the broken
+pieces of his father's sword. Wotan comes and tells Mime that only
+one who has no fear can remake the sword. Now Siegfried knows no
+fear and soon remakes the sword Nothung. Wotan and Alberich come
+to where the dragon Fafner is guarding the ring. They both long
+for it, but neither can take it. Soon Mime comes bringing
+Siegfried with the mighty sword. Fafner comes out, but Siegfried
+slays him. Happening to touch his lips with the dragon's blood, he
+understands the language of the birds. They tell him of the ring.
+He goes and gets it. Siegfried now has possession of the ring, but
+it is to bring him nothing of happiness, only evil. It is to curse
+love and finally bring death. The birds also tell him of Mime's
+treachery. He slays Mime. He longs for some one to love. The birds
+tell him of the slumbering Brunnhilda, whom he finds and marries.
+
+The Dusk of the Gods portrays at the opening the three norns or
+fates weaving and measuring the thread of destiny. It is the
+beginning of the end. The perfect pair, Siegfried and Brunhild,
+appear in all the glory of their life, splendid ideals of manhood
+and womanhood. But Siegfried goes out into the world to achieve
+deeds of prowess. He gives her the Nibelungen ring to keep as a
+pledge of his love till his return. Meanwhile Alberich also has
+begotten a son, Hagan, to achieve for him the possession of the
+ring. He is partly of the Gibichung race, and works through
+Gunther and Gutrune, half-brother and half-sister to him. They
+beguile Siegfried to them, give him a magic draught which makes
+him forget Brunhild and fall in love with Gutrune. Under this same
+spell, he offers to bring Brunhild for wife to Gunther. Now is
+Valhalla full of sorrow and despair. The gods fear the end. Wotan
+murmurs, "O that she would give back the ring to the Rhine." But
+Brunhild will not give it up,--it is now her pledge of love.
+Siegfried comes, takes the ring, and Brunhild is now brought to
+the Rhine castle of the Gibichungs, but Siegfried under the spell
+does not love her. She is to be wedded to Gunther. She rises in
+wrath and denounces Siegfried. But at a hunting banquet Siegfried
+is given another magic draught, remembers all, and is slain by
+Hagan by a blow in the back, as he calls on Brunhild's name in
+love. Then comes the end. The body of Siegfried is burned on a
+funeral pyre, a grand funeral march is heard, and Brunhild rides
+into the flames and sacrifices herself for love's sake; the ring
+goes back to the Rhine-daughters; and the old world--of the gods
+of Valhalla, of passion and sin--is burnt up with flames, for the
+gods have broken moral law, and coveted power rather than love,
+gold rather than truth, and therefore must perish. They pass, and
+a new era, the reign of love and truth, has begun.
+
+Those who wish to study the differences in the legends of the
+Nibelungen Lied and the Nibelungen Ring, and the way in which
+Wagner used his ancient material, are referred to Professor W. C.
+Sawyer's book on "Teutonic Legends in the Nibelungen Lied and the
+Nibelungen Ring," where the matter is treated in full detail. For
+a very thorough and clear analysis of the Ring as Wagner gives it,
+with a study of the musical motifs, probably nothing is better for
+general readers than the volume "The Epic of Sounds," by Freda
+Winworth. The more scholarly work of Professor Lavignac is
+indispensable for the student of Wagner's dramas. There is much
+illuminating comment on the sources and materials in "Legends of
+the Wagner Drama" by J. L. Weston.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+THE DRUIDS--IONA
+
+DRUIDS
+
+
+The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the
+ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our
+information respecting them is borrowed from notices in the Greek
+and Roman writers, compared with the remains of Welsh and Gaelic
+poetry still extant.
+
+The Druids combined the functions of the priest, the magistrate,
+the scholar, and the physician. They stood to the people of the
+Celtic tribes in a relation closely analogous to that in which the
+Brahmans of India, the Magi of Persia, and the priests of the
+Egyptians stood to the people respectively by whom they were
+revered.
+
+The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave a
+name "Be' al," which Celtic antiquaries tell us means "the life of
+everything," or "the source of all beings," and which seems to
+have affinity with the Phoenician Baal. What renders this affinity
+more striking is that the Druids as well as the Phoenicians
+identified this, their supreme deity, with the Sun. Fire was
+regarded as a symbol of the divinity. The Latin writers assert
+that the Druids also worshipped numerous inferior gods.
+
+They used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor
+did they meet in temples or buildings of any kind for the
+performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones (each stone
+generally of vast size), enclosing an area of from twenty feet to
+thirty yards in diameter, constituted their sacred place. The most
+celebrated of these now remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury
+Plain, England.
+
+These sacred circles were generally situated near some stream, or
+under the shadow of a grove or wide-spreading oak. In the centre
+of the circle stood the Cromlech or altar, which was a large
+stone, placed in the manner of a table upon other stones set up on
+end. The Druids had also their high places, which were large
+stones or piles of stones on the summits of hills. These were
+called Cairns, and were used in the worship of the deity under the
+symbol of the sun.
+
+That the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity there can be no
+doubt. But there is some uncertainty as to what they offered, and
+of the ceremonies connected with their religious services we know
+almost nothing. The classical (Roman) writers affirm that they
+offered on great occasions human sacrifices; as for success in war
+or for relief from dangerous diseases. Caesar has given a detailed
+account of the manner in which this was done. "They have images of
+immense size, the limbs of which are framed with twisted twigs and
+filled with living persons. These being set on fire, those within
+are encompassed by the flames." Many attempts have been made by
+Celtic writers to shake the testimony of the Roman historians to
+this fact, but without success.
+
+The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The former took
+place in the beginning of May, and was called Beltane or "fire of
+God." On this occasion a large fire was kindled on some elevated
+spot, in honor of the sun, whose returning beneficence they thus
+welcomed after the gloom and desolation of winter. Of this custom
+a trace remains in the name given to Whitsunday in parts of
+Scotland to this day. Sir Walter Scott uses the word in the "Boat
+Song" in the "Lady of the Lake":
+
+"Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain, Blooming at
+Beltane in winter to fade;" etc.
+
+The other great festival of the Druids was called "Samh'in," or
+"fire of peace," and was held on Halloweve (first of November),
+which still retains this designation in the Highlands of Scotland.
+On this occasion the Druids assembled in solemn conclave, in the
+most central part of the district, to discharge the judicial
+functions of their order. All questions, whether public or
+private, all crimes against person or property, were at this time
+brought before them for adjudication. With these judicial acts
+were combined certain superstitious usages, especially the
+kindling of the sacred fire, from which all the fires in the
+district, which had been beforehand scrupulously extinguished,
+might be relighted. This usage of kindling fires on Hallow-eve
+lingered in the British islands long after the establishment of
+Christianity.
+
+Besides these two great annual festivals, the Druids were in the
+habit of observing the full moon, and especially the sixth day of
+the moon. On the latter they sought the Mistletoe, which grew on
+their favorite oaks, and to which, as well as to the oak itself,
+they ascribed a peculiar virtue and sacredness. The discovery of
+it was an occasion of rejoicing and solemn worship. "They call
+it," says Pliny, "by a word in their language, which means 'heal-
+all,' and having made solemn preparation for feasting and
+sacrifice under the tree, they drive thither two milk-white bulls,
+whose horns are then for the first time bound. The priest then,
+robed in white, ascends the tree, and cuts off the mistletoe with
+a golden sickle. It is caught in a white mantle, after which they
+proceed to slay the victims, at the same time praying that God
+would render his gift prosperous to those to whom he had given
+it." They drink the water in which it has been infused, and think
+it a remedy for all diseases. The mistletoe is a parasitic plant,
+and is not always nor often found on the oak, so that when it is
+found it is the more precious.
+
+The Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of religion.
+Of their ethical teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the
+Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from this we may gather that their
+views of moral rectitude were on the whole just, and that they
+held and inculcated many very noble and valuable principles of
+conduct. They were also the men of science and learning of their
+age and people. Whether they were acquainted with letters or not
+has been disputed, though the probability is strong that they
+were, to some extent. But it is certain that they committed
+nothing of their doctrine, their history, or their poetry to
+writing. Their teaching was oral, and their literature (if such a
+word may be used in such a case) was preserved solely by
+tradition. But the Roman writers admit that "they paid much
+attention to the order and laws of nature, and investigated and
+taught to the youth under their charge many things concerning the
+stars and their motions, the size of the world and the lands, and
+concerning the might and power of the immortal gods."
+
+Their history consisted in traditional tales, in which the heroic
+deeds of their forefathers were celebrated. These were apparently
+in verse, and thus constituted part of the poetry as well as the
+history of the Druids. In the poems of Ossian we have, if not the
+actual productions of Druidical times, what may be considered
+faithful representations of the songs of the Bards.
+
+The Bards were an essential part of the Druidical hierarchy. One
+author, Pennant, says, "The Bards were supposed to be endowed with
+powers equal to inspiration. They were the oral historians of all
+past transactions, public and private. They were also accomplished
+genealogists," etc.
+
+Pennant gives a minute account of the Eisteddfods or sessions of
+the Bards and minstrels, which were held in Wales for many
+centuries, long after the Druidical priesthood in its other
+departments became extinct. At these meetings none but Bards of
+merit were suffered to rehearse their pieces, and minstrels of
+skill to perform. Judges were appointed to decide on their
+respective abilities, and suitable degrees were conferred. In the
+earlier period the judges were appointed by the Welsh princes, and
+after the conquest of Wales, by commission from the kings of
+England. Yet the tradition is that Edward I., in revenge for the
+influence of the Bards in animating the resistance of the people
+to his sway, persecuted them with great cruelty. This tradition
+has furnished the poet Gray with the subject of his celebrated
+ode, the "Bard."
+
+There are still occasional meetings of the lovers of Welsh poetry
+and music, held under the ancient name. Among Mrs. Hemans' poems
+is one written for an Eisteddfod, or meeting of Welsh Bards, held
+in London, May 22, 1822. It begins with a description of the
+ancient meeting, of which the following lines are a part:
+
+    "... midst the eternal cliffs, whose strength defied
+    The crested Roman in his hour of pride;
+    And where the Druid's ancient cromlech frowned,
+    And the oaks breathed mysterious murmurs round,
+    There thronged the inspired of yore! on plain or height,
+    In the sun's face, beneath the eye of light,
+    And baring unto heaven each noble head,
+    Stood in the circle, where none else might tread."
+
+The Druidical system was at its height at the time of the Roman
+invasion under Julius Caesar. Against the Druids, as their chief
+enemies, these conquerors of the world directed their unsparing
+fury. The Druids, harassed at all points on the mainland,
+retreated to Anglesey and Iona, where for a season they found
+shelter and continued their now dishonored rites.
+
+The Druids retained their predominance in Iona and over the
+adjacent islands and mainland until they were supplanted and their
+superstitions overturned by the arrival of St. Columba, the
+apostle of the Highlands, by whom the inhabitants of that district
+were first led to profess Christianity.
+
+IONA
+
+One of the smallest of the British Isles, situated near a rugged
+and barren coast, surrounded by dangerous seas, and possessing no
+sources of internal wealth, Iona has obtained an imperishable
+place in history as the seat of civilization and religion at a
+time when the darkness of heathenism hung over almost the whole of
+Northern Europe. lona or Icolmkill is situated at the extremity of
+the island of Mull, from which it is separated by a strait of half
+a mile in breadth, its distance from the mainland of Scotland
+being thirty-six miles.
+
+Columba was a native of Ireland, and connected by birth with the
+princes of the land. Ireland was at that time a land of gospel
+light, while the western and northern parts of Scotland were still
+immersed in the darkness of heathenism. Columba with twelve
+friends landed on the island of lona in the year of our Lord 563,
+having made the passage in a wicker boat covered with hides. The
+Druids who occupied the island endeavored to prevent his settling
+there, and the savage nations on the adjoining shores incommoded
+him with their hostility, and on several occasions endangered his
+life by their attacks. Yet by his perseverance and zeal he
+surmounted all opposition, procured from the king a gift of the
+island, and established there a monastery of which he was the
+abbot. He was unwearied in his labors to disseminate a knowledge
+of the Scriptures throughout the Highlands and islands of
+Scotland, and such was the reverence paid him that though not a
+bishop, but merely a presbyter and monk, the entire province with
+its bishops was subject to him and his successors. The Pictish
+monarch was so impressed with a sense of his wisdom and worth that
+he held him in the highest honor, and the neighboring chiefs and
+princes sought his counsel and availed themselves of his judgment
+in settling their disputes.
+
+When Columba landed on lona he was attended by twelve followers
+whom he had formed into a religious body of which he was the head.
+To these, as occasion required, others were from time to time
+added, so that the original number was always kept up. Their
+institution was called a monastery and the superior an abbot, but
+the system had little in common with the monastic institutions of
+later times. The name by which those who submitted to the rule
+were known was that of Culdees, probably from the Latin "cultores
+Dei"--worshippers of God. They were a body of religious persons
+associated together for the purpose of aiding each other in the
+common work of preaching the gospel and teaching youth, as well as
+maintaining in themselves the fervor of devotion by united
+exercises of worship. On entering the order certain vows were
+taken by the members, but they were not those which were usually
+imposed by monastic orders, for of these, which are three,--
+celibacy, poverty, and obedience.--the Culdees were bound to none
+except the third. To poverty they did not bind themselves; on the
+contrary they seem to have labored diligently to procure for
+themselves and those dependent on them the comforts of life.
+Marriage also was allowed them, and most of them seem to have
+entered into that state. True, their wives were not permitted to
+reside with them at the institution, but they had a residence
+assigned to them in an adjacent locality. Near lona there is an
+island which still bears the name of "Eilen nam ban," women's
+island, where their husbands seem to have resided with them,
+except when duty required their presence in the school or the
+sanctuary.
+
+Campbell, in his poem of "Reullura," alludes to the married monks
+of Iona:
+
+    "... The pure Culdees
+       Were Albyn's earliest priests of God,
+    Ere yet an island of her seas
+      By foot of Saxon monk was trod,
+    Long ere her churchmen by bigotry
+    Were barred from holy wedlock's tie.
+    'Twas then that Aodh, famed afar,
+      In lona preached the word with power,
+    And Reullura, beauty's star,
+      Was the partner of his bower."
+
+In one of his "Irish Melodies," Moore gives the legend of St.
+Senanus and the lady who sought shelter on the island, but was
+repulsed:
+
+    "O, haste and leave this sacred isle,
+    Unholy bark, ere morning smile;
+    For on thy deck, though dark it be,
+        A female form I see;
+    And I have sworn this sainted sod
+    Shall ne'er by woman's foot be trod."
+
+In these respects and in others the Culdees departed from the
+established rules of the Romish church, and consequently were
+deemed heretical. The consequence was that as the power of the
+latter advanced that of the Culdees was enfeebled. It was not,
+however, till the thirteenth centurv that the communities of the
+Culdees were suppressed and the members dispersed. They still
+continued to labor as individuals, and resisted the inroads of
+Papal usurpation as they best might till the light of the
+Reformation dawned on the world.
+
+Iona, from its position in the western seas, was exposed to the
+assaults of the Norwegian and Danish rovers by whom those seas
+were infested, and by them it was repeatedly pillaged, its
+dwellings burned, and its peaceful inhabitants put to the sword.
+These unfavorable circumstances led to its gradual decline, which
+was expedited by the subversion of the Culdees throughout
+Scotland. Under the reign of Popery the island became the seat of
+a nunnery, the ruins of which are still seen. At the Reformation,
+the nuns were allowed to remain, living in community, when the
+abbey was dismantled.
+
+Iona is now chiefly resorted to by travellers on account of the
+numerous ecclesiastical and sepulchral remains which are found
+upon it. The principal of these are the Cathedral or Abbey Church
+and the Chapel of the Nunnery. Besides these remains of
+ecclesiastical antiquity, there are some of an earlier date, and
+pointing to the existence on the island of forms of worship and
+belief different from those of Christianity. These are the
+circular Cairns which are found in various parts, and which seem
+to have been of Druidical origin. It is in reference to all these
+remains of ancient religion that Johnson exclaims, "That man is
+little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the
+plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer amid the
+ruins of lona."
+
+In the "Lord of the Isles" Scott beautifully contrasts the church
+on lona with the cave of Staffa, opposite:
+
+    "Nature herself, it seemed, would raise
+    A minister to her Maker's praise!
+    Not for a meaner use ascend
+    Her columns, or her arches bend;
+    Nor of a theme less solemn tells
+    That mighty surge that ebbs and swells,
+    And still between each awful pause,
+    From the high vault an answer draws,
+    In varied tone, prolonged and high,
+    That mocks the organ's melody;
+    Nor doth its entrance front in vain
+    To old Iona's holy fane,
+    That Nature's voice might seem to say,
+    Well hast thou done, frail child of clay!
+    Thy humble powers that stately shrine
+    Tasked high and hard--but witness mine!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+
+Abdalrahman, founder of the independent Ommiad (Saracenic) power
+in Spain, conquered at Tours by Charles Martel
+
+Aberfraw, scene of nuptials of Branwen and Matholch
+
+Absyrtus, younger brother of Medea
+
+Abydos, a town on the Hellespont, nearly opposite to Sestos
+
+Abyla, Mount, or Columna, a mountain in Morocco, near Ceuta, now
+called Jebel Musa or Ape's Hill, forming the Northwestern
+extremity of the African coast opposite Gibraltar (See Pillars of
+Hercules)
+
+Acestes, son of a Trojan woman who was sent by her father to
+Sicily, that she might not be devoured by the monsters which
+infested the territory of Troy
+
+Acetes, Bacchanal captured by Pentheus
+
+Achates, faithful friend and companion of Aeneas
+
+Achelous, river-god of the largest river in Greece--his Horn of
+Plenty
+
+Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, son of Peleus and of the Nereid
+Thetis, slain by Paris
+
+Acis, youth loved by Galatea and slain by Polyphemus
+
+Acontius, a beautiful youth, who fell in love with Cydippe, the
+daughter of a noble Athenian.
+
+Acrisius, son of Abas, king of Argos, grandson of Lynceus, the
+great-grandson of Danaus.
+
+Actaeon, a celebrated huntsman, son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, who,
+having seen Diana bathing, was changed by her to a stag and killed
+by his own dogs.
+
+Admeta, daughter of Eurystheus, covets Hippolyta's girdle.
+
+Admetus, king of Thessaly, saved from death by Alcestis
+
+Adonis, a youth beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), and Proserpine;
+killed by a boar.
+
+Adrastus, a king of Argos.
+
+Aeacus, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Aegina, renowned in all Greece
+for his justice and piety.
+
+Aeaea, Circe's island, visited by Ulysses.
+
+Aeetes, or Aeeta, son of Helios (the Sun) and Perseis, and father
+of Medea and Absyrtus.
+
+Aegeus, king of Athens.
+
+Aegina, a rocky island in the middle of the Saronic gulf.
+
+Aegis, shield or breastplate of Jupiter and Minerva.
+
+Aegisthus, murderer of Agamemnon, slain by Orestes.
+
+Aeneas, Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus), and
+born on Mount Ida, reputed first settler of Rome,
+
+Aeneid, poem by Virgil, relating the wanderings of Aeneas from
+Troy to Italy,
+
+Ae'olus, son of Hellen and the nymph Orseis, represented in Homer
+as the happy ruler of the Aeolian Islands, to whom Zeus had given
+dominion over the winds,
+
+Aesculapius, god of the medical art,
+
+Aeson, father of Jason, made young again by Medea,
+
+Aethiopians, inhabitants of the country south of Egypt,
+
+Aethra, mother of Theseus by Aegeus,
+
+Aetna, volcano in Sicily,
+
+Agamedes, brother of Trophonius, distinguished as an architect,
+
+Agamemnon, son of Plisthenis and grandson of Atreus, king of
+Mycenae, although the chief commander of the Greeks, is not the
+hero of the Iliad, and in chivalrous spirit altogether inferior to
+Achilles,
+
+Agave, daughter of Cadmus, wife of Echion, and mother of Pentheus,
+
+Agenor, father of Europa, Cadmus, Cilix, and Phoenix,
+
+Aglaia, one of the Graces,
+
+Agni, Hindu god of fire,
+
+Agramant, a king in Africa,
+
+Agrican, fabled king of Tartary, pursuing Angelica, finally killed
+by Orlando,
+
+Agrivain, one of Arthur's knights,
+
+Ahriman, the Evil Spirit in the dual system of Zoroaster, See
+Ormuzd
+
+Ajax, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, and grandson of Aeacus,
+represented in the Iliad as second only to Achilles in bravery,
+
+Alba, the river where King Arthur fought the Romans,
+
+Alba Longa, city in Italy founded by son of Aeneas,
+
+Alberich, dwarf guardian of Rhine gold treasure of the Nibelungs
+
+Albracca, siege of,
+
+Alcestis, wife of Admetus, offered hersell as sacrifice to spare
+her husband, but rescued by Hercules,
+
+Alcides (Hercules),
+
+Alcina, enchantress,
+
+Alcinous, Phaeacian king,
+
+Alcippe, daughter of Mars, carried off by Halirrhothrus,
+
+Alcmena, wife of Jupiter, and mother of Hercules,
+
+Alcuin, English prelate and scholar,
+
+Aldrovandus, dwarf guardian of treasure,
+
+Alecto, one of the Furies,
+
+Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of Greece,
+Egypt, Persia, Babylonia, and India,
+
+Alfadur, a name for Odin,
+
+Alfheim, abode of the elves of light,
+
+Alice, mother of Huon and Girard, sons of Duke Sevinus,
+
+Alphenor, son of Niobe,
+
+Alpheus, river god pursuing Arethusa, who escaped by being changed
+to a fountain,
+
+Althaea, mother of Meleager, whom she slew because he had in a
+quarrel killed her brothers, thus disgracing "the house of
+Thestius," her father,
+
+Amalthea, nurse of the infant Jupiter in Crete,
+
+Amata, wife of Latinus, driven mad by Alecto,
+
+Amaury of Hauteville, false hearted Knight of Charlemagne,
+
+Amazons, mythical race of warlike women,
+
+Ambrosia, celestial food used by the gods,
+
+Ammon, Egyptian god of life identified by Romans with phases of
+Jupiter, the father of gods,
+
+Amphiaraus, a great prophet and hero at Argos,
+
+Amphion, a musician, son of Jupiter and Antiope (See Dirce),
+
+Amphitrite, wife of Neptune,
+
+Amphyrsos, a small river in Thessaly,
+
+Ampyx, assailant of Perseus, turned to stone by seeing Gorgon's
+head,
+
+Amrita, nectar giving immortality,
+
+Amun, See Ammon
+
+Amymone, one of the fifty daughters of Danaus, and mother by
+Poseidon (Neptune) of Nauplius, the father of Palamedes,
+
+Anaxarete, a maiden of Cyprus, who treated her lover Iphis with
+such haughtiness that he hanged himself at her door,
+
+Anbessa, Saracenic governor of Spain (725 AD),
+
+Anceus, one of the Argonauts,
+
+Anchises, beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), by whom he became the
+father of Aeneas,
+
+Andraemon, husband of Dryope, saw her changed into a tree,
+
+Andret, a cowardly knight, spy upon Tristram,
+
+Andromache, wife of Hector
+
+Andromeda, daughter of King Cephas, delivered from monster by
+Perseus
+
+Aneurin, Welsh bard
+
+Angelica, Princess of Cathay
+
+Anemone, short lived wind flower, created by Venus from the blood
+of the slain Adonis
+
+Angerbode, giant prophetess, mother of Fenris, Hela and the
+Midgard Serpent
+
+Anglesey, a Northern British island, refuge of Druids fleeing from
+Romans
+
+Antaeus, giant wrestler of Libya, killed by Hercules, who, finding
+him stronger when thrown to the earth, lifted him into the air and
+strangled him
+
+Antea, wife of jealous Proetus
+
+Antenor, descendants of, in Italy
+
+Anteros, deity avenging unrequited love, brother of Eros (Cupid)
+
+Anthor, a Greek
+
+Antigone, daughter of Aedipus, Greek ideal of filial and sisterly
+fidelity
+
+Antilochus, son of Nestor
+
+Antiope, Amazonian queen. See Dirce
+
+Anubis, Egyptian god, conductor of the dead to judgment
+
+Apennines
+
+Aphrodite See Venus, Dione, etc.
+
+Apis, Egyptian bull god of Memphis
+
+Apollo, god of music and song
+
+Apollo Belvedere, famous antique statue in Vatican at Rome
+
+Apples of the Hesperides, wedding gifts to Juno, guarded by
+daughters of Atlas and Hesperis, stolen by Atlas for Hercules,
+
+Aquilo, or Boreas, the North Wind,
+
+Aquitaine, ancient province of Southwestern France,
+
+Arachne, a maiden skilled in weaving, changed to a spider by
+Minerva for daring to compete with her,
+
+Arcadia, a country in the middle of Peloponnesus, surrounded on
+all sides by mountains,
+
+Arcady, star of, the Pole star,
+
+Arcas, son of Jupiter and Callisto,
+
+Archer, constellation of the,
+
+Areopagus, court of the, at Athens,
+
+Ares, called Mars by the Romans, the Greek god of war, and one of
+the great Olympian gods,
+
+Arethusa, nymph of Diana, changed to a fountain,
+
+Argius king of Ireland, father of Isoude the Fair,
+
+Argo, builder of the vessel of Jason for the Argonautic
+expedition,
+
+Argolis, city of the Nemean games,
+
+Argonauts, Jason's crew seeking the Golden Fleece,
+
+Argos, a kingdom in Greece,
+
+Argus, of the hundred eyes, guardian of Io,
+
+Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, who helped Theseus slay the
+Minotaur,
+
+Arimanes SEE Ahriman.
+
+Arimaspians, one-eyed people of Syria,
+
+Arion, famous musician, whom sailors cast into the sea to rob him,
+but whose lyric song charmed the dolphins, one of which bore him
+safely to land,
+
+Aristaeus, the bee keeper, in love with Eurydice,
+
+Armorica, another name for Britain,
+
+Arridano, a magical ruffian, slain by Orlando,
+
+Artemis SEE Diana
+
+Arthgallo, brother of Elidure, British king,
+
+Arthur, king in Britain about the 6th century,
+
+Aruns, an Etruscan who killed Camilla,
+
+Asgard, home of the Northern gods,
+
+Ashtaroth, a cruel spirit, called by enchantment to bring Rinaldo
+to death,
+
+Aske, the first man, made from an ash tree,
+
+Astolpho of England, one of Charlemagne's knights,
+
+Astraea, goddess of justice, daughter of Astraeus and Eos,
+
+Astyages, an assailant of Perseus,
+
+Astyanax, son of Hector of Troy, established kingdom of Messina in
+Italy,
+
+Asuias, opponents of the Braminical gods,
+
+Atalanta, beautiful daughter of King of Icaria, loved and won in a
+foot race by Hippomenes,
+
+Ate, the goddess of infatuation, mischief and guilt,
+
+Athamas, son of Aeolus and Enarete, and king of Orchomenus, in
+Boeotia, SEE Ino
+
+Athene, tutelary goddess of Athens, the same as Minerva,
+
+Athens, the capital of Attica, about four miles from the sea,
+between the small rivers Cephissus and Ilissus,
+
+Athor, Egyptian deity, progenitor of Isis and Osiris,
+
+Athos, the mountainous peninsula, also called Acte, which projects
+from Chalcidice in Macedonia,
+
+Atlantes, foster father of Rogero, a powerful magician,
+
+Atlantis, according to an ancient tradition, a great island west
+of the Pillars of Hercules, in the ocean, opposite Mount Atlas,
+
+Atlas, a Titan, who bore the heavens on his shoulders, as
+punishment for opposing the gods, one of the sons of Iapetus,
+
+Atlas, Mount, general name for range in northern Africa,
+
+Atropos, one of the Fates
+
+Attica, a state in ancient Greece,
+
+Audhumbla, the cow from which the giant Ymir was nursed. Her milk
+was frost melted into raindrops,
+
+Augean stables, cleansed by Hercules,
+
+Augeas, king of Elis,
+
+Augustan age, reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, famed for
+many great authors,
+
+Augustus, the first imperial Caesar, who ruled the Roman Empire 31
+BC--14 AD,
+
+Aulis, port in Boeotia, meeting place of Greek expedition against
+Troy,
+
+Aurora, identical with Eos, goddess of the dawn,
+
+Aurora Borealis, splendid nocturnal luminosity in northern sky,
+called Northern Lights, probably electrical,
+
+Autumn, attendant of Phoebus, the Sun,
+
+Avalon, land of the Blessed, an earthly paradise in the Western
+Seas, burial place of King Arthur,
+
+Avatar, name for any of the earthly incarnations of Vishnu, the
+Preserver (Hindu god),
+
+Aventine, Mount, one of the Seven Hills of Rome,
+
+Avernus, a miasmatic lake close to the promontory between Cumae
+and Puteoli, filling the crater of an extinct volcano, by the
+ancients thought to be the entrance to the infernal regions,
+
+Avicenna, celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher,
+
+Aya, mother of Rinaldo,
+
+Aymon, Duke, father of Rinaldo and Bradamante,
+
+B
+
+Baal, king of Tyre,
+
+Babylonian River, dried up when Phaeton drove the sun chariot,
+
+Bacchanali a, a feast to Bacchus that was permitted to occur but
+once in three years, attended by most shameless orgies,
+
+Bacchanals, devotees and festal dancers of Bacchus,
+
+Bacchus (Dionysus), god of wine and revelry,
+
+Badon, battle of, Arthur's final victory over the Saxons,
+
+Bagdemagus, King, a knight of Arthur's time,
+
+Baldur, son of Odin, and representing in Norse mythology the sun
+god,
+
+Balisardo, Orlando's sword,
+
+Ban, King of Brittany, ally of Arthur, father of Launcelot,
+
+Bards, minstrels of Welsh Druids,
+
+Basilisk SEE Cockatrice
+
+Baucis, wife of Philemon, visited by Jupiter and Mercury,
+
+Bayard, wild horse subdued by Rinaldo,
+
+Beal, Druids' god of life,
+
+Bedivere, Arthur's knight,
+
+Bedver, King Arthur's butler, made governor of Normandy,
+
+Bedwyr, knightly comrade of Geraint,
+
+Belisarda, Rogero's sword,
+
+Bellerophon, demigod, conqueror of the Chimaera,
+
+Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, represented as the sister or
+wife of Mars,
+
+Beltane, Druidical fire festival,
+
+Belus, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Libya or Eurynome, twin
+brother of Agenor,
+
+Bendigeid Vran, King of Britain,
+
+Beowulf, hero and king of the Swedish Geats,
+
+Beroe, nurse of Semele,
+
+Bertha, mother of Orlando,
+
+Bifrost, rainbow bridge between the earth and Asgard
+
+Bladud, inventor, builder of the city of Bath,
+
+Blamor, a knight of Arthur,
+
+Bleoberis, a knight of Arthur,
+
+Boeotia, state in ancient Greece, capital city Thebes,
+
+Bohort, King, a knight of Arthur,
+
+Bona Dea, a Roman divinity of fertility,
+
+Bootes, also called Areas, son of Jupiter and Calisto, changed to
+constellation of Ursa Major,
+
+Boreas, North wind, son of Aeolus and Aurora,
+
+Bosporus (Bosphorus), the Cow-ford, named for Io, when as a heifer
+she crossed that strait,
+
+Bradamante, sister to Rinaldo, a female warrior,
+
+Brademagus, King, father of Sir Maleagans,
+
+Bragi, Norse god of poetry,
+
+Brahma, the Creator, chief god of Hindu religion,
+
+Branwen, daughter of Llyr, King of Britain, wife of Mathclch,
+
+Breciliande, forest of, where Vivian enticed Merlin,
+
+Brengwain, maid of Isoude the Fair
+
+Brennus, son of Molmutius, went to Gaul, became King of the
+Allobroges,
+
+Breuse, the Pitiless, a caitiff knight,
+
+Briareus, hundred armed giant,
+
+Brice, Bishop, sustainer of Arthur when elected king,
+
+Brigliadoro, Orlando's horse,
+
+Briseis, captive maid belonging to Achilles,
+
+Britto, reputed ancestor of British people,
+
+Bruhier, Sultan of Arabia,
+
+Brunello, dwarf, thief, and king
+
+Brunhild, leader of the Valkyrie,
+
+Brutus, great grandson of Aeneas, and founder of city of New Troy
+(London), SEE Pandrasus
+
+Bryan, Sir, a knight of Arthur,
+
+Buddha, called The Enlightened, reformer of Brahmanism, deified
+teacher of self abnegation, virtue, reincarnation, Karma
+(inevitable sequence of every act), and Nirvana (beatific
+absorption into the Divine), lived about
+
+Byblos, in Egypt,
+
+Byrsa, original site of Carthage,
+
+C
+
+Cacus, gigantic son of Vulcan, slain by Hercules, whose captured
+cattle he stole,
+
+Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and of Telephassa, and
+brother of Europa, who, seeking his sister, carried off by
+Jupiter, had strange adventures--sowing in the ground teeth of a
+dragon he had killed, which sprang up armed men who slew each
+other, all but five, who helped Cadmus to found the city of
+Thebes,
+
+Caduceus, Mercury's staff,
+
+Cadwallo, King of Venedotia (North Wales),
+
+Caerleon, traditional seat of Arthur's court,
+
+Caesar, Julius, Roman lawyer, general, statesman and author,
+conquered and consolidated Roman territory, making possible the
+Empire,
+
+Caicus, a Greek river,
+
+Cairns, Druidical store piles,
+
+Calais, French town facing England,
+
+Calchas, wisest soothsayer among the Greeks at Troy,
+
+Caliburn, a sword of Arthur,
+
+Calliope, one of the nine Muses
+
+Callisto, an Arcadian nymph, mother of Arcas (SEE Bootes), changed
+by Jupiter to constellation Ursa Minor,
+
+Calpe, a mountain in the south of Spain, on the strait between the
+Atlantic and Mediterranean, now Rock of Gibraltar,
+
+Calydon, home of Meleager,
+
+Calypso, queen of Island of Ogyia, where Ulysses was wrecked and
+held seven years,
+
+Camber, son of Brutus, governor of West Albion (Wales),
+
+Camelot, legendary place in England where Arthur's court and
+palace were located,
+
+Camenae, prophetic nymphs, belonging to the religion of ancient
+Italy,
+
+Camilla, Volscian maiden, huntress and Amazonian warrior, favorite
+of Diana,
+
+Camlan, battle of, where Arthur was mortally wounded,
+
+Canterbury, English city,
+
+Capaneus, husband of Evadne, slain by Jupiter for disobedience,
+
+Capet, Hugh, King of France (987-996 AD),
+
+Caradoc Briefbras, Sir, great nephew of King Arthur,
+
+Carahue, King of Mauretania,
+
+Carthage, African city, home of Dido
+
+Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, and twin sister of
+Helenus, a prophetess, who foretold the coming of the Greeks but
+was not believed,
+
+Cassibellaunus, British chieftain, fought but not conquered by
+Caesar,
+
+Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda,
+
+Castalia, fountain of Parnassus, giving inspiration to Oracular
+priestess named Pythia,
+
+Castalian Cave, oracle of Apollo,
+
+Castes (India),
+
+Castor and Pollux--the Dioscuri, sons of Jupiter and Leda,--
+Castor a horseman, Pollux a boxer (SEE Gemini),
+
+Caucasus, Mount
+
+Cavall, Arthur's favorite dog,
+
+Cayster, ancient river,
+
+Cebriones, Hector's charioteer,
+
+Cecrops, first king of Athens,
+
+Celestials, gods of classic mythology,
+
+Celeus, shepherd who sheltered Ceres, seeking Proserpine, and
+whose infant son Triptolemus was in gratitude made great by Ceres,
+
+Cellini, Benvenuto, famous Italian sculptor and artificer in
+metals,
+
+Celtic nations, ancient Gauls and Britons, modern Bretons, Welsh,
+Irish and Gaelic Scotch,
+
+Centaurs, originally an ancient race, inhabiting Mount Pelion in
+Thessaly, in later accounts represented as half horses and half
+men, and said to have been the offspring of Ixion and a cloud,
+
+Cephalus, husband of beautiful but jealous Procris,
+
+Cephe us, King of Ethiopians, father of Andromeda,
+
+Cephisus, a Grecian stream,
+
+Cerberus, three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades,
+called a son of Typhaon and Echidna
+
+CERES (See Demeter)
+
+CESTUS, the girdle of Venus
+
+CEYX, King of Thessaly (See Halcyone)
+
+CHAOS, original Confusion, personified by Greeks as most ancient
+of the gods
+
+CHARLEMAGNE, king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans
+
+CHARLES MARTEL', king of the Franks, grandfather of Charlemagne,
+called Martel (the Hammer) from his defeat of the Saracens at
+Tours
+
+CHARLOT, son of Charlemagne
+
+CHARON, son of Erebos, conveyed in his boat the shades of the dead
+across the rivers of the lower world
+
+CHARYB'DIS, whirlpool near the coast of Sicily, See Scylla
+
+CHIMAERA, a fire breathing monster, the fore part of whose body
+was that of a lion, the hind part that of a dragon, and the middle
+that of a goat, slain by Bellerophon
+
+CHINA, Lamas (priests) of
+
+CHOS, island in the Grecian archipelago
+
+CHIRON, wisest of all the Centaurs, son of Cronos (Saturn) and
+Philyra, lived on Mount Pelion, instructor of Grecian heroes
+
+CHRYSEIS, Trojan maid, taken by Agamemnon
+
+CHRYSES, priest of Apollo, father of Chryseis
+
+CICONIANS, inhabitants of Ismarus, visited by Ulysses
+
+CIMBRI, an ancient people of Central Europe
+
+Cimmeria, a land of darkness
+
+Cimon, Athenian general
+
+Circe, sorceress, sister of Aeetes
+
+Cithaeron, Mount, scene of Bacchic worship
+
+Clarimunda, wife of Huon
+
+Clio, one of the Muses
+
+Cloridan, a Moor
+
+Clotho, one of the Fates
+
+Clymene, an ocean nymph
+
+Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, killed by Orestes
+
+Clytie, a water nymph, in love with Apollo
+
+Cnidos, ancient city of Asia Minor, seat of worship of Aphrodite
+(Venus)
+
+Cockatrice (or Basilisk), called King of Serpents, supposed to
+kill with its look
+
+Cocytus, a river of Hades
+
+Colchis, a kingdom east of the Black Sea
+
+Colophon, one of the seven cities claiming the birth of Homer
+
+Columba, St, an Irish Christian missionary to Druidical parts of
+Scotland
+
+Conan, Welsh king
+
+Constantine, Greek emperor
+
+Cordeilla, daughter of the mythical King Leir
+
+Corineus, a Trojan warrior in Albion
+
+Cornwall, southwest part of Britain
+
+Cortana, Ogier's sword
+
+Corybantes, priests of Cybele, or Rhea, in Phrygia, who
+celebrated her worship with dances, to the sound of the drum and
+the cymbal, 143
+
+Crab, constellation
+
+Cranes and their enemies, the Pygmies, of Ibycus
+
+Creon, king of Thebes
+
+Crete, one of the largest islands of the Mediterranean Sea, lying
+south of the Cyclades
+
+Creusa, daughter of Priam, wife of Aeneas
+
+Crocale, a nymph of Diana
+
+Cromlech, Druidical altar
+
+Cronos, See Saturn
+
+Crotona, city of Italy
+
+Cuchulain, Irish hero, called the "Hound of Ireland,"
+
+Culdees', followers of St. Columba, Cumaean Sibyl, seeress
+of Cumae, consulted by Aeneas, sold Sibylline books to Tarquin
+
+Cupid, child of Venus and god of love
+
+Curoi of Kerry, wise man
+
+Cyane, river, opposed Pluto's passage to Hades
+
+Cybele (Rhea)
+
+Cyclopes, creatures with circular eyes, of whom Homer speaks as a
+gigantic and lawless race of shepherds in Sicily, who devoured
+human beings, they helped Vulcan to forge the thunderbolts of Zeus
+under Aetna
+
+Cymbeline, king of ancient Britain
+
+Cynosure (Dog's tail), the Pole star, at tail of Constellation
+Ursa Minor
+
+Cynthian mountain top, birthplace of Artemis (Diana) and Apollo
+
+Cyprus, island off the coast of Syria, sacred to Aphrodite
+
+Cyrene, a nymph, mother of Aristaeus
+
+Daedalus, architect of the Cretan Labyrinth, inventor of sails
+
+Daguenet, King Arthur's fool
+
+Dalai Lama, chief pontiff of Thibet
+
+Danae, mother of Perseus by Jupiter
+
+Danaides, the fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Argos, who were
+betrothed to the fifty sons of Aegyptus, but were commanded by
+their father to slay each her own husband on the marriage night
+
+Danaus (See Danaides)
+
+Daphne, maiden loved by Apollo, and changed into a laurel tree
+
+Dardanelles, ancient Hellespont
+
+Dardanus, progenitor of the Trojan kings
+
+Dardinel, prince of Zumara
+
+Dawn, See Aurora
+
+Day, an attendant on Phoebus, the Sun
+
+Day star (Hesperus)
+
+Death, See Hela
+
+Deiphobus, son of Priam and Hecuba, the bravest brother of Paris
+
+Dejanira, wife of Hercules
+
+Delos, floating island, birthplace of Apollo and Diana
+
+Delphi, shrine of Apollo, famed for its oracles
+
+Demeter, Greek goddess of marriage and human fertility, identified
+by Romans with Ceres
+
+Demeha, South Wales
+
+Demodocus, bard of Alomous, king of the Phaeaeians
+
+Deucalion, king of Thessaly, who with his wife Pyrrha were the
+only pair surviving a deluge sent by Zeus
+
+Dia, island of
+
+Diana (Artemis), goddess of the moon and of the chase, daughter of
+Jupiter and Latona
+
+Diana of the Hind, antique sculpture in the Louvre, Paris
+
+Diana, temple of
+
+Dictys, a sailor
+
+Didier, king of the Lombards
+
+Dido, queen of Tyre and Carthage, entertained the shipwrecked
+Aeneas
+
+Diomede, Greek hero during Trojan War
+
+Dione, female Titan, mother of Zeus, of Aphrodite (Venus)
+
+Dionysus See Bacchus
+
+Dioscuri, the Twins (See Castor and Pollux)
+
+Dirce, wife of Lycus, king of Thebes, who ordered Amphion and
+Zethus to tie Antiope to a wild bull, but they, learning Antiope
+to be their mother, so treated Dirce herself
+
+Dis See Pluto
+
+Discord, apple of, See Eris.
+
+Discordia, See Eris.
+
+Dodona, site of an oracle of Zeus (Jupiter)
+
+Dorceus, a dog of Diana
+
+Doris, wife of Nereus
+
+Dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus
+
+Druids, ancient Celtic priests
+
+Dryades (or Dryads), See Wood nymphs
+
+Dryope, changed to a lotus plant, for plucking a lotus--enchanted
+form of the nymph Lotis
+
+Dubricius, bishop of Caerleon,
+
+Dudon, a knight, comrade of Astolpho,
+
+Dunwallo Molmu'tius, British king and lawgiver
+
+Durindana, sword of Orlando or Rinaldo
+
+Dwarfs in Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
+
+E
+
+Earth (Gaea); goddess of the
+
+Ebudians, the
+
+Echo, nymph of Diana, shunned by Narcissus, faded to nothing but a
+voice
+
+Ecklenlied, the
+
+Eddas, Norse mythological records,
+
+Ederyn, son of Nudd
+
+Egena, nymph of the Fountain
+
+Eisteddfod, session of Welsh bards and minstrels
+
+Electra, the lost one of the Pleiades, also, sister of Orestes
+
+Eleusian Mysteries, instituted by Ceres, and calculated to awaken
+feelings of piety and a cheerful hope of better life in the future
+
+Eleusis, Grecian city
+
+Elgin Marbles, Greek sculptures from the Parthenon of Athens, now
+in British Museum, London, placed there by Lord Elgin
+
+Eliaures, enchanter
+
+Elidure, a king of Britain
+
+Elis, ancient Greek city
+
+Elli, old age; the one successful wrestler against Thor
+
+Elphin, son of Gwyddiro
+
+Elves, spiritual beings, of many powers and dispositions--some
+evil, some good
+
+Elvidnir, the ball of Hela
+
+Elysian Fields, the land of the blest
+
+Elysian Plain, whither the favored of the gods were taken without
+death
+
+Elysium, a happy land, where there is neither snow, nor cold, nor
+ram. Hither favored heroes, like Menelaus, pass without dying, and
+live happy under the rule of Rhadamanthus. In the Latin poets
+Elysium is part of the lower world, and the residence of the
+shades of the blessed
+
+Embla, the first woman
+
+Enseladus, giant defeated by Jupiter
+
+Endymion, a beautiful youth beloved by Diana
+
+Enid, wife of Geraint
+
+Enna, vale of home of Proserpine
+
+Enoch, the patriarch
+
+Epidaurus, a town in Argolis, on the Saronic gulf, chief seat of
+the worship of Aeculapius, whose temple was situated near the town
+
+Epimetheus, son of Iapetus, husband of Pandora, with his brother
+Prometheus took part in creation of man
+
+Epirus, country to the west of Thessaly, lying along the Adriatic
+Sea
+
+Epopeus, a sailor
+
+Erato, one of the Muses
+
+Erbin of Cornwall, father of Geraint
+
+Erebus, son of Chaos, region of darkness, entrance to Hades
+
+Eridanus, river
+
+Erinys, one of the Furies
+
+Eriphyle, sister of Polynices, bribed to decide on war, in which
+her husband was slain
+
+Eris (Discordia), goddess of discord. At the wedding of Peleus and
+Thetis, Eris being uninvited threw into the gathering an apple
+"For the Fairest," which was claimed by Hera (Juno), Aphrodite
+(Venus) and Athena (Minerva) Paris, being called upon for
+judgment, awarded it to Aphrodite
+
+Erisichthon, an unbeliever, punished by famine
+
+Eros See Cupid
+
+Erytheia, island
+
+Eryx, a mount, haunt of Venus
+
+Esepus, river in Paphlagonia
+
+Estrildis, wife of Locrine, supplanting divorced Guendolen
+
+Eteocles, son of Oeipus and Jocasta
+
+Etruscans, ancient people of Italy,
+
+Etzel, king of the Huns
+
+Euboic Sea, where Hercules threw Lichas, who brought him the
+poisoned shirt of Nessus
+
+Eude, king of Aquitaine, ally of Charles Martel
+
+Eumaeus, swineherd of Aeeas
+
+Eumenides, also called Erinnyes, and by the Romans Furiae or
+Diraae, the Avenging Deities, See Furies
+
+Euphorbus, a Trojan, killed by Menelaus
+
+Euphros'yne, one of the Graces
+
+Europa, daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor, by Zeus the mother
+of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon
+
+Eurus, the East wind
+
+Euyalus, a gallant Trojan soldier, who with Nisus entered the
+Grecian camp, both being slain,
+
+Eurydice, wife of Orpheus, who, fleeing from an admirer, was
+killed by a snake and borne to Tartarus, where Orpheus sought her
+and was permitted to bring her to earth if he would not look back
+at her following him, but he did, and she returned to the Shades,
+
+Eurylochus, a companion of Ulysses,
+
+Eurynome, female Titan, wife of Ophlon
+
+Eurystheus, taskmaster of Hercules,
+
+Eurytion, a Centaur (See Hippodamia),
+
+Euterpe, Muse who presided over music,
+
+Evadne, wife of Capaneus, who flung herself upon his funeral pile
+and perished with him
+
+Evander, Arcadian chief, befriending Aeneas in Italy,
+
+Evnissyen, quarrelsome brother of Branwen,
+
+Excalibar, sword of King Arthur,
+
+F
+
+Fafner, a giant turned dragon, treasure stealer, by the Solar
+Theory simply the Darkness who steals the day,
+
+Falerina, an enchantress,
+
+Fasolt, a giant, brother of Fafner, and killed by him,
+
+"Fasti," Ovid's, a mythological poetic calendar,
+
+FATA MORGANA, a mirage
+
+FATES, the three, described as daughters of Night--to indicate the
+darkness and obscurity of human destiny--or of Zeus and Themis,
+that is, "daughters of the just heavens" they were Clo'tho, who
+spun the thread of life, Lach'esis, who held the thread and fixed
+its length and At'ropos, who cut it off
+
+FAUNS, cheerful sylvan deities, represented in human form, with
+small horns, pointed ears, and sometimes goat's tail
+
+FAUNUS, son of Picus, grandson of Saturnus, and father of Latinus,
+worshipped as the protecting deity of agriculture and of
+shepherds, and also as a giver of oracles
+
+FAVONIUS, the West wind
+
+FEAR
+
+FENRIS, a wolf, the son of Loki the Evil Principle of Scandinavia,
+supposed to have personated the element of fire, destructive
+except when chained
+
+FENSALIR, Freya's palace, called the Hall of the Sea, where were
+brought together lovers, husbands, and wives who had been
+separated by death
+
+FERRAGUS, a giant, opponent of Orlando
+
+FERRAU, one of Charlemagne's knights
+
+FERREX. brother of Porrex, the two sons of Leir
+
+FIRE WORSHIPPERS, of ancient Persia, See Parsees FLOLLO, Roman
+tribune in Gaul
+
+FLORA, Roman goddess of flowers and spring
+
+FLORDELIS, fair maiden beloved by Florismart
+
+FLORISMART, Sir, a brave knight,
+
+FLOSSHILDA, one of the Rhine daughters
+
+FORTUNATE FIELDS
+
+FORTUNATE ISLANDS (See Elysian Plain)
+
+FORUM, market place and open square for public meetings in Rome,
+surrounded by court houses, palaces, temples, etc
+
+FRANCUS, son of Histion, grandson of Japhet, great grandson of
+Noah, legendary ancestor of the Franks, or French
+
+FREKI, one of Odin's two wolves
+
+FREY, or Freyr, god of the sun
+
+FREYA, Norse goddess of music, spring, and flowers
+
+FRICKA, goddess of marriage
+
+FRIGGA, goddess who presided over smiling nature, sending
+sunshine, rain, and harvest
+
+FROH, one of the Norse gods
+
+FRONTI'NO, Rogero's horse
+
+FURIES (Erinnyes), the three retributive spirits who punished
+crime, represented as snaky haired old woman, named Alecto,
+Megaeira, and Tisiphone
+
+FUSBERTA, Rinaldo's sword
+
+G
+
+GAEA, or Ge, called Tellus by the Romans, the personification of
+the earth, described as the first being that sprang fiom Chaos,
+and gave birth to Uranus (Heaven) and Pontus (Sea)
+
+GAHARIET, knight of Arthur's court
+
+GAHERIS, knight
+
+GALAFRON, King of Cathay, father of Angelica
+
+GALAHAD, Sir, the pure knight of Arthur's Round Table, who safely
+took the Siege Perilous (which See)
+
+GALATEA, a Nereid or sea nymph
+
+GALATEA, statue carved and beloved by Pygmalion
+
+GALEN, Greek physician and philosophical writer
+
+GALLEHANT, King of the Marches
+
+GAMES, national athletic contests in Greece--Olympian, at Olympia,
+Pythian, near Delphi, seat of Apollo's oracle, Isthmian, on the
+Corinthian Isthmus, Nemean, at Nemea in Argolis
+
+GAN, treacherous Duke of Maganza
+
+GANELON of Mayence, one of Charlemagne's knights
+
+GANGES, river in India
+
+GANO, a peer of Charlemagne
+
+GANYMEDE, the most beautiful of all mortals, carried off to
+Olympus that he might fill the cup of Zeus and live among the
+immortal gods
+
+GARETH, Arthur's knight
+
+GAUDISSO, Sultan
+
+GAUL, ancient France
+
+GAUTAMA, Prince, the Buddha
+
+GAWAIN, Arthur's knight
+
+GAWL, son of Clud, suitor for Rhiannon
+
+GEMINI (See Castor), constellation created by Jupiter from the
+twin brothers after death, 158
+
+GENGHIS Khan, Tartar conqueror
+
+GENIUS, in Roman belief, the protective Spirit of each individual
+man, See Juno
+
+GEOFFREY OF MON'MOUTH, translator into Latin of the Welsh History
+of the Kings of Britain (1150)
+
+GERAINT, a knight of King Arthur
+
+GERDA, wife of Frey
+
+GERI, one of Odin's two wolves
+
+GERYON, a three bodied monster
+
+GESNES, navigator sent for Isoude the Fair
+
+GIALLAR HORN, the trumpet that Heimdal will blow at the judgment
+day
+
+GIANTS, beings of monstrous size and of fearful countenances,
+represented as in constant opposition to the gods, in Wagner's
+Nibelungen Ring
+
+GIBICHUNG RACE, ancestors of Alberich
+
+GIBRALTAR, great rock and town at southwest corner of Spain (See
+Pillars of Hercules)
+
+GILDAS, a scholar of Arthur's court
+
+GIRARD, son of Duke Sevinus
+
+GLASTONBURY, where Arthur died
+
+GLAUCUS, a fisherman, loving Scylla
+
+GLEIPNIR, magical chain on the wolf Fenris
+
+GLEWLWYD, Arthur's porter
+
+GOLDEN FLEECE, of ram used for escape of children of Athamas,
+named Helle and Phryxus (which See), after sacrifice of ram to
+Jupiter, fleece was guarded by sleepless dragon and gained by
+Jason and Argonauts (which See, also Helle)
+
+GONERIL, daughter of Leir
+
+GORDIAN KNOT, tying up in temple the wagon of Gordius, he who
+could untie it being destined to be lord of Asia, it was cut by
+Alexander the Great, 48
+
+Gordius, a countryman who, arriving in Phrygia in a wagon, was
+made king by the people, thus interpreting an oracle, 48
+
+Gorgons, three monstrous females, with huge teeth, brazen claws
+and snakes for hair, sight of whom turned beholders to stone,
+Medusa, the most famous, slain by Perseus
+
+Gorlois, Duke of Tintadel
+
+Gouvernail, squire of Isabella, queen of Lionesse, protector of
+her son Tristram while young, and his squire in knighthood
+
+Graal, the Holy, cup from which the Saviour drank at Last Supper,
+taken by Joseph of Arimathea to Europe, and lost, its recovery
+becoming a sacred quest for Arthur's knights
+
+Graces, three goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by
+refinement and gentleness; they were Aglaia (brilliance),
+Euphrosyne (joy), and Thalia (bloom)
+
+Gradas'so, king of Sericane
+
+Graeae, three gray haired female watchers for the Gorgons, with
+one movable eye and one tooth between the three
+
+Grand Lama, Buddhist pontiff in Thibet
+
+Grendel, monster slain by Beowulf
+
+Gryphon (griffin), a fabulous animal, with the body of a lion and
+the head and wings of an eagle, dwelling in the Rhipaean
+mountains, between the Hyperboreans and the one eyed Arimaspians,
+and guarding the gold of the North,
+
+Guebers, Persian fire worshippers,
+
+Guendolen, wife of Locrine,
+
+Guenevere, wife of King Arthur, beloved by Launcelot,
+
+Guerin, lord of Vienne, father of Oliver,
+
+Guiderius, son of Cymbeline,
+
+Guillamurius, king in Ireland,
+
+Guimier, betrothed of Caradoc,
+
+Gullinbursti, the boar drawing Frey's car,
+
+Gulltopp, Heimdell's horse,
+
+Gunfasius, King of the Orkneys,
+
+Ganther, Burgundian king, brother of Kriemhild,
+
+Gutrune, half sister to Hagen,
+
+Gwern son of Matholch and Branwen,
+
+Gwernach the Giant,
+
+Gwiffert Petit, ally of Geraint,
+
+Gwyddno, Garanhir, King of Gwaelod,
+
+Gwyr, judge in the court of Arthur,
+
+Gyoll, river,
+
+H
+
+Hades, originally the god of the nether world--the name later
+used to designate the gloomy subterranean land of the dead,
+
+Haemon, son of Creon of Thebes, and lover of Antigone,
+
+Haemonian city,
+
+Haemus, Mount, northern boundary of Thrace,
+
+Hagan, a principal character in the Nibelungen Lied, slayer of
+Siegfried,
+
+HALCYONE, daughter of Aeneas, and the beloved wife of Ceyx, who,
+when he was drowned, flew to his floating body, and the pitying
+gods changed them both to birds (kingfishers), who nest at sea
+during a certain calm week in winter ("halcyon weather")
+
+HAMADRYADS, tree-nymphs or wood-nymphs, See Nymphs
+
+HARMONIA, daughter of Mars and Venus, wife of Cadmus
+
+HAROUN AL RASCHID, Caliph of Arabia, contemporary of Charlemagne
+
+HARPIES, monsters, with head and bust of woman, but wings, legs
+and tail of birds, seizing souls of the wicked, or punishing
+evildoers by greedily snatching or defiling their food
+
+HARPOCRATES, Egyptian god, Horus
+
+HEBE, daughter of Juno, cupbearer to the gods
+
+HEBRUS, ancient name of river Maritzka
+
+HECATE, a mighty and formidable divinity, supposed to send at
+night all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms from the lower
+world
+
+HECTOR, son of Priam and champion of Troy
+
+HECTOR, one of Arthur's knights
+
+HECTOR DE MARYS', a knight
+
+HECUBA, wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore Hector,
+Paris, and many other children
+
+HEGIRA, flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina (622 AD), era from
+which Mahometans reckon time, as we do from the birth of Christ
+
+HEIDRUN, she goat, furnishing mead for slain heroes in Valhalla
+
+HEIMDALL, watchman of the gods
+
+HEL, the lower world of Scandinavia, to which were consigned those
+who had not died in battle
+
+HELA (Death), the daughter of Loki and the mistress of the
+Scandinavian Hel
+
+HELEN, daughter of Jupiter and Leda, wife of Menelaus, carried
+off by Paris and cause of the Trojan War
+
+HELENUS, son of Priam and Hecuba, celebrated for his prophetic
+powers
+
+HELIADES, sisters of Phaeton
+
+HELICON, Mount, in Greece, residence of Apollo and the Muses,
+with fountains of poetic inspiration, Aganippe and Hippocrene
+
+HELIOOPOLIS, city of the Sun, in Egypt
+
+HELLAS, Gieece
+
+HELLE, daughter of Thessalian King Athamas, who, escaping from
+cruel father with her brother Phryxus, on ram with golden fleece,
+fell into the sea strait since named for her (See Golden Fleece)
+
+HELLESPONt, narrow strait between Europe and Asia Minor, named for
+Helle
+
+HENGIST, Saxon invader of Britain, 449 AD
+
+HEPHAESTOS, See VULCAN
+
+HERA, called Juno by the Romans, a daughter of Cronos (Saturn)
+and Rhea, and sister and wife of Jupiter, See JUNO
+
+HERCULES, athletic hero, son of Jupiter and Alcmena, achieved
+twelve vast labors and many famous deeds
+
+HEREWARD THE WAKE, hero of the Saxons
+
+HERMES (Mercury), messenger of the gods, deity of commerce,
+science, eloquence, trickery, theft, and skill generally
+
+HERMIONE, daughter of Menelaus and Helen
+
+HERMOD, the nimble, son of Odin
+
+HERO, a priestess of Venus, beloved of Leander
+
+HERODOTUS, Greek historian
+
+HESIOD, Greek poet
+
+HESPERIA, ancient name for Italy
+
+HESPERIDES (See Apples of the Hesperides)
+
+HESPERUS, the evening star (also called Day Star)
+
+HESTIA, cilled Vesta by the Romans, the goddess of the hearth
+
+HILDEBRAND, German magician and champion
+
+HINDU TRIAD, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva
+
+HIPPOCRENE (See Helicon)
+
+HIPPODAMIA, wife of Pirithous, at whose wedding the Centaurs
+offered violence to the bride, causing a great battle
+
+HIPPOGRIFF, winged horse, with eagle's head and claws
+
+HIPPOLYTA, Queen of the Amazons
+
+Hippolytus, son of Thesus
+
+HIPPOMENES, who won Atalanta in foot race, beguiling her with
+golden apples thrown for her to
+
+HISTION, son of Japhet
+
+HODUR, blind man, who, fooled by
+
+Loki, threw a mistletoe twig at Baldur, killing him
+
+HOEL, king of Brittany
+
+HOMER, the blind poet of Greece, about 850 B C
+
+HOPE (See PANDORA)
+
+HORAE See HOURS
+
+HORSA, with Hengist, invader of Britain
+
+HORUS, Egyptian god of the sun
+
+HOUDAIN, Tristram's dog
+
+HRINGHAM, Baldur's ship
+
+HROTHGAR, king of Denmark
+
+HUGI, who beat Thialfi in foot races
+
+HUGIN, one of Odin's two ravens
+
+HUNDING, husband of Sieglinda
+
+HUON, son of Duke Sevinus
+
+HYACINTHUS, a youth beloved by Apollo, and accidentally killed by
+him, changed in death to the flower, hyacinth
+
+HYADES, Nysaean nymphs, nurses of infant Bacchus, rewarded by
+being placed as cluster of stars in the heavens
+
+HYALE, a nymph of Diana
+
+HYDRA, nine headed monster slain by Hercules
+
+HYGEIA, goddess of health, daughter of Aesculapius
+
+HYLAS, a youth detained by nymphs of spring where he sought water
+
+HYMEN, the god of marriage, imagined as a handsome youth and
+invoked in bridal songs
+
+HYMETTUS, mountain in Attica, near Athens, celebrated for its
+marble and its honey
+
+HYPERBOREANS, people of the far North
+
+HYPERION, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Helios,
+Selene, and Eos, cattle of,
+
+Hyrcania, Prince of, betrothed to Clarimunda
+
+Hyrieus, king in Greece,
+
+I
+
+Iapetus, a Titan, son of Uranus and Ge, and father of Atlas,
+Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius,
+
+Iasius, father of Atalanta
+
+Ibycus, a poet, story of, and the cranes
+
+Icaria, island of the Aegean Sea, one of the Sporades
+
+Icarius, Spartan prince, father of Penelope
+
+Icarus, son of Daedalus, he flew too near the sun with artificial
+wings, and, the wax melting, he fell into the sea
+
+Icelos, attendant of Morpheus
+
+Icolumkill SEE Iona
+
+Ida, Mount, a Trojan hill
+
+Idaeus, a Trojan herald
+
+Idas, son of Aphareus and Arene, and brother of Lynceus Idu'na,
+wife of Bragi
+
+Igerne, wife of Gorlois, and mother, by Uther, of Arthur
+
+Iliad, epic poem of the Trojan War, by Homer
+
+Ilioheus, a son of Niobe
+
+Ilium SEE Troy
+
+Illyria, Adriatic countries north of Greece
+
+Imogen, daughter of Pandrasus, wife of Trojan Brutus
+
+Inachus, son of Oceanus and Tethys, and father of Phoroneus and
+Io, also first king of Argos, and said to have given his name to
+the river Inachus
+
+INCUBUS, an evil spirit, supposed to lie upon persons in their
+sleep
+
+INDRA, Hindu god of heaven, thunder, lightning, storm and rain
+
+INO, wife of Athamas, fleeing from whom with infant son she sprang
+into the sea and was changed to Leucothea
+
+IO, changed to a heifer by Jupiter
+
+IOBATES, King of Lycia
+
+IOLAUS, servant of Hercules
+
+IOLE, sister of Dryope
+
+IONA, or Icolmkill, a small northern island near Scotland, where
+St Columba founded a missionary monastery (563 AD)
+
+IONIA, coast of Asia Minor
+
+IPHIGENIA, daughter of Agamemnon, offered as a sacrifice but
+carried away by Diana
+
+IPHIS, died for love of Anaxarete, 78
+
+IPHITAS, friend of Hercules, killed by him
+
+IRIS, goddess of the rainbow, messenger of Juno and Zeus
+
+IRONSIDE, Arthur's knight
+
+ISABELLA, daughter of king of Galicia
+
+ISIS, wife of Osiris, described as the giver of death
+
+ISLES OF THE BLESSED
+
+ISMARUS, first stop of Ulysses, returning from Trojan War
+ISME'NOS, a son of Niobe, slain by Apollo
+
+ISOLIER, friend of Rinaldo
+
+ISOUDE THE FAIR, beloved of Tristram
+
+ISOUDE OF THE WHITE HANDS, married to Tristram
+
+ISTHMIAN GAMES, See GAMES
+
+ITHACA, home of Ulysses and Penelope
+
+IULUS, son of Aeneas
+
+IVO, Saracen king, befriending Rinaldo
+
+IXION, once a sovereign of Thessaly, sentenced in Tartarus to be
+lashed with serpents to a wheel which a strong wind drove
+continually around
+
+J
+
+JANICULUM, Roman fortress on the Janiculus, a hill on the other
+side of the Tiber
+
+JANUS, a deity from the earliest times held in high estimation by
+the Romans, temple of
+
+JAPHET (Iapetus)
+
+JASON, leader of the Argonauts, seeking the Golden Fleece
+
+JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, who bore the Holy Graal to Europe
+
+JOTUNHEIM, home of the giants in Northern mythology
+
+JOVE (Zeus), chief god of Roman and Grecian mythology, See JUPITER
+
+JOYOUS GARDE, residence of Sir Launcelot of the Lake
+
+JUGGERNAUT, Hindu deity
+
+JUNO, the particular guardian spirit of each woman (See Genius)
+
+JUNO, wife of Jupiter, queen of the gods
+
+JUPITER, JOVIS PATER, FATHER JOVE, JUPITER and JOVE used
+interchangeably, at Dodona, statue of the Olympian
+
+JUPITER AMMON (See Ammon)
+
+JUPITER CAPITOLINUS, temple of, preserving the Sibylline books
+
+JUSTICE, See THEMIS
+
+K
+
+KADYRIATH, advises King Arthur
+
+KAI, son of Kyner
+
+KALKI, tenth avatar of Vishnu
+
+KAY, Arthur's steward and a knight
+
+KEDALION, guide of Orion
+
+KERMAN, desert of
+
+KICVA, daughter of Gwynn Gloy
+
+KILWICH, son of Kilydd
+
+KILYDD, son of Prince Kelyddon, of Wales
+
+KNEPH, spirit or breath
+
+KNIGHTS, training and life of
+
+KRIEMHILD, wife of Siegfried
+
+KRISHNA, eighth avatar of Vishnu, Hindu deity of fertility in
+nature and mankind
+
+KYNER, father of Kav
+
+KYNON, son of Clydno
+
+L
+
+LABYRINTH, the enclosed maze of passageways where roamed the
+Minotaur of Crete, killed by Theseus with aid of Ariadne
+
+LACHESIS, one of the Fates (which See)
+
+LADY OF THE FOUNTAIN, tale told by Kynon
+
+LAERTES, father of Ulysses
+
+LAESTRYGONIANS, savages attacking Ulysses
+
+LAIUS, King of Thebes
+
+LAMA, holy man of Thibet
+
+LAMPETIA, daughter of Hyperion LAOC'OON, a priest of Neptune, in
+Troy, who warned the Trojans against the Wooden Horse (which See),
+but when two serpents came out of the sea and strangled him and
+his two sons, the people listened to the Greek spy Sinon, and
+brought the fatal Horse into the town
+
+LAODAMIA, daughter of Acastus and wife of Protesilaus
+
+LAODEGAN, King of Carmalide, helped by Arthur and Merlin
+
+LAOMEDON, King of Troy
+
+LAPITHAE, Thessalonians, whose king had invited the Centaurs to
+his daughter's wedding but who attacked them for offering violence
+to the bride
+
+LARES, household deities
+
+LARKSPUR, flower from the blood of Ajax
+
+LATINUS, ruler of Latium, where Aeneas landed in Italy
+
+LATMOS, Mount, where Diana fell in love with Endymion
+
+LATONA, mother of Apollo
+
+LAUNCELOT, the most famous knight of the Round Table
+
+LAUSUS, son of Mezentius, killed by Aeneas
+
+LAVINIA, daughter of Latinus and wife of Aeneas
+
+LAVINIUM, Italian city named for Lavinia
+
+LAW, See THEMIS
+
+LEANDER, a youth of Abydos, who, swimming the Hellespont to see
+Hero, his love, was drowned
+
+LEBADEA, site of the oracle of Trophomus
+
+LEBYNTHOS, Aegean island
+
+LEDA, Queen of Sparta, wooed by Jupiter in the form of a swan
+
+LEIR, mythical King of Britain, original of Shakespeare's Lear
+
+LELAPS, dog of Cephalus
+
+LEMNOS, large island in the Aegean Sea, sacred to Vulcan
+
+LEMURES, the spectres or spirits of the dead
+
+LEO, Roman emperor, Greek prince
+
+LETHE, river of Hades, drinking whose water caused forgetfulness
+
+LEUCADIA, a promontory, whence Sappho, disappointed in love, was
+said to have thrown herself into the sea
+
+LEUCOTHEA, a sea goddess, invoked by sailors for protection (See
+Ino)
+
+LEWIS, son of Charlemagne
+
+LIBER, ancient god of fruitfulness
+
+LIBETHRA, burial place of Orpheus
+
+LIBYA, Greek name for continent of Africa in general
+
+LIBYAN DESERT, in Africa
+
+LIBYAN OASIS
+
+LICHAS, who brought the shirt of Nessus to Hercules
+
+LIMOURS, Earl of
+
+LINUS, musical instructor of Hercules
+
+LIONEL, knight of the Round Table
+
+LLYR, King of Britain
+
+LOCRINE, son of Brutus in Albion, king of Central England
+
+LOEGRIA, kingdom of (England)
+
+LOGESTILLA, a wise lady, who entertained Rogero and his friends
+
+LOGI, who vanquished Loki in an eating contest
+
+LOKI, the Satan of Norse mythology, son of the giant Farbanti
+
+LOT, King, a rebel chief, subdued by King Arthur, then a loyal
+knight
+
+LOTIS, a nymph, changed to a lotus-plant and in that form plucked
+by Dryope
+
+LOTUS EATERS, soothed to indolence, companions of Ulysses landing
+among them lost all memory of home and had to be dragged away
+before they would continue their voyage
+
+LOVE (Eros) issued from egg of Night, and with arrows and torch
+produced life and joy
+
+LUCAN, one of Arthur's knights
+
+Lucius Tiberius, Roman procurator in Britain demanding tribute
+from Arthur
+
+LUD, British king, whose capital was called Lud's Town (London)
+
+LUDGATE, city gate where Lud was buried, 387
+
+LUNED, maiden who guided Owain to the Lady of the Fountain
+
+LYCAHAS, a turbulent sailor
+
+LYCAON, son of Priam
+
+LYCIA, a district in Southern Asia Minor
+
+LYCOMODES, king of the Dolopians, who treacherously slew Theseus
+
+LYCUS, usurping King of Thebes
+
+LYNCEUS, one of the sons of Aegyptus
+
+M
+
+MABINOGEON, plural of Mabinogi, fairy tales and romances of the
+Welsh
+
+MABON, son of Modron
+
+MACHAON, son of Aesculapius
+
+MADAN, son of Guendolen
+
+MADOC, a forester of King Arthur
+
+MADOR, Scottish knight
+
+MAELGAN, king who imprisoned Elphin
+
+MAEONIA, ancient Lydia
+
+MAGI, Persian priests
+
+MAHADEVA, same as Siva
+
+MAHOMET, great prophet of Arabia, born in Mecca, 571 AD,
+proclaimed worship of God instead of idols, spread his religion
+through disciples and then by force till it prevailed, with
+Arabian dominion, over vast regions in Asia, Africa, and Spain in
+Europe
+
+MAIA, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, eldest and most beautiful of
+the Pleiades
+
+MALAGIGI the Enchanter, one of Charlemagne's knights
+
+MALEAGANS, false knight
+
+MALVASIUS, King of Iceland
+
+MAMBRINO, with invisible helmet
+
+MANAWYD DAN, brother of King Vran, of London
+
+MANDRICARDO, son of Agrican
+
+MANTUA, in Italy, birthplace of Virgil
+
+MANU, ancestor of mankind
+
+MARATHON, where Theseus and Pirithous met
+
+MARK, King of Cornwall, husband of Isoude the Fair
+
+MARO See VIRGIL
+
+MARPHISA, sister of Rogero
+
+MARSILIUS, Spanish king, treacherous foe of Charlemagne
+
+MARSYAS, inventor of the flute, who challenged Apollo to musical
+competition, and, defeated, was flayed alive
+
+MATSYA, the Fish, first avatar of Vishnu
+
+MEANDER, Grecian river
+
+MEDE, A, princess and sorceress who aided Jason
+
+MEDORO, a young Moor, who wins Angelica
+
+MEDUSA, one of the Gorgons
+
+MEGAERA, one of the Furies
+
+MELAMPUS, a Spartan dog, the first mortal endowed with prophetic
+powers
+
+MELANTHUS, steersman for Bacchus
+
+MELEAGER, one of the Argonauts (See Althaea)
+
+MELIADUS, King of Lionesse, near Cornwall
+
+MELICERTES, infant son of Ino. changed to Palaemon (See Ino,
+Leucothea, and Palasmon)
+
+MELISSA, priestess at Merlin's tomb
+
+MELISSEUS, a Cretan king
+
+MELPOMENE, one of the Muses
+
+MEMNON, the beautiful son of Tithonus and Eos (Aurora), and king
+of the Ethiopians, slain in Trojan War
+
+MEMPHIS, Egyptian city
+
+MENELAUS, son of King of Sparta, husband of Helen
+
+MENOECEUS, son of Creon, voluntary victim in war to gain success
+for his father
+
+MENTOR, son of Alcimus and a faithful friend of Ulysses
+
+MERCURY (See HERMES)
+
+MERLIN, enchanter
+
+MEROPE, daughter of King of Chios, beloved by Orion
+
+MESMERISM, likened to curative oracle of Aesculapius at Epidaurus
+
+METABUS, father of Camilla
+
+METAMORPHOSES, Ovid's poetical legends of mythical
+transformations, a large source of our knowledge of classic
+mythology
+
+METANIRA, a mother, kind to Ceres seeking Proserpine
+
+METEMPSYCHOSIS, transmigration of souls--rebirth of dying men
+and women in forms of animals or human beings
+
+METIS, Prudence, a spouse of Jupiter
+
+MEZENTIUS, a brave but cruel soldier, opposing Aeneas in Italy
+
+MIDAS
+
+MIDGARD, the middle world of the Norsemen
+
+MIDGARD SERPENT, a sea monster, child of Loki
+
+MILKY WAY, starred path across the sky, believed to be road to
+palace of the gods
+
+MILO, a great athlete
+
+MLON, father of Orlando
+
+MILTON, John, great English poet, whose History of England is here
+largely used
+
+MIME, one of the chief dwarfs of ancient German mythology
+
+MINERVA (Athene), daughter of Jupiter, patroness of health,
+learning, and wisdom
+
+MINOS, King of Crete
+
+MINO TAUR, monster killed by Theseus
+
+MISTLETOE, fatal to Baldur
+
+MNEMOSYNE, one of the Muses
+
+MODESTY, statue to
+
+MODRED, nephew of King Arthur
+
+MOLY, plant, powerful against sorcery
+
+MOMUS, a deity whose delight was to jeer bitterly at gods and men
+
+MONAD, the "unit" of Pythagoras
+
+MONSTERS, unnatural beings, evilly disposed to men
+
+MONTALBAN, Rinaldo's castle
+
+MONTH, the, attendant upon the Sun
+
+MOON, goddess of, see DIANA
+
+MORAUNT, knight, an Irish champion
+
+MORGANA, enchantress, the Lady of the Lake in "Orlando Furioso,"
+same as Morgane Le Fay in tales of Arthur
+
+MORGANE LE FAY, Queen of Norway, King Arthur's sister, an
+enchantress
+
+MORGAN TUD, Arthur's chief physician
+
+MORPHEUS, son of Sleep and god of dreams
+
+MORTE D'ARTHUr, romance, by Sir Thomas Mallory
+
+MULCIBER, Latin name of Vulcan
+
+MULL, Island of
+
+MUNIN, one of Odin's two ravens
+
+MUSAEUS, sacred poet, son of Orpheus
+
+MUSES, The, nine goddesses presiding over poetry, etc--Calliope,
+epic poetry, Clio, history, Erato, love poetry, Euterpe, lyric
+poetry; Melpomene, tragedy, Polyhymnia, oratory and sacred song
+Terpsichore, choral song and dance, Thalia, comedy and idyls,
+Urania, astronomy
+
+MUSPELHEIM, the fire world of the Norsemen
+
+MYCENAS, ancient Grecian city, of which Agamemnon was king
+
+MYRDDIN (Merlin)
+
+MYRMIDONS, bold soldiers of Achilles
+
+MYSIA, Greek district on northwest coast of Asia Minor
+
+MYTHOLOGY, origin of, collected myths, describing gods of early
+peoples
+
+N
+
+NAIADS, water nymphs
+
+NAMO, Duke of Bavaria, one of Charlemagne's knights
+
+NANNA, wife of Baldur
+
+NANTERS, British king
+
+NANTES, site of Caradoc's castle
+
+NAPE, a dog of Diana
+
+NARCISSUS, who died of unsatisfied love for his own image in the
+water
+
+NAUSICAA, daughter of King Alcinous, who befriended Ulysses
+
+NAUSITHOUS, king of Phaeacians
+
+NAXOS, Island of
+
+NEGUS, King of Abyssinia
+
+NEMEA, forest devastated by a lion killed by Hercules
+
+NEMEAN GAMES, held in honor of Jupiter and Hercules
+
+NEMEAN LION, killed by Hercules
+
+NEMESIS, goddess of vengeance
+
+NENNIUS, British combatant of Caesar
+
+NEOPTOLEMUS, son of Achilles
+
+NEPENTHE, ancient drug to cause forgetfulness of pain or distress
+
+NEPHELE, mother of Phryxus and Helle
+
+NEPHTHYS, Egyptian goddess
+
+NEPTUNE, identical with Poseidon, god of the sea
+
+NEREIDS, sea nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris
+
+NEREUS, a sea god
+
+NESSUS, a centaur killed by Hercules, whose jealous wife sent him
+a robe or shirt steeped in the blood of Nessus, which poisoned him
+
+NESTOR, king of Pylos, renowned for his wisdom, justice, and
+knowledge of war
+
+NIBELUNGEN HOARD, treasure seized by Siegfried from the
+Nibelungs, buried in the Rhine by Hagan after killing Siegfried,
+and lost when Hagan was killed by Kriemhild, theme of Wagner's
+four music dramas, "The Ring of the Nibelungen,"
+
+NIBELUNGEN LIED, German epic, giving the same nature myth as the
+Norse Volsunga Saga, concerning the Hoard
+
+NIBELUNGEN RING, Wagner's music dramas
+
+NIBELUNGS, the, a race of Northern dwarfs
+
+NIDHOGGE, a serpent in the lower world that lives on the dead
+
+NIFFLEHEIM, mist world of the Norsemen, the Hades of absent
+spirits
+
+NILE, Egyptian river
+
+NIOBE, daughter of Tantalus, proud Queen of Thebes, whose seven
+sons and seven daughters were killed by Apollo and Diana, at which
+Amphion, her husband, killed himself, and Niobe wept until she was
+turned to stone
+
+NISUS, King of Megara
+
+NOAH, as legendary ancestor of French, Roman, German, and British
+peoples
+
+NOMAN, name assumed by Ulysses
+
+NORNS, the three Scandinavian Fates, Urdur (the past), Verdandi
+(the present), and Skuld (the future)
+
+NOTHUNG, magic sword
+
+NOTUS, southwest wind
+
+NOX, daughter of Chaos and sister of Erebus, personification of
+night
+
+Numa, second king of Rome
+
+NYMPHS, beautiful maidens, lesser divinities of nature Dryads and
+Hamadryads, tree nymphs, Naiads, spring, brook, and river nymphs,
+Nereids, sea nymphs Oreads, mountain nymphs or hill nymphs
+
+O
+
+OCEANUS, a Titan, ruling watery elements
+
+OCYROE, a prophetess, daughter of Chiron
+
+ODERIC
+
+ODIN, chief of the Norse gods
+
+ODYAR, famous Biscayan hero
+
+ODYSSEUS See ULYSSES
+
+ODYSSEY, Homer's poem, relating the wanderings of Odysseus
+(Ulysses) on returning from Trojan War
+
+OEDIPUS, Theban hero, who guessed the riddle of the Sphinx (which
+See), becoming King of Thebes
+
+OENEUS, King of Calydon
+
+OENONE, nymph, married by Paris in his youth, and abandoned for
+Helen
+
+OENOPION, King of Chios
+
+OETA, Mount, scene of Hercules' death
+
+OGIER, the Dane, one of the paladins of Charlemagne
+
+OLIVER, companion of Orlando
+
+OLWEN, wife of Kilwich
+
+OLYMPIA, a small plain in Elis, where the Olympic games were
+celebrated
+
+OLYMPIADS, periods between Olympic games (four years)
+
+OLYMPIAN GAMES, See GAMES
+
+OLYMPUS, dwelling place of the dynasty of gods of which Zeus was
+the head
+
+OMPHALE, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus and wife of Tmolus
+
+OPHION, king of the Titans, who ruled Olympus till dethroned by
+the gods Saturn and Rhea
+
+OPS See RHEA
+
+ORACLES, answers from the gods to questions from seekers for
+knowledge or advice for the future, usually in equivocal form, so
+as to fit any event, also places where such answers were given
+forth usually by a priest or priestess
+
+ORC, a sea monster, foiled by Rogero when about to devour Angelica
+
+OREADS, nymphs of mountains and hills
+
+ORESTES, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, because of his crime
+in killing his mother, he was pursued by the Furies until purified
+by Minerva
+
+ORION, youthful giant, loved by Diana, Constellation
+
+ORITHYIA, a nymph, seized by Boreas
+
+ORLANDO, a famous knight and nephew of Charlemagne
+
+ORMUZD (Greek, Oromasdes), son of Supreme Being, source of good
+as his brother Ahriman (Arimanes) was of evil, in Persian or
+Zoroastrian religion
+
+ORPHEUS, musician, son of Apollo and Calliope, See EURYDICE
+
+OSIRIS, the most beneficent of the Egyptian gods
+
+OSSA, mountain of Thessaly
+
+OSSIAN, Celtic poet of the second or third century
+
+OVID, Latin poet (See Metamorphoses)
+
+OWAIN, knight at King Arthur's court
+
+OZANNA, a knight of Arthur
+
+P
+
+PACTOLUS, river whose sands were changed to gold by Midas
+
+PAEON, a name for both Apollo and Aesculapius, gods of medicine,
+
+PAGANS, heathen
+
+PALADINS or peers, knights errant
+
+PALAEMON, son of Athamas and Ino
+
+PALAMEDES, messenger sent to call Ulysses to the Trojan War
+
+PALAMEDES, Saracen prince at Arthur's court
+
+PALATINE, one of Rome's Seven Hills
+
+PALES, goddess presiding over cattle and pastures
+
+PALINURUS, faithful steersman of Aeeas
+
+PALLADIUM, properly any image of Pallas Athene, but specially
+applied to an image at Troy, which was stolen by Ulysses and
+Diomedes
+
+PALLAS, son of Evander
+
+PALLAS A THE'NE (Minerva)
+
+PAMPHA GUS, a dog of Diana
+
+PAN, god of nature and the universe
+
+PANATHENAEA, festival in honor of Pallas Athene (Minerva)
+
+PANDEAN PIPES, musical instrument of reeds, made by Pan in
+memory of Syrinx
+
+PANDORA (all gifted), first woman, dowered with gifts by every
+god, yet entrusted with a box she was cautioned not to open, but,
+curious, she opened it, and out flew all the ills of humanity,
+leaving behind only Hope, which remained
+
+PANDRASUS, a king in Greece, who persecuted Trojan exiles under
+Brutus, great grandson of Aeneas, until they fought, captured him,
+and, with his daughter Imogen as Brutus' wife, emigrated to Albion
+(later called Britain)
+
+PANOPE, plain of
+
+PANTHUS, alleged earlier incarnation of Pythagoras
+
+PAPHLAGNIA, ancient country in Asia Minor, south of Black Sea
+
+PAPHOS, daughter of Pygmalion and Galatea (both of which, See)
+
+PARCAE See FATES
+
+PARIAHS, lowest caste of Hindus
+
+PARIS, son of Priam and Hecuba, who eloped with Helen (which.
+See)
+
+PARNASSIAN LAUREl, wreath from Parnassus, crown awarded to
+successful poets
+
+PARNASSUS, mountain near Delphi, sacred to Apollo and the Muses
+
+PARSEES, Persian fire worshippers (Zoroastrians), of whom there
+are still thousands in Persia and India
+
+PARTHENON, the temple of Athene Parthenos ("the Virgin") on the
+Acropolis of Athens
+
+PASSEBREUL, Tristram's horse
+
+PATROCLUS, friend of Achilles, killed by Hector
+
+PECHEUR, King, uncle of Perceval
+
+PEERS, the
+
+PEG A SUS, winged horse, born from the sea foam and the blood of
+Medusa
+
+PELEUS, king of the Myrmidons, father of Achilles by Thetis
+
+PELIAS, usurping uncle of Jason
+
+PELION, mountain
+
+PELLEAS, knight of Arthur
+
+PENATES, protective household deities of the Romans
+
+PENDRAGON, King of Britain, elder brother of Uther Pendragon,
+who succeeded him
+
+PENELOPE, wife of Ulysses, who, waiting twenty years for his
+return from the Trojan War, put off the suitors for her hand by
+promising to choose one when her weaving was done, but unravelled
+at night what she had woven by day
+
+PENEUS, river god, river
+
+PENTHESILEA, queen of Amazons
+
+PENTHEUS, king of Thebes, having resisted the introduction of
+the worship of Bacchus into his kingdom, was driven mad by the god
+
+PENUS, Roman house pantry, giving name to the Penates
+
+PEPIN, father of Charlemagne
+
+PEPLUS, sacred robe of Minerva
+
+PERCEVAL, a great knight of Arthur
+
+PERDIX, inventor of saw and compasses
+
+PERIANDER, King of Corinuh, friend of Arion
+
+PERIPHETES, son of Vulcan, killed by Theseus
+
+PERSEPHONE, goddess of vegetation, 8 See Pioserpine
+
+PERSEUS, son of Jupiter and Danae, slayer of the Gorgon Medusa,
+deliverer of Andromeda from a sea monster, 116 122, 124, 202
+
+PHAEACIANS, people who entertained Ulysses
+
+PHAEDRA, faithless and cruel wife of Theseus
+
+PHAETHUSA, sister of Phaeton, 244
+
+PHAETON, son of Phoebus, who dared attempt to drive his father's
+sun chariot
+
+PHANTASOS, a son of Somnus, bringing strange images to sleeping
+men
+
+PHAON, beloved by Sappho
+
+PHELOT, knight of Wales
+
+PHEREDIN, friend of Tristram, unhappy lover of Isoude
+
+PHIDIAS, famous Greek sculptor
+
+PHILEMON, husband of Baucis
+
+PHILOCTETES, warrior who lighted the fatal pyre of Hercules
+
+PHILOE, burial place of Osiris
+
+PHINEUS, betrothed to Andromeda
+
+PHLEGETHON, fiery river of Hades
+
+PHOCIS
+
+PHOEBE, one of the sisters of Phaeton
+
+PHOEBUS (Apollo), god of music, prophecy, and archery, the sun
+god
+
+PHOENIX, a messenger to Achilles, also, a miraculous bird dying
+in fire by its own act and springing up alive from its own ashes
+
+PHORBAS, a companion of Aeneas, whose form was assumed by Neptune
+in luring Palinuras the helmsman from his roost
+
+PHRYXUS, brother of Helle
+
+PINABEL, knight
+
+PILLARS OF HERCULES, two mountains--Calpe, now the Rock of
+Gibraltar, southwest corner of Spain in Europe, and Abyla, facing
+it in Africa across the strait
+
+PINDAR, famous Greek poet
+
+PINDUS, Grecian mountain
+
+PIRENE, celebrated fountain at Corinth
+
+PIRITHOUS, king of the Lapithae in Thessaly, and friend of
+Theseus, husband of Hippodamia
+
+PLEASURE, daughter of Cupid and Psyche
+
+PLEIADES, seven of Diana's nymphs, changed into stars, one being
+lost
+
+PLENTY, the Horn of
+
+PLEXIPPUS, brother of Althea
+
+PLINY, Roman naturalist
+
+PLUTO, the same as Hades, Dis, etc. god of the Infernal Regions
+
+PLUTUS, god of wealth
+
+PO, Italian river
+
+POLE STAR
+
+POLITES, youngest son of Priam of Troy
+
+POLLUX, Castor and (Dioscuri, the Twins) (See Castor)
+
+POLYDECTES, king of Seriphus
+
+POLYDORE, slain kinsman of Aeneas, whose blood nourished a bush
+that bled when broken
+
+POLYHYMNIA, Muse of oratory and sacred song
+
+POLYIDUS, soothsayer
+
+POLYNICES, King of Thebes
+
+POLYPHEMUS, giant son of Neptune
+
+POLYXENA, daughter of King Priam of Troy
+
+POMONA, goddess of fruit trees (See VERTUMNUS)
+
+PORREX and FER'REX, sons of Leir, King of Britain
+
+PORTUNUS, Roman name for Palaemon
+
+POSEIDON (Neptune), ruler of the ocean
+
+PRECIPICE, threshold of Helas hall
+
+PRESTER JOHN, a rumored priest or presbyter, a Christian pontiff
+in Upper Asia, believed in but never found
+
+PRIAM, king of Troy
+
+PRIWEN, Arthur's shield
+
+PROCRIS, beloved but jealous wife of Cephalus
+
+PROCRUSTES, who seized travellers and bound them on his iron bed,
+stretching the short ones and cutting short the tall, thus also
+himself served by Theseus
+
+PROETUS, jealous of Bellerophon
+
+PROMETHEUS, creator of man, who stole fire from heaven for man's
+use
+
+PROSERPINE, the same as Persephone, goddess of all growing
+things, daughter of Ceres, carried off by Pluto
+
+PROTESILAUS, slain by Hector the Trojan, allowed by the gods to
+return for three hours' talk with his widow Laodomia
+
+PROTEUS, the old man of the sea
+
+PRUDENCE (Metis), spouse of Jupiter
+
+PRYDERI, son of Pwyll
+
+PSYCHE, a beautiful maiden, personification of the human soul,
+sought by Cupid (Love), to whom she responded, lost him by
+curiosity to see him (as he came to her only by night), but
+finally through his prayers was made immortal and restored to him,
+a symbol of immortality
+
+PURANAS, Hindu Scriptures
+
+PWYLL, Prince of Dyved
+
+PYGMALION, sculptor in love with a statue he had made, brought to
+life by Venus, brother of Queen Dido
+
+PYGMIES, nation of dwarfs, at war with the Cranes
+
+PYLADES, son of Straphius, friend of Orestes
+
+PYRAMUS, who loved Thisbe, next door neighbor, and, their parents
+opposing, they talked through cracks in the house wall, agreeing
+to meet in the near by woods, where Pyramus, finding a bloody veil
+and thinking Thisbe slain, killed himself, and she, seeing his
+body, killed herself (Burlesqued in Shakespeare's "Midsummer
+Night's Dream")
+
+PYRRHA, wife of Deucalion
+
+PYRRHUS (Neoptolemus), son of Achilles
+
+PYTHAGORAS, Greek philosopher (540 BC), who thought numbers to be
+the essence and principle of all things, and taught transmigration
+of souls of the dead into new life as human or animal beings
+
+PYTHIA, priestess of Apollo at Delphi
+
+PYTHIAN GAMES
+
+PYTHIAN ORACLE
+
+PYTHON, serpent springing from Deluge slum, destroyed by Apollo
+
+Q
+
+QUIRINUS (from quiris, a lance or spear), a war god, said to be
+Romulus, founder of Rome
+
+R
+
+RABICAN, noted horse
+
+RAGNAROK, the twilight (or ending) of the gods
+
+RAJPUTS, minor Hindu caste
+
+REGAN, daughter of Leir
+
+REGILLUS, lake in Latium, noted for battle fought near by
+between the Romans and the Latins
+
+REGGIO, family from which Rogero sprang
+
+REMUS, brother of Romulus, founder of Rome
+
+RHADAMANTHUS, son of Jupiter and Europa after his death one of
+the judges in the lower world
+
+RHAPSODIST, professional reciter of poems among the Greeks
+
+RHEA, female Titan, wife of Saturn (Cronos), mother of the chief
+gods, worshipped in Greece and Rome
+
+RHINE, river
+
+RHINE MAIDENS, OR DAUGHTERS, three water nymphs, Flosshilda,
+Woglinda, and Wellgunda, set to guard the Nibelungen Hoard, buried
+in the Rhine
+
+RHODES, one of the seven cities claiming to be Homer's birthplace
+
+RHODOPE, mountain in Thrace
+
+RHONGOMYANT, Arthur's lance
+
+RHOECUS, a youth, beloved by a Dryad, but who brushed away a bee
+sent by her to call him to her, and she punished him with
+blindness
+
+RHIANNON, wife of Pwyll
+
+RINALDO, one of the bravest knights of Charlemagne
+
+RIVER OCEAN, flowing around the earth
+
+ROBERT DE BEAUVAIS', Norman poet (1257)
+
+ROBIN HOOD, famous outlaw in English legend, about time of Richard
+Coeur de Lion
+
+ROCKINGHAM, forest of
+
+RODOMONT, king of Algiers
+
+ROGERO, noted Saracen knight
+
+ROLAND (Orlando), See Orlando
+
+ROMANCES
+
+ROMANUS, legendary great grandson of Noah
+
+ROME
+
+ROMULUS, founder of Rome
+
+RON, Arthur's lance
+
+RONCES VALLES', battle of
+
+ROUND TABLE King Arthur's instituted by Merlin the Sage for
+Pendragon, Arthur's father, as a knightly order, continued and
+made famous by Arthur and his knights
+
+RUNIC CHARACTERS, or runes, alphabetic signs used by early
+Teutonic peoples, written or graved on metal or stone
+
+RUTULIANS, an ancient people in Italy, subdued at an early period
+by the Romans
+
+RYENCE, king in Ireland
+
+S
+
+SABRA, maiden for whom Severn River was named, daughter of Locrine
+and Estrildis thrown into river Severn by Locrine's wife,
+transformed to a river nymph, poetically named Sabrina
+
+SACRIPANT, king of Circassia
+
+SAFFIRE, Sir, knight of Arthur
+
+SAGAS, Norse tales of heroism, composed by the Skalds
+
+SAGRAMOUR, knight of Arthur
+
+St. MICHAEL'S MOUNT, precipitous pointed rock hill on the coast of
+Brittany, opposite Cornwall
+
+SAKYASINHA, the Lion, epithet applied to Buddha
+
+SALAMANDER, a lizard like animal, fabled to be able to live in
+fire
+
+SALAMIS, Grecian city
+
+SALMONEUS, son of Aeolus and Enarete and brother of Sisyphus
+
+SALOMON, king of Brittany, at Charlemagne's court
+
+SAMHIN, or "fire of peace," a Druidical festival
+
+SAMIAN SAGE (Pythagoras)
+
+SAMOS, island in the Aegean Sea
+
+SAMOTHRACIAN GODS, a group of agricultural divinities, worshipped
+in Samothrace
+
+SAMSON, Hebrew hero, thought by some to be original of Hercules
+
+SAN GREAL (See Graal, the Holy)
+
+SAPPHO, Greek poetess, who leaped into the sea from promontory of
+Leucadia in disappointed love for Phaon
+
+SARACENS, followers of Mahomet
+
+SARPEDON, son of Jupiter and Europa, killed by Patroclus
+
+SATURN (Cronos)
+
+SATURNALIA, a annual festival held by Romans in honor of Saturn
+
+SATURNIA, an ancient name of Italy
+
+SATYRS, male divinities of the forest, half man, half goat
+
+SCALIGER, famous German scholar of 16th century
+
+SCANDINAVIA, mythology of, giving account of Northern gods,
+heroes, etc
+
+SCHERIA, mythical island, abode of the Phaeacians
+
+SCHRIMNIR, the boar, cooked nightly for the heroes of Valhalla
+becoming whole every morning
+
+SCIO, one of the island cities claiming to be Homer's birthplace
+
+SCOPAS, King of Thessaly
+
+SCORPION, constellation
+
+SCYLLA, sea nymph beloved by Glaucus, but changed by jealous Circe
+to a monster and finally to a dangerous rock on the Sicilian
+coast, facing the whirlpool Charybdis, many mariners being wrecked
+between the two, also, daughter of King Nisus of Megara, who loved
+Minos, besieging her father's city, but he disliked her disloyalty
+and drowned her, also, a fair virgin of Sicily, friend of sea
+nymph Galatea
+
+SCYROS, where Theseus was slain
+
+SCYTHIA, country lying north of Euxine Sea
+
+SEMELE, daughter of Cadmus and, by Jupiter, mother of Bacchus
+
+SEMIRAMIS, with Ninus the mythical founder of the Assyrian empire
+of Nineveh
+
+SENAPUS, King of Abyssinia, who entertained Astolpho
+
+SERAPIS, or Hermes, Egyptian divinity of Tartarus and of
+medicine
+
+SERFS, slaves of the land
+
+SERIPHUS, island in the Aegean Sea, one of the Cyclades
+
+SERPENT (Northern constellation)
+
+SESTOS, dwelling of Hero (which See also Leander)
+
+"SEVEN AGAINST THEBES," famous Greek expedition
+
+SEVERN RIVER, in England
+
+SEVINUS, Duke of Guienne
+
+SHALOTT, THE LADY OF
+
+SHATRIYA, Hindu warrior caste
+
+SHERASMIN, French chevalier
+
+SIBYL, prophetess of Cumae
+
+SICHAEUS, husband of Dido
+
+SEIGE PERILOUS, the chair of purity at Arthur's Round Table, fatal
+to any but him who was destined to achieve the quest of the
+Sangreal (See Galahad)
+
+SIEGFRIED, young King of the Netherlands, husband of Kriemhild,
+she boasted to Brunhild that Siegfried had aided Gunther to beat
+her in athletic contests, thus winning her as wife, and Brunhild,
+in anger, employed Hagan to murder Siegfried. As hero of Wagner's
+"Valkyrie," he wins the Nibelungen treasure ring, loves and
+deserts Brunhild, and is slain by Hagan
+
+SIEGLINDA, wife of Hunding, mother of Siegfried by Siegmund
+
+SIEGMUND, father of Siegfried
+
+SIGTRYG, Prince, betrothed of King Alef's daughter, aided by
+Hereward
+
+SIGUNA, wife of Loki
+
+SILENUS, a Satyr, school master of Bacchus
+
+SILURES (South Wales)
+
+SILVIA, daughter of Latin shepherd
+
+SILVIUS, grandson of Aeneas, accidentally killed in the chase by
+his son Brutus
+
+SIMONIDES, an early poet of Greece
+
+SINON, a Greek spy, who persuaded the Trojans to take the Wooden
+Horse into their city
+
+SIRENS, sea nymphs, whose singing charmed mariners to leap into
+the sea, passing their island, Ulysses stopped the ears of his
+sailors with wax, and had himself bound to the mast so that he
+could hear but not yield to their music
+
+SIRIUS, the dog of Orion, changed to the Dog star
+
+SISYPHUS, condemned in Tartarus to perpetually roll up hill a big
+rock which, when the top was reached, rolled down again
+
+SIVA, the Destroyer, third person of the Hindu triad of gods
+
+SKALDS, Norse bards and poets
+
+SKIDBLADNIR, Freyr's ship
+
+SKIRNIR, Frey's messenger, who won the god's magic sword by
+getting him Gerda for his wife
+
+SKRYMIR, a giant, Utgard Loki in disguise, who fooled Thor in
+athletic feats
+
+SKULD, the Norn of the Future
+
+SLEEP, twin brother of Death
+
+SLEIPNIR, Odin's horse
+
+SOBRINO, councillor to Agramant
+
+SOMNUS, child of Nox, twin brother of Mors, god of sleep
+
+SOPHOCLES, Greek tragic dramatist
+
+SOUTH WIND See Notus
+
+SPAR'TA, capital of Lacedaemon
+
+SPHINX, a monster, waylaying the road to Thebes and propounding
+riddles to all passers, on pain of death, for wrong guessing, who
+killed herself in rage when Aedipus guessed aright
+
+SPRING
+
+STONEHENGE, circle of huge upright stones, fabled to be sepulchre
+of Pendragon
+
+STROPHIUS, father of Pylades
+
+STYGIAN REALM, Hades
+
+STYGIAN SLEEP, escaped from the beauty box sent from Hades to
+Venus by hand of Psyche, who curiously opened the box and was
+plunged into unconsciousness
+
+STYX, river, bordering Hades, to be crossed by all the dead
+
+SUDRAS, Hindu laboring caste
+
+SURTUR, leader of giants against the gods in the day of their
+destruction (Norse mythology)
+
+SURYA, Hindu god of the sun, corresponding to the Greek Helios
+
+SUTRI, Orlando's birthplace
+
+SVADILFARI, giant's horse
+
+SWAN, LEDA AND
+
+SYBARIS, Greek city in Southern Italy, famed for luxury
+
+SYLVANUS, Latin divinity identified with Pan
+
+SYMPLEGADES, floating rocks passed by the Argonauts
+
+SYRINX, nymph, pursued by Pan, but escaping by being changed to a
+bunch of reeds (See Pandean pipes)
+
+T
+
+TACITUS, Roman historian
+
+TAENARUS, Greek entrance to lower regions
+
+TAGUS, river in Spain and Portugal
+
+TALIESIN, Welsh bard
+
+TANAIS, ancient name of river Don
+
+TANTALUS, wicked king, punished in Hades by standing in water
+that retired when he would drink, under fruit trees that withdrew
+when he would eat
+
+TARCHON, Etruscan chief
+
+TARENTUM, Italian city
+
+TARPEIAN ROCK, in Rome, from which condemned criminals were
+hurled
+
+TARQUINS, a ruling family in early Roman legend
+
+TAURIS, Grecian city, site of temple of Diana (See Iphigenia)
+
+TAURUS, a mountain
+
+TARTARUS, place of confinement of Titans, etc, originally a black
+abyss below Hades later, represented as place where the wicked
+were punished, and sometimes the name used as synonymous with
+Hades
+
+TEIRTU, the harp of
+
+TELAMON, Greek hero and adventurer, father of Ajax
+
+TELEMACHUS, son of Ulysses and Penelope
+
+TELLUS, another name for Rhea
+
+TENEDOS, an island in Aegean Sea
+
+TERMINUS, Roman divinity presiding over boundaries and frontiers
+
+TERPSICHORE, Muse of dancing
+
+TERRA, goddess of the earth
+
+TETHYS, goddess of the sea
+
+TEUCER, ancient king of the Trojans
+
+THALIA, one of the three Graces
+
+THAMYRIS, Thracian bard, who challenged the Muses to competition
+in singing, and, defeated, was blinded
+
+THAUKT, Loki disguised as a hag
+
+THEBES, city founded by Cadmus and capital of Boeotia
+
+THEMIS, female Titan, law counsellor of Jove
+
+THEODORA, sister of Prince Leo
+
+THERON, one of Diana's dogs
+
+THERSITES, a brawler, killed by Achilles
+
+THESCELUS, foe of Perseus, turned to stone by sight of Gorgon's
+head
+
+THESEUM, Athenian temple in honor of Theseus
+
+THESEUS, son of Aegeus and Aethra, King of Athens, a great hero of
+many adventures
+
+THESSALY
+
+THESTIUS, father of Althea
+
+THETIS, mother of Achilles
+
+THIALFI, Thor's servant
+
+THIS'BE, Babylonian maiden beloved by Pyramus
+
+THOR, the thunderer, of Norse mythology, most popular of the gods
+
+THRACE
+
+THRINA'KIA, island pasturing Hyperion's cattle, where Ulysses
+landed, but, his men killing some cattle for food, their ship was
+wrecked by lightning
+
+THRYM, giant, who buried Thor's hammer
+
+THUCYDIDES, Greek historian
+
+TIBER, river flowing through Rome
+
+TIBER, FATHER, god of the river
+
+TIGRIS, river
+
+TINTADEL, castle of, residence of King Mark of Cornwall
+
+TIRESIAS, a Greek soothsayer
+
+TISIPHONE, one of the Furies
+
+TITANS, the sons and daughters of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea
+(Earth), enemies of the gods and overcome by them
+
+TITHONUS, Trojan prince
+
+TITYUS, giant in Tartarus
+
+TMOLUS, a mountain god
+
+TORTOISE, second avatar of Vishnu
+
+TOURS, battle of (See Abdalrahman and Charles Martel)
+
+TOXEUS, brother of Melauger's mother, who snatched from Atalanta
+her hunting trophy, and was slain by Melauger, who had awarded it
+to her
+
+TRIAD, the Hindu
+
+TRIADS, Welsh poems
+
+TRIMURTI, Hindu Triad
+
+TRIPTOL'EMUS, son of Celeus , and who, made great by
+Ceres, founded her worship in Eleusis
+
+TRISTRAM, one of Arthur's knights, husband of Isoude of the White
+Hands, lover of Isoude the Fair,
+
+TRITON, a demi god of the sea, son of Poseidon (Neptune) and
+Amphitrite
+
+TROEZEN, Greek city of Argolis
+
+TROJAN WAR
+
+TROJANOVA, New Troy, City founded in Britain (See Brutus, and
+Lud)
+
+TROPHONIUS, oracle of, in Boeotia
+
+TROUBADOURS, poets and minstrels of Provence, in Southern France
+
+TROUVERS', poets and minstrels of Northern France
+
+TROY, city in Asia Minor, ruled by King Priam, whose son, Paris,
+stole away Helen, wife of Menelaus the Greek, resulting in the
+Trojan War and the destruction of Troy
+
+TROY, fall of
+
+TURNUS, chief of the Rutulianes in Italy, unsuccessful rival of
+Aeneas for Lavinia
+
+TURPIN, Archbishop of Rheims
+
+TURQUINE, Sir, a great knight, foe of Arthur, slain by Sir
+Launcelot
+
+TYPHON, one of the giants who attacked the gods, were defeated,
+and imprisoned under Mt. Aetna
+
+TYR, Norse god of battles
+
+TYRE, Phoenician city governed by Dido
+
+TYRIANS
+
+TYRRHEUS, herdsman of King Turnus in Italy, the slaying of whose
+daughter's stag aroused war upon Aeneas and his companions
+
+U
+
+UBERTO, son of Galafron
+
+ULYSSES (Greek, Odysseus), hero of the Odyssey
+
+UNICORN, fabled animal with a single horn
+
+URANIA, one of the Muses, a daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne
+
+URDUR, one of the Norns or Fates of Scandinavia, representing the
+Past
+
+USK, British river
+
+UTGARD, abode of the giant Utgard Loki
+
+UTGARD LO'KI, King of the Giants (See Skrymir)
+
+UTHER (Uther Pendragon), king of Britain and father of Arthur,
+
+UWAINE, knight of Arthur's court
+
+V
+
+VAISSYAS, Hindu caste of agriculturists and traders
+
+VALHALLA, hall of Odin, heavenly residence of slain heroes
+
+VALKYRIE, armed and mounted warlike virgins, daughters of the gods
+(Norse), Odin's messengers, who select slain heroes for Valhalla
+and serve them at their feasts
+
+VE, brother of Odin
+
+VEDAS, Hindu sacred Scriptures
+
+VENEDOTIA, ancient name for North Wales
+
+VENUS (Aphrodite), goddess of beauty
+
+VENUS DE MEDICI, famous antique statue in Uffizi Gallery,
+Florence, Italy
+
+VERDANDI, the Present, one of the Norns
+
+VERTUMNUS, god of the changing seasons, whose varied appearances
+won the love of Pomona
+
+VESTA, daughter of Cronos and Rhea, goddess of the homefire, or
+hearth
+
+VESTALS, virgin priestesses in temple of Vesta
+
+VESUVIUS, Mount, volcano near Naples
+
+VILLAINS, peasants in the feudal scheme
+
+VIGRID, final battle-field, with destruction of the gods ind
+their enemies, the sun, the earth, and time itself
+
+VILI, brother of Odin and Ve
+
+VIRGIL, celebrated Latin poet (See Aeneid)
+
+VIRGO, constellation of the Virgin, representing Astraea, goddess
+of innocence and purity
+
+VISHNU, the Preserver, second of the three chief Hindu gods
+
+VIVIANE, lady of magical powers, who allured the sage Merlin and
+imprisoned him in an enchanted wood
+
+VOLSCENS, Rutulian troop leader who killed Nisus and Euryalus
+
+VOLSUNG, A SAGA, an Icelandic poem, giving about the same legends
+as the Nibelungen Lied
+
+VORTIGERN, usurping King of Britain, defeated by Pendragon 390,
+397
+
+VULCAN (Greek, Haephestus), god of fire and metal working, with
+forges under Aetna, husband of Venus
+
+VYA'SA, Hindu sage
+
+W
+
+WAIN, the, constellation
+
+WELLGUNDA, one of the Rhine-daughters
+
+WELSH LANGUAGE
+
+WESTERN OCEAN
+
+WINDS, THE
+
+WINTER
+
+WODEN, chief god in the Norse mythology, Anglo Saxon for Odin
+
+WOGLINDA, one of the Rhine-daughters
+
+WOMAN, creation of
+
+WOODEN HORSE, the, filled with armed men, but left outside of Troy
+as a pretended offering to Minerva when the Greeks feigned to sail
+away, accepted by the Trojans (See Sinon, and Laocoon), brought
+into the city, and at night emptied of the hidden Greek soldiers,
+who destroyed the town
+
+WOOD NYMPHS
+
+WOTAN, Old High German form of Odin
+
+X
+
+XANTHUS, river of Asia Minor
+
+Y
+
+YAMA, Hindu god of the Infernal Regions
+
+YEAR, THE
+
+YGDRASIL, great ash-tree, supposed by Norse mythology to support
+the universe
+
+YMIR, giant, slain by Odin
+
+YNYWL, Earl, host of Geraint, father of Enid
+
+YORK, Britain
+
+YSERONE, niece of Arthur, mother of Caradoc
+
+YSPA DA DEN PEN'KAWR, father of Olwen
+
+Z
+
+ZENDAVESTA, Persian sacred Scriptures
+
+ZEPHYRUS, god of the South wind,
+
+ZERBINO, a knight, son of the king of Scotland
+
+ZETES, winged warrior, companion of Theseus
+
+ZETHUS, son of Jupiter and Antiope, brother of Amphion. See Dirce
+
+ZEUS, See JUPITER
+
+ZOROASTER, founder of the Persian religion, which was dominant in
+Western Asia from about 550 BC to about 650 AD, and is still held
+by many thousands in Persia and in India
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE AGE OF FABLE ***
+
+This file should be named 4925.txt or 4925.zip
+
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